Author's note: Hello again, sorry this chapter took so long! Once again thanks to Turtlequeen2 for all of her help with this chapter. Please enjoy the read.
Breathing in the cool air, Rosette lifted her face to the rising sun, feeling the slight kiss of warmth against her closed eyelids. Raising her hands to the heavens, she smiled as she quietly sang the morning prayer to Ishbala. "Thank you for this day, guide us as we walk in Your grace. Bless the land You've made fertile and bless the people so that their hearts will remain open as we praise the Glory of Your everlasting love. Smile with kindness upon those who do Your will... and... Please help me do what is right by the land of my heart and the land of my birth..." The last sentence was a personal entreaty as a single tear slid down her cheek.
Within a nearby tree in the yard sat a man whose red eyes followed Rosette's movements very closely. Being respectful to her prayer, he did nothing and waited for her to finish before jumping down from the high branch and landing a few feet away from her.
It wasn't until she had finished her prayer by crossing her arms over her chest and bowing as low as her body permitted that the redhead opened her eyes and saw her audience. "Brother?" She exclaimed in the foreign tongue native to Amestris.
Scar wore a serious expression on his face as he stood in front of her. "Be at ease," he murmured in Amestrian. "I've come to speak with you on a few issues."
A brief look of confusion flashed over her face, but the girl slowly nodded. "All right, I'm listening."
"I've heard that you've been punished for letting me escape..." he began. "Are they treating you unjustly?" The Ishballan man seemed prepared to bust her out of her shackles on his own if she wanted it.
"I'm under house arrest with a guard... a male guard... and I won't be released until I take their Alchemy Exam..." She said softly, bowing her head to hide the tears of shame in her eyes.
Scar's eyes narrowed, annoyed at the circumstances. "Do you want to escape?" he questioned.
"Where would I go?" Rosette asked, gesturing to her useless legs. "By Ishballan laws, I'm ruined for marriage, and they would never accept a foreigner in Ishballa's service as a Temple Maiden."
The man almost frowned at her words. She had a few good points. "You're prepared to live out this sentence they have given you?"
"I don't see any choice but to take that ugly exam... I hope Ishballa forgives me for it, but I believe that everything happens for a reason... it just has to." The last part of the sentence sounded desperate and pleading; a soul at war with two worlds within herself.
Scar seemed to sense the conflicting parts of her and decided to ask what drew his curiosity. "How did you come to be a sister of Ishballa?"
"My mother and father were soldiers of the land of Amestris. They were teachers. Father taught in the schoolroom, mother was a dancer. I was born and raised in Ishbal because my parents fell in love with the land and its people. They were talking about retiring from the military and fully converting to Ishballa..." Rosette swallowed. "Then the war started and in one night my world was torn apart..."
The Ishballan man nodded. "As were many others..." he murmured solemnly.
"I was the only survivor in my village. To this day, I still don't know how."
Scar cast an idle look at his tattooed arm, wondering if it was safe for him to mention what happened to him.
"I use alchemy even though it's forbidden, but it is the only way to defend myself seeing as I can't do the smart thing and run away. It's not an excuse, but I'm trying the best I can to do so in a way that honors Ishballa..." The redhead took a deep breath.
He didn't say anything to that statement. He had his own sins to atone for whether or not he wanted to admit them. However, another thing bothered him. "You mentioned a guard..." he murmured. "Has he been acting inappropriately in relations to you?"
"He kissed me... Once," she admitted, blushing in mingled surprise and shame.
Scar's eyes narrowed again, feeling tempted to use his arm on a non-state alchemist for once. "Yet another insult this country has done to our people..."
The redhead's eyes widened, realizing that telling Scar that might not have been a wise move. "It went no further than that!" She stammered nervously.
Hearing her response made him calm slightly. For some reason she almost amused him.
"Besides, if you hurt him, I'll get blamed for it!" Rosette pointed out. The redhead was hoping to save Mark's butt.
Scar relented. "I give you my word that I will not harm him unless provoked first," he murmured.
Rosette sighed and looked relieved. "Thank you, Brother."
The older man's expression grew serious again. "That guard better have some honorable intentions..." He murmured.
She looked away from the piercing ruby eyes. "He seems to; he hasn't pushed for another kiss- or anything else."
Before Scar could react, the back door of the house swung open revealing a shaken up Mark. The guard rushed to Rosette's side in an instant. 'I can't leave her alone for a minute without her getting into trouble!' He mentally growled.
Rosette looked amused and shrugged at Scar. "Don't panic, Mark. He wouldn't hurt me."
Scar's eyes narrowed impulsively at Mark, still annoyed at him for what Rosette told him he did.
The redhead ignored her guard's nudging. "Thank you for praying with me, Scar. It was very nice hearing another voice besides my own again."
The Ishballan man gave a nod. Turning towards Mark, he stated, "You should marry her if you want more than a kiss from this Maiden of Ishballa." Knowing that nothing more would come of their encounter, he said his piece and left the yard.
Rosette blushed and sighed, watching him leave sadly before rolling back inside the house, hearing Mark sputter behind her. Deciding to act normally, she began slicing up fruit for their breakfast.
After getting his mind back into place, Mark stared at the back of Rosette's head in shock. "...What did he say to you?" he immediately demanded.
The redhead kept her head bent over her apple. "He wanted to know if I was being treated well here." She sounded completely calm about the whole Scar affair.
