Well hi guys! This chapter would have been out yesterday but my internet isn't working and it won't be working until the 14th of August, so I'm stuck using library computers and the library was closed yesterday. It sucks.
Also thank you ike1440 for being such a lovely beta! I got this chapter out sooner. Yay! Also you didn't have to ask a million times!
Word Count: 8,586, without author's note
Date of Completion: July 30th, 2010
I do not own Full Metal Alchemist, I want a shirt and a dog tag and hopefully I will get one. Anyone know any stores I might be able to get these items at?
When you lose everything than ever mattered to you, what do you do? Do you let it drag you under? Do you pick yourself back up? Do you try and go back to the way things were? There are so many choices one can make when everything they cared about has been taken from them. What would happen if you had already went through it once and the way you used to pick yourself back up and keep on living was to forget about everyone else in your life, relying on only yourself, blocking everyone else out, wouldn't work again? And the reason it wouldn't work again was because one short blonde alchemist and his younger armor-for-a-body brother had wiggled their way into your heart? What would happen when the only two you had came to rely on, the only two you had came to car about were gone, destroyed, never to return to you again? What would you do?
Aria didn't know or care. Her body still shook with her sobs; her mind was spiraling down to a point of no return. They were gone, not lost, but gone. Never to return. Sure she would see their bodies again, but them themselves were gone. It was not the same as seeing Ed or Al moving around, but then she'd never did get the chance to see Al's real body. All she saw was the suit of armor his soul was attached to. And with a shock she realized, she'd never see Al's real body. It made her sick, she wanted to throw up. In fact she did.
The teen girl was barely able to move her head her head away from Al before throwing up in the rubble. She would have never forgiven herself if she had thrown up on Al, never, not in a million years. Aria resumed her position-sitting on her knees, her arms wrapped around her stomach and her forehead resting against the armor that made up of Al's back. Once again her hair made a curtain between herself and the rest of the world.
She was alone.
Aria felt completely and utterly alone. She wasn't alone in the physical sense-Envy and Sandy were watching her, those mother fucking bastards-but in every other way she was alone. Sure she had Lauren and her family, but they didn't know her, at least not anymore. And a part of her knew they would never be as close as Ed and Al had gotten. Ed and Al had become her family. She had never realized it before now, how close the three of them were. They had been her lifeline, giving her hope, they made her happy, they filled her life with meaning again. And now she would never be able to tell them.
I was such an idiot. She scolded herself. They were gone and she would never be able to tell the two how much they meant to her. She silently cursed herself for every time she had insulted the brothers-mostly Ed-wishing she could take it all back. The thing she regretted most was the fight that morning with Ed. Maybe if we hadn't fought, we'd all still be at Lauren's. They wouldn't be gone. Another sob escaped her and if possible she cried harder. Her body was shaking and she wondered if she was going to be sick again.
Why them? Why did it have to be Ed and Al? Why couldn't those two assholes have killed anyone else, why did it have to be the Elric brothers? God, did I really just wish for someone else to die instead of Al and Ed? Thinking it over for a moment, she answered her own question. Yes, yes I did. Does that make me a monster? For that one she had no answer and she simple didn't care. She just wanted them back.
"Why did you leave me? You two said we could travel together, you promised! And now you went and left me. "Aria whispered to the boys beneath her, pounding on the body that was once Al. Did I just refer to Al as a body? And with that she pounded on it again. I wouldn't have to refer to you as a body, if you hadn't left me! She shouted at Al in her mind. She didn't even care that she was talking to herself. It didn't matter, who was around to call her crazy. It wasn't like green haired guy or Sandy cared, they were probably laughing at her now.
I must look pathetic. But one way or another she couldn't care less. What did it matter if she looked the pathetic? The only people who she really cared about looking pathetic in front of were dead. Aria winced at the word dead in her thoughts. Not dead, gone, lost. But what does it really matter they all mean the same thing. I'll never see them again, at least not as just bodies.
"What am I going to do now, guys?"She whispered to herself and the bodies she was crying on. The teen wished she could get an answer, but knew it was pointless.
"Isn't that cute, the little girl is talking to corpses. Do you think the metal corpse will answer you?" Envy taunted, snickering. This was too great. Maybe this was better than the entertainment he got from the Civil War he started. Sandy sighed, Envy would never change, but he had to admit that this whole situation was amusing. He was definitely considering having Envy around after it happened.
"Go to hell you bastard!" Aria yelling; not even bothering to move. Her heart was breaking, her world shook, and she didn't see a reason to go on. What would be the point if she ever moved again?
"Sorry kiddo, but I've been there. It couldn't keep me." Envy laughed again. His mood once again soaring, this was just one of the good days. Humans never seemed to amuse him, he wondered if he would ever grow tired of their antics.
Aria choose to ignore him, wondering why she was in this situation again. Hadn't she already lost everything than mattered to her once already? Why was she forced to go through that again? There had to be some kind of rule against that, right? Guess not. She reasoned, mind falling closer into grief and despair. Life was not fair. What am I going to do now?
