You guessed it…I'm so sorry it took me so long to update, I've been having writer's block and been on vacation... (-sweatdrops-). On with it!

Disclaimer: I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist, but I do own Kararu Rinamino, and Silvermoon15 owns Shikou Stone, I'm just borrowing.

All's Fair in Love and War

Chapter 7

"Wha…what have I done…?" Kararu asked, falling to her knees, tears coming into her eyes as they continued to flash in and out of soulless and regular life.

"Nothing…yet." Al said, going over to her.

"Al, stay back!" Kararu warned frantically, her eyes going into that soulless look for a moment before they turned back to normal. "I'm switching back and forth…tell Mustang, Hughes and Shikou that I'm sorry…I didn't mean to do that…I wasn't in control of my body, and-"

"Kararu…" Al said, his voice going sad. "Shikou's dead…"

"Wha…what!" She asked, looking up at Al, her eyes wide with fear. "How?"

"A bomb blew up near the house and set it on fire…Winry, Granny, Shikou and Hawkeye were all inside…" Al answered, averting his eyes.

"Al, I…" Kararu said, but trailed off. Her eyes flashed again and she turned to Al. "Follow me, now!" She said, grabbing his hand.

"Kararu, what's going on?" Al asked.

"Just come on!" Kararu said, opening the door. No one was in the hallway, so she took off down it, Al running behind her. Once they made it to the front door, she stopped. "Go!" She ordered.

"Kararu, what are you doing?" Al asked.

"I'm about to loose control again…go to Mustang and Hughes! Help them dig! No matter what you do or what happens, keep digging!" She said.

"Kararu, what're you-"

"Just promise me!" Kararu said.

"All right…I promise…but why?"

"Not now, Al…I have to go…" She said, then took off back down to the room. Al watched her go, then looked at the front door, then dashed out of it and ran as fast as he could towards the mountains that were near the Rockbell estate.

He didn't stop or slow down at all as he ran, and after what seemed to take forever, he finally saw the burnt remains of the house, looking over at the sun to see it setting.

"Just great…" He muttered, watching it as it started to slip back behind the mountains. He saw Hughes, Havoc, Mustang and Ed sitting on the ground dejectedly, then they were all onto their feet, ready to attack as they heard him running closer.

"It's me!" Al called.

"AL!" Ed yelled, dropping his hands to run over and pull him into a hug. "I thought…I thought the rebels had you…"

"They did…" Al said, then looked at Ed sadly. He looked over at everyone else and motioned for them to come closer. They did and Al took a deep breath. "When I woke up…Kararu and Lyra, well, it was actually Dante, were standing over me. Kararu seemed…lifeless…but anyway, she ordered Dante to leave and she kept mumbling things to herself, then she grabbed a dagger and almost killed me before she suddenly snapped back to herself…she helped me escape, but she ran away before I could do anything else…"

"She also said that no matter what we do, we have to keep digging." He said.

Mustang and Hughes looked at each other, a small look of hopelessness on their faces. "What good would it to, Alphonse?" Mustang asked.

"I…I don't know…" Al said. "But she said that we had to keep digging…and I'm not about to break a promise I made to her." He finished before he walked back over to the rubble of the house and started digging again. Ed sighed, then walked back over and started to dig.

Mustang, Hughes and Havoc watched, the three soon joining the small party.

"Can anyone hear me?" Al yelled as he continued to dig.

After an hour of digging in the dark, they were all tired and they all slumped back, sitting on the ground.

"This is useless…" Al mumbled.

"I know we shouldn't be giving up, but we don't have the energy to do this…" Ed whispered.

Hughes nodded. "Come on…the bottom floor of the hotel wasn't destroyed…we can stay there tonight…they're offering free rooms to everyone."

Mustang nodded and stood, sadly looking at the rubble behind him. He was about to start walking after Hughes when he stopped.

"Did you hear that?" He asked, his eyes wide.

Hughes stopped and turned, looking at Mustang confused. "Roy, are you all right?" He asked.

"I don't know…" He said, then quickly ran over towards the rubble.

"Roy, what are you doing?" Hughes yelled after him.

Mustang didn't answer as he continued to dig, and a moment later Hughes could hear a small pounding and his eyes widened.

"I'm coming, just hang on!" Mustang yelled as he didn't stop what he was doing.

Ed and Al looked at each other, then ran over to the rubble and followed Mustang's example, Havoc and Hughes following soon after.

