The Capture

Disclaimer: I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist or Final Fantasy VII. I only own Dream Girl, Nicklas, Joey (Joseph), Lea, Jonathan, Grand-mama Zena, Mica and Vixen.

Edward's P.O.V. -7 yrs. old- Resembool/ Isbal/ Wenning

It was years before anything bad happened to Dream Girl and her family again. I went to sleep that night, awaiting the young girl whom I had begun to have feelings for.

That night Dream Girl was sitting in a room that was barren, dark and damp. Her people matured much faster than mine, so she had already began to show on her chest. Dream Girl was awaiting the councils decision of whom she was to marry. I heard her thoughts clearly for the first time.

I don't want to marry someone whom I do not love. Now I know why Mother wants to leave Father. She thought bitterly. I will not let them choose my husband for me!

Dream Girl knew, however, that that would never happen. She bowed her head and prayed. "Dear lord, who watches over us, and gives us life, please let me find my own husband. One I will love, and will love me back."

When the door opened, Dream Girl stood. "We have decided. Follow me." the woman who came in said. The woman' face was blank and her hair had just begun to turn grey. Dream Girl seemed to love her allot, just like her father.

"Yes, Grand-mama, I shall." Dream Girl said bitterly. "But let me tell you this, they have not yet come to a conclusion that will please me."

Her grandmother smiled sadly and said, "I know, my little mouse, I know." She patted Dream Girl on the shoulder and turned towards the door. Dream Girl followed.

Dream Girl and her grandmother stopped once they reached a court yard surrounded by fruit trees that were in bloom. Several men and women were in a circle in the middle. Each person had a candle in front of them.

Dream Girl then accepted a unlit candle from a woman nearby. Then, she walked to the center of the circle. A man and woman rose from the head of the circle and walked to her.

"M----, we have decided who your husband shall be." the man said, pulling his white hair out of his eyes, and his blue eyes were somber. The woman beside him gestured to a boy behind Dream Girl and he stepped forward. His white hair was combed back. He was long and lanky; more of a scholar than a worker. His red eyes were glowing happily. "This is your husband, Derek of Grensdale."

"What! You have got to be joking!" Dream Girl said, disgusted.

"Thank you, Great Council." Derek said in a squeak.

Dream Girl snorted and walked away angerily. Her light-green dress flowed with her as she walked. It was sleeveless, like most of her shirts and dresses. Her hair was braided, and flowers were worked into the braid as well. Her ears had been pierced and tear-drop shapped earrings that were the same shade of green as her dress, hung from her ears.

Before she headed home, however, she walked to the tallest tree in and around Wenning. Dream Girl looked up at it, grinned and started to climb it.

Once at the top, she sat and looked out passed Wenning, and saw allot of moving objects making their way towards the large village. Quickly she started to climb back down. Somehow Dream Girl knew who it was that was coming. It was the same military that her father had joined.

Dream Girl ran home as fast as she could, but she was a long way from home. It would take at least an hour before she would get there, and the troops were closer to home than she was.

The village was in flames when she arrived. Her grandmother came running towards her.

"M----! You must get you brothers and sister and run far away from here!" she cried.

"Grand-mama, whats wrong! Why do we have to run!" Dream Girl asked.

"They came to capture you and your siblings so that they can use you to create the-!" Before Dream Girl's grandmother could answer, she was shot and killed instantly.

"No...this...this can't be happening...! Apa, why? Why did they come! Apa!" she said softly, covering her face for a moment.

The next moment she was running for her house as fast as she could. She hoped that it was alright, that the soldiers had missed it. When she found it, it was intact, but Dream Girl also knew that they still might find it.

Dream Girl found her mother, Lea, in the kitchen.

"Mother! We have to leave now! The soldiers-" Dream Girl said, trying to pull her mother away from the sink.

"No," Lea said. "I will not leave Jonathan. He is dead you know, killed by the same people who your father was so fasinated with."

"But Mother!" Dream Girl protested.

"They listen to you, not to me, so take them and go." Lea said pointing towards the bedrooms. "Take what supplies you need, too."

Dream Girl stared at her mother a moment and then shook her head. She headed down the hall to each of her siblings' rooms, telling them to pack their things quickly. After all of four of them, including Dream Girl, had their things packed, she lead them out the door.

