Fullmetal Alchemist Fan Fiction ❯ Once For All Time ❯ Chapter Three ( Chapter 3 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Once For All Time

Summary: The homunculi are on the move, growing closer to the creation of a philosopher stone, and, with a new promotion and ally, Edward is growing closer to restoring Al and destroying the homunculi.

Author: Manga Girl - MoonVeil

Foreword: I was inspired to write this story after reading, “Old Memories” by, Britni Fullmetal Otaku. Our stories will be nothing alike though, seeing as our plot lines are vastly different, that said, I hope you enjoy the story. Please review, not only do they help me know how I’m doing, they help to motivate me when I need to update.

Disclaimer: I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist, nor do I make any profits from the writing of this story.

Chapter Three

Important Note: This story is both based on the Anime and the Manga. Spelling of names and certain characters may be from either one. So, if anything confuses you, email me and I’ll fill you in on who they are or how their name differs.
------


Amelia staggered down the stairs of her brother’s modest apartment, a wide yawn stretching across her pretty face. Roy looked up at her from over his plate of scrambled eggs. His blank still-asleep expression mirroring her own. Another plate was set upon the small island-counter, watching the pale arm retreat Amelia blinked, following it quickly.

The arm was attached to a lovely woman with long brown hair curled into a bun. Her large bosom was barely contained by her buttoned up shirt. Amelia stared at the woman for how long she didn’t know she was broken from her stupor by the woman’s tinkling laugh.

“You must be Amelia. You’re just as cute as Roy said!” Amelia nearly scowled; the way the woman spoke was almost as if she was four instead of seventeen.

“Are you--I mean...”

“Oh sorry, Lauren, Lauren Michaels.” She motioned towards the plate of cooling eggs. “Eat up!” Amelia sat beside her dead-to-the-world brother, grabbing the fork sitting for her use. The woman continued to talk though she no longer faced Amelia. “And no, your brother and I are not dating. We did, but that was quite sometime ago.”

Amelia glanced at her brother as he continued to eat his food, his movements identical to that of a robot. “Lauren,” he droned, “lives next door.”

“I feed him.” She supplied.

Roy finally looked up at his sister, blinking his sleep crusted eyes, “and I help with house repair.”

“I see.” Amelia nodded, taking a large bite of the cheese covered eggs. “So, it’s like a trade off-- Hey! These are great!” Lauren beamed, obviously pleased. Amelia ate quickly, moving to the front door to slip on her shoes. “Roy, I’m going for a quick run.”

He groaned something from the table as he continued to eat.

------


Amelia looked up from the dirty floor, casting Edward a bright smile. “Good morning, sir!” Edward tried to smile, but halfway through it broke into a large yawn. “Just wake up?” Ed grunted in response, sinking into the large dusty chair sitting behind the oak desk.

Amelia stood, brushing off her dusty knees and sweeping a strand of flyaway black hair behind her ear. “Hungry?” She questioned, picking up a large box. “I bought some donuts, the rest are for Roy and the boys.”

“Boys?” Ed asked through a sprinkle donut.

“An affectionate new name,” she replied, setting the box back down.

“Oh, sure.” She flashed him a smile and bent back over a large box labeled, ‘Stuff Four’. He eyed the name with twitching lips. “Roy?”

She looked to where his finger pointed, and then scowled as she looked it over. “Yes. Roy.”

“Aa.”

She went on in obvious annoyance, “he couldn’t have just taken the time to label what was actually within. Oh no. That’s not his ‘style’! Moving,” she said roughly slamming papers from within the box to the floor. “Moving! Oh that’s just a nightmare, ‘stuff from the kitchen...I think’. Who puts a label like that on a box?!”

“Ah--er.”

“I want to be in the military, but Amelia, do you think you could pack for me? Oh sure, and just how old are you?” She picked up the papers and (still as roughly as before) began to organize them. “Amelia, do this, Amelia do that. Oh Amelia! Can’t you do it faster? I’m practically thirty one and I STILL don’t know how to balance my check book! It’s no wonder he can’t find a girl to marry him!”

“Ah...Oh...”

“And poor Riza! I cannot believe she’s still waiting around for him! I mean it’s pretty obvious he has no spine in such things, seeing how he flitters from one thing to another!” She threw up her hands and began sorting through the box again. “He can’t just turn around and say, ‘Riza I’ve loved you since that day you wore that pink dress to church.’ I know, I KNOW he does. You know he has a diary, oh yes, a diary. He’s been talking about Riza in that thing since they met. Riza this, Riza that. Oh please, whenever she talks about men he pees his pants,” Ed covered a snort as a loud, loud, sneeze.

“Really?”

“Yes really, and he---”

“Amelia. Just how must of my personal life were you planning on telling Edward?” Roy stood in the doorway, his eyebrow ticking and an eerie black mist swirling around his head. Amelia turned on him; Edward seemed to dissolve into the back ground, when in reality he slowly moved beneath the desk, holding a water bottle protectively within his hands.

“I don’t know Roy, when were you planning on telling Riza you love her?”

Roy hated when she used this tactic against him; it was always so hard to think of witty comebacks. “Never. Since I don’t love her.”

Amelia didn’t try to hide her snort. “Sure, and that’s why you have a picture of her under your pillow.”

Ed hit his head on the desk in his haste to stare a Mustang in shock. “You do?!”

“No! Amelia, now you’ve gone too far.”

“What are you going to do, Captain Mustard?”

Roy pointed at her and took a step back. “Gah! Stop calling me that, you brat!”

Amelia tossed back her hair, flippantly waving at him. “Oh Roy, I thought you were more mature than this.”

“Mature? Amelia perhaps it would help if I told Edward of your...’Fear’?” Roy studied his nails and Ed perked up, his ears practically twitching.

