A/N

Chapter twelve! Yay!

I hope you looked that last chapter!

If you did, then you might like this one too!

~Oliver.

Chapter Twelve.

~°~

~°Still Flashback°~

America fell deeper into depression. He self harmed more often. Smiled brighter. Laughed harder and more often. Just to be sure that no one would notice. Who would question if he were in a better mood than usual? No one. What they would question is sadness from America. And so he continued acting.

The funeral was small. Not many people knew about Pennsylvania, only some people she met. Most of them died by now, considering the people she met during and before the Revolution and stuff.

America arrived to the funeral late. He had had to make breakfast for his kids and everything, and convince them not to come. There would be too many people if they came, so America only brought New York and Virginia because their states had also suffered from 9/11, and a few of the states that Pennsylvania had gotten along well with.

England was there too (not that he got along with any of the states, really, and he only knew about the colony ones) because he felt bad for the Revolutionary War and wanted to make it up to all of the colonies. Canada was there, too, because he was, well, Canada.

(A/N So Canada already knew about them. It's hard not two when Canada lived right next door.)

America came in after the funeral had started (why would they start without the father?!), and the states sat in the back.

New York, Virginia, and the other states all said some words for their sister. They glanced at their father after they spoke. England and Canada followed the state's gazes. They knew that this must've been hard on the nation, but they were surprised nonetheless.

America was sitting on the floor in the far corner of the room, his face in his hands, and they could tell that he was crying — no, he was full-on sobbing — quietly.

(A/N Like he pic in the media that I drew. I'm sorry, I'm a terrible artist.)

It seemed as if someone had put him on mute. His body racked violently with sobs, but not a sound escaped him.

"It's like when Disney died," Illinois (who Pen had gotten along with quite well, actually) whispered, "but worse."

"Way worse," Delaware agreed. "Way, way worse."

"I've never seen him like this," Illinois said worriedly.

Delaware, New York, and Virginia exchanged glances that didn't go unnoticed by anyone, except for maybe America. England looked down. This was noticed as well, but not commented on.

The states went over to comfort their father.

~°Flashback End (Finally)°~

America pushed those memories out of his head as he helped Confederacy save their kids.

No more of his kids were going to die. Never again. America would never be able to live with himself. He would be a hero. Or, as much of one as he could be. He was going to protect their kids.

No matter what.

~°~

America was distracted.

Union could tell. Dark thoughts were practically being projected from him. He couldn't tell what they were, which scared Union, though he would never admit it.

Out of the three of them — America, Union, and Confederacy — America had experienced more bad things than any of them. He had been the one in the body for everything major — World Meetings, the wars; okay, America was pretty much always the one in control — and he would probably be remembering some of them. He was pretty good at hiding his thoughts (if Union hadn't known America well, then he wouldn't have noticed) by doing normal things at the same time, because he is very talented at multitasking and acting.

~°Hi, my name is Time Skip°~

The sound of sirens filled the air, and the firemen and woman were there, putting out the fire and saving people. Confederacy rushed out to meet them (tell them how many people were in there, etc.).

He was about to go back in, but was stopped by a hand on his arm. He spun around, startling the fireman, and crossed his arms expectantly.

"Don't go in," the fireman said. "We've got it covered."

Confederacy tilted his head to the side, and he smiled slightly. All the fire people, states, and nations watching the scene shuddered slightly involuntarily at the Russia-like smile. Even Russia shuddered — this smile was more creepy and threatening than his; this was not the America that they knew.

(A/N Well he's Confederacy right now, so. . . .)

"You want me," Confederacy started in a calm, yet slightly threatening, tone, "to leave all my kids in there without helping them? I'm going back in, and if you try and stop me, no one will be able to stop me from doing whatever I want to you."

Confederacy spun on his heel and started running towards the house, when the fireman called again. "Wait!"

Confederacy spun around. If looks could kill, then this fireman would be completely and utterly dead. Millions and billions of times over.

"Take this, at least," the fireman said, holding out a gasmask.

"Toss it!" Confederacy shouted, since he was halfway across the huge yard by now.

"You know how to put it on?" The fireman asked.

"Yes! I remember when the dam things were created! Just give it!"

The fireman tossed it, and Confederacy snatched it out of the air, and put it on like it was second nature.

Then, once again, he charged into the burning house as firemen used their hoses (theirs actually worked though) to start putting out the raging fire.

~°~

"That was terrible," Union groaned later, once they had gotten everyone out of the house and the firemen and woman had stopped the fire. It was evening now, and everything had settled down. They were lying on a couch in Canada's house, getting ready to go to sleep.

"I know, right?" Confederacy replied.

"I should never had offered to let dad cook," America admitted. "It's my fault."

Union slapped his arm not-so-lightly. "Don't blame yourself! It wasn't your fault."

"Yeah," Confederacy agreed. "It really wasn't. Dad is the one who set the barbecue on fire."

"How did it even get across the yard, anyways?" America asked curiously.

"I don't know," Confederacy said. "The heat wasn't high enough, and not a blade of grass was on fire. Except for some really close to the house, of course."

"Dad loves to do the impossible," America said. "And the improbable. Like that one time when he burned that soup when we were still a colony."

The other two nodded in agreement.

"At least he didn't burn down the house that time though," Union said.

Confederacy and America nodded in agreement.

There was a moment of silence. America broke it.

"Let's get to sleep now. Let's see what our subconsciousnesses make us dream now."

The other two nodded. They settled into their separate corners, lying in surprisingly comfy brain beds. America saw the Mind start to come up with some dream that they would all dream that night.

A/N

They didn't need to be awake when the body was sleeping; one of them would automatically wake up if they were in any danger or something that they were interested in came up. The body wouldn't wake up unless it was time for it to wake up or something though (like, the body wakes up naturally, but they can also wake up forcibly if one of the three personifications wants it to, but if they wake up inside the mind but don't want to actually wake up in "real life", then they won't).

Anyways, there's the chapter for you! I hope you all liked it!

~Oliver.