Winry and Noah had received a call from an elderly woman whose voice would crack several times mid sentence at around 8 pm that night. She had told Noah that she'd be honored to have Winry working for them, although the payment would not be too much, considering the fact that they were already low on sales as it was. Noah had gotten the message through to Winry, who had been taking a much needed bath at that time. Noah smiled, and seated herself on the stool next to the tub, as Winry leaned back, savouring the feeling of warm water blanketing her skin. The two women had somehow begun to talk of Noah's past, as she'd explained that she'd been separated from her parents at a young age, and had begun travel with a group of Roma women who would often either stop by brothels, or offer themselves as servants to gather several coins in order to feed themselves. Then, they'd be back on the road with cloth covering their features, in fear of highwaymen stopping them for reasons Noah chose to keep to herself. She told Winry of one of the women who had gone missing one night on their travels from Hamburg to Bremen. When they had awaked the next day, they hadn't even bothered looking for her. After several minutes on the road, they'd passed by something that looked like a corpse that had been torn from stab wounds, intestine leaking from the body like Sunday porridge. Noah had been young at the time, merely fifteen years of age. When she'd asked the other women about it, none of them answered, or had said anything for that matter for the entire trip. Only silent murmurs of the older women could be heard as near-silent buzzes, either cursing or praying, in which Noah was unsure of. Winry shivered beneath the steaming waters at the thought of constantly being afraid of the world around you, the world you were placed in against your own will. The Roma smiled quietly to herself, feeling blessed by the fact that Winry hadn't placed false judgement on her upon hearing these things. Of course, Noah had left out the whole part on her encounters with the Thule Society, and Winry's own fate as she'd seen it. When Winry asked what had happened to the group of women she'd travelled with, Noah's eyebrows arched into a frown as she began shaking her head, mumbling something that sounded like curses and atrocious words. Finally, the Roma concluded that she'd didn't give a care in the world of what had happened to that group of women, declaring that their existences were better off forgotten. They had apparently travelled together merely for survival purposes. Otherwise, they wouldn't have had second thoughts upon selling one of their comrades for pocket money. Winry shrugged modestly in the bathtub. What more was there she could do? Besides, Noah was probably right. After all, in the times they lived in, those women would live only to forget their own names.
The two chatted until Winry felt the water growing lukewarm, and finally slightly chilly. Noah tossed her a towel, turning her back to give the blonde her privacy. Winry hesitated for a moment after wrapping the towel around her body.
"Noah..." She said. "Do you think you can do something for me?"
"Of course," Noah answered, turning around to face the blonde again. "Go on. Name it."
"Can you please cut my hair?"
Noah blinked, dumbfounded. "But, you have such beautiful blonde hair... It'd be a waste-!"
Winry shook her head, interrupting the Roma. "No, not all of it. It's just grown too long... And the ends are split and lanky... If I'm going to begin working tomorrow, I'd like to look half decent."
Half decent wouldn't even be enough to describe how beautiful Winry would still look with horse dung smeared across her nose and her left arm disfigured into a burnt pretzel, Noah thought. The Roma pursed her coloured lips, nodding slowly.
"I suppose you could do with a little change," Noah lied. "A trim could be due for you. Very well, allow me to fetch my scissors, please..."
Noah returned swiftly with a moderate sized pair of scissors to find Winry sitting obediently on the stool, her back slightly slouched, making her collarbones stick out. The tips of her long blonde hair barely brushed against the floor tiles, where a small puddle had gathered from the wetness of her tresses. Noah positioned herself behind the girl, sitting on the edge of the bathtub. Quickly, she began snipping away piece by piece, cutting about fifteen inches off of what the blonde previously had. Winry hugged the towel tightly around herself, squirming uncomfortably several times. She had begun to sink lower and lower into her seat as the time passed.
"Is everything alright?" Noah asked calmly, continuing snipping away strands of hair off of Winry's head. She stopped only when the blonde seized to answer with her shoulder beginning to quiver slightly.
"Winry?" Noah asked again, concern in her voice this time.
"My body is disgusting, Noah." Winry finally said. Noah blinked in confusion, scanning the woman's body several times from the side and the back. Even seated, Noah could make out the potential shapely figure Winry was capable of, not to mention her breasts were quite large as well. But then, Noah began noticing the bony knees, the sucked in cheeks, the pale complexion of her face, and the tired bags under the blonde's eyes. The Roma gulped, patting Winry's back in sympathy.
