Title: Lucid Memories
Author/Artist: Rain_Sonata
Character(s) or Pairing(s): America/England/America or US/UK/US
Rating: PG-13, might raise up later
Warnings: boy love, occasional swearing, confusion of what's happening, long chapter, hints of the existence of state-tans
Summary: Rev!America is brought back to the present, replacing the current America. By chance, England was there when all of this happened. Why is he here? What about his broken heart from the Revolutionary War?
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Link to Previous Chapters )
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Lucid Memories
Chapter 13: Answers
*Just to make this clear, in this story, nations only use human names with each other if they're in public with humans or if they are close to each other, like family or lovers.
*Older America is US; younger is referred to as America. Both are called Alfred.
Summary: Rev!America is brought back to the present, replacing the current America. By chance, England was there when all of this happened. Why is he here? What about his broken heart from the Revolutionary War? US/UK, based on Kink Meme on Livejournal.
Disclaimer: If I were to own Hetalia, US and UK would already be a couple in canon. So no, I don't own Hetalia.
~present~
Albert has never been so glad to get off the train. Spending hours in the vehicle was nerve-racking. As a nation, New York was used to always having something in his hands to occupy himself with. Need some papers to be signed? Okay. Virginia broke another door when she caught Maryland flirting with another woman again? Sure, New York would pay for the bill. England got drunk again and needed to be bailed out? Albert had the connections to free the English nation. Albert was just not used to having empty hands. His hands felt so bare. There was nothing to do. The only thing the New Yorker could actually do was rereading the documents he had in his briefcase, which was not very helpful, because it only made him more nervous. At least he would know all of his material before presenting it to England. New York didn't want England to catch him at his times of doubt or hesitance.
The coffee really did help. Sure, it was crappy, but it definitely kept New York awake. Albert didn't miss his stop, and now he was going to Alfred's house. The teen could find something to eat. Something to drink. And sleep. After he confronted England. New York wondered what England and America had been doing for the past few days. He remembered the numerous voice messages sent by England the other day. New York didn't actually hear the messages until he went through his voicemail during the train ride. The British nation's messages were buried under the infinite number of other voice messages from New York's very long contact list. Sometimes, Albert wished that he wasn't a state. Too many people wanted to talk to him. He certainly didn't envy nations. Nations probably had it worse.
Most of England's messages were repeated questions. Albert, are you there? How is the research coming along? Did you find anything yet? The state finally found a taxi cab after several fail attempts and sat at the back of the taxi cab. By that point in time, the effects of the caffeine worn out. Albert must have fallen asleep, because the driver was shaking the state's sleepy shoulders when they arrived at the front of Alfred's home.
"Thanks for the ride." Albert thanked the cab driver. New York waved good bye to the man and ran to the house.
Walking up the doorsteps, New York rang the doorbell and waited for England or America to answer. After several minutes and ringing the bell again, Albert decided that the two nations were not home.
They're not home? Albert thought. Where are they?
New York looked at the house. Should he just walk in? Would US mind? Albert still had the keys to the house. It was his father who gave him the spare key, in case of emergencies.Well, the state thought, this is an emergency. I'm sure dad would be okay with this. As New York reasoned with himself, he pulled out the keys. It took awhile, but after going through nearly all of the different keys, New York finally found the right key to fit into the slot.
Albert took a deep breath, here goes nothing.
New York swung the door open. The door let out an ominous creak.
UK and America
It was ten o'clock when America and England left the house. The result of yesterday's incident at the mall ended in a low note. America refused to look at England in the eye and ate the Brit's cooking without a single complaint. The new nation was obviously still upset about the kissing episode. Was America embarrassed? Or was he just in shame of displaying so much emotion?
England himself was not in a decent mood. He was still surprised and shocked of how daring America was to try a devilish stunt. England did not see it coming. He had no idea that America felt that way to England. The Brit knew that US had eventually developed romantic feelings to the English nation sometime during England's absence, but England never thought that it was America from the revolution who felt similar emotions.
