A/N: Yeah, how long has it been? Almost a month! I'm sorry it took me so long to update. I didn't mean for the wait to be so long. With school and homework and other story ideas (original ones, not fanfics) popping into mind, I got, well, sidetracked/busy. If it wasn't for that wake up call that Evil Palm Tree Envy gave me, then I guess I wouldn't have gotten this done so soon. So thanks to Evil Palm Tree Envy. Enjoy (hopefully it would be better than the last one–---to me, looking back, that one wasn't too great).

CHAPTER 12—The Creator of Corruption:

A few days passed, four to be exact, and Naminé was had felt she was ready to come face to face with the homunculus. She stood outside the warehouse in the pouring rain, the thunder booming loudly in the background, and the sky a dark gray. Mel and Vi stood with her, soaked to the skin, ready to jump into the fight if they had to. For now, they were out only because of their friend's wishes.

"Are you sure about this?" Vi said.

Naminé took a deep breath and nodded. She reached into her pants pocket and took out her military pocket watch. Then she opened it and examined the lock of dark hair. "I hope this works." She believed hair to be the best thing to get out of Kimblee's grave. She had called Mel some nights before to do the job but she had declined the offer. Mel had said she didn't like touching corpses. Naminé had to come earlier than she had intended to come do the job herself. When she was about to do it, Vi took over the job, not wanting to ruin Naminé's memories of him. Naminé supposed it had been for the best.

"Don't be reckless," Mel said. "That's my little future godchild you're carrying."

"I know," she muttered, wondering when the arrangement had been made. But Mel was right about the first part. Naminé would be holding back and that would put her to a disadvantage. The lightning flashed in the sky, reminding her of why the trees around their small group weren't so good. "Mel, when Kaili gets out here, take her some where safe. Vi, draw the transmutation circle inside the door way as big as possible. I guess that's it. I'll see you guys later." Naminé inhaled deeply before breathing out. Then she walked into the warehouse.

"You think she'll be alright?" Mel asked.

"She better," Vi muttered.

Naminé walked very slowly, studying her surroundings, hoping her senses would pick up anything that could be a danger. The warehouse was filled with old wooden crates, stacked high in some sort of arrangements. Finally she came to an area where no crates were. Immediately, she noticed Kaili on a chair resting against a crate, bound and gagged. "Kaili?"

Kaili looked up from the floor and saw her sister. The chair hopped with her as she tried to say something. Unfortunately the gag prevented her words from being comprehensive.

"Hold on." She rushed over and started to unbind the ropes that secured her sister's hands and feet to the chair. Not sure when the homunculus would come back, she tried to work as fast as she could. Although the speed she was working on was good, two minutes passed and Naminé was still working on her hands. "Damn," she cursed under her breath. "This is taking too long."

"Use alchemy," a voice drawled behind the alchemist. "It tends to work faster."

Naminé looked over her shoulder and saw the homunculus watching her, his eyes having a glint of humor in them. He was leaning against a wall of crates casually until he decided to approached the female. His arm turned into a blade-like weapon and cut the ropes himself, seeing how long Naminé was taking to do it herself.

Kaili stood and stared at her sister, not sure what she should do. Her hazel eyes switched over to the homunculus, seeing the look he was giving Naminé.

"Kaili," the alchemist said. "Leave now."

"Are you---"

"Just go. I'll be fine." Her blue eyes met hazel ones. Kaili didn't move at first, surprised by her sister's demand. However, because it came from her sister, Kaili felt like she had to. So she left the area from the place her sister had came into it.

The homunculus didn't feel right. Not like he sensed something wrong but his body felt weaker. He was fine minutes ago but now that Naminé was so close to him, he felt like his energy had been drained.

"Vi!" Kaili exclaimed when she saw the half Ishbalan drawing something . . . at a time like this. She quirked an eyebrow as she stared at the woman. "What are you drawing?"

"A transmutation circle for Naminé," Vi explained as she continued. She kept screwing up on the two circles, one inside of the other. Either they had turned into ovals or they were lumpy. After a few minutes, she started to draw a star very slowly. Kaili walked outside into the rain, trying to avoid messing up the array. "After I'm done, we'll go."

"Are you serious?" Mel exclaimed. "What if she . . ." Her voice trailed off, leaving the others to use their imaginations.

Vi sighed. "Don't talk that way . . . Actually, I'll draw another array further inside the place as a back up. Then we'll leave."

"How have you been?" Corruption asked.

"Okay." She clapped her hands as she stood up and faced the homunculus. She could feel the shape of the pocket watch against her thigh as a reminder it was there. It would be used later. Naminé's mind wondered to whether Vi was done. She didn't want to make her move to early and allowed her hands to drop by her sides.

"You're going to attack me?" Corruption's teal eyes stared at the woman, not knowing any other purposes for her action.

"Nope." She shoved her hands into her pockets and attempted to walk around him. But he stopped her by a raise of his arm.

"Where do you think you're going?"

