Home again (Kei and Cecilia. Open)

Cecilia walked down the street, her feet stepping hesitantly. I haven't been here in 5 years, Cecilia thought, ashamed of not coming back to visit from time to time. She saw a stand selling flowers, so she went and bought some bouquets. "Maybe this will make up for it," Cecilia mumbled to herself.

Here he was again. In Amestris. For some reason Kei had told himself he would never come here. But now here he was. He had to stop lying to himself. Bad habit. But he did have many bad habits. Everyone did. Kei walked down the street wearing his normal black suit. The jack slung over his shoulders. A black glove on his right hand. His left hand bare. His eyes were shut, he could walk by just using his ears alone. Oh how he hated his hearing. It was such a pain. Being able to hear everything. Every single word someone spoke he could hear within a certain diameter. Kei sighed to himself as he heard a young girl speak only a couple feet in front of him. Anyone could hear that, but Kei decided why not investigate. He walked up to the young girl a smile spread across his face. "I can be a nosey guy at times. But what are you here to make up for? What leave your home or something? Break a promise?" Kei cursed himself. He forgot the number one rule. "By the way the name's Kei."

Cecilia jumped a bit when a man started talking to her. She looked at him and said,"Oh. Ya, I haven't been home in a while. These are for my family, but, I don't know if I can face them." Cecilia wondered what would happen when she stopped by the grave. She might just be fine and spend some time there, or she might burst out crying and sit there for hours just sobbing. Cecilia snapped out of the thought and said to Kei,"Hi. My name's Cecilia."

Kei smiled at her. He knew what it was like to live without a mother or a father. Hell he even knew what it was like to live without a brother. Although he had never had a brother or a sister. But he had seen people with two children. They didn't always seem to be happy. Kei also knew what it was like to face a loved one's grave. He had done it so many times that he couldn't remember the first time. Or maybe it was that he didn't want to remember. He threw it out of his head just to get it out so it would never be there again. He took a deep breath in and let it out slowly. His cheeks puffing up as he exhaled. "Hey it's always going to be hard to face them. It's not like riding a bike were you get it down and you have it down for good. Facing the dead is on a whole different level. Not an easy one at all. Trust me I know good and well what it's like." Kei still had a smile across his face, smiles always helped when dealing with sad situations. Well it helped Kei and hey it could help anyone.

Cecilia felt shocked that Kei knew about her family. Did he hear it from someone? Or is it that easy to read what I'm thinking now, Cecilia thought. She took in a breath and asked,"How did you know my family was dead?"

Kei simply smiled. "Your face gave it away. I can read anyone woman's face. But when it comes to guys I get nothing." Kei moved his hands from his side to behind his back. Taking in another breath and letting it out. It seemed to be getting hotter by the second, and Kei was known to sweat. Plus he was wearing black. Black and the sun just don't seem to mix. "Come on I'll escort you to their resting place. It's twice as depressing when you go alone. Trust me." That was the second time Kei had said trust me, but he never told her that his parents were gone. Somewhere in the heavens was where you could find his mother. And right beside her was his father. He closed his eyes for a moment, hiding the tears. "I know what it's like to have your family be gone right when everything seemed to be fine. My mother and father have been dead for awhile now." Dead such a strong word, but it was true. They were gone leaving Kei alone on the earth. Leaving him to face the world alone. So much pain that brought.

Cecilia felt happy that she wouldn't be going alone. She didn't know if she could face them by herself. She listened to Kei as he explained that his family was dead also. So he knows what it's like, Cecilia thought, glad someone understood her. "You see, my parents were killed, but so were my 9 brothers and sisters. This man came with a group of his and killed them all. Then they just burned the house down to the ground," Cecilia said. She then noticed that she had just spilled her secret to a guy she had known for a minute, and she had never done that before. But it felt good to let it out for once. "So, should we get going?" she asked Kei.

Kei smiled at her. It might have been the wrong thing to do at the moment, but maybe it wasn't. He could never speak of his parents death without tears streaming down his face. Too much pain would be brought back. "Yeah let's get going." Kei chuckled a little. "9 brothers and sisters. Wow. I didn't even have one, my parents probably thought it would be too much trouble to have to raise another." But then again they didn't completely raise one.

Cecilia nodded and started walking towards the cemetary. She looked down at the flowers and knew her family would love them. There were some lilacs, lilies, and roses, all her mother's favorite flowers. She could remember helping her mom in the garden and getting so excited when a new flower would come to life. Or the time when Ethan, Lani, and herself were playing and had accidentally trampled their mother's garden. I thought mom was going to have a heart attack, Cecilia thought, and laughed out loud. She quickly stopped laughing and felt her face heat up from embarrassment.

