Nightmare

Disclaimer: I don't own FMA. I wish though.

Summery: Ed goes missing and Alfons asks around for him. All of Germany is hiding something from him, though.

"Notes"

"Talking"

"I'm not part of your dream Alfons. I'm sorry I couldn't be a better one. I guess I was just a nightmare." Edward head been crying when he wrote the note. The note that Alfons found lying innocently on the kitchen table the next day. As he searched the house, he found only Ed's things missing. He'd taken no food when he left. Didn't want to take even more from his sick housemate. He'd left some notes and books that Alfons might have needed. Everything else was gone. He ran to check the bed, but it was made and only a small damp spot on the pillow proved that Edward had been there. It had rained the night before. A light brown fishing-hat was missing along with Ed's coat. Alfons checked with their landlady. She looked confused when he asked about Ed. Noa gave him a pitying look that seemed...guilty somehow. Officer Hughes and anyone he asked that day didn't ask about Edward. And when he asked, they seemed sad and guilty. As if they were hiding something from him. He didn't like it. He didn't like it at all. Later that day, he went to Professor Hohenheim's house to see if Edward had, by some miracle, went to see his father. He hadn't. There was no sign of Edward ever being there. Hohenhiem had only invited him in and asked 'why his old student had suddenly decided to visit him.' Asked him as if they had only met when they were in class. Asked him like he and Edward, Hohenheim's SON, hadn't been housemates and had never met. When he asked about Edward, Hohenheim had only shook his head and looked confused. When he had later decided to leave, Hohenheim had walked out with him, stared at the sky, and commented, seemingly offhandedly, "Trains are useful and interesting aren't they? Maybe you should try studying them instead." Alfons had only given him a confused look and the older blond gave a heavy sigh, shook his head, and walked back inside. Alfons pondered over that for days afterwords. He was so preoccupied with that hidden message that he failed to notice the guilty looks that everyone gave him. He never dreamed that all of Germany could be hiding something so big from him.

Miles away, sitting in her little flower shop, Gracia sighed mournfully. Tears pooled in her eyes, but she refused to let them fall. A single sheet of dirt-stained, yellowing paper was held loosely in her hand. She stared sorrowfully down at it for at moment before looking up and walking over to a hidden chest in the back of a storage closet. Pushing some aprons, coats, and spare outfits out of the way, she sniffled before kneeling down before the locked chest. Pulling out a key, she slowly unlocks it and lifts the latches before pausing and, hesitantly, pushing up the heavy lid. Inside lay almost all of Edward's missing things. A multitude of books, a pair of prosthetic limbs, some outfits that hadn't fit into his suitcase. Anything he could fit that he hadn't given away for safekeeping. Gracia desperately wished that she could give it all to Alfons. But Edward had begged her. Begged her not to let Alfons see it, not to let him have it. She'd been shocked when he had come to her right after she had locked up. He'd stood there with a suitcase and the chest by his feet. His coat had been fully closed and the old, brown fishing hat he'd worn was dripping as if it had been raining too. He'd begged her and given her a letter before hugging her tightly and picking up his suitcase and leaving. Once more, her eyes drifted to the note Ed had given her. She could still see his sad, pleading eyes in her mind, forcing tears to pour from her eyes, no matter how much she tried to keep them in, and they still broke her heart. Her insides squeezed when she remembered his low,husky voice, he seemed almost broken, like doing this was physically hurting him.

"Gracia. I'm sorry that I'm asking you to do this. But I have to. Please take care of this chest and everything inside it. Please don't give Alfons this chest nor anything in it. Only give him what he absolutely needs from in here. Act like you've never met me, please. I'm not his dream. I'm only a nightmare."

Sorry if it's hard to understand or read. It just popped up out of nowhere. If anyone has any idea for a better note given to Gracia, let me know. It has to be short but to the point. Has to include instructions on the chest and Alfons.

If you didn't understand:

Basically, Ed decides that he's only making Alfons suffer so he packs up and leaves. He only leaves some things that Alfons will need, in the apartment- food, some books, etc- while he leaves the rest in a chest with Gracia. No, Ed doesn't leave anything else. No pictures, clothes, etc. Only what he needs. Then he goes around and convinces everyone and anyone to not ever mention anything about him to Alfons or while Alfons is near. Don't ask how he did, just use your imagination. Otherwise, he has his ways. So now, Alfons will be stuck in fighting himself over whether or not Ed was ever real. All he has is a few books and stuff along with the note. So, in a way, all of Germany is hiding Ed and where he went from him.

Enjoy!