Disclaimer: WHERE IS MY MONEY FOR MAKING FMA–oh right, I didn't.
A/N: Can I just say that I love writing? Gosh you guys and your reviews I'm gonna die, I'm not worthy so very not worthy of your praise, it's too overwhelming oh sweet lord.
Oh and by the way have you ever read a Fanfic with paragraphs on it? Like, actual god-forsaken BLOCK paragraphs. I swear to God, if any of you can manage an entire fic with those kind of paragraphs I(and other people too) will worship the ground you walk on.
Ah anyways, here's the new chapter and I hope all of you enjoy it!
Chapter 4
Vinyl Records
"There's only you and me in this infinitely amount of loathsome crap."
It's been two days, nine hours, twenty-four minutes and five—no, eight seconds since the Elrics had arrived.
Del found them adequate to be around with, especially Al—what with his big heart and kind nature, even if his soul was somewhat trapped inside that armor—yes she knew about this don't let it get your panties twisted and hung out to dry, she's heard the recordings of the series, don't you remember? Of course you do, you're the reader.
For the past couple of hours, Del had been outside by the front porch of the Rockbells residence soaking in the sunlight and clean oxygen, the land was soaked in the scent of tomato juice and it felt nice to her pale lips.
But that wasn't all Del did, no—she mused and thought about her family and friends back home where all were probably searching for her frantically, and the brunette was really sorry—beyond sorry in-fact, but she wasn't ready to tell anyone about this though, she kept it all in a small glass bottle and stuffed it deep within her bloodstream.
Then her thoughts suddenly drifted back to FMA and recalled the moments which had happened within the series and surely, meeting her wasn't one of the events—and the thought occurred to her, is she messing with the timeline? Would something change in the great scheme of things during her time here? And the answer she gave herself was one 'Of course!'.
But then a memory came to her, it was much less than a thought and more than a picture; it was a video. She was rewatching the scene of her falling to the ground, flailing and banging her limbs on the floor—how childish she would have looked in front of Winry!
Del covered her face with her hands and groaned into them, why did fate—no, the entire world hate her so much! She was born blind and mute for God's sake, wasn't that enough? Is it still enough? Was that white creature really her creator—hold up, wait; why did her thoughts drift off to Truth again?
And 'again' as in, the fifth time today. The words kept replaying over and over and over again, at home when she found the weird circles, pulled into the gate, momentarily turning blind and mute once more—wasn't this enough punishment? To never hear her mother and father? To never feel the touch of her instructor's smooth fingers upon her own as they guided her through made up dots she had foolishly believed to be words?
The brunette sighed and raked her fingers through her thick hair, 'What do I do now? I can't keep staying here, I'd be a burden to Winry's grandmother—speaking of Winry, didn't she say she was leaving in a few days? Oh what luck I have!'
Del groaned again and began pulling wisps of her hair, unaware of a certain someone's amused stare.
"Frustrated?"
The poor female could only sigh and release her hair, "Not now Ed."
"I brought your favorite, dandelion tea right?" Edward took a step closer so that he was beside Del but also still behind her, "Here." Tentatively, the blonde extended a hand which was holding a cream cup to which was taken by Del, very cautiously and carefully as to not wanting to spill any.
"Thanks." The female managed to say as she took a little sip from her cup.
Del moaned happily at the taste of dandelions in her mouth, "Thank you, again."
"Don't mention it." The Elric replied as he took a sip from his own blue cup but flinched as it came in contact with his lips, "Gah, that's hot."
"Blow on it a little before you drink it, don't rush—enjoy the taste." Del laughed softly as she rolled her eyes and drank from her cup again.
"Whatever you say, Miss tea-expert." Ed mocked playfully as he leaned onto the wooden railing.
Del let her eyes wander towards where Ed was and took in his appearance, white shirt and ebony pants, simple and comfortable. She dropped her gaze and became suddenly wary of her own, black shorts, white T-shirt and Winry's cream shawl.
She shifted in her seat and looked down at the planks below her bare feet, they were worn out and dusted, but they looked peaceful; like the two humans who were simply enjoying the comfortable silence.
"Knock, knock," A soft voice came from behind them, "May I come in—outside, I mean."
Ed was the first one to recognize who this was.
