Disclaimer: I am NOT Hiromu Arakawa- and thus, I do not own Ed, Al, Winry, Pinako, Mustang, Hawkeye, or Armstrong (whew, that was a long list).
…Rain started to pour down. Dark storm clouds rolled in, covering every speck of the sky. It was a cold and lonely day. The air reeked disturbingly of evil…
1st Person POV:
I yawned, looking up at the morning sky. The sun had barely finished rising above the horizon. Why would we have to leave this early? Really, I wasn't a morning person. Catch me before 8:00, and the rest of your day would become gloomy. Maybe that's why Ed was late.
"What time is it?" I groaned.
"Seven," replied Roy. "Fullmetal better hurry up or we're leaving without him."
"Remind me why we're going again? No, actually, remind me why I have to go again?"
Lieutenant repeated monotonously, probably tired of saying it for who-knows-how-many-times, "We found the people you're looking for- "
"Let's call him Mask," I suggested. People-you're-looking-for was way too long. Besides, I heard they did the same for the Scar case.
"Fine…we found 'Mask's hide-out, but before we could capture him, he blew the whole place up, leaving rubble and itty-bitty pieces of evidence."
I stifled a giggle, while Hawkeye stared confusedly at me. Hearing a military person say "itty-bitty" was funny in so many ways. Or, it was the fact that it was morning-time. That could explain my hysteria too.
"Anyways, luckily, before we stormed in and tried to scour the place out, Lieutenant spotted a booby trap," bragged Roy.
Ha-ha, booby. The Fuhrer just said booby…oh dear, Yumi, this is not a good day for you, is it?
"They were clever, eradicating everything there, and being able to leave just the traps alone. It takes two people to take it down, though. You can't get too close either. You'd have to snipe it down at the same time from a couple different angles."
"Why do you need snipers?"
"I predict it'll probably create a mass explosion, so we'd have to stand far away," informed Lieutenant.
"So, there's no one else who can snipe like you do?" I asked, not believing the military was this incompetent. "I'm sure the military isn't that bad- "
A glare from Roy had me backtracking.
"Erm, I mean, the military is way too good to not have people like that, right?" Okay, although my mind was unfortunately making no sense today, I had enough logic to not get on the bad side of the Fuhrer. Seriously, the dude had a huge army at his command. Not fun.
Still frowning at me, he explained, "This isn't as important though, so more officers are involved with other cases."
I stared at him in disbelief. "But, you're the Fuhrer! Can't you just command some people to come down and investigate and be done with it?"
*Glare glare*
"Um, heh, sir?" I added more politely.
"Well, I agree. There are more important cases than this, Yumi. It's my job to lead country, right. It's not fair to put all the best soldiers on this situation just for your personal needs."
Damn it. I hated when people lectured me like that. Especially when they were right.
*Pout pout*
"So, this person is working with your dad?" asked Roy…again.
"NO!" I almost screamed. "My dad is not evil!"
Lieutenant rubbed my shoulder comfortingly. "Yumi, they've been together 24/7. They're in the same hotel room, go the same places, and everything! Don't you think, if your dad was a prisoner, Mask would keep him locked up in a safe place?"
"Maybe he wants to keep a watch on him!" I protested. We've gone through this conversation a billion of times. I refused to believe my dad was bad…hey, I'm a poet and I didn't even know it…oh my god, Yumi, what has the day done to you. -_-
"Besides," I accused. "You haven't even seen them together once!"
Roy scratched his head and nodded in agreement, "That's the weird thing. All the clues lead up to it, but it's seems impossible that they're never together. It's like the other just disappears when his partner comes."
Then, I heard some hard footsteps behind me. "Oh, Ed's here," I assumed automatically.
"Jeez, I'm not that loud," grumbled Ed as he appeared next to me.
I tapped his left leg with my foot, listening to a light clank. He grumbled some more.
"Anyways, let's go. I need to get back as soon as possible," said Roy impatiently.
