A/N: Last chapter! I can't believe it's finished! Me and my friend/editor, Kashi worked hard on this story and I hope you all have enjoyed it. Also, be sure to read my author's note at the end of the story to learn some important info! (Oh, and sorry for suddenly changing the name of the story. I finally found a good name for it so, I'm sorry if anyone was confused.)
Enjoy the last chapter!
"Okay, now that we're all here, there's something we all need to talk about." Ed stated. He had gathered Al, Kerria, and Kashi together at the dining room table to discuss something very important. "We all know that the terrorists are after Kerria. What we don't know is why…but Mustang, Al, and I think it has something to do with The Gate."
"The Gate? Wow…that's some serious stuff!" Kashi exclaimed.
"Exactly. So, I think that from now on, we should all keep an eye on Kerria…even more than before. I have a bad feeling about these terrorists, and I have a feeling that they'll be making a big move soon." Al and Kashi agreed that protecting Kerria was a good idea, and so they all decided to keep a close watch on her from then on. As they talked, Kerria looked outside the window at the Cherry Blossom tree that held her fate. There were only a few flowers left on the tree, meaning her time was almost up. Kerria's eyes began to sting with tears as she thought about it, but she held them back so her friends wouldn't see.
"Kerria?" Al's voice snapped Kerria out of her thoughts and she turned to face her three friends. "Are you okay? You spaced out for a minute."
"Oh…y-yeah, I'm fine. Sorry, what were you guys saying?"
"We were talking about watching over you so the terrorists don't get you." Kashi explained. "So for the next few days, I'll be staying over here."
"Oh, I see." Kerria forced a smile. "Thanks, you guys. You're the best."
"Yeah, yeah, we know ya love us!" Kashi laughed, then gave Kerria a sly look and added, "One…more than the others."
"Huh?"
"Oh, did you think I wasn't watching? Yes, I know all about you, Al, your little moment…and the Firefly Grass! BWAHAHA!" Kashi laughed evilly.
"E-Eh? You were watching?" Kerria blushed and looked over at Al, whose face was twice as red as hers.
"Geez, Kashi…" Ed shook his head in disappointment. "That was a mean thing to do…you shouldn't spy on people."
Kashi stopped her evil laughing and gave Ed a questioning look. "What? But you were watching too."
"Sh-Shut up!" Ed snapped. "I saw them on accident okay?"
Kerria and Al laughed and gave each other an, "Oh well, they know now", look.
That night, all of them slept in the living room after staying up almost all night talking. Everyone was asleep except for Kerria; no matter how hard she tried to sleep, thoughts kept on pouring into her mind, keeping her awake. Finally, she gave up and walked over to the window. After looking out at the cherry blossom tree in the distance, she realized that the flowers were almost gone. If she wasn't at the tree when time was up, then the terrorists would probably come looking for her, and her friends would get involved. So, she decided it was time to go. Kerria quickly and quietly changed out of her pajamas and prepared to leave. She headed for the door, and then remembered something: the gloves Al had given her. She hurried back up to her room and grabbed them, then came back downstairs. She walked over to the couch where Al was sleeping and gently ran her fingers through his hair a few times; she knew he was the one who she would miss the most. "Well, I'm off." she said quietly, tears welling up in her eyes. As she slipped on her gloves and started out the door, she looked back at her three friends and started to cry. "I'm sorry," she said softly. "I'll miss you all, but this way is better for everyone." With that, she shut the door behind her and started to run towards the giant tree. The whole time she ran, tears flowed down her cheeks, and she almost felt stupid for running towards danger instead of away from it. But, as long as her friends stayed safe, that didn't really matter to her.
Kerria finally arrived at the tree, out of breath from running. She looked up at the branches; there were so few flowers left that she could hardly see them. All she could see was a few pink patches among hundreds of bare branches. However, one thing was for sure: she didn't have much time. Kerria sat under the tree and waited, tears still flowing down her cheeks. She hugged her knees and sat crying into her arms. She wished so badly that she could have stayed with her friends. Why is it, that when she had finally found friends, and finally found someone that she truly loved, they were going to be so cruelly snatched away from her? She almost wished that she could just die there, under that tree, so that she could never feel lonely again and never risk hurting her friends again. At that moment, a gust of wind wafted through the tree and Kerria looked up just in time to see the last flower snap off of its branch at the top of the tree and begin to fall. Kerria stood and watched the flower drop; it seemed to be moving in slow motion, floating slowly all the way down from the top of the tree. It gradually made its way down until it finally touched the ground right in front of Kerria's feet. Fear suddenly struck Kerria as the wind began to pick up. Her heart began to beat faster and louder until she could hear it pounding loudly in her ears, and she waited for the moment she knew would eventually come.
