K-c
A/N: YAY! Thank you guys so much for reviewing! You rock my world! Well, I'm not gonna have author notes at the ends of my chappies anymore cuz all I seem to do in them is give away stuff about upcoming events! So . . .yea. I'm glad you guys like this! This is my first actual angst fic so I thought it would suck. YAY! Here ya go!
Note to Yunie-O: YEA! I would love to know the website to read the rest of the series! Thank you so much! You can give me the address in a review, if you want! You're so sweet!
Disclaimer: Man . . .I don't know WHY I have to do this! Ehh . . .I do not own any of the characters in this fic . . .HAPPY NOW?
Ch. 3: Duty Calls
Ed's POV:
"Ah . . .don't wake me up just yet . . ." I mumbled sleepily after I had heard my door creak open more than ten times already. Yes, the sun was probably shining to its' fullest, but I had the blinds closed and I refused to open them and face the morning . . .er . . .afternoon. I haven't slept soundly for two years and she expects me to get up at the crack of dawn? Easy for her! She's used to waking up so freaking early to work on auto-mail or something . . .I'm used to being a slug all day!
"For the last time, Edward, GET UP!" Winry hollered into my room, the building irritation getting the better of her. When she saw that I didn't move, she flung her famous and well-known wrench at me and it clanged into my head. I fell off of the bed and onto the hard floor with a loud thump, pain searing already on my forehead. I jumped to my feet and faced her, an obvious lump rising on my forehead. She was smiling and giggling at me . . .GOD! She pisses me off! . . .but I held in all of my early morning—er, afternoon—anger, not wanting to make her get any more irritated at me than she already was. I let out a low sigh and started to head towards the door, not bothering to put my red jacket back on. Winry moved away from the door to let me pass by and she continued into the kitchen. I plopped down on the couch, still tired and trying to wake up, as she cooked something feverishly. She had obviously gone shopping earlier this morning, too.
The smell of eggs and bacon wafted over in my direction and I perked up. I sat up straight and stared over at the kitchen, my mouth watering uncontrollably. Everytime she glanced over in my direction, though, I closed my mouth, trying desperately to not show my hunger and happiness. After what seemed like endless hours of pained torture of my growling stomach, she placed a plate down on the table. I hurried over to it discretely and sniffed the wonderful fumes of breakfast yet again. Before I knew it, I had eaten everything on the plate without her noticing. I looked down at the bare plate and cringed. That wasn't supposed to be for me . . .
"Ok! After I'm done eating, I'll take a look at that arm of yours, okay?" she announced cheerfully, stepping lightly out of the kitchen and over to me and the horribly noticeable empty plate. I slid the plate behind me and stood there awkwardly to block it, my face burning bright red from embarrassment and my damn nerves. She gave me a strange look, but sat down at her seat anyway. After gazing around the bare table, she scratched her head thoughtfully.
"I thought I put my plate down here . . .now where did it—" her eyes shot daggers at me as she switched her gaze from the table to me, standing beside her, hiding the plate behind my back. I started to sweat under her dark and accusing glare, but refused to move an inch, afraid of exposing the scene of the crime. Winry leaned towards me, as if attempting to stare right through my eyes and into my mind to see my guilt and I stared right back at her, trying to not look obvious.
"Move, Elric," she ordered me sharply, that glare still on her face. I didn't move and remained completely still, my body not even allowing me to budge if I could at all.
"Move."
"No."
"Move!"
"Why?"
"MOVE, DAMMIT!"
"NO!"
She pushed me aside and I landed on the floor beside the table, only to hear her gasp in shock. I cringed in advance for what was to come . . .the wrench.
"YOU ATE MY BREAKFAST? YOU'RE SUCH A PIG!" she screamed at me, looming over me menacingly. It wasn't the wrench that my face was greeted with, but a spatula . . .probably because that was closest to her. But the hell didn't end there. She started to fling every goddamn utensil from the kitchen at me . . .including knives . . .all the while screaming things at me that I didn't really care to hear because I was too busy dodging the make-shift missiles.
When the smoke of the battle cleared, Winry was standing in the kitchen, panting like she had just ran a marathon, while me, on the other hand, practically did run a marathon. Knives, spoons, bowls, spatulas, forks and even a blender littered the floor space in between us, but I wasn't hit by a single one of them. I sat up from hiding behind the couch and grinned at her, only to receive a hit to the face with her handy-dandy wrench. Oh that's nice . . .
