Chapter Title: Healed
Characters: Scar, Al, Ed, Hughes, Gracia, Elysia
Pairings: None! I can't write romance for the life of me!
Spoilers: None
Warnings: None
Disclaimer: I don't own it! Waaaaah!
A/N: -sniffle- Waaaaaaah! The last chapter! I'm going to miss this story so much! -clings to story- I'm starting to plan the sequel (we've caught a nice plot bunny), so I'll get that posted as soon as I can!
Scar's heart seemed to skip a beat at Hughes' statement. 'How…how did he know…'
"Al? C'mon, it's not that big a deal. I don't miss much; I do work in Intelligence, after all. Are they a friend of yours?" Hughes' voice was joking; Scar doubted it would be such when the man found out who he was. He really, really wished that he could see what was going on.
"Yeah, yeah he is," Ed's voice was quiet and determined.
"Why so serious, Ed?" Hughes sounded confused, "It's perfectly okay; not like you've got Scar in there, right?" there was a long pause, "…right?"
"Well, it's kind of a funny story, see…" Ed gave a kind of weak laugh.
An even longer pause, "Al, open up your armor, please."
Scar squinted as Al's chest plate was removed, letting in a flood of sunlight. When he regained his sight, he found that a serious looking man with short black hair and glasses was holding the tip of a small throwing knife uncomfortably close to his throat.
"Hughes-san!" Al had barely seen the man move, he had been so fast, "Please don't! He's…he's our friend!"
Hughes held up a hand to quiet Al, "So, Scar, it looks like you've been caught. What are you going to do now? Are you going to destroy Alphonse to get away?"
Crimson eyes widened. It was the only way to escape…but he…he couldn't…not to Alphonse…
'He's our friend!'
Scar raised his head to look Hughes directly in the eyes, "Never."
Hughes looked slightly surprised, then smiled, withdrawing the knife. Then he reached over…and ruffled Scar's hair, "Well, someone certainly has changed recently. Now…would somebody mind telling me what is going on here?"
And so, they gave him a brief summary of the last eleven days, skipping anything that might have been embarrassing to Scar, and also anything the military might see as a weak point to use against him in the future. When they were finished, Hughes was scratching his head, musing on what he'd just heard.
"That settles it!" he shouted suddenly, "Scar, because you most courageously saved the day during that particularly messy hostage situation, I will not arrest you today!" he gave his trademark grin, "And if you wanted to stay here for tonight, I won't arrest you tomorrow morning either."
Scar gave a surprised nod; he hadn't been expecting to be allowed to stay the night. He hadn't even been expecting to not get arrested. Hughes led the trio into the house before allowing Scar to come out of Al, and the Ishbalan stumbled slightly when he first put his feet on the ground; he hadn't stood properly since early that morning, and it was now well into the afternoon. Ed caught his arm before he fell, though, and Scar gave a grateful nod. Hughes watched the silent exchange with interest, surprised at how incredibly relaxed the brothers were around Scar, and vice versa. It looked as though they really had become friends…or at least, as close to friends as they could get.
"Ah, Ed, Al. It's nice to see you both," a smiling Gracia walked into the room, Elysia trailing behind her, "But who is this?" she looked curiously at Scar.
"This is Ed and Al's friend, Scar," Hughes explained, "He hasn't got anywhere to go, so I offered to let him stay here tonight…"
Gracia looked thoughtful, "Certainly, if he's a friend and has nowhere else to go. Dear, would you come over here for a moment?" she looked at Hughes, and he came over to her. She whispered, "Isn't 'Scar' that one that you…?"
He whispered back, "Yes, but he doesn't seem to mean any harm right now. And I owe him one; he saved me a lot of mess and paperwork by stopping those terrorists in Rizembool."
"Oh, is that what happened?" Gracia looked over at Scar, and saw that Elysia was standing in front of him.
"Who are you?" she asked innocently.
He just stared at her, and Al stepped in, "This is our friend Scar."
Elysia giggled, "Big brother Scar!"
Scar gave Al a questioning look, mouthing 'big brother?' at him. Al shrugged, "She calls us both big brother, too."
"Up!" Scar turned back down towards Elysia, who was holding out her arms to him. At a loss for what to do, he looked over at Gracia, but she only nodded at him with a smile. Elysia demanded again, "Up!" Slowly, and rather nervously, Scar reached down and picked the small girl up. She giggled and clapped her hands while Scar just stood there, wondering what in the name of Ishbala he was supposed to do now.
