Chapter seven
Rain's p.o.v
I woke up on a bed at the Rockbells house, with my left arm a nub. I went downstairs and followed the smell of food. Roy was sitting on the couch reading the paper and Riza was sitting at the table filling out paperwork. Pinako was setting plates down, and Winry was polishing her newly made automail for me. I cringed.
"Oh, don't be a wimp." She looked at me.
"You try getting some damn automail and call me a wimp." I snarled grumpily. Roy looked up from his paper.
"Somebody's grumpy today." He teased.
"You would be too!" I snapped and resisted the urge to throw a fork at him.
I sat down next to Riza and whispered, "I so want to throw a fork at him, can I?"
She smiled and shook her head. "Trust me I want to a lot of times, but it may make him angry." She laughed, and Roy looked up and glared at her. I dug in to the food Pinako had made.
"This food is so good!" I said.
"Well eat up, because after, Winry and I are going to get started on your automail." Pinako said to me.
I sat in painful silence, honestly thinking about running; like that time with Roy, but, Roy read my mind. He gave me a look that said; you run, I will find you. So I sighed in bitter defeat. Damn homunculi and their portal of truth… Now I'm a confirmed sacrifice… Fuck.
"You know, Rain, you remind me of Ed a lot of times." Winry said.
"How's that?" Roy asked.
"Well she never cares for herself, only others and gets mad easily."
"Now that I think of it, yes, they are similar. Especially in size." Roy observed.
"I am not short!" I shouted.
"Yes, she and Edward are alike. By a lot if I must say." Riza nodded. "But, they get along so well and yet so alike. How can that be?" She wondered aloud.
"Ready Rain?" Winry asked me.
"As ready as I'll ever be." I sighed.
Three weeks later
"Ready to go back to Central?" Breda asked me. Roy and Riza had to go back last week for work, there were some complications. They sent Breda to come take me home.
I clenched my metal fist. "Yeah."
"Rain, make sure to take it easy for a couple more days, okay?" Winry said.
I put up my metal hand. "Yeah, yeah." I said and something hard hit my head.
"Don't get into any danger!" Winry shouted.
"Why'd you throw a wrench at my head?!" I yelled. Breda helped me up.
"Let's go, boss." He said.
I dusted myself off, and said, "Yeah." Then I followed Breda to the train station. "Do you need me to pay?" I asked.
"Nah, the Colonel gave me money to get you." He said.
"Well that was considerate." I said and sat on an empty bench. My stomach growled and I got me and Breda a snack from the vending machine. I got back to the bench where Breda was and gave him a bag of chips.
"Oh, thanks." He said in surprise.
"No problem." I said and sat down. We waited for the train in silence.
We finally arrived to Central and it was late afternoon. Havoc was waiting in a car. I got in the passenger seat and nodded to him. He nodded back. Breda waved good bye and walked away.
"Where we going?" I asked him
"Command." He said. I leaned my head back on the seat and crashed.
Roy's point of view
"Here she is Colonel, she's out cold though. I'm afraid to wake her." Havoc told Roy as he carried the sleeping, frail body into his office.
"That's okay, just set her on the couch. She doesn't have work to do anyway. She probably couldn't get any sleep with her pain of the automail procedure." Roy said. Havoc set her on the couch and the blond teenage alchemist looked up from his report.
"Edward, you have a report to finish." Hawkeye said. "You too Colonel, you have paper work to finish." She said as Roy started chuckling. He returned to work. Hawkeye got out a pillow and a blanket for Rain. Her eyes slowly fluttered open, her big round brown eyes, full of softness Roy and Ed have never seen. But then they fluttered closed and she fell back to unconsciousness. Ed looked at Roy as if to say; she looked like a child. Roy nodded. Rain's eyes were normally full of hatred for the world, never caring, even if she smiled. Her eyebrows were always slanted worry lines clear on her forehead. But in her sleep, she looked happy. Her eyebrows were easy, her worry lines gone. Ed would've looked at her all day, if Hawkeye wasn't there. Has her face always been that beautiful? Ed could never look at her face without feeling sad.
Rain's point of view
I woke up in Roy's office. My head was on a pillow and I was wrapped in a blanket. I sat up and rubbed my eyes. Riza was standing by Roy's desk, where Roy was working on paper work.
Ed was sitting on the couch filling in a report. Riza looked at me and smiled.
"Good evening Rain, did you get a good sleep?"
"Uh yeah." I said and realized it was dark outside. Roy looked up at me.
"We're going to have to stay here for the night, too much work for me to go home. I thought you wouldn't wanna be home alone all night." He explained.
