DiSCLAIMER- *sniffle* I do not own FMA…but I do happen to know what I want for Christmas if you'd be so kind :D
Chapter 2: Rewrite
"Oh, Skye, I am so glad you're okay!" Hughes squealed, picking the girl up and hugging her tightly like a giant teddy bear.
Skye gasped, saying, "Need…Air!"
Maes loosened his grip a little, but didn't let her go. "Uncle Maes, I missed you," She says brightly, hugging him back after getting some air.
"When you left, your father was a wreck! He'd have something terrible if Riza and I weren't there! He threatened to desert just to try and find you."
"I'm glad he didn't—he wouldn't have been able to get to me. I was in Xing for a while,"
"You just have to come over for dinner tonight with Roy and tell us all about it! You can meet my daughter too!" Pictures were instantly shoved in her face, and she gave a tiny grimace. "Isn't she adorable?" He coos.
Skye easily replies with, "She looks just like you!" and smiles, even though she has no idea what the girl looks like. Sensing Chi doesn't mean she can see what's on paper. All she can hear is rustling.
"I know! She got my wonderful looks and Gracia's great personality! She'll no doubt take over the world with her cuteness!" Maes recites happily, momentarily lost in his own world.
"I'm sure she will," Skye agrees with a laugh.
"Oh, you've just grown up so much since I last saw you!" Hughes says loudly, dishing out yet another smothering hug. "I can't believe how tall you are! You make Ed look even shorter!"
"WHO'RE YOU CALLING SO SMALL YOU WANNA FEED HIM TO YOUR PET FLEA?"
Skye laughed even harder as Edward chased Maes around the mess hall angrily, ranting on about how he wasn't short.
"Come on Uncle, he's not short!" Skye yells to get them to listen.
They both stop in their tracks to stare at her questioningly.
"He's uber cute and pocket-sized!"
Ed just puts his head down while everyone in the huge room laughs. When his voice can finally be heard over the roar of people making him look stupid, he mutters, "You're not my friend anymore."
"Aww…come on Ed… just playing." Skye says with a crooked grin. "You're at least big enough to keep your head above the water when you get thrown in a puddle."
"You are definitely Mustang's daughter."
(*FMA*)
"What're you going to do, sir?" Hawkeye asks when the Colonel returns to his desk.
"I don't know, Lieutenant. She's not the five year old girl I remember."
"She has grown. But not into an entirely different person. And you can certainly say the circumstances were not the best for a girl her age. She was forced to grow up quickly."
"Mmmph..." Mustang growls into his arm. He already has his head down, ready to take a nap and get away from the insanity for a while.
"A word of advice, sir?"
"Shoot." Mustang grumbles.
Hawkeye allows herself a tiny smile at his word choice then says, "Don't make yourself a stranger. Get to know her again. I'm sure you'll find she's still the same little girl she was before."
(*FMA*)
"Edddddooooooo!" Skye shouts across the hallway. Ed comes running as fast as he can, arms waving in the air as he tries to throw of the three soldiers running at his heels. Obviously he'd angered them.
"Did you get it?" She yells as she starts running next to him.
Ed grins an evil grin and pulls out the stolen object from his pocket. "Got it," The thin book proved to be difficult to grab, but it would be worth it.
Skye mirrors his expression and claps her hands together quickly, then dragged her hands across the walls were she had previously drawn matching circles, causing them to extend outward and block the path. Two more alkahestry circles were activated farther behind them, so the soldiers were boxed in and couldn't get away and come at them from a different angle.
The two rogue alchemists could hear them yelling for help however.
They were about a long stride away from a sharp turn in the corridor when Skye shot out to grab Ed and pull him back so fast he nearly fell. He let out an indignant squeak. "What are you-,"
"Shhh!" She hisses. Taking a piece of chalk from her pocket she scrawls a five pointed star in a circle on the floor then activates it. A wall appears right behind them, making it seem as if there was no hallway there to begin with, effectively concealing the chaos that followed them.
"Skye…and Fullmetal." Mustang had seemed to taken a disliking to Skye being around the Fullmetal Alchemist.
"You have to call me by my alchemist name, sir. We are at work after all." Skye teased, able to disguise the laughter in her voice well. Ed mentally reminded himself to thank her later. He wouldn't have been able to get away with the journal
"Of course, Ivory Alchemist." Mustang says with a twisted smile. "Dare I ask what you two were doing running around Eastern headquarters?"
"Edo was just showing me around? Right?"
"Ummm…yeah?"
"See, no harm done!" Skye says brightly, though it's quite the opposite. Mustang could've swore he heard someone shouting, but dismissed it.
