A/N: It's me again! I would like to take this time to thank all of my reviewers! Your reviews are appreciated! I used some stuff from Kingdom Hearts in this chapter, and I'm thinking of making it a Kingdom Hearts crossover… If you do not want me to do that then tell me either in a PM or a review. Now, ON WITH THE STORY!

Disclaimer: Never have, never will own Full Metal Alchemist. Or Evanascence…

Chapter Four: Tales of the Heart

Ed walked into Colonel Mustang's office with a cheerful smile on his face. Roy looked up at him and so did Reiki, who was in the process of getting her second name. Ed walked up to Roy's desk and casually started talking to him.

"So… How's it going?"

"Fullmetal, why are you asking me stupid questions?"

"…"

"Answer me, Fullmetal."

"I don't feel like it…" Ed said, with a smirk to rival Roy's on his face.

"What are you up to Fullmetal?"

"Nothing…"

"What are you doing?"

"This!" Ed snapped and torched Roy's desk.

"Why the hell did you just set fire to my desk, Fullmetal!"

"Because… I thought it would be fun… And it is!"

Reiki had been silent this whole time and she had been holding the envelope with the certificate of acceptance inside it. She opened it up and read it. "The Shadowed Heart Alchemist, eh? It fits…" she muttered.

Ed stopped exchanging insults with Mustang, and looked at the paper. "I still say the Fuhrer has a lame sense of humor…"

---divider thingy---

Reiki let Ed and Al stay at her house for the night. The boys were in their room, when Ed heard a soft twang. He got out of bed without alerting Al and went to find the source of the sound. He found Reiki creeping along with a guitar in the hallway that lead to the attic and then the roof. Ed followed her.

She went all the way up to the roof. She sat down on the edge, legs dangling, and started playing and singing along.

"How can you see into my eyes, like open doors,

Leading you down into my core, where I've become so numb.

Without a soul, my spirit sleeping somewhere cold,

Until you find it there and lead it back home.

Wake me up inside, wake me up inside,

Call my name and save me from the dark.

Bid my blood to run, before I come undone,

Save me from the nothing I've become.

Now that I know what I'm without,

You can't just leave me.

Breathe into me and make me real,

Bring me to life.

Wake me up inside, wake me up inside,

Call my name and save me from the dark.

Bid my blood to run, before I come undone,

Save me from the nothing I've become,

Bring me to life.

Frozen inside without your touch, without your love, darling,

Only you are the life among the dead.

Wake me up inside, wake me up inside,

Call my name and save me from the dark.

Bid my blood to run, before I come undone,

Save me from the nothing I've become.

Bring me to life,

Bring me to life."

Ed noticed the sadness in her voice as she sang. He turned to her and asked, "Do you do this every night?"

She jumped a little, knowing he was there, but not expecting him to talk. "Not really…"

"Why tonight, then?

"Because I was feeling too much sadness and I wanted to let it go…"

"…"

"How do you let yours out?"

"… I spar with Al."

"Do you want to spar now?"

"Can we get off of the roof first? I don't want to wake anyone else up."

"Sure." Reiki jumped off the roof. Ed followed suit. Together, they ran to the park, where they would have their first sparring match.

Lyemi: It's the end of the chapter!

Ed: No it isn't! bonks Lyemi on the head Keep writing!

Lyemi: Owie… Fine…

When they got to the park, they walked around to find a spot that didn't have many trees. They found one, and got into fighting stances. Ed got into his usual fighting stance, while Reiki did something a little odd. She just stood there and started singing the same song that she was singing earlier softly to herself. Ed charged her, and she jumped over his punch. He tried to kick her, but she sidestepped. He tried to hit her with everything, but she evaded it all.

"Why don't you fight back?" Ed asked her.

"Because I don't want to hurt you."

"You won't hurt me."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes! Just fight already!"

"Alright… But I warned you…" Reiki charged.

Ed tried to dodge but he wasn't fast enough. He got hit in the stomach, and then thrown back by a minor explosion from her hand. She frowned as he hit a tree and his head snapped back. He got up and charged her again, unsheathing his blade from his auto-mail.

Reiki's eyes widened. "You're not holding back, are you?"

