A/N: Hope everybody had a nice Thanksgiving! I know I did!
So anyway, I'm updating with this new chapter. This one will mainly be about Aysa's past, so it might be boring. I was bored just writing it, so who knows.
But I've been thinking for awhile and I'm not really sure if this should be a EdxOC fic or not. It's complicated if I do either one. If it will be a xOC fic, it's going to be pretty hard since Winry kinda likes Ed. But if I don't, it'll be hard trying to keep Aysa and Ed just friends throughout the entire story. If I figure out how to place a poll on my profile, that will be the first question I ask.
Anyway, here's the chapter.
Oh! Before I go, this is a special message for Hayate Izumi and 4 Starry Dreams of Other Worlds :
Hayate Izumi: Sorry I didn't answer your messages, but I have dial-up, and I think that's the problem. Or maybe it's becuse my computer is just slow?(- -') So I didn't get yours or any other messages until like,11/24, and that really, really sucked, seeing how most of my e-meil messages that came today date back to the 11/19. So again, I'm sooooo sorry for not answering any of your messages. I guess contacting each other by e-mail in the future is out, huh? ( -.-')
Starry Dreams of Other Worlds: I just got u're message with the Roy's Thanksgiving fic thingy, and I didn't know!! But u were deicating that 2 me?!? Aw, u shouldn't have!! and...SUPER CEREAL!!!
Declaimer: I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist
Chapter 4: A Past Revealed
The train station was as busy as ever in East City. The sound of trains departing and arriving overflowed and blended with the bustle of people. It was here where the three alchemist would leave for Resembool.
With suitcases in hand, Ed, Al, and Aysa had boarded a train that was departing for many stops. One that was also including Resembool. When they got on, the first cart was full with people, however the second cart wasn't, and the trio decided seat themselves there. Once settled in, Al turned to Ed who sat across from him,
"So, brother. Do you think Winry and Aunt Pinako will be happy to see us?"
"Yeah, sure," Ed replied coolly as he put his hands behind his head and leaned back on his seat.
"I wonder if it'll be alright for them to work on my automail," Aysa questioned.
"I'm sure they wouldn't mind."
It was a pause of silence before Al pressed on, "Anyway, how did you get your automail Aysa? And how are you able to do alchemy without a transmutation circle? I know you didn't want to tell us about it before, but still..." Al trailed off before Ed finished his sentence,
"If anytime's a better time to tell us, it's now. So spit it out. And don't give us any crap about explaining it to us later or anything!" Ed cut in.
Aysa groaned. She knew she was as good as trapped. She tried to find one more way to work around the question, but so far, she got nothing. Seeing how there was no other way to do this, she gave up.
"Fine. I'll tell only if you enlighten me a little on why you also have automail and why Al is in that suit of amour all the time. Do that and we have a deal."
Ed thought about it for a moment before a cunning smirk came on his lips. Aysa narrowed her eyes, curious on what that little shrimp was thinking. Al also didn't like the look on his face.
"Sure," Ed replied easily with his cunning smirk now gone.
Aysa raised an eyebrow, surpised that she got an answer from him that quickly, but then lowered it, thinking nothing of it.
She sighed and took off her beanie and set it on her lap, replying lazily before begininng, "Alright. Well, I might as well tell you about my life before I got my automail while I'm reminicing about the past."
As the train began to depart, Aysa began, "I was born in this town called Desmier. There, I lived with my mom, dad, and little brother, Zane."
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Six year old Aysa ran hastly through the grassy open field. She breathed the crisp air as the wind whipped through her short hair. The sea blue sky was filled with puffy marshmellow clouds, seeming to go with the flow of the wind's breeze. On a beautiful day like this, she usually would lay on the grass and stare at the white carefree clouds. Right now, however, the girl was more concentrated on getting to the flower shop as fast as she could.
'Mom is going to be so mad at me when I get there! I told her that I would be on time today!'
Aysa had soon arrived at a regular red brick house with one lone window that had three tulips in a pot resting on the windowsill. A sign on top of the building had the words, Florist Shop, which let Aysa knew she was in the right place.
Her mother owned the shop even before Aysa was living. In fact, it had first opened up when Aysa's great-grandmother was born, making it pretty old. But its finely decorated apperance made it look as if it was only three years of age at the most.
