Inspired by the movie "Wolf Children", a absolutely beautiful lovely story about a father who was a wolf and fell in love with a human woman. Several years later, after living together and starting a family, the father was killed in a accident one night when he wanted to go hunting for his newborn children. The human mother, Hana, decided to take it upon herself to raise her two children, half human and half wolf. The story tells about their lives, the daughter, Yuki, is the narrator of the movie. I really loved to watch it and thought it beautifully written, so I tried doing something similar!

WARNING: Slightly OOC Greed! My own OC (Lena)

Text – the daughter, Greed and Lena's, (Emilia) is narrating the story, just like Yuki is in the original movie.

"Text" – are Lena's thoughts.

Text – plain text told in third POV.

Disclaimer: I do not own the movie "Wolf Children" or any of its characters! I just own my OC's and partly the plot! I also don't own Fullmetal Alchemist or any of it's characters!

BTW: English isn't exactly my first language, so if you spot any errors on my part or similar, feel free to point them out! Thank you! :)

Homunculi Children

Maybe you'll laugh when I tell you, or write it off as a fairy tale, it couldn't possibly be true. I mean, how could it? This is a story about my mother and it's true, every word of it. The man she fell in love with was also a Homunculus.

Back then, mom was also a student at the National University in Amestris, she earned a scholarship to cover some of her tuition and worked a part time job to take care of all the rest.

A young woman, aged twenty two, walked towards her next class in her beloved university, her brown leather bag slung over her shoulder, she was holding a notebook in her other arm. The woman's hair had a slightly reddish hue as the sun hit her brown, shoulder-length tresses, her eyes sparkling with anticipation for her class and what she would learn today.

The air in Amestris was slightly humid, summer was slowly fading and yet its accompanying heat refused to vanish completely, Lena had dressed in blue sneakers with a white band covering the sides, dark simple jeans and a white shirt, wearing a thin black cardigan over it for the nights knew to be cooler in Amestris.

She took notes on what the professor was saying, making bullet points for when he counted off the different things a professional company would need in it's start up phase.

"Executives should seek to narrow their markets and focus on targeted customer segments, many young startup companies make the mistake of offering too many services and products for a wide area of customers they may be unqualified to fill, " Lena stuck her tongue out slightly, her brows creasing as she concentrated on rephrasing what the professor was saying in her notebook.

"Budding entrepreneurs and young startup companies should be careful about their choice of production and execution of that product, many make the mistake of offering too much for any and all sorts of customers, which would result in a very serious problem, as customer needs grow varied and adaptable over time, so should the company. Offering any and all services to the customers would cause in a financial crisis in the early stage of growth, questionable production rates and decreasing income," dark brown eyes narrowed in concentration, lost in the world of business and marketing for a second before coming back down to earth.

She frowned when her hand cramped up a bit from writing too much too fast and shook and rotated her wrist a little to circulate the blood flow again.

"If you and your small team take too many requests from a client it will lead to eventual disarray within the system, causing mistakes to easily surface in project management and production. You have to learn to identify the most vital projects and finish them off first, once that is done move to the next one and so forth. Seek advice from experts should you get stuck," she wrote down quickly, circling and highlighting the words "too many requests", "disarray within the system" and "vital projects finish off first".

As the professor continued talking, Lena paused to look up at the clock, she still had about ten minutes left until class ended. She took the time to look around the spacious room, recognizing most of the students that usually shared this class with her.

One early summer day, she noticed a young man she had never seen before. He wore a plain dark shirt, even though he didn't seem to have a textbook, he took notes diligently. She thought he looked out of place in a lecture hall.

Her eyes settled on a young man far to the right, a considerable distance away from any other students, sitting alone. He was dressed in a dark, form fitting shirt, which appeared to be Xingese of some sort and dark hair worn in a pony tail.

She stared at him for a little while, trying to find out where she had seen him before, but nothing came to mind. Maybe he was new, but he did look so out of place, sitting there in lecture hall, furiously writing down notes. She thought it slightly funny, but then again, nothing was what it seemed.

The lecture ended and she stood up with the rest of the students, heading for the professor's desk where she wanted to place her slip marking her as present for this lecture at the desk, however she heard the faint opening of a door from behind her.

She turned around and noticed that the mysterious young man from before had exited through the back and not the front, she also noticed hadn't filled out a slip either. Quickly, Lena ran toward the back, throwing open the door in order to catch up with him. She just saw him round a corner and ran towards the direction she saw him disappear to, she rounded the same corner to the right and saw him descending the stairs.

"Uh, hey, um, excuse me!" she cringed at her awkward greeting, the man looked up at her and she noticed with a start what color his eyes were from her distance.

Violet.

His gaze was what made her slightly wary though, he was almost glaring at her, hands in his pockets, his notebook tucked between his arm and hip as he regarded her with mild curiosity and plenty of what looking like guarded hostility and suspicion.