"It was . . .an accident . . .?" I finally managed to say after all of that, from the floor. Winry stomped over to me and loomed over me, staring down at my tired body and smiled in a poisonly -sweet sort of way. She winked down at me and turned around, stepping over the debris as she went.
"Ah, oh well. I understand why you ate it . . .you're still trying to reach that goal, right?" she smirked at me from over her shoulder slyly. I stood to my feet, wondering what the hell she was talking about. Her blue eyes narrowed into maniacal slits and she just smirked away, leaving me feeling rather out of the conversation. She waltzed back into the kitchen and to the refrigerator. I watched her curiously for a moment, then I started to turn back around to sit on the couch, but she suddenly reached inside and whipped out a carton of none other than—milk.
"TRYING TO GROW TALLER, THAT'S WHAT!" She declared, brandishing the carton of milk in the air as if it were some kind of prized treasure. My mouth dropped open as I stared at her unbelievably. She started to laugh her head off at my expression, waving the milk around like a banner.
"YOU'RE STILL THE SIZE OF A BEAN EVEN AFTER TWO YEARS!"
"SHUT UP ALREADY! STOP SAYING I'M A TINY LITTLE BEAN THAT YOU COULD CRUSH INTO THE SLIMY DIRT AND STEP ON!"
"I GOT YOU BEAT STILL ON HEIGHT! HAHAHAHA!"
"I GOT YOU BEAT ON BRAINS, YOU DIMWIT!"
"I'M NOT THE STUPID ONE BECAUSE AT LEAST I REMEMBERED TO DRINK MILK WHEN I WAS LITTLE!"
"WHY THE HELL WOULD I WANT TO DRINK THAT CRAP ANYWAY?"
"BECAUSE THEN YOU WON'T BE BEAT BY GIRLS THE SAME AGE AS YOU!"
"MACHINE FREAK!"
"ALCHEMY FREAK!"
"AH FORGET IT!" I hollered in final frustration and stomped away from her, fury bubbling up inside of me. I plopped down on the couch and brewed in my hatred and irritation. She really knows how to piss me off! After a long pause of silence when none of us made a sound, she broke it.
"Shorty . . ." she muttered under her breath from behind me and over the couch back. I had had enough. I leapt to my feet with a yell of frustration and jumped over the back of the couch, landing on Winry. She tried to squirm away from me, but I pinned her down forcefully. I grinned down at her evilly, trying to mask my annoyance.
"MY HEIGHT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH IT!" I shouted down at her, staring down at her beautiful blue eyes. My face started to burn with heat from having this gorgeous girl pinned down below me, but I didn't think she noticed because she only closed her eyes and screamed as loud as she could:
"AAAAAHHHH! ED'S TRYING TO RAPE ME!" That killed it.
"WHAAAAT? YOU SICK-MINDED LITTLE—" I didn't get to finish my sentence because the next moment was filled with pain. Winry had reached up and grabbed my braid, pulling on it hard. I cried out in sudden pain, trying to pull free from her grasp. Her eyes were slanted evilly and she glared slyly up at me.
"What were you saying about me?" she asked me sweetly, tugging on my braid a little harder, just to hear my grunts in pain and discomfort. "That I was the most beautiful, sweet and loving girl you ever met? Oh, Eddy! I'm so touched! Ed's a softy-soft—"
I pressed harder on her arms, desperately trying to make her shut up. I gave a strained smile at her and glared. "Another word and I swear I'll—"
"Do what?" she retorted, leaning up closer to me so that our noses were barely an inch away from each other. Her beautiful blue eyes were staring deep into mine and I almost saw something new glint from within in. Lust? The hell? My face started to glow bright red as she stared at me with that look.
"Well . . .I see you've gotten your act together, Full Metal . . .a little too quickly . . ." a deep voice chuckled from by the door and I quickly looked up to see none other than Mustang leaning up against the doorway, smirking at me. O what a scene he was walking in on . . . I jumped as far away from Winry as possible and started to panic . . .yea . . .I lost it . . . My face was blooming bright red and my nervous and scattered behaviour didn't seem to cover up anything at all.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?" I hollered at him, pointing my finger in his direction. " . . .and what do you mean 'too quickly'?" I muttered under my breath as well, his words finally sinking into my mind. Mustang just continued to smile in that annoying sort of way and moved away from the door and over to me. He side-glanced Winry and gave a small, polite smile in her direction.