England thought of how for the past several days, America was bugging the Brit for information about US. England thought that it was out of pure curiosity. He thought that it was natural to be curious about your future. It seemed likely that Alfred would want to know about his future. Although England should have hidden the truth from America. America has seen too much. The younger America did not know about WWI, WWII, or any of the political related occurring of the world, but America did take a glimpse of technology and of the world's modern society. That might be enough to trigger major changes in history. England scolded himself for being too reckless. He should have been more careful. He should have thought about the consequences before showing too much to America. Now America might come back to 1783 and emphasize more on industrialization, when America would remained mostly an agricultural nation until later in the nineteenth century. England was a fool.
Don't you love me?
England wondered about America's lingering question. Did England love him? Of course he did! He loved the boy, but not like that. Not like that at all. America was still a boy. America was still naïve.
"England," America's dully asked. "Where are we going?" They were heading towards the opposite direction of the main part of the town. America has never been to that part of the town until this point.
"You'll see." England said. They walked across the empty street. For the main part, this side of the town was empty because its citizens were still at work.
What kind of place was England planning to take America to? America gazed at the trees and bushes that seemed to have jumped to the side of the sidewalk every now and then. It was strange to see that most of the town was consisted of concrete. Which part of the town was not manmade? Alfred missed the green surroundings of his home. He missed the calm still atmosphere of his old West Virginia compared to the new West Virginia's loud and nosy streets. Alfred missed the carriages and horses that used to pass by his old house in the revolution days. He wanted feel the soft bedding of dirt beneath his feet. How long was it going to take to get to England's destination?
England and America walked through one more crossing before they came into a complete stop.
"We're here." England cheerfully announced. It contrasted to America's worn out mood.
"What is this place?" America wondered. He stared at the strange new environment before him.
The place. It looked like a pit. There was another section of the area with grass, but America's attention was more focused at the pit. A small section of the place was covered with cement of course; everything in the future had to be covered with man's earth. In part of the area, there was sand filling in the pit of grey concrete like water would in a pond. In the sand were short slides built with metal (the blue paint was almost all gone) and some sort of light weighted material (1). There were bars attached to one part of the slide that connected to a shorter slide. Small glass shards could be seen shining through the dirty uneven sand. Alfred saw more metal bars rising from the ground. Attached to the hung of metals were swings? It didn't look anything like the swing America remembered from his childhood. The swings he remembered were hung from trees, but America thought that metal bars would work too. It must have must the equipment last longer, America thought.
"Are…" America stared at the bizarre place that England brought him to. "Are those swings?"
It seemed that America recognized the familiar object.
England's mood instantly lit up. "They are!" He exited said. This is a park. Do you want to swing?"
"I guess." America honestly did not understand why England decided to take him to swing. It made no sense at all.
"Let's go!" England smiled. America tried to smile back, but failed.
Would bringing America to a familiar place help bring back US? This was the same park where US had disappeared from. There was a tiny piece of hope inside England that prayed that US could return back to the present if England were to bring America. England was dragging America by the hand again. America was like a lost stray dog that had no sense of direction. The young nation always seemed out of place and confused. The American's unconfident personality was a strange combination with his big body, as it was evident in the way the boy walked. America always slouched his back. Was it a habit?
America was too used to being taken by the hand to really be surprised anymore, but that didn't stop him from blushing anyway. Any human contact with England was a miracle to America. England finally let America go. England from the revolution didn't even look at him in the eye anymore. America went to swings. The swing was supported by chains. Alfred went over to sit on the seat of the equipment and used his feet to launch himself up into the air.
"Aren't you going to swing?" Alfred childishly asked England.
"I'm too old for that." England told him. He distantly recalled that US went on the swings before the American nation fainted. England secretly feared that he too, would disappear into the past like US did if the Brit decided to follow the same sequence of events. He wasn't even too sure how US time traveled; England just didn't want to risk the chances of doing so. England's fear of the unknown was very apparent.
"Oh." America was expecting that. "Where is everyone else?"
"All of the children are at school." The English nation said. "They have to learn too." He thought of the times when he home schooled Alfred.
"A public school?" Those were not very common in Alfred's times. Most of the schools were small and was taught by one teacher. The wealthier American colonists had tutors or attended private schools or colleges (2).
