What I Did For Love
Disclaimer: … I don't own Full Metal Alchemist ©… leave me alone…
Summary: Edward Elric is a half-vampire with no memory of his past. He is given a mission to complete, and that mission is to kidnap the automail genius, Winry Rockbell. (This chapter involves a lot of religious – anti-religious, to be honest – opinions and discussions, also thoughts. If you are religious, please do not read the first part of this chapter. I don't want to offend anyone.)
I
Edward stared out the window intently, watching the snow fall. Ed hated snow; it was cold and slushy. Why did these human children think it was so wonderful and fun? It was technically just drops of half-frozen water that cover up the once green grass. Now it was just white. White: the known colour of purity and light. It was certainly a colour that was blinding enough. That was what colour the sun's light was: white. It wasn't red, orange, yellow, pink or whatever colour it looked like.
There was no technical God in Ed's opinion. Many believed the sun itself was God; but if you get too close to the sun, you'll only get burnt, or even killed by the heat. He didn't even think praying was much use; why pray to someone who's not there?
There was no technical God in Ed's opinion. Many believed the sun itself was God; but if you get too close to the sun, you'll only get burnt, or even killed by the heat. He didn't even think praying was much use; why pray to someone who's not there? If God was there; he would have spared the lives of the innocent, and let the guilty and the intended sinners' lives end with no hesitation. Of course, God was picky on who would die, and the exact opposite had happened in reality. The innocent died young, and their friends and family suffered the loss. God was cruel.
Then what happened to the horrible people who were named 'spawn of the devil?' They were spared from God's wrath, apparently this being their punishment. To live and think about what they did while the almost perfect people who worked for their lives died and went to sit at God's side in Heaven.
Edward thought this was all bullshit.
No one is a completely wonderful person. If they were really destined to go to paradise, why did God take them away from the people who loved them? People lost their lovers, mothers, brothers, sisters, fathers, sons, daughters, husbands, wives, cousins, boyfriends, girlfriends, aunts and uncles to the world, and to God.
This was why Ed didn't believe in God. He hadn't, however, lost anyone that he knew; but others around him lost many loved ones because of God's decisions. Unknown to him, he had lost his mother six or seven years before; who was one of the most beautiful women to ever grace the Earth. She died of grief because her husband, and also Al and Ed's father, never returned to her after he left.
That was when Edward and Alphonse attempted to bring her back, using human transmutation. The forbidden alchemy that man was not allowed to use. The taboo which was the line between mankind and God himself. Expectedly, the ritual had a fault in it, and it resulted in taking Ed's left leg and Al's body. They ended up with a homunculus, Sloth, which died within a few minutes.
Wanting more than anything in the world to save his brother, Ed had made another ritual to bring Al's soul back. However, since the body was completely taken into a vortex, Al's soul had entered an old metal armour suit and had inhabited it ever since.
They had promised each other that they would restore each other's bodies back to normal, and had set on a quest for the Philosophers Stone once Ed had decided to become a State Alchemist. They travelled all over and were called 'Elric Brothers.'
Unfortunately for Ed, he still hadn't gained much height on his journey, and he regularly visited his and Al's childhood best friend, Winry Rockbell, to fix up his arm because he had smashed it up during one of his battles or 'tasks.'
Even though Ed had lost his mother at a young age, never knew his father, and lost his arm and leg and Al's body to the attempted human transmutation after his mother's death; he still kept going, determined to reach for his goal in life.
It makes you think of how lucky we really are.
But was Ed's pain the work of God? Did Ed really deserve the punishment he received? That is something we will probably never know.
– ± –
"Auntie, I came home with the shopping!" a pretty girl with blonde hair and blue eyes called through the house as she entered. A dog with an automail front paw ran towards the girl and jumped at her, licking her face, but being careful not to make her drop the paper bag she was holding in her arms. The girl giggled and kneeled down to pet the hyperactive dog that was now wagging his tail happily at her.
"I'm happy to see you too, Den." She said quietly to the dog as she continued to pet him and pat him on the head gently. "I even got you some treats!" she exclaimed happily, seeing the dog's reaction: very hyperactive and happy.
"Winry? You're back all ready?" Pinako Rockbell questioned the girl as she walked down the stairs, holding a wrench. Winry, the girl, nodded and smiled at the elderly woman. She knew that Pinako didn't have much time before she would pass away into Heaven, and she had to look after her much better than she did before.
