Lavender Alchemist

Thanks to the wonderful HinaRukiMione who beta thos story! I am so thankful to her X3 She added more detail to make it a better story that's why I love her even more!

Chapter 2: Knowing the truth.

It's been a couple of days since Fullmetal was put in the hospital. Hinata had made sure to visit him every day, she'd even been happy about it. Edward wasn't so bad after all. Still he was stubborn; every time the nurse brought him his food he'll never drink the milk no matter how hard they tried to get him. Maybe that was the reason he was so short for his age. Hinata never commented on this though, that would probably hurt the young boy's feelings. Mental note: Edward Elric and milk are arch enemies. She had even tried talking him into drinking his milk but since she still didn't have enough trust in him and wasn't so familiar with him she just dropped the subject. On a Wednesday morning she went to visit him again to see his condition.

Knock knock

"Excuse me." She said meekly and with that she just opened the door softly, making sure not to make so much noise in case Edward was still sleeping. When the young Hyuuga entered the room she saw that Edward was actually awake and was currently looking outside his window. When he noticed her presence he gave her a soft smirk.

"Hyuuga… it's you again." The older Elric commented. He had to admit that he liked her presence; she'd been visiting him every day without failing. It made him happy, she was so kind hearted, so warm, and so...familiar. He knew he had seen her eyes somewhere before but he just couldn't remember where. Edward had been having dreams about the past lately, and somehow, when he reached the part when he first saw the 'truth' apparently 'god' himself in front of the 'big door' and somehow he felt like the girl in front of him has some weird connection to him. But of course that had to be impossible. The 'truth' couldn't have Hinata's eyes and she has them as well, can they?

"Where's Alphonse-San?" Hinata's melodic voice reached Edwards ears.

"He's… uh… doing some research." He said shaking his head to get away from his thoughts.

"Doing research about what?" Hinata asked curiously.

"About something." Edward said in a guarding tone.

"I see." Hinata said thankfully taking the hint to just leave it at that.

Then the young girl sat beside Edward on a chair. She had a basket full of apples that were fresh and red like the blush Hinata had when Alex Armstrong took his shirt off.

"I bought some apples this morning at the local market; I thought you would want some since the hospital food doesn't seem too good." Hinata said with a small smile.

"Thanks." Edward said giving her his own small grin.

"Want me t-to cut one for you?" Hinata asked with a light blush.

"I'll appreciate if you did." Edward said thankfully.

"Of course!" Hinata said in a happy tone as she gave him a warm smile that sent a pleasurable chill down his spine. He had also seen that smile somewhere but he couldn't quite remember where. Then Edward just started staring at Hinata when she took an apple and started to cut it. She looked relaxed but somehow alert as well. She had a straight posture while her delicate hands held the small knife and cut the apple for him. He knew had seen her somewhere, but he doesn't remember exactly where. Maybe it's her eyes. When Hinata noticed that he was staring at her she blushed a little.

"I-is there s-something on my f-face?" Hinata asked nervously eyes darting to him and back to the apple she was cutting nervously.

"Ah! No it's nothing! Sorry." Edward said quickly with his own small blush.

"It's alright… you seem rather… how should I say it… pale." Hinata said as she relaxed a little and her blush faded a bit.

"Do I?" Fullmetal wondered. He had eaten all the food the nurse brought with the exception of milk of course.

"Yes." The Hyuuga responded to his question handing him the shaved apple.

"Well… lately I haven't been sleeping well." Edward answered her question and then took a small bite out of his apple. When he swallowed he continued to explain. "I've been having nightmares or more like I have been having flashbacks. They're memories from my past, bad experience I guess."

"I-is t-that the reason you got auto mail?" Hinata asked nervously, she didn't know if she was pressing a delicate button here, because, just as she had he had joined the military at a young age. The first time she saw him, which was on the mission to catch 'The ice alchemist' she had not noticed that he had an auto mail as an arm. It was later when they took him to the hospital that she saw it.

"It's kind of complicated." Edward replied once again in a guarding tone.

"Oh… I see." Hinata said not wanting to pry.

"May I ask you something?" Edward asked distantly.

"Of course Elric-san." Hinata said more than glad to answer his questions,

"First, stop that." Edward said with an annoyed look. He really was getting tired of her calling him and Al 'Elric-san'. It's true that that's their name but would she be calling them that the whole time? On the mission and when they travel around? Ever since she began to visit him here in the hospital she had been calling him that.

