Aaand...NaNoWriMo has begun. If I miss posting a week, it's likely because my NaNo story is taking up my time. I've made a firm decision to keep with it and actually finish this year, so until the end of November I'll be making myself type 1667 words a day at minimum. I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender, and here is the last chapter of the short little crackarc Nekotalia.

Germouser was making a racket, trying to distract the dog from the cat on its back. Itabby was making noise as well, though his motivation was more fear than distracting the dog. That strange cat Nekoli didn't know was clinging to the dog's back, laughing as he did despite the dog's attempts to throw him off.

And what was Nekoli doing through all of this? She was staring at the scene, oddly fascinated with it, the small portion of her mind that still worked screaming at her to move, to help, to do something. But she couldn't make her legs move, or her mouth work. It was like the dog had some sort of paralyzing effect on her, making her unable to function properly. Was it fear? Probably. Did knowing that do anything to help her situation? Nope.

She watched, fascinated, as Germouser finally had enough of yowling and darted forward. He swept his claws over the dog's left foreleg, snarling, and dodged the canine's attempt to bite him. Itabby, bereft of protection now that Germouser was joining the action, took the chance to run over to Nekoli.

"Ve-ow, let's gooooo!" Itabby wailed, burying his face in Nekoli's fur. The smaller cat fell over, and Itabby draped himself on top of her, crying about how scared he was. "It's so scary, scary, scary, ve~!"

"I-Itabby, I can't breathe," Nekoli gasped. Itabby either didn't hear her or didn't care, because he made no move to get off. "Itabby, please, get off…"

"Wahahahahaha!" The strange cat on the dog's back crowed. "Take that, you loser mutt! You're not gonna beat Americat!"

"Look out!" Germouser shouted, just as the dog twisted and slammed its back against the sidewalk. Americat, totally unprepared, released his hold on the dog in shock. He tumbled a few feet away, still within the dog's reach, and lay there panting for breath.

Itabby had had enough. He rolled off of Nekoli, but before she could do anything he sank his teeth into her scruff. With a muffled "Let's goooooo!" (it sounded more like "Wff guuuuu!"), the tabby started dragging her off.

Something finally clicked in Nekoli's brain, and she started to thrash around. Itabby dropped her partway down the street, and Nekoli was charging back towards the dog the minute her feet hit the ground. Germouser was trying to defend Americat, but the dog was larger and stronger than any cat. And the dog knew it.

"Waaaaait!" Itabby wailed as Nekoli dashed away from him. "Don't leave meeee!"

Nekoli didn't hear him—she reached Americat, and pressed her nose against his side. "Can you get up?" She demanded, fidgeting nervously. The dog was so close, still dealing with the annoyance of Germouser.

"Nn…the hero can always get up…" Americat wheezed. With Nekoli's prodding, he managed to get to his feet, but that seemed to take everything out of him. When he noticed the concern apparent in Nekoli's eyes, he forced one of his feet forward and nearly fell over.

"Uh…uh…" Nekoli tried to think of a solution, and did the first thing that came to her: she seized his neck. With what help he could offer, she managed to drag him out of the dog's range. "Ifabfy!" Nekoli called through a mouthful of fur. "Hebp!"

"What~?" Itabby tilted his head in confusion. Nekoli released Americat's neck, spat out some fur, and tried again.

"Help!" She repeated. "We need to get him away from the dog!" Itabby understood this time, and scurried forward. Both of them fastened their teeth into Americat's ruff, and—to Americat's great annoyance—carried him around the corner of the street.

"Germouser!" Nekoli ran back around to the dog's street. "Come on! Itabby and Americat are okay!"

"Ja!" Germouser shouted, taking one last swipe at the dog's belly. He dodged its jaws, and turned his momentum into a roll that took him outside of the canine's range. For a moment the two glared at each other, and then—holding his tail up insultingly—Germouser walked away. The dog barked like crazy after him, even after the cat had disappeared around the corner.

"Heh…the hero still saved the day…!" Americat attempted to laugh, but he wound up wheezing. "Gah, this is nothing! I'll be back on my feet saving people by tomorrow!"

"But Nekoli still can't get past the dog…" Itabby whined, laying his ears flat against his head. "How is she gonna get home now?"

"We'll just have to find more cats to help us," Germouser sighed. "Perhaps Japaneko would be willing…"

"No," Nekoli said firmly. Germouser and Itabby looked at her in surprise. Americat tried to turn towards her as well, but hissed in pain and settled with perking his ears towards her. "I'm very grateful for your help, but I can't let you endanger yourselves any more. Please, go home. I'll figure out a way past the dog myself."

