Okay, so I guess it's time to update again! Wow, that was really fast, too! :D
Guest: Thank you! Glad you liked it!
Lilaclily00: I believe I already responded in a PM, but I'll do it on here again because I want everyone to know that I GOT MY FANFICTION INTO YOUR DREAMS! TWICE! Read more :) Answers on the way!
Fullmetalsoul0062: Your guess is correct, and thank you!
Elizina: I hope that 'interesting' is good.
Lilith Jae: I was just making sure you knew it was up, not harrassing you; sorry if it came over wrong. Yeah, reading late can be bad for comprehension. They don't mix well. As proved by ch5's AN. Which you probably couldn't read...
Oh, by the way, I'm going to be describing stuff like you would see it. Ed can't, but that doesn't mean I can't put in information about everyone else too. I like knowing what everyone is doing, even if Ed doesn't get that info.
ON TO THE STORY!
The next morning, Ed waited impatiently for the others to get dressed and ready- he had to find that guy and find out if it was Al. He was sure it was, but most people don't think that footsteps and a dream are a great way to identify someone. Even if their appearance did match his little brother's...Who should have been in a different world altogether...And had been nowhere even close to where Ed had shown up in this world...And- Ed was really glad when the car pulled up to the school, forcing him to break away from his thoughts.
The day started poorly. Ed couldn't focus in class, and got yelled at several times. Not to mention the fact that he couldn't look for Al because he was blind, and the whole blindness issue in the firstplace and the headache from trying to deal with all the people and not lose his temper whenever someone accidentally called him short. He barely managed to control himself, and by the time they got to Art in the second half of the day, he was ready to explode.
"It's just so damn irritating!" Ed shouted (on the subject of missing family and blindness) as they made their way into the class. He'd walked straight into a wall, and was not happy about it. He could usually avoid doing stupid stuff like that, but with the swirling vortex of thoughts in his head, he couldn't think about anything, even avoiding walls.
"Excuse me young man, but that kind of language is unacceptable in a school." The teacher came over after hearing Ed's outburst.
"Sorry, sir." Ed grumbled in a not at all apologetic tone.
"So long as you watch your mouth, I'm sure we will get along fine, Mister...?" He waited expectantly for Ed's name.
"Elric. My name is Edward Elric."
"Well, Mister Elric, since you missed class yesterday-"
"I was in the headmaster's office with Alec," Ed interrupted, not wanting to get in trouble for that 'fight' yesterday.
The teacher frowned at him. "As I was saying, we are doing freestyle paintings at the moment. Just grab some supplies and you can paint just about whatever you want."
Ed growled in frustration, pissed that he had to explain this to everyone. "I can't." He said shortly.
The teacher looked at him sharply and Alec decided to jump in before Ed lost his temper and got a detention for saying things a student should never say to a teacher. "Ed's blind, sir. The reason he's in this class is because he's staying with my family, and my parents thought he should have the same schedule as me."
The teacher frowned but nodded reluctantly. "Well, Mr. Elric, you don't have to do a painting, but you do need to do something. Do you think you could make a sculpture? They don't require sight, just a mental picture."
Ed nodded quickly. "I think so, sir. I'm pretty good with my hands."
The teacher nodded again. "Good. Oh, and my name is Mr. Causey, if you need anything. Mr. Larson, I assume you can get him set up?" After Alec gave an affirmation, Mr. Causey walked off to examine the work of other students and occasionally give out advice or comments.
Ed blocked out the other students' chatter, focusing on molding the clay he'd gotten from Alec. When the class period ended an hour later, he was only half-way done with his project. After a quick debate, he decided to come back and finish it after school, eager to get it done.
"So what are you making?" Alec asked later as they made their way back.
"Armor," Ed told him shortly, not wanting to be rude, but not wanting to talk either.
Understanding dawned. "Ah. Is it...that armor?" he asked gently. The sheer size of the school meant that they'd had no luck tracking down yesterday's stranger, and Ed was getting homesick.
"Yeah." Ed could feel his throat tightening as they approached their destination, which had voices coming out of it.
"-nd if I stay and finish this, sir?"
"Not at all. It's good to see young people enthusiastic about art. What are you painting, if I might ask?"
"I'll tell you when I'm done, okay?"
Alec pushed the door open, not noticing the way Ed had stopped walking. "Hey, it's him!" He exclaimed in surprise. "That guy from yesterday!" He looked beside him to find that Ed hadn't entered the room with him. "Hey, what are you doing? Get in here, Ed! You didn't wake me up in the middle of the night for this!" He put his hand on his hip as he waited for Ed to enter the room where he could be seen by the other boy, who looked like he couldn't decide whether to feel confused, pissed, or just to ignore them.
