Author's Note-Hey everyone. It is another week which means another chapter. This week Yukon shows up, and I will admit I really enjoy writing for the Canadian Territories. Also I want to give a shout to everyone who reviewed the last chapter. Thank you KiaraJonesKirkland, Eternal-Tempest, Pengirl100and2, bookwormally, and Akan Tsubasa. You guys rock!

Disclaimer- I do not hetalia, though I did make a hetalia themed bento box for lunch.


Chapter 9- To Fly

Yukon had not exactly been surprised when Canada had called him to check up on his neighbor. It made sense on a number of levels. The first was the fact that with Alaska's air and sea ways closed, the only way to get to the Alaskan Interior was the ALCAN Highway. The last Canadian province that highway passed through was the Yukon.

In additional to the practical restrictions, there was also a physical attachment. The two of them shared the largest boundary dispute in North America and the largest peaceful disputed region in the world. It was a wedge 8,100 square miles, an area larger than the seven smallest of the US's States as well as being bigger then Canada's smallest province. As a result neither country quite new where the Yukon Territory ended the State of Alaska began.

The shared territory made the two far closer than most international entities. So close that many had begun to suspect that Alaska and Yukon were lovers. They weren't. Alaska was too much of an overly protective older sister, to even allow the possibility of romance to blossom between them. No, Yukon reflected, the reason for their closeness was much darker. The Yukon Territory had lost much of its memory.

It was a small wonder that he hadn't lost it completely. The Yukon had one of the highest population turn over in the world, and Canada hadn't made actual Yukon history a priority in the school systems. Both of these facts had lead to much of his history to crumble and disappear. Alaska had made it her mission to shelter Yukon as much as she could. To hide his weakness and to give him back bits of memory as quickly as his lost them. As a result it felt odd for Yukon for to now be offering aid.

15 hours later, Yukon had steeled himself to enter the Alaska's largest city. Downtown Anchorage seemed like a ghost town. The streets were empty. The skies, which normally were some of the busiest in the world, were silent. Honestly it was pretty creepy.

Finding the military base proved to be pretty simple. It was practically centered in the middle of town. Getting into said military base turned out to be far more complicated. By the end it Yukon felt like the soldiers had done everything short of a strip search, making him wonder what would have happened if he didn't have his diplomatic pass on hand. He shuttered slightly as he was escorted along the darkened hallways of Alaska's NORAD base and through a nondescript door.

Yukon thought he had prepared himself to face any scenario. He was wrong. He had never imagined that Alaska would still in the ARD control room, but there she was video conferencing with America. Well, conferencing was probably not the proper term. The tall willowy form of Alaska was in more of heated debate with her 'parent' country.

"Alfred, I know this is hard to ask, but I need clearance to partially open my air space. My people are suffering because of this ban."

"Alaska, everyone is hurting right now but none of the other states are complaining." On the screen the personification of the United States of America looked bad. His face was pinched and tired, but he still held court.

"I am not the other states!" Alaska seemed to be struggling to process what America was telling her. "Alaska is different; long ago you decided that most of Alaska would stay wild, that you would not build roads to many of my towns and cities. You closed my ports, you closed my airspace. My circulation is gone. Alfred I am paralyzed, the state of Alaska is paralyzed."

"You don't understand, our nation just got attacked from the air." It was clear that the nation wanted to say more but he was cut off by harsh humorless laugh.

"Alfred, it is you that doesn't understand. Hawaii and I are different. We can't just ask our citizens jump on the interstate to travel another city. Hawaii has miles of ocean preventing that, and I have some of the most treacherous terrain in North America. Hawaii at least has hospitals and police on all the islands. I don't have that option, plus I have over one hundred of my citizens in hunting camps in the bush and I need to get them back to civilization."

"A few people camping are not a big deal." The comment was off handed, it was clear that United States was trying to placate his State. Judging by Alaska's reaction his words were having the opposite reaction. After growing up next to the gigantic state Yukon felt he knew Alaska pretty well. If nothing else, Yukon had learned that Alaska might not be as densely volcanic as Iceland, but her volcanoes were known for erupting very violently.

"Those people are there hunting for the food that feeds my citizens through the winter. Goodness sakes, 60% of my population are at least partially subsistence. We have to hunt and fish to eat! And it isn't just a few 'campers' who are affected. 60% of my bush communities are only accessible by air right now."

"Bush communities are not my priority right now."

"Alfred…I don't even have a road to my own capital!" Alaska spoke slowly as though she was trying to pound a particular thought into the brain of a particularly clueless teenager. "Don't you get it, my capital Juneau is one of those bush cities! My capital is important!"

"Can't you possibly wait a few days?"

"When an emergency hits you know I can't wait that long. Alfred, what I am suppose to do when someone has a heart attack at Adak or if a community on the North Slope needs a police officer. Goodness sakes winter is beginning up here. The snow is flying and I need to get the hunting parties out of the bush before the weather gets worse. I need flight to do that."

"Is there any options?"

