Disclaimer: I don't own Full Metal Alchemist. If I did, the ending to that dumb movie would have never, I repeat, NEVER existed in a million centuries. I also do not own any crossovers that will appear in this and future chapters...dude, I don't even own TEN DOLLARS (in my wallet, at least).

Author's Note:

Wholly- Completely and entirely: totally and in every way or to the fullest extent. Source: Encarta Dictionary Online

...So, yes, Larie-chan, the word 'wholly' does exist. Thanks for being concerned about my writing performance, though. It's quite touching, and I deeply appreciate it.

Anyways, I am also deeply sorry about the late update. You see, I had finals, and...yeah, they were on the top of my priority list this week. Turns out they ended yesterday, but when I tried to update something went wrong and bleh...well, at least it's up here today! XP

IMPORTANT INFO ON WHAT'S COMING UP:

Okay, this is where the crossovers will start coming in. Not all of them will necessarily be anime, but a good majority of them will be. If you don't like that particular anime/book/video game/movie/whatever else may come up, I beg you to please bear with me and the story and just skip that part and move on with the rest of the storyline...please? ;)

Also, you may have to wait a while for the REALLY romantic stuff to happen. Don't worry, they'll come all right, but I believe that in this type of situation, love will take a long time to surpass fear. Please don't be too upset by this.

EVEN MORE IMPORTANT INFO:

...I NEED HELP. This may sound kinda lame, but I'm starting to get a slight writer's block. If you have any solid ideas for the continuation of this plot, they will be greatly appreciated. Please take note that they may not be fully used or may not immediately appear in the next chappie- I will just draw whatever I can from whatever I get.

Whew, that's a mouthful. Here's the chappie!...Hope it's not too lame (not too much self-confidence here).

...By the way, thank you everyone for your previous reviews. :)


Chapter 3: Marriage In Haste...

She was dressed beautifully in silky garments of rich purple. Her hair, lavishly wound with amethysts, shone like pale sunshine from the amount of times the servants had brushed it.

"You look perfect," one of the older maidservants said encouragingly, though her smile didn't reach her eyes.

In fact, hardly any of the servants even wore a smile. Winry was surprised that one of them actually decided to talk to her. All they had done so far was follow the sultan's orders, and most didn't even try to hide the mixed look of dread and acceptance on their faces. It was as if they were going through an assigned routine in preparing a sultan's wife- a routine that, regrettably, may never end.

She tried hard to control the fiercely constricting sensations that pulled and tugged mercilessly at her heart, but to no avail. No matter how much she attempted, she just couldn't come face to face with the fact that she was going to die.

The room seemed to hold its breath as another maidservant ran in. She looked sullen.

"The sultan said that it is time."

Winry held back a sob of hopelessness as the servants rushed her towards the king- and her death.

That night, wedding bells chimed.


Slowly, he climbed the stairs to his room. He slightly shook his head to remove the damp hair that clung to his face after his bath. The aroma of cloves and cinnamon stuck to his skin and hung around him much more pleasantly than his private thoughts.

Yet another bride was bound to him tonight- only to die the next morning. He shrugged his shoulders in nonchalance as he reached the top step.

His face marred into a slight, contemplative frown as he walked on towards his room. He guardedly reminisced his new wife's defiant stare the first time they had gazed into each other's eyes. He didn't really see that obstinacy as they were being married, though- just despair. No, the thing about her that had amazed him was...

She had blatantly refused to cry.

Even though she knew she was going to die, even when anguish had clouded her features, he didn't see a tear or even a trace of one that may have slid down her face in private. It was as if she had found a way to rebel against him- at least silently. After all, she was the only one of his brides that didn't cry at their weddings after he had taken his oath. One or two of the small group of officials that had attended even shot each other faint glances of surprise. 'Perhaps she is different?' they almost seemed to say.

The sultan opened the door to his room.

There she was, kneeling on the bed, her hands held in tight fists on her lap. She quickly looked up as she heard the door creak open. Her eyes, though radiating fear, had regained some of their fire. Well, it was much more preferable than having her blubber throughout the night; he had gotten tired of hearing the sniveling cries of his brides as he tried to get in some sleep.

He stepped in, and they both stared into each others' eyes yet again as he closed the door and darkness overtook them. Her look abruptly turned into one of an outright glare, as though a sudden thought had just hit her. He felt his eyes slowly reduce themselves to mere slits in return.

"Shouldn't you already be in bed?" he spat out suddenly.

He noticed how her eyes widened as the fact that they were actually going to share a bed together finally clunked into her mind, as was his guess.