"Huh?" Itabby gasped. "But there's no way you'll get by it alone! You need help! Right, Germouser?"

"I must agree with Itabby," Germouser nodded. "You need our help to succeed."

"But you're just going to get hurt!" Nekoli shouted in frustration. "I don't want you helping me if it's not safe! Maybe there's another route I can figure out…"

"No, there's no other safe way," Germouser sighed. "I know this town much better than you. We just need to recruit more cats. If we have the advantage of numbers, we will be able to overwhelm the enemy and secure a route past it."

"Why would anyone else want to help?" Nekoli's ears twitched downwards. "None of them live in my part of the town, I know that much. There's no need for them to go this way, so why should they help get rid of the dog?"

Nekoli didn't give them a chance to answer her: she walked between Itabby and Germouser, tail whishing from side to side. It caught Germouser's ear by accident, and Nekoli had to hide her slip-up with a "hmph," as if she'd been planning it.

Once she was out of their sight, Nekoli's legs folded. Her stomach hit the ground painfully, and she covered her head with her forelegs as she curled her tail around her body. "Stupid…" she hissed, thinking of what she had just done. How was she planning on getting past the dog on her own? What, was she just going to walk up to it and ask it to please move aside? Yes, of course that would work, and why was she using sarcasm when thinking? Maybe she should go back…

No. She'd made her decision, and she couldn't go back. Besides, she truly didn't want anyone else getting hurt. Americat had just shown up out of nowhere and attacked, so what happened to him wasn't under her control, but Li didn't want any more of the neighborhood cats to fall prey to the dog just because of her.

So…what did she do now?

"Ve~ow, that wasn't very nice, Nekoli!"

"Huh?" Nekoli raised her head. Itabby was standing before her, ears perked up in a friendly manner. "D-didn't I tell you I don't want your help?"

"But you're my friend, aren't you?" Itabby purred. "Friends help friends! Even if I'm mostly useless, I'll do my best to help you get home!"

"Wha—?" Nekoli blinked.

"As will I," Germouser huffed from next to Nekoli. Having been preoccupied with Itabby, Nekoli hadn't noticed him come over, so the effect was similar to someone suddenly appearing. Quite understandably, the smaller cat screeched in fear and tried to run into a dense bush nearby. She got stuck, and had to suffer the embarrassment of being pulled out before the conversation could continue.

"Well?" Itabby asked when Nekoli was finally out of the bush. "Will you let us help you?"

"Um…" Nekoli hesitated. This was insane! Why would they offer to put themselves in harm's way for a cat they didn't even know?

…But, maybe that was just the kind of cat Itabby was?

Nekoli couldn't understand him. She really couldn't. Suddenly dragging her off, calling her his friend when they'd only just met, being so kind and welcoming to the strange new cat in town…what sort of cat did that? Maybe at first he seemed stupid, but that just didn't sit right with Nekoli. Itabby was definitely much too naïve and trusting, but stupid? No, not that. Never that.

So if he wasn't stupid, why was he doing this? Didn't he know he could get hurt? Was he counting on Germouser to protect him? Or was he not thinking about that at all? Trying to figure this out was making Nekoli's head hurt…

Still, she knew one thing. Itabby was a really nice cat.

"…All right," Nekoli bobbed her head. "You can help."

It was amazing how many of the other cats in town were willing to help. Americat had been dragged off by Fangland, presumably to recover, but the rest of the "Allied Cats" had chosen to stay. Furance, Russicat, and Chinatail had brought their neighbors as well, so many Li could barely remember them. Itabby's brother Rotabby had come, accompanied by Purrussia, Caustria, and Japaneko. Russicat had been followed by Belatail, who chased him around a bit before being distracted by Purrussia's catcalls and losing track of her prey. Hungatail brought Clawrea and Tailwan, and Monacat joined them after seeing Furance while she was passing by. Purrussia disappeared for a short while after Belatail calmed down, and reappeared with five cats he called the "Nordikitties." There were others, but aside from Turclaw and Greecat, Nekoli couldn't remember anyone else's names off the top of her head.

Nekoli was blown away by how casually everyone took the situation. "A dog? Ohon, that will not be much of a problem, mon amie," Furance had laughed after Nekoli approached him timidly.

"I'm only here because my brother would get all weepy if I didn't come," Rotabby had insisted. "I'm just doing this to make my life easier, got it? It's not like I need any more 'friends'!"

