I hope you enjoy!
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He felt like crap. There was a dull ache working its way to the front of his head, and he felt like he had swallowed dust. Ed shifted slightly, keeping his eyes firmly shut. As he moved – as small as the movement was – his ribs throbbed and a twinge of pain flashed across his stomach. Yep, he definitely felt like crap. He lay still for a moment, listening. The room was quiet, except for his own shallow breathing. As his ears began to feel less fuzzy, he could hear the low murmur of voices floating down the hallway. His mind was moving sluggishly. Why did he feel so rough? Slowly, he began re-piecing his last memories. He remembered being in the kitchen, but not much else. His eyelids felt sore and heavy. Ed sighed, and instantly regretted the action. The deep breath sent a spasm of pain across his chest. Wincing, Ed forced open one eye. He was back in the Rockbell's guest room, apparently alone. Blinking blearily, he brought the world back into focus. The voices down the hallway were still buzzing. Frowning, Ed twisted his head to look at the window. Soft early morning light was seeping through the curtains, casting a pinkish glow around the room. He didn't remember going to bed, yet it was clearly morning. Suddenly, a flash of memory came to him. Pain. Blood. Then darkness and… Mustang?
Oh God. Winry was going to kill him. He had probably scared the hell out of her. Scratch that. He had definitely scared the hell out of her. Ed lifted his arm to run his hand through his hair, but a sharp, tugging pain stopped him. Confused, he looked down at his arm. There was a needle in his arm. Two needles. Ed swallowed. He hated needles. Feeling vaguely sick, he averted his eyes from his arm, choosing to follow the tubing from the needles up to the IVs. Why were there IVs in his arm? Baffled, Ed (determinedly ignoring the presence of needles) shifted his weight, trying to pull himself into a sitting position. Grimacing as pain shot across his torso, Ed manoeuvred his legs over the side of the bed. He felt woozy and disorientated as he moved, and the IV needles tugged at his arm. Ed flinched and swallowed away his nausea before he gritted his teeth and tentatively attempted to pull the needles from his arm. As he currently only had one arm, it was extremely difficult. In the end, he had to use his teeth to slide them out of his flesh, which wasn't exactly pleasant.
Hoping his legs wouldn't give out on him, Ed slid his feet to the floor. So far so good. He was a little wobbly, and he felt off balance with only one arm, but at least he could stand. His torso - which a quick glance down told him was still covered in bandages – was aching uncomfortably. His ribs were dully painful and panged with every movement, while the wound on his stomach felt raw and seared slightly. However, it was nowhere near as bad as the pain he had experienced the last time he had woken up, so he proceeded to stumble to the door. It was slightly ajar, and as he approached, the voices in the hallway grew louder. Curious, Ed paused just inside the doorway to listen. It was Hughes and Mustang.
"… I don't know Maes." Mustang was saying. "He still hasn't woken up, and he didn't really seem all there before he nearly bled to death. Who's to say what state Edward will be in when he wakes up. If he wakes up." Hughes sighed.
"Roy, Ed will wake up. Try having a little faith. Sure, the kid's been through a lot, but I'm sure he's suffered worse. He hasn't led the life of a normal eighteen-year-old." Hughes reminded him.
"But that's the thing. We don't really know if he has suffered worse. We still don't know what happened to him in the month he was missing, and it seems that he doesn't either. One thing I do know is that it wasn't a walk in the park. You saw him when he first woke up, Maes. I haven't seen anyone look that broken in a long time, and since Edward's ability to express what he's feeling is about zero, it's probably much worse than it seems. A month is a long time, Maes." There was a short silence.
"You're such a pessimist." Hughes muttered. "Look, grabbing at dark, half-formed theories isn't going to help any of us, least of all Ed. At least save your decision making until he's woken up." Hughes said firmly. Roy muttered something under his breath, and their voices receded down the hallway, towards the kitchen. Ed stood motionless, frozen in place. How could he have forgotten the whole reason he was in this nightmare of a mess? As soon as he remembered his forgotten anguish, the old feeling of guilt and tumbling emotions settled heavily on his chest. Ed clutched at his head with his hand. He was so useless! He couldn't even remember why he felt this wretched way! Mustang was right. He was broken, and until he remembered what had happened to him, he couldn't even begin to fix himself. He staggered backwards - his back finding the wall opposite the door - and sank to the floor, lost in his own circle of torment. Letting his head sink into his hand, Ed tried to recall the last thing he could clearly remember before the first time he had awoken to find himself back in Risembool. At first, there was just a murky swirling of thoughts. Ed pressed his eyes shut, trying to force the memories to surface. Central. He had been in Central. Somewhere, at the back of his mind, it was if a candle had been lit. The darkness behind his eyelids was illuminated, and the streets of Central swam into vision. Slowly, Ed let himself drift and the images grew clearer.