"Thought otherwise?" he pointed out sardonically. "I don't know how you could have, seeing as how we're married."

His new wife remained wordlessly defiant as she stiffly arose from her posture on the bed and stood up. Never taking her eyes off of him or easing away from the glare, she pulled back the covers of the bed and silently slipped in. She then turned on her side, facing the door.

Edward blinked once, then walked over to the other side of the bed and entered it under the covers, turning away from her in the process. He could still hear her breathing as she kept awake.

Snorting lightly, he slowly closed his eyes and attempted sleep.

Only he couldn't- at least not a proper one anyway. He had only been asleep for about a couple of hours, tossing and turning, before his eyes snapped back open. He held back a groan of frustration; for months now, he had found sleep to be nigh impossible. Shifting under the covers, he noticed his wife in a sitting position, silently gazing at her hands folded in her lap. She started as she felt him move, and turned her head towards him. She took a deep breath, then opened her mouth.

"...Could I have a request?" Her voice, though strong, sounded unsure all the same.

Edward frowned and slowly eased into a sitting position as he bored his eyes mistrustfully into hers. He didn't like the sound of this. "...What kind of request?" He finally asked. His tone was laced deep with suspicion.

"Before...before I die, I want to tell my friend...one last story," she haltingly replied.

Now, Edward had actually offered requests to some of his previous brides to shut them up so that he could get a good night's sleep. They didn't ask for things too bothersome in his opinion, just stuff that any normal person in their position would probably ask for- one asked for a pearl comb to be set in her hair, another asked to be buried with a certain ruby chalice that had caught her eye, yet another wanted to be buried in the most lavish robes possible...the one that actually was the most touching was the request to be buried in the graveyard her family owned.

Why was he so suspicious about Winry's request, then? He might have expected something quite troubling, seeing as how he didn't even indicate that she could have one.

But to his surprise, this request was outright mundane. To tell a story? That's it?

His frown grew deeper in thought. Well, he certainly wasn't going to go back to sleep; he absolutely hated his dreams. Hearing a story might get his mind off certain things for a while. Besides, he could see nothing wrong or shady in just letting her tell a story.

"Guards!" he unexpectedly called out with a loud voice.

Immediately one of the guards standing in the hallway entered the room. "Did you call, my lord?"

"Bring the other girl. The one that came with this one." He pointed to Winry with his automail hand almost buried beneath his lengthy robes.

The guard bowed. "Yes, your majesty." Then he was off.

A few minutes later he was back, dragging a very perplexed Paninya by shackles that were tied around her wrists. She glanced over at them in the bed. "Um...why am I here?" Her voice was hesitant and tinged with fear as the guard left the room and closed back the door, once more flooding it with darkness.

"It would seem that my wife," Edward began slowly, "wants to tell you a story."

The one being spoken of said nothing for a moment, her hand fisting at the bed sheets, then gave her friend a soft smile.

"I just want to tell you one last story...so that you won't forget," she started as Paninya sadly walked next to her side of the bed. "Remember the one that was your favorite? The one about the boy that saved those worlds from everlasting darkness?"

Paninya silently nodded as tears gathered in the corners of her eyes. "Well, I'm going to tell that one to you once more, okay?"

Edward lay back down in his bed and turned on his side, though he secretly kept awake to avoid dreaming again. Thankfully, the girls didn't notice as they spoke to each other, probably saying final goodbyes or reminiscing of the past.

He wondered about this story his wife was about to tell. Was it actually worth listening to? Well, even if it wasn't, at least it would keep him awake.

He heard her clear her throat and move her leg a little under the covers. "Okay, let's get on to the story before time runs out." Hearing this, Edward glanced out of the window and noticed that it was well past midnight; there were even small pink streaks scattered across the sky. He then heard his wife take a deep breath and begin, "This story starts with a boy and his dream..."


"The next thing Sora knew, there was a dog licking his face. Looking around, he found himself in the alley of a strange town he had never seen before.

'Where's my home? My island?' he cried out as he stood up and searched frantically throughout the streets for anything even remotely familiar. He panicked, for here he was, a stranger that had lost everything and yet unknowingly gained everything in a single night- and all through unknown circumstances that revolved around the concept of the heart."

Paninya hung on every word, trying her best to keep the story etched into her mind. To her, this was more than just hearing a tale- it was also about keeping this last memory of Winry alive. She didn't know how long it was since Winry started recounting the story of the boy named Sora, the Keyblade Master.

