AmericaxChild!Reader- Never Forget

“Alfred you wanker! Wait up!” Britain yelled as he chased after America, followed closely by Canada and France.

“Hahahaha! Try to catch me!” America shouted back as he dodged through pedestrians and tourists that crowded Times Square. The others chase after him, going in circles for a while, until he seems to disappear in the crowd. Britain ambled to a halt and eventually stopped, he stood there with his hands on his knees, panting. Canada and France stumbled after him.

“Mon dieu. We’ll never find him in this crowd.” France said between breaths. Britain shook his head.

“Leave him. I’ll call him on his cell later.” Britain said, standing up and straightening his shirt. “This way we’ll be able to at least sightsee in peace and without him moaning about how we’re so slow.”

“I have a New York guidebook in my bag.” Canada said quietly, but neither of the others seemed to notice that he’d spoken.

“Hahaha!” America laughed as he dodged through the crowds and made his way towards a less crowded street where he stopped, panting. “C’mon you guys!” He yelled at the crowd. After a few minutes when no one came looking for him he shrugged. “Oh well. I’ll catch ‘em later.” He looked at his watch, which read 8:44 and he grinned.

“We’ve got loads of time before lunch! I’ll show them my favorite McDonalds!” He said happily, shoving his hands in his jacket pockets and walking down the street. It was much less crowded than Times Square, with only a few people who had stopped to take pictures of the Twin Towers in the landscape. He grinned as he looked at the two towers, looming over all of the other skyscrapers. A little girl who couldn’t have been more than four or five ran past him, laughing happily. His watch’s screen changed from 8:44 to 8:45.

~*Your POV*~
(Timeskipping back by only a minute, so it’s 8:44 again)

You laughed happily as you ran ahead of your mother.

“______, wait!” Your mother yelled behind you. Since you were only four years old your mother was worried that you would get lost, or worse. You ignored her and continued running through the almost abandoned street, heading towards Time Square. You saw a few scattered tourists looking over each other shoulders at maps and taking pictures of the towers behind you. You pass a man who looks like he’s about nineteen with sandy blond hair in an aviator jacket. Running past him you stop to turn around and look back at your mother, who’s trying her best to catch up to you.

“Come on mommy!” You yell, jumping up and down in excitement, but not continuing to run. Your mother is running towards you, about six yards away from the man in the jacket when the time was 8:45. You were waving to your mother when you noticed some movement out of the corner of your eye and you look up just in time to see something smash into the side of the North Tower.

The tall man in the aviator jacket suddenly cried out in pain and fell to the ground. His left hand went to his head and pushed himself up into a crouching position and took his hand away from his head. Even from two yards away you can see the red liquid on the man’s hand and the blood dripping from his head. All of the other people screaming and pointing to the towers seemed to fade into the background as the man groaned in pain.Your mother had stopped running and had turned around to see what all the commotion was about, and was now watching the towers. You looked back at the man and than ran over to him.

“Hey! Hey mister! Are you okay?” You asked him, tugging on the edge of the his aviator jacket. He turned to look at you, his bright blue eyes meeting yours and he grinned weakly.

“Y-yeah kid. I’m fine.” He said, trying to cover up the gash on his head. You looked confused.

“But you’re bleeding!” You insisted, tugging on his sleeve. “You need a band-aid! When I get a cut my mommy always puts a band-aid on it.” You continued to tug on his sleeve.

“_______!” You heard your mother say as you looked over at her.

“He’s hurt mommy!” You insisted, pointing at the man’s head. The man shook his head and tried to stand up, only to stumble backwards and than get back into a crouching position.

“I’m fine.” He insisted. “I just-I just need to get to my siblings.” He stammered.

“You have siblings? Lucky!” You said. He grinned.

~*America’s POV*~

There was this little girl tugging at my sleeve and telling her mother about how needed a band-aid. At least I think that was what she was saying. I was having trouble hearing and I couldn’t see very well. There was a loud ringing in my ears.