She sighed before her blue eyes gazed at the imitation, not sure of the answer herself. Naminé wasn't even sure to head to where the transmutation circle was supposed to be. How much longer did she have to wait? For awhile, she was oblivious of the look on his face but now that all the pondering was over, she could see a troubled expression, like he didn't feel right. "Something wrong?" Immediately, she pulled away from his outstretched limb.

The homunculus didn't say anything but instead grabbed her by the arm to study her eyes. Naminé clapped her hands a second time and grabbed the homunculus' arm in return. He backed off, releasing his hold on her. Without hesitating, she took off running as fast as she could. Her pace wasn't as fast as it used to be several weeks ago. Thanks to the additional weight the last two months had brought her. Naminé's eyes saw a transmutation carved into the ground ahead of her. She stopped to stare at the array. Kimblee had made it ten years ago to transmute a weapon when they had their first mission. She couldn't remember what it was but it had been useful. After glancing behind her to see no one, she clapped her hands and placed them on the array. Suddenly, a long, bronze spear came out of the array, the light still shining as it did so. Light . . . Damn.

Naminé had finished the transmutation when she heard footsteps behind her. She turned whirled around and saw his arm/blade raised in the air preparing to come crashing down. Her eyes squeezed shut as she raised the spear as a shield. The clanging sound they made when they met caused her to open one blue eye to see what was going on. The spear she was holding horizontally formed an 'X' with his blade. Both eyes opened wide when she saw that the spear was cracking. The moment it broke in two she rolled out of the way to avoid being slashed. The homunculus barely missed her. Quickly, the woman lunged at him with the spear in her left hand. Simultaneously, he raised his arm again to cut her.

Naminé winced when she felt the pain in her shoulder in her left shoulder. His blade was deep in her flesh which was the main cause of the agony. The pain also came from the position her arm was in, the spear in his heart. She maneuvered her shoulder to get the blade out and yanked the spear out. The homunculus fell down and she immediately crawled over to see his chest. The wound she had inflicted was already healing. Before it could finish though, she stabbed him again. And again and again. She wasn't sure how many lives he had left. All she was thinking about was him lying there for good. After stabbing at least a dozen times, she stopped to look at the wound. Surprisingly it was still healing. Her clutch on the spear tightened with frustration. Just when she was about to stab him again, someone spoke to her.

"What are you doing?"

Naminé stopped in midair and looked up to see a familiar blonde. The woman was wearing a blue military skirt and a white blouse that was tucked in. Her long hair was cut short now, not even touching her shoulders and parted on the side. Her green eyes stared down at the alchemist with contempt.

"Isabelle?" Suddenly, she felt a grip on her wrist and her eyes stared downward, seeing that the homunculus was awake. Or technically alive again. Soon she flung into the air.

Isabelle watched as Naminé fell, coming back down to the ground at least five feet from where she was before. Not willing to allow the baby to get injured from the fall, she clapped her hands and placed them on the wall behind her. There was a blue light as five narrow, spikes came shooting out from the wall.

The Lightning Alchemist winced in pain, not willing to scream. The most she allowed herself to do was grit her teeth. Two of the spikes had went through her shoulders, one for each; another two had punctured through the palms of her hands, preventing her from using any alchemy; the last one stopped tauntingly against her belly. "You . . . you fuckin' bitch!"

Isabelle sighed as she helped the homunculus up. "Since when did you become so violent? Makes me wonder why he loved you more than me."

-FLASHBACK-

Kimblee stopped walking because he had finally seen her. He had wanted to leave the park now but the unexpected guest was keeping him back. "Oh. It's you."

Isabelle ran toward Zolf and hugged him. "Zolf! You're really alive!"

Kimblee raised an eyebrow, surprised that someone was happy to see him alive. When the soldiers in Laboratory Five saw him, they were in disbelief. When Naminé saw him, she tried to kill him. When Armstrong saw him, he was shocked. He was expecting something along those lines but no, she had decided to embrace him.

Isabelle pulled away to look into his eyes. "I'm so glad to see you again. I thought that I wouldn't. Do you remember my name?"

The Crimson Alchemist nodded very slowly, trying to think while doing so. "Of course I do." He stopped there, trying to look away from her persistant gaze. The face was familiar, he remembered talking to the person, he forgot the name.

She sighed and looked down at the ground. "But you remembered Naminé's, didn't you?"

"Not right away," he lied. During the last seven to eight years, he had tried to entertain himself with memories. Naturally, most of his early childhood was a blur and there was nothing too interesting in his teen years. He supposed his military days were interesting enough because that was when he blew up people, messed around with several girls, and blew up some more people. Naminé went somewhere under 'Military Days', so he thought about her as often as seven years would allow. Then there was a time he slept with a girl named Isabelle because he got so drunk and she got drunk and one thing led to another. "Isabelle."

She looked up. "What?"

"That's your name, right?"

The woman smiled. "I'm glad you remembered."

"Nice seeing you. I better go before the flower shop closes."

"Flowers? Since when have you ever bought flowers?"

