Lily sighed as she leaned back in the trains seat, both seats next to her were empty, their owner's gone off in search of victims or more club members. She already knew it will be a long trip to Raislen even with her two friends. She looked over to her right, glancing at the river that flew right next to the train, it was thin but long and had clear water, many flowers and bushes grew near by. Lily sighed once again, now out of pure boredom. Few more hours and she will be home...Hers and Viktor's home...It was hard to believe he was dead and buried six feet under. Right after the funeral, she spent the day with her boyfriend, Rick. They cuddled up in his bed and laid there in silence as Rick stroked her hair softly. Rick seemed different then usual, probably from the shock of finding his girlfriend tried to kill herself or because his father was looking a job for him, probably going back to trying to become a State Alchemist. Lily did made a list of possible names for Rick, and some...Mary put down as well, but those are too mature for you youngsters. Lily was snapped out her thoughts when Mary's face appeared in front of hers. She was sitting in the seat behind her, her head hanged upside down in front of Lily.
"Hey, hey, Lily! Lookie! Look what one of the passengers made for me!"
Mary fell forwards and landed in the seat besides Lily. Plopping down a couple of colorful items, she sat there with a innocent face. Lily looked down in her lap and saw hand puppets...of Roy, herself, Leo, Mary, a clown, and what looked to be an alligator. She raised an eyebrow at her friend, unable to think of what to say.
"It's hand puppets! Leo and I are going to perform a puppet show with them! What to see my first act!"she asked
Without waiting for an reply, Mary grabbed the Roy Puppet and the Mary one. She began to perform in different voices.
ROY: Oh! I'm so lonely! I wish someone would love me!
MARY:(MARY appears out of nowhere) Oh, darling Royakins! I finally found you! I love you with all my heart!
ROY: Then kiss me!(The MARY and ROY start kissing)
LILY:(Looks angry) HEY! Lay off my boyfriend!
(MARY and LILY fight like crazy! An alligator appears out of nowhere and attacks ROY by bitting at the neck)
"And then the alligator goes 'Rah, rah, only I will have Roy...' and then the clown explodes! I hate clowns!"Mary finished
Lily looked shocked and speechless at her friend only to find her voice a few minutes later,"...I don't know what to say to that, Mary. I'm confused and yet...wanting to know what happens..."
"Yeah, it could use some work. But I'm going to make some hand puppets myself soon! Then, 'The Roy Mustang Puppet Hour' will live! Live I said!"
At this, Mary drifted off to reunited with Leo, who was flirting with some female passengers. Lily looked at the puppet of herself and the Roy one, sliding them on her hands, she started to make the Lily one slap Roy around and smiling softly, feeling silly. She put the puppets down and went back to looking out of the window. The two puppets laid side by side, their cloth hands touching each other.
---
Lily sighed as she walked alone on the long, very long road to her house, carrying nearly five bags behind her and one heavy one on her back. Both Mary and Leo went off to their homes to see their family. She wiped her brow from sweat and glanced up at the house, nearly five yards from her. It was the same two story, white painted, flowers under every window, a balcony on the right, and a forest in the back, home she grew up in. Finally, she was at the door, her feet aching as well as her back. Fishing for the key in her pocket, she open the door and was surprised at what she saw. Many empty boxes of pizza, several cans of soda on the floor, some books laying on the coffee table, as well as some stacks of old newspaper.
"If I didn't know better, I would say I have stumble upon Roy's apartment, and Viktor is the neat freak in the family,"Lily sighed, setting her bags down.
As she clean the house, the only real clean rooms in the house were her room, and Viktor's bedroom. She would count the basement but it was locked with a special alchemy circle, thanks to Viktor. She never went in there ever since she could remember. She was too tired to deal with it right now, and maybe for the whole vacation. Finally, after taking out every pizza box and can out, Lily plopped down on the couch, a cup of instant noddles in her hand, she was about to eat when the phone began to ring wildly. Lily groaned and picked herself from the couch and walked towards the kitchen's phone. Picking up the receiver and holding to her ear, she sat on the counter.
"'ello? Marshall residence."she chewed on her food.
"So, it's really you, Lily!"she almost choked on her food once she heard that voice,"I thought I saw you coming from the train!"
"L-Lucius? Lucius Reid?"
"The one and only, unless you know another Lucius Reid."he said
She ran a hand through her hair,"Oh, my God! I haven't seen you or heard about you in the longest time, ever since...well, you know, that night."
He chuckled softly,"Yeah, sorry about that. You just ran before I could a chance to explain myself and then...you ignore me like the plaque since then."
"All is forgiven, it's not in my nature to hold a grudge for like...5 years, 2 months, and 19 days, now could I?"Lily asked, sounding serious
"You have been counting?"
"Maybe,"she smirked inwardly
"So, anyway, I heard you became a State Alchemist, how is that working out for you?"Lucius asked, feeling nervous
"Alright, I suppose. Not much different then normal jobs, besides having to go into action like every month."
