Halfmetal Alchemist: Chapter 36

Leroy Returns

Roy turned to his uncle and nodded discreetly to him, and Anri nodded back. "They're coming," he said softly. They heard Ultimatum roar again from the mountain again and Vergo shivered, standing closer to his father. "Dad... what was that?" he murmured, looking around in confusion. Anri patted his son's shoulder, trying to comfort him somehow. "That's Ultimus... that's him."

The hairs on Ed's head bristled and he fingered his automail nervously before remembering that he had plenty of people backing him for this final dive onto Ultimus. "Who's coming, Dad?" he asked Fullmetal. Fullmetal looked at Roy quickly, then in the direction he was facing. "I'm assuming Mustang means the military. I'd assume that he'd call the whole force for a global threat like Ultimus. I assume."

Ilia shivered close to her mother and Riza put an arm around her. Faris looked at the two of them, then said, "We should set up camp here, and some of us should go on ahead." Anri nodded and looked at Lira pointedly and then at the ground. She pouted and as soon as a tent was erected she dragged Anri inside of it and whirled around.

"Look," she said angrily, "What makes you think that as soon as you come back you can just boss me around?" Anri's eyes widened and he opened his mouth, then shut it again, his jaw clenched. "I never said I was bossing you around!"

"But that's what you're doing! I sacrifice what? Thirty or so years of my life and you still think I'm a dainty little thing that can be shattered as soon as I'm dropped on the floor!" Anri shook his head and was about to protest when she blurted out, "I waited for you for fifteen years Anri! I waited and waited and I missed you! Did you even think of me while you were gone...?" He grabbed her shoulders and shook her.

"My God woman, listen to yourself! Of course I missed you, I thought about you every minute of every day that I was gone! I just wanted to come home... that's all I wanted to do, but they wouldn't let me! Do you... not believe me?" She swallowed hard and sat on the floor, face in her hands. "I-I don't know... I just don't know..." Anri's mouth worked, opening and closing several times and tears beaded in his eyes. Lira looked up at him, tears in her own eyes, and he closed his eyes, turned, and ran out of the tent, clapping his hands to his automail and brushing roughly past Vergo. Vergo opened his mouth to yell something as his father disappeared from his sight leaving only a cloud of dust to signal his passing and peeked into the tent. "Mom..."

Anri's emotions crashed down around him right then and he sped on without knowing where he was going. He could be heading straight for Ultimus, he didn't know, nor did he care all that much. He saw two chimeras in the distance. A rather large one and a smaller one perched on it's back. The smaller one jumped off the larger one's back but Anri took no notice of them as he ran within leaps distance of them. They couldn't possibly see him in his invisible state...

Then the big one jumped.

It collided with him, bowling him over to the side and shattering his invisibility. The foxish chimera cocked it's small head inquisitively at the both of them, now a scrambling mass on the ground. The black haired lion chimera gained control and sat adamantly on Anri's chest, panting raggedly, and held up a paw. Anri cringed and waited for the claw to come swinging down and end him there, but the chimera pushed his forehead gently with the paw and grinned at him lopsidedly. No... it's... smirking?Anri's dazed mind computed.

"B...Big Brother?" His memories went back to his boyhood, when he and his brother had been very young children. When Anri was invisible, Leroy had always been able to see through his invisibility shield because he had lost his color sight and could see even slight changes in black white and grey. Leroy would pounce at him from the side and bowl him over, scuffle with him until he gained control, then sit on his chest, push at his forehead, and smirk at him.

The chimera inclined it's head and jumped off of his chest, still panting, to rejoin the foxish chimera. The fox whined and pawed at the lion's legs, and he obliged, leaning downwards so the fox could clamber onto his head once more. Anri got up on his elbows and stared. "How did this happen? Big Brother..." The lion studied it's paws with sudden interest and the fox whined again, causing a labored sigh from the lion. He flicked his tail towards the camp and looked back at Anri, jerking his great head to follow. Anri got up and walked next to them, and had an epiphany.

"Is that... Leroy... is that Ilia?" Another labored sigh and a grunt of recognition. The fox, Ilia, had by this time fallen asleep in the lion's dark mane and stretched luxuriously in her sleep. At camp Faris bolted outside and called for Leroy, who had come out with her, fingers in snapping position. He saw Anri and relaxed, but tensed again at the sight of the chimeras. Lira was there too, but couldn't bring herself to look into Anri's pained eyes, nor his into hers. The lion looked from Anri to Lira and nodded. He growled and paced back and forth, flicking his tail irritibly, and the fox yipped and buried her claws into his mane. Faris looked confused, then whispered into Leroy's ear, "He wants your father..."

Roy made his way to the center and crossed his arms over his chest, looking demandingly at his uncle. "What's all this about?" The lion looked at him admiringly and he stopped his tailflicking and growling. The fox roused herself and her whining increased, high pitched and incessant. Anri breathed in deeply. "Roy... these... these chimeras... these are your parents, Roy."

It seems that I took so long to update that I have only one person to review... thank you Apparition 7 T.T

Wonder what happened to everyone else... hmmm...

Anyways, for those random readers everywhere, Halfmetal Guardian will be the title of the sequel to Halfmetal Alchemist, so you can expect it as soon as this fic is done. I'd give this fic another three or four chapters tops... ok, maybe five, I tend to draw things out...

-T A