The Official Gift Exchange Posting Thread!

blazing like rebel diamonds cut out of the sun

He held an intensity in his eyes that burned him from the inside out. When he came to her, battered, broken, burning, she held him gently (with hands meant to save people) like he was a fading ember, so careful and caring but bitterly restrained, afraid of being burned herself.

And he'd always had that fire but not like this, never like this, only after his mother's death had all that passion and drive been tempered into something dangerous and unpredictable, self-destructive. She's afraid that someday it will consume him, that he'll just keep burning until he burns himself out, until there's nothing left of him.

But he's so strong. So much strength in such a small body. She saw it during his automail surgery, when she stripped him down to his base components, sinew and bone and blood, so much blood, she'll never have that blood (his blood) off her hands and she feels it four years later still caked beneath her fingernails and in the grooves of the callused skin of her palms; when she cut into his flesh with surgical steel (and he never screamed) she felt the strength flowing from him as hot and tangible as the dark red blood flowing onto the sheets like the tears he wouldn't let himself cry.

Never screamed, only burned. He was eleven.

...they are much too young to be dying this way.

SGB Notes: This would have been more amusing as a picture but I can’t draw a Furret. D8 And yes, they have computers in Amestris. Which can access the internet of our world. ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE BY THE POWER OF RANDOM GATE BABIES.

Furretfons

There were a number of strange things he’d discovered in Amestris, but Alfons was most curious about the creature these people were comparing him to on the computer.

“What exactly is this Furret thing?” he asked, peering at the screen.

“It’s a striped, furry animal,” Edward told him.

“So why are they comparing it to me?” Alfons wanted to know.

Edward answered, “Well it’s small…and um…cute.”

Before Alfons could demand to know what he meant by that (‘You’re smaller than I am!’) Edward mumbled something about having to go help Al feed his cats and vanished out the door.

A Gift of Wings


Alfons Heidrich was messing around in his and Ed’s apartment. Usually it would be with mechanical parts or doodling a blueprint for a rocket. But today he had something new in mind.

In front of him was a the beginnings of a gigantic winged frames. And next to him were blue prints for a rocket pack and book on Greek mythology, opened to a page of a large color print of Icarus right before he flies to close to the sun.

Alfons was so wrapped up in his project that he didn’t hear Ed come in.

“What’s all this?” Ed asked looking around the room. In order to make room for his project Alfons had to move quite a bit of furniture around.

“I-it’s nothing!” Alfons said quickly closing the book and attempting to cover the blueprints before Ed saw them.

“It almost looks like a pair of wings.” Ed said walking over and carefully lifting the frame.

Alfons was quiet for a moment, his back turned to Ed.

“Yeah, it is.” He admitted quietly.

“Why would you try and build wings?” Ed chuckled. “I thought you were into rockets.”

“Yes I am, and I still am. But recently I’ve begun thinking about my childhood, and how when I was little I wanted more than anything to fly. And not like in a plane, but just like a bird with wings. To feel the wind on my face, and have flapping wings would be…heavenly.”

Ed said nothing he just stood there still holding the frame in his hands and looked back down at the blueprints that were still on the floor.

“It could work…if I still was able to work alchemy that is.” He said.

“There you go again.” Alfons chuckled. “You and you’re stories. I really was serious when I said you should write novels about Amestris. You’d make a lot of money. Anyway I should forget it, it‘s just a romantic dream, a childhood fantasy of mine.”

Ed looked down at the frame again., he remembered that Al had had a similar dream when they were little. They had been outside weeding in the garden, when Al had suddenly stopped looked up and watched a couple of low flying birds go by.

When Ed had asked what was staring as Al told him:

“I was watching the birds. They must be lucky to be able to fly like that, to have wings.”

Ed came out of his nostalgia and looked back up at Alfons.

“We could do it, even without alchemy. We could combine these wings with rockets.”

Alfons gave Ed a sad look.

“I don’t think so Ed, a rocket would be to heavy and the feathers would catch on fire, I think it’s best if I just forgot about it.”

Ed set the frame down. But he wasn‘t going to give up. If he wasn’t able to help his brother fly, then he’d at least help Alfonse.

“No, it is possible,” Ed thought. “Make the wings bigger, make a hollow frame, and instead of wings we could use that new anti-flame fabric. It would be less like a birds wings and more like a bats.”

For the next two weeks, when he was sure Alfons was asleep or out Ed worked on his secret project for his friend. Most of the work went into making the right type of frame, finding and altering the right rocket parts so that it was small enough, but powerful enough to lift a full sized human. As well as an area where a small engine with a rocket booster would go without it being dangerous.

The next thing he had to find was the fabric for the wings, he settled on lightweight leather with the flame retardant cloth over it. He was sure that it wouldn’t fly high. Only about 20-25 feet in the air.

Ed was only thankful Alfons seemed more distracted by his own projects to notice how tired he seemed to be these past few weeks and the gallons of coffee he seemed to be drinking.

By the beginning of the third week Ed’s project was complete, he had the wings stored in a abandoned motorcycle factory. He had also tested the out on himself to make sure that they were safe and had worked.

And tomorrow he was going to take Alfons to it.
_________________________________________________
The two young men sat at their table eating a meager breakfast of bread, cheese, and dried ham. They sat in silence for awhile.

“Hey Alfons,” Ed asked breaking the silence. “I was wondering if I could have your opinion on something I’ve just finished. I‘ve been working pretty hard on it, and I need a second opinion on it.”

“Yeah sure. I always like seeing what you’ve been working on. Sorry if I didn’t notice you were busy. I was kind of caught up in designing a more aerodynamic shape for a rocket.”

“That’s alright,” Ed said before going back to his meal.

As soon as they were done with breakfast Ed and Alfons headed out. They walked several blocks from their apartment to where the motorcycle factory stood.

“It’s up here.” Ed said, walking up to the second floor.

There at the edge of a platform sat the wings. They were bat shaped and Ed had covered the wings in a black anti-flammable cloth so that it would look even more like a bat.

Alfons stared at the contraption in front of him speechless, he really did not know what to say. No one had ever done something like this for him.

“It’s ok Alfons, I understand you’re hesitant to try it. But it really does work, I tried it myself.”

“No Ed…“ Alfons said tears welling up in his eyes. “it’s just this is the absolutely nicest thing anyone has ever done for me.”

Alfons wrapped his arms around Ed’s shoulders and pulled him into a tight hug. They stayed like that for a full minute until Ed broke the hug.

“Well go try it out!”

Alfons went over to the flying machine, it didn’t look all that complicated to operate. It looked like you put it on the same way you would a hang glider. Ed opened the large window in front of the, machine and motioned Alfons to push the machine to the edge.

Alfons then laid down on the floor and crawled belly down underneath the machine. Then put his arms in the straps that were underneath the wings.

“Ok, now how do I turn it on?” He asked nervously. They weren’t high up enough for any serious damage to occur if an accident were to happen. But Alfons still wasn’t looking forward to any crashes no matter how minor.

“Here.” Ed said getting down so he was eye to eye with Alfons, “The ignition and steering equipment are right in the handle. All you have to do is lean right or left and it’ll go that way. Push the bar up to go up and down to go down. To start it you turn that knob, the button on the left is like the clutch and the one on the right is like the brakes. The design I used isn’t to dissimilar to that of a car.”