"Yeah, a nice man shown me a shortcut back home," she smiled at the elderly woman's expression, "don't worry, Auntie, it was a man who came here before to have his cat's automail hind leg fixed." She said with a happy sigh and spinning around in a small circle, being careful not to trip or drop the contents in the bag.
Pinako laughed and grabbed the girl's arm before she tripped over a wrench. "You have to be more careful, Win! You don't expect some handsome man to catch you when you fall after sweeping you off your feet, do you?" she asked with a chuckle.
"Well, you never know!" Winry giggled in response. The two then laughed together about the subject of Prince Charmings, noble steeds and happily ever afters. Den, however, was busy staring at what was looking back at him from the window: a pair of dark blue, almost lifeless, eyes – belonged to a she-wolf.
– ± –
Edward laid in his hammock, throwing unidentified objects at the ceiling, only for it to return back to him, causing him to throw it back – damn gravity. At first, Ed found it pointless to throw things in the air if they were going to come back down, but after having so many boring days, he got into the habit of 'playing' with these objects by repeating the throwing and catching actions over and over again to amuse himself.
Recently, he had found it quite entertaining. Today, however, he was throwing a spiked ball which he had removed from the handle of what used to be a mace. Of course, when he didn't manage to catch it properly, he resulted in getting quite bad wounds. Since he was new to this throwing and catching game, he had already had several wounds on his arms, hands and stomach. The spiked ball was covered in blood by the time he had decided to stop. Now, if Ed was a regular human, he would have been dead by all the strikes he had received to the stomach and chest by the decapitated mace. However, since he was partly a vampire, he was injured, but he was at no risk of dying – not anytime soon, anyway.
A whimpering noise echoed through Ed's room, and soft scraping against the door. Slowly, the door opened and a she-wolf walked in – the same she-wolf that Den had seen – and sat herself in front of Edward. Ed smiled and then jumped out of his hammock, and landed swiftly with one knee, one foot, and one hand to support his body properly at least until he was adapted to being in that position. He removes his hand, the left one, and places it onto his left knee and then, finally in a comfortable position, smiled at the she-wolf like a child would when expecting a treat.
"So, my beauty, did you get any information on this Winry Rockbell?" he asked the she-wolf, expecting her to answer, even though she wasn't able to speak human.
Yes, that she-wolf belonged to Ed. She was his best, and only, friend and she was always there to help him with anything when he needed it. She was also his spy, for tracking people down with her super-strong dog-like senses. Edward had christened her 'Bloody Mary' because he had been reading History books when he was thinking of what to name her – he also found it funny to compare Queen Mary of the Tutor times to his pet she-wolf. He felt that Mary had the nose of a bloodhound to be able to tell where all those Protestants were, so she could kill them – and since Queen Mary's nickname was 'Bloody Mary' he thought it was the best name to give to his she-wolf.
The she-wolf dropped what she had in her mouth: a piece of material – it probably came from a part of someone's clothing. Ed scooped it up in his hand and inspected the material carefully, and then smirked. "Now, my beauty, after sun sets, you are to show me where you had retrieved this item." He said quiet to the she-wolf, stroking her head gently and then cuddling her, nuzzling into the she-wolf's fur.
The she-wolf nuzzles her nose against Ed's face and licks his nose softly, causing it to tickle slightly. Edward chuckled and then stared out of his window at the soon to be setting sun. "Only two hours left, my beauty. And then you can show me the location of this material you have discovered." He said quietly with a fanged grin.
– ± –
Edward was right, within over an hour and a half, the sun began to set. There were only twenty minutes until the sunlight was finally gone, and the shadow of night would loom over the town, allowing the vampires and other creatures of the night to 'come out and play.' Winry gazed out from her window balcony, leaning on the sill of the outside railings. She had always liked sunsets, and believed they were the romantic sights to show a loved one, especially if you were planning to propose.
"I wonder what happens when the sun sets…" Winry wondered out loud as she watched the ball of fire in the sky slowly orbit around the planet. Little did she know, she would find out exactly what happens after the sun sets within the next twenty minutes. She had all ready changed into her nightdress, since she had had a hard time sleeping the night before – trying to fix a customer's automail, through the whole night until morning, to complete perfection – and she was planning to have an early night. After the sun set, she would soon climb into her bed and let sleep wash over her. She was absolutely exhausted.
Yawning quietly, she continued to watch until she saw it was only minutes before the sun would go down and the moon would take over in the dark night time where the sun once had been with the brightly illuminated skies. Soon, those minutes turned to seconds and it was finally time for the last countdown. Winry always loved those.
