Disclaimer: Legendarily Quiet does not own Fullmetal Alchemist.
"Alphonse, wait!" Cassandra burst through the front door and pelted down the path towards Alphonse. It wasn't too late for her to fix things. She wouldn't let her deeds go and ruin a child's life. Never again.
In the fading light of the setting sun, the suit of armour turned slightly to look at her, then faced forward again and sped up his footsteps.
"Alphonse, please!" Cassandra tried not to make her voice sound too desperate and willed her legs to move faster. "I can help your brother!"
Alphonse didn't answer her, but broke into a run instead. He had almost reached the trees, and once he slipped into the forest, there would be no way for Cassandra to catch up to him, especially in the dark.
"WAIT!" Cassandra was desperate now. "If you really want to help your brother, you'd hear me out!"
Alphonse stopped, right in front of the forest. He turned around to face her as Cassandra finally caught up to him, huffing and puffing. She bent over and placed her hands on her knees, trying to catch her breath.
"Why should I believe anything that you have to say?" Alphonse spoke softly, and Cassandra almost missed it over the sound of her own laboured breathing. "You say you want nothing more than to help Brother, but so far you've only brought him suffering."
Cassandra's breath caught in her throat and her resolve almost shattered right then and there. It was true; her actions never seemed to match up with her words, but this time she was really trying!
"Please, you have to believe me!" Cassandra straightened up and forced every amount of sincerity she could muster into her voice. "I admit that I've done some terrible things in the past, which I've tried to cover up with soft words and gentle movements. I was a horrible person back then, treating the world and everyone in it as one big experiment!" Her lips started to tremble. "But I'm different now! I want to work with you and do everything in my power to get your brother back to normal, to fix the wrongs that I've done!" Cassandra felt tears spill over her eyes and trail down her cheeks for the second time that day. "Please give me a second chance," she choked out between sobs.
Alphonse didn't say anything, but he didn't do anything either. He stood motionless as the sun set and darkness descended on them. Cassandra's tears eventually dried and she stood there sniffling before his silhouette, waiting for him to say something, anything.
Finally, he did.
"My brother has always told me that I'm too trusting for my own good." Alphonse made a sighing sound. "And it's true. I hold fast to the belief that everyone has goodness inside them, and that everyone deserves second chances, even if I put myself in danger just by thinking that."
Cassandra felt like she could cry again, and hope surged in her chest as she took a step closer to Alphonse. Relief washed over her entire body when he didn't move away, and she reached through the darkness to take a hold of his hand. She felt Al grip back tightly.
"But when it comes to my brother, I'm not willing to take any chances."
Cassandra didn't even have time to let out a scream as Alphonse suddenly yanked her into the trees and the darkness consumed her.
Alphonse sat with his knees drawn up to his chest and his back against the wall. His bulky suit of armour took up the least amount of space when he sat this way. Rays from the early morning sun shone through a window, slowly eliminating the darkness that he had been sitting in for quite some time now.
A door opened and Mrs. Hughes stepped out into the hallway, stifling a yawn behind her hand. She padded down the hallway in pink slippers, but slowed down and came to a stop as soon as she noticed him sitting there.
"Good morning, Alphonse." Mrs. Hughes fixed him with a warm smile, and standing there in a pair of pajamas and a robe, Alphonse could picture his own mother perfectly.
"Good morning, Mrs. Hughes." He stood up and smoothed out his loincloth. "How are you this morning?"
"A little sleepy, but nothing a cup of coffee won't fix." She gave a small chuckle and continued on past him. "Would you like to help me make pancakes? I promised Elicia that this morning I'd make some with chocolate chips."
"Sure thing!" Alphonse quickly followed Mrs. Hughes around the corner, preparing for the daunting task of cooking to satisfy the taste's of a two-year old.
It was dark when Cassandra woke up.
Of course, it wasn't so much waking up as regaining consciousness. The first thing that registered was a dull ache in the back of head. Had Alphonse really done that?
