Disclaimer: Do I look like the kind of person who would own Fullmetal Alchemist?

Well, after all this talk, I suppose I should meet Kimblee next. And don't worry xxdarknessxfallsxx, Kimblee is hot but I have my sights set on Ed. I won't meet our little bomb friend for another few chapters, though, because I need some drabble in between.

I've finally realized why my story seems like a Mary-Sue. (I'm slow and I don't catch on easily.) It's because I chose to write it in first person. If I had wrote it in third person, it might not seem so Mary-Sueish.

For example:

"Rachel couldn't remember a time when she had ever felt so scared."

That would have been a better way of writing the story, I suppose, but I still like it the way it is. Obviously you guys do too, or you wouldn't still be reading.

This chapter is drabble goodness!

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Chapter 16

The Gift of a Cold Night

I yawned loudly, giving Ed reason to shush me. I stuck my tongue out at him.

We had been out the whole day, exploring Dabries (don't flame me! I think that's the name of the city! Or Dublis…), and I had finally gotten to meet Mason. He was as muscular as he seemed on the show, and also as crazy. He showed me around the city, since Ed and Al weren't all that familiar with it. It was late when we had returned to the Curtis home, and Mason joined us for dinner. I was content at that point, because before we had walked through the door, Ed had plucked a flower from Izumi's garden and handed it to me with the air of a childhood crush. I would keep that little plant forever. It was stuck behind my ear as I sat down at the dinner table, and Izumi's hawk eyes spotted it at once.

"Is that a flower from my garden?"

She spoke not with anger, but with a tone that demanded an answer.

"I gave it to her, Teacher." Ed said timidly.

Izumi blinked. Her look of confusion changed to a smile almost instantly when she saw Ed's expression.

"Well, then, let's eat."

XXX

After dinner, we sat around, talking about how cool the city was, before Mason announced that it was "time to hit the hay". I stretched, and trudged to the room that Ed, Al, and I shared. I once again took notice of the two beds. My point being that Al sat in a corner and snoozed. Which left two beds for two people that would rather have there be only one.

I settled in between the sheets after 10 minutes of getting ready. Ed was already lying on his bed. He looked at me.

"I never could understand what takes girls so long to do everything."

"We take our time and we do things better."

"Right."

Ed sighed, and turned to his side, with his back facing me. I flipped off the lamp, but in the moonlight, I could still see the outline of Ed's body. I wanted to be over there with him. Not for any particular reason, but I wanted to.

I could almost hear myself shouting to him "I love you"! Why were those three little words so hard for everyone who ever existed to say? People would be a lot better off if they could just say those things without hesitation. But, sadly, I am not one of those brave people.

"Ed?"

"Huh?"

"…Are you cold?"

"Not really."

I stood up.

"Well, I am."

I strode to his bed, and sat on the edge. He turned to me.

"This is gonna sound really stupid… but can I… sleep with you?"

Judging by his look, people back then took things the wrong way just as much as people do today.

"You… know what I mean."

Engaging in awkward moment number one million, I curled myself close to him under his blanket. Hey, I was cold!

Brain: Sure.

Me: You stay out of this!

Brain: I control your hormones, you know.

Me: Shut up!

He made a noise of surprise. Even though we had shared a bed before, we had slept on it normally. Like each of us was on one side. But I had never actually slept next to him before. This was gonna be weird.

He put his arm down, hugging me close. I felt his chest rise and fall, breathing when he did. We slept the whole night like this, and by morning, he was flat on his back, and I was sprawled out on his torso. Al was the one to find us like that. He's a good secret-keeper, I must say.

Hey, what Izumi didn't know wouldn't kill her.

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I have no shame.

It doesn't even take much to think of these little drabbles.

They fill the plot, and they keep the story interesting.

Review.