I remember that time... the time when my nation joined that horrible, horrible second World War. Even now it sticks out like a searing hot iron rod in my brain that simply won't leave me be, just like all of my other wars.

That day started off like any other, I was just lounging about at my breakfast table, gulping down a meal I referred to as a 'country-style breakfast'. I happened to glance at the wall, barely registering that it was December 7 in the year of 1941. It being December, I already had thoughts of putting up millions of lights and sparkly ornaments, of getting the biggest pine tree I could find and then bringing it inside, when all of the states would come to my house and stay for the holidays. These thoughts had brought a smile to me, I remember, when I suddenly felt a sharp pain in my right ankle.

The pain was like a knife, intense enough to make me stop what I was doing as it hit. Then, in the next second, it was gone. I immediately knew something was off, like any other nation, I never felt pain unless something was happening to my country. I thought instantly of a national disaster of some sort, when the phone rang. The shrill ringing echoed throughout my empty house as if I were in a cave. I sighed and got up from my chair, I had thought it was Britain again, or perhaps France or China, heck, I thought that, in a long stretch, it could have been Russia.

All four of them had been trying to get me to join the alliance in which they called themselves, 'The Allies'. Apparently Germany, Italy, and my friend Japan had been causing some major trouble in Europe. That's why it surprised Britain and the others when I said that I wasn't going to join the war. In any normal circumstance I might have, but right now, everything was peaceful in my country, and I didn't want to disturb that peace. Yes, for that war, I had planned to stay neutral, kind of like how Switzerland was. Even so, for the past few months, one of the 'Allies' had been calling me at least once every few days to see if I had changed my mind.

I remember that, as I walked to the phone, I was considering getting a new, unlisted number. Then, the thought struck me that it might have been one of the states calling me, and that brought the smile back to my face. I picked up the phone and pressed the button that would let me speak to the person on the other end of the line. I happened to glance at the clocks on my wall. I had many of them, each telling the time of a different time zone in my country.

By the clock on the far right, I saw that it was about 12:57 in the afternoon, that would be Eastern Standard Time, for the states like Florida and Maine. The one on the left told Central Standard Time, for Texas and Louisiana area states, as 11:57. The one left of that, Mountain Standard time, for states like Montana, read 10:57 in the morning. Pacific Standard Time, for Coastal states like California, read 9:57. The last two were for my two island states, Alaska and Hawaii. Alaska's clock was 8:57, and Hawaii's was 7:57.

I picked up the phone and answered with a cheery, "hello?" I was surprised when, on the other end of the line, I could hear someone sniffling, as though they had recently been crying.

"Papa?" I immediately recognized the sound of the person's voice, and immediately became worried.

"California? What's going on?" There was no answer from the female state, only more sniffling and sounds of held-back tears. "Sacramento, California, tell me what's wrong." There were a few more seconds of sniffling before I received an answer.

"Hawaii has been bombed." I froze up, I felt my mouth hanging open slightly, blue eyes open wide.

"Who?"

"What?"

"Who did this?" Once I was over the general shock, anger had begun to seep into my mind, like floodwater from a leaking dam.

"Japan, it was Japan, papa." Then my mouth was closed, I was tightly gritting his teeth and his eyes were half-closed, as if trying to repress the anger. Hawaii, one of my adopted family, someone I loved, had been hurt, and by someone I had considered a good friend, no less. "We don't know why, but he sent lots of planes and bombs and blew lots of things up. I was going to go over to Hawaii's house to see what I could do to help." I forced my voice to stay calm and steady, so as not to frighten my daughter.

"Yeah, that's fine, you do that California, I'll meet you there."

"Okay papa, I love you."

"I love you too." I had hung up the phone and started walking towards the door, my breakfast forgotten, things like that weren't important right then. Besides, with my feelings at that moment, any food whatsoever would have surely made me sick to my stomach. I could feel the food I had already eaten already swirling around sickeningly in my gut. I started out walking, then fast-walking, then running, I was sprinting as I ran out the door. I jumped into my car and called the air-strip from my phone, telling them to prepare a plane for when I got there.

It was there when I arrived and I ordered an immediate take-off. It took only a few hours to get there, but it felt like far too long to me. When we arrived, I almost leaped out of the plane and took of running for my destination. That destination was a two-story house colored in an almost British pattern. I whipped a ring of keys out of my pocket and used my copy of the house key to get in.

"California! California where are you?"

"I'm up here, in the bedroom!" I raced up the stairs, jumping them in twos. My flight had been almost dangerous, but at that moment, it hadn't mattered. I arrived upstairs to find the bedroom door already open. I slid to a halt and took in the scene before me.

The room was decorated beautifully, with tropical flowers and stuffed animals native to Hawaii all around the room. The bed was made of feathers, a gift from me. In a chair next to the bed sat California, her bright sundress stained with tears and her eyes red and puffy from crying. When she saw me, she said nothing, but looked back down at the woman on the bed.

There laid Hawaii, just as beautiful as she always was. But now, her sun-kissed skin seemed unusually pale for her, her lids were closed over those chocolate-brown eyes I always knew, and her wrap skirt and tube top seemed frayed somehow. I immediately went to the foot of the bed and sat there, taking one of her slim, calloused hands into my own.

"Hawaii? Hawaii? Honolulu, are you okay?" Her eyelids fluttered open, warm brown eyes looking into my own. She smiled weakly as a greeting.

"Ah, hello America. It's beautiful outside today, isn't it?' I frowned and held her hand a bit more firmly, looking straight into those beautiful brown pools.

"Hawaii, are you alright? How are you? Are you injured in any way?" The smile faded a bit on her face, but nonetheless remained. She looked down at one of her legs, the one closest to me. I released her hand and picked up her leg, moving aside the fabric of her skirt that was covering it. What I saw flared up the flame of anger in my heart like nothing else could have. Her tan calf was bruised a dark purple that was almost black, and her shin, though it had multiple layers of gauze and medical tape over it, was showing spots of dark red, most likely from a large gash. "He's going to pay." California had looked at me questioningly.

"What was that papa?"

"They attacked me, you, without any reason whatsoever. We weren't going to join this war, but this calls for actions. Japan is going to pay, all of them are." With that I had stood up and stormed from the room almost as fast as I had come, leaving California and Hawaii to call out after me. When I got to my next destination, it was pouring down rain. I had thought with a kind of numb, twisted humor that God was mocking me with one thing after the other.

When I arrived at the door, I was soaked to the bone, my clothes were clinging to my skin and my glasses were so covered with water that they were useless. I slammed my fist on the door three times and waited. Just as I raised it again, someone opened the door. Britain stood there, large eyebrows shooting up in surprise.

"America? What are you doing here? And what the devil are you doing out in the rain?" I pushed past him into the brightly lit room and looked around. France, Russia, and China all sat there in different seats that were arranged into a circle, supposedly some kind of informal meeting. The brightness of the room sickened the darkness that had resided in my heart at the time. "Hey! What the hell do you think you're-"

I cut off his sentence when I grabbed him by the tie and pulled his face to mine. Our faces were only inches apart, I heard his breath hitch as the tie I grabbed constricted around his neck at my pull. Then, I spoke in a voice that all in the room could hear.

"Japan bombed one of my harbors." England's eyes opened wide in surprise. I could hear different noises of astonishment behind me, but none of that mattered. "I was going to stay out of this war, but when you hurt my nation, that's when I draw the line. Make a place for me Britain, I'm joining this war."