Sorry for the long wait you guys; I've been having a writer's block.

Chapter 6: The Chimera and a Scandalous Plot (part 2)

Amber finally regained consciousness and the first thing she saw was Edward. Her head was resting in his lap. She sat up and looked around; they were in a different alley and no one was in sight.

"Good, you're awake" Ed breathed a sigh of relief.

Amber noticed that his jacket was all cut up. "What happened? Did you get in a fight with the Homunculi?"

"Yeah, when I came to my senses I found myself being carried away by that fat guy. The guy with green hair was carrying you. I managed to grab you and escape, but I don't know what happened to Al."

"Maybe we should go look for him."

"No, not right now; my head is really hurting. But in any case, are you alright?"

"Yes…Hey, Ed…"

"Hm?"

"Umm…Uh-thank you for saving me again."

"You're welcome…Wait, 'again'? When did I-?"

"When you gave me blood after the chimera attacked me. Boy, that hit to the head must've did some damage!" Amber giggled.

"Oh, yeah, right…Heh. Well you know I have to look out for you" Ed rubbed his head and smiled.

"You're really sweet"

Ed blushed a bit. Amber sat with her back against the wall, her knees up with her arms stretched out on them. She sat there wondering about Ed's feelings for her. She wanted to ask him so badly, but couldn't find the courage to speak.

"Is something wrong?" Ed asked, snapping her out of her thoughts.

Amber shook her head and smiled, "Nope, I'm fine really! I was just thinking about what you've done for me. I really appreciate it!" She gave him a big hug and kissed his cheek. "I really like you Ed. In fact…I kind of…sort of…love you…" Edward stared at her for a moment; he knew she would tell him this someday. Amber sat there, feeling nervous and maybe a bit stupid. She could feel her face turning red. Ed smiled and placed his arm around her, "I love you too." He leaned in and kissed her lips. Amber couldn't be any happier! He pulled away from her with a saddened look on his face. "…But…" Ed began, suddenly making Amber feel uncomfortable, "I can't deceive you anymore…" Before Amber could ask what he meant, the blonde-haired boy suddenly changed into the green-haired homunculi, Envy. Amber jumped up and backed away from him, "You!...You tricked me! But why?"

"Amber, please don't be angry" said Envy as he stood up.

"Why? Why? I really thought you were Edward! And after I said that…ugh! I feel so stupid!" Amber felt tears forming in her eyes. She began beating her head with her fists.

"Hey stop that!"

"Why'd you do this!" Amber cried.

"I didn't mean to, honest! I was just…jealous."

"Of what!"

"Because you loved him and not me!" Envy shouted.

Amber began to cry even more, "…I-I'm sorry, I didn't know…But, you didn't have to trick me like that. It really hurt my feelings!...I thought y-you were my friend…"

Envy began to feel guilty; he realized how selfish he was being. "Don't cry…I really am sorry" he said softly, wiping Amber's tears away. He hugged her tightly; Amber sniffed and hugged him back. "I'm sorry…So sorry…" Envy whispered. "Maybe, things are supposed to be this way…" hethought. "You're a good person…" came Amber's muffled voice; Envy pulled away to look at her, "Even though you're not human, you experience the same feelings as we do. And you rescued me from the others. I think you are human, in my eyes." He smiled at her; she smiled back and said, "If I ever learn how to, I'll only make you into a pure human."

"Then we'll have to get rid of the others" Envy smiled.

"Yup" Amber smiled back.

The smile on Envy's face softened; he placed his hands on Amber's shoulders and pulled her closer. She wrapped her arms around Envy's back and they kissed. He held her in his arms, hoping that this moment would last forever; Amber felt the same way. She began to wonder about this feeling she had for Envy…Was she really falling in love with him?...Yes, she was…Their lips parted; Amber could feel her face turning red. They kissed again, this time it was longer and more passionate. Being so into each other, they didn't realize that someone was watching them. Envy suddenly felt a sharp pain in his back. He broke the kiss and groaned in agony. He slumped over Amber, making her kneel on the ground to hold him up. "What's wrong!" She saw something sticking out of his back. She traced it to the source of where it was coming from; it was one of Lust's extended nails. Without thinking, and being upset, Amber bit Lust's long finger really hard. Lust retracted her finger, cursing under her breath. She jumped from the small building she was standing on and said, "Well, well, well…I catch up to you and find that you're making out in an alley; how low class."

