Fullmetal Alchemist Fan Fiction ❯ Eye of the Beholder ❯ Chapter Five ( Chapter 5 )

Eye of the Beholder

 

LadyMad

 

Five

 

He lay on her in between her legs on the bed. She was still breathing heavily but his breathing had gone back to normal. His eyes were half-lidded as he lay there in between sleep and consciousness. This feeling running through him made him feel the best he'd felt in years and it was all thanks to her. Ariyca had done this to him. She made him feel complete. He couldn't possibly know that a woman followed him and was trying to fight herself from loving him. It didn't matter anyways. Ariyca was there with him and Ariyca did love him.

 

As soon as she drifted off to sleep, he crept from on top of her and walked to the window. It was night now, the stars shining brightly. This city was in a meadow surrounded by the forest. It wasn't too big a city which was why Ed found it odd that it should have fortress walls and guards searching people as they went in. Things were being too odd lately. The cloaked figure following him, for starters.

 

Who was that guy? He had a feeling that he'd been following Ed for longer than he'd noticed but had nothing to back it with. Finally noticing he was standing at the window wearing nothing, he went back to take a quick shower and decided to go for a walk and a drink. He wouldn't doubt he'd see the cloaked guy again. He almost expected it now.

 

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

 

Xandyr sat in a corner of the common room when Ed came down, his hair partially wet. His golden eyes swept the room and landed on her for a split second before walking to the bar and sitting down. He was there for a few minutes before a strangely familiar man walked through the door, looked around, and sat down at the bar a couple stools down from Ed. Xandyr knew this man was from Ed's past but she didn't exactly know how. Ed took notice and glanced at him before saying something. At that point, Xandyr zoned out. Something in her made her draw into herself. She needed to be in the night. Something needed to be tended to. As she got up and walked out, she noticed the man's eyes on her. She just ignored him as she walked outside and off behind the inn.

 

When she got there, a man with platinum hair and ashy blue eyes stood there. He wore Greek-looking clothes with two huge wings attached to his shoulder-blades. He was young looking, his face and body chiseled, his mouth rigid. He wore no jewelry, no earrings and no markings on his skin. He looked flawless but Xandyr knew better.

 

“Venkia, what the hell are you doing here?”

 

“You should know better to watch how you speak to your elders, Xandyr.” He expected her to bow her head but she didn't. The lines around his mouth deepened.

 

“I should, but them again we all have our problems, huh?”

 

“Disobedient child. The council has decided that since no significant changes have been made in this…creature's life, we're revoking your title as his guardian.” Xandyr quickly looked at him, her eyes piercing his.

 

“You can't revoke that. You can't take him away from me. How can he possibly survive without someone to watch over him?”

 

“He's done fine on his own. Besides, you know it's against the law when the being you're guarding suspects something and, as of late, he's noticed you. We can no longer take the risk of him discovering our kind. Angels cannot come into contact with mortals, Xandyr. It is forbidden!”

 

“I know! But he is mine!”

 

“You were just a child when assigned to him and you have your mother to thank for that. Now, you have entered the first step of becoming an adult. Your mother can no longer save you. The title is being revoked at the end of this month.” Xandyr felt the tears coming but she ignored them. Venkia sneered at her and turned away. She felt the storm raging through her it had always been like that. No other angel had the temper she did. She knew she was different but to the extent, she didn't know. She let out a small scream that lightly shook the ground around her and walked back into the inn, trying to make it seem like everything was alright. If she didn't control herself, Ed would see her for what she was, not what she wanted him to see.

 

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

 

Ed had noticed him sit down but tried to ignore him. How Roy had found him in the first place was beyond him. He glanced over and saw Roy looking him over. He was noticing the changes in the `boy' he had known.

 

“Well I can't exactly say that you look good.” Roy said.

 

“Yeah, I guess I don't exactly look young anymore.”

 

“It's not that, it's just that you look terrible. How much sleep have you gotten?” Roy asked as he got up and sat in the stool next to Ed.

 

“Not as much as I should have.” Roy only smiled.

 

“That sounds like you.” Ed smiled back.

 

“So, how is everything?”

