Karma woke up to the sound of Al's coughs, rushing to the side of his bed and gently pushing some medicine down his parched throat.
"Thanks..." he rasped, to which she nodded slightly with a small, consiterate smile on her lips. He layed back into his bed, and turned his head to face her.
"You know...I'm not going to be around much longer, Karma."
To most, this would be a shock to hear, especially from one so young. But Karma could feel it; she could feel his body tiring the longer he stayed in the bed and could sense the medication's effects wearing off.
His time was soon, and there was no way to stop it.
She simply nodded her head in empathy, to which Alphonse was surprised. It was as though there was nothing Karma couldn't relate to; nobody she couldn't understand. She was centered and grounded; something Edward would need if Alphonse was to pass.
"You don't talk much, Karma."
Her eyes softened, giving him a look of apology and understanding his humor.
"I only speak when there's something to say." She simply stated and continued to watch him. His eyes smiled back at hers dully, but nevertheless were welcoming.
"I get it; you don't like to say meaningless words. Talking is a necessity, I guess...Brother probably drives you insane, then, huh?" he teased, sending her a glance of amusement. She returned with a blank look that was simply unreadable.
"No. He has opinions; not useless words."
Alphonse snickered at her logic, for she was quite correct; Ed did have an opinion about everything and everyone. Most of the time, they were quite negative, but with her, they were the contrary; in fact, Ed seemed entranced by her, not obnoxious in the least and a bit nervous.
"Hey, Karma?"
She didn't say anything, but continued to look at him.
"When I'm gone, can you take care of brother for me? He's going to need comfort but would never want to look weak to anybody...so..." Al trailed off, scratching his head with uncertainty.
She didn't need to speak her consent;
For that would be meaningless words.
Edward fiddled with his hands on the train ride, all the time nervous for what could be happening at the apartment. He thuroughly trusted both Al and Karma, but was concerned that somebody could find out about all of it and hurt them...after all, Karma was Ishvalan.
"Colonel Elric, sir..?" One of Edward's shy teammates questioned, making Ed snap out of his trance and attempt to look powerful; intimidating.
"Yes, Sergent, what is it?"
"We're...we're here, sir..." he trailed off with embarrassment.
Ed took in the scene around him, realizing that his crew was waiting for him to give the order to get off the train. He wondered how long he'd just sat there, making a fool out of himself, not knowing what was going on.
"O-oh...yeah, ok everyone." Edward's voice rose to command, trying to act with leadership and power. He explained the mission, which was to take out some criminals who were undercover workers for the weapon factory that submitted battle-arms to the military, and take them into custody. When the plan was comfirmed, he had everyone walk off the train as casually as they could; for the entire mission was to be in desguise.
But there was no focus on the mission at hand; Edward was too lost in his thoughts about his home life... he was so worried about Al and Karma, but moreover he was confused about something...He was confused on the reason that his little brother and Karma staying in a room together for a few days made him angry; jealous even. It wasn't like he wanted attention.
He had a lot of Al's attention already.
It was the strangest thing; he felt angry toward Alphonse for spending so much time with Karma... Well, not angry, but a bit frustrated.
It was as though he wanted to spend time with the girl.
...And he'd never felt the need for somebody's approval before.
What...what is this feeling I have..?!
Alphonse was asleep, so Karma decided to cook a meal for him... Since she was Ishvalan, she was used to having to make meals as high in calories as possible, being they were always traveling. Since Alphonse was so thin and frail, it would be necessary.
When Ishvalan's were traveling from hidden shelter to hidden shelter, they had to find food to improve health...so Karma picked through the kitchen to find the most healthy foods for Alphonse's condition.
He seems nauseous; his head hurts and he feels weak. He needs antioxidants and vitamin A.
She prepared a dish of pasta, which had carbs in it to gain weight. She threw in veggies for vitamins and some meat to help gain muscle.
His time may have been coming, but he shouldn't be in pain.
Fiddling around with the stove she was shocked when a fire started; she didn't understand that that was the purpose of the stove, so she ran to the sink and poured water over it, breathing heavily.
She'd seen Ed use the sink, but not the stove.
When the stove suddenly started again, she was shocked even more. But she then understood that the fire was coming from the machine itself and was instigated when she turned the small handle. She placed the pot filled with water over the fire and brought it to a boil, slowly pouring the pasta and desired ingredients in for extra measure.
She then remembered that meat would be good for Al's strength, and picked out a small chicken to roast in the oven.
Ed made turkey in the oven, so I just have to do what he did.
After a bit of fiddling, playing with the various buttons, estimating just how much time the small chicken would need to be cooked, she set the timer for 45 minutes, turning the device up to 250 degrees just to be safe; turning it up to high she feared would burn the whole house down.
Sighing with relief, stirring the pasta pot slowly, she heard a small thump.
"..Alphonse, are you alright?" She asked, looking through the doorway to find that Al was still sleeping.