Before Dream Girl left, Lea stopped her and said with bitterness, "Your exactly like your father, leaving the ones he loves behind to die! He should have been here to protect our village, but no, he had to leave!"

"I wouldn't talk about him that way if I were you, Mother dear." Dream Girl said with the same bitterness.

Lea turned back to the kitchen sink. Dream Girl sighed. She and her mother hadn't had a good relationship since she found out about her and Jonathan. "Bye, Mama..." Dream Girl said sadly, grabbing Mica, her cat, and ran outside.

Once outside, Dream Girl gave a signal with her hand to her siblings to follow her. They were long gone by the time the soldiers found their home.

I woke up to Alphonse shaking me. It was six a.m. on Saturday.

"What is it Al?" I asked. I sat up and looked at him, he seemed excited.

"Lets make Mom something before she gets up! Won't she be surprised?" Al said grinning.

"What? Okay, but tomorrow I'm sleeping in, no matter what." I said grumbling. Al dragged me out of bed, and into Dad's old study. He asked my opinion of what we should make, considering what we had at our expense. We finaly dicided on small figurines.

Quietly we put our figurines on the stand by Mom's bed and left. We went back to bed and slept for another hour before Mom woke us up asking who had made the figurines. "We did Mom!" we said togethor.

Mom smiled and embraced us both at the same time. We always loved to make Mom smile.

Two nights later I had another dream. It wasn't as bad as before, but it was still awful.

Dream Girl's P.O.V-7 yrs. old- cave in the canyon that surrounds Wenning

My sister, Aria, who is telepathic, walked over to the fire to put a stick into it. Like me, she had learned very quickly how to use alchemy, to read and write, and many other things at a young age. She was almost five. Joey with his queitness could sneak up on almost anything. That would make him a very good hunter someday. Joey was Aria's twin. Nicklas was six at the time. Nicklas could make split second decisions that I couldn't, which made him second in command between the four of us.

Aria looked just like mama with very curlly red hair, medium skin, green eyes and was shorter than most kids her age. Joey was just the opposite, he had pale skin, black eyes, straight black hair, and was taller than most kids. Nicklas was like me, a mixture of both except he had black eyes, medium skin, red hair with a slight curl and was an average height. Of course everyone said I looked like my father, but I knew I had my mother's eyes, shape and size. I also loved to work around the house like her.

Mother was always asking me why I still loved Apa so much, why I always said good things about him. I would tell her, "Because he cared about his kids education, and their dreams." It would make her very mad when I said that.

He never sent the letters he wrote to our house, but to Grand-mama's house. I missed him allot. Joey and Aria would always ask Niklas and I what Apa was like, since he had never met them, nor they him. Most of the time I answered because Nicklas couldn't remember much about him.

Suddenly, Aria sat up and was very tense. "Sister, dear, we need to move, now. The soldiers are only about a mile away." she said calmly.

"How can you be so calm?" Joey asked Aria as he helped pack our stuff and cover the trace of our campfire.

"I don't know. I just am." she said just as calm.

Joey shook his head. I laughed inside, but didn't show it. We were taught not to show emotions when we were away from our parents, or parent figures.

Nicklas nodded towards the canyon and said, "If we follow the canyon north, we should be able to go where Apa went."

"Okay, but should we go where there are more of them?" I asked.

"Didn't Apa teach you better? They won't expect to find you right under their noses!" he said with a sigh.

"Oh..." I said and turned away before he could see my embarrasement. "The canyon it is then."

Is the Medical Kit packed? Aria asked telepathically.

"Check." Joey answered.

Food?

"Check, but we'll need to get some more."

Water?

"Next stream we get to, we need to find the waterskins."

Extra Clothing?

"Check."

Figurines to sell?

"Check, again."

Money?

Joey hesitated and looked at me and Nicklas. I patted my back-pack and said, "Check, Aria."

Okay, did I forget anything? Aria asked.

"Yes, your mouth." Joey teased, since he knew that she didn't talk normally that much.

I nodded towards the opening of the cave and started to walk. I looked outside before I stepped out and began to run through the trees that surrounded the cave. When the trail came into few, we turned east towards the deeper part of the canyon.

