A Forgotten Romance

Just A Kiss

Olivier managed to bring William inside so he wouldn't get a cold, or possibly frostbite, or even freeze to death. That and Kathryn still needs her father. "First we're going to get you two checked out by our medic to make sure you're not carrying some sort of disease," Olivier said and brought William and Kathryn to Briggs' medic. "Miyami, the new guy and his daughter are here," Olivier said when they were there. "You think you could give them a check up?" Miyami the medic looked up from the automail she was making to see Olivier, William, and Kathryn. "Yeah, sure," Miyami said. Both William and Kathryn stepped in when Miyami told them to. William was the first one tested and the last thing that Miyami had to do was draw blood from his arm, to which he complied. Kathryn was the second one tested and she went through the same things her father did. When Miyami looked at the DNA test from the blood samples, she was surprised at the results. She looked at the others. "They're not carrying any disease, but I did find something interesting from their blood samples," she said. "What is it?" Olivier asked. "As it turns out, the girl's not actually related to him by blood," Miyami told. Kathryn's eyes widened at that and she looked at William. "Not only that, but he's a mix of different ethnicities." "Clearly my paternal grandfather's Ishvalan blood runs strong," William said in reference to his hair and eye color. "Dad..." Kathryn said, bringing William's attention to her. "Is it true? Am I not really related to you?" Kathryn asked. A sigh escaped the only male in the room. Three sets of eyes are on him; one red, one blue, and one brown. Seems he has no choice but to answer. "Your birth parents were murdered the day I found you when you were an infant. Whoever it was that killed them would've killed you as well had I not been there," William said. "Besides, I couldn't just leave you there with no one to look after you. And then after I asked the guy a question, you seemed to calm down, almost as if the sound of my voice soothed you." Tears pricked the corners of Kathryn's eyes and she stayed silent for a moment. "Twelve years and I'm only finding this out now." "I'm sorry Kat, I found it best not to tell you until you were ready," William told. Instead of being mad like he expected her to be, Kathryn hugged him out of nowhere. "You're not mad?" William couldn't help but ask, his red eyes wide. "No," Kathryn said and shook her head. "I'm just glad you did what you did." A smile crossed William's face. "Enough with this sappiness," Olivier said. "It's time Miles is briefed on how we Briggs men work." William looked at Olivier and nodded. Kathryn let go of her father and the two followed Olivier throughout Fort Briggs. For the most part, Olivier was talking about what goes on at Briggs and when an opportunity rose, William would ask a question of which Olivier would answer. Kathryn looked around, listening to what was being said. At one point, Kathryn got distracted by the view when they were walking along the open section of the fort. Neither William or Olivier seemed to notice when she wasn't with them. "Wow..." Kathryn breathed. However, there was a creaking somewhere above her. When it got loud enough, Kathryn became suspicious and looked up slowly to see a figure hanging from the roof and looking down at her. Sure enough, Kathryn's eyes widened and her mouth opened. William looked down at his side, expecting Kathryn to be there. She wasn't. The second lieutenant looked around to see if she was there. "What is it?" Olivier asked when she was William looking around. "Kathryn's missing," William said and looked at Olivier. All of a sudden, there was an ear-piercing scream that William immediately recognized. He then took off in the direction it came from. "Miles, wait!" Olivier called. "I can't! My daughter needs me!" William called back. A sigh escaped Olivier before she followed him. "I swear, if he dies, then it's all his fault," she said to herself. "Dad! Help!" Kathryn called from where she was huddled, tears threatening to spill from her eyes. "Oh, so you're an Ishvalan, are you?" The person asked. He certainly didn't sound like he was from Amestris. Maybe he was from Drachma? Something clonked the guy on the head. "Leave her alone!" Came an all too familiar male voice. Turning around, the guy saw it was William, panting heavily. Kathryn looked between the guy's legs and saw him. "Dad!" She cried out. "Get away from my daughter," William said in an angered tone, his face conveying his anger, something in hand ready to be launched at the guy. "Who, the Ishvalan runt? She should've died with her parents twelve years ago." Two sets of