"Ready for dinner?" Riza asked everyone. We all said yes, and we went downstairs to the cafeteria. We all got food and sat down. Roy and Ed had to continue working while eating, due to Riza's demands. I sat next to Riza and ate.
"Do I have work to be done?" I asked her.
She shook her head. "No, you stay on top of your work, unlike these two." Oh, trust me Riza, I do my fair share of procrastination, but Roy makes me do my reports at home.
I finished eating and went back to the office. I was glad Havoc had brought my suitcase in, because my sketch book and pencils were in it. It was just me and Roy in the office at the time; Riza and Ed were still eating and when me and Roy left Riza was yelling at Ed.
Suddenly the Fuhrer walked in. I got up and saluted him. Roy did the same.
"Your excellency! What brings us the pleasure of your presence today?" Mustang said respectfully, though I could see hatred clear in his eyes. I wondered why.
"I wanted young Rain to take a walk with me. Don't worry I'll bring her back. Is that okay Colonel Mustang?" The old man smiled a warm smile.
"Of course sir." Mustang said uneasily.
"Rain, if you please?" The fuhrer said, and I followed him.
"I would like to introduce you to my son and wife." The fuhrer explained.
"Oh, it's a great honor sir!" I said and bowed.
"Don't sweat it; they've been eager to meet you, especially Seliem." He chuckled. We arrived to the fuhrer's home and I smoothed my hair, and straightened my shirt.
"Dear, I've brought Broken Fire!" He called to his wife. An elderly woman came down.
"So, you're the other young alchemist we've been hearing so much about. My, you certainly are a beautiful girl. It's an honor to meet you." She extended her hand.
"It's all my pleasure Mrs. Bradley. And thank you." I said and shook her hand, a fake smile plastered on my face. I cannot ever have a genuine smile unless with Roy or Ed.
"Daddy, is she really here?" I heard behind me, and I jumped in surprise, because I felt a dark presence.
"Nunh!" I yelped in surprise.
"Seliem, don't scare our guests like that." The fuhrer told his son. He looked at me.
"Sorry, I'm just so excited to meet you!" Seliem apologized.
"It's okay." I smiled again.
"Why don't we all have some tea?" Mrs. Bradley suggested.
"Sounds great, though I'm honestly not a fan of tea." I said, sheepishly.
"That's quite alright, what is it you prefer?" She asked.
"Milk actually."
"We can get that for you dear."
"Wow, thanks." I said in appreciation. We sat down and Seliem asked me a bunch of questions and gushed over my beauty. The fuhrer got up.
"We outta get you back to Colonel Mustang, he must be worried sick."
I finished my milk and got up. "Him and Ed both." I laughed. "It was very nice meeting you Mrs. Bradley, and Seliem." I shook Mrs. Bradley's hand and Seliem gave me a kiss on the cheek. We walked out and I followed him to Roy's office.
"I'll leave you here." He said as we reached the door, and winked at me. I knocked softly on the door and Roy opened it. He enveloped me in a tight hug.
"I was so worried! Where were you?" He asked
"The Fuhrer took me to meet his family." I said.
"Is she here?" I heard Ed ask from inside the office.
"Edward, focus on your reports." Riza told him. "Colonel, get back to your paperwork."
Roy let me go and went to his desk. I came in after him and shut the door. I sat on the couch and looked at Riza.
"Still no work?" I asked.
She shook her head.
I lay on the couch bored out of my mind, and anxiously awaited when I could go home with Roy.
"What's wrong with you? You're so selfish." A black haired woman stood over me.
I put my fists up. "Really Lust? I'm selfish? Only to you, dear." I said and punched her in the face.
We fought and fought, and then I heard a males voice come out of lusts mouth.
"Rain, get up! Wake up!" It said, worried.
"Huh?" I sat up and rubbed my eyes.
Roy was over me, his eyes full of worry.
"Rain, did you have a nightmare?" He asked.
I sat up and rubbed my head. "Something like that…" I muttered. We were still in Roy's office.
"Well, it's time to head home; do you want to go to school today?" He asked me as I got up.
"Nah… Is Ed going, do you know?"
"Yeah, the lieutenant makes him go every day. She has it arranged that if the school needs to call a parent, they call her."
"Oh, boy, she must get called often." I said and picked up my suitcase.
"She does." He opened the door and locked it. I laughed and yawned.
"Boy, am I tired." I yawned.
"Did you get any sleep while I was gone?" He asked me.
"I can't see how I could've. Automail hurts." I got in the car and sat back in my seat.
"I know you want to spend some time with me, I can tell, but, I need some sleep too." He petted my head. "I promise we'll spend time after we get our sleep."