We rested three hours later, but before we even had a warning, the soldiers had found us. Aria was the first to be seen and captured.

"JOEY, NICKLAS, M--!" Aria screamed both telepathicly and verbally. Then, of course the rest of us were caught. We couldn't fight because we were very tired. We had no choice but to go with them.

They shoved us into seperate cages and then didn't feed us for two days, until we reached their territory. Apa would be very upset when he found us, if he ever did.

Sister, why did they take us? We didn't do anything wrong...did we?Aria asked me.

No, I thought, knowing that she was listening. We didn't do anything wrong, but I don't know why they took us, either.

Aria didn't say anything more, but I knew that she and Joey were both in tears. I sighed and settled back against the iron bars of the cage. Nicklas was in the truck beside me. We both looked forward instead of looking at one another because we didn't the other to see how sad we felt.

The next day we passed into the desert and came into the country known as Ishbal. I only knew it from the maps that Apa had given me. I also knew that Apa was there in that vast land. At the time I thought they were taking us to Apa. I also knew that this was a war zone.

When we arrived to the nearest camp, I sensed a presence I hadn't felt in years and my heart soared with joy. I started to cry silently. Nicklas looked at me and I saw a smile in his eyes; he felt Apa, too.

Two soldiers that were somewhat tanned, and had blonde hair picked up my cage and put it into a horse drawn wagon. The others' cages were treated the same way. The horses then drug us further into the camp and into a tent. Once inside, I noticed it was some sort of lab. An alchemic lab at that.

"Apa! Apa!" I shouted. Soon I found out that they couldn't understand me, but I could understand them.

"Okay Dr. Marco, here's the specimens that we told you about." one of the soldiers said talking to a man with graying hair and a gentle face.

"Specimens! Humans are not specimens! Animals are!" Dr. Marco yelled.

"Sir, you ordered them. If you don't take them, they'll become slaves, or killed." the soldier said. "Also, they're not humans. They are a similar species to humans, but they have heightened abilities in running, sight, hearing, learning, understanding and speaking languages- just to name a few."

"Alright I'll take them, but that doesn't mean I'll use them." Dr. Marco muttered. "Take them out of the cages and put them in the back room for now, and get them some food and water, too."

In the back room the four of us discussed what I had heard.

"What? What's a human?" Joey asked.

"They are our people's descendants. You do know about the Beast Plague, don't you?" I asked. Joey and Aria shook their heads.

"Well, why don't you tell them, sister." Nicklas said grinning. I sighed.

"It was thousands of years ago when the intruder fell onto the land in front of one of our villages. We befriended the Intruder and welcomed it. However, the Beast Plague began to spread from village to village. The people who had got the plague most often turned into fiends instead of dying.

"Soon our people noticed that more of the crops were dying and the animals as well. We then realized that the planet was being killed, little by little." I paused giving the story some suspense.

"What happened next?" Joey asked shivering.

"Well, our people, the Cetra, or the Ancients as the humans call us, took our treasures, the white materia and the black materia, to the the north. As most of the people went to the north, some stayed behind and hid.

"After we had healed the planet, sacrificing many lives to do so, and sealed the Intruder, those who had gone north stayed the same. But those who ran and hid, lost the planet's favor. They could no longer hear the planet's voice and lost most of the traits they once had. Thus the beginning of the human race." I said, finished at last. By then we were all tired so we finally slept.

"Roy, she's in there." I heard a male voice say loud enough for me to hear. I heard the door open and someone's quick footsteps. The person called out my special name.

"Oh, cricket, my cricket!" Apa said picking me up. I yawned, opened my eyes and smiled. Apa held me so that my head was under his chin and that I couldn't see the room around me, but I could smell the difference. We had been moved during the night, or I had anyway.

"Apa! Oh how I missed you so!" I cried burying my head into his chest. I saw that the man that was with him glance at the two of us, with a look that told me that he did not understand what we were saying. Apa let me look around and I saw that I was in another cage.

"Roy, don't get attached again. You know what the Furher ordered." the man said with a heavy sadness in his eyes and face. "And you don't want him to find out your being their father."

"Hughes, I can't just sit here and watch my children-" Apa looked at me and didn't say the word he was going to say because he didn't want to frighten me. I smiled and wrapped my arms tighter around his neck.

