Bookend's Theme
The Little Hawk – Final Arc
Movements
Beads of sweat ran down her forehead as she forced herself to stay focused at the task ahead. She forced her leg, no, her foot to move and while it rebelled, she felt a response. She bit her lip and tried again. This was the hardest thing she had done in her life … harder than to accept her parents' death … harder than to have to explain Luis what had happened.
Lawrence was watching her and as her little toe twitched, he was tempted to congratulate her. This effort was huge and she worked so hard for this that it was a miracle that she had not collapsed yet. He reached out and grabbed her hand to hold it tightly. He wanted to support her but he did not want to distract her.
"Yes!" she muttered as she relaxed. "Did you see this? I moved my toe! And I feel my legs again. I am really, really recovering!"
He smiled as he patted her hand. "You did well," he told her.
"Just a little more and I will walk again!" she said cheerfully.
"For now, you should rest," he said softly. "You should sleep and then, you can train again. We will have you back on your feet very soon. By the way, Jadelina Mustang … what did she tell you when she called?"
"Remember Edward, Edward Elric? He is accused of the murder," she said as she rolled onto her side. "Jade is pretty distressed because of this."
"Elric would never kill anyone – much less someone he knows," the former Briggs-man declared as he removed his sunglasses as the final sign of being tired as well.
"…I agree," she sighed. "Still, airhead said I should be the final judge. She respects my input on this … and I read it in her eyes when I last saw her: if I believe him to be guilty, she will kill him … for justice."
"You grew to hate this word, didn't you?"
She nodded. "If justice makes her kill someone she cares for so deeply that he might be her son or brother in anything but blood, there is nothing I could hate more," she explained. "Justice is what Jade believes in … her ideal, her mission. If Edward is found guilty because of faked evidence, there is no way to predict what she might do. She is already fighting herself right now – and this might throw her out of balance."
"She is truly a wise woman but one day, her ideals will get her killed."
"Jade is someone I would trust with my soul," Nerissa said. "Her standards are very high."
"Yes," he nodded as he closed his eyes. "But … how will you judge him?"
"He is my friend and my goddaughter's father. Winry is a great person as well … to decide that he is innocent, that he was framed for this crime is all I can do to protect everyone I care for. Roy would never forgive me if I was to condemn his subordinate to death – and Phil will murder me if I bring Jade into a situation where she will kill."
"You judge him as innocent because of him and because of the others…"
"Indeed," Nerissa agreed. "Jade already judged him and I will blindly agree with airhead on this – if only to ensure everyone's happiness and to make sure that standards are upheld."
"For you to agree with her on such a topic…"
"You said it before: she is a wise one."
"But … there is another reason, isn't there?" he asked.
"Edward Elric cannot lie to Jadelina Mustang," she said seriously. "He has tried it many times but she knows him just too well to believe everything he tells her. She knows when he is lying. She reads it in his eyes. When she says that he is innocent, I am going to believe her. She is usually right, after all."
"And this 'usually' is enough for you?"
"At this moment, yes," she replied.
"You are relying on her word … which might be heavily biased?"
"We are all biased. He is a dear friend. We fought back-to-back so many times. He is our most valuable asset. We cannot sacrifice him.
"That's your decision … understandable…"
"But it is also Serena's place to judge."
"Your sister will accept your judgement."
"Are you sure?" she asked exhausted.
"Serena is a dear friend of mine and I know her well enough to know this."
Jun Li was highly aware of the silent and probably unconscious accusation she faced every time she looked at her daughter.
"Why him and not you?"
She did not know. She had asked herself the same question, many times since the day she had found him in Min Li's room. She had no clue why it had come like this. She did not know why Chao was in that hospital and not her. It hurt to know that it had always been him who had suffered under fate's cruel reign and never her. She knew that she could not truly be blamed for anything because she had no influence on her health or the lack of his and yet, she cursed everything to hell. He did not deserve this fate.
"Why him and not you?"
'Yes, why is it always him and never me? I am so sorry, Min Li, but I truly don't know the answer you are looking for. I wish I would though because it hurts oh so much that he is always the one to suffer even though I am the one who sinned against the sacred rules of our family while you, Chao, were never to blame for anything that happened to us. You never fooled around with anyone … you always remembered the sacred oaths … so please, forgive me, Chao, forgive me for my weakness … forgive me for being such a failure…'
"Why him and not you?"
