Chapter Two

Where Edward runs into stubbornness in every direction.

Disclaimer: I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist.

Sara knew that she could not trust the pair of brothers. She had just met them after they broke into her father's house, for goodness sake. The blisters across her skin became even more irritated as she snuggled underneath the comforter, hiding from the boys. They had slipped out of the room for a quick second, and she was left wondering what she was going to do. A draft was slipping in through the cracks in her window panes, stinging her burns.

The yellow-eyed man dragged in a chair from the hallway, placing it beside her bed. He plopped down in the seat closest to her head, leaning over to rest his elbows on his knees. "Your condition is called acute radiation syndrome, recently discovered and labeled by one Marie Curie herself," he explained. "Symptoms can range from mild to severe; nausea, vomiting, fever, headaches, and infection of the blood."

"I am aware," she retorted sharply. Sara turned her face away from them, towards the dark window casting looming shadows. She wished that she had the will-power to keep her mouth shut, but the skill was not coming to her as easily as she had hoped. "I knew it was a highly possible risk from the beginning of my research. I know it is caused by the uranium, radium, and polonium from my experiments. I know I contracted the disease when I was studying in Paris. The question is not about my knowledge, though, it is about yours. How do you even know what it's called?"

"You are able to speak very well for someone who tried to convince me she knew not of which the language that I spoke," said Yellow-Eyes, grinning. It sounded as if he was trying to impress her; the sentence structure that he was using was similar to the old lecturers spoke with when addressing students.

Sara scowled. "You are avoiding answering my question," she accused. "Why do you know so much about radiation? Are you a student of my father's at Munich University? He teaches about radioactive substances, too, you know."

"I do know," he confirmed. "And I was a student at the University. At my short time attending classes, though, I was only able to sit in on one of your father's lectures. I have much bigger ambitions now."

"Bigger ambitions than studying at one of the most renowned schools in Germany?" she wondered, shifting to roll onto her shoulder. Her skin was immediately pained and her limb was numbed, but it was worth looking at his face. She detected a mischievous gleam in his eyes, as if he was hiding something from her. Sara could clearly see that he was so it was not worth asking about.

"Why did you study Curie's work?" Yellow-Eyes asked.

Her striking blue eyes were quick to dart from his face to the ceiling directly above her. "Fascination with science? Chemistry and physics? Radioactive substances?" she offered weakly.

Sara's answer obviously did not please him, it was shown through his annoyed expression. The man's mouth was pressed into a straight line and his jaw was clenched. He lowered his eyes, squinting at her. She squirmed under his glare. "No one simply has a fascination with those types of things," he decided firmly.

"You don't know me," Sara protested, pouting her bottom lip childishly. "You broke into my father's manor and are now interrogating me about my own personal business. You don't need the answers I am giving you, we both know that."

"Then why are you giving them in the first place?" Yellow-Eyes smirked. He had won the battle.

"You still don't know me," she muttered angrily, sticking to her original argument. "And I don't want you to know me. I want to get out of this house before my sister returns. Trust me, there will be hell to pay if she finds you here. She is also able to call the police, unlike me. Just get out of this house!" Sara could feel her blood heating in her veins with rage, just like water boiling on the stove about to bubble over. She knew now that she did not want the help that he had promised her, she just wanted him to leave.

"Keep your voice down," he hushed her, "my brother is sleeping in the room you allowed him to next door." Yellow-Eyes leaned back in his chair, relaxing in the light of the lamp on the nightstand. "Besides, Sven talked about his daughter before one of his classes. The light of his life that was finally able to attend the university, the beautiful Kerstin who would never hurt a fly. She would not call the police over."

Sara groaned, rolling onto her back. "He brags about her to all of his classes," she murmured under her breath. She wanted to believe she convinced herself that she was not jealous of her half-sister, but that would be a lie. Her relationship with Kerstin was the classic older sister scenario, she attained all of the attention while Sara was hidden away in her shadow. "I am just the child of the affair come back to haunt him."

Yellow-Eyes' devious grin slipped away from his lips. The light in his golden eyes drooped miserably like a wilting flower. "So that's who you are, Saraphine," he swallowed.

"If I agree to let you stay the night, will you please stop pestering me?" asked Sara. She had given up on his questions, but this did not mean that she had entirely given in. "I heard what you said. You can be off to Munich in the morning like you planned."

The man grunted, wriggling in his chair.

"We are complete strangers to each other," she pointed out. "I see no reason for you to stick around and watch me die; only making it harder for me with your questions. I would honestly feel much better if you just left."