Alfons nodded bracing himself for his first take off. He took a deep breath and turned the ignition knob. He could feel the engine start up and strong vibrations flow through the machine and through his entire body. He glanced over at Ed, who was giving him a thumbs up.

With another deep breath Alfons held down the left button and instantly the rockets located at the ends of each wing blazed to life and he was off. The world around him went by fast, almost a blur. He was about twelve feet in the air until he realized that he should use the steering features.

He pushed up on the bar to go higher he looked down and there was Ed running out of the old factory following him, a smile clearly on his face even from this height.

Alfons began to test the wings by leaning right then left, the contraption matching his movements. Alfons let out a large whoop of joy.

He closed his eyes, enjoying the feeling of the wind and the sun on his face. When he opened them he panicked. Right in front of him was a tree, and it was way to close. He hit the brakes and went crashing to the ground.

“Alfons!” Ed yelled running over to his friend who was face down on the ground. Ed bent down and gently turned Alfons over, he lowered himself to the young mans chest and listened for a heart beat and breathing.

“Ed?“ Alfons murmured opening his eyes part way, and glancing up at Ed.

Ed let out a sigh of relief.

“Are you alright? Can you stand up?”

“Yeah, yeah I’m good.” Alfons said pushing himself off the ground. “I just had the wind knocked out of me when I hit the ground. Although I’m going to probably be really sore for the next few days. How’s the flying machine?”

Ed glanced over at the wreckage, the machine was more or less a crumple of metal and most of the leather and fabric had been torn to shreds when it scrapped against the tree going down.

“Sorry Alfons, looks like that’s going to be your last flight for awhile.”

“That’s alright,” Alfons said getting up and putting an arm around Ed’s shoulders, both for support and to show that he cared. “I’m just happy that I was able experience at least once. I really cannot thank you enough Ed.”

“It’s nothing, you‘d do the same thing for me.” Ed said smiling back.

Alfons said nothing because it was true. He promised himself that if he could, he’d help Ed live one of his dreams, no matter how crazy they may seem.

The Unconsidered Perils of Flight

When Riza first sprouted wings, Roy could find no end to the number of jokes he could make about it.

How could he not? When one’s subordinate comes in one morning and apologizes for her uniform not being standard because of the feathery wings she’d grown overnight, (forcing her to clip holes in the back of her shirts for them) it would undermine one’s authority to react badly. Wings or not, this was still the military, where composure must be kept at all times. So joking was really the only way to deal with it.

It didn’t help that her name was Hawkeye. For much of the day he amused himself with avian comparisons. He even quipped that perhaps he should change his title to Falconer Mustang, rather than Colonel, since he was now the controller of a dangerous winged creature. He didn’t actually say that to her, of course, he said it to a couple of the guys as they sat around discussing Riza’s new appendages.

It was then that Falman took him aside and whispered a warning about the consequences of teasing a sniper who could now not only shoot from the ground, but also the air.

The very next day, a bouquet of flowers and a specially-crafted uniform with openings for her wings were delivered to Riza’s house.

SGB Note: SOMETHING SERIOUS TOMORROW I PROMISE

I DO THIS OUT OF LOVE

SGB Note: I KNOW I LOOK LIKE A POWERPUFF GIRL. SHUT UP. >.<

wear my soul and call me a liar


“You idiot.”

Ed grumbled something incomprehensible and probably not very nice.

“Idiot,” Winry repeated with a lovetap of her wrench to his temple for emphasis. “What kind of idiot forgets his own arm? After all the trouble you two went through to get it back!?”

His kind of idiot, apparently, and her kind of idiot by association. Ed grumbled some more and looked away, then mumbled something that might have been “I’m sorry” by some stretch of the imagination, though it sounded closer to “mmrrmry.”

“You’d BETTER be sorry,” she spat. “You big, stupid... IDIOT.” Her nostrils flared and her fingers clenched and she shook in her seat with inarticulate fury and oh yes, he was certainly in for it this time.

“I said ‘msorry!” he shouted back with a full body pout, neck hunched down to his shoulders, face one big frown. “It’s not like I MEANT for this to happen!”

“If your body ends up facedown in the river tomorrow I’m sure I didn’t MEAN for that to happen either!” And oh damn, her lower lip wobbled and she sniffled a little and the storm in her overcast eyes threatened to spill over; he’d made her cry again.

“No, no, don’t cry!” he babbled in a panic, all defensiveness forgotten in the face of OH SHIT CRYING GIRL. “I’m really really sorry, it won’t happen again - ”

“It BETTER not happen again, you only have so many arms!”

“ – please don’t cry - ”

“I’M NOT CRYING. THIS IS RAIN.”

“We’re inside!”

And bam, that did it: the pent-up tears broke free and streamed down her cheeks, dropped onto the hospital cot to leave dark wet spots on the sterile sheets. She cried openly, not bothering to hide it, because she knew exactly how to hurt him.

She dug the knife deeper: “You could have been killed,” she spoke through tears. “You almost were.”

Each tear was an accusation and her pain hurt him worse even than losing his arm again (and he wasn’t just being a “macho dumbass” as his lovely fiancé so kindly put it; the adrenaline had kept the pain down until after the fight, when he promptly passed out.) Something compressed painfully in his chest, like some great weight crushing his ribs, squeezing tight. The elephant in the room sitting on top of him.

“But I wasn’t,” he said softly, all anger gone and replaced with a sick sense of shame, and he reached out with his remaining hand and clasped onto her trembling wrist. She turned her palm over and caught his hand, linked their fingers and stroked her thumb across the simple golden band she’d chosen for him.

She half-stifled a sob with minimal success, wiped her face with the back of her free hand. “You’re an idiot,” she said again, “I almost lost you.”

He winced. It had been close, very close – the West City Fox River Killer had taken a leaf out of Scar’s book and adopted alchemic deconstruction as his preferred method of attack, and when Ed instinctively blocked what would have been a fatal attack with his right arm...well. If the WCPD backup hadn’t shown up when it did, Ed would be missing a lot more than just one arm.

“I’m sick of you being shipped back to me in pieces,” she said, voice shaky but resolute. She squeezed his hand. “Come home, Ed. Al already has. Isn’t two years long enough?”

He squeezed her palm gently in return. He couldn’t answer. Instead he tugged her down to his level on the bed and kissed her.

“Jerk,” she muttered, a few stray tears escaping despite her best efforts, and kissed back.

He hated to admit it and he never would (but Winry knew anyway) but he was entirely too much like his father – had that same wanderlust in his restless blood urging him onward along the road. Hell, he thought he’d die before he hit eighteen, and now that he knew the country wasn’t going to be eaten by the wayward byproduct of a science fair experiment, he wanted to DO something with his life.

But he won’t be that dad in the study. He won’t be the ghost holding onto her heart. He won’t. He won’t.

I will always return home to you, he promised silently, as long as I’m alive. And he wouldn’t go and die on her, either. He had so much to live for.

They pulled apart. Ed separated their hands and stroked along the line of her jaw, smoothed away the last errant tears. “You’ll have me home for a year, at least,” he said wryly, jerking his head toward the mangled remains of his right shoulder.

