One Last Dance
Ch. 1 The Invitation
Disclaimer- I do not own the world of Amestris or Edward… I just wish I did.
"Sadie, wake up! It's Monday!" My mom called through the open door. Ughh…. Slowly I rolled out of bed and turned on the light. All these nights spent in Amestris were taking a toll on me. I would probably have to spend fewer nights with Shayla if I wanted to pass my finals.
All this ran through my head as I got dressed and sat down for breakfast. I shivered and pulled my coat off the chair. Winter was coming which was making it harder to leave my warm bed. Winter… My mind did a double take. Winter meant two things, the beginning of winter guard season and the fast approaching winter formal.
I had forgotten that this Saturday was the dance. My head had been so full of school, guard, and my life I Amestris that I forgot. That would mean I needed a dress… and a date. It wasn't a requirement but people who went traditionally had a date.
"Sadie, your oatmeal is getting cold! What's with you lately? You've been really spaced out and tired." Oh great, Douglas noticed my sleep deprivation. "I'm fine. I'm just worried about the finals." I lied. Douglas didn't know about my nightly escapades to Amestris.
The rest of the morning was spent in relative silence. I mulled over the option of skipping the dance. Not that it was much of an option. Max, a close guy friend of mine, was excited about everyone being there. He was even going to force another introverted friend of mine named Jamie to go. No doubt he would drag me out of my house by my legs if I tried to refuse. I would ask him to go with me as a friend except one problem. Max had a long time crush on a friend of ours named Elizabeth, or ET for short. They were going together, which was how it should be. I could have gone with Jamie had I asked earlier, but Julie got to him first. Almost everyone I knew had a date. Well, I had a plan of my own.
Monday came and went with plenty of work. Projects were coming hard and fast now that finals were approaching. I went through almost the entire week before I decided to put my plan into action. It was Thursday by the time I got my nerves up. That night I thought fiercely of Amestris before I went to bed. That's how I could cross over from our world with the help of my "twin" Shayla. I felt a flash of grey light and opened my eyes.
Shayla's apartment was a melody of bright colors and themes. I always appeared in Shayla's bedroom when I came to visit. It was decorated as a tropical rain forest. A large tree grew out of one wall with its roots divided into two beds. A pile of springy fern leaves served as a mattress. In the adjacent bathroom, a small waterfall gurgled into a pool that served as the bathtub.
Shayla and I had recently discovered that with the help of our dream alchemy, we could make fantasies and dreams reality. Using this knowledge, we had redone her entire loft apartment with each room having its own theme.
I sat up in Shayla's spare bed and stretched. I figured she must be in the kitchen fixing a late snack. Both our worlds had the same time relation so when I crossed over, it was night. I looked at the parrot-designed clock. Luckily it was only around eleven. I climbed out bed and walked down the sky hall. I called it that because it was decorated with a mixture of chameleon and dream alchemy. It showed the sky as it was outside. It was a dark coal black with sparkling stars filling up the void. Not a cloud was in sight as I walked down the passage. Several doors branched off from the sky hall but I kept going to the end where the kitchen and living room were. I came out of the hall and into the living room. This was one of the most unique rooms in the house. Even though the temperature stayed the same, I always wanted to put on a sweater in this room. The walls gave the impression of being high up in the air. Mountain tops peaked out of fleecy white clouds. The chairs all looked like they were made of grey stone but were really made of comfortable leather. A pile of fluffy white pillows and blankets were reminiscent of snow on a mountaintop.
I passed through this room and into the kitchen. This room had been mostly dreamed up by me. It had every imaginable futuristic gadget I could think of. Amestris wasn't as advanced as our world but that didn't keep me from creating microwaves, dishwashers, and other appliances. Sitting on a stool around the island, I saw Shayla chowing down on a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. She had cut her golden brown hair to above her shoulders. Her blue and green eyes were busy reading some tome from her extensive library.
