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You Belong to Me	By : squallstorm Category: Fullmetal Alchemist > Yaoi - Male/Male Views: 9883 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Full Metal Alchemist, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 16
- 17
- 18
Disclaimer:� I don't own Sabrina or Fullmetal Alchemist.

Thanks to ZaKai for reading, betaing, and
goading me on!

Those of you who aren�t reading my other works
won�t know this, but Real Life is kicking my ass and �seriously eating into my writing time. �I haven�t given up on any of my fics and I continue
to work on my stories as time or inspiration allows.

Chapter 16

Edward pulled his bag towards him and
positioned it for his head when he lay back on the floor.� He covered his face with his arms, and just
tried to relax.� But that was like asking
him not to breathe.� Each passing second
brought him closer to five o'clock and the start of the black belt division
fights.� That, in and of itself, was hard
enough to deal with, but Roy
had gone missing, and he hadn't been able to find him anywhere.�

Not that he cared about where Roy went.� It didn't matter to him.� Not at all!�
He didn't really even look for him...�
Only, he had wanted to talk to him about his outburst.� Well, really it wasn't an outburst. �Those were things he had wanted to say for a
very long time, but had never been brave enough to do so.� He had even decided long ago that he would
never say them.� It was behind him so why
bring it up.� He had shocked himself by
saying that now and in front of his friends too.� He was even more shocked at his bitterness.

He was sure that his outburst had hurt Roy.� The strange look he had gotten as a result of
his attack played with his conscience, making him feel guilty for having told
the truth.� He could only guess what was
going through Roy's
head right now...wherever he was.�

Where had he gone anyway...?�

Then there was Scar, the bastard.� Always hanging around and putting him on
edge; watching him.� He was pissed off
that he had witnessed him and Roy kissing outside.� He was pissed that Scar had said those
derogatory things about him�and Roy.� He
even threatened Roy
by calling the police for making out with him!�
Several times in the last hour he had seen Scar from various parts of
the side lines, watching him, always with those glasses on so he couldn't be
totally one hundred percent sure that Scar was looking him or not.

Edward went cold at his next thought.� What if...Scar told the public about Roy's sexual
orientation?� He knew that the snap-aparazzi
would follow him around, making stuff up.�
They did it often enough to Winry.�
That would be the worst way to be outed in Edward's mind and if there
was any way that he could make it so that Scar didn't pester Roy...�
The only thing he could think of would be to beat him, but even then
there was no guarantee.

Edward lifted his arms and looked up at the
wall, checking on the time once again.� Two more hours.� That
was all the time left before the start of the black belt division.� His stomach did a slow roll at the
thought.� Oh, god...� He was going to be sick, he could tell.� He was getting the worse case of nerves that
he'd ever had.�

Roy, Scar.� Scar, Roy.�
The two men interrupted each and every thought Edward tired to have, and
he was getting sick of it!� Why couldn't
he just focus on clearing his mind of all this clutter?� It was to the point now that he wasn't even
sure of himself, he wasn't sure that he could win.� He couldn't visualize the win, and he�d
always been able to do that.�

His stomach rolled again, making him clench his
teeth to hold the contents down.� If he
was like this two hours out, what state would he be in
when the competition started?� This was
not good.� Letting his arm fall down to
his side, Edward shakily got to his feet and headed towards the nearest
bathrooms.� His stomach rolled again,
adding urgency to his feet.�

He stumbled into the closest stall, letting the
door slam shut behind him.� He looked
into the toilet bowl, and felt his mouth start to water unpleasantly.� He swallowed, hoping that he was wrong about
wanting to throw up.� God, he hated
throwing up.� It was so gross and...� Edward leaned over the bowl and retched, and
retched again.� He didn't have much in
his stomach to begin with, but...� He
spit into the water and pulled some toilet paper off to wipe his mouth.

�Fuck,� groaned Edward.� He shakily pulled the handle and tried not to
watch the contents of his meager breakfast go down the drain.� The aftermath of his nerves left him feeling
weaker then a kitten and dizzy, too.� His
stomach continued to make its displeasure known, and any half formed thoughts
about leaving to lie back down were abandoned.�
He just hoped that he wouldn�t be stuck here for the next two hours.

