Caroline: aaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrggggggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhh! Im SO pissd rite now im just going 2 write anothr chaptr! y am i pissd? Becuz that shithead lieutenant-

Jordan: me? (walks by)

Caroline: yes u. now anyways as i was saying im pissd becuz that shithead lieutenant keeps calling me short. I'm 163 cm. dammit! If i could find her now id... waitjustagoddamnminute! (peeks around corner) JORDANGETBACKHEREUDUMBASS!

Chapter 37: The One

Fall was slowly withering away to winter. Leaves had changed colors in the Sengoku, but that wasn't all that had changed.

Caroline had been spying with Kiyoshi on the others one night when she remembered what had happened to Kohaku. She went back to Naraku once since she had disappeared, & lied to him, saying she was going to betray Kiyoshi. She snuck out with Kohaku one night. Removing the jewel shard was hard for her. She had felt like a big sister to him, but as hard as it was, she did. She brought him to Sesshomaru, & fortunately, he revived him using his Tenseiga Jaken had told her about. Kohaku had rejoined Sango & the others- Caroline made sure of it. Caroline at one point, revealed her secret to Kiyoshi, & quite frankly, she couldn't tell if he believed her or the fact that she was 'dead.'

The girl had a bad feeling that Naraku knew everything she did, so she had stayed on the run with Kiyoshi, & made acquaintances with Koga over the time period. But hiding with wolf demons wasn't going to save her forever. One day she decided the best thing to do was to return back to her own time.

She was on the train to Risembool, her mind free of worries as she gazed out onto the fields flying by.

"Ya okay?"

She gazed up into his green eyes & his smile of assurance. She smiled ever so slightly back.

"Yeah," she said. "Just perfect."

Kiyoshi had insisted on coming with her, & secretly, Caroline was glad he did.

---

"Winry! We've got a visitor!"

"Who is it?" yelled the blonde, coming somewhere from upstairs.

"It's Caroline!" her grandmother answered.

"She better not have broken thast arm again!" Winry yelled. "If she did I'm rippin that other one off & makin her build one herself!"

Winry appeared suddenly at the stairway, a wrench in her hand & removing the purple suit she was wearing.

"Caroline Elric! I swear if I have t-"

"Woah, woah, woah!" Caroline yelled, holding up her hands. "I didn't break anything, okay? So quite bitchin bout it! I'm just here to visit," she said.

"Visit?" Winry asked. "But that's so unlike you guys. Speaking of," she asked, looking around. "Where's Ed & Al? I don't see them around. Hm?" she asked, noticing Kiyoshi. "Who's he?"

Kiyoshi blushed a bit nervously & pulled the cap Caroline loaned him over his ears.

"She scares me," he said, whispering into Caroline's ear.

Caroline smiled. "She does that sometimes."

"Winry," she said. "This is Kiyoshi."

---

It was around sunset when Caroline had gathered up her courage to walk out there. She smiled & placed flowers she had picked on the grave. She sank to her knees.

"Hey mom," she said. "It's me, Caroline." She laughed as she looked up to the sky. "Been a while since I visited this place... I guess you never got to know me too well, did ya?"

A light breeze blew by her as she smiled a bit more warmly towards the sky.

"Yeah, well," she said. "Dumb ol dad kinda took me from ya, didn't he?"

A stronger breeze blew staight back at her, making her cheeks grow numb from the chill of it.

"Gah!" she yelled, swatting at the air. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" She sighed. "I guess you still love him, huh?" She smiled a guilty smile as she looked down at her metal hand, making a clenched fist.

"Well, I guess you can see what your little baby girl's grown up to be, ma," she said. She raised her hand up, her fingers spread out to the sky. "A full-fledged sinner."

She smiled as she lowered it, & clenched her knees to her chest.

"I don't know if you approved of alchemy or not, but Ed & Al said you did," she said. "& I don't know if you know this either but Ed & Al tried Human Transmutation."

Another strong breeze blew by her.

"Al... he lost his body, & Ed lost his arm & a leg," she said. "Al's in a suit of armor for now & Winry made Ed some automail so he could become a State Alchemist," she said. "I guess you're probably wondering who I wanted to bring back if I didn't know you. I guess..." she said.

"I guess I was trying to bring back the thing I wanted the most," she said. "But you know what's funny?" she asked, her brown eyes staring at the sky. "I don't even wanna be around him anymore." She laughed. "It's kinda wierd. Oh, & I guess you wanna know about my life?"

