I don't own FMA, but that's probably for the best. If I owned it, I wouldn't be able to write fanfiction about it.
WARNING: This chapter contains mention of rape.
Edward sighed as he walked down the street and recalled the recent events that had taken place in Roy Mustang's office. He was honestly worried about Riza. He knew that she was thirty two, and could therefore take care of herself, but he couldn't help but worry. Ever since they had met, Riza and Ed had had a rather complex relationship. A kind of mix between mother/son and brother/sister.
Ed continued to wander about, lost in his thoughts, when he accidently bumped into someone, causing the groceries that they were carrying to spill onto the pavement. "Oh man! I'm so sorry!" Ed said, instantly dropping down and gathering up the groceries before standing up to hand them back to the woman. "Here you go miss- Rose?!"
Ed could only stare in shock as he recognized the woman in front of him. It had been awhile, years in fact, but the young woman still looked remarkably the same. She still had the same heavily tanned skin and she still dyed her bangs a light brown that contrasted against her dark hair. She wore a simple yellow dress and was smiling as she took the groceries from the still-frozen Edward's hands. "Hello to you too Edward. I see that you haven't been praying enough, you're still so short!"
"WHO THE HELL ARE YOU CALLING A PIPSQUEAK SO SMALL THAT HE'D DROWN IN A DROP OF WATER?!" Ed shouted out, the comment about his height instantly snapping him out of his shock.
"And I guess that your attitude is still the same also." Rose said with amusement in her voice.
"I… You… Buh… What are you doing here?!" Ed asked after spluttering a bit in shock.
"Well, that's a bit of a story." Rose said. "Tell you what, how about we meet up for a late dinner and we can catch up?"
"Uh… Sure." Ed said dumbly, Rose's very appearance throwing him off, much less the whole conversation.
"Great! I'll see you at the café on 9th street at 7!" Rose said, turning around and walking away while giving Ed a small part wave.
"Yeah… Sure…" Ed said, staring after Rose's retreating figure. It took a minute, but suddenly the implications of the conversation hit him. "Did I just agree to go on a date?!"
Almost an hour later and a healthy dose of convincing himself that this was not, in fact, a date, Ed found himself fidgeting nervously at a small table while Rose grinned in amusement.
"Not used to talking with a pretty girl?" Rose teased.
"Yes! I mean no! I mean-" Edward suddenly stopped before turning a suspicious eye on Rose. "You're just messing with me, aren't you?"
"Guilty as charged!" Rose said, chuckling a bit before turning her attention to the server who had arrived with their food.
The two stayed silent for a few minutes as their food was laid out on the table, a simple dish of lamb with potatoes and greens for Rose, and damn near everything on the menu for Ed. One of the things that hadn't changed about Edward Elric over the years is that he could still eat far more than his small frame should have been able to hold.
"So, Rose." Ed began, already starting in on the food. "How've you been? I'm guessing that life's been treating you good since you seem a lot more… Chipper than before." It was true, throughout their interactions Rose had kept a smile on her face and was acting a lot like she had been when Ed had first met her, when she had been led on by the false priest.
That actually brought a spark of thought to Ed's mind. Maybe Rose was being led on again? If she had fallen for a third-rate alchemist's tricks before… But before Ed could voice these suspicions, as tactfully as possible of course, Rose bashed him on the head with her fist.
"No talking while you're eating!" Rose commanded.
"Ow! What the fuck?!" Ed groaned, clutching his head and feeling a small bump from where Rose had hit him.
"It's basic table manners." Rose said, clearly miffed.
"I… What? Just… Fine." Ed sighed in defeat. Now Rose was acting like Winry. And that actually managed to cow Ed into hurriedly eating all of his food, though slowing down a bit when Rose glared at him from across the table, before repeating his question.