"In that case," he replied, rising to his feet and arching his back to stretch the curled muscles, "Hello." Yellow-Eyes extended a hand down to her to shake. "My name is Edward Elric. I am the Fullmetal Alchemist."

"Alchemist…?" She struggled to bring her hand above the comforter. His chilling fingers and palm wrapped around her tattered flesh, shaking her hand gently. Sara gazed up at him, feeling like a helpless child. The gleam had returned to his eyes and he was smiling. It was not the mischievous smile he had worn before, it was genuinely blithe. "I am Saraphine Amsel," she repeated, "but Sara is fine if you are willing to skip the formalities." She raised her eyebrows curiously, remembering the point she was trying to make with him. "When are you going to leave my house?"

"When the wind lets up," he replied, shrugging his shoulders. "I have a health issue that requires I stay out of cold weather."

He seemed to be comfortable sharing information with her. Sara assumed that it was a tactic to gain her trust, but she let the instance slide. She could just play along with what he wanted until he left, no harm done. That way, she would not upset him – his temper seemed to be fairly unstable. Sara sank back into the mattress, releasing his cold hand. She would be in the same boat as he is fairly soon, her fever was sure to skyrocket with her other symptoms and cause her to be delirious…

"You should try and not be so rough around the edges," Edward advised her as he turned towards the door. "I can see this is not who you are, and it will be hard to keep up that appearance in the future."

She watched him leave in silence. "What makes you think that I will be spending so much time with you that the act is worth keeping up?" Sara muttered under her breath once he was gone. "You are not that special, Edward Elric." He was arrogant, he made that very apparent. She was also suspecting him to have lied to her; he was going to use her for his own personal gain as she originally had thought. Sara knew she could slither out of it, though; she could talk anyone out of anything. She had talked her mother out of sending her to Germany to be with her father several years ago, but her dreams of living in France faded with the woman's passing and no other choice but to be supported by her father.

Sara watched the illuminated doorway, the light of the hallway temporarily blinding her. Where did he think he was going? She had not invited him to free reign of the house. In fact, she had asked him to leave several times. Settling on the fact that he wandered into the room she had made welcome to his younger brother, Sara was able to find peace of mind – a space in her head away from fever and pain and sickness – and coax herself into falling asleep.

Sometime afterwards, the manor door was opened; blow inward by the fierce wind. Kerstin Amsel stepped inside the warm foyer, breathing in the musky air around her – it smelled the cologne her father wore around her as a child and she was glad that the scent stuck around even after years of cleaning, it was comforting especially after the man stopped wearing the manly perfume. The sharp click of her high-heeled boots amused her immensely as she walked further inside. Tossing her purse onto the table below the glamorous chandelier fixed above the room, Kerstin sighed. The young blonde had spent the past four hours shopping around in the market, searching for a medicine she and her sister both knew did not exist. She was simply trying to give Sara a sense of hope, something to put her faith into. The girl did not deserve to face her own death head-on. She must feel helpless.

Kerstin meandered into the kitchen at the back of the manor. She did not know why she went to that particular room, she was not hungry. Most of her time anyway was spent in the kitchen, whether she was cooking or eating or just sitting at the dinner table. She slumped into the chair at the table, allowing her whole body to fall limp. She contemplated rummaging through the cupboards to find a recipe book that had been touched in years, in hope that after flipping through its pages for ten minutes she would find something worth making for Sara. Kerstin decided against that; it was nearly midnight and she had suffered through a trying day. She could rise early and bake lebkuchens for her. Kerstin knew they reserved the special cookie for Christmas, but seeing as Sara had never tasted one before and she would most likely not make it to the holidays, she thought it would be worth the trouble. Then again, they did have to sit in a tin for a month before tasting anything like they should…

All of the thoughts of death and time were depressing her. Kerstin tapped her foot against the wobbly table leg out of boredom, trying to distract herself. Since she had started school, she had let many things around the house begin to fall apart – just like the table leg. Maybe tomorrow she could convince Sara to come out of her room while she spruced up the manor; not to make her do anything, of course, just to keep her company. There had to be some type of painkillers kept in the cupboards to give her sister, she did not want her to suffer all cooped up in that tiny bedroom.

Just as she had started across the kitchen, Kerstin was stopped, frozen in her tracks, when she heard the patter of footsteps above her head. She turned her chin to the ceiling, trying to follow the sound with her eyes. The thick wooden paneling used to do a well job of hiding Sara's footsteps when she had not been quarantined to her bedroom. Why was it so easy to hear her now? Instead of being overwhelmed with happiness that the vim had returned to her sister, Kerstin was questioning how she could be making so much noise when she was so weak.