“Two,” she told him.

“Two?”

“Two years,” she said firmly with no room for argument. “I don’t want you puking up blood this time around. It’s a pain to get it out of the sheets and it’s definitely not sexy.”

He thought of fighting her, thought better of it, and smiled.

“Deal. Two years.”

SGB Note: Let's have a break from drabble-fics and enjoy a Riza-centric icon set instead. ^^








i1021.photobucket.com/albums/af336/FMAclubhouse/Gift Exchange 2010/butterflyday3-shewasalwaystherebase.png

Bridges
FMA/Avatar crossover

In the time before the concept of 'time', the spiritual and material realms were known as one. But as the cosmos shifted farther and farther apart these realms shifted and bent, splitting into billions of different universes and multi-verses.

And although these different realities rarely come in contact with each other there a “bridges” in to each of these worlds that can be reached when certain events occur.
______________________________________

It was the eve after Sozins Comet had blazed across the sky. Firelord Zuko was sending out letters of command to his nations generals stationed in the other three nations, telling them to help clean up the damage the Fire Nation has caused in those countries.

The Avatar Aang and Toph were likewise helping clear the remains of the wrecked Fire Nation tanks, ships and airships. Aang was out on the water in a small boat using his water bending skills to wash the vessels ashore where Toph was waiting, she would then use her metal bending skills to rip apart the metal, which would later be melted down by a group of Fire Nation black smiths.

“I think that’s all in this area.” Aang said landing on the shore after landing onto the beach after air bending himself up in the air.

“No, I feel some more underneath the water and a few that ways.” Toph said pointing towards the east. “I can go ahead and get rid of that metal on my own since there’s nothing obstructing it.”

Aang nodded and went back underwater. Toph, walked slowly in absolutely no hurry to get there. After the various adventures, battles, bad guys, and almost everything else in-between it felt good to relax for a change.

Toph reached the hunks of metal and began to earthbend the buried scraps of metal out of the sand. There weren’t any big pieces, but there couldn’t be any risk of someone accidentally setting off a Fire Nation grenade or cutting themselves on a buried piece of metal.

As Toph walked down the beach picking up bits of metal and bending them into smooth balls, she felt something move. And the weird thing was, whatever it was felt like pure metal, like a big hollow suit of armor.

Toph instantly put up her guard and went to investigate.
__________________________________

Meanwhile in the Fire Lords palace Zuko was furiously scribbling his signature onto yet another pile of edict and decrees. Iroh was beside him the entire time, lending a helping hand to his nephew, giving him much needed advice and guidance on how to be a fair leader. Even though Iroh himself would never be Fire Lord he was however a general and knew quite a thing or two about how to lead and affairs of state.

“Uncle, I think I need a break. All this reading is making my eyes go funny, and the fumes from the ink are making me dizzy.”

“You’re right, Fire Lord Zuko. A little rest would do you some good, and besides now would be an excellent time for tea. I believe I have a new blend I’d like you to try a cherry-peach jasmine blend. I’m thinking about making it one of my signature teas for my shop.”

Zuko shook his head smiling, if there was one constant in this world it was his uncles love for tea. Zuko got up out of his seat and stretched his arms and back. His thoughts wandered a bit, first to his amazing new friends and then to Mai. He couldn’t help but think about her more and more as the days went by.

Lost in his thoughts Zuko didn’t hear one of the guards enter the room until he was several paces from him.

“Fire Lord,” The man said saluting and then bowing, “There’s an urgent request for you to inspect a prisoner the palace guard have just apprehended.”

“Is it an assassin?” Zuko asked, he was fully aware that many in the Fire Nation had not taken kindly to him over throwing Ozi.

“No, to be honest…I’m not even sure where he’s from.”

Zuko nodded and motioned for his uncle to follow him. They followed the guard down to the royal throne room, he sat on his throne in wait. At the end of the great hall the large doors opened and several guards escorted a young man in.

The young man was very different than anyone any of them have ever seen. He had hair the color of wheat with eyes to match, his eyes were rounder.

“All hail Fire Lord Zuko.” The Captain of the guard announced as they approached Zuko. Zuko leaned forward slightly to get a better look at this stranger, he didn’t look much older than he was.

But he knew looks were very deceiving.

“Fire Lord Zuko, we found this person wandering the palace grounds, we have no idea who he is and nothing he says makes any sense. When asked what nation he was from he said he was from Amestris.”

“I’m telling the truth.” The light haired stranger insisted. “I have no idea how I came here, I was drawing an alchemy circle outside when a gigantic comet flew over and my brother and I ended up here!”

“I think he’s being sincere,” Iroh whispered in Zuko’s ear. “Any rate I don’t think he’s dangerous. But it would be best to put him in a guarded room, just in case.”

Zuko considered this for a minute than nodded. He motioned for the guards to let the boy go.

“What’s you’re name?” He asked.

“My name is Edward Elric, State Alchemist.”

“Until we can figure out if you’re telling the truth, you’ll stay here.”

“So I’m a prisoner.” Ed said glaring up at Zuko.

“No, no.” Iroh said reassuringly. “More like a closely guarded guest.”

Ed was in no way reassured.

____________________________________

Toph followed the vibrations down the beach, careful to maintain shadow distance from it. The closer she got to it the more confused she got. It was definitely a empty moving piece of armor, and there was no one near to earth bend it into a walking motion.

When, whatever it was, was almost right in front of her she made her move. She earth bent a rock in front of the metal man to block his path and get his attention.

“Hey!” She shouted “Who and what are you?!”

“Huh…I’m a person.” She thought she was having trouble with her hearing. That voice sounded like a young boys.

“Don’t pull any tricks on me! I might not look like much but I will be able to tear you apart.”

“Please, I swear I’m not tricking you.” The metal man said holding his hands up to show he meant no harm, he obviously couldn’t tell the she was blind. “My names Alphonse Elric, I have no idea where I am or even how I got here.”

“Alphonse…” Toph said trying the word out. “Odd name, I can’t tell if you’re lying or not. Since you don’t have a heartbeat. But lets say what you’re saying is true. How are you even alive, or are all people giant metal suites where you're from?”

“I’m a human soul bound to a suite of armor, due to a failed human transmutation.”

“I have literally no clue what you just said.“ Toph said looking skeptical.

“It’s…complicated. If you’ll let me I’ll try and explain it to you the best I can.”

“Alright…but no funny business. If you try anything I’ll be on you so fast you‘ll have no idea what hit you.”

“I promise I won’t try anything, I swear it on my brothers life.” Alphonse said.
__________________________________

Ed was taken to a room by the guards. It was rather nice. It was a medium sized room with a large soft bed, nicely furnished, and was warmed by a large fire in a marble fireplace. It would be a relaxing place to sleep, if it weren’t for the two guards stationed at the door outside.

Ed lay on the bed extremely pissed off and unsure what to do. He had no idea where he was, he was a prisoner, and even if he was unsure if he could to alchemy in this world, and even if he did it would only lead to more trouble.

The door opened and standing there was the old man who was sitting next to the Fire Lord. He was carrying a tray with a pot of tea, two cups, a bowl of rice and a plate of some type of fried chicken.

