Disclaimer: I don't own fullmetal alchemist, nor do I own the song safe and sound
The motley group was crowded around the dying embers of what was once a roaring campfire. The leader, a girl of twenty year looked up to the dark blue emptiness that was the night sky. The maiden, Marin, was humming to herself lamenting about what she had lost. "I remember tears streaming down your face when I said I'll never let you go" She softly sang to herself. She had soft white hair and eyes as crimson as the blood that stained the sands of her homeland. The lullaby she was singing was one she would often hear her mother sing to her younger sister in the happy days of long ago, before the dreadful war that tore her life apart. "When all those shadows almost killed your light" Her voice, soft and filled with sorrow, recalled the day her father came home from the marketplace, yelling at her and her sisters to run, to hide, and to get away. She held onto the hands of her sisters, but got separated from her elder sister in the madness. "I remember you said 'don't leave me here alone'" Another flashback. This time it had been a week after Amestris had declared war. She and her younger sister, a young girl of seven years looked at Marin with tears in her eyes "Whatever happens, stay with me, please" She had pleaded. Marin had smiled at her "Of course I will. We'll survive, I promise" She had vowed to the little girl. "But all that's dead and gone and past tonight" Alas, she couldn't keep that promise, because not too soon after, the little girl had fallen very ill, and it was getting difficult for the two to continue to flee the warzones. "Just close your eyes, the sun is going down. You'll be alright; no one can hurt you now." She repeated this over and over to her sister, to provide what little comfort she could to the dying child. "Come morning light, you and I'll be safe and sound" She broke off her singing and chuckled bitterly at that verse; she had failed her sister and had broken her promise. "Don't you dare look out your window; Darlin' everything's on fire" The day the order of ishvallen extermination had been issued had been a dark one indeed. She still couldn't stand fires, but knew there was no other way for them all to stay warm. Yet, she couldn't help but think of that day. The day she had lost everything. "The war outside our door keeps raging on" The Flame alchemist. There had been rumors, of a man who could set entire cities ablaze with just a snap of his fingers, but like most her age, the then 13 year old disregarded the rumors in favor of taking care of her sister. Then, he came. She had been making her way back to the shelter she and her sister had been staying at, when she saw entire buildings go up in flames; she did what any sane person would do. She opened the grate to the sewers and jumped in there so she would be safe. "Curled up to this lullaby, even when the music's gone" Hours later, when the amestrian troops had moved on to a new area, she left her hiding place. Searching among the ruins, she called her sister's name. "Siobhan! Siobhan! Where are you?" She cried out, becoming more and more worried as time went on. Eventually, she found herself at the ruins of the abandoned building she and Siobhan were hiding in. She saw burnt bodies everywhere, and when she ha located her sister, she threw up. The beautiful little girl, having just barely survived her illness, was nothing more than a pile of burnt flesh and charred bones. Looking up to the sky, she let out a scream of pain and anger for having her sister taken from her, vowing that if she ever met that flame alchemist, she would kill him. "Just close your eyes, the sun is going down" She thought back to the happy days before the war, when her, her parents and her sisters were all safe and happy. "You'll be alright; no one can hurt you now" After her sister had perished, she fled her homeland and travelled through the desert. On her way, however, she made it a habit of rescuing young children and taking them with her so that they would escape the harsh fate of her sister. " Come morning light, you and I'll be safe and sound" Yes, she had failed her sister, but she knew, deep in her pain-filled heart, her sister was watching her from the arms of ishvalla, and each night, after the younger one had gone to sleep, she prayed for forgiveness. She also prayed for the souls of the amestrian and ishvallen children, for all children are equally innocent, neither did any child deserve to die in that horrible war. "Just close your eyes, you'll be alright" She would sing this to the youngest of children whenever they would wake up screaming from nightmares about men in blue uniforms murdering their families. "Come morning light, you and I'll be safe and sound" She smiled now, remembering how she had made that promise to little Siobhan and failed to keep it, and how this time, she made no such promises aloud to the children she rescued, lest she fail them. Finished with her sorrowful singing, she felt warm arms embrace her leg and she looked down. P Ishmael, a little boy of only seven years old, looked up at her. "Please, miss, don't be sad. Our families are in heaven, right beside Ishvalla and she keeps them safe." She smiled sadly at him, and picked the small boy up. "I know, but this is the anniversary of the death of someone very close to me, and I miss her." Ishmael looked her in the eye and replied "Don't worry, Miss, she doesn't blame you" He then hugged the now shocked twenty year old and ran into one of the tents. "He's right" She said, looking up at the sky "I know you forgive me, for now you are truly safe, my darling little sister"