A Snake Amoung the Flowers

"Colonel Mustang? Hello?" I called as I opened his office door. Al was trailing close behind, looking all around Central. "Do I like this Mustang guy?" he whispered. "I'm not sure. But I do know that your brother wanted to kill him on a daily basis," I whispered back. As we stepped into his office, we found he wasn't there. "Hmm...that's strange. Colonel Mustang wasn't supposed to leave office yet. Where could he be?" I asked outloud. Al shrugged. "I think I should go ask Scheizca. Wait right here," I said. Al nodded. "I'll be here!" he shouted obidently. I smiled. "Relax. We're still friends in here," I replied as I turned around and walked down the hall. Finally I reached Scheizca's desk. As always, she had her nose buried in a book titled "Shonen Ai: The Key to Making You Girly Fangirl Dreams Come True."

 

Um....

 

"Scheizca...I didn't know you were into yaoi," I said as I lowered the book from her eye level. Scheizca's eyes got wide before she blushed and hid the book from me. "Hi! Um, er, what do you want? It's not time to leave already, is it?" she asked. Holding back a laugh, I shook my head. "No Schiezca. Two things I wanted to ask you actually. One is: Where is Colonel Mustang?" I began as I folded my hands on her desk. Scheizca gulped. "Oh? The Colonel? I'm not sure. I don't even think he came in today," she answered. "Hmm...alright. And two: Is there a book on Edward in the library? I mean, someone had to write about the Fullmetal alchemist, right?" I asked. Scheizca nodded. "There's one that just came in a few days ago. It's in Section C, row 35. Why? Are you...thinking of him?" she asked in a slow tone. I cast her a glare. "For your information, it's not for me. It's for Alphonse. He wants to read it," I stammered, blushing. Scheizca looked confused. "Al is here?" she asked. I nodded, then folded my arms. "Section C, row 35, huh? Alright then. Thank you," I said as I left her desk.

 

True to his word, Al was standing right where I had left him. "Hey Al. Great news. Go to Section C, row 35, and you should find a book about your brother," I said, pointing to the opposite side of the room. Al looked around and then smiled. "Alright!" he said, and with that he began to rifle through shelves. While he did that, I sat in a desk chair and sighed. I was thinking back to the times when I was a child. I remembered being scared of everything.

 

And everything being scared of me.

 

Back then, Tailor's Child was a no-name disease, meaning hardly anyone knew about it. Only the learn-ed people and doctors knew. So people began to think of me as a freak.

 

But it didn't matter to me. I had friends.

 

Friends understood me. Friends never left my side, no matter how weird or freaky I was. My Tailor's Child, to them, was merely a note in the back of their heads.

 

Al,Ed, and Winry didn't leave my side.

 

They weren't judgemental. Maybe that's why all three of them were so precious to me.

 

"Found it!" Al yelled from the other side of the room. I looked over to see Al's hand waving ecstatically with the book in his hand over the shelf. "I found it! I found it!" Al cried over and over as he pranced over the trail of books he had left on the floor. With that, he returned over to my chair. "A book on brother! I'm so happy!" he said, shoving it in my eyes before I lightly pushed it away.

 

"That's great. You found it. Now let me just--"

 

The watch in Al's pocket went off.

 

I felt myself stand there in shock for a moment, and the image of a smiling Edward came to mind before I shook my head. "You must have bumped it up against this table. Try to be more careful," I said, smiling. Al nodded and silenced the beautiful melody.

 

The door to the small library opened. "Koda? You wished to speak with me?"

 

I looked over my shoulder to see an agitated Colonel Mustang looking back at me. His eye was fixated on me hard, and I could tell he hadn't had the best of mornings. "Oh, sir. I have...brought Al...." I said. Al looked over at Mustang and gave him a friendly wave. "Hi!" he said cheerfully. Mustang gave Al a sly smile as he walked over to him. I felt my stomach churn as Mustang placed a hand on Al's shoulder. "Good to see you again. Although, this time you aren't looming over me in a large suit of armor," he said in a friendly tone.

 

Did the Colonel forget about what I had said? Al had lost all his memories. He wouldn't remember any of that.

Instead, Al seemed to play along. "Sorry sir. But I wanted to know if I could join the military. Koda says it'll be a good idea, and I might be able to find Nii-San if..." he began. Mustang smirked. "Well, Mr. Elric, why don't you come with me into my office? I wouldn't want things any other way."

Author's Note

Scheizca reads yaoi! XD