Ed stepped forward hesitantly. He'd never been afraid before, when he was facing down terrorists and chimera and homunculi, so why was he scared now? He heard a choked gasp as he stepped into the room and waited anxiously. What is going to happen? He wondered. Is it him? Or have I just been grasping at straws, at a false hope? And if it is him, what if he hates me because for yesterday, or for sacrificing myself beneath Central? What will I tell him?
"Edward?" He nodded, scared that whatever he said would be the wrong thing. He was so frozen that he hardly noticed anything until a fist connected with his face, knocking him backwards. "You idiot! I thought you were dead!" Al shouted at him. He seemed to break down after a moment, unable to keep up his anger with the relief so prominent in his mind. He hugged Ed tightly, and his next words were almost a whisper. "I thought I'd never see you again, Brother..." Suddenly the anger came back with a vengeance. "And yesterday- I saw you! You didn't even recognize me!"
Alec coughed awkwardly. "Um, actually, it's more that he, uh, he didn't see you. And you didn't say anything, so he didn't know it was you, and-"
Alphonse turned on him, snapping viciously. "What do you mean, he didn't see me?! He was looking right at me!"
Alec shifted nervously. "Well, there was an accident, you see, and-" Ed put a hand on Alec's arm, stopping him.
"I-I'm blind, Al...I can't see anymore."
There was a long moment of stunned silence while Al tried to get his voice to work. Finally, he managed to get sound out. "You-you're what?"
"I'm blind. My eyes don't work anymore." Ed turned his face away to hide the tear that he could feel tracing its way slowly down his face.
"B-but how? What happened, Brother? Why can't you see anymore?" His voice rose as he continued talking. "Was it when you came here? Did the Gate take-"
"No Al, calm down," Ed interrupted quickly. "A house collapsed while I was inside of it; I got hit on the head, and some nerves got damaged. The doctors say my sight could come back; I'm sure it's just a matter of time." He wasn't sure, not by any measure, but he had to stay strong for Al. "Anyway, we should talk about this stuff somewhere else. Somewhere private."
Al immediately realized what he'd been spouting and that he would get them all locked up if people heard them talking about Amestris, the Gate, and Truth. "Right. Sorry, Brother."
Ed nodded calmly. "It's fine. Where are you staying?"
"Oh, Ed!" Al exclaimed suddenly. "I completely forgot to tell you- Dad's here!" (1) Ed nearly fell over in surprise.
"He's what?!"
Al shrank slightly as his brother's temper reared its ugly head, but repeated himself anyway. "He's here. I've been staying with him since I got here and couldn't find you."
Alec decided this was a good time to take over, as he was quite well aware of his friend's opinion of Van Hohenheim of Light. He started talking quickly in the voice his parents used when there was a really bad patient brought in. "Okay, we need to figure out what we're going to do. Ed has my class schedule at the moment, and he's living in my house. You're his brother and living with you guys' dad, right?" He waited for them to confirm what he'd just said before continuing. "Okay, then either Ed needs to go live with you, Al, or Al needs to come live with us. Ed's moving out wouldn't be a problem, except for the schedules. He glanced at his watch and frowned worriedly. "Oh, crap. Ed, we've gotta go- my parents have probably been waiting for a while now.
Ed nodded reluctantly, then brightened. "Hey Al, why don't you come over for dinner tonight?"
"Are you sure, Brother?" Al asked, ever courteous. "Alec's parents might not want-"
"It's okay," Alec cut in quickly, knowing how much Ed needed to be with his brother, and vice-versa. "I'm sure they'd love to have you. Come over around six, okay?" He quickly scribbled his address on a small piece of paper and pushed it into Al's hand. "Here's our address; don't be late!" He turned to Ed and started pulling him down the hall towards the exit. "Now come on, my parents are going to kill me!" He had one last thought and turned to Al again. "Oh, and bring your dad too!" He yelled, ignoring Ed's protests at the idea of his father joining them all for dinner.
1) Okay, so hopefully you've figured out that Ed didn't cross through the Gate the first time he died. I never actually said it, but it wouldn't work with this story, now would it? Oh, and I've decided that Hohenheim's not going to be rotting. I know it goes against the story, but this is a fanfiction. I have creative liberties. I'm going to take them.
I didn't realize I had so many 'A' names in here when I started it. Oops. I'll start a poll: tell me if I should change some names, and if I should, what they should be.
I had something else I was going to say, but I forgot what it was. On a side note, my school librarian helped me cheat the site so I could print my story off the other day. Fanfiction doesn't like it when you print stories, so I ended up doing a bunch of screenshots. The lady said "this alchemyfreak needs to get his act together!" and I was all like "LOL!"
So anyway, same rules. One week (next wednesday) or as soon as I finish the next chapter if 5 reviews pop up. The little button below will help you get more story. Push it. If you don't, I'll set Alexander on you.