"Five," she breathed, allowing her warm breath to blend with the cold evening air. She had no idea, however, that within the next few seconds, this would be the last sunset she would ever see at her own house from her room window view. After this sunset, her whole life would change, possibly for ever.
"Four," she counted, staring at the shadows of the darkening clouds that mixed with the night sky perfectly. If only Winry could paint, she would have repeated the colour and tones in a portrait that she could keep hanging up in her room for ever, at least until she died so her children or even grandchildren could see it and experience what she had once experienced when seeing the sun set. Her spirit would never die, then.
"Three," thoughts began to swim through her head. Thoughts she never knew existed in her mind. What would happen if creatures like vampires and zombies existed? She never bothered about such thoughts before; but now, for some reason unknown to her, she began to think through almost exactly everything she knew or once been told – or what she had experienced with her own eyes – she hadn't seen Alphonse for years, he had passed away two years ago, and she was beginning to become incredibly lonely. Alphonse was an only child, and his mother died when he was only nine or ten.
"Two," her heartbeat began to race, and her blood started to run cold. What had happened to Al? She heard that he had died by some mysterious cause that the doctors wouldn't know about. Was it by poison? Death by fright? Grief and misery for his deceased mother? Winry didn't know, and she wished she did. Alphonse had grown to be a normal boy and was usually very quiet and perhaps depressed.
"One," all of her thoughts disappeared in a flash as she saw the sun for the last time before it hid behind the land. Darkness loomed over from the top of the sky and gradually, within minutes, the whole sky was covered in a combination of dark blue and black. The stars began to twinkle as the sky got darker and then, they stood out like candles in the abyss. Her eyes portrayed the reflection of the shining stars and she smiled, her mood lightening up and her heart beating in rhythm with her breathing.
She began to hum to herself a tune which she had once heard on the radio – she wasn't sure what song it was, but she knew she liked it – as she slowly danced in the moonlight, swaying her body at the same speed as the wind was blowing: slow, gentle, and graceful. Even Winry, a girl who liked nothing more than getting her hands dirty by working with hi-tech machinery, looked delicate in the soft shadows.
Remembering how tired she was before, she yawned quietly and stopped dancing, stretching her arms and walking back into her room, leaving the window open – even though it was foolish, she loved having the windows open, it gave her fresh air to breathe during the night – and then, after brushing her hair and hopping into bed, she snuggled up within the blankets and slowly closed her eyes, falling asleep.
Unknown to her, two pairs of eyes were watching her little performance and one pair blinked, the golden pair. "So, that's Ms Rockbell, eh? Not bad." the golden eyes questioned as they looked from a photo, which was held in the hand of which the eyes belonged to, to where Winry Rockbell once was dancing and humming. Then, a figure stepped out of the darkness: a seventeen year old half-vampire boy, Edward Elric.
He had his hands in the pockets of his red hooded coat, with the Alchemist symbol on the back. He wore black a leather shirt and jeans combination – chains attached to the jeans – and his height still ceased to grow since many nights before when Hawkeye gave him that mission to kidnap the teenage girl. However, if he didn't grow in the two-year time period he had beforehand, he probably still wouldn't grow any time soon. (No offence, Edward, but you are short for seventeen year old half-vampire!)
"Well, she does look pretty appetizing – for a human." He comments, then looking to his pet she-wolf, Bloody Mary, and then smirking. "So, do you want to come with, or should I take her on my own?" he asked. The she-wolf looked at him and bowed her head, symbolizing that she was going to stay on guard in case someone comes. Edward understood what she said – he had been able to learn sign language with wolves when he first rejoined the military as a half-vampire.
Silently, Ed climbed up the wall – occasionally leaping from block to block. Ed had began to wonder if the Rockbell household was actually built for half-vampires to climb in and steal the daughters during the night – and then reached the balcony where Winry was once leaning on. The large windows were still open. Foolish girl, leaving the windows open during the night. Especially windows this big! Oh well, makes my job much easier this way, I guess. He thought as he leaped over the railings and then leaned against them, watching the girl sleep from the distance.
Within a few minutes, Edward became bored of just watching the teenage human female rest in her warm and comfy bed. He slowly tiptoed towards the girl's bed and stared as she inhaled and exhaled silently and softly. She was lying on side, her back towards Ed, and Ed was preparing to grab her until she turned around and lied on her back, still being undisturbed by her sleep. Then again, Ed was being very quiet.