"Yes" England watched Alfred swing backwards. It looked as though America might fall over on his back.
"How big are the schools?" Alfred asked as he swung upward, facing the tall bright sky above him. The sun shone on his face.
"Big enough to hold all of the town's children." The former empire answered.
"That's big." America was beginning to pick up his pace on the playground equipment.
"Yeah." What an awkward conversation.
"I thought you said that I was too old for swings!" America screamed as he rose higher.
"I'm just trying to get you to enjoy yourself." American nearly kicked England in the face for swinging too far.
"You took me here for a reason didn't you?" America suspected.
"What do you mean by that?" England pretended to be innocent. He began to back up, it looked like America might throw himself off the swings.
America threw himself forward, jumping off the swing. England never liked it when America did that, the empire always said that it was dangerous. Alfred's not so soft landing sent sand flying everywhere. England had to shield his eyes from the sand. The former empire was now covered with sand and debris.
Standing in front of England, America finally declared. "You want to talk to me about something. You brought me here for a reason, didn't you?"
Silence.
"Well?" America bellowed "Am I right?"
England just said. "Let's talk."
"Let's." America curtly replied.
New York
New York was shocked to see how neat and clean Alfred's place was. The last time he visited his father's home, it was a wreck. Looks like England became the mother hen and has decided to clean and tidy up the place. The living room's bookshelves were dusted and the books were neatly straighten up and categorized by author's names. The kitchen's floor was mopped and the appliances were stored away in the cabinets. The house looked clean. Too clean.
Albert went to Alfred's room. Did England cleaned his father's room too? Maybe the Brit has already known about Alfred's condition and that the New Yorker had came down south for nothing.
When Albert walked into Alfred's room, it was still the same old mess he recognized from before. The books were still stacked on the side. The messy clothes were still there. New York saw Alfred's bomber jacket sticking out from the closet.
How am I supposed to find what I need in this mess? New York panicked. So. Messy. Must. Clean up. He wanted to clean up the place. So badly. But he must not. New York had to leave the room alone. New York didn't want America to realize that Albert had gone through his stuff. It seemed that even England's tidiness could not reach his father's room.
New York glanced over Alfred's desk. There were bills, pens, comic books, tissue papers, but not what Albert was looking for. New York spied a white blob next to Alfred's desk lamp. Mochi? The thing had thick eyebrows and big eyes. Its cheeks were pink and it wore a permanent irritated expression. Weird. The pillow sized plushie was a handmade gift from Japan. Kiku had the strangest taste of what was cute, or as the Japanese nation quoted as 'moe' and 'kawaii'. Several times when Albert came to visit, he caught his father hugging the mocha plushie like there was no tomorrow. This is when New York starts resorting to going to the guest room and wonder how was it possible that his father was over five hundred years old (3), yet still acted like a child. Then again, there was China, who was one of the oldest nations, and the Asian country still carried about around that creepy Hello Kitty doll. None of the nations acted like their appropriate ages.
Albert continued his search in the closet; the closet was big enough to be a small room. US had a big wardrobe due to insisting that he must keep all of his clothes from his past. Albert made a face when he spotted Alfred's old redcoat uniform at the back of the closet. Albert felt the soft worn out fabric of the red attire. It looked like its years of use were over. There were holes all over the uniform, probably from the moths. His father still kept that? How could US stand looking at it?
Much to his disgust, Albert next went to search through the trash bin. There was no food (thank goodness), but there were lots of scrap paper piling in the container. Many of them were blue plans for ridiculous inventions. US loved to come up with new technology. It was the American's hobby, besides eating hamburgers and ice cream, playing videogames, reading comic books, and befriending buffalos/whales/aliens/what other living being you could possibly think of. God, his father was like a frickin' Snow White with his animal friends, New York thought when Tony came into the state's mind. Lucky for Albert, Tony wasn't staying at Alfred's house this month. The alien was living with New Mexico at the moment. The New Yorker's Mexican brother was so strange, always obsessed with aliens and was convinced that they existed. Well, looks like there was nothing interesting in the trashcan.