Zolf shrugged, not in the mood of explaining himself or his actions. He wanted to go. He wanted to at least do something nice for his girlfriend, if he could called her that. His golden eyes looked at her hand and saw a ring on her finger. "You've gotten married."

Her eyes glanced down as if she didn't remember the ring. When Isabelle saw it, she nodded in agreement with his statement. "Yeah, I did. I wouldn't have if I'd known you were still alive." Suddenly she looked up tentatively, the look in her eyes intense. "You're taken?"

" . . . You're considering an affair."

"I want to be with the man I love."

Kimblee sighed. Women had been always complicated because, well, they complicated things. To him, they make the biggest deal out of nothing. "And I'm with the woman I . . . care a lot for."

"Naminé?"

Zolf sighed again before nodding his head. He started to walk passed the heartbroken woman. "Bye."

-END FLASHBACK-

Isabelle looked up at Naminé, no expression on her face at first but suddenly she smiled. "You don't know how lucky are."

Naminé's blue eyes narrowed at her. "I don't get what you mean."

"You're the one with his child. That's why I can't kill you. But when the baby's born, I'll kill you then and raise the baby as my own." Isabelle looked at the homunculus thoughtfully before approaching the alchemist. She slipped her hand into Naminé's pocket and pulled out the pocket watch. Out of curiosity, she opened it. "Hair?" Her green eyes stared at it, an incredulous look etched on her face. Soon the expression became thoughtful and she looked back at the homunculus. She shook her head as she threw the pocket watch as far as she could. It bounced off the wall and hit the floor with a clank.

"You were going to take my love away. I sacrificed too much for him."

Naminé's eyes trailed down the blood running down her arm and felt a bit light headed. She couldn't active the tattoo on her back. Either the witch was going to let her die there or was waiting for her to fall unconscious. "It's your fault. If you didn't want to lose anything in the first place---"

"No! I was willing to sacrifice anything for his return! You, on the other hand, didn't give a shit about him, already going out with other men. You used him for whatever your sick reasons were."

Naminé allowed her head to fall forward so that her chin touched her chest. Her eyes looked down at the ground, her blood beneath her. Suddenly she chuckled airily. "But he still wanted me." She loved Kimblee, she knew that but couldn't explain why she had said that. Maybe she knew that Isabelle would have been riled up by this. Isabelle was already clenching her fist.

Isabelle stomped away from a suspended Naminé and walked over to the homunculus. "I wait until you fall unconscious from losing too much blood." She embraced the imitation and gazed up at it. "Zolf, what should we do in the mean time?" He nonchalantly shrugged his shoulders and wrapped his arms around her. One hand untucked the back of her blouse so it could slip underneath.

Naminé watched as the homunculus kissed Isabelle on the neck. Her eyes had a glaze to it when she remembered when Zolf had done the same to her and worked his way down. Just remembering had a nostalgic effect on her. Her body suddenly ached for his touch and his only, no longer willing to go for a substitute. However, she knew that the feeling he had given her could no longer be felt.

She woke back up in this world surprised to see how much she had missed. Naminé couldn't believe that they were doing that in front of her. Their kissing was slowly creeping into a different direction now. She had never really watched two people go at it before, partly because it wasn't her concern.

All of a sudden, when the homunculus was back at Isabelle's neck, kissing it affectionately, he looked at Naminé from the corner of his eye. Their eyes met for a second and it sent chills down her spine. Her heart started to pound against her chest as an ominous feeling crept over her. Why did she feel something bad was about to happen?

"Zolf," Isabelle moaned softly in delight, her fingers running through his hair. His touch was having some magical effect on her. She was feeling real good about this. Sacrificing her husband for this had been a good choice, a great choice. This was all she wanted. To at least feel what Naminé had with Zolf.

A moment passed. Then a second. Another did before Naminé realized what had happened. Naminé's eyes opened wide from shock. There had been a gasp from Isabelle but that was all. Blood was seeping through her blouse, staining the white fabric. The alchemist had no doubts that death had been instantaneous.

The homunculus slipped his hand from underneath Isabelle's blouse, allowing her to drop to the floor. "Don't worry. I promise she didn't die painfully. I went straight through the heart." He walked to where Naminé was dangling a few feet above the ground. He studied her body before breaking the spikes that suspended her. Naminé fell hard to the floor, the four spikes still in her. The fifth one, the one that had been poking tauntingly at her belly, came down. With a swift flick of the wrist, Corruption caught it and afterward chucked it away from them. He wasn't going to allow her to have another weapon this time. "I want to talk to you about something, babe."

Naminé blinked, her eyelids feeling heavy. She wasn't sure how long she would be conscious for. But did that even matter in the situation she was in?

A/N: Why Isabelle? Hm . . . I wanted a character that would want to bring Zolf J. Kimblee back to life. It wouldn't make too much sense to introduce a character you'll never heard of. That would lead to some confusion and I would have to go into a whole background kind of thing and the chapter would have been longer than it is now. Anyway, thanks for the reviews: Evil Palm Tree Envy and Synette. I want to thank all the unknown readers who had read this story this far. Next chapter, I believe, will probably be the last. Till then.