Immediately Usagi tucked and rolled out of the way of the rather large blast of fire that soared over her head. She only had a second to breathe before swaying to the side of another fire attack. Unamused at the happenings she prayed for some intervention. Then she could of slapped herself when she noticed exactly who she was having a tumble against. Moving once more out of the way, she prayed that the powers of her sisters didn't fail her. Not taking a second to close her eyes and focus, she instead just pulled at the core.
"Mercury Aqua Rhapsody." She whispered. Being as she didn't do the attack right, it's power wasn't very strong. None the less, it did what she needed it to do. Usagi sighed in relief as the air was flooded with humidity and shackles of ice bound the wrist of the attacker. The small waves of water effectively soaked the fire-spark gloves ending the assault. Catching her breath, she looked up at the person before her and sighed. "You know, you really need to overcome that weakness.." Usagi perused as she checked her body for burns. You would think all that time around Sera Mars would make fire her best friend, but no, fire still like to eat Usagi's hair and clothes. Noting no burn spots she instead turned back to her prisoner. "Also, you rely far to heavy on your alchemy," Usagi added looking at him, "do you even remember how to physical counter an enemy?" Usagi inquired. While she was being glared at by her prisoner, her question was instead answered by another.
"I do." The voice was cold, and decidedly female in warning. If the tone was warning enough the bullet that sliced by her cheek was one. Usagi sighed, knowing the person as well, before dancing out of the way of a rapid fire attack. Not giving the woman a chance to reload Usagi sprung forward. Relying on years of study with her senshi, her mother, and her teachers, she dodge under the straight punch. Usagi had to be careful, as the woman before her was human with no decided alchemic properties. Yet, she took her eye off of the woman long enough to have a handle of a the side arm in her face.
Swerving a little to the left, the attack missed her head, but instead fell heavily on her shoulder. Usagi let out a hiss of pain while recoiling a few steps out of the woman's range. "That hurt." Usagi informed them, before leaping back into the range of attack. Moving to the right to avoid a uppercut, she leapt up and dived down. Striking the woman directly on the nerve situated by the junction of where shoulder met collarbone. The woman collapsed and the other attacker cried out in protest.
"Hawkeye!" The male called. Usagi sighed and kneeled down by the woman. Looking to the desk in the office, she was surprised to find it still standing, along with the items upon it. Shaking her head, she clapped her fingers and touched a loose thread on 'Hawkeye's' uniform. The thread grew, and wrapped around the woman. Usagi then turned back to her other captive.
"Now, are you going to be a good boy, Lt. Colonel, and listen?" Usagi inquired, enjoying slightly the expression on her superior officer's face.
"No." The man finally muttered as Usagi leaned Hawkeye next to the man.
"Silly Flame Alchemist, almost as bad as Edward." Usagi chided, and the man struggled at the name.
"What have you done to Full-Metal?" The man inquired tightly.
"Ne, I haven't done anything to Edward, Lt. Colonel." Usagi answered. The man sagged back against the wall he was currently pinned.
"Who are you?" He asked. Usagi pouted, yes, she hadn't been around for awhile, but for her superior officer to forget her?
"Well, now I'm upset, I know I was missing, but have I really changed since my exam?" Usagi returned. The man blinked confused, his raven-hair falling into his face. Sighing at the utter clueless expression, she stepped further into the light and dragged out the pocket watch. "Really, Lt. Colonel Mustang, I'm non plus." She intoned, and Mustang withheld his shock.
"You are her!" He intoned just as Hawkeye blinked her eyes open. "Hikarinotsu, Konoyo." Mustang muttered, and stopped as he caught her skewed expression.
"You know, looking back now, it's been so long since I heard that name." Usagi toned off. "However, I don't go by that name anymore, as my parents must have had some weird premonition." She added.
"Why?" Hawkeye questioned, letting the other two know she's awake.
"That name, means light of this world, yet my past could agree with it." Usagi mumbled.
"Then why don't you go by it?" Hawkeye asked.
"For the same reason you don't go by your first name Riza." She answered, and leaned against the desk.
"That's all well and good, but could you release us now?" Mustang inquired.
"Mm, you do notice that your gloves have been dry for the past couple of minutes?" Usagi offered. None the less, she melted the ice restraints off and retrained the thread in Hawkeye's uniform.
"Hikarinotsu..." He was stopped by her interruption.
"Forgive me, Lt. Colonel, but it's Tsukino Usagi now." She stated.
"Lt. Tsukino, it's distressing that you have been MIA, however, it's even more distressing that you came a day to late." Mustang stated.
"Oh?" Usagi commented while raising an eyebrow.
"Yes, Hughes died a week ago and was recently buried." Mustang commented. "I remember that your limit to revival was two weeks, and two weeks past yestereve." He added, withholding his tears. "He was an important part of an on going investigation." Mustang finished and Usagi scrutinized him.
