Alright, this is my first attempt at an FMA story with an actual plotline. I hope you guys like this! It's after the anime series and this story takes place instead of Conqueror of Shamballa. Hmm...not much to say except to enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not in any way own Fullmetal Alchemist. If you try to sue me go ahead, but it'll be like squeezing out an apple from a rock. Seriously.
Please read and review!!! I really like critisisms to see what I did wrong. I don't really care if you flame me, just give me a reason why you don't like it.
Chapter 1: Vielen Dank
Munich, Germany 1924
Alfons Heiderich led Edward Elric through the streets of Munich. Twisting through the mass amount of people and stalls on the sides of the roads, they had finally arrived at the coffee shop not too far from the factory they worked in.
Edward was relieved that he was finally out of the cold. His automail just couldn't quite handle the cold in Germany like it had in Amestris. He glanced around their surroundings and noticed Alfons immediately smiling and waving his hand in the air. He turned towards the person Alfons was so excited to see and immediately his jaw dropped.
"Julia! It's so nice to see you again, how've you been?" Alfons asked in a polite manner.
"Well, not too bad really, but Natalie and I have been barely managing lately. I'm glad to see you're alive and well after everyone got split up in the war." Julia replied.
"Oh right, I'm sorry. I totally forgot my manners for a second there." Alfons chuckled as he turned towards Ed who still held the gaping mouth. "This is Edward Elric. We became friends after we studied rocketry together with Hermann Oberth and he shares an apartment with me now. And this is Julia Heiderich, she's my cousin. Although our family got split up before the war, I recently found her working here in Munich…Ed? Is something wrong?" Alfons asked as he suddenly became aware of Ed's gaping mouth.
"Err, it's a pleasure to meet you Mr. Elric." Julia offered as she reached a hand out to shake. Edward finally realized that breathing was essential to life, and he reached his hand out to shake hers.
"Winry…?" Edward asked himself, although Julia and Alfons had heard it and they both held very confused looks. "I'm sorry. The pleasure's mine. But please, call me Ed, Miss Heiderich." He responded. Ed instantly blushed when she giggled and gave Alfons a smile.
"You're such a gentleman. Please, call me Julia." She replied. Ed didn't know how to respond to the compliment, seeing as compliments were never given to him as a child. They were more like snide remarks about his height. It was a good thing he had gotten taller since he crossed The Gate so at least people wouldn't call him short on their first meetings anymore.
They had picked a table for three after ordering their coffee. Julia and Alfons reminisced about their childhood while they sipped at their coffee, Ed just sat there dazed and in his own world…again. It felt so nice being with Winry and his brother. No… He scolded himself yet again for the mistake. My brother had brown eyes. This Alfons…Alfons Heiderich, has blue. Ed then glanced over at Julia at the thought of a pair of ocean blue eyes, and he noticed that Julia had emerald green eyes. He sighed and his eyes lingered to his own coffee. It had been like this for three years. Mixing up the people in this world with his own world, and he was stupid to be fooled by it. It was such a nuisance, constantly living through a dream.
Ed abruptly sat up which caused startled looks on Julia and Alfons. He pulled out his wallet and put down enough money on the table to pay for all three of their drinks and left the coffee shop.
"Sorry about Ed. He's always like that." Alfons apologized.
"Do you know why?" Julia asked with a worried expression on her face. Her eyes lingered over the door where Ed had just left a minute prior. Alfons sighed and rested his head on his chin as he sipped his coffee.
"It's because he's always fantasizing about some other world." Alfons answered. He sighed and took one last gulp. Julia followed his lead and they both pulled their coats back on. It was, after all, February and was a little chilly. "It was nice seeing you again Julia, but I've gotta run back to the factory now. Ed should probably be there too, but you never really know with that guy." Alfons said as they departed the coffee shop. Julia waved good-bye as well and walked off in another direction.
Julia walked towards the street where she had shared a small house with her best friend. She noticed a shop to the side with the sign 'Tools for Mechanics' and she decided to walk in. Looking around, all the men eyed her weirdly as she browsed around the aisles with sparking eyes and a big smile.
"Julia?" She heard from behind her. She had recognized the voice right away since she just saw Ed not too long ago.
"Oh, hello there Edward." Julia replied with another smile of hers. "What are you doing here?"
"I think I should be the one asking you that question. I'm here picking up a few parts for Alfons and me for the rocket. I wouldn't know why you would be here though." Ed explained. Julia just sneered at him in response, which left Ed utterly confused. "What did I say?"
"You're like the other men in this country. You can't believe women can do anything except cook and care for children, let alone be a mechanic." Julia said with much disdain.
"Whoa, hang on there! I didn't say anything like that. In fact, one of the greatest mechanics I've ever known was a woman." Ed said, trying to defend himself for being wrongly accused. Julia let go of her scornful look and now her emerald green eyes stared back into his gold orbs. Finally, a smile lit up.
"Really?" She asked all too hopefully.
"Yeah. Out of all my travels none of the mechanics I've met were as good as her. She was the best." Ed replied with a wistful look in his eyes. A rare smile actually appeared on his lips, but it was so small Julia could barely make it out.
"Wow! Look at this, I've read all about these but I've never seen one up close! How do they work?" Julia exclaimed as she rushed over to something in the corner.
Ed mentally laughed to himself seeing at how Julia was so similar to…her. His mind abandoned the laughter once they were once again on his mind. He knew it wouldn't last long until he thought about his own world again. His home.
After he paid for all the supplies he walked out with Julia back onto the busy street. Ed decided to walk the longer way to the factory instead of taking the shortcut like Alfons had. So he ended up walking with Julia part way to the factory.
"You know, if you're so much into mechanics then why don't you stop by the factory tomorrow? I'll show you around if you'd like." Ed offered.
"Really? Wow, thank you so much! No one's ever offered me anything like that!" Julia exclaimed, although another thought popped up into her head a second later. "But, what about Alfons? He gets a little bit overprotective, and I don't think he'll like me around mechanics too much…" She trailed off. Ed just stared at her like she was crazy.
"Don't worry about it, I'll talk to him. Besides, you shouldn't let him boss you around; he's only your cousin after all. I swear; women in this country always do what they're told by men. You should just do what you want. We can't really do much to stop you…uhh, why are you stopping?" Ed asked as he realized Julia had stopped, making him walk a little bit ahead of her. He turned around to look back at her. She stopped right in front of a small, cozy house which looked very inviting to him compared to him and Alfons' small apartment.
"This is where I live, silly." She giggled. Ed just let out a 'oh' sound. "I've never heard a man talk like you have before. You're so different from the others. Well, if it's not too much trouble would it be alright if I took a look around the factory tomorrow?" Julia asked.
"Of course, it's no trouble at all. I'll be here tomorrow at around ten in the morning to pick you up, alright? I'll see you tomorrow then." And with that, Ed left and walked towards the factory without letting Julia respond.
Julia's eyes remained on the spot where Ed was, and it took her a little while to pry her eyes off and take out her keys. As the key went into the keyhole, she stopped and took another quick look to where Ed was.
"Vielen dank, Edward Elric."
Author's Note:
'Vielen Dank' means 'Thank you very much' in German.
Well, hope you guys enjoyed this first chapter. I'll be posting my chapters for this story once a week I believe. I'll try to make all my updates either Friday afterschool or during Saturday sometime.
Other than that, please review! I really wanna see what you guys thought about this xD. I'm not sure if it's good or not, but I posted it anyways. I'd also like to have a decent amount of reviews before each of my updates. I really wanna see if people actually like it or not, and it only takes a minute!! Come on, please?
