To Go Home

By Bashfulglowfly

Chapter Two

Munich 1918

Ed will be happy to hear this!

Liesl gathered her skirt in both hands and ran up the steps to her floor, her artist's bag thumping her hip. It's been so long it seems like forever!

She ran past her flat and burst into Ed's without even knocking. "Ed! It's over! It's…"

She stopped shock. It wasn't as if she had never seen a man without his shirt on. But she had never seen ED without his shirt. She could only stare as Ed scrambled to try and cover the strange metal arm that was attached to his body. Onyx eyes met slightly fearful golden ones.

"Ed?"

Ed sighed and gave up trying to cover his automail. "Hello, Liesl. What's over?"

Liesl approached the table, her eyes still fastened on his arm. She replied almost absently "The War." She reached out with a cautious hand and touched his arm. Her fingers trembled slightly but she laughed softly when he turned his arm over and wiggled his fingers at her.

"The War's over? That's wonderful news!" Ed picked up the screwdriver that he'd dropped when Liesl had entered the flat and held it out to her. "Would you help me? I'm guessing that Germany surrendered."

Liesl sat down next to him and took the screwdriver. "Yes, or actually, we've admitted responsibility for it. What do you want me to do?"

He pointed to a spot on the metal arm "Tighten that screw there. What are the demands?"

"Germany is going to have to pay 132 Billion gold marks. At least that's what rumored at the moment."

Ed's jaw dropped. The amount was astronomical! Ludicrous! His mind got to work thinking about all of the possibilities. "This isn't going to be good."

Liesl finished tightening the screw. Her dark eyes looked into his golden ones. "What do you mean?"

Ed ran his human hand through his hair. "I'm just thinking out loud. But it's going to take decades for Germany to pay back that amount of money. It isn't going to be anytime soon. It's going to take a while for the economy to recover. So much has been destroyed or lost." If things start going further downhill, I'm going to have to leave. I'll take Liesl with me. She can paint anywhere. I know that she loves Germany but she just won't be safe here alone. Look what happened when she went to buy black market food!

That was one of the biggest arguments the two friends had. Liesl had heard about someone who had food for sale, if one had enough money. When he heard that Liesl was planning to go, he told her that it was too dangerous, too risky. She didn't know these people. She argued that they were people who were just trying to survive like everyone else. The argument lasted for three hours before he finally shouted at her that she wasn't going alone period! End of argument!

Which was a good thing. They hadn't been at the abandoned warehouse but a few minutes when Ed heard a strange scraping noise. He grabbed Liesl by the hand and began shoving her to the back of the building. She began to protest but he covered her mouth and literally carried her into the shadows. He spotted a staircase and quickly moved towards it. "There's something wrong. Be quiet!" was breathed softly into her ear. Suddenly there were shouts and bright lanterns flaring into the gloom. It was the police.

Ed quickly and quietly led Liesl up the stairs and found an exit to the roof. He led her into the shadows of a dormer on the roof. They watched as the police dragged people out into the street and began to beat them. They could hear the cries of pain as they echoed up the buildings. Liesl buried her face in Ed's shoulder and shook. He watched with hard eyes, hands gently stroking her back, until it was over. They stayed there even after the police and the people they had captured had left. Ed wanted to make sure that there wasn't a spy left behind.

"Anything else you want me to do?" Liesl's voice startled him back to the present.

"Ah…yeah." He pointed out a few other places.

"Ed, this…arm…it didn't come from this world did it?"

"No."

Liesl bit her lip. Ed had told her that he wasn't from this world. That he had family and friends in another world. In a country called Amestris. That one of them looked like her brother, Richard. She hadn't believed him. Until now. Until seeing his fantastical arm.

"I'm sorry." She whispered.

Ed put his hand under her chin and tilted it up so that he could see her eyes. "For what?"

"Not believing you."

Ed smiled. "Liesl, five years ago if you had appeared before me and told me of the things in THIS world, I would have tied you up and hauled you to the nearest doctor."

She giggled at that. "What would your friends think of you now?"

"They would be shocked. Absolutely shocked. I would have screaming rages over little things. Like my height, milk. Stupid stuff. But, here…well, I learned very quickly to stop that. It was counterproductive."

"You want to go home."

"Yes. And I think rocket science will help me do that…" his voice trailed off.

Liesl frowned. "Ed, what's wrong?"

He shook his head, golden ponytail bobbing. "If the war reparations Germany is going to have to pay are as much as you say…I don't think things are going to turn for the better. I might have to leave."

"Don't go!" Liesl's eyes filled with tears at the thought of Ed disappearing from her life.

He stroked her cheek with his human hand. "Would you come with me if I do leave? I know that you would be leaving all that is familiar to you, but would you come."

She captured his hand in hers. "The only thing that is important for me here is you. YOU are my friend. I will follow you wherever you want to go."

Ed laughed. "You sound like an obedient wife. Which we both know that I will never have." He paused for a moment. "But that might not be a bad idea."

"What? Me being your wife?" Liesl wasn't stupid. She knew that having a wife would keep people from finding out about his preferences for men.

"Yeah." He looked at her and knew what she was thinking. "Not just for hiding the fact that I love men over women but it would be easier for you to leave the country if you are my wife. After all, wives must obey their husbands."

They looked at each other and laughed. Many of the husbands in the building obeyed their wives, not the other "proper" way.

"Are you talking about a real marriage before a priest or magistrate? Or just forged papers saying that we're married?"

"Forged papers can be too easily found out. We better do it right." He looked her straight in the eye. "But, I will never make love to you. I want you to understand that. I do love you, Liesl but strictly as a friend. Not as a lover."

Liesl smiled sweetly and kissed him on the nose. "I know. I love you too, my friend. But the idea of…well." She blushed. "No."

"If I ever find a way to get back to Amestris, I'm taking you with me."

"You'll have to teach me the language."


Author's Note #1 – According to Wikipedia (.org/wiki/World_War_I_reparations) the final total decided in 1921 was 269 billion gold marks.

Author's Note #2 – I have no clue as to whether or not there was black-market food being sold or not. Nor do I know if the police would have handled those caught by beating them. But I wouldn't be surprised about either one.