"Shut up!" Envy yelled.

"How dare you talk to me that way, you traitor" Lust's nails grew long and shot towards Envy. He moved aside and extended his arm into a blade, shoving it into Lust's chest. Lust wrapped her long nails around Envy's neck and dragged him closer. Amber started to draw a transmutation circle on the ground. But before she could finish, Lust had flung Envy into her and their bodies wiped away the chalk. Lust walked over to them and shoved those long nails into Envy's chest. Just as Amber was about to get up, Lust had stabbed her in her wounded shoulder. Amber screamed in pain. Envy became enraged and pulled out the nails in his chest, he lunged himself at Lust, tackling her to the ground and punching her. She scraped his face and he backed off. Amber sat on the ground drawing another transmutation circle. She clapped her hands on it and a giant concrete snake rose from it. As it rose higher from the ground, the bigger it became. Envy stood back so he wouldn't get hit. The snake flung at Lust and smashed her into a brick wall. All of a sudden Amber screamed and the snake disintegrated. Gluttony had suddenly appeared behind her and firmly held her arms behind her back. "Let her go!" Envy shouted. He was about to jump-kick the fat blob, but he was forced back. Lust had grabbed a hold of his leg. She restrained him and held one of her sharp nails pressed against his throat.

"How would you like to see her die?" Lust whispered seductively.

"You bitch" Envy growled.

"Humph, keep talking like that and I'll cut off your tongue."

Gluttony wrapped his large, fat hands around Amber's neck. He squeezed tightly; Amber's face started turning red and a few veins popped up. She gasped for air and desperately tried to pry Gluttony's hands open. Envy roughly pushed Lust off of him, getting a cut across his neck as he did so. He ran up behind Gluttony and covered his eyes, shoving his fingers hard into them. Gluttony released Amber from his grip, pushing Envy off of him and stumbling to the side screaming. Amber's body limply fell to the ground. Envy lifted her head up and pressed his fingers on a vein in her neck; she had a weak pulse. Suddenly, a loud clap of thunder sounded, and rain began falling. Lust stood up and was about to hit Envy, but the chimera from earlier, came onto the scene and pounced on her. It them jumped back and growled at her.

"Ugh! You stupid beast! What're you doing here? You were supposed to keep an eye on that Elric boy!" she shouted.

"He was keeping an eye on me" came Edward's voice. Lust looked to her left and saw him standing there; his metal arm was formed into a jagged blade. At this point, Gluttony had stopped yelling; he was lying on the ground silently but still alive. The rain began to pour. Lust got to her feet and placed her hands on her hips. Envy looked behind him and saw Edward.

"Hey, Full Metal!" he called.

Ed looked back at Envy, "What?"

"While you're busy, I'll take care of Amber" and without another word, he ran off with the girl in his arms.

"HEEEY! Where are you taking her!" Ed shouted, but Envy was already gone. "Damn. Alright, fine, I'll just kill you then." Ed charged towards Lust, she simply stood in place. "That's enough for today" she muttered, and disappeared. "HUH!" said Ed. Gluttony was gone as well. He stood there, in the rain, feeling a mix of emotions. The chimera approached him and rubbed it's nose on his arm. Ed patted it's head, "Thanks for saving me. But now I have to get Al…and Amber. Damn, I'm tired of all of this. Hmm, c'mon, let's get out of this rain." Ed climbed on the chimera's back and they took off.

Meanwhile, Envy walked around trying to find a place to rest. He came across a building that seemed to be closed. He decided that was probably the best place he could get at the moment, so he went over. He was about to break the door down, but didn't want to make a scene. He just sat on the doorstep with Amber's head resting on his lap. "Please, wake up" Envy begged as he ran his fingers through the girl's long, wet hair. "C'mon, open your eyes…" he gripped her hand tightly. Amber made a slight groan and she looked up at him, "Uhh…is it over?" He smiled and embraced her, "Yeah, they're gone."

