Chapter Seven: Going On A Trip
When I woke up, facing the window with my back to the door, it was dark outside, and my parents were gone. I almost started crying again remembering how real it had felt when I had sang their song. Then I heard something else. Voices right behind me. Two of them. But not my parents' voices.
Edward and Alphonse were in my room.
"We can't just leave her here, Ed," Alphonse whispered.
"I know," Edward answered in a quiet voice. "But what do you expect her to think, waking up and finding us here again after she specifically told us to leave her alone? And to think that we're in her bedroom when she's asleep…is this not sounding a little stalkerish?"
"But you heard her. You saw her face. Remember she was acting weird when I first asked her back at the forest? And now she tried to pretend her dad was you. There's no way her parents are still around."
"Al, I realize we can't just leave and never come back, but what are we supposed to say to the girl? 'Hey, we know your parents are dead, so why don't you just come travel around with us and we'll have a swell old time!'? I mean, our mom's dead too, and you don't see anyone cryin' over it. How much help have we gotten?"
"Just because nobody helped us doesn't mean we should just ignore the poor girl."
"I'm just saying it's a cruel world, and there are cruel people in it."
"That doesn't mean we have to be some of those people."
"For God's sake, Al, we can't!" Edward almost shouted, then froze as I jumped. He turned to me. I narrowed my eyes to the tiniest of slits and turned toward them, pretending I was still asleep.
Ed sighed, then turned back to Alphonse. "We can't," he said in a more gentle tone. "We don't know the girl, and we face a lot of danger. Besides, who knows what Mustang would say when he saw her." He shuddered, his breath shaking.
"Ed." Al was giving him puppy-dog eyes that were so convincing they would have even made my dad give in. If he were still alive.
I saw Ed flinch, and I guessed he had made the supreme mistake of looking at Al. He visibly fought his own emotions, then sighed. "Fine. But I'm not gonna be in here when you tell her." He brushed past Al and out the door, which I guessed was the cue to wake me up.
Al sighed, too, then looked at me. I squirmed a little bit, trying to make myself as cute as possible even though I knew cute for me wasn't possible. I didn't even know why I wanted to look cute. I just…did.
Al reached a shaking hand over to me, as if now questioning himself too, and then out his hand lightly on my shoulder. He shook me very gently. "Um, lucy?"
I opened my eyes all the way. "You know I've been awake for, like, three minutes," I told him.
His eyes widened. "So, you heard what me and Ed were saying?"
"Yeah."
"From what point?"
"Something like, 'We can't leave her here, but we're being stalkers' or something. And by the way, yes, going into a teenage girl's room while she's asleep is kind of pervert-slash-stalkerish."
"So, then, you heard about the 'going with us' stuff, then, too."
"Yeah."
"Good. I don't have to explain it to you then."
"And, Al, quick question?"
"Yeah?"
"Um, why are you and Edward inside of my house, let alone my bedroom, at two o'clock in the morning?"
"Oh. Um, I sort of figured it out about your parents, and I managed to convince Ed to come over here with me, but he kind of chickened out when we actually got here to do it." He leaned a little closer and whispered, "I think he's afraid of what happens to guys when teenage girls find them in their rooms watching them sleep."
I chuckled. "Yeah. Just let me get some shoes on, okay? Then I'll be right there." He nodded and left, and I tugged on my combat boots. Then, figuring I probably wouldn't be home for a long time, I also pulled on my favorite black leather jacket. Then my parents entered my mind again.
I sighed as the excitement sort of left me. I was getting to go on some sort of adventure, but I had totally forgotten my promise to my parents' bodies. "I promise," I had said through my tears as my best friend Amberline covered her mouth to keep from throwing up. "I promise to look over the house forever. I'll always be here to make sure nobody touches it."
I choked back a few tears and plunged my hand into my pillowcase, taking out the necklace—a translucent Bloodstone on a silky black cord. My mother's necklace. I fastened it around my neck, then straightened up, took a deep breath, turned on the light, and inspected my image in the mirror. The necklace brought out the red highlights in my hair, and it made my sometimes-blue-sometimes-gray eyes pop out, no matter what color they were, which at that exact moment happened to be a clouded ocean hue.
I grabbed the locked box I kept a couple hundred thousand sens in, and walked out into the living room, where the Elric brothers were waiting.
Edward stared at me as I came out. "So, I guess Al explained everything to you?"
"Actu—" Al began, but I cut him off.
"Yeah. Yeah, he explained it all." I didn't want Ed knowing I had been awake. I didn't have any idea why, I just didn't.
He nodded. "Alright, then. Let's get going." He turned and started walking, and Al gave me a strange look as he followed him. I just shook my head and trailed after them, shivering despite my heavy leather jacket as we stepped out into a cold rain.
"Of course it's going to be raining," Ed grumbled. "Why wouldn't it?"
"Hoods up, guys," said Al, putting up his own hood. "I don't think we should get wet."
I stood there, not moving, even though the two boys were pretty far ahead of me now. The rain…it brought back some sense of déjà vu. I just couldn't remember what it was that I was remembering.
"Hey!" Ed shouted. "Hurry up, you!"
"S-sorry!" I called, hurrying to get down all the steps. Of course, being clumsy and wet, I fell at the bottom step. I tried to catch myself on my other foot, and it twisted completely sideways. I cried out and fell into the wet grass.
"Lucy!" Al ran over to me, Ed close behind.
"I'm fine," I said. "I just twisted my ankle. It happens all the time." That wasn't a lie-I did twist my ankle a lot, running from my thieving victims. I attempted to stand up, and immediately sucked in a breath when I tried to put pressure on my injured ankle. No, I was not fine.
I forced a smile. "It's no big deal, really," I tried to assure them. "It really does happen a lot. Y'know, running from people I steal from and all. I'll be okay, honestly." Ed and Al shared a look, then started walking again. I did my best to follow them, and did pretty well at first. Then I began to lag behind.
Then Ed seemed to notice that I was falling behind, a limp interfering with my movements. I was trying to keep up, but I knew I had a painful look in my eyes, which were also probably gray again. He stopped suddenly, and Al did as well.
Ed walked up to me, a cold gleam coming to his eyes. Bewildered, I began to speak. "What? What did I do now?"
Ed sighed. "Come on," he said, then grabbed my wrist and pulled me toward him, sliding me up his slender back. I blushed deeply and wrapped my arms around his neck, hoping I wouldn't fall off his back. Ed slid his hands under my knees and held them there so he could get a better grip on me.
I gently leaned my head against Ed's neck and head and listened to him mumble to himself about what Mustang would say. The words weren't very kind, but his voice was nice. It echoed in my ears like a lullaby. Then I closed my eyes as I drifted into a nice quiet sleep.