Kei started walking beside her, at a very slow pace. He looked up at the sky, the sweat on his forehead glistening in the light. And then a laughter broke out. At first he thought it was a child, but turned to his right and saw Cecilia laughing. Her face quickly became red, Kei smiled chucking a little. "That's the spirit remember the good times. If only I could do that. I'm slightly jealous of you. Being able to laugh on a day like this. You deserve a pat on the back." And that's just what Kei did, he patted her on her back. She had a very high spirit that was something anyone could notice. That was something Kei didn't have. It seemed he always thought of the negative in life. Never the positive. Maybe because nothing good ever seemed to happen.

Cecilia didn't feel so embarrassed anymore, and she could feel the heat leaving her face. Cecilia felt Kei pat her on the back and smiled. This was really the only person that had acted so friendly to her in a long time. Well, I guess Katie and Tsuana were pretty nice, and Ming, Cecilia thought. But this was different. She didn't feel so alone in the world now, and she finally had someone to understand her, and someone that understood her situation. They were almost to the cemetary, for she could see some of the gravestones.

Kei sighed as he saw the gravestones in the distance. Now it would only be a couple steps to the cemetery. That dreadful place, where the dead would rest for the rest of eternity. His smile that had seemed to had been on his face right when he met the girl was now gone. Replaced with a more serious look, he only hoped Cecilia wasn't looking at his face. He didn't want to see a girl cry. Ever. Kei sighed and put another smile on his face. It was forced but he only wanted her to not feel so terrible. He moved one arm around her shoulder, turning his head towards her. "Are you ready to face your loved ones? I'm sure their spirits are smiling right now smiling just because they get to see that pretty face of yours." Kei smiled at her, hoping she wouldn't start sobbing uncontrollably. Hope; such a weird thing.

Cecilia could feel Kei put his arm around her shoulder, and her normal instincts would have been to grab his arm and throw him to the ground, but she knew he wasn't a bad person. She smiled when Kei encouraged her, and stopped walking as they came to the beginning of the cemetary. "Y-ya. I guess. Thanks," Cecilia said, as she started walking into the cemetary. She knew exactly where her family was, and she started towards them.

Kei removed his arm from her shoulder, standing at the entrance for a moment. He took a breath in and let it out rather loudly. Then he took one step inside the dreadful place, then another. He had no idea where Cecilia was going, but he knew she knew where to go. Kei caught up beside her a smile still on his face. He turned his head towards her. "You know if you cry I won't judge you. I cry like a baby every time. Can't control myself. But you I don't think you will. You have to be tougher than me. I can tell you are just by looking at you, after I get by all your pretty features." Being a flirt was something Kei was good at. Plus he didn't want her to feel so terribly bad. After all it had to be a bad day for her. It would be a bad day for anyone.

Cecilia felt herself blush when Kei complimented her, and she was thankful for someone as nice as him. But she frowned when he talked about her being strong and tough. "I'm not tough. I cry whenever I'm alone, and whenever nobody else's eyes are on me. But now, I can't cry, because I think I've cried so much, that all my tears are gone..." Cecilia said with a frown on her face. Cecilia looked to the sky and saw dark clouds approaching. She hadn't even realized it, but her feet had stopped in front of her family's graves, and she looked down at them, feeling a hollow feeling in her heart. "It's gonna rain," she said quietly.

Kei looked up at the sky as dark clouds started rolling in. A smile spread across his face. He loved the rain, but when it came it always brought tears. Warm tears ran down his face, a smile still on his face. "My Mother was killed right in the middle of the day. It was a nice day, my dad and I were having a blast. While my Mom was going through hell. I could have saved her, but I didn't. I've always blamed myself for my mom's death. My dad died because of her. And now I'm alone in the world." Kei looked back in front of him wiping the tears away. He looked in front of him as the two stopped. Her family's graves were right in front of the two. He chuckled lightly. "A grown man crying, don't see that very often. And I'm not the one that should be crying. Not that I want you to cry or anything, but here it is. The moment of truth." Kei smiled at her, a nice warm smile. The sky was now filled with the dark clouds. Giving the world a very dim feel. Kei shoved his hands in his pockets. Letting out a sigh as he did. The rain finally started coming down, a very light sprinkle. The sky was crying for the girl.