She wondered whether Chao knew what he had done to deserve such a cruel fate, whether he carried a dark secret inside his soul, a secret he had never shared with her. She sometimes suspected that there had always been something inside his heart, the faint shadow of a sin … but then again, he had always seemed so damn innocent and so she refused to believe this. And even if she was wrong and there was something, she would forgive him – just like he had always forgiven her.
"Why him and not you?"
It was behind her own reasoning why she felt so guilty, why she felt so much pain. He had been her friend and rival, then, an eternity ago – and she still loved him. She cried in anger. Chao, this lovable fool, had been there for such a long time, all her life and now, he might be dying, might fall in this pointless battle he had been fighting for so many years.
Still, why him and not her?
"Things are looking bad in the capital, Vicky," Nerissa said calmly. "You know as good as I do that Edward didn't kill him. He has been framed – you have to do something!"
"Says the woman in the comfortable wheelchair, yes," the redhead said. "Look, Nessa, I know the outlines of the entire building plus the position of any freaking watchmen on the grounds. It's not even that I am scared of breaking him out. I just see no point in it. Even the dumbest person on this planet would figure out that we – as in the clique of governmental relatives – is behind this … and hiding him in Xing seems stupid as well."
"I didn't even mention that we were planning on hiding him there … how did you figure out that part of the plan?"
"This is just about showing you that you got predictable. Look, you all know that Jade's entire organisation got more traitors than the entire military at Promised Day," the genius shrugged. "Without breaking out the big guns, you are going to run into a trap. But please, never mind me. I just advise you to remember that Jade's buildings has reinforced walls since they are running there very dangerous experiments."
"Why is it really that you refuse to come?" Nerissa inquired sharply.
Victoria turned around with a small smile. "Because either way, I will lose … if I don't join and it succeeds, I will be the loser who gave up on him. If it fails and I joined, my reputation will be destroyed for the next hundred years. By staying out of this, I avoid two things: being called one who hogs all the spotlight and messing everything up. Like I said, it's a win-win-lose-situation for me right now."
"You are seriously considering allowing all of them to run into a knife you see from here while the knife is back in Central?" Miles asked as he raised his eyebrows. "Your godmothers would be proud of you … at least Olivier."
"I always wanted many children because I think that they are Heaven on Earth. Children are so … sweet, so innocent. I love children and when I was younger, I dreamed of a huge family, a real family of my own … but now, I am not so sure whether I can have this family. Jing … I still don't know what to think of him. We used to be friends … and yes, I admit that I used to have at least a major crush on him. I don't know if it was love. I only know that I tried to fix him, to heal him. I don't think that I used him – or that I was used by him," she said as she rested her hands on the windowsill and stared outside. "We did whatever we considered necessary at the time. Maybe this was our mistakes … that we wanted to rule our own lives so desperately that we forgot about the borderlines. I don't regret what we did. At the time, it was important and the right thing to do. We had to break the rules to survive." She sat down on the windowsill and wrapped her arms around her legs as she looked at Chao's still form. "Bodyguards and warriors do those things because loneliness is the number one reason for alcoholism and suicide. I am not proud of what I did … but like I said, it was necessary in order to stay sane.
The elders would hate me if they knew that I … slept with Jing but I wonder how many of them did something alike when they were in my situation … when the loneliness in those cold nights nearly drove them insane … I do care about my reputation back in Xing, sure, and it's not like I slept around in the village. Still, if the elders were to find out, I would end up killed – that's for sure. Well, I know that you know and you never judged."
She sighed deeply. "Thanks for that, Chao. I am happy that at least you are always on my side. And I like you, a lot. Therefore, you are allowed to die. I need you … because you are the most important person in my entire life."
She was not ashamed of what she had done years ago, when she had been fifteen and desperate for human touch, for human warmth. And she had always been too curious for her own good. She had never intended to hurt Jing but she feared that she had hurt him at least a little bit when she had shown that she cared more about Jing thank about Jing.