Before she had pulled herself away from society choosing to find her family's murder and get revenge. There was a difference this time; she knew who had killed Ed and Al. The problem was that there was no way she could defeat them. She couldn't do what she had done before; because she wasn't sure she could close herself off. But that was the only way she could deal with it all. And this time the deaths hit her harder. And that bothered her.
"I hate you!" She yelled in a suddenly. Her yell startled both Envy and Sandy; they both thought she was talking to them. "You made me like the both of you and then you go and leave me! You made me feel this way! You made me not know how to deal with loss! I didn't want friends, I didn't want the feelings that came with losing people, I just wanted my revenge! Why did you two have to take me in? Why did you have to be so kind to me? Why couldn't you have let me die? I hate you! I hate you because you made me love you guys." Aria cried, punching the armor underneath her. The rest of her didn't move.
"Did you hear that? She hates them, but she loves them? Human emotions are so much fun to play with." Envy cheered, watching from behind the girl. "If I could only see her face, it would make it that much better!" The sin had a grin on his face. Sandy just shook his head at Envy, humans had amused him for hundreds of years and yet it never got old. Never once did he tire of seeing them kill each other and then cry over the death of someone close to them. It was endless cycle that would intrigued him time and again, never failing to amuse him.
"I'm glad I allowed her to keep on screaming; it provides some entertainment." Sandy admitted, he watched Envy from the corner of his eye. He wondered how much 'entertainment' Envy could help provide him.
Aria listened to the conversation between the two homunculus and something inside her snapped. Something much worse than when Ed and her had fought. Her anger and hatred seemed to flow from her very pore. She was angry, no pissed. They were taunting her at being upset over the loss of the two most important people in her life. And to top it all off they were the ones who had killed them. She was going to fucking kill them.
"Shut up." She growled, sitting up. Her back was still facing the homunculi and her fists were balled up at her sides. Her anger was rising and she could feel her muscles getting ready to charge, to destroy, to kill. They were going to die.
"Did we make the little girl angry?" Envy snickered, turning towards Sandy he said; "Do you think she'll attack us?" He hoped she would. The idea was exciting to him, he wanted a good fight. This would be the perfect ending to an already great day. He would enjoy beating the girl to an inch of her life.
"Don't kill her." Sandy muttered, relaxing back into his created chair. He wondered how strong she had gotten since she had been a child. Did she still practice the same type of alchemy as Claire? Seeing her reminded Sandy of Claire. Aria might have darker hair than Claire and her eyes weren't the same color but the face and the body were just the same as her mother's at her age. He was excited at the prospect of seeing the girl fight, she reminded him so much of his dear Claire.
"Don't worry I won't be killed, you'll be the one dying." Aria swore, she planted a chaste kiss on the armor that made up Al. The teen picked herself up, meeting both homunculi in the eyes. Her blue-green eyes still had tears leaking from them, but her glare was angry, full of hatred. Her dirty-blonde hair was blowing behind her and in the middle of the rubble she looked wild, crazy, she didn't look human herself.
"Come on and get me little girl." Envy challenged, smirking. He stepped closer to the girl, using two of his fingers to beckon her closer. The green haired homunculus waited and was surprised when Aria didn't lunge for him.
Aria closed her eyes, thinking.
"Because you're like a sister to me." Al had said those words with such sincerity and she knew he meant it. Hearing those words made her happy. She wished she could have called Al her brother at least once, but now she'd never get the chance. You were like a brother to me to Al. Thank you for coming allowing me to travel with you. Aria allowed herself to think. A tiny smile came to her face at the thought. She still wondered if it was worth allowing them to come into her life, but what could she do about it now?
"We did not allow him to escape. There was something more important that needed to be taken care of." Remembering that now, made her feel happy, special. She had been more important than a criminal and he barely knew her. And after being together the last few weeks she realized how close they became. You were special to me Ed and I'm sorry we fought. Thank you for saving me.
"Thank you both. I will never forget you." She whispered, her eyes opening. The tears had stopped, but her eyes were still red and puffy. The teen was surprised it hadn't rained. It always seemed to rain on sad occasions, but this time the sun had chosen to keep the clouds away and provide a nice sunny day. Maybe it was an omen? It doesn't matter. The sun may be out but there's nothing nice about it.
"Thinking about your death little girl?" Envy taunted, he hoped she would attack him soon.
"You are not allowed to kill her Envy, so please hold back." Sandy advised. Aria scoffed, they were taunting her. They honestly thought she couldn't fight them, even if she died trying she was going to take them down with her.
"She's just a weakling like the Elric brothers. Eventually can I kill her?" Envy asked, turning towards Sandy.
"It depends." Sandy said after a moment of thought. If Aria lived or died all depended on if she could resist it and if she could if she was good or not.
"I want to crush her under a building." Envy wondered how he could make that a terrible death. His mind was already spinning with ideas. A grin appeared on the excited fake human's face. Envy watched as the teenage girl's eyes seemed to blaze, her posture become ridged. Aria was trying to hold back her anger and not lose her control and attack him, until. "Just like I crushed the Elric brothers under one." Envy added as a second thought.