"Well, well…" a low voice said behind her. "I was afraid you wouldn't show, girly."
Kerria quickly wiped her tears and turned to face the terrorist leader. "O-Of course I did. I said before…I won't let you harm my friends. If I hadn't come, you would have come looking for me, am I right?"
"Well, now. At least you aren't stupid. Now you'll be a good girly and come with us, won't you?"
Kerria swallowed the lump that had begun to form in her throat and answered, "Yes, I will."
"Very good. Let's go, then." The terrorist leader began to walk away, and Kerria followed, thinking that this would be goodbye forever.
"Kerria!" The sound of a very familiar voice calling her name made both she and the terrorist turn around in surprise. Kerria's eyes grew wide with terror as she saw who was running towards her. "Kerria, wait!" Al called out to her, Ed and Kashi running alongside him.
"NO! STAY AWAY!" Kerria screamed. Al, Ed, and Kashi all stopped in their tracks, only a few feet away from Kerria and the terrorist leader, and looked at her in confusion.
"Well, what's this now?" The terrorist leader said in a threatening tone. "You've all come to interfere?" He looked over at Kerria. "Think you could have your little friends come and beat me up, did you?"
"N-No, no! They weren't…supposed…to know." Kerria looked down at the ground. "S-So please…leave them alone."
"Kerria…when I woke up and you weren't there…well, we were all worried…but why are you here…with him?" Al asked in bewilderment. Ed and Kashi didn't know what to say, as they were still in shock.
"Oh…" The terrorist leader began to chuckle. "Oh, I see. They didn't know. So you were betraying them…how interesting!" he laughed to himself, seeming to enjoy that thought.
"No! I wasn't!" Kerria turned to her friends. "I was only hiding it from you because I didn't want--"
"Didn't want what? Didn't want your friends to find out who you really are?"
"I…What do you mean…?"
"Oh? Even you don't know? I thought you got back all of your memories."
"She did." Ed spoke up, interested in hearing Kerria's full story. "But even after that, we still couldn't figure out just who she was."
The terrorist leader laughed. "Really now? Well, this girl just so happens to be 'Moagi': The legendary key that is said to open the Great Door and bestow amazing power to whoever opens it."
"The 'Great Door'?" Kashi pondered. "But that must be…"
"The Gate." Ed finished her sentence.
"Is that what it's called in this world?" The terrorist asked curiously. "Well, in our world, most people have no idea that this door even exists. But the legend of the Great Door has been passed through my family for generations, and when this girl, the Moagi, appeared, our association was finally able to take action."
"So that's why you've been chasing after her all this time." Al stated.
"Precisely. I have to say, she was hard to find. During the association's first test of the door's ability, she was transported through it and ended up here. Unfortunately, all of her memories were lost and so she mindlessly ran off when we came to look for her. Luckily, the door didn't have the same effect on us when we came through."
"Then…all those murders…?" Kashi started.
"Ah, yes, well searching for this girl was even harder than we expected. At the time, we had no idea what she looked like; only the higher-ups of the association had actually seen her face. So, we had to go around testing anyone her age who could possibly be the one we were searching for. It really was a hassle. Of course, all of them turned out not to be who we were searching for, and they ended up learning all of our secrets so it was necessary to kill them in order to keep them from talking."
"So all those people…died because of me?" Kerria's voice became shaky. "This is all my fault."
"No it's not, Kerria!" Al exclaimed.
"Yeah, you shouldn't blame yourself!" Kashi added.
"Well, what's done is done," The terrorist leader shrugged, as the wind started to pick up again. "And now that my explanation is over, it is time to fulfill my destiny." Before anyone could even move, the terrorist thrust his hand at the giant tree behind Kerria, which started to glow with a bright, yellow light. Kerria and the others looked up in surprise at the tree as all of its roots suddenly sprung up from the ground and wrapped themselves around Kerria, keeping her from moving.
"Kerria!" Al lunged forward to help her, but before he could reach her, she was hoisted up into the air by the tree. Kerria screamed and tried to break free as she was lifted out of Al's reach and about halfway up the tree.