"Sure Al," he chuckled and looked over his shoulder, throwing a smile at his brother, "But aren't you supposed to knock and ask if you're coming inside, not outside?"
"That's exactly what I thought." Del grinned, clear amusement on her face.
The suit of armor only gave off what would be a seemingly stiff shrug, to which Ed responded with a slight shake of the head as he looked forward, "I miss this."
Al nodded, "Yeah—we used to come over all the time and play with Winry in the grass."
Ed laughed quietly, "Mhm," His voice suddenly grew thick and quiet, "Mum would always scold us whenever we came home with dirty clothes."
"Yeah, it was always so simple back in the past." Al added, solemnly.
Clearing her throat and getting up politely, Del gestured toward the door, "I'm going to go inside—you guys are having a moment and I wouldn't want to intrude, oh dear—excuse me please." She approached the door and grasped the knob in her palm, she twisted it and was about to push it open and enter the house but was stopped by Ed's voice.
"No, it's fine, just stay." It was simple, a simple sentence; but why was it giving Del all these strange sparks fitting threw the gaps of her teeth and fingers, seeping its way into her fragile skin, it was like a child needing a mother, a friend of yours needing you.
Although it was not really seen, Del had grown closer to the Elrics and Rockbells. Through the course of two days, they had bonded over tea and adventures; as well as one or two wrenches from Winry, it was simply delightful to watch to be honest.
Now back to the situation at hand.
"Alright." The brunette replied, albeit hesitantly.
Del approached her seat then looked down at it, taking in the creaky wood and holes and scratches which had marred itself there through the ages.
She wrapped the shawl closer to her body and sat down, not taking notice of the big metal suit next to her but jumping and letting out a small yelp at the contact for warm skin against cold metal, "Al!" The female breathed, "Gosh, you scared me."
The boy only laughed, "Sorry, didn't know you hadn't noticed me yet."
"Sorry." Half-guilty and half-playful, Del grinned and gestured towards Ed and winked at Al, sending a secret message to the younger brother, "But at least-"
"Miss Del, please don't." Al whispered quietly.
"-I was-"
"Miss Del!" The younger brother whispered again but much louder.
"-able to see you, Ed, improvement right?"
"Del!" Al gasped as Ed lunged for her, to which she ducked and ran towards the path which led to who knows where.
"I'd really love to stay and chat, but I've gotta run! See you guys!"
"Come back here you piece of dandelion trash!" Ed barked and ran after her, "Al! Tell Winry that I and Miss flower expert will be back later!"
"But brother—!"
"Later, Al!"
And as the boy and girl ran off, all poor Al could do was let his head sag as he groaned tiredly.
"Oi! Pansy! Wait up!" Ed hollered as he ran after her, she was surprisingly fast, but not fast enough.
"No way!" She huffed and puffed, with red cheeks and beads of sweat rolling down from her forehead.
It was odd you know, that Del was blind and mute for most of her life and yet could run fast—but you see, the secret to this is no magic nor was it devilry, it was purely in her genes; you see, her mum was a runner back in her days of youth, she travelled the world when she was younger and met a nice and handsome man who she then later married.
Anywho, back to the chase at hand.
Ed lept, Del tripped and what basically happened was the blonde basically lept too far and the brunette stayed on the ground for too long, Ed had now landed completely on Del's backside to which the poor girl groaned, "Oh my God, how much do you weigh?! Get off!"
The blonde growled but couldn't wipe the satisfied smirk off his face, "52 kilograms and proud of it!"
"Proud?! How can someone so small be so heavy?!" Del immediately became silent as what she had said finally sunk in, "Whoops."
"WHO'RE YOU CALLING AN ULTRA-SIZED MIDGET?!"
"I didn't say that!"
"GRAAAAHHHH!"
"AAAAHHHH!"
And so began their small flee and attack battle on the ground, other than fists and kicks being thrown a lot(albeit sloppily, you can blame Del), there were also various name-callings.
"MIDGET!"
"FLOWER-PRINCESS!"
"PIPSQUEAK!"
"MAN-HATER!"
"I AM NO MAN-HATER!"
"SHORT MAN-HATER!"
"JERK!"
"PANSY!"
And various others which I will not repeat.
A sudden flying metal object collided with Ed's forehead, making him flip backwards and barrel several feet away.
