For the next few minutes, hours, days, however long, I drifted in and out of sleep. Not that I got any actual resting done, for every time my eyes slid shut there was another memory there. It seemed as if now that the first had been shown, the others couldn't wait any longer to make their presence known.
I saw days in the sun and nights under the stars. I saw endless smiles and tears of sorrow at every parting. I saw resentment grow, saw the hardness of a man looking at a teenager whom they can't keep in line appear on Arthur's face. I watched shouted fights and heard angry words.
The last in that stream of hundreds of memories was a battle, one of the Revolutionary War, the failed attempt. And at this one I awoke, tangled in my sheets, screaming.
Dying can do that to you.
It was raining, pouring, and two lines of soldiers faced off across an empty plain. However, both lines were backed up, leaving space for the two figures in the center. I was one of them, feeling small and put upon, sitting backseat in the sharing of this memory. I could feel the water dripping from my hair, a gun in my hands.
Across from me was Arthur, the water staining his uniform blood red, expression full of hard lines. I could see the power about him and could feel the weakness of my own body, how I trembled and gasped when breathing. The contrast between us, red and blue, power and weakness... It was amazing. And yet I didn't back down.
He walked towards me almost lazily, not allowing any emotion to taint his face. He raised his musket to my neck and placed it there. I could feel the cold metal and raised my chin slightly in as large a gesture of defiance I could muster in my current state.
"Give in," he hissed, jabbing at me slightly with the gun. "Just give up, come back to me."
I gazed into his green eyes, searching him. With a small smile, I saw that there was resolve there, but resolve only to get me to surrender. He wouldn't kill me. He couldn't.
Using the last of my energy, I laughed and cast my musket to the ground. Then I gripped the trigger of his between my own two hands and whispered to him, locking his gaze with mine.
"I am not your puppet, I am not your slave. I am not your colony and I am not your brother. I won't come back to you, ever. Not me."
I squeezed down on the trigger, and then the memory ended, abruptly, with just the distressed sounds of a scream in my ears.
Arthur came rushing in just as my wails turned into choked sobs. I sat up, hugging my legs to my chest and tried to ignore the blonde man standing at the door. I knew that, should I look up, I would see the look of despair on his face as he realized what I had seen. The sound of feet tugged at my ears and I glanced up, rubbing away the tears frantically as he began to move out the door.
"No, Arthur..."
He stopped but didn't turn back towards me. "I couldn't stop him," came a soft voice. "I was young and foolish, and he even more so. I couldn't stop him, and it was obvious what he was going to do. I just stood there and didn't do anything. And because of that I lost him, and you are forced to go through this. Just like all the others."
Shaking, I got out of the bed and walked towards Arthur. I could feel the repulsion grow the closer I walked, but fought it. This wasn't the England from that past memory. This wasn't even the England from the earlier ones. I could sense he was different. I was too. No matter how much I looked like America, I wasn't him.
"Why did you bring me here?"
Finally he looked at me again, glancing up at my eyes. With an aura of discomfort, I realized that our close proximity was much like the one on the day that America had died. From his expression, he felt it too. Neither of us moved.
"I want to do things right. And fix them. You see, when the first Alfred Jones appeared, someone very trustworthy in such things told me... Told me that if I did things right, this new America would take the place of the old. Become a nation again. Fix what I broke. Its just never worked out. You are so full of the ideals that my brother had. And every time, it has ended in trauma and death. I'm sorry for this. I'm sorry for not just letting you be. But you understand... Right?"
His words ringing in my ears, I tried to wrap my mind around it. If things went how they were supposed to...
"What about Mattie?"
This was blurted out as my mind crossed the problem that if everything came out and I became an immortal nation, I would leave behind my brother. Arthur looked surprised, then shook his head with a small smile.
"Canada. The first reincarnation of Canada that I have seen."
This put my mind at ease, and I just stood there. Finally, I decided on something.
"I do not know why it has not worked out before. However, I will help. I do not know what will happen, but if this is what you want, I would like my people to have some pride again. To become America. Somehow, we will make things work."
The flash of irritation before the relieved smile on Arthur's face was not lost on me. I pretended not to see it and extended my hand, wondering what it could have meant but refusing to dwell on it for the moment. Arthur shook, then pulled me into a hug, like the ones I would so often give Matthew.
"Thank you, Alfred," he murmured. "We'll start tomorrow."
Then he left, and I was alone wondering what sort of things we were starting on.
Author's Note: GAHH! I know it has been too long! I'm so sorry people, school has been killing me, and a lack of muse... And I've been working on some Christmas presents, it being far past Christmas and me only having one done... I apologize!
This is not the best chapter ever. But here is the basis of the plot. Two important things happened in this much-too-short chapter, that will be coming up a lot in the future!
Once again, I promise that later the chapters will be longer. This was originally the first part of a much larger one, but the ideas were too separate and I decided to split them apart. No, I'm sorry, the next chapter is not done yet. Drafting.
And now, some of your questions...
StarGazer453 - Did this answer your first one? Oh yes, Alfred will be getting a lot of memories from America... And will Arthur kill him once more? Just have to wait and see!
APHxENGLAND - You and your wondering. How's this for a painful memory?
Das Kleines Phoenix - Hmm, the other six... Well, you might be seeing some of their memories later on!
AND THANK YOU ALL FOR ALL THE NICE THINGS YOU SAY! It's totally not worth it... But I love each and every one of you for it 3 So, read and review, favorite, follow... All those good things? Till next time!