"I care about you, Chao," she said, leaving away a title because at the moment, she was too confused. "A lot, to be honest. More than you know."
She sighed deeply as she moved over to his bed, carefully bending over him to straighten his blanket. "Get well soon," she said softly as she pressed a kiss onto his forehead. She was about to get back up when his arm was suddenly wrapped around her waist. A few seconds later, she found herself trapped in his arms.
"Stupid Chao," she muttered as she kicked off her shoes. "Always forcing me to relax … I got classes today, you fool!"
He had always forced her to relax and so she had gotten used to his antics along the years. She also knew that it was pointless to try escaping because his arms were a heaven and a prison at the same time. So she rested her head on the pillow and closed her eyes, breathing calmly. She had always enjoyed his presence and even today, the scent of peppermint and parchment calmed her down and so she fell asleep while she curled up next to him like a little kitten.
"…we are breaking him out and hide him somewhere until we can be sure that there will be no assassination of another high ranking member of the society," Olivier said sharply as she crossed her arms. "I am aware that I am overstepping boundaries and that I broke around hundred rules just by saying this but – no matter how much it pains me to admit this – Elric is a friend and we can't have a friend rotting away in a prison."
Jade stayed silent, dark orbs entirely focused onto the trembling and whimpering figure of Serena who was currently slamming her fists into Phil's stomach. "You are right," she finally admitted as she averted her gaze. "But I cannot know anything about this. When you break into my building, into my prison, I will have to be surprised, shocked even."
Nick who leaned against the wall behind her sighed deeply. "Victoria and Min Li can't know either. Vicky is hell-bent on making Edward's life miserable because she still believes that he was the one to kill gramps. And Min is about to graduate. Plus, rumours has it that Chao's wife asked for a divorce and this will be soon as well."
"You can count out Serena and Phil. When they are done, they won't be able to move for days … reckless fools," Jade said as she threw something at Nick. "I heard Xing is a nice place when someone has to hide from amestrian authorities…" she added with a smirk.
Nick wrapped his fingers around the keys – the keys that would allow him to fly – oh, and to get Edward out of the country before most people would even realise that the alchemist had left the prison. He would be able to fly. "Alright," he said, praying that his reputation as the one who could use any kind of vehicle would not desert him. He had used Jade's small plane a few times before but always under her supervision.
"…it's kinda cruel of you to let her go on her own," Scar said as he watched Victoria. "I mean … isn't loyalty a big topic among your circle of friends?"
She sighed. "I just can't," she said. "My arm is still in a mess and nothing I can do has ever helped anyone. To stay here is a favour for all of them."
"You aren't giving yourself enough credit. Look at it, you are a healer and no matter what, this is something you should be proud of. Yeah, you smashed in a wall you never meant to destroy but, hell, this happens to the best of us," he said. "It doesn't matter how much you can do – it matters that you are doing something. Look, grab your gloves and take the next train to the capital. You were born as a fighter – otherwise you'd be dead already."
"I was born weak," she stated. "Compared to others, I will be useless. To stay back is the smartest thing I can do."
"Then don't go as a fighter but as a leader, as a tactician! Use your brain and fix up the holes in their plan – because there got to be many," he said. "Look, just go and do something. Since you arrived, you did nothing but smiling and helping everyone. You even healed that man who tried to kill you after I broke his nose and caused him to bleed."
"So you expect me to go out and help them?"
"Exactly," he said exasperated. "Looks, the people everywhere love you – as your own genius-warrior-leader-mixture. You are a lot like Mei – a princess who does something. This oh-I-am-just-a-little-healer-and-pacifist-image kills you and I promise you, if you keep it up, you will end up extremely unhappy because you are hiding within a small shell."
She exhaled as she stared at her hands. "I … I only wanted to help everyone."
"I know," he said as he held out her gloves. "But instead of helping everyone, focus a little more on helping those you love. I will cover the people at the hospital for the time being. You will help them to save Elric and if you want to, you can return afterwards."
She bit her lip before she finally grabbed the gloves from his hand and rested her fist on her heart. "I will be back," she promised. "Maybe not tomorrow – but soon!"