"Not unless you want me to wait until snows then have me retrieve bodies with dog sleds. Alfred, does anyone else need to die…" Alaska's voice was quiet which allowed the last 48 hours wear to show.

"Alaska, I already gave you limited clearance for emergency bush flights for search, rescue, and medical flights." Then the nation paused and tried to give a peace offering to the fuming state. "And we are going to try to open up airspace for major domestic airlines tomorrow if the airports have beefed up their security enough."

"But domestic flight doesn't fill my needs. I need airspace opened for general aviation and cargo…"

"That is all you are getting. Understand?" America's voice had turned cold.

"…" The way Alaska's spine stiffened indicated that she had heard him, but she didn't make a sound.

"Do you understand?" America pressed again this time his tone hardened.

"Yes, sir." There was bitterness in Alaska's voice mixed in with the pain and exhaustion, but what stuck out most to Yukon was the quavering note of defeat. Once it was clear that the phone had clicked off Alaska tall frame sagged against the console.

"You okay?" Yukon spoke quiet, but Alaska head snapped around like a spooked deer. She quickly relaxed back to her base level tension. She took a deep breath as though trying to sort through her own thoughts before speaking.

"No Yukon, I feel like crap…but I suspect that I feel like roses compared to the East Coast."Alaska didn't bother turning around, she simply leaned back into the desk chair while scrubbing her eyes with her hands. After a few moments she turned and looked at the Canadian territory levelly. "I need coffee."

Five minutes later Yukon and Alaska had settled into one of the many conference rooms in the Alaskan NORAD Region Headquarters. They stared into their steaming mugs for a few moments before Yukon broke the silence.

"How are the States holding up?"

"How do you expect them to hold up?" Alaska almost spat acidly, then instantly regretted it. She took a few deep breaths to cool her temper before continuing. "I am so sorry; the last person I need to be taking my frustration out on is you."

Alaska took a few deep breaths before beginning again. "To answer your question, Alfred is barely functional at the moment, and when you see the images you can understand why. New York is in the ICU… We have no clue when he will wake up, but that maybe a blessing after hearing how much pain Virginia is in at the moment. It took a while for some of the neighboring states to convince PA to get treatment. I really think that Pennsylvania is still in shock, but honestly aren't we all. Many states had major evacuations. Utah had a panic attack." Yukon raised his eyebrows, so Alaska continued explained. "Utah is supposed to host the Olympics in a few months, who knows how this is going to effect that. California, Oregon, and Washington are on fire, but at least the FAA gave firefighting flights lifeguard status so they have air support. Florida bracing for the hurricane hurling towards it and praying that the FAA will give them clearance to get aircraft out before it hits, 'cause you know how planes act like kites in those types of winds. All of the other states are being affected in one way or another."

"You forgot to mention how you are doing?"

"All things considered, I am doing okay."

"I've known you too long to believe that." Yukon absent mindedly waved his spoon as he made the point. "How are you really doing?"

For a few moments Alaska just glared at the territory and Yukon wondered if he was going to get an answer. Then Alaska another deep breath and started to talk.

"Honestly I barely have enough control of my hands to hold this coffee cup." Alaska gingerly set down the coffee cup and then used her teeth to slowly pull off the leather gloves she was wearing. The hand visibly shook and the figures were white and bloodless.

"And?" Yukon pushed and was rewarded by another annoyed glare from Alaska, but she broke down and continued away.

"I can't feel my feet at all, most of the rest of me is pins and needles." Alaska's calm voice cracked. "Logan, I have never been so paralyzed in my entire statehood. Not because of volcanoes, not because of storms, not during the wars. With no ports or no planes most of my transportation system is gone. My economy is shutdown and my people are suffering because of it."

"Alright, thanks for giving me an honest answer." Yukon paused for a moment, then looked levelly at her again. "New question, have you gotten any sleep?"

Alaska didn't bother looking him in the eyes. "What do you think?"

"No sleep, then."

"Of course I haven't gotten any sleep." She let out a harsh laugh that was completely void of mirth. "Every time I close my eyes I…I see Dutch Harbor in flames as Japanese Zeros drift through the fog like ghosts." She stared into the depths of her coffee as though it could tell her future, then shifted her eyes to Yukon. As she made eye contact with her neighbor her mouth twisted in a faint echo of a smile. "But I at least I am in good company, I don't think that Hawaii or Guam has managed to get any sleep either. Every time I talk to Hawaii he keeps muttering about Pearl Harbor. Guam been is as mute about being occupied for most of WWII like always, but I can hear a slight edge of panic in her voice and have heard that she had started touting a gun again."

"Americans." Yukon rolled his eyes at the gun comment.

"Hey, just because Canada doesn't believe in handguns doesn't mean the country is gun free."

"Hunting rifles are different." Yukon stated defensively, but Alaska just shook her head. The gun control debate was nearly as old as Canada and the US were, and some how she highly doubted that it was going to go away anytime soon. But the issues of the day dwarfed their usual good natured banter.