-�� -�� -�� -

Scar paced up and down the isle between the
upper tiers of seats, beneath the lights angled down to the center of the
arena.� The nosebleed section of the
venue was empty making it a perfect place to vent in peace.

His tattooed arm flexed as he gripped the cell
phone tight.� He had expected it to ring
five minutes ago, and each passing second made him more on edge.� There was nothing he could do about it
either.� He was stuck here.� He needed to be here.� That's what he kept telling himself.� When he won the championship�and he would
win�he would get a sponsor and then he would have the money.

His phone suddenly started ringing.� Numbly, he looked down at his hand clasping
the device, watching it light up.�
Instead of answering right away, he hesitated.� His future rested with what he found out from
the other end of this call.� It rang
again and again.� On the fourth ring,
Scar depressed the answer button and slowly brought it up to his ear.

�Yes...��
Scar told himself to breath as the speaker on the other end told him his
future.� �How much time does she
have?�� He listened intently,
frowning.� �I don't care what you have to
do,� growled Scar into the phone.� �I
want you to make sure she stays alive...I can't lose her too...� I will have the money.�

He ended the call without another word and
quickly dialed out again.� His heart
thudded up hard against his chest; his hands shook as he pressed the buttons,
his mind strangely blank.� He lifted the
phone to his ear and it was immediately picked up before the first ring even
finished.

�Hello, grandmother...yeah... The doctors are
going to take her into surgery soon...I've told you before that it was a
gamble...If I win, yes...I'll be sponsored then, and I can pay for her medical
bills... This is a good plan, grandmother, you just
worry about your foster kids, and let me take care of my daughter...� You're in another state, what do you think
you can do?...� I'm
sorry, I didn't mean it like that...� Yeah...�
Uh-huh...uh-huh...I will, love you.��

Scar let his hand fall back to his side and
looked down at the floor below, unseeing.�
Somewhere down there, a kid with long, blond hair and immense skill was
standing in his way; blocking his attempts to save his daughter.� He was using every trick he could think of in
order to unnerve the boy as much as possible so that he wouldn't have to do
much come fight time.�

There was a scuff of shoes behind him and he
whirled around in time to see someone's shadow moving down the stairs.� He frowned and contemplated going after
whoever it was that dared to eaves drop, but...�
On any other day, he would have.�
It was probably just some kids looking for a place to hide for a
while.� But today, he'd be saving all his
fight for one Edward Elric; the one man that could stop him from saving his
little Nina.

-�� -�� -�� -

�Ed!� You in here?� Rick yelled into the bathroom.

Edward groaned in response.� He was sitting on the floor with his face
buried in his arms.� There was nothing
left in his stomach now; but it was still turning over, and making him feel
queasy.� His stall door suddenly slammed
open, but he wasn't ready for the pain when it smacked him in the forehead and
the shins.�

Belatedly, he remembered that he should have
locked the damn door.� �OW!� Rick!� shouted Edward, pushing the door back
towards his friend with a crash.�

�Oops,� said Rick sheepishly from the other
side.� He opened the door slowly and
peeked around into the stall, smiling apolitically at him.� Edward just glared up at him, wishing his
evil upset stomach on him in revenge.�
Rick reached in, offering his hand.�
With a sigh, Edward used Rick's hand to pull himself to his feet.� �Let�s get you some ginger ale; that always
helps Leo whenever he's ill,� suggested Rick, letting his hand go and moving
towards the bathroom door.�

�Okay,� agreed Edward.� He swayed on his feet and had to hold onto
the stall frame for a minute.� It seems
he got up too fast for his knees wanted to fold under him.�

�Geez, you're in rough shape,� said Rick, as if
there was any other shape he should be in.

