Number two! Well, I'm on a role. I poked Rosie's sunburn, so I said I'd give her an apology drabble. And, of course, Edo feels left out since Roy's been giving his attention, at least in this collection to everyone. So here we go!

Pairings: RoyEdRose

PROMPT: 20 Heartbeats Community (originally a Kingdom hearts Prompt): #7 Guide (take it step by step, one foot then the other)

Pain raced through her leg, forcing her to collapse to the ground. A puddle of blood from the injury caused by him... she understood it wasn't necessarily his fault, but...had he become so far warped that he lost all knowledge of what he was actually doing?

"Get up."

There was that smooth voice that pulled her out of the darkest depths, one of the two people she longed to be reunited with. "T-Taisa..."

"Come now, that's not the niece I knew and loved. Get up."

Blue eyes blinked through tears. "But it hurts... and... and I can't see anything."

A gloved hand extended towards her, a single dark eye peering and breaking through the darkness with that familiar flame within. "Let me be your guide. Remember? Take it one step at a time. Step by step. You made me do this, remember?"

She blinked, rubbing furiously at her eyes with a bandaged arm, and before she knew it, she was standing, a pair of strong hands on her hips, a smiling face helping guide her. A constricted feeling around her leg... it wasn't bleeding freely anymore, now bandaged by some miracle force. "Taisa, where -- "

"Put one foot in front of the other."

She glanced down, hoping to guide herself, when that familiar gloved hand lifted her chin, the man shaking his head. "Look at me and do it."

"Gwar!"

"What the hell was that, Ed? Give me back my catch!"

"What's that?"

"Ed and I are always closer than you think, Princess, whether you realize it or not. We're all there to guide you..."

A loud crash dragged her from her peaceful dreams, the young red head sitting up only to find a long, black-striped tail lashing out in fury. "Ed!"

"Ha!"

"Guys!"

The two creatures halted in their fighting, the dark haired one nearly pouting. "But Rose! He stole my squirrel!"

"And it was damn good too."

There was a growl from the other one, almost inhuman, when Rose broke into a fit of giggles. "A squirrel, Taisa? Are you hungry?"

"That's what the squirrel was supposed to fix!"

"Hold on, let me go shopping for the two of you, all right?"

The elder rolled off the other, moving towards the couch. "You'll get good stuff this time, right?"

"Yeah! Big slabs of bleeding meat, Rose!"

"You guys are like lost puppies." She smiled softly, watching the raven-haired one stand. He looked away, long, clawed fingers reaching out to help her from the couch.

"Be careful, all right?"

"Worried?"

"No! You have to feed us!"

"Right, you've got tails, claws and scales now, you'll scare the neighborhood kids. Don't worry, I'll be fine."

Ed shifted, crossing his arms. "You better be, or we'll come looking."

She smiled again, nodded and grabbed the cane that was once his before he died, waving to the two 'lizards' as she made her way from the house.

"Lots of fat too!"

"Geez, you're getting fat."

Yes... those were her two boys. She might have been happier if they hadn't decided to chew on her, but, human or not, that was her Taisa and her Ed. Her... guides through life.