FMA brotherhood fic, Bradley-centric. How King Bradley, from the man he'd been and the homunculus he's become, got to meet his future Mrs Bradley and all the hardships and joys which followed... Romance/drama fic.
Plz, keep in mind that I'm a French writer, English is just my second language... Thank you and have a nice time reading!
I chose you – Chapter 1
He took one step forward, out in the open. Breathed in and out, slowly.
At first, he was surprised to see no walls. The horizon extending infinitely between the buildings of Central. He walked out of the lab. The scientists and doctors, the people who had raised him up for the sole purpose of creating the next Fuhrer, had changed him into clean clothes. They had given him an eye patch to hide his ouroborous tattoo. He still tried to adapt to look at the world with only one eye. He was still scared from dying back there. Wasn't too sure of who or what he was.
A homunculus. A greater human. An almost perfect being. Wasn't he the same guy as before? He still had the same mind. The same looks. But there was so much fury in his heart. So much anger for all that he'd been through, and at the idea that he'd been the only one to live through this, between all his old comrades. He didn't like the others candidates. He hadn't been raised to like them. But when he had seen them all dead, lying in a room, covered with blood, he had felt true fear. And now, he was still so scared. He had survived the wrath of his "father". Meeting the said guy hadn't meant much to him. He had tried to understand. But the wrath was so strong in him, it made it hard to listen.
He had briefly met his new brothers and sister. Envy, Glutonny, Pride and Lust. Sloth wasn't there; he was already busy working for their father's plan. As for Greed, he had betrayed them sometimes ago and was still on the run. The father didn't care much for the moron, so there was no use going after him. As for himself, the new fuhrer was Wrath. Pure frustration. And the leader of the Amestris' nation. In his confused mind, it barely made any sense. He had many new names instead of the number the scientists had used to refer to him. He was Wrath. He was a homunculus. He was the Fuhrer. He was also King Bradley. He didn't know if he liked King. Bradley sounded almost human though.
"So then, Bradley, here is the capital of your country. You still have a lot to learn before you become the leader of this nation. But the worst part is done! Har har har!" the doctor laughed.
His laugh drove Bradley mad. He hated this guy. Hated him for talking to him like a dog. He felt as a pawn. Everything was planned for him.
"Come Bradley, you need a house now! And a wife also."
He looked over his shoulder, back at the crazy doctor. Hatred burned in his heart, so strongly that it hurt. He had so many people to look after him, to make sure he was following the path already carved for him. So many bosses. How could they say he was the leader of this country if he had to answer to so many? How could they name him a king when he was their slave, forced to obey their petty rules?
He felt so much power in his blood. So much lives in him, that made him almost invincible. And still, he was bound, tied down, like a puppet.
"If this is my country... can't I have a look around it?"
"You'll have plenty of time later on, silly boy."
His arm moved faster than he'd expected, as if the last stretch of patience in him had just shredded, and he caught the doctor by the throat, holding his very life in his hand, glaring at him.
"I'll take the time now." He said firmly.
Things were going on too fast. He needed time to accept all of this. To swallow down all his anger, so that he could remain calm. They had told him he had to set an example. That he would be given the right to kill as much as he wanted later. And even if it made him angrier just to think he was obeying, he wanted to wait. To collect his thoughts. To fight with this new, stronger anger. It was still his mind and his heart being angry. The only thing that had changed in him was the lives added to his own. He heard the souls crying in the back of his skull. They had started yelling and crying at the very moment he was injected with their liquid stone. He was now the vessel of his "father" 's wrath. But he still wanted to be an individual. He wasn't just an extension of that said father. He had never met him before and now, just because the old fart had input a part of his sin into him, he belonged to him and was to follow his orders? As if! He had fought and sweated all this time to become the country leader. To have a better life. He had always fought to survive among the other candidates. And he had. So then, hadn't he won any right? Couldn't he be free to do as he will?
"But...!" the doctor tried to object.
"How can I become a leader if I don't know how the humans act and live? I want to see them. See real people. Walk around the streets of the city."
"You can't..."
"It wasn't a demand." He added, letting his anger transpired in his voice.
"I can't let you go and get los...!"
He was interrupted by the stronger grip of Bradley's hand on his neck and started gasping for air.
"I've memorized Central's streets configuration years ago. If I get lost, you'll just have to find me. But pray that you don't, 'cause I won't come back before that I feel like it, understood?"
After all, hadn't they waited for years already to appoint him as the new fuhrer? They could still wait a few more days. A few more weeks. Even months.
"Ye... yes, sir."
"That's more like it." Bradley smiled.
He let go of the doctor and walked away.