"Ed, why were you late?" I asked later when we were all loaded into the car and driving away. "I thought that you said you were all prepared."
He shrugged, "I forgot something."
I sweatdropped. "Baka," I muttered. I punched his arm playfully.
And then I winced in pain. Ow. Wait, why was I in pain? I rubbed my knuckles regretfully as I poked his arm more carefully this time.
"It's metal," I stated blatantly.
"No duh," snorted Ed. He rolled his eyes and pulled up his sleeve.
"Whaaa? I thought you got your arm back!" I yelped, jumping away.
"Really, Yumi, mornings are definitely not your best times."
Tell me about it.
"I did. This is just an automail covering. It really does come in handy," he said with exaggerated patience. Any other day I would've been annoyed at that tone, but today, I had a feeling that everyone knew I needed it.
"So you like your automail arm better?" I gasped. Shame!
He sighed and gave me a little shove, "Yumiii, no, it's just that it's better in battle."
"Oh."
He waited.
"Oh. I get it now," I smiled, although I was a little disheartened at my slowness. Tonight, get a good night sleep, I instructed myself sternly…
Hah! If only if were that easy.
"We're here," announced Roy, stopping the engine.
Ed got and out and held the door for me. Aw, what a gentleman.
"You'd probably hit your head on the door and get a concussion or something if I didn't do it," he half-explained, half-muttered.
Yeah…I take that back.
Instead, I "hmphed" and walked ahead of him, surveying the mess in front of me.
It looked like an earthquake had erupted in the area. Nothing was standing up right, and there were a dozen clutters of who-knew-what. Most of it was buried behind the fallen wood and debris. It was hard to believe that whoever was here was able to blow this kind of wreckage and still escape.
"So, where are the bombs?" I asked, dubiously. How could anyone spot anything in these ruins, let alone a booby trap that was supposed to be hidden? Guess that's why they call her Hawkeye. I wondered how I was going to hit a target that I couldn't see.
"Oh, it's right there," the Lieutenant pointed to a small, round circle, which was strangely still intact. I hadn't noticed it before, for it was too small to have been detected unless it is specifically pointed out to you. But, now that I was aware of it, the little bomb was all too clear. None of the broken remains covered it. Although we were a farther than usual (for safety measure- Ed had laughed at that), it was only too easy.
"Why is the trap the only thing that's clear here? Isn't that somewhat suspicious?" Surely, if my sluggish mind was able to figure that out, they would've too?
Roy nodded, "Very. But, it's the only way we can get down there to inspect."
"What if they wanted us to blow it up? What if there's another trap within the trap?"
Heyyy, look at you, Yumi, thinking ahead. Maybe mornings weren't so bad after all!
…Oh, no, never mind, it was almost past 8 by now.
"We've scouted the area with scopes for a few hours and couldn't find anything. Even if there is a bomb, we'll be too far for it to reach us."
"Not if it's a nuclear bomb," muttered Ed.
We stared at him.
"Hey, you never know," he shrugged.
"Why is he here again?" An anime vein popped onto my forehead.
"Well, the more the better. We can get the searching down quicker this way," explained the Lieutenant. Roy didn't say anything. Ha-ha, maybe the hatred between them was mutual.
"Well, if three's a crowd, I wonder what four is," Roy.
"It gets things done quicker!" scolded Lieutenant.
"That's right, four is way too much. You should just leave, Colonel. This is our problem. Give us some alone time," countered Ed, not hearing a word the Lieutenant said.
"Hey, Ed, stop it. You heard the Lieutenant," I poked him.
"Maybe you just want to make-out with your girlfriend," smirked Roy.
"I'd be saying the same thing to you," sneered Ed. "Or are you too old for that."
"Fullmetal, you should know, at least I'm not a pipsqueak."
I moaned, "Oh jeez."
True to my words, all hell exploded. And trust me, it was not the bomb.
"WHO DID YOU JUST CALL SO SMALL THAT YOU NEED A MICROSCOPE TO SEE?" cried Ed, outraged and chasing Roy around the clearing.