The pounding became louder as they got deeper and soon the door to the basement was revealed. Mustang reached down and wrenched it open and Winry stood there, looking up at them with tear filled eyes.

"Winry…" Mustang said. He reached down and pulled her into a hug.

"We thought you'd never hear us…" Winry said as she hugged him back, her voice hoarse from all the screaming. She realized that she was hugging him and she pulled back, looking around.

"Is Shikou down there?" Mustang asked.

"Yes, but…" Winry answered, stepping aside so he could walk past her. He ran down and saw her lying unconscious on a couch.

"What happened?" He asked as he ran over to her.

"Well, we had just gotten down here after we arrived and she was closing the door when a bomb exploded on the house and she fell down the stairs…" Hawkeye answered quietly.

Mustang looked at Shikou with fearful eyes.

"We should get her to the hospital…if it's still there…" Mustang said as he stood, picking Shikou up. "Is anyone else hurt?"

"No, we're fine…just a little shaken, is all." Pinako answered.

"All right…let's go…"

Everyone nodded, following his lead.

XxXxXxXxXxXx

"So…he got away…my dang soft side took over…" Kararu growled.

"We can get him back, my Lady." Dante told her.

"I wish we could…but now he knows what's wrong with me, he'll tell everyone else…I can't get close to them, or my soft side will take over again, and we can't afford that." Kararu growled.

"My Lady, you can do anything." Dante told her quietly. "You are a Goddess."

"I know I am, Dante." Kararu said, smiling dryly at her. "And everyone here knows that…but no one else does." She said with a sigh.

"We could fix that." Dante said.

Kararu turned, raising a brow. "Tell me how."

"It's just as simple as this…"

XxXxXxXxXxXx

xxTwo Hours Laterxx

Mustang sat next to Shikou's beside, having learned that she was only unconscious. She sustained a few bumps and bruises from falling down the stairs and a sprained wrist, but other than that she was fine, and they just had to wait for her to wake up.

Ed had fallen asleep in the chair near him, curling up after the alchemic healer that had stopped by the hospital had healed his bullet wound. Al sat by Ed, wide awake, not wanting himself to be taken again.

Hughes walked in, sighing when he saw that Shikou was still out.

"The doctors say she should wake up any time now…" Hughes whispered into Mustang's ear.

Mustang jumped, having been so focused on Shikou that he didn't realize that he had walked up behind him. He turned, nodding, then looked back to Shikou, his face full of worry and concern.

Hughes sat down. "Havoc's in the other room…Hawkeye was really shaken up…" He whispered to Mustang.

Mustang nodded. "She would be, wouldn't she? I'm sure Havoc could calm her down though, no worries about that…" He said in a distant sounding voice. A moment later a groan came from Shikou and his head shot up to look over.

"Shikou, Sweetheart? Are you all right?" Mustang asked quietly.

Shikou's eyes opened and she looked over at him with pained icy-blue. "Other than having a headache…aching everywhere…and my back killing me…just peachy…" She said, attempting at humor.

Mustang chuckled and he smiled. "I could go get a nurse to get you an aspirin or something…"

"Please?" She asked weakly.

"All right." He said, then moved to stand.

"On second thought…Hughes, could you do it? I don't want Roy to leave…" She said quietly.

"I wouldn't mind it at all, Shikou." Hughes said with a smile before leaving the room.

"What happened?" Shikou asked quietly.

"All that I know is that after you and Hawkeye got Winry and Pinako down into the basement, you were closing the door an explosion happened right outside, blasting you down the stairs." Mustang explained quietly.

"Oh…that explains my headache…" She said quietly, a hand going up to run a hand over her face, yawning. "How long was I out for?"

"Around six or seven hours, give or take…" Al said quietly.

"Al! Your back in your body!" Shikou gasped, propping herself up on her elbows.

Al nodded. "I'll give you the tale after your headache's gone…it's gonna make you think, trust me." He told her quietly.

"All right…" She said, lying back down fully. "I love you, Roy…"

"I love you too, Sweetheart…just try not to scare me again, I thought I'd lost you twice in the last eight hours, don't do it again, if you can help it…" He said quietly, stroking her cheek.

She smiled softly, and the door opened again and she looked over to see a doctor coming in with a glass of water and a pill in hand, Hughes behind him.

"I told him you didn't like needles." Hughes told Shikou with a small smile.