"Well," she said, looking at the ground. "Dad left me with this guy named Roy Mustang. He thinks a lot of himself," she said, laughing. "He & his sister both. Oh, his sister?" she asked. "Her name's Jordan. She's like my big sister. They're both fighters, calm but much too stubborn to back down. Oh, & Jordan's a State Alchemist too. She snaps her fingers & fire appears, & she can shift it into different shapes & stuff like that. She's a Second Lieutenant, & she's only 14! Oh, & Roy's the same way. He's only 29, mom, & he's a Colonel & a State Alchemist! He went a way for a year or so when me & Jordan were younger, though..." she said. "He left us with Hughes, a really nice man who talks a lot. After that, though, he decided to become Fuhrer & change the world or some crap like that." She laughed.

"Stubborn ass man," she said. "But you know what's funny, ma? I think he will. I honestly think he will. Oh yeah, after I met Ed & Al, everything went crazy! It was normal for a few months but a while back us three were sent to watch this well, right? Well, me being me, I jumped down it & ended up in another era."

A leaf blew by her.

"What?" she yelled at the air. "You think I'm crazy, don't ya? Well, you can ask Jordan & the others." She calmed down a bit. "Well, we met these people. They're great friends to have. There's Inuyasha. He's a really stubborn half-demon. Reminds me of myself & Ed kinda. Then there's Kagome, & she's from the future." She laughed a little. "Seems like Al would like her, if only Inu didn't steal her. Then there's Shippo, a little kitsune demon who's really loyal. Miroku, a very wise monk, but a bit of a lecher. & last but not least, Sango. She's a demon slayer who fights really well, & she & Miroku are pretty much an item. They're all really good teammates, but I ran into someone really special in the Feudal Era."

"His name... is Kiyoshi," she said, her eyes never moving from the sky. "He's a wolf demon, & he can be a real dork sometimes," she said with a little laugh. "But he's really nice & really kind, & he's there for me. Yeah, sure, he knows I'm from a totally different time period, but he doesn't really care. Sure, he's not as 'loving' as he used to be. He makes fun of me from time to time, & makes fun of the stupid jokes I've told him. But he's there for me in the end, & that's all that counts, right?"

A soft breeze blew, a few leaves blowing across the cemetery.

"Yeah, I know," she said guiltily. "Maybe I am only thirteen, & should have other things on my mind than this. But mom, I'm not a normal thirteen year old. I've seen things no one should see, done things no one should do, & I've even tried to pass the line that divides us small, insignificant humans & gods. I'm not your sweet little baby girl you held in your arms long ago, mom. I'm a girl who could fight swords at age five. A girl who understood war before many others could even solve equations. A girl who got too close to the sun... & burned. I'm Caroline Elric, the Forsaken Alchemist, armed with a pocket watch & a metal arm that serves as a reminder of what's lost. Yet, I'm a girl who's never known love. What it's like to be loved, by your real family. &... I think he's the one, mom. I really do."

"Caroline."

The girl turned around, her eyes finally breaking free from the sky.

"C'mon," Kiyoshi said. "It's gettin dark." He noticed what she was sitting in front of. "Hey, you okay?"

She smiled slightly, & looked back towards the grave as she stood up.

"That's him, mom," she whispered.

"Yeah!" she said. "I'm fine!"

She walked past him, & down to the gate. Kiyoshi watched, then walked towards the grave, stepping back hesitantly, but finally moving forwards. He looked a bit nervously at the gravestone, then rubbed the back of her neck, looking up at the sky, & finally kneeling at the grave.

"Uh, hi Mrs. Elric," he said politely. "Um... well... Caroline... um... I dunno if she's said anything about me..." He laughed nervously placing a hand on his forehead. "Ah, god, what am I saying? I... I love your daughter. She's wonderful. Not perfect, but wonderful. Yeah, she's done some bad things in her life, Mrs. Elric, but she's not a bad person, really. If you don't believe me, just look after her."

"Kiyoshi!" yelled Caroline at the bottom of the hill. "You comin or what?"

He stood up, & bowed at the grave.

"But incase you aren't, I always am," he said, then turned to join the girl.

To be continued...

Caroline: aww... cute huh? nxt chaptr... things heat up once mor... so REVIEW GODAMMIT REVIEW!