�You're real bright, aren't you?� Edward said
sarcastically, rolling his eyes.� He was
both annoyed at being bothered and glad that someone had come to find him.� �Have you seen Roy 'round?� he asked when the blood rush to
his head faded.� He looked over at Rick,
standing beside him.� Even under his dark
skin, Edward could tell that Rick was also nervous for the last part of the
tournament.�

�No,� Rick murmured.� He moved away from the bathroom door when
another competitor entered the washroom averting his eyes as the newcomer went
over to the urinals.� �Did he say
anything to you?� asked Rick softly so he wouldn't be overheard, looking Edward
in the eyes.�

Without answering, Edward went over to the
first sink and turned on the cold water.�
Where had Roy
gotten off to?� Did he leave?� He had said he wanted to watch...� Scooping up some water in his palms, he
slapped his hands onto his cheeks, went back for more water, then
drank out of his palm.� He swished the
water around his mouth, then spat it back into the
sink.

After all that fuss Roy had made about coming to watch, and a
little verbal fight sent him packing?�
How could Roy
just give up so easily?� Maybe what he'd
said had really hurt Roy
more then he was letting on.� That made
finding him all the more important; it needed to be soon, because in only a
little while he'd be too caught up with the competition to leave.

�Are-are you guys...� asked Rick, hovering by
his shoulder and whispering.� Edward met
his curious gaze in the mirror, raising an eyebrow.� �Well...you know,� hedged Rick.

Edward frowned.�
�Are we what?�� He shook the
excess water from his hands into the sink and turned off the tap with his
elbow.

�You know...��
Rick paused, looking side long at him.�
�Together,� hissed Rick.�
He had the grace to at least look embarrassed to be asking him
this.�

�Why?� wondered Edward, buying time to gage
just what Rick's opinion would be.� Rick
and Leo hadn�t even batted an eye at Russell and him being together, but the
way he had bad mouthed Roy over the years, he was too sure what Rick would
think�even though they weren�t together, he still valued his friend�s thoughts
on the matter.

�I don't know.�
I was just wondering,� said Rick with a shrug of his shoulder, looking
embarrassed about having brought it up.

Edward looked down into the sink basin,
watching as drop of water rolled down towards the drain.� �No, we aren't,� he murmured.� Swallowing hard, Edward began to replay the
kiss in his mind.� There had been such
intense surge of feelings when they had kissed that he wasn't sure he'd ever be
able to sort them all out.

�It's just that...� began Rick,
hesitating.� The other person in the
washroom finished up, washed his hands, and exited the room, but not without
shooting a curious glances their way.� As
soon as the other competitor left, Rick turned back to Edward, a concerned look
in his eye.� �Leo and I have seen you
grow from a shy teenager, into a confident person.� Russell was good for you; he helped you.� And though you never said anything to us directly,
we know how hard it was for you to get over Winry.� I worry that maybe you're going after Roy as a...replacement?�

Edward lifted his eyes from the basin to look
into the mirror.� Rick met his searching
gaze, unapologetic in his worry.� He
silently considered his friend for several tense moments.� It was...possible...that he was somehow
trying to replace Winry with Roy, but Winry wanted him...as far as he knew, she
still did.� But could he really ignore
how over the course of three days, Roy
was taking up more and more of his thoughts?

With a sigh, he looked back into the sink
basin, closing his eyes.� He couldn't
believe that he had actually kissed Roy,
on the lips, willingly.� What had
possessed him to want to do that?� He
should be staying as far away from that man as possible.� He had always scared him as a child; and as
well as he might like him now, he should remember that Roy had been ruthless in the past, both in
his personal and business life.��

�I'm sure he's around here somewhere,� offered
Rick, watching him with concern, sounding like he was sorry he had ever asked
in the first place.�

Edward glanced at him and then away.� He knew that Rick was just trying to be nice,
even if Rick didn't understand why it bothered him so much.� Both Rick and Leo hadn't pestered him at all
for an explanation as to why Roy Mustang was here with him, following him
around�being friendly of all things, when they both knew about all the bad
things Edward had said about Roy on many occasions in the past.�

He remembered how both Rick and Leo had
expressed outrage at his treatment at the Mustang's hands whenever he opened up
enough to tell them.� But upon seeing Roy the other day, there
had been only a quick meaningful glance between Leo and Rick, and then nothing.� They just accepted that Roy was now 'with' him, as a friend or
otherwise.� He suspected that he caused a
few more wild speculations after his blow up in front of them at Roy.� He didn't even want to imagine what they
thought of him, let alone Roy, now.

