READ THE FOLLOWING NOTICE...

Caroline: 1st off- if anyone has any questions, requests, ideas, or anything even remotely rel8d 2 the fanfic... EMAIL me at caroline (underscore) elric. the accounts on yahoo so... yea ... its on thats just 4 fanfic emails tho... also this chapter 'my immortal' will NOT include the lyrics cuz im just 2 lazy & itll just make it evn saddr 2 write this but the chaptr shall remain named 'my immortal' becuz that song just seems PERFECT 4 the chaptr k? k. & PLEAZ review on this chaptr!

Chapter 38: My Immortal

Caroline hoisted the weapon over her shoulder, looking back to make sure Kiyoshi was still behind her.

'Good, still there,' she thought, continuing on.

She had been looking behind her back all day long, trying to make sure he was still there. She had a bad, bad feeling about coming back to the Feudal Era. But she was here, now that was all that mattered.

Except for the pain in her feet. Damn it to hell, it hurt. But she kept moving on, grimacing every few minutes.

"Caroline."

Caroline stopped, & turned around.

"I hear something," Kiyoshi said, focusing forward heavily. "& I smell something too... Food maybe."

Caroline's eyes lit up.

"Then let's get a move on it, okay slowpoke?" she growled.

---

"You must have been walking for quite some time eh?" the lady asked, handing the girl a cup of tea.

Caroline's eyes lit up as she grabbed the tea appreciatively. "Yes, mam!"

She thought about how great it had been, coming upon this small village, thanks to Kiyoshi's senses. The thing looked like a ghost town, sadly, as the only people here were an elderly couple. The lady was kind & generous to the two travelers, but the man was quiet & hadn't said a word. But at least they were kind enough to give the two something, right?

Caroline spat the tea out all over the floor, coughing & sputtering.

"Something wrong, child?" the lady asked, touching her on the shoulder.

"Well," she said. "The tea's kinda strange... got anything else?"

The lady shook her head. "I'm afraid not. The tea may taste strange, but it's a special kind of tea."

"Special kind?" Caroline asked, her eyes wide as she blinked.

"Yes," she said. "Drink it, it's good for you. It will give you strength."

Caroline obliged soon, & looked at Kiyoshi sitting up against the wall, snoozing away. Obviously, he had not wanted to eat or drink anything, but rather sleep. As Caroline was staring, she noticed her eyes start to slowly, but surely try to shut. She felt dizzy, & her mind was spinning. Not only that, but her head was beginning to give her a bit of pain, & before she could accept the symptoms, everything faded to black.

Envy watched the girl fall flat to the floor as the old man Kagura had used for one of her zombie slaves hit the floor soon after, broken of the wind witche's spell.

& a cruel, cruel smile spread across his face.

---

Caroline's eyes fluttered open, her head still hurting her slightly. She sat up, wincing a bit in pain. She noticed something.

"Ki... Kiyo-"

She stopped as she was yanked by the back of her hair. She growled, staring into a familiar face.

"Been a while, hasn't it, shrimp?"

She bared her teeth.

"Where's Kiyoshi? & the old couple?"

Abandonment smirked, holding Caroline's hair in one hand, rubbing her chin in the other.

"Ah, yes," she said. "The old man's dead. The old lady... let's just say that was Envy."

Caroline blinked, not knowing who the hell this 'Envy' was.

"He's a homunculi," Abandonment explained, answering an unasked question. "He can change his form at will, so he disguised himself as an old woman. As for your wolf demon friend..." She smirked a cruel, evil smirk that scared the poor child half to death... if not further. "He's fighting him."

Caroline's eyes grew wide & began to struggle against the hand, feeling quite surprised when Abandonment let go with a mere shrug. She shot up, though her balance at this point was quite weak. She looked backwards, trying to make sure she wasn't being tricked.

'Just as planned,' Abandonment thought, watching her run off into the woods. 'Elric, you're just too, too predictable.'

---

Caroline yelled his name as she ran through the forest. Finally, she heard something. She cleared a gap through the trees, leaves, & branches. When she saw the small clearing, she gasped.

"Kiyoshi!" she yelled, running towards him.

The boy looked up at her as he lay on his back in the grass, his eyes half-lidded, his arms, his legs, his whole entire body covered in blood. He failed at a weak attempt to smile, & the girl held her hands to her mouth, then fell to her knees beside him.

"Hey," he said, his voice small & showing that it was absolutely torture on him to speak.

"Ki... yoshi," she asked, her voice showing horror & fear. "What... happened to you?"

He glanced in the other direction giving a weak little smile. "I got in a fight."

"What you get in a fight for, stupid?" she yelled, her eyes welling up with tears.

Suddenly, his gaze turned back to her as his arm reached up & ran its fingers through her bangs that framed her face.

"I... was trying to protect you..." he said, his arm falling to the ground.

She slammed her hands onto the ground. "Dammit, you idiot!" she yelled. "I can protect myself! You hear me?" She asked, her hands slamming with each word now. "I can prote-"

He grabbed her hand, holding it in his own, each of them stopping.

"Listen..." he said. "You're... you're a strong girl, Caroline. You can take em for me, right?"

"Wha... what do you mean?" she asked. "You'll be alright!" she said, wrapping both hands around his.

He shook his head slowly, looking her in the eyes when he answered. "I... I don't got a lot of time here so-"

"No, Kiyoshi," she said, the first tear falling down her face. "Don't... don't leave me here, please."

"Stay strong," he muttered. "Please," he said. "For me..."

"Sh-shut up!" she yelled, tears of sadness mixed with determination & anger rolling down her face. "You're gonna live, okay? It's not fair!" she yelled. "You can't leave me here! I've already lost too many people in my life!"

She didn't know what happened, when it happened, & how the boy managed to get the strength now, but she was silenced as his lips touched hers. She was confused & angry at first, but then closed her eyes & accepted it. As they broke away, he wiped a tear away from her face. She reached out, holding him close in an embrace.

"Kiyoshi..." she whispered. "Please don't go."

"I... I have to..." he said.

She sniffled, crying into his strong shoulders, all silent for some time.

"Caroline..."

She immediately stopped, ruling out a few sniffles.

"I... I love you. Never forget that, okay?"

A few more tears rolled down her face as she nodded into his shoulder, then said one last thing.

"I love you, too, Kiyoshi."

A breeze blew as he took one last breath, his body going limp in her arms. When the reality of it hit her, she laid the body down, resting her head on his chest & crying until she thought she could cry no more, & then some more, clutching onto him, trying to hold on as long as she could manage to, hoping maybe, just maybe this was all some big joke played by Naraku or something. Nothing could be heard but t he sound of her sobbing, crying her heart out for him, until Caroline felt the strange feeling you get when someone is standing right behind you. She didn't turn until...

"Well, well, well, look who's all alone now."

To be continued...

Caroline: pleaz pleaz PLLLEEEEAZZZ review yall! ive workd SO hard on this chaptr & ive been crying my heart out as i wrote it so PLEEAZ PLEEEEEEEEAZ review!