However, during his tiresome search, Albert did find Texas lying on the floor beneath the mess of clothes. The lenses were still in perfect condition.
Man, his vision is worse than mine! New York thought when he tried the glasses out of curiosity.
After looking through most of the room, New York was almost ready to give up. In desperation, he tried the bed. Underneath the bed. Like most beds, underneath Alfred's bed was, well… everything that Alfred didn't want to see. There were letters dated back from 1776 from England. There were books and documents that Alfred seemed to be ashamed of. How was it even possible for one bed to hold so many items? When Albert felt his way through the chaotic mess, he felt the even texture of a plastic container. Was this it?
New York pulled the mysterious object out. He found it. He found it. He felt so relieved. New York went over to Alfred's desk to sit. He was so tired. He exited out of the door to go to the kitchen. He wanted something to eat. He was so hungry… How long would it be until England and America would return home?
UK and America
"What shall we talk about?" England started their conversation with a rhetorical question. They were both sitting on the grassy area of the playground. America was lying down on his back.
"You know what you want to say." America claimed. He started to pick out the grass blades beside him in irritation.
"Is that so?" England quietly said. "Well than, let's cut this short. Are you still mad at me? America?"
"Yes." America bitterly replied.
"Why?" England asked.
"Didn't I say before? You like the other America more than me!" The American accused his former brother. He aggressively pulled out the poor green shrubs by the roots.
"I never said that." England assured him.
"But you never look at me." America said. "You don't see me as a man, do you? You want to get rid of me. You're always so happy and eager to find a way to get your US back." His words were venomous.
"America, you're still young." The Brit said. He was so wary. "You still have years to go before you face the world."
America said. "I'm over two hundred years old."
"Age doesn't matter," England told Alfred. "Look, I'm sorry I can't stop seeing you as my little brother. I just can't."
"What does US have that I don't?" Alfred demanded. "What's so great about him?"
"He's a kind man." England said. "Both of you are. I have no grudge on neither of you. And I don't hate you. I just want you to return back to your time. You don't belong here. It's not normal. It would destroy history."
"Screw history," Alfred mumbled. He wanted England all for himself. He wanted to kiss the British man and own him. All of him.
England kissed the side of America's head. "Please understand," He hugged the American teen. "I love you both."
"Hmph," America huffed. What was up with him today?
"You're not jealous of US, are you?" England asked. He watched Alfred blush ten times hues of red.
"N-NO!" Alfred denied.
"There's nothing to fuss about," England said. "You two are still the same. Big, arrogant, prats with a big ego about heroes."
America broke into a stiff smile when he heard England complain about the two Americas. That meant that US was still an annoying guy, right? He felt somewhat better.
"So you wanted a kiss?" England asked. America slowly nodded. The former empire bended down to kiss America; the kiss was on the cheek. This left Alfred disappointed. He felt like he was cheated. He was hopping for England to go for the lips. He wanted to feel the Englishman's moist lips clash against his own.
"Are you in a better mood now?" England said when he pulled away. "Let's go home." He stood up.
"Fine." America was still disappointed. He grumpily sat up and got to his feet.
When England and America returned home, they were surprised to find Albert in the kitchen. The state was making lunch and was already half way through with a big sub sandwich when the two nations walked in.
"New York?" England's surprise told Alfred that the Brit did not arranged the meeting.
"Albert?" Alfred was just as startled by his son's sudden reappearance.
"Yo." New York lazily greeted them. "Sandwich?" He held up his sandwich for the two to see.
"No thanks." England rejected the food. "What brings you here?" Translation: Why the hell are you here? I tried to call you so many bloody times this week, and you wouldn't respond to any of them! Inner England raged.
"I just came by to say hello and to see how the research has been coming along." Albert said. "I actually didn't get to your messages until this morning because of my troublesome voice mailbox."
America blinked. England had sent Albert messages? In less than a week? That was amazing! "How did you do that?" He asked England. "That's so cool!" (4)
"England would love to tell you how," New York interrupted his father. "But I really need to speak to him now about your little time issue." He pushed England into the hall. "Stay in the kitchen, Alfred! Our chat won't last that long!"
England screamed. "Where the hell are we going to?"