“You wouldn’t dare,” she said, her eyes narrowing.

“Oh would I. Edward, Amelia is afraid of water.”

“ROY!” Her cheeks had gone a dangerous red. “If I am it’s only because you tried to drown me!” Roy rolled his eyes, looking like someone who had heard this excuse a million times.

“Pft! I just threw you into the lake, it was nothing big.”

“Nothing--NOTHING BIG?!” She poked him hard in the chest. “I was five and the water was deep and BLACK. You didn’t look so big when Riza was kicking your ass!”

Pride wounded, Roy quickly sought his next attack. “Mmhmm, like always you went and cried to Riza.”

Ed felt like whiplash was slowly easing up on him as his head rocketed back and forth, following the traded barbs. The more they said the angrier they became. Amelia’s gun was drawn and Roy’s fingers were inches away from snapping. Ed couldn’t think of what to do, he finally chose to stare at Amelia with some amount of fear. Gone was the calm reserved girl he had before known, and in her place was a fiery no-shit-taking woman, though, he supposed years of serving under an Armstrong had rubbed off on her.

The sound of a gun firing startled all of them, Roy was on the floor holding his head protectively and Amelia was staring at Riza. “Why.” The blonde began as she stepped into the room. “Are you screaming Amelia? It’s unlike you to lose your temper.”

Amelia looked at the box, “he deserved it,” she said.

“Brat.” Roy muttered from the floor.

“I see. Edward, take Amelia out for a coffee, wont you?”

Suddenly brought back into the conversation Edward looked around. “Huh? Oh. Sure, of course.”

“Mustang, be so kind as to follow me while I list the reasons why I am going to use you as target practice.”


------

Ed blew on the coffee before him, letting his gaze settle on Amelia. She seemed less angry out of the room. “Ah...Lieutenant Colonel Elric?”

“Please, Amelia; it’s Edward. What was it you wanted to ask?”

“Right, I’m so sorry about my behavior in the office...If you’d like someone else to take my place please tell me.”

“No--Amelia--”

“Really sir; I promise I wont be upset."

Ed pushed a finger to her lips cutting off her frantic rant. “Please, please Amelia; sir makes feel old. I’m only eighteen: it’s just Edward, alright?”

“Ano...Alright.”

“And second, I have been waiting years for someone to yell at Roy, you just made my day! Besides, I’m always childish. If anything, you shouldn’t be so stiff around me. It makes me feel young and reckless.” She giggled from behind his finger, nodding. “Wonderful, now. What do you say to going and finishing up all that dreadful cleaning?” Ed ignored how he was beginning to sound like Maes.

“Alright sir--er--Edward.”

“Much better.” Edward stood and offered her his outstretched hand. “Come?” She grasped his hand; both looked down as lightning seems to spark up through their hands, jolting up their arms. The two looked at each other, at a loss of words to what had just transpired.


------

Edward had already begun to hate the small room. He would never get the dirt from his clothes, nor the dust from his hair, well, he could just take a shower, but that was besides the point. Amelia’s sleeves where at her elbows, her long hair was pulled into a messy bun. Edward finally noticed that she still wasn’t wearing her uniform.

“Amelia, where’s your uniform?”

“Oh? Roy,” she gritted through clenched teeth. “Accidentally,” the grinding grew louder and Ed momentarily worried for her straight teeth. “Put the uniform in the wrong load and it shrunk and is now black!”

“Black? How’d he manage that?”

“Who knows, he’s always been horrible at things like that.”

Edward smiled and resumed glaring at his box, hoping it would start unloading it’s self. He dropped the papers in his hand back into the box, stirring a loud cloud of dust. Edward coughed and waved his hands as if to ward away the air-born chalk.

“Ah! I’ll open a window!” Amelia rushed to the window, throwing it open and then pulling Edward to it as they waiting for the gray dust to settle back down. “Smooth.” Amelia murmured, looking at him from the corner of her eye.

Ed flushed and tried to glare at her. “So, at least I’m not afraid of the water.”

Her eyes narrowed. “Humph! I’ll find your fear, Elric. But I wonder, will you still be laughing?”

“No,” Ed said. “No I won’t.” He added onto his list of things to do before he went home, to threaten Roy with a quick castration if word of his...fear got around. The thought brought a happy smile to his face and Ed was back at the boxes once more, this time smirking. But then thoughts of the ‘dance’ came round, Edward nearly groaned aloud at the thought of what Roy would say if he didn’t attend.

Making up his mind, Edward sighed and kicked a box away, stirring another cloud of dust. Amelia looked at him for but a second before turning back to the messy pile of papers before her. “Hey Amelia...About the party...”

“Mm?”

“Would you--I mean...Er.” He scratched the back of his head, unable to meet her dark eyes. “That is...Would you like to go with me?”


------

Roy leapt to his feet, a frown marring his handsome features. “Mustang?” Riza asked from her desk.

“My brother senses are tingling.”

“Your what? Roy, you aren’t getting out of work, sit back down!”

“B-But, Amelia is in trouble!”

“You’re too paranoid, now sit down and keep signing!”

“B-But...”


-------
< br> Man, I have a horrible headache. I’m sorry if this chapter seems a little bad, I don’t feel very well. Please remember to review, I love getting them, they really make me happy. So, make it worth this horrible migraine; review!

Oh yes. Winry arrives. Oh joy.

Manga Girl

Preview of Chapter Four:

The woman stepped from the train, looking as though she had eaten a rotten egg. She flipped back long blonde hair and gazed around the crowded station. A man wearing, or so everyone assumed, a suit of armor clanked towards her. “Winry!”

She looked up, her voice as surly as her face. “Al.”


Beta Love: MagenKyotenChiten