'Bright and sunny! It's going to be a bright and sunny day today, the high reaching 82F! Yes, this is the third week in a row that weather in Central has been nothing but beautiful! In current news it seems that Fuher King Bradley has issued a se-----' The fuzzy voice of the large radio that sat uncomfortable high in the break room at Central Head Quarters was suddenly shut off, and several sighs erupted from the room.
"Thank you for shutting that thing off..." said a slightly irritated woman, who sat behind a large oak desk, her blonde hair rolled into a tight bun, her dark brown eyes scanned the stack of papers laid out in front of her. The woman sighed and leaned back, closing her eyes for a moment. "The last thing we need is to hear about that again..-"
"You know that there is nothing we can do about it, so we best not complain..." interrupted the strong voice of an onyx haired man, his tall stature intimidating as he stood in front of the large glass window, his eyes squinted into the blazing sun. The yellow streaks of sun leaked around him, as the woman looked up to him, her eyes became a tad bit easier, but her stern look did not fade.
"What is everyone talking about!" asked another man, as he flicked the ashes of his cigarette into a clear glass tray. His suprised expression may have seemed comical to the other officers, who snickered at his remark. "C'mon you guys! I was sick the day you all learned this big secret! Damn, even the outside world knows it!" his voice raised in tension, as he took another quick puff from his half smoked cigarette.
"Well that is what you get for not coming into work like you should!" laughed another man, who was looking down at an old newspaper, raised his eyes to meet the other mans. "It's only fair that people who are here get the latest information.." he said again, looking back down to the outdated paper, cracking his neck.
There was an awkward silence in the room, as all eyes turned to the man reading the outdated newspaper. Everyone had suspiciouns that the man was hididng something, but no one really had the guts to ask... Well, everyone but the man with the onyx hair of course. None other than Colonel Roy Mustang, the Flame Alchemist. A beautiful man with a smart mouth and a self centered additude to match. He may not be popular with his fellow employees, but was he ever so popular with the ladies. Not everything about Mustang was all bad though, when it came down to business he was smart, clever, and always thinks of others before himself... Well, sometimes...
"So what have you been keeping from us Lieutenant Colonel?" asked Mustang, as he smirked, and stared up at the olive black haired man, his dark eyes scanned the bottom of the newspaper, slyly trying to figure out what Lt. Col. Hughes was up to.
Another silence. Hughes looked up from his paper again, and blinked. "What? How would you get that I am hiding something from you all?" he asked, rolling his eyes and quickly folding up the newspaper, sighing. "Everyday it's something new with you all. Can't you trust a loving father like me?"
Musang sighed and shook his head. "Look, Hughes, you can't hide anything, your just not good at it!" he said, his tone annoyed. "Besides, I know you want to tell.." he teased, looking to Hughes. 'Maybe its just too much for him to reveal...' thought Mustang, as he stood there, waiting for an answer. Hughes thought for a moment before answering. "I swear, I have nothing to hide! Can't a guy read a newspaper without being interigated?" said Maes, stuffing the paper on the left inside pocket of his long navy blue uniform coat. There was another silence, but this time interrupted by the smoking man, as he quickly spun toward Hughes, and swiftly grabbed the paper out of his pocket, and opening it. "Haha! Now I can finally know what you all are talking about!" he said, before opening the paper, and scanning the page. "...Tomo?.." he muttered silently, his lips only moving slightly as his eyes continued to look the paper up and down. "Why are you reading about that theif?" he asked, his voice cracked for some reason, as he tossed the paper back to the fidgeting Lietuenant Colonel. Maes caught it, and swiftly re-opened the paper, now all eyes were toward Maes. Now he had to tell. "Okay, well you all know how Tomo has been seen around Central lately right?.." he said, not waiting for the others to answer. Most of them nodded, only Mustang had a cold look in his eye as Hughes continued. "Well, I was reading the old papers because I needed to know the reason she was on the run.. Haha I forgot!" he said, smiling cowardly at the bunch, as they all shot each other looks and sighed heavily. "Of course, and to think that you actually knew where that theif was.." said Riza, out of character slightly, as she looked to Mustang, who still had the same, hateful look painted on his pale beautiful face.
