I'm just gonna leave this here for your feelings to break. Yeah.

I have some tissues if you need them.

Enjoy.

Alfred had gotten up before anyone else to practice walking on his own. His knees were still in pain every now and again, but he found that the more he walked on his own, the less guilt that he carried and the more that he eased the pain away. He still wasn't used to walking once again, but he finds it easier now than when he was a few weeks ago. Everything felt new and fresh to him, as if he had a new body minus the knees. Lately, everyone had been assisting him with getting comfortable with his legs again. Arthur and Matthew were always the last two to sleep because they wanted to care for their lover and brother respectfully.

All the American knew was that he was asleep for a very long time, he was in New York, and he was not allowed to open the blinds. There were two windows in his room, one giving him a view from one side of the city and another. He had asked everyone what had happened outside, why he wasn't allowed, and no one ever gave him an answer, opting for changing the subject instead. He wanted to know why this had happened, but no one was giving him a response. Even his brother and Arthur weren't telling him anything. One look outside the forbidden window, as he called it, wouldn't hurt anyone...

He "woke up" his leg muscles, had them used to holding his weight up or walking. He still had a limp in his step, much less severe than before, but he knew that it would leave in a week or two, when he was fully healed. Alfred slid his glasses on, blinking as his eyes readjusted to the view, and then proceeded slowly to the window that he had been forbidden to look through. The other nations were still sleeping, probably still exhausted from watching over him. Even though nations could prevent sleep for as long as they wanted, they slept longer than usual when they're finally able to. At first, he pauses to rub his kneecaps, which had started to suddenly burn, along with his left side. He winced at the searing agony that ran through him, but nonetheless ignored it and opened the blinds.

Alfred stared ahead towards the Hudson, where he could see Lady Liberty standing tall and proud, yet inside of him, there was a terrible pain that ripped through his heart and body, and shook his spine. There was a rather large empty space where something should have been, something tall and beautiful and remarkable and it, for some reason, dropped his mood down so low that his legs trembled. Tears pricked at his eyes and he did not know why. He let out a quiet sob at the sight of something lost and he did not know why. His green statue looked more solemn than usual, and to him, even though she was just a statue, he could see that she did not like the sight.

For some reason, he had wanted to fall to his knees and let out another sob, let out more tears, let himself be engulfed by trembling hands that belonged to him. His heart panged, his stomach lurched, his vision blurred, his body burned, his lungs screamed for air, his vision clogged from water, smoke, dust. He felt death itself close around him and claw into his side, burning and bringing him down on a mental spiral. The American leaned forward, arms still encasing his abdomen, and he cried because he did not know what was missing, and whatever was missing was no longer there, and it killed him inside.

"I'm so sorry."

Another pair of arms embraced him, and he could feel water drop in his hair and on his hands, shoulders, back. He brought in the scent of tea and it melded with the smell of burning wood, papers, flesh, metal, before pushing it away. Emerald eyes filled his vision instead of people dying and disappearing and begging and crying. Warmth and comfort and understanding and love shrouded him and smothered the pain of fire and cement and steel. The pain in his knees remained, and his side dulled down slightly, but he was with his lover of fifteen years, someone who had been there for him even when they hated his guts. That pain was there, he could feel it in his heart and in his bones to his core. But the adoration and love that his lover and brother and friends and citizens held for him was stronger than that suffering.