Hetalia: The Fifty Stars

Chapter 50: The End of A Kingdom

Hawaii. The 50th state is the most recent state to join the Union, having joined in 1959. Like Alaska, her home is outside the mainland states. However, her home is located outside the North American continent, located miles away in the Pacific Ocean where she lives on a series of small, tropical islands in Oceania. Long before she was a state or even a territory, Hawaii had a history and a culture that went untouched for a long time.

After migrating for many miles along the Pacific islands, the first humans have finally reached a set of untouched islands in 800 C.E. Upon their arrival, Hawaii was born. However, this wasn't the Hawaii of the present. This was a different Hawaii, one who had lived for over a thousand years before present-day Hawaii's appearance. The personification who formerly represented the islands was known as Ancient Hawaii, a woman whom Hawaii had looked up to since the Kingdom of Hawaii's foundation.

For a long time, both Ancient Hawaii and Modern Hawaii had lived on the islands in peace. They were content with their lives, wanting nothing more than peace and each other by their side. Nothing could prepare them for the late 19th century. A monster called Imperialism started to grow hungry for vulnerable countries. It was thanks to this monster Modern Hawaii became a part of the United States, but at a cost...

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She knew it would happen.

And yet, she didn't say anything.

I felt cheated on. Left in the dark for many days until the light finally revealed itself, only to burn me with guilt and embarrassment. The paradise of my home I had always loved and controlled, the tides of power came and swept my tiny body into its overwhelming influence, washing away my past self, drowning me, pulling me into the depths of darkness, suffocating me until I accept my fate and become one with it. As I sank deeper into the murky abyss, I recalled her last words to me.

"Lani. Be a good girl when I'm gone. Be a strong girl our people will look up to." 

I remembered her like it was a misty dream. She and I slept in the same bed. I would curl up against her chest as she gently stroked my hair with her soft fingertips. She placed a peck on my forehead as though it were a blessing. Her warmth, I remembered it disappearing. Yet, I was too tired to open my eyes right there and then. By the time I woke up from my slumber, the daylight blinded my eyes for a second before I noticed something weird about that day.

I didn't understand it at first. We had lived together for so long, I never thought about our existence. Why we were different among our neighbors, or why they come to cherish us. All that mattered was living in peace, living a blissful life in our little, island home. With her beside me, I believed nothing bad would happen. That if I did good things, nothing back would happen to us, or anybody for that matter.

Yet one day, she disappeared.

Gone from the hut. Gone from the village. Gone from the island. Gone from this world...

I originally thought she went for a morning swim. Or, she was out getting us some breakfast. I waited for her return at the hut.

I stroked Hoku's (Hawaii's Poi Dog) smooth, white fur, rubbing his round, pink, spotted belly as he lazily lay beside me on the orange, woven rug. He kept me company, keeping me busy until she got back. I softly smiled, recalling the day my sister brought Hoku home. I loved how he wobbled on his small legs, trying to move around with such a pudgy body. Despite the messes he always made, I always found him cute. Like a baby perhaps. And like any mother who loved their baby boy, I was really protective of him.

So, it came as a surprise when I saw my sister holding a butcher knife, trying to catch and bound Hoku like a plump hog. I was really upset with my sister, calling her mean things, and telling her I won't forgive her if she killed Hoku. I remembered crying a lot that day. It was really scary because I never yelled at my sister before. She tried to convince me killing Hoku was reasonable. She only brought him home for us to eat which shook me to the core.