"Thank you Hughes…" She said as she sat up, taking the water and the pill, swallowing it in one gulp. She handed the glass back to the doctor and he nodded with a small smile before he walked back out the door.

"No problem, Shikou. I know how much you hate the shiny sharp objects." He said, staying away from the taboo word.

Shikou raised a brow at him, then sighed. "My headache should be going away soon…figure out exactly what you want to say, because I'm going to want to know immediately…only reason I'm not asking you to tell me NOW is because I'm still a little disoriented…"

"All right…will do, Shikou." Al said with a small smile.

Ed awoke then with a heavy yawn. "Oh, hey Shikou, your awake!" Ed said with a grin.

"Yes, I am…I've got a headache, keep it quiet, will you?" She managed.

"Will do, Shikou, will do."

XxXxXxXxXxXx

A smirk appeared on Kararu's lips as Dante continued with her explanation, and her eyes glowed evilly when Dante finished.

"Oh yes…that will definitely work…" She grinned, turning to look at the thirteen Homunculi behind her, kneeling and bowing their heads in respect.

"Well…let's get to work." She said with an evil grin.

"As you wish, my Lady." All thirteen said in unison.

"Envy, you know what to do, right?"

"Of course, my Goddess." He said as he stood, then his form shifted to a large man in priestly clothing, his eyes squinted slightly, a rosary wrapped around one hand. "How's this?" He asked, his voice slightly accented.

"Wonderful, Cornello." She said with a grin, using the name he'd be going by for a while. "Now, make your way to Leor." She said with a wave of her hand in dismissal. "Lust, Patience, Revenge, go with him. I don't want him to get into any trouble…no offense meant, dear Envy."

"None at all taken, my Lady." Cornello said with a bow, then he stood while Lust, a middle aged woman and a twelve year old girl came over to stand by him, then as one the four disappeared from sight.

"Well…the plan will be coming together soon…and you'll be known everywhere."

Kararu nodded. She was still confusing Dante's whisper from her minds voice.

"Yes, it will. Also…since I can't get close to Edward and the others…Sloth, Anger, get over here."

Sloth and another young woman walked over to stand before her.

"Yes ma'am?" The two asked at the same time with a bow of their upper body.

"Go confuse Edward, Alphonse and Shikou. Have fun while you do it, too." She said with an evil grin.

"At once." The two said in unison with nearly identical smirks on their faces, then they disappeared as the other four hand.

"Just a little bit longer, and you'll have your revenge on the ones that made your life a living hell…and you can kill them with one stroke."

Kararu nodded again, smirking, watching the hospital down below from her perch on the cliff she was on. "Good job on not bombing the hospital…it's vital to our plans. Don't bomb it unless I give specific orders…I may want it destroyed later."

The remaining Homunculi nodded, as well as Dante. "As you wish, my Lady."

XxXxXxXxXxXx

Shikou sighed. "I knew she wasn't herself when we saw her at the top of the hill, watching that battle…" She said quietly after Al finished telling her what had happened.

"So everyone thought we were dead?" She questioned.

Mustang nodded. "And it was tearing me apart…not to mention Havoc, for some strange reason…"

Shikou smirked. "I know why…though I can't tell you…it's a secret." She said with a grin.

Hughes raised a brow. "That's interesting…I'd like to know, but if it's a secret, I won't press it." He said with a shrug.

"Hey, Roy, we need to go call headquarters and tell them what's going on…"

"Your right, I guess we'll see you guys in a bit…" Mustang said as he stood, looking down at Shikou with a soft, reluctant smile. "I'll be back, Sweetheart."

"Okay, I'll see you when you get back." She said with a wave, watching as the two walked out of the room. "Well…back to finding something to do…"

Ed sighed, nodding, then the door opened and two people walked in. Ed, Al and Shikou all looked up only to stop dead with what they were doing.

Ed and Al's eyes went wide, blinking. Shikou gulped, her eyes wide with deep fear and slight confusion.

Ed and Al were the first to speak. "Mom?"

Shikou finally found her voice a moment later. "Si…Sister…?"

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

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I finally got this chapter up! Everyone who reviewed, you get a Fullmetal hoodie and twenty platters of cookies, whatever flavor you choose! Thanks for reading!

I know this is kinda short, but I hope to make up for it with the next chapter since I've been having slight writer's block for this… (-sweatdrops-).

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Thanks for reading!