Gracia smiled at the scene; it was obvious by his confused look that the man hadn't been around children much. It was…amusing, to say the least.
"So, how long were you inside Al?" Hughes asked cheerily.
Scar answered in a distracted voice, busy trying to pry Elysia from around his neck, "Since this morning."
Suddenly Gracia was in full 'Mother' mode, to put it lightly. Within seconds she had dragged Scar off, saying something about food and water and rest. Once they were gone, Ed turned to Hughes with a grin, "Hey, wanna see some pictures?"
Later that night, Scar was wide awake and staring at the ceiling. He was sharing the guest bedroom with Ed and Al, and Ed's loud snores weren't the only thing keeping him up. Now that he was no longer sick, he seemed to be reverting back to his insomniac state. It felt, to him, as though he had slept more in the past week and a half than he had in the three or so years since he had begun his mission to kill State Alchemists all put together. And then this in turn reminded him that even his mission had just gotten a hell of a lot more complicated; how was he supposed to kill someone who had helped him? He turned his head to look across the room where Ed snored away peacefully; a week and a half ago, he would have killed the boy right then. A week and a half ago, Ed wouldn't have even thought about sleeping so soundly when in the same room as an unrestrained Scar. A week and a half ago, Scar would have thought the person who suggested that he would one day be in this position to be a complete lunatic. And yet, here he was.
"Is niisan keeping you awake, Scar-san?" Al whispered from where he sat against the wall. Scar started slightly at the unexpected voice, then shook his head 'no' and closed his eyes. But it was a long time before he actually fell asleep.
The next morning was bright and sunny, promising a day of perfect weather. Ed, Al, and Scar stood in an empty alleyway…ironically it was the same one where Al had found Scar in the first place. The mood was subdued; Scar was now completely healed, and it was time for him to leave.
"I wish you could stay…" Al said quietly. Out of all of them, he would probably miss Scar the most.
Scar shook his head, "I can't. You both know that," and then he turned and walked away. He wasn't going to say goodbye, and he knew that they didn't expect him to say 'thank you'.
"Scar!" Ed's voice caused him to stop and turn. The boy was looking as though he didn't quite know what he intended to say, "Just…don't get yourself caught!"
Scar didn't reply, but gave a small nod before continuing on his way, thinking, 'I don't plan to.' No, he wouldn't say goodbye. He had the feeling that he would see the Elric brothers again.
A/N: Sorry this took so long; I kinda got a little stuck up near the beginning. But… -sniffle- It's…it's over! I hope the ending wasn't terrible. -sigh-
Scar: Whatever happened to those terrorists?
Oh yeah, them. Hmmm…I hereby sentence them to life in prison. And then maybe they can become experiments in the 5th Laboratory, ne?
Scar: OO; …Someone sure is feeling sadistic today.
Heeheehee…on another note, does Elysia actually call Ed and Al big brothers? She calls Winry big sister, but I don't remember what she calls them. If I was wrong about that, then let's just chalk it up as a tiny little tribute to Nina. Anywho, I think that's everything! So now I'll answer reviews (by the way, you're all the bestest reviewers in the whole world!)
Moonglitter2: You really think so:)
crazyanimefreak15: Envy says that's nice to know. And yes, Ed, I do plan to draw that.
Anasazi Darkmoon: All hail the Master of the Multitask! I'm glad that you're glad that I have Hughes in the story. Yay for blueberry muffins!
Halcyon and her Baka Hammer of Doom: Hehehe...sorry for ending it too soon, but I'm glad you're reading Muses O' Doom.
ImperialJedi: Because Hughes knows EVERYTHING. As for what happens...I was having trouble writing it without it sounding awkward, so you can imagine whatever you want...- -;
Silvertails Tora: Eh, I'm sorry, I'll get that picture up as soon as I can...-sweatdrop-
Sull89: Yeah, he is. Fortunately for Scar, he's also nice.
DogEarFetish: Yah,I know he is a bit OOC, but he's a developing character and I seem to have a bit of a different view of his personality than most. I'm glad you think I did a good job with foreshadowing!
no one's friend: I'm sorry I left you hanging! I'll try not to make you wait too long for the sequel...
silver-kitsune223: I hope you liked it!
candidus-lupus-full Moon: Hehe, yeah, I know. Glad you like it!
D.C talk: Well, now you know!