When he was far enough not to see the building where he had lived for most of his life, Wrath realized this was a mistake. He had never met any real normal people. He wasn't even sure if they existed. But then again, he was supposed to lead other people. In this Central city, men and women were living to be ruled. He was their king. There were the future sacrifices for his father's plan. But his mind was going further then that as he walked down the streets. Somewhere in this country, in this world, there had been a man and a woman who had bring him to life. He had been a real human as every of them, for most of his life. Now, he was in the next step of evolution. Or so the scientists said. But if he was so much greater, if he was a superman, why did he have to obey his teachers? He didn't nurture much respect for them. Not after that they made him suffer so much. He yearned for something different. But he had no idea what.
He knew many words that had been nothing but words to him. Like friendship, justice and love. He knew those were ideals that thrived mankind. But he'd never experienced any of them. Never was given the right to.
"These are just more meaningless chains." He thought out loud.
For once, he was given the right to talk to himself. And he tried to experience the feel of hearing his own voice. His voice which was supreme and could order anything to a soldier now. He barely knew that voice. Or maybe was it the Wrath inside him which made him unsure about who he'd been.
He walked around, experiencing the wind in his hair and the sun slowly setting down in the sky. There weren't much people around. He crossed a bridge and stopped in the middle of it, spotting his reflection in the water. He had seen this guy before, reflected on his blade before that the sword got covered in blood. He realized that it was him. King Bradley. The perspective fuhrer who had won over all the others. The twelfth try. He blinked and bent down to look closer at his reflection. Raised one hand to touch the eye patch on his right side. Hesitated. Felt more anger building inside him. The souls yelling were hard to contain. So hard to silence down. He closed his eyes an instant. Reopened them and looked around him. Nobody around. He removed the eye patch. Slowly looked down at himself with his both eyes.
The red ouroborous tattoo on his eyeball was scary. It didn't had up with his aqua blue iris. If he forgot that, he guessed that he looked good. Well, not that he knew anything about beauty. He used to think of his sword as something beautiful. The sun was nice too. And the moon. The wind. He liked maps too. He never thought of the other candidates as nice looking. They rarely talked to each other. Getting friends with those rivals wouldn't do him any good. So he had lived alone, restrained behind walls for all of his life. And the question still lingered. Even if he knew everything about being a fuhrer, about using guns and swords and strategies, he felt so... So lost.
On an impulse, maybe coming from one of the souls crying within him, he tried to smile. It looked as creepy as those looks the scientists had for him when he won over another candidate. He tried again, to raise each side of his mouth, not too much. Why did he wanted to be able to smile? He knew he would have to pretend being human. And human were known for showing their emotions. Had he ever expressed anything else than utter concentration? His lips were thin and white from his anger.
This is what I am, he thought. An angry bundle of nerves unable to keep up his role.
And it was a role. Being a fuhrer. He had to learn. To get himself a wife and a house, and to pretend he had had a normal life. With a family. This word scared him. He still tried to remember what a wife was. It involved a woman. He knew the scientists laughed when they talked about women. He had no idea why. He had never seen one for real. Only in books. And somehow, everything about his education seemed lacking suddenly.
He heard people laughing in the background. Quickly put back his eye patch and looked up, still confused. Laughing. He knew the word. Knew the sound. Had laughed one time or two. Barely. He knew laughs could be comforting. The souls in his mind were telling him so.
He hardly believed them though. He'd never liked it when the scientists laughed. It meant more hard work. And even if he was ready to go through anything, he could feel fatigue and pain. A shiver ran through his spine.
"I'm still lost." He thought.
How he had always fought to be in control of everything around him... To no avail. A couple passed by him. He didn't look at them, gazing down at the water under the bridge. Feeling their presence was enough. He heard another laugh. It was soft and sweet, somehow, and a man's voice could never sound like that, he knew that much. So was it... a woman?
He looked over his shoulders, but the pair of human was already off on the other side of the bridge. He noticed a weird choice of clothing for one of the two people. Was that a dress? He shook his head. How could they send him in the world with still so many questions in his head? How could HE be so clueless? This was an insult to his fuhrer's powers.
He turned around and resumed to his walk, stuffing his fists in his pockets. The wind kept on toying with his locks. His reflection walked next to him in the glasses from shop's windows. His shadow followed him and disappeared consecutively as the lights changed. Street lamps, he thought. He fell in love with the feeling of this light. The sound of his boots on the stone's streets. It felt soothing and peaceful. The souls in his mind had been forced to silence, because he had threatened to kill the next person he'd met if they kept on yelling.
He could finally think clearly again.