"Its alright, Apa, I know." I said in the language that Hughes was used to. Apa bent over to put me down and I unwrapped my arms. He kept his hands on my shoulders and looked me in the eyes. Then he turned and waved before he walked out the door.

For awhile I cried tears of joy. Then slowly, I fell asleep, hoping Apa would come back to visit me again.

The next day he did come back. This time he was with a blonde woman with red eyes. She was pretty, like Mother. I was shy around her, but she, too, could speak our language. Her name was Riza Hawkeye, and her mother was of our people.

I liked her after I got to talking with her. Apa smiled as he watched and listened. He liked her, too. That I could see right away.

"Apa," I said after Hawkeye had to leave. "Do you like her?"

Apa turned a little red and said, "Not the way you mean, but yes."

I giggled as Apa blushed even more. He picked me up again and hugged me. When he put me down, he sighed and took my shoulders again.

"I won't be able to come visit you and your sibilings for awhile, okay?" Apa told me.

"Huh? Why?" I asked worried.

"Their sending me to the Ishbal capital and I won't be back for a while, but Hawkeye will be here watching over you four. That's the reason I brought her with me today."

I nodded and went into deep thought. I looked up as he walked out the door. I knew he couldn't say good-bye.

Sister, I like Apa, he's nice. Aria told me telepathically.

I knew you would. I thought, so she could hear. She sent me an image of her smiling broadly. I was somewhat telepathic, but only with one person- Edward Elric, the dream boy. Even then, I couldn't talk to him. I could only hear his thoughts, and he could only hear mine.

I sighed. It had been days since I had had any dreams. I felt empty without them. "I want to meet you someday, Edward Elric." I said to the open air, hoping he could hear me. "I hope you feel the same."

Edward's P.O.V. -Resembool-7 yrs. old.

I sat up quickly, but had to lay back down because my head began to swim. As soon as the pounding stopped, I jumped out of bed and dressed quickly. I ran down stairs as fast as I could and ran down to Winry's house. I waited until the light in her bed room window was on, then I tapped at the window until she opened it.

"What is it Ed? Its like six in the morning!" Winry scolded me and rubbed her eye.

"Did you have another dream about the girl?" I asked trying to climb into the window but Winry pushed me back out.

"No, I stopped having them months ago, Ed." Winry said sighing. "Go back home and get some more sleep." Winry shut the window and walked back inside her room and shut off the light.

I stood there for a moment longer before going to the river to think. I know I can't help her much since we're so far apart. But if talking to her a giving her support would help, then... How I wish she could hear me... I thought as I put my foot into the river which was flowing slowly because of the drought. I watched the water for a long time, and wondered what Dream Girl was thinking right now.

Before long I heard Alphonse and Mom calling my name so I ran home. Once there I was scolded badly. All the next week I thought about her and each night I would dream about her and wish that she was okay.

One night Mom came in and sat at the end of my bed before she shut off the light. She didn't say anything for a long time.

Finally she said, "Edward, whats wrong? I know somethings been bothering you."

I didn't say anything. Instead I rolled over, wanting to be left alone. Mom placed a hand on my shoulder and squeesed it. As she started to get up I asked softly, "When you want to help someone, but don't know how or you can't, what do you do? What if they can't hear or see you?"

Mom paused for a moment before sitting down. "Well, sweetheart," she said. "I would just pray and put faith in them. That way, they can feel in their heart that you're trying to help them." She paused again and asked, "Why do you ask, Edward?"

"Just asking, forget about it." I said and pulled the covers over my head. That night I went to sleep with a hopeful smile.

Dream Girl looked up from her piece of paper and twirled around, listening intently, as if she did hear me. She smiled when she realized she had sensed me before, but not nearly as strong.

Dream Girl looked back down at the piece of paper and began to tell me through her thoughts that she had received a letter from her father. She had tears in her eyes, but not really because she was sad, but as if she had missed something and had just got it back.

She laughed and thought, I missed you, you know, or you should know anyway!

I didn't think I expressed anything but she felt something and she shook her head. Your about to go away again, aren't you, Dream Girl asked sadly. Well have a nice day, and good morning!