The terrorist laughed. "And now, the real fun can begin!" He turned to Ed, Al, and Kashi. "Now that I've told you everything, I'm afraid you three will have to die" With a wave of his hand, a whole troop of terrorists appeared out of nowhere, armed and ready to fight.
"It's the same guys from the warehouse!" Ed gasped as he, Al, and Kashi readied themselves for battle; then they all lunged forward and began their attack on the terrorists. Kerria watched her friends battling below her as she desperately struggled to break free from the tree's grip on her; she was now pinned against its trunk by a tangle of branches. Suddenly she gasped as the terrorist leader appeared before her, standing on one of the tree's roots which had apparently lifted him up there the same way it had lifted her.
"Well now, are you comfortable up here, Moagi?" The terrorist leader grinned at her evilly. "It's too bad that your plan to keep your friends out of trouble didn't work. My men will soon have them finished off." He laughed to himself as he saw Kerria's face change to a mixed expression of terror and anger. "Now, let's watch as they are destroyed. This should be interesting." Kerria watched painfully as her friends tried their hardest to fight against the terrorists. However, like Russell, they were no match for the extreme power the terrorists possessed, and it seemed that they couldn't hold on for much longer. The terrorist leader sighed impatiently as he looked down at the battle below. "Aren't they done yet? Your friends just don't know when to give up." Kerria ignored him and desperately tried to think of something that she could do, anything. But she realized that in her current position, she was completely helpless. She felt angry at herself for not being more careful; because she had been acting strange, she made her friends worry and now they were in danger just as she had feared. "Oh well," the terrorist leader suddenly spoke again. "I'm getting bored, so I guess I'll just go ahead and start." he put his hand on Kerria's forehead and started to mutter something in a language she couldn't understand. As soon as he began chanting, The sky became dark and ominous, and the wind picked up even more than before until an entire storm was swirling around the tree. At that moment, the terrorists who had been fighting down below all suddenly disappeared, to Ed, Al, and Kashi's surprise.
"Thought so." Ed stated, gripping his left arm which had been badly injured. "They were just decoys."
"Y-Yeah. It looks that way." Kashi agreed as she collapsed to her knees, out of breath from fighting; Al did the same.
"H-He…must have been using them…as a distraction." Al panted. They all turned to the giant tree, knowing that the worst was yet to come.
Suddenly, the tree started to glow again, this time with a strange, black light; Kerria felt pain shoot throughout her body and screamed in terror.
"K-Kerria!" Al shouted. He tried to move, but as soon as he did, he felt a sharp pain in his legs, forcing him back down to the ground.
As the terrorist leader finished his spell, he began to laugh as if in chorus with Kerria's screams. "That's it!" he shouted excitedly. "You can feel it can't you? The power of the Great Door is awakening, and ultimate power will soon be mine!" He threw his arms up triumphantly into the air, and a huge bolt of lightning shot down from the sky, striking the tree. The branches that were holding Kerria suddenly became as sharp as needles and dug their way into her skin. Again, the terrorist laughed. "How does it feel? You have now become one with this tree, and it will continue feeding on you until the ceremony is complete! Oh, I've waited all my life for this moment! Once I have the Great Door's ultimate power, the higher-ups at the association will be bowing down to me!" He bellowed. Kerria suddenly felt nauseous and weak as the life was slowly sucked out of her. She knew she had to try and do something, but her mind was clouded by the pain and the feeling of blood pouring from the places where the branches were digging into her. Ed, Al, and Kashi all stared up at the tree and watched as it slowly started to transform into a large door.
"The gate!" Kashi gasped.
"N-No! We have to do something!" Al exclaimed, as he desperately tried to stand. "If we don't hurry…Kerria will…!"
"Al…You shouldn't stand." Ed told him as he stood and walked over to help Kashi to her feet. "Your injuries…"
"I'm fine!" Al yelled as he finally forced himself to stand up. "Kerria…she needs our help!"
Ed sighed. "Well in that case…let's go!" They all went as fast as they could towards the base of the tree. "Okay, we don't have much time." Ed started, looking up as more and more of the gate appeared. "We have to somehow find a way to destroy this tree."
"Why the tree?" Kashi asked.
"Because I think that the tree is transforming itself into the gate."
"So that means, we destroy the tree and the gate disappears." Al stated.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you." A voice said from above them. They all looked up to face the terrorist leader, who had a smug look on his face. "You see this?" he stepped aside to show them Kerria, who was still bound to the tree, now almost completely unconscious and covered in her own blood.