Lena however raised her chin confidently, "You didn't fill out a slip, they will mark you as absent if you don't, you know?" Lena narrowed her eyes slightly, taking note how the stranger's broad shoulders tensed a bit, "I could grab one for you if-"

"Don't bother," the sound of his deep voice caused her to freeze, sending shivers down her spine. A small smirk grew on the man's lips as he noticed the notion and Lena commanded her body to calm down, "I'm not a student here," it surprised her just a bit, he had looked out of place but that didn't mean he wasn't a part of the student body.

Studying the look on her face, the man turned his head, "I shouldn't have come, see ya," he said offhandedly, already making his way downstairs before Lena could offer a reply, not that she had any to give.

She frowned, for some reason feeling a bit disappointed, until the once quiet halls began to fill with students from all sorts of classes and semesters.

She had followed him and hid behind a wall, observing how he exited the building. Children were playing tag outside and a small child fell to the ground, whimpering in pain, the boy didn't look like he could get up by himself. What shocked Lena the most was the man's reaction, instead of ignoring the crying child and being on his way, he walked over to him and lifted him up, patting his head soothingly before walking away.

Lena's heart warmed at the display, she had thought him to be a strange man, but it seemed like he was kind and had a soft spot for kids.

And he was walking again, well he wouldn't escape her so easily this time. With her goal set and her classes done for the day, she started running after him and stopped him just before he crossed the green lights, "Wait a minute! Hey!"

She caught her breath quickly, looking at the man's tall, broad back, Lena found her words again, "That class you were sitting in on is pretty tough, even with a textbook, so uh, I was thinking if you were looking to come back for another lecture maybe we could share mine?" she briefly held it out for him to see her own textbook, mentally she started berating herself, calling herself foolish and naïve.

The man was pretty wary, cautious as he slowly turned to her and stared her down. She gave a timid smile, so unused to feeling so shy since her middle school days.

Lena smiled pleasantly as she handed out a bus ticket to a new customer, "Have a nice day!" she called after the leaving man and he sent her a quick smile and a nod, before disappearing through the door. Another woman placed a soda on the counter and Lena recited the price for it that was already in her head as the woman gave her the money plus a tip. She smiled and thanked her, wishing her a nice day.

Once closing time drew nearer, Lena set to work on organizing the money in the cash register and safely storing it in the metal box like every day after work. Working in a shop could be tiresome, especially working overtime, but it paid her bills so she didn't complain much.

When she finished up cleaning the floor and everything else, she could have sworn she saw the man, the man she had met earlier at lecture class, walk by the window and stare at her. But when she rubbed her eyes and looked again, he was gone. She chuckled quietly to herself, deducing she was too tired and already started imagining things.

Once she was home, she cooked herself a plate of vegetable sticks mixed with meat, coated in soy sauce, Cajun spices and a sauce with a meaty flavor she herself made, reading one of her books about management and controlling studies at the same time as she chewed on her food thoughtfully.

The man with the strange violet eyes and dark hair grunted as he lifted up another box filled with furniture and carried it upstairs, knocking with his free hand on the door of his client and smiling politely when the woman welcomed him inside and directed him where to place her newly arrived furniture.

"Thank you so much! That new bed for my little girl was due time!" the woman smiled, petting her small daughter softly on the head. The man looked down at the girl and smiled, he nodded at the woman and left.

Briefly, he remembered his own siblings and the abusive father they had. He shook his head expelling those thoughts and concentrating on his job.

"Startups usually need to form partnerships with other firms to enable their business model to operate," the professor's voice rang through the silence of the room and Lena wrote the most important parts down.

Out of the corner of her eye, she could see a black blur. She turned her head fully to the side to see what had caught her attention and her eyes widened when she saw the young man she had met before, hurriedly running toward her university.

She quickly grabbed her notebook and bag and sat at the far end of the table, away from the small notebook she had scribbled down notes. The man dressed in black plopped down in the seat Lena had previously occupied, confusion washed over his features when he spotted the notebook, filled with scribbles of today's lecture.

He turned wide, disbelieving violet eyes to Lena, who sent him a small grin and continued taking down notes, ignoring the slight fluttering of her heart when she saw him grin from the corner of her eyes.

And so their meetings went, whenever he would be running late, as rare as those times were, she would be taking down notes for him. She would always give him his space, since she noticed he was more of a private guy, a loner. Her opinion of him brightened when once, due to not catching the bus on time, she was the one running late, she would walk into the lecture hall seeing him hastily move to the other side of the desk, though a bit closer to her side than usually.

When she would sit down on the seat with the small notebook on top of the desk, she would be surprised to see notes written on it of today's lecture. When she looked at the man beside her, the man whose name she didn't even know yet, he wasn't looking at her, but she could make out a tiny smile beneath his spiky bangs on one side of his face.

She smiled and found it slightly troublesome to concentrate on the lecture.