Cecilia nodded, letting Kei know that she was listening. She looked at him with a serious face and said,"I think the strongest men are the ones that are able to cry. That takes courage." Cecilia remembered a saying her father always used to tell her, and it was something like that. It started to rain, and Cecilia was glad, because the second she said what she had said to Kei, she couldn't hold back the tears any longer. She let them stream down her face, knowing that the rain would hide it. She knelt down and placed the flowers on the grave, and for the first time ever, she started crying in front of someone. She let herself sob, and she put her hands up to her face. Cecilia broke down completely, and let all those feelings of sadness, hate, and lonliness drain out with her tears.

Kei removed the his suit jacket from his shoulders and placed it over her shoulders. He knelt down beside her, a smile no longer on her face. "Don't worry this will be our little secret. You saw a Lt. Colonel State Alchemist cry. And I saw a pretty young woman cry. Nothing to worry about. And I'm sure your family is smiling right as we speak." The rain started coming down a little harder, a light wind came with it. Blowing the rain. There was a small clatter of noise as the weapons at Kei's waist knocked together. A chain knocked against a rapier. Kei crossed his arms around his chest, letting his weapons clatter together again and again. To think just a couple minutes ago he was sweating. Now he was getting wet. Kei placed an arm on her shoulder. Squeezing it slightly.

Cecilia couldn't speak, for she was still sobbing. But she did nod her head again, letting Kei know that she was very grateful. And then, for some reason, Cecilia put her arms around Kei and hugged him. She didn't know why she had done it, but she hadn't had anyone pay this much attention to her since her family's funeral. She had been so lonely, and now someone was there, and Cecilia needed to make every second count. She could imagine her whole family, smiling at her, and it made her a bit happier. She hoped she didn't get too much into Kei's space, and she hoped he wouldn't push her away and leave her. "I-I hope I'm n-not making you u-uncomfortable," Cecilia was able to say, even through all the crying.

Kei smiled and hugged her back. It felt good. She was warm to his body. "We're going to catch a cold if we stay out in this weather too long." Kei had still hadn't told Cecilia one very important thing. His body. His legs were almost all auto-mail and his right arm was also mostly auto-mail. He decided he would tell her some other time. Now wouldn't have been the best time. Why ruin a moment like this? There was no reason. They both needed that hug, and maybe they wouldn't ambit it. But they did. They needed that hug.

Cecilia stopped her crying and said in a scratchy voice,"Ya. We should probably go." Cecilia let go of Kei and got up. She looked at her family's graves one last time, and then she looked away, waiting for Kei to come with her. She noticed that Kei had put his coat over her shoulders, and took it off and handed it to him. "Here. You should have it," Cecilia said, as the rain kept coming down.

Kei took a glance at her family's gravestones. He shoved his hands in his pockets, a blank expression on his face. And then she spoke to him, he turned his head towards her as she offered him his jacket back. He only shook his head. "You'll be warm with it on, don't worry about me. I've been through worse than a little rain." He walked up to her, a smile on his lips. He was always able to smile around girls. And only able to stop for a small moment.

"Alright. Come on. I know a hotel we can stay at," Cecilia said, walking away from her family's graves. I promise, I'll come back. I love you all, so much, Cecilia thought, talking to her family. She put Kei's jacket around her shoulders again and kept walking.

Kei stopped for a moment. Listening. He could only hear the rain. Nothing else. Kei snapped back into life and took a couple long strides to catch up with her. The weapons at his waist clattered together again. That was the only problem they could become such a loud noise. And a pain in the ass. Kei smiled at her. "Well at least you're done now. Done with the crying. And starting with the smiling." Kei put on a very goofy smile on for her. It was only to make her smile, so she wouldn't be so gloomy. The streets were empty everyone was probably inside getting out of the rain. His hair was dripping wet, along with his clothes. Walking into a hotel would just make the two look weird. Both dripping wet. Kei ran a hand through his hair, coming out with gel on his hand. Yet his hair stayed the way it was. He wiped the gel off on his pant's leg. Pretty stupid but the rain would wash it away. That was the job of the rain. To wash everything away.

Cecilia laughed when Kei made the funny face. It reminded her of her dad. He could always make her smile, even when she was having a really crappy day. He would always tell funny jokes, and make everyone smile. Cecilia snapped out of her memories and noticed how wet she was getting. Well, at least I have a change of clothes back at the hotel, she thought. They were now out of the cemetary, walking towards town. Cecilia turned to Kei and said,"So. Where do you come from? Are you from Amestris?" Cecilia wanted to get both of their thoughts off of their families, and get their thoughts on something a little happier.