Aysa took a deep breath before she opened the door. A bell on top of the door tinkled in response to her presence, informing her mom that someone had come in. The smell of many different types of flowers hit Aysa in the face as soon as she walked in.
A young women looked up at Aysa. She wore her hair in a low ponytail with locks hanging loose from both sides of her head, and also having on a straw hat. On the side of the hat, was a beautiful velvet rose that was held in place by a pink lace. Her mother always had the rose around her and it was always in bloom no matter what. Aysa had continuously asked her mom why, but she would always reply, "It's a secret." It wasn't until Aysa was older when her mother finally told her that the rose had been in the family for generations. She said that the rose had belonged to her great-grandmother, and that the rose had a special ability to be able to be in full bloom without water. All it needed was sunlight, and the rose would never grow wilted. Aysa didn't really believe it, but how else could it be explained?
Her mom had just got through from checking out flowers for a senior lady that stood across from the counter. A frown came on the mom's face upon just seeing Aysa arrive. The young girl's head fell slightly to try to avoid the glare, but no matter what she did, she could still feel the presence of her mother's look. The senior also turned, but instead gave a heart-warming smile that old people give.
"Thank you, Cole. And try not to be to hard on the girl," the old lady said with a kind and fragile voice.
"I'll try," Cole replied back with a smile to the senior. The senior went to leave, but not before giving one last smile to Aysa before she walked out the door. Cole then came up to Aysa with her hands on her hips.
"Well, you have a lot of explaining to do young lady," she said with a stern voice. Aysa opened her mouth to speak, but before she could, her mom bent down at her level, "But you can do that later. Right now, I need you to help me with the flowers, ok?"
Cole took off her straw hat and placed it on Aysa's head. The hat tilted before Aysa smiled and shook her head rapidly, "Alright!"
Cole smiled a motherly smile at Aysa.
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"I use to always love helping my mom taking care of the flowers since the shop wasn't far from where we lived. It wasn't long until I started to study and grow to love flowers. Since my dad was also an alchemist, I started to put the two together. I would start with the simply things. Like transmuting two rose buds into a full blooming rose. And during that time, my little brother would study under me."
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"No, no! It's not like that, Zane. Here, watch me again."
Aysa had drawn a transmutation circle and had tried to show the basics of alchemy to her little brother, Zane, who was four. But so far, it was proving to be a challenge to her him. He and the family cat, Socks, watched intensly as Aysa stepped in and transmuted a small rock into a small rose statue. She beamed on with pride at her work.
"Wow, sis! You're way better at alchemy that me or anyone else I've meet. I can tell you're going to become the best alchemist in the world."
"I wouldn't say that." Aysa ruffled Zane's already messy dark brown hair while smiling. She then continued, "Now, it's your turn. Try to remember what dad and I taught you, ok?"
Zane smiled and got to work. He drew a transmutation circle around a rock and placed his hands on it. There was a flash of golden shining light, and then a puff of smoke. Aysa and Zane came into a fit of coughs before they glanced on at where the circle and rock were. Aysa and especially Zane waited anxiously for the extra puffs of smoke to clear to see if Zane had did his first transmutation or not. The smoke cleared and there in front of the siblings was a...rock. Both Zane and Aysa's heads fell as blue lines appeared on top their heads.
"I still didn't do it..." Zane mumbled in a depressed mood.
Aysa looked in pity on her brother, "Hey, it's ok. There's always next time."
"But I'm never going to be a good alchemist like you are, sis. Why don't we just give up now? It's hopeless."
Aysa sighed and abruptedly bonked Zane on the head. Zane yelped in pain and then glared daggers at his older sister, "Hey! What the heck was that for, Aysa!"
"What have I told you about giving up? Listen, Zane. First of all, if you go through life give up on everything that doesn't turn out the way you wanted it to, then you're never gonna make it. Even if it takes you two times, thirty, or even one-hundred times to get something right, you hafta learn how to keep on trying now matter what the odds are. And last, you can only be you and nobody else. Everyone is unique in their own way. So don't try to be like me, but be you. Alright?"
Zane looked on awe and surpised at what his sister just told him, "Sis... do you really believe that? If I don't give up and just be myself... will I really be able to do alchemy?"