"Well, a lot's happened since we met." Rose said, her eyes becoming distant as she recalled her past. "Not long after you left, another Father Cornello came, claiming that the one you brought down was a false priest who was taking advantage of his absence. He even brought a bunch of birds back to life to prove that he was who he said he was. And for a moment… I believed again. I thought that maybe that other Cornello truly was a fake and I could go back to how I was. But then I watched the birds. No one else was paying attention to them after they flew off, so only I noticed how they suddenly fell out of the sky."
"Temporary animation. Or more likely some kind of puppet-based alchemy." Ed said, his mind going through the equations and formulas needed for that kind of transmutation.
"Is that even possible?" Rose asked. "I mean, I saw it myself but considering what you were searching for…"
"No, I can understand the confusion." Ed said, interrupting Rose's talking and then ignoring her glare as he got into his 'lecture mode'. "Puppet alchemy is very possible. But also really tricky. The 'puppeteer', so to speak, has to imbue the object that they're working with with a portion of their soul. This way, the puppet can move around and in some cases even speak. Ever since we got Al's body back he's been specializing in soul-based alchemy so he'd be the better person to ask. Though I personally think it's possible to make a 'permanent' puppet using the same method that I used to bond Al's soul to that old suit of armor."
Rose just stared at Ed, a dazed look on her face as almost everything Ed said flew right over her head. Again, almost everything. "So you got your brother's body back? That's great!" Rose exclaimed, genuine happiness in her voice. "What about you? Can you walk on both feet again?"
"No." Ed sighed, looking down. "Alchemy is still about equivalent exchange. I had to sacrifice something to get Al's body back, but it wasn't enough of a sacrifice to get my limbs back."
"Oh…" Rose said quietly. She decided then that pressing the matter would only serve to darken the mood further.
"Well, how about you continue on Rose?" Ed asked, looking up at the tanned brunette again. "We got a bit sidetracked."
"And it was all your fault, not mine." Rose said. "But… Shortly after the 'real' Cornello came, he started to coerce the townspeople into rebellion. I tried arguing that this was exactly what the other Cornello had wanted to do, but everyone just ignored me. Then the fighting started… And…"
Rose paused, tears in her eyes.
"A-Are you ok Rose?" Ed asked, worried. "Y-You don't have to continue. I don't need to know."
"…No. I think I have to finish." Rose said dully. "The fighting started and all hell broke loose. Rebels and soldiers were killing and dying everywhere. I tried to help by looking after the orphaned children, but then some soldiers broke into the house where we were holed up, accusing us of being 'rebel sympathisers'. They… They were going to kill the children when I offered them a trade."
"What trade?" Ed asked quietly, though he was fairly certain he knew what it was.
"What else?" Rose asked, chuckling bitterly. "I offered them my body for a night to overlook us. They… I-I can't repeat what they did to me that night. But they kept their word and left us alone. The next day I gathered up some supplies and volunteers and took the children out of Liore."
"Were you successful?" Ed asked quietly, shocked by the actions of the military that he served to one of his friends. Ed had known about the fighting, but he didn't know about the other details. Clearly, Roy had even then been trying to protect just a bit of Ed's innocence. This revelation didn't put the flame alchemist back on Ed's good side, but it was definitely a few points in his favor.
"Yeah, we managed to escape using a series of old tunnels that led into the desert." Rose replied, eyes beginning to liven up again as she finished passing through the worst part of her story. "Nothing… Came of the night with the soldiers, something that I had been thanking god for every day. It would be horrible to have that kind of a reminder."
Rose was silent for another minute before taking a deep breath and finishing her story. "After I left Liore, I helped out in a small orphanage. They closed down about a year ago though so I moved here. It was a… Difficult decision. But I knew that not everyone in the military was bad." Here, Rose paused to flash a brief smile at Edward. "I started up another orphanage here. I guess that I just really love taking care of children, they just make me smile. I was getting a few things for dinner when I ran into you."
"That… Was some story Rose." Ed said, not quite knowing what to say. To avoid a more awkward talk, Ed asked something that was on his mind when Rose mentioned that she ran the orphanage. "So who's watching the kids if you're here?"