red eyes widened at that. William seemed to remember that. "You! Was it you who killed her parents that day?" William asked, his grip on the item in hand tightening. "Who else?" "You bastard!" William cried out, launching whatever it was in his hand. If it were baseball, had it been invented, that would be a fastball that no one could hit or dodge. It hit him with such force, it caused him to stumble back and left a mark. "Now, where the hell did you come from?" William growled. Olivier arrived in time to hear the question. A creepy smile crossed the guy's face. "Drachma," was all the guy said. Kathryn managed to sneak by the Drachman and ran to William, hugging him around the waist in the process. Olivier stepped forward and drew her sword, pointing it at the Drachman. "And just how did you get here without the alarms going off?" She asked. "I have my accomplices," the Drachman said. He was right. Almost everyone around Briggs was fighting a Drachman soldier that had somehow made it in. "Now if you don't mind, I have a score to settle with the Ishvalan soldier," he said in reference to William. "Like hell you're getting to my adjutant!" Olivier screamed and charged the Drachman, her sword still pointed at him. The two fought for a while as William looked to Kathryn and got to her level, drawing the girl into a tight yet gentle hug. Kathryn hugged him back, the tears in her eyes finally falling. She kept repeating how sorry she is into his ear. William kissed her shoulder, which caused her to fall silent. "It's alright sweetheart; it's not your fault. I should've been paying better attention to you." He then glanced at Olivier, who was still fighting the Drachman. "Let's get somewhere safer," William said. Nodding, Kathryn let go of her father to let him stand up. Taking Kathryn's hand, William went to an area across from where Olivier and the Drachman are fighting. However, they only took a few steps before something collided with the side of the older male, knocking him to the ground. His body slid to the edge, unconscious. "Dad!" Kathryn cried out. Olivier looked over to see William lying unconscious at the edge of the open area, multiple small objects protruding from the side of his head, arms, and body, and a Drachman soldier advancing on him. She couldn't do anything about it however due to the fact that when she called out to him, she was pulled back to fighting the other Drachman. Looking around, Kathryn found nothing else could be done, so she stood between the soldier advancing and her father. The Colonel glanced to see that. "Kathryn, what do you think you're doing? You could die!" "Then again, I might not," Kathryn said. "I just don't want my father to die!" And that gave Olivier a good reason to not say anything else. To be honest, she didn't want him to die either. Not just because it's his first day at Briggs and he's her adjutant... But for a different reason. All of a sudden, Kathryn pounced on the larger Drachman male and started attacking him with hands, feet, teeth, fingernails, anything she could use to hurt him in some way. She also managed to get out of range of his hands so she wouldn't get captured. Her injuring him ended when he fell over the edge and she jumped off to get a grip on the edge, attempting to pull herself back up. When Olivier managed to get rid of the Drachman she's fighting, she immediately went to Kathryn and got a hold of her arm, pulling the girl up to safety. "Next time, don't do something so wreck less," Olivier said. "Eh, my father's still alive, isn't he?" Kathryn asked. Both females looked at William to see he's still out cold. "That's debatable," Olivier said before going over to him and taking hold of the back of his collar. "Let's go see Miyami." Kathryn nodded and followed Olivier, who is quite literally dragging William by the collar of his jacket, to Miyami's office. The Colonel sliced any throats of Drachman soldiers that tried to get in their way. Once there, Olivier picked up the unconscious body and placed it on a med table. "Miyami, are you here?" Olivier asked. A brown haired head popped up out of nowhere. "Right here," Miyami said. "What's going on out there by the way? I've been hearing fighting." "Drachma. That's what," Olivier said. "Apparently one of them was in search of Miles and Kathryn. She's alright but he's injured and unconscious." Miyami understood and nodded. "Got it." And with that, she went to the darker skinned male and started her work. Kathryn watched her do so, clearly not caring that her shirt and jacket are speckled with the blood of her enemy, along with her entire mouth and chin area and her fingers. Sometime during it, there was a groan from William, signaling that he was coming