BONDS THAT ARE STRONGER THAN METAL

RATING: T
PAIRING: Edward Elric/Toph Beifong
GENRE: Romance/Friendship, Adventure, Mystery, Drama.
EXTRA TAGS: Slow Build, Friends to Lovers, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence
NOTES: Inspired by fanart made by the wonderful ©tissine on deviantart. I have received permission to use their fanart as the cover.


For a guy who took every chance he could get to brag about himself, Edward Elric sure did loathe being stared at. It was mostly because of past experiences; people would stare at him because there was no way he was the Fullmetal Alchemist. There was no way somebody that miniscule could ever be held to such a high regard. Well, they were wrong, of course. But still. It pissed him off.

He knew he wasn't being stared at for his height, though. It was his hair. It took some getting used to at the start, but by now he was used to it. It was just rare in a place like this for somebody to have blonde hair.

But hey, he's technically the strongest and the handsomest blonde person to ever live in wherever this place is, obviously. And nobody can refute that fact, either—Edward wouldn't ever give them the chance to.

If he's ever questioned about his…peculiar hair colour, he says that some strange waterbender wanted to practice a technique on his hair—and they were going for black, mind you—but it turned into this and it just stuck. Nobody had to be convinced that Edward was too lazy to try and change it back.

Hopefully, the staring would subside once Edward set foot in his absolute favourite place to kick back and lift his leg up. The Jasmine Dragon. Not only was the old man who owned the shop nice enough to let him sit inappropriately, he was nice enough to not ask him about his weird hair, or short stature…or weird choice of clothing. (Edward has a fantastic sense of fashion, by the way. It's just the people around here don't. He's toned it down a bit, but he still gets some comments.)

The staring didn't subside though. Of course. Even the regular customers still glanced in his direction. Edward started to think that maybe he really should just ask some strange waterbender to change his hair colour, if that would even be possible—because it's been two years already, and he's kind of annoyed.

Making his way to the left corner of the shop, he plops himself down on what he refers to as his chair. With outstretched limbs and a hand running through his hair out of frustration, he waits for the old man to come greet him like he always did.

And he did.

"I think you may have some admirers," the old man said, glancing to the table at the front where four young women sat; eyes all focused on Edward. Silly old man. They're not staring because they think Edward's a catch—well, there definitely have been women who have stared at him because of that! But no, not these ones. It's the hair, again. Or maybe, just maybe, it's because they think Edward is…unattractive? Nah. Definitely not. That's just unrealistic.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm used to it," Edward moved his hand dismissively. "And besides, when was the last time a young guy like me came into this place?"

The old man laughed at his sarcasm (even though it wasn't completely sarcasm), and to onlookers it would seem like they were like old friends who would meet regularly and banter together. Maybe even a grandfather and his grandchild catching up. That's what their relationship really felt like, at least to Edward. He wondered if the old man thought that way about their friendship, too.

"The same thing as always?" The man questioned, even though he knew the answer. As he was walking away from the table, he stopped and slightly turned his head towards Edward, "She didn't stop by today. I hope you didn't scare her off. She is one of my most loyal customers, and a dear friend."

Oh. That tone. So the old man wants Edward to cut her some slack? Well, damn. That is going to be a struggle, especially since she is a grade-A brat. Just thinking about her and her stupid I-don't-need-eyes-to-really-see, and her ridiculous oh-I'll-just-put-my-dirty-feet-on-your-chair ways made Edward want to pull his hair out. He can just imagine Al scolding the two of them for bickering so much even though she always started it!

Edward was glad she didn't stop by today, though. It would save him from a headache, and the inevitable rush of competitiveness and defensiveness he felt surging through his veins whenever she was in one hundred feet of him. If only he had his damn alchemy.


"Hey! Why don't we let this little runt have a go?"

Did he just say—

"Yeah, he thinks he's all tough. Maybe he ought to pick on somebody his own size."

What? His own size? Well, sure, Edward would have no problem with that. He's…not of average stature, so it would be a piece of cake to take somebody his own size.

He followed the two large men with patchy beards who were clearly intoxicated and looking for a fight to whoever they were taking him to. This was seriously a waste of his time. Curse his short temper. All he was planning to do was knock some sense into these two drunkards because they were knocking him around and comparing him to some sort of animal that's native to this place; most likely a very small animal, of course. But no, nothing ever goes to plan for Edward Elric.

The universe is most definitely against him, and he believed that whole-heartedly, and that belief did not waver when he met her, it only grew stronger.

