Hey, A-s here. I figured this story deserved a bit of an introduction, so here I am, introducing it. Tch. Anyway, my friend AdventureAddict already tried writing some of this once and posting it on deviantART as non-fanfiction writing (titled "Addicted" instead), but she eventually got so fed up with changing details so it wasn't fanfiction that she stopped. I actually was helping her a lot with the story, so now I'm just going to try writing this myself as fanfiction. Addict will probably be looking over this story a lot… pretty much enough to be what most of you would consider beta-ing, so… Yeah. Maybe even enough to be considered a teamfic, but whatever.
As to names and references from real life… Yes, there are a lot of details borrowed from events that have actually occurred. Those of you who know Addict and I know just how many details, where, when, all that jazz.
Also… Addict wrote up a slight timeline of all that was going to happen in this… I say "slight" because she left out at least half the events, and condensed big events into one line, such as "Girl's best friend moves, girl gets depressed." Now, there's no way I'm going to write like that for this story. So, I really have no clue how long this is going to be. Probably very, very long.
Okay, I think that's about it, other than the stupid disclaimer you all are probably aching for. Unfortunately, if I say I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist, then I might just end up having a seizure of some sort, and then none of you would get to read the story. Nyah.
Chapter One
"Brother? What are we doing here?" I heard Al ask as I moodily walked through the rows of old, used stuff. No one in the church seemed to notice us; busy as they all were with the annual rummage sale the church was hosting to raise money. A strange smell coated the entire church… Not quite musty, but certainly not new, either.
"Brother, what are you hoping to find here?"
"I don't know, Al," I sighed, running my fingers along a table full of used books. I wasn't sure how to answer Al's questioning. I had just heard about the sale from two women on the street and decided to check it out. Plenty of eccentric people seemed to go to garage sales and the like, so I figured it was worth a try. Not that I actually believed we would find anything new, but it was still worth a shot.
Al sighed at my answer, and my shoulders slumped in response. I knew I was dragging Al around with me, but I didn't know what else to do. There didn't seem to be any more opportunities, any more choices to make. I felt so… trapped.
Then a small woman with brown hair tied back in a ponytail that fell past her waist walked past us briskly. I had gathered from observing the way people responded to her that she was someone with power in the way of the sale. Certainly not the first in command, but definitely high up the chain.
A small girl, about seven years old, with the same color brown hair followed behind the woman with a large grin on her face. I could barely catch a glimpse of the stack of papers clutched in her hands as she trotted obediently behind her mother. They were posters telling buyers the way to tell prices of objects.
"I don't think they're even done setting up yet," Al sighed, watching another woman explain to someone how to organize the collectibles section. I sighed and looked away from the young girl and her mother, instead choosing to look down at a worn paperback book entitled "Chicken Soup for the Soul."
"I know, Al," I sighed, running my fingers up and down the spine of the book slowly. Just then, I heard a pattering of feet, and looked up to see the same brown-haired girl run quickly back into the room. She quickly went up to the table and grabbed a pack of stickers. She then turned to leave, but first paused and looked around the room.
I froze as her eyes locked with mine across the room. I couldn't remember back to a time when someone had looked at me like that, not even when Al looked at me. I stood there silently, wondering how such a young girl could have such a piercing gaze.
The girl cocked her head as she looked at me, and wrinkled her eyebrows, as if she was confused by something. I just kept staring at her, as if I was in a trance, and maybe I was. The girl then smiled, waved at me and ran back in the direction she had entered the room.
I could only blink in response.
"Is it just me, or did that girl seem… different?" I asked slowly, still staring at the doorway as if the girl would suddenly run back through it. I didn't know why I bothered asking Al the question when I knew it was so true. She was so very different from other children we had run into over the years.
"Yeah…" Al said slowly, looking in the same direction as me. "She didn't try to talk to us, or tell her parents or anything."
"And she looked right at me," I whispered, remembering her curious blue eyes once more. I wondered how such simple actions could affect me so deeply. A simple glance, smile and a wave wasn't anything extraordinary, and yet…
"There's something about her," I said softly. I looked at Al, and noticed the same flicker of hope in his eyes that I could feel burning deep within me. "How about we go see what's she's doing?" I suggested, and Al nodded in agreement. I knew I had to find that girl again, maybe even talk to her if she would listen.
Her small blue eyes felt like they were burned onto the back of my eyelids.
Al and I walked slowly down the hall, curiously poking our heads into rooms on either side. Other people bustled quickly down the hall, still not paying any attention to us, much less even seeming to notice us.
Finally, towards the end of the hallway, I spotted her. She was in the children's room with the woman I presumed to be her mother, walking around happily and looking at the treasures around her. I motioned excitedly to Al before carefully walking into the room. The girl's mother didn't seem to notice us, just like anyone else, but the girl turned her head and looked towards the door curiously.
I could feel my face droop in disappointment.
She wasn't looking at me like she had before, more like she was looking through me, into the room across the hall. She probably hadn't seen me before; it had probably been a fluke. There must have been someone else standing behind me that she had recognized. I frowned and looked away from her, refusing to look into those distant blue eyes. She wasn't different. We would have to keep searching.