He laughed lightly as he watched her leave, shoulders straight and a sincere expression on her face. This was the least he could do. She was a lot like his brother, wanting to help everyone but failing miserably. Yet, unlike his brother, she had people who helped her back up whenever she met her shortcomings. "Soar," he muttered.
"You really managed to get her to leave?" Miles inquired calmly. "I am surprised."
"It's all about pushing the right buttons. She is a tough one – but she still got a heart."
"Say, Riza?" Roy asked as he looked up from his plate. "Did Armstrong ask you as well?"
"Whether I want to help her to break Edward out of Jade's cell, yes," she nodded as she cut her steak carefully. "So she has asked you as well?"
"Yes," he nodded. "I told her that I am considering it – seeing that Edward would do the same for me if I was sitting in prison…"
"I think that it could be problematic. If we get caught, it would ruin everything we worked for since, well, the war," she said with a frown. "I understand your wish to help him but … as far as I see, Nick and Laila already involved themselves. For us to join the fray would only make matters worse, I fear."
"We could do it like Jade – help them from behind the scenes," he suggested. "I also see the risk of destroying the work of more than a decade. That's why we need to be careful with the entire operation. I think that Olivier already got the rest of the old team."
"Fuery, she definitively got Fuery," Riza muttered. "She needs him to cut down the communication in the building and to enable her own people to communicate properly."
"You and Victoria share the disturbing habit of guessing parts of the plan with ridiculous precision," Roy sighed as he sipped on his wine. "But yes, I guess that this is really the reason why she needs his help. Her own communication experts stayed up in Briggs."
"Helping is okay, being involved directly isn't," his wife decided as she pushed back her chair and rose. "Don't jeopardise our entire work, Roy, please."
He awoke from another angst-filled dream and as he gasped for air, he felt a second body on his bed as he realised that human warmth was seeping through his clothes and into his bones. He careful extended his hand and touched silky hair and velvety skin – too soft to belong to his so-called wife. He inhaled a scent of ginger and honey, the scent of Min Li. It was a strangely comforting scent, the scent of home.
His free hand, the hand that was not attached to an IV came up to toy with the strands that had freed themselves from the strict buns she insisted on wearing. His hand slipped away from her hair and tried to figure out whether she was uninjured or not. Her face was uninjured, no scratches, no scars. He exhaled in relief. So she had no fought with that Bo-boy all over again. There were no bandages underneath her sleeves and she did not react when he carefully put pressure onto her ribs. So no bruises either. He was happy that she was alright and for a few moments, he allowed himself to hold her close to himself. She was perfect in his eyes. She had her own, special way to smile at him, kind and warm, honest and unfaltering. But he also knew that she was a liar. They all lied everyday. Chao had lied about his illness, Jun Li had lied about her feelings, Lan Fan had lied about her reasons and Min Li was lying as well even though he did not know her lie yet.
His hand returned to her head, cupping her face. She stirred in her sleep and rolled over to wrap her arms around him. She was warm and comfortable, a kitten compared to him, the lion, no, the tiger.
Her smaller and softer hand was suddenly connected with his own and her lips curled up into a soft and lazy smile.
"Min-hime," he said, copying Ping Fang's silly nickname for her.
Her lids twitched twice before she opened her eyes. "Chao," she said, no title, no honorific. He preferred this for some reason.
"Slept well?" he inquired, trying to sit up.
"Yeah," she nodded, placing a pillow between his back and the headboard. "You moved a lot in your sleep … you had a bad dream, huh?"
He sighed. "I dreamed something very strange," he admitted. "It was the craziest dream I had in a very long time. What about you, Min Li?"
"It's not about me," she said, letting down her hair from her ruined buns.
"It's not about me all the time either," he said, twirling a strand of her hair around his finger. "You are important as well … especially to me. So, sometimes it's about you as well, Princess, and right now I say that it's about you."
She laughed lightly and for a moment, she rested her forehead against his chest, feeling his heartbeat resounding in her head. "On a more serious note, Lan Fan called … Jun Li. The elders finally made their move."
His hands tightened to fists and she gasped at the sudden pain in her scalp because he accidentally yanked on her hair. "Sorry, hime," he whispered before he let go of her hair to prevent to hurt her again. "But … those elders … they are getting exhausting."