It had been raining that day, too.
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Ed cursed as droplets of rain spotted the report in his hand. Damn Mustang! He thought, slipping the papers inside his coat. I swear he only ever wants my reports when it's raining. It's ironic. That bastard's useless in the rain. Ed smirked, dipping into the shelter of a nearby building. He didn't really like the rain. It was usually cold, which made his automail ache. As he walked, a heavy roll of thunder growled over his head and the streets gradually began to clear of people. He wasn't far from Central Headquarters, there were only a few streets to go and he'd be there. The rain was starting to fall heavier and Ed could hear his boots splash in the growing puddles. Feeling paranoid, Ed twisted his head around to stare back along the empty streets. He was alone, but something wasn't right. He picked up the pace. All of a sudden, Ed was aware of a splashing sound. Boots on the wet street. But the footsteps weren't his own. Ed smiled. Whoever was tailing him obviously didn't know who they were dealing with. He surreptitiously pressed his hands together, letting the alchemic energy flow through his body. Under his sleeve, Ed let his automail casing reform into a long, sharp blade. As he rounded the corner, the footsteps picked up. Ed span, his sword ripping through the fabric of his coat. He let his arm stop inches from his stalker's throat.
"If you thought you were being stealthy, you were wrong." Ed snarled at the man. He was trembling, his eyes wide. He didn't look dangerous, but Ed knew from first hand experience that you didn't need to look dangerous to be dangerous. If murderers looked like murderers, the world would be a lot easier to live in.
"Why were you following me?" Ed stared coldly at the man. He swallowed nervously.
"You are the FullMetal Alchemist, are you not? The hero of the people?" Ed narrowed his eyes, but did not drop his arm.
"Who wants to know?" The man shifted uncomfortably.
"They say that you returned you little brother to his body." The man said, as if he was oblivious to the situation he was in.
"If you think that I won't hurt you just because you're an idiot, then you're sorely mistaken. I don't take kindly to people prying about my brother, especially when they've been following me for ten minutes. I suggest that you start answering my questions." Ed frowned. Of course, he would never really hurt the man, but his patience was wearing thin. He'd always had a short fuse anyway, and combining that with the rain and the current situation did not make Ed a happy man.
"Why are you following me?" He repeated, "And what do you want with me?" The man nodded, as if answering a question that only he could hear. Ed raised an eyebrow. Maybe the guy was crazy?
"Right. I guess I can tell you." He raised his eyes to meet Ed's. "We need your help. But only you. It's not something someone else can do, I'm sure." He murmured. Ed shook his head.
"If you need something from me, there are better ways to ask." Ed said, un-amused.
"It's my daughter. Please, you have to help us." The man pleaded, searching Ed's face. Ed sighed.
"I'm not sure who you think I am, but I'm not a doctor," He began. The man shook his head.
"No, she's trapped. I can't free her. I need alchemy to get her out." Ed lowered his blade slightly.
"What?" He was confused. Just what did this guy want with him? His manner had completely changed from being a strange crazy-sounding guy to a concerned parent. Something didn't feel right.
"I was taking my daughter to explore some caves, just north of Central. She'd been pestering me about it for weeks. I wasn't planning to go in too far, but she ran ahead when we got about 15 minutes in. I ran after her, but I was too late. She slipped and fell into a deeper part of the cave, almost like a hole, I guess." The man grabbed at the front of Ed's shirt causing him start backwards. "Please! You have to come and help! It wasn't too far a fall, but I think she hit her head. I could see her, she looked unconscious. I tried to get down to her, but there was no way without me falling down too!"
Ed clapped his hands and reformed his automail back into an arm. He grabbed the man's hands and pulled them off his shirt. The man wrung his hands, looking at him hopefully.
"How long has she been down there?" Ed questioned, fixing the man with a piercing stare.
"Not much more than an hour. After I tried to reach her, I ran here to get help." Ed sighed.