"Kerria!" Al gasped. "What have you done to her?"
The terrorist laughed. "Don't you see? There's nothing you can do! This girl is now bound to this tree, not to mention the Great Door! She will die soon enough, but try to destroy this tree and you'll only destroy her as well!"
"No…" Kashi breathed; she turned to Ed. "Isn't there another way?" Ed stared at the ground, desperately trying to think.
"Kerria…" Al's hands clenched into fists. There just had to be another way. Kerria couldn't die, she just couldn't.
BOOOOOOOOOM! The ground suddenly shook, and Ed, Al and Kashi all cried out as they were thrown to the ground. They looked up in surprise and watched the tree shudder as the last of the gate began to appear.
"No…it's almost finished!" Kashi gasped.
"Dammit!" Ed cursed.
The tremor of the earth below her shook Kerria slightly back to her senses, and through blurred vision she watched her friends desperately try to hold on as the earth continued to tremble. Quickly, she tried to think before she started to slip out of consciousness again. What could she do? Then it came to her: the terrorist had mentioned destroying the tree to her friends just a minute ago. That would destroy the gate. But, if she did that, she knew that her life would be forfeit. Plus, the terrorist leader would still be alive and able to cause more trouble. Then, she suddenly got another idea, one to destroy the terrorist. She knew that if she did what she planned, then her own life may have to be sacrificed, but to her, that didn't matter. The thing she wished for more than anything was to be able to stay with her friends forever, but deep down, all she wanted was for them to be alive and well, and if that meant sacrificing herself, then so be it.
Kerria could hear the laughs of the terroist leader start to chime in along with the rumbles of the earth down below, and realized that she didn't have much time; the time to act was now. Slowly, she managed to move around enough and get her hands free, then clapped them together and touched them to the tree. Suddenly, one of the roots that the terroist was standing on became sharp and stabbed into the terrorist's leg.
"AGH!" He cried out in pain and glared at Kerria. "You! What do you think you're doing?"
Down below, Ed, Al, and Kashi heard the terrorist's screams and looked up.
"Kerria?" Kashi breathed.
"What is she doing?" Al pondered.
"I…told you…" Kerria panted, her energy drained. "You can't…hurt my friends!" with that, she clapped her hands and slammed them into the tree once more.
There was an explosion of light as the giant tree slowly began to crack and crumble.
"No! This can't be happening!" The terrorist cried. "All of my life's work! NOOOOOO!" Bit by bit, the tree disintegrated, taking the gate and the terrorist leader with it; Ed, Al and Kashi all watched in awe.
"D-Did Kerria…?" Kashi started, her voice trembling.
"I think she did." Ed answered. "She…destroyed the tree…and the gate. Not to mention…she saved our lives."
Al's eyes began to sting with tears. "Does that mean…she's…?"
"Hey, look!" Kashi pointed upward and Ed and Al turned to look at what she saw. A figure was falling down from the crumbling mass; as it got closer, everyone could see that it was…
"Kerria!" Al shouted, stumbling as fast as he could to where he estimated she would hit the ground, and arriving there just in time to catch her in his arms, then collapse to his knees in pain and exhaustion. Ed and Kashi came up behind him.
"Is she okay?" Ed asked.
"I…I don't know." Al's hands trembled as he stared down at Kerria's limp, blood-covered body. "K-Kerria? Can you hear me?" his voice was shaky and he felt his eyes begin to well up with tears again. "Please…say something."
At that moment, Kerria's eyes slowly began to open, and her friends all smiled with relief. "A-Al…" Kerria whispered.
"Kerria!" He hugged her as tears came streaming down his face. "I thought you were…"
"Alphonse…everyone…I'm sorry." Kerria sobbed as her eyes welled up with tears. "I…don't have…much time."
"Wh-What?" Al started. "What do you mean?"
"I…in order to destroy the gate and the terrorist…I had to…"
Al began to panic as he realized what she was getting at. He gently placed a trembling hand on Kerria's chest, and his eyes widened in horror. "H-Her heartbeat!" It was so weak, he could hardly feel it. Ed and Kashi gasped.
"I'm so sorry." Kerria continued, tears pouring down her cheeks. "Really…all I wanted…was to stay…with you…all of you."
"Kerria…please, don't give up!" Al held her close to him and sobbed into her shoulder. "Please, you can't die!"