Mark raised his eyebrow at her calm tone. 'Why do I feel like she's not telling the whole story?' he thought to himself, inwardly annoyed.
"Would you like an apple with your breakfast too?" Rosette asked as she placed apple slices on the plate he had handed her.
"Sure..." the soldier replied in a more hesitant tone than he meant since he was caught off guard by her question.
She retrieved another apple, but put it on the counter to fuss with a pan on the stove, adding a small bit of butter to grease it. "You can have the one I just sliced. Eggs?"
Mark blinked. "If you're willing to make them... Scrambled is just fine," he remarked. He knew that if he kept turning down her offers to eat more food, she would just start worrying about him.
Rosette turned her head and smiled at him before getting four eggs out. "All right," she hummed softly as she broke two eggs into the pan, stretching slightly to see better. "May I have two of the larger plates please?"
"Sure," the older man murmured, walking to the particular cupboard and got out the needed plates before handing them to her. Inwardly, the oddness of this new life began to sink in. 'I can't believe I'm helping a human with cooking preparations!' he mentally growled despite how part of him didn't hate it completely.
When her sunny-side-up eggs were ready, she slid them on her plate before breaking the other two and scrambling them as the homunculus had asked her to. "Were you going out today Mark?"
"Yes," Mark replied with a slight nod of his head. "I hope you'll be able to find something to occupy your time…"
"Roy says that he is coming over to check on me with lunch. He wants to make sure I'm studying the right things." She jiggled the eggs to make sure they cooked evenly.
"Oh?" the soldier remarked, inwardly intrigued by this statement. 'I always wanted to know what those two talked about when no one's around...' he admitted to himself.
"He would have visited me earlier, but the Führer wouldn't let him before now." The redhead turned off the stove, put Mark's eggs on the plate and smiled at Mark. "There you go."
Mark took the plate, taking in the information she supplied before getting out a fork and returning the smile with one of his own. "Thanks."
Rosette lightly salted and peppered her eggs before getting a fork and joining him at the small table, forgetting about her apple.
The older man took a bite out of his eggs and swallowed before replying, "You make pretty good eggs."
"Eggs aren't hard to make so long as you don't walk away from the stove." Rosette cut off a portion of her own eggs. "Roy eats them scrambled too; it drives him nuts I eat them sunny with yolk."
Mark let out a small laugh at that. "Why?" He asked, not finding it weird at all.
"He says that if the yolk runs it's not cooked enough." She shrugged and took another bite.
The soldier shook his head and took another bite out of his food. He paused, looking up and watching Rosette eat. It was then that he realized that they had already fallen into a married lifestyle. The very thought nearly made him smirk. 'I bet that colonel is pissed just thinking about it...'
Seeing Mark watching her eat, she paused with a forkful halfway to her mouth, a question in her eyes. "Egg on my face?" She asked.
Mark shook his head, letting out a chuckle. "No, it's nothing," he assured her, beginning to eat again.
Shrugging, the young lady finished her meal. "Will you please pick up some more bread on the way home?"
"Of course," he replied, finishing up his breakfast a few minutes later. Getting up from his seat, he then went to pick up her plate before she had the chance to lift it herself. "I'll wash the dishes."
Tilting her head back, she smiled at Mark again. "Thank you. I'll be in the study yelling at those alchemy books again." Rosette made a face. "I really wish I didn't have to take that test!"
Mark chuckled at her wording. "Good luck with that," he remarked as he set to washing the dishes.
Around eleven, Roy walked right into the house and headed to his sister's room. He looked serious and annoyed. Pushing the door open, he nodded at her. "How long do we have to get you cleaned up?"
"A few hours." Rosette replied, toying with the knot of her thick robe. "I haven't told him anything, Roy."
Roy let out a sigh. "Good," he replied.
Unbeknownst to them, they had an audience watching them from a tree near an open window. A smirk lined the face of the "spy," happy that he would finally get some dirt on Rosette.
"Shower or inspection first?" The redhead asked, reluctant to do this again, even though it had to be done.
Roy frowned, thinking to himself before answering, "Inspection."
Taking a deep breath, the redhead nodded and undid the knot of her robe to shrug out of it. She said nothing as she allowed Roy to lay her on the bed. Her face was expressionless as she averted her head to see out the window so that she wouldn't look down at her ruined legs. Her body from the waist down was covered in thick pink scars, her feet looked as though the toes were fused together. The skin beneath the scars had a slightly blue tinge from lack of blood circulation.
When Rosette slipped out of her clothing, Envy was shocked at the very notion at first until he saw the actual scars on her legs. He immediately figured out that what they were doing now was more of a routine than that of a sexual nature. The homunculus nearly paled, honestly horrified by the sight of her legs.
"See anything, Roy?" His sister asked quietly, even though Roy had her right foot in his hand.
The older sibling scowled upon seeing distinct marks on the skin that weren't there previously. "You have sores," he announced.
Rosette sighed. "Not again... Damnit... it's those new boots." She shook her head. "You know I can't feel anything down there." Her lips tightened. "Let me guess, flat or heel?"
"The heel," Roy answered, still holding onto the foot as he looked for more possible sores.
"I'm not surprised... and they are going to get worse since being barefoot is not an option..." Rosette told him.
"Of course not…" Roy agreed with a sigh.
"Check my other foot, then I'll roll over so you can check my butt again..."