"Why did you come to me? Why not the military? Or the police?" he asked, rubbing his forehead. He could feel a headache coming on.
"I – I wasn't looking for you specifically," he stammered, averting his eyes. "I was, um, going to the State Alchemists, to see if they could help. You were the first Alchemist I saw, I recognised you from the descriptions. You're quite famous." Ed frowned. This all seemed very suspicious. He had half a mind to just take the man to Mustang and have him deal with it. He was going there anyway, and the Bastard deserved some extra work after making Ed come all the way to him in the rain.
The man must have seen the reluctance on his face.
"Please," he begged, "I need you! You're probably the most suited to the task anyway. I've heard stories about you. You're a prodigy, a genius!" Ed sighed again. The guy was obviously desperate. He started mumbling.
"I can't leave her down there. She's my only daughter. My little Nina." Ed froze.
"W – What?" Ed asked numbly. Nina? He shook his head. Nina wasn't that uncommon a name. He was being stupid. But still…
"Your daughter's name is Nina?" Ed asked, feeling stupid. "How old is she?" Ed could have sworn there was a smirk forming on the man's lips.
"Ten, why?" Ed breathed in deeply. Ten. The age Nina Tucker would have been, if she had been given the chance to reach it. (1) It had to be a coincidence. It was impossible for it to be anything else. Scar had murdered her.
So why couldn't he shake this feeling of dread?
"Fine," Ed said, without really realising what he was doing. "Take me to her, I'll get her out of the cave." The man's face split into a smile.
"I knew you would help! You really are the hero of the people!" Ed rolled his eyes.
"Yeah, Yeah. Come on; let's get there quickly. I have a report to hand in."
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"This doesn't look like the sort of place You'd want to bring a kid," Ed intoned darkly. They were standing at the entrance to what looked like the cave from a horror movie, complete with dripping stalactites and a rotting smell that he couldn't quite place. The man shot a glance sideways at Ed.
"Yes, I know, but she really wanted to come. I – uh – I don't know why, really." Ed frowned, but said nothing else on the matter.
"Lead the way then," Ed muttered, stepping towards the entrance.
"Right. It's not far now." They travelled in silence for about ten minutes, Ed's senses all on hyper alert. He didn't like this place. The rotting smell was getting stronger and, worryingly, more familiar. The man had produced candles for them both before they had entered, but the light they provided was only barely substantial enough for them to see by, and they didn't look like they would last too long. He discreetly glanced at the man out of the corner of his eye. He had been suspiciously quiet for a while now, and he looked strangely calm despite his situation.
They must be nearly there now, Ed was sure the man had said that he and his daughter had only gotten 15 minutes in…Ed sighed and lowered his gaze to the floor. He frowned. In the half-light, Ed could just about see some chalky-looking footprints crisscrossing in both directions. That was odd.
"Hey, do people come to this place often?" Ed questioned, breaking their prolonged silence. The man looked up at him, confused.
"I don't think so, why?" It could have just been the light, but he looked oddly nervous and wary. Ed frowned again.
"No reason," He shrugged, feigning indifference. The man watched him for a few moments, before turning back to face their path again. Something about this definitely wasn't right. Oh well, Ed mused, its not like he can take me, if that's what he planning. Besides, he could actually be telling the truth. I'm way too paranoid about things like this anyway… Ed was startled from his thoughts when they came out of the narrow tunnel into what seemed to be a large chamber. He couldn't see the ceiling in the dim light, but he could see the numerous tables piled with what appeared to be various substances and flasks of chemicals. But it wasn't this that made Ed narrow his eyes in anger. Drawn all over the floor and walls, as far as he could see, were transmutation circles. Not just any circles, though. These were unmistakably designed for human transmutation, or at least some other form of taboo. Ed hissed, sharply turning to the man beside him.
"What the hell is this? Some kind of lab for you to perform twisted experiments? What, are you luring people down here now to involve in your stupidity?" Ed snarled. The man was grinning sickly, apparently not worried that he had pissed off the famous FullMetal Alchemist. Ed growled.
"I can't say I'm surprised that you were lying, you're pretty crap at it, but this is just-" Ed was cut off by a scuffling sound coming from the middle of the chamber. He tore his eyes from the man's smirking face and focused on the source of the noise. A small girl of about ten years old was lying face down near one of the larger transmutation circles, her hands tied behind her back. Ed froze. He couldn't see her face, but her hair looked familiar. It was long and light brown, tied in two plaits either side of her head. Just like…
"N-Nina?" Ed breathed. No. It was impossible. The man was making his way towards her; the sick smile still in place on his face. Ed snapped out of his trance.