Aria lost control. She lunged.
Envy knew she was going to come after him. As soon as Aria's fist came within striking distance, he jumped into the air. Aria came to a stop, ready to hit him when he came back down. The fake human flipped in the air, using his foot to kick Aria right in the face. The teen's head snapped down with a loud crack, before she dropped to the ground.
"Did I break her neck?" Envy asked when he touched back down. He was actually kinda worried. Sandy would kill him if he had managed to kill the girl. He still didn't know why the older homunculus wanted the girl and he didn't care as long as he didn't get punished for anything he did to said girl.
"Better not have." Sandy muttered walking next to the girl. Envy stood on her other side, silently hoping she wasn't dead. Sandy nudged Aria with his foot before bending down to poke her. She still hadn't moved. Sandy glared up at Envy. The girl was dead. Her neck was bent at an awkward angle and she didn't seem to be breathing. "I'm going to kill you, Envy." Sandy snarled, he was about to leap over the body before him, before it happened.
BAM!
Aria had already begun healing her neck before the impact. The minute Envy's foot smacked her head down, her neck was almost healed. She knew that the alchemy would take a lot of her energy but it was better than being paralyzed. She waited for her chance to attack Sandy and Envy even holding her breathe. When the two let their guard down, she had her gun ready. The teen emptied the gun's clip into Sandy, before sweeping Envy's legs from under him.
She got up, jumping away from the two created humans. She silently thanked Riza for the gun training. Her aim wasn't the best but as close as she was to the homunculus and after so many rounds she emptied into his body, he should be taken care of. One down, one to go. Her gaze never stayed on Envy who was cursing at her.
"You think you're so smart don't you? You are nothing but a damned ant, you got that bitch?" Envy swore, standing. How could he allow that little girl to get the jump on him? He wished he could kill her.
"Whatever asshole." She glared at him, already thinking ahead. How could she kill him? She knew he had to be tough, he managed to kill Ed and Al. Aria cringed. Dead, dead, dead… She cringed again. Stop thinking like that. Fight now, I can go nuts later. She thought.
Envy didn't give her time to continue with her inner monologue. The homunculus charged at her, tackling her. Envy landed on top, his hands going around her neck. Hopefully he could knock her unconscious. The fake human banged the teen's head against the ground several times, but she remained conscious. Aria tried to pry Envy's hands off her, but that only caused him to squeeze her throat tighter.
"I'm going to make sure you don't wake up for awhile. And when you do, I'm going to torture you." Envy laughed, shaking the girl. Her head was roughly banged against the ground, even squeezing harder. He noticed with glee that she was starting to turn blue. His hands would probably leave red marks on her neck he also imagined.
"F-fu-u-ck yo-u" Her words were barely legible, they came out more in gasps. Aria could feel her heart speeding up. She was trying to use her alchemy to get him off her, but the homunculus himself was pretty strong and her lack of air was making her have trouble focusing. She had her normal level of strength and then her even more enhanced strength and she could access her higher level of alchemy to make her muscles strong enough to get Envy off her.
"Oh little girl, maybe I can make that a part of your torture." Envy sneered, enjoying the idea. So many new ideas flowed into his mind with the suggestion. Oh he could make her torture so much better.
"Over my dead body." Aria managed to get out, noticing that Envy's grip had lessened enough for her to speak. It seemed like when Envy was distracted that Envy couldn't keep his hands tight on her neck. She considered it a good thing.
"Oh that can be arranged little girl." Envy sneered, grinning down at the teen. Envy knew that Sandy wouldn't let him kill Aria now, but he'd allow him to do so many things.
"How many times do I have to tell you, Envy?" Aria's head snapped in the direction of the voice. Sandy stood there looking like he had just left the house, except for the bullet holes in his clothes. He looked annoyed, but otherwise fine.
"H-how did you do that?" Aria asked, her voice shaking. Her eyes were wide open and her mouth had dropped. Envy let out a laugh at her question, throwing his head back, his body shaking. His hands gripped around Aria's throat tighter; not enough to kill her but enough to stop her from speaking.
"Like we told you earlier, we're homunculus. We are not human." Envy said, shaking the teenage alchemist a few times until her head had left a dent in the ground. Aria could see stars and Envy and everything else was blurry or there were several of them.
"Stop choking her before you kill her." It wouldn't do any good for her to die. "You're causing bruises." Sandy added, not liking the idea of it. He shook his head at Envy, knowing that the homunculus didn't care what type of damage he was causing.
"Good. She deserves it for what she did earlier." Envy glared at the teen, banging smashing Aria back into the ground. Oh look, she's turning blue again. And in fact she was.