Envy looked at the sores on the woman's feet when Roy held them up towards the window. He then looked at Rosette's face before realizing that she had no intention to let the sores heal. 'She's keeping her feet in shoes to make sure no one else sees any part of her legs...' he thought sullenly.
Rosette sighed. "How are you holding up? Need to puke yet?" She asked calmly.
"I think I'll manage," the older man replied, putting the other foot down. "You can roll over now."
The redhead did so in silence with a bit of squirming, pillowing her head on her arms. "You really dislike Mark, don't you?"
Just hearing the name made the colonel snort. "I don't trust him," he remarked bluntly before beginning to look at her backside and legs.
"He's been a good friend." She replied calmly. "You know he wouldn't do anything to injure me or let me get hurt."
Roy fell silent for a moment before replying, "You might think I'm just being a paranoid brother, but he honestly just rubs me the wrong way. He may seem like a great guy, but I think there's some ulterior motive to his good behavior..."
"We are just friends Roy. It's... nice... to dream of romance, but it will never go further than a pleasant dream, Roy. You know that better than anyone." Her grey eyes filled with tears as she pressed her lips together. "By Ishballan law, I am ruined for marriage. Besides... I know he won't stay... He'll take one look at my scars and..." Rosette swallowed hard as she shoulders shook. "No, the dream is enough."
The older man heard how her voice grew quiet as she spoke and looked up at her head. He could tell that she was close to crying even if he couldn't see her face. "Rosette..." he murmured. As much as he wanted to comfort his sister with promises of not ending up alone, he knew that it wouldn't do much good.
She took a harsh breath. "I won't ask for anything more then friendship from him, Roy. The time in this house will be nothing but a pleasant dream to remember when he's moved on to a woman who can give him what he deserves. It would be cruel to ask him to stay once he learns the truth, to watch the horror replace the caring in his eyes every time he sees me... It would kill me." She shook her head slowly. "You only hurt this body Roy, but putting Mark- or anyone I cared about- in that position would kill my soul..."
Roy sighed, shaking his head. "Then, I guess, you're just going to have to continue hiding this from him." The last thing he needed was for his sister to become like a soulless doll.
"I know Roy, and I love him enough as a person that I'll hide it for as long as I can. He'll never know our secret, Roy. Scar won't tell anyone." Rosette let her head drop. "All I can do is just enjoy this dream until I wake up."
The older man returned his attention to her legs and placed her robe on her hand after rising to stand. "You can put your clothes back on now, I found nothing else alarming."
"No sores on my butt this time?" She asked, trying to look over her shoulder and flinched.
"No," Roy assured her. He decided not to address her other words, knowing that she wouldn't change her opinion any time soon.
"I hate to ask Roy, but can you please help me shower again before Mark comes back? I've been giving myself sink baths, but I must smell ripe..."
The colonel nodded his head. "I can do that if you need it."
Rosette let him carry her to the bathroom, hugging him gently. "It was a long time ago, brother. Don't cry."
Envy watched the scene with wide eyes, never knowing that the girl carried so much on her plate. He wondered what she had done to become ruined for marriage but knew he couldn't very well ask her. After the two left his sight, he growled in annoyance. 'Why the hell does she have to deal with so many problems like this?' he mentally thought.
When they came back twenty minutes later, Roy carefully helped her dress and bandage her feet before he slipped them into her worn slippers. She let him brush her wet hair to compose himself before gently pushing him to the door. "You should go. Mark wouldn't understand if he found you in my room considering I just took a shower and you are damp too." The redhead managed a smile. "He should be back soon and I like to have a snack waiting for him when he does."
The older man shook his head, relenting. "Fine." He honestly didn't understand how Mark would assume anything negative considering that they were siblings, but he digressed. "I'm going to hate leaving you alone with him, but if I must, I must..." he replied, knowing that she wanted to act out her dream to the fullest.
Rosette hugged his waist before rolling out of the room. "I wish you'd settle down brother. You aren't getting any younger!" She grinned as she headed towards the kitchen to slice some fruit for a salad.
"Yeah, yeah..." Roy grumbled. He followed her into the kitchen and couldn't help but smile, her happiness ebbing off on him.
Humming she sliced up the fruit, when she head the door shut, Rosette's face lit up. "Welcome back, Mark, You have perfect timing! I just finished making a fruit salad, would you like some?"
Just as Roy turned on the knob to the back door, Mark entered the kitchen. He raised his eyebrow at the colonel's presence, pretending to act as if he had no clue the man was there the entire time. "...Colonel Mustang?"
"He was just leaving, Mark." Rosette said calmly, smiling at Mark as she tossed the salad a little more before she repeated her question. "Would you like some?"
Roy almost flinched before realizing that it shouldn't have been him that was embarrassed that he was caught in the house.
Mark noticed how the man froze and inwardly snickered. Walking over to Rosette, he replied, "I've love some," before leaning over to kiss her on the cheek. The kiss was much like one a husband would give a wife upon returning home from work.
Roy, who was by then completely facing the pair, narrowed his eyes at Mark's actions.
"Would you retrieve the bowls and forks please?" She asked keeping the mask fully in place as she smiled at him. "What were you up to today?"
"I had to go run some military errands," Mark replied as he gave her the items she asked for.
She laughed. "I would ask Roy to join us, but he can't be away too much longer before he's missed." Rosette smiled at Roy. "I'm sure Lieutenant Hawkeye is taking good care of you though, Roy."