He then suddenly blushed, badly. He was watching her breathing still, but when she was lying on her back, her chest went up and down as she inhaled and exhaled the air around her. Ed was lost for words, and found himself focusing on this girl's upper body, becoming redder in the face as each second passed. He even felt a strange tightness between his legs, against the leather material of his jeans. Gasping quietly for breath, he was near to making a sound until he heard a quiet whimpering – it was Bloody Mary. Even though she was being very quiet, Edward could hear her as clearly as he would if she was right next to him and whimpering slightly louder.
The tightness he felt in his jeans slowly eased away. It wasn't that it hurt, it actually felt quite nice, but he wasn't sure what it was or what caused it. Wanting to forget that awkward moment, he looked out the window to see the she-wolf waiting for him and staring in his direction; her black hole coloured irises burning into his golden ones.
"Don't worry, my beauty," Ed whispered, trying to soothe the impatient and restless female canine, "just give me a few more minutes, and she's ours. Then we can get home and finally get some fucking respect from that cock sucker, Mustang." Bloody Mary seemed to calm down, and if a she-wolf could, smiled at the half-vampire.
Ed grinned back at his pet she-wolf and then looked back to where the sleeping girl was, only to be knocked unconscious by an unknown object from behind. The last thing he heard was Bloody Mary's howls of question, and then silent darkness.
– ± –
"Oww! My fucking head! I feel like I was knocked unconscious by a shit-filled truck… or just by Mustang's smell." Edward groaned as he rubbed his forehead gently. He slowly opened his eyes, only to see blur everywhere. He squinted and blinked hard a few times, clearing his vision up to see he was no longer looking at his she-wolf, but at the very fair, almost pale, face of Winry Rockbell. She was glaring at him, but he was also looking at him with a sisterly sense of concern.
"Are you all right?" she asked in a soft, caring voice. Ed numbly nodded and looked at the girl uncertainly, like he was expecting her to be another creature disguised as the girl before him. Winry smiled and then in one swift moment, picked up her wrench and smacked it across Ed's head. Ed let out a surprised yelp of pain.
"You bitch! What was that for?" he demanded. Winry just glared back at him.
"You were in my room! Haven't you heard of privacy?" she asked him coldly.
"I have my reasons for being there!" Ed admitted, raising his arms in defeat.
"Oh?" Winry questioned. "And what reasons are they?" Ed stared at her icily.
"None of your fucking business, wench," he retorted with a dangerous growl.
Winry stared at him some more and than looked to his automail limbs. "Oh… your arms and legs are a bit damaged… sorry about that." She commented quietly. Ed, however, was utterly confused by his female. Jeez, she has bad mood swings. First she's a total bitch and now she's behaving like a little angel. He thought, blinking.
"Um… it's okay… what happened? Why was I knocked unconscious?" asked Ed, becoming calm once more and starting to trust this girl. Winry smiled at him.
"Oh… I saw you, thought you were a burglar and smacked you with my wrench that I keep under my pillow." Winry replied, grinning extremely broadly. Ed raised an eyebrow at her, becoming very interested in this bizarre female. "Anyway, why are you here in the first place, stranger?" she asked. Edward blinked slowly and stared at the girl in front of him, making sure not to give away any unneeded details.
"… Hey, what's that?" Ed questioned, pointing in the direction of the still open window – you'd think after having someone like Ed breaking in, Winry would have closed that window by now – even though nothing was there. Winry, however, believed there was something there and turned around, giving Ed time to act.
In one swift movement, he wrapped his arms around her waist – which, he was surprised of and became very heated again, was quite small – and baring his fangs, he bit down hard on a certain area of her neck, being very careful not to tear the skin, no matter how much he wanted to taste her blood from the wound. Winry gasped in shock and then fell into his arms, unconscious. Ed chuckled, "Sleeper hold, always makes the job easier." He crouched down slightly and scooped the girl's legs with one arm – while still holding Winry with the other one – and lifted up her body, holding her in a bridal style. Being careful not to drop the human female, Ed wanders towards the balcony and looked down to the ground. Bloody Mary, his pet she-wolf, was still waiting for him. He smirked and shown the unconscious blonde girl.
Bloody Mary wagged her tail in delight and backed away a bit to give him some space to land for when he was planning to climb down. Ed grinned and winked at the she-wolf. "You expect me to climb down with this little angel in my arms? Nah, I prefer a more considerate – yet dangerous – approach." He chuckled at the she-wolf's questioning look and then carefully jumped onto the railings of the balcony.
