Woah... We're getting near the end, people! Hoping to end it next chapter or the one after that! But We've got a sequel in mind, so keep your hair straight and your shirt on the right way. xD
o-o So many reviews... You guys really like this thing, huh? xD
Reviews:
Jane Austen Girl: xD Allie's closet is... very weird. It's full of like everything imaginable in the realm of clothes. xD Yesh, he dooooes! o-o Are they familiar? We try to pick something that's either stuck in Our head at the time or fits the chapter.
Bar-Ohki: o-o -feels bad- We're sorry! -cling- Was it really that sad?
amberdark: Four reviews! Wowies! xD You really like it, hm? Here's an update, then.
silver candle: Ugh, wasn't there loads of stuff? And then this one's mostly filler.
GreedxEd: xD Does you feel bad? Aw, why?
PaperDragonfly: Yaoi is luffly! You don't have to be cursed for it!
1. Hrm, not in this one, but they may appear in the sequel, if that shows up.
2. He fills a pair of little skin-colored sacs up with water and puts them in the cups of the corset and prays they don't break. xDD
3. Hrm, Edvy? -doesn't mind incest- Well... it's growing on Us. We like Edvy when Envy's abusive. -meanest person ever-
LoveChild Rosie: xD Innee sad? Yesh! Hanky!
Momma Mustang: Rawr! Cruelty to Edo is wonderful thing! xD We'll trade you updates! Every time Taisa updates a designated fic We'll update the corresponding one! Unless We've got writers' block on said fic. xD Taisa has so muuuuuch. He needs to slow down some! Yessir! Here! xD Did you? -had to get Trisha out of the way- He never gets to sleeps, does he? 'Cept in Roy's lap. xD Yessir!
Dark Mage Makai: Hohenheim's absence isn't really elaborated on, true, but he's off on a hunting trip that may take a year or more. -just needed somewhere to put him- Sorry if you wanted to see him. xD Probably, but We never think of these things beforehand. Sorries! Here you are!
Disclaimer: Don't own it! Song is 'It Ends Tonight' by the All American Rejects.
THE PRINCESS DIARIES
sapphire
The month slunk by without much to say about
it. Edward sank into a bit of depression, and often stayed in bed,
eating little, and lying awake, staring at the ceiling. He didn't even
get up to see Lord Mustang, who called on Allie frequently. Roy grew
accustomed to Rose apologizing, saying that she was sorry, but the
princess would not be seeing anyone today. So it was a big surprise to
him when Allie herself opened the door, smiled at him, and invited him
inside.
He followed dumbly, unsure of what to do, but ultimately seating himself on the bed while Allie paced in front of him. "I've decided something," announced the blonde, and Roy looked at her, tilting his head. She was nuts sometimes, this girl -- depressed one moment, smiling the next. He totally didn't get her, but he supposed it was part of her charm "What've you decided?" He finally decided to reply with a question, since he would rather learn her reason than just sit there stupidly.
"I'm not going to grieve anymore. There's just no point. It's been a month since... since Mama..." She trailed off, rubbing a white glove past her eyes and streaking the silk black. "You know."
Roy grinned, shaking his head and standing to brush away her tears. She looked rather surprised, but he lifted a thumb and brushed the drops of salty water out of the corner of her eyes. "You'll get used to it. You don't have to stop now. She was your mother, you're allowed to grieve for her," he assured her. "Don't worry." He hadn't seen his parents for years, but he didn't mind. They might have been dead by now, but he could have cared less. On the other hand, Allie's mother had been an influential part of her life for as long as she could remember, and it was only now she was losing her. It had to be hard. Hell, and the King had left a few nights before the masquerade ball, or so Roy had heard. There wasn't much left for Allie, who was the only one still residing at the castle. The young lord sighed, pulling the princess into a hug and stroking the back of her head gently. "I'm sorry, Allie. Tonight..."
"I know," she replied, cutting him off. "They're preparing the funeral site. I'm not going to be able to look. After they bury Mama's ashes, they're going to build a cairn over the grave, then mount the tombstone on top, right? It's the first time I've been to a funeral for the Royal Family, since my grandparents died before I was born, but I've seen the tombs. Is that how they do it?"
Roy nodded silently. "It is," he replied. "Will you be at the funeral services?" She really did try so hard to be strong...