It had been the day where he finally spoke to her after sneaking into the library with her card and going through books, "So, what do you like to read? Apart from your study books," he had asked her. She was still unused to his deep voice, but it left a pleasant feeling in her, so she secretly liked it whenever he spoke. Violet eyes lifted from the book in his hands to look directly into her slightly startled eyes, a small smirk adorning his face when he realized he had caught her off guard by speaking.

"Um, I well, I," Lena quickly cleared her throat and she could swear the man had chuckled at her, "I like to read adventure books and historical romance, but nothing too cliché." She gave a bright smile, "...What do you like to read?" she leaned against one side of the book shelf, the soft smile still on her face as she waited for him answer.

She found his smirk endearing when he answered her question, "Pretty much anything as long as it holds my interest, I admit I hadn't been an avid reader before," he scratched the back of his neck in embarrassment and Lena couldn't resist but release a short laugh, highly amused that a man such as him admitted something like that.

She smiled at him and extended her hand to him, "I'm Lena," she saw a emotion flicker in his eyes, the serious face he usually exhibited melted away to deliver a softer version of his smirk.

"Greed," he shook her hand firmly but not too tightly, she didn't want to think too much on it, but the feeling of her smaller hand in his it felt...right. Sort of. His hand felt comfortable and warm, she had to remind herself to withdraw her hand before she held his for too long.

His name though surprised her and he saw it, "Unusual right? Heh," he offered her a smirk, violet eyes boring intently into hers, "Guess I'm a bit greedy about things I want," he closed the book he was holding in his hand shut, walking past her. Lena smiled and followed him out.

They were walking along the pathway near a park, the sunset bathing them in a soft, orange hue.

"So, what do you do for fun? What are your favorite foods? Have you...ever fallen in love before? What were you like when you were younger?" Lena usually wasn't one for dresses, she owned few really. But she did have a favorite one, it was red, a bit tighter by the waist but not form fitting, flowing freely down till just a little under her knees. Her favorite thing about it was its color, the freedom it still granted her and the red rose pinned above her right breast. She loved that rose.

Greed looked down at her, smiling at her dress and chuckling at how eager she was to find out more about him, "Easy there, wait your turn will you?" he said playfully, smirking, "So, why the name Lena? It's not that of a common name, is it a short form of your longer name?" now he seemed curious.

She giggled, "Well, look who's the curious one! Wouldn't you like to know?" she smirked, "As far as I know it means sunlight, my dad used to say he named me like that because I was fascinated by sunlight when I was a baby, I always kept looking at it and crawling towards it. He used to tell me later how I always smile so brightly and cheerfully, smiling as bright as the sun," she grinned, giggling to herself.

Greed's smirk softened, "Yeah, I can see it," the laugh she released was full of joy and amusement and Greed released a chuckle of his own.

The two walked down the path, passing by people and laughing children.

The next few weeks passed by in a blur then one day, at evening after work, Lena ran as she tried to catch up on time, waving at her colleague who offered to switch shifts with her so Lena could go earlier from work.

She quickly crossed the street, wearing a warm wool sweater and tights, her bag slung over her shoulder as she finally reached the corner and leaned against it, spotting the same coffee shop where he was waiting for her, reading a prospect from said shop.

She smiled.

"Every apartment is like a small little world inside, some families have money, some don't." he nodded to one of the middle sized houses, plants surrounding it slightly, "Six people live in that house," he turned and pointed to a smaller house farther away, "Two in that one,"

Both stopped to turn and looked at the city illuminated by lights, "Some are full of kids, others of old folks."

The next thing he said as they watched the city together made her freeze, "It'd be nice to have a home," Lena slowly turned her head, looking up at him, "A place where I belong, where I kick off my shoes, shed my coat, give my face a good wash, sit back in a comfy chair...it must be nice. I could build a bookshelf and maybe a room for training...once that's done, what keeps me from building more? The possibilities are endless..." Greed chuckled, "Ya just can't put a price on freedom like that..." he took a deep breath of the fresh air, as if tasting freedom on the tip of his tongue.

When she saw the unusually peaceful expression on his face, she gained enough courage to voice her thoughts, "I could belong there too...if you don't mind the company," a small grin adorned her face though it wasn't her usual confident, cheery one. It showed her nervousness, about being so open to a man who was closed off himself, but she felt she could trust him.

The frown on his face said otherwise.

When he walked her home, he was silent the whole way, while that by itself wasn't unusual, but then she didn't hear the footsteps behind her anymore and she fully stopped when he spoke, "Lena..." she turned around, watching his serious, troubled expression with concern as the cars drove by.

"Yeah? What is it?" she asked, hoping he would open up to her.

"There's something I gotta tell ya..." his expression suggested he was searching for words to express himself, so she waited patiently, and waited.

"I...I'm not..." Greed clenched his fists, his long black coat swishing gently from side to side, he shook his head, "Nah, ya know what? Never mind," with those words he turned his back to her and started to walk away. But Lena stopped him.