And then his eye met something new in the scenery. Someone was standing in front of one shop, dusting off the ground around it with a broom. She –because it had to be a woman, given the attributes he could see despite her dress and long coat- was looking rather young, and had long brown hair. Her eyes were green and... There was a light in them he'd never seen anywhere else. Was that... he referred to his new souls... Could this be kindness?
He knew what the word meant. It was the quality of someone who was kind. Did it mean anything? He was puzzled. And scared. Because this girl, or woman, was looking quite different than anything he had picture in his mind before. He had met Lust. Her looks hadn't awaken anything within him. He had never learned to desire anything else than power. And even now, though something within him was touched just by the sight of this small human, off in her world of cleaning, he desired nothing but to regain power and control. Control over himself above all else!
"Hey you, woman!"
She jumped a little and looked around, her eyes widening. He stopped right in front of her shop, two or three feet away from her.
"Are you... are you talking to me?" she whispered, looking... surprised.
Bradley wondered why she seemed so shocked.
"Well, you're a woman right?"
He felt stupid, but he was just stating the obvious. And it wasn't obvious at all for him. Her green eyes showed him an emotion he recognized instantly. Anger. It felt almost reassuring.
"What... what's your problem?" she asked, putting her broom in front of her, as if to shield herself from him.
He hesitated. Why had he talked to her in the first place? To ascertain his hypothesis? He wanted to slap himself now. The souls in his head were laughing at him. And it made him even angrier. His mouth opened to speak up, but nothing came out. He needed help. But a future fuhrer wouldn't ask for help. He stared at the woman instead. Even if it was just with one eye, she noticed and got even angrier. Next thing he knew, she was slapping him in the face. He hadn't expected that, and he tumbled backward, barely keeping his balance. And to his own surprise, his cheek burned him.
His new souls stopped laughing. He looked back at her, shaken. Nobody had ever raised a hand against him. At least, not without any prevention. He had been training for years to fight, and still, this small human could reach him and surprise him. And instead of anger, he came back to his senses. This "woman" was one of his people. She had feelings and he had certainly said or did something wrong to get her mad. She wasn't Wrath. She was innocent. For the first time, he understood this word.
"I... I'm sorry." He heard himself saying.
He didn't know where this was coming. He had never said those three words. Or maybe once, but back when he was a child, if he did misbehave once; because he'd wanted to play instead of training and learning. He had forgotten the word "playing" since then. And suddenly, he felt as a child again, being lectured by his mom. The feeling was new and strange. He never had a mom or the need for one.
"I've been pretty rude, but I..."
"You're drunk, is that it?" she retorted.
"Drunk?" he repeated.
The young woman was looking at him with suspicion now.
"Maybe a little," he admitted with what he hoped was at least a weak smile. "I just got back from the countryside and I got lost."
"Are you a soldier?"
"More or less."
He looked around, to find something that could help him. This was his first talk with a normal human being. He didn't want to shame himself anymore than he'd already do. He read every signs and spotted the one on the building in front of which the woman had done her cleaning. Motel.
"I... I need somewhere to stay. Any place left here?"
"For jerks like you? Pffaa!"
She turned around, ready to walk back in the building. Bradley felt a mix of anger and panic within him. How could she treat him like that, he, the Fuhrer of his country? But at the same time, she didn't know who he was. All she knew was that he'd called her a woman and had stared at her as if she was the first girl he'd ever seen.
"Wait! We can't part like that. First I have to amend myself."
She looked over her shoulder, surprised. He looked sincere. And slightly desperate at the same time. At this moment, she had no idea how surprised he was himself.
"You're a really weird guy."
"I'd hate to leave a bad impression on you, miss. So please, give me a chance to get your forgiveness. How about... a dinner?"
This ain't gonna work, he thought to himself.
"You got some nerve, mister... Who are you anyway?"
"You can call me Bradley."
"Alright, Bradley. I'm Amelia. But it will be miss Amelia for you."
He nodded.
"You wanna stay here, but I bet you don't have any money on you, right?"
Blinking, he realized he had forgotten about that too when he had "run away" from Golden Tooth.
"So then, do you know how to cook, Bradley?"
Anger perked back up, but he chased it away. This girl, Amelia, she had some nerves too. It was hard to predict how she'd act. And somehow, he liked that.
To be continued...
So that's one chapter done. If you're interested in seeing more, reviews are really welcome! You can comment just to help me improve to. I hope I managed to make Bradley Bradley-like. It's such a headache to manage to decide how he is at this moment of his life. And yes, I named Mrs Bradley Amelia, because she needs a first name. And it's the only one I can think of. XD
See ya in next chapter then!