Chapter 4: On my Way to your Heart
"Alright, where do you live?" Edward asked, out of breath as he and the gypsy girl were running away from the men who were chasing her.
"I… don't have a place to live in. I'm a nomad." She said, following him.
Edward just looked at her, confused and decided that she should just go back with him to the apartment. Hopefully Alphonse and Amy would accept her the way she is. He can't do anything more for her.
--
"I haven't been to this place yet," Amy said, looking around at the restaurant Alphonse brought her to. It was much nearer to their place so she agreed to come here instead of the usual place she goes to.
"You sure you haven't been here yet?" Alphonse looked at her skeptically. "Edward and I always come here. He loves the food here, plus it's really cheap."
"Ja, well, you know him. Edward's always cheap." She just laughed silently.
They found a table outside. It was kind of chilly at that time of night but they couldn't care less. They actually like the cold weather.
"So, what would do you suggest?" Amy asked, once given each a menu.
"Here," Alphonse pointed to his menu.
He showed her which items were good, which were too awful to describe, items with good prices and ones with shocking prices.
They ordered what they decided on. Alphonse with his usual meal and Amy with something she couldn't pronounce.
They were just given glasses of water. At first, they were just silent, letting the slight breeze blow through their hair.
"Do you miss your friends?" Alphonse suddenly said, breaking the silence.
"Huh?" At first she didn't understand but then she suddenly knew what he was talking about. "You mean the ones from Ametris?"
He just nodded and looked intently at her.
"Actually I do… Sometimes when I'm all alone, I just close my eyes and think about the past. Those were great times. The time I decided to join the Elrics find the stone was kind of random. But during the time I've spent with them over the months, I realized that was the most fun I've ever had in my life. All the chasing… the adventures… the finding of places we never knew existed…" She sighed.
"You sound like you really enjoyed it." Alphonse laughed.
"I did." She sighed dreamily. "I really did."
"Did you have other friends aside from Edward and his brother?"
"I actually had some other friends before I met them." She looked over at the cars driving by in the street.
"Who were they?" Their food came but none of them started eating yet.
"Um… They were just teenagers practicing alchemy, same as Edward. But all the time I was with them, I only felt like an apprentice more than a friend to them."
"That's kind of harsh, don't you think?"
"Oh, don't get me wrong though. They gave me a place to stay and they agreed to let me learn from their alchemy. They were pretty good but I think Edward's way better." She just fiddled her food with a fork.
"Okay," That was all Alphonse said, getting started on his food as well.
"You don't believe me do you?" She smiled.
"No! I mean, of course I do! It's just that—"
"It's just that it's kind of hard to believe these kinds of stories right?" She looked over at him.
"Well… Not quite."
"Then what is it?" She asked, being real pushy.
"It's just that, you and Edward always say something about a parallel universe called Ametris…"
"Okay… so in other words, you don't believe me?"
"I believe all those things really did happen to you. Don't worry, I trust you anyways." He said, reaching out and squeezing her left hand a bit making her blush a teensy bit.
--
"Where the heck…" Edward muttered to himself silently, looking around at the dark, empty apartment.
"Do other people live with you as well?" Noa was the name of this gypsy girl. She introduced herself a bit when they stopped and rested a bit at a nearby park before heading here.
"Yes… But I don't know where they went now…" He said, taking off his coat and putting it in the coat rack.
Noa just looked around the whole place, taking in the whole scenery. It was really nice for the man to take her in and not mind that she was a gypsy. No one has ever done that for her.
"I'm thinking they went out for dinner." He said, looking at the clean stove and unmade dining table. He suddenly looked over at her. "Oh… I forgot about… your clothes." He said, looking at her.
She just nodded silently.
"Okay, I'll just leave a note here before we head to sleep. And don't worry, there's an extra room for you to stay in." He ushered her into the rooms and showed her to a small guestroom right beside Amy's.
He scribbled some words on a small piece of paper he tore from his notebook and left in on the table. Noa wasn't able to see what he wrote but didn't mind it and instead went to follow Edward to her room. She closed the door and made her bed. She closed the lights and headed to sleep. While she lay wide awake on the bed, she heard someone turn a key in, opening the door and hearing the wood on the floor creaking lightly indicating that people were coming in.
