The Waters of Lethe
Disclaimer: I don't own FMA, just like to play in it's world and toture Ed for awhile.
Author's note: The same old shit as before.
Warning: Rated for later language, blood, violence, sex, and sins against good grammar.
Beta: Kittygirl109
5. Preparations (Vorbereitungen)
Hohenheim came back into the study while pulling on his coat and frowned. Edward sat at his desk, passport and travel documents in his lap while he stared with unfocused eyes at the floor. But he looked up quickly when Hohenheim cleared his throat. "Edward! Stop dawdling, go and get the suitcases, leave mine on my bed, and get your's ready."
The bell of a nearby church chimed the three quarter hour, so Hohenheim didn't advance any further into the room. "My meeting is at six sharp and I dare not be late because Hitler will take it as a personal snub. I don't know how long it will take, so don't wait up for me. Lock the doors and get to bed by nine, I have my own set of keys." The old man spun on his heel and Edward heard his heavy footsteps walking through their house to the front door, it opened and closed quickly and Hohenheim was gone.
Edward sighed and ran his flesh hand over his face. He already felt drained by the events of the past hour and it was with an effort he stood up and left the study then climbed the two flights of stairs to the attic. The space was large - it took up the entire top floor of the house - dusty, and bitterly cold. His breath misting in the frigid air, Edward took a few steps into the attic, picked up two battered brown suitcases from the small group which huddled together as if for warmth on the attic floor and exited.
Edward returned to the second floor still shivering from the cold. After placing one suitcase on his father's bed, he took the other to his bedroom. He opened the suitcase and laid it on his bed, then noticed the fake documents were still in his hand, so he stopped and just stared at them...
It took him over an hour to properly pack his suitcase. In the end, Edward settled on equal numbers of boxers, socks, and undershirts, plus two pairs of pants and three shirts. There weren't any mementoes he wanted, so Edward went to the small bookcase by his bed and selected a few favorite volumes to toss into the case.
He closed the suitcase and strapped it shut before taking it downstairs and setting it by the closet while he ferreted out his long winter coat, and his warmest fall jacket. After bundling them into the old blanket chest by the back window, he checked the doors to make sure they were locked, then turned out all the kitchen lights, save one over the sink. In the living room, he turned off all the lamps, then banked and screened the fire before returning to his bedroom.
Edward had nothing else to do, so he washed up and brushed his teeth in the bathroom before he returned to his bedroom to undress and put on his pajamas. He paused momentarily and regarded his nude reflection in the mirror - he was very thin, with ribs and collarbone standing out slightly against pale skin. His metal hand - covered with a rubber sleeve - idly traced the healed appendectomy scar on his abdomen and he shivered as goosebumps racing across the exposed flesh.
It wasn't nine o'clock yet, so he decided to read for awhile. After pulling on his pajamas, Edward crawled into bed and picked up a slim volume from the bedside table. He had found it in a used bookstore, a 19th century reprint of an ancient alchemy text. Immersed his favorite subject, he forgot the time and eventually fell asleep in the middle of a page, his reading lamp still burning.