To Gain and to Lose
Disclaimer: I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist, or Final Fantasy VII. I only own Dream Girl, Joey (Joesph), Aria, Nicklas, Vixen, Sara, Michael, Amy, Devin, Comet and Morning Lily.
Dream Girl's P.O.V. - Ishbal- Military Encampment-8 yrs old
When dawn came, and the gaurds changed I was thankful because I could sleep more. After all, I normally slept during the day. I would wake up for a few hours when Hawkeye came, but then I would fall back asleep. The only reason I had slept during the night was because the "party" had worn me out.
I woke up again as Mr. Armstrong and Hawkeye entered the cell. I sat up and rubbed my eyes.
"Good afternoon, Ms. Cricket." Mr. Armstrong greeted me warmly as Hawkeye asked the gaurds if she could take me to the baths, and if we could wash my clothes.
After my bath, and after I had put on clean clothes, Hawkeye brought a gift for me. She said she had forgotten it last night. I noticed that the thing she held under the blanket was wiggling and was making soft noises.
Hawkeye took off the blanket and held up my present. The little wolf cub squirmed more now that it could see. It was mostly grey with black, brown, and white streaks.
I slowly reached up to pet it, then paused. I lowered my hand a bit and let it sniff my hand. The next thing I knew was that it was licking my fingers and was wagging its tail.
Hawkeye placed it on the floor in front of me. I looked it in its eyes and heard a soft whisper of its thoughts. I looked up and said, "Its a she-wolf."
Mr. Armstrong raised his eye brows in surprise and looked at hawkeye. She shrugged. "Many who have the Ancient's blood running in their veins can understand animals." Hawkeye said in a casual tone. Her eyes were bright, though. Many times I got the feeling that I was like a daughter to her.
"Where did you find her?" I asked because it wasn't right to take an infant from its mother if the mother was alive and healthy. Hawkeye looked at the cub.
"Her mother was used in an experiment and this one, if it didn't find a home, was scheduled to be eaten." she replied.
I frowned softly and picked up the cub, then I cuddled it under my chin and sang softly to it. "Thank you." I told Hawkeye as she walked out. I looked up and Mr. Armstrong was still there.
"What are you going to call her?" he asked me as he patted the wolf's head.
I thought for a moment and looked into the cubs eyes again. I asked her, "What do you think of Vixen?" The cub started to wag her tail in reply. "Okay, Vixen it is!"
Vixen turned to look at me. Then she decided to lick my face. Soon she realized that she never looked straight at me. Instead she would look out of the corner of her eyes. I remembered Grand-mama telling me that lesser wolves did that to show respect to the dominant wolves.
Soon Mr. Armstrong left also and left me alone with Vixen. Like all young animals, and humans alike, Vixen loved to play. I played with her until I began to feel tired, even though we hadn't been playing long. I didn't think anything of it because I thought I was getting a cold, something I was prone to getting several times a year.
That night I was gravely disappointed when Edward did not appear in my dreams. When I awoke, I found Vixen staring at me oddly. I sat up slowly but I still felt dizzy. I put my hands to my forehead and then passed out.
I awoke again to Vixen's whining and nuzzles. "I'm okay, Vixen!" I said and tried to push her off, but found that I had little strength. I also felt hot.
When Hawkeye and Mr. Armstrong arrived, I could only raise my head a bit because everything was spinning. Immediatly Hawkeye rushed over to me and picked me up. She then carried me to Dr. Marco. He examined me and gave me some medicine that tasted horrible. It knocked me out for about two hours, too.
The next day, at least from what I was told, I got worse quickly. I had a one-hunded three point three decree tempture and it didn't let up for two more days.
After the fever had been gone for a week, I began to worry because I still hadn't gained my strength back. Apa found a way to visit once a week, at least until the fighting came to an all time high. Hawkeye would stay with me all day when she could, as well as Mr. Armstrong, though not as often.
After awhile, I just gave up on the idea of getting any better. I always got worse for a few days after Dr. Marco drew blood from me. I also heard that my siblings had also gotten a bit sick, but not as bad and had gotten their strength back in a few days.