Roy forced out a cough at his sister's indirect teasing, suppressing his irritation. "I suppose you could say that..."
Scooping out Mark's portion first, she filled his bowl generously before handing it to Mark. "Here you go, Mark." It should have been noted that she gave Mark the lion's portion of the salad as she dished out her own smaller portion.
Mark took the bowl and gave his thanks as he usually did when she gave him food.
Shaking his head, Roy announced, "Well, I'm leaving now. Bye."
"Bye, Roy. Thanks for the study tips. It will save me from throwing that book at the wall," she said simply, spearing a piece of orange with her fork. "Love you."
"Love you, too," the colonel replied before saying his farewells and walking out of the door.
Mark took a bite out of his salad after Roy left, inwardly amused that he knew that Rosette was lying to him about the reason her brother showed up. "This is really good," he complimented with a smile after swallowing.
After Roy left, Rosette smiled sweetly. "I'm glad you like it. I know you don't like heavy foods for lunch and I wasn't sure if you'd already eaten or not."
"I didn't eat, actually," Mark replied. "So I'm very grateful for this."
"Would it be easier if I packed a lunch for you in the mornings for you to take with you? That way you wouldn't have to wait until you got back to eat," Rosette murmured shyly. "It's no trouble, Mark."
Try as Envy might, he could not see anything but the mask that Rose was wearing to hide the heavy burdens that she kept hidden from everyone. For the first time in his life the homunculus felt pity and could not find it in himself to brush her off as just another human. Now that he knew what she was hiding inside he actually felt the need to do more than just play act. It wasn't a matter of keeping to his cover; he wanted to give her this dream of a happy life to make her feel as though she really was a wife if only for just a short period of time. Realizing that he had spaced out, he blinked and summoned a winning smile to offset the concerned look on her face. "Thank you, Rosette. That was very thoughtful of you. I would like that very much. I can see why your brother always take you for granted." Still smiling, he rose from his seat and took his empty bowl and fork to the sink so that she wouldn't have to. Finding himself in a strangely thoughtful mood, he took the glass from the cabinet and poured out some juice that he had gotten from the refrigerator. Presenting the glass to her with a flourish and a grin as he set in front of her, he took her empty bowl and fork. "Drink up, Rosette. You must be very thirsty."
The quiet redhead smiled sweetly in thanks at Mark before taking a sip of fruit juice. "This is very good, you must have gotten it fresh the last time you were out."
He smiled over his shoulder as he watched her enjoy her drink. "I'm glad you enjoyed it, Rosette. Would you like some more before you go back to your studies? You've been studying very hard lately. Are you going you going to take a break after dinner?"
Still smiling, the redhead shook her head. "Sorry, Mark. I have a lot of studying to do. I haven't made that much that much headway today. Even with Roy's help, the book I am currently studying with is very difficult. Sometimes I wonder if the Führer gave me the hard books on purpose..."
This was not the answer Envy wanted to hear. For just a moment, the mask slipped and it was a very good thing that he was facing away from Rosette. The homunculus briefly allowed himself the luxury of strangling his 'older brother' in thought before taking a deep breath to control himself. "Would you please take the night off? I miss spending time with you. One night will not make a difference in your studies, Rosette.'' He added a note of pleading in his voice in order to get his way.
After finishing her drink, Rosette rewarded Mark with an odd look as she brought him her empty glass. "Mark... are you lonely here?" There was real concern in the redhead's voice.
Envy turned his head and give her a slight smile as he took the glass from her. ''A little bit, yes. You might not believe me, but I but I don't have many friends around Central. I simply miss being around you and being able to talk to you during the day. You've been working very hard lately and I don't want you to burn yourself out. Nobody says that you have to take- and pass- the alchemy exam on the first try.'' He turned up the brilliance of his smile. ''To be honest, this house is really quite comfortable. I don't mind being here with you. You won't do either of us any favors if you burn yourself out trying to pass this exam on the first try, if anything else, you will guarantee your failure because you will be too tired to concentrate.''
The redhead looked thoughtful as she considered this. ''I didn't realize I've been neglecting you. That was not my intention. While I agree with you that this house is wonderful, the fact that I am a virtual prisoner in here does not do either of us any favors. I also didn't realize that I was working so hard that I caused you to worry about me. If you truly think that having a night off would be in my best interests, I will consider it."
"Please do. I will be looking forward to spending some quality time with you tonight." Mark turned off the tap and wiped his hands on a dishtowel before turning to face her. "I'll even bring home dinner tonight. My treat, I promise."
Rosette's eyebrows went up in surprise. "Wow, you must being a very good mood today, Mark. Is there a special occasion that I've forgotten about?"
The question made the homunculus smile. "No, not yet anyway. We can make one up if you'd like."
Now both eyebrows went up and Rosette looked at him as though trying to figure out what he was up to. "Mark... are you sure you're okay? You didn't stop anywhere before coming back?" Clearly she was asking herself if he was on something and was making a more serious move in their 'relationship' while under the influence of it.
Mark only continued to smile. "I'm completely fine," he replied. "Do I need a reason to want to spend more time with you?" he added in a teasing tone.
She blushed and shook her head. "No... of course not." giving him another smile, she quickly changed the subject. "What were you thinking for dinner?"
The soldier grinned, giving her a wink. "It's going to be a surprise." He then blinked, acting as if he suddenly remembered something. "And it'd be great if you could dress up a bit more than usual... it might make the night a bit more interesting, wouldn't you think?"