"Shhh…" Albert silenced the Brit. "We'll be talking in Alfred's room."
"Can't you stop pushing me like that!" England cried. "Didn't Alfred teach you any manners?"
New York ignored him. "How's the research coming? Found anything helpful?"
England shrugged. "Nothing much. Alfred's scenario is strange."
"It is." Albert agreed. "Those books told you that time traveling was forbidden, didn't they"
"You looked up magic?" England asked. He thought that Albert stopped believing in magic ages ago.
"Yes I did." The New Yorker stated. "It turns out that even you magicians even have no control over time itself. Strange how magic seems to make things more complicated than being more convenient."
"Magic is a dangerous art," The former empire said. "It takes lots of knowledge and experience to perfect it."
"You saw those books where they asked for a hen's wisdom teeth?" The teen asked.
"Yes." The English gentleman replied. "Those aren't real. Those are just frauds."
"That's what I thought." New York said as he paced down the left side of the room. "So I take it that your search was fruitless."
"Did you find anything?" England raised his eyebrow.
"I did." New York said.
"What is it?" England asked. Could America finally return to the past? How so? Didn't they just talk about time traveling being impossible! Was there a loophole in the law?
"I will tell you." He said. "If you were to come with me to Alfred's room."
"What does his room hold importance of?" England wondered.
"Don't you think that America's description of how he came to the present sounded a bit suspicious?" The New Yorker asked England.
"I suppose so." England replied.
"What did he tell you?" Albert questioned.
The English man stared at New York. "Alfred said that he fainted in the battlefield and woke up in the present."
"Did he say why he fainted?" Was New York hiding something? Why all of the questions?
"No." England sadly said. He wished that America wouldn't be so vague. The research would have been easier if America would have been more specific of his journey.
"Didn't something happen back than in 1783?" Albert tried to remember. He thought of the many scars marked on US's body. Alfred had quite a collection of markings.
"That's right." England realized. He recalled the falling rain that was silenced by the sound of a bullet. "Alfred was shot."
"Thanks for telling me that." Albert said. Perfect match.
"Why are you thanking me?" England was truly confused. Shouldn't Albert be angry? Shouldn't the state be ready to break the Brit's neck for harming the New Yorker's father? "And why are you asking me all of this? What do you know? You're hiding something." England's eyes narrowed.
"Follow me to Alfred's room." New York ordered him; the two blonds were now walking up the stairs to Alfred's room.
"Will you finally tell me what's going on?" England asked.
"I will tell you as it is." Albert said.
Albert and England finally made it to the top of the stairs and ran off to Alfred's room.
"You didn't clean up his room." Albert commented when they opened the door to the mess. It looked like a tornado had struck Alfred's room, especially after New York dug through the mess in his warrant search.
"He doesn't let me go touch his room." England claimed. "Are those Texas?" He never noticed until now that New York was clutching tight onto Alfred's glasses. How long had Albert gained possession of Texas?
"Yes." New York moved the glasses over his eyes. "These are dad's glasses. I found them on the floor while I was looking through his stuff."
"You were looking through his stuff?" England shrieked.
"Be quiet." He glared at England. "I was looking for some evidence. Doesn't Alfred need these?" New York waved the glasses at England. "I'm surprised America could manage to survive up til now without walking into walls."
"What are you talking about?" England curtly asked the state. "America has perfect vision. He never needed glasses."
"Until Texas joined us," Albert recited the date. "December 29, 1845. Had you ever looked at the way America walks? Or if he could read signs from a far distance?"
England thought about what Albert just asked. Now that the Englishman thought about it, America did always slouched, even more than he normally did. More than the America should have. America did squinted his eyes a lot in frustration, and if England recalled correctly, yesterday, America struggled reading the shop signs when England and America were at the mall.
New York kept his eyes on England. "Well?" Albert demanded. "Did you?"
"He does struggle with reading signs." England admitted.
"What about his size?" Albert asked again. "Or his weight? His height? Had you paid attention to these details? You shared more days with him than I did, so my knowledge could only be supported by your observations."
