A/N: Urggh... I'm tired. Sorry it took so long, guys. Lex and I started school on Wednesday. It was not a good three days to say the least. Only 177 left. Anyway, this chapter may have taken a while, but I'm decently proud of it. It's not as funny as most of our other chapters. This one's really important to the story and the next chapter will be even more important. By the way, this one isn't really fluffy. Like, at all. But Benji's in it! And everyone loves him! :D
Special thanks to our reviewers: Shadow (Fire explanation is in this very chapter. ^^ And I feel sorry for both of them too.) and Charlie (Guess what? IT TOTALLY WAS SCAR! :D ...I felt that was necessary. And, hey! We updated! Sorry it took so long. This was a very hard chapter to write, not to mention intense.)
Random Bittersweet Fact #3: Alice's Monday students, Liz and Benji, weren't planned out at all. Lex came up with Liz's personality and I inserted Benji on a whim. They, too, weren't meant to show up more than once or twice.
Disclaimer: We do not own Fullmetal Alchemist. If we did, I would challenge Havoc to a game of Rock 'em Sock 'em Robots.
Alice did not move from her position on the floor until late the next morning. She was too petrified to move. Too petrified to sleep. Too petrified to do more than stare wide-eyed at the floor, cry, and remember. The only reason Alice even moved from her spot in front of the door that morning was due to the fact that someone was knocking upon it. She immediately tensed up. What if it was Roy? She began to hyperventilate until a familiar voice called out, "Miss A? Are you home? Miss A?"
She slowly opened the door to find Benji on her doorstep with a pie in his hands. "Hey, Miss A. My mom went on one of her baking frenzies and told me to give you this pie. It's peach." The boy looked at his piano teacher and immediately demanded, "What did he do to you, Miss A?"
"Wh-What? I d-don't know what you're talking about..."
"Miss A. I know it was his fault that you're crying," the boy said darkly.
"I-It's not his fault, Benji," Alice said quickly, "If anything, this is my fault."
Benji's eyes were still dark with anger as the woman let him inside and took the pie into the kitchen. Once they were seated in the living room, Benji's eyes closed with some sort of hidden pain. "Miss A, I was young when my dad died. But as I was growing up, he always told me that if I ever made a woman cry more than once over something that I did or said, that I didn't deserve her love."
"Benji? How does this apply?"
"Just listen. When Dad left to fight in the war in Ishbal, I saw my mom cry for the first time. I counted that as strike one for him. Mom wouldn't cry so long as the letters kept coming in the mail. But then a letter directly from the military came. That was the second time that Mom cried in front of me. That was strike two. But I couldn't understand something: Mom still loved my dad even though he had caused her so much grief. I hated my father for so long because he caused her so much pain. She always cried. She would never do it in front of me; she was too proud for that. But I could hear her sobbing late at night and whispering his name in the other room. I hated him. I hated him so much that I could have killed him myself if the Ishbalans hadn't gotten to him first." The boy sighed and shook his head.
"But you know what, Miss A? I realized something. No one could do anything to deserve the love that my mother holds for Dad. I'm not even so sure that I deserve her love. What I'm getting at is that Colonel Roy Mustang doesn't deserve to be the one you waste your tears on. But to go with that, he doesn't completely deserve this second strike."
The boy stood and made his way to the door, leaving Alice on the couch, utterly confused. "I'm not sure if I really believe in what alchemists call 'Equivalent Exchange'. Hell, I'm not even sure if I believe in love, to be honest. But what I do know is that you and the colonel had something going right. And though it's not exactly equivalent, it has the potential to be."
With hysterical tears in her eyes, Alice briefly hugged Benji before pulling back with tears in her eyes. "If nothing else, Benji, you deserve free lessons after all you've done for me..."
Benji waved her off with a shrug of his shoulders. "Nah, Miss A. You really just looked like you needed someone to say that to you... Like I said, if I can't help my mom, the least I can do is help you." A wave of sadness washed over his face, and Alice's eyes softened through her tears.
"I'm clearly not good for much other than bawling, but I... can always listen if you want to talk. I understand if you aren't comfortable, but I'm open if you wish."
Benji smiled quietly, saying, "Thanks Miss A. That means a ton; I might do that." Getting up from where he sat, he gave the woman a smile. "I should be getting home, now. I hope you enjoy your pie. If you like it, I'll be sure to have my mom make another."
Roy Mustang moped around his house all of that Saturday. He just didn't understand what he did wrong. Women had been a little uneasy of his alchemical powers in the past, but he hadn't seen anyone so deathly afraid of him since Ishbal. And seeing as how it was Alice that was so afraid, it tore open those old wounds. But, of course, the man would never admit such things.
Roy sighed and ran a hand through his bed head. He didn't bother changing his clothes or combing his hair. It wasn't like anyone would show up to see him; with the occasional exception of Hughes or Havoc. Havoc he could usually scare away, but Hughes...oh Hughes; he didn't leave until he was absolutely satisfied that Roy was alright. It was something that Roy found annoying the majority of the time. On those other rare occasions, the man was actually glad for the company. This was another thing that Roy Mustang would never admit.
