Author's note~
Holy crap! I actually updated this!
That's right, folks. Through blood, sweat, and tears, I was able to pull through and write this chapter. Yay for me!
Disclaimer: Sadly, Fullmetal Alchemist is not mine. I tried to buy it, though. Apparently, three dollars, a seashell, and a dust bunny isn't enough.
Chapter 4: Selfless Acts
After witnessing the reunion of the Mustang twins, Ed and Al excused themselves and left Eastern Command. As they walked back to their hotel, the scene in the office played over and over again in Edward's head.
'How can Mustang just punch his own brother in the face like that when they haven't even seen each other for sixteen years?!' Ed thought. If he and Al were separated for that long, then their reunion would be tear-filled. Unless Edward unintentionally made Alphonse angry or upset. If so, there'd be Hell to pay.
"Brother, what's going on over there?" Alphonse asked, pointing to a crowd that stood to the side.
"I don't know. Let's check it out," Ed replied, already beginning to push through the crowd. Al stayed behind, knowing that he could never squeeze his large form through the crowd without hurting someone. Ed's small body, however, allowed him to easily maneuver through the tight circle of people.
'Good thing I'm small enough to fit. What are all these guys looking at, anyway?' Ed said in his mind.
Wait…did he just call himself small?
Before he can start ranting at himself, he broke through the crowd, allowing him to finally see what the commotion was about. A young woman kneeled over a man, who was sprawled out on the sidewalk. The man appeared to be unconscious and blood covered his face. A car was off to the side, smashed against a pole. All of the windows were broken and the whole front of the car was crushed inwards.
"Does anyone here have medical experience!? This man is in need of help right now!" the woman cried desperately, her head flailing around wildly.
"I do," another man said, emerging from the crowd. He knelt down beside the woman and began examining the injured man. "I work at Eastern Hospital."
The woman began to smile with relief. However, that smile left when the doctor's eyes narrowed at the man's face.
"Is there a problem, doctor?" she asked. The doctor stood up and looked down at the woman.
"There is, actually. I know this man. He's nothing more then a drunk who can barely pay his bills as it is. There is no way he can pay for the surgery that he will require," the doctor said with distaste.
The woman stood up, shock written all over her face.
"Are you kidding me? This man will die without immediate medical attention! You refuse to save him because he won't be able to pay for it!? Is money all you care about!?" she said in disbelief. The doctor did not appear swayed in the least.
"A man who can't contribute to society is nothing more than a burden. No one will miss him. The world will be a much better place without his kind," the doctor said, sneering down at the heap on the ground. He suddenly smirked. "Of coarse, if you're willing to pay for him…"
"How much would surgery cost?" she asked, opening up the purse that she held at her side.
"4,694,188 cenz would be the total cost," he replied without hesitation. The woman's eyes widened and her hand dropped from her purse.
"Th-That's ridiculous!" she said in outrage. His smirk only widened.
"Well, the surgery would normally cost 3,520,641 cenz, but considering that today is my day off and you caught me at an unexpected time, I increased the cost by about thirty-three percent. Makes sense, no?"
"But there's no way I can pay that!"
"Your problem. Not mine." With that, the doctor walked away, leaving the injured man and helpless woman behind. The woman gritted her teeth for a second before kneeling down was again and grabbing the man.
"Someone help me!" she yelled out as she pulled one of the man's arms around her neck and tried to lift him up. Edward immediately rushed forward and gripped the other arm, mimicking the woman.
Once the man was up and supported, the woman led them through the crowd without a word. Soon after they made there way out of the crowd, heavy footsteps were heard. Alphonse fell into step behind them.
"Here. Let me take him," Al said, gently pulling the man from their grip. He picked held the man bridal style with ease. The woman was initially startled, but then nodded. The trio began moving at a much faster pace. The woman led the way through streets ands alleys until they finally came upon a small house. As soon as they entered the house, the woman instructed Al to lay the man on the couch, which lay to their right. After the man was deposited on the couch, the woman rushed to him with a brush covered in black ink and a large pair of tweezers. She tore open the man's shirt and used the tweezers to remove any pieces of glass that was buried in the man's body. After all the glass was removed, she painted a circle on a deep gash in his chest.
"Brother! That's…!" Al began saying while nudging Ed.
"Yeah. Alchemy," Ed replied, watching as the woman drew neat, intricate lines inside the circle. When the transmutation circle was complete, she muttered a quick prayer and brought her hands down upon it. A bright, blue light filled the room. The brothers watched as the deep gashes on the man began to heal. When the light finally disappeared, the lady slumped against the couch. The man was now clean of gashes. However, there were still bruises littering his features and the transmutation did nothing to heal the broken bones.
Al looked over at the exhausted-looking lady and asked, "Why wasn't everything healed?"
The woman looking at the two brothers drearily.
"I'm sorry. Healing his external wounds is all that I can do. I've never been to good at alchemy," she replied.
"That's why you wanted the man to be taken to the hospital instead of you just healing him," Ed chimed in. "You can't heal anything on the inside."
"Yeah. That's right," she said as she stood up. "Oh! I haven't introduced myself yet. My name is Harley Sandra. Thank-you for helping me out." She smiled warmly at the brothers.