"Stop what?" Hinata asked tilting her head to the side a little in confusion.

"Calling me 'Elric-san' it's getting on my nerves, and trust me the only thing that can do that it's this auto mail." Edward say while showing her his right arm.

"But calling you by your first name would be impolite." Hinata said as if it was the worst thing in the world.

"It won't be if I tell you to do it." Edward said with an amused smile at her expression.

"Umm… well what about Edward-san?" She said with a blush.

"Without the 'san' just call me Ed." Ed replied.

"Ed-san?" She said tilting her head in that cute way.

"No." Ed said.

"Ed-kun?" She said raising an eyebrow.

"Well you still add a surname but it's better than 'san' right?" Ed said with a small smile.

"Well you can call me Hinata, in exchange of me calling you Ed-kun," Hinata said embarrassed.

"Alright. Hinata-chan." Ed said scratching his chin with a blush.

Hinata blushed at the sound of her name on his lips. It sounded nice. It had been a while since someone had actually called her that. Since she had arrived here every one called her 'Hyuuga' or 'Lavender' she was starting to think that maybe she'll forget her own name. She really liked her name since her mother chose it especially for her so no matter what she'll never change it for anything in the world. But now she liked it even more with it coming from his lips.

"W-what w-was the question?" She was still nervous but she could manage. 'Stop stuttering! You stopped that some time ago.'Hinata reprimanded herself mentally.

"Right" The older Elric now remembered his question. "Well I was wondering… How come a person like you is here in the military as a State Alchemist?"

"What d-do you mean exactly?" Hinata asked confused.

"Well you seem to kind hearted for this sort of job." He explained.

"Is it that bad?" Hinata asked incredulous.

"Well in a battle field yes it is." Edward said seriously.

"Well not to be rude but I do know the difference between a friend and a foe. I don't see my opponent the same was as I see my allies… my family trained me t-that way." Hinata said distantly.

"Your family trained you?" Edward asked surprised.

"Yeah i-it's a long story as to why I came here." Hinata said not really wanting to share her life.

There was silent for a moment. Edward was trying to think of what to say next. The door suddenly opened revealing Alphonse with some papers in his hands not noticing Hinata was in the room he spoke.

"Nii-san I heard that there's a possibility that in Lior there could be a philosopher stone-" When Al turned his gaze from the papers to Edward and Hinata, he saw her surprised face. "H-Hyuuga-san, I didn't know you were i-in here!"

"P-philosopher s-stone?..." Hinata was more than surprised. Why would the brothers want such a thing? "W-why d-do you guys want such a horrible thing? What will y-you do with it?" She demanded explications from Edward, that was currently hiding his eyes under his bangs.

"I don't think you should get involved." Edward say looking outside the window.

"Please… I-I need to know… if I'm going to start working with you guys I think it would be necessary for me to know what I'm putting my life on the line for, where are we going, or what are we trying to find." The young girl said getting up from her chair. He could trust her right? They'll be a team from now on so he could, no, would have to trust her and she the same.

"Nii-san." Alphonse said in a soft, sad voice.

"I know…" Edward replied in the same tone.

It was hard. How could he talk about their past with her? Talking about 'That Day' hurt, even though it's been awhile it was as painful as the day it happened. But somewhere deep in his heart he felt like he could trust her with this.

"Al… could you leave us… alone again?" Ed asked still not showing his eyes.

"Yes." Al answered solemnly and with that left the room so his older brother could explain things to their new team mate. Once he closed the door Hinata began to feel guilty.

"I-I'm sorry for intruding in y-your personal life… I just-" Hinata stopped not knowing the right thing to say.

"It's not that" Edward turned his intense gaze towards Hinata. "to us this is a delicate matter. You'll probably change the thoughts you have about us after this." Edward stared at Hinata's unique pale, gray eyes. For a moment she felt like he could see through her eyes, seeing her soul and it just sent a pleasurable chill down her spine.

"I-I-I won't." Hinata replied.