I remembered that I was always the one that got the worst of something, and took the longest to recover. But what if I don't recover this time, I thought sadly. Will I die or have to be bedridden for the rest of my life? I didn't want to die, and I sure didn't want to be a cripple. I decided to wait awhile longer and see if I would recover.
Soon, though, I fell into a state of depression, which wasn't really surprising to me because I was lonely without Edward being in my dreams. I would eat and drink, but I couldn't taste the food. I couldn't feel anything and my thoughts wondered to other memories and soon I began to hurt myself just to feeland to focus on something else
One day while I was in one of my feverish moments, and when I was delusional, I heard a male voice. Please, please hang on! Don't leave me, M-----!, I heard the voice cry out, and then sob. It couldn't have been Edward because it was an older voice.
I pondered about it the next day, when I was better. I shrugged it off, forgot about it and went back into my depression. Vixen was being taken care of Aria, who was allowed out of her cell only to feed the wolf cub. One day when I was feeling better and I wasn't so out of it, Dr. Marco asked if I would help him with something.
"What is it that you want me to help you with?" I asked curious.
"Well you can't tell anyone, but, the Fuhrer wants me to create a 'Philosopher's Stone.' Have you heard of it?" he asked.
"The Philosopher's Stone! You don't mean you've actually...!" I gasped. "Many have gone mad or have died from searching for it!"
"So you have heard of it..."
"Yes. I'd rather not get mixed up in that, but if it'll keep me busy, then I'll help you, I guess."
"Good, but I must tell you that I need human lives, or...some of your people's blood to create it." Dr. Marco said sadly, and guiltly.
I stood there and sighed. So that's why he keeps drawing blood from us. I thought, finally understanding. He doesn't want to scare us, or feel guilty about it so he asks if he could use it. At least he's honest.
"Let me talk to my brothers and sister and I'll get back to you." Dr. Marco nodded, and led me to each of my siblings.
Each time I entered a cell, that sibling would embrace me and ask if I was alright. I would assure him or her that I was alright and tell them about the blood. Two out of the three agreed to let Dr. Marco use their blood.
Nicklas, however, was very adamant about keeping his blood to himself. He tried to stop me, too, but at that time I wasn't right in the head, so I ignored him.
Edward's P.O.V- Resembool- 8 yrs old
I noticed that I didn't have anymore dreams about Dream Girl, but deep down I knew that something was wrong with her. I wished desperately to tell her that I was there for her, even if we couldn't see each other, or hear each other's thoughts, or words.
Even though I was distressed, I never let it show so that Mom wouldn't worry. I would continue to make figurines and other little trinkets for her, so she'd smile. Of course Alphonse and I would fight all the time, too, with me losing.
I was working on another figurine of Dream Girl from memory. I tried to hide it from Al, but like always he found out about it.
"Hey, Ed? Why are you making a statue of a girl?" Alphonse asked taking it from me and holding it over is head.
"Give that back, Al!" I demanded as I jumped up and tried to grab it.
"'Kay!" Al gave it back to me and sat down on the floor beside me. "But I want to know who it is, because I've never seen anyone that looks like her around here."
"Oh, I don't know, I just made her up!" I said nervously hoping that would pacify him, but of course it didn't.
"Really. Come on, tell me!"
"Alright, alright! But don't tell Mom, okay?"
"'Kay!"
"Its in the shape of a girl that appeared in one of my dreams the other day." Alphonse seemed to ponder that for a moment and then ran off downstairs. He came back with some paint.
"You should paint it so we'll know what she looks like! Take a look at these and see if these colors are enough." Al said putting the small paint containers in front of me. The figurine was only about four inches tall and was fun to paint. Alphonse went outside to play as I painted so I could surprise him with the outcome.
I had wanted it to look like she was dancing, but I didn't want to mess it up so I just made her standing straight. Her skirt looked like it was blown by a slight breeze, as was her hair. Dream Girl's arms were crossed across her chest, too, as if she was angry.
I painted her skirt a dark red, and her shirt was white with a picture of one of Dream Girl's favorite roses. The figurine stunk, but I did the best I could. Of course her eyes were green and her face was left white because it was the closest thing to her actual skin color. Her long, black hair was pulled up into a pony-tail with a red bow.