"Did Hughes, Maes trust you?" Usagi asked quietly.
"What?" Mustang snapped. Usagi employed Michiru's patience and Setsuna's wisdom.
"Did Hughes, Maes trust you?" Usagi asked again.
"Of course he did, he was like a brother to me." Mustang growled.
"Good, then I can impart this." With that she reached forward and grabbed both before a flash echoed in the Lt. Colonel's office.
Panting was heard as they landed, and both turned on Usagi. "What the hell was that?" Hawkeye demanded.
"Transportation." Usagi gasped out. "Little hard with more then just me." She added while straightening up. Looking around she sighed before gesturing to follow her. "Shoot, I was hoping to land right outside the house." Usagi muttered.
"What is going on here Lieutenant?" Mustang inquired.
"It's a surprise, ah, here we are." Usagi stated and once again knocked on the delapidate peeling door. It opened showing only darkness inside. "The atmosphere, is not welcoming!" Usagi shouted inside. Three chuckles answered her comment.
Minutes before there was a knock at the door, Scar sighed and almost ignored his promise to Usagi. It was bad enough with just Hughes by himself, but now he was being ganged up on by all three of them. Now Hughes Maes was nice, in an obnoxious sort of way, especially since he had the darling of his eye back in his arms. Hughes Gracia was kind, endearingly so, as she fussed over him and her family in her normal motherly way. Then there was the last invader of his private space, sickeningly sweet, darling Elysia, it's like he couldn't deny her anything.
Now, don't get Scar wrong, it had noting to do with the fact that her father currently resided in his residence. As a secret he always had a soft spot for children, especially blond girl children. Perhaps she reminded him of Usagi while she was still known as Sada for the time. However, dwelling on the past always included his brother's sacrifice and that was something he didn't want right now. The knock was a welcome introduction, swinging it open he prayed that Usagi had found somewhere else for the family. Seeing more silhouettes he stayed in the shadows, remarking happily that the shades were still drawn.
Usagi waltz inside, conveniently forgetting she was with a well known alchemist, or even the fact that there was a well known alchemist killer in the small house. "You know Sada, I beginning to think, I shouldn't let you leave anymore." Scar's voice curled over the three, and all hell broke loose.
Immediately, if not instantly, Mustang and Hawkeye recognized that voice. Hawkeye drew her sidearm standing strongly beside her Lt. Colonel, Mustang let his fingers lite up with large flames of destruction. As soon as those gloves snapped, Scar knew the Flame Alchemist had crossed his path. His right arm grew red in fury, licking with destructive power and calling for blood. Usagi blinked as the air grew thick with hatred and anger.
Raising her fingers to her lips like Haruka had taught her, she let out a shrill, sharp whistle. Everything stopped, at least long enough for some semblance of order could be established. She glared at the three and snapped her fingers. Bands of silver wrapped around each of their wrists giving her their full attention. "Now, there will be peace here." Usagi issued.
"He's Scar!" Mustang shouted.
"Very good, and I'm Usagi." She interrupted. Let it be said when she got frustrated, Usagi got a bit sarcastic. "Now, I am quite aware of what has transpired in the past, BUT there will be none of that HERE." Usagi denoted. A trembling peace was reached and Usagi released them. "I brought the pair here for a reason, and it wasn't death." She snipped. Looking into the house, she nodded to three other shadows. Mustang and Hawkeye were shocked to see Gracia and Elysia step out. Yet, their world stopped when Maes stepped out, and then it went black.
"Well, I never thought Mustang would faint." Maes commented as he looked at his best friend. Usagi sighed and dropped her head into her hand with a shake of exasperation. Then she straightened and marched over to Scar and dragged him off. A few minutes later they heard loud shouting from Usagi and a heavy slap followed by more shouting then crying.
Ami glared, and that in itself was a shock, but glaring at a book was all the more surprising. Though her frustration was understandable as she had tried everything to read said book in her procession. She would have to give her princess credit, if she wanted to keep a secret, she could keep one. Sighing she picked her discarded Mercury computer and tapped a few keys. Once again scanning the letters and symbols in the hard cover book. While scanning she wondered exactly how much she knew about Usagi, and how that amount seemed so small compared to the things she was learning about her princess and friend.
Beside her was the two raven hair senshi, both Hotaru and Rei sighed at the same time. Rei shifted a little her knees were a little stiff, as she had spent several hours in front of her precious fire seeking answers to their questions. If she had been younger she would have been upset with anger, but she was older and wiser, the only thing she felt was sorrow at the presence of her missing sister. Not to mention the giant gap in information that just wasn't present when she was with them. How could she know so little about the person who was there for her day in and out no matter what? At least she knew that she had contributed to her princess growing into a beautiful young lady, but that seemed so hollow now. Rei felt her heart shuddering again, but she stilled her tears, she would be beside her sister again, even if she had to drag Usagi kicking and screaming back. Rolling her shoulders to release her tension, she glanced at the frustrated Mercurian and just laughed. Drawing the attention of Ami and Hotaru as they stared at her concerned.