"The older kids are watching the younger." Rose replied. "I think that the oldest child is about thirteen. But he's responsible enough to watch the others."
"Heh. Whoever said that you're still a child at thirteen was a liar." Ed chuckled, remembering his own experiences. Ed then checked his pocket watch, no longer a painful reminder of his task and now just a simple timepiece. "It's getting late. Shall I escort you home ma'am?" This Ed said with an exaggerated bow as he stood up.
"If you wouldn't mind." Rose said, honestly a bit grateful for Ed's offer to escort her. She had learned how to defend herself over the years, but Central was still a pretty scary place at night and Rose actually felt very safe with Edward.
The pair left the table and Ed (after a bit of arguing with Rose) paid the bill and the two left. Rose escorted Ed through the maze of Central's streets until they came across a rather old-looking building. It had two floors, and looked like it was in desperate need of maintenance and a paint job.
Rose must have noticed the look on Ed's face because she rubbed the back of her neck self-consciously. "It's a fixer-upper no doubt. It used to be worse, but me and the children have been working hard on restoring it."
"How many children are there?" Ed asked absently, still staring at the house.
"…Nine." Rose admitted. "And two of them are too young to walk."
"This is no place for them then." Ed said bluntly.
Rose flinched, she knew that. But it was all she was able to afford from her meager savings.
"I'll come by again tomorrow and see what I can do." Ed continued, surprising Rose greatly. "At the very least, I can use alchemy to make sure that the roof doesn't leak too badly. And if there's any gaps in the wood I can fix those the same way. But I don't think alchemy would be very good beyond that, so if there's anything you need fixed make a list of it tonight and give it to me tomorrow when I swing by."
"E-Ed, you don't have to do this! I mean-" Rose never got to explain what she meant as Ed turned to face her, an intense expression on his face.
"No, I don't have to do this." Ed said sharply, before his eyes softened and he put his hand on Rose's shoulder. "But I want to. I remember what it was like to be an orphan. And believe it or not, I had it good as far as being an orphan went. Before I left I was with people who genuinely loved and cared for me and even during my travels that bastard Mustang always kept an eye on me. I saw a lot of suffering in my travels Rose, and if a couple of afternoon's worth of work makes those kids' lives easier, than I'm willing to put in that work." Ed's expression then turned mischievous. "Besides, I can't resist helping a damsel in distress."
Rose laughed and punched Edward in the arm before engulfing him in a hug. "Thanks Ed." Rose whispered into his ear. She then pulled apart and made to enter the house before turning back around. "One more thing." Rose leaned forward and gave Edward a quick peck on the lips. "Thanks for dinner!" Rose laughed as she dashed into the dilapidated house, leaving a confused and red-faced Ed on the doorstep wondering what the hell just happened.
Hello my loyal, or at the very least bored, fans! Have an update! To my knowledge, this is the first chapter to focus exclusively on Ed. I suppose I'll have to balance that out with having the next focus on Riza. Anyways, Ed and Rose meet and have dinner. Before anyone asks, YES this IS the foundation for an Ed/Rose pairing. Now on to Rose herself, I combined the look from the two animes for her. The darker skin from the first anime with the darker bangs from the second. In the 2003 anime Rose was raped by Amestris soldiers and had a child. I considered that to be a cruel thing to do to Rose so I made it so that she didn't conceive. I went a bit AU in that in the manga Rose was still in Liore during the Promised Day and I had her leave before that. I would like to take a brief moment to thank my good friend InfiniteDragon for the idea on how to introduce Rose into the story. The orphanage was his idea. As always, please leave a review and flamers will be dealt with gleefully. No review responses this time around, so I'll just jump straight to the shoutout! This shoutout goes out to RainFlame! He writes a variety of stories but focuses on FMA. In particular, check out his story Stairway to Paradise! It's a really touching and sad story about how Roy has to take care of Ed after a mission goes wrong and Ed is blinded. The only downside is it's still being written. Until next time then!