Tall, twenty, and ever so beautfiul, you, Tomo Hito, smiled as you made your way through the crowded streets of Central, your pretty young face hidden under a large black hood, your soft hands stuffed deeply in the front unipocket of your hoodie. "Wonderful..." you mouthed, as you looked to a large poster that stuck to the old tattered glass of an automail shop. Your china blue eyes scanned the WANTED poster up and down, and a heavy sigh erupted. "Why the hell do they even bother to post those bloody pictures up!" you hissed quietly, as you ripped the poster off the wall, no one really seemed to care as you crumpled the paper and tossed it into a nearby trashcan. Standing at five four, one hundred pounds, you quickly removed your hood, and took out your hair tie, your long brown hair fell to your shoulders, as you combed your fingers through the soft stands. "This hood is killing my hair!" you said, as you gathered the hair up again once more, and tightly tied it to the back of your head. Sometimes you wondered why you even wore the hood at all anymore. It has been about a year, since what happened, no one but the military, and bounty hunters were really looking for you now. But, then again you were in Central, the number one place for military men/women and bounty hunters to be stalking around, looking for any criminal stupid enough to actually return.
You sighed again, sitting down at a nearby bench. As you sat, a small breath of relief escaped from your lips, you had been walking all day, and of course you were very sore. "Damn, why do I always have to be on the run.." you mumbled, streaching your legs out far in front of you, the warm sun beat down on your shiny tan legs. You smiled and looked at your black skirt. "Maybe I should be more colorful.." you thought, as you blinked. "Naaa I love black too much, it's mysterious.." you thought again, this time laying back into the bench, resting your eyes for only a minute. Not soon after, you were asleep, and of course, you would not be woken up any time soon.
"Do you think that we have any chance of finding that foresaken girl!" barked the Colonel, as he slammed his hard fist on his desk, a pencil fell to the floor, but no one bothered to pick it up. Riza winced, and looked down. "Sir, we have clues to where she might be.. Everyone is working hard on finding her.." she said, with a confident voice. She would never dare let Mustang think of her as weak, even when she was a tad bit scared of him... "That doesnt matter! We need to find her now! She knows everything about.. Everything! I cannot believe I let her slip, right under my nose too!" he thundered again, shaking his head in dissapointment at himself. "Sir, you had no idea of knowing.. None of us did.." Riza commented, glancing at the other officers still in the room. Hughes, who was now grasping onto the paper sighed. "She is right Colonel, don't beat yourself up over something you couldn't prevent.." he told Mustang, his voice showed that he really did care, his eyes peered at Mustangs fist, hoping he wouldn't beat himself up over something he couldn't predict, literally.
You awoke, your eyes opened to the harsh sunlight, making you wince and moan. "Oarahhhh! I can't believe I fell asleep again, and right here in the middle of the street too!" you scolded yourself, before yawning and streching. "Man, this is what I get for not sleeping.." you muttered, standing up and looking around. It seemed that the streets had become a lot more crowded.. Wondeful. The more crowded the streets were, the easier it is for you to dodge any military people. You looked to your left, and noticed a small child standing in the crowd.. Just.. Standing.. 'What is that kid doing?..' you asked yourself, raising an eyebrow as you looked at the child. It was a girl, she stood about three foot, and had sandy blond hair and dark green eyes. She looked upset, or at least scared. You rolled your eyes and stomped your foot on the ground. "Why can't I just avoid these situations!.." you asked yourself angrily, as your legs practically dragged you to the girl.
"Why 'Ello little one! What the bloody hell are you doin' out here without your parents?" you asked in a believeable english accent, it was what you used as an alibi. The girl looked up to you, her scared eyes stared into your happy blue ones. "I..I..I lost mommy!" she said, a little confused by your accent. She must have never met a foreigner before. "Um... Okay, where were they last?.." you asked again, this girl was providing little information for you... This is why you didn't like to help people, they were no help to you! "Well I...I don't know!"... You sweatdropped and shook your head. "Okay, lets us go search for them!" you said happily, hell, you didn't want the kid to freak out and draw attention to you. The little girl sniffed, and instantly grabbed your hand. You blushed slightly from embarassment, and smiled. "Don't worry! We will find your parents!" you told her reassuringly, as you stepped out into the crowd.