"Wait! Greed!" he stopped and turned just so he could see her, "You...you know you can trust me...right?" she offered him a warm smile.

Slowly, a smirk spread on his face and he hid his satisfied grin from her, "Yeah...I know Lena," the smile still in place and a better feeling now in his gut, he left her, muttering how she should watch out for herself on her way back home.

She had assured him she would be fine, but for some unexplainable reason, she had a hunch Greed would make sure nothing bad would happen to her.

Until she saw an approaching car far too late, the driver had forgotten to switch on the lights, much less warn her by sounding the car horn. She knew it was too late to even attempt to dodge, in a instinctive way, she crossed her arms in front of her face and braced herself for the impact.

All she heard was a loud crash, the driver shouting and swearing loudly, and a warm body near her, a strong arm holding her against a equally strong chest.

Her eyes shot open in surprise, what shocked her even more was the man that had saved her life, was none other than Greed.

He smirked down at her, "Good thing you have me," she was in too much shock to question how he didn't die protecting her, how his arm effortlessly stopped and half destroyed the car.

They didn't wait long to meet again, on this day it was a particularly chilly night, so Lena had donned her warm winter coat and scarf.

She still thought about the incident with the car, how Greed hadn't been harmed at all. She would need to question him once she meets him.

Greed had requested for them to meet in the woods, she felt excited and confused at the same time, she knew she could trust him, but why in the woods? At this time of night as well? She could only wonder as she strolled through the trees and found the clearing he described, he was already there waiting for her.

Dressed in a version of his old coat with white fur trim and a dark blue scarf around his neck, Greed offered her a warm smirk. She smiled and wanted to approach him, but he stopped her with a hand.

"Wait," his voice didn't have that semi-confident tone he usually carried, his broad shoulders were slightly slumped, as if a heavy burden weighted on them, "I know I can trust you Lena... and it's time to show you...what I really am," uncharacteristically sad violet eyes met hers and she felt a pang in her heart.

"Greed? What's wrong? What do you mean? Is this about the car accident?" he didn't answer, he just stood there, but then he suddenly grabbed his arm and twisted it, Lena heard a sickening, loud cracking of bones and her eyes widened in horror and concern, "Greed! What are you-?!"

"Wait," his voice was far too calm for the pain he just experienced, but she stood rooted to the spot. Until it happened.

His arm healed. Or at least that's what she thought was happening. Red electric-like currents surrounded his arm, working up the length of it where the bone was fractured, the unnatural angle his arm used to be in righted itself to its former state.

Greed lifted his arm up, he pulled the sleeve of his coat down, revealing a slightly tanned, muscled arm, looking completely fine, nothing broken, nothing damaged.

Lena's eyes were wide, shocked, it seemed she was incapable of forming words. Greed frowned in worry, "Lena...that...that's not the only thing..." he looked severely uncomfortable.

Slowly, Greed took off his coat, placing it on the ground, revealing the familiar dark form fitting shirt he wore, which exposed his bare, muscular arms. Lena's eyes widened further when suddenly something black started covering his arms, in the dim light which came from the city not too far from the forest, she could see his now dark arms were almost shining, the kind of shine metal got when light hit it.

Greed walked toward a tree and punched it, hard, instead of his hand being broken like she expected, the whole tree got destroyed in the middle where he had punched it and lastly it fell down heavily to the ground, heavy vibrations causing Lena's toes to curl.

Her erratically beating heart calmed slightly at the crestfallen and ashamed look on Greed's face, "I'm sorry...just...I shouldn't have shown it to you..." Greed briskly picked up his coat but before he could cover himself with it, Lena ran the short distance toward him and stopped him.

Disbelieving violet eyes looked down into her stunned brown ones and Lena soothingly patted his broad shoulder, feeling the impossibly hard muscle encased in what she assumed to be a substance sturdier than metal, at least it looked like it.

Gently, she traced his arms, then the arm where she thought it was broken but had been repaired, as if by magic. Greed silently watched her, trepidation settling on his features the longer the silence lasted.

He turned his head away in shame, "Lena...look at me, tell me what you see," the look in his eyes was sad, ashamed.

Lena smiled, gently cupping his face and turning his handsome face back to look at her, she lovingly ran a hand through his black hair, and moved on her toes to kiss his nose, "You wanna know what I see? I see the man I fell in love with, nothing more, nothing less," her smile was kind and understanding.

He told her that as one of the seven deadly sins, the sin of avarice, he had six siblings and the man that had created them, called "Father". He told her that he had opposed them from the beginning as they were wreaking havoc on humans and killing innocent people, the Philosopher Stone inside of him was created by sacrificing so many people so he had took it upon himself to redeem his sins and help humans as much as he could.

My mother knew the world was full of mysteries, but...his heart wasn't one of them...

"Were you shocked?" Greed asked in the silence and privacy of her room, bare in front of her eyes, the dark substance covering his body, what he called the "Ultimate Shield" served to protect him from any and all harm. Despite her answer in the woods, his nerves were eating away at him.