"He's asleep I think." She heard a girl's voice say in an almost whisper.
"I can't believe it. He didn't even eat dinner." Another person said, this time a guy, laughing.
"Oh, dinner," Noa thought, suddenly remembering her appetite, she was kind of hungry and she could swear she heard her stomach grumble a bit.
She continued listening to the people conversing outside since the wood on the door was thin. She just listened until she fell asleep.
"Hey, what's this?" Amy said, holding up a piece of paper on the dining table after she placed her coat back on the rack.
"It's in Edward's handwriting," Alphonse said, tugging lightly on the paper until Amy gave it to him. "It says: Amy and Alphonse, you guys probably went out and had fun on your little dinner date.. Lucky for you guys I couldn't stay awake much longer to bother you about take-out. Anyways, there's someone living with us for just a short time. Please bear with her, she's being chased and has no place to stay. I gave her the room right beside Amy's and I think she's asleep as well. She doesn't have any extra clothes with her right now so can she probably borrow some of Amy's? Or maybe even Gracia? I don't know. I'll tell you guys more about it tomorrow. I'll be up at 8AM, just saying."
"Ha, date." Amy said, stressing on the word "date".
"There's someone living with us? This must be serious. Edward's never taken in any woman before." Alphonse snickered.
"Cute," She said, heading to her room. "I'm off to bed. Goodnight Alphonse." She smiled.
"G'night." He just sat on the dining table and read the note over and over again until he decided to head off to bed as well.
Amy and Alphonse already dressed the next morning and just talking on the couch.
"It would be nice to have someone else here." Alphonse smiled. "You probably don't mind do you?"
"I don't." Amy said, tilting her head a bit and looking at what Alphonse would say.
"I don't mind either," He smiled.
"Alright, what about the 'clothes' part here?" Alphonse asked, pointing to it.
"Already covered," Amy smiled, pointing to herself.
He smirked and continued reading the morning paper.
"So," Amy said, playing a bit with Alphonse's blonde hair. "What do you want for breakfast? I feel like cooking something."
He looked up from the newspaper he was reading and grinned. "You know my favorite."
"Obviously," She stood up from the couch and started making breakfast.
Noa awoke to the aroma of brewing coffee and cooked eggs and sausages. She smiled to herself. She hasn't eaten for more than 8 hours and she was starving. She took a peep from the door and saw 2 people. One brunette girl and one blonde guy, they were just chatting while the brunette was cooking the breakfast. Unfortunately though for her, the door was extremely creaky and the 2 of them immediately turned their heads to her.
"Hi! G'morning," Amy said with a smile. Turning the stove off, and wiping her hands quickly on her apron that was wrapped around her waist.
"Um," Noa wasn't sure to say.
"It's alright," Alphonse said. "Come on, time for breakfast."
Noa reluctantly opened the door, and headed towards them and sat on an empty seat on the dining table.
"I'm Amy and this is Alphonse," Amy said, introducing herself and Alphonse to Noa.
"Hello," Noa smiled. "I'm Noa." She said, holding out her right hand for Amy to shake.
Amy shook her hand and transferred the food she just cooked into plates.
"Help yourself to the food." She said with a smile as she placed them on the table. She handed them each a cup of coffee together with that.
"I, um, thank you." Noa was really pleased. They were real hospitable to her. They didn't mind her race. She was new to this thing but she really enjoyed it. She smiled to herself and got the amount of food she knows she can finish.
"Come and take a sit beside me?" Noa offered, looking at Amy who was removing her apron and cleaning the stove.
"Alright, I'll just get something from my room." She hung the apron over one chair and went straight to her room. They could hear that she was ruffling through her closet.
"Most probably for the clothes Noa will use." Alphonse thought.
"Is it really ok?" Noa asked, looking at Alphonse who was sitting opposite her.
"It can't be helped if you're being chased." He smiled. "I'm kind of glad as well."
"Huh?"
