Fullmetal Alchemist Fan Fiction ❯ Orphaned ❯ Chapter 2 ( Chapter 2 )

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

It had been three years since that dreadful day, and Ed still had nighmares of it. He could only imagine they would last the rest of his life; how did you get over something like that? In fact, he had just woken up from one, panting in his small bed, trying to rid himself of the sights that were permanently etched into his memory. He stared out the small window, the only window in the entire room, which moonlight was pouring in, illuminating the shabby room. The only furniture were two beds, one each for Al and him, a desk with a mirror and a chair, and a small bookcase. The last piece of furniture had taken two years of constant bugging to be finally bought by the owners of the orphanage that he and Al had ended up in, and only held a few books that Ed had managed to acquire through some miracle.

"Brother?"

The younger brother's voice filled the empty room, startling Ed. He turned his head to look at Al, who was only a few feet from him; the room was far from spacious, "Yeah, Al?" he asked, his voice cracking from sleepiness.

"Another nightmare?" came the question, as if it weren't obvious enough already. The real question was whether Ed was alright or not, but Al knew his brother's pride would answer that question for him.

"Yeah." Ed whispered, looking back out the moonlit window, "It was three years ago, and I can still remember everything about that day." he sighed, and closed his eyes, "Goodnight, Al." he said, not wanting to get depressed for no reason again.

"Brother?" Al asked once more, knowing that Ed desperately needed someone to talk to about what had happened. He didn't know why the older one wouldn't talk to him, but maybe he just needed convinving.

"I said goodnight, Al." Ed repeated. He knew what Al was going to ask him, if he wanted to talk. He would say that it might help to talk about it, and that there was no shame in being afraid or crying once in a while. He also knew that he didn't want to have that conversation, at least not with Al. While his brother was the only person he trusted enough to talk with, he was also the only person that he wouldn't allow himself to cry in front of. He knew that Al depended on him for many things, and he needed to stay strong for the younger one's sake.

"Goodnight." Al replied, closing his eyes. He didn't know why Ed wouldn't talk about it; it's not like he would think any less of him if he broke down crying. Al had cried in front of Ed many times, but he supposed Ed was just too proud to do that.

The next morning, Ed and Al were woken up very early, as usual, by one of the owners of the orphanage, "Goodmorning, sleepy heads!" Winry said, peeking her head into their room. She noticed both boys were still asleep, and frowned, "You two need to get up..." she began, then broke out in a smile, "Or else you'll miss breakfast!"

Al was the first to answer, turning his head to give Winry a sleepy smile, "Okay, Miss Winry, we'll be up in a minute."

Winry smiled, then looked to Ed, "And what about your lazy brother?" she asked, jokingly.

"I'm not lazy!" Ed's muffled reply came since his face was currently burried in the pillow.

"Brother, she didn't mean anything by it..."Al sighed, wondering how Ed could be so short with Winry; she was such a nice lady. Of course, Ed had no patience with anyone anymore. Even since the accident, he was completely untrusting of everyone, "As if mom dying wasn't enough, why did that have to happen, too?" he wondered. Ed was such a nice person once you got to know him, but so many bad things had happened to him that he never let anyone get close to him. Well, no one except Al, but that was kind of a given.

"I don't care." Ed said, and threw the blankets over his head, "I'm not hungry." he decided.

Winry sighed, wondering what exactly had happened to the older brother to make him so much colder to everyone than the younger. As far as she knew, they had both suffered losing their parents and their home, but perhaps there was more to the story than she knew. Al smiled apologetically at her, "I'll try to get him up." he offered.

"Thanks, Al." Winry said, then left Al to do just that.

"Brother, why are you so cold to everyone?" Al asked, desperately wishing Ed would just talk to him.

"How can you even ask me that?" Ed yelled, throwing his pillow at the younger Elric.

Al dodged the pillow and frowned, "I know that bad things happened to you..." he began, but Ed cut him off.

"No, you don't!" he yelled, "You don't know because you weren't the one that was raped!" As soon as the words escaped his lips, he got very quiet, as if he had just realized that it had happened. He had been raped. Tears filled his eyes, but he still refused to cry. Retreating back under his covers, he turned away from Al.

The younger one knew better than to push any more, so he stood up, placing the thrown pillow back by Ed's head. Then, he walked out of the room, leaving Ed alone to sulk. Sighing, he closed the door, "Brother, why won't you let me help you?" he wondered, not for the first time, and traveled downstairs where the kitchen and dining room were.

Heading to the long, wooden table that served as the place where all the oprhans ate, Al was stopped by Winry's voice, "Al?" she called.

He looked over to see the older girl standing next to an even older man. Walking over to them, Al surveyed the man, deciding he looked nice enough, and then looked to Winry, "Yes?" he asked, though he already knew who the man was, or at least why he was there.

"This is Jeff." she introduced the other man, who now smiled at Al.

"Hello." the youngest one said, politely. He knew that Jeff was there to adopt someone, and for some reason, he had picked Al out of the crowd.

"Hello, there," Jeff said, with a funny accent that Al barely recognized. He thought it sounded like he was from America; the southern accent that some had, "what's your name?"

"Al." said boy replied.

"Jeff asked if we had any brothers, and you two were the first that came to my mind." Winry explained.

Al nodded, that made sense, "I don't think Ed's coming down, he's...not feeling well." Al said, trying how to explain it to Winry without pushing Jeff away. Most likely he wouldn't want a kid with as obvious problems as Ed, but if Al buttered him up, maybe he'd be persuaded to take them; he wanted a home so badly.

Winry nodded, in understanding, and turned to Jeff, "Al is 10, and his brother, Ed, is 11."

"Only a year apart, that's perfect." the man said, a slighly evil glint that neither Winry nor Al noticed, "Do you think there's any chance I could see Ed?" he asked Al, eyeing him hungrily.

Al seemed oblivious to the stares, but shook his head, "I don't think Ed is..." he began, but was cut off once more by his brother, who had appeared next to him, "Ed, you're up!" Al said, happily.

Ed nodded, "Yeah, changed my mind about the food." he said, all but ignoring Jeff.

Winry, however, changed that quickly, "Ed, this is Jeff." she said, leaving the obvious to Ed.

"So?" he asked, eyeing Jeff up and down, not failing to notice the perverted look he was getting.

"Ed, try to be polite, Jeff may be adopting you." Winry told him, in a firm yet kind tone.

Ed shook his head, "Like hell he is." he told them, and turned, leaving no room for discussion.

Winry sighed, and smiled at Jeff, "I'm sorry, Ed's just a little untrusting. He's had a pretty rough past."

Jeff nodded, but was cursing inside; he couldn't use a kid that didn't trust him. Smiling, he patted Al on the head, "I don't suppose you have anyone else?"

After being informed that Ed and Al were the only younger brothers they had (Jeff had specifically asked for younger ones), Jeff left. Al joined Ed, who had grabbed some food and was eating, ignoring the glares he was getting from the younger one. Winry, however, didn't stay silent, "Edward, do you know how many possible adopters you've run off?" she asked. Not only was she stuck with a kid with a crappy attitude, it was bad for business. Sighing Winry shook her head and told herself that kind of thinking was wrong; Ed couldn't help it if he didn't trust people, especially older men.


"That guy was a creep, didn't you see the look he was giving Al and I?" he asked.

Winry sighed, "No, Ed, I didn't. I don't want to send you out into the world with someone you don't trust, though." she offered the two boys a smile, and walked off, "I just don't know if there's anyone in this world you will trust." she thought, sadly.