"Wrench…? Winry!" Del smiled brightly, her eyes filled with hope as she turned around, "Winry! Oh, am I glad to—"
A book implanted itself onto Del's cheek, leaving a surprisingly glowing red mark.
"Ugh, you idiots!" A feminine voice shrieked, she stomped to where Del was first and hoisted her to her feet, "Up!" Dragging Del along with her, Winry hoisted Ed to his feet, "Up!"
She took each of the tips of their ears and yelled while yanking on them, "What were you guys thinking?!"
"Ow ow ow!" Del whispered and tried to pry Winry's fingers off but sadly failed.
"Ed! I told you to simply go to her and give her some tea!" The blonde mechanic had fixed her attention solely on the older Elric, "And you just had to get in a fight—with a guest! My guest! A guest of all things! Honestly!"
"It wasn't my fault! She started it first!" Ed protested as he pointed an accusing finger at Del to which she flinched at, "Look at her! All innocent at first—but on the inside… she's just a—"
"Enough!" Winry managed to ground out, "Al! You take Ed and I'll take Del, we're bringing them back to the house!"
A metal hand grabbed Ed as the person inside of it whispered 'Sorry' before hoisting the blonde alchemist over his shoulder and carrying him away.
"And as for you," Winry narrowed her eyes at Del, "What did you say to him?"
"Nothing! I just—" Del sputtered and spouted various words after.
"You called him short, didn't you?"
"..."
"I knew it!"
"By accident!"
"Accident my gears!"
"But I—!"
"I'm going to put you in one room with Ed until you two can stop this behavior, and if you can't; you can just kiss the rest of your days of freedom goodbye."
"No! You wouldn't dare!"
"Oh, I would; I would very much."
And she did, Winry had locked them in a room(with help from Alphonse) and Del wanted to scream.
Not that it wasn't a very good room, it was quite nice actually. The room served as the second guestroom of the house and had the necessities of everything, to the right was a closet and a nice desk with blank papers stacked neatly, on the left was where a shelf filled with books and two separate beds laid.
There was a coffee table in the middle of the room with four chairs and one small rug underneath it.
Ed was furiously pacing back and forth in said room, muttering curses and how he wished he could just break down the wall and get out but then said something about being hit by wrenches.
Del sighed quietly and walked to the shelf filled with books, she hoped that at least there was one book with braille, she couldn't read otherwise.
Oh, right.
Winry hardly knew what braille was, how was she supposed to find a book with it written then?
Sighing again she plopped her boredom written body onto the soft mattress, "So, what do you suppose we do?"
Ed scoffed and held up his hands, "Us? We? No! You're the one who got me in this situation in the first place!
Offended, Del huffed and replied hotly, "If you learned to keep your temper, then neither of us would've been caught here!"
"You ran!"
"You jumped on me!"
Lightning crossed the distance between their eyes as they growled feral-like to one another.
A muffled shout of 'Behave!' came from outside of the door causing Del and Ed to break eye contact immediately.
Uncomfortable silence made a nest inside the room and settled into it as the two kept silent, Del was angry and awkward; she was angry at the fact that she was locked in a room and awkward because of this silence.
Dark beluga eyes trailed over to where the shelf full of books were, maybe she could learn? Couldn't have been that hard, right?
The brunette approached the shelf and took out a worn-out leather book with strange engravings on them, but she could read though—which surprised her, and then the memory came to her, how Truth had said that she was given a wholesome amount of intelligence for a blind and mute girl.
She frowned at the fact but opened the book anyways, it was about music actually, how it came to Amestris, where it originated, who made it, what kind of instruments were present, and some legends regarding them.
"Music came to Amestris by the hands of Lee Fang who first demonstrated his musical talent in what we now know as Central," Del whispered to herself as she ran her fingers through the words painted on the parchment, taking them in as well, "He brought a trumpet, a violin and a tuba with him; these now serve as three out of five of Amestris' most important, historical and commonly used instruments—"
And so it continued, she read quietly to herself as Ed paced back and forth trying to scheme a way out of this predicament, but without noticing—he had stopped pacing and began listening to Del read.
"—music, Roderick Rayler then brought in the piano which has become a very common item to be seen in most houses around Central. You play it by pressing the ebony and ivory keys, sometimes together to produce a special sound—note or chord if you will. This has improved the culture of Amestris, but through culture comes knowledge; and through knowledge—"
"—comes arrogance and lust for power." Ed finished solemnly, he was now next to Del and had been reading along with Del.