Mutely, she nodded her head, equally bare in front of him, her arms shyly crossed over her chest.

"...Are you leaving me?" he quietly asked that question, his heart racing with fear. He kept his distance, afraid of scaring her anymore than he already did.

To his immense relief, she shook her head violently in the negative, gathering his courage, he carefully, slowly lifted his hand, small sharp claws adorning his fingers caused by his shield, but he retracted his arm, afraid he was going too far.

To his shock, she grabbed his hand and placed it on her cheek, nuzzling into it slightly, with his heart in his throat he asked her when he noticed how her body shivered, "You...you are trembling, are you scared?" fear wrapped around his heart like the claws of a eagle wrapped around its prey, but she lifted her head slowly, her eyes meeting his.

He was slightly startled when she spoke softly but with conviction, "No I...I am not...because it's you Greed," she offered him a smile, caressing the hand that was lovingly cupping her cheek.

Taking it as encouragement and permission, Greed slowly, still deathly afraid, leaned forward, first he leaned his forehead against her own, taking in her warmth, he didn't cover his face with his shield as that would prove difficult for him to breathe.

He gently nuzzled her nose with his nose and he smiled when she did the same, giggling softly.

Relief and contentment flooded through Greed's entire being and he relaxed, slowly kissing her, lovingly, pouring his feelings into their first kiss.

However, he was startled when she placed a hand on his shoulder, gently tracing his prominent collarbone and his chest, then moving upwards towards his neck and jaw, caressing it softly.

Greed smiled, allowing himself to fully open up to the woman he knew he would spend the rest of his life with and where he knew his secret was safely guarded. There was no doubt in his mind now.

He was home.

Her beloved, my father, was the third son of a man he only knew as "Father", who had detached his human emotions, particularly his sins, from his being and so he and his siblings were born. Not through a mother, but through the power of a ancient Stone that used human souls as its energy source, the reason why my father had a prolonged life, fast healing abilities and his nearly impenetrable shield. After a long and hard battle where the Homunculi fought against the humans, he was the only one left, all his other siblings killed. Some other people may view it to be a curse, that he was the last remaining Homunculus, but my mother had viewed it a blessing.

With his family gone he had resigned himself to a life of loneliness, he got a new job, a new apartment which was nearer the center and kept to himself. Since he lacked any sort of birth certificates or any documents at all, he never got too close to any people, when someone would ask questions, he would look for another job. Dad had made peace with life spent alone, until he met her.

The following morning, everything had fallen into place.

Lena had feared everything had been a horrible dream, a dream she conjured up, but when she woke up, just to see him looking at her with a soft, roguish grin, she felt at home.

And so, they lived together now. Greed made sure they went out after work, either to simply take a long walk or go to eat somewhere. It made her feel cherished, loved and she enjoyed every second of it.

Imagine her shock when she went to the doctor one day due to consistent morning sicknesses, that she found out she was pregnant.

At first, she had no idea what to think or feel but happiness, but then she felt fear, fear that if her children had the same powers as their father, that people would shun them for their heritage.

She didn't know how he found out, but the minute she had walked out of work, she was enveloped in familiar, strong arms, held safely in the embrace of her beloved as he twirled her around in uncontrollable happiness.

He had told her how much he loved her, tears in his eyes, something she never saw before, before he kissed her fiercely and immediately brought her home, making sure she was as comfortable as possible, while going through his coupons again to search for chicken soups and herbal teas which would help her morning sickness.

She had laughed and told him she would feel that way for a while, but he just shook his head and kissed her forehead, telling her everything would be alright and that they would be fine.

She had laughed when one night Greed returned from the grocery store, arms loaded with bags filled with chicken soup, pain killers, sweets and other things he viewed as a remedy to make her feel better in her condition.

Though the morning sickness would drain most of her energy to do much at all, Greed had been a support through and through, holding her hair and soothingly patting her back when she emptied the contents of her stomach into the toilet.

It had been long, strenuous nine months, but finally it came. Their baby was born.

It was a beautiful little girl, as healthy as one could get, under these circumstances, they have decided to carry out the birth in their home, since they feared traces of Greed's powers may show in their children when born and make questions arise they could not answer.

So far, Emilia, had shown no signs of inheriting Greed's powers, though a few hours later after she rested, when she opened her eyes Lena was glad she had his eyes, violet.

Their second daughter, Avaritia, was born a year after and their new happy life couldn't have been any better.

Until they came.

And took him away from them.

Armed men had come with special devices which weakened dad's stone, dad had fought them with everything he had but there was one thing not even mom knew about. While dad's injuries would heal he couldn't protect himself with his shield at the same time, we didn't know how, but those men had known about his secret. Mom never spoke about it directly, she just said that had been the last time she had seen dad again and we all knew what happened. Mom had searched for him for weeks but she eventually gave up since she had to take care of us...