"No, I'm not."

"Why? I thought I was your friend, friends aren't supposed to hurt each other!"

"About your song, was it true?"

"What?"

"Was the song true?"

"Yes, but I don't see what that has to do with anything…"

"You said you didn't have a soul…"

Reiki froze. "But… That's not what I meant!"

"What are you doing with that guilty look on your face!" Ed attacked her and stabbed her in the chest. She gagged once, but no blood came out.

"Didn't I tell you?" she said with a vicious look on her face. "I have no heart. Therefore, you cannot kill me with a mere sword…" Reiki pulled Ed's auto-mail out of her chest, and threw him into a tree.

"You say you have no soul, no heart. What are you then?" Ed looked at his blade, but there was no blood on it either, just an inky black substance covering it where he had shoved it into her chest.

"Let me explain. A person is made up of a heart, a soul, and a body. When one loses their heart to darkness, the person turns into a Heartless. A Heartless is one without a heart, soul or body. It is just darkness. Sometimes when a person becomes a Heartless, the soul and body start living on their own. This is when a Nobody is born. A Nobody is just nothing. They just simply exist. Whether the Nobody turns out to be a Dusk or something else is completely dependent on the person's strength of will. Sometimes when a strong-willed person becomes a Heartless, a Humanoid Nobody is created. Some of these Nobodies have special elements or weapons that correspond to that element. For example, if one's element was fire, then one would have red chakrams, or something similar. (A/N: For all of you Kingdom Hearts fans out there guess who I'm talking about!)"

"So, what you're saying is that you're a Heartless?"

"Yes, but let me continue. A soul tells us what's real." she said in a low voice. "A heart feels for us, remembers for us, but without a soul, everything is like a dream. A soul binds and connects the heart to the world in which it lives. A soul tells us what's warm, cold, alive, dead, the difference between rain and sun, why we love and hate. A heart can always feel, but without a soul, it can never know why it feels at all. Even memories become insubstantial. After all, if you don't have anything to define the memories, tell you what they are, then what else are they but illusions?"

Ed noticed the lowness of her voice, as if it hurt to talk about it. "It's obvious that you won, so can we go back now?" she asked him.

He was startled at the kindness in her voice, especially when he had nearly killed her. She smiled at him and said, "I know what you're thinking. 'How can she be so nice to me when I nearly killed her?' right?" Ed nodded, stunned. "I guess it's just in my nature, I'm forgiving. And I strive to keep friendships alive, even when they are shattered."

Ed smiled at her, feeling her radiating happiness rub off on him. He was surprised when he suddenly collapsed. "What the hell?"

"Oh! Sorry, I did that when you were attacking me to make sure that you wouldn't attack me again. Sorry." She apologized.

"It's ok." He said, trying to get up. He got up on one knee but then his knee gave out beneath him and sent him crashing to the ground. A pair of strong but gentle arms caught him before he hit.

"You need my help, Ed." Reiki said as she put his arm over her shoulder.

"No I don't! I can do this on my own!" he said as he pushed away from her and tried to steady himself. His attempt failed and he was falling again. Reiki caught him, and said, "I'm going to help you whether you like it or not. You can't get back on your own, and you can't sleep out here." Ed finally let her help him up and they started walking back to her house. Ed had fallen asleep on the way so Reiki carried him the rest of the way back and smiled to herself at the cherubic look on his face.

---divider thingy---

Reiki put the still sleeping Ed in his bed and went back to her room, taking her guitar with her. What she failed to notice was that Ed seemed to be having a nightmare.

(dream)

Ed and Al were finished drawing the circle for their transmutation. "That aught to do it. You ready, Al?"

"Yea."

"Don't be scared, Al. Everything's perfect."

They slammed their hands down on the circle and it glowed with a soft golden light. Then it turned to a dark purple and Ed felt pain from his left leg. A scream from his right caught his attention. He looked over at Al and watched in horror as Al's body started to disintegrate. Ed reached out to Al, but his body was gone before Ed could reach him. Suddenly, the purple light was gone and Ed was left alone in the room. He realized that Al was gone and dragged himself over to a suit of armor. He put arrays on his arms and chest, and put one on the armor.