"Edward's never taken interest in a woman before, aside from Amy." He put down his fork and stopped eating. "That person is really indifferent towards others."
Noa just nodded in response and looked up when Amy came back with a heap of clothes on her arms.
"Have you finished eating Noa?" She asked with a smile.
"Uh, yes, do you want help with that?" Noa asked, standing up and holding out her hands.
"Actually I do, these are gonna be your clothes," Amy laughed. "Edward asked about it. I'm going to ask Gracia for some others but these will do fine for the meantime since we have almost the same size." She grinned.
"Ah, thank you!" Noa said, her smile reaching from cheek to cheek with so much delight from the continuous blessings the blonde, Edward, brought to her.
"Don't mention it!" Amy said, letting it all go.
When Noa went back into her room and changed into some thing she was just given, Amy sat on the chair Noa was just on.
She let out a huge sigh.
"That sure was heavy." She said, eating her breakfast.
"Are you sure you still have some clothes in your closet? You might have given everything to her." Alphonse looked at her curiously. "And by the way, that was extremely gracious."
"Of course I still have stuff there." She laughed. "And thanks."
Noa got out of her room and stood beside Amy.
"That looks real good on you!" She said, looking at the dress she let her borrow. "Well Noa, we're headed out today. Edward's still asleep. Help yourself to anything you might need." Amy smiled, getting her coat and handing Alphonse his.
"Thank you Miss Amy," She bowed slightly.
"You don't have to be so formal, we're just equal. Okay?" She grinned.
"Alright then, good bye, see you later!" Alphonse waved. "We've got our own place to hold our project on now."
"He's just so happy about it. Don't mind it if he repeats it over and over again." Amy said, pushing Alphonse out of the door.
Noa just laughed and locked the door when they left.
"Are you okay with that?" Noa asked, looking at Edward on his bed, connecting his prosthetic arm and leg when he was awake.
"Ya, don't worry." He laughed. "I'm used to this already."
"It's amazing. How does it work?" Noa asked curiously.
"Well, even if I lost my limbs, when I connect it over here, it sends signals to my nerves, and that's why I can move it like this," He demonstrated, moving his toes slowly. "To tell you the truth, I'm not that sure myself; my father designed this for me."
"Oh," was all Noa said as she stood on the door to his room waiting for him to finish.
"Alphonse, wait up! You're too fast." Amy said, almost breathless from catching up with him.
"Well you're too slow!" He joked. "I'm just kidding, come on." He stopped, once he saw Amy pout.
"Eh. You're always playing." She laughed, not minding that he put his shoulder around her. "I don't know how you even got this job in the first place with that attitude."
"Hm, one reason is that I enjoy doing this. Another is that…"
"What?" Amy looked up when he didn't continue after a while.
"I don't know… I just want to leave a mark in this world you know? Like knowing that I've accomplished something important before I die."
"Alphonse?" She was becoming worried now. "Stop talking like that… It's scaring me a bit." She uttered.
"I-I'm sorry," He laughed, getting back to reality. "I don't know what came over me."
"Just tell yourself that will never happen, okay?"
"Okay, now come on, you better catch up to me if you don't want to be late." He said, running ahead of her.
"Oh come on," She groaned. She hated running, this is probably why he always does this to her whenever she decides to accompany him to work since it was her day-off at Gracia's.
"An armored man… was walking right beside you." Noa suddenly said, as both of them stopped somewhere in the middle of the stairs. "And a sweet smile, maybe your mother's."
Edward didn't respond to any of that.
"And a beautiful village surrounded by grassland." She said quietly. "You said it was unscientific, but that's what I saw…"
"Is this place a hell given to me?" He sighed. "See, my brother died in an accident before, and ever though, I just know he's alive somewhere. I just have to find him…"
They dismissed the topic and headed down, but first passing by Gracia's Flower Shop.
"Hi Edward, Noa," She nodded towards them.
"Good morning Gracia, ah, thank you again for some of the clothes you sent up for Noa." Edward thanked.
She just laughed a bit. "Don't even mention it Edward, now stop looking so glum and be on your way now, and be careful."
Edward just nodded in response.