She sighed as she folded her hands neatly in her lap. "They are still caught up in the old rules," she said in her usual pacifying manner even though she was sick and tired of this topic. "It's not their fault, Chao. They defend the old order, they defend what they believe in … and I have to respect this even though I hate them. Everyone has the right to express their beliefs."
He brushed back her hair. "You are right," he stated with a sigh. "I don't like it but they have truly a right to express their opinions." He sighed deeply. "By the way, my wife wants a divorce."
Her face fell.
It was a silent night in Central City.
Edward Elric sat in his cell, wondering what would happen next. On his right lay the abandoned newspaper Jade had sneaked into his cell. Most of the so-called events did not interest him at all. He did not care about the fact that the ambassador of Nippon had arrived for negations with Xing and Amestris. He also was not impressed by the fact that Serena would be led to the altar by Phil because this was only because of Peter's death and Peter's death only reminded him of the crime he had supposedly committed.
His mind went lost on the road to insanity.
He had not killed them. Peter had been a lot like his father had been before everything had been destroyed – loud, full of laughter and warmth. And Catherina had been a spitfire, a lot like Winry and maybe this was why he could hardly understand why there were people who truly believed that he had been the one to murder them – his friends.
He remembered everything as he sat there. He remembered Jade. She had been his enemy at first, cool and calculating – a perfect predator. Then, she had somehow become his comrade, loyal and unfaltering – never judging him or anyone else. And within a flash, she had been everything else as well. His rival … his superior … his partner … his friend … his sister … his equal – even though it hurt to admit this - … his would-be-executioner … his jailer … the key to his freedom and above all, his guard.
She was his sword and his shield.
She guarded his life and at the same time, she kept his spirit alive. His cell was a cell, true, but he was only in the detention cell of the Ministry of Science. This was not a real prison. He was allowed to do his paperwork and under Jade's strict supervision, he was even able to go outside to train in the enclosed yard which was nice. Plus, Jade tried very hard to keep the worst from him.
He exhaled as he heard steps on the floor and frowned as he recognised Nerissa's pattern. It sounded clumsy and unsure, lacking its former energy and a far cry from the aggression it had used to emit – but this was to be expected from a woman who had been in a wheelchair.
Finally, she appeared. Her hair was down, without the usual silver hairclip that kept it in line, and she wore the darkest shade of black. She was unarmed but he knew just too well that her hands were lethal as well.
"You are here to judge me," he stated.
She nodded as she stood still. "Indeed," she replied after a moment. "Jade believes you to be innocent and while I want to believe her, I want to be sure that you didn't kill them."
"My hands are clean," he said slowly. "I cared for them. Hell, she is my idol. I care about her … she is – was my teacher. She is a woman of perfected patience. I … she is like a mother."
"So, Jade is the next one who has to die?" the blonde asked, eyes impossible to read.
"Why?" he asked with a frown.
"Because out of all of us, she is the closest you ever got to have a mother since Trisha … passed on," Nerissa said as her eyes softened. "Plus, she is the one dealing with this mess."
"Like you, I would never kill if I saw another way out," he said calmly.
"This is what I wanted to hear," Nerissa smirked. "A little hint: pack your suitcase. Things are about to look up."
"I am getting released? Was my innocence proven?"
"Nope," she said. "Let's say … Olivier is getting sick and tired of your 'vacation on costs of the state' and decided to end this … tonight. And as you can guess, this means that she got someone to break you out of this … detention cell."
"It's time," Olivier said as she looked at the team she had assembled. There were a few who looked promising like the Xingese woman with the green jacket. The rest of the gang did not seem as competent with the exception of Nick maybe. "Fuery, cut down their communication … and let's pray that Jade doesn't kill me for that stunt."
"With pleasure," the bespectacled man grinned. "Oh, did the minister approve of this? Because I don't want end up as some weird experiment at her laboratory…"
"She is warned and will most likely go to me when she really has a problem," Olivier said, trying to calm him down. "Plus, she should have counted on things like this. Okay, Miss Cho, you and your team offered to cause a distraction?"
"We no speak Amestrian," the woman in green said with a wink as she removed her katana from her belt. "Do me a favour, General, and keep an eye on it. It's family heirloom and, well, my mother would personally behead me with a spoon if something happened to this sword – Qiang."