“Good evening.” He said smiling. “I thought you might want some food and some tea to warm you up.”

“Thanks.” Ed said politely, he could tell this old man was friendly and well meaning. And he was hungry at the moment. The old man set down the food at the foot of the bed and poured the tea for himself and Ed.

“You must be very far from home, I’ve never even heard a name like yours or seen someone like you before. I’m sure you’re not here on your own free will, and you certainly don’t strike me as an assassin. My name is Iroh, and I‘m sure that you may be telling the truth. Now what‘s the last thing your remember?”

Ed nodded digging into the rice and chicken then took a sip of tea, thinking his words over while he chewed.

“Like I said I’m from Amestris and I really have no idea how I got here.” He sighed. “I was drawing a large transmutation circle and a gigantic comet flew over head, and the next thing I knew I’m here.”

“Transmutation…I’ve never heard of this.”

“It’s one of the basics of alchemy….” Ed could already tell that he was losing the old man. “Alchemy is manipulating and altering matter by using natural energy, you can construct and de-construct elements, even turning them into other elements all together. But in order to do so you need to destroy something of equal or greater value. In other words, to create an object weighing one kilogram, at least one kilogram of material is necessary and destroying an object weighing one kilogram would reduce it to a set of parts, the sum of which would weigh one kilogram.”

Iroh listened carefully in the next two hours as Ed explained what alchemy was, it’s rules, and limitations.

“I’m afraid we don’t have anything like that here…all we have is bending.”

“Bending?”

“It’s a combination of the martial arts and using your own chi to move the four elements. Each nation has their own element. I am of the Fire Nation. So I firebend.” Iroh said giving Ed a small demonstration by creating a small fireball in the palm of his hand. “Some are born with the ability to bend, others are not.”

“I think I understand.” Ed said nodding. “ And everyone can only bend one element?”

“Everyone except the Avatar. The Avatar is the spirit of the planet incarnate in human form, and the only physical being with the ability to practice all four bending arts. It is considered the Avatar's duty to master the four elemental disciplines, and use such power to keep balance amongst the four nations of the world.”

“And this Avatar…is he around now?”

“As a matter of fact he is. Fire Lord Zuko has sent out a messenger hawk to have the Avatar come here and investigate you.”
______________________________

“Well…” Toph said after Al finished with his explanation of who he was, how he got into a metal shell, what alchemy was, and his brother Ed. “That’s some story. It sounds like you’re telling the truth, but then I have no real way of knowing that you’re not.”

At that moment Aang was air gliding over head, and having spotted Toph and Al landed between them.

“Wow Toph, I knew that you were this good at metal bending!” Aang said looking closely at Al.

“Hello.” Al said lifting his hand to wave at the young boy.

“Whoa! How did you do that Toph!” Aang said excitedly.

Toph face palmed.

“I’m not airhead, it’s a human soul bound to a suite of armor.” Toph explained trying to use the exact words that Al had used.

“He’s a ghost?” Aang said jumping away from Al.

“No, no.” Al said trying to reassure Aang, “It’s a bit more complicated than that. See my body’s technically in limbo and my brother and I have to re-create it using the Philosophers’ Stone.”

Aang gave him an odd look but before he could ask Toph put her hand over his mouth.

“Let’s just say it’s complicated Twinkle Toes.”

“My name is Alphonse Elric.” Al said extending his hand to Aang.

“Avatar Aang.” Aang said bowing in greeting ignoring Aang’s hand. “You’re not from here. I don’t think I’ve ever even heard of someone named Alphonse, in any of the Four Nations.”

“I’m not from here…I’m from another world completely. And I really have no idea how I got here.”

“Oh, maybe you’re from the Sprit World. I’ve heard that sometimes spirits leak out and take over objects and people.”

“No I don’t think so….” Al said ready to explain to Aang where he came from and what alchemy was but a large hawk wearing a leather helmet carrying a note of rolled up paper flew down and landed on Aang’s shoulder.

“Hey it’s a message from Zuko.” Aang said taking the paper out of the hawks claws. “ ‘You’re needed at the palace, there’s a stranger here who says that he’s from another world, and we’re unsure to believe him.-Fire Lord Zuko’.”

“That must be my brother!” Al said excitedly.

“Is he a big metal guy like you?” Aang asked.

“No he’s normal, though he is a little short. Just don’t mention that…he’s sensitive about his height.”

Aang nodded. He then took out a bison shaped whistle and blew on it, to Al’s surprise in response was a deep growl over head. He looked up and there flying over them was a large white flying bison.

“What is that?!” He said jumping back from it as it landed.

“This is Appa. He’s my air bison. Hey boy!” Aang said jumping up onto the air bison’s back and scratching the bison between the horns.

“It’s alright, he doesn’t bite or anything.” Toph reassured Al “But riding on him can be a bit of a pain.”

“Alright.” Al said. “Would you like some help up?” He asked turning to Toph.

“Nah, I got it.” She said pushing herself up onto Appas back by earth bending a ladder onto the saddle. Al was shocked and said nothing as he climbed up onto the air bison’s back. He held on tightly to the saddle as Appa took off.

“Um, where exactly are we going?” Al asked after awhile. Hoping it wasn’t going to be far away, he could see what Toph meant by how flying on Appa was difficult, every time there was a slight bump when they hit an air current he was worried that he’d go flying off Appas back.

“About a half days journey if we don’t run into bad weather.” Aang said.

“Oh…I was hoping it would be sooner than that.”
___________________________________

After his long talk with Iroh, Ed thought he understood this world a little better. The culture was similar to the Xings of his world, in fact the food and drink he had had the had tasted similar to a dish the Ling had given him when he was cooking dinner for himself and Lan Fan. And instead of alchemy they practiced a mystical art known as bending, except instead of be able to control and change all the elements like he could in his world the only person who could do that was The Avatar.

“I still can’t believe this is happening…” He thought laying down on the bed. “It can’t be a dream because everything feels so real, I just wish I knew how I got here in the first place. No sacrifices were made so it couldn’t be alchemy that I know of. Maybe it was something on this world that triggered it.”

The door opened and in stepped one of the guards.

“The Fire Lord has requested your company in the Throne Room.”

“Yeah, why?” Ed asked suspiciously.

“The Avatar has arrived.”

When Ed walked in the throne room the first thing he noticed was that Al was there.

“Al!” he yelled running to his brother and embracing him. They stood there hugging for two minutes, just relieved beyond everything that they were with each other again. They then turned back to the group around them.

“Well, they’re telling the truth.” Aang said looking at them. “About the brothers part at least.”

“And about his brother being a gigantic metal shell.” Iroh said. “But the question remains what are they doing here? And would this cause any major problems in the world?” Aang looked thoughtful for a moment, like he was thinking very hard.

“I feel…like….maybe it will. It’s hard to explain but I just feel this bad energy moving around. Like the way it goes all calm before a bad storm. And it’s pretty obvious it has to do with you two being here, it’s upsetting the balance.”

“Then all we would have to do,” Toph said “Is send them back, they got here. Shouldn’t be to hard to do right?”

“Well…I’ve thought about what they said. They both said a gigantic comet was spotted flying across the sky right? And that, to me, sounds an awful lot like Sozin’s comet. That might be the connection.”

