My P.O.V.
The leader pulls away from me and shoves me to the ground, touching my upper half roughly before standing and opening the door. He shuts it behind him and I know this is my chance. I quickly pull on my clothes and crack open the door.
Through the smoke, I can see he's fighting some young kid, and losing. The other person is using alchemy!
I sneak along the wall over to where Kitty and the others are. I take Lilly from her and herd the kids to the corner so they won't be harmed by the fight between the leader and this mystery boy.
In a few short minutes, the boy has the leader pinned to the ground, begging for his life. "Please don't kill me; I swear I'll stop all this!" I glare angrily in his direction. Right, him, stop torturing women? Please, even a baby would have enough sense to know he'll never stop. I think to myself as the boy pushes him up against a wall, knocking him out.
"Right, like bad people won't go back to their old ways." The boy says sadly. He has such a calming voice, and I'm somewhat attracted to him. He turns to all of us and walks forward. I put one of my arms protectively around the other kids as I hold Lilly with the other. "It's okay; I'm here to help you. I swear."
I want to trust him; something about him is so alluring. But I have to make sure I keep the girls safe. "Who are you? Why have you come?" I ask quickly, my fear that he'll just pick up where the leader left off too evident in my tone.
"Why am I here? To help you, obviously. I'm here to take you out of this hell." He offers me his hand. I hesitate to take it. "And the name's Edward Elric, Fullmetal Alchemist."
I look at him in shock. He's a State Alchemist?! I shake my shock away and start to reach out towards his hand. The other girls seem a bit more relaxed, so I place my hand gently on his and he shakes mine lightly.
When our skin makes contact, I feel this spark of heat slither up my arm. I look up from the ground and our eyes meet. My green ones to his golden ones.
Do you believe in love at first sight?
Edward's P.O.V.
The oldest girl finally takes my hand and I shake hers lightly. The second her skin brushes up against mine, this strange feeling shoots throughout my body. I look at her features, and they seem somewhat familiar. Mostly her dark black hair, but also the features on her face.
But when she looks up at me and out eyes meet, I feel lost in them. They're a beautiful sea green, so unusual for such a dark hair color. We're both lost in each other for a moment, and that feeling rushes through me, pumps my blood faster in my body.
What is going on here? What is this that I'm feeling? I reluctantly let go of her hand and straighten up as Al walks into the room.
"Brother, are they alright?" The poor girls look like the man had been giving them hell.
"We're fine, but are we free now?" The girl with the green eyes asks.
"Of course you're free. You can go back to your houses and your lives now." Al and I lead them out of the building and into the fading sunlight.
"I had forgotten how beautiful the sky could be." The girl whispers, holding the baby securely in her arms.
"I didn't catch your name back there." I say to her, giving her a small smile.
"Jade. Jade Mustang." For the second time today, my jaw drops.
"Did you say Mustang?" I ask and Al turns back to us.
"Yeah, why? Do you know my uncle?" She asks us.
"Yeah, I work for him." I reply, still gawking at her. This is why Mustang was so worried; he had a niece in this situation!
"Wow…" She says, and a little girl hugs her leg tightly. "Shh Kitty, it's okay now. You're going to get to go home now." The way she talks, it's like a motherly tone. And her voice is so… beautiful.
I snap out of my fantasies and turn back to Al. What is it about this girl that makes me feel like this? And what is it I'm feeling?
My P.O.V.
Love at first sight eh? Yes, he was perfect. But I put all that to the back of my mind and focused on the important things.
The two boys lead us out of our hell and into the fading sunlight. I find out that they know my uncle, better than his own niece does. It's sad really, and I want to know why he didn't keep me, but that'll have to wait until later.
We drop off all the younger girls at their houses, their parents so overjoyed to see them alive. Then comes the moment I'm dreading. I have to go see Marcus, Kimber's wife, and father to Lilly.
"This will only take a minute." I murmur to Edward as I walk up the steps to the front of the house. I knock on the door and Marcus answers it, his gaze filled with impossible shock.
"J-Jade? But-but how?" He stutters, completely confused.
"We were saved Marcus, by those two." I jerk my head back a bit, towards Edward and the other guy whose name I don't know yet, I realize.
"O-okay? But if you're here…" He trails off, but the unspoken question lingers in the air: Where's Kimber?
"I'm sorry Marcus, she's gone." He lets out a noise of despair, but I continue. "Marcus, she died giving birth to your daughter." He looks at me, the tears streaming down his face. "This is your daughter Marcus. Her name is Lilly. Kimber named her."
I feel tears brimming at my eyes as I hand the baby over to her father. "She's so beautiful, like her mother." I nod, and Marcus looks at me sincerely. "Thank you for looking after my baby." He whispers, and I nod to him before turning away and walking down the steps.
I know the tears I've held back for so long are streaming down my face as I walk towards Edward and the other guy. "Hey, are you okay?" Edward asks and his soft voice just makes me shatter.
The barrier that I had kept up so long is gone, and all my pain is being let out now. I begin to sob as I crash downwards to my knees, bending down with my tears pouring onto the ground. I see Edward kneel down beside me and his hand rubs my back comfortingly. But he doesn't help. Instead he makes me think of all the love that no one has ever given to me.
In the twelve years I've lived, this stranger is the one to show the most concern for me. I sob even harder, the sobs racking my body.
I can't take it, I can't!
Edward's P.O.V.
It hurts to see her like this. I've only just met her, but seeing her break down crying hurts me. After realizing that rubbing her back isn't helping, I pull her close to me, hugging her for comfort. "Shh, it's okay." I say softly, and Al nods, saying to keep going. "It'll be okay Jade."
Just when I think that she'll never stop crying, I hear two swift gunshots. We both shoot up to our feet, and she turns around to the house behind us. "No, please no." She whispers before breaking into a run.
"Jade! Don't go!" Al shouts, but she doesn't listen.
"Come on." I say, running after her. She runs into the house and I can hear her scream. I pick up my pace and run even faster. If anything is happening to her…
I run into the room to see that leader guy I knocked out earlier with a pistol in his hands. The bodies of Jade's foster parents lie covered in blood on the ground by his feet. Jade is down on her knees, crying and looking at their bodies.
"No, no, they didn't deserve this…" She whispers, traumatized.
The man begins to laugh. "If I can't have you, then I'll just make you miserable. I don't have much life left in me anyway."
And with that, he points his gun straight at me. "Brother!" I hear Al shout in fear before the gun is fired.