She then scoffed, "Yeah, right! I just got that speech from mom when I was in the same situation you were. If you ask me, though, I think you'll never be able to get it right."
His face fell and tears began to well up in his eyes, before Aysa playfully punched him in his arm, "Gotcha!"
She and Zane then ran through the house giggling as they wrestled with each other.
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Al then cut in, "You have a brother?"
Aysa nodded, "Yep. You remind me alot about him, Al. He was two years younger than me in fact."
"Was?" Ed replied, lifting an eyebrow.
Aysa's face exspression suddenly fell. She turned away, not wanting to face him, "It'll come up later."
She then continued, "Well, it wasn't long before Zane finally started to get the hang of alchemy. And when he did, he then began to practice this ability with my father - it was making clones of yourself or anything else using alchemy."
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A young man with dark brown messy hair like Zane's kneeled in the ground outside. In front of him was a transmutation circle he had made in the dirt. His son looked on.
"Now listen, Zane. The key here is to give just enough blood for this act. If you keep giving too much blood, you'll loose much blood in your body. However, if you use too small of an amount of blood, the transmutation won't work. The exact amount of blood to give is left for you to decide. This blood I'm about to alchemize is one from an animal. But you can shape the blood to look whoever you want it to look like."
Zane nodded and watched as his father took a sample of blood in a thick beacker and poured a puddle of it on the circle. After that, he rested his hands on the circle. In response, the circle flashed golden light as it began to transmute the blood. The puddle suddenly began to mold itself into a human figure as it also enlarged in size. Zane looked in awe at what was once a simple puddle of blood now stand and resemble the outline of his father.
The young man admired his work and then turned to Zane, "See, son. But you must remember not to use this too often. If you do, you'll begin to loose to much blood and eventually die."
"Alright, dad." The alchemized blood then lost its outline and splattered into its original puddle form.
Zane's father smiled and glanced at his son, "So now it's your turn. You want to give it a shot?"
Zane half frowned half smiled at his father, "You know mom told me not to do this."
His dad just winked, "I don't see your mother anywhere. Do you?"
Zane smiled and shook his head.
"So, like I said, you want to give it a go?"
Zane was about to answer, when his wife came in, "What's going on?"
The father and son turned to see Cole and Aysa come back from working at the shop. "Busted." Zane said mockingly.
His father glared at him and quickly stood in front of the blood to hide it before turning to his wife and smiling nervously, "Hey, Cole. W-what brings you here?"
"Last time I checked Jonas, I live here." Aysa giggled at her mom's reply. "So, what exactly were you and Zane doing?" Cole this time asking suspicously while trying to look behing her husband to see what he was hiding. However, Jonas kept on shifting positions to hide the puddle from Cole.
"Oh, nothing! I was just - uh... you know. Um...well-" Jonas sweated atleast a million beads of sweat as he tried to think of an explaination.
"I'm waiting..." Cole tapped her foot impatiently as she crossed her arms.
Jonas's eyes lit up as he caught an idea. Why have the spotlight on him, when he could put it on someone else? He turned to his son, "Well why don't Zane tell you?" He smiled sheepishly as he looked to his son.
Zane's eyes went large and his mouth went open as his now annoyed mom placed the spotlight on him, "Well, you see, happened was-"
Zane searched for an excuse, as Cole and Aysa waited for a response and as Jonas prayed that he would think of something good and that made sense. Zane thought for a moment, the then found one,
"We had to use the bathroom, but then before we could, you and sis came - and of course we didn't want girls to see men taking care of their business, so..." Zane nervously laughed.
Aysa and Cole grimaced at him. Even Jonas had to make a face at him before he walked over to his side and played along, "Yeah, that's right! Like Zane said, we don't you girls to see our-"
Cole put her hands up to stop him, "Alright! Alright! I get it!!"
She and Aysa then turned to leave, but before the two males breathed their sighs of relief, Cole turned and said suspiciously, "Wait a minute. Why couldn't you just use the bathroom in the house?"
Jonas and Zane both tensed. Zane stuttered as he began to sweat as did his dad, "Well, I g-guess I f-forgot to tell you t-that the toilet b-broke...?"
Cole stared her son down for a moment longer until she shrugged it off and continued to walk into the house with Aysa.