"Give him back… He's the only little brother I have!" he cried as he slammed his hands down on the armor. It started to glow a soft blue color as he was transported to the Gate. He fought against the hands that were binding him, as images flashed before his eyes. He fought his way out of them as he saw Al at the end of the room. He closed his eyes and called out Al's name. When he opened them again he saw his arm get torn away and suddenly he was back in the transmutation room. He gripped his shoulder to try to stop the bleeding. He saw the armor get up and look at him. "Brother! What happened? Your theories were perfect! Why did it go wrong?"

"It wasn't the theories that were wrong. It was us. We made the mistake." Al then picked up Ed and ran out of the room.

The image blurred and was replaced with a similar scene, but different room and different people. There was a younger Reiki, with a long braid of blond hair and wearing a plain white dress. A boy, who Ed realized was her brother, was wearing a plain white shirt with dark shorts and a wooden sword at his hip. He had bright blue eyes and brown hair that stuck out in all directions.

"Are you ready?"

"Of course, Brother. But are you sure that we should do this?"

"I'm sure. If I wasn't sure then I wouldn't bring you into it."

"Remember what you said before? I'm always with you too. If this goes wrong I'll come back to you, Sora. I promise."

"Let's do this."

"…Yeah"

They slammed their hands down on the circle. It started glowing a soft gold. It then turned dark and Reiki screamed.

She was in front of the Gate. It started opening and her eyes widened. A hand came out of it and reached for her. She froze, and then started backwards. She tripped and fell. The hand reached for her and entered her chest. Her eyes rolled back and they closed. She started floating on her back as a pink heart floated up from her chest. She fell back onto the ground and opened her eyes. She realized that Sora wasn't there, and immediately set up a new circle, different from the first. It was a star with a key, crown, and heart on it. She choked out, "Give him back… Please…" She slammed her hands on the circle as tears fell from her eyes and onto the circle. It glowed a soft blue and Reiki blacked out.

She awoke in front of the Gate again. "Take anything you want from me! Just give me my brother back!"

"Are you prepared to pay the price of your actions?"

"Yes! Just give Sora back to me!"

"I shall grant your request, but the price shall be huge. Are you ready?"

"Yes! Just do it!"

"I shall." Reiki braced herself, but she was quickly consumed by the pain. She felt two areas of her back start to split as she cried out in pain. "Sora… I'm sorry… You didn't mean for this to happen… And now we have paid the price…" She whispered to herself as two black wings tore from her back. She felt the wings growing more and more as the muscles attached to the inside of her body to support these new appendages. She screamed for her brother, but no reply came. And as abruptly as the pain started, it stopped, and Reiki was back in her basement. Sora was lying there, in the circle when she dragged herself over to him. She shook him gently and he woke up.

"Sora… Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, Reiki…What happened to us?"

"When we performed the transmutation, you lost your body, and I lost my heart. I set up a new circle and tried to bring you back. And it worked…"

"But you gave up your humanity for me… I guess you're an angel now, right?"

Reiki didn't respond as Sora picked her up and carried her out of the room. The image blurred.

(end of dream)

Ed woke up to Reiki gently shaking him. "Ed? Are you alright?"

"Yeah… I'm fine…"

"Well, come on. I made pancakes." Reiki smiled at him and left for the kitchen. Ed frowned as he recalled his dream of Reiki's attempt at Human Transmutation. "How can she be so cheerful all the time?" he muttered to himself. He got up, got dressed, and went downstairs, planning to ask Reiki about her Attempt.

End of Chapter

Lyemi: Yay! I made it 8 pages! Yay!

Ed: Stop gloating.

Lyemi: I'm just doing it because you know you can't write that much!

Ed: Yes I can!

Lyemi: No you can't you shorty!

Ed: WHO ARE YOU CALLING A SHORTY!

Lyemi: You, ya shorty!

Ed: That's it! grabs Lyemi's throat

Lyemi: REVIEW OR ELSE ED WILL KILL ME! Remember. I was thinking of making this a Kingdom Hearts crossover so if you don't want me to then tell me. REVIEW! Thank you.