"Hey, what's up?" I called. She looked up and smiled. "Geez Sadie, you scared me." She replied. "I'm just reading a book about mythical animals. I was thinking I need a cooler pet than a plain dog. Don't worry, I won't make a chimera." I shivered at the thought. Mythology claimed a chimera was a lion's body, goat and lion's head, hoofed feet, and a snake for a tail. In Amestris, the named referred to a hybrid between humans and animals. Functional chimeras were rare and prejudiced against. Mostly due to use by rogue alchemists like Shou Tucker.
"I'm at a tie between a unicorn, dragon, or phoenix. Which one should I pick?" Shayla asked while showing each one. I understood it was a hard choice but I needed to say why I had come or I would lose the nerve. "Uh… Shayla, have you seen Edward lately?" I asked tentatively. "Maybe, why do you ask?" She said in a teasing tone. She wasn't going to let it be easy for me. "Look, just answer me strait. I've got a dance coming up and I wanted to know if you could deliver a message for me." "Oh, well why don't you deliver the message yourself?" She nodded towards the doorway between the kitchen and the living room.
I spun around to see someone yawning and leaning against the wall. "Ed!" I cried as I ran towards him and gave him a hug. "Geez Sadie! How can you be so hyper this late?" I stepped back to get a good look at him. His hair had been in a braid but now pieces had come loose. He wore his black shirt and pants but only socks with no jacket or boots. His clothes were all rumpled like he had been sleeping in them. I guess it was understandable. Shayla and I were used to long nights but Ed probably wasn't.
"But… how? When? Shayla, you have a lot of explaining to do!" I turned to her so Edward wouldn't see my beet-red face. Shayla covered her smile and tried not to laugh. She and I were closer than sisters and she knew more about me than I liked to admit. "Well, I thought it had been so long since you and Ed got together. I invited him over to spend the night. He got to try out our new guest bedroom."
"I liked the mix between ancient and present," Ed cut in. "The whole middle ages theme was very unique and I liked the added PS2. I recognized the Jak X game." I smiled remembering the competition. "Yeah if you practice a lot, you might beat Envy next time." I taunted.
"Yes well enough with the chit-chat," Shayla said impatiently. "Why did you come, Sadie? I know finals are coming up soon and you need all the rest you can get. So why the trip?" I started to blush again. Stupid Shayla knew what I was up to and thought it was quite amusing. "Well, uhh… You know I'm in high school now and everything. They throw this dance called the winter formal. I kinda forgot about it 'til recently." I stumbled in saying. "Oh for goodness sake! What Sadie's trying to say is she didn't invite a date yet," Shayla stated plainly. "Good," Edward replied. "Sadie, would it be possible for me to go as your date?"
Wow, I thought. This is a lot better than how I planned it. "Yeah, that would be awesome!" I exclaimed as I gave Ed another hug. "I'll take care of the paperwork! Just be ready in a formal suit this Saturday night." "Sure, sure. Now that it's planned go back to bed." I yawned in response and followed Edward's path down the hall. Instead of turning though, I went straight and back into Shayla's room. The bed looked so inviting that I collapsed into it and was almost instantly asleep.
I woke up the next day in a much better mood. This was going to be the best dance ever. Douglas could tell the difference, but he had no idea. I would have to spill my secret eventually but I wasn't quite ready yet.
All through the school day I couldn't help but grin. "Sadie, you look maniacally happy! Why the cheery face?"Jamie grumbled. Our English teacher had assigned us five essays due by next Friday. Talk about a work-overload. "Well, I got a date for the dance. That's all." I replied. Max was sitting next to us and he gave me a skeptical look. "Sadie, you can't bring a plushie of Edward Elric as a date" Max said teasingly. I almost burst out laughing. I never told anyone about my summer adventure with Ed and Envy. I thought they wouldn't believe me. Of course, now I would have physical proof. Max had no idea how close his teasing had been.
I stuck my tongue out at him and replied, "Don't worry. You'll never believe who I'm going with." Before I knew it, Max and Jamie had spread the word of my mysterious date to all my friends. Soon everyone was bugging me about who it was. I just shook my head and smiled but refused to say a word. This was going to be my little secret until the dance.