"Well, you seem nice enough," Tailwan had replied to Nekoli's question. "And we're always willing to help a fellow cat in this town!"

And everyone else had answers in a similar vein. Nekoli might have been touched enough to cry, if she wasn't so busy wondering what sort of cats she lived near (Russicat? After his cheerful mention of making the dog into cat food, Nekoli would never feel safe around him again. And don't get her started on Clawrea and his weird insistence that Chinacat and Japaneko's ears were his to lick).

Their plan was fairly straightforward: attack the dog from all sides, while those unwilling to put themselves in danger started up a racket to distract the dog before and during the attack. Nekoli was going to be attacking the dog's underbelly with Miceland, the only other cat around her size. Miceland was crouching next to Nekoli under a bush, eyes intently watching the dog. All the other cats were hiding atop fences or around corners, waiting for Germouser's signal to attack.

Nekoli tensed in anticipation. This was it…

Li pressed her eyelids shut, trying to block out the light assaulting her eyes. Where was it even coming from? Shouldn't Hong's earth shelter be dark at this time of day? Morning? Whatever it was, but Hong's earth shelters had openings facing west, so there should only be light in them when the sun was setting. And Li was always up by mid-morning, at the latest, if Huo hadn't woken her up dawn.

Come to think of it, she couldn't sense the sun sinking beneath the horizon, so it couldn't be dusk. There was no sensation of the sun rising, either, so it wasn't dawn. But there was also no breeze, meaning Li hadn't fallen asleep outside the shelter. So what was that light?

And that strange noise…it followed the rhythm of Li's heartbeat, an unnatural sound that almost reminded Li of machines squeaking. Like the light hurt her closed eyes, the sound was hurting Li's ears, each high-pitched repetition resonating in Li's head and making it feel like her brain itself was throbbing in pain.

She was going to have to open her eyes to find out what was going on, wasn't she? Stupid Hong, not making his shelter properly, letting light and a weird noise get in…

Everything was blurry as her eyes opened, and became clearer as she blinked a few times. She was lying on a bed with crisp white sheets, in a medium-sized room with clean white walls and a few landscape paintings. The door was in one corner, partially open to allow for a view of a busy hallway. A couple of wooden chairs with cushions somehow built into them were against one wall, and a metal chair had been set next to Li's bed.

Sitting in that chair was a young boy in a white and blue outfit with a large blue hat. He was reading what looked to be a picture book. The boy's face was at a three-quarter turn from Li, but she could see his hair was yellow. Yellow…

Yellow like England's hair!

Wait…wasn't her last memory eating some of England's curry?

…

Well…maybe he wasn't too offended?

"Um…hello?" Li rasped. She winced: her voice was scratchy and dry. It felt like nothing, aside from air, had passed through her throat in a day or more. The boy turned around, revealing eyebrows almost as huge as England's. Did that mean they were related?

"Hey, you're up!" He exclaimed. "It's nice to meet you! I'm the mighty Sealand, great and powerful empire!"

"Huh?" Li squinted, trying to focus on moving her limbs. They responded well enough, if a bit shakily, and she managed to prop herself up on her elbows. "Where am I?"

"Bethlem Royal Hospital," Sealand replied. "England-jerk brought you here after you collapsed from eating his food. I don't blame you, he's a terrible cook. Why do you look so depressed?"

"No reason…" Li muttered despondently. Wow, fainting after eating her host's food. What a wonderful guest she was…

"In any case!" Sealand stood up, setting his book on the metal chair. "I really should tell a nurse you're awake. I'll be back in a second! Then I can tell you all about how much cooler I am than England-jerk! Oh, and I'll get you some water too, because you really sound like you need it."

"Um, okay," Li nodded, but Sealand was already out the door. He ran with his arms sticking straight out on either side, like he was a bird hoping to take flight. When he went through the narrow doorway he raised them above his head, as if he was about to flap his wings. Li felt a smile curling across her face as she watched him go: he was such a cute kid, wasn't he? Though she had no idea why he kept calling England "England-jerk." Maybe it was because of some bad blood between them in the past?

Li lowered herself back down onto her pillows, and drew the sheets up to her chin. Her thoughts turned to her dream—being a cat with all the Nations. She had some weird dreams, didn't she? Someone—Li thought it might have been Liandao—had told her once that dreams were the subconscious expressing itself as someone slept. If that was true, what was her subconscious trying to tell her? That she needed to trust the Nations? And what did the dog represent?

