Stay silent for four years sucked.

But, on the bright side, Mei only had four months (and one skirt) left to go.

Yep, our adorable little 12-year-old is now all grown up, sitting in a tree hollow with her cat brothers knitting a pine needle skirt.

Of course, all her brothers were still cats, since Mei didn't want to show favoritism.

A furry head rubbed her shoulder. It was Yao-cat. The sleek black cat nudged a plate of something that actually looked quite edible and smelled pretty good.

Mei smiled her thanks. Her eldest brother was really quite magical. How he managed to make food in a forest as a cat was anyone's guess.

She quickly ate, before glancing at her spool of pine needle thread. She had found all the stuff necessary for sewing in the magical cellar, and she knew how to sew from her mother (thanks, mom and lobster fairy angel guy).

The thread was almost out. She would need to go get some more needles. She stood up. A herd of cats/her brothers loyally followed her. Mei smiled. Her brothers were so nice!

As she ventured deeper and deeper into the forest, further away from the hollow, a howl of pain startled her. Not human, but belonging to an animal.

Who could it be? Mei's heart twisted to think of anything in pain. She had to go save it! Rushing towards the sound, her ragged skirt swished at her heels. Finally, she reached a tree, where she was horrified to find a white bear caught in a hunter's trap.

Mei quashed the temptation to start screaming. Kneeling down, she gently petted the bear on the head. It looked at her with pained, dark eyes. She wanted to tell it that everything would be okay, that she would help it, but she knew she could not speak. And so, all she did was give it a hug and get started on the trap.

It was challenging, but Mei was a bright young girl. She managed to get it free rather quickly. By the time the bear was free, Yao-cat and Li Xiang-cat had brought back some makeshift bandages and medicinal herbs.

Mei kissed the bear on its fluffy forehead, before beginning to apply the herbs. So caught up was she in her job that she ignored the warning hissed of Ngai-cat and Batbayer-cat. It was only until someone picked up Kumajiro onto their lap that Mei realized they had company.

Looking up, she saw a handsome man standing before her. He had worried, violet eyes and blond hair. Coming out of it was an ahoge, similar to her own. He was dressed in fairly simple clothing, but Mei could tell that it was of good quality. Behind him, there were two foreign soldiers, each mounted, as well as a riderless chestnut horse.

"Hi," The man whispered in Chinese, "I don't mean to disturb you, miss. I'm just worried for my bear. Please, continue."

Nodding with wide eyes, Mei continued her job until the bear was all bandaged up. Afterward, the man tenderly lifted the bear onto the chestnut horse. Mei's heart felt warm. He was so considerate!

"Thank you," The man said softly, turning to her with a grateful smile. "M-my name is Mathew."

One of the foreign soldiers coughed.

Matthew blinked. "O-oh yes! I'm a government official, but just calling me Matthew is fine." He laughed nervously. "I- uh- come from this land across the ocean. My twin brother wanted to expand the horizons of us and our nation, so…"

Mei nodded, smiling. He was so adorable, like his bear!

"Uh… anyways… what's your name?"

Mei frowned. She couldn't speak! She gestured feebly at her throat.

Matthew frowned. "Oh, dear! Well… uh… you can just write stuff you want to say down! No worries, my twin and I can read Chinese too. Uh… here's a journal." He held out a book out to her, which Mei accepted. He smiled. "Paper was invented in China, right?"

Mei nodded while Yao-cat let out a proud meow.

"Those are your cats?" Matthew asked.

Mei nodded once more. Then she explained the entire situation in Chinese on the notebook. Reading through it, Matthew's eyes widened. For some reason, though, he seemed to believe her.

"Well…" He grinned. "My brother and I have actually met this Fairy of Plot Coincidences before. As a matter of fact, he's our big brother!"

Mei felt shocked, but then decided she shouldn't be. Family relations would always be weird, and there was nothing she could do.

"Well," Matthew said, "Thank Maple you told me. We could have had this mix up where some evil power-hungry person like Murpt convinced everyone that you were a terrorist or criminal."

Mei nodded. Matthew was right, thank goodness that didn't happen!

"Anyways," Matthew continued, "Your dad sounds like a psychopath. Why don't you come back to the New World with my brother and me? There are tons of Asians there too, I promise you won't feel alone."

Mei hesitated. She couldn't just leave her home… her parents…

But she knew this would be a wonderful opportunity. Like a forest after a fire that destroyed all the old, new life would come in the aftermath. But surely…

Yao-cat nudged her. Somehow, in his eyes, she saw that he wanted to leave. Or perhaps he didn't. Perhaps he just wanted them to have a better life, but he would always love China.

Her other brothers all gave their consent, in their own silent ways. And so, Mei finally nodded.

Life would be better there. She heard that there, there were no psycho kings because people got to choose their own leaders! And that women got to do all sorts of stuff there. Trade as free and success was there if you were willing to work. It would be wonderful!

And so, the Fairy of Plot Coincidences and the laziness of the author guided them to the New World on swift wings. There, they all lived happily ever after, Mei's brothers got turned back into humans, and Murpt was kicked out of office.

The (hasty) end!