The years passed and we had to move, mom had been just a college student back then, she eventually had to give up on her studies and moved with us to the country side after she realized it was far too dangerous to live in the city where people would ask questions.

The car ride had been long and strenuous for the young family, Lena had almost fallen asleep but the kind driver had woke her up when they neared the country side, the small rural village of Resembool.

Lena smiled while she watched the scenery go by, farmers growing crops outside or watering budding vegetables. It all looked so idyllic to her that it almost seemed like a dream. She clutched the photo in her pocket, the only one she had of Greed and her together.

And when she had visited their first house she had immediately liked it, it was large, equipped with a large garden, a small shed and swings near the house where the children could play, away from prying eyes and ears.

The man that had shown her the house warned her of its old state, pointing out the old wooden planks, most of which were falling apart, the sliding doors were mostly intact but dusty.

There would need to be a lot of work and time put into it, but Lena didn't care, it was the perfect environment for raising her kids without fearing ridicule or overzealous scientists searching to experiment on them or analyze their blood.

Mom knew we weren't a normal family, she did everything she could to protect us but back then we didn't understand it. She had taken hours to drive to town to buy us food, she worked herself to the point of exhaustion so we had a home and felt loved. She always kept dad's picture on a desk in a corner, a small glass with lilies and a rose next to it. Mom made sure to change the water and bring fresh flowers. I heard her talking to him a few times, I'm sure my sister did too, whenever she would lose hope and didn't know what to do anymore. She would ask him for guidance and be unsure if she was a good mother.

"Ava! Emi! No! Stop it!" Lena rushed over to her two fighting daughters, both equipped with dangerously sharp claws coated in the Ultimate Shield, both encircling each-other before lunging at one another, tearing at the other's hair, shouting and scratching.

Their bleeding cuts healed, but new ones continued to appear.

Unlike with their dad, their advanced healing abilities only exhausted themselves when fatigue would hit them both and they could both barely stand. Lena pried the two bickering children away from each-other, but ended up gaining a scratch on her shoulder for it.

She fell back, clutching at the minor bleeding wound. Everything stopped, it seemed like time stood still as their mother's pained cry drew both girls out of their mutual anger.

"Mommy!" both shouted, their claws instantly disappearing while they moved toward the middle aged woman to tend to her.

"Mommy...we are sorry, please! W-we didn't mean-!" Avaritia began but her mother silenced her with a hand on her shoulder and a warm, understanding smile.

"I know Ava, Emi, I know. Don't worry about me, I'll be fine." Lena righted herself slowly to a sitting position, still clutching her wound to still the bleeding, her daughters gazing up at her worriedly and apologetically.

"Mommy!" Emilia snuggled into her mother's comforting arms, feeling genuine remorse for her careless actions.

Not only did they attempt to injure each-other but they actually injured their mother as well.

Avaritia slowly, like a wounded pup, moved closer to her mother and kissed her cheek, violet eyes drawn to her wound.

Lena laughed gently, patting both girls on the head, "Hey, you two, I'm alright. This is just a scratch, see?" she moved her arm, firmly keeping her lips shut to silence the hiss of pain that had threatened to vocalize itself.

Both girls sent each-other a worried look.

The vegetables mom had planted in our garden didn't grow as well as they should have. We didn't know back then how serious it was, we noticed mom had been upset about it but we thought it would be alright, that mom could do it, because she already did so many things that shouldn't have been possible for a young mother without a husband and two children, half human and half Homunculi. A few years passed and Ava and I started getting older...

"Mom!" 8-year-old Emilia shouted loudly, happily skipping toward her mother, who was working the garden tirelessly as usual.

The woman wiped her forehead off sweat and paused briefly, taking a few deep breaths to collect herself, before turning to her excited daughter, "What is it Emi? Is everything alright? Is your sister alright?" she looked around worriedly for her other daughter.

Emilia smiled and nodded, "Mhm! She's chasing a butterfly! Mommy, when can I finally go to school?"

While the question was completely normal and innocent, a sense of dread filled Lena to the brim and she froze on the spot. She knew this day would come. And she hadn't expected it to run smoothly at all.

"Emi, call your sister will you?" she patted her confused daughter on the head, placing the shovel on the ground and taking off her working gloves while she walked ahead toward their house.

"Yes mommy?" both young girls looked up at their mother in confusion and eagerness, bouncing impatiently on the balls of their feet.

Lena sighed, "So, you...want to go to school?" she would need to figure out if they really wanted to or if it was just a passing interest.

Avaritia looked confused and not very happy about the question while Emilia looked positively giddy, bouncing in her seat from excitement, "I do! I do!" Emilia shouted, grinning widely.

Lena smiled kindly and looked at her younger daughter, "What about you Ava? Would you like to go to school too?" she had noticed her daughter's rather passive expression at the prospect of school but she had to be sure.

The little girl frowned, "But I don't wanna go to school mommy..." she crossed her little arms, before she yelped when her sister grabbed her ear.