"Sara?" she called, her voice carrying echoing up the open stairwell and the dark wood floorboards. "Are you awake? Is everything alright upstairs?"

The footsteps scrambled frantically. It was lucid there was more than one set of feet jostling along the floor. Kerstin's eyebrows knit together as she pursed her lips. Gathering her courage, she tip-toed out of the kitchen and through the hallway to the dark foyer. She sneaked along the edge of the stairs, careful to step on the only part of the board that had not been worn down over the years from constant use. Approaching the second the floor, Kerstin had to stop and ask herself what she planned to do if she found someone other than Sara.

"Sara?" Kerstin whispered, hissing through her teeth. She wanted to be strong, but she knew that no one would take her seriously. Her blonde hair and pale blue eyes matched with the dimple on her cheek gave her the appearance of a girl much younger than she actually was. Sara was strong, she had been strong since the moment Kerstin had met her. She wished she could resemble that quality. People tended to take her for granted; she appeared small and weak and that is how she let people treat her. "What is going on up here?"

"Brother!" a boy's voice reviled lowly. "Get back in here! Saraphine's sister is coming!"

A shadowy figure that was most certainly not her half-sister darted across the end of the extending hallway. Kerstin nearly tumbled back on the stairs; the rocketing fear had thrown her off balance. Then she realized the first boy had said 'Saraphine' and 'sister' which gave her the impression that they were not just strangers. But, even after only knowing her for a month, it was unlike Sara to keep something from her. Especially since inviting over guests was a relatively big deal.

"Who is there?" Kerstin demanded, finding power in her voice. She was sure that her voiced was still wavering, but it was better than being completely terrified. "Who is there?" she repeated, raising her voice. "Answer me!"

"Your sister must have given you acting lessons," a second man murmured to himself. The dark figure emerged from out behind the corner of the hallway. Kerstin whimpered, her grip on the freshly polished handrail tightening. "I'm not a danger, I promise. I am helping your sister."

"Sara doesn't need any help from a stranger," she gasped, backing down the stairwell. Her bravery surprised her, she had no idea that she could still speak. "I can take her to a hospital. She will get just as much help there."

"A hospital has never seen that type of poisoning before, what do you expect them to do?" He was confident, that much was evident. "I promise that I don't mean any harm to either of you."

Kerstin drew in a deep breath. "What's your name?" she whispered. "Why did you come here?"

"My name is Edward Elric. I am here with my younger brother Alphonse. Originally, we saw an abandoned manor and wanted to get out of the wind, nothing more. Your sister has asked me to leave several times already, and I will do so in the morning. For now, though, I am helping her heal," he explained.

Being as trusting of others as she was, Edward Elric's story sank into Kerstin's brain easily. She nodded slowly, cautiously creeping back up the stairs. Unconsciously, she had backed down to the very first step. "I don't want to trust you," she informed. "But I am going to believe you can help Sara." Pressing her hands against the wall as she reached the top step, she felt her way along the wall as she searched for the light switch. Finally, the lights flickered on, illuminating the hallway. She stole a good look at his face.

Golden hair framed his face, strands falling out of the ponytail it had been tied in. Bright golden eyes peered down at her – he was practically a head taller than her on flat feet. His jaw was firm, as if it was clenched. He looked as though he was mad, but Kerstin suspected that was just how his face looked. If he did not have such dark circles under his eyes, she may have considered him to be handsome. Kerstin shot him down with what was meant to be a menacing glare as she stepped around him, heading towards her sister's room.

"Only until morning," she muttered over her shoulder. "You help her until then. For now, I am going to bed."

"You were harsh with her, Brother," Alphonse scolded him once he was tucked away into the bedroom. Edward's head hung low, his bangs masked most of his face. "I don't think we should even be here."

Ed shook his head, sitting down on the edge of the mattress. "I want to get home," he whispered lowly. "I want to go back to our old life."

"What happened to just being happy here?" the younger Elric asked, sitting beside his brother.

"I can't be happy. Not as long as I know there are people there I care for. Not if I have to watch the girl with the information get us home die."

Al was puzzled. "You mean Saraphine is going to die?"

"Not if I have anything to say about it."

First off, thank you to the readers and reviewers of the first chapter! I got an awesome response for something I did not think turned out as well it could have.

Secondly, characters will become more of…themselves in the next several chapters. I was trying to play up the situation during this chappie and Edward came out on the bolder end of his character spectrum. I apologize for that! Also, Sara and Kerstin will bloom into themselves so they will not be just soulless girls I am throwing into a story. I promise.

Until next chapter~