Chapter Two: The Breakdown

Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia!

A/N: Response to a reviewer asking what territory Jonathan is! He's the entirety of southern United States of America, while Amelia is the North. Yes, they do cut California in half. Regarding Alaska and Hawaii, Amelia represents those states.

It used to scare Amelia, truly frighten her to the bone, when she remembered how cold Jonathan's eyes were when they met on the battlefield, like chips of grey ice. It was like he hated her, everything she stood for, and would spit on her still warm corpse if she were to kneel over dead the next second. Of course, that was never the case she had learned later. Her brother, even in times of war and confusion, hadn't wanted to fight her and he had most certainly never hated her. No, Jonathan loved her more than anyone else in the world just as she did him. There is little one can do to sever a familial bond that strong, though Amelia was always secretly frightened that it was close to snapping. She remembered crying once, towards the beginning of the war, when the pain was unbearable. The thought of losing her closest friend, her brother hurt to much than words could describe. She remembered thinking he would be glad to fight her and leave, would be happy to leave her in the dust. She didn't know how wrong she was.

It had used to terrify Jonathan when he saw his sister stride into battle, walking with her rifle as proud as ever with her piercing blue eyes that could cut a man better than any sword. Her blonde hair had hung, dirty and unwashed from days of battle, looking tired and weary but ready to fight to the death nonetheless. It was one thing he had always admired and hated about his sister, how she could be so strong even in times of great pain and suffering. He remembered nights of cursing her name, thinking of her and hating her guts, wishing the worst things upon her. In truth, if any of the things he wished back then had come true, he couldn't have lived with himself. Not that he would admit that he actually feared for his sister. He was the South, he was proud, and he did not care for anyone other than himself. At least, that's what he told himself back then. He really didn't want a war, he didn't want to be independent, he just wanted Amelia to understand he needed slavery, that it was okay, that it helped his economy. She didn't understand, so he followed his people when they left despite the pain it caused both him and his sister.

Now, despite their best efforts, they still got angry with each other. The wedge that had been driven between their people pitted them against each other, and Jonathan was pretty sure his sister still blamed him for Lincoln's assassination. They fought often, harshly, and it had gotten to the point that in the !900's that Jonathan had moved to Virginia and left his sister by herself in Massachusetts. He wasn't sorry to leave, after all he was a big boy now and could take care of himself. Besides, he could visit her anytime as there wasn't a war dividing them this time.

So they had stayed like that for a long time. Johnathan's promise of protecting his sister forgotten, Amelia's upset that her brother left in the past. It was almost like they were strangers, occasionally sending letters to check in on the other. Then World War I happened and brother and sister banded together in neutrality until 1917 when they joined the Allied powers. After this the two were able to talk without arguments sliding in but they ere still distant, unsure how to deal with one another after being apart for so long. That all changed in 1941.

December 7th, 1941 had been a dark day for both Amelia and Jonathan. For Amelia because Pearl Harbor had been the victim of a surprise attack by the Imperial Japanese Navy, which had caused Amelia to break a few ribs. For Jonathan it had really been a wake up call to just how many times he had left his sister in the dust, leaving her to be injured and put through turmoil. After the United States had officially joined the Allies it was decided that Amelia would still represent them and Jonathan would just be in the background, though they both fought in the war with their armies. Both of them had been in Normandy on D-Day, Amelia on Omaha beach and Jonathan on Utah beach. Jonathan would always regret not going to Omaha instead of Amelia, but how could they how known what carnage would happen there?

After the second World War, the brother and sister duo were much closer. The Great Depression was tough on both of them, and they'd have liked to died, but somehow they pulled through. Though, Jonathan was not ashamed to admit he was terrified of Amelia during the Cold War. The woman was damned scary when she wanted to be, after all, and he had only gotten a little taste of that during the Civil War. If he'd thought her eyes were razor sharp back then, he knew real hatred when she looked at Russia. He found himself thanking his lucky stars that she was his sister and had never really hated him because, if she had, he wouldn't be breathing. Not that he'd ever tell Amelia that though, it'd only blow up her ego even more.

September 11th, 2001 had been another dark point in their history. Jonathan didn't even want to think of the shape Amelia had been in after that. He'd only gotten minor wounds from the attack, as he represented the South and his sister represented the North so she had the full force of the attack as it was in New York. Still, he watched in amazement as she managed to struggle to her feet again despite having two deep scars that ran parallel down her back. He had two faded scars on his back as well, representing that it was an attack on America, but Amelia had taken the brunt of the pain.

Now, in present day, he did what he could for his sister. She went to the meetings to represent the United States while he took half of their monstrous paperwork load. Though, despite Amelia's claims that they should half the workload, he always felt she did more by going to the meetings. So, instead, he took around three fourths of the paperwork instead just to be a good brother and make things even. there were occasional arguments, and a few rough patches now and then, but they were on good terms now. Somehow, the rift between the North and South had healed and it was more of a friendly rivalry nowadays. Amelia could take care of herself and didn't need her brother to do anything for her, though he often tried to be overprotective she wouldn't let him. Whenever someone called her fat or an idiot, she just shook it off with that Hollywood smile and told Jonathan to take a chill pill.

Then one day Amelia came home nearly in tears because of the assholes at the meeting and their hours of insults that hit too close to home. Amelia took a lot and it just so happened that someone said one too many things about her weight, or her IQ, of her country in general, and she just snapped. Really, it wasn't even a sad cry but more of a pissed off cry. However, all Jonathan saw was tears and that his big sister had finally snapped. Normally this wouldn't be too big of a problem for anyone else. They'd just go home, cry it out, end of story. However, it just so happens that when Amelia breaks she has an overprotective, younger, trigger happy brother who often goes bull riding for fun ready to unleash hell on everyone who hurt his big sister. Without her knowing of course.

A/N: That was a dewsy! Anyways, hope you guys liked it! And, yes, the meeting is hat caused her to nearly cry. It's one of those cases of too many insults that hit far too close to home, you know what I mean? After so much, you'd have to break sometimes.

Question of the Chapter: How will Jonathan get to the meeting? Will he convince Amelia to let him go since she'd basically done with the world right now, or will he be sneaky?