America's Depression

Heroes don't die, right? (Prologue)

The young blonde-haired boy sat among the field of tall grass looking up to the stars. He would go here, every night,  before his brother called him to sleep. Alfred, as the boy was called, would gaze happily at the bright twinkling lights. The dark helped bring the true vastness of space to light. He'd sit and spend as long as he could just staring at the constellations, trying to remember all the stories his mother used to tell him. He remembered the archer, but a feeling of guilt grew in his stomach when he couldn't remember the rest.

In fact, he couldn't remember anything about his mother. She was beautiful. Strong, fierce and so beautiful. But...that was all. Arthur, or England, had taken him away from her when he was still very young. Alfred didn't know what had happened to her. England refused to speak of her and for the rest of his life Alfred would never know what happened to his mother. It was sad, but Alfred never minded much. He knew wherever she was, she'd always be watching over him.

As for England, he was a good brother, at least he thought so. He took care of Alfred best he could but he always felt Alfred was distant at times. At night, Arthur would try to impress his little brother by bringing their stories to life. He'd use his magic to create the setting and actions of the story right in front of them. It made Alfred happy every time, but even in those moments, Arthur knew something between them was not right.

It actually started to hurt England, knowing his brother was not happy. He tried his best to make life happy for Alfred.

Alfred never realized the effect his emotionlessness had on Arthur.

Still, England tried to make him happy and Alfred loved England with all his heart.

"Hey..." Alfred's head turned to see his older brother come walking through the tall grass over to him. "Oh, hey, Engwand." Alfred smiled and continued looking at the sky. "What are you doing out here?" Arthur asked, sitting beside the young boy. "Lookin'" Was all Alfred said as he gazed at the starry night sky. Arthur chuckled a bit and shook his head. "Well, that's quite obvious, Alfred. What do you see?" 

"Stars"

England twitched but managed to maintain his cool. He smiled and laughed a bit, rustling Alfred's hair up. Alfred giggled and tried fixing his messy hair. "Look, there's the Archer!" He said, pointing at the Constellation. Arthur looked up into the sky and pointed at others. "Yeah, and there's the Big Dipper and the Little Dipper an..."

"Will you tell me a story?" Alfred interrupted, grabbing the sleeve of Arthurs jacket.

England looked down and smiled. "Alright then...What kind of story do you want to hear, tonight?"

"Hero's and Bad Guys!" Alfred said, happily, climbing into Arthurs lap.

"Hahaha, how did I know you were going to say that?" Arthur said, chuckling.

Alfred smiled and snuggled up to Arthur, waiting to hear the story.

"Are you ready? Alright then. Where shall we start, where shall we start? Hmm, ah! Alright. Ahem." England prepared to tell his story.

"Once upon a time, there was a...young farmer boy named Alfred." Alfred giggled because he always liked when Arthur used his name.  "He was very smart and kind and hard working. One day, a scary pirate named Francis came to the boy and asked him to sell him some rope.  He didn't tell the boy why he needed rope, but the smart little boy knew he was up to no good and said he wouldn't sell him the rope. The pirate got mad and threatened the boy, but he stood his ground. Suddenly, a whole crew of pirates captured the little boy and his family and tied them all up with the rope. Luckily, the boy's little brother got away and was able to get help. The whole village fought the pirates and were able to get Alfred and his family back to safety. Some people were hurt but everyone was able to live happily ever after. The End." 

Alfred suddenly got very quiet and Arthur got worried. "Alfred, are you alright?" He asked the boy. Alfred nodded then looked up and asked "Engwand? Can hero's die?"

Arthur looked down at Alfred's sad face. "W-well, um..." Alfred looked down again and said "My mommy was a hero. Why did she die? Do you think...I could've saved her if I went to tell the village?"

Arthur felt a prang of guilt, anger and sadness run through his entire body. "Not everyone get's to survive, Alfred. Good people die for good reasons. Your mother died protecting you, America."

Alfred knew Arthur was serious when he used his Country name. He felt sad for some reason, and didn't know why.

"She was a hero. She was your hero. Now, it's your turn to be that hero to everyone else, Alfred." Arthur smiled down and hugged Alfred close. "You need to be there to protect people, everyone. Alright, Love?"

Alfred looked up and nodded, smiling at his Big Brother. 

"I will, Arthur. I promise, I'll protect you and everyone. I'll be smart, strong, hardworking and kind. And I promise, even if I die, I will protect you and everyone else!"

He didn't know why, but England felt in his heart something big had changed in his younger brothers life. He stood up and held his hand out for Alfred. "You don't need to die, Love. We'll protect each other, right?" Alfred smiled and took his hand, walking back to the house.

"Engwand?" Alfred said, softly.

"Yes, Alfred?" Arthur looked down at his little brother. Alfred smiled more brightly then he ever had and said...

"I promise, I'll be your hero, ok?"