I've Been Waiting.
"We should go, brother," the suit of armor muttered darkly. He noted the blond alchemist's solemn look as he watched the house fall apart. He nodded, without saying a word, before turning around and shifting the weight of the suitcase on his shoulder. Both of them started toward the dirt road, their eyes fixed on their unseen destination. Neither of them said anything to each other before disappearing behind a small hill.
Her eyes slowly opened. The fair-toned eyelids revealed smoke-colored eyes, that shifted toward the window. She could see the orange blaze, one that chilled her blood instantly. She shook her head in disbelief. She bolted out of the bed, shooting out the door of the roomand pounding down the steps. Locks ofvery light, yellow-blonde color were pulled loosely into a crude bun, that fell over her shoulders as she ran. Another blonde child watched, her eyes saddened, as the girl quickly opened the door without a word and disappeared.
The girl, clothed in a pink nightgown, hurried through the hills to reach the house. Her heart wasdrumming wildly in her chest as she stopped, staring into the inferno with a miserable expression on her face. She felt them, the tears that yearned to pour from her eyes. And she didn't stop them from coming. They fell over her cheeks like a raging river, dripping onto her nightdress. She watched as what was left of the charred roof collapsed, causing the rest of the house to sink inward. She shook her head, racing to the entrance; it was the only thing that was still standing.A broken frame lay at her feet. She picked it up, and planted it against her chest. She moved backward, falling to her knees as she gazed in horror as the last of the Elric residence burned to ashes.
four years later
Edward Elric, otherwise known as the Fullmetal Alchemist, surged down the quiet main street of Central. The faint clanking of armor echoed behind him, dying away with each quick step he took. When the young alchemist stopped, he whirled around, his chest rising and falling quickly. "Hurry up, Al!" he called, lifting his hand in the air. A light breeze played with his blond locks, then left him just as fast as it had come. Again, swallowing more air, he called to the metal armor that hurriedly trudged down the street. "C'mon, Al! We're almost there!" It was only obvious to those who were awake this late at night; Edward Elric, the youngest State Alchemist, didn't care much about revealing his identity to whom may be lurking in the streets, if anyone. He gulped in cold, night air to try and calm the slight burning in his lungs. "We should get to Winry's sometime this morning--if we hurry, we may even catch--" He stopped, dead in his words, staring at the suit of armor in front of him. It was an enormous mound of metal; about two or three times Ed's size. The red gleam in the eye sockets glinted only momentarily, perhaps catching the faint glow of the moonlight above them. The suit of armor said nothing to the young alchemist, just followed as they left the outskirts of Central.
The burning in his lungs came back shortly after being calmed. A while into their run, Ed grew weary. His side began to cramp; he'd been running for hours, after all, without much rest. He swallowed a large portion of air as he ran, then let it escape through his nostrils. "You doin' okay there, Al?" he asked, balling his hands into fists. The suit of armor nodded only slightly. Ed's remark seemed more like a cocky statement, perhaps a challenge to see who can run faster for longer. It was part of his nature, after all. They came to the clearing in the woods, where there rested a large pond. Color seemed to burst into the dark night sky as they reached the embankment. Pink and yellow stretched out from behind massive hillocks, almost melting the stars into their awesome pastel tints. The clouds slowly took form in the sky as the sun rose from its previous perch from behind the hills. And the cold breeze turned warm; and then there was daylight. "Brother," the suit of armor called. The voice was almost unsuitable for the armor; it was high pitched and childish, creating a rather comical image to it.
"Do you remember when we used to play here?" Ed stopped, then turned to look at him. "With Winry? We'd play hide-and-seek and tag. And I remember when I pushed her into the water; she got mad at me and started crying. That's when I learned to never pick on a girl like that. Anyway, I'm surprised you remember, Al." Ed said with a grin. His attention shot to the sparkling body of water. "I don't remember that exactly..." Al said softly. "But I do remember playing here." Ed pointed upward to a hill. "We're almost there, Al. C'mon." And, like a flash of crimson, he shot through the woods like an arrow. Al, hesitant on following, did so nonetheless. His footsteps echoed through the woods.