"What?"
"Never mind,"
Lily looked up from the phone when she heard the front door bell ring,"Oh, sorry, Lucius, somebody is at the door, gotta hang up now."
"Sure, but can we meet later, like tomorrow at the local Café..say eleven?"he asked
"Yep, see you there!"
Lily smiled as she hung up the phone, jumping off the counter, and walking towards the door. Upon opening the door, her smile disappear as a look of fear appeared and quickly closed the door slam shut. She rested her back on the door, her body shaking.
"Was...that...how...did he...?"her sentence was unclear and mumbled up.
She screamed when he knocked on the window that was right next to her, smiling oddly. She shut the curtains shut, and peered at the other one, seeing him again there. She repeated to shutting the curtains, only for him to appear at the other one. This happen until all of the curtains in the living and downstairs were shut. By this time, Lily was huffing and puffing from running back and forth. Still freaking out, Lily climbed the stairs upstairs, going past her room and out of the balcony attached to her room. She locked the glass panel and leaned herself against the cool glass, sighing in relief. She looked up when she heard someone climbing up the side of the house, the figure almost falling off the edge of the balcony. She gulped and kept her body still as the figure walked towards her.
'This isn't happening...this is happening...!'
"Holy..."the figure breathed,"You know how hard it is to climb vines up a wall?"
Lily open her eyes, not believing what she was hearing and seeing. There, stood in front of her, Roy Mustang, dressed in his military uniform, sounding...like Mary.
"Wha-What's going on?"she asked
Roy...no...Mary...Roary(?) lifted their head up to face Lily,"Oh, sorry to scare you like that, honey. Was testing something out..."
A hand reached up, patting around the neck area until it reached something and started to pull of...skin! In a instant, long, black locks fell down, resting on the back, and a familiar face appeared as they carried a face of Roy. Mary was dressed in military uniform, and looking slightly taller (with elevated boots).
"Can you forgive-
Before Mary could even finish her sentence, she fell down to the the ground, a big bump on her forehead. A smashed flower pot laid next to her. She blinked, rubbing her nasty bump on her forehead, she sat up, starring at the now fuming Lily.
"Ow! What was that for?"
"For scaring me like that! Do you know how scary that was, seeing a smiling Roy outside your window, appearing out of nowhere! I almost had an heart attack!"she yelled
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!"Mary walked on her knees and grabbed Lily's pants leg with tearful eyes,"Don't hurt me anymore, I promise I won't do it again! I was just testing out what Jamie from Central gave me before we left!"
Lily reached for the mask in Mary's hand, lifting to the light, she admire the workmanship on the rubber. She was surprised how one woman could make something like this! it was so real, that it was hard not believe that she was starring at Roy himself. She sighed in defeat, losing feeling in her leg.
"Fine, your forgiven. Just get off my leg!"she yelled
Mary got to her foot and saluted at her friend,"Onto it, ma'am!"
"Stop calling me that!"
She turn and walked back into the house, Mary following her.
"Do you want to see the rest of the costume? I even got the underwear from Roy!"she yelled
"I don't even want to know how you got those!"Lily yelled
---
Lily sighed softly, laying back on the bed beneath her. It was so quiet...so peaceful...she hated it. Even with her friends with her, at least they made noise. Now, the home deadly quiet, only sounds were coming from her breathing and the grandfather clock downstairs, ticking away. She didn't know what to do with a house this big and only herself looking after it. And now, the silence was killing her inside. She was thinking about getting a pet, but that wouldn't work, she would have to bring it back to Central. The only pet she got was as a kid and that was a toad she found out in the rain. She loved it and even called it Warty, until Warty gave her warts of her own. Maybe she would get a goldfish, it was likely to die in less then a month and kept care of itself. She sighed once again, giving up her quest already for finding a pet. Getting up from the bed, Lily got ready for bed.
It was around nine in the morning when Lily woke up. Taking a quick shower, making her hair was brushed, her mouth minty fresh, she walked downstairs for a extremely small breakfast. At ten, Lily finally went to get dress out of her pajamas. Dressing into a white tube top, blue bell bottoms, a white-sheer top, and high heeled boots. Grabbing he purse, she walked towards the town's café. Seeing that she was a bit early, she sat down at one of the tables outside and order herself a cup of coffee. Leaning back in the wire chair, she could feel the hot sun beating at her bare neck while the rest of her body sat under the green umbrale. Lily smiled at the waitress that brought her coffee and slowly sipping on it as she looked around for the red hair man.
"Waiting long?"
Turning her head, she saw, instead of the cute, young boy with the long hair she remember as, there was a very taller and handsome man with short hair. She stopped herself from drooling in front of him, it looked like those years he grown up to look like a model. Getting out her hazy thoughts of him and her together, she gesture with her free hand to the empty chair in front of her.
