Intertwined: An FMA story
THREE: Babysitting?!
"Ivy, honey!" A faceless woman called. Her arms were outstretched, but her body started crumbling into molten ashes. Flames lept from her hair and rushed down her back. Ivonne tried to back away from the burning woman, but the more steps she took back, the closer she got to her. The stench of burning flesh swept into Ivonne's nose, and she opened her mouth to scream, but nothing came out. The woman fell into a pile of rubbish while a flash of light lit up the darkness. A burning building loomed in front of her, and the sound of sirens was coming closer. Another flash of light, followed by booming thunder, and Ivonne was back in her room. Sweat dripped on her forehead and dampened her black hair, but it was just a thunderstorm. "Brother?" She heard muffled voices next door. She couldn't make out much more, but it was Alphonse. The storm must have woken him, too. Another boom made her wince, and almost shook her room. She stripped her sheets from her legs and tiptoed down to Cylene's room. "Ivy? Is that you?" Cylene's friendly face showed concern. A siren sounded down the road, and faded lights showed through the window. Ivonne shut her eyes tight and jumped into Cylene's lap. "Oof!" Grunted Cylene. The letter that she was looking at crumpled a bit, but she put it aside and turned out her light.
"Ew!" Edward moaned. Green slop oozed from a dirty plate onto his hand. "Hey Al, gimme those gloves over there, will 'ya?" Al nodded and tossed him the gloves. It was still early out, but Cylene woke them up for their first set of chores…cleaning the dishes. "Don't worry brother, we'll keep looking for another less…degrading job." Al scrubbed some glasses. "Jeez, I hope not." Cylene walked into the kitchen. "We need all the help we can get for now!" She untied her apron and draped it on the oven, and grabbed a coat from the table. "Are you leaving?" Al asked. "Yeah…about that…" She shrugged. "I have to go out today, do you guys mind…babysitting?" As soon as she said this, Ivy's curious face appeared in the doorway. "Umm…" Ed stared, horrified, into space. "Why…?" He quickly glanced at Ivy, an evil-looking smirk ran across her face that made Ed shudder. "Well, today is Thursday, and Saturday is the annual Augsburg gathering." Cylene explained, while reaching for a bag on a top shelf. "Wait…like a dance thing?" Ed looked confused. "Phht, yes Ed, a dance thing. I have to go shopping for the chefs and decorations and so on." Cylene slipped on her jacket. "You can come if you want! It'll be fun. I'll be back this evening, goodbye!" She waved and hurriedly ran out the door. There was only silence the next couple of moments. "So…Ivy. What do you like to do?" Ed asked, trying to make small talk. She only stuck out her tongue and ran off. "Crap!" Ed cursed and ran after her. "Brother! Wait!" Al screamed. "Excuse me?!" Someone yelled. Al stepped out of the kitchen and into the lobby. A man with a suitcase was tapping his foot. "Oh! Um…I don't work here, BYE!" Al ran into the hall, following Ivy and his brother.
"Ivy!" Ed was reaching under an unoccupied bed. "Ivy! Get out of there! Dammit!" Ivonne was pretty small, only 4'9" so she fit under that bed pretty well. "Ed!" You're just gonna scare her more!" Al grabbed Ed's shirt and tugged him out from under the bed. "Oh please, Al! She's not scared! She's just taunting me!" He put on a pouty face. Ivy crawled out and jumped up on the bed. A gurgle sound broke the silence. " Did you just growl at me?!" Ed fumed. "No, brother! Are you hungry Ivy?" Al walked out of the room, motioning to Ivy to follow, and she did.
Al reached into the cabinet and pulled out some brown paste. "What about a peanut butter sandwich?" Al asked, taking out the bread as well. She stuck out her tongue again and made a puking sign with her finger. "Um, ok. What about ham?" Al asked again, opening up the icebox. Ivy shrugged and sat down, waiting patiently. Ed also noticed that Ivy was looking at his right arm a lot, but decided to ignore it. "There 'ya go Ivy!" Al placed an odd looking sandwich on a plate in front of her. She casually ate it, and smiled at Al, like thanking him. But then turned to look at Ed, the smile gone from her face. Ivy tapped her lip for a second, then strode over to Ed's side. She peered at his arms, then poked his right one. "Uh…what is it?" Al asked. Ignoring him, Ivy pulled up Ed's sleeve and removed his glove, revealing his metal. She froze there, staring at it, then at Ed. "Oh, yeah. My right arm and left leg are fake…does it scare you?" Ed tried to sound as caring as possible, she really did look scared. She finally let go, and then reached down to her left leg and lifted her pants. It looked exactly like Ed's. Shining silver metal was where human flesh should have been. Ivonne glanced back up at Ed, there were tears in her eyes. "Ivy?" Al gasped. She took hold of Ed's arm again, this time examining it closer. She rubbed and poked almost every little area on it. Ed could see it now, Ivonne's little hand was trembling. "Ivonne?!" Al rested his hand on her shoulder. "Ah-" She sighed. "Meh-" Ivy was actually trying to say something, but it came out in short breaths instead. "Ah…mehs…tris…" Tears started to flow down her cheeks. "What did you say…?" Ed's eyes widened. "Ah…Amestris!" Her voice came together. A trembling finger rose up to Ed. "Amestris!" She cried again, still pointing at them. Ed was speechless, and so was Al.
Hours passed by, and no one said anything else. Shortly after she spoke, Ivonne locked herself in her room and Ed and Al went back to their chores. "I'm back!" Cylene called as she entered through the back into the kitchen. Her arms were full of bags as she struggled to step past the threshold. "Oh! Let me help you with those!" Ed dropped what he was doing and took the bags from Cylene, who wiped her forehead with relief. "Phew, thanks Ed. So how was it?" She asked, leaning on the table. Ed and Al glanced at each other doubtfully. "Well…Um." Al stuttered. "We got Ivy to talk!!!" Ed suddenly burst out. 'Yeah big brother, way to maintain anticipation!' Al sighed. Cylene lost her breath. "She…What?!" She gasped for air. "Ah…Mehs…Tris!" Ivy walked slowly into the room. "Amestris!" Ivy ran up to Al and hugged his leg. Cylene lost her footing and fell to the ground with a thump. "Cylene?" Ed said worriedly. "Um…uh…sorry I must have heard wrong. What did you say Ivy?" She asked again, sitting up. Ivy pointed to Ed and repeated herself. "Amestris!" "I did hear right…" A dazed look crossed Cylene's face. "What do you know of that place?!" Al almost yelled. When she lifted her head again, they could see the tears streaming down her face. "That place…was my home."