"Dorothy, would you please take out the stuffed animals in that box?" her mother asked from the other side of the room. I looked up sullenly to see the girl – Dorothy had to be her name – nod excitedly and run over to a large box. She quickly started pulling out stuffed toys from the box, glancing at each one briefly before putting it on the floor beside her. She then suddenly gasped before reaching back into the box and reverently pulling out a large stuffed lion.
"Simba," she breathed excitedly. The stuffed lion was then pulled into a tight embrace before the girl ran back over to her mother.
"Mommy? Mommy? How much will he cost?" the small girl asked excitedly. I was no longer sure as to why I was still standing there, probably from a buried hope that the girl would notice me again, smile at me again. Her mother thoughtfully looked over the lion for a minute before giving her answer.
"I'd say… two dollars?" her mom said, and the girl's grin widened, even though it was one of the more expensive prices of the room. "Do you want to tie the blue ribbon around his neck?"
"Okay!" the girl agreed excitedly, and let her mom cut the piece of blue curling ribbon that would alert shoppers to the fact that he cost two dollars. The girl then took the ribbon and trotted over to a corner with the lion. I couldn't help but smile as I watched her lovingly wrap it around the toy's neck, loose enough so that he could supposedly breathe, but tight enough that it wouldn't fall off.
"Kathy! We could use your help down here!" a panicked voice called from down the hall, jerking me out of my trance. The woman in the room quickly stood up, walking out of the room as Al and I stepped aside to let her pass.
"Come on, let's get out of here," Al sighed, turning to leave. I nodded gloomily, angry at the idea that the girl hadn't really seen us earlier.
"But I can't leave!" the girl whispered quickly, and Al and I both spun around to stare at the girl in surprise. "I have to wait until my mom goes home, and she won't let me take you home! I wish I could, but I can't!"
"You- you can hear me?" I stammered quickly, surprised by the sudden outburst. Maybe her looking at me hadn't been a fluke.
"Of course!" the girl replied simply, and I grinned before looking over at Al.
"How well can you hear me?" I said, dropping my voice to a light breath. Al looked over at me and shook his head with a slight smile, knowing that the girl wouldn't be able to hear me. I was speaking much too quietly for her to pick it up.
"Why are you whispering?" the girl asked curiously, cocking her head to one side. I felt my eyes widen before I looked over to Al in surprise. He seemed just as surprised as me.
Just how powerful was this girl, anyway?
She still didn't look over at us, but instead reached out and brushed a strand of hair out of the lion's eyes. I grinned again as a sudden idea struck me, and looked over to Al. Al cocked his head in consideration for a moment before he suddenly realized what I intended to do. Al shook his head furiously, but I just smirked and nodded. He just sighed and crossed his arms across his chest, which I took as the "oh, go ahead" signal.
I stepped forward until I was only a few inches away from the girl, but she still didn't seem to notice me. She just shivered slightly and hugged her arms to her chest, while curiously looking around the room. I winced as she looked through me again. I needed her to look straight at me again, I needed to connect with those blue eyes once more.
I took in a deep breath before reaching forward towards the lion. My hand sank right through its fuzzy head, and I winced. Instead of keeping my eyes open, I closed them tightly and I willed the rest of myself into the lion.
The world was very different when it came into view again. I tried adjusting myself, but found that I couldn't move without leaving the lion, and instead of looking down on the brown-haired girl – Dorothy, I reminded myself – I was now looking up into her wondrous blue eyes.
"What was your life like before this?" Dorothy asked me, leaning forward curiously. The question irked me a bit, but I held firmly onto the connection between the lion and me. After seventy years of not being heard, it was refreshingly wonderful to have a conversation with someone, even if that someone was only a small child.
"My life wasn't that great before this," I said slowly. I almost immediately regretted it when Dorothy's face fell and she regarded me sadly. "But I'm fine now!" I assured her quickly. "Really!"
"Good," the girl smiled at me, and though I couldn't physically smile back, I still felt my spirits pick up a little. "Don't worry, Simba, I'll save you from this place. I'm going to buy you," she told me determinedly. "I won't let anyone else take you away from me. We'll be best friends."
"I'd like that," I said with a slight laugh. Out of the corner of my eye I could catch a glimpse of Al by the doorway, trying to keep himself from laughing out loud. Dorothy then suddenly stood up and looked around the room before grabbing me – the lion – carefully around the neck. She then spotted the pile of stuffed toys she had abandoned earlier, and buried me deep within them.
"I won't let anyone else buy you," she whispered to me before covering my eyes with a toy bear. "You just stay here, okay?" I sighed and pulled myself away from the toy lion, hoping that she wouldn't manage to see me a second time. She didn't seem to, so I guessed that she was Clairaudient – able to hear ghosts and spirits.
Ghosts like me and Al.
Al then motioned for me to walk out of the room with him; I guessed so that the girl wouldn't hear us talking and get confused. Once we were safely in the hall, I sighed and Al laughed before turning to look at me.
"So, I guess we'll be hanging around her for a while?" he asked me, and I grinned.
"Yeah, we'll be hanging around her a lot," I replied. For the first time in years, I was actually excited about something once more, and I could tell that Al could see that in my eyes. He smiled back at me, looking relieved.