Heeey people! This is my chapter-in-advance, featuring the appearance of a character you never saw coming!

Li: Who?

Me: Read and find out. By the way, I don't own Hetalia: Axis Powers or Avatar: The Last Airbender. Just the lovely dance monkey Li. And aaaaaall her friends.

Li drank her cup of tea slowly, pondering the strange flavor. It was what Lithuania called "Earl Gray," a drink from England's homeland. She was starting to grasp the idea of nations a bit better after a long chat with Lithuania. The breakthrough had come when she had correlated the human-nations with nature spirits from back home. People in the Earth Kingdom mainly worshipped spirits that ruled certain places or geographical features, who usually took the form of an animal. One such example would be Hei Bai, the "Black-and-White Spirit," who protected a lovely forestland in the western Earth Kingdom.

Lithuania, after getting over his initial excitement, had been extremely pleasant company. He seemed genuinely eager to please, and kept insisting on doing things himself. Since Li tried do things for others all the time, it had led to the two bonding some over mending Lithuania had brought along, intending to get it done during the meeting. Now that it was finished (twice as fast as it would have gone, since Li had helped), Lithuania had managed to fall asleep.

He looked rather adorable, really. Li had allowed him the bed, and was now sitting at the desk with the mirror (Lithuania had called it a "vanity") and finishing the tea Lithuania had brought up. The tea kettle sat nearby on the desk—no, vanity—mostly empty. Lithuania's cup was still half-full, but Li wasn't going to be rude and drink from it. Instead, she watched Lithuania sleep, a small smile on her face as he occasionally twitched or mumbled something.

It occurred to Li that part of why she was enjoying watching him was because he looked so much like a little child. To be specific…he reminded her of how her little brother Kuzon had sometimes fallen asleep, sprawled out in childish comfort, heedless of dignity. She would sing to him, her little dragon, and stroke his hair and hold him in her lap and dream of what a strong warrior he would grow to be. Kuzon had been a central part of Li's life ever since a little after he was born, six years ago, when Li was twelve and freshly caught after being on the run for almost four whole years. That she had not been present for her own brother's birth pained Li sometimes, but she wouldn't have been allowed much access to him for the first few months anyways.

Ah, but when he was six months old, Li had finally held her little brother. Cradling the precious bundle in her arms, seeing his tiny features, having that little hand grasp her finger…it had changed Li's life. She knew what her elder brother Aizo had meant when he said that he had loved his sister the moment he held her. Such a small, fragile thing, Kuzon had seemed, totally dependent on others for his own survival.

Their mother had never been very interested in her children—her marriage to Fire Lord Jizo had been arranged, political matters trumping love as they always did. Li had done her best to be a mother as well as a sister to Kuzon, hanging around his nursery whenever she had the time (and many times when she didn't). She had been present when he took his first step—his first word had been "sister." When he started showing signs of Firebending, Li had tried to teach him the basics of control, doing a decent job until she was able to convince her father and Master Qien to allow her baby brother to join her in Firebending training.

A shudder wracked Li's body, accompanied by a deep, stabbing pain in her chest. She tightened her hands around the cup, and stared into the dark liquid as if it were a seeing mirror, trying to glimpse Kuzon's face. Memories of her brother assaulted her in waves, each one bringing fresh injury to Li's heart. The time they had stayed a whole summer on Ember Island with Ru, Kai, and Master Qien, going to the beach almost every day and building sandcastles. One night when she had snuck Kuzon out of the palace and taken him to a field of fire lilies, where they had lain on their backs and drawn new constellations in the stars. Several months before the first attack of the Tóngyī ShÌjiè on Ba Sing Se, Li had taken Kuzon to a Fire Days Festival in one of the outlying islands. Remembering the wonder on Kuzon's face as he watched performers Firebend magic tricks, Li bit her lip again to prevent tears.

Because Kuzon was gone. He had disappeared from her life, like a shooting star. All because she had wanted to spend some time with her peers, without him, without the little brother she had practically raised. How could she have told him to wait with their parents? Their father hardly paid him any attention, preferring to entertain himself in discussions with his ministers and generals and scholars, while their mother had only wanted the energetic little boy to sit still and behave like a doll. Yueliang, Kuzon's bodyguard, was only a few years older than his charge: how could he have been expected to properly protect the boy?

And now, Kuzon was…he was…

"Liiiii….."

"Huh?" Li's head jerked up, automatically turning to Lithuania. "Did you say something?"

"Huh?" Lithuania opened an eye groggily, then sat upright. "Oh! I'm so sorry! I fell asleep!"

"Oh, that's alright, but…" Li hesitated "Did you…say anything, just now? Or hear anything?" Lithuania gave her a blank look and shook his head slowly. "Ah. Okay. Must've been my imagination."

"Liiiiii….."

Now Li was sure Lithuania had heard the voice, because he stiffened in shock and his eyes widened. Seeing confirmation she was not crazy, Li turned her head, scanning the room for any possible sources of the noise. "M-Miss Li…" Lithuania whispered, voice cracking, "is that…could it be a…?"