I went outside to show Al. Luckily Mom had her back turned as I went across the room and outside. I walked over to Al and showed him. His mouth dropped and he gasped. "She's pretty, brother!"
"Yeah, I know, both inside and out..." I said and then blushed, because I hadn't meant to say that out loud.
"Huh? Did you say something?" Al asked me with weird gleam to his eyes.
"No, no I didn't!" I said waving my hands in front of me. Alphonse said nothing and traced the figurine's features with his eyes. He smiled, then handed it back to me.
I took it back to our room and sat it in the back of the closet. I had to tell myself that it would only stay there until I could find a box for it.
The next time we went shopping, I brought my savings with me. I looked around and found a box that would hold Dream Girl's figurine and still have room for other things. I bought it when Mom wasn't looking. It was black with a white wolf on it. It's green eyes reminded me of Dream Girl's.
7 yrs. later- 15 yrs. old- Lior
I woke up remembering something, and walked over to my suitcase. I took everything out, but didn't find it. "Ah, hell! It must've been in the house when we burnt it!" I said cursing myself.
I sat there absorbed in the memories that I shared with Dream Girl. Not much came back to me, but I think I remembered seeing someone that looked like Mustang.
My eyes open even wider and I jumped up shouting, "That's it!"
"Huh? what's 'it'?" Al asked me, as he set some food down on the table. I stood very still for a moment in embarrasment.
"Oh, nothing! Just forget what I just said, okay?" I told Al nervously.
"Um... Is something wrong, Ed?"
"No, why?"
"Your stuff is everywhere!"
I looked around and sighed. "Oops." I went around the room, picking up my stuff.
Though, I knew where I could find Dream Girl's father, I couldn't just leave. I had to find something about the profit here in Lior. "Hey Al, what do you think about the profit, from what we've heard so far?" I asked, as I shut the lid on my suitcase.
"Well I think he's using alchemy, but...he doesn't heed Equivalent Exchange." he replied thoughtfully.
"Yeah, I think we've found it! At last!" I smiled.
That night I dreamed of a young girl. Even though I couldn't see her face, I felt something familiar about her.
Her eyes glowed eerily, as she tried to walk to the window. Before she reached it, however, she fell. Everyone awoke and rushed to her, including the two wolves. I couldn't see their faces, either.
She waved all of them away, except one, who had just come up the stairs. The person helped her back to her bed, then went back downstairs.
Al woke me up the next morning. I set on the bed, going over what I saw. Then a girl with pink bangs, and dark, brown hair, whose name is Rose, came. She asked if we wanted to see Father Cornello's "miracles." We agreed, of course.
Alphonse was always upset that I hadn't had a girlfriend yet, but if he did know who I was looking for, he would think I was crazy. Rose was good looking, and kind. But even when I was little, I knew that my heart belonged with Dream Girl, and no one else's.
We followed her to the steps of the temple and waited. Several hours later, I sat down on a bench inside the temple. Rose ws polishing the alter.
"So, polishing the alter everyday is gonna bring your boyfriend back to life?" I asked.
Rose turned and smiled, "Yeah, something like that."
I pulled out a small book with alchemic notes and read to her the human body's composition. "Get to close to the sun, Rose, and you'll burn." I warned getting up and walked over to the alter, in front of the statue of the sun god, Leto.
We heard a gun shot, then a clatter, and turned. I saw Al's metal head on the floor. Rose gasped when she recogonised the man holding the gun. "Cray! W-what is the meaning of this!" Rose demanded.
"Sorry, Rose. I don't want to do this, but it is Leto's will." Cray replied.
"Wow," Al said and stood up. "Your god is mean."
While Cray was shocked by the sudden revival of my brother, I grabbed Al's head and threw it at Cray, knocking him out.
"Strike!" I cried, grinning.
Rose made a frightnened noise, and said, "He's...empty!"
Alphonse turned to face her as he put his head back on. "Please, Rose, don't be scared! Its just the way I am."
Rose backed away, then ran. We sighed and headed down the hall after her.
Hours later I was in a prison cell, inside the temple. Rose came in and dropped a pan of food in front of me. As she walked out, I told her, "I hope he's real Rose, for your sake." She paused for a moment, and then ran out.