The pair watched until they were sure the girls were fully into the house before they collapsed to the ground in relief. They both panted in exhaustion before Jonas scowled at his son, "The bathroom?!? You couldn't think of anything else better to say but the bathroom?!?"
"Hey! I didn't hear you coming up with anything! Besides, I'm just a kid! What do you expect me to do?!"
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"So Zane began to learn more about that ability, while I studied more about flowers and combining them with alchemy. But then one day, my dad told mom, Zane and I that he was going out to do some research, and he said to us that he would be back soon. So we waited and waited until the days turned to months, and the months turned to years. He impacted the whole family just by leaving. Zane could never learn how to duplicate right using alchemy and I wasn't able to help at the flower shop anymore since I had to watch over Zane all the time. But the worst part was that my mom went into depression everytime anyone or anything reminded her of dad. And when Zane and I asked where our father was, Mom always told us that he would be back soon. Zane always belived her, and so did I. But part of me knew that he wasn't coming back."
Aysa slightly frowned, but did no more. She promised herself that she wouldn't get to wrapped up about what happened that day and move on, but it was hard not to think about why he would lie about saying he would come back soon.
"Atleast your father had an explanation."
Aysa looked quizically at Ed, "What do you mean?"
"Our father just left us for no reason. I don't even think he cared about us." Ed scowled, not looking at Asya, but the window overlooking the rolling plains and blue sky.
Aysa furrowed her brow, "Without a reason, hunh?"
Ed didn't answer.
There was a pause of silence before she continued, "So, Zane and I were about...eight and six years old when he left. So we just continued to live without him until-" Aysa grimaced. She really didn't want to tell this prt, but she had to.
"Until what, Aysa?" Al's hallowed voice put her back in reality.
She swallowed, "Until my mom died. She was killed."
The air grew heavy.
Ed and Al stood stunned. Mainly because of how her life was turning out to be just like theirs. Al tried to contain his curiousity, but he couldn't,
"Who killed her?"
Aysa shook her head, looking at the floor, "I don't know. I could have asked her, but I guess I was so caught up in the moment that it slipped my mind."
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It was a stormy night.The wind and rain pounded the Lockhart's house as occasional rumbles of thunder growled. Flashes of lightning would light the house in a second before disappearing and leaving the home mysterious and gloomy. The two sibilings huddled together in the living room as Aysa comforted her little brother.
"I'm scared Aysa," he sobbed.
"It's alright Zane. And I told you before, as long as I'm here, there's no reason to be scared at all, alright?"
"B-but mom should've been here by now. Where is she?"
Aysa couldn't answer him, because she herself didn't know. Their mom should have been at home by now, and Aysa also began to worry as possibilties of what might have happened to her engulfed her mind. But Aysa shoved them away. She had to be brave - for her brother's sake.
A knock then came from the door, which at first made the two children jump in surprise. The knock came again, this time with a frantic and old voice saying,
"Please! Open up!"
Aysa steadily got up to answer it, but Zane grabbed her hand and held on to it tightly, holding her back, "No, Aysa. We don't know who it is!"
But the young girl shook her hand away from his grasp as she continued to walk towards the door. She reached for the knob, despite her inner self telling her to stop and turn away. Unsteadily, Aysa grasped the doorknob and turned it. She ajared the door as she peeked through it. There stood the old lady with the fragile, but kind-hearted voice that was a frequent visitor at the flower shop. She was drenched in water from standing in rain, but would have probably been drenched in sweat if it were not for the downpour. For she had ran as fast as she could to tell Aysa and Zane the news she was meant to give.
"Aysa, Zane! Something terrible has happened to the shop! It was broken into with your mother still in it!"
Aysa's eyes went as wide as saucers and in a heartbeat, she lunged out the door with her brother following close behind.
"Aysa! Zane!"
She ignored the old lady. She even ignored the fact that she should have taken an umbrella to protect herself from the rain. All she did was run. Faster than the time she was being chased by Zane when he was "it." Faster than the time she had to chase her cat, Socks, for scracthing her in the face, and even faster than all the times she was late for her job at the now vandilized shop. To put it simply: she had ran faster than she ever had before. A crowd of people gathering around the entrance came into view, showing her and Zane that she was close. Once there, she squeezed herself in between the people to see her mom. When she came inside, the flower shop's damage was already made. Flowers, dirt, and broken up pots were littered on the floor. The shelves were all either broken down, or dangling from one screw. A trail of blood stained the floor as she and her brother followed it, hoping to find her mom.