"I knew all along that you weren't 'dead', and when I saw Winry walking towards your apartment, I knew that you two would soon be together . . .man, was I right about that one!" he declared happily to himself, giving a small chuckle. My anger boiled to the surface along with my panic and I jumped up and down in a fit.
"YOU SHUT UP! IT'S NOT WHAT YOU'RE THINKING! RIGHT WINRY?" I shot her my world-famous "you-better-agree-with-me-or-I'll-seriously-kill-you" look from the corner of my eye. She only smiled in a sly way, and I saw that Mustang was looking at her . . .Great job, Winry . . .now he's gonna tell the whole military about this . . .
Mustang cleared his throat and I switched my attention back to him, remembering that he was the person in charge of me. "But that's not the only reason why I came to see you, Full Metal," he started, his face taking on the more serious approach. I straightened up as he talked, my curiosity of what could possibly be so important that he had to come to me, grabbing a hold of me. "There have been reports from Central about a group of three people wandering around at night, causing trouble every now and then and taking children from their homes at night . . ."
I looked down at the floor, my body stunned momentarily. I knew what he was saying, but I wouldn't believe it. I closed my eyes for a second, as sudden images of that horrible night flashing before my eyes.
"LET HIM GO! DON'T TOUCH HIM!"
"Shut up, Elric . . .stop your whining already!" Envy grinned as he moved the knife closer to the blood-seal on his armor. I struggled under the grip of Gluttony holding me back.
"AL!"
"BROTHER! DON'T LET THEM DO IT! DO SOMETHING!"
"DAMMIT, I'M TRYING!"
"Agree to do it or it's the end of your little brother's empty life!" Envy shouted at me, giving me one last chance to kill the people behind me. I thrashed around madly, desperately trying to reach my brother across from me.
"I WON'T DO IT! AL, YOU'RE GONNA BE FINE! ARRGH!" I hollered at the top of my lungs as Lust extended her horrible fingers at me and slashed me across the face with them, sending blood to run down my left cheek. When I glanced back up, Envy was moving the knife closer and closer to the blood-seal. I watched helplessly as it moved over it and blocked it from my sight.
"AAALLLL!" I screamed out, seeing the knife slice right through the armor and the blood-seal disappeared, along with my brother's screams.
"ENVY! I'LL KILL YOU! I'LL KILL YOU, YOU BASTARD! I'LL MAKE YOU PAY FOR WHAT YOU DID TO MY BROTHER! I'LL KILL YOU!"
"Edward?"
I opened my eyes, invisible tears welling inside of my irises. I looked up from the floor to see Winry giving me a very concerned look from across the room. Her blue eyes were wide in worry and she fiddled with the bottom of her skirt aimlessly as she gazed at me. Mustang was also giving me a look of mild concern, but didn't make any effort in seeing what the problem was. He knows what's going through my mind . . .I now know why he came to me for this task . . .he knows I want something back from those damned homunculi . . .he knows I want revenge for my brother . . .
"You don't want to face them again, am I right?" he asked me in his business-like tone of voice. I looked him straight in the eyes, regaining my dignity and unemotional habits that I carried with me everywhere . . .Winry doesn't need to see my fear . . .my pain . . .my sorrow . . .
"Yea . . .but I'll do it . . ." I replied to his earlier comment, not admitting fully of my nerves, but I knew he saw it in my eyes. My heart was pounding while thinking of what I would have to face after two years without worry . . .I couldn't give up now. Winry said it herself . . .I'm the Full Metal Alchemist. And when duty calls, I have to take it and not let my personal life interfere . . .that's the way of being a State Alchemist . . .I may have been away for two years, but that doesn't mean that I lost my title . . .
"Right. You will board the train tonight at 7:30 and will report the following day at 10:00 a.m.," he ordered, saluting me stiffly, not a trace of a warm smile on his face . . .he looked exactly like he used to . . .and acted like it, too . . .
"Got it," I replied, saluting him back, not as proudly, but half-heatedly. I haven't done that to someone for the longest time, my arm felt like it was going to fall off from shock. Mustang then turned and bowed at the middle politely to Winry who lowered her head in return. He marched back out of the house, but not without another grin back at me. Before I could sick my anger out on him, he was gone and out of my sight.