I grjineed when I heard thuds and scrapes coming from behind me. Alphonse was at work.
Cornello came to talk to me. He didn't realize, however, that his speech was being broadcast to the whole city. Once he realized what was going on, he tried to shoot me. He ran down the hall as soon as I transmuted my to where there was a blade. I followed him outside to the courtyard.
He transmuted one of the statues nearby, making it move. "You just don't get it do you!" I asked through gritted teeth. "I'm way outta your league!" I clapped my hands, touched the ground, and the large statue inside the temple moved.
"What! even the Philosopher's Stone couldn't move something that large!" Cornell cried.
The statue, now outside the temple, moved to punch him and Cornello ducked. He looked up after he realized he wasn't dead, yet. He tried to transmute again, but it created a rebound, transforming his hand. I ran over and grabbed his hand. "No... It...it shattered!" I said weakly. "But, the Philosopher's Stone is supposed to be flawless!"
I walked away from Cornello. "Stop jerking me around!" I shouted at the sky.
Later Al and I were standing by the fountain in the plaza. "I thought for sure we had gotten you back to normal, Al." I said looking down.
"No, brother. You'll be the one we'll fix first-that automail's so hard on you." Al told me, before I could say anything else.
"Why, why did you come here!" a familiar female voice said from behind us. It was Rose. "We were happy before you came!"
"...are you saying that we should have left this town, believing lies?" I asked her.
"Yes! Now what am I supposed to do now, Ed?" She asked as she sank to her knees. "Bringing back Cain was the only thing keeping me going."
I paused, then began to walk away. "You've got a pair of perfectly good legs, Rose. Get up and use 'em."
Al stayed behind for awhile, telling Rose our story. That way she wouldn't attempt the same thing we did; human transmutation.
When we boarded the train. I couldn't help but try to remember something about the girl, whom I call "Dream Girl." I came up with a sad, lonely young girl with green eyes.
Back at H.Q., I wanted to ask Mustang about Dream Girl, but there were so many officers from Central that I decided against it. After giving my report, and looked for any files on Tim Marco, or Dr. Marco, I took a break. Just when I was about to continue, I realized that the name Dr. Marco seemed familiar. Alphonse asked if was alright.
"Yeah, I 'm okay. But something about the name Dr. Marco seemed familiar." I replied continuing my search.
"Hey, Edward! Since most of Central is here-" Hughes said as he entered.
I glared at him and growled, "Get to the point!"
He took a step back, mumbled something, then said, "Your assement will be held here, and your options are-" I interupted him.
"I know the perfect way to show off my skills!" I grinned evilly.
The next day, Roy Mustang and I stood facing each other, on the parade grounds.
"Ready, set," Hughes called and started to run. "FIGHT!"
"What! But I'm not-" I said, clearly unprepared.
"To slow, Fullmetal!" Mustang shouted, and I went up in flames.
After blowing me up a few times, I cut his glove off so that he couldn't transmute anymore.
To my humiliation, however, Mustang revealed that his other hand's glove was the same type of glove, and it had a transmutation circle on it. Again, I was blown up.
He went to finish me off, then paused. A look of horror crossed his face. I jumped up and put a blade near his throat.
The Fuhrer stopped us before we went any-further. "That's enough." he said, holding up a hand.
"But we're not finished yet!" I said.
"True, but if I let you continue, there'd be too much for just two to clean up."
I looked around and noticed that the road was cracked in several places.
We were still working when the sun was setting. "Why did you hesitate?" I asked.
"Huh?" Mustang said and looked at me.
"You know. You didn't finish me off when you had the chance."
"Oh, that. You've hear of the war in Ishbal, right?" he asked me quietly.
"Yeah." I replied.
"I saw...my share of really terrible things in that war." Mustang paused for a moment. "There is another reason, but I'll keep that to myself. You'll probably find out on your own, sooner or later, anyway." He smiled and turned back around.
I sighed. He wasn't going to tell me about her, though he knew.
"Dr. Marco was the sanest person out of all of us, I think."
"So you do know of him!" I said.
"You should meet him."
"What? You mean, he's still alive!" I asked feeling excited. Maybe there was a chance that I would be able to get Al back to normal.