"When we went shopping for his clothes, America wore the same size as US did (5)." England reported. "I think both of them weigh the same; they're both heavy, and I can't tell about his height because he never walks with a straight back."
"I see." Albert said.
"What does that mean?" England asked. "What will this prove?"
"That means that America has been using US's body the whole time." New York explained. "Their bodies have never physically switched. It means that America and US have never truly time traveled."
England blinked. America has not been time traveling? Well…that cleared up several things, but that still left the English nation's mind blank.
"England." New York asked him. "How sure are you that America's body is the same as US's?"
"Now that you have pointed that out," England said. "I think it's very apparent. They share so many similarities, their bodies, I mean. America still eats as much as US does."
"If you don't believe it," New York added. "We can always check if you want more proof."
"We can do that." The Brit didn't really think much when he said that.
"At least we are certain that this isn't a time traveling incident." New York was almost glad to know that time traveling wasn't possible, at least for now. Albert wasn't too sure if he could explain to his boss how why his father has been absent for almost a week. It probably wasn't the best idea for any nation to have the knowledge of changing history at all.
"You seem to know a lot." England continued. "When will you tell me? What is the issue with America? If he's not from the past, than what is he?"
"Look underneath America's bed." New York commanded.
"What?" The English nation looked surprised.
"Look under." He ordered the Brit again.
Hesitantly, England went down on his knees to take a peak underneath the American nation's bed. As expected there were clusters of rubbish and debris hidden beneath the furniture.
"Do you see that bottle?" Albert asked. He pointed his finger to the small white bottle lying on its side.
"Yes." England saw it.
"Pick it up." Albert commanded.
The former empire stared at the state. "Why?"
"Just pick it up." New York's voice was firm.
The Brit picked up the bottle and stared at it. It was one of those bottles that were made to contain tablets and pills.
The bottle's cap was made to prevent small children from getting their hands of the inside's contents.
"Do you understand what this is?" New York asked England.
The English man answered. "This is a bottle of pills."
"Do you recognize what type of pills these are for?" Albert's eyes were focused onto England's.
"Why don't you just tell what is it already?" England was starting to get impatient. He couldn't contain the sudden rising of fear in the pits of his guts. His instincts told him that there was going to be bad news.
New York slowly opened his bag that was slung to his side to retrieve the receipt. He took out the paper to hand them over to England. "I wanted you to see this yourself."
"Aren't these prescriptions?" England wondered. He stared at the chicken scratch writing of the doctor.
"Yes they are." The New Yorker confirmed. "These are pills prescribed by a doctor in West Virginia. The pills were picked up from the local pharmacy in Washington D.C."
"What are the pills for?" England was curious. A cold? Flu? Sleeping pills? Diet pills?
"These pills were prescribed because of this." The state now handed over thick stacks of documents to England.
"These are Alfred's transcripts of his health history?" England asked. "Most nations don't have one since we can't switch doctors that easily like humans can." There was always that fear of releasing too much information to the public. Some nations don't even bother getting one, because some think, 'Why bother if we can't control our own well-being?'. A nation's physical health depended on the economy and the government.
"The doctor has been Alfred's doctor for several decades." New York explained. "He's a bit like a close family friend."
"Where did you get these papers from?" The former empire asked.
"I got these from the hospital on my way here." Albert said. "The place recognized me immediately.
"His health looks fine for the most part." England commented. US was as fit as a mustang. For someone who always stuffed his face with burgers, US was in perfect health. Maybe a little sick because of the economy, but for the most part, he was still in fine condition.
"Look at the next page." Albert bitterly told the older nation.
England flipped to the next page. He watched England's eyes scan through the papers. The Brit's bright eyes darted all over the documents, there were signs of shock. Fear. Disbelief.
"England?" New York's voice bobbed up. "Something the matter?" He was afraid that this would have happened.
"H-how?" England's voice was shaky. "Is this possible?" Why must this be? So they have confirmed that America and US have not time traveled, right. That was clear. But this was not what England had in mind.
"Alfred never told you this?" New York assumed.
"No." England shook his head. "Never."
"I thought that since you two were very close, he would have told you." Albert was so sure that England might have known, or at least knew that US was on pills.