"It's just even though Usagi isn't here, she is still making Ami break her character." Rei explained. The other two laugh as they saw her point, the laughter destroyed the sad atmosphere. With the atmosphere changed Rei went back to her fire, and Ami's fingers clicked faster upon her computer keys. Hotaru sighed, the others had places to be, Makoto would be here soon from her job though.
It was hard to judge exactly who missed Usagi the most. Hotaru saw the effects on all of them, they weren't quite lost, but they almost refuse to go on without one of their own. Yes, she had yearned to be normal and free, but with the senshi, she was with family and that was all that really mattered. With nothing better to do, she rose and entered into the kitchen area of Rei's shrine. Quiet and efficient she made several cups of tea, the scent of the soothing brew was all ready uplifting her spirits. Makoto's voice echoed as she stepped back into the room with a tray of tea. She nodded and handed a cup to the stress Jupitarian senshi, Makoto smiled in thanks.
"Any luck?" Makoto questioned.
"Nope, Usa-haha was more tricky then what we credited to her." Hotaru answered.
"Yeah..."Makoto mused while sipping her tea with a faraway expression. Hotaru couldn't even phantom what she may be thinking and instead walked over to the other two senshi handing them their tea. Then she placed the tray down, idly sipping her own tea.
Introspectively speaking, Makoto never considered herself a deep thinker. She relied on her actions to express everything about her, her emotions, and her thoughts. Yet, there was no action she could take that could make Usagi come back to them, or for them to go to her. Her princess was so silly, thinking she could just leave and they would continue on. Make no mistake, their world didn't revolve around Usagi, but she was family, and family stuck together, especially Makoto's. This is what stresses Makoto out the most about thoughts, they always reflected the fact that it had happen, but not the way to fix things. Oh sure there were numerous solutions presented, but none that were optional or available. Sighing, she took another sip of her tea, before walking to Rei's kitchen. Cooking always made her feel better, and it worked off any lingering stress.
Edward cursed kicking at the lingering sand that clung to his shoe tips. Absently noting that once more he would have to empty out Al again. The sand had accumulated inside his brother's armored body effortlessly slowing them down. Sighing, while restraining his temper, he opened Al's chest plate and was submerged in sand. Screaming in agitation, he dug himself out and dragged Al behind him as he flew over the last sand dunes. Ishbal be damned if he didn't get to Drachma soon. Angry ticks followed his every step as he fell into the town that had appeared on the horizon. "Finally, Xenotime, now we can take a train to Siam-Sid." Edward announced happily.
"Hey, brother while we are here, can we visit the Tringham brothers?" Al inquired. Ed stopped and seem to measure this request, they had been walking for awhile, and the pain was still fresh from..Hughes's death. Hopefully Scar won't be to irrational and immediately start on the Philosopher's Stone.
"Sure Al." Ed agreed and they sought out the hotel they had stayed in before. Collapsing on the bed, his thoughts continued even though he wished they hadn't. Guilt was his constant companion, and he hated it, almost to the point of self-loathing.
"The hotel manger said the Tringham brothers are a couple doors down." Al commented as he walked in.
"Hmm?" Ed hummed as he looked up at his brother. "Oh, that's good." He stated as the words sunk into his brain.
"Well?" Al prodded.
"What Al?" Ed responded.
"Let's go." Al pushed. Ed sighed while his fingers drifted over his alchemic pocket watch.
"You go Al, I'm a little tired." Ed answered.
"The will want to see you brother." Al dragged out, immensely aware that his brother just wanted to linger on the past.
"I'll see them tomorrow Al." Edward chimed, and then turned his attention away. Al sighed silently, he had seen the spiral his brother got into, but he was stubborn and there was nothing Al could do but try. With another glance at his muted brother he left the room.
Edward winced as he heard the door shut. It might have been better if had actually been slammed, for that is what it felt like in his mind. He knew that his brother was disappointed in how he handled things, but this was the best way he knew how. Drawing out his guilt that he carried in his watch he popped the latch open and stared sullenly at the two dates carved within. Unbidden the fight at Central assaulted him, and he latched onto it. Wanting instead to analyze what had happen instead of dwelling upon his upsetting past.
Sorry for the long wait, but I've been extremely busy. Hmm, anyway, I put a poll another story I was writing, and asked which story would you like me to finish. I need to focus on one, or none of them are going get finish, because I'm going to get frustrated. Please enjoy and review.
Best Wishes, WCB.