Then the house came into view, and it seemed as though everything negative seemed to decompose and fade, like years passing, but in this very moment. Ed, ignoring the stinging pain in his chest, surged harder and faster toward the house. Then Al stopped him. "Look, brother!" He pointed toward the front of the house. There was a kind of picnic table set up a ways in front of the house, and sitting with their head resting on their arms was Winry. Two plates sat in front of her, both of them full. Ed could only smile. Winry had taken the call quite seriously the day before when Ed payed a visit to Hughes. The food, he thought, probably went cold and would start deteriorating. When Ed reached the picnic table, he took his red coat from his shoulders and placed it on Winry, whom looked rather peaceful despite her uncomfortable-looking position on the table. With the sudden warmth, she blinked herself awake, then lifted her neck to look around. She saw Ed, rubbed her eyes, then smiled. "Hey, Winry."
"What did you do, Ed? Why are you coming back home so soon?" Winry interrogated rather impatiently. She seemed suspicious in a mocking sort of way. She placed her index finger on his nose and pressed. "What did you do?" Ed brushed her hand away and shook his head. "I didn't do anything! Can't I visit home once and a while? Besides, I'm extremely tired and famished. Why do you always expect the worse in me?" Winry put her hands on her hips and looked away. "You left me waiting for a whole day, Ed," she said, not sounding very irritated, but more comical. "And you don't arrive until morning." She looked back at him. He didn't say anything, just rolled his eyes and smiled at her. "You're so weird, Win," he said. "I missed that." At that said, she couldn't help but blush. "Well, do you want breakfast, or not?" Ed nodded. She looked at Al, then cocked her head. "How you doin', Al?" she asked. "Are you okay?" He nodded, but didn't say a word. All three disappeared into the kitchen.
"How've you been, guys? I haven't heard from you two for years. But tell me something, Ed--why did you come back? Shouldn't you have found the Artist's Stone or whatever it's called?" Winry asked, rather childishly. But all three were very much aware that Winry knew the real name of the stone, and what Ed wanted to use it for. "We were in the neighborhood and decided to stop by. Everything we researched led us back here, but so far we haven't found anything that points us to making the Philosopher's Stone." He responded heatedly. "We went all the way to Lior to--" Winry piped up. "Lior City? You went there?" she asked, her eyes large. Ed nodded. "Oh! Hey, you remember Terrie, right?" she asked, putting her mug of coffee to her lips and taking a quick sip. Ed squinted. "Terrie! You know, Teresa Stonewall! A really close friend of ours." Ed nodded, the memories slowly coming back. "She moved to Lior City shortly after you left Resembool...she wouldn't tell me why she moved, but now she's coming back. She's coming to visit, and actually--her train is arriving in about an hour."
Sitting in the farthest corner, the suit of armor only slightly moved his head toward Winry. "Teresa?" he asked himself, very lightly. He whispered the question over and over, each time it would go unheard and unanswered. He was interrupted shortly by the pleading of Winry. "Oh! Please, Ed? Can't you do this for me?" she begged, her eyes glossening. "Just pick her up and bring her back here! I'm sure she's forgotten all about this place--spend a day with her. That's all I'm asking!" Ed thought only for a few moments, obviously reminiscing about their childhood, before exhaling loudly. It signalled his defeat, and Winry wasn't about to let him forget it. "Thank you so much, Ed!" she cried, nodding to him. She slapped her hands together and grinned brightly. "She was really hurt when you two left without saying anything," she glanced at Al. "She really misses the Tin Man, too." Ed nodded. "Okay. I better get going, then. I'll see you in a while." He stopped in front of Al. "You wanna come, Al?" he asked. The suit of armor stood, mechanically almost. He nodded. "I want to see if I can remember Teresa when I see her." Ed nodded.
"Brother?" It was Al's childish little voice. "Can you tell me about Teresa?" Ed, his arms folded behind his head, shrugged. He looked up to the sky and exhaled loudly. "Sure," he said. "What do you wanna know?" Al pondered that for a moment. What does he want to learn about this girl, whom Winry says was a very close friend of theirs, yet he couldn't remember anything about her. What did he want to know about her? Everything.