"It got a name because any decent sword got one," Ping Fang, the scientist of their group, explained while he dropped his own set of weapons. "Okay, Jing, empty your pockets. We got to leave … we have a tight schedule tonight after all."
"Nick," Riza said from her place by the monitors. "Be careful, alright?"
Her son nodded as he turned around. "Check point Beta," he said. "I will be waiting there."
"We are going in now," Jean Havoc said as he stepped out of the room. "Boss, Hawkeye, you keep watch from this place. We will screw up the place from the inside."
"This is exactly what you should avoid," Roy sighed. "Jade kills me if something happens to her precious antique scrolls. And I actually like the way I live right now."
Lee Cho had done many crazy things in his life as it came with his profession. But messing with a highly-secured building that belonged to a powerful organisation was new to him – especially since usually, Min Li had been the one to decide on their jobs and she would have never ever accepted something that screamed "This is fucking dangerous".
He sighed as he removed his green clan jacket and dropped it onto the other jackets they had shed off.
"Here we go," Jean Havoc, the strangely enthusiastic man, muttered as he carefully manipulated one of the doors to open. "You heard the boss – don't destroy anything that belongs Jade because she will find and kill us for this."
"Understood," Meimei said as she looked around. "But everything else is at our disposal, right?" she asked as she grabbed a few explosive notes from her belt.
"No extensive damage either," Jean said as he dashed away. He knew the real movements of the guards because of a little bird that smelled of lemons. He chuckled. Victoria did a terrible job at making everyone believe that she did not care about this mission.
Nick was freezing. The time was moving too slow and he wondered whether it had been in a night like this when Jean had started to smoke because smoking was probably the only thing one could do when lurking in the shadows, waiting for something to happen. For a moment, he considered conjuring a little flame to warm him but it would only attract unwanted attention. His head turned to the side as Laila appeared, hair golden and eyes emerald and skin marble. "You took your sweet time, Lai," he said gently.
She sighed as she looked around, hoping for a familiar spot of red. "So she really didn't come," she stated calmly but the pain crept into her voice within seconds. "I had expected her to see reason but it seems like she is stubborn to the end."
"It is our sister so what did you expect?" he asked as he brushed back his hair. "It is nice to see you though. Did you cut off the emergency generator on your way?"
"This is my only job – to cause complete darkness," she shrugged. "Will Jean be fine?"
Her breath went heavy as she dashed through the darkness. Her heart thundered inside her chest and she cursed her aching feet as she finally came to a hold. She saw the three soldiers in the distance and for a moment, she wondered whether they heard her heart or her erratic breath. But then again, they had no reason to suspect her of anything.
She, however, knew what she had to do. She knew of those three soldiers – just had remembered them. They would see Jean and Edward and they would not forget about them. They had to disappear but while had taken on thugs not too long ago, she was not sure whether she would be able to do anything at all. Her arm still hung down in this miserable form, limp and useless. She had no sword to wield and no explanation, no excuse to get those men to leave their post for a moment.
She was there but she was utterly useless – maybe she should have never come in first place. She resisted the urge to slap herself. She had to do something, anything.
"You know, instead of thinking about what you can't do, you should start to consider what you can do," the calm voice of Mei Chang-Elric said as the young woman appeared next to her. "And this is supposed to be a secured faculty? I got in without a problem…"
"Tonight, everyone gets in without any trouble," Lan Fan said as she appeared out of nowhere, landing safely on her feet. "What about … two of us start to fight quite violently while the third one gets the guards to break us up?"
"You do the fight, I do the talk with the guards," Victoria said. "But … we should a little longer. Jean will be here in two minutes and we can't have them returning too early."
"Smart idea," Lan Fan admitted as she sighed. "By the way, the next time you see Min Li, please tell her that the elders are about to stir up even more trouble for her."
Jean Havoc would pray later on to any unknown deities that they had made this work. He had grabbed Edward and his personal belongings before they had made sure to vacate the areal of the ministry of science faster than a bat out of hell. Being a soldier, he realised that he was passing a – thankfully abandoned – post for even more guards [what the fuck had Jade been thinking when she had insisted on having so many guards anyway?]. He had forced himself not to think of the probability of having even more watchmen on his heels in a few seconds when he had pushed Edward to the corner where Nick had been waiting, joined by Laila who smiled at Jean.