"You bastard!" He yelled, slapping his hands together. His automail slid smoothly into a blade once more, blue light crackling from the alchemic reaction. The man turned slowly, chuckling.
"It's too late for that, Edward Elric." He snickered. His eyes were fixed on something behind Ed. Ed cursed internally. He should have known this guy wouldn't be down here alone with him. He started to whirl round to face what was behind him, but he really was too late. Pain exploded behind his eyes as something heavy and hard smashed into the back of his head. Ed's knees crumpled beneath him, and his vision tunnelled.
"Shit…" He murmured as he crashed painfully to the floor. He could dimly hear the man laughing manically.
He vaguely wondered when it was that he had gotten so careless before everything darkened and nothingness embraced him.
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Ed's eyes flew open as he jerked forwards, gasping for air. Shaking violently, he jolted his head upwards and darted his eyes across the room, panicked. He was still sitting with his back against the wall in the Rockbell guest room. Evidently not much time had passed since he'd sat down, or someone probably would have been in to check on him by now. Ed staggered painfully to his feet, hissing as he angered his already aching wounds. He felt like a mess. His head was throbbing painfully, as if someone had scoured the insides of his brain. What the hell had happened to him? Recovering even that small amount of memories had left him feeling drained, even more confused and – mysteriously – even more guilt ridden than before. As he stood there shaking and panting, a sudden wave of nausea gripped him. Ed gagged and stumbled to the door. He wrenched it open, almost colliding with Mustang who had been about to enter, and sprinted to the bathroom down the hall; ignoring the grief his injuries were giving him and Mustang's cry of surprise. He collapsed in front of the toilet heaving, but all that came out was a small amount of watery stomach acid, burning his throat on it's way up. He clung to the toilet for a few moments, trying to pull himself together. He could hear Mustang thundering down the hallway after him. Jeez that man is so loud, Ed moaned internally, he's gonna bring everyone in the house here just to see what the noise is…Ed smirked, despite his annoyance. For some reason, he felt some sort of ironic optimism, knowing that he'd remembered something. At least that meant it wasn't all lost. If he could just keep remembering things, then maybe – just maybe – he could fix himself.
Mustang skidded to a halt in the bathroom doorway, taking in the scene. Ed was still clinging to the toilet, and he had no doubt that he looked like crap. He definitely felt like crap, so it would be a bloody miracle if he didn't look it. Mustang looked like he was torn between worry and relief. It was a weird expression.
"What the hell, Edward! What's wrong? Are you okay?" Mustang asked hurriedly. Ed stared at him bewildered. What the hell indeed. Since when had Mustang cared so much about him?
"Just peachy," Ed croaked sarcastically, wiping his mouth. The worry in his expression lessened slightly and Ed's characteristic reply, and took a step forward. He looked a bit shocked, actually.
"My God, you're awake," he murmured. Ed arched an eyebrow.
"Well, yeah. It would be a bit difficult for me to be talking to you otherwise. Jeez Mustang, I thought you were supposed to be smart." Surprisingly, Mustang ignored the dig from Ed, choosing instead to merely roll his eyes. He was watching Ed warily. Suddenly, Mustang's conversation with Hughes drifted back to him. Mustang had seemed to think that he might not wake up. Ed frowned as he pieced it together.
"Wait a minute… Mustang how long have I been out?" Mustang regarded Ed carefully. "Just tell me." Ed sighed.
"You've been unconscious for three weeks, Edward." Ed's face went blank. Three weeks? That was almost another month gone! But at least he had remembered something. If he looked at it in the terms of Equivalent Exchange, then it wasn't so bad. His time for his memories. But he was sure that now he'd unlocked the first wave of memories, the rest would soon follow. He could decide what to do after he knew everything.
"Edward?" Mustang asked hesitantly. Ed glanced up at him. He looked unsure of himself, as if Ed was going to freak out on him any minute. Ed sighed.
"Well, at least I'm awake now, right?" He muttered. Mustang's face softened.
