It was the beginning of the World Meeting, and Shelby was shuffling down the hallway by herself. America had already taken his seat inside, but she had opted to stay in the hallway and wait for someone. What she had learned in school this week... Well, she felt incredibly bad about it, and decided someone deserved an apology, whether she had been there for it or not.

"Hola, Shelby! How is the weather going in the ole Yankee state?" Juan called as he approached her, a nonchalant smile on his face.

Without a word, Shelby met him half-way quickly, and wrapped his arms around him in an embrace.

His eyes widened in surprised, and he raised a brow. "Señorita? Are you okay?" He asked with half concern, half fear.

"I'm sorry about the Mexican American War." Shelby whispered, and she swore she felt Juan flinch. "We... We shouldn't have attacked you in the first place. We shouldn't have helped Texas expand the border to the Rio Grande. We shouldn't have instigated the war... We shouldn't have taken half your land."

She let go of him and looked up at him, trying to keep composed as Mexico looked down at her sadly. "We may have won the war, but we really lost in the long run. We're suppose to fight for Liberty, freedom, people's rights. But we started a war because we wanted land. Because we wanted to follow our manifest destiny."

Shelby was on the verge on tears now. "That's the exact opposite of what we're suppose to stand for. W-we drove your country into poverty; imagine if you had gotten to keep California, then you would have gotten all that gold, all that fertile land, and maybe you wouldn't have been so bad off. It's not fair." She explained in a waning rush of breath, her face beginning to turn red. "I'm so sorry we did that to you. We're not very good neighbors. We tried to the same thing with Canada, and-"

"You can stop."

"We tried to take Quebec and we attacked Ontario in 1812 and no even remembers it! No one talks about the War of 1812 or the Mexican American War because it just shows how awful we are-"

"SHELBY!"

Shelby flinched slightly at Mexico raising his voice at her, and she muttered profuse apologies for both the war that occurred in the 19th century and for annoying and reminding him about it.

To her surprise, he placed a hand on her shoulder and smiled. "I'm not mad about it anymore amiga. That was a long time ago. The United States... It's a different country now. You have more sensible leaders than you think. President Polk, he was a real lunático. The soldiers could do nothing but obey orders, and Alfred is swayed by the thoughts and actions of his people. It was not his fault, nor his idea. I know that."

She sniffed. "Don't tell Alfred I said were an awful country, por favor. Or Matthew that I feel bad about 1812... I don't want to make him or the girls think I sound Canadian."

He chuckled, taking her elbow gently and guiding her towards the World meeting room. "It will stay a secret. Promise."

She wiped her face. "Gracias."

He smiled, "De nada."

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Yeah I felt bad about the Mexican American War. It made me sad to think we would invade and kill innocent people like that just for land. Adding it to the long list of things that are embarrassing about American history.