"We are out of there, finally," Edward panted as he rested his hands on his knees. "If it had known that you meant this by a short walk at the fresh air, Havoc, I would have stayed."
"Victoria really didn't show up, huh?" Jean asked as he looked at Laila.
"Somehow, I feared that she would stay away," the blonde replied with a shrug. "She is … sick and tired of everything, I fear. She has been working so hard to get stronger and messes up her arm like that. She has to be frustrated."
Jean nodded as he looked at Nick. "You get him out of the country as fast as possible, I'd say," he smiled as Riza pulled up the car. "I'll get Laila home safe and in one piece."
"Good idea," Laila said as she waved at her brother. "Keep an eye on yourself, Edward."
"W-what about Win and Trisha and Granny?" the blond man asked.
"Left the country earlier today on the generous invitation of Emperor Ling," Nick said as he pushed the man into the direction of the car. "Keep an eye on Lai, Jean. Oh, and I'll see you in the morning – remember: Chao is getting a divorce."
Laila was silent as they walked through the silent town. "I am unhappy about Vic's decision to stay in Ishbal," she admitted. "Sure, I can understand her reasoning and it makes sense and is wonderfully logically … but, it makes me mad that I know that usually, she would have come. She would have arrived as some sort of … last minute saviour."
"She probably did," he stated as he mentioned towards the familiar silver hairclip on the ground. "That's hers, isn't it? If you want to hear what I believe … she came back and she was the one to lure away the soldiers we didn't count on. Don't despair, Laila, she would never ever let you and Nick down. She just has to accept that her options aren't the best at the moment … and that some things simply don't work out the way they are supposed to."
They had run until their chests had felt like they would burst – but then again, they had reached the luxurious house that belonged Jun Li and Lei just in time. Lan Fan had unlocked the door and they had stumbled into the entrance hall – only to be face to face with Jun Li who did not look amused at all.
"I can explain," Lan Fan said hastily as she raised her hands. "We got involved into the entire Freeing-Edward-Elric-business and somehow, we ended up fleeing."
Jun Li's face was expressionless as she put her kunai back into its holster. "Get into the living room and keep out the light," she said as she stepped backwards.
"You are mad," Mei stated as she followed the woman.
"Mad, no," the older woman said as she pushed open the door. "Maybe a little bit unhappy because, hell, it's three in the morning and I was nearly asleep when I felt your flaring chi."
"Usually, you would be asleep by now," Lan Fan said as she sat down on the couch. "You are worried about Chao, aren't you?"
"I am worried about Min," her sister said as she wrapped her arms around her legs.
"Understandable," Mei said in agreement. "She won't be at the hospital tomorrow, right?"
"He asked her to attend his divorce," the retired Dragon Warrior said as she shrugged. "I haven't seen you in town for a while, Tori. I even heard that you refused to help the prison break tonight … and yet, you are here."
"Scar gave me a wakeup call and anyway, I finished my work," the redhead shrugged as she pulled a bunch of parchment from her bag. "Took me long enough to understand the last details of my mother's code … anyway, here we go. Lynn's biggest breakthrough – replacing a lost limb via alchemy," she said. "It is really a shame – she was halfway done by the time she … was killed. I only had to fix up the last few details."
"Replacing a lost limb…" Lan Fan muttered, grabbing her automail. "That's brilliancy."
"…and might save my own arm one day," Victoria added with a dark expression.
"It still didn't heal properly?" Mei asked worried. "Shall I take a look?"
"I thought that it was over … but the wound festered. I think that one of the chimeras was poisonous," the young girl said as she shrugged. "It would be nice if you would check it out, Mei. It hurts a lot after all."
AN:
I promise all my readers that this is the final part.
Give me about 9 more chapters to catch the last few threads of the story and I will be done.
In this chapter, Victoria finally mentioned her attempt to find a way to replace a lost limb again, plus, she got a lot of character development for not running to Central when she was first asked by Nerissa to help them.