There were more thumps: Karma turned wildly around to try and find the origin, when she heard them again.
Knocking.
Somebody was knocking at the door.
Karma didn't know what to do; surely they knew Edward was gone, so were they going to check on Al..? Or did they think Ed was home?
Or were they looking for her.
Knock knock knock.
"Hey", demanded a low, muffled voice from the other side of the door, "Alphonse, I know you're there. Ed told me you would be okay when he was gone, but I don't believe it. What's going on in there, kid?"
But Al was still sleeping.
"Alphonse. Can I come in? I have a spare key."
But still, he was sleeping. Karma didn't think twice about her decision; hide.
She whirled around, searching for an empty space to hide in, but not wanting to make any noise in case the man would hear and know she was there.
The cabinets were full of pots and pans, all of which made loud noises.
"I'm coming in."
Heart pounding, she considered under the bed, but saw it was too small of a space to get into quickly.
Click.
He's turning the door knob; he's coming in!
There was but one option; the oven.
She leapt in without thinking twice, shutting the door softly and hoping the visit would be short-lived; after all, lives in the oven were short-lived as well.
And she prayed the man wouldn't smell what's cooking.
"Alphonse," Mustang said, closing the door behind him. "Al, you're all by yourself."
He noticed the boy was sleeping, and decided that it would be best to leave him that way.
But then again, he didn't see anybody around, and it would have been dangerous to leave the sick kid alone. So Roy loosened his suit a bit and sat in the chair next to Al's bed, looking at the various medicines, and wondering why Ed left him all alone.
He stood out of boredom, and walked into the kitchen.
Is that pasta..? Ed left his brother alone with cooking pasta? Does he know his brother can't walk, let alone cook?
So he turned the stove down, feeling suspicious.
No, Fullmetal's smarter than that...
So was Al cooking?
He craned his neck to see that Al was still sleeping ceaselessly.
So...Roy thought smugly, I'm not alone, then, am I?
Karma's heart pounded in her chest as she tried to sit on her clothing in a way that wouldn't cause a fire, or cook her flesh. The heat beat down on her from all sides, and she felt oxygen deprived as she struggled to breath against the menacing heat.
Sweat dripped from her hairline, rolling down her cheeks which felt burnt. Her eyes watered, or perhaps she was crying from fear.
I gotta get out of here... I gotta get out of here...Please, please...hurry up and leave already!
But the man was not leaving, as she struggled to see out of the oven... He was entering the kitchen and staring at her pasta pot.
Nononononoo...
Her knee was touching her forehead, as she was in fetal position and cramped as small as she could get. She felt a sizzling on her back from her flesh being burnt up against the sides of the oven, and she wanted to wail out for help, but she also knew that it would be worse if a racist Amestrian found her...
Worse than cooking in an oven..?
Maybe.
She dared to look at her hands, which were turning a shade of pink from the heat, her hair was just about fried and her lips were beginning to peel.
It's okay It's ok it's ok...
She was hyperventilating, soft tears rolling down her cheeks, fingers shaking while she felt the tears burn on her face, sizzling into nothingness.
Her voice croaked when she tried to stifle herself from screaming.
But the footsteps outside were persisting, not leaving as the man clanged around with the pots and pans in the kitchen.
I'mgonnadieI'mgonnadieI'mgonnadie!
Her breaths were no longer steady, her chest heaved to find air and it was a struggle while her fragile body tried to keep itself from being cooked.
Heaving. Heart pounding and fingers trembling. Sweating, crying.
She was losing water.
Her eyes shot toward the chicken cooking quietly beside her.
It was turning a golden brown.
I estimated the chicken would take 45 minutes to fully cook...I wonder how long I will take.
Thump thump thump *HEAVE* thump thump thump *HEAVE* thump thump-
...And the footsteps outside ceased. She racked her ears to hear a click of the door outside, knowing it was over, and swiftly slamming her foot into the door to make her escape.
...When she found she was stuck.
...
And she screamed.
"HELP! HELP ME! PLEASE SOMEBODY..! Help...!"
Banging her hands on the door, she couldn't seem to get in a more athletic position to push the door out; she was too crammed inside..! The door wouldn't budge, and she felt the clothing on her back flake off as well as the skin benieth it simmer with the heat.
So she screamed some more.
...Yeah, I don't know what to say about that. I always wanted to write a scene with somebody cooking in an oven, and originally I had an idea for the 2003 anime with Ed, but this will work nicely into the story.
That was horrifying. Imagine being cooked alive in an oven, and discovering you can't get out?
Ok, putting aside, I'd like to apologize for the late update and thank you for the reviews! I really appreciate it, and when I got 2 reviews today, I just made myself update this. They were inspirational!
Anyway...this is my least popular story so I don't update it as often...I know, sorry. I still will update as soon as possible, though, and I've got a great, funny idea with a touch of romance for next chapter...which will definitely be up sooner than this one was. Until then, stay cool guys. B)
Your appreciative and random author, jmtothemusic.