Kerria slowly reached out and hugged him. "I…wish it didn't have to be this way. I really love…all of you…my only friends. I'll miss you." she looked up at Ed and Kashi, who were both desperately trying to hold back tears, but she could tell that they were both about to give in. "Alphonse," Kerria whispered. He lifted his head from her shoulder to look at her face, and she gave him the best smile she could. "No matter what happens…I'll still love you….always."
"I know." Al sobbed. "I…I love you too." He gently leaned in and kissed her one last time, and then, like the tree and the gate, she began to disintegrate bit by bit, floating up into the sky, until there was nothing left. Al stared down at his quivering hands, still covered in Kerria's blood, then buried his face into them and cried. Ed and Kashi put their hands on his shoulders and sat down beside him. The three of them sat there for the longest time, crying and mourning over the loss of their most cherished friend.
Kerria's funeral was short but sweet, although for Al, Kashi, and Ed it seemed to last forever. Evidently, there were no remains to bury, but a tombstone was made and placed in the cemetery for memory. The Tringham brothers came by to hear the story of what happened and pay their respects, but they left soon after because they both had work to do. After the service, Al and Kashi simply stood staring at the gravestone, lost in thought. Ed, however, had to go to Headquarters and give his report on what had taken place a few days ago.
"It's been about a week, Fullmetal." Roy started. "Are you sure you're ready to talk about this?" Ed assured him that he was fine and explained exactly what happened that night. When he was finished, Roy didn't say anything. He sat there for a few minutes rubbing his forehead thoughtfully, then finally spoke. "I've got to say, Fullmetal…when I said I wanted all of our questions answered, I sure wasn't hoping it would all end up like this." Ed nodded. "Well, what's done is done, I guess. Needless to say, we now have one less mystery on our hands." Roy sighed, and after a few moments he added, "We'll all miss her, though."
"Yeah."
Even though a week had already passed, Al's mood stayed the same. He hardly ever left his room anymore, and when he did, he was always quiet and staring off into space. Ed and Kashi knew that he would be affected by Kerria's death the most, but they didn't think it would be this bad. So, one night at dinner, Ed decided it was time to stop leaving him alone and take some action.
Ed cleared his throat. "Hey…Al?"
"Yes, Brother?"
"Oh! So you can speak! I thought you might have gone mute." Ed joked.
Al stared at his plate for a moment, then smiled and answered, "I'm fine, really. Sorry if I haven't talked much, I just…don't know what there is to say."
"It does seem kind of dreary around here, huh?" Ed sighed. "Tell you what, let's go shopping tomorrow. Maybe we can find something that'll cheer you up."
Al smiled and nodded. "Yeah, let's do that."
Ed and Al walked through the marketplace, buying groceries and anything else that looked interesting. Once the sun began to set, they decided to call it a day and head home.
"Well, are you feeling any better, Al?" Ed asked.
"A little, thanks."
They left the marketplace and began to head for home, when suddenly something caught Al's eye: a flicker of brown, fluffy fur in the grass by the side of the road.
"Oh! Brother look!" he exclaimed as he started walking over towards what was apparently an animal.
"Oh no, it's not another cat, is it?" Ed sighed, running after his brother.
Al slowly walked up to the animal and realized that it was a cat. "Actually, it is." he laughed. Slowly, he walked up to the kitten and tried to lure it closer. "Here, kitty." he called out to it softly. At the sound of his voice, the kitten turned and bounded towards him, mewing happily. As the kitten came closer and Al could see it more clearly, he suddenly froze. The kitten was mahogany brown and fluffy, but what really caught Al's eye was the kitten's ears: they were tinted very slightly with a light blue color, almost the same way Kerria's hair was.
"Hey, Al!" Ed called, running up to him. "You know we can't keep--" he stopped in his tracks when he saw the kitten Al was holding in his arms.
"Brother," Al started, his voice slightly shaky. "Please…just this once…can I keep this one?"
Ed sighed, thinking that it must be fate. "Yeah, Al. You can keep this one."
A/N: Okay, to those of you who didn't like the sad ending, let me explain. I don't generally like it when stories have a sugary sweet ending that doesn't make sense at all, and I like endings that are good but dramatic, so that's what I went for with this story (and I think it came out pretty well, actually). BUT, I have decided that for those who want a happy ending, I will be making a sequel! So, don't worry, a happy ending is on it's way and I'll work on it ASAP, I promise!
In the meantime, please review! Your feedback really helps me out a lot! Thank you!