He turned to look at me, smiled and nodded. Mustang also had this look of relief in his eyes. That puzzled me a bit.
"Thanks. But you still haven't told me- why you hesitated." I paused. "Never mind, I don't need to know."
Sara's P.O.V. -Town in the east- Dr. Marco's home
I looked at myself in the mirror. My red hair stood out, and my blue eyes had dark circles underneath them. My face was pale to begin with, but today I was even paler.
I coughed a few times, then I laid back down. I was always sick, and I couldn't remember the time before I had come to live with Dr. Marco, or Master Mauro. He told me that the I had fallen seriously ill, and had forgotten everything about my past, including my name.
Since I had no name, Dr. Marco called me Sara. The name fit because I was plain and small. There are others here, too. They are like siblings to me. Their names, at least here, are Michael, he's fourteen, Amy and Devin, they're twins and are thirteen. I was startled at first when they had similar features that I had, but over time, we became used to it.
I had feelings, however, that I had forgotten a part of me, one that I missed. That part of me, I realized, was a person and that I knew that he or she would come find me. Someday, at least. I also knew that I would probably know who it was when I saw him or her.
I closed my eyes and sighed. I couldn't remember everything about him or her, but I could always remember that person's eyes, golden like the full moon.
I looked around the small room, watching the dust float in the beams of light. One of my wolf companions next to me began to bark. I sat up and looked out the window. Coming up the road was a suite of armor and a teenage boy that seemed familiar. I smiled and shouted for Michael and Devin to take me to the other room.
"But why?" they asked in our strange language that we knew, but didn't know how we knew.
"Because I want to!" I shouted in the same language. We knew how to speak in the language that the townspeople used, but not well.
I heard the front door open and shut. Dr. Marco was greeting them. Someone fired a gun, and I shuddered because of some forgotten memory. Then a clank resounded, just as they sat me in a chair by my bed.
I looked down at the trap door that led to this room in the attic. The door leading to the other part of the house was hidden so that no one could find us without Dr. Marco's permission.
Dr. Marco had told me that before I had gotten ill, I told him of dreams that I used to have. I had also told him that I wanted to meet him one day. He took out an old drawing that he said I had made to show him what the boy looked like, so that if I had forgotten, he could still look for him. However, the picture was of a boy about six or seven years old and by now he would probably look different.
I was afraid that I'd never meet him. What good would it do me, I asked myself once. I can't even remember what he looked like!
The two wolves ran in and out of the room. The male with black fur and greenish eyes, was called 'Comet'. The other, a female, was white with grey streaks, and yellowish eyes, was 'Morning Lily'. They were good companions when the nights were cold.
I looked at Alexis and asked, "Could you ask Tim if I can visit with the strangers?" Alexis nodded and looked down at the floor, sending a message to Dr. Marco.
Edward's P.O.V.
As we were walking towards Dr. Marco's house, I looked up and saw a girl sitting in the top window. Her red hair was straight, but it stuck out in all directions. Her blue eyes seemed familiar, but I knew it wasn't Dream Girl.
Once inside, I was talking to Dr. Marco when he seemed to space out for a moment. When he came to, he looked at me then said, " There's someone who wants to meet you." He stood and walked to the far wall. Al started to get up, but Dr. Marco shook his head and pointed at me.
I was puzzled. There wasn't any stairs leading to another floor, so I thought that I had been seeing things.
Then, Dr. Marco knocked twice and the door opened revealing a blonde, brown eyed boy with pale skin. "This way, please." he said slowly with a strange accent. He looked to be about fourteen.
He led me to a small room, and there sat the red-haired girl in a white dress. Her blue eyes were filled with curiousity. This time her hair was brushed and was in a knot on the back of her head. Small strands, however, fell loose. Long bangs framed her pale face.
I noticed immediately that she was sickly, but when she saw me, it brought a light to her eyes that I was sure didn't happen much. She smiled and said something, but it sounded like gibberish to me. Dr. Marco took the girl's shoulders and told her something in the same language. The girl looked at me again and said slowly with the same accent as the boy, "Hello, I am Sara." Apparently she didn't know our language well. "May I ask your name?"