"Oh come on Ava! Don't be such a pooper! I'm sure school will be fun! We will get to see other children too!" Ava smiled a small smile at the thought of meeting children their age since there weren't any in the village but Lena could see she wasn't too thrilled at the idea.

That had been one of many times they have talked about school, about how it was there, Lena didn't want to lie to them but she tried keeping it as simple as possible, to let them develop their own ideas of school and not her putting any ideas into their heads.

Summer ended quickly and the start of school was almost there, Lena had enrolled them into the nearest school she could find, it was two hours away by car and a three and a half hour away by bus but she could manage, not to mention there was a school bus going through the village so she wouldn't need to rent a car.

After she put her daughters to bed, Lena quietly opened a drawer, from the same desk where the picture of her late love stood on, in memory to him, and took out a rectangular box from within it.

She slowly opened the box and counted the savings she had vigorously tried to hold.

She frowned, sighing heavily before putting it back into its place and shutting the drawer closed. Money was getting short and with the kids starting school tomorrow, she would need to get a job as soon as possible as well.

She lifted her head to look at the picture of Greed and her, smiling happily, Greed grinning widely, showing his sharp teeth.

She smiled, "I always liked your smile, you know. I had been a bit scared of you back in college, because you always looked so grumpy and angry," she giggled quietly, "But then...after we spent some time together and you told me about how you longed for a home, somewhere you belong...I realized, those fond feelings I have had for you...they were stronger than what I had imagined. I was so shocked when you asked me, quite cheesily I might add, if I wanted to be your girlfriend a few months later. You talked about courting me but you had no idea I would have said yes even without the courting. You were such a gentleman, a loudmouth, but a gentleman to me." She paused, her hands wringing themselves in the material of her pants, her hair obscuring her face.

"Then...that night...when you showed me who you really were...I was shocked, very shocked. I never thought it possible in the first place but...you proved me wrong. I had been shocked, but I never stopped loving you and never will," she lifted her head up to gaze at the picture again and smiled, brown eyes glistening with unshed tears she stubbornly rubbed away, "And then before we made love...how you asked me if I would leave you or if I was afraid of you...I found it a bit cute and funny, because you were shaking too, despite your usual confidence you were also afraid, afraid of the future, of how it would all continue." She bit her lip, shaking slightly.

"We were so happy dearest...so happy...especially when Emi and Ava came...but then you...they took you away...just because you were different..." she clutched her pants hard, digging her nails into the material, "Just b-because you didn't get to choose what family you had or how you were born!" her head lifted again, tears short of falling from her eyes but she stubbornly kept them back.

"I often don't know what to do with Emi and Ava, I don't think I'm a good mother, at least not the kind they need to understand their other half better. I don't know anything much about Homunculi, I should have asked you about it but...I wasn't sure if bringing it up would have upset you or not. I'm afraid, I want the girls to choose their path in life later on but...what if they will resent either of their halves? Human or Homunculi? Could they live with both of them? I mean...you harbored resentment towards your family for doing what they did and for humans because they rejected you...I don't know anymore Greed, I just don't know,"

"I miss you...so, so much..." she rested one hand against the wood of the desk and silently cried.

We started school soon enough, mom had been very worried and had strictly told us never to reveal who we really were. She told us to be careful when playing with the other kids and not to get angry or upset, because we would instinctively activate our shields or when we get injured or cut, we would heal instantly and that would make people suspicious. Back then, we didn't really understand the reason behind why we should hide it, we just did it because it made mom happy.

"Ava! Come on already! You're too slow!" Emi called after her younger sister, waving at her to urge her in order to catch their bus.

Ava grimaced in displeasure, "Mom...remind me again why I need to go to school? It's no fun in school," she sighed, crossing her arms.

Even after two years of going there, Avaritia still didn't like school one bit. She didn't like the people there, her sister and her had enhanced senses as well, and to her, all those humans there smelled funny. She also didn't like their attitudes and how weird they were.

Her mother frowned but petted her head and smiled, "I'm sure it will be fine honey, after all, you told me you liked a boy in your class right?" her mother grinned teasingly, winking.

The girl flushed, "N-no, I never said that! I just said that he annoys me and calls me weird all the time! He said he didn't like me because I beat him up for insulting Emi!" the girl growled, her violet eyes a blazing inferno of emotions.

Lena sighed, "Alright sweetheart, please behave at school alright? Listen to your sister and don't forget-"

The girl, 11 years of age now, drawled, "Yeah, yeah, I know. 'Don't show my powers to the humans and keep my identity secret'. Don't worry mom, I know," she offered her caring mother a small smile and pecked her on the cheek.

Lena smiled brightly and pecked her in return, gently pushing her back toward where her older sister was impatiently waiting.

Avaritia gave her mother one last look before smiling and jogging towards her older sister who shook her head and walked side-by-side with her toward the station.

