Across The Mirror (Hetalia)

Author: Ashynarr

Summary: Alfred and Tommy met through magic, but stuck together through a mutual kinship borne by more than their mirrored identities. After centuries of friendship, they've reached a comfortable state of affairs between them, but what will happen when Tommy ends up severely injured where Alfred can't help?

Disclaimer: Hetalia's not mine.

Warning: 1p2p Americest

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"Holy shit," Tommy muttered as he turned on his heels, trying to take in all the sights of Washington DC at once by turning where he stood, either purposefully or accidentally ignoring the people walking past and occasionally shooting him annoyed looks for being in the way.

Alfred thought the scenario hilariously adorable, especially since he'd never seen his friend and pseudo-counterpart like this before. Granted, they'd never been in this sort of situation before, which really threw things out of whack, but overall… he couldn't say he regretted it so far.

(...Even if the circumstances behind it could have been better.)

"Having fun there?" The blond asked, simply grinning a bit more widely when Tommy's smile dropped briefly to stare at him.

"Sorry I'm not used to places looking like this," He replied vaguely, waving his hands around to everything and nothing in particular. "Back home is a lot… different."

"Well obviously," Alfred replied in turn. "But is it really that different?"

"We don't have skyscrapers like those back home," Tommy shrugged. "Even at Alex's place, most of the buildings tends to be three stories at most."

"Skyscrapers?" Alfred looked around at the buildings, most of which didn't even reach ten floors. "Tommy, these aren't even close to skyscrapers these days."

"Seriously?" Tommy frowned. "I'm not exactly seeing how you can make them much bigger than that without them falling apart."

"Well, usually there's a ton of steel involved, and cement, but I'm pretty sure a building has to be at least fifty stories now in order to count at that, and all the important ones I can think of are at least a hundred."

"Bullshit," The Native man tried to imagine that and failed. "You can't make buildings that tall - what do you even do with that much room?"

"Mostly fill it with offices or shopping or apartments," Alfred mulled for a bit before shaking his head. "Maybe taking you to New York is a bad idea; if you can't even handle that…"

"Hey, golden boy, you promised, and I know you don't do take backs on those," Tommy scowled at him, and Alfred had to fight hard to maintain his concerned expression instead of giving in to his laughter.

Seriously, his friend was such a tourist, and seeing his wide eyed wonder at everything Alfred had long ago gotten used to was absolutely adorable, and endearing in a way he couldn't quite place. He honestly couldn't recall a single other Nation who had actually looked at the things his people had made and saw the beauty in them, and it made him wonder when he'd lost his own sight of that.

Bah, he could worry over philosophical shit later - Tommy was starting to wander off again, and it wouldn't do to have him get lost in this place, no matter that it would be cakewalk to find the guy through his people from how he stood out. "Where're you going?"

"To that tall tower over there," The brunet gestured, the peak of the Washington Monument just obvious from here. "It looks important."

"Well of course it is," Alfred replied automatically before realizing his friend couldn't know the significance. "That's the commemorative monument the people built for my first boss."

"...you mean like Egypt's people did?"

"Wha- no," The blond shook his head, wondering how he'd gotten that. "Pops- er, George was buried at his home. This is just a tribute to him."

"Ah," Tommy replied, slowing down when they passed the last of the buildings before the circular park surrounding the white stone tower. He didn't say anything for a moment after they finally stopped near the base, the brunet gazing up to the peak thoughtfully.

"You built him a giant white dick, then."

Alfred choked on air, having to hit his chest a few times while his friend laughed at his reaction. "It is not- why would you even-"

"Hey, just calling it as it is," Tommy replied innocently, though the effect was lost with his shiteating grin still in place.

"You're an ass," Alfred muttered, shaking his head while shoving away the comparison that had, sadly, been made by others before, but never right to his face, and not quite so bluntly either!

(Francis and Gilbert exchanging sly looks and waggled eyebrows wasn't the same - at least then he'd had the option of pretending they were making fun of something else.)

"Aw, but you love me anyways."

"Only in self defense," Alfred shot back, though he couldn't hide the small grin at the words.

(Honestly, where would he have been without the other there to keep him company in his loneliest moments? Even with the States around him all the time, they hadn't had to deal with the things he had, not to mention they were always so busy with their own duties and couldn't always make time for him anymore…)

"What're those places across the water?" Tommy moved the conversation on, gesturing to the two pools with buildings beyond each.

"Oh, that one down there is the Lincoln Memorial," Alfred replied. "He was my boss during the- war, and he made some important changes to the country, so he got that dedicated to him."

"So that guy got a whole building, while one of the guys who helped found your country only got a big stone dick?" Tommy queried. "Guess that shows which one you liked more."

"It's not like that," The blond huffed. "I don't exactly decide what my people build for each memorial."

"I know, blondie, I'm just teasing ya," His friend replied, turning his gaze down the other pool. "And the other place?"

"Oh, that's the White House," Alfred shrugged. "It's where my boss and I work most of the time when we aren't abroad on business or whatever."

"You work in that place?" Tommy whistled, looking over the old building with a new appreciation. "It's not as fancy as Alex's place, but it sure stands out."

"Well, yeah, it's not supposed to be too fancy," Alfred replied. "The whole point it that it's supposed to show that my boss isn't just some king ruling over the people, spending all of their wealth on his own pleasures. He's working for them because he was chosen by them. At least, that's how it's supposed to work anyways…"

The last part was mumbled too quietly to hear, the taste of the words slightly bitter in his mouth. Politics. Ulgh.

Tommy hummed in thought, glancing back at the other monument before nodding his head decisively. "So that's where you're going tomorrow before you head up to New York?"

"Yeah, I gotta catch up on the most important stuff here before I deal with that. Why?"

The Native grinned. "I'm coming with you; you said the place runs tours most days, right?"

"Uh, I don't know if I'll be able to-"

"Humor me."

Alfred exhaled. "Don't blame me if you're disappointed."

"Please, I think I can handle a few boring history lessons."

~0~0~

"Chetan, are you there?"

Of course, the mirror stayed silent and unchanged, just as it had for the past few months. Alfred whimpered, leaning against the glass as if he could force it to ripple and give him his friend back.

"Please, don't ignore me anymore." A beat. "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean any of it."

Alfred's head hung as he slid to the floor, his shoulder starting to go cold from the contact with the glass. "I just want to be friends again. I'm sorry. I was wrong. Please forgive me."

The blond sniffled again. "I don't wanna be alone anymore."

Unsurprisingly, the mirror continued to fail to respond in any way. It was, after all, just a mirror.

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AN: Meanwhile, back with these two losers, everything seems to be going fairly peachy. And poor poor Tommy has no idea just what's ahead on this tour he's getting...