"You're family has been worried about you, we should go and tell them you're awake." He said moving forward to help Ed up. He allowed him to pull him up by his one arm, trying to hide his wince as his injuries seared and ached. Mustang wasn't fooled however.
"Are you in pain?" He queried, though it almost felt like a demand. Ed shrugged.
"Not really" He lied. Mustang glared at him.
"After what happened last time you were dishonest about you're injuries, FullMetal, I would advise you to inform us if you are in pain - preferably before it gets that bad again." Ed winced a little. He'd walked into that one.
"Fine, I'm in pain. Happy now?" Ed muttered sullenly. Mustang sighed, rolling his eyes in exasperation.
"No." He stated. Ed smirked.
"That's because you're a miserable bastard," he grinned obnoxiously. Mustang looked like he was trying not to smile. Ed took a step towards the door, grimacing as his automail leg jolted. He'd forgotten it was playing up.
"If I was out for three weeks, how come my injuries aren't more healed up?" Ed grumbled. He had intended it to be nothing more than that – grumbling – but Mustang replied.
"You weren't healing very well," he said quietly, "all your wounds seemed to be healing slower that they should. You gave us all quite the scare Edward." Mustang murmured. Ed looked at him strangely, and he seemed to realize that his professional façade had slipped. He coughed.
"Anyway, It's good to see you back on your feet, FullMetal." Ed raised an eyebrow, but didn't comment on it. With the support of Mustang, he made it down the hallway without incident. He could hear voices coming from the kitchen. He turned to Mustang.
"Is everyone in there?" He asked, a sly grin spreading across his face.
"Yes," Mustang replied absently, "they're all having breakfast, I think-" Mustang stopped abruptly at the sight of Ed's face.
"Well, that's an evil smile," Mustang said disapprovingly, "what are you plotting FullMetal?" Ed smirked.
"They're not expecting me to be up, are they?" Ed asked slowly. Now it was Mustang's turn to raise an eyebrow.
"No, they all think you're unconscious still. I was supposed to be checking on you." He said warily.
"Perfect. Imagine the looks on their faces when I walk in…" Mustang shook his head.
"That's not very nice, Ed." He scolded.
"Just let me go in by myself." Ed sighed. Mustang frowned.
"I'm not becoming an accessory to you're evil doings, Edward." He threatened. Ed just rolled his eyes and shrugged off Mustangs supporting arm. Before Mustang could stop him, he walked as casually as he could through the kitchen door. Winry, Al and Hughes were all sitting around the large kitchen table and Pinako was hovering by the sink. As he walked in the all looked up. Ed forced himself not to look at them, making a beeline for the kettle.
"Morning," he yawned, pouring himself a cup of coffee. Once his mug was full he turned to survey the scene. Winry was on her feet, her mouth slightly open in disbelief, whilst Al had frozen with a forkful of egg halfway to his mouth. Hughes and Pinako looked equally stunned. Ed nonchalantly took a sip from the coffee to hide his smirk. Roy, still standing in the doorway, slapped a hand to his forehead. At least he's acting more like his old self…Mustang sighed internally.Casually, Ed looked around at the speechless occupants of the room.
"What?"
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Wah, Ed's so mean! ^__^
Well, that's another chapter up! :D I hope you all enjoyed it, Sorry it took so long! Oh, and sorry if the characters seemed really OOC again, it wasn't intentional! Oh and sorry there wasn't any EdWin in this chap either, I'll remedy that next time :D (Wah, so many apologies! XD)
Oh yeah – (1) I'm just going by the anime here. I believe Nina was four when Scar killed her, and Ed was twelve. If I'm wrong, please tell me ^__^
Hmm, I think I'll let Ed get some more memory back soon, but I'm not sure when. I'll try to get the next chapter up soon too! There was a lot of Roy in this chapter too… Hmm… It's kinda turning into a bit of a Parental!EdRoy fic as well as an EdWin… oh well. If anyone has complaints, I'll be happy to listen ^_^
REVIEWS PLEASE! Come on guys! If you read the story please review! It doesn't have to be anything flashy, just show some love! ^_^ Constructive Criticism is welcomed too! :D
Thanks a bunch to all those who review/favourite/add to alerts list too! And thanks to my regular reviewers:
Yugisrose
Very Swampeh
Whyle
Your support is very much appreciated! ^^ I love to read you comments!
Sooo, if you're reading this, please review! Don't make me use Ed as a hostage! XD
:D See you all next time ~