The girl whimpered, as you both made your way through the thick and noisy crowds. You eyed her, the silence was unfomfortable. "So what's your name?..." you asked, trying to make things easier between you two. She looked up, her tear filled eyes made you want to hug her... "My name is Elysia.." she told you, you almost couldn't hear it through the noisy crowds. "Elysia?.. Well, my name is Juila. Pleasure to meet you.." you told her with a smile. You thought for a moment. Had it gotten so bad that you couldn't even tell a child your real name?.. You closed your eyes slightly, and frowned. Were you in that deep?.. Of course you were... You had stolen secret files from Central HQ.. You had also killed many men and women in the process... You betrayed everyone you worked with.. You were a criminal and nothing more... You wished you could just go back in time and fix everything... But now there was nothing you could do.. Nothing.. You looked away from Elysia, you eyes filled with hot stinging tears.. It hurt.. It hurt a lot..
"Are you okay Julia?.." asked Elysia sweetly, as she tugged on your hand. You snapped out of your own world and kept in the tears. You looked at her and smiled. "Of course Elysia, now, as I said before, where did you last see your mother?.." you asked, as you both passed by an old automail shop, the one from before. You looked into the window, and saw two characters you think you had seen before. "Those two?.." you mummbled, as you looked back forward. 'The Elric Brothers...' you thought. Yes, the Elric brothesrs.. Not your biggest friends... Actually, you have only met them once, and immidiatley, the short one with blonde hair knew who you were... 'Edward..' you thought angrily, your eyes squinted as you looked into the blazing sun.
Flashback You smiled. "So you know who I am eh?.." you asked, as you stepped back, and stuffed your hand into you left pocket, reaching around for your spare dagger. Edward frowned. "You think a crappy accent and a new hair is going to cover up who you are?...Sir.." he said grinning, as he clapped his hands together. In a long flash of blue light, Edwards automail arm had been transmutated into a sheilf/sword combonation. You grimanced at the thought of what that blade would feel like against your soft skin... You paused and looked to a large hay truck that was coming in your direction. "Sorry, but I don't have time for this.." you said happily with a small wave, as you jumped onto the back of the truck. The blonde boys eyes grew wide as you rode away. "BYYYE! HOPE TO SEE YOU TWO AGAIN!" you laughed.
End Flashback "Heh.." you chuckled as you and Elysia continued down the street.
Elysia looked up to you. "Where are we going?.." she asked, her voice seemed a tad tenser than before. Maybe she didn't know exactly where you taking her.. Well, you yourself actually didn't know.. You looked at her and shrugged. "Im trying to see if you can spot your mother anywhere.. I am sure she is looking for you right now.." you told her, not realizing that you were going in the worst direction possible. "Are we going to daddys work place!" she said excitedly, as she gripped your hand tighter. "How did you know my daddy worked here!" she asked again, now jumping up and down excitedly. "Your.. Your daddy?.." you asked, looking up. You then quickly realized where you were. How stupid are you? "Ce-Ce-Central..CENTRAL HEAD QUARTERS!" you practically shouted, as several people glanced at you for a moment, raising their eyebrows in suspicion. "Ya! My daddy works here!" she echoed again and again, as she continued to jump. "Who..Who is your daddy Elysia.." You stuttered, not able to back up.. You couldnt move at all, your legs felt as though they had been glued to that spot... "My daddy is Maes! Maes Hughes!" Elysia said, stoping and looking up at you. "What's wrong Julia?" she asked, as she pulled your hand slightly as she moved toward the large building. Your mouth was dropped open. You could not believe you were standing in front of the scariest place possible at the moment. 'Why wasn't I paying attention to where I was walking!' you screamed in your mind as you looked down to Elysia. "Can you go in by yourself sweetie?.." you asked Elysia, your eyes showed great fear.. Something a child that young could not understand. 'Hughes... Hughes..' The name sounded so familiar... That's it! 'Lieutenant Colonel Hughes.. Lieutenant Colonel Maes Hughes..' The name rung in your head, as you began to sweat. "Lieutenant Colonel Hughes.." you mouthed, as Elysia stood there, waiting. "I can't go by myself! I'm scared! And Daddy says never to come to his work without mommy! Or in case of emer-emer..emergency!" she told you, her eyes teared up. You bit the bottom of your lip, hard, so hard that you managed to draw blood without even really feeling it. 'I..Damn my good heart..' you thought as you nodded. "I will take you..." you told Elysia with a fake smile. "But then I have to go..." you told her, as you bent down to her level and gave her a quick hug. She smiled and nodded. "Thank you Miss Julia!" she said happily as she re-grabbed your hand and pulled you toward the large marble white building. "What am I getting myself into.." you muttered, once again biting the bottom of your lip.
