Author's Note: This is a twist from the usual 'OC pulled through the Gate into FMA world!' fic. The beginning might seem a little confusion, but it will be up to my readers and reviewers who Synthia gets paired with. I think I'm going to have Edward believing her to be a guy (explanation for the guise will be in next chapter), because it will be fun to have a confused Ed.
This chapter is dedicated to the one and only Maes Hughes, because I absolutely loved his character!
Disclaimer: I do not own FMA!
P.S. If anyone can guess Synthia's true intention and reason for being sent to the FMA world, I will give the person a special guest appearance/cameo!
Prologue
'It would be wrong to let a man with a loving family die.' - Synthia Esare
The single gunshot pierced through the night air. It was the single gunshot that seemed to spark a change in the air. Maes Hughes found himself crumbling to the ground, his shaky hand instantly moving to cover the wound in his side. The person before him, wearing the face of his beloved wife, held the smoking gun. He was going to die. He wasn't ready to die. He wasn't ready to leave behind his loving wife and his beautiful daughter.
Out of no where, Maes hears a sickening crack and a howl of agony, his eyes pulling away from the picture of his wife lying on the ground not too far away. The person masquerading as his wife is no longer where she once stood, but instead, a pair of boot-clad feet appears in his vision. Glancing up, the odd clothing did nothing to hide the girl standing before him, her stance taunt and ready for action.
It isn't until after the footsteps of the masquerading person rushing away that Maes finds himself looking up into a pair of endless pools of silver. Mercury actually. Molten mercury. Maes tries to speak, but is silenced as the dark-haired girl kneels beside him, her hands gently easing him on his back.
"I am going to help you, but you must promise me one thing," Maes tried to speak again, but she shakes her head, "Do you want to see your family? Your wife and your daughter?" Unable to nod, he hopes that his eyes relays his affirmation, "No hospitals and no doctors. Do you hear me, Lieutenant Colonel Hughes? No hospitals, under any circumstance."
Maes says nothing before a soft, silver glow appears around the girl's hands. His lips part, refusing to be a part of some sick experiment, but his words are cut off again when the warm hands press with a gentle grace against his injured side. Instead of the pain he was sure he would feel, the warmth seems to spread throughout his body, the light from her hands growing brighter, forcing his eyes to shut. Almost as quickly as they were placed, the touch disappears and a whispered hiss causes his eyes to snap open. His hand immediately seeks out the wound, but finds it gone, the revelation forcing his body upright. Questions and endless appreciation were at the tip of his tongue, but died off as he sees the strange girl hunched over.
"Are you alright, Miss?" he asks, finally finding his voice.
"N-No, hos-hosp-pital," she cracks out weakly, her breathing heavy as she pulls her hand from her left side.
Maes managed to catch sight of the blood coating her hand before her body crumbles to the ground. Instantly gathering the girl in his arms, Maes races toward his home. His feet pound against the ground, forcing his body out of shock of near death, as his green eyes glance down at the unconscious and barely breathing girl in his arms. Who was she? What did she do to him?
He doesn't even take heed as he kicks in the door to his house, and almost instantly he meets the familiar face of his wife, a gun in her hand. Unlike before, the moment their eyes meet, Gracia immediately drops the weapon upon seeing her husband carrying an unconscious girl. The blood dripping from her husband's hands immediately sends her into instructions, motioning for him to take her into one of the guest rooms. Laying the girl down on the bed, he watches in a dazed sense as his wife tries to dress the wound, cleaning it and wrapping it.
"Maes, she needs to go to a hospital."
Hearing the words, he almost immediately agreed, but shook his head, "We can't. Gracia, she literally saved my life. That wound she has had been mine. How are we going to explain that to the doctors? I don't even know her name."
His final words trailed off, a sense of forlorn loss mixing with his words. It isn't as though he had never seen a fellow soldier take a shot for him. No. It was more about a nameless girl, no older than the Elric brothers, appearing out of no where and healing his wound. She knew it would bring her near the brink of death, and yet this stranger saved his life.
Thanking his wife with a gentle kiss, he watches as she leaves the room. Taking the seat next to the unconscious savior, he leans back, waiting for her to wake up. Staring at the white bandages, his eyelids grow heavy with exhaustion before darkness takes him deep within his mind.
A clattering crash causes Maes to jerk awake. Wondering why he was in the guest room, his eyes fall on the blood-stained sheets. The empty blood-stained bed. Leaping to his feet, he moves through the house when another clamor of noise pulls him toward the kitchen.
"Are you an angel? Mommy says you saved Daddy," the small voice of his daughter, Elicia, seems to bounce off the walls of the hall.
Peering into the kitchen, Maes sees his darling daughter sitting at the table, her openly expressive green eyes following the movements of the strange girl. Instead of being bed-ridden, Maes watches as the girl moves around the kitchen, cracking eggs into the frying pan before she moves to a cutting board.