The first time it happened, a boy had threatened her sister. That had been when the sisters turned 14 and 15.

Avaritia was the more...aggressive one of the sisters, their mother had mentioned a couple of times that their father had also been a bit of a hothead, not to mention his fierce temper when angered and his foul mouth.

Ava had seen red when she saw her sister trying to get away from some older boy that grabbed a lock of her hair, holding her wrist in his other hand, a grin on his face.

She had heard how her sister told him multiple times to back away but the boy didn't listen, instead he had come closer and that had been the last straw.

She didn't notice when it happened, but after she had left a claw mark on the boy's shoulder and noticed the warm blood on the tips of her shield covered claws, it had been too late.

The boy had scrambled to get up again from the ground, shouting 'monster' and 'freak' over and over. Avaritia was frozen in place, panting heavily, her normal hands hanging limply on her sides, blood dripping slowly from them to soak in the earth beneath her feet.

After the initial shock had passed, Emilia slowly, cautiously approached her sister, "Ava? Hey Ava? Are you...are you alright?" she saw the blood, saw the angered expression on her sister's face, followed by one of worry and fear.

The boy would surely tell the principal what had happened and who had done this to him, her secret would be out, they would have to move, mom would need to burden it all again...

Not even two hours passed and both girls were sitting in the principal's office, their mother, whom a friend from the village had driven to school quickly, sitting next to them, a very worried expression on her face.

The principal himself was looking between the wounded boy and the two girls, he stood from his chair, "I've been told your daughter has done harm to the boy," the principal announced but before he could continue the mother of the boy spoke up loudly.

"Done harm?! Are you blind?! She could have cut off his arm! I don't know what happened and how she did that but that girl isn't normal!" she pointed a perfectly manicured, accusing finger at said girl, who cowered under the heated glare of the adult woman.

Lena's face drew into a mask of anger and fierce protectiveness when she herself stood up, "How dare you say that to my daughter? Don't you have any questions on how a little girl such as her would be able to wound somebody like this without some sort of weapon! And my daughter doesn't have any weapons! Should she have injured the boy then I'm sure she had a very good reason because I did not raise her to mindlessly harm people!" Lena's eyes narrowed firmly, fully intent on protecting her children, the only things she had left.

The principal cleared his throat to end the possible heated discussion between the two women, "Well? Avaritia, would you mind telling us what reason you possibly had for injuring him?" the principal's kind eyes looked down at Ava's low bowed head.

Several minutes passed before the girl spoke in a quiet tone, gaze downcast, "He tried to hurt her," slowly, she lifted her head, her burning gaze meeting the principal's surprised ones, "He tried to hurt my sister! I won't let some creep hurt my sister!" her voice rose dangerously but her mother's firm hand on her shoulder made her freeze.

Slowly, she looked up at her mother, whose expression turned angry as she looked at the other woman in the room, the mother of the boy, "Your son tried to hurt my daughter? Is that right?" brown eyes turned to look down at the injured boy, who had a bandage wrapped around the wound visible through the torn sleeves of his shirt.

The boy looked very uncomfortable now, shifting his legs in his seat, "I...well I..."

"Well?" Lena pressed sharply and the boy flinched.

"I...I-I did..." he squeaked out, feeling as small as an ant.

Furious brown eyes rose to meet the son's mother's shocked ones, "Why I-I would have never expected this from you! How could you!? Embarrassing me in front of all these people!?" the mother was devastated, sharply tugging on her son's ear, who yelped in pain.

The principal narrowed his eyes, "I believe there is an apology in order, Avaritia, my sincere apologies for this misunderstanding," he smiled slightly, the girl in question nodded, too stunned to speak.

Emilia sat quietly, glaring at the cowering boy opposite of her.

Once the family exited the school building, Lena kneeled down on the ground to look her daughter's in the face with a small grin, "Well, we certainly showed them, didn't we?" she grinned wider, chuckling.

Avaritia and Emilia's eyes widened, "W-what? B-but mom! I thought you would be really upset!" Ava cried, afraid of her mother's reaction.

Lena blinked, before she laughed softly, patting her daughter's head affectionately, "Why would I be? I would have been angry had you hit the boy without any reason. But protecting your sister was as good reason as any if you ask me," she winked, "Though next time please don't hurt them too bad and Emilia, this goes for you too," she looked each of them in the eye sternly.

At their nod, she smiled and kissed them on the forehead, finally going home.

That had been the first and last incident we ever showed our powers, we used them to train or to help mom with household chores. Every time I walked passed dad's picture on the desk, I stopped to look at it. It was funny, I knew what dad looked like, at least from the photo, but I never got to know who the man was behind it. Mom had talked fondly of him of course, but she never went into detail and we never asked. We only knew that dad didn't have the loving family we do, but the question we were afraid to ask mom was; why?

Will be continued as Part 2 in the next chapter! I hope you guys enjoyed this long chapter! :) Thank you all for reading!