"Yukon, I feel useless." Alaska's voice cracked. "After all I was supposed to be the state to be attacked first. For decades America planed for that, the US was going to be attacked, I was going to be attacked first and I was supposed to be attacked by Russia. But now that the worse has happen, and even though it happened in a different place than expected, I still feel can't just sit here. I can't just lie down and take this and I am pretty sure the rest of the nation agrees with me. We have to fight the evil that attacked us yesterday."

"That sounds like the Alaska I know." There was no accusation, nor was there any other form of judgment in Yukon's pure blue eyes, the ones that always reminded her of the mid-summers sky.

"What going on, on your side of the border?" Alaska felt drained.

"Canada's tired, and feeling a bit overwhelmed and overloaded. I don't blame him. Newfoundland is in a particular pickle he has got more passengers in some towns that he does citizens and a hurricane remnant flooding his coast to boot. BC and Quebec are taking things a lot better. Overall I think things went pretty smoothly. Of the 355 planes sent to Canada, only two had issues. Probably because unlike Alaska, Canada is always know for being an impeccable host."

"Just because I like people to leave after their vacations to Alaska instead of wanting the world to immigrate here doesn't mean I can't be good hosts." She stuck her tongue out, before taking a few sips of the warm dark liquid.

"We just like to keep an open mind."

"You know what is going on with the territories. How are you all holding up?"

"Me, fine, after all I do have roads. Nunavut was hit pretty hard by the grounded flights and by the fact this it is his first disaster on this scale. Luckily, Northwest felt like it would better for little guy to be in a warmer climate for the winter. He was at her house everything hit the fan, which means Northwest is mother henning him to no end."

"Yellowknife? Warm?" Alaska nearly spat out a mouth full of lukewarm coffee in her attempts not to giggle. "You do know just how ridicules would sound to anyone else?"

Yukon simply grinned like a Cheshire cat. "Yep, that is probably why we get along so well. We get each other's jokes and we seem to understand each other better than our own countries do."

"Nunatsiaq…Northwest…how is she holding up?" For the first time in over 24 hours she could feel the adrenalin leaching away.

"Other than panicking over you and Nunavut she is fine. Feeling pins and needles due to lack of flights, but she is stubborn as the rest of us." Yukon half chuckled. "If not more so."

"True." The Northwest Territories was one of the oldest government units in North America, and for a while she had also been one of the largest. At her greatest extent she stretched from Alaska in the West to Newfoundland in the East, the North Pole marked her top while the Canadian border with the lower 48 marked the bottom. In short Northwest Territories once controlled nearly a third of the continent, and even though she was no longer the largest territory in Canada she never forgot her former grander.

"So what is the plan going forward?" Yukon interrupted Alaska's musing.

"I don't know. At this point I have wait for rest of the US to make a decision. Until then I will be unable to move people or cargo. At least we managed to keep military readiness, but honestly I am maintained military readiness continuously since WWII. I even managed to do through the Good Friday Quake and when Fairbanks was underwater."

"I hear a 'but' in your voice." Yukon pushed.

"I just hope that Ivan keeps is word and doesn't start posturing again…I don't have the energy to deal with him grazing my airspace at the moment…" Alaska's shoulders slumped. "I am too tired…too tired to deal with being harassed right now…" Her neighbor made her feel safe.

"Don't worry if Ivan tries something he will be flying into the teeth of two countries. Canada and the US are tough nations even stretched as thin as they are." As Yukon spoke he could feel Alaska move slightly, shifting her weight so she could lay her head on his shoulder. "But anyway enough talk, sleep girl…Dream of Messenger Feasts, hockey, or midnight baseball, something happy. I we can always talk more in the morning."

Alaska didn't need much convincing. Yukon gently stroked her gray blond hair as her dark eyes drifted shut and her breath evened out like waves lapping on the shore. Yukon didn't move until he was completely sure the state was completely a sleep. But once she was, he gently slid her off his shoulder and onto the coach armrest. He draped his jacket across her chest, then went in search of a phone. Canada would be waiting for his report.


Historical Note- Economic and social studies done on the affects of September 11th indicated the states that were physical impacted the most during the days and weeks after the terrorist attacks were first New York followed by Alaska, Hawaii, Maryland, and Virginia. The effects on Hawaii and Alaska where primarily centered around the grounded flights and closed ports. US didn't realize the full effect the closure had on Alaskan airspace until it was reopened two days later and the backlog of flights became evident. The closer not only affected the bush hunting camps, but also shut down mail delivery, remote medicine, remote schooling, and a good portion of the bush police force.

In Closing- Did you like? Do you want to see more of Yukon and/or Alaska? Did I make an error? If you have a response for any of those questions that lovely button is there for you to leave a review. Don't want to review that is okay, I also accept PMs.

Next Week's Chapter- ONE- The world looks upon North America as being overly sheltered, and blames their shelter history for their inability to react to the attacks. When Canada visits Ground Zero and reflects on past terrorist attacks he comes to the conclusion that the other countries don't know him very well.