As you both approached the large building, you stopped right outside the door. "Are you SURE that you can't go in by yourself? I have a lot of important things to do Elysia..." you told her, as you began to shake slightly. You wondered actually, why it was so empty.. Usually there were hustles and bustles of military men and women outside of HQ, always with some important task or something that they had to carry out. It was suprisingly quiet. Elysia opened her mouth to speak, but suddenly--
But suddenly, she stopped, and smiled. "Okay!" she said, and blinked. "I can go in from here. Thank you for helping me!" she said happily, as she let go of your hand, gave you a quick hug, and skipped happily into the building. "Your welcome.." you said, sighing with relief. 'Now to get the hell outta' here...' you thought, as you turned around. "Hold it right... There.." You heard the deep voice of a man, and several clicks of guns. You sweatdropped, and opened your eyes. "Oh..My..Gawd.." your jaw dropped in disbelief, as about ten soldiers had their long shotguns and 9mm pointed at your face. Behind all the men, you spotted the black onyx hair of none other than your good friend, Colonel Roy Mustang. "Well hello Tomo!" Mustang said smugly, as he put his hand up to you. "..." You said nothing, as you stood there, shaking. You knew that this was a bad idea. You knew you shouldn't have helped that damn girl.. But hey, at least you helped someone before getting caught. You sweatdropped mentally and sighed. It was time to swallow your pride and give in. NOT! "Why hello Colonel Horsey, nice to see you again!" you told Mustang, saluting with your left hand, as an insult. He growled. "You should have known better than to come back here.. Especially during the day. And right back here to HQ? Did you have to make it that easy for us?.." he asked, with his usual smirk. You rolled your eyes. "Look Horse Flame, I don't have time for this. What makes you think that I will give up this easily?.." You asked him, as you daringly put your fingertip to the gun that was being pointed at your face. "I did a good deed ya see? I brought back Hughes daughter. Apparently she was lost, and I know Hughes loves nothing as much as his daughter and wife..." you said slyly, as you backed up slightly. You could hear the guns click again, and your face turned red. The last thing you wanted to was to be shot.
Hughes, the man you were just talking about, stepped out of the crowd of men, smiling. "And I thank you for that." he said plainly, as Elysia came out, her eyes wide as she stared up at you. "Julia?.." she asked quietly, as she clung tightly to her fathers sleve. "Her name is not Julia, it's Tomo.." said Hughes, as he picked his daughter up and held her in his arms. "So you have sunk as low as to lying to children?.." he asked her, shaking his head in dissapointment. "It hurts to look at you. You could have been something great Tomo, but you had to throw it all away, just for some cheap and easy cash. You betrayed all your friends, and now even though we don't want to.. We have to turn you in.." he said, looking to Elysia. "You hurt her feelings. Do you feel bad? You should. You lied to us Tomo, and you hurt the military, when all we did was do everything for you. We gave you food, shelter, and even special training. We gave you authority, and a chance to be something, not some low down criminal on the fun from her own past. Just remember, that you could have done something with your life... But instead you threw it all away!" he said angrily, as you looked down to your feet, tears once again formed in your eyes. He was right. You were stupid, you were stupid! And now you had to face your punishment.
END FOR NOW...