Ughhh!!! My internet frikken died again!!! How frustrating. :( And I already had this chapter writtennnn!!! :( Grrr. Anywhooo. this chapter is dedicated to my first reviewer, who happens to be a close, personal friend of mine, but for the life of me I can't remember her penname... just that it had "carni" in it. lol. anywayy, be forewarned, this chapter will probably be slightly over-dramatic since i am a suckish author. =D Plus it will take foreverzz for it to get posted cuz my internet is dead!! aghh!!! Thanks to everyone who's stuck with the story thus far, considering its not very good. -hangs head- anyway, heres the chapter. =]

With Kairi...

Kairi was still reeling from that surprise kiss Ed had planted on her. He'd been gone nearly an hour and she still couldn't quit blushing. This was exceedingly frustrating, considering she hardly ever did it before, but now she couldn't stop. She had started cleaning up the house, since it desperately needed it, but she hadn't even been upstairs yet.

There were so many things to remember. Her father wasn't in many of her earliest memories, since he'd hardly been home. She was about to dust off the tables on either side of the door when she discovered Ed's pocketwatch was still there. He must have forgotten he let me play with it. I forgot I put it behind the mail. She smiled and put the watch in the drawer. At least now he has to come back.

Turning around, she picked up the stack of mail and set it on the living room coffee table. She had no idea what to do with the Transmutation Circle painted on the floor.

A noise made her turn her head. It sounded like a horse's whinny, almost, but when she stuck her head outside, she didn't see anything. However, the moment she turned around and closed the door, something metal with a cold aura was shoved in her face, and a man said, "I don't want any trouble."

Ohmigod, that explains it. She couldn't help but laugh. I'm dreaming. That's why I thought Ed kissed me. I'll wake up any moment now.

"Stop laughing! Are you crazy?" She looked up at his face. His hair was a shade of light, light brown. He had 5 o'clock shadow on his cheeks Ewie!!!, and he was tall, looked about seventeen. It was his eyes that caught her; she'd only seen them once before. Implanted on the face of a boy who had loved her. The same ghostly, moonlight-like eyes that she had stared into on so many occasions.

Pinching her arm, she came to the sudden realization that it wasn't a dream, that the gun in her face was very real, as much as the man in front of her. She was afraid.

"Here's a crazy idea," Kairi leaned against the door, trying to put as much space between them as possible. "If you don't want any trouble, why don't you leave?" She stared at his eyes, her stomach starting to hurt. I can lie all I want. He knows I'm scared. To tell the truth, she was terrified. She'd never had a gun this close to her before. The closest she'd ever been to one at all was when that Ishvalan was about to fire one at the military people just before Sal was killed.

"Just tell me where everything valuable is, and I'll leave. No trouble at all."

"There's nothing valuable here," she restrained herself from rolling her eyes. Her only consolence was that this robber was obviously completely inexperienced. "I haven't been home for years." Figures. I'm home once in five years and I get robbed.

"I'm supposed to believe that?"

"I'm not lying," she replied.

"Tell the truth!"

"My mom kept a jewelry box on her dresser. Upstairs, second door on the left." She saw him glancing between her and the stairs, the gun shaking in his hand. "I'm not gonna run." She gestured in every direction. "Where am I gonna go?"

"Just get on the floor," he answered. "Don't move or I'll kill you."

She got down on her stomach. The second he turned the corner, she reached up, opened the drawer, and grabbed Ed's watch. Closing the drawer silently, she lay back down on her stomach. She couldn't let him take it. Hearing his angry footsteps, she remembered too late that her father had sold everything in that box.

The man returned. "It was empty, you lying bitch!" Well, that's not very nice at all, now is it?

"I never said it had anything in it!" She yelled from the floor. She kept her gaze on her hands. Her heart was beating quickly. Would he shoot her? Woul Ed returned to find her body?

"Let me rephrase the sentence," he spat on the carpet. "Where. Is. The. Valuable. Shit."

"I don't have anything!"

"Where are your damn parents?"

"They're dead." The rug was giving her a rash, Ed's watch was starting to hurt her stomach, and she could practically feel the man's glare burning a hole into her back. Why won't he leave?

"That's a bunch of shit!" He was shouting. "Tell the damn truth!"

"I'm not lying!"

He paced back and forth in front of her. His eyes caught the light. "You can't have nothing!" He yelled. "There's got to be something!"

"My dad had a State Alchemist's pocketwatch," she mumbled. "It's in his room somewhere."

"Don't move," he commanded. She could hear him thrashing around in her parents' room. She shifted the watch so she could lay on it more comfortably.

When he came back, he started pacing and mumbling prices that the watch might go for. She asked, "That's it, are you going to leave now?"

"Leave me alone, kid."

"My name is Kairi." She looked at the floor. Quit mouthing off. She ordered herself. Do you want him to kill you?

"I'm Stefan. Now that we're aquainted, shut the fuck up." He continued inspecting it. Wow, he has a pottymouth. He's cussing like a sailor. What's with his eyes? Why won't he leave? I wouldn't mind Ed discovering his watch is missing right about now.

She stared at the floor until he asked, "Do you have anything else?"

"No. So shoot me or get out." She was trying to sound brave, but he could tell she was afraid.

"Nobody's fearless." Her father's voice was in her head.

"Watch your mouth, you little brat," his voice was gruff, like he hadn't had any water. "Anything else?"

"No."