Aria's mind was running out of possibilities. She could barely think as it was. The lack of oxygen to her brain was making so hard to see, hear, think, and any other motor function. Can't….. breathe. Need… to get….. him off. Can't think, need… him off….. I promised… Al… and…. Ed… They're….. gone….. I promised them…. They… need…. me… Ed….. Al…. I'm…. sorry….. I…. couldn't…. help… you. The longer Aria's brain was cut off from less oxygen, her thoughts turned from sentences to single words. She was barely able to concentrate on anything. Her eyesight was leaving her, it was all going black. She couldn't push Envy off of her, she couldn't even think straight anymore. The last thing she saw was the green of Envy's hair. In her mind she saw flashes.
Her mother's blonde hair swaying in the breeze, singing to her. Her mother's deep ocean blue eyes sparkled with joy. She was smiling down at her. The mother of two was singing the lullaby that had always made the child sleep. The little girl known as Aria was asleep within minutes.
Her father's shiny black hair was plastered to his face after a hard day of work. He came in the house; his green eyes were practically smiling. He picked up his young daughter, allowing her squeal to fill his ears. The man swung her around a few times, before both of them collapsed onto the couch, laughing.
Leon Renaldie walked-more like wiggled-his way across the floor. His goal was his older sister who was reading a book on the muscles of her back. The three year old practically fell into his dear sister's lap on top of the book. The girl giggled and it wasn't long before her baby brother was laughing with him.
The next flashes, she wasn't sure if it was real or not.
A smiling boy with blonde hair and golden eyes stood in front of her. She didn't seem to know him, but he reminded her of Ed, but his hair was darker. And then before her eyes the boy changed. His flesh turned to metal and he grew to over six feet tall. Standing in front of her was Alphonse Elric. He wasn't smiling anymore.
The next flash she knew was not real.
Edward Elric stood in front of her in much the same way his brother had. At first all of his appendages were flesh, but then his right arm and left leg suddenly disappeared, leaving a bloody mess. She rushed to meet him, but then his missing limbs were replaced with automail. The dirty blonde still reached for him and he held his hand out to her. She took it, allowing him to hold her hand tightly. They both smiled.
The images faded, as her world became black.
"I think she fainted!" Envy cheered, his hands unwinding from the unconscious girl's throat. He bent down, checking her pulse. The fake human silently thanked that her pulse was there, even if it was faint, but it was there. Sandy just shook his head, ready to take the girl and leave.
Everything was dark. Not the kind of dark you see when there are stars, but the pitch black of nothing. No light, nothing. At first there was nothing else. Some things poked his skin roughly, probably breaking the skin. Above him, was metal, cold hard metal. The teen searched through his mind to figure out what had happened.
Flashback:
"See you in hell, Fullmetal Pipsqueak." Envy waved at them, before jumping through the wall, creating a new hole. Al covered Ed's body with his own, as the debris fell, blocking out the light.
Edward felt his brother's body cover his own and even then he could still feel the pressure of the building. His brother was trying so hard to save him. He hoped his brother's seal didn't somehow get damaged. He couldn't lose his brother. The loud sounds the building was making was deafening; there was no way Al could hear him.
I just hope Al is okay. Ed thought, feeling the smooth metal of his brother's armor under his fingertips. The teen could feel some the debris sticking into him. And damn did it hurt, but he knew that Al was keeping the worst of the damage away from him. At least his brother couldn't feel pain. And then something hit his head and he felt himself slipping away. Was he dying?
Trisha Elric was standing in front of him. She was smiling at him, holding her hand out to her oldest son. She pulled him into her lap, laughing. In one of her hands was a book. She began reading to him, her other hand, running through his hair, much like when he was young. And then she was gone, never to return.
Al hugged him around the middle; he still had skin and his golden eyes and dark blonde hair. He seemed happy to be with his brother, a bright smile across his face. He was the same as when he had been turned into armor. And then in a bright light, Al's body left piece by piece. And then piece by piece armor was put in his place. Al had lost his body.
With horror he recognized the scene.
A little girl named Nina and her dog Alexander stood in front of him. The girl was chasing Alexander around the yard with a ball. Ed tossed the ball for both of them, smiling when the child giggled. The dog barked at them. All of a sudden the smiles faded and a man appeared and then the child and dog merged into one. Then the chimera exploded in a pool of blood.
He knew this wasn't real.
A dirty blonde haired teen in a white dress sat in a swing. Upon inspection it was the same swing his father had built. The girl looked happy, she was smiling. Her blue-green eyes shone. She kept swinging, the house beside her on fire. The fire seemed to spread to her, until the girl was completely covered in flames. And then they died out. Sitting in her place was a heartbroken Aria. Ed took her hand when she offered it, trying to get the girl to smile. Smiling when she smiled.
He woke up to yelling.
End of Flashback.
Ed rubbed his head, once again hearing that yelling. It sounded like Aria was yelling, but it was different. Her voice sounded desperate, sad, and heartbroken. Once again something inside him screamed at him to try and get her to smile just like in his dream. But he knew he'd have to get out of the rubble first and for that he'd need Al's help.
"Al can you hear me?" Ed asked, beating on his brother's chest. He could fix Al's armor later. He had a feeling that something bad was going down and he knew that Aria would need their help.