They finally brought him to the person he was…supposed to be scared of? It's just a short girl. Around his age, he assumed. And she was picking out the gunk between her toes—and for the life of him he couldn't understand why she was barefoot—and just flicking it in any direction she pleased. It was disgusting. And it pissed him off. Who did she think she was?

"Well, you found somebody else who dares challenge me?" the girl, no—the brat—said, finally resting her feet on the ground.

He was ready to say something back, something like, "there's no way in hell that I'm going anywhere near your dirty hands", but he stopped as soon as he looked into her eyes. They were…she was blind. They want him to fight a blind girl? Edward may have a short temper, and he may be rude to some (he has no idea why anyone finds him rude, though) but he fights fair. Always.

Not bothering to entertain the crowd any longer, he turned to leave without saying anything. Until she spoke up, again.

"Gosh, don't tell me you're walkin' away! You're really that afraid of a little girl? I guess you really are just a pipsqueak…"

A pipsqueak? That's it. Edward may have a short temper, and he may be rude to some, and he mostly fights fair. But not always. And today would be one of those days where he wouldn't fight fair.

Edward quickly made his way to the table she was sitting at, and slid into the chair, directly across from her. He was prepared to teach this little brat a lesson, and he couldn't wait to see the look on her face once she lost to a 'pipsqueak'. He'd heard about her before, too. He knew she must have been the one who had been winning against all these self-proclaimed strong men and tossing them out of bars. She'd become infamous around here, and just because of arm wrestling (and a bit more than arm wrestling, too, if things got out of hand).

And at first, he wondered why she had grown so infamous, anyway. Yeah, so what, she's strong. There are plenty of strong people around. But now he understood why. She was young, tiny, and blind. Everyone underestimated her; they all crossed her off as weak. So of course, when she'd prove them wrong, there would be talk. It made sense.

But Edward was about to destroy her little rise to fame in a second. Nobody calls him pipsqueak and gets away with it, especially if they're basically just as short and young as him!

Lifting his arm up in the correct position, he grabbed her hand arrogantly; getting ready. He was waiting for somebody to start the countdown, but before he could yell at all the idiots to hurry up already, he was pulled towards the girl suddenly, and he tensed as she leaned towards his ear.

"If you try anything shady, metal boy, I'll bend that arm of yours—and your leg."

Yes, the universe was definitely against Edward Elric. He had known that ever since the day he came to this place…whatever this place was…and he was confirmed of his growing suspicions the day he met Toph Beifong.


He knew she'd be here.

In the sixth months it's taken him to know Toph, a good month was spent here. It was where he found her, weeks after she had beaten him (unfairly, he'll add) at arm wrestling at that bar; reclaiming her status as the 'strongest earthebender in the entire world'. He wanted to sneak up on her, and catch her when her guard was down, and prove to her that he was stronger than he seemed—and that he wouldn't ever be played by a little girl again! He also wanted to ask how she knew about his automail, since he had done a good job covering it up for almost two years.

But she answered his question before she could ask him, saying she may be blind, but that doesn't mean she can't really see. Whatever that meant. After she we explained further, he was stunned into silence. There was no way he was going to fuel her ego and say out loud that yeah, she really is the strongest earthbender in the entire world.

He took a seat next to her on the grass, lying on his back. She had no shoes on, of course, and she was pulling out the grass with her toes; trying to feel the most she could of the earth beneath her.

"So, why didn't you show up today?" Edward asked her, eyes still glued on the night sky above. He had a feeling he knew the reason why she didn't show up, and it wasn't because he scared her off, or because a round of Pai Sho between her and the old man was long overdue.

"Ah, same old," Toph said, still busy playing with the grass beneath her. "My parents tried to contact me again. I had nobody to read the letter to me, though. I…I don't know if I want to read it, to be honest."

Well hey, I'm here, I'll read it to ya! Was what Edward would have liked to say. But he didn't. He isn't good with words, especially kind ones—unless he's in a serious situation, which he'd rather not be in. He knew that Toph knew that, though. She was the same way, after all. And she didn't mind that he had nothing to say; or couldn't say anything. She just wanted someone to listen to her.

She may be a brat, an even bigger one than himself, but she's his friend—he thinks, he hopes—and he'll just shut up and listen, because that's what friends do.

But the silence was deafening, and he was never good with silence. He knew Toph wasn't either. "That old man thinks I've scared you off again," he speaks up.

"Who? Iroh? Nah," she scoffs, shaking her head. "He's just kidding. He knows it takes a lot more to scare me."

"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?"