�Let�s get that ginger ale,� said Rick, coming
forward to throw an arm around his shoulders to lead him out of the bathroom.

And what did Ed make of Roy now?�
Twice now they had kissed...�
There was tension there, but was it tension from mutual attraction or
was it due to his own feelings towards the Roy he had known all his life�or thought he
knew.� Could he be over thinking
this?� Maybe Roy was just flirting with him in some
way.� Flirting didn't always have to mean
anything.� Damn, it was so confusing!�

How come Roy
couldn't just come out and say that he liked him, because why else would Roy have kissed him that
night at the party.� If Roy liked him, it painted a whole new picture
of the man.� Roy had said that he cared about him, and
that would explain why he had always followed him around.� But as a kid, he had never understood just
what that meant.� Being an only child
didn't really make it easy for him to suddenly have a shadow in the form of a
teenager.� Maybe if he had some brothers
or sisters he'd have understood.

�Yeah...� he agreed softly, letting Rick pull
him away from the sink and out of the bathroom.�
There was a lot they needed to talk about, and he just hoped that Roy would listen to him
out long enough to sort out this mess.

-�� -�� -�� -

What started out as a quick phone call to make
sure all his plans for Paris
were finalized, turned into an hour and a half conference call with Maes, his
mother, and the board of directors for his company on the finer merger points
that had Maes baulking once again.

Roy had tersely commandeered
a bathroom near the back of the arena.�
The two boys he found hanging out in there were kicked out with a few
stern words and a dark glare and then he locked the door to prevent anyone from
walking in on him.�

�I know that, Maes,� said Roy softly, trying to keep his voice from
echoing around the empty bathroom.� �I
thought all this was settled before I left...I'll be back in a few days...it�s just
a business trip...�� Roy sighed as he listened to Maes's voice.� He didn't seem to want to accept his reasons
for leaving so suddenly and kept prying.�
Maes was being very paranoid about the whole thing, dropping small hints
that so-and-so company had approached him about a
buyout.� These poorly veiled threats were
starting to wear on him and his patience.��

�Talk to Pinako if you still have concerns;
she'll show me when I get back...Maes, I got to go.� I'm late for an appointment,� lied Roy
easily.� He patiently listened for a few
more moments and then reiterated the fact that he had another appointment before
closing the phone.

With a sigh, Roy leaned into the counter top.� Before everyone else had gotten on the phone
his mother had asked again about Edward, and then asked about him and
Edward.� He cursed himself then at his
own stupidity.� He should have never
mentioned that Edward had kissed him as that would only raise questions about himself.� And his
mother had many questions.

He had found himself unprepared to answer those
questions.� What did it mean that Edward
had kissed him?� She had wondered.� Was Edward gay?� Was he gay?� What was gay?� Roy
had snorted at that one, but his mother kept on grilling him.� Did he ever have...sex...with
men?� Why hadn't he told her about
this?� It was a mortifying experience, one
that he was sure to repeat as soon as he got home.

Pinako kept up with the relentless, embarrassing
questions; on and on until thankfully, Pinako's secretary came into the office
to tell her about the conference call.�
His call was linked into the other line, and he threw himself into the
impromptu meeting for the distraction it offered.

Roy glanced at his
watch.� �Oh, shit!� he cursed
vehemently.� There was only fifteen
minutes left before five o'clock.� Just another 'high' point to an already crazy day.� He was going to be late for the start to
Edward's competition.

As soon as he thought he had all
the many sides of Edward down pat, he found a new dimension that threw all his
carefully gathered information out the window.�
Really, this should be made into a comedy of errors and put on Broadway
in one of those shows he hated, because all his plans meant nothing to
Edward.� He created chaos, and didn't
react like Roy
thought he would.�

Maybe Edward was angry with him for
yelling at him earlier.� He got the
impression that maybe Edward blamed him for how he�d been treated on some level�both
from earlier and in the past.� He
recalled how their teachers would seem to single out Edward and use him as an
example, but he didn't detect anything other then a desire to help them all
improve...� But then, as teenager, he�d
had thicker skin then Edward had at seven, so maybe having to always be singled
out...�

He pushed these thoughts away and hurried over
to the door, releasing the deadbolt.� As
he made his way across the bowl of the arena, Roy's mind turned back to the fight he�d had
with Edward and all the things he�d said to him.� He had stood there
stunned at what had just happened not even watching as Edward was pushed away
by his teacher.�

Roy remembered just standing there deep in thought until
someone bumped into him.� He had been so
caught up in what Edward had said to him that he almost forgot that they were
going to announce the winners soon.� He had
pushed his way through the crowd of people towards ring side so that he would
be able to see Edward's face when he won and there had been no question in Roy's mind that Edward
would win, even without doing the grand finale of their choreographed
fight.�

He had scanned the people around
him looking for Edward, finding him with his teacher standing in the forefront
of the waiting people on the other side of the ring.� Roy
watched Edward's body language, trying to get a read on what was going through
that surprising mind of his.� Edward was
biting on a thumbnail, intently watching the judges while his teammates pushed
through the crowd to stand near their teacher.�
Everything about Edward's posture suggested nervousness and anxiety and not
anger.� It could be that Edward was just
as surprised at his outburst as he was.��

Roy smiled to himself as he pushed through the crowd in
his search for Edward and his teammates.�
If he hadn�t of gotten waylaid by his mother�s questions or the
conference call, he could have been working on making Edward see him over his sister.� Roy
shook his head at the whole situation.� What
had started out as a simple plan to get Edward away from his sister and out of
the country, had spiraled out of control into�whatever this was.

But even if Edward didn't look to
him over Winry, he must still convince Edward to leave the country by the time
they went back to New York.� If he couldn't convince Edward to go on his
own�he'd use force.�

-�� -�� -�� -

Edward chewed on his thumbnail
while he watched the judges get ready for the last event of the
tournament.� A new podium style stage was
set up in the middle of the floor with four lower rings around it.� The tension in the people around him seemed
higher, more intense.� Inside, he was
feeling sick again; the ginger ale suddenly no longer helping his stomach, but
aggravating it.

His eyes swept around the crowd's
edge, searching.� Faces everywhere were
pointed towards the podium in anticipation for the last event.� But in none of those faces did he see Roy looking out.� Roy
was still missing, and he was starting to get pissed at the man.� His anger at Roy warred with his anxiety and the result
pooled unpleasantly in his stomach.�

How could he just leave like
that?� How could he!� All he knew about the man, and admittedly it
wasn't that much, would have led him to believe that
Roy Mustang didn't run...from anything!�
He kept searching the faces around him, hoping that Roy's would somehow pop out at him.� There better be an emergency back home, or
something...or else it better be one helluva�n excuse to up and disappear like
this.

Scar, thankfully, was nowhere
around and seemed to be leaving him alone...for the moment, anyway.� It made him a little bit nervous about what
Scar could be planning for the match.� If
he had no problems about sabotaging his other event, he could be planning
something for the sparring.� But compared
to the problem of finding Roy,
it was secondary.

The lights went out all round the
arena except for directly over the raised center ring and the announcer walked
out of darkness and into the lights.�
Edward frowned and, rather then listen
to the man talking through the microphone, he strained his eyes, continuing to
look for Roy in
the crowd.� His task made difficult by
the lowered lights.

His agitation was reaching an even higher level
as the announcer droned on about the rules and how the matches were going to be
decided.� Of the thirty male competitors,
one person would sit out the second elimination round, and there would be five rounds
in total.� The woman's division only had
twenty-four competitors with someone automatically winning the third of four
rounds.�

With a sigh, Edward turned away from the stage
and started to push back though the crowd to find Rick and Leo.� The announcer began to call out the first
round of matches.� He was paired up with
someone from South Africa
for his first round, Rick with someone from England,
and Leo someone from America.� No one had gotten Scar right off the bat
which was great.

Edward grabbed his bag, sitting alone on the
floor, neither Ling nor Rick or Leo in sight, and headed off towards the event
organizer.� From there, he would know
when he would fight and in what ring.