For a brief second, Harley reminded Ed of his own mother. He remembered when he had done his first successful transmutation. The happiness and pride written all over his mother's face. The warmth of her smile…
Ed shook the memories away and came back to reality.
"Don't worry about it, Ms. Sandra," Alphonse said sweetly.
"Yeah, it was no problem at all," Ed continued. "Anyway, we're the Elric brothers. I'm Edwa-"
"Elric brothers? You mean, THE Elric brothers?!" she exclaimed. "I've heard all about you two! Edward Elric, the boy who became a State Alchemist when he was only twelve!"
She grabbed Al's hand and began shaking it while saying excitedly, "I can't believe I got to meet you, Mr. Edward! You have no idea how honored I am!"
"Umm, I'm not Edward. He is!" Al said, pointing at his brother, who looked like a steaming teapot that was going to burst at any second.
Harley blushed and apologized quickly before shaking Ed's hand and saying in a much more calm manner, "Like I said, it's an honor to meet you, Mr. Edward. You are a true hero."
"You don't have to call me "Mr. Elric". And don't worry about mistaking Al for me. People do that all the time."
"I can see why," Harley said while laughing softly. "You're so small that people wouldn't believe you capable of being such a powerful alchemist!"
And just like that, the teapot was once again ready to burst. However, before Edward can let loose one of his patented short rants, the front door opened. In bounced two little girls, each with a bundle of flowers in their hands.
"Mama! Mama! Look at what we have for you!" they said in unison, brandishing the flowers in front of Harley.
Harley smiled and knelt down in front of the girls.
"They're beautiful. Thank-you so much! I'm so lucky to have you two," she said, taking the flowers and smelling the lovely floral aroma that they gave off. The girls grinned widely before turning.
"Mama, who are they?" the older-looking girl asked. The younger one nodded.
"These two are the Elric brothers. They recently helped mama out, so be kind to them."
Harley pointed at the older girl.
"This is Astrid. She's is obviously the older of the two. And this one," she said as she placed a hand on the younger's head. "is Mayli. These two girls are my daughters," she said with pride.
She then glanced over at the clock on the wall and frowned.
"Is something wrong, Ms. Sandra?" Al said, concerned by Harley's sudden change in moods.
"Please. Call me Harley," she said, placing the flowers on the table. "And there's nothing really wrong. It's just that I had a bit of an outing planned for today. A nice young man offered to take me to a nearby café. Normally, the girls would be fine on their own, but I have to watch over the gentleman who was injured."
Both the girls were at the couch. Mayli was currently poking the man that lay on it. Harley quickly herded them away and scolded them.
"We can watch over him and the girls, Harley," Al said. "Ed and I have nothing important that we need to do so we'll gladly help out!"
Harley looked over her shoulder with wide eyes.
"Really? You guys would do that for me?" she asked hopefully.
"Of course we would! Right, brother?" Al said, nudging Ed.
Ed sighed and nodded.
"I guess we can stay. Besides, you look like you need a break, Harley," he muttered.
Harley really did look like she needed some time off. She had dark circles under her eyes and she appeared to be a little stressed out.
Harley burst into a round of thank-you's and ran into one of the other rooms in the house. When she emerged, she was wearing a cute yellow sundress and holding a black purse. After thanking the brothers one final time, she left the house.
Al knelt down in front of the girls and began talking to them.
"Hello! My name is Alphonse. It's nice to meet you two!"
Mayli stared at Al with wide eyes.
"Wow, sir! You're huge!" she said in awe.
"I am, aren't I?" he replied, chuckling. "How old are you two?"
Astrid smiled and stepped forward.
"Well, I'm ten and my little sister, Mayli, is five," she said.
"I'm fourteen and my brother over there is fifteen," Al said. "You two are very cute looking."
Both girls grinned and thanked Al.
Al wasn't lying when he said that the girls were cute. Mayli's curly, hazel-colored hair was in two pigtails. Her large, brown eyes were stunning, despite brown being such a common eye-color.
Astrid, on the other hand, had straight, blonde hair like her mother. Over her lovely green eyes was a rectangular pair of glasses. Other than the glasses, Astrid was the splitting image of Harley.
If Al could smile, he definitely would. The sisters quickly charmed Al with their cuteness and curiosity.
Ed sighed. It was obvious that this wasn't going to be the only time that they would see the girls. Within a week, Al would somehow rope Ed into visiting them again. Ed was okay with this, but the first of the two girls to call him short better be prepared.
No matter how old you are, calling him a pipsqueak midget has consequences.
Author's note~
I know that 4,694,188 cenz seems like a lot, but cenz is the same thing as yen, which is Japanese. 3,520,641 yen equals $29,685. Then, adding another third of that to the cost equals exactly what I put. 4,694,188.
Isn't math just excitng?
Evil twin- Congradulations. You have a brain.
Me- And soon, you will not, for I shall sick my brain-eating bunnies on you. Anyone who leaves a flame in the review section must also face the wrath of the bunnies.
Make sure you leave a non-flame review! I would appreciate it!