“Hey! Hey mister! Mister!” The little girl was saying as the ringing died down. Her mother had come closer. “My mommy wants to know your sibling’s cellphone number!”

I shook my head and mumbled something, I didn’t even know what I was saying as the ringing in my ears returned. I tried to stand up again, this time using the wall for help. I stumbled forward a little bit and looked up at the towers. My towers.

“Sir, you need to sit down.” I heard in the background, the girl’s mom was trying to get me to sit down and I tried to wave her away, but she was a lot farther away then I had thought. Or I couldn’t get enough strength to lift my arm far. No, that couldn’t be it. I groaned my towers and the rest of the world blurred in and out of focus.

“Sit down sit down!” I heard the little girl protesting, and a felt someone tugging on the bottom of my jacket. I grinned and shook my head weakly. I pressed my hand against the side of my head harder, trying to stop the bleeding. Suddenly I heard what sounded like an explosion through the ringing and felt a sharp pain in my stomach.

~*Your POV*~

The man let out a cry of pain and fell backwards, he hit the sidewalk with a thud and clenched his teeth. His right went to his stomach, where a red spot was beginning to grow.

“I have to call an ambulance!” You mother said. The man makes a weak groan of protest and tries, and fails, to get your mother to stop. “I’m sorry, but you’ve already lost a lot of blood! You’ll be able to tell your siblings where you are at the hospital!”

“No. I-I” He mumbled before coughing and shaking his head.

“Mister! You need to rest!” You cut in, putting a hand on his shoulder. He coughs and grins.

“I need-I need to help. I-I’m the hero.” He said weakly, pointing at the towers, smoke pouring out of both of them.

“There are fireman in there by now.” Your mother said while dialing on her cellphone. She walked a few feet away from the man on the ground so she could talk to the 911 operator without any interruptions. The man tried to get up but you decided to put all your weight onto his shoulder.

“Y-you don’t understand.” He mumbled as he laid on the ground. Your mother walked back over to you and the man.

“I’ve called the ambulance. They said it may take a while to get here.” She said, she sounded worried. The man shook his head and coughed.

“But-but I-I need to help.”

“You’re to weak right n-”

“Alfred? Alfred!” You heard, and you stood up to see three men running towards you three. One of them looked a lot like the man on the ground, except he had lighter hair, one had longer hair, and the one in the front had the biggest eyebrows you had ever seen. The man on the ground, apparently Alfred, tried to get up.

“Dude, where have you been.” He mumbled as he fell back.

“We lost you in the crowd after you ran away from us!”

“You were taking to long.”

“You bloody git! Who did you piss of this time?”

Alfred just laughed weakly. “Aw c’mon Arthur. Chill out dude.”

“Chill out? You’re bleeding!” The man, Arthur, snapped, but you could see the worry on his face. The man with the longer hair took a handkerchief out of his pocket and pressed it against Alfred’s head. It turned red to quickly.

“Here!” You said, taking off your (f/c) sweatshirt and holding it out towards the man with the longer hair. He blinked, and than smiled.

“Why thank you little madamè.” He said, smiling at you. He took it and replaced the handkerchief with it.

“Alfred, seriously, who did you piss off?” The man who looked like Alfred asked him.

“I have no idea this time Matthew. Honestly. I think.”

~*Le awesome timeskip*~

It was 9:43, at least according to your mother’s watch. The others were getting fidgety. The man you had given your sweater to, Francis, had had to remove his jacket because your sweater had lost the ability to absorb anymore. Matthew was breathing out of a paper bag, he’d had a panic attack about fifteen minutes ago when Alfred hadn’t said anything for to long.

Arthur had asked, probably fifty times, if your mother was sure an ambulance was on the way. To which your mother had replied the first thirty times that something massive was also going on. The next twenty times she just nodded and said ‘mm-hmm.’ Finally you heard a siren growing louder as an ambulance came around the street corner. You stood up and pointed to it.

“Hey look!” You said. The others nodded.