"…Too tight.." Amber mumbled.

Envy released her and said, "Oops, sorry…Um, maybe I should take you home. Okay?"

Amber nodded. Envy took to the streets once again, carrying the girl on his back.

Ed and the chimera were going to go back to the house to rest; when suddenly, he heard a familiar voice saying, "Brother…Over here!" Ed found Al in pieces under brick rubble.

"Al! Hey, man, are you alright?"

"Yeah, just in shambles"

"Heh, I'll fix you up" Ed and the chimera moved as many bricks as possible and gathered up all of Al's body parts. Ed had put them all in a pile, clapped his hands and placed them on the parts. Al was whole again.

"How are you feeling?" Ed asked.

"I'm fine, what about you?"

"I've been worse. But in any case, we'd better get back to the house."

Al nodded and they all headed for Amber's house. When they arrived, Maria immediately came to their aid. The chimera however, ran off somewhere.

"Oh my goodness! Are you boys alright! You're soaking wet!" She ran over to them with towels.

"Here, go get cleaned up. And you can stay in the guest room tonight."

"Thank you very much ma'am" said Edward.

"Where's Amber?" she asked.

"Uh-well…I don't…know…One of the homunculi took her away.." Ed frowned.

"Oh, I see…" After that, there were no more words; just the sound of rain and thunder. Alphonse sat on the bed in the guest room, thinking. Ed walked in with a towel on his unbraided head, wearing nothing but white boxers. He sat next to Al and said, "Don't worry, she'll be fine."

"…Don't try to hide it…You're worried about her too." Al replied glumly.

The little smile on Ed's faced wiped away and he frowned, staring at the floor.

Suddenly, Al jumped up saying, "AH! OH NO!"

"What's wrong?" Ed asked.

"We forgot Elk, at the inn!"

Ed fell over, making a strange sound. "Amber's missing and you're worried about a stupid cat!"

"Oh no, what have we done! What if Elk has died of starvation? Or maybe he's all alone and scared!"

-Meanwhile at the inn-

Elk was taken by an ugly fat lady, but managed to escape her clutches and ran away to the military base. That evening, when Roy Mustang went to take a shower; he saw the furry kitten at the bottom of his feet and screamed like a little school girl. "There's a cat in here! Get it away!" Roy ran out in the halls naked. "That's more punishment for what you said about me" Riza laughed evilly. "You insane woman! You know I'm afraid of cats! With their evil eyes, and claws, and fangs…And that hideous roar…" Little Elk had followed Roy out into the hallway and stared at him. "Why did the strange naked man run away from me?" Elk wondered. It made a soft "mew" at Roy and he shrieked, running back into the bathroom; locking the door. Riza picked up Elk and kissed his head. "Such a cute kitten, I think I'll call you 'Doron'. You're my new pet; wait till you meet Black Hayate."

-Back to Al and Ed-

"He's probably fine, don't worry." Ed patted Al's metal shoulder.

"AMBER!" Maria's voice shouted.

Ed, Al, and Mina came out into the living room to see what was going on. Envy was standing in the doorway with Amber in his arms. His hair was wet and in his face. The clothes on his body were soaked, and the outlines of his muscles could be seen through the clothes. He was out of breath from running so much. Envy took a step forward into the house, making a squishy sound on the welcome mat.

When Ed caught sight of Envy holding Amber in his arms, he rushed over and grabbed Envy by the collar of his shirt. "What did you do to her!" he yelled.

"Back off! I saved her life and I came to bring her home!"

"You!…"

"Brother please, calm down! This isn't the time to fight!" Al placed his hand on his brother's shoulder. Ed had let go of Envy's collar. "Please, come this way. You too Mina" Maria instructed, carrying more towels. Envy followed, glaring at Ed from the corner of his eye. Maria laid a towel out on Amber's bed so she wouldn't get the sheets wet. Envy placed her down on the towel. Amber squint her eyes open, "Mom…" she groaned. "Shh, its alright, you're safe. Just rest for now; oh, but we have to get you out of those wet clothes! Mina, help her change in the bathroom, please." "Okay. C'mon sis" She helped Amber walk to the bathroom. The mother turned to Envy and held his hands, "Thank you so much for bringing her home. I was really worried about her. What's your name, young man?"