Del was silent as she stared at Ed, but slowly directed her eyes back to the book, "And that is all I can conclude, hopefully this will benefit you and give you more knowledge just as it had for my family."
"With care, Aaron Rockbell." The blonde and brunette finished together, staring at the last 'l' written; both equally curious.
"Curious." Ed murmured and gently took the worn book from Del's hands.
The female nodded, "and even more curiouser." She smirked smugly inside, she found that she loved quoting Alice in Wonderland; or what was sort-of a quote from the book, it was—after all—one of her favorite braille translated books.
Taking the book from the gloved fingers of Ed, she slipped it back into the shelf and sighed as she looked over her shoulder to come face to face with golden orbs, "So, what do we do now?"
The blonde only shrugged as he returned her stare, "Not sure."
Silently, Del turned on her heel and walked past Ed, heading towards the sun ridden window.
She looked out and saw leaves peeling and vines of sunlight being pushed through the grey clouds closing in, Del frowned as she heard the clouds crackle and roar.
"Once upon a time," She began as she remembered the nights where she felt soft pitter patters of water come from above and wet her pale skin, "There was a girl who fell from a ship which crossed the heavens above, she loved flying and it was a shame for a winged angel like her to fall.
She fell at sunset and saw the blue of sky turning into the red of embers, not long after she found herself in an orange body of silver water; it was known as the pacific ocean—at day it was a bright blue, at sunset it was a deep and memorable palette of red and at night it was the sky only with ripples and bright lights, millions of small ones and one big glowing ball in it."
And then she remembered her mother's voice, sweet and soothing like dandelion tea, "She sputtered and swam but her wings only weighed her down, so she cut them off and used them as a tail; like how a fish would. She swam to the surface and downed air like sweet wine, her tail then became an umbrella for which she would use for a boat as she floated and fumbled across the seas, trying to find a way to get home.
But she never did, but she did create nations—she created language, tenses, the names of time and so much more; but she was soon forgotten by most men and women, but some haven't and have left this tale as a remembrance of what she had done, for it was not only her doing to spread wisdom—it was also fate's, the gears never stop churning and so will you, and forever yours will be. Always."
Lightning illuminated the room as the windows rattled against cold winds, the fire howled and the mountains rose and snowed as Ed's eyes burned brimstone, "I don't believe the story—"
Del frowned.
"—but it's beautiful."
Del turned towards Ed and smiled, "Thank you, my mum used to read it to me when I was young."
The alchemist smiled weakly, "That's nice, you're lucky to have a mother like that."
The brunette turned towards the window once more and saw her glass reflection stained with the sky's wet tears, "I am."
She saw Ed's reflection step into her own, his golden eyes reflected a god's fury as it burned in what she would call a small fire of envy. Del felt guilty, why did she have to bring up the topic of mothers? How insensitive she was.
"You seem sad." She commented.
"Not really." Ed lied.
"Okay then." Del didn't want to push it.
"Okay." And so did he.
A mutual agreement came to them silently as they stared at the tears rolling down the window and Del couldn't believe it as it finally hit her, she finally saw rain—the streaks of white and blue her instructor so loved, the grey skies and wet land; it was beautiful. A mixture of grey, navy and blue and white—oh the sounds the clouds make, it was like the hum of her father and her grandfather.
She raised her hand and touched the glass, Del smiled a moaned softly at the cold sensation, "I love the cold."
Ed raised an eyebrow and looked at her, "Do you now?"
She replied with a small grin and nodded, "Yes."
"That's nice."
"Mmm, it is."
They heard a lock being unlocked and a knock knock, the door creaked open revealing a blonde woman with a questioning expression, "Are you two down making up?"
Ed and Del looked at each other and smiled, turning to Winry.
"I don't think there was anything to make up about in the first place." Del grinned as she gave Winry a positive thumbs-up.
The mechanic smiled and clasped her hands together, "Well, that's great then! Supper is ready, so get yourselves cleaned up and head to the dining room—Ed, you can show her, right?"
The blonde boy nodded and made a shooing gesture to which the blonde female scoffed at as she smiled good-naturedly and walked out the door, closing it softly behind her.