-�� -�� -�� -

Edward performed magnificently for each match
leading up to the semi-finals.� Rick got
eliminated mid-way, but that would be okay since there was still the two of
them to potently get gold and a silver win.�
One of them would be getting
gold.� They only thing in both their ways
was Scar.�

Scar had not been kind to his opponents.� Two had left the ring with broken bones and
one had left with a fractured nose.� He
was fierce in the ring and intimidating out of it.� Each match brought the three of them closer
to the time where someone would have to face Scar.� Leo was becoming so freaked out by this that
he almost lost his last match.� It was
kindly suggested that if Leo didn't get his act together, then he should bow
out.� Edward was the one to suggest this
tactic; and by suggest, it was more like hurried hissing in Leo's ear to
smarten up.� Rick and Ling had been too
stunned by Edward's behavior to do much else other then stare.

That was how Roy found them.� They were all standing silently, looking
embarrassedly at their feet.� He could
feel the unease and tension in the air, not just from Edward and the boys, but
from everyone.� It was because of this
tension that Roy
had found it very difficult to move through the crowd on the floor to get
closer to Edward.�

Roy only hesitated for a
moment before he broke up the atmosphere by walking into their midst.

�Roy?�
said Edward, startled.� He looked up at
him with wide eyes, giving Roy
the chance to admire their unique color.

�Miss me?� asked Roy with a smirk, enjoying the way Edward's
shock faded into annoyance.� He really
shouldn't enjoy teasing him this much.

�Yes, actually,� hissed Edward, pushing Roy away from the
guys.� Roy raised his eyebrow at the other man as
they moved away from friendly ears.�
�Where did you go?�

�I got caught up in a conference call,� said Roy.� It wasn't entirely a lie.

�Look, I'm sorry for what I said earlier.� I mean, well not really sorry, but sorry, you
know?�

Roy smiled uncertainly.� �Not really...�

Edward sighed.�
�I don't have time to talk about this now, but I want to.� Can we?�
Maybe...over dinner?�

Roy had to check himself from
showing the triumph he was feeling from showing on his face.� Once again Edward was surprising him.� That, in itself, was a surprise; or perhaps
he should say that it wasn't.� Edward
kept him on his toes with his unpredictable behavior.�

�I would enjoy that,� said Roy, managing to make his voice neutral.�

Edward gave him a cautiously hopeful smile, and
once again Roy
patted himself on the back for somehow managing to make this work despite all
the setbacks.� �I got to go!� Edward
informed him.� He turned towards the
crowds and disappeared.��

-�� -�� -�� -

Edward stepped to the center of the ring, his
legs feeling tense and wobbly at the same time.�
Scar smiled at him from the edge of the mats, his arms crossed over his
wide chest.� This was the last
match.� This would decide who was going
to go home with the gold.� He couldn't
fail now!

Scar was called into the ring twice, making the
ref give him a warning when he didn't immediately respond; meaning Edward
automatically got a point up on him.�
When Scar stepped onto the foam mats, he smirked at Edward.

�Fag,� hissed Scar under his breath, while they
both made a mockery of the formal bow to one another.

The ref slipped a red scarf under Edward�s black
belt, but he had only eyes for the man across from him.� Scar's lips were moving, but Edward no longer
heard the litany of profane words coming out of his mouth.� He was slipping into a zone-like place where
he worked best.� It was where he just
moved and became surprised when the match was over because he hadn't
noticed.�

Edward shifted into his fighting stance as the
referee held out his arm between them.�
Scar was going to learn a valuable lesson today�one that he'd carry with
him for the rest of his life.

The ref's arm came down between them, cutting
the air.� Edward was just able to jump
back from the vicious roundhouse kick aimed at his midsection.� The forced exertion was enough to make sure
that any remaining shots didn't land with Scar's full power.� He would have to use every trick he had to
make sure that he jammed up all of Scar's moves if he wanted to be assured of
getting out of this with all his bones intact.

They circled around the perimeter of the mats;
the ref moving with them, trying to stay out of their way.� While Edward moved through the corner, Scar suddenly
kicked out his leg to halt Edward's movement, locking him there.� He tried to scoot out on the other side, but
again Scar used his leg to keep him trapped.�

For one moment, Scar paused, a wide grin
plastered across his face.� Then the
punches came.�� Edward threw up an arm to
cover his face, the other jabbing ineffectually at the man's arms.� Each time Edward tried to get out of the
corner he was forced back in.� Scar was
working him backwards too, towards the edge of the mats.

