America looked down at the paper that had been shoved into his hands and then back up at the tall Virginian.

"Is this it? The final draft?" he asked. The sticky heat of Philadelphian summer had been making him sweaty and sluggish, but now a shiver ran through him and his heart pounded.

"It's a draft," Jefferson said, threading his long fingers together. He looked about as restless as America felt. "There are still some notes in the margins; I'll need to make a clean copy for Congress. But I want you to read it first."

"You sure? I mean, I'm not the best with words and stuff. Why don't you get Ben to read it for you, he's-"

"I don't need someone to proofread it. I want…" He paused and cleared his throat awkwardly. America had known the young red haired delegate for quite some time, and it seemed strange to see him at such a loss for words. "I don't fully understand what you are, Alfred, but I feel that your opinion on this is important. Or at least it would put my mind at ease if you looked it over first. I can't imagine we'll have much success if the spirit of our nation doesn't approve of the Declaration."

"I'm sure you did fine, Tom!" America said quickly, but when that didn't seem to reassure the man, he sighed. "Fine, I'll read it, if that makes you feel better."

The blond haired boy turned his attention back to the paper in his hands, squinting in the dim light of the room at the elegant handwriting. His mouth moved silently along with the words as he read.

"Well?" Jefferson asked, unable to keep a note of anxiety out of his voice.

"Still reading, Tom. Give me a minute, would you?"

"Ah, right. I'm sorry, take your time."

At long last, America lowered the paper and rubbed the bridge of his nose.

"Are you done, Alfred?"

"What? Oh, yeah, I'm finished. Just got a bit of a headache, reading in the dark and all."

"Why didn't you say something? I would have lit an extra candle if it was bothering you."

"Naw, not in this heat. Another candle and I'd just melt."

"Very well, but please, what did you think?"

It was America's turn to hesitate and hunt for the right words.

"I told you I'm not an expert at writing or anything but…but I think it's good. I think it's really good. I mean, um…I especially like this part here, 'We hold these truths to be self-evident…' And the 'we' is the important part, because it's a…a whatsit, a social contract. So if we agree that these truths are self-evident, then they are…that's right, isn't it?"

"So you have been listening to France."

"Well yeah, he's got some good ideas!" America said brightly. "So we agree that these truths are self-evident and…and 'all men are created equal…' I like how that sounds. It's kind of giving me goosebumps, in a good way."

"So you approve?"

"Absolutely. I don't know how much it counts for, but I've just got a good feeling about it." A grin twitched across his face. "I can't imagine what England's face will look like when he reads this thing. I bet his eyebrows are gonna fall off or something."

"Not so fast, Congress has to approve it first."

"Oh, they will! And then England will finally start taking me seriously." His face suddenly grew solemn and his eyes dropped back to the draft of the Declaration in his hands. His eyes saw past the paper, to something far away, something shining and precious that he could almost reach out and touch. "I won't be his colony to use how he pleases," he continued feverishly. "I…I'll be independent. Free. I'll do whatever it takes to get there."

"I wish I had your confidence, Alfred," Jefferson said, smiling slightly, "though God knows where that confidence comes from."

"I've got some great guys on my side," America said, looking back at Jefferson with a brilliant smile of his own. "How can I fail when I've got people like you with me?"

Historical Notes:

Thomas Jefferson was the primary author of the Declaration of Independence, which was written in 1776 and approved by Congress on July 4th. Parts of Enlightenment philosophy went into it, such as the social contract that was mentioned (the French philosopher Rousseau was one of the men to write about it.)

In my head canon, America was really close to a lot of his founding fathers and often called them by their first names. Hey, we're all buddies here, right? Come on Ben, I wanna go fly kites. Or something.

Happy Birthday, America!