Sora was a normal boy living in a place called Destiny Islands with his two best friends, Kairi and Riku. They wanted to go on an adventure together and see other worlds, so they were building a raft to do so. Meanwhile, Sora was encountering strange dreams.

On the night before they were to sail off on their completed raft, strange creatures exactly like the ones that had appeared in Sora's dreams attacked the island, accompanied by an extremely bizarre storm. Sora, having gone to check on the raft, was attacked by these creatures when a strange weapon in the form of a giant key manifested itself for him to use against these creatures. After defeating them, he searched for Kairi and found her in front of a weird door he saw the other day. A gust of wind blew her towards him, but instead of bumping into him, she fell right through his arms.

He found Riku soon after that, who asked him to travel to the darkness and reached out his hand for him to take. However, Sora was hesitant, and before he could take hold of his hand, they both disappeared into the darkness and were separated.

Other events occurred soon after, which led to the part of the story Winry was currently telling.

"And right after he finished defeating the creatures again, he suddenly saw a lone man standing in the middle of the street. He had a stony look on his face as he started towards Sora.

'I need you,' he said, 'to take a long nap.'

The next thing Sora knew was darkness." Winry then paused, her gaze turned towards the window.

"Well? What happened next?" Paninya prompted. "Don't keep me in suspense for too long."

Silently, Winry pointed out the window in response. Paninya turned- and gasped.

It was dawn.

"I...I guess that means end of story," Winry said whisperingly.

During all of this, Edward was secretly listening in on the story that his wife was spinning out. Though he usually disdained such things as childish and non-sensible, he couldn't help but be drawn to the tale. He also discovered something quite interesting about her story.

It prevented him from thinking of anything else.

One of the main reasons why Edward hated his horrible nightmares was the fact that they refused to simply vanish. They would sometimes haunt his thoughts during the daytime, during the nights he kept awake to prevent himself from dreaming again...

And his wife's tale had abruptly distracted him from all of that, for which he was extremely grateful.

But now, he was left in suspense- something he abhorred with all his might. Waiting for things like this, not knowing what the outcome may be or would be, was something that he couldn't stand at all, which most likely explained why he was so compulsive at times. And right now, this was one of those times.

Only for one more night, of course, he reassured himself. Only until she finishes this stupid story, and then I can have her executed by tomorrow. Then I'll have at least one more night of relief.

"Tell the rest tonight, then," he suddenly suggested. Slowly, he sat up and turned to face them, his emitted aura still giving out that of a dangerous adversary.

Paninya and Winry were so quiet, you could have heard a needle fall- and pierce the carpet. He was awake? Was he actually listening all along? And...did he just hint...that she could live?

"Ex..excuse me?" Winry asked, practically choking on air.

Edward held back a huff of exasperation. He did not enjoy repeating himself.

"I will not repeat myself again," he said sitting up and turning blaring eyes to her. "Tell the rest of the story tonight. Your execution will be postponed until tomorrow."

He got out of bed and left, leaving two shocked, unbelieving women behind.


'What a foolish decision.' Edward thought as he strolled down the hallways to the baths. 'After all, it is just a silly, childish-'

"Sultan Edward!" He turned around to find an executioner addressing him, who then bowed.

"We have prepared the table and the bindings," he announced as his head rose. "We are now ready for-"

"Forget it." Edward turned back around and started walking off. However, he whipped around again after hearing a strange gurgling noise.

The executioner's eyes were wide and his jaw dropped so long he could have stuck his whole foot in and down his windpipe. The gurgling noise was coming straight from his throat- he must be near-choking on his saliva.

"Y-your...Your majesty?"

He now addressed him in a cold manner. "I believe my implications were clear. Resume your other duties. The execution will take place tomorrow instead." He then continued heading for his long-awaited bath. A small bout of coughing, then a stuttering "Y-yes,...your majesty" was heard.

Servants that were bustling about in the hallways immediately broke into startled gossip over the whole subject. Everyone there secretly rejoiced at being spared the dying screams of another sentenced maiden for one more day.

Except for one, standing in a secluded corner near the hallway, with a slight frown on his face.


A/N: Liked it? Hope so!

Ah, yes, Kingdom Hearts. One of the best love stories in that video game. Sorry, but this story may seem a bit shortened or cut off because I only played Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories and a bit of Kingdom Hearts 2.

I would also like to reveal where else I got the basis of the plot from besides Arabian Nights. It is a book called Shadow Spinner by Susan Fletcher. I greatly recommend that you read this book- it is quite exciting.

PLEASE REVIEW:P