I strode towards Colonel Mustard's office, slightly angered by the interruption of my meal for something that was supposedly very important. My silver-grey hair, which I kept in pigtails, bounced behind me as I threw open the door and stepped in, my dark eyes falling upon a boy with blond hair and gold eyes in a strange outfit and then on a suit of armor before turning to Mustang.
"What do you want? I was only here an hour ago!" I yelled angrily.
"Calm down, Darkheart. I assure you there's a good reason" said Mustang as he gestured for me to sit down on the couch across from the odd couple.
"I'm guessing it has something to do with them" I said.
"Yes, it does" said the dark-haired, dark-eyed colonel. "This is…"
"The Fullmetal Alchemist, Edward Elric and his brother Alphonse Elric" I said, cutting off Roy.
"Yes…" he said. "They are traveling and looking for something very important, as you are, and with the recent Scar attacks, traveling together would be smarter and safer than traveling alone."
"What if I say no?" I asked.
"It's an order" he retorted.
"Hey! Don't I get a say in this?" yelled the elder Elric.
"No. It's an order to you too, Edward" said Mustang.
Edward looked at him and screamed "What?"
"You heard me" said Mustang.
"I'm not doing it" I said as I stood up and began to walk out.
"Julie, stop!" said Mustang. I ignored him and opened the door, walking out as if he hadn't said anything.
Ed looked at Roy. "What was that?" he asked. "Who is she?"
"That's Julie Heartnet, the Darkheart Alchemist" said Mustang. "She's a year younger than you and she joined the state alchemist program before you did. We don't really know a lot about her, only that her brother died in a mining accident. He suffocated before they pulled him out, and then shortly after that she lost her memory. They say it was the stress of losing her brother at such an early age. We don't know where her parents are or if they're alive or not. She keeps everything from us very well."
"I wonder if she's like us, Brother" said Al, turning slowly to Ed.
"What do you mean?" asked Ed with a frown.
"Maybe she tried human transmutation. Maybe it was her brother that she tried it on" said Al.
"I don't know, Al. She's not missing any body parts, at least not that we can see. I doubt that's the case" replied Ed.
"Maybe you should go find her. If she doesn't find trouble, it tends to find her" said Mustang.
Ed growled "Let's hope she hasn't left the building. I don't need her to always be wandering off and slowing us down."
"That's mean, Brother" said Al.
"Well, it's true" said Ed as he stood and headed for the door.
I trudged across the street, getting away from the military headquarters. All I wanted to do was get away from that place. Who did Mustang think he was? He knew I worked alone.
Rain began to hit the sidewalk and I took refuge in a small alley and hoped that the rain wouldn't get heavier and force me to take refuge somewhere more obvious. I stood under a small overhang, leaning against a wall. A couple of children ran past me, a boy and a girl, most likely running home to their mom. Memories flashed before my mind. My brother, who was twelve years older than me, coming home from working a hard day at the mines. It was the only memory I had before waking up in a dark room, blood everywhere, my mom gone. I knew she had been there but I didn't know why, nor did I know where she went. My entire family was gone and I had no memory.
A tear escaped my eye and dripped onto my black shirt, and like a cheesy movie, the rain started to fall harder, seemingly in response to my tear. I scoffed at the downpour and put up my hood so I could find a place to take shelter until the storm passed. There was a small café at the end of the street that I ended up at. I bought a cup of hot chocolate and sat close to the fireplace at the other end of the room, hoping more than anything that Fullmetal wouldn't look for me here, because I knew that Mustang would send him after me.
I drained my cup of hot chocolate and looked outside. It was raining harder like nature was laughing in my face. As I dropped my hood, the door opened and clanking of armor could be heard. I silently cursed her heavens about as I heard it moved towards me.
"Hey! Julie!" I heard a male voice yell from behind me. Suddenly my alone time was interrupted by the Elric brothers. I ignored them as they sat down.
"Why did you leave?" asked Al.
"Mustang knows that I work alone because I always have been alone" I stated calmly. "I can take care of myself."
What I said must have shot down any other questions that Alphonse had because and awkward silence was cast over the table.
"Why?" asked Ed.
"Why what?" I said with a frown.
"Why are you alone?" he responded.
"Why do you want the stone so badly?" I retorted.
"Hey! Answer my question!" he yelled.
"Answer mine!" I yelled back. He seemed taken aback and then he began to lift his sleeve. "I already know about your automail and your brother's body."
"How?" he asked.
"Colonel Mustang" I said.
"That bastard. He told" said Ed.
"He has a big mouth" I said. "I have no doubt he told you about me."
"He did" said Ed. "So we should tell you about us. We tried human transmutation. It was our mother. She died when we were young and all we wanted was to see her again. In the end, I lost my leg and Al lost his whole body. I gave my arm to put Al in the suit of armor. All we want now is to use the stone to make things right. We're going to get Al's body back."
"And your arm and leg, Brother" said Al.
"We're going to take care of you first Al" said Ed. I couldn't help but feel bad for the boys. After all, I could relate.
"It was human transmutation that got me where I am too" I said suddenly.
"What do you mean?" asked Ed.
"I don't remember much. A dark room, a horrible monster… that's pretty much it. It didn't take a body part. It took my memory. I don't remember if I had a family or where they are. All I know is that I was trying to bring back my brother. I don't remember how he died. I just know it was him. I heard about the philosopher's stone and that it might be able to give me back what I lost so I tried alchemy and found that I knew everything about it. I took the test and passed when I was eight but they wouldn't let me become a state alchemist until I was ten and I'm fourteen now" I explained. I couldn't figure out why I had just opened up to this boy. I had never told anyone that. I worried that they would tell.
"Don't worry. We won't tell Mustang" said Ed as if he had read my mind.
"Thank you" I said.
"Come on. The rain stopped, let's go back to Headquarters" said Ed. I nodded and followed as we walked out into the street. There was a scream from a woman and we turned to see what was wrong. A man ran past us with a bag, looking back frantically. Without thinking, I clapped my hands and slammed them to the ground. Shadows rose around me and chased after the man. They caught him and quickly knocked him out. I ran over and took the purse, running it back to the woman. She thanked me and called the military police to pick up the man.
When the cars stopped, Mustang stepped out and turned to us. "Nice work, Darkheart" he said.
"Thank you, Sir" I said. He smiled at us.
"Does this mean you'll be working together?" he asked.
"Yeah, fine, whatever" Ed and I said at the same time. Suddenly Mustang started laughing.
"What's so funny?" growled Ed.
"Even a younger girl is taller than you" laughed Mustang. I looked over and realized that he was right. Ed was about an inch shorter than me.
"She's just a freak!" yelled Ed. I was suddenly offended.
"Freak! I'm not the one who's short!" I yelled back.
"Who're you calling a pint-sized, pea-brained, midget-elf!" he yelled.
"I never said that!" I yelled back.
"You were thinking it" he said.
"At least I can think" I retorted.
"What? You are such a child!" he yelled.
"I'm not the child here. At least I've gone through puberty!" I said.
"What does that mean?" he asked.
"You heard me" I said.
"I have gone through puberty!" he yelled.
"Oh yeah? Prove it" I challenged. I crossed my arms and smiled triumphantly. He grumbled a little and seemed defeated and I was about to turn and walk away when he grabbed my shoulders and pressed his lips to mine. My body tensed up. His lips were soft and smooth and I actually found myself enjoying it. He backed away and a blush covered both of our faces.
"Umm… well…" I stammered.
"I win" said Ed.
"He does" said Mustang.
"Shut up" I said, blushing.
Ed was blushing but he gave me a triumphant smile "That'll teach you to call me short!"