Georgia sat on his bed in the small lodging at the capitol put aside for the captured southern states as the Civil War drew to a close.

He didn't need newspapers or the whispering guards to tell him they lost.

The southern state stared at the faded letter in his hands, one of many he was writing to his children and Kentucky, letters that would never be seen, never be read, never be touched by his family. As he touched the faded paper on the edges and looked at the words Kentucky would never read, the door opened.

"North Carolina wants to visit with you." One of the guards announced. Georgia didn't glance up, just nodded and his door was closed, seconds later it was reopened again and North Carolina stepped inside. North crossed his arms and looked at the sullen man who kept going over the letters.

"They're tellin' me you ain't eatin'." North Carolina announced.

"No point." Georgia whispered.

"Georgia you need to eat." North Carolina pointed out. "A hunger strike ain't gettin' us out of here."

"You think I'm purposely doin' a hunger strike? How dumb are you?" Georgia snickered. North Carolina face palmed and looked down at the papers in Georgia's hands.

"What are those?" North Carolina asked.

"Letters, to Kentucky, to the babies..." Georgia whispered.

"Why haven't you sent them?" Georgia shook his head and laid back on his bed facing the wall, letting the letters fall next to him. North Carolina sighed.

"Georgia we need you to fight...." North Carolina began stopping at the snort.

"Fight? Fight. There's no point in fighting anymore." Georgia whispered.

"Yes there is! If you ain't going to fight for the cause, at least fight for your family!" North Carolina argued. Georgia sat immediately up in bed, tears starting to fall down his cheeks and glaring at the southern state.

"My family? You want me...to fight for my family?" Georgia whispered.

"Be a man and fight for them!" North Carolina continued.

"MY FAMILY IS DEAD." Georgia screamed, the waterfall of tears finally breaking and coating his entire face. North Carolina froze.

"I don't know if Kentucky got the twins out in time! I don't know if my babies are safe! My babies are dead! Kentucky is DEAD. This stupid war took everything away from me!" Georgia screamed.

"You don't know that." North Carolina pointed out. "For all you know they made it out! Don't you wanna know where they are?"

"THEY'RE DEAD." Georgia yelled, throwing the letters to the ground. "THEY'RE DEAD AND I COULDN'T PROTECT THEM. JUST LET ME DIE." The southern state collapsed back on the bed, loud sobs wracking his already weakened body. North Carolina didn't know what to say or what to do as he watched the man cry, finally making the choice to bend down and start collecting the letters he spilled, eyes catching on one addressed to the twins.

DeeDee, Izzy,

Daddy here again. They've got my put in this room in the Capitol that smells like musty old socks and keep trying to give me this porridge stuff to eat that looks like papa's cooking. Don't tell your papa I said that. I hope you all are safe, and you're minding your papa and doing everything he says. I'm sorry I can't be with you right now but I'll hopefully be out soon. I can't wait to see your bright faces and hug you again, I miss your hugs so much.

Someday we'll be a family again,

Daddy

North Carolina looked up at Georgia who continued to sob and was about to go comfort him, when the door opened again.

"North. Times up." The guard announced.

"A few more minutes, he's upset." North Carolina begged.

"You had enough time, out." The guard ordered. North Carolina sighed and put the letters back on the bedside table, leaving the sobbing southern man in his room as he walked out. Secretly, however, North Carolina grabbed one of the letters and stuck it in his back pocket, and as the guards closed the door behind him, he turned to one of the more friendlier ones.

"Can you find where the state of Kentucky is and make sure he gets this?" North Carolina asked, handing the guard the letter.

"We're not allowed to send out your mail." The guard explained.

"That's his partner." North Carolina hissed pointing back to the lodge where Georgia sobbed. "You can at least let him know he's alive." The guard looked back at the letter then back at the southern state before taking the letter.

"I'll see what I can do, but there's no guarantee it'll get to him." The guard pointed out.

"Try your best, that's all I ask." North Carolina begged as the rest of the guards took him away back to his lodging. The guard watched the group go before turning on his heel, making his way to the mail room to (hopefully) fulfill the man's request. As he walked, he could read some of the words through the thin piece of paper from the lantern lights hanging in the hall.

Tucky,

I'm safe, I promise you I'm safe. I only pray that you and our babies are safe as well. They got me in Atlanta after it burned, I heard it was Sherman who burnt the city to the ground. I can't believe Ohio would do this to us, I thought he was different, I thought he loved this family.

I probably can't get a letter back from you, but I just want to make sure you got our babies and yourself out before anything happened to you. I don't think I could go on without you three.

I'll love you forever and then forever more,

Geo