"Well… Al and I… some years ago… we… we did a human transmutation, we tried to bring our mother back, who had die with an epidemic." The older brother looked at her seriously, checking for any sign of revulsion and disgust but it never came. Hinata looked back at him just as seriously as he was looking at her. "The equivalent exchange to bring our mother back was my left leg and Al's was his whole body. I was left alone in front of a huge stone door…I saw the 'truth' or 'God' is what most people would call it…when I came to my left leg was gone, Al was nowhere in sight, and my mother...my mother was some monster, the transmutation had failed..…after that I just had to bring my little brother back I...I just couldn't lose him too…..so I found a metal suit and transmuted his soul to it in exchange of my right arm." Edward had tears running down his face but he didn't look away and neither did Hinata. It seemed like she understood his pain.

"So that's why Alphonse-San is in that armor?" Hinata asked but she already knew the answer.

"Yes." Edward answered as more tears came from his bloodshot eyes.

Hinata stood up and sat on the bed next to him, Edward flinched away when she lifted a hand to wipe the tears from his face. Hinata gave him a small sad smile and tried once more and this time Edward let her wipe the continuously falling tears from his face. "I…I… I understand." Hinata said as she stared into his eyes sadly while she caressed his wet cheek.

Edward slapped her hand from his face and asked loudly baffled and angry "What? How can you understand? You haven't been in this situation-"

"You're wrong! Edward, you don't know anything about me or my previous life…..I really do understand… I did it once… too." Hinata said angrily and sadly as she looked off to the left not staring into his eyes any longer.

Edward was completely surprised. How could she ever understand the pain of losing a mother? Or having a sibling have to lose his body on fail intent of trying to bring back their mother?

"I did it too..." Hinata said again now looking down at her hands.

"Hinata, what did you do?" Edward asked in a low, serious tone.

When he was met in silence he brought his hand out to Hinata's chin and lifted it up. She already had tears welled up in her eyes and her lip was trembling violently.

Edward's face softened as he looked at her. He asked once more in a now calm, comforting voice "Hinata...what did you do?"

Hinata took a deep shaky breath to calm herself as she answered. "I-I...I did a-a hu-hu-man Tran-transmutation too."

Edward dropped his hand from her chin in surprise, he couldn't believe it. She, Hinata Hyuuga, the most innocent person he knew had made human transmutation before. He surely must have heard wrong.

Hinata continued as she gripped the bed sheets on his legs tightly "I did a human transmutation with my mother. She was an alchemist. She was the one who taught me, well her and my uncle who helped train me physically while my mother taught me alchemy. After some time my uncle became very sick. Me, Mother, and everyone tried everything that we could, but it seemed unbeatable as he died a few months after my birthday. My cousin...Neji, he was so sad, he didn't come out his room, he barely slept, barley ate, and only talked to mother and I for weeks. When it came to the point where Neji's life was in danger my mother and I could bare it no longer. We researched and researched for weeks to find a way to bring back my uncle. Finally one day my mother stumbled upon the infamous, forbidden subject in alchemy, Human Transmutation. My mother asked me to help her do a human transmutation even though we both knew it was wrong to even think of such a thing, but she knew I would do anything for Neji. So I said yes." Hinata explained, remembering her own past like it was yesterday. She was looking sadly at her lap biting her lip to the point that she drew blood and gripping the sheets at Edward's legs so tightly she was putting holes in the thin fabric from her nails.

"The day we did it I was 7 years old but I could control my alchemy very well. When we had the ingredients we began the transmutation. We did everything right, I'm sure we did but everything went absolutely wrong. My mother and I stood in front of a huge stone door and out of nowhere it opened and these...creatures popped out and grabbed her. I tried to help her I did, she was screaming and reaching for me but I just couldn't get her! She got lost inside the 'door' and I never saw her again. I'm guessing that her equivalent exchange was her body." Hinata finished tears falling out of her eyes like Edward's was a few minutes ago.

Fullmetal was completely shocked. How can an adult such as her mother knows that Human Transmutation is taboo but still allow her and her child to do it.

Edward was also confused. "Wait, for it to be an equivalent exchange you would also have to give something. What did you give him?" Edward asked

"My eyes." Hinata said still looking down at her lap trying to stop her tears. "My family have a talent in our eyes. It's called the 'Byakugan' and it's extremely rare it allow us to see 360 degrees. It's extremely wanted and some people even attack our family members in order to have it. It cannot be explained with alchemy nor with science how our talent came to this planet. When we were doing the transmutation my mother told me to activate it, so I did" Hinata wiped the tears from her face and got up and walked to the window to see the view not seeing Edward trying to reach for her hand.

