Vermilion

I set down my book and think out of loneliness, about thoughts, which led to more thoughts. My name is Vermilion, and I fell in Love with an empty suit of armor. It happened the first time they visited Liore, my hometown.

Some people would have you believe that they began to show fraud of Cornello almost as soon as they arrived. Truly, though, they had stayed a day or two before the radio broke and they heard of him.

I was headed from the market to the far front of town, where my house resides. Stepping, though, from a back alley I saw two figures- one was a short blonde kid with an old red coat, the other was a tall man in a dazzling suit of armor. Immediately I was awestruck by such beautiful armor.

With my basket of tomatoes beneath my arm- I ran and stood in front of this suit of armor- gazing up at the tall figure. "H-hello" I looked up at where it's eyes would be. Even through the armor I saw two lightly colored beads that glowed. It reflected a dark gold color, mixed with olive green and grey, almost like a rusty color, but much prettier.

"Hello" He happily replied to me, his voice sounded a bit more like a child's than I thought it would. "Um… my Name is Vermilion." I smiled; I was afraid, but happy at the same time. It was a strange mix of emotions that I welcomed to my face.

"My name is Alphonse" He replied. "Nice to meet you, Vermilion." Though I couldn't see a smile on his face, I somehow felt it. "Are you new around here? Do you have a place to stay?" I asked them, not taking my eyes off of Al.

"N…not really…?" they both looked confused. I remember offering them to stay at my house. I remember leading them to my home. I remember me following Al around all day. I had never seen his face, but the way he spoke. He was always nice, and his emotions didn't have to be displayed on his face, because it was always emitted in the air itself.

Though through only two days of knowing him, following him around, I saw the true colors of his personality. He was sweet and kind, not much of a temper, and he honestly didn't mind me trailing him everywhere he went.

...But mostly I remember something that Edward (Al's brother, I had soon learned his name) said that made me very curious. "Al…" Ed started, this seemed to be the moment he realized my admiration of his brother. "…When are you going to tell her?" he raised his eyebrow. "She's obviously taken a liking to you." At that, I glared at Ed. I had wondered what had made me so transparent.

"Uh…" Al seemed to panic. I wasn't sure if he was blushing or just panicking in general. I wondered, then, what it was that I didn't know. I wondered quite a lot, actually. The wonder kept at me all the days they were in Leore and afterwards. I had no mind to ask, though, because I was afraid of the answer.

On the third day of being at my house they left. Ed kept saying something about 'Father Cornello' and a 'philosopher's stone'. I did believe in Leto, yes, but I didn't believe the teachings of Father Cornello. I am a reader, and upon studying the book of Leto, some of the things Cornello said didn't match up. When I had learned that it didn't match up, I threw out my radio. Otherwise, they would have learned about Father Cornello sooner.

I remember that they came back after leaving, they wanted me to help them make a replica of Al's armor. I got to work with the neighborhood blacksmith and presented it to them.
Next I had heard of them, they had left town and the uprising began.

During the uprising, I went into hiding in the basement of my house. Not to be mistaken as extremely Lucky, I was actually thrown into more of poverty after the uprising. Considering I wasn't rich to begin with and wasn't able to work my job as much during the uprising itself. I spent most my money on food, and most of my time in my basement. I was sad to be so alone, and at a lot of times considered suicide. The pain was way too much to bear by myself.

I remember one night, that I started crying and wailing; I blamed the Elric brothers for my misfortune. Deep thought into the subject, though, showed Cornello was the base of everything bad that happened to me because of the uprising. Bad things started happening when he showed up in the first place.
It just took Ed and Al to realize that.
I realized, then, why the uprising happened:

It was because of some would have rather lived hope through lies, that have no hope through truth. When the truth was revealed, those weak souls who wanted the lie of hope, panicked. They thought there was nothing to live for.
They thought life was ruined. Rose had thought that, too.

When the uprising was over, I remember helping out Miss Rose in the kitchen, to cook meals for people who were repairing Leore. It became my only job, in turn I got fed and my house fixed. Rose was in such a mess after Cornello was overthrown. She was like a big sister to everyone, so all of the younger girls were sad until she pulled herself back on her feet again.

After the uprising, when I was helping Rose out in the kitchen, an old man appeared from out of the desert. Not only did this man reveal his name, Von Hohenheim, but that he was the father of both the Elric brothers. Though, I was curious, I was too afraid to approach him or talk to him. He started helping out with rebuilding the city.

The next I knew, others showed up to Leore, including Al.
I asked rose for a break and she gladly gave it to me. I took Al by the hand and ran until we reached a tree near my house, a tree that was dying because none would tend to it.

We spent quite a while together there, just talking. "Millie, why do you have gold eyes?" he asked, I guess he was curious as to why my eyes reflected that of a lost civilization. "My parents both had Golden eyes. I never learned why." There was then a pause. I noticed, when his father arrived, he had Golden eyes as well, it made me wonder what Al was thinking.

"Millie, why do you follow me around so much?" He asked, he didn't say it in a harsh tone, but it hurt a little bit to hear. "I guess I… really like you." I smiled. I, with my hand, pulled some of my brown hair behind my ear.

"Why?" he asked.

"You're really nice, I... like your personality…your bravery…" I almost added a remark about how tall he was, because I consider that a very admirable trait, but I stopped myself.

"But what if… I wasn't… human?" Al's next question made me stop and think for a second. What does he mean by that?
"Oh, silly, of course you are a human." I laughed.

"Was."