…Huh, hope Roy is fast, or else the country might be without their Fuhrer for a few weeks.
There was silence as we both watched Ed try to strangle Roy.
"Ed…he never said that…," I murmured, knowing it was a lost effort.
"Hm, should we worry?" asked Lieutenant.
"I don't think so. Ed's automail is extra weight."
"King Mustang is in excellent shape too," agreed Lieutenant.
Another pause.
"So, just walk away?" I asked.
"Yup."
"No need to worry?"
"Nah, not really."
"Huh, okay then. Let's go."
I turned my back on them, wishing a good luck to Roy. We headed into the forest and started to walk along a cliff side.
"It's a nice place," I observed.
"Yeah, the trees are a great place to hide while sniping," added Lieutenant.
"Um…I was talking about the-"I admitted, and then stopped as her eyebrows rose.
Well, although I was mentioning the fact that the view was pretty good, if you take away the mess in front of us, and the wind was soft and natural here. But, I guess, she was a sniper at heart.
I glanced up at the sky and saw some clouds floating nicely above us. To the east, where the ruins laid, there were some grey storm clouds, but it would be at least another day before they got here. The sun wasn't particularly bright; nevertheless it still cast some warmth. Very nice weather.
I would have to ask Ed to take me here again, I pondered in my head.
In the background, I heard a large thump, followed by a string of violent tongue. I looked back at the clearing where Roy and Ed where still fighting, and saw that some smoke was rising out of the area. Tsk tsk, Roy, imagine, the Fuhrer starting a forest fire.
"Should we be worry-"
"I don't think so. Ed has his alchemy."
"Ah, okay."
CRASH. I turned wary now, while the Lieutenant sweatdropped.
"We should probably hurry this up and get back to them."
"Definitely. I think Ed just crashed into a tree."
She winced, though I felt sorry for the tree.
"So, we just shoot at them?" I questioned as I started to string my bow, when we got to a reasonably good area to shoot.
"Yeah, simultaneously."
"No problem. On three?"
"Sure. How fast?"
"Ah, maybe 120 mph?"
"Fine. Then, I'll probably shoot a second or two after you."
"Okay."
See? We got along so much better than the two brats over there…oops, my bad, I meant brat and the Fuhrer. -_-
I walked about 20 feet away, still in sight of the Lieutenant, but also where a perfect view of the side of the bomb I was supposed to hit came along. I saw Lieutenant settle with her sniper on the edge of the cliff.
"Ready!" I called.
"1…2…3!"
I released the arrow at the said 120 mph, and a second later, so did the Lieutenant.
The bullet and the arrow burst into target on both sides. Yes, bull-eye!
I remembered that the Lieutenant said it would blow up, so I turned away and took cover. I was pretty proud of myself- I did it just like they do it in the action movies. You know, where they jump unnecessarily dramatic and into the cover of a rock or something?
Guess what happened. Nothing. My perfect movie jump wasted. Oh, the irony. =_=
A moment passed. Ed and Roy were still wrestling like there was no tomorrow.
"Well, that was anti-climatic," I pointed out simply.
"Very," concurred Lieutenant.
"So, what about the bomb you were all scared of?" I asked airily.
"I don't think we should inform Edward and the Fuhrer yet. They probably aren't in the best of moods at this point," she shook her head disapprovingly.
Oh, okay, or ignore me. That's fine. It's not like I have feelings or anything. -_-
"They might act careless and blow us all up," continued the Lieutenant.
"Blow us up?" I echoed warily. "You're kidding, right?"
She gave me an odd look. A you-should-know-military-personnal-are-never-kidding-on-this-kind-of-trip look. Creepy.
We started to descend the cliff. Luckily, it wasn't that far down, but there were plenty of annoying rocks that were getting in our way. Some of them were quite large too. We'd have to take precious time to move the big boulders out of the way before we could continue climbing down.