Rosette looked dumbstruck and blurted the first thing that came to mind. "I only have one dress though..."
Mark almost laughed at her reaction. He was greatly amused that for the first time, he seemed to truly catch her off guard. "That's fine with me."
Shaking her head, the redhead rolled out of the room, looking as though the world had flipped upside down around her and she was still trying to figure out exactly what happened. Clearly, Envy had won this round and left Rosette confused and at a loss as to what her next move should be.
Later on that night, Mark returned to the house with a bag of food for them. He set out the packaged food and the silverware before making the table look more presentable for a romantic environment. While he did this, his thoughts floated back to the sight of Rosette's legs. 'That damn Colonel was the one who did that to her legs!' Envy inwardly growled. 'He's the only one in the military with abilities to use fire like that! What the hell is Pride thinking? Rosette shouldn't be going into the military! She should be kept as far away from the military as possible!' Envy continued. He shook his head, deep in thought. As much as he hated to admit it, he wanted to do anything he could to protect Rosette and keep her out of harm's way.
"Mark?" Rosette's quiet voice broke the silence. "Sorry to keep you waiting." The bracelet he had picked out for her gleamed on her wrist as she rolled into the room. She was wearing the same dress that had made Envy nearly drool at the ball.
Mark blinked out of his stupor before entering into another one. Just like before, upon seeing Rosette in the jaw-dropping dress, he had to mentally smack himself to get himself to speak again. "You look just as beautiful as the last time I saw you in that dress... Perhaps even more so..." he complimented with a smile. He waited until she moved to the table before taking a seat across from her. "I hope you like what I bought for us."
Blushing, Rosette took her seat. "The roses are beautiful." She said, eyeing the vase of fresh full-blooming roses to one side of the table.
"I'm glad you like them," the soldier replied. "I wasn't sure if you would or not."
"Roses are my favorite and the easiest for me to work with depending on what I'm doing." She smiled and stroked one of the flowers gently.
"Then my guess was right," Mark replied with a relieved smirk.
Smiling, Rosette turned her attention on Mark. "What made you want to join the military, Mark?"
"Hmm..." the older man mused out loud before answering. "I think I joined the military for various reasons..."
She nodded. "Roy put me in the military so that I could get a job at the Central library when it is rebuilt, I think he also wanted to keep an eye on me."
Mark tried his best not to narrow his eyes at the mention of the colonel. He was still upset over what had happened to her legs. "Well, considering how much you like writing and books, it's not surprising... Central Library has everything you'd want."
"Yeah, but only military has access to it though. Roy doesn't like me in uniform but he says it safer than leaving me to my own devices." Her lips curved with a smile. "I think he still sweats when he thinks about my last visit."
"What happened then?" Mark couldn't help but ask.
"I nearly gave everyone in Central a nervous breakdown trying to 'help' everybody. Fortunately the Führer happened to be out of town, otherwise it would have been a real stinky mess." She shrugged. "I think that was why everyone was so quick to give me something- anything- for me to do lest I decide to come up with something on my own."
The older man chuckled at her description. "I wish I could have seen that..."
"Yeah, Roy said cleaning up bombs would have been easier!" Rosette snickered and took a bite. "This is wonderful!"
Mark took a bite of his own share of food and nodded in agreement. "It is," he replied. "I used to stop by the restaurant a lot."
Rosette looked to be enjoying herself as the meal went on. "Have you ever considered leaving the military? Or is it a lifetime commitment for you?"
The older man sighed. "I honestly don't know what I'd do outside of the military," he explained. "Believe it or not, but I'm not skilled in many things outside of my duties."
"It's never too late to find something new." The redhead pointed out. "Life is about learning something new everyday. The day you stop learning is the day you stop living in the truest sense of the word."
Mark found himself smiling at her words. "I suppose you have a point there," he replied. He fell silent for a few moments, running the words over in his mind before deciding to ask, "What's with your use of alchemy?"
She paused with a forkful halfway to her mouth. "As far as what exactly?"
"I mean... why did you start learning it?" he pressed.
The light in her eyes dimmed as her thoughts turned inward. "You could say it was peer pressure. Roy is really popular since he's in the military, so it kept getting shoved at me until I finally gave in and went with the crowd."
'That's odd... I would have assumed that she would have learned alchemy before she even met Mustang. Is she just that smart or is she lying about it?' Envy pondered to himself as he listened to her explanation. "I see..." he murmured.
Rosette took another bite of her meal, her eyes had a thoughtful gaze in them now. "What about you, Mark? Have you ever had an interest in alchemy? They say that everyone in the military that has equal value, but seems to me that state alchemists appear to enjoy a lot more privileges than the average soldier. What do you think?"
Mark flashed a small, almost bitter smile. "If I said I never thought about what it would be like to have alchemy, I would be lying," he admitted.
"They say anyone can use it if you study hard enough. At least, that was what I was always told when the alchemy books were shoved at me," the redhead pointed out.
The older man let out a small laugh. "I'm not sure if I have the patience to study a lot of books."
"If you really love it, you'll learn quickly. Everyone has their own path to find in life, and no one can be forced to walk down another's path. It has to be a choice made with your free will and the full knowledge of everything that it means..." Thoughtfully, she played with her food. "I think that's what most people don't understand. It's not about what fate decides, it's what we decide to do with the fate given to us..."
