Ok, I know! You can all throw stuff at me because I've been in 3 plays since school started, so I'm sorry, but now I'm back.
Also, most of this chapter is just Greed learning about Kai so it's a lot of recap. Skip to where the …s are for the new stuff.
Part 12
Envy escorted us Greed and I back to our room.
The moment the door closed behind us, I started ripping the military uniform off; being nearly-naked in front of a pervert was way better than being stuck in those wretched threads that was the cause of the countries horrid history.
Back in my undergarments, I fell onto the bed, tried and angry.
Silence cut through the room.
I felt Greed sit on the other side of the bed.
More silence.
I felt his piercing eyes fall on me.
I felt him shift of the bed; he lay down behind me and start stroking my shoulder and arm. All the while, he spoke into my hair.
"So you prefer a warm bed to cold military uniform?"
He couldn't fool me.
I sat up, looked him straight in the eyes, and said, "You're confused. You can't figure out why I turned him down."
His silence told me that I was right.
"You don't know anything about me, do you?"
More silence. Right again.
"Did you even know my name before today?"
Silence and refusal to look me in the eyes. He might as well have given me the answers.
"You're in his body; surely, you must have his memories."
"… When it comes to you, he cuts me off…"
"… Then allow me to fill in the blanks."
He seemed shocked but he accepted my offer to tell him about myself.
"Well, for starters, my name is Kai Ying. I come from the country of Xing. My father is the chief of the Ying clan. I'm the only daughter and, because I am, my life was decided for me the day I was born. According Xingese tradition, when ever a new Emperor ascends the throne, he must take 51 wives, every single one a daughter of a clan chief."
"51 wives? Sounds like heaven and hell at the same time."
I glared at him for, both, interrupting me and for the comment. He raised his hands, letting me know that he was sorry and I could continue.
"Taking the chief's daughters as wives had always been a way for an Emperor to retain control over all of Xing. It's a petty way of making sure no one can start a revolution. But I didn't want that life. I didn't want to be anyone's wife, and certainly not the future Emperor's wife."
"Babe, with all due respect, you're crazy; you would be an Empress if you married the Emperor! Think of the money! The property!"
I rolled my eyes and said, "I don't care about status or money. What I want is freedom; I had been studying Alkehistory all my life and I wanted to learn more. I wanted to learn Alchemy. I wanted to come here and become a State Alchemist so that I could learn anything and everything. I didn't want to have someone else, like my family or my Emperor, make my life; I wanted to make it for myself. So, not too long ago, on the night of my 16th birthday, I ran away from home and made my way to this country. After weeks of traveling, I had, finally, made it and, on my very first day in this country, I made friends with a State Alchemist and his brother."
"Wait, you mean the midget is a State Alchemist?"
I glared at him for interrupting me again before I continued. "It was as if the Gods were helping me to my goals. But, then, a problem followed me from Xing."
"The prince."
I nodded. "He came with the news that my family had changed their policy and had promised me to any of the Emperor's sons who could get me back home, regardless of whether or not that son became the Emperor. Naturally, Ling grabbed me the moment he could and refused to let go. I hated him for it. We fought so much. I, finally, got to the point where I cracked and spoke my mind right to him. It shut him up for a while but, when it came time for a fight against Wrath and the others, he still acted like I was his property. He forbad me for joining the fight but, of course, I didn't listen. I got involved and that was where I met the one you call Wrath. The leader of the military and of the country. I crossed an entire desert to become a state Alchemist… and the tyrant I wanted to work for was no different from the tyrant I left behind. I look at the monster and I see the Emperor."
By then, I was staring off into space, thinking about all the people who had suffered at the hands of the Emperor… and how Ling and I were still suffering because of a new enemy.
Greed snapped me out of my trance. "If you hated the kid so much, then why do you want him back so badly?"
I looked at him, letting him know that what I was about to tell him was serious. "The last time I saw him… he asked me to forgive him…. And he told me to survive…"
"… And that was enough?"
"It's certainly more than you've done. It's more than anybody's really ever done."
He was pissed about my sassy remark but he held himself back from hitting me.
After that, silence just fell. I just think that he didn't know how to process the information. How could he know? He wasn't human and never had anybody who he, honestly, cared for.
After what seemed like eternity, he just stood up and walked out without a word.
…
Hours later, Greed kicked the door open in a panic.
He froze the moment he saw me
"What's wro-"
He rushed over to me, grabbed me, and tugged me into his arms, pressing his lips to mine.
There was something different. No. Something familiar.
He wasn't being rough or disgusting. He was being considerate.
My eyes shot open in realization.
'Ling.'