to, not like the others were paying attention. His ruby red eyes flew open and his breath hitched when Miyami had a bit of trouble getting something out of his hip. "This one doesn't seem to want to come out," Miyami noted aloud. "That's because whatever it is, it's stuck in the bone that's right there," William said. Miyami looked towards his face. "Oh, so you're awake." William nodded. "I am and I would appreciate it if you were more gently when doing that." "Sorry," Miyami said with a sheepish smile before she got back to work. It did take a while, but Miyami did get every object out of the second lieutenant's body and dress his wounds. "It may take a few days for the bone in your hip to heal, so I suggest taking it easy," she informed. "Alright, thanks," William said and slowly sat up. "Sure thing," Miyami said with a smile. When William was sitting fully, he was met with the sight of Kathryn covered in blood. Ruby red eyes widened at that. Kathryn blinked when she saw her father was just staring at her before realizing why. She looked at her clothes and fingers. "What happened?" William asked, concern evident in his voice. Of course, he didn't let the others know that he was freaking out on the inside. "After you were knocked out, a Drachman soldier was advancing on you," Kathryn told. "Since Ms. Armstrong was busy with the one she was fighting, I took it upon myself to fight him with what I could, which ended up being my hands, feet, teeth, and fingers mostly. I guess I didn't do so well in keeping clean and playing fair." The twelve year old girl twiddled her thumbs as she waited for his response. William slid off the table and walked to Kathryn, wincing a bit at the first step. Kathryn looked up at him and smiled when he placed a hand on her head. "Seems you need a bath," William said. "I can show you to the bathroom if you like," Olivier offered. William and Kathryn look at her. "That would be nice," William said. With that, Olivier turned on her heels and walked out, William and Kathryn following close behind. Luckily, the bathrooms aren't gendered. The trio walked by other Briggs soldiers fighting Drachman soldiers, all of which paid no mind to them.

-two years later-

In the time since William and Kathryn first arrived at Briggs, he had ranked up to first lieutenant. That and he'd been wearing the snow-blindness goggles Kathryn had gotten him. Right now, the quarter-Ishvalan was sitting in the room he shared with Kathryn, doing some paperwork. Apparently it had come in from Central. He didn't seem to notice a figure standing in the door, leaning against the frame. "Are you free to talk first lieutenant?" A female voice asked. William jumped and turned to see Olivier leaning against the doorframe. "Brigadier General," he said. "I didn't know you were there. Yeah, I could take a break from the paperwork I got from Central." Olivier walked into the room, seeming to have let herself in without permission. Then again, she IS the commander of Briggs and can do what she wants. "Good, because there's something I've been meaning to tell you," she said. Everyday for the past couple years, Olivier and William have been having secret meetings between just the two of them, to get to know each other. It had been Olivier's idea. She'd never done it with any other Briggs soldier before, just William. Not even Kathryn knew about it. "What is it?" William asked. There was no answer, unless you count Olivier all of a sudden kissing the quarter-Ishvalan. Ruby red eyes widened and William blushed deeply. He also felt his heart skip a beat, almost as if it were trying to leap out of his chest. When she pulled back, she saw the blush on his face. To be honest, she was blushing herself. "You better not tell anyone about this," she warned. "Don't worry, I won't," William said. He then rubbed the back of his neck, standing up in the process. "To be honest, I've been meaning to tell you something." Blue eyes looked up at him, one covered by blonde hair. "What is it Miles?" She asked. Instead of saying anything, William leaned forward and kissed her softly. Once he did that, Olivier's eyes widened and she blushed darker. As he pulled away shorty after, he shifted the position of the snow-blindness goggles to where they're sitting on top of his head. Olivier watched as he did so, staring into his ruby red eyes. Neither noticed a certain Ishvalan female standing in the door, staring at them with a smile on her face. She soon walked off though, not making a sound as she was doing so. "You know, red suits you," Olivier said. "Hm?" William looked at Olivier. "You think so?" The quarter Ishvalan knew what she was referencing. Brigadier General Armstrong nodded. "Of course I mean it."