Sorrows of the Heart
Chapter 6
Trudging on up the road again, Ed looked around for unfamiliar faces. He wasn't sure what Alphonse looked like without his armor, but he was betting he would recognize someone from out of town. Jerome kept such a close eye on Ed that he never got out of the house alone, except for the walk to and from school. It narrowed down his searching time considerably. Still, he had hope. And it was good he did, for moments later he saw a glint of metal in the bushes. Looking nonchalantly over his shoulder for other people, he leapt over the bushes to find himself face to face with the armor.
"Brother!" cried Al in surprise.
"Listen, I need to talk to you." Ed said, sitting down on the soft grass.
"But you'll be late for school." Al said quickly, looking horribly panicked.
"I'll deal with it when I get there. Right now I need to talk to you."
"Why?"
"Because I want to know who I am. I'm sick of living in this tiny little town in the middle of nowhere. I want to know." Ed said vehemently.
Al sat there, unsure of what to say.
"Please, tell me." Ed insisted.
"No. You're better off here." Al said shaking his head.
"Come on Al!"
"Not until I have to. Brother, life here is so good to you. You don't have to worry about anything; you can be yourself. If there was anything I could teach you then I would, but I can't tell you about our past."
"You won't tell me who I am?"
"No."
Ed sat there, frustrated. What could possibly be bad enough to make the rural life good? But the offer to teach him anything was too good to pass up.
"You said you could teach me something." He said slyly.
Al nodded with a clunk.
"Do you know alchemy?" asked Ed.
Al sat back in shock. Ed asking him about alchemy? It just wasn't right. But if it meant being close to Ed, then maybe…
"When?"
"I can sneak out at night."
"Are you sure?" asked Al, not wanting to complicate things for Ed any more than he had to.
"Yes."
So, Ed ran to school and managed to make it just barely late. The teacher took his excuse of being sidetracked and let him off, though Ed had no doubt that Makino-sensei would inform Jerome, and Ed started the day off on a decent note. First was Math, which he wasn't bad at, then English, his worst favorite subject, Human Development which was one of the most embarrassing classes ever invented and Ed always wished Jerome would make him drop that as well. Last, but not least was his favorite class, Chemistry.
There was no way to go wrong in chemistry as far as Ed was concerned. That day they had the task of identifying different items based on their properties, which was a lot of fun for everyone.
After such a great class, for no one can resist the fun of setting things on fire, everyone was smiles. As people filed out of class, the teacher called for Ed to stay behind.
"I didn't see your name on the list for Alchemy this week. You looked like you were having so much fun; what happened?"
"Jerome didn't like me doing it. He made me quit." Ed said, the smile fading from his face.
"It's such a shame. You really are gifted in that area. Perhaps I'll speak to Jerome and see if I can't talk him into letting you come back into the class."
"Great!" Ed said, amazed at his luck.
"Well, you'd best get home. I'll see you Thursday."
"See ya!" called Ed, spinning out the door.
If things worked out right, then Ed may be a great alchemist yet. Then maybe he could talk Alphonse into revealing his past. The way things were going, Ed was ready to believe in anything. It was this attitude that got him in trouble, as a matter of fact. For he was so wound up in his luck and good fortune that he never saw the man in blue until he was grabbed by him and dragged into an alleyway between two houses.
"Edward, sir!" he said, breathing a sigh of relief. He dropped Ed's arm and stepped back, straightening his uniform and saluting the boy.
Ed's eyes widened in shock. Who was this military man? What did he want? And more importantly,
"Did you just say 'sir?'" he asked, staring at the man who was at least a foot taller than him.
"Of course sir. Colonel Mustang sent me to find you and bring you back to headquarters."
Alright thought Ed, here goes.
"Who are you?"
"Surely you remember me. We met on the train Bald hijacked. I work for the colonel. My name's Falman."
"Okay… Who's this Mustang?"
Falman's jaw dropped through the ground.
"You're kidding." He said in amazement.
"I'm not. I've never…"
"Officer Falman!" called a voice, interrupting him.
"Al, good to see you. Could you tell me what's wrong with your brother?"
Ed looked up at Al, surprised. This man really did know him from before.
"He hit his head sir. I was taking him to see a doctor, but he ran away."
"Well it's no wonder. You aren't the friendliest looking person in the world." he turned to Ed, "When you feel better remember to get in contact with Colonel Mustang alright? He's looking for you."
"Okay." Ed said, watching in awe as Falman walked down the alley and disappeared into the crowd.
"Can you explain that?" he asked.
"That was Officer Falman." Al said, looking down at the end of the alley he had come form, obviously nervous about being seen.
"Yeah, I got that part. Who's Colonel Mustang?"
"He's a Colonel that works for the military."
"Thanks for stating the obvious. How do these people know me? Why did Falman call me sir?"
"I don't want to…"
"I know you don't want to tell me. I get that. But I need to know. Are those guys out to get me? Should I be worried? Should I go running to them and ask about my past? What?"
Al shook his head and pulled Ed toward the back of the alley, talking.
"Don't worry about them. Not for now."
"Come on Al, if there's some big shot Colonel after me do you think I'll be safe sitting around doing nothing?"
"Fine." Al said. "Come on."
AN:
Angel-of-Music1331: Thanks for the spelling checks. I'm always self conscious about my spelling and grammar and stuff…
crazyanimefreak15: Thanks for the help with Falman's rank! But could you give me that site again? It didn't show in your review.
smeg1: You would be right. Things aren't going to go well for Ed at all…
WildfireDreams, Monk of the Neko, and Isisoftheunderground: Thanks for all the praise. Cookies to all of you!
anelephant: I updated. It wasn't very fast, but it was the best I could do.
ABO: Nice job catching up. 2) I'm glad to be of help for the Conspiracy. 3) Thanks! Now you've got me laughing too… 4) Gotta love Stargate! 5) Can I have the Dir en Grey CD? I'm a sucker for anything Japanese… Great review!
Cookies to all reviewers! (I've been around ABO too long…) Sorry for such a long time between updates…. I've been busy with school and all… In fact I should be doing my 20th Century HW right now… Oh well. Thanks for reading!
T.K.