Al was glad for once about his metal body. It had managed to save his brother and him from dying. Now they just needed to get out of there. He had heard Aria's screams and her whispers, but couldn't say anything because something had his jaw trapped. He hated how heartbroken she sounded, especially when she started screaming that she hated them. He tapped his fingers against something, hoping it was his big brother.
"Al please tell me the blood seal hasn't been erased." Ed asked, frantically. He needed his brother to be okay. He felt something tap his flesh shoulder and he knew that Al was okay, but he had to be sure. "Al tap twice if it's you." Two taps. "We need to help Aria, she needs us." Ed said. Another tap. Ed took that as an agreement. "Can you try and get us out of the rubble?" There was no tap. Ed wondered what that meant. "Okay one tap for no and two taps for yes." One tap. "What do you mean no? Aria needs us." Ed asked, annoyed.
Al had already tried to get out. There was too much debris. He wished he could talk and then this would be so much easier. He silently wondered if they should have learned Morse code. How can I get brother to understand me? Both of my hands are holding me up which is holding the building up. What to do?
"Are you even listening Al?" Edward asked, his temper beginning to rise. When there was no answer, Ed nearly exploded. "Al listen to me! We need to get out of here!" Ed's temper was short, but he normally had more patience with his brother but it was gone in this moment. Al got an idea. "Al are you even listening?" Ed asked again, about to go off on his little brother. For once Al thanked God for his brother's deadly temper.
One tap.
Ed lost it. His temper blew up and with it; Ed did what he normally did when his temper exploded. The teen gained that unnatural strength he got when people called him short. Edward was going to kill his brother. The tiny alchemist found the space and the strength to clap his hands together and transmutated a large rock fist, knocking his brother away from him.
The sunlight hit his eyes, sharply, momentarily blinding him. When his sight came back into focus, he noticed several things. One was that his brother had planned that and that ticked him off. I'll get you back later Al. Two was that Sandy and Envy were looking his way like they had seen a ghost. Serves them right, assholes. And three was that Aria was laying on the ground with Envy straddling her. Sandy was only a few feet away from Aria.
"What the fuck have you done to her?" Ed snarled; his eyes focused on the unconscious girl.
"What do I have to do to kill you?" Envy snarled back. "God what are you cockroaches?" Envy chose to ignore the question, annoyed. Would he ever rid himself of the Elric brothers? He just couldn't believe it. All he heard was the crackle of energy and then Alphonse Elric fly out of the rubble, with the older Elric pop out of the rubble like daisies. They just couldn't be the type of bugs that die easily, could they?
"You didn't do a very good job killing them Envy." Sandy observed. Ed had several cuts and scrapes, but surprisingly was okay. He also was covered in bruises and looked like he needed a good long rest, but Sandy knew the teen wouldn't let himself have it. His eyes searched for the metal Elric, finding him getting up. The suit of armor was banged up and there were many dents, but he knew the youngest son of Trisha Elric could fight. Damn you Envy. These two have the power to mess everything up.
"What in fuck's name did you do to Aria?" Ed asked, once again. The venom in his tone would have scared normal humans, but did nothing against the fake humans. He glared at the two homunculi. Envy grinned, an idea coming into his mind.
"I strangled her until she couldn't breathe. Look at her color, wait there is none. I think I even left marks." Envy chuckled, placing his hand on the angry red marks on the female alchemist's neck. "See a perfect fit."
Al could have snarled himself. He was closer to Aria then Ed was and he could see the teen better. She looked horrible and Al swore they weren't going to get away with it. Ed did snarl at his brother's words. His heart was beating faster, pushing the blood through his veins and along with it the adrenaline. The teen looked frightening, with his golden hair let loose and his clothing torn and ripped. He looked like the angel of death.
"Get your filthy hands off her!" Ed yelled, already charging for Envy. Al decided that Sandy would be his target, creating a wall between Envy, Ed, and Aria and Sandy and himself. Splitting the homunculus up would increase their chances. Al just hoped it would be enough.
Ed swung his automail leg, aiming for Envy's head. Envy ducked, completely flattening himself against Aria. The move enraged Ed further and encouraging him. The teen used Envy's distracted state to grab the fake human's hair and yank him off the unconscious teen. Ed tossed Envy a couple of feet away, bending down to examine Aria.
Aria's clothes were disheveled and her hands were torn and bloody. Ed could clearly see that she had been digging in the debris looking for them. On Aria's neck were the red marks and he knew they would be dark black-blue bruises unless Aria healed them. Some color was beginning to return to her face, but she was still ghostly pale. You could barely tell she was breathing. She looked horrible.
"Aria, can you hear me?" Ed asked, gently. He gently nudged her shoulder, when that didn't work he shook her. His eyebrows nudged closer together in thought. She needed to wake up and soon. He wasn't sure if she needed a doctor or not.
"She won't be waking up for awhile." Envy laughed, sneering at the two of them. The two were a cute couple and they would die together. Hopefully he could kill them and get away before Sandy took care of Al. Just this once little brother, don't disappoint me.