She did - lying face down in a pool of blood, on the verge of death.
Zane's face was instintly drenched in tears. Aysa's eyes went wide again as she shook her head in disbelief and lunged herself at her mother. She turned her face around to reveal that a bullet hole was marked right in her chest, with blood still flowing out of the wound. She placed her mom's head on her lap and shook her with every word she said,
"Mom?! Mom!! Are you ok!?" She then cursed herself for saying that,'Of course she's not ok!! She has a bullet hole in her chest, idiot!!'
Her mom suddenly began go into a fit of coughs. Relieved, Zane wiped his face and rushed over next to her,
"Mom?"
Cole gave a weak smile with a raspy voice, "Hey."
Zane hugged her neck. He could careless if blood also came on him too, "I'm so happy you're alright, mom."
He let go of her, and she smiled and turned to Aysa, who was on the verge of tears, "Now, dear. I want to give you this." She handed Aysa her velvet, full blooming rose that she always had around her. Aysa stared down at it before shaking her head,
"No. It's yours. And it'll always be yours until you start to get old, and - and die from old age. You're going to be alright, Mom! I know you will! You can't die from this!"
Cole just took Aysa's hand and placed the rose gently there. She then cupped Aysa's hands together, "Promise me you won't let anything happen to it, alright?" She then went into another fit of coughs, while this time coughing up blood.
"Mom!"
The dying women then turned to Zane and put her hand on his cheek, "Be a good boy while I'm gone...ok?"
More tears cascaded down Zane's cheeks as he simply nodded, "Ok."
She then put her hand down and took in one final glance at her children. They were both heart-broken. And nothing else could be said about that.
"I love you both... I'm just so sorry that you'll have to spend the rest of your lives...without a mother..."
Aysa hiccupped, "That's-that's not true. You'll always be with us. Even if you are gone, I know you'll be watching over us."
Cole weakly smiled, her raspy voice giving one last statement, "That's my girl..."
Her eyes began to dialate and turn grey. Her body turned pale and felt like ice as her head slumped.
She was gone.
"Mom? Mom!? Mom, don't leave us yet! Please!!"
Zane sobbed uncontrollably as Aysa tried in vain to wake up her mother, eventhough she knew herself that her mom was gone. But she didn't want to believe it. She couldn't.
"Mom!! Please answer me!! Don't go now!! MOM!!"
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Aysa was still heart-broken till this day. She took out her rose from her pant's pocket and held it up. Just looking at it had already healed her injured heart.
"So let me guess," Ed replied, "out of desperation, you and your brother tried to resurrect your mother using human transmutation, right?" This knowledge came from his own life.
Aysa sighed and put back her rose, "Wrong. That part comes after my brother dies, Ed."
Al gasped as Ed's face became astonished. Everything about Aysa's life was the same as the Elrics - that is, until she mentioned this part. Ed never really did want to wonder what would have happened if that suit of amour wasn't there when Alphonse's body was taken to the gate. He would always push the question aside. But now, that flimsy question seemed to have gone excersing for a day, because it was back - and it was winning. To Ed, life without his brother would be meangingless.
"After our mom died, Zane and I went to live with our uncle at a town called Renocol. During that time, our uncle was our teacher in both combat and alchemy. So instead of calling him, 'Uncle,' we would just call him our, 'Teacher.' Anyway, he was a nice man to other people, but to me and Zane, I think that sometimes he loved torturing us."
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Aysa and Zane were both on their knees scrubing away on the floors of their Teacher's house. It had been atleast six hours, and Aysa's patience was starting to get thinner and thinner at every scrub.
"Ugh! This is so disgusting!" Aysa grimaced.
Zane nodded, agreeing with her, "Uh-huh"
"I can't believe we have to clean the house! I mean it is his house!"
"Uh-huh."
"He's a grown-up! He needs to get off his lazy butt and do atleast something! I've heard of old people who aren't even as lazy as him!"