They were heading to Professor Haushofer's villa were he agreed to hold the project.
Before they could enter though, they had to pass by guards first.
"Name?" One of them asked sternly, looking closely as if he were studying them.
"Alphonse Heiderich." Alphonse said.
"And you Miss?" The guard asked, looking intently at Amy.
"Amett Frejderick." She smiled, copying the funny accent her dad has whenever he says their last name.
"Alright, you may pass." He said, checking their names in a clipboard.
"I always found your first name to be unique," Alphonse smiled, looking over at Amy.
"Yea, blame my parents. They said they named me after Ametris, which is so weird." She laughed. "That's an awful lot of security for a professor's villa. Should I be suspicious?"
"Um… I'm not so sure myself," He said, holding out the door for Amy to pass through ahead of him.
"Ed," Officer Hughes called him over once he saw him with a gypsy girl.
He put his shoulders around Edward and whispered.
"So, the rumors are true that you've been living with a gypsy girl."
"Ya, I have my reasons."
"Just be careful around gypsies." Officer Hughes said, standing upright now and facing him seriously. "They're wanderers. They play around men and steal their wallets."
"I'm a wanderer too." Edward pointed out, a bit mad from what Officer Hughes said.
"I'm just saying."
"Yea anyways, why don't you stop worrying about me and confess to Gracia already." He grabbed Noa's hand and left. "I think it'll go well."
He knew he hit the spot from the way the officer looked.
"St-Stop minding adults' business!" Was all Hughes could think of saying.
"Amett!" John, one of the co-workers of Alphonse, called out once he saw them enter.
"Hi!" She smiled, going over and hugging him tightly. Amy met John about a year ago, they were just 2 years apart in age but John became really close to her. He was kind of like an older brother to her. She never saw him for months and she missed him.
"What about me?" Alphonse asked jokingly but shook hands with John instead.
"Glad to see you 'phonse." John laughed. "Got everything? We've all just been waiting for you."
"Yep. Here are some of the sketches you had me hold yesterday." He gave John sheets of paper that he was holding ever since a while ago.
"Perfect, alright." He turned to Amy. "Now what are you supposed to do here Amett?" He smiled.
"Oh, just don't mind me; I'll just be hanging around Alphonse for the rest of the day. I'll try to not disturb you guys." She winked.
"Now that's impossible…" Alphonse mumbled when he followed John towards their work place. Amy just laughed in response.
Edward was clutching Noa's hand really tight like she was gonna leave him or something and led her through a shortcut to his doctor's place.
Noa suddenly stopped in her tracks.
"Come on, let's go," Edward was persuading her to continue walking.
"But…"
"You saw an armored person walking beside me right?" He smiled.
Noa just nodded her head.
"Then I believe you, just don't mind those guys."
She suddenly smiled.
"Whatcha doing?" Amy asked, looking over at what Alphonse was doing.
"Uh… fixing something?" He pointed to a part in the machine he was working on.
"Can I help?"
"It's alright, you'll stain your hand," He said, showing her his left palm almost covered with probably oil or grease from the machine.
"Okay, nevermind…" Amy then left his side and headed down to sit somewhere.
"I doubt that you'll stain your hand." John laughed. He probably heard what they were just talking about.
"I just don't want her to get her clothes dirty…" Alphonse smiled, turning his attention back at the part he was working on.
"You like her, don't you?" John smirked.
He suddenly dropped something he was holding.
"Um…" He picked it up. "No comment."
"O…kay," John said playfully and left his side.
Once he left, Alphonse looked down at Amy. He had this weird feeling in his stomach.
"Oh god…" He muttered.
The same thing happened at Edward's doctor. A patient called Noa something bad again. They just left and decided to eat somewhere where he knew they wouldn't be bothered about those stuff again.
Edward gave Noa her chowder and began to eat his.
"I'm really sorry about that… I don't know why people here are like that…" He sighed.
"It's alright, I'm used to it." She reassured. "It's my ancestors' fault for saying they were Egyptian in the first place."
"What do you refer to yourselves then?" Edward was really curious.
"Roma."
"Roma?"
"It means human." She smiled.