Thunder roared again as Ed toward Del, "You go wash up first, I'll go after you."
Taking it as an act of simply being polite, Del nodded and gathered up her clothes then walked out, unaware of the alchemist clutching his arm and debated on something.
Supper came and they were served mashed potatoes, tender chicken, green salad with nuts and meat.
"Thank you for the meal." The brunette spoke between polite munches, "The food is very nice."
Pinako grinned proudly and responded, "Think nothing of it dearie, a friend of Winry is a friend of the Rockbells."
Del smiled and continued eating.
"Oh yeah, hey brother—" Alphonse began, he was sitting at the table but didn't eat(as expected), "Colonel Mustang called in, he said he wanted us to return to Central; he thinks they've finally got Scar's location pinpointed and want you to find him."
"Colonel Bastard's more like it…" Ed huffed under his breath.
"Watch your tongue Ed, no cursing at the time—especially when there's a guest here." The short woman scolded.
Ed rolled his eyes and mumbled some incoherent words under his breath and then responded, "We'll go."
Al nodded.
"How about Del?" Winry questioned curiously as she stared at the two Elric brothers, her blue eyes flitting from Al to Ed.
Ed stole a glance from Del and faced Winry, "What of her?"
"How about you take her with you?" The blonde said as she stuffed a spoon full of mashed potatoes in her mouth, "Maybe help her get home? Wherever it is."
Del felt offended as she heard the distrust slither its way back into Winry's voice.
"I think we can do that, is that alright with you though, Miss Del?" The metal armor spoke.
"Yeah, I guess." The brunette said quietly, "Call me Del, drop the miss."
"Alright then." Winry smiled as she took in another spoon full of food.
Silence took over as Del grew exceedingly peeved at the distrust she heard, could Winry's sweet words after all be nonexistent? Was all that comforting and believing and friendliness just a mask to hide her disbelief? Granted, the thought of coming from another world was ludicrous, but it wasn't entirely unbelievable—at least that's what Pinako knew.
"Actually," Del began irritably as she poked her salad with her fork, "I don't think you should take me to Central."
Winry paused eating and looked at her with confused eyes, "And why is that?"
"Because," The brunette scowled in a brat-like way, "I don't think the military can take me home."
"I understand that the military is just a group filled with loonies thinking they can control everything," Ed interjected, "But even as the way they are, I'm sure they can take you home, wherever it is, like Winry said."
Del was beyond offended, she was angry and annoyed—the two people who she'd considered friends with for the moment were showing where their true loyalty laid, logic against friendship.
"But they can't," The female said again, "Because it isn't in this world, I'm sure of it."
"Del, drop it." Winry flashed another one of her good-natured smiles which made Del's stomach churn with anger, oh how she wanted to scream and tell them all that it was the truth.
Ed stayed quiet as he watched the two females, he was growing wary of Del's eyes filled with anger, it was like a waterfall of fire and stones raining down from a sky full of oceans.
"Fine then." The brunette spat and dropped her utensil onto her plate, making a loud clattering sound to which Al cringed at, "I'm done. Thank you for the meal Miss Pinako, it was absolutely wonderful." She drawled the word absolutely as she glared at Ed and Winry then stormed off into what was called her room.
"Wait, Del—" Winry had gotten up from her seat and had an arm outstretched, trying to stop Del to which was ignored by the angry female slamming the door close.
The mechanic frowned and sighed tiredly, "What'd I say wrong?"
The blonde alchemist stayed quiet still, he had stopped eating and was looking at the door of Del's room guiltily but also in confusion, what had they said to make her so angry?
Pinako sighed, "You basically betrayed her trust."
"What?" Ed had finally broken out of silence as he uttered the word, turning towards the grandmother.
"She's telling the truth—take it from me, she isn't the only who's said the same thing." The wrinkled ridden woman spoke as she took in a spoon full of mashed potatoes just as Winry had.
"What?" It was Winry's turn to say the words.
Pinako sighed and gestured for her granddaughter to sit, "Sit down, this is going to be quiet a tale I'm about to tell."
A/N: And there you have the new chapter!
Thank you for reading, I hope that the characters here weren't too ooc, but please tell me if they were and how I'd be able to improve their in character-ness.
Anywho, once again thank you for reading and please review! They give me motivation for writing chapters, thank you and have a great day!