“Nice spotting _______” Arthur said, forcing a smile, though it looked more like a grimace than anything. But you still felt proud of yourself all the same. The ambulance pulled to a stop about five yards away and they unloaded a gurney from the back and ran over.

“Don’t yell at us for taking to long!” The first man said, and your mother shook her head.

“We weren’t going to.” She replied and the man nodded. Suddenly Francis yelped and you looked over at Alfred. He was sitting upright, and behind the pain his face had a peculiar expression on it. Like he felt like he was going t-

Suddenly he puked up a bunch of red stuff and you hid behind your mom. On her watch you happened to see that the time now read 9:45. The ambulance man said a word that you didn’t know and your mother yelled at him, and he then quickly apologized. They loaded him in the gurney, which, for the first time that day Alfred didn’t fight against the medical attention. His siblings quickly filed in after the ambulance men. You started to follow them, but your mother caught your arm. You looked at her, confused and she shook her head at the ambulance men. They shut the doors of the ambulance and climbed in the front.

“Aren’t we going to go too mommy?” You asked, trying to get out of her grip.

“We need to go home sweetie.”

“But what about Alfred?”

“He’s got his siblings now.”

“But I want to know if he’ll be alright!”

“Him or one of his siblings will call us.”

“But you didn’t give them our number! Mommy I want to go with them!” You yelled. You heard the ambulance sirens blip twice and it started to pull away from the curve. “Wait!” You yelled, fighting your mother’s grip. She picked you up off the ground.

“I know you want to go but we’ll just get in the way.”

“No! No I won’t! I’ll be good! I want to go!” You yelled, struggling in your mother’s grip. The ambulance drove away from you and your mother. “No! No I need to make sure Alfie is alright! Mommy! MOMMY!” You screeched, sobbing in your mother’s arms as she tried to comfort you.

~*Britain’s POV*~

For the first time that day I saw the look of fear on America’s face. As he was being driven to the hospital he had coughed up some more blood and had gotten two twin gashes on his chest. Over the radio which was on the news channel I heard that the towers had done the unthinkable. They had collapsed.

I clutched my little brother’s hand as the ambulance waded through the traffic. His hand was sticky, but I didn’t care. I caught him looking around the inside of the ambulance, like he was looking for something.

“Everyone’s here.” I said. But he kept looking around.

“Her mother wouldn’t let her come. I heard her crying as the ambulance left. I’m sorry Alfred. She was very kind to you.” France said, squeezing America’s arm. America closed his eyes tightly and sighed, than opened them again.

“She wanted to come.” Canada said softly. “That’s why she was crying, her mother wouldn’t let her.” America just shook his head and the ambulance driver sounded the sirens once more as a truck refused to move out of the way.

~*Le more awesome timeskip*~

It was twelve years later. You were sixteen now, but you had never forgotten that day, or most of the events that had followed. About two years ago they had built the 9/11 memorial, and since than you had been a frequent visitor.

You weren’t looking for a name, you had just wanted to come. You felt that as someone who had witnessed the events that day you almost had an obligation to come. Not to mention you had always nursed a small hope. The same hope that had kept you coming back to that sidewalk where you had met Alfred every chance you could. You would sit down with a book and wait all day sometimes, but he would never show up.

You sighed and looked back at the names. You knew exactly who was where, or at least, most of the people. You could hear the gentle rush of the fountains in the background, and it seemed to sooth you. You were aware of someone behind you, but you didn’t turn around. It was probably someone looking for a name. You sighed again, there were to many names.

“Do you need help finding someone?” A man asks. He seems like he’s purposely keeping his voice, and that it’s probably usually louder. “I accidentally memorized most of the names locations.” He continues. You shook your head.

“No. I just came to look. I also memorized a lot of the names.” you said, grinning a little. The man behind you laughs quietly.

“Same here. I also come to just look.” He says and your both quiet. He doesn’t leave though, and neither do you. “Where were you?” He asked after a few moments of silence. You told him that you were with your mom at the time. That you were by Times Square. But you left out the entire part
where there was the man, Alfred, and how he was bleeding, and his siblings.