“If it is.” Zuko said. “Then we’re out of luck. That comet only shows up once every hundred years.” He then turned to Ed. “Uncle told me that you said there were ways to travel between worlds where you’re from. Can’t we do that?”

“I don’t think so.” Al said. “I don’t even know if it would work in this world. Plus…the way it’s done isn’t something you’d want to do. It requires the life force of a human to be given so that the gate will open up.”

The room was silent for a moment. Until Aang thought of something.

“The spirit world!” He said happily. “I could use the ability to enter the spirit world and take them with me. When I was reading several scrolls by ancient Avatars I discovered that you can bring and take physical objects into and out of the spirit world. It just takes a lot of energy.”

“But isn’t that to much of a risk?” Zuko asked.

“Yes, but from the feelings I’m getting I need to get these two back home and soon otherwise something bad will happen.”

Al and Ed looked at each other really unsure what they were talking about but if it meant going back home they would do it.
________________________________

The followed Aang out into the courtyard where he instructed them to sit loutus style and meditate. It took awhile for them to get relaxed enough but after awhile Ed and Al were in a deep relaxed state.

Aang reached out to them with both his hands and mind and pulled them into the spirit world. The others were shocked to see how well it worked when the two strangers slowly seemed to be evaporating from existance.

On the other side of the Spirt World Al and Ed awoke.

"Wow...." Was all Ed could say as he looked around him, this part of the Spirit World looked like a gigantic forest with trees one hundred times the size of a normal tree.

"In order for this to work." Aang said. "You have to hold onto me at all times." Al and Ed each placed a hand on Aangs shoulder and slowly followed behind him. As they walked they passed many strange things like a woman with an owls head, giant deer that reached halfway up the trees.

"Is this safe?" Al asked looking around. "Nothing is going to attack us is it?"

"No, I'm the Avatar. The bridge between the spiritual and physical worlds. I can pass through un-harmed, there are very few spirits that would want to harm me." Aang reassured them. As they walked the sun began to set.

"Should we set up camp?" Ed asked."It's getting dark."

"No, if you fall asleep in the Spirit World you might never be able to leave." Aang said. "We'll have to keep walking and not get distracted. It's very dangerous to leave the trail here, some spirits enjoy keeping humans to themselves, and others feed on them."

Al and Ed were silent but did move closer to Aang. As they continued on it felt like they had been walking for days, but each time they were ready to lay down and rest they remembered what Aang had said and continued on.

"It feels like we've been walking for days." Al said.

"Time runs diffrently here." Aang said. "Chances are we've only been here for fifteen minutes it's always diffrent each time I come here."

"Are we close, I don't know how much longer I can walk before my legs drop off."

Aang thought for a moment.

"If we're getting closer to you're world you might be able to do alchemy."

Ed stopped and passed his hand over his metal arm, he could feel the familiar spark on his fingertips as his metal arm started to form into a large hammer.

"Whoa!" Aang said. "I though alchemy would be like bending, but that's nothing like I would've imagined!"

"Oh that's nothing." Ed said flattered that an important person like the Avatar would be impressed by something so simple. "I've done much more impressive things like reconstruct whole buildings and create weapons out of nothing but dirt and water."

"So...is there an Avatar in your world?"

"No," Ed said passing his hand back over his automail arm again bringing back to it's original form."We're all on our own."

"I see," Aang said."I suppose our world's the only one with an official guardian, different laws and such."

"That makes sense." Al said. "From what I've learned from Iroh you're world is more intouch with the universe by doing bending. Where as our world is more science and logic minded, since alchemy is more of a science than magic, so we're more disconnected to it. So a guardian who maintains the balance in you're world would only seem logical because nature needs balance as well."

Aang nodded in agreement.

"I think that's what it is, Alphonse." Aaang said continuing on. "And sometimes I think maybe the Avatar was created by nature it'self. I can't exactly put my finger on it, I just have this feeling sometimes."

As they continued on Ed and Al would stop every once and awhile and do more and more complicated alchemy to test if they were getting closer to their world or not. When they were almost at the very entrance they could feel the energy flowing through them. They stopped when they came to what looked like a bridge made glowing thread.

"I...think this is it." Aang said.

"Yeah, it feels like it." Ed said. He walked up to the bridge and carefully put his foot on the bridge. It felt sturdy and safe and be carefully began walking towards the other side. When he got to the other side of the bridge he motioned for Al to follow him. Al carefully took a step onto the bridge and walked slowly to join his brother. When he reached the end of the bridge he let out a relieved sigh.

The Elric brothers turned and waved good bye to Aang.

"Say goodbye to Toph for me." Al called over.

"And Iroh for me!" Ed put in.

"I'll do that!" Aang shouted."And I'm really glad I met you guys, even if it was for a short time!"

"Us too." Ed and Al said together.

They then turned and walked through the glowing doorway into their own world.

When Aang came to in the physical world he was tired but happy that he had stopped a catastrophe from almost happening but also because he helped his new friends get back to where they belonged.
________________________________________

"Where were you two!" Col. Mustang demanded when Al and Ed returned to his office a day later. "I sent at least four messages for you to come to Central immediately! There had better be a damn good reason for this!"

"There is sir." Ed said calmly. "The comet that came close to Earth a couple days ago created a time flux portal and we were sucked into a world where people bend the four main elements with martial arts, kinesis, and a spiritual connection to the universe. We were able to get back to our world by traveling through their spirt world with the protector of that world, the Avatar. Where we walked across a bridge of light to our world."

Mustang was so angry he could barely breathe.

"Get..out..now." Was all he could say without shouting.

When Al and Ed had left the building Al turned to Ed.

"Told you he wouldn't believe it."

"Eh, it was worth a shot."

The night was just cold enough so that the citizens of Central City huddled inside their homes, close to warm fires to keep out the bitter chill. The only ones crazy enough to step out into the freezing-cold weather either were on their way home from work or had a lot of thinking to do.

Edward Elric fell into the latter category.

He walked slowly in the darkening streets, blonde hair covering expressive golden eyes. He listened only to his own footsteps, to the sound of icy wind blowing in his ear. He watched the sidewalk blur beneath him as the sky threatened snow and the wind promised cold. He had a lot to think about, yet he didn’t want to think about it at all.

Only a few hours ago, he had killed a man.

His right hand remained limp in his pocket, as though moving it would only serve to remind him of what that hand had done, and he was ashamed and afraid and unable to think. He had yet to get over the shock, and he planned to keep walking until he did.

“Good morning, Fullmetal.” Roy Mustang said without looking up from his paperwork as Ed dropped unceremoniously onto the couch in front of his desk.

“What do you want?” Ed replied irritably without returning the greeting. “I was sleeping, y’know.”

Mustang sighed. “I thought it was rather obvious that I called you here because you have a mission.”

“So get to the point.”

Sensing that there was no reasoning with Edward this early in the morning, and not having the energy to even try to (he hadn’t gotten enough sleep either, thanks to a late night out and an early wake-up call from Hawkeye) Mustang just picked up the file and threw it at him.

“Serial killer, found him, you’ve been chosen to apprehend him. We have him surrounded now, you just need to go in and get him. There’ll be higher-ups, too, so don’t worry about having to lead a group bigger than you.”