The soldier's eyes nearly widened. Within the man's mind, Envy was in shock by her words. 'That's something I haven't heard before...' he admitted to himself. Then, before he could stop himself, he asked, "Hypothetically speaking, what if you feel trapped within the fate that's been chosen for you by someone else? If you go off of a certain course, you could get killed by the person who set that fate for you..."
Rosette shook her head slowly. "Again, you have to choose to walk down that path, Mark. There may come a time when you have to do something that you don't want to do, but there are ways to make that path your own if you really want it. If no, then don't be shy about saying no and striking off on your own. I think that sometimes people don't want go on their own path because there is no guarantee that there won't be pain or that you'll have a happy ending."
Envy inwardly frowned. There was a time where he hated all humans and would have laughed as they all fell over dead. But now, he wasn't so sure. He had actually found a human that he didn't think was worth killing.
Rosette took a drink, lost inside herself far enough that she didn't seem to notice her companion's continued silence as she spoke in a quiet voice. "People look at me and think that I'm weak, they told Roy that it was a mistake to keep me, some- his own family even- call me his little pet. If there is anything I have learned from my life, it's that there are many different kinds of strength that make up this world. The army doesn't see that, they think that their way is the only way and whoever is different deserves to be crushed."
'It's a simple matter of who's useful and who's not... Once you stop being useful to our kind, we kill you...' Envy thought to himself, now questioning the madness to the homunculi's methods. "The military isn't perfect...Though, I think a lot of the people who signed up for service knows that when they signed the papers."
"There are also those that know, but they don't care. They don't care about anything that doesn't suit their needs and plans," Rosette pointed out.
"There is that, too..." Mark agreed with a nod before taking a bite out of his meal.
"I find it sad that those people will never really know happiness, inside they are just hollow, living from moment to moment but completely groundless."
"Yeah..." Mark sighed. "I suppose it is sad.."
The redhead took the next few bites of the meal lost in her own thoughts a world away from the romantic mood Mark had created. "Do you have regrets, Mark?"
Envy was also lost in a world of his own as he rolled her words over in his head. 'Should I take a chance for once?' he asked himself. It took him a few minutes to even realize that she had asked him a question. "Some, I suppose..."
"Have you learned from them? It is natural to have regrets, but the true test is learning from the mistakes you've made in the past so that you won't make them again in the future."
'It's a bit difficult to learn lessons from them if you didn't even think you had any until a minute ago!' the homunculus mentally snapped. He fell silent for a few moments more before replying, "Some of them, yes. Some of them, no."
"It's never too late to start." Rosette said with an encouraging smile. "As I remember it, the first step is always the hardest no matter what the task."
It took all of Envy's willpower not to snort at her reply. 'I'm pretty sure you won't think the same way if I told you the truth...' "What about you?" the young man raised his eyebrow. "Do you have any regrets?"
"I always have regrets, but I can't change my past; only my future. Roy's already said that I'll be welcome to stay in Central for as long as he is, which means I won't have to face the family's smug remarks again if I pass the exam..." She shrugged. "Roy's still not happy about my taking it. He hates my alchemy."
Envy knew she had a point. It wasn't like him to feel almost... guilty for something he had done. It was beginning to drive him crazy. "Why is your alchemy different?" he then decided to ask.
"Because I don't believe in forcing a change. I try to make it at natural as possible, I might ask the rose to do something, but it's up to the living force inside the plant to decide how to go about it. Also, I only use my blood, it allows the process to be more personal, and I have more force behind the energy used. Personal power combined with the natural abilities."
Envy nodded his head, taking in the information. Though he was contemplating the unthinkable, he knew that eventually the truth would come out.
After dinner, the redhead smiled and helped Mark clear the table. "That was a wonderful meal, Mark. Thank you very much."
The soldier gave her a half-smile, still troubled by his thoughts. "You're welcome."
Smiling, she took a rose at random from the vase and put it behind her ear. "You look uncomfortable. Would you like to change out of your suit, Mark?"
The young man shook his head. "It's not that," he murmured, his voice giving away how troubled he looked.
Rosette gave him an odd look. "Should we go sit down in the living room then?"
The soldier gave no reply and led her into the living room. However, he didn't sit down and instead took a step back from her, almost expecting her to attempt to kill him after he would tell her the truth. "Rosette..." he began. "As cliché as this sounds, I'm not who you think I am..."
Now Rosette looked lost. "Mark?"
Upon seeing the look in her eyes, Envy almost backed out of telling the truth. In order to make himself gain the strength he needed, he moved toward her and picked her up out of her chair and placed her on the couch. He gave her a small embrace before backing away again. "...My name is not Mark," he admitted in a serious tone.
Shock and horror filled her face. "You lied... to me? To the Führer?"
Envy almost snorted but figured out it would put him at more of a disadvantage if he ousted Pride as well. "Yes, you could say that," he replied.
She shook her head. "I don't... understand. Why?" Rosette looked very hurt and fear flickered in her grey eyes as her fingers twitched nervously, but wasn't yet going for the rose in her hair.
"There's a lot of things about me that you don't know," the homunculus continued. "There was a plan made out for you by the people I work under, but I've decided to abandon their ambitions."
Her eyes went wide with fear. "Why me?"
The homunculus's eyes narrowed slightly. "You don't understand how powerful you are?" he almost snapped. "Besides that, you have ties to one of the people the group I work under calls a 'sacrifice'."