"Shut up." Ed glared, today had started bad and was getting worse every second. He needed a way to get Aria out of here. The alchemist wasn't sure he could carry her and outrun Envy. His automail would weigh him down and so would his injuries; maybe if he was in top form but he wasn't. If only Aria would wake up; she could heal his worst wounds. Come on Aria, wake up.
"Do you think I'm really going to let the two of you live?" Envy asked, raising his eyebrow. He was supposed to take Aria prisoner but he hated the idea. He wanted to kill both his brothers and the girl. Ed moved so he faced Envy, keeping himself between Aria and Envy.
"You can never kill me Envy. How many times have you tried? And I don't think Aria will be that easy to get rid of either." Ed smirked, ready to face his older half brother. He would make him Envy pay. The two sons of Van Hohenheim glared each other down. The wind rustled the two's hair, creating the old style showdown image.
"Come and get me little brother." Envy stood with his arms crossed, watching blonde in front of him. The middle child of Van Hohenheim prepared to beat his older brother into a bloody pulp, but was stopped.
"Ed?"
The dirty blonde heard a voice. The voice sounded like Ed's but it couldn't be Ed. He was gone, dead, lost forever to her. Yet the voice was Ed's, albeit gentler than usual, but it was Ed's voice. When she opened her eyes, she saw the golden halo and wondered briefly if she was in heaven, but thought better of that. When the haze over her eyes cleared she could tell it was Ed.
"Ed?" Had been the first thing out of Aria's mouth. She noticed that he turned ridge, but he quickly turned around, dropping beside her.
"Are you okay?" The Full Metal Alchemist asked. He held his hand out to her, just like in her dream. Ed felt relief flow through him. Aria was okay.
"What do you think?" Aria managed, her throat burned, but she managed to smile. Ed brushed off her sarcasm and smiling at her. If she could use sarcasm, then she was okay. He was happy that she was okay, well more than happy. He was ecstatic and he couldn't explain why but in that moment he didn't care.
"No." Ed answered honestly. He flashed her a smile, before seeing her face drop.
Aria was mentally at war with herself. She wanted to scream at Ed for making her believe she was dead but she also wanted to wrap her arms around him and not let go. The blonde in front of her had come to mean the world to her and she had almost lost him. The side that was saying to hug the tiny blonde idiot won, but the scream part of her decided to wait for later to get him back.
"Why are you looking at me like that?" Ed asked, curious. Aria looked like she was debating if she should punch him or not. He also noticed that she had tears in her eyes. He silently started freaking out, just like he always did when people cried. What did I do wrong? He mentally screamed, trying to figure out what to do. She looked like she was about to hurt him and he was ready to get hit, even closing his eyes. But the pain never came.
Aria wrapped her arms around the alchemist's neck. Her face ended up in the crook of his neck. Ed felt tears against his neck and noticed that she was shaking. She's crying? Why? She's hugging me? Why? Ed was confused, but he wrapped his arms around her regardless. His face was practically shoved right in her hair. So the two made an odd picture, with him on his knees and her crying into the crook of his neck.
"What's wrong?" Ed asked, softly. He wondered what was going on. When had Aria began crying? And when had she begun crying on him? The blonde alchemist kept her in his arms, all the while trying to figure out what he had done.
"You died! You went and left me!" Aria whispered against the boy's throat. She hugged herself closer to the teen.
"I'm sorry." Did he really mean that much to her? Why did that make me happy that he meant so much to the teen? He smiled faintly against her hair.
"You left me alone just like everyone else. I thought you had died!" Aria cried, feeling Ed wrap his arms around her tighter. She really hated that he made her feel this way. He made her feel vulnerable and weak and at the same time it made her happy. She was happy that Ed was okay and happy that she had allowed him into her life.
"Do you really care that much about me?" Ed just let it slip. Suddenly he was afraid that she would hit him for asking. She wasn't very open, normally, but at this moment she was more open than he had ever seen her.
"You and Al are closer to me than anymore else." Aria answered simply, pulling back from Ed. She used the back of her hand to wipe the tears from her face. Aria nearly jumped back when Ed wiped a tear she had missed.
"You're just as important to me and Al." Ed whispered. The Full Metal Alchemist was ecstatic, he was important to Aria and he just had to tell her that. He gave her a smile, smiling more when she returned it. Aria was just as happy as Ed, she was glad that he didn't hate her. In that moment it just seemed to be the two of them. Aria and Edward. "I didn't mean to leave you." Ed added as a second thought.
"I know you didn't mean to! You should have been more careful! You're still injured for God's sake!" Aria scolded, her hands going to her hips. She was angry that she had nearly lost him and was taking it out on him and Ed knew that, so he let it go.
"I know and I'm sorry. Also you've been fighting." Ed responded, holding his hands up in defense. He didn't want to fight with her. Aria once again seemed solemn.
"I was fighting because I wanted to get back at them for killing you. I didn't care if I lived or died." Aria said; her eyes on the ground. Ed stopped, she didn't care if she lived or died? Were they really as close as Leroy had said they were?
