I do not own Hetalia: Axis Powers or the Avatar 'verse.

Next week, I will be in El Paso, building homes for the poor. I'm not sure if I'll have Internet or not, so I'm going to post Chapter 11 on Friday, before I leave, just in case. If I should find myself with Internet down there, I'll post on Wednesday, as scheduled. If not, you'll get Chapter 12 on the Monday after I get back, then Chapter 13 that Wednesday. Things are also going to get interesting in the next few chapters, I promise...and you'll get a glimpse of a character you wouldn't expect to meet. Ever.

Li: Who?

Me: Like I'm telling :D

Li: Evil woman...

Me: I know! Now back to the story! If I remember correctly, you just threw America out a window.

Li: *depression* Yeeeees...

After Li threw America out the window, the nations all stopped what they were doing and stared. The girl seemed to cease all motion for a second, a terrified look spreading across her face. Then she turned and strode from the room so fast she almost seemed to vanish. Nobody else moved for a long minute, trying to absorb the shattered window, America's sudden disappearance through said window, and Li's escape from the room.

Then Russia started to giggle. Those that had been scared by Li's sudden outburst felt their fear worsen. But the sound also spurred Germany's mind back into motion, and he closed his gaping mouth while pushing Italy off of his arm. The other nation had clutched at him in fear when the crash of America hitting the glass had first sounded in the room, as if he was trying to cut off all the circulation by himself. Italy protested weakly, but Germany told him to go see if America was all right. England seemed to have the same idea, as he was already climbing out the window, being careful of the shards of glass.

Satisfied that Italy would not follow him, Germany slipped out as the other nations began to slowly recover from their shock. He made his way to Li's room, trying not to run. Several servants were rushing towards the meeting room, wondering what in the world these strange people had done this time. It was probably a bit sad that they all knew enough to bring first-aid kits with them.

The upstairs was quiet, but as he reached the top of the stairs Germany heard a door slam shut violently. He hurried to find that it had, in fact, been the door to Li's room. Germany was standing before her door, hand raised to knock, before he could stop himself. She had run off for a reason: she probably wanted privacy. Should he really disturb her? Even after she'd left such a mess in the meeting room?

He lowered his hand, then raised it again as his mind changed twice in only a second. For a good five minutes, he stood there debating whether or not to knock. But every time he made his mind up for one or the other, and began to take the appropriate action, he thought again.

Finally, a sound from inside the room came to his attention. It was Li's voice, saying something so painfully he wondered if she'd been injured again. But it wasn't a cry for help: rather, it sounded like a name. Perhaps it was a friend, a relative, a boyfriend? His hand, raised and poised for knocking, fell limply to his side once more as he strained his ears, trying to hear.

"Ruuu…" Li sobbed inside. "Ru…come get me…please…" Ru? It sounded like an Asian name—so did Li's name, actually. Now that he thought about it, her original clothing had seemed somewhat Asian as well. Her country must be somewhere around China or Japan's place. That might help narrow down the area to be searched for this so-called "Fire Nation"…if such a place even existed.

Right now, though, Li was on the other side of that door, crying out for someone who might not come. It made Germany feel sorry for her, on top of what little else he knew about her. And really, how much did he even know about Li? He knew she had scars on her legs—he knew Russia had found her in the snow, covered in blood that wasn't her own—he knew that she had lied about who she truly was—he knew that she had just thrown America out a window.

The window part made no sense. Germany hadn't been looking towards Li when she had thrown America, though he had certainly turned to look quickly enough upon hearing the crash. She had been standing next to England, who was staring at her in awe and fear, her body in a stance that looked practiced. Had she been trained to fight? Did America do something to make himself seem like a threat? If so, what could he have possibly done?

"Li?" Germany called, putting a hand on the door. "Are you in there?" The pained noises stopped abruptly, and Germany could imagine the girl furiously wiping at her face with her sleeve. He almost smiled at the thought, but the seriousness of the situation prevented it. Instead, he put his ear to the door, trying to catch any sign that she was in trouble.

"G-go away." Li's voice cracked, and she paused a moment before speaking again. "Please. Just go away. I wanna be alone."

"Are you sure?" Germany pressed gently. A noise that could have been a "Yes" came from beyond the door, and he sighed. "Very well. I'm leaving." He waited a moment longer before turning and taking a step away.

Behind him, the door clicked open. "Um. Wait." Li mumbled. "I…I guess…I wouldn't mind…" She fell silent, then opened the door wider. "You can come in if you want…" Came the quiet conclusion. Li stepped aside, and Germany walked in quietly.