Roy continued to wallow in self-pity as he tried to figure out why she ran. Am I really so powerful that she just couldn't take the heat? Roy shook his head and frowned at his awful attempt at a pun. I wonder how much she saw, anyway... Did she see Scar? Did he see that she was with me? Roy's eyes widened slightly at this thought and his grip on the arms of his chair grew stronger. If that bastard so much as thinks of going anywhere near my Alice, I'll burn him to a crisp, put his ashes back together and burn him again! The man forced himself to slow his breathing and think rationally. Why was it that he always got so protective of her? And when exactly did he start thinking of her as his? Roy didn't know. All he knew was that he protected what was his. He protected it with everything he had.
Alice sighed. It wasn't his fault that she was absolutely petrified. To the contrary, he would be one of the few who could help her get over it. In her head she'd been thinking of ways to tell him that, to express to Roy that the fault was hers and that there was nothing he could have done that would have made her react differently.
You see, Roy, when I was little, my parents, my sister, and I lived in a grand house in the country near Central...
Contrary to what Benji had told his piano teacher, he wasn't anywhere near ready to go home yet. It was odd; Alice had grown to be like a second mother to the teen, and he certainly wasn't going to let Colonel Roy Mustang screw things up.
Well, it wasn't grand; but it certainly was nice enough. I lived in it until I was seven, and I loved every moment of it...
A knock came on Roy's door, and the man rolled his eyes. Briefly checking the odds as to how chancy it was Havoc rather than Hughes, Roy swung the door open, bedhead and all, only to reveal a teen taller than himself.
A heatwave came through town, and a drought along with it. In fact, it was sort of like how the weather's been nowadays.
"Benji, right? One of... Alice's students." Roy nodded at the dark-haired boy who stood before him before inviting him in. Benji quickly obliged, staying silent all the time until he was seated and staring the military man straight in the face.
I was a really stupid child, in all honesty. I forgot to blow out a candle that I had lit, and combined with the dryness and heat... our house went up in flames like a match.
"So what brings you here?"
"Miss A. You've been close to her for all this time and you don't even know," the boy said darkly, looking at the floor.
"What?"
Of course, I didn't realize this until I awoke with flames engulfing my bedroom and the rest of the house along with it.
"First the bet, and now this. Honestly, Colonel...How could you not know?"
"For God's sake, kid! What the hell are you talking about?" Roy's voice rose in irritation.
There was nowhere to go. I couldn't hide. All I could do was sit and watch the flames taunt me. I was frozen. Time and Space meant nothing. Only myself and the Flames, slowly becoming one, existed.
Benji looked up slowly and met the colonel's dark gaze. "She's afraid of fire, Colonel. She's scared shitless." Roy's earth shattered slightly as everything slowly came together. The stove. The candle at the restaurant. Obsessively checking light bulbs. How she ran away the night before. It all fit together.
There's not a whole lot to tell after that. Everyone managed to get out. I was the only one injured. I had to stay in the hospital for a few weeks because of the burns. But I hope you can understand now, Roy, why I ran away from you last night. And why I always check my stove. As you can see, it's not your fault. It's just my own stupid fear getting in the way.
Benji looked down at the floor again once he saw that Roy understood. "That's all I really had to say." The boy stood. "Oh, by the way, Colonel, though this one isn't all your fault, it's still strike two. Don't get a third strike, Colonel. If you do, I may have to kill you."
Roy looked up with a slight smirk. "Are you threatening the Flame Alchemist, kid?"
The boy offered a tiny smile. "No. I'm threatening Roy Mustang: the man who made my Alice cry."
"Excuse me? Your Alice?"
"Pardon me, I meant my second mother." And with that, the boy went out into the street. That time, Benji really did begin to head home, hoping he had fixed more wounds and not made any new ones.
Alice sighed, opening her eyes yet again. That indeed seemed like a good enough explanation. Nonetheless, Roy would have to accept it, because it was all she had to give. If he couldn't accept that and forgive her for being an idiot, then there was nothing else that she could do...
The air was growing especially dry that night; frankly, it hadn't rained in far too long a time, in Alice's eyes. The day was coming to a close, and as such she would turn in. It was only 7:30, but... there was nothing else she could do, except maybe go see Roy.
She figured it was too late for that, however.
Roy, on the other hand, had decided to go fix things once more with his Alice (or Benji's Alice, depending on who you asked), despite the hour. It would probably be around eight by the time he got there, and she went to bed early, but he hoped she would be awake still.
As Alice turned off the last of the lights in her house, she watched a single spark flicker before her eyes. In shock, the woman backed away; the spark fell on her favorite piece of sheet music, setting it ablaze, and soon after igniting the table beneath it.
She backed into her closet and closed the door. Maybe the flames would die down?
Alice couldn't help it. She began to cry in fear. First Roy, then remembering the past, and now this. A part of her thought she was dreaming. And she convinced herself so for a long time.
...Until smoke began billowing from under the door and flames began to lick at her toes.
It's happening. Oh god, oh god. This time, Daddy won't save you, Alice. This time... Before the woman could finish that thought, her body slumped over, unconscious.