"Liiiii…"

"Ghost." Li squeaked, recognizing the voice at last. "It's a ghost." She set her cup of tea down with trembling hands, and walked to the door. Sticking her head out, she looked one way—all clear. Then she looked the other way—still clear.

"Do you see anything?" Lithuania called fearfully.

"No." Li turned back inside—

"Li…"

—and froze.

Standing before her was a young boy, perhaps six or seven, with amber-gold eyes and dark brown hair. His face had little puppy fat, and his arms showed that even at a young age the child possessed muscle. A topknot had been carefully fashioned out of his hair, held in place by a red band with a two-pronged golden fire emblem. He was wearing a long red shirt, sleeveless, that was held together in the front by tiny gold buttons. A yellow sash around his waist had a tiny dagger stuck in it, and his shoes came to a traditional Fire Nation upturn point.

Kuzon?

"So, moving on from the topic of the Middle East, I think it's time we discussed what we've been doing to prevent global warming." Germany had taken charge of the meeting again, as usual, and was reading from the tentative schedule a secretary had printed for him before he left for Moscow. "America is not allowed to speak, does anyone have any ideas?" There was a pause, and Italy raised a hand. "Are you just going to say 'Pasta!' Italy?" The hand lowered slowly.

"EEEEEEEEEEEEK!" A shrill, somewhat feminine scream split the air. Everyone started, knocking over water glasses or falling out of chairs.

"That came from upstairs!" Latvia cried. "Lithuania!"

But several nations had already gathered as much, and were dashing out the door, heading for the staircase. Germany and Russia were in the lead, followed by America ("The hero ALWAYS answers a cry for help!"), England ("That was a scream, you bloody git, not a cry for help!"), Japan, Hungary, and at a more leisurely pace behind them, Austria. Everyone else in the room reacted in their own ways, from Korea glomping China in fear to Sweden not giving any indication he had heard anything.

"Lithuania! Li!" Germany yelled, reaching the doorway, panting heavily. "Are you alright?"

"GHOOOOOOOST!" Lithuania shrieked in the same high-pitched tone as the scream. The other nations following Germany skidded to a stop behind him, several almost running into him. Upon hearing the word "ghost," America gave a similar shriek and grabbed at England.

"Ghost? Where?" He squeezed the older nation's arm. "I—I'm not scared! The hero is never scared! Nope!" Nobody drew attention to his chattering teeth, or the fact that he'd turned white enough to be mistaken for a ghost himself.

"It was right there! RIGHT THERE!" Lithuania wailed, pointing to a spot on the floor. Germany scanned the scene, eyes immediately lighting on Li. She was lying on the floor, on her side, arms and legs twitching sporadically.

"What happened to her?" Germany demanded, going to kneel beside Li. He felt for a pulse, and found one, albeit weak. "Is she all right?" Everyone else piled into the room behind him.

"Sh-she must have fainted when she saw the ghost." America insisted, still clinging to England. The thick-eyebrowed nation was trying to escape, despite his limb being more or less impossible to see, America was so tightly wrapped around it.

"N-no, it wasn't the first ghost that did it." Lithuania shook his head, tears starting to drip from his eyes. "It was…the second ghost…"

"What's going on?" Austria arrived at last, followed by Prussia (the reason he was late). The two newcomers looked at the group of nations in the room, from Lithuania sitting on the bed trembling to Germany and Russia's confused looks.

"Lithuania says he saw a ghost." Russia replied, looking down at Li. "And that Li fainted. She looks very ill. I wonder if she'll wake up?" His purple aura bloomed into existence as he considered the possibility of Li never waking up again, sending Lithuania into a state of near-panic.

"Impossible. There are no such things as ghosts." Austria addressed Lithuania. "Clearly you were mistaken."

"N-no, I'm sure of it!" Lithuania insisted, defending his story. "Li woke me up because she thought I'd said something, but I hadn't. Then this little kid's voice started calling her name, and she seemed to recognize it, because she went pale. And this kid, really young, maybe five or six or seven, just appeared in front of her. She was staring at him when the second ghost appeared, and…um…I kind of fainted." He looked down in embarrassment.

"You were asleep when she first heard the ghost, Lithuania?" Russia asked, a tiny, murderous smile on his face. Lithuania turned as white as the sheets he was sitting on, and he began to stutter something about being tired from the meeting before being cut off.

"Perhaps we should tend to Li now?" Germany suggested, a rough edge to his voice. "She is lying unconscious on the floor. The least we could do is make her more comfortable." His gaze turned to Prussia, and he beckoned his elder brother over. "Bruder, help me move her to the bed."

"Sure thing, West." Prussia shrugged, and as Germany carefully cradled Li's upper body in his arms, the albino ex-nation picked up her feet. The occasional spasm shot through her body, making it hard to keep a good hold on her and explaining to Prussia why his younger brother had wanted help moving her. Lithuania slid off the bed, and helped arrange the pillows so that when Li was finally lowered onto the sheets, her upper half was elevated slightly.

"Should I get a doctor?" Hungary asked fearfully, looking to Austria. He shook his head, and went over to where Germany was again feeling for a pulse in Li's wrist.