He smiled and closed his eyes, clutching onto Winry tightly, then without warning, leaped off the balcony railings. The up-thrusting wind that was formed by the fast gravity which Ed's fall was causing, blown through his hair and within seconds, he landed one knee on the ground, still holding onto Winry just as tightly as before.
"Now, my beauty, shall we return home? Mustang and his stench must be missing us by now." Ed commented as Bloody Mary chuckled – if a she-wolf can – and the two disappeared into the night, leaving the Rockbell household behind possibly for ever.
But what of Pinako Rockbell? Since, apparently, the Sins were dead, she may have just forgotten all about the teenage girl she used to live with. In due time, she forgot the girl was even born: or maybe she was in denial, and always cried herself to sleep.
But for now we don't, and possibly never will, know.
– ± –
Mustang paced around the room, while Hawkeye leaned against the wall and watched her lover while he tried to calculate something very complex to himself. Either that or he was secretly rehearsing for a play. Hawkeye raised her eyebrow at the pacing man, surprised he was even walking. Ed had given him a rough thrashing the previous few nights before, and here was Mustang walking around the room like a hare searching frantically for his carrot? Even Hawkeye found it hard not to be amazed by this man.
Hawkeye looked from Mustang and to the clock. It was three o'clock in the morning, and neither of them were tired. Of course, they couldn't afford to be tired; they were vampires, always on the run, always on the attack when enemies approach them. However, a human may have fallen asleep at this time, a vampire would have been busy preparing his or her clan to build defences, take hostages, plan attacks when needed and on lazy days when there was no work to be done, they would just hunt for prey to feast on and just have a late-night celebration. Vampires slept during the day and were active at night, when humans decided it was time for bed.
Edward Elric wasn't like the vampires, though. He was awake almost twenty-four hours a day and didn't drink as much blood as a regular vampire. He was probably so used to his old routine as a human, he forgot that he needed to sleep while the sun was up so he could have enough energy for when the sun went down and moon took its place. Hawkeye suspected that all half-vampires were, and will be, like that. She just hoped that there wouldn't be more later on. She couldn't stand another Edward Elric.
She had wondered what exactly Ed would be doing during the daytime if he wasn't sleeping. Training? Feeding his pet she-wolf? Hunting? Hawkeye would have had another suggested thought, but it would be wrong of her to think that way of a seventeen year old, and besides, Ed didn't have those types of thoughts, or did he?
"Why didn't we put a time-limit on him? It would have been fun, like it always is to annoy, and he would have failed, anyway." Mustang concluded after many minutes of silence between the two. Which two, was what Hawkeye didn't know: herself and Mustang; or herself and her thoughts? She sighed awkwardly and stared at the ground.
Minutes later, the door was kicked down, and a she-wolf wandered into the room, followed by Edward who held an unconscious human female in his arms; only in her nightdress. Mustang blinked at Ed who smirked at him in return. Mustang scowled.
"So, you did it, eh?" he sneered. Ed's smirk widened as he nodded in response, clutching tighter to Winry, who still hadn't shown any signs of waking up.
"Yeah. Piece of cake, it was, too." Ed commented back, with a sly grin. Mustang glared at the Full Metal Alchemist and looked back to Hawkeye with pleading eyes.
Hawkeye ignored him. "Well done, Full Metal. Now, you'll need her to share your room for tonight. Have you got any spare beds?" she questioned. Edward blinked.
"Now that you've mentioned it; no…" Ed replied and then looked back to Mustang with a glare – and if looks could kill, Mustang would have been on the floor, dying of an intense seizure – soon afterwards, returning his gaze to Hawkeye.
"Well then," Hawkeye announced, "I guess she'll have to share your hammock with you. Any problem with that?" she asked. Ed shook his head and bounced Winry softly, gripping her tightly again in his arms. His grip on her was starting to weaken.
"Sure, whatever. She can stay with me for tonight. Man, you called this a mission? More like a vacation!" Ed laughed as he walked in the direction of his room, Winry in his arms, with Bloody Mary in tow. Mustang mumbled and then leaned against the wall, his eyes closed and looking in the direction of the floor.
"We should have given him a time-limit, then he wouldn't have been smirking…" he muttered under his breath. Hawkeye rolled her eyes and laughed.
So, what did ya think? Please review when you can! By the way: invertogus (which was mentioned in the prologue) isn't a real being. I just made that word up. So don't expect my story to help you out in your horror projects! ;-)