Cassandra knew she deserved it. It had only been a matter of time, really. There were only so many crimes one could commit before justice caught up to them and knocked them down with an iron fist. Still, she hadn't expected to feel so . . . defeated. There was nothing she could do now. She had had one golden opportunity – one last chance – and she had messed up so utterly that the world had had enough of her, and decided to lock her up where she couldn't bother anyone else.
Cassandra knew that it was only fair, but she couldn't help wishing that things had turned out differently. . .
The sound of a door opening made Cassandra raise her head, but thanks to her blindfold, she couldn't see anything.
"Alphonse really got you good, didn't he?"
Cassandra didn't reply as the door was closed and the telltale click of a lock was heard. Her hands and feet were bound, and she was tied to the chair she was sitting on. If this was an interrogation, she certainly wouldn't be going anywhere. She heard the scrape of a chair as her interrogator dragged it across the floor to sit somewhere across from her.
Cassandra lowered her head and bit her lip. There wasn't anything for her to tell. She wasn't some criminal mastermind that had some brilliant plan that could end the existence of mankind, and she didn't harbour any secret knowledge that she could use to take over the world. All she had done was inject her experiment into Edward, and she didn't even have a clue on what it was doing to him.
Her interrogator gave a small chuckle after they sat in silence for a while. "You're not in trouble, you know."
Cassandra lifted her head.
"Though you have done something rather serious that needs to be taken care of."
Cassandra was confused now. Who was this man, and what was he planning to do? Couldn't he just throw her in a cell somewhere and be done with it?
"But before we discuss anything, I need to know where you stand."
Where she stood? What was that supposed to mean? She was a criminal, so didn't that mean she stood against the law?
The man sighed. "Fine, I'll make this easy for you. Are you or are you not willing to help find a cure for Edward Elric?"
Cassandra didn't know what was going on, but she did know that she had only one answer for this question. "Yes, I am willing to help find a cure."
"That's just what I wanted to hear!"
The tone of her captor's voice changed completely, and Cassandra wondered for a moment if there was another person in the room that she had missed. It didn't seem to be the case though as her captor suddenly became talkative.
"Of course, Alphonse told me already that you would be on board, and I trust the kid, but I just wanted to see how you would react in this kind of situation."
The man's voice was got slightly louder, and Cassandra felt a small tug behind her head. Her blindfold fell away and she blinked up at a man with green eyes and square glasses.
"Lieutenant Colonel Maes Hughes at your service." He held out a warm hand to shake and Cassandra took it hesitantly. He beamed at her. "Would you like to see pictures of my adorable daughter? She's just a little angel, she is!"
L.Q: Gosh, what can I say guys? I'm really sorry that I haven't updated in so long. I'm also sorry that this chapter is so short.
Lest: Blame the government!
L.Q: Yeah. During all my previous chapters, I wasn't attending school because it was summer break and then the teachers were on strike. We finally got back to school near the end of September.
Lest: The teachers have been giving homework in spades, trying to make up for 3 weeks lost of class time . . .
L.Q: I also recently got a job, so my weekends are filled with work and homework.
Lest: You understand, right?
L.Q: I'm waiting for winter break to come along, and you can expect some more activity then. And I just want to say: THE NEXT CHAPTER WILL BE SUPER DUPER SPECIAL.
Lest: At least to her . . .
L.Q: The next chapter will contain the scene that inspired this entire story. In my head, everything that I've written for this story has been leading up to that one scene.
Lest: It can only happen in the next chapter, and of course it has to be as perfect as she can get it, so the next chapter may not come out for a while.
L.Q: I only updated today because people have been asking for the next chapter and I even got a PM asking how I'm doing. I thank you all for your continued support. And, even though everyone says this, I will tell you now I won't ever abandon this story. At least, not without telling you and giving you a reason why.
Lest: Till next time! And as a prompt, can anyone guess what the special scene is? It's not Christmas related!