Use those sumo muscles!, I thought encouragingly, as I watch the Lieutenant lift a stone bigger than her to the right. Damn, Yumi, you need to grow some muscles…
"Oh my," breathed Lieutenant.
I nodded slowly in agreement. The ruins were even worse up close. If that was possible.
"Eww," I shuddered, as some tiny insects crawled past me, over the flattened and lifeless plants that lay at my feet. I instinctively reached for my trusted knives at my belt, fearing that I wouldn't be able to draw them in time if something did happen. This area stretched barely up to half an acre long, much too short for my bow and arrow to suffice.
"Let's split up," I suggested. "We can cover more quickly."
The Lieutenant murmured in concurrence, "The quicker the better."
Although guns were much quicker to the draw than a bow was, I assumed that she felt more comfortable sniping the enemy from a safe house far away.
"Edward and the Fuhrer might notice our absence. They're such fools at times," finished Lieutenant.
T_T…err, never mind then.
"I'll take the left side," she offered, already starting in that direction. As I did the opposite, I noticed that further down from where she was searching, was the rising wreckage of the trees Ed and Roy must be making. Boy, she was really worried about them, wasn't she?
I stumbled around the pieces of wood that were still left. It seemed like this was a bedroom; I saw some stray feathers and ripped fabric strewn along the ground. There were some ripped clothing and a shattered mirror. I stepped nimbly over what looked to use to be a white door.
I kneeled on the ground and brushed around, trying to ignore the many bugs that scurried away from my touch. Maybe there were some clues to whom this bedroom once belonged to. Maybe there were some clues about him.
I reached a large rock, wedged tightly in a hole in the ground. I strode under its shade and tried to drag some of the trapped belongings under it out.
"Ugh," I groaned quietly, dropped down onto the soil. I hadn't gotten anything except a handful full of papers.
There must a chock full of info down there, and I have to wait for someone like Major Armstrong to come along and get it for me, I thought longingly.
I leaned against the stone, avoiding the sharp ends of it, and shuffled through the papers. Some of them were confusingly hard to decipher, sometimes just a mash of words and letters or perhaps in another language.
Wish you had taken Latin when they offered it in school, eh, baka Yumi? I scolded myself.
I sighed, deciding the measly stack of random papers would be no help to me right now, stuffed them in my jacket pocket, and stood up, brushing the dirt off of my skirt. That was when a picture fell out.
"Oops," I muttered reaching down to pick it up. It was grimy, so I used the sleeve of my jacket to wipe it off.
I gaped. I knew whose bedroom this was. It was the father of the girl in this picture. It was my father. It was a picture of me.
I felt a shadow cast over me, too big to be the Lieutenant. I usually would've whipped around and give my visitor a bad-ass kick in the face, but I was too busy gawking at the smiling little girl in the picture. Her hair was loose, out of its usual ponytail, and flowed down her back. She was wearing a red, sunflower dress.
Holy crap, is this really me?
I couldn't remember the last time I had allowed myself to look like this, or rather, wear a dress! And yet, I recalled the day perfectly. It was on my 8th birthday. I still had my dad back then. And my mom. It would be at least another year and a half before they suddenly disappeared in the night. Before I woke up and found I was the only one in the house. Before I ran to Pinako-senpai and asked where they were, and the only answer I received was a worried and concerned look. Before I began to wait every single day for them to come home.
I was still waiting, even right now.
No, that day, I had no idea of the mess my life was about to become. At that time, I was only concerned about the fact that my dad was trying to force me into a dress to take a picture of his cute, girly, daughter that I never was.
I was surprised when drops of water began to fall onto the picture.
"It's raining," I murmured. But, it was raining nowhere else but my eyes.
Then, out of nowhere, a familiar and notorious voice behind me, no more than, perhaps 15 feet away, drawled,
"Well, well, well, so we meet again, daddy's little princess…,"
A/N: o.o, this was longer than the last chapter…anyways, as always review! I meant for this to be a cliffie, but…hmm…I suppose a lot of you might already know who it is. ^^