China stretched his arms out as he walked through the park. He had just finished Tai Chi and was heading home so he could get ready for a meeting with Britain and Japan. The ancient nation smiled and looked up at the clear sky. Why can't everyday be like this? he thought. As China walked back to his house, people started screaming and running away. He turned around to see a dragon like creature called a Cathora, blasting anything in its path.

"Aiyaa! You've got to be kidding me!" he yelled.

Naturally, his kung fu instincts kicked in as the ancient country ran towards it. He gasped at the sight of Shanghai and its people burning. The Cathora lunged at China, who barely got out of the way, and shot a string of fire at him. China once again jumped out of the way while unleashing his kung fu moves. However, the Hello Kitty lover didn't see the Cathora's tail until he did a face plant into the ground. Pain shot through him as he tried to get back up. A clawed hand wrapped around the Asian, lifted him up and tossed him off to the side. When China hit the ground, he heard a loud snap and cried out in pain. He was in so much pain that he didn't notice the clawed hand grabbing him again and tossed him in the air, then was either thrown or smashed into the ground. After several agonizing minutes, China laid on the ground panting. His strength was gone. All he could was glare at the terrifying beast hoping it would finish him off. Suddenly, a bright light filled his vision and the nation knew no more.

"Aniki wake up!"

"South Korea, shut up."

"He's so cute!"

"I can't berieve this happened to him."

"Look, he's waking up!"

China groaned and opened his eyes. He blinked a couple times before spotting Japan, Taiwan, South Korea and Hong Kong standing or sitting next to him in his room. How did he get here?

"What happened?" he asked. "How did I get to my home?"

His siblings averted their gaze to the floor, except for Hong Kong. "You were attacked by a Cathora and turned into a chibi," he said bluntly. "Japan was going to surprise you, but he found you and brought you back home."

Gold met hazel as China glanced at Japan, who had a light blush on his face. China got up and walked around for a bit, getting a feel for his new body. It was bad enough that he was one of the shortest countries now he really felt small. Thanks to that stupid Cathora, he was now shorter than Japan and Sealand!

"I'm hungry," the chibi stated as his stomach growled. Taiwan giggled at her brother's embarrassment walked out saying, "I'll go make you some food."

Japan went after her saying he could help. By the time dinner was completed, the sun just started to set. The Asian siblings ate in silence, none of them knowing that China was hatching a mental plan of action. He went to his room and packed a few items for his long journey (excluding a Hello Kitty doll). He waited a few moments after Japan went to bed before sneaking out of the house. The nation took one glance back. I'm sorry, he thought before turning his back and starting his quest.

China woke up the next morning feeling more refreshed than before. He stretched and yawned. First full night's sleep in a while, he thought. He searched his bag and pulled out some breakfast items he had brought. After finishing the food, the chibi continued on his quest to restore his former self. He happily skipped along the river until he heard a horrible screeching sound. China scanned the area with wide eyes, eventually finding the source of the noise. Several black beasts with red beady eyes stared hungrily at the boy. Fear seized him and he ran as fast as his little legs would let him. The beasts went after him, growling and snarling as their prey ran off. One of them took a swipe at the boy, tripping him. China yelped as he fell down the river bank and into the water. The current was very strong and kept its hostage under for a few moments. China struggled to resurface for air, his tiny arms and legs flailing. His lungs were filled with water unable to be released. He couldn't even call for help as much as he wanted to. His vision darkened more and more as he was carried downstream. The last thing he remembered was raising his arm out of the water and someone grabbing it.

A girl with short brown hair and eyes gasped at the scene before her. She saw a kid in the river struggling to stay afloat. She raced down the hill guessing where a good spot will be for grabbing the kid. She stopped a few yards away from where she last saw the kid. She saw an arm stick out of the water, quickly grabbing it and hoisted the boy out of the water. She laid him on the ground and gently shook him. The boy didn't respond for a few moments then gasped and coughed/vomited violently. The girl rubbed his back as she noticed him having trouble catching his breath. She looked at the boy and saw he had either fallen asleep or passed out. Scooping him up, she hurried back to her house but not before the boy got a fever and was shivering like mad. His cute chubby face was beet red and sweat beaded his forehead. The girl sighed when he starting whimpering in his sleep. This is going to be interesting.