"Don't ever think like that!" Ed raged; he hated the thought. The idea of Aria dead shook him to the core. He hated it with a passion. He hated that if he wasn't there then she wouldn't have a reason to live. He placed his hands on her shoulders, shaking her lightly. "You got that? Never ever give up. Do not give up on me! Do you understand?" Ed shouted, shaking her again. Aria didn't get a chance to respond.
Al was thrown through the wall he had created to land right next to Aria and Ed. He and Sandy had mostly been dancing around one another. They had scored some hits but nothing that would kill the homunculus or seriously stop Al. And then out of nowhere Sandy had kicked Al, sending him flying through the wall.
"Al are you okay?" Ed asked, his attention snapping off of Aria and to his brother. Aria took in the sight of Al. The suit of armor was covered in dents. She was surprised that he wasn't in pieces by now.
"Brother I don't feel pain." Al answered, before turning towards Aria. "Are you okay?" Al asked. His glowing eye seemed to be glued to her neck. He wouldn't be surprised if the bruises stayed there for weeks.
Aria's response was to launch herself at him. Al easily caught her, hugging her back. Ed noticed that his brother was quicker and not as awkward to hug the teenage female alchemist. Something inside flared in the tiny alchemist but he pushed it away. Aria didn't cry this time and she didn't think she had any more tears to shed.
"You had better never do that to me again Alphonse Elric." Aria scolded, hugging the suit of armor closer to her. She looked like a child hugging a grown man.
"Do what?" Al asked, confused. Normally the Aria he knew was never this touchy. The youngest Elric had a feeling that they wouldn't see this side of Aria in a while and it would be one of those do not talk about ever again moments.
"Scare me! I thought you and Ed were dead! I thought I had lost the two of you for good." Aria cried out, pulling back from the alchemist. She mock glared at him, before whacking his shoulder hard enough to leave a dent.
"You do realize I didn't feel that right?" Al commented and then noticed her hands. "What happened to your hands?" He asked, grabbing one. Ed also had noticed and hoped she would answer.
"I went digging in the rubble looking for you." Aria answered, cradling her sore hand to her chest. It hurt when Al grabbed it and when she had whacked Al.
"Why don't you heal it?" Ed asked; confused on why she didn't. The teen raised his eyebrow, cocking his head to the side.
"I can't waste energy. I need to conserve my energy and healing takes up energy. I'm not going to heal anything unless it's life threatening or is so bad I can't fight." Aria answered, her gaze searched around for Envy and Sandy to find them about ten meters away from them. "Why haven't they attacked us yet?" Aria asked, nodding towards the homunculus. Envy grinned, noticing that he had her attention.
"Simple little girl, we decided to give you guys some time to have a little reunion before the Elric brothers die and you come with us." Envy grinned, his hands on his hips. Ed and Al turned towards the homunculus as well.
"She won't be going anywhere." Ed growled out. The teen wasn't going to let anything happen to Aria.
"All we have to do is kill you. And my dear little brothers, I will succeed this time." Ed called back.
"Aria is not as weak as you think she is." Al spoke up, putting himself between his oldest half brother and Aria.
"Yet you stand to guard her." Sandy's voice was calm, peaceful like. Ed and Aria glared at him.
"Wouldn't a brother stand to guard his sister? Don't siblings protect each other?" Aria spoke up, stepping between Al and Ed. Al and Ed was shocked. She had called Al her brother in her own little way.
"So does this mean father had another bastard child?" Envy spoke up, his face turning into a grimace.
"Envy I know for a fact that Claire only was with Ryan." Sandy clarified. Aria's eyes snapped to the fake human. Ed and Al also snapped their attention to him. Weren't Claire and Ryan the names of Aria's parents?
"How do you know my parents?" Aria snarled, ready to lunge at Sandy. Al and Ed noticed both grabbing one of her arms.
"Easy does it." Al whispered, keeping a firm grip on her. He knew how quickly she could get out of his grasp.
"None of your business." Sandy answered, watching the angry girl. Ed pulled Aria back, as her rage grew.
"Al hold on even tighter for a second." The blonde alchemist said, letting of Aria's and wrapping his arms around her waist. He silently hoped he would be strong enough to keep her at bay.
"It is my business! They're my parents." Aria yelled, struggling against Ed. Her arms were outstretched in Sandy's direction and she was thrashing back and forth in Ed's arms. Al had a tight grip on her one arms, but it wasn't as effective.
"Aria you should worry about healing your friend with the back injury. He'll be much easier for Envy to kill. And as much as I enjoy hearing you screaming and crying at the heavens that you care for the boy, it does tend to get annoying." Sandy was calm and acted like this was a simple picnic.
"How do you know about my alchemy?" Aria screamed, trying to lunge at the sandy haired man.
"You can scream all you like; I'm not answering your questions." He once again refused.
"Calm down Aria! Please! He's just baiting you, he wants you to lose control and attack him. You'll be easy for him to capture then." Al cried, stepping in front of her. He placed both his hands on her shoulders, helping to hold her in place. "Please we don't want anything to happen to you." He begged, looking right into her eyes.