I plopped down on the couch, spreading out rather comfortably and rested my chin in my hand with my elbow my knee. I heard and saw out of the corner of my eye Winry inching towards me and waited silently for the wave of questions to fall down upon me. In contrary, however, all she did was move to her usual, old desk in the corner and picked up her bag of tools. She walked back to me, staggering under the weight, showing that she had done some heavy shopping this morning for tools, too, and settled down in front of me. I didn't look over at her as she began to take out various screwdrivers, wrenches, and other sorts of crap and laid them out in front of her. There was a moment of silence between us when neither her nor me moved.
"Well, it'll be a lot easier if you would let me look at your arm . . ." she said sarcastically, putting her hands on her hips impatiently. I rolled my eyes subtly and turned on my stomach, holding out my arm to her lazily. She issued a little sound of annoyance, but propped my arm up on a table that she pulled over to us and bent down over her work.
I listened to her work quietly on my destroyed arm and turned my head to face the couch, staring at the white leather. She still hadn't asked the questions I knew were on her mind and the pressure and suspense of it all was slowly killing me inside. I almost wanted to turn to her and yell something like 'Well, ASK ALREADY!', but I held my tongue, knowing she will eventually drown me in inquiries.
"So you're leaving again?"
This wasn't the question I was expecting to come from her. I heard the soft hurt rising in her voice as she asked me that and I bit my tongue a little harder until it almost bled. It was true . . .I was leaving her again . . .I come back for one night . . .and leave the next day . . .I can't do this to her . . .it's too cruel . . .she has spent two years worrying sick over me and her hope probably rose to a unusual level . . .now to only deflate back down again . . .
I turned my head back around to see her head still bent over my arm, working diligently, but slowly. Very slow. I couldn't see her eyes because her bangs were shielding them from my sight, but part of me didn't want to see them . . .I didn't want to see her tears . . .I didn't know how to react to a question like this and I knew that every second I spent thinking over it, she would only grow more and more depressed. I had to do something.
"Winry . . .it's only for a little bit . . .I'll be back soon enough . . ." I tried I convince her that my stay in Central wouldn't be long. I knew that after I had said those words that they were the wrong things to say. She suddenly slammed down her wrench on the table with a loud thunk, making me jump slightly. Her head was still facing towards the floor, but I saw glittering drops of salt-water fall from her eyes. She stood up from kneeling beside me and gazed down at me with that watery stare. I bit my tongue so hard now, it actually started to bleed and I found it hard to swallow. Keep a straight face . . .she doesn't need my pain added onto her's . . .
"But last time it was only for 'a little while' and it ended up being two years!" she pointed out, her voice rising slightly and shaking with sobs. I pulled my arm back to me and ran my fingers along the smoother part absentmindedly.
"But that wasn't my fault, now, was it?" I retorted, sudden anger building inside of me from this tension between us. She stayed away from me for two years and now she blames it all on me? What is her problem?
"Don't you have any thoughts in your head? Don't you feel even the slightest amount of regret or pity? Don't you even think about how I feel when you just up and leave me like this?" she shouted at me, her anger, frustration, sorrow and anxiety rising to a high degree in her chest. I sighed to myself, and looked down at the floor. This is only leading to more trouble . . .we should just stop now . . .Women, I tell ya . . .
"This is my duty! This is what I do! You said it yourself that I was the Full Metal Alchemist and a State Alchemist, but now you try to hold me back from what i'm supposed to do?" I yelled back up at her, getting extremely annoyed at our constant bickering. She must have been reading my mind because she said that next thing:
"Look at us! We're pathetic! All we do is fight about the dumbest things! We can't be in the same room for more than ten minutes without jumping down each other's throats! What has happened to us? What have we become?" she asked me softly, returning her gaze to the floor and shaking her head sadly with a smile on her face.
"We have become what we were supposed to be."
She looked back up at me as I said these last words without a single tone of anger in my voice. She seemed taken back by my words, but I meant everything I had said. We have become what we were supposed to be . . .we have become us . . .and we always do this . . .but we make-up eventually . . .
Another moment of awkward silence passed us by as she stared down at me with that same shocked expression, but didn't say anything more to it. On the other hand, she started to grin as if an idea had came across her mind and she scurried over behind the couch. I scratched my head, confused, as she disappeared from my sight. Then, a tiny voice popped up in my left ear from behind me and I jumped out of my skin.