We got home and I waddled into the house sleepily. As soon as I hit the couch I was out cold.
When I woke up I was wrapped in a blanket and sprawled on the floor. Roy was sitting at the table reading the paper. I was surprised that he was up before me. He saw me open my eyes and got up. He swept me up into his arms swiftly and picked up my blanket.
"Good evening." He said and sat on the couch.
"Alright, who's coming over to babysit tonight?" I asked knowing because he was acting weird.
"Not coming over, you're going to the Lieutenants apartment for the night, and she's going to watch you. I must warn you, she's a lot stricter than I am." Roy said.
"Right." I nodded.
Roy got up, me still in his arms. "Alright, let's go, I have business to attend to." He said and sat me down. I grabbed my black duster and made sure I had food in it. Then I grabbed my gloves just in case. Mustang was talking on the phone.
"No, Barry. The Lieutenant does not want you over. End of discussion. Don't make me burn you! Good." He was yelling into the phone. I walked out the door and headed to the lieutenants house.
Roy looked out the door. "You sure you wanna walk?" He asked.
"Yeah, I need some exercise. It's not too far." I answered without turning around. "See you tomorrow." I yelled and turned a corner. You worry him, you know that? You're so cruel to him. A voice said in my head. And it echoed.
Cruel.
"No."
Cruel.
"No! I'm not cruel!" I shouted and fell to the ground, tears soaking my cheeks. "I'm not cruel…"
Riza's Point of View
"I found her Colonel; she was a few blocks away, crumpled on the sidewalk, covered in snow. She was sobbing unconsciously." Riza said to the phone.
"Is she okay? Is she awake?" Roy asked, worried.
"Yeah, she's okay, and she's awake, but she has not spoken."
"Oh. Okay, thanks lieutenant." He said and hung up.
"My mom, no one came to her funeral." Rain said quietly.
"Why?" Riza asked.
"Because our whole family hated us, my mom, dad and I. That day, I sat at my mom's grave, alone. It was pouring that day." She looked up. "No one came to take me home. Every day I would come back to her grave. One day, my aunt forged a will for my mom saying all her money would go to her, and that she wanted to be cremated and that the ashes be given to me with my fathers. Her being cremated, gave me some sort of motive, I suppose… To move on and see the colonel. At first I was worried about the whole thing, maybe he would reject me, or I would fail the exams, or I would be killed. I had no idea what I was running into, but my mom, she had told me that Roy was a kind man, that he would take care of me the best he could.
"When I took the exam, the written part was the easy part, most certainly. The questions were the hardest. The fuhrer's last question stuck with me. 'Are you sure that this will be good for you?' and I answered with a simple and quiet, 'I don't know.' I knew I had passed the moment I saw their faces. Was it worth it? I don't know yet." Rain put her head down and returned back to being deadly silent.
The next day
Rain's point of view
"Rain, are you ready?" Roy asked me concern in his eyes. My eyes were dull, and defeated. I just simply nodded. "Has she talked at all?" He whispered to Riza, who was preparing for work.
"No, sir." She replied.
"Well, thanks for keeping her." Roy sighed.
"Not a problem, sir."
Roy walked out the door and I shuffled behind him, looking at the ground. He turned around.
"Rain, are you okay?" He asked. I looked up at him with my defeated eyes and looked to the side. Ed was standing by the wall looking at me with concerned eyes. "Fullmetal? What are you doing here, and where's Alphonse?" Roy asked him.
"I had to get a dorm. Al's in the dorm. Is she okay?" Edward looked at me.
"I don't know. Something happened to her last night, and she hasn't spoken since yesterday." Roy looked at Ed with pleading eyes.
"That's unusual. Has she eaten?"
"The lieutenant told me she never touched her food."
Ed's eyes widened. "That's really odd…" He stepped up to me and I took a tiny step back, cowering behind Roy. Ed looked up at Roy and he glanced at me behind him.
"Make sure to take care of her at school tomorrow." Was all Roy said as he grabbed my hand and lead me out. We got in his car, and I looked straight ahead, remaining silent. Roy never once spoke, but glanced at me from time to time. His dark eyes were a little concerned, but that was natural.
When we got home I opened the door of the car and hopped out; waiting for Roy to unlock the door. He unlocked it, and I went in after him, sitting on the couch, watching the wall.
"You okay with going back tomorrow?" He asked me as he hung up his coat and jacket.
I looked at him and nodded slightly.
"Do you know where your uniform is?"
Another slight nod.
"I'll make some supper."
End of Chapter seven
A/N: that's all for today folks! ~BrokenFireAlch