The girl's face was drawn white and her heart pounded. "I still don't understand." Clearly all of this was a complete shock to her systems as her hands were shaking.
Envy hated the look of fear in her eyes and let out a deep breath. Without warning, he moved forward and captured her lips in a kiss. He grabbed a hold of her arms, knowing that she would most likely harm herself with the thrashing that would ensue. While he continued to hold her, he concentrated his energy on transforming himself, going back into his regular homunculus form.
When he pulled his lips away, she was shaking. "What are you? Who are you?" she whispered as tears filled her eyes. "Why did you do this to me? What have I done to you that makes you want to hurt me like this!"
Still unsure of if she'd use her alchemy against him, he kept her arms in his grasp. Though his original form looked intimidating, the guilt was now evident on his face. "To those who I work under, you're just a chess piece in their game. All humans are," he murmured quietly. "I think you've met another like me before."
"The spear lady who..." She gulped hard.
Envy nodded. "Her name is Lust," he said, confirming her suspicions. "My true name is Envy."
"The one who thinks he's entitled to everything, always hating people because they have what should be his." Rosette whispered in Ishballan, sounding as though quoting a lesson from long ago.
"I suppose that's what my personality usually is like..." Envy murmured with a bitter smirk in place, telling her that he could understand what she was saying. "And I suppose it wouldn't hurt to tell you something else..."
Looking visibly startled, her eyes went even wider but she said nothing else.
"I was the first homunculus ever created," he admitted.
Rosette slumped back into the couch, even more horrified than before, her mind a humming blank.
Believing that she wouldn't do much to him, he finally released her arms and took a step back. "If you want to hurt me, it won't do much but possibly make you feel better," he murmured. "I can't die by normal means."
"Please... go away." She managed to whisper. "Just... go away..."
Since Envy had shown his true form to her, he was no longer afraid to hide a lot of his true emotions. His eyes narrowed at her as his temper flared. Didn't she understand how much danger she would be in if he left her? Deciding not to mention it just yet, he moved forward to grab onto her shoulders and shake her slightly. "Damn it!" he growled. "I love you, Rosette! I am not going to leave you!"
"How in the name of Ishballa Almighty am I supposed to believe anything you say now! I just learned that everything you told me until now was a lie... That the man I was starting to-" She had to take a deep breath and dash away more tears from her eyes to steady herself before continuing, "care for never existed at all!"
Envy sucked in a deep breath, forcing himself to steady his temper. "I understand that..." he murmured in a quieter voice. "Though, if I didn't care for you, I would have continued to lie to you up until you'd find yourself in an even more dire situation." He couldn't bring himself to mention "death" to her.
"Death doesn't frighten me, Envy. I know where I will go when I die." Rosette replied. Unconsciously, she rubbed her unfeeling legs. "I was promised." The last part was a murmur.
The homunculus shook his head. "It's not just your death that you should be concerned about," he replied. "It's what your possible death would cause for other people..."
Thinking for a moment, the redhead shuddered. "The city would no longer exist for one..."
Reaching down to grab onto one of her hands, Envy asked, "Why do you stay with your brother?"
"He's all I have left. There's nowhere left for me to go." She said simply. "My real home no longer exists, and even if I looked, I would not be accepted among my true people." Closing her eyes, she sighed. "Only the stricter sects survived the Führer's purge."
Envy frowned slightly. That was unfortunate. He never really cared about the carnage that happened in Ishbal until he cared about a person who was directly affected by it.
"It's odd, even after all this time, I still feel like a foreigner here. Even the food is strange to me at times," Rosette admitted.
The homunculus paused, now going through future plans of what he'd do with her assuming that he'd survive Dante's wrath. It was the first time he had ever betrayed their plans so he was certain that the punishment would be more than just a slap on the wrist.
Rosette looked at him. "What?" She didn't like the odd way he was looking at her, and she instinctively raised her left hand to the rose in her hair.
Once he noticed her hand go towards her rose, Envy blinked out of his trance immediately. "Well, seeing as that I'm not Mark, I'm wondering what you're going to tell the Führer. It's obvious that he doesn't want you living by yourself in this house," he pointed out.
"Well I can't lie to him!" She snapped back. "Between Roy and the Führer, I'm going to have my hands full!" Rosette frowned. "At least he doesn't have a tower, Ishballa be praised... but I'll be locked away regardless..."
Envy almost snorted. 'You'd be surprised...' he sarcastically thought to himself.
The homunculus fell silent again until a light bulb went off in his head. His eyes widened at the words that flashed across his mind. "...Rosette," he began, looking at her in earnest. "How do you feel about marriage?"
The redhead's mouth fell open. "Say what?" She gasped. "You can't be serious after everything that's happened!"
Envy didn't hesitate, moving forward and kissing her again. Once he pulled away, he murmured, "I've never been more serious in my life. Despite how I lied to you about my identity, the feelings I've developed for you are real."
She still looked surprised and she swallowed hard. "I-" The word came out a nervous squeak.
The homunculus stepped back slightly to give her space to breathe. "Rosette..." he trailed off, waiting for her full answer.
"I- This is confusing..." She said, rubbing her temples with her fingers. "Is it even allowed? Ishballa never spoke about this..."
"What do you mean?" Envy pressed.
"I know Ishballa's laws about marriage to another outside the faith, but this..."