“Shut it, bastard,” Ed muttered as he flipped the file open. “Jacob Wise, huh? Claims to be ridding the world of evil by killing off imperfect beings…what a load of bull…killed fourteen people, including three children…” He looked up with wide eyes. “The hell?”

“They were with their families and refused to get out of the way,” said Mustang softly. It was times like these when he could see how Edward Elric was still a child, innocent and barely tainted in the filth of the world. “He killed them regardless.”

Ed didn’t say anything; just flipped the file closed and placed it next to him on the couch. “When do we leave?”
“At 0900, so in about an hour. Go fetch your brother, I take it he’s going with you?”

“Yeah,” muttered Edward, not offering anything more than that as he stood up to leave the room.

As the door shut behind him, Mustang sighed and returned to his paperwork.

He had just been on a mission, apprehending some serial killer who called himself an alchemist. He and Al had originally been part of a large group to search the premises where the guy was apparently hiding out, but one wrong turn and the brothers were separated from the group. After walking around for a while, trying to find both the group and Jacob Wise, Ed heard a sound and, after negotiating what to do with Al, had transmuted a hole in the wall and stepped through.

“Do you see anything?” Al asked, peeking around the hole in the wall. It was dark and slightly damp, a typical unused warehouse.

“Nope,” Ed said, looking around. “Wise! We know you’re in here, give yourself up already!”

There was no answer, and Ed sighed. “Fine. C’mon, Al, let’s check elsewhere-“

“Well, well, well,” came a voice. Ed and Al turned towards the source, a middle-aged man with shaggy graying hair and a smirk on his pale face. “If it isn’t the Fullmetal Alchemist, Edward Elric.”

“There you are,” Ed said nonchalantly, as though he had known Wise had been there all along. “Jacob Wise, I presume? Good. See, my brother Al and me-“he gestured to the large suit of armor behind him. “Have orders to apprehend you, and I’d appreciate it if you came quietly. My mechanic never likes it when I get into fights.”

“My, my, so impolite,” said the man with a creepy smile. “Not even asking for permission before telling me I’m to be taken away? Tut tut, such manners in young people today. Nonetheless, allow me introduce myself. I am Jacob Wise, all-powerful alchemist!

"Hm," said Ed in a bored tone. “Y’know, most of your types tend to give themselves a State-Alchemist-like title. Gotta say ‘All-Powerful Alchemist’ is the least creative one I’ve heard so far.”

The man smirked. "I am master of all four elements, water, earth, wind, and air! I can create and destroy anything! The world bows before me!! I have no need for such a petty title as ‘State Alchemist’! I am as good as God! I am the world! I-"

"-There are over 100 modern elements, y'know," Ed cut him off in the same deadpan voice he had used before. He didn’t want to hear the rest of his little speech; it somehow brought back unpleasant memories. "Water's just hydrogen and oxygen, no one really knows what fire's made of, the air we breathe is mostly oxygen and carbon, and earth isn't specific at all. And I thought you were a scientist...."

The man scowled. "Cocky brat. Well, here. Perhaps a demonstration will make you reconsider your words...."

Before Ed could protest, there was a bright flash of crackling energy sent in Al's direction and within a moment, the torso of his armor was disconnected from the legs and Al crumpled to the ground, his helmet falling off in the process and rolling away.

Ed's blood ran cold as he stared at the sight. Some rational part of him tried to convince the rest of his brain that he was still alive but all Ed knew was that this man had just nearly killed Al, nearly killed Al-

He didn't even register the man's cry of "What the-? It's empty!-" before he charged with a savage yell, transmuting his automail along the way, and he slashed in a rage towards the man's stomach. He yelped and fell backwards, and Ed's sword-arm only grazed him, but pure instinct had since taken over his brain as he reached forward for a better swing-

"You bastard-“

"Brother! Brother! BROTHER!"

Finally Al's frantic cry penetrated Ed's adrenaline-filled mind, and he stopped, his arm mere centimeters away from piercing the insane alchemist's heart. "A-Al....are you okay...?"

"Yes, yes, I'm fine, I'm just a little- LOOK OUT!!"

He turned back just in time to see the transmutation circle tattooed onto the man's hand heading for his face and his arm shot out in an instinct to protect himself-

Splat.

He couldn't register for a few moments that he was covered in blood, that there was dead silence, that his arm went...straight....through...that...man's...heart....

The world was fuzzy and he couldn't think couldn't breathe couldn't do anything but repeat it's not me wasn't me not dead not dead not dead over and over till the mantra filled his head like a broken record…

His senses returned and he was aware that each time moved his arm, the man's body moved with it, and suddenly there was a horrible taste in his mouth and everything went black.

As Al had told him later, they had been found only a few minutes later, Ed passed out and covered with blood and vomit, his arm right through the man’s heart, and Al’s body cut in half. The soldiers were sworn to secrecy about Al’s body (or, rather, his lack of one), and the murder charges were quietly let go.

He had woken up in his own bed hours later, and he had thought it was just been a horrible dream until the blood on his arm proved otherwise. He had repaired Al’s body without a word, and twenty minutes later, he was out here, and he wasn’t sure he’d ever be able to look another person in the eye again.

How could I…how could I take the life of someone else? No one deserves to die, nobody…how could I have thought that I had the right to do that? I-I can’t…I’m a monster…

He wanted to scream and cry and lash out at the world for putting this burden upon him, but in the end he went back to blaming himself. He was stupid, such an idiot, and he deserved this pain.

He clenched his fists and shoved them into his pockets as his vision became blurry. He didn’t want to draw his hands out of his pockets to wipe the tears away, so he let the first tears fall onto the frozen sidewalk as the cool air whirled around him.

“Brother.”

He turned at the familiar voice, finding Al standing there in front of him, his metal fists clenched and the lights that served as eyes bright and large. Ed could tell from enough years of knowing his brother that, had Al had a human body, he would have been fighting back tears. Realizing this, he dropped his head forward in defeat. Al seemed to take this as a sign of recognition and softly spoke. “Let’s go back.”

“I’m a murderer, Al,” whispered Ed dully.

“No, no,” said Al, taking a step forward. “It was an accident. I know you didn’t mean to, it was just self-defense…”

“Please,” Al’s voice grew quiet. “Please come back.”

“I’m sorry.”

“What?”

“I’m sorry,” Ed repeated, refusing to look Al in the eyes. “I’m sorry…Al, I broke my promise to you…”

“Stop it! Don’t give me that!”

Ed’s head snapped up in surprise at Al’s sudden sharp retort. “Alphonse…? “

“We both know it was an accident! I’m not asking you to forget about it, but moping around like this won’t solve anything! Our promise was that we wouldn’t get held down by things like this, and you’re breaking that promise at this very moment! So don’t just stand there and apologize, get up and do something about it! Didn’t you tell Rose to get up and walk forward? Take your own advice! Please, brother.”

Neither brother said anything for a long while. The only sound was the wind blowing by and some wind chimes in some distant house blowing their melody.

Ed moved to walk past Al, but stopped to place his hand on his brother’s arm. “C’mon, Al. Let’s get back.”

Al nodded and followed, wishing he had a body to smile with.