I woke up again and I didn't feel as guilty as I had because I had helped Dream Girl in a way. Her smile was enough to make me feel warm inside. I smiled and thought about how I would meet her, and what I would say if I did. I laughed at myself, almost waking Al up.

I crawled of the bed and got dressed. I sat at the kitchen table and tried to think of what Dream Girl looked like so I could make a figurine of her. I made one figurine after another, but none of them satisfied me. I gave up after Mom had come down and started on breakfast.

"Sweetheart, what's wrong?" she asked me as she took my shoulders. "You've been so depressed lately. And those figurines-they're of a girl? Since when have you liked any girls?"

"I don't." I replied.

"Then why make so many figurines of one?"

I picked up one of the figurines and looked at it. "I don't know. Its of Dream Girl. I thought that if I had something that looked like her, I might be able to talk to her during the day."

"So, who's Dream Girl?" Mom said as she pulled out a chair and sat next to me.

"I told you when I first started having them. She's the girl I've been dreaming about."

"Ohhhh. Well, I think you should never forget those dreams. You have them for a reason." Mom said getting up after a few minutes. Before she went to the stove, she patted my shoulder.

Dream Girl's P.O.V. -Ishbal- Military Camp- 7 yrs. old

I felt him leave as the gaurds changed outside. They always did so at dawn. I sighed. I was alone again. Fear was something I tried to surpress, but it still crept up on me when I was alone. It would be another hour or so before Hawkeye's daily visit. Today, however, a burly man with a blonde curl and blue eyes. At first he scared me.

"Hello, I'm Alex Louis Armstrong. Hawkeye asked me to keep you company until she arrives. She said that she'll be an hour late and that she is sorry." the man said as he held out his hand, his eyes shone, too.

I took his hand because he had a kind and honest aura emitting from him. He had a firm grip. He helped me up and I curtsied as I said, "Nice to meet you. I am the daughter of Roy." I paused and gave Mr. Armstrong an apologetic look. "Sorry but I don't think I should give anyone my real name right now. Though you can call me 'Criket', like Apa does."

Mr. Armstrong smiled. He then looked at me and asked, "Have you eaten?" I shook my head. "What! Children need to eat so they can grow!" He called to the nearest gaurd and told him to get me some food.

We spent most of our time together talking. All the while, as I had felt with Apa and Hawkeye, I sensed that he was keeping something from me.

He told me that Apa was doing alright. When Hawkeye came into the cell, Apa was with her and they had brought some sugary treats with them. Then Dr. Marco walked in, and I became very tense.

He put up his hands and said, "I come as a friend, not an enemy." In one hand, I noticed, held a small box.

I looked at it with curiousity. He chuckled and handed the box to me. I took off the lid and my eyes went wide. Inside was a pair of earrings that had golden studs and red moon-shaped pieces that dangled from the studs.

"You can't wear them while your in here, of course, but when you are able to leave, you can have them." Dr. Marco said softly.

I looked around because I was confused. I wondered why everyone brought special things for me. I couldn't remember what today was. Apa must have read my face because he said, "Don't remember? Today's your eigth birthday!"

"Oh...!" I responded, remembering. "I guess it is..."

All of us turned our heads when the door opened with Aria and Joey running towards us to hug me. Nicklas just stood by the door and smiled. He thought he was, too, old to give hugs. I smiled back at him.

"Aria hold still for a moment would you?" I asked. "I want to brush your hair while your here."

"Okay." Aria said both telepathically and verbally. I took out my brush and brushed it until all the tangles had been removed. Then I took a ribbon out of my pack, and tied her red curls back and out of her face.

The next few hours were blissful ones. Edward had also crept back into my mind as everyone began to file out the door. I layed down, closed my eyes and went to sleep.

Edward was sitting on his bed with his chin in his hand. He was thinking about me again. He stood and told his mother that he was going down to the river for a while. Once he reached the river, he sat and began to tell me about his plans for the next day. The sun had already set.

Edward paused, smiled and said, "Happy Birthday, Dream Girl!"

I felt a wave of warmth and contentment go through as he wished me luck.

Suddenly I broke away and awoke. Squatting beside me was Dr. Marco with a grave face and a syringe. He stuck it in my arm and drew some blood. Then he said he was sorry, and walked away. I tried to go back to sleep, but I was afraid someone else would come and do something worse.