A/N: Sorry for the long chapter. Hope you don't mind reading so much. Maybe the next chapter will be shorter than this. So enjoy this one.
CHAPTER 3—Remembrance of the Dead:
How could last night happen so easily? I actually believed it was Zolf and made love to that thing. He's not even human!
It was morning and Naminé had woken up earlier than usual. In the next five minutes she would get dressed and head back to work. An appointment was scheduled for her with the fuhrer the day before but she didn't go. Naminé didn't want to see Mustang. She knew it was about the man holding her that morning. Why else would it be made the same day Breda was injured, a soldier was killed, and a possible attack on her?
The Lightning Alchemist attempted to get out of bed but was held back by the homunculus' arm. She didn't know he had been up for some time, watching her silently. "I need to get ready," she said, her mind set on getting her head cleared.
"To go where?" 'Zolf' asked her.
Naminé hesitated. She didn't want to tell him where she would be but decided it wasn't a good choice. "...to work."
"Can't you tell them you're sick?"
"I have to go." She felt the arm slowly unraveled from her waist and she quickly got out of bed. Naminé ignored the guy's stares for a minute while she searched for her uniform and undergarments. It was when she found everything she needed and had to start getting dress that Naminé found the constant staring annoying. "Can you stop watching me?"
"Why? It's nothing I haven't seen before . . . or felt."
Naminé gave up and left the room to dress. She quickly finished and chose to skip breakfast just to leave the apartment faster. "I'll see you after work," she called to him. Then she picked up her keys on the counter of her kitchen and headed out the door.
When Naminé entered her spacious office, she saw Mustang sitting in a chair. Their eyes connected for a sec and Naminé knew she couldn't turn back. She slunk into the room and closed the door behind her.
"Good morning, Fuhrer." Any soldier knew it was proper courtesy to salute when in the presence of a superior. The soldier guessed she should have saluted him but didn't feel like it. It was that same attitude that the late Basque Gran couldn't stand about her. She was often scolded for it by her other superiors as well (apparently no improvements were made over the years).
"Good morning, Colonel."
Naminé moved passed Mustang nervously and went to her desk. She pulled out the papers she was supposed to return yesterday and placed them in a large envelope. Then she tossed it at him. "There you go. I'm sorry they're late, sir."
He raised an eyebrow. "Thanks but that's not why I'm here. Naminé, I was supposed to see you yesterday afternoon but you didn't come."
Naminé turned her back on the fuhrer and went to the window to avoid eye contact. "Sir, I forgot. I had other things to take care of." The soldier didn't want to seem rude turning her back on a superior but it made it easier to lie that way.
"Lieutenant Colonel Armstrong told me about yesterday---" she winced at that statement— "and about what had happened. Tell me, what did you sacrifice in your attempt to bring Kimblee back?" Her fists clenched at those words and she swirled around on him like Mustang had expected.
"I didn't do any human transmutations! Why would I when I know the consequences?" She shouldn't have yelled at Roy like that. However, Naminé didn't like that he believed she turned to human transmutation as a solution. Naminé let out a big sigh and opened her desk drawer. She saw the picture she had found yesterday, stared at it for a sec, and closed it back.
"Mustang . . . fuhrer, I shouldn't have yelled at you, sir. I'm sorry."
The fuhrer stood up. "It's fine," he said. He was about to leave but then he stopped. Roy glanced over his right shoulder with his good eye and said, "Naminé, if you're protecting that homunculus, get away before you become attached to it."
It was a warning Naminé didn't know whether to listen to or ignored it. At the time though, she chose to ignore it. The soldier grinned. "I'll see you later, then?"
"Yeah." Fuhrer Mustang left the room and Naminé went back to staring out of the window. Luckily, she didn't see 'Zolf' watching her in return. She let out a sigh and started on some more paperwork.
Later, going toward noon, Naminé got a knock on her door. She was hesitant at first but said, "Come in." The door opened and she was relieved when she saw it was only Havoc. "Hi," she greeted, putting aside the last finished paper. "You need something?"
Havoc looked away sheepishly. "I was wondering if you weren't busy for lunch. I mean lunch isn't as big a deal as dinner and you are the only girl who is not affected by Mustang in any way. I'll pay for your lunch, too---"
He's really trying, she thought to herself. Maybe . . . just this once. I haven't been out with anyone since Kimblee died anyway. It couldn't really hurt. "Havoc, I'll go with you . . . to lunch."
He raised his eyebrows when he heard her words, slightly in disbelief. "Uh, you mean it? You really do?" All the other times he had asked her out, she had said no right away. However, that day was different from all the other days. Havoc began to believe there was hope for him after all.
"Yeah. We can go now if it makes you happy."
"Um, okay. There's a café not far from here. It's pretty good."
Naminé got out of her chair and took her office key, placing it into her pocket. Then she approached Havoc, wondering what had she got herself into.