Envy sighed, knowing that not much else would be accomplished for the night. Reaching forward, he picked her up gently and placed her back into her chair. "I'll let you think it over," he told her as he went behind her to wheel her to her bedroom.
"You're not sleeping with me." There was panic in her voice again.
"Of course I won't," Envy snorted once they entered the room. "Though, I'm not leaving you alone either..."
"You enter my bathroom while I'm in there and my roses will turn you into a shish kabob." She warned as she put her hands on the wheels to roll away.
The homunculus almost cringed at the mental image. Even though he wouldn't die, the momentary discomfort he'd feel would be very inconvenient to go through.
Seeing that he was going to stay put, she went into the bathroom and shut the door behind her. A second later Envy heard the lock being thrown on the door. She might have allowed him to stay, but clearly Rosette did not trust him.
Envy leaned against the door of the room and frowned as a thought came to mind. 'If I did something else stupid, she might end up draining herself dry by trying to attack me...'
A good ten minutes later, the redhead reemerged wearing a robe over her brown pajamas, there was a strangely determined calm on her sweet face. "Since you told me your secret, I think you should know mine too."
The homunculus blinked. "And what would that be?"
Taking a deep breath to steel herself, she kicked off her slippers and pulled the pant legs of her pajamas up as high as she could, showing Envy the damage to her legs close up.
Despite how he already knew about her legs, the homunculus's eyes widened at seeing the legs from so close up. Now, every individual scar left behind was visible to him. He was also surprised that she would tell him this secret despite seeing his true form. "Rosette..." he breathed out.
"The scars go a lot higher than this, but it would be unseemly to show them to you. Go ahead and touch them. You can't hurt me."
Envy moved forward hesitantly and reached forward to touch one of the scars that went across her left knee cap.
She didn't even twitch as Envy poked at it. "It was a long time ago. I have no feeling from the waist down."
"Oh..." the homunculus murmured, finally drawing his hand away.
"I was the only person in my village that survived the attack."
Envy frowned at this. "That's unfortunate," he commented.
"My mother and father both died in the attack." Rosette looked sad. "I still don't know why I lived. By all rights, I should have died."
"How did you manage to survive?" Envy couldn't help but ask.
"I dragged myself out of the house and collapsed at Roy's feet." She covered up her legs again, resting her ruined feet on the foot plates.
The homunculus almost raised his eyebrow. Why didn't Mustang kill her at that moment if he was the one who harmed her family? Was it guilt?
"The only thing I could remember was the horror on his face." Rosette toyed with her bottoms. "Though even that memory is rather unclear. I really don't remember much aside from waking up in the hospital and hearing foreigners fighting over my head."
"I'm guessing that he wasn't interested in killing Ishbalans like a lot of other soldiers were..." Envy murmured.
Rosette rolled her chair over to the bed and neatly pulled the covers down. "I wouldn't know, we don't talk about it." Her tone was emotionless, and she got into bed with a bang of her knees. "Nice set of bruises... they'll fade just in time." She muttered.
The homunculus was intrigued at how she reacted to getting new bruises. Of course, since she couldn't feel anything from the waist down, it made sense that she wouldn't really care as much.
Pulling her legs up in the bed with a bit of wiggling, the effort clearly exhausted her, considering how hard she was panting for air by the time that she managed to get her useless legs on the bed. "Bed's too big..." She managed to get out when she rolled over to face him. Taking off her glasses, she put them and the rose in her hair on the bedside table. Covering up, she sighed. "Tired now..."
Envy exited the room momentarily before coming in with a chair so he could sit down beside the door and across from her bed. "Then sleep..." he replied. He wasn't going to leave her anytime soon.
It turned out that Envy could have saved his breath, as she had already snuggled in and passed out. She was exhausted mentally as well as physically from the long day, and clearly Envy's secret hadn't helped anything. Within ten minutes of sleep, the lines of strain and worry Envy had put on her face had faded and the redhead looked more like a curled up child in her parents' bed.
The homunculus leaned back in his chair and sighed. He knew that once his so-called "mother" found out about this, he would hear an earful from her. All he could do was enjoy what was left of his freedom before this mistake of his caused him to be imprisoned at Dante's side for constant surveillance. As he continued to watch Rosette sleep, his mind drifted off to what she would look like in a wedding dress. Despite how much he wanted to deny his feelings for her, he knew that it couldn't be done. Either way he looked at it, she would soon figure out that her best option for her own safety would be to marry him, assuming that he didn't get killed beforehand.
Rosette frowned and shifted in her sleep. Curling up tighter, she muttered something quietly. "Almighty Ishballa, god of all things, is this what you wish of me?" It sounded as though she was having a conversation in her sleep.
Envy blinked, hearing the words. 'I wonder what she's dreaming about...?' he thought to himself.
As she slept, she became silent but kept moving around, tossing and turning as though her dreams were just troublesome as when she had gone to bed. It seemed as though even in her sleep she never got any peace from her torments, and Envy's big reveal hadn't helped matters at all.
While Envy watched her sleep, he noticed that a particular object on her wrist was gone. Her bracelet. His eyes widened ever so slightly, surprised that such a minuscule thing would bother him so much. He stood up straight and frowned, trying to figure out where she had left it last so that he could get it for her.
Figuring that she could have left it in the bathroom, he opened the door quietly so as not to wake her. Giving her one last look before he left, he mentally vowed to ensure that he would do everything in his power to make her realize that his feelings for her were true.