"There, there. Your body is fine." Noah whispered. Winry shook her head immediately.
"No, Noah, you don't understand..." she began. "Nothing about me is fine. I want to know things, I want to know everything. I want to be normal, healthy, sure of myself! Why am I so lost in this world?"
Noah listened silently as the blonde sobbed. "I, too, want to be all those things, dear... But I am not."
Winry hiccupped, turning her head to meet the Roma's eyes. Noah smiled back at her.
"You see, Winry... I am a Roma woman, living in Europe, the white man's civilization. I must disguise everything about myself. I am not granted the freedom of living in my own skin. I suffer serious migraines often that could potentially kill me, but I am unable to see a professional doctor to be cured once and for all. However, I'm grateful..." Noah picked up her scissors once again, gathering a thin strand of hair from Winry's head and snipping off a few inches off the bottom.
"I'm grateful that I have a wonderful fiancée who is willing to take care of me. I'm lucky to have Edward and Alphonse as such wonderful... friends. I'm lucky to be able to sit here with you, and tell you these things. But regardless of how grateful I am of these things, there are many things I am confused of, unsure of. There are many things I want to do. But I can't. Because I am me. But I know things won't stay this way forever." Noah smiled, her eyes gleaming with longing. "I will sort things out soon. As will you."
Winry smiled and nodded, wiping away stray tears on her cheeks. "Forgive me, Noah. I suppose there are people out there who have it worse than me."
Noah placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "That doesn't make your problems insignificant."
Winry's smile was left unnoticed by the sound of Kain entering the house. Winry scooted to the side of the bathroom to avoid his eyes falling on her, as Noah arose from her seat on the bathtub, hurrying out of the bathroom and closing the door behind her.
"Leave the hair there; I'll come sweep it up afterwards." She called from the other side of the door. Winry shook her head.
"Ah no it's alright, I'll just do it."
Winry removed the towel from her body, slipping on her undergarments and the comfortable gown Noah had left neatly folded on the counter. Reaching under the counter, Winry pulled out the dusting pan and hand broom. Crouching down to meet the floor in which her dead hair lay, she glanced to the side, meeting her own face in the body mirror. Her hair, that was once down to her thighs and would have been pooled around her feed had it not been chopped off, was now just an inch above her waist. Winry smiled at herself, for the very first time.
The hallways were empty once again, but the silence screamed like a banshee in his ear. He saw nothing, felt nothing anymore. Nothing mattered more to him that finding her again. He would find her, and save her from the cruel world around her. She was safe with nobody but himself, and that was a true fact that nobody in the world would understand, but himself. Even if she resisted, it would not matter. He was doing this for her safety. Because that's what he did.
He kept people safe.
His heels clicked rapidly on the marble tiles, the wind lashing at his face as he walking briskly down the bleak corridors. The dust at the corners of each wall mocked the man he was on the inside, claiming he was no different from them. He didn't care.
He'd keep walking.
His heart pounded violently in his chest, as if trying to break out and stop him from his deeds. He paid no attention.
He'd keep walking.
Finally, he reached the door that kept a gold plaque on the outside, reading 'Archives' in a fancy, calligraphic scrawl. He rummaged through his pockets, his fingers wrapping around a pointed object. Fishing it out, he inserted the key into the keyhole, twisting the knob, and swinging open the door.
He kept walking.
Flicking on the light switch, he scanned the patient filing cabinets for the correct classifications. Once he'd done so, he began skimming through the files towards 'W'. Cursing, he remembered the patients had been sorted through by last name.
He wouldn't give up.
Pushing the cabinet shut, he turned towards the employee archives. Grinning toothily, he fished into the filing cabinet section 'E'. Fishing out the folder, he began rummaging through the personal information division; home address, home phone, full name, city...
Alternative contact address.
He'd found it.
A.N: I so sorry for such a short chapter, everyone. Honestly, this past week has been really hectic, and I haven't had much time to write. I literally did this chapter as effectively as I could without falling asleep. I want to stay consistent with my updates, and not leave it like I did before, when I'd update once every month/2-3 weeks... I also have more readers than I did before, so that's a motivation factor for me as well. School is getting crazy for me, but I want to keep you guys happy. (: I love writing this story (it's a lot of fun, plus its my most successful one so far), and I have tons of ideas for other fics as well. But I'm kind of refraining from starting anymore fics until I've finally finished this one, and am able to put all my focus onto one fanfict. Thanks for your patience, you guys are awesome.
Review!