Once he was inside, Li left the door open and went to sit on the bed, curling her knees up to her chest. Germany paused for a moment, looking for where he should sit, then settled into the chair before the vanity. He studied Li for a long moment, debating whether or not he should speak. She was resting her forehead against her knees, taking deep, steady breaths. Her body shook occasionally, but she always seemed to force herself still the moment she began to tremble. That was…intriguing.

Germany decided he had waited long enough. "Why did you attack America?" He asked gently, trying not to sound threatening. Li froze for a moment, then clutched her legs tightly and spoke in a low, dull voice.

"Because." She muttered grudgingly, not looking at Germany. The nation realized it must be a private matter, and debated pressing the issue. He had just reached the decision to let it go when she spoke again. "He…hugged me, okay?"

"You threw him out a window because he hugged you?" Germany couldn't hide the surprise in his voice. "That's your reason for attacking him? Just that?"

"I…I don't like being touched, okay?" Li sounded offended now, and she curled into a tighter ball on the bed. "It…freaks me out. Just because." Her voice sounded close to tears as she requested, "Please, just let it rest."

"Very well." Germany agreed, continuing to study Li. Her skirt, which went to her ankles while she was standing, now rode up to mid-calf, exposing the scars on her bare legs. The spider-web of scars seemed to go further up her legs than that, however, and Germany wondered what could have caused them. They seemed like they had been inflicted at roughly the same time, if Germany was any judge of wounds—and he definitely was. A soldier first, he knew his fair share about injuries, and sported multiple scars across his own body. Even if the wounds on Li had been light, they were placed over veins and nerves, meaning they would have bled profusely and caused more pain than usual.

Li's tight grip on her legs slowly loosened, and she peeked up at Germany over her knees. He saw unshed tears in her eyes, and his gaze softened. This only made Li look away again, and Germany felt disappointed. The urge to say or do something comforting overtook him, and he cast around for something to say.

"Li, you know…" He started, before trailing off. Li looked up at him again, this time expectantly, as he struggled to find the words for what he wanted to say. Again, he tried, "I'm sure nobody blames you…" but that wasn't true, someone would definitely blame her. Finally, he settled for, "They'll forgive you as soon as you explain."

"How can you be so sure?" Li challenged, fixing Germany with a steady gaze.

"How…? Because I know them." Germany blinked once, a bit surprised. "I've known all of them for years. They can be difficult at times, all of them, some more than others, but at heart each of them are good people. Living as long as we do, we need to learn to get along with all kinds of people. Even if you've given them a bad impression, they'll get over it soon enough."

"I guess." Li looked away from Germany, resting her forehead against her knees again. The nation watched her, wondering if she was all right. He knew he wasn't the best at reading people, but he felt what was probably a natural curiosity about this girl. Her unexplained appearance made him naturally suspect something strange was going on, and her reluctance to offer up any information on her past only served to enforce this. But he didn't feel that she was a threat, despite her violent outbursts. If anything, he felt like she needed protecting.

Li shifted her position, getting more comfortable. Her body tightened in on itself as if by instinct, as if she was protecting herself from something, and Germany thought he knew why she seemed so harmless. She was vulnerable, no matter how hard she tried to hide it, no matter how skillfully she played at the calm and collected young woman. Now that her "mask," of sorts, was off, it seemed like every move she made was to protect herself, or to try and put on that mask again.

Germany realized he was staring at Li's scars, and quickly shifted his gaze to her hair. It had been cut to chin length by Austria, and looked marvelous—though the aristocrat probably wouldn't have allowed her to leave his ministrations until her hair was "just right." She had brown hair, maybe a bit lighter than Lovino's, which seemed to have bronze highlights shot throughout. There was no more clotted blood in her hair, and it shone without the dull liquid, looking soft and smooth.

Wait. What? Germany immediately pushed the thoughts from his head, and tried to find something else to study about Li. But her face was hidden behind her legs, and her arms were hidden by the long sleeves of the shirt she wore. As for her hands…they were clutching at her legs tightly, as if she was scared of letting go. Perhaps she was. Li's fingernails were of medium length, not very long but not trimmed very far. They were still stained pinkish from the blood, even though it had been a while now since she had cleaned her hands. Streaks of red marked the back of her hand, and some of her fingers, dry skin flaking off. But it didn't look too bad, and besides, with a little lotion her hands would be smooth and delicate…wait. What?

"Um." Germany started a bit, and his gaze lifted from Li's hands to see that she had raised her head to look at him once more. A small flush of red spread over her cheeks as she spoke. "Okay, look, this is gonna sound really weird, but…is that your natural hair color, or did you dye it?"

"What?" Germany looked at Li blankly, not quite understanding the question. "My hair…? Yes, of course this is its natural color. Mein Haar ist blond. Er, I mean, I'm blond."