He was trapped and the longer he stayed here
the more likely he was going to get hurt.�
Edward stepped outside the ring and immediately the ref was there to
make Scar back off.� He was given a
warning and the chance to retake the center of the mat with Scar facing him
once more.�

The ref held his hand between them.� This time, Edward would be more
aggressive.� He knew what Scar's plan was;
he'd done it already to all the other competitors today.� As soon as the ref dropped his hand, Edward rushed
towards Scar.� But he didn't go for a
frontal attack.� Weaving to the side,
Edward landed a clear shot at the man's solar plexus before Scar had a chance
to follow him as he rushed past.�
Immediately he hid behind Scar's back, and as Scar turned, so to did
Edward.��

Scar growled in frustration.� Edward knew he was pushing his luck; it was
time to make a more definite course of action.�
It was a bit of a stretch, but he hooked his arm around Scar's neck, and
gave two quick shots to his kidneys.� Scar
twisted in Edward's hold, gripped the arm around his neck, and neatly flipped
him over his back onto the ground.

The noise of the crowd suddenly rushed back
in.� The insistent roar confused him long
enough that Scar was moving before he could pull himself together.� Edward looked up in time to see him reach
down for his arm.� In a panic, Edward
rolled away, planted his hands on the mat, and swept his leg out at Scar's
feet.� His foot crashed into Scar's ankle
and stopped.� Edward looked up at Scar in
horror.� Scar didn't seem to feel it; he
hadn't moved.� He was just glaring down
at him like he was a vile bug that he wanted to squash.�

Scrambling to his feet, Edward put distance
between them.� The crowd�s shouts and
catcalls distracted him as Scar continued to stare at him with those red
eyes.� He had lost his focus and could
feel the apprehension settling over him.�
He was in deep shit now.� He could
no longer feel the win like he had for all his tournaments in the
past.�

Scar lunged for him, caught him around the
middle, and twisted.� It happened so
incredibly fast that Edward barely had the chance to recognize that he was
about to be flipped again.� He landed
hard on his back; the wind knocked from his lungs.� The ref pushed Scar back and then kneeled
over him.� For several panic filled
moments, Edward couldn't breathe.� He
forced himself to calm down before the ref could count him out, and stumbled to
his feet.�

He nodded when the ref asked if he was okay to
continue, then they were motioned to continue the fight.� Edward struck first; looking to regain his
dominance of the fight, like all the rest of his matches he had today.� A flurry of punches followed by kicks to the
legs and the body rained down on Scar.�
But Scar held his ground, neither retreating nor striking back.� He did block every single thing Edward threw
at him though, unnerving him further.

Very casually, Scar held out his hand and
pushed on his chest.� Edward flew
backwards over his head into the crowd landing on some of the spectators.� From his position outside the ring, he glared
at Scar standing smugly with his arms crossed over his wide chest.� Scrambling to get his legs back under him,
Edward rushed up to the stage and leaped back onto the mats.

�Warning for going outside the ring,� the ref
said to him and the crowd.� �Minus one point.��

Edward grimaced.� They only allowed one warning before the
officials started taking away your points.�
It just made him mad.

Scar hardly waited for the ref to get out of
the way before he was in Edward's face and crowding his moves.� �You've already lost,� said Scar around his
mouth guard.�

That made Edward truly angry.� With a growl, he jumped up and kicked out
with his leg, catching Scar on the shoulder.�
Scar leaned forward; Edward reacted.�
A right cross, coming from above right on the side of the other man's
jaw whipped his head around and back.� An
upper cut followed right behind it, coming up through Scar's failing
guard.� Both hits only earned him grunts
from Scar, but he was only just starting.�
By the end of it, he hoped to make the man bleed.