The date went well to her surprise. Havoc turned out to be really sweet and she thought another date with him would be okay. She left work in good spirits and she was already at her two-bedroom apartment's door. Naminé then searched her pockets for the key and found it. Just when she was about to use it, the door was opened by the homunculus. She smiled a little and walked passed him to get inside.
'Zolf' closed the door. "I've been waiting for you, Naminé. You've been on my mind."
Naminé slowly walked into the living room and sat on the couch. Her eyes followed the homunculus as he went to the kitchen. "How was your day?" She asked. There was no answer and her eyebrows furrowed. Reluctantly, she got up from the couch and entered the kitchen just to bump into the guy. "What's wrong?" She asked, seeing how he looked pissed off.
Without warning, 'Zolf' used his right hand and grabbed Naminé's neck. His eyes lit up as he strangled her, cutting off her oxygen. "You think I don't know what you did today?" He asked her.
"What are you talking about?" Naminé gasped as his squeeze tightened, her face turning slightly red.
His dark teal eyes narrowed. "I saw you today with that guy. Did he fuck you, too?"
He's crazy, she thought . . . Psychotic . . . I'm not even his woman, dammit! She clapped her hands quickly and grabbed the arm. Lightning flew through it, causing the homunculus let go of her neck and back off. Quickly, she snapped her fingers but the homunculus was steady again. He dodged the bolt and his arm extended with the full purpose to go through her head. Naminé saw what it had turned into—a blade-like weapon. She moved her head out of the way as quick as she could. Instead of losing her life, she got a graze on her cheek. Quickly, she snapped her fingers again, paying no attention to the blood trickling down the side of her face. Was I really going to attempt to bring Zolf back only to replace him with this monster?
Naminé scrambled agilely and reached for the doorknob. Her hand grabbed the chunk of silver metal and turned it. Then she scurried out the door and into the hallway. Her mind wanted to see where he was but her body closed the door behind her. Without wasting time, she got up on her feet and ran down the hallway to the stairwell. When she got there, the alchemist sprinted down, stumbling a few times over the steps she neglected to run on but didn't fall.
By the time Naminé made it out into the cool night air, she was out of breath. After giving herself twenty seconds to catch her breath, she took off down the pavement as far as she could go without stopping. Eventually, her pace slowed to a walk when she felt she was a safe distance away. Naminé reached a payphone, took out some change out from her pocket, put it in the slot, and dialed a number. The phone rang several times before someone answered.
"Hello?" The person said on the line.
"Hi. This is Naminé . . . You mind if I stay over? I'll explain everything there . . . I promise. See you in twenty minutes . . . Thanks. Bye." The soldier hung up the phone and started to look around her. Nobody was there to be seen. Before anyone could come, Naminé got out of the phone booth and headed in the direction of her friend's house.
"I can't believe you want to come over so late at night," said a woman as she rested against the counter of her kitchen. She was the one who had answered the phone when Naminé called and the owner of the house they were in.
"Vi, you'll understand when I tell you why," Naminé told her from her a kitchen chair.
Vi had light brown skin and red eyes. Although her features were strong, she was only half Ishbalan; her looks come from her mother. Unlike her mother, she didn't follow her mother's preferred religion and instead used her father's notes on alchemy to practice little tricks.
"Okay," Vi said, "Tell me." She sat by the kitchen table across from Naminé. Her red eyes stared hard at the blue ones of her closest friend.
Naminé took a deep breath. "Remember Kimblee?"
Vi nodded. "The one you slept with, right? The same man who got you pregnant, made you lose your virginity, and possibly did 'everything' with you all in one night?"
Naminé looked sheepishly away, not so sure what she told Vi and her other friend, Mel about that night. Had she really gone into that much detail? She didn't think so but she couldn't remember that well either. "Yeah. He died."
Vi nodded again. "I know that."
"I wanted to bring him back to me."
Vi contemplated a bit before she said, "Why did you use past tense instead of present?"
Naminé looked down at the floor and let out a sigh. She hated explaining personal feelings. Unfortunately, the situation called for it and she decided Vi was a good confidante. "It's because someone else did it before me."
Vi's eyebrows rose at the last statement. "Someone else? Who? I mean, as far as I know, you're the only one who truly loved Kimblee. But . . . the resurrected version of Kimblee is a homunculus, isn't he?"
Naminé nodded solemnly. "He's different from Zolf at times but he can be like him as well . . . like last night. He had this look in his eye like he truly cared about me so I . . . "
" . . .You had sex with him?" Vi wondered why the homunculus was affecting her rational friend in such an unusual way. True, Naminé had been out of it for the last few weeks but to become this desperate for love didn't seem like her. The homunculus must have done something to make Naminé feel the way she did. Was it some sort of hypnosis? "Naminé, did it occur to you it wasn't Kimblee?"
" . . . The morning after."
Vi sighed and rolled eyes. Then she stood up, walked over to the cabinets, and took out two mugs. "I'll make you some hot chocolate with whip cream on top."