"Can I come?"
"Un." I grunted in reply, pretending to not hear her.
"Can I come?" she asked a little louder, probably thinking that I hadn't heard her.
"No."
"Please?"
"No."
"Pretty please?"
"No."
"Even if I don't get in the way?"
"No."
That was when the waterfalls broke free. I knew I was testing her and I hadcracked the dam and all hell broke loose. She immediately grabbed a hold of my shirt from behind the couch and started to wail into my shoulder. I stood up from the couch, pulling her with me over it and started to walk away, dragging her along.
"OH PLEASE OH PLEASE LET ME COME! TAKE ME WITH YOU! I CAN HELP!" she screamed at me, tears spilling consistently out of her eyes and soaking the hardwood floor. I stepped around the still scattered utensils and to the front door, dragging the wailing girl behind me. Get off . . .
"I WON'T GET IN YOUR WAY! I PROMISE! I JUST WANNA COME WITH YOU! DON'T LEAVE ME HERE ALONE! I'LL DO ANYTHING! I WON'T CHARGE YOU FOR THIS AUTO-MAIL FIX! AH HELL, ANY AUTO-MAIL FIXES THAT YOU'LL HAVE IN THE FUTURE! PLEASE TAKE ME WITH YOU!"
"No, no, no, no," I stated bluntly with each step I went down on the front porch, hearing her thud behind me. She still wouldn't let go as I began to drag her along the grass to the nearby river where I was actually considering the idea of throwing her in.
"BUT WHHHHYYYYY?" she shrieked in despair, finally letting go of my shirt and falling behind in the dirt. The sudden weight change caught me by surprise and I fell forwards—face first in the grass. I rolled onto my back, seeing the dirt smudges on my black top, but then focused my eyes on the clouds floating by above me in the blue sky. The midday sun beat down upon me and I closed my eyes for a moment, basking in the warmth, but a shadow crossed over me and blocked out its' rays. I opened one eye to see Winry's face looming above me, her eyes still brimmed with tears, but a smile crossing her beautiful face.
"Fine then . . .you brought me to this . . ." she stated, staring down at me. She pinned my right arm to my side and suddenly whipped out a huge-ass wrench—larger than the other she has—and grinned evilly upon me. I gulped quickly, staring up at the menacing tool and cringing at the thought of having that smacked on my forehead. "Take me with you, or you'll go with a last impression of me—ON YOUR FOREHEAD!"
I cowered underneath her slightly, wincing in fear and foreseen pain. "Ok, ok, ok, OK!" I screamed up at her, trying to say anything that would make her go away with that horrible device. Yea . . .after knowing her for the longest time . . .I guess you can say i'm traumatized by wrenches . . .
"GIMME YOUR WORD!"
"OK OK OK! YOU CAN COME WITH ME—THERE'S MY WORD! NOW GIVE ME YOUR WORD THAT YOU WON'T HIT ME WITH THAT THING!" I demanded from her, giving in so easily to this. She grinned back at me and put away her wrench. When she gets what she wants, all is well . . .it's always been like that . . .
"Only if you don't do something I want you to do . . ."
" . . . Like always?"
"Exactly!"
With the thought of the wrench being gone temporarily, I sighed in relief, but then blushed profusely when I noticed that Winry was still practically lying on top of me. She moved her arms away from my shoulder and the ground and let herself actually fall on me with a loud 'oof'. She rested her face in my chest for a moment, then turned back around, using me like a pillow, to look at the clouds as well. My face started to burn bright as she laid on me, staring peacefully up at the sky as if nothing was wrong. Damn her and her obviousness . . .what does she think this is? 'Lay on Ed Day'? Ehh . . .
"It's been so long since I've been to Central . . .do you think it's changed much?" She suddenly asked me softly, still staring up. I looked from her to the clouds as well, wondering the same question as well. The puffy white forms of clouds drifted aimlessly across the huge, light blue sky gently, moving with the slight breeze. I sighed quietly to myself and felt her rise up and down on my chest.