The colonel knew better than to trust the word of Edward, but he did trust his daughter, so he didn't question them further.
"Mr. Hughes wants us to join him and his family for dinner, sir." Skye states, right back to business with her.
"I take it he already hugged you to death, then?"
"Yup."
Mustang sighed. "Well, my shift just ended a half hour ago. Do you have a place to stay?"
Skye shook her head. "Haven't had time to look."
"You can stay with me."
"All right! Are we going now? I'm supposed to be off by now too," Skye says, walking beside her father.
"It's already six o'clock. Hughes'll probably be showing up at any moment wondering where we-,"
"Hey, Roy! And Skye too! Are you coming over for dinner?"
"Yes, we'll come, Hughes. As long as you promise to keep all your photo albums safely on their shelf, we'll be there tonight."
"How about you and Al?" Maes directs toward Ed. "The more the merrier!"
"Uh… no thanks. Al and I have some papers to catch up on," Ed answered quickly. "I'm gonna go find, Al. Goodnight Skye."
Skye whirled around to envelope him in a tight hug. "Bye, Edo. I'll see you tomorrow!"
Both Edward and Roy stood frozen in place with shock as Skye skipped happily ahead, talking merrily with Hughes.
Ed was certain his face couldn't get any redder.
"If you even think about my daughter I'll-."
"It's not my fault she hugged me! I'm not getting married to her Mustang, Jeez!" Ed screeched at the very over protective Mustang.
"Whatever. Goodnight, Fullmetal. I trust you'll be thanking Alphonse when you get home tonight-seeing as how he did all of your work today while you flirted with my daughter."
"I was not flirting with her!"
"Good." Mustang says seriously, eyes narrowing. "Because if you were, I'd have to kill you."
(*FMA*)
"How was your day, Brother?" Al asks when Ed walks into their hotel room a little later that night.
"Umm…Fine. I guess." Ed mutters, collapsing face first on his bed without even bothering to change. His mind was blank. He had so many different things he needed to think over that he couldn't even comprehend any of them anymore.
"It was okay I guess. Showed Skye all around Eastern Headquarters. You'd like her Al. She's nice. Very much like us."
"Good to know," Al says thoughtfully.
"Thanks, by the way. The Colonel said you did all my work." Ed says in return, remembering what Roy had said earlier
"Only some of the papers you forgot. So, brother, should Winry be jealous?"
(*FMA*)
Dinner with the Hughes' went well, at least as far as Skye could tell. The food smelled and tasted wonderful, and she made sure to thank Gracia more than once.
The apple pie for desert was great too, and she was glad that Maes was making them take the rest of it home with them.
"So Skye, how'd you get the name?"
"My alchemist name?" She says, turning in the direction of the voice. She'd been silent most of the night, only speaking when spoken too.
"Yeah. The Ivory Alchemist…that's one I've never heard before. Must be an interesting story behind it."
"Well, I suppose it is." Skye answers thoughtfully. "In Xing, I played a lot of the different instruments. And when I came back here, the only one I was really fascinated with was the piano. I picked it up fast. The person who taught me was an alchemist, and what we would do is create an entire piano together using our alchemy. We worked together to create one for our state alchemy exam, and played a duet with it, to show it worked"
"Oh, so they called you the Ivory Alchemist because the keys in the old were originally made of ivory. Very cool."
"Yes, and my friend was also accepted. They named him the Ebony Alchemist." Skye hadn't meant or her voice to quiver at the end of the sentence.
"Really, where is he? Seems you two made quite the team,"
"Not here. We got split up for a while. He's in Central," She tries to sound unconcerned, and manages to fool everyone but her father. He says nothing though, and let's her continue.
"You should play for us sometime!" Gracia suggests.
"Yeah Mommy wuvs music!" Elecia giggles happily, waving her arms up her mother until Gracia picks her up and sets her on her lap.
Skye can't help but be cheered up by the girl. "What about you Elecia? Do like music?"
"Oh, yes! I love it when daddy sings to me before bed! It's scawrs away alls the monsters!"
Mustang snickers at Maes, unable to contain it. "He really that bad, Gracia?"
"Without a doubt," She answers without hesitation.
The laughter becomes louder, and Skye notices herself giggling too, feeling like she was finally part of a family again.
How she missed that feeling.
At about eight thirty by the time the group finally wrapped up the dinner. Half an apple pie in hand, Skye and Roy drove back to his apartment complex, the entire ride silent.
"So why did you get transferred?" Mustang finally asks to break the uneasy quiet.