"That's what I thought." The English nation sadly smiled. Why didn't Alfred ever tell him of this? Didn't Alfred trust England? "You don't know about this either?"
"No." Albert replied. "Dad never told me this either. He hides a lot of things from me and the other states." He sounded so bitter.
"Why is he so stupid?" England cried. "That idiot! He shouldn't let people around him be in dark! Fuck!" The Brit cursed. "Idiot!"
"Did you read the symptoms?" New York tried to drag the English nation away from his anger.
"Yes." England replied. The English man couldn't believe it that he didn't notice it before.
New York quietly opened the bottle. The cap was unusually loose. The plastic cap fell to the ground.
"How long has this been going on?" England hesitantly asked the New Yorker.
"The files claimed that Alfred has been diagnosed since 1979, but that's only because the disorder was declared official on that same year." New York reported as he gave the bottle a small shake. "He could have had this before he was diagnosed. Perhaps even a century before that."
The bottle was almost filled to the top with pills. "It looks like dad has been neglecting to take these for awhile." Albert dumped the bottle upside down. Clusters of pills rained down onto the dirty wooden floor.
"I can't believe this," England moaned. He felt his hands slide down the smooth paper. The English gentleman could feel the bumpy ink of the letters. No matter how much the former empire prayed, the truth would not change.
Alfred was diagnosed with D.I.D. (6)
Author's Notes:
(1) - Plastic.
(2) - Colleges like Harvard or Yale were originally created to train those who were to attend a career in religion. The subjects that were taught in school in the revolution times included English, Latin, French, Bible, arithmetic's, literature, philosophy, etc. In the 19th century, the American school system began to focus more on practical subjects such as the sciences.
(3) - Yes, I realized that Jamestown was not settled until 1607. We had America and Canada exist before they became colonies or nations, so I assume that they come into existence when ideas are formed of the land their represent. We had Spain settle in certain parts of America before England found Jamestown. The origin of the name America is commonly said to have deprived from Amerigo Vespucci, an Italian merchant and cartographer who explored South America's east coast and the Caribbean sea in the early 1500s.
(4) - Delivering mail was a very slow process because of transportation's low technology. It took one person 9 days to go from one state to another during America's time period. Mail service was unreliable and unprivate because the mail carriers would sometimes lose them or read them when bored.
(5) - So why did America think that US's clothes were too big? Well, for one, he didn't wear a belt. Two, US wears really big clothes that feels very loose in America's opinion. And three, he made himself think that the clothes didn't fit, so it didn't fit him. When America tried the clothes at the mall, he had held the expectation that the clothes would fit, resulting in America choosing the same size as US. This idea was loosely based off of the Placebo effect theory, where college students who drank "near beer" acted and share the symptoms of being drunk because they thought that they were going to get drunk, so they did act drunk. This effect just proves how strange the human mind is and how much control they have in keeping and creating memories.
The size gap between US and UK isn't even that big. US is only about 1 inch taller than UK; US is slightly more muscular than UK, but asides from that, there isn't much of a difference between them in size.
(6) - You're on your own for this one. Have fun with research. If you actually care about what on earth this condition is. Or, you can just wait until next week to see what it is in my next chapter, but can you wait that long?
Notes: England still does not see America as a man, but things will eventually get better. I hope. It turns out that America and US did not switch through time at all and Alfred has D.I.D! -le gasp-
After retyping this so many times, I hope that the flow of the talking wasn't too awkward. I know New York took his pleasure time to get to his point, but you have to remember, Albert apparently did not know US's condition himself, so both he and England are shocked with the new finding. New York is trying not to spill too much information into England; he doesn't want England to be overwhelmed by the sudden flow of knowledge.
I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please post your thoughts and opinion of this chapter and review. I have been waiting so long to post this. Well...I've been saying that for lots of chapters lately. Actually, there many parts I had fun writing about. This just happens to be one my favorite. And it probably left you even more clueless than before and you will probably be mad at me for not saying more. Haha. That's the for next chapter. This is just the beginning of the end. If that actually makes any sense. We're almost three quarters done with this story. We still have seven chapters left. The next chapter will hopefully have some more explanations.