“Where were you?” You ask when you finish telling your partially true story.

“I was in Times Square with my twin and two half-brothers.” He says, stepping up next to you so he can see the names better. You turn your head slightly to look at him, but quickly snap it back to staring at the plaques. Your heart is hammering double time and you try to wipe the surprised look off of your face.

It was him. The man in the jacket. The bleeding man. Alfred. It had to be. He had the same color hair, hairstyle, glasses, heck, even his jacket was the same. The tan aviator jacket. If you looked on his left side you would probably see some very faint stain marks. Or he may have gotten a new jacket. You gulped and managed to put the face you had before back on.

“Did you see the planes crash?” You asked him, your heart still going double-time. He nodded. “Well, I didn’t see the second plane crash into the South Tower.” You continue. Alfred rubbed his lower left stomach area, like it was instinct.

“Why not? I know most people couldn’t take their eyes off of it.” He said, obviously curious. You took a deep breath.

“Well, I had run ahead of my mom and I had turned to face her, and the towers, when I saw the first plane collied with the North Tower. At the same time I saw a man collapse and his head started to bleed.” You started, looking at Alfred out of the corner of your eye, and you immediately noticed that he had started to raise his hand to his head when you mentioned the North Tower, than he stopped it. He had also started to get fidgety.
You continued with your story, talking about how the man had wanted to help the people in the towers even though he was bleeding. You told him about how the guy’s siblings had found him, and how long it took the ambulance to come. And how you had cried because you had wanted to go with your new friends to make sure he was okay.

“Was he?” Alfred asked when you were finished, his throat sounded really dry. You shrugged.
“I don’t know. Like I said, I wasn’t able to go with him. But I hope he’s okay.” You said, looking at Alfred straight on for the first time since you were little. He was looking at you, wide-eyed.

“_-_____?” He stammered, blinking. You grinned.

“Long time no see Alfred!” You said happily. You two immediately started to talk to each other about what had been going on when another familiar voice sounded.

“Alfred you git! Hurry up we’re already late fo- Oh, sorry about that, I didn’t see you were talking to someone.” Arthur said, walking up to Alfred, but stopping when he saw that he was talking to you. Alfred grinned and started to bounce.

“Dude dude dude dude dude! You’re never going to guess who it is!” Alfred yelled in a hushed voice. Arthur furrowed his (massive) eyebrows and looked at you. You grinned and gave him a small wave.

“It’s been a while Arthur.” You said, grinning. Arthur was a bit taken aback, and than came closer and squinted his eyes.

“I don’t-” He said, and shook his head. You rolled your eyes. Sure it had been twelve years, but that was no excuse.

“I have great spotting skills Arthur. Remember now?” You said, dropping hints. Arthur green eyes seemed to clear as he gasped.

“My god ______! Is it really you?” He asked. You grinned. Arthur shook his head in disbelief. “You’ve gotten so tall! Though that is to be expected...” he said, trailing off. He looked up, apologetically. “We actually are late to a very important meeting.”

“Wait, is it seriously today?!” Alfred yelped, looking at his watch. “I thought it was tomorrow!” Arthur shook his head.

“Francis and Matthew are waiting for us.” Arthur said. Alfred groaned. You shoved a card at Alfred. He asked you a question with his eyes.

“It’s my email address. I won’t loose you a second time.” You said, grinning.

“Right. Bye _______! See you soon!” He said, following his brother and waving at you. You waved back and grinned and looked back at the plaques.

~*America’s POV*~

I was happier than I usually was when I left the memorial. Britain had put the card in his pocket because he was the most trusted to not leave in his clothes and put in the wash by accident. I leaned against the window and thought back to every other time I had just stared at the plaques at the memorial. I wondered how many times I’d passed ________ over in a crowd of people there.

I closed my eyes and thought back to the day. Where I couldn’t save them. I would never forget. Just like _________ said. She said she would never forget that day either. It would be a crime to forget it.

Never forget.