Edward pulled back his hand for another upper
cut, but Scar pinned his arms to the side of his body and kneed him twice just
under the ribcage.� Wincing in pain,
Edward kicked at the inside of Scar's knee, collapsing it sideways, creating
space.� Two fast kicks, one to the body
that landed on Scar's arm, and the other towards the head�which Scar leaned
away at the last second to avoid.�
Without putting his leg down, Edward reversed the direction of his kick
and came out of Scar's blind spot at the back of his head.� That one missed too.�

Shifting his stance, Edward brought his leg
straight down across Scar's face, grazing him.�
He felt the anger burning in side him, making him reckless.� As soon as his leg touched the ground, Edward
rushed forward with another barrage of punches.�
Scar ducked and wove, caught his arm again and flipped him to the
ground, landing on top of him.� One arm
went behind Edward's head, hooking in his armpit, the other pressed on the side
of his neck on the artery.�

The pain was so intense!� He tried to work his way out, but he was
stuck!� He tried to hold out, but his
vision was starting to dim.� Gritting his
teeth, Edward tapped out of the match.�
With a snort, Scar released him.

�Pansy ass,� Scar grumbled at him and stood.

As far as matches went, Edward had faired
pretty well.� All of Scar's other
opponents had walked away looking much worse.�
He, at least, wasn't too beat up.�
But...he felt like crying over how badly it had gone.� Swallowing hard, Edward rolled over onto his
hands and knees, then got to his feet.� The ref stood between them, holding onto
their wrists.

�Judges?� said the ref.� Edward couldn't look as he knew that Scar had
won.� He didn't need it reinforced.� He'd lost.�
He swallowed hard again as he felt the ref shift.� Forcing a brave front, Edward looked up and
held out his hand to Scar.� Despite
everything the guy had done to make today a pain in the ass, he still respected
the man's abilities.� Plus, he didn't
want to be accused of being dishonorable.

His hand hovered there between them, the crowd
yelling or dispersing as they saw fit, but Scar made no move to take his
hand.� With a narrowing of eyes, Scar
turned away.� Edward let his hand fall
back to his side and gave a sad shake of his head.� Bowing to the judge's table, Edward left the
ring.�

-�� -�� -�� -

The ride back to the hotel was quiet as Edward
was deep in thought.� He stared out the
side window unseeing.� Silver was an
acceptable replacement for gold...however, he felt like he'd missed the chance
of a life time.� He hadn't mentioned it
to anyone, but it was his intent to leave the martial arts world after this
tournament and attend university.� But he
wanted to leave on a high note, and a silver just
wasn't as high as he wanted to go.

�Are you okay?� Roy asked from beside him on the seat.� Edward blinked at the window, bringing him
back from his wondering thoughts and looked at the man seated at his
right.�

�Yeah...� said Edward with a small unconvincing
smile.� He turned back to the view
outside, falling silent.

�I know you're feeling bad.� I often feel cheated and depressed when I
don't successfully acquire a company.�

Edward nodded absently, but was
unconvinced.� As far as he knew, Roy always got his way
and he didn't feel like entertaining hollow platitudes.� He just wanted to wallow for a while.� �Can we order in, instead of going out?� I don't feel like being around others,� asked
Edward.

�Certainly.� Let�s not get anything that
requires sticks to eat it, though.��

Edward smiled at the window, remembering how
much of a hard time Roy
had had that evening.� �Okay.�� He turned to look at Roy who was watching him
with concern and smiled a little more genuinely.� �I'll be all right.� I'm just sulking a little bit.��

Roy nodded, and then reached
over to hold his shoulder.� �If it means
anything to you, I thought you did really well.�

�Thanks.�
It does.�� Edward reached up and
patted Roy's
hand, then gave it a squeeze.� He sobered
once again.� �Roy, I'm sorry about what I said today.� I didn't mean to say those things to you.�

�But you did feel them?� wondered Roy, a concerned tilt to
his head.� He lifted his hand off of
Edward's shoulder and covered his right hand resting on the seat between them.

�Yeah,� said Edward so softly that he wasn't
sure Roy had
heard.� He dropped his gaze back to his
lap as he felt the beginnings of a blush heat his face.� Roy's
hand was so warm over his and he didn't want to remove his hand either.� He kinda liked it.��

--To Be Continued�

Well, that�s it for this chapter!� Please let me know�via reviews�that someone
is still out there and reading!!
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