They had promised themselves that they’d pass every test, run every mile, and jump every hurdle to reach their goal. This small bump in the road couldn’t hurt the brothers’ faith, and nothing could ever break their spirit.

Untitled

The way they had met had been partially his fault. His lunch break--which he'd used to look for some new documents--was more than half-over. He'd been hurrying through the halls of Central headquarters while leafing through the papers he'd gathered.

He had bumped into (crashed is more like it) into a young looking woman, perhaps in her early twenties, around his age. She had short, red hair and a pair of glasses that were sliding down the bride of her nose. She wore a standard military uniform, although she wore a knee-length skirt instead of pants. She seemed familiar, but he couldn't quite recall her name.

And so Fuery, who had been preoccupied with his documents, and the girl, her vision limited by the enormous stack of books she held in her arms, had been thrown off balance. Fuery luckily caught himself, but his papers had dropped to the floor in the confusion. The girl wasn't so lucky. Already teetering from the weight of her books, the encounter threw her off balance and she tumbled to the floor.

"Aaah, sorry about that!" Fuery exclaimed, dropping to his knees as he grabbed for his papers. He drew them to his side, piling them into a messy stack, and then turned to help the girl. As he gathered the books, his hand brushed against hers, and he suddenly realized she was groping about the floor for something with one hand, while clumsily pulling her books closer. Fuery was confused at first, but suddenly realized she wasn't wearing her glasses. Setting down the books he held, he quickly pushed aside and overturned several books, before he found the glasses. He studied them for a moment, before handing them to the girl, who gratefully accepted them. "I don't think they're damaged," Fuery said.

She smiled happily and adjusted the glasses. "Ah, that's a lot better!" She turned to Fuery. "I don't think they've been damaged. Maybe a little scratched, but it could have been worse. My name's Sheska, by the way."

"I'm Fuery," replied, and then added, "Um, Kain Fuery, that is."

Throughout their introductions, they had started gathering up the books, and now a neat stack was steadily growing off to the side. "That's a lot of books," Furey finally said, wanting to break the silence.

"Hmm?" Sheska looked up, jerked from her thoughts. "Oh, yes, I suppose it is, haha."

"They must be heavy."

"Oh, a little bit. ...Okay, that's a bit of an understatement, but I've carried larger stacks than this before." She placed the last of the books on top of the stack and turned to Furey. "Thanks for helping me clean up this mess. And I'm sorry for bumping into you. I wasn't really paying attention."

"It's not your fault," Furey quickly said. "I don't think it would be easy to see over such a large stack of books. Plus, I wasn't really paying attention either."

"Well, anyways, thanks again for helping me, but I should be going now. I really need to get these back to the research rooms."

"Do...do you need any help?" Fuery asked as she moved closer to the stack and reached down to heft the books into her arms.

"Oh no, I...I've got this...uwahg!" The stack wavered, and she stumbled. Before she could fall Fuery snatched several of the books off the top of the stack. Sheska continued to waver, but then caught herself and straightened. "Whew...that was close," she muttered to herself, then to Fuery, she said, "Thanks again um uh, Mr. Fuery. And um, on second thought, I think some help would be greatly appreciated."

"Right, no problem." Fuery stepped aside and let Sheska pass. "Lead the way."

Sheska led him down the hall and around a few corners. She finally stopped in front of one of the doors scattered throughout that particular hallway. She carefully took a key from her pocket, wobbling slightly. Fuery moved to drop his books and help, but she said, "No...no, I got it..." The wobbling steadied and finally stopped, and Sheska quickly unlocked the door.

The two hurried into the room, setting the books down on the nearest table. Fuery glanced around the room, casually noting, "That's a lot of books." The room, though rather small, was lined wall-to-wall with bookcases. About half a dozen smaller bookcases were placed around the middle of the room. Each bookcases was crammed full with books.

"That's a bit of an understatement though, isn't it?" Sheska giggled as she began sorting through the books. She pulled four into her arms and busied herself with organizing them.

"Do you need any help?" Fuery asked. He randomly selected some books from the pile they had brought and look at them.

"Mm?" Sheska sounded distracted. Fuery waited a bit until Sheska turned and stared at him blankly. "Oh...well, if you'd like..." She returned to the table, set the books she held down, and grabbed a few books from the pile. She scanned the titles and authors, making note of the subject, before putting two of them back. She selected a few more books and repeated the process, before finally giving Fuery six books of--he assumed--similar subjects, and pointed to a bookcase in the far left corner. "Those should go somewhere around there," Sheska said, and then, after a brief pause, added, "Thank you so much for helping. You really don't have to."

"It's okay, I don't really mind."

Sheska smiled a bit as she returned to work.

They worked in silence for a while, too busy concentrating with the task at hand to talk. Finally, Sheska, who was halfway through sorting her second armful of books, broke the silence. "If you don't mind me asking, what were those papers you had earlier about?"

"Papers?" Fuery was confused. "Oh! Papers...the documents!" He hastily searched his pockets and then looked under the books that remained on the table, although he knew he wouldn't find what he was looking for. "Ah, dammit, I must've..." He muttered to himself as Sheska looked on, confused.

As if suddenly remembering Sheska was still in the room, he jerked his around and said, "I'm pretty good at fixing things like telephones, you see. Recently a newer model has been made. It has a few differences from the older model which is to be expected, but a few differences could mean everything when doing a repair. So anyway, I've been looking for some more information on this new model, like blueprints or such, so I could study up on this model. Anyway, I found some papers on them today, but I must have left them back where we met..."

"Oh dear. You should hurry back and see if they're still there."

"Are you sure? I promised I would help you organize these books but..."

"Don't worry about it. You've helped enough; I don't have much left to do, actually. Go find those documents, okay?"

Fuery couldn't help but smile. "Okay, okay, thanks!"

"Don't worry about it. After all, I should be thanking you so...thanks. It was nice to spend a little time with someone else. As much as I love books, it does get a little lonely in here sometimes."

"Well, it was nice spending time with you too, Sheska. I'll see you around...maybe tomorrow?"

"Same time, same place," Sheska agreed, laughing as Fuery hurried out the door. "Just don't bump into me again!"

Halfway down the hall, Fuery smiled and replied loudly, "I won't! Promise!" And suddenly, he was aware of how much time had passed. By now his lunch break was long over! "Agh! The colonel's gonna kill me! And if he doesn't then the lieutenant will!" He broke into a run, quickly disappearing around the corner.

Inside the storage room, Sheska laughed as she finished sorting the last of the books.

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SGB Note: My scanner hates me.
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All I Want For Yuletide

"You wanted to see me, Colonel – WHAT THE FUCK?"

"Happy Yule, Fullmetal."

"What the hell, Mustang?"

"What? What the hell what? You must learn to be more specific."

"The fuck are you wearing?"

"You don't know what a saddle is?"

"I know what a – the fuck are you wearing that for? What the fucking fuck?"

"It's your present, Fullmetal. For Yule. Do you have a present for me? Can I...unwrap it now?"

"What."

"Didn't you ever want a pony for Yule, when you were a kid?"

"...The fuck."

"Though, I'm considerably larger than a pony..."

"...I'm leaving now."

MYSTERY!