"Please, sit,"she said softly
He smiled and sat in front of her. Gods that smile! If she didn't have a boyfriend and he wasn't into guys, she would crazy with him in front of her. After he order himself a drink, he was the first one to speak.
"You...look well, Lily."he said
"Likewise, Lucius,"she nearly purred,"I would hug you welcome but I think your boyfriend would get angry at me."
"No, no, we broke up two years ago. We got into a big fight about living together, he was totally against it and I was. He said we were going too far and needed to slow down when we were already thinking about getting married."Lucius said
"Sorry."
"Don't be, he used to take up all of the covers,"he smiled
Lily laughed before calming down,"So, are you seeing anyone?"
"No, looking around really. Mostly hitting the bars but sadly...no one are into guys with red and short hair. If they want long hair, they should have stuck with women. SO, how about you? Are you sharing your love with anyone special?"he asked
"Yep, I have a boyfriend now. His name is Rick Master, he is a bit older then I am but I do like older guys. He was a father in the military, he is like Major General or something."
"Really? Is he cute?"Lucius leaned forward, expectedly.
"Yeah, he has his quirks. Rick has dark hair, a few inches taller then you, and has a huge-"Lily stopped herself from going too far.
"Hey! Don't get any big ideas about stealing my boyfriend, alright! I will fight you for him!"she snapped
He put his hands in defeat,"Relax, I mostly into blonds myself. As they say, 'Blonds have the most fun'."
She smiled,"True, point."
"Are you hungry?"he asked
"Starved."
---
After lunch, Lily and Lucius walked around town. Raislen didn't seem to change since she last left, only things that changes was they made a new ice cream shop which they took advantage of. Taking two cones of three scoops of vanilla, strawberry, and finally chocolate, they walked around the forest area, a playground laid down the hill. They sat down on the bench, looking out to the small children's park.
"So, how are you holding up?"Lucius asked suddenly
"Excuse me?"
"How are you holding up with Viktor's death?"
Lily's face fell as she looked towards the ground for a minute before answering,"I try not to think as him being dead, more of like, he is on a long vacation. I keep getting this feeling that he is still watching me, somewhere. That is stupid of me to say that, seeing as how I saw him die right in front of me. I do miss him, you know? If I don't have feelings for the poor guy, I have no heart! He literally raised me and he is not related to me at all!"
"I'm sorry for your lost,"he patted her on the back,"I did heard that the mayor is thinking about making a statue of him in the city or something like that."
"I can really image a bronze figure of Viktor standing on the park, as kids jumping and playing around it. Though, I hope no one puts spray paint on it."Lily joked
He smiled and looked up at the sky, soon his smile faded and replaced with a frown,"And here I hope this day would be good..."
"What?"
"It's raining..."right on cue, rain began to pour down on them and the rest Raislen.
Lily dropped her ice cream it began to drip on her hand with the rain. She regretted wearing her sheer top when the cold rain started to kick in. The children below them started to run back home and she cursed to herself.
"Crap! My home is nearly an hour away from here and same as yours,"she turn to Lucius
"Good point, maybe we should head towards a store and wait there until the rain stops."
He draped his jacket over her small frame, which she return with a smile. It wasn't much but it was better then nothing. Lily followed him along the path back to town. The rain was getting heavier and heavier by each passing minute. Just as they walked back into town, Lily heard a soft sound behind them, turning around, she was surprised to see a small red fox looking up at them with pleading eyes. Bending down on one knee, she held a hand in front of it, it but it head into the hand and started licking it. She notice one of it's hind legs was beaten and bloody, looking like it got into a fight.
"Aw, poor pup. The rain must have drove him out of his home, and it looks like it got into a fight recently."Lily said
"Let it be, Lily, it would have a family."Lucius said behind her
Lily looked straight at the small fox,"Do you have a family, little pup?"she asked it
It nuzzle it's head in her hand again, with sad eyes,"I guess it doesn't. Poor thing. Lost it's family and almost got killed."she said, stroking it's head
Taking off Lucius' jacket, she wrapped it in the warm clothing and held it against her chest as she stood up.
"Are you going to keep that...thing?"asked Lucius
"I'm just going to follow the Law of Equivalent Exchange. I take this fox, treat it, heal it, feed it, and in return, I have less money in the bank."she smiled
Lucius sighed,"Fine have it your way. Your are so going to repay me for the jacket."
Lily rolled her eyes playfully and followed Lucius back down the road, the small fox sleeping soundly in her arms.
---
Author's Note: Hehe, sorry for the late of update, couldn't think of anything else. It seems Miss Lily has gotten herself a companion as well. Was going for a cat but foxes are so cute! I like the Roy Mask and Mary chasing her down to show her. It does wonder how she got the underwear. Anyway, I didn't give up on this story, I love it! And I got good news for you guys! Ed and Al was stopping by next chapter! Yay! It's going to be fun an exciting! Also, I have an idea for a chapter, coming up soon, that I think everyone would enjoy! Even the mole people. Please review, it keeps the story going!