"Uh-huh." Zane looked up from his work, then his face fell. He stared face-to-face with a man who had black hair that hung loosely half way down to his back. The man was their Teacher. His shadow had loomed over Zane and his sister, but Aysa was to busy being offensive to her Teacher to even notice it."Uh, Aysa?"
"Not right now, Zane. I'm not finish criticizing Teacher! So anyway-"
"Sis," he tugged at his sister's shirt, however, she still kept on going with the insults.
"And have you ever even cleaned his underwear? I'm telling you, it's hazardous just trying to get near that stuff!"
"Aysa!!"
"What is it, Za-" Aysa finally looked up and saw her Teacher, Conin, stare fuming at her. Her mouth went gape, but played it cool, "Hey, Teacher! You know, I was just cleaning the floors and everything and - and um, so, uh... h-how long have you been there excatly?"
Conin frowned, "Just long enough to hear all of it!"
Aysa sighed, "Aw, crap..."
Conin then hit a blow right into Aysa's cheek, sending her flying into the next room.
"Sis!"
Conin then turned to Zane, who was now frightened out of his mind. He also struck him with his fist on Zane's cheek as well. And he too went flying into the next room with Aysa.
"AND BECAUSE OF THAT RUDE REMARK, YOUR CHORES ARE NOW DOUBLED!! NOW GET TO WORK!!"
One hour later
Aysa and Zane now had bandages on their cheeks as they continued to scrub the floor.
"I blame you for this." Zane growled.
"Oh, shut up!"
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Al chuckled, "That sounds alot like our teacher."
Aysa sighed in response, "Teachers. Anyway, so Zane and I were nine and six when we moved in, so about a year later is when things turned from bad to worst."
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It was once again a stormy day and Zane and Aysa were late getting home from playing with friends. Conin had told them to be on time, but Aysa was never good about listening to her teacher. The rain pelted both Aysa and Zane as they ran across the forest.
"Once we get to the bridges, we'll take the shorter one. That way, we'll avoid getting more wet in the rain and be less likely to hear Teacher's rantings altogether!" Aysa informed Zane as they both ran through the rain.
Renocol was split into two parts, with a ravine dividing the parts. Conin's house was on the opposite half from where they had come from. There were two bridges that connected each side, and the one that took the shortest amount of time to get to the otherside than the other was old, and had been worn out by weathering. Zane knew this, and that's why he began to protest as he ran,
"But isn't that one the one that's old? It could give way any day now, couldn't it?"
Aysa didn't answer him. She knew this too, but didn't really care at the time. All she wanted to do was go home. It was a moment later when they finally arrived at the worn-out bridge. It streched out atleast three meters, but that didn't stop Aysa. She immediately began to cross.
"Aysa.."
She continued to cross, not caring that the creaks from the bridge made it seem like they were taunting her, making it seem like the bridge would give way any minute. That only made her puff out her chest and continue on until she finally made it across. She then turned back over to her brother and shouted through the rain,
"Now it's your turn!! Whatever you do, just don't look down and don't think about it, and you'll be fine!!"
"No! I don't want to!!"
"Why not?!?"
Zane searched for an excuse, "Cause I just don't want to, ok?! I'll take the other bridge and meet you there!!" He then headed towards the direction of the other bridge.
"Oh, come on, Zane!! Teacher's gonna be mad at both of us if you don't cross!!"
However, Zane just slightly shrugged before continuing towards the other direction. Aysa growled, frustrated. If there was one thing she didn't want to hear, it was Teacher scowling them about how late they were. She then got an idea.
"Well, I guess that makes you a chicken then, hunh?!"
Zane stopped dead in his tracks and slowly twisted his head back to his sister, "What. Was That!?!"
Success! Aysa knew her brother long enough to know how much he hated being taunted.
She kept on going, "You heard me!! Chicken!!"
Zane bared his teeth, "I am not!!"
"Are too!!"
"Are not!!"
"Fine. If you're not, then prove it!"
Zane knew what she meant and took a glance at the bridge. It swayed slightly from side to side as the breeze from the storm whipped through. He drew back a step before he looked down at the ravine. It was atleast five hundred foot drop. Hights were one thing he wasn't to fond about, but for a rickety bridge to be the only way across made his fear grow.