"When I entered the 'door' I saw many things, some I understood, most I didn't. That's how I got the ability to use alchemy without a transmutation circle. All the information was coming at me all too fast and I felt like-"

"Your head was going to blow?" The older Elric brother finished for her while staring at her back.

"Exactly…..After the explosion of information I blinked and I was back outside the stone door… with my byakugan still activated the 'truth', 'god', 'the world', 'me' told me that the prize to that knowledge was to be my eyes." Hinata said still staring out the window.

Her eyes? That was a weird prize for transmutation. Something unexpected…because anyone that saw her would never think she did such a taboo thing.

"Since then I had seen many odd things that I don't understand because somehow my normal eyes are still connected to my old ones." Hinata said eyes flickering over to him for a second and then back to the window.

Wait… so that means he hadn't imagined it. He hadseen her, when he did the transmutation, the weird eyes that the 'truth' had.

As Hinata continued speaking she held herself closely "I have a lot of dreams almost every night. I see when people make the worst sins and die, and when people use alchemy I can feel it sometimes even when I'm not there seeing them use it. That's one of the reasons I came here to find information about it. But I have not found any so far."

Then Hinata returned her gaze back to Edward. She had a sad look in her eyes.

"That's why I told you that I do understand." Hinata said staring at him.

Edward never expected such a story. Could he believe it himself? This innocent girl in front of him, could she possibly have such a tragic past? He was still shocked he couldn't find a word to say.

"But since I had lost my byakugan" Hinata started walking back to her chair to sit in it again she took another apple and started cutting it. "I couldn't be the heir anymore. So my little sister took over. And some years later Mr. Bradley came to my house and suggested for me to become an Alchemist. Of course my father accepted since he thought it would be a good opportunity. At first I didn't want to come but then I remembered that a person I really wanted to see is related to someone here in the military so I eventually accepted… but then I started thinking 'Why don't I find some information on what happened in that room?' so then I worked extra hard to be able to come here and find information on what I had done that day." When she finished talking and cutting the apple she handed it to Edward with a sad smile. "Here you go."

"Thank you…" Edward took the apple and just stared at it. "I'm sorry that that happened to you…do you want to have your eyes back?" Edward asked.

Hinata looked off to the side uncomfortably as she answered wiping the blood off her cut lip "Well not exactly… I just want to be strong."

"Hinata you don't have to hold it in, strong is knowing when to let your feelings show and when not to." Edward said comfortingly.

Hinata looked up at him with wide eyes. The tears began to well up at the bottom of her eyes once more as she looked into Edward's. She let them fall with a sob as she threw herself into Edward's arms.

"It's going to be alright." Edward said as he rubbed her back soothingly while she cried into his neck holding his torso tightly.

"Nii-san!" Alphonse yelled suddenly opening the door. Hinata jumped back in fright and fell off the bed out of Edward's arms on the floor and Edward jumped back hitting the wall with his back. Al stopped suddenly looking back and forth at Hinata and Edward. "Uhh, is everything ok?"

Hinata wiped her eyes and answered in a surprised tone "Alphonse-San!"

"Al!" Edward screamed glaring at Al angrily in embarrassment with a dark blush on his tan face.

Al scratched his helmet in embarrassment as he chuckled a little and asked "Did I interrupt something?"

"N-nothing!" Hinata yelled more than a little embarrassed.

XxXxXxXxXxXx

Some days later Edward was released from the hospital. The day when Hinata had told her story to the older Elric, Edward made sure to tell it to Alphonse, as soon as Hinata left the hospital room. Al was as shocked as Edward was when he heard it. The brothers once they saw the Hyuuga had told her to get ready because they were heading to Lior.

"W-well… let's just stop at my apartment to g-get s-some things." Hinata said with a small blush.

"Whaaat? There's no time!" Edward complained with an annoyed look.

"B-but we d-don't know if something might get handy! It'll be quick I promise." Hinata said bringing her hands together pleadingly.

Once they argued about it for some minutes Edward agreed to her request, Al joked that Edward agreed because of how cute her blush looks on her when angry. Edward denied it saying he agreed because it could actually come in handy with a blush of his own. Once in the apartment she took a bag with a First Aid Kit, bandages, antiseptic, and other necessities, almost everything she took was medicine though. She also took some money as well, just in case, also not forgetting her watch that the military had handed to her. When she had everything ready they left to the train station directly to Lior.