"Uh, I'm Envy" he answered, a bit bashful to be called a 'young man'.

"'Envy'? That's a strange name, but it doesn't matter. Amber is so lucky to have such good friends…Maybe she's learned to open her heart, since her father died."

Envy frowned; he didn't know that she had lost her father. "I'm sorry" he mumbled.

"Oh don't be. Here, you should dry off" she handed him a towel then left the room. Envy stood there for a moment and stared at the towel he was given. He wasn't sure if what he was doing was right. Should he be getting this close to the family? What if the mother found out that he's not human? Would she still call him a 'young man' then?...Trying to forget these thoughts, he began to dry himself off. His wounds had already healed. Mina returned to the room with Amber clinging to her weakly.

"Hey, boy."

Envy looked up.

"Could you excuse us for a moment? Amber needs to rest; you can come back in a little while."

Envy stood up and watched the older sister place the younger sister down on the bed. Amber's breathing was uneasy, and she was coughing a lot. He shut his eyes tightly as if he felt her pain and left the room. He entered the living room and spotted Ed and Al sitting on the sofa. Ed faced him with an angry expression on his face. Envy glared back, "Why do you keep staring at me like I'm the bad guy?"

"Because you are!" Ed rose to his feet, "This better not be some kind of trick. If you harmed her in any way-"

"Chill out, I didn't do anything to her! If anything, it was Lust and Gluttony who hurt her. So stop barking at me."

Al butted in, "C'mon brother, relax. Even though he's one of them, I believe we can trust him for now…Besides, he did bring her back, right?"

"Yeah, you're right…Okay. You have my trust, for now" Ed sat back down with his arms folded and closed his eyes.

"Um, brother, maybe you should put some clothes on. You don't want everyone staring at your boxes all night, do you?"

Ed blushed and quietly went to the room to get his pants and black tank top. Al giggled at his brother's quick action. Envy simply rolled his eyes and leaned against a wall in the hallway with his arms crossed. Mina came out of the room and went into the kitchen to make tea. Ed came back into the living room dressed; he saw Mina and went over to her.

"How is she?" he asked.

"She's sick, has a fever; obviously from being out in the rain. Hey, do me a favor and get that pot out of there, and grab a can of vegetable soup from the cabinet. I hate to make you do this since you're a guest, but-"

"No, no, its fine" Ed interjected.

Envy decided to so see the sick girl. She was coughing, and holding her chest in pain. Envy felt somewhat responsible for her being sick; he should've gotten her out of the rain faster. He kneeled at her bedside and held her hand, "I'm sorry I got you sick".

Amber rubbed her eye then smiled at him, "Its not your fault, don't worry."

"But still, I'm sorry…Amber, I-"

"Oh, excuse me" said Al. He was standing in the doorway. Envy turned around to face him, Al walked over and kneeled down. "How are you feeling?"

Amber sat up, "I'm fine, really! What about you?"

"I'm good, but it looks like you've caught a fever. You should stay in bed for a while."

"Well, if you guys need my help, don't hesitate to ask."

"Sure…Well, I'd better go. Sorry for interrupting."

Amber turned her attention back to Envy, "So, what were you saying?"

"Oh, its nothing. I'll tell you later…"

She unintentionally stared at him. Her eyes were somehow fixed on him. Envy stared back, thinking that she was trying to tell him something. "What's wrong? He asked.

"Your eyes are lovely. I've never met anyone with purple eyes before…" she answered.

"Amber…" Envy stared at her deeply, as if he was going to cry.

"Soup and tea is ready!" said Mina as she entered the room. Envy stood up to leave, but Amber grabbed his hand. "Please stay" she said. Envy nodded and took a seat at the edge of the bed.

"Okay sis, here you go" Mina placed the tray on her lap and smiled, "Feel better okay? If there's anything you need, call me." With that, she left the room.

End of chapter 6!