"Come on!! Hurry up!!" He heard his sister shout over the whistle of the wind.
He shook his thoughts away, 'If I don't look down and think about it, everything will be fine." He chanted those words in his mind as he began to cross the bridge, holding tightly onto the ropes that held the bridge in place. He took it slow and step by step.
"That's it!! Just keep on coming!!"
'Just don't look down, and don't think about it. Just don't look down, and don't think about it.'
Zane's hands felt like they were going to fall off from holding on to the ropes so tightly.
"Come on, Zane!! You can do it!!"
'Just don't look down, and don't think about it. Just don't look down, and don't think about it.'
The creaks from the bridge taunted him just as they did Aysa, but he kept on going. He was making progress, with him being more than half way there to his sister.
"You're almost there Zane!! Just a little more!!" Aysa was by now proud at how brave her little brother was being.
'Just don't look down, and don't think about it. Just don't look down, and don't think about it. Come on! I'm almost there!'
Zane was not even ten feet away from Aysa before the worst happened. A powerful gust of wind blew through, causing the bridge to sway violently from side to side. He screeched in fear.
Aysa's eyes widened as she gasped, "ZANE!! RUN!!"
So he did, but he repeatedly tripped in the process. It was pretty hard to run while being swung from side to side. Aysa reached out her hand for Zane to grab it, but it was too late.
The bridge gave way.
Zane let out a yell. A piercing, screechy yell. His hand was still reaching for Aysa as he fell.
Aysa thought fast and grabbed it, but not before she herself had fallen off . It was because of her quick thinking did she hold on to the ledge with one hand while grasping Zane's hand with the other. The rain continued to pelt the two siblings as Aysa held on to both the ledge and Zane for dear life.
Zane sobbed as he tried not to look down, "Aysa. Please. Don't let me go."
Aysa then found herself smiling, although she didn't even know why herself. She probably thought it was because of what a stupid comment Zane had just made.
"Shut up, Zane. If I let go of you, I swear I'll be right behind you. I'll let go of the ledge also. That way, we'll both see mom. And she won't have to be sad to see that only one of us are alive while one of us are dead. We'll all be a family again."
Zane slightly smiled with tears rolling down his eyes. He then asked her, "Aysa? Are you scared?"
Aysa blew rasberries and smirked, "Heck no!"
A flash of lightning caused Zane's grip to slip away from Aysa as he began to fall another time. Aysa caught him once again, but not before she also lost her grip on the ledge. She fell about five feet until she caught onto a sharp jagged rock sticking off the side of the ledge.
That alone told her to admit, "Alright! Yes! Yes, I am very afraid, Zane!"
He laughed and so did she. They could careless if they were dangling from the ledge of the cliff, with one false move ending their lives. Laughing was the best and only thing that kept Aysa and Zane from worrying. They stopped though, when Aysa grunted in pain. The jagged rock was cutting through her hand as she held on. Blood tickled her as it ran down her arm.
Zane thought for a moment, before saying, "Aysa. Let me go."
Aysa looked dumbfounded for a moment at her brother before replying, " What are you, crazy?!? I'm not letting you go!!"
"But you have to!!"
"NO! I don't!"
Suddenly, Conin's voice calling out to them soon filled the sibiling's ears despite the storm's wrath.
Aysa's heart felt relieved as she responded to Conin, "TEACHER!! HELP!!" But she soon grimaced at the pain she was in as the rock continued to cut deeper through her skin under the pressure of holding Zane. She then turned back to her bother, putting on a painful smile through her teeth, "See, Zane? Teacher's gonna come get us!"
Zane just shook his head. He knew that she would let go from pain if he continued to hold on to her.
Aysa frowned and bared her teeth at her brother, "Zane!! Don't you dare let go!! If you do, so help me I'll kill you once we get back up on the surface!! Do you here me?!?"
Zane, however, didn't here any of it. All did was utter two words before he fell to his death, "Goodbye, sister."
And he let go.
Aysa's eyes widened in...fear? Shock? Sadness? It was probably all three. She cried out for her brother, desperate to get an answer from him. But the only answer she got, was her echo.