"How strong is her pulse?" The aristocrat murmured softly, bending over to open one of her eyelids. Beneath the layer of skin, her dark brown eye was darting around madly, indicating she was dreaming.

"A bit weak…but it's there." Germany replied, placing Li's arm alongside her body. He glanced up at the other nations. "Hungary, perhaps you should get some water? Lithuania, you must know where to find more blankets and pillows, don't you? And Japan, can you get America and England to stop trembling?" Sure enough, the world superpower and former world superpower were sitting in a corner, clutching at each other in horror as they bolstered the other's fear that the ghost—no, ghosts, wasn't it?—was going to come back and eat them.

"Right away, Germany-san." Japan bowed, and went to talk to his two friends. Hungary and Lithuania disappeared as well, going to retrieve water and bedding respectively. Austria stood up and went to sit in a chair nearby, thinking hard. He was no doctor, but it was mostly accepted that he had the most medical knowledge of all the nations. Germany and Prussia were still standing at the side of Li's bed, watching the girl as she twitched in her sleep.

"I wonder what she's dreaming about…" Russia mused, looming eerily at the side of Li's bed.

Dark. That was all Li knew. She was lost in a sea of black. "Hello?" Li called, but her voice sounded thin, weak. Ghostly. Dead…

"No! She's supposed to be with me! With me!" A familiar voice shrieked, and Li whirled around to search for its source. "Li! Li! Tell her! Tell her you're supposed to be with me! Please!"

"Kuzon? Kuzon? Kuzon, my dragon, where are you?" Li screamed, frantic now, trying to catch a glimpse of the child. "My Kuzon, my dragon, little brother, where are you? Kuzon? Kuzon!" She could almost feel wetness dripping down her cheeks, tears, a weakness she denied was there, as she searched.

"No, Li! Don't go to him!" Another voice, as familiar as Kuzon's, if not more so, rang out. "You have to stay where you are! I can't save you if you go to him!"

"R-Ru?" Li choked out, now confused. Ru was her protector, her friend, her rock. Anything Ru did was to keep Li safe. But how was keeping Li from her beloved little brother protecting her? Didn't she know that Kuzon had been half of Li's world, part of all that had kept her alive? "Ru, Kuzon's alive…please, I have to go to him!"

"No Li! He's not!" Ru's voice was trembling, and she sounded like she was getting farther away. "Li, I can't find you! Where are you? Please, don't go to him! He'll take you to the Land of the Dead and I'll never be able to find you again! I'll never see you again! Don't go, don't go, don't go…" Her voice took up the two words like a magical chant, as if saying them would help her find Li again. "How am I supposed to live without you…?"

"Ru?" Li whispered, then more loudly, "Ru!" There was no answer. "Ru, please, talk to me! Come find me! Please!"

"I'm coming…" Ru's voice faded away.

"Sister…" The sorrowful, childish voice of Kuzon sighed. "I don't want to wait for you to come to me…I want you now. Li, I want you here with me. There's nobody to play with. Can't you come see me?"

"K-Kuzon…" Li's chest constricted as she tried to speak. "My dragon, I can't…if Ru says I can't, then I can't. You know what it's like. And what about Yueliang? Isn't he with you? Can't he p-play with you?" Her tongue seemed to grow several sizes, preventing further speech as her throat closed in on itself. A low moan of pain escaped her lips, and Li bit her cheek to prevent herself from truly crying.

"No…he went someplace else…" Kuzon seemed annoyed at that. Well, Yueliang had been his constant companion, despite the age difference of two years. Yueliang was Ru's younger brother, although the two looked almost nothing alike and barely spoke. He was also Kuzon's bodyguard, and the relationship between the two was a much-watered down mirror of the relationship between Li and Ru. Doubtless, when Kuzon's life had been in peril, Yueliang had fought like a demon to save the boy, even knowing he stood no chance against older, more experienced fighters who had the advantages of height, weight, and strength.

"Th-then…oh, Kuzon, I'm sorry." Li's throat opened enough for her to talk again. "I can't go to you. But one day, one day! I'll make it as soon as I can, if you want! But not now, not when Ru told me not to. Just wait a little longer!"

"Li…" Kuzon's voice began to fade as well. She still couldn't see anything in the darkness that surrounded her, but Li allowed herself the dream that he was standing just before her, slowly falling backwards into the black, an arm outstretched to her, his eyes begging her to take it…

Then it was as if he had vanished entirely, and Li felt alone. Totally, completely, horribly alone. She curled herself up into a ball, attempting to deny the emptiness around her, but she couldn't see anything anyways. Her hand was right in front of her face, she knew, but her eyes weren't finding anything. No, wait…her eyes…

Weren't they just closed?

So. Who saw that one coming? 3:D

Li: You...you...YOU USED MY DEAD LITTLE BROTHER FOR A PLOT TWIST?

Me: Aren't you happy to see him again?

Li: NOT IF HE'S GONNA BE ALL DEPRESSED ABOUT IT!

Me: Oh...sorry...will reviews make you feel better?

Li: No.

Me: Oh. Well, they'll make my guilt feel less, sorta, so I'd love it if you people wouldn't mind sending a few in!