Ugly positives. (FEMALES BRIGGS TEAM ONLY D<)

Reila burst through the door, panting, her golden eyes alight with urgency. "I'm sorry I didn't knock. I heard...that...something." Reila froze mid-sentence, noticing Ilona hugging her knees in the middle of the floor. So something was wrong... Checking to make sure no one was behind her, Reila kicked the door shut and flew to the white-haired girl's side. In a serious tone she continued, "You may not know me well, but..." Reila bent down, flopping onto her knees somewhat closely. Her hair was combed out of her face, pulled up in a low pony tail that spiraled down her back. She was wearing dark pink short shorts with sky blue strips with a pale pink cami that appeared to be pajamas. "I heard something was wrong and I came to help if I can..." She smiled a little, putting a hand on her shoulder. "You're an important new asset to the Briggs Brigade and I feel we could be good friends..."

Houka had been the one to inform Reila that something might be wrong with Ilona. She didn't tell her what she guessed the problem was just said something was wrong, incase her idea was wrong. When Reila took off Houka stood there for a while thinking whether or not to go with her then nodded. In times like this girls had to stick together especially in a place like Briggs. She dashed after Reila and saw her go through the door and was about to follow when the door slammed in her face, literally in her face. Fortunately, she had quick reactions so had turned her head to avoid a broken nose, but the force of the door slam did send her skidding backwards. She rubbed her cheek.

"Ow." she groaned knowing it would bruise, but hoping it wouldn't swell. She walked over waited a few minutes and knocked on the door. "Its me Houka." she said quietly though loud enough for them to hear. She hoped she wasn't interrupting anything. "I thought you might need an extra hand. "

Reila gasped as she saw the pink plus on the pregnancy test. She took it from Ilona's hands and stared at it for a moment, the white-haired alchemist's words brushing over her like fresh snow. She definitely wasn't expecting this. She also wasn't expecting Houka to be there. She blinked at the closed door and dropped the test to the carpet. "Ah-ah!" She looked down and covered her face for a moment until she had gathered herself enough to stand up. She rushed to the door and pulled it open. "I'm so sorry; I didn't see you there at all. You followed me?" Reila was a flurry of apology and was blushing madly with embarrassment. But she washed the emotion from her face a few moments later, and shutting the door behind the redhead, sat back down in her spot next to Ilona. She turned seriously to her second in command and gave her an straight look. "The important question is, Ilona, do you want to keep it?" She looked down at the abandoned test and sighed, meeting her eyes. "Whatever you decide, I'll support you."

Houka walked in slowly. "I didn't follow straight away." she said as the door closed behind her. "I wasn't sure whether it was my place, but then I thought that girls should stick together and came." She sat down glancing down briefly at the test and nodded in acknowledgment. "I thought so, but I didn't say anything incase I was wrong." She listened to Reila and nodded.

"Reila is right and whatever you choose we will both support you...as will the others." she said looking at Ilona. A military base was not the place to raise children, but all of Amestris was ravaged by war almost all the time. Nowhere would be the right place to raise children. Especially after South City. Aurego would not let a weakness like that be left unchecked. "The north is probabaly the safest area at the moment. We have the protection of the mountains."

Reila gasped as Ilona stood, her eyes taking in the work of art that enveloped her back as a tattoo. "Beautiful..." She said breathlessly without realizing. And then stood up to follow the girl into the bathroom. It was like the demon on her back was alive... It wasn't just part of her skin, but breaking free from it. Moving art... so that's what it looked like... She reached down to the cold tile to retrieve the tests lying all over the place and began piling them into the trash can. The least she could do was help while she was here... She couldn't just leave her to this mess, alone...by herself like Reila was once before. No one should ever have to be alone. She would stand with her! "We'll make it as safe as possible here for her--er.. him if it's a boy. And get you a bigger room. Anything you need. Briggs seems dangerous, but it's really one of the safest places in Amestris. I promise everything will be fine." Reila nodded reassuringly, her voice soft and caring. There was no way Ilona would be like her parents were... Together, all three of them would care for this child and give it a wonderful life. Reila was sure of it. Confident, she spent a few more hours speaking with Ilona and then went to bed finally.

[EXIT]

Houka stared atthe tattoo for a moment before quickly moving with Reila to pick up the used tests and put them into the trash. It was obvious by the amount of tests that before Houka and Reila had arrived that Ilona was truly unsure whether bringing a child into this place would be right. Now she was more certain thanks to them. "The Major General is right. This is probabaly the safest place. Also, don't worry about the cold." she said and smiled broadly. "The North City people raise children in this temperature and they are fine, but they don't have someone like me." She placed a hand on her sword hilt focusing and increasing the temperature slightly.

"I'm not sure how long I can sustain a heat increase at the moment, BUT....we have almost nine months for me to become even stronger and more skilled. By the time that baby arrives we'll have our own tropical paradise in Briggs." She too spent several hours talking to Ilona with Reila. They were to keep it secret from the guys for now, which would be easy except perhaps for Mura. He was good at finding things out. When their talking was done she too left heading back to her room. Lots of things were happening. Briggs was the place to be.

Ilona smiled, thankful for her comrades words and support. She never felt so...lightened before. She never let anyone share her burden, wanting to bear it alone so no one would come in the way of her emotional weight. But now, she felt she can depend on these people and they had her full trust as she hope she had theirs.
"Thank you..."She said in a whisper and threw the last of the tests in the bin. In a moment of happiness, she thought of the names she would give to her baby; if it was a boy his name would be...In fact she did not know but knew straight away what the girl's name is going to be: Nieves.
She was going to have to call Karyu, tell him about the news. Complications would arise between them but that would wait until tomorrow as Ilona crawled into bed and drifted off to sleep...

[Topic Exit]