Caroline: wut a perfect time 2 upd8! ive got 2day, 2morro, possibly wednesday off becuz guess who has the flu! yea well... -- i cant play my soccer games or go 2 practice (THANK JESUS, MARY, & THE OTHER GUY- NO PRACTICE 4 A WEEK!) well my weekend (b4 i got sick) consistd of a full Jordan & Caroline marathon! Jordan came ovr friday aftr i met up w/ the team & we did... nothing... there was nothing 2 do. o well... we ate an entire box of cheezits! & satrday her mom pickd us up (mom said i couldnt spend the nite tho) & we went 2 her brothrs game, cheeburger cheeburger, books a million, & petsmart, & then DUN DUN DUN DUHHH- we went 2 her house & swordfought, fist fought, ate popcorn, & watchd naruto & one piece... thn my brothr pickd me up... & thn i got sick... sigh... wut a gr8 weekend...
Chapter 56: One You Could Learn From
"Caroline, wake up!" Ed yelled, shaking her arm. "Wake up!"
"Fullmetal, move out of the way," Roy ordered. "We have to get her to safety as soon as possible. We can't do that with you hovering over her."
Ed's eyes flashed like fire.
"What's that supposed to mean!" he yelled. "She's not your sister!"
"I said move out of the way, Fullmetal," Roy said more sharply.
Ed gave a glare of death towards the man, but complied, standing up & moving a few steps back.
Roy picked up the girl & put her onto his back.
"Let's go," he said.
"Wait," Sango said. "How about Kirara & I take her to Kaede's hut? That way she'll get there faster, & get better medicine."
Roy thought for a minute, then nodded.
"We'll meet up with you there."
---
Ed looked down at the ground.
'Damn it all...' he thought. 'Why must she live this way? Only to get knocked back down? It isn't fair... None of it. What did she do to deserve this?'
"Fullmetal."
Ed looked up, broken away from his thoughts.
"What's wrong?" Roy asked.
"You wouldn't understand," Ed said, deciding not to tell him what was really up.
"How do you know that?" Roy asked, half teasing, half serious.
Ed ignored him. Suddenly, Roy began to chuckle.
"What's so funny?" Ed asked, glaring.
"Oh nothing," Roy said, smiling to himself. "There was this one time she was sick."
"That's not funny!" Ed yelled defensively.
"Of course it's not," Roy said. "It was just her attitude towards the whole thing. You see..."
Caroline ran into the house, slamming the door shut.
"It's about time you're home!" Roy scolded. "I waited around at headquarters an extra hour for you. Honestly do you think-"
That's when Roy noticed she was crying.
"Hey, what's wrong?" he asked, walking up & kneeling down in front of her.
He looked at her. Her cheeks were scratched up, one of her knees was bruised, & her knuckles were red & beginning to swell. One explanation- she had been in another fight.
"Are you alright?" Roy asked, wiping a tear from her face.
Caroline sniffed.
"Why do they bully me, Roy-chan?" she asked. "Why do they always call me such mean things?"
Roy looked at the four year old, wondering to himself what she did to deserve this.
"Well..." he said slowly. "Sometimes... humans bring down others... because... they're jealous. Sometimes they just want to be as lucky as the one they're making fun of..."
Caroline sniffed again, & looked up, silenced for a second.
"Why... would they want to be me?" she asked, her brown eyes wide & questioning.
"Because," Roy said. "You're a great kid. You're brave, & smart, & kind, & you never give up. So next time, don't give up, okay?"
Caroline stared at him for a minute, then buried her head into his shoulders, & cried. Roy was just beginning to realize that the girl had been running around without a coat when she sneezed.
---
"Yep, you're definitely sick," Roy said, taking a hand off from her head.
"But I need to go back to school," Caroline argued. "I gotta beat up those bullies."
"Not today, you don't," Roy said.
"I'm going to school, like it or not," Caroline proclaimed.
Caroline only managed to make it to the drawer, pull on a green sweatshirt & brown shorts before she passed out.
---
"You're staying home," Roy said. "Fortunately I'm able to take the day off so I can make sure you don't go through another feat like that."
"No..." Caroline said disappointedly. "Go to work. You can't cook."
Roy sighed, trying to ignore the fact that his ego just got killed.
"Don't worry yourself," Roy said. "Jordan's staying home too."
Caroline pouted, thrusting her lower lip out cutely as a sign of being defeated. Roy began to laugh.
"What's so funny?" she asked suspiciously.
"Why do you always insist on playing around in the cold?" he asked.
"Shut up," she said.
Roy continued to chuckle to himself.
"You know..." Caroline said after a minute. "They're all wrong."
"Who's wrong?" Roy asked.
"They are," she said. "All the people who say an apple a day keeps the doctor away."
"What doctor?" Roy asked. "Why are they wrong?"
"Well basically, you're my doctor," she said. "I've eaten an apple a day for the past month, & you're not gone yet!"
"Caroline, I'm not going to leave you or Jordan here," Roy said nervously.
"Exactly!" Caroline said, her voice rising. "Why aren't you gone yet!"
"Don't raise your voice, Caroline," Roy said. "You'll just hurt yourself further."
"I will not lower my voice!" she yelled. "Not for you! Not for anyone!"
"Why not?" Roy asked, his own voice beginning to rise from annoyance.
"You told me not to hold back anymore!" she yelled, pointing a finger at him.
Roy's eyes twitched.
"She wasn't well enough to go to preschool for a week," Roy said.
Ed laughed at the older man's story.
"What's your point, Colonel?" he asked.
"The point is..." Roy said. "Had she just let me take care of her in the first place... she might have gotten better faster."
Ed looked forwards.
"Sometimes I believe you could learn from her, Fullmetal."
Ed looked back at his superior quickly, confused with the last statement.
"Maybe if you just listened to someone every once & a while, you'd be better off."
Ed opened his mouth to say something, but then realized a familiar sight.
"We're here," Miroku said as the group edged their way out of the forest.
---
Ed's fists shook, his eyes wide & fearful as his mind replayed what Sango just said.
"Wh-what do you mean?" he asked.
"I mean... her pulse has been slowing down ever since we've been here... & her fever's been rising as well..." she said, putting another cloth onto the girl's forehead. "If it keeps going at this rate..."
She gulped.
"She might die."
To be continued...
Caroline: CLiFFHaNGEr! r&r!