"What does she look like?" Al asked, his curious little voice ringing in the depths of the armor. "Well, when we last saw her, she was your age, Al. Nine years old. She had light blonde hair like Winry's, with long, choppy bangs. Her blonde hair stretched down to the middle of her back. She had smoke colored eyes and fair skin. She was your childhood sweetheart, you could say." He let out a laugh, then quickly silenced. He knew his little brother couldn't remember their friendship. Then he wondered what Teresa was going to say. They entered the outskirts ofthe train stationand followed the crowd to where the train could be heard. "I don't know what she looks like now," Ed said. "She probably looks the same; she's probably like us, you know. Not changing the way we look at all as we got older." He shrugged. "I guess we're gonna find out pretty soon. C'mon." He seemed to dive into the ocean of people that flocked around the train station. He weaved a path through the people, even if he had to push, until he reached the side of the train. His eyes scanned each of the windows that were planted alongside the locomotive, and then...
"I think that's her, Al!" Ed shouted, pointing to the seventh window. Al let out a surprised cry, lifting his head above the crowd at the window that Ed pointed to. "Is that really her, brother?" he asked him. He felt his voice cracking, but didn't know why. Ed moved a bit closer, then jumped back up. "Yeah, that's her!" He cupped his hands around his mouth and screamed, "Teresa!" Only the side of her face was visible through that window. But Ed was almost too sure it was her. She was laughing; when it hit her that he called her, she stopped, blinked, and turned to the window. Her ashen-colored eyes sparkled in a mix of confusion and irritation. Her full lips were pulled into a questioning frown. When she saw Ed, she smiled, laughed again, and waved at him. He waved back with a loud chuckle himself. "Can you believe it, Al?" he asked. "It's Terrie." Al answered him almost silently. "Yeah." he said. She was like a flash of lightning; she instantly appeared at the doorway of the train, her hands on her hips and the most cocky smile Ed had ever seen her make placed on her face.
Her attire was that of a laidback country girl; a loose-fitting, ragged plaid button-up "blouse", shorts that were rolled up to her mid-thigh, dirty hiking boots made of pure buckskin, and a worn red bandana on locks of light blonde beauty. Her hair was like a waterfall of a light yellow color; her tresses were pulledtightlyinto a highponytail that stretched down to her upper back; her bangs were long and choppy, falling over her eyes like palm tree leaves. And besides all that she was rather short; about Ed's height, if not tinier. She catapolted from the steps onto Ed, crying out as she hugged him excitedly. "Ed! I can't believe it's you!" she shouted, her gray eyes almost glowing. "How've you been, Ed?" He nodded in response, his smile broadening. He was so surprised, he couldn't speak. "Where's Al?" she asked, her happiness slowly fading. Ed's blood went cold. He swallowed a lump in his throat. "Um, Al is--" There was the clanking of metal against concrete. "I'm right here." he said. Teresa looked up at the suit of armor and shrieked, like a frightened little girl. The high-pitched sound echoed throughout the station like a roll of thunder, or the screeching of bats when done in unison. The fear in Teresa's eyes quickly faded when she realized that she was talking to a suit of armor.
Stars appeared in her smokey eyes and she leapt onto Al, peering into the red gleam that replaced eyes in the sockets. She grew excited. "Ohmygosh! I can't believe this! How old is this suit of armor? This is too cool!" Ed, surprised, tried to shake her off. "No, Ter, you don't understand...Al is that suit of armor!" He tugged on her shirt, but she wouldn't let go. She was honestly interested in the armor. "I specialize in making armor for the military! But really, Al! Why don't you get out of--" The head fell straight off the shoulders of the armor. Teresa was thrown into a momentary shock; when she came to, she screamed louder than the first time. "This is amazing!" She shoved her head inside the suit of armor, her eyes bouncing around inside their sockets. They stopped at the blood seal, where she stared at it curiously.