"Of course." A spark had ignited in the princess' eyes. Roy thought he might have seen it before in here. "I'll see you there tomorrow."
Roy took this as his cue to leave the room, letting Allie go and stepping to the door. His parting message was, as well, "Of course."
He left the room then. Edward watched him go, sighing. At least then... he'd have someone to hold him.
/Your subtleties -- they strangle me/
The prince went downstairs a little after Roy left his room. Stealing into the kitchen, the boy looked around, then dodged a large hand as the cook's palm came out of nowhere, obviously attempting to land on his head. "Woah!" yelped Edward, gloved hands clutching his little sea of ringlets and squishing them quite effectively. "Sieg! What the hell?!" He swore under his breath. Allie usually had no reason to say 'heck'. He didn't think he'd ever heard her cuss. So it was probably a big for thing for her to do so. "Er... I mean... Sieg, you scared me," he corrected himself. "What're you doing?"
"Don't touch the soup," the burly man told him calmly, going back to his business. Edward stared. Sieg Curtis was a large man, maybe even bigger than Armstrong. He really had no idea why they kept him on, other than his quite fantastic cooking, because he was quite frightening. Nor did he know why they kept...
Sieg's wife.
The prince shivered, even just at the thought of her. She wasn't a large woman, or anything, but she was strong, and hell, he bet she could throw a suit of armor if she decided she felt like it. It wasn't like she wasn't good at martial arts or anything... Izumi Curtis was the master cook in the Royal Kitchen, and Sieg her assistant. She doubled as Edward and Allie's teacher, and had taught them to read, write, and do many forms of math, and after that had come just about everything else.
But it didn't make her any less scary. Izumi didn't care who you were, she'd send you flying. Edward shivered. Hopefully she wasn't here right now... But of course, hope isn't always fulfilled.
"So!" And this time, a pot found itself sitting with a loud CLANG on Edward's head. "So you decided to let that sister of yours run off! Stupid boy! I taught you better than that!" Clang, clang, clang.
Edward whimpered, sinking to the floor to shield what was left of the curls in his hair, but mostly his head. "Ow," he said weakly, and Izumi stood back, glaring at him with dark eyes.
"You fool," she mumbled, extending a hand, which he took gingerly. "Why did you let her go?! Now you're lying to that man, and the entire court, to boot! You're an idiot! He's not going to be happy when he finds out, you know! He thinks you're a pretty little princess, not a grubby prince with the temper capacity of a teaspoon!"
"I'm not little! And besides, I didn't let her leave. She would have left if I'd tried to stop her or not. It wouldn't have mattered what I said, because she'd have left anyway!" Edward folded his arms, glaring right back at his sensei with a look that clearly said 'challenge me and I'll rip your head off'. Not only was he sick of being depressed, he was quite indignant that she was placing the blame on him, so even his immense fear of her was overpowered. But really, he was torn today. It was true. He was lying to Roy, wasn't he? Lying to someone he... loved. He'd realized this a few days beforehand. He, Edward Elric of the 'I'm not into romance so don't try' impressions, was in love with some lord. The court would be overjoyed. Not. He had no problem with loving a man, but the court liked tradition, and traditionally the princess married a suitor she chose, not the prince. And he had to wonder -- would Roy have a problem with it? As soon as Allie returned and traded him back, and he took up his rightful role... would Roy go to Allie? No, he told himself firmly. Roy wasn't like that at all. At least... he hoped not. He supposed he'd have to wait for an answer to that question.
A smack on the head broke Edward out of his thoughts, and he clapped his hand over the quickly-swelling bump. "What the hell?!"
Izumi glared at him. "You never listen, do you?! No excuse..." She rolled her eyes, shaking her head and forcing her many dark braids to swing and clack together. "Anyway. What are you going to tell that man when he finds out about you?"
"I..." Edward swallowed. The inside of his mouth had gone dry. "I'm not sure. I'll figure it out after a little while. Anyway... the funeral... um..."
Izumi nodded, putting the pot she'd hit Edward with down as her expression sobered. "Yes. Are you going to be all right?" Despite her penchant of kicking Edward's ass (she'd hit Allie, but of course, not as much as poor Edward) she was still like a surrogate mother to them, and would show concern if something happened to one of them.