I stopped laughing. He was being serious; I could feel it in the tense air around me. I heard a clink. I turned to look at him, but I saw nothing.
That was just it.
Nothing.

Inside his armor was nothing but air. It must have been what his brother was talking about. I got to my feet- startled, then dropped to my knees. My emotion and face then changed. "Oh, silly, of course you are a human." I repeated with a gentle smile. "You are very human." Then I knocked over his suit of armor and crawled inside.

"Wha-!" he started to freak out. "It's very roomy in here." I giggled. "I could get used to it." I curled up in a ball, then. I could feel, in the air, Al was blushing. "D-don't touch that blood-seal. It's the only thing holding my soul to this world." He was worried.

"I won't hurt you, I promise." I yawned before I fell asleep.

When I awoke, he had already left.
I was asleep against the dead tree.

There was nothing left except for a note.

Dear Millie, I had to go. I'm sorry, but I'll be back to visit you again. – Al

And that was the last time I saw him.

I pulled the book back up to my face. My face then tinted pink.
I miss him.

I sighed as a knock vibrated upon my door.
I got up from my old Alchemist book and dragged my feet across the carpet below to welcome whoever was seeking me. A click opened the beat-up door to Edward Elric. Some boy was with him; he looked about Al's age.

"Where's Al?" I asked, puzzled and disappointed at the same time. Ed only chuckled a devious chuckle. "I would like to introduce you to my friend here." Which made me think for a moment- his friend was handsome… "No thanks." I blankly replied, hastily followed with an attempt to slam the door shut.

Ed stopped it with his hand. For a second I pushed the door harder to try to close it but I realized it was his right hand. The last time I saw Ed, it was Automail. Now, it was a real hand- a human hand. It made me limp and I dropped down to the floor "Y-your hand…" "Yep, it's my hand alright, I got it back." I looked up- unable to deduct what this could possibly mean.

"Where's Al?" I ask again, demanding and freaked out. "Al is fine. I'll get to that part." He swung the mahogany door to a full open. His friend smiled down at me as he passed by and sat in my chair, picking up my book. "What do you mean…?" I raised my eyebrow at Ed.

"It's a long story…" He trailed off. "Well… you're a guest… how about you tell me while I treat you two to dinner?" I decided to be nice about it. After all, I'd hate to break that lovely arm of his that he just got back.

The guest Ed brought would not talk; I had to ask him yes or no questions to be replied with a nod.

"What's your name?" I finally asked, ignoring the whole yes-slash-no-questions thing. He stopped for a second and a look of panic spread across his face. His eyes darted across the room before he silently sighed and shook his head back in forth in a no.

That generally confused me.

Once dinner was ready, though, at least Ed started talking. His guest ate silently and listened to every story without complaint. We ended up talking about Winry, and the rest of Ed's family.

"So whatever happened to your brother Al?" I questioned again. Like a strange magic, at this moment I noticed the guest's appearance. His eyes were a Gold, diluted with olive-green and grey, and he had this really sweet smile. With this final question, Ed's guest finally spoke up.
"…Millie…"

At the sound of this single word, everything hit me like a time bomb:
That so-familiar voice.
His eyes were the eyes that I had seen so long ago in Leore, the eyes that glowed from a metal suit of armor.

"Al!" I squealed. I had to keep myself from jumping over the dinner table with glee: my heart feeling so much happiness. I stood out of my chair and ran around the table, giving him the biggest hug I've ever given.

Ed then pulled out a photo from his pocket and laughed. It had Ed, Winry, Al, Two children and a Chinese woman. "The family photo." He called it.

"Who's that girl?" I demanded with a hint of anger rising up, I look at both Ed and Al in front of me with a glare. "May Chang?" Ed asks. "Oh… she's like part of the Family. She's really nice, delivered both the kids… and she has this huge crush on Al, too."

"Crush, eh?" I curled my fists.
"I-it's not liked that! Brother!" He whined at Ed.
"It isn't?" I let my fists relax. My face lost all anger and tension.
"No." he sighed: a sigh of relief.

"Yeah, he'd totally rather have you have his kids instead."

"Brother!" Al yelled at Ed with a really harsh anger, but at the same time his face turned red. I felt myself turning red as well.

"What? It's so true. I mean-" Ed started laughing, but he stops talking. He cut off his words, at first I had wondered why.

I had almost realized what was going on, but I was too afraid to admit it. Al stood up from his chair and reached into his pocket. He bit his lip, and that cute redness across his face remained. The red on my face also, still remained.

Al got down on one knee, and opened the box from his pocket:
A Diamond Ring.

My eyes sparkle like the diamond, and my breath is no more. Everything lay still in the house, not even the mice stir. Our eyes are caught in this gaze that may seem everlasting. "Will you marry me?" he asked,

I flinched from the flash from my left. I looked over to see Ed with a camera.
"Ed! She hasn't given an answer yet!" he complained, a mix of worry and anger rung in his voice and he looked back to me.

"Oh, silly, of course." I smiled, getting down on my own knees and hugging him.
Another flash. "Ed! This is a tender moment and-!" I started to shout, but Al pulled me in for a kiss. My eyes then closed as that new feeling spread through me. All of me felt such happiness- this single touch between us. This single connection meant so much. He pulled me into his arms, with my hands against his chest, and I could feel his heartbeat.

The camera flashed again.

"Ed!" We both yelled.

~END~

It seems I've encountered a trolling problem. To clarify; this story is not about me, ahaha. I just wrote it in first person. Kthnxbai.