School deep-fried my brain. I am absolutely dead, so this whole chapter is basically fluff. Oh well. PLEASE REVIEW!
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"Any news, Lieutenant?" the colonel asked.
"The coroner examined the bodies, taisa. He found internal bleeding, which suggests brutal beating and forced entry, meaning rape. Most of the girls have missing limbs, but mostly just fingers or toes. However, one girl, the youngest of them, was missing the entire left half of her body. The bone connecting to the missing limbs, however, are not cracked or chipped, meaning the limbs were not cut off. The coroner suspects the use of human transmutation," Hawkeye replied.
Mustang could hardly hold back his lunch. "Any clues that might lead to the capture of this madman?"
Riza sighed. "Nothing, taisa. Other than the fact that he can strike again, at any girl, from mid-teenage years to twenty."
"Well, that narrows it down a whole lot," Roy spat. "Any clues on where Fullmetal is then?"
"None, taisa."
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The Fullmetal Alchemist was in his apartment in the company of his childhood friend, unaware the colonel's or his brother's frantic search for him. Winry responded to the kiss eagerly, while the thoughts of omigosh, omigosh, omigosh swiveled and tangled in her delirious mind. She wrapped her arms around his neck to bring him closer as his arms snaked around her waist.
Ed was the first to pull away as a pink flush crept to his cheeks. Winry giggled girlishly, a sound that Ed had never heard coming from his friend before. "What's so funny?" he demanded, pretending to be angry. He loved to hear her laugh, especially since she did that so rarely.
"Nothing," she replied as she giggled some more.
"Tell me."
"It's nothing," she repeated.
He tackled her and pinned her on the floor. "Really, tell me."
"It's just that I've never really seen you blush before. It's so cute."
"I'm not blushing!" he protested, turning even redder.
"Yes, you are."
"Oh, shut up," he told her.
"Make me," she retorted grinning.
So he made her. By pressing his lips down on hers.
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Alphonse was getting extremely nervous. Normally, his oniisan would not be at the top of his Things-to-Worry-About list. Edward knew how to take care of himself, and land quite a few others in the hospital, too whilst doing so. Under normal circumstances, that is.
Al prayed fervently that his niisan was all right. How ironic that was. He and Edward were proud atheists and yet, there he was, groveling before the so-called divine figure that he would normally refuse to acknowledge. They had been through too much to actually put faith in anything, lest it fell apart to reveal the reality behind it, like most things had for them. They would not be able to stand any more disappointment; their dreams were that fragile. They were like children hoping for a pony under the tree on Christmas day but getting nothing but disappointment.
Al sometimes wondered why they continued to look for the Stone. How could they be so sure that they would find a way? How could they be so sure that it would not be yet another dead-end? How could they be so sure that their dreams would not be broken like the shards of a shatter mirror, cutting more holes in their already tattered hearts? How could they be sure of anything?
Perhaps they just knew everything would be fine in the end. Perhaps they were blinded by their hopes. Perhaps it was naivety, stubbornness or spite that forced them to go on. Perhaps, perhaps.
Al was getting desperate; he had to find his brother and Winry. He hoped that Ed had found his way back to the apartment. He hoped that Winry was safe and warm. He hoped that the future would be a bright one. So many hopes, all of them more fragile than the last.
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Al found his brother back in the apartment, with Winry. He was glad that they were both safe. They were asleep, curled up together on the sofa, like two pups in a litter, struggling for warmth. She slept with her head on his chest and he slept with his arms curled protectively around her shoulders.
Al couldn't help but feel a small pang of jealousy. He knew he would never be able to feel the warmth or the touch of another. He would always be second to his big brother – the prodigy, the State Alchemist, the one whom even Hawkeye admitted was a "knockout" as he grew into his full height, the one who could actually touch and feel.
Al sighed inwardly and pushed the jealousy away. He covered Ed and Winry with a blanket and turned to leave. But when Ed's flesh arm grazed his own metal one, he could've sworn he felt something…
"Matte… Aru…" Ed was talking in his sleep.
I won't, niisan. I promise, Al replied silently.
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Review, review, review! Oh, and "matte" means "don't leave."