Ace: Wahhhhh! It's the last chapter!

Kayla: Wahhhh! We're all gonna have to do horrible things!

Sonya: Oh, stop crying you two. Ace has actually started the sequel now.

Lela: Sonya, if you want to do something productive, go answer the reviews.

Envy: I'll do it 'cuz it's not like I have anything better to do. Furorensu-chan, it does not matter to me whether you wear a glove or not, I refuse to shake hands with a filthy human!

Lela: ENVY, SHAKE HANDS WITH THE REVIEWER!

Envy: Fine. *holds out hand*

Ed: And do I really have to answer your question?

Lela: Okay then, I'll go start a riot next to your house so that Mustang has to show up there.

Kayla: And yay, she chose to follow me!

Sonya: I HATE HATE-MAIL! Alright, anonymous reviewer Blahblahblah, you're going down!

Greed: *sigh* Sonya was actually a character originally made for people to hate, but then Ace decided to make her be good. Don't really blame her so much for everything because Sonya treats her family like that because she's a lot like the other homunculi even though she's not necessarily a homunculus. Her reason for being bitter is actually pretty sound, 'cuz it's not since she's blind. In her flashback, she said she didn't care about being blind. It's more because she was killed solely to create an angel, but she didn't get "purified", so she's not herself.

Sonya: AND I CAN SLEEP WITH GREED BECAUSE EVEN THOUGH I'M ONLY TECHNICALLY 14, I HAVE THE BIOLOGICAL AGE OF ABOUT 20 AND THE INTELLECTUAL AGE OF AGELESS BECAUSE OF THAT STUPID GATE!

Lela: Thanks for the compliment and wishes for me though!

Envy: ... Why am I always a favorite?

Ace: If I knew, I wouldn't tell you anyway.

Envy: Argh, I'm gonna need to kill CSI Aphrodite. She thinks a Kimbley is scarier than I am!

Ace: *hiding under bed now*

Sonya: And she can't follow me 'cuz Lela's doesn't make sense until you look at mine.

Greed: Finally, DarkVampirePrincess8, Ace had to make Sonya go all evil and kill me off because I have to die at some point and we all know that justice sometimes goes to revenge. Plus she needed a reason for Knowledge to come.

Envy: Ace5980 does not own FullMetal Alchemist.

Lela: Good Envy. Now let's go see what our punishment is.

23: Hope Remains But Hidden

Edward gently turned over Kayla's paws to see a bloody mess of gore that had resulted from her younger sister's sword. She winced but leaned in to lick at a scratch on his cheek from when she'd pushed him down. Her own wounds could wait until after she treated those of her mate. Since her gloved had been rendered a shredded mess, the alchemist tore off part of his shirt to wrap around her paws until he could properly bandage them. Once he was done, he picked her up bridal-style to carry her back to Izumi's house.

Only for her to be ripped from his arms and thrown into a cage on the back of a van by a pair of ninja alchemists (ninja alchemists- alchemists who are well-versed in the art of kidnapping innocent bystanders, in this case Kayla, for profit). He ran forward, clapping his hands together and pressing them to the bars and lock, but those things were alchemy-proof. "I'll get you out of there, Kayla, I promise!"

She shook her head. "No, Edward. Get your bodies back first. I'll survive until then, love." She swallowed hard, weakly attempting some humor. "Us Ark Angels are made of some damn tough stuff."

The van started driving then, separating the two mates. She smiled sadly, holding his gaze until even her wolf eyes couldn't see him anymore before she permitted herself to bury her nose in that faithful little piece of red fabric with Ed's scent and attempt to fall asleep. He, however, stayed there at that very spot he had last been near Kayla long after she was gone, head bowed as he permitted his tears to fall from his closed golden eyes and onto the unforgiving pavement.

Sonya sat on the roof of the Devil's Nest, openly flaunting to anyone who was watching that there was still a chimera left alive. Her sword had been shoved into the concrete behind her, an open declaration of her alliance with her dead friends. Her high-heeled boots dangled from the side, a show of how little she had left to lose, and the laces of her dress blew in a sudden breeze. She half-turned, her large bat ears twitching, to see another angel walk over and sit beside her. "What the hell do you want?" she snarled irritably.

He smiled at her shyly. "I'm supposed to help you cope with everything, Justice. My name is Knowledge, and I'm very sorry for your loss."