Edward nodded. "Think so," he replied. "I'll see you tomorrow, Sensei."
/I can't explain myself at all/
The rest of the day passed hastily. Edward found himself thinking of the funeral with more and more dread. He didn't want to go see his mother's body be burned to ashes by the flames he himself would set. But it was something everyone seemed to experience, and he was going to be no worse off. "Okay," he said to himself as he sat alone in his sister's bedroom. "I'm just going to go and do it, and that'll be it." Normally, the Prince or the King would set alight the blaze that would consume the body of the Queen, but under the circumstances, because both seemed to be missing, the duty was handed to the Princess. Edward really did not want to, but there wasn't much he could do about it.
"At least," he told himself, sighing, "I'll get it over with. And I'll have someone around." Edward sighed to himself, summoning Rose in to take the damn corset off before climbed into bed and curled up, dreading tomorrow but still allowing it to come.
/And all the wants, and all the needs/
Usually,
Edward was alowed to sleep in for quite a while, but today, Rose shook
him awake. She was wearing a black gown that he assumed was for
mourning, and as she shoved a gown that looked a lot like hers but
fancier toward him, he knew his guess was right. "Up, up," chattered
the girl, but she seemed to be quite exhausted. "You've got to get up,
Ed... big... big day..."
Edward blinked, getting up and pushing Rose down to sit on the bed. She plopped down gratefully. "Kay, fine," he said agreeably. "Help me get dressed, and then I think you need a nap." She nodded, getting back up to retrieve a corset from the closet and fitting the evil little thing around his stomach. When she was done, she fell back onto the bed and promptly fell asleep. Ed sniggered, shrugging as he reached over his shoulder to zip up the gown. He left Rose there when he came back from breakfast. Someone was bound to come up here to clean up a little, some maid, and he was pretty sure she'd be woken up.
The blonde swept out of his sister's room, descending the stairs to the Entrance Hall and then out the door to the grounds.
The middle of the marble landing at the top of the steps had been piled high with massive logs. On the inside lay smaller sticks and twigs which would catch as soon as Edward placed the flame to them. And, on top of all that, lay the queen herself. Her brown hair was twisted into an elaborate messy bun, and she was clad in a simple white gown. Even in death, she was stunning, and the prince fought back another wave of tears. This was truly... the end. Damn his father to the seventh circle of hell, that bastard. A few days before the ball had seen the King ride off to go hunting. He wouldn't be back for months. And durwife had ing that time, hissickened and died. Beautiful, Dad, thought Edward furiously, sighing and standing as tall as he could in front of a sea of subjects. So this... was it.
Everyone dropped to their knees as the remainder of the Royal Family exited the castle and stood by her mother's crematorial mound. No one spoke a word, even the littlest children who didn't understand what was happening. Even they didn't need to be hushed by panicky mothers. Without a word, Rubens stepped up to the princess and handed over a large torch, already burning brightly.
Edward took it. Apparently the bishop, or whatever he was had already spoken, so all there was left to do now was light the flames. He sighed, lowering the torch toward the wood. The peasants looked on, all expecting... what? He sighed, again, then shoved the torch into the stack of wood.
He didn't wait for it to catch.
Without warning, the 'princess' turned, skirts flying out behind him as he dashed back into the castle. In the row of nobles and Royal Servants who stood on the sidelines, Roy Mustang's eyes widened. The princess was -- he had to catch up. He dashed after Allie, to the indignant surprise of the mourning peasants.
She was on her way up the stairs and disappearing down the upper hall when he came into the entrance hall. By the time Roy reached that point, Allie had disappeared into her room. He stepped along the corridor quickly.
Edward sighed, shutting the door and pulling the dress off, working the corset off and with it the 'breasts' (they had been shoving small sacs filled with water into the cups of the corset) off quickly. He pulled off the Rockbells' false skin then, metal limbs gleaming in the light. He was done. Done, done, done. He didn't feel like sleeping with all that finery on, anyway...
And that was where Roy found him moments later, shirt off, facing the door. The blackhaired lord faltered. He'd walked in on Allie -- but it wasn't Allie. It was a boy with long, soft blonde hair that was falling about his shoulders and pained yellow eyes. He spluttered, and Edward stared. "You're --"
"Yeah," said the boy, folding his arms. "Not a girl, I know."
/All I don't want to need at all/