 

“Well, the military stopped looking for your sorry ass years ago. I decided it wasn't worth it. I am now the commander of the military, which is the only reason you aren't in prison right now.”

 

“I'll send you a thank-you card when I get an address.”

 

“Armstrong died some years back. Heart attack. He died in the middle of the night. No one knew until he didn't show up in uniform.” Ed looked down at the bar top. Armstrong had been the one looking out for him and he hadn't been there when he passed on. Ed felt so guilty. Great, now two deaths were on his shoulders. “Hawkeye, Riza, is now Colonel Hawkeye. She's also soon to be my wife.” Ed looked at Roy, wide-eyed.

 

“You and Riza!?” A smile crept across Ed's face. “I never would have guessed that!”

 

“Yeah, I hadn't expected it either, until it happened. One day I just looked at her and…there you have it.” Ed looked down again. A name suddenly crossed his mind. He hadn't heard of her since he'd left.

 

“What about Winry? Is she okay or still angry with me for leaving?”

 

“Ed, Winry's moved on. When I told her I was leaving to see you, you know what she said?” Ed shook his head, his eyes intent upon Roy's. “She said `Okay, tell him I said hi'. She stopped waiting after the first year when she realized you weren't coming back. That first year, she lost so much weight because she didn't want to eat because she feared it would cut into time of talking with you when you came back. It was sad watching her. After that year, she realized you weren't coming and she moved on.”

 

“It's good that she moved on. That's good for her.”

 

“Yeah. Her husband thinks so, too.”

 

“H…husband?” Ed asked.

 

“She got married about six years ago. He's a nice guy. He's good to her. She deserves that. Winry uh, she also had a kid. A daughter. She's turning five soon. Winry's also got twin boys who just turned three and then she's expecting another one.”

 

“Good, that's good.” Ed said, trying to hold back his tears. “When you see her again, tell her I said congrats.”

 

“I will. You know, we've never found an alchemist half as good as you, Ed. It's been eight years. Maybe you should consider coming b…”

 

“No. It's best that I leave alchemy alone.”

 

“You gave it all up?”

 

“It gave me up when it took my brother from me.” Ed responded just above a whisper. He turned his head down and away from Roy.

 

“But it gave you something back.”

 

“If I could trade them for my brother, you know I would.”

 

“I know, Ed. I know. But maybe it was one of those things that were supposed to happen for a reason.”

 

“I think it's time you left, Roy. I appreciate the visit but I left my old life behind and that's how it's going to stay.”

 

“You can't run forever, Elric. It will catch up to you. At one point in your life, you won't have anywhere to run.”

 

“I think it's hit that point, Mustang.” Roy nodded and rose to his feet. He turned and walked out without looking back. Ed put his head in his hands and held back the tears as much as he could. It didn't do him any good, though. They came all the same.

 

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

 

Xandyr wanted so much to comfort him right now but she knew it would be against the angelic codes. How was she supposed to be his guardian angel if she couldn't comfort him when he needed it the most? Instead of sitting back at her empty table, Xandyr walked back up to her room and lied down on the bed, staring up at the ceiling. It didn't do any good. He was always on her mind. What she couldn't believe was that she'd had enough nerve to talk back to Venkia like that. She'd never yelled at him before. Xandyr hadn't known what had come over her, but they wanted to take Edward away from her. She'd been there since his brother's death. She'd been the one to convince Death to not take him. She supposed that she'd always lo… No, that wasn't possible. She sat up and looked around. She was losing herself to emotions most angels never felt. Why was she feeling this way? Why did she even care what happened to him or if he was taken from her?

 

Everything was confusing her. It all hurt her. And that other woman. Why was she jealous of that? There were too many emotions swimming around in her she could scarcely think straight. If she wasn't careful, she might go insane like some mortals were known to do. It scared her to know that her entire being could be rendered helpless at the hands of emotions that she had no business feeling. She had no business loving him…but she did all the same.

 

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

 

A/N: Well, a bit more drama. How's it all going? Good, bad, boring? Thanks for the reviews, as few as I have. Anyway, got to go but the next chap will be up soon.