"No . . .I bet it's the same . . .exactly like we left it . . ." I mumbled to her, smiling at the memories of the beautiful town. Just the thought of walking back in the State Alchemist building and seeing everybody there brought chills up my spine and I could hardly wait. The dread of leaving Winry to cry on her own once again without me had vanished and I was now content with the fact of her coming along with me. I may have put up a resistance, but I have to when I'm around her. Showing my real self would be too much for her . . .and showing my true feelings towards her would be too much, also . . .I couldn't have just agreed to her coming with me so simply . . .
"C'mon . . .you heard the man. We gotta be at the station at 7:30 . . .we'd better start packing . . ." I suggested, much to my own rejection because I didn't want to move away from her. I would lie out here under the sky all day with her if I could . . .if I could . . .Winry slowly slid her head off my chest and I stood to my feet, stretching. I looked down at her and saw that she was glaring up at me with that look on her face that I did something wrong. I gazed at her wearily, not really in the mood for being accused again.
"Aren't you gonna help me up?" she asked me in a slightly offended sort of way. I rolled my eyes and stuck out my hand forcefully, trying to make a big scene. She grabbed my hand with a defiant and satisfied look on her face, but as she was still being pulled up, I let her drop back down on the grass. "HEY! WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR?" she screamed at me as I started to take off towards the house, smiling back at her and giving a little wave.
"YOU'VE GOT YOUR OWN LEGS!" I hollered back at her, laughing and smiling all the way. I heard her shout something else, but I didn't understand it because I was already inside of the house. Hurried footsteps chased me down and I was flung forwards onto the couch as something heavy leapt upon my back from behind. She clung onto my back as I was pressed down into the couch, squirming around, trying to break free from her grasp. I finally pulled my face out of the cushions and caught my breath.
"You need to learn your manners, Edward!" she giggled from on my back. She had her arms wrapped around me from behind and refused to let me go everytime I tried to shake her off. The world's largest blush bloomed on my face at the thought of having a gorgeous girl clinging on my back and laying on me, despite her incredibly short skirt.
God, Ed! You're such a pervert!
"I don't need to show any manners towards you! You're no lady! I'll save it on some other girl who—"
"ED!"
"WIN'!"
"YOU'RE SUCH AN IDIOT, YOU MIDGET!" She had struck a nerve.
"WHO THE HELL ARE YOU CALLING A MIDGET?" I screamed at her, shaking her off of my back and making her land on the floor beside the couch. She landed with a soft cry and I immediately regretted doing that . . .but, hey . . .nobody calls me short . . .not even Winry.
"YOU JERK!" she shrieked back at me, and dove towards me again, but I grabbed her in mid-air. I pinned her back down on the floor, holding her arms out to the sides so she wouldn't pull my hair like last time. She laughed her head off from underneath me, her cute face lighting up like a match as she smiled and giggled away. I still felt the blush lingering on my cheeks, but tried to make it seem like it wasn't there.
"Ed . . .you're blushing . . ." she pointed out in a seductive or flirty sort of way. I was taken back immediately and started to panic. What the hell? No! NO NO NO!
"WHAAAT? I'M NOT BLUSHING! I'M JUST HOT FROM RUNNING UP HERE!" I rambled out, making the excuses off of the top of my head, attempting to make them sound casual. She only giggled more and more at how I stumbled over my words stupidly. Nice, Ed . . .very nice . . .what a way to play it smooth as silk . . .
"Uh huh!" she declared as I moved away from her and she stood to her feet. She smiled at me as she passed by, her face showing that she obviously wasn't believing what I was saying. She kept walking to the stairs and then started to climb them slowly, still smiling at me in disbelief with each step. I glared at her "innocence", but didn't say a word. "Sure, Ed . . .sure . . ." and with that, she slammed herself in her room. I could hear her laughs issuing from behind the closed door and I cursed under my breath, but smiled all the same.
I went down the hallway to my room, stared around the completely empty room, and started to "pack" meticulously and slowly. I left nothing behind, even though I was planning on returning back here at some point, but everything else was nothing to pack at all. All I had was my coat, my boots, some papers from my pockets, my watch and other shitty stuff. I emerged from my room not really expecting Winry to be done—and she wasn't—so I sat on the couch and waited. Finally she came down the stairs with a huge bag being dragged behind her. She stopped in front of me with a satisfied grin on her face. I looked wearily from her to the bag . . .I'll have to carry that, no doubt . . .
"Ready, Ed?" she asked me cheerfully, grinning at me with her blue eyes sparkling.
"Yea . . .let's go . . ."
K-c