"I think you're lying. Don't move." He walked into the kitchen. She heard him pour a glass of water, drink it, and throw the cup to the ground with a crash and the sound of glass breaking. She shuddered and listened to him thrash throught the kitchen. He came out and started running around the first floor, knocking over things, breaking them, laughing the entire time. Is this how crazy people vent their anger? He apparently didn't want to bother with the second, because there were only three rooms up there (her parents', which he'd already destroyed, the bathroom, and her room. He used his foot to force her to cral away from the door, growled deep in his throught, mumbled, "Eat your vegetables" and left.

She was gasping for breath and her heart was thudding. Clutching Ed's pocketwatch in one hand, she to the sound of the horse, which was probably stolen, trot around the house and continue down the backroad behind it. Stille panting, she crawled to the stairs, half sat down and half lay down on her side, burying her face in her knees. She started to cry.

With Our Dearest Edward and His Simply Lovely Brother Alphonse...

The sun was at its highest point in the sky when Ed realized he'd left his watch. "Awww man," he mumbled. "Al, we have to go back. She still has my watch."

"You just want an excuse, Brother."

"Nuh-uh! I forgot I let her see it!"

"Yeah, right, I saw you kiss her!"

"Aaaaal!!!"

With Kairi... Amazing... I Never Thought I'd Wind Up Making Her Cry... Aren't I Cruel? Anyway...

Her tears had long since stopped, but she kept hearing voices in her head.

"Serenity!" Her dad had screamed it once.

"Serenity." Her mother said it calmly, like she was answering a question.

"Serenity?" She'd only said it once when she was little, like a question.

"Serenity. Serenity. Serenity." So many people said it, in different tones of voices.

I should know what it means. I should know! Why can't I remember? A knot of frustration tied itself in her throat.

"Kairi quit it don't run away it's nothing to be afraid of Alkamimes do to cry your father is lying it's alright nightmares aren't for real I love you it's Friday today happy birthday I love you every day and twice on Sunday how many times have I told you no you have to eat today careful of the stairs are you cold daddy will be home soon no he's just not alive he was never born correctly don't lie to me stop doing that it's an awful habit is the bath water too cold if you keep making faces your face will freeze like that it's called snow just one minute honey the TV broke last night why are you afraid of the water daddy's on the phone he wants to talk to you Kairi be nice why don't you like our house do you want to see how me and daddy painted your room well it's true and I wouldn't lie to you watch the meteor shower with me you can't run away there's nowhere to go don't eat that stop it you'll hurt yourself Kairi I'll tell daddy on you boys have cooties but you love vegetables there's no monster in the closet you can sleep in my bed but only for tonight maybe tomorrow don't play in the toilet grandma's going to come and visit in a week Serenity." As her mother's voice flashes through her head, words she'd said to Kairi mercilessly flashing behind her closed eyelids, she knew what Serenity meant.

She jumped when the door banged open. Expecting Ed, she stood up and relaxed. That is, until she realized it was Travis.

"Kairi? Where is he?" He yelled.

With a sharp intake of breath, she turned and ran up the stairs, took a right, and tried to lock the door to her bedroom behind her. She wasn't fast enough.

Here is where I end the story! Okay, okay, I'll make this chapter longer... but the pointy objects away please...

Since I Don't Want To Go Into Gruesome Detail And You Can Probably Guess What Happened Next...

Kairi was curled into a ball on the floor, her eyes closed, her breathing uneven. She'd gotten into a position she used to be in when she was little; her knees were bent up to her elbows, her hands clutching her feet. He was sitting on her childhood bed. The sheets were white, the pillow was white, and the thin blanket was light blue. He reached up and wiped some blood off his lip. She'd never actually hit him back before, but her fist had made a solid connection with the lower left corner of his lip. It was going to bruise. He sighed.

"I'm sorry," he announced, his voice low and clear. "I've just been looking for him for so long, and I let my feelings out on you when I shouldn't have. I'm sorry." He'd never actually apologized before, which was a feat in itself, and though she didn't move from her spot on the floor, he knew she was concious. "I'm sorry." His eyes stared at her. "It's just- when my dad- he- he wasn't a good person. I know that now. I just realized... what I've done is wrong, and I'm sorry."

She still didn't move her body, and her breathing stayed the same, but her hazel eys slowly opened, and they remained on him.

"Nobody's fearless." They were the most words of wisdom her father had ever said to her.

"When I was young, my dad- he- used to hit my mom. And my brother, Stefan. But he never hit me. Ever. Mom died, though. It was sudden. I didn't even know she'd been sick. But she did die, and Stefan ran away." He put his chin in his hands and stared at her. "So I went to look for him. I- I wasn't planning on stay with them that- that long. But then you came. And I realized I loved you too much to leave right then. I- I still do."

She closed her eyes. Blood ran from a cut on her cheek, and her mouth had that metallic tang in it. She could already feel bruises forming. She didn't want to hear him preach his love for her. She wanted him to leave. She could tell when he knelt beside her because she could hear the floorboards creaking. A feeling of repulse rose in her stomach; he had no right to be in her home.

"I'm sorry, Kairi," he whispered, clutching her hand in his. "I'm really, really sorry. Can you forgive me? Please?"

She pried his fingers from her hand and rolled over, her back to him. The floor creaked eerily under each of his footfalls, until his legs had carried him from the room. Her eyes surveyed the room from her spot on the floor, facing the wall opposite the door. He'd destroyed it. The entire room was thrashed. She tried to slow her breathing, but her lungs, as usual, wouldn't listen to her brain.

"Nobody's fearless." She felt like she should be crying, but, try as she might, the tears wouldn't come.

The eeeeendddd!! Please review, even though this is really late. DX Also check the photobucket, I drew a pretty picture of Kairi (please excuse my awful anime drawing.) But the picture is there... review!!!