"Blond?" Li repeated, brow furrowing in confusion. "What's…blond?"

"You don't know what blond is." It was a statement, not a question, and Germany instinctively rubbed his hand through his slicked-back hair. "Blond is…yellow hair. It's very common in Germany, and many parts of Europe. There are several different shades."

"It is natural, then?" Li lowered her legs, staring at his hair with fascination. "I thought it was dyed. My cousin Kai and my friends Xing and Ming have the lightest natural hair colors back home, but we've met people who use vegetable colorings for cloth to make their hair the most insane colors."

"Was? N-nein! Mein Haar ist nicht gefärbt!" Germany gasped, before realizing he'd spoken in his native tongue, and hastily repeated himself in English, which seemed to be her native tongue. "I-I do not have dyed hair! Why would you think that?"

"Nobody back home had yellow hair." Li admitted, seeming a tad reluctant. "It was all black or brown, but never yellow. Blond. I've seen people with dyes in their hair, though, so I thought maybe you'd done the same to yours. As a…status symbol, or something." She shrugged.

Germany, meanwhile, was filing away the information about her home. No blondes, hm? That ruled out most of Europe and North America, at least, even if she did speak English. Asia seemed more and more likely as a good place to search for this "Fire Nation." Later he could show Li some maps, ask if she recognized anything, though he got the feeling she would lie. Still, he could always try…

Li saw the calculation in his eyes, and her own widened as she realized he must have garnered more information from her words. Almost instantly, a veil fell over her face, shutting down anything that might have been there previously. Germany felt a pang of regret—he had learned something, but it seemed Li had closed up again. Just when she seemed to be ready to tell the truth, she shrank away, hiding behind that mask. But hiding from what?

Several minutes passed as they looked at each other, Germany trying to think of a way to restart the conversation without putting Li on her guard again. She seemed to have totally forgotten what had happened downstairs, which was his original purpose in coming here. The blame, as far as Germany was concerned, rested on America and Russia, the former for being his usual idiotic self, the latter for allowing Li to attend the meeting in the first place. She was just a civilian, and had no say in their going-ons. Granted, she had made America and China focus, but that was only a happy coincidence. Someone else—likely Russia, who enjoyed hitting America even with the end of the Cold War and used any excuse he could find to touch China—would have separated them eventually.

"Um, excuse me?" A gentle knock came from the door, and the two looked over to see Hungary standing in the open doorway. "Li, I came to see if you were all right."

"I'm fine." Li answered calmly. "Did you want to come in?"

"No, it's all right." Hungary shook her head. "So long as Germany's here, it should be fine. I actually need to go and see how America's doing, he's a little…scared." She winced as Li's face fell. Definitely shouldn't have brought up America. "Well…good-bye." And with that, Hungary beat a hasty retreat. Germany felt a little annoyed at her—what, had she intended to make Li feel even more guilty?

After that, Germany didn't know what to say to Li. The two sat in silence, each trying not to look at the other due to the sheer awkwardness that both knew would result. Of course, every once in a while one of them would dare a glance at the other, just to see what the other was doing. Occasionally, a voice could be heard shouting downstairs, but neither paid much attention.

Perhaps an hour after Germany had entered the room, Lithuania appeared. "Um, Germany, the meeting is starting again." He said timidly. "Russia told me to come get you and Li."

"Oh, thank you, Lithuania." Germany nodded his thanks and stood, turning expectantly to Li. The girl looked surprised, but quickly recovered and shook her head vigorously, hiding her face in her knees once more.

"I think maybe I should stay up here for the rest of the day." She said miserably. "Though…Lithuania, if you could pass my apologies on to America?"

"He'll probably insist on coming up here to see you, Miss Li." Lithuania advised with a kind smile. "Once he got over the shock of being tossed through a window, he thought it was pretty awesome—'awesome' being his own word. Are you sure you don't want to come down? Some of us are really worried about you. Plus…" The kind nation's face grew scared, and he choked out, "R-Russia specifically asked that you come down…"

"Sorry, but no." Li sighed. "I…tell him I decided I'm too tired. Or that I wanted to change my shirt, and can't decide what to change into, so it's taking a while. But I'm not going back down there…it would be too…too awkward." She drew her knees up again, and Germany could have sworn he heard her mutter, "I'll just mess things up like I always do…"

"Well, if you're sure…" Lithuania hesitated in the door, clearly torn between staying and trying to convince Li to come downstairs or simply accepting her wishes and informing Russia of her decision. Germany decided to help him out.

"Why don't you stay here and watch her, Lithuania?" The blond nation suggested. "Perhaps you could get her something? I'll tell Russia what you're doing, and that I thought Li should have some company for now."