China could hear a distant voice for some time now. It wasn't anyone who he knew, but it sounded like a girl talking to him. He wanted to speak with her, but wasn't able to. He felt a hand brush his hair away and the same voice talking to him.

"Come on, little guy. Wake up."

Little guy? How dare that person call him that- oh, yeah. He is small.

"I can see you trying to wake up."

Finally, China peeled his eyes open. He saw a girl sitting next to him with a smile on her face.

"Welcome back," she said.

"Who are you?" China asked.

"My name is Amelia," the girl replied. "What's your name?"

China hesitated. Should he use his country name or his human name? "My name is Yao Wang."

Amelia repeated his name in her head. "Isn't that a Chinese name?" she asked. He is so cute!

"I am Chinese."

I thought so. "Really? I'm very interested in Chinese culture! Do you think you can tell me more about it when you recover?"

China felt himself smile. He hadn't met anyone who was so fascinated by his culture! Wait, what did she say about recovering?

"Recover?"

"You caught an illness after falling into the river," Amelia explained. "You've been here for a week."

She laid the back of her hand on his forehead, checking his temperature. Yao's fever had gone down since this morning. Amelia was about to go to her room when a small hand stopped her.

"Can I sleep with you?" the little boy asked blushing.

Amelia stared then nodded, surprised he had asked that. "Let me get in my sleep clothes first."

By the time Amelia came back, little Yao had dozed off. She smiled and picked him, then carried him into her room. She placed him on the other side of her bed before crawling in.

Over the next few days the two became best friends and talked like they had known each other for years. During that time, Yao told Amelia about the Cathora attacking Shanghai, him getting turned into a chibi and going on this quest by himself. Amelia merely shook her head.

"You know you won't be able to do this alone," she said. She stood up and walked over to the book shelf, running a finger along the bottom. "Huh, I thought I had a book on the Cathora, but I guess not."

Yao thought for a moment. "Is there a town nearby? If so, we should check out the library and see if they have anything."

A knock at the door startled them.

"This is the council! Open up!" a voice demanded.

Amelia paled. What the hell are they doing here? she thought as she walked to the door.

"What's going on?" Yao asked.

"I don't know."

She came face to face with Jasper, the head council member when the door was opened. His ice blue eyes stabbed her brown, along with the other members.

"What do you want?" Amelia snapped.

"We want to ask you a few questions," Jasper replied.

Amelia resisted rolling her eyes. "You mean to beat me until you get what you wanted."

Jasper's eye twitched. "I use that as a last resort."

He spotted Yao hiding behind the couch, a malicious smile across his face. He strolled over to the boy and grabbed him by his ponytail, making the boy yelp. Amelia watched in terror.

"Leave him alone!" she shouted as her arms were pulled behind her.

Some of members exchanged looks and muttered amongst themselves. They stopped when Jasper raised a hand. He let go of Yao's hair then grabbed his arm. Jasper walked out with the boy in tow.

"Let him go!" Amelia repeated, struggling against her captors. "Please, don't hurt him!"

"You need to shut up," Jasper said coolly, motioning to one of the men who promptly slammed his elbow against her head, knocking her out.

China slipped out of Jasper's grasp and ran towards his friend after knocking the others down by kung fu. Just as he reached Amelia, something smacked the back of his head.

Amelia woke up with a throbbing headache. She sat up taking note of her surroundings. She was outside on a hill near a cave. How did I get here? Then she remembered what happened and frantically looked around for Yao. She called his name several times before spotting him in the distance. Yao looked at her and stumbled/ran as fast as he could. Amelia knelt down catching the boy just as he collapsed before her.

"Are you alright?" she asked. "Are you hurt?"

Yao attempted to get his breathing back to normal. "I'm fine," he said.

He was suddenly wrapped in a tight hug, his face turning red. He wrapped his tiny arms around the girl as much as he could while his emotions ran rampant. Then it hit him. He, the People's Republic of China, was in love Amelia! Just as Yao thought more about her, they were violently pulled away from each other.

"Sorry to break up this touching moment, but we have unfinished business to get to," Jasper sneered.

Amelia glared at him. "Screw you," she hissed. "I have nothing to do with this, same with Yao."

"Yao is country, did you know that?" Jasper growled.

"So?"

"So? That boy is over 4000 years old!"

Amelia stole a quick glance at the boy, who looked up at her fearfully. She smiled and laid a protective arm around him. "So what if he's a country? From what I can see, Yao is an innocent victim of the Cathora."