"Shh, don't let him bait you. The three of us have a better chance of taking him down and getting the information if we work together. Don't worry we'll kick his ass." Ed whispered in her ear.
Aria seemed to calm down but they all knew that her temper was on an even shorter fuse than normal. Al returned to his place, but Ed didn't let go of Aria. He wasn't going to get her get hurt.
"Fine, but I want the chance of kicking his ass from here to kingdom come." The teen growled, mentally swearing to get her answers. "You can let go, I promise not to charge him." Ed let go, hesitantly. He went back to standing on her right side. Aria at that moment noticed his back. There was a gaping hole in his jacket and t-shirt. The skin you could see looked like it had been rubbed raw. He must be in so much pain. "What the hell did you do to your back?" She shrieked.
"I got thrown through a wall and then a table leg hit my back." Ed said, before adding, "Do you have to shriek?" Aria ignored the comment though.
"You could be paralyzed!" She reached for his jacket, literally pulling it off of him.
"What are you doing?" Ed practically freaked. Al was focusing on their enemies, but neither seemed to have any plans of attacking first, like they had all the time in the world.
"I need to see the wound. This wound needs to be healed now. You don't want lasting damage do you?" She asked, already tearing the shirt off of him. It looked worse without the shirt; the area around the raw spot was red. The spot was right on his spinal cord and could have already left permanent damage. "Does it hurt to walk?" She asked.
"At first." Ed answered; his eyes were now also trained on their enemies.
"Does it hurt when I touch it?" Aria touched it to get a yelp and Ed jumping in the air. "I'll take that as a yes. Now don't move." Aria placed her hand on the spot, feeling Ed's muscles tense under her hand. She knew it must hurt. "Sorry, it'll feel better in a minute." She focused on the cells around the wound, replicating them and replacing the damaged ones. Lucky his spinal cord wasn't damaged but the wound could have caused damage to the surrounding tissue if she hadn't taken a look at it. It would have been weeks or months before he made a full recovery. "I only healed the worst of it. You should be able to fight as normal but you might have a little pain. I'll heal more of it later, but I need my energy." She sighed, that had taken a lot out of her, but it was needed.
"Thanks." Ed said, his back feeling so much better. He rolled his shoulders, the ache gone.
"So are you guys ready to die yet? We even allowed you the time to heal." Envy smiled, cracking his knuckles. "I think I might actually enjoy this, what about you Sandy?"
"I'm not even going to dignify that with an answer." Sandy's arms were crossed and he staring straight at Aria.
"So what are our chances?" Aria asked. Her eyes shifted to Al and then rested on Ed. She knew he would tell it to her straight.
"Depends on if we can take out Envy first and then go to Sandy. Let's just hope he isn't like Envy." Ed muttered, causing Aria to look completely at him. Ed noticing, added, "Trust me, you don't want that."
"Maybe I'll show you little girl." Envy called.
"How bad could it be?" Aria asked.
"Bad." Both Al and Ed said at the same time.
"Yet I'm not scared." Aria wondered aloud. And it was the truth.
"You are crazy." Ed smirked, feeling the same way.
"You are both crazy." He was the only cautious one out of the three.
"Stop worrying so much Al." Ed muttered.
"If I don't, who will?" The suit of armor could have raised his eyebrow.
"How about none of us worry?" The dirty blonde asked, tilting her head.
"How about you guys actually fight?" Envy snorted from across the field.
"You asked for it." Aria snorted. She felt better for some reason. The girl had a feeling that something bad was going to happen, but she knew that she had the two boys by her side. "You know earlier I kept referring to the two of you as lost, instead of dead. Maybe because I believed you could be found again. And I guess you were." Aria said, smiling.
"Lost?" Ed asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Yep. But you're not lost anymore. You never were, I was the one lost. And now the two of you found me." Aria meant it. The two had found her, when she was no one and had begun to lose sight of what to live for. And then they found her and gave her a reason to move on.
"You weren't the only one lost." Ed muttered. Aria raised her eyebrow, confused.
"Stop talking, I want to kill you!" Envy yelled from the other side of the clearing. None of the teen alchemists responded.
They ran.
Well does this qualify as a cliffy?
This chapter is longer than the other one. Yay! Also you all might be confused at the dream parts, but they're important. At least for next chapter or a few chapters later.
Also yeah I know Aria is really emotional, but seriously, what would you do, if the people you had come to be your only friends who even understood you alittle bit suddenly were dead? Would you go crazy? The Elric's mean alot to her, just like Aria means alot to them. Trust me, next chapter will have emotion too. Also Aria is opening up to them more.
I haven't gotten any reviews for the last chapter and it's kinda scaring me. Did I do something wrong? Please review and tell me.
Also I have this weird idea. I like the plot I have but this new idea for this story struck me. Everything in the story would be the same up to chapter nine. I'm going to use the plot I have for this story on this one and then when this is finished, do that plot. Don't worry this should get updated faster, without the distractions of my internet.
Well til next time!
-j.d.y.