"Eh? Really?" Lithuania looked at Germany as if the taller man was an angel. "I…I'll do that! Li, are you hungry? Thirsty? Cold? Anything else you might need? Oh, and I can wash your shirt once you've changed! Thank you Germany! Thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you!" He made a move as if to hug Germany, seemed to think better of it, then instead went and sat on the edge of Li's bed, still exuberantly speaking about how thankful he was and asking if Li needed anything.

Germany gave a last glance at Li, who was looking at Lithuania blankly as the nation asked if she wanted any vodka ("Um…what is vodka? It sounds like a plant…?"), then made his way downstairs.

"Germany!" Italy cried, attaching himself to his old friend's arm. "Thank goodness you're here! I was sooo scared! Li's really nice and all, but she acted kinda scary when she threw America through the window, and I was worried she might do the same thing to you! Are you all right? Did she throw you too?" Eyes open for once, the adorable little nation gazed up at Germany with eyes shining bright with tears.

"No, I'm fine. It was an accident on Li's part." Germany sighed.

"Accident! Hardly!" England strode over. "She threw America so quickly, he didn't have a chance to defend himself! What was with that! The girl is dangerous!"

"Yeah! Veneziano, get away from that potato-bastard!" Romano added, popping up and tugging on Italy's arm.

"She did it reflexively." Germany explained to England. "I couldn't learn why out of her, other than that she doesn't like being touched. And America being America, I suppose it's best it happened sooner rather than later. How is he doing?"

"Hmph. He's fine, the git." England grumbled. "A bit shaken, confused as to what he did, but fine. Won't stop prattling on about how 'cool' it was that Li could do that. I bet he'll forget all about this in no time, and do the same bloody thing again."

"Hopefully in someone else's house." Russia joined the conversation. "I rather liked that window. Germany, where are Li and Lithuania? They are coming, da?" On the last sentence, Russia's purple aura blossomed into being around him, and his smile lost most of its childish innocence. With that loss came the gain of murderous insane-serial-killer intensity.

"Li thought she should stay upstairs for the rest of the day, and I told Lithuania that he should keep an eye on her just in case." Germany told Russia, fighting his fear for the former Communist nation. "They won't be joining us. But Li wasn't supposed to be here originally, and Lithuania's interests can be represented by another country, so I felt it would be acceptable to everyone else."

"Ohh…" Russia sounded sad, and his aura disappeared. Then his usual I'm-a-creepy-serial-killer-with-a-childish-attitude smile reappeared, and he went to go speak with the two remaining Baltics.

"Hey, Germany!" America called, limping over. "How's Li? Why'd she attack me?"

"Oh, America. Are you all right?" Germany asked the last question because of the crutches the superpower was using to walk. "Should you be here still? I'm sure Russia wouldn't mind giving you a day to recover."

"Nah, I'm good!" America bragged. "But my stomach really hurts for some reason, so I can't stand straight up without screaming in pain. It's really cool, huh? Hahaha!" Germany wondered how America could be so constantly idiotic. "Anyways, Li! Is she okay?"

"Yes, I think so." Germany replied. "You caught her off-guard, is all. It seems she has an aversion to being touched, so I don't think you should hug her again. And why in the world were you hugging her in the first place?"

"She said I was a hero! I was happy!" America grinned. "I kinda like her. Well, she's attacked me twice now, but it's cool! She'd just apologized to me and Iggy for it when I hugged her, so I'm sure there aren't any hard feelings!"

"You're a little optimistic about being thrown into the snow, aren't you?" England berated his ex-colony. "My goodness, America. Try being responsible for once!"

"No way! That's too boring!" America laughed. "Well, the hero has to go help France get his notes together about that new trade agreement between us ready, so I'll talk to you later, guys!" With a thumbs-up and a flashy smile, America hobbled off on his crutches, occasionally grunting in pain.

"He's going to get killed one day. And I won't be surprised when it happens." England spat in disgust. "Ah, Germany…what are Italy and Romano doing?"

"Eh?" Germany glanced at his arm, where Italy had previously been trying to stop all circulation. "Italy? Where are—?" He glanced behind him to see Romano dragging his younger brother towards their seats. "Oh. He'll be fine."

"Everyone, take your seats, aru!" China called. "We're going to start again, aru!" The nations quickly reclaimed their places around the meeting table, and the world meeting began for the third time in as many days.

Me: Well now! Wasn't that interesting...

Li: I hate you.

Me: Yes, you've mentioned. Quite a bit.

Li: Aargh...stop making my life difficult!

Me: Oh, just waaaait for the next chapter, honey...

Li: O.O