You know how this works. I don't own Roy (don't I wish), I don't own his staff, and I don't own Central. Pretty much the only things I do own are the plot, my character (General Ree), and the academy (yeah, that was me). Quick background, I brought Hughes back (yeah, saw that coming, didn't you?) because he's too awesome to die. The grave can't stop him! Well, that's enough of that, let's get this party started.
The
air in Central was crisp and cold. The sun was going down, and they
had been walking for ten minutes. It was getting cold, so Arika
decided to 'borrow' Roy's jacket. It was too big for her, but it was
warm, and she was glad to have it. When he found out she had stolen
his jacket, Roy was angry, but knew there wasn't much he could do
about it.
As they walked, Roy began to hum an old tune. He was so
busy trying to remember how it went, he for got to watch where he was
going. He tripped on a stone and fell into a brick wall. He heard a
crack he hoped wasn't his arm, then fell to the ground. He grunted
and lay still on the ground.
"Roy," Arika shouted, "are
you alright?" He muttered something unintelligeable. "What?"
"I
said, help me up so we can go."
Arika knelt down to pick him
up and found something laying next to him on the ground. "Look,
you broke the wall," she said, holding up a smell peice of
brick.
"I knew I heard something crack. I thought it was my
arm."
"I'm afraid not," Arika said distractedly.
She dragged the brick chip over the space it was missing from. It
made a small, white mark. "Well, let's get going."
They
walked quietly for another five minutes. It was getting dark, and it
was getting more difficcult to see. The street lamps weere on, but
they weren't much help. Every other light was out. They turned yet
another corner, and Arika saw something that caught her off guard.
"Roy, we're lost, aren't we?"
"What makes you say
that?"
She walked over to a wall and pointed to a chip in the
brick. "Do you see this? Do you remember about ten minutes ago,
we were in that alley and you tripped and hit that brick wall? You
chipped the brick and I made a mark over it." She pointed just
above the chipped spot in the wall to a white mark. "This is the
wall you fell on. We're going in circles!"
"I know where
we are. The restaurant isn't far." After another ten minutes,
Roy looked at his watch. "We're going to be late."
"We're
lost," Arika said in response.
"How would you know?
You've only been in this city a day. Come on, Windbag, it's not too
far from here." After another few minutes, Roy sat down on a
crate in an alley.
"Do you know where we are? This is the
same alley!" Arika shouted.
"No, it's not. We just take
another left on the corner, and we should be there."
"We've
done nothing but take lefts! Eventually, enough lefts make a circle,
which is what we've been walking in!"
"Fine! If we don't
find it by taking a left on the next corner, we'll try going right!"
he shouted, his calm splintering. After they didn't find the
restaurant, they turned right, which proved a mistake. They began to
enter the more isolated patches of the city. With every turn, they
became more lost.
"Roy, where the hell are we?"
"Shut
up, I know where I'm going!"
"Let's turn around, Pyro. I
don't like the looks of this place," she said, pulling on his
sleeve.
"Which way would you have us go? We made so many
turns, I don't know which way is up anymore!" He collapsed onto
another crate.
"We could ask for directions..." she said
in a small voice, already knowing the answer.
"Alright,"
he said, much to her surprise, "let's turn around. When we find
someone I don't think will try to rob us, we'll ask for directions."
He stood, a defeated man. Roy had never in his life asked for
directions. He had always plowed strait ahead, an attitude which had
probably caused this situation. After a few random turns, they
arrived in an alley. It was a familiar alley, with a crate and a
chipped brick wall.
Arika let out a frustrated scream. "What the
hell? Why do we keep coming back to this alley?"
"You stay
here, Windbag, I'm going to go find someone to ask for directions."
He walked away. A few minutes later, he returned with a triumphant
grin all over his face. "I tried to tell you. It's a left at this
corner."
"Didn't we try that already?"
"We didn't
go far enough. Come on, if we hurry, we could still beat Maes there."
They turned at the corner and walked for a few minutes, then, under a
neon sign, they saw it, the restaurant. "Finally," Roy breathed.
"I was beginning to think we were lost," he said with a
grin.
Arika punched him in the arm. "Some days, Pyro, I could
just kill you." They looked down the road, and there was Maes,
Gracia by his side, a small child on his back. As they approached the
restaurant, Arika whispered in Roy's ear, "Watch and learn, Pyro,
Maes will show you how it's done." Leaving Roy standing on the
side walk, Arika walked over to Maes, who had set the girl
down.
"Arika? Arika, is that you? Come here, give me a hug!"
Arika turned and gave Roy a look before going to hug one of her
oldest friends. "Arika, it's been too long. How long are you
here? When did you get here? Why didn't you call?"
"I got
here this morning, and Roy thought this would be a good surprise."
She turned to Gracia. "Gracia, it's good to see you," she said,
hugging the petite woman.
"And you," Gracia said. She gestured
to the girl Maes had been holding. "You remember Elicia."
"Just
barely. Last time I saw her, she was just a baby." She knelt down
in front of Elicia. "How old are you now, Elicia?"
"I'm
free," she said, holding up three fingers.
"Oh, well, aren't
you just precious?"
"Yep, that's what Daddy says."
Standing,
Arika turned to Hughes. "Maes, this kid is too cute to be
yours."
"I know, isn't she?" He paused. "Hey,
wait…"
Arika turned to Roy, who had joined them, and smiled.
"I always love watching him catch up to a joke."
Roy spoke to
the group. "I don't know about you guys, but I'm hungry. Arika
got us lost on the way here, and we've been walking around for
nearly an hour. Let's get in there and eat, shall
we?"
More later, but until then R+R, please. :-)