Why? Why were all the people that she loved and cared for leaving her life? Was she doing something wrong? She didn't know. But if killing herself just so that she could live with her mother and brother once again was considered wrong, then she didn't want to be right. She let go of the rock, wanting to fall also to her death, but someone had stopped her suicidal act and brought her up, bringing her back to the surface.
It was her teacher, Conin.
She tried relentlessly to pry free from his grasp as tears waterfalled down her face, "Let me go, Teacher!! I have to go!! I promised Zane I would!! We were all going to be a family again, Teacher!!" Let go!!"
"SILENCE!!"
He struck Aysa on her cheek with his fist. Aysa froze, then turned her red, puffy eyes to her Teacher's stern ones. He then spoke calmly to her, giving her the hard truth, "He's gone, Aysa. There's nothing else you can do for him."
Aysa rubbed her cheek where she had been struck before she broke down, embracing her tearcher tightl. He hugged her back.
They sat like that as the rain drenched them.
-------------
Aysa looked down, not wanting to face Ed or Al.
"I promised Zane that I wouldn't let go off him, but I did. I was his big sister - which meant I was suppose to look after him and protect him. But now, he's gone." Aysa's voice was low, but meaningful at what she said.
Al looked on at her in pity as Ed just watched her look down at the floor.
Aysa continued, "And then, I found out about human transmutation and, well..." Aysa trailed off as she then looked at her damaged automail arm, "I think you know what happened next. After that, my intentions were to go and find the Philosopher's Stone-"
Ed then cut her off as his face darkened, "Why?! So you can try to resurrect your brother again and maybe even your mother, too?!"
"Brother!"
Al tried to calm Ed, but Aysa just stared deadly at him, keeping a cool tone, "Don't be stupid. I've already learned my lesson. Life is only meant to go one way and in the end, we're all going to end up as one of the dead. Whether we want to or not."
Ed's facial features relaxed, but still keeping a suspicious look. "All I want to do is get my arm back and nothing more."
"See, brother? Aysa knows better than to try human tramsmutation again."
Ed scoffed. Aysa then furrowed her brows at the Fullmetal Alchemist, "Ok, now it's your turn."
"What?"
"Tell me why you have automail and why Al's always in a suit amour. That was part of the deal. Now spill it."
"Oh, that?"
"Yes, that!" Aysa began to get frustrated.
"Alright, well I have automail because I lost my arm and Al is in that suit of amour because his soul resides in it. There you have it." He leaned back in his seat easily.
"I know some of that already, shorty! Tell me all the other details!"
"Stop calling me a shorty!!"
"Why? 'Cause it's true?"
"Oh shut up!! You always seem to talk about how short people are, but look at you! You're the one that's the same height as me!"
Aysa crossed her arms, "That's because I'm a girl. It's natural for girls to be shorter than boys!"
Al began to cut in, "Aysa, Ed! Cut it out! You two argue like a married couple!"
"WE'RE NOT A COUPLE!!" Ed and Aysa ahouted at once. And with that, the two alchemist continued to argue, not caring that other people(who were unfortunate to be in the same cart as them) began to stop whatever the heck they were doing to stare at the pair's rantings.
Ed and Aysa were going at it nonstop until Al had finally had enough and decided to interven in the sitiuation, "Quiet!!"
The two alchemist at last halted their fight to peer up at the giant suit of amour. Seeing how he had finally got their attention, Al continued,
"If you guys can't say one thing nice to each other, then probably you two shouldn't say anything at all during the rest of the train ride!"
The passengers on the train felt like appplauding Al. With last exchanges of glares traded from one another, Ed turned his face away and pouted as Aysa put her beanie back on and did the same. Al glanced back and forth at the pair and sighed, wondering what in the world Roy was thinking pairing Ed and Aysa up as partners.
Well, this is probably the longest chapter I have or ever will write. So it's 12:05am and- OH SNAP!! DEATH NOTE IS ON!!!! OK-OK, I KINDA RUSHED, SO IF THERE ARE ANY GRAMMER ERRORS, TELL ME, ALRIGHT!?! THE NEXT CHAPTER WILL BE ABOUT AYSA MEETING THE ROCKBELLS, BUT RIGHT NOW, I HAVE TO SEE MY BOYFRIEND - ER, I MEAN LIGHT...
ATLgurl gone and out!
i can't belive i said that out loud... (-. -')