"Thanks." Naminé rested her head on the table and closed her eyes, listening to the water boil on the stove. While Vi was thinking how Naminé could do such a thing, Naminé was contemplating where did she go wrong. Maybe it was joining the military in the first place but that's where things started to go up. Then where had it begun to go downhill? Maybe it was Archer's fault for the whole entire thing . . .
-FLASHBACK-
Naminé was in the kitchen making dinner for one although Kimblee was there in her apartment. She would have killed him in the last two hours but it was against Archer's orders. The orders were simple----the lieutenant colonel just had to "baby-sit the newly reinstated alchemist and keep him in check." In other words, he would be living in her home until otherwise. She and Archer were on the same rank within the military. In a normal situation, Naminé wouldn't have to listen. However, the higher-ups told Archer that she was under his command because they think she was linked to some 'conspiracy.' To her, it was all bullshit and the real reason was that they didn't like her. But what can she say? Did she really want to be court marshaled?
"What's for dinner?" Kimblee walked into the kitchen and lifted a pot cover. He saw this one had rice but not a lot for the two of them.
"Nothing," she muttered as she took out a plate and dumped whatever was in the pots unto it. She wondered if this was even legit, what she was doing to Kimblee. Archer had said not to attack him but mentioned nothing about killing. If she couldn't attack him, she supposed starvation would do.
Kimblee's golden eyes followed Naminé as she sat by the table and started to eat. "Is this some idea to starve me?" He asked, catching on.
"Of course not," Naminé muttered. "I have no intention to do that. That would be inhumane." Their eyes connected for three seconds before Naminé turned back to her food. Three days should do it, she thought. Three days of this and he'll be out of here.
The Crimson Alchemist had ideas of his own. He took a clean fork from the dish rack and then sat across from Naminé. Without talking, he took a dumpling off her plate and popped it in his mouth. He took a second one as well, knowing that she had stopped eating to glare at him. When he was about to do it a third time, the fork in his hand shocked him and Kimblee dropped it. The fork clattered unto the table and Naminé gave a faint giggle. Kimblee didn't find that as funny as she did. To get her back, he clapped his hands underneath the table, grabbed the fork he had dropped, and stabbed it into her fish.
Naminé glared at Kimblee as he reached for a newspaper from yesterday and began to read it. Her eyebrow rose at this, not sure why he gave up so easily. Giving up so easily wasn't something in his character----maybe being in Laboratory Five had something to do with his behavior. It made sense when the fork exploded and the food in the plate flew all over, especially in her face. The food that would have gotten Kimblee hit the newspaper instead.
Kimblee folded the newspaper and placed it back where he got it. "What's wrong, babe?"
"Nothing, Kimblee, dear," Naminé said as she got up from the table and headed over to the kitchen sink to wash her face off. After doing so, she wiped it dry with a napkin. That psychotic, bomb-happy idiot, she thought, glaring at Kimblee who was looking at her like he was innocent. I'll be in hell for weeks. She looked back at the Crimson Alchemist sympathetically and reached for the last banana. Then she brought it to the guy and placed it in front of him.
"There. Eat it."
The Crimson Alchemist looked at her suspiciously and then the banana. "What is it? Poison?" Naminé let out a groan, took back the banana, and smashed it in top of his head. The banana mushed its way into his hair, banana skin and all.
Naminé threw her arms into the air. "Happy? We're even."
-END FLASHBACK-
She slightly smiled. That had been an entertaining day for her. Kimblee hadn't believed they were even and had chased her around the apartment, eventually pinning her down. Then she had threatened him about how he wouldn't be having any children his lifetime. And when he wouldn't listen, she kneed him in the balls. Obviously, she didn't keep her threat.
"Here's your hot chocolate."
Naminé looked up at the Christmas mug and took it by the handle from Vi's hand. The whip cream was already melting and the added marshmallow was already sizzling in the dark substance. She took a sip from it before placing it on the kitchen table. I would love to blame this on Archer but it's my fault. I shouldn't have let Zolf go into Lior that day. Not alone at least. Why did I let that man to have his way?
"Okay," Vi said, interrupting Naminé's thoughts. She hadn't taken a taste of her hot chocolate but held the mug as if she was thinking about it. She wasn't though—her mind was on the present predicament. "So, tell me why you needed to come over." Naminé went through the story, skipping the parts that included Havoc and trying to get the main points out. Vi listened intently, waiting for Naminé to finish. When she did, Vi finally took a sip out of her hot chocolate.
"What do you plan on doing tomorrow?" She asked.
Naminé shrugged. "I don't know. I probably stay here all day and the rest of the week, I guess. The homunculus knows where I live and where I work and I'm not ready to run into him yet."
"Not unless he causes mayhem in pursuit to find you?"
"If it comes to that, I'll have to go to him."
A/N: Thanks for the reviews: HANA-CHAN, kimimaros-angel and Darkfire75. I really appreciate them. For once, I have nothing more to add to my end-of-the-chapter author's note. Till next time.