"Rough operation back west. Lost entire squad of MP's. The higher ups thought it might be better to send such a 'talented'" She raises her hands to make air quotations, "young girl to Eastern command where she may be better controlled," Skye couldn't help but sound slightly bitter.
"They blame you for what happened?"
"Not necessarily. I defied direct orders in order to save civilians. My CO didn't like that."
"Our military can be very blind," Roy mutters, not even realizing the irony of what he said.
Skye smothered a half hearted chuckle. "You don't know the half of it."
The sit in silence again until they reach the apartment, and Skye happily claims the couch, though her father suggests she take the bed.
She steadily refuses. "It's your place," She stated as she releases her hair from its ponytail. "I'm not taking it over."
"Fine, if you insist on being difficult." He mumbles with a yawn, too tired to fight with her. "What's his name?"
"Who, my friend?"
"Yeah, the Ebony Alchemist."
She gives him a sad smile. "Leo. Everyone calls him Leo but me."
Roy is a bit puzzled. "What do you call him?"
"Hikari. Because he's my sunshine."
"I see…" Mustang says, though he doesn't really. He'd question her about this Leo person tomorrow. Actually, he had a lot of questions for her. But they could wait.
"Shout if you need me. I'll be just down the hallway."
"Okay," She whispers into the darkness as he turns out the light. "Daddy?" She says again before he has a chance to walk away.
"Yes, Skye?"
"…Will you give me a goodnight kiss, just like when I was a kid?"
Roy can't help but smile at her request. All these years she had been lost to him..and yet…Hawkeye was right. This was still his daughter. "Of course, sweety." He walks quietly to her side and leans down, giving her a kiss on the cheek. "Goodnight, Miku."
It was too dark for Mustang to see the smile on his daughters face—but it was also to dark for him to see the tear that trailed down her porcelain cheeks as well.
(*FMA*)
"What? Al, why would Winry be jealous? We're just friends! I mean Skye is nice and all, but I hardly know her! And I've known Winry foryears! We're not like…dating! Skye is just a friend too! I am not, nor will I ever date either of them or-"
"Stop while you're behind brother. You're just making it worse."
(*FMA*)
A tiny scared voice was what brought Roy out of his sleepy stupor in the middle of the night.
"Dad…"
"Skye..what's wrong?" Mustang sat up in his bed, rubbing his eyes as he tried to become coherent.
"Bad dream…" She whispered softly. "Can sleep in here? I feel like…you're going to be gone when I wake up."
"Yeah. Don't worry," He assured her as she climbed up on the bed to snuggle with her father, "I won't leave you again. I'll be here when you wake up."
She nods sleepily into his shoulder. It's like their back in Ishval again, sleeping in the cold trenches, trying to stay safe and warm. It's like Skye is still only five years old.
Mustang stays awake for a little while after her breathing slows, just happy that she is alive. He gets the feeling that the initial shock of her being alive will never really wear off. As she was his only child, thinking he had lost her nearly drove him to suicide. Finding her again was like…well, like someone had taken away all they grey from life and replaced it with bright colors again.
Skye mumbles something her sleep, and her father freezes, eyes wide in the night.
Was she dreaming about Edward?
(*FMA*)
Muahahahahahahah! I am sooooo evil! :3
I certainly hope you all like this. It was tough yet fun to write that last scene. And I guess you know why :D hahahaha I dunno about you guys, but the last line is giving me a giggle fit XD
Okay, onto somewhat important matters….
#1 I am really starting to like how Skye's character is turning out. She has a lot of strange little quirks and had a really messed up childhood. We'll get more into that later…
#2 ummm, pacing…how am I doing? Too fast, too slow? Any ideas? Well, I wanted this to be sort of long. whenI write fanfics I have a tendency to make them quick and short and rather hard to follow cause they go too fast. So,this was going to be like, long. Like, ten or fifteen chapters long, maybe a sequel long. Tell me your thoughts on that. Much obliged.
#3 Miku means beautiful sky in Japanese, Hikari means radiance, or light. Japaneese stuff will probably end up being italics, and I'll give you translations if I use them
#4 Why yes, Skye is dreaming about Edward. Do you want to know what she was dreaming about that Ed happened to be there? Review and I'm sure you'll find out! ^u^ oh and that book they stole lets just say it was someone diary : J
#5 sorry if this turns out to be EdxOC. I didn't mean it to be that way…but….you know how it is with us rabid Edward Elric fangirls…he's just so adorable and huggable! (uber cute and pocket sized as well :D)
Aghhh, long note tonite :P sorry. Reviews are loooooove!
Sincerely,
gilraenstar