She glared at Jasper. "If you don't mind, we have unfinished business to attend to. Come on, Yao."

Jasper watched the two walk off, a smirk spreading across his face. She will be dead by the time he's resorted to his normal form.

A month passed since then as Amelia and China continued their journey to the Cathora's cave where the spell circle waited. They had found out about its location from villagers in a town they had passed through.

"Looks like we're almost there," China said, looking at the rock wall where the cave was. The question was how was he going to get up there?

"Yeah." Amelia seemed to have read his mind as a thought hit her. She told him to get on her back and started climbing up the wall. China was amazed on how fast she was climbing with a person on her back. Half an hour later, they finally reached their destination. They stood at the mouth of the cave.

"Ready to go in?" Amelia asked.

Yao nodded. "Yes."

"Remember, whatever happens you will always be my friend."

Amber eyes were full of confusion. "What do you mean?"

Just before Amelia answered, a loud roar echoed through the cave walls. "I guess that means we are able to go in."

They strolled through the cave, ignoring the skeletons of past victims. Yao glanced at them nervously, thinking he could be one of them. His nervousness rose when he and his friend made it to the Cathora's layer. It seemed to have sensed them and flew down. Its dragon eyes pierced through China as he took a step back. Amelia noticed the spell circle then glanced back to the monster, reading its next move.

"Yao, the spell circle is behind the Cathora. Go back there while I distract it," Amelia ordered.

"Are you nuts?" China cried. "You could be killed!"

Amelia responded by shoving him forward then darting around trying to get the creature's attention. She waved her arms around, making a fool out of herself while keeping an eye on the boy as he made his way to the circle. Suddenly, Amelia found herself flying through the air then landing hard on the ground. Pain shot through her body, but she didn't mind. She knew this would help Yao achieve his goal. As this routine was repeated, Amelia watched the boy through blurry vision. He glanced back at her, who nodded, and stepped on the circle. Her vision then went black after seeing a flash of bright light.

China heard several thudding noises as he rushed to the circle. He glanced back to Amelia, who was being thrown around like he had before. She looked at him and nodded. He turned back and walked onto the circle. It light up and covered the chibi, then disappeared moments later. China looked down at his body and let out a happy yell. He was back to normal! However, the Cathora turned from the girl to him.

"I'm surprised she outsmarted me," it said.

China was dumbfounded. "You can talk?"

"Yes, I can," the Cathora smirked. "I'm glad about one thing."

"What?" China asked.

"You were determined to restore yourself and the girl gave her life for you to achieve you goal," it replied. "I didn't think anyone was like that anymore, but I guess I was wrong."

It watched China as he reached Amelia's side and checked her over for injuries. He looked at Cathy (Cathora) with watery eyes.

"Will she be okay?" he asked.

Cathy studied the unconscious girl for a moment. "She will be just fine," she replied. "She is too stubborn to go down like this."

China wiped his eyes and held Amelia in his arms. Her soft breathing relaxed him as her head hit his shoulder after picking her up. Cathy stared at him for a moment and smiled in her own way.

"The circle will teleport you back to your homeland," she said watching the Asian walk to it. "Take care, China and I'm sorry for before."

China nodded, saying that the creature was forgiven and was gone in a flash.

China found himself laying on a grassy hill near a bamboo forest. He was back in his homeland! He attempted to sit up, but found Amelia lying on top of him. She was still passed out. China smiled at her peaceful expression as he carried her home. Along the way, she woke up and blushed.

"Welcome back," China said with a smirk.

"Hey," she replied. "What happened? Where are we?"

China shook his head. "Aiyaa, too many questions, but I'll answer them for you."

He filled her in on what happened with Cathy and how the circle teleported them back to China, which greatly confused her. She couldn't help but to think of how hot Yao was. He was cute as a chibi, but was way cuter in his normal form. She let out a sigh and realized something. She had fallen in love with the country! Yao looked down on her and stole a kiss from her. Amelia's eyes widened then slowly closed as she wrapped her arms around his neck. They broke apart a moment later and smiled.

"Wo ai ni," Yao said, slipping into his native language.

"Ich liebe dich," Amelia responded, slipping into German.

The two continued their way back to Yao's home, only to get bombarded with questions, demands and lectures from his siblings.