"Screw you," she growled. "You angels know nothing of loss."

He sighed. "No. I have never lost a loved one. We angels do not sicken or die, merely fall, and I have not lived long enough to experience that. That does not mean I cannot attempt to imagine your anguish or sympathize with it."

She growled again. "No, but why must you chose me? Why not someone else?"

"You are the angel Justice. You wield the sword Final Judgment. To kill someone now would be revenge, not justice."

"Then what do you think I should do? Skip through a meadow? Hug a teddy bear?" She laughed wryly. "What do you take me for? I want Greed back." She froze, an idea clicking into her head. "And I can have him back. I died before, then the alchemists brought me back. I bet Lela could bring him back too. I just have to find her."

Lela was surprised when Envy morosely pushed aside her shower curtain, but since she only sensed sadness and worry about him, not lust, she permitted him to shift off his clothes and climb in with her. Feeling the insecurities causing him to stress out, she wrapped her tail around his wrist as he gently massaged the shampoo and conditioner into her hair and fur. Even after all of the goop was washed out, she still stood there, patiently waiting for him to talk to her and enjoying the sexy intimacy they were sharing. But when she realized that not all the water streaming down his face was from the shower, she panicked. Not caring about their lack of clothes, she gently pulled his head down to bury it in the crook of her neck and stroked him soothingly, attempting to calm him the same way he would for her when she was upset.

They stood there for a long while. Time had little importance in Lela's life anymore, and Envy simply wanted to prolong the moment, never moving on into the future. But it was not to be. At some point soon, the peace would break and the calm would leave them. Having decided the water falling down on them was too much of an annoyance, her tail snaked out and flipped off the water, breaking the spell. Father Time would allow the pair of chimera and homunculus no more reprieves. The moment was gone forever. If he wanted to save her, he had to tell her now. Fresh tears staining the pure lavender of his eyes, he wordlessly took Lela's hand and led her to their room, reclothing her as he shifted his own clothes back on. Then he mutely took her through a labyrinth of tunnels until they were underneath a starry midnight sky. Only then did he disclose the reasons to her.

"Lela," he said, his voice dead. "Father ordered me to kill you because I was starting to care for you more than I did for the mission, carnage, killing, or even causing general mayhem, and I simply don't have the strength to oppose his will for too much more than this." He looked into her shocked emerald eyes, his own showing the true depth of his pain and agony. He wanted her more than he'd ever wanted anything before in his centuries of life, but he simply couldn't keep her anymore. "I love you with every inch of my being, my kitten, which is why I must beg you, from the very bottom of my heart, to run away from me. Run, and don't ever look back. I don't want to kill you, kitten. Really, I don't."

Her eyes shining in sorrow, she kissed him quickly and passionately on the lips before pulling away. She transformed into the large, elegant black panther and loped to the top of a hill before pausing and turning back to the form silhouetted against the darkness of the cave, watching her go. "I will never be able to love anyone else ever again because of you, my little sin." Her piece said, she turned and left the moon behind her to shine on her love, ignoring the wetness gathering around the edge of her eyes with every step she took away from the homunculus.

Ace: Wahhh! I hate my ending!

Lela: So you'll change it?

Ace: Heck no! I hate it, but I can't change it now!

Kayla: I still can't believe you started crying as you wrote this, your parents asked you what you were doing, you told them you were killing off one of your characters, and they actually bought it.

Ace: I can't either.

Greed: I hate being dead.

Envy: I hate being told to kill Lela.

Ed: I hate being stolen from by ninja alchemists.

Lela: I hate being forced to run away.

Sonya: I hate being followed by a creeper angel.

Kayla: I hate being kidnapped by ninjas.

Ace: I hate that we're not gonna answer reviews until chapter 2 of the sequel.

Roy: Basically, what Ace is saying is that all you reviewers are off the hook until the sequel, but please, still feel free to press that little button down there!

Ace: Roy Mustang, what are you doing here? This is a sad scene.

Roy: Oh. I'm gonna go away now.

Ace: You do that. Go find Furorensu-chan and make her day.

Roy: Okey-dokey! *runs off*

Ace: *sigh* Not sure when the sequel will come up, but until then, please enjoy the cut stories of Cat'O'Untold'Tales. I'm not putting up the link to it though. You guys can go find it yourselves.