The light from the sliver of a moon barely touched the cold interior of the small rundown house. The practically ruined city was very quiet, but anyone who cared to test it would find that the air was quite tense. The once fairly well off city of Leore was readying themselves run from, and fight if necessary, the military. The recent change of plans on the part of the military had affected them only shortly, as a new development boded itself very well with their initial intentions. And as the army slept and prepared to battle, the perfect bait of the war was sleeping deeply in a room in that small house, in Leore.
Yes, the perfect bait. One of the most well known alchemists and so far valuable addition to the army, oldest brother of the famous, and sometimes infamous, Elric brothers: Edward Elric. Oh yes indeed. He was the perfect bait for war. The high profile alchemist had gone into Leore and not returned, thus far. The military took the opportunity to claim him dead and call a strike on the city for killing one of their most valued soldiers and stopping them before they revolted. It was ridiculous in the eyes of anyone who was able to look past the propaganda and into the truth. If anyone dared to question and delve into the deeper workings, that person might have noticed the very basic strings that pulled all of these events into order, but no one did.
Edward Elric was the perfect bait, the perfect scapegoat, the perfect choice, and this would have been the perfect way to get rid of the possibility of him snooping into the truth. But to the pair of eyes that watched him sleepy, he was too perfect to pass up, and too perfect to be rid of. Besides, in the grand scheme of it all, there was little threat he could pose. In the calm dark, silently, a young woman stepped forward, her red dress making no sound in the night. Lyra's calm brown eyes glinted in the pale light and the corners of her mouth turned up in a light smile.
"Oh Edward, you've let exhaustion get to you." She stepped closer and laid the blanket she had been holding under her arm on the floor. She watched for a moment as the weak moon light cast pale shadows across the face of sleeping boy. She reached up and held the tips of her fingers just a hair away from his lips and allowed his calm breath to ghost over her fingertips. She shivered ever so slightly and lightly stroked the curve of his jaw.
"Nothing would wake you, I think." Lyra kneeled on the floor and looked up at his calm sleeping face. "So peaceful, such a kind face. But, I do love to see that face of yours twisted into anguish or despair." Her hand cupped his cheek and stroked his face, as he remained deep asleep.
"You are the perfect bait for the perfect war. It must be fate that you, the son of the your great father, should be an integral part of this." Lyra's fingers moved again to his jaw and slowly traced down Edward's neck to the black collar of his shirt.
"Yes you truly are his son." She loosened the collar of his shirt and slipped the fingers of one hand between the fabric and his warm skin. The other hand she let trace down onto his chest. She pushed herself up onto one knee and looked into this face.
"You have the beautiful face of Hoienheim. A perfect body, this is for him to take, but he wont. You are his son. Recently he seems to develop a soft spot. What foolish idea." Edward continued to sleep deeply against the sill of the window.
"But that is no matter. Love will connect you and I, and I will have a golden prize." On one knee she leaned in close to his face. "You are the perfect prize. In the end, I'll have everything. I'll have my immortality, I'll have the Stone, and I'll have you." Lyra leaned up and brushed her pale lips against Edwards cheek and slowly moved down. She allowed herself to pause for just a moment over his lips and held her breath for just that second.
"Would you count this as your first kiss? Oops, looks like I've stolen it. That's ok, soon you'll belong to me." Lyra stood and placed her blanket comfortably around Ed's shoulders and left the room. She paused for only a moment at the door with that same grin she had carried upon first entering. The sliver of a moon looked down though the window and as the dust in the room stirred, cast a cold air about the room and made the moment seem as if it was a frozen replica of a moment long passed in time.