"I'm no angel, Sugar. I saved your Daddy because I could," the dark-haired girl states without moving her gaze from the onions as she begins chopping them finely.
"Why do you call me Sugar?" Elicia asks innocently, tilting her head curiously.
A small giggle leaves the other girl's lips as she picks up a small amount of onions from the cutting board and tosses them into the skillet, "Because you seem like the sweetest girl in the entire world."
Maes feels a smile form on his lips at the girl admission, a soft blush forming on his daughter lips, "D-Do people call you Sugar too?"
"More like Terror. I'm too hyper and hot-tempered to be considered Sugar," the girl replies playfully as she takes the already cooked bacon and tears it apart, tossing the pieces into the skillet.
"You seem sweet to me," Elicia points out innocently as her eyes follow the girl's movements as she adds a handful of shredded cheddar into the skillet.
After only a few minutes of pushing around the mixture in the skillet, the girl dishes a small portion of it onto a small plate, adding a piece of buttered toast to the plate before turning around. Maes catches her acknowledgment of him standing in the doorway, but she only smiles as she set the small plate in front of his daughter.
"Careful, it's going to be hot," she cautions Elicia before setting down a glass of orange juice next to his daughter's plate. "Would you like some, sir?"
Maes feels his eyes widen, "You shouldn't be making us breakfast, Miss..."
"Esare. Synthia Esare," the dark-haired girl replies with a soft smile, "and trust me, I don't have much of a choice. After last night, I need a hearty good meal in my stomach."
Maes winces at the memory, but the girl doesn't seem angered by having to save him. He agrees to breakfast and takes a seat at the table next to his daughter, who swallows her mouthful of food before cheerfully greeting him. Giving Elicia a small kiss on the top of her head, he turns his gaze to the girl, who once again begins to dance her way around his kitchen. He wanted to ask so many questions, but he didn't want to say anything in front of his daughter.
It isn't until two steaming plates of her concoction is set on the table that his daughter asks to be excused. Synthia slides him a mug of coffee before setting her own down in front of her plate, her body sinking into the empty seat.
"Gracia said she had to run into town for a few things. I hope you don't mind, but Elicia said she was hungry and I didn't want to wake you after what you had gone through last night," she states after taking a few sips of her coffee.
Maes nods in understanding, "H-How?"
"Can I trust you, sir?" Maes seems shocked at her question, slightly offended, but nods, "What I am about to tell you must not leave this kitchen. Not a single person can know."
"You have my word," Maes promises sincerely.
Her mercury gaze softens from its stern glint, "My name is Synthia Esare, and I was born in the year 1993, in the world on the other side of the Gate."
Maes feels his eyes widen, choking on his mouthful of food before he forces it down his throat, "W-What?"
She shrugs while chewing her food, taking the time to swallow before she replies, "I'm not sure what happened. I was actually in the middle of a fight, trying to protect a friend of mine, and then, next thing I know, I'm dead." Maes blanches at her words, so carelessly thrown from her lips, "I woke up in front of a Gate and it sent me here."
"Why?" Maes questions.
"From what I understand, over the past years, due to the constant war, all of the blood being spilled and the over-all negativity, the Gate has become...tainted. It said that it wanted me to fix the fallen, give the lost a reason to live and to bring back the balance to life," she replies.
"Why are you telling me this?" Maes asks.
"You were never supposed to live past last night," Synthia answers simply, her eyes growing sympathetic.
"Then why did you save me, knowing you would become injured yourself?"
A flicker of surprise flashes on her face before her features soften, and Maes finds himself looking at a girl that has seen too much for one so young, "It would be wrong to let a man with a family die." She pauses for a moment, smiling sadly, "I could never live with myself if I knew I could save you."
"I can't thank you enough. If there's anything I can do in return," Maes offers, giving her a warm smile.
"There is one thing. I will be unable to do anything until after your fight with the Homunculi and I am hoping, in the mean time, you will keep my presence here a secret," she requests, her eyes hopeful.
Maes extends his hand, gently placing it over her own, "You may stay as long as you wish. In the mean time, I can even teach you of our ways, and I'll find a way to create some kind of background for you for when you come out in the open."
Maes knows it will be difficult, keeping this girl a secret from everyone- especially Roy, but she already felt as though she was family. A sister even. If there was one thing he'd always protect, it would be family.
Please leave a review! This is only the start. Unlike most Gate-Travel fics, I thought it would be weird if a girl, who seems obviously different, would just be able to toe around the FMA characters without raising suspicions. I used this thought to cement a bond between Maes and Synthia (Syn), that will grow into a familial sense. Seriously? Like Riza, Maes or Roy wouldn't be able to tell if someone is lying. Those military brats are quick on the uptake.
Leave a review and let me know what you think!