Redeemed (Sequel)

Chapter 5

Raven P.O.V.

Storm had spent the last hour and a half telling me all about his day with Artemis. He even told me about her boyfriend Grief and what had happened with him. It hurt me to know that Artemis was scared to love me or Storm. At first I had wanted her, only her, but now I only want her to be happy. Was that what happened when you love someone? I didn't know, and I sure as hell wasn't about to ask Storm about it either. I laid my head on his chest as we curled up together on the shabby couch in our little shack. I didn't care that he loved Artemis, because I loved Artemis. And Storm loved me, just like I loved him. It all worked. I don't know how, but it all fit, like it was meant to be this way. "We can't stay in this run-down hellhole forever," Storm said softly. "We will have to leave soon." I sighed, burying my head in his chest. "I don't want to!" I whined. I knew I sounded like a petulant little child, but oh well. It's not like being mature about it would change anything. "I know, I know. Neither do I," Storm whispered, running his fingers through my hair.

Artemis P.O.V.

I woke up to the the shrill ringing of the telephone. "Hello?" I mumbled into the receiver. "Artemis?" a gruff, familiar voice replied. "Grandpa! How nice of you to call. How are you and Grandma Riza?" I asked. "She's fine, I'm fine, Maes is fine. Look, that's not why I called. Did you get an invitation to the military ball?" he asked, sounding impatient. "Yeah, and I threw it away," I replied. "Artemis Starr! Why would you do that? You do know that as a State Alchemist and a part of the Amestrian military, you are obligated to attend, right?" he scolded. "Yes, but I'm not going. There is no way in hell you can get me to wear a dress or go to some stupid ball with some random date," I sighed, thankful that he couldn't see the amount of eye rolling on my end. "You will be there next Friday night, and you will be dressed formally. This is not a request. Do I make myself clear?" he growled. I rolled my eyes and sighed a half-hearted, "Yes, General Mustang." I could hear his smug smile through the phone line. "Good, glad you see things my way."

"Wait, Grandpa. Do I have to bring a date?" I whined. "It would be nice if you did," he sighed. "Well, who should I bring?" I asked. "I don't care! You can bring a homunculus for all I care, but you'd better be there!" he yelled before hanging up on me. 'You can bring a homunculus for all I care.' His words rang in my head over and over. All I could see was Grief's face as tears started to blur my vision. I went into my room and pulled his black hoodie out of my top drawer, balling it up and curling up in bed with it. It was all I had left of him. I buried my face in the fabric, searching for some remnants of his scent and finding none. More tears came as I felt myself slipping into the arms of someone I'd only get to see in my dreams.

Storm P.O.V

"Artemis, are you there?" I called, knocking on the door for the fifth time. I turned to Raven. "Just go inside," he said. "It's not like we haven't just walked in before." I nodded and opened the door quietly. "Artemis?" Raven called softly as he entered the kitchen. "Anybody home?" We looked around, then decided to go to her bedroom. There were two large mattresses pushed together, taking up most of the floor. Artemis was sprawled across both of them, clutching a black jacket in her arms. Raven sat on the bed and looked at me pleadingly. He wasn't very good at goodbye. "Artemis. Artemis, honey, wake up," I whispered, shaking her gently. She sat up quickly, startled at first, then she laid back with a sleepy smile when she realized it was us. "Hi guys," she mumbled. "I didn't expect you to be here so early." Raven shook his head, laughing quietly. "It's one in the afternoon, Little Red," he sighed. Her eyes shot open wide and she bolted upright in bed. "It is?" she exclaimed. "I didn't mean to sleep this late. Were you guys standing outside for a long time?" Raven shrugged. "If you call ten minutes a long time. You know, you should really learn to lock your doors," he said, smoothing her hair out of her face. She smiled, placing a hand on both of us. "I really don't know what's wrong with me. I'm just so tired," she yawned. "Oh, well you're about to wake up real quick," Raven mumbled, looking away. "What?"

"Oh, um-- nothing. Nothing at all, Little Red. You wanna tell her Storm?" Raven said, staring at me with contempt. I knew he didn't want to leave, neither did I, but we had no choice. "Tell me what? What's going on, Storm?" she asked, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. "We can't stay at the place we've been staying at any longer, which means we'll have to leave soon," I explained, looking away from her. "How soon is 'soon'? And leave as in forever? For good? No you can't do that. You guys can't leave me," she cried. Raven held her as she soaked his coat with tears. "Trust me Little Red, we don't wanna leave," he whispered in her ear, holding back his own tears. She jumped out of his arms suddenly, looking back and forth between Raven and me. "I know!" she exclaimed, wiping her tears away. "You both can stay with me." Raven glanced at me and shrugged. "It's actually not a bad idea," he sided with Artemis. "Can we?" Both Artemis and Raven were pouting at me. "Oh, alright. We'll stay here," I sighed. "Yay!"Artemis giggled, throwing herself across our laps.

Raven P.O.V.

Storm was actually going to let us stay in one place. It was a miracle. Artemis was happy, Storm was happy, and I knew I was happy. It was so unreal, having two people who cared for me. Artemis lay sprawled out across Storm and me for a good little bit, just lounging and talking about random little nothings. "So how was your morning-afternoon nap?" I asked, nudging her gently. She rolled to face me and stretched her feet out, a lazy smile stretched upon her face. " I got a call earlier from my 'grandfather', Roy Mustang. I mean, Roy adopted my dad when he was eleven, but anyway, he called to remind me that it is mandatory for me to attend the military ball next Friday," she said, sounding bored and annoyed. "I asked him who I should bring and he said, 'You can bring a homunculus for all I care,' and then he hung up so...yeah. That was really early this morning, and I got kind of upset. I guess I just fell back asleep."

"Artemis, are you okay?" I asked, trying not to laugh at the way she stretched out her words and clumsily moved her hands about. "Yeah, I'm just still tired," she yawned, crawling out of our laps and to the top of the bed. "Raven? Storm? Come lay with me, please?" she begged. "I promise I'll make you guys a nice big meal when I wake up, but I just need to sleep a little bit longer." I laid on my side, tucking Artemis in between me and Storm. We both wrapped an arm around her. She grasped Storm's arm like a teddy bear and snuggled against my chest, letting out a soft yawn. She was so beautiful, so serene. I never thought I could love anyone, or that anyone could really love me, but here I was with two people that had my heart in the palm of their hands.