Of course, and Li laughed at the thought, it could just be that she wouldn't mind the carefree life of a cat. Wouldn't Greece have loved to have that dream? She'd have to tell him about it sometime: he'd been in it, even. Li hadn't been able to spend much time at his house, but they'd talked a little during the trip to Italy's party, and he seemed likeable enough. Turkey too, even if the masked Nation seemed a bit eccentric. She had to wonder what had happened in the past to make them hate each other so…

Did she have to think about this now, though? Interpreting dreams, pondering how she felt about the Nations…Li was tired. Surely she could stand to rest a bit more.

Besides, she'd yet to finish that dream…

Nekoli pushed through her cat door and into the kitchen of her home, pulling her tail close to her body so it wouldn't be caught in as the flap closed. She could hear her owner pacing in the living room, muttering about how dangerous the neighborhood might be for a new cat. Without hesitation, Nekoli ran for the open archway that connected the kitchen and dining room.

"Akina?" Nekoli's owner exclaimed in surprise. "Akina! Sweetie, you're home, thank goodness, I was so worried…" Hands picked Nekoli up, and the cat was being pressed to a human female's chest, her owner's finger scratching at that purrrrrfect spot behind her ear that felt almost as nice as catnip smelled…

"Ve~, your house is nice, Nekoli!" Itabby called, padding into the living room. He jumped onto the lone couch, facing the television, and curled up on one of the squashy pillows Nekoli's owner loved so much.

"Huh?" Nekoli's owner paused in scratching at Nekoli's ear, then resumed with vigor. "Aww, my kitty made a friend! That's great!"

"Oh, this is your house~?" Hungatail entered, followed by Germouser, Japaneko, and Purrussia, then all the rest of the cats that had come to help Nekoli get past the dog. "The carpet in here is really fuzzy and soft! Mm, feels nice…" Hungatail crouched down, then rolled onto her back, stretching luxuriously on the white shag carpet of the living room.

"It is quite pleasant," Germouser admitted grudgingly, trying to hide the happy lashing of his tail as he stroked the floor with one paw.

"My kitty made a lot of friends!" Nekoli's owner laughed. She paused from scratching Nekoli's ear again to sit down in an armchair, settling Nekoli in her lap before resuming with the attention-lavishing. "Heh…my cat has more friends than me right now…"

Nekoli squirmed out from under her owner's hand and sat up. Her owner raised her hand in surprise as Nekoli placed her paws on her owner's collarbone so that her face was about level with her owner's cheek. She administered a friendly lick, then turned and jumped to the ground.

"Come on," Nekoli cat-smiled at her new friends. "Let me show you my 'castle!'"

"Woah, she has a castle?" Itabby perked up. "I wanna see, I wanna see! Is there a tower?"

"Yup," Nekoli's tail began to move from side to side happily. "And a nice, small little room for me to sleep in if I don't want to share my owner's pillow. Plus, you can scratch it all you want and my owner never gets mad at me for it! Come see, come see!"

Nekoli's owner watched her cat streak off towards her study, where Nekoli's "cat castle"—a series of platforms made of scratch-resistant material, with a couple small areas for sleeping in—was located. The other cats mostly followed Nekoli, but one of them—a dark grey tomcat with a black, red, and yellow ribbon around his neck—instead walked over to Nekoli's owner and placed a paw against her leg. She could almost see him giving her a worried look, all too similar to one a blond coworker of hers had…

"Hiya there," she leaned over and picked him up. He squirmed a bit for a moment, but settled down quickly as she started scratching behind his ears. "You're a handsome lad, aintcha? Did you make friends with my Akina? Oh, I don't think I've introduced myself…call me Linette, would ya?" The tomcat obviously didn't respond, nor did Linette expect him to, but she smiled softly as she figured out juuuuust where he liked to be scratched and set him off purring.

"Maybe it's time I started following my cat's example…" Linette whispered. She glanced at a picture set on an end table next to the couch. It was of her, a young boy that looked quite a bit like her, and a man in his twenties. Their arms were wrapped around each other and huge smiles were on their faces. Such happy days…but so fragile, too, if a single car accident could take them away from her.

"Brothers…" Linette lowered her head and started to tremble. "Would you be okay if…I moved on?"

For those who wonder, Linette is not technically Li. Since the NationCats all live in the same town, I'm sort of considering them an AU version of Hetalia where their owners are all humans. Thusly, Linette is not Li, but a character vaguely based on Li who pretty much only serves the purpose of being Nekoli's owner in this story. And yup, think I'm done! ^_^