(Stuff to be here soon <3)

in a castle dark


There’s a place he goes in his head sometimes where she can’t follow. He has his scars and some of them are more than skin deep.

He has his scars and every time she sees him again he brings back more. Long, jagged lines torn across his chest, open puncture wounds, bites. Missing bits and pieces of himself left on his battlefields of city alleys and derelict buildings, and scattered in the gutters.

Winry longs to run her hands along Ed’s scars, press her lips to his ruined skin. Stitch him back together with her touch alone.

But she can’t.

So she gives him a leg to stand on and an arm to hold himself up, and he uses that leg to leave her and he uses that arm to push her away. He is so drowned by his own pain that he can’t recognize the kindred pain in her.

He tells her, the next time he makes her cry, it’ll be tears of happiness. She doesn’t know if she entirely believes him. But still she holds onto the words like she holds onto him; like he can be saved.

Unspoken

When Riza wasn’t around, the guys in the office loved to jibe at Roy about how married life was treating him. Perfectly fine, he would boast. Sure, it was a shame to have to cut off all his other contacts, but Riza wouldn’t stand for them calling him anymore…

And the guys would all laugh and make jokes, but he knew that they knew that there never really had been any other contacts. Not of the romantic sort, anyway.

He didn’t tell them about the other things, though. About how he still woke up from nightmares, but that it wasn’t so bad when you had someone to wipe the sweat from your head and hold your hand. And how you didn’t have to speak or make excuses because that person knew, she knew, what it had been like there, because she still had nightmares too.

And that somehow, sharing the pain made it easier to bear; something he’d always known, but never to this extent.

He didn’t tell them that, because they were men and buddies and shooting the breeze. They probably knew too, though. Just as he knows that her silence when she sees him cry is her way of telling him it’s okay. And his banter was his way of telling his friends he loved her. And their jokes were their way of saying they were happy for them.

There was no need to elaborate. When it mattered, the people he cared about always seemed to understand what was going unspoken.

We Are Not Alone
Part 1

I’ve always been more then a little jealous of Al. He was so close to Ed, closer then anyone could possibly be. They shared everything together. Wins and defeats, laughter and tears. And even though I’ve known Ed for only a short while I’ve come to love him deeper than Al, I yearned to be even closer to him than his brother could possibly be.

It’s only a shame that he doesn’t know and I don’t have the courage to tell him.

“Hey Heiderich,” Ed said walking into the room with a stack of books under his arms.

Today he was going to give me a lesson in English. He and Al had been tutoring me for about a month. My reading and writing were good but my pronunciation could use a lot of work. A problem Ed promised to fix.

And Ed always keeps his promises.

“So today I was thinking we could work on your basic pronunciation.”

“Alright.” I said nodding.

“Ok first,” He said.” You keep pronouncing your As as Us. When you say and it sounds like ‘und’. So we’re going to practice so you’ll get better at it.”

I nodded silently. For the next half hour I was made to pronounce a list of words with A sounds.

And, about, a lot, another, against.

But I just wasn’t getting any of it. Every time I would try and pronounce the letter A it came out as a U. Ed shook his head.

“Keep trying, you’ll get it.” He said patting me on the arm to give me encouragement. It was one of the thing I loved about him, he was always hopeful no matter what the situation.

The practice session came to an end when Al came back from the factory job he had at the moment. We were pooling all of our earnings together in order to afford this apartment. Ed and I worked as engineers at a garage, fixing tires, cleaning engines, and making old cars look a bit newer.

It was a far, far cry from building rockets and from the looks of it, I’d never be able to have my dream of helping man kind reach the stars come true.

Ed greeted his brother as he put the books up. I greeted Al as well though it was to cover up the fact that I didn’t want Al to be there at the moment. The days Ed and I had so few moments alone together that I wanted them to last as long as possible.

“Hello.“ Al said happily. Now that his brother was home Ed started up the stove. It was a gas burning one, and a poor quality one at that, it took forever to light and it would usually go out a few times while you were cooking.

More than a few times I’ve heard Al and Ed grumbling that this or that would be so much easier if they still had been able to do alchemy. I was still coming to terms that my best friend and his brother were from another plane of existence.

A world with different laws of physics, where a persons soul could be transferred from their body to a hollow metal one, where monsters exist and the elements can be bent to your will without the use of other chemicals and scientific instruments.

“How are the lessons coming along?” Al asked me. According to Ed without his metal body, Al looked exactly like me. When the three of us were out together Al and I were mistaken for twins and Ed our little brother. Much to his dismay.

Because of this it was easier for me to get into the U.S., even the customs agent at Elis Island thought I was an Elric and barely glanced at my papers. Ed and Al had fled Germany having to run after destroying the atomic bomb Hitler had created.

“It’s going better than I expected.” I said taking a sip of water. My throat was burning, I think the language lessons had put a strain on my lungs and throat. A few nights ago I had stayed up all night coughing in a pillow as to not wake Al and Ed.

The last time I had had a bad coughing fit in front of them they had both refused to leave my side and had missed work and a few meals because of it. And while I was touched by my friends concern, I didn’t want them to be so worried about me that they put their own lives on hold for my welfare. I didn’t want to be a burden on their already complicated lives.

“Well that’s good to hear.” Al said patting me on the back. I nodded, trying not to speak or cough in front of them.

_______________________________________________

Later that night we were awoken from our deep sleep when the whole apartment seemed to shake. At first in my drowsy half awake state I thought it might be one of the trains going by. Until a bright light, brighter than that of any man made light, shone into our rooms.

Ed was the first one to the window shielding his eyes from the brightness. Al and I followed also squinting at the light. It took a couple of minutes for our eyes to adjust.

Out there hovering above the street was a air craft the likes of which I’ve never seen. It was a metallic oblong object hovering above the street with a bright glow coming off it and it was making a soft humming noise like a powerful engine running.

We all stood there, amazed by what we were seeing, But our attention was soon drawn away from the ship. Bellow a group of policemen armed with pistols and shot guns appeared. One of the men got out of his police car, he appeared to be the one in charge since he was gesturing to the others where to go.

He then lifted a bullhorn to his mouth.

“Attention all in the…airship. Land now and exit the vehicle or we will be forced to shoot!”

The air was silent with tension as we all waited for the reply from the ship. It floated there silently not a sound or movement came from it. Beside me Ed was about to fall out the window to get a closer look, Al had to grab onto his back legs to secure him.

“The way it’s flying is that even possible?” Al asked, since he had next to no knowledge about aerodynamics.

“I don’t see how it could stay afloat.” I said, “I see no propeller, rockets, or exhaust fumes coming out of it.”

“Who made it?” Al asked quietly, to himself more than to us.

We stared at it for a few more seconds, until our attention went back to the street. The group of police were approaching the ship, guns drawn.

The cities fire department had been called in to provide a ladder that could be used to reach the ship. They were almost to the top of the ladder, within arms reach of the ship, when the un-expected happened.

A part of the ship began to morph. It looked like a long silver arm without a hand. It moved around a bit almost like it was searching for something, until it came face to face with the man on top of the ladder.

Then it opened fire shooting a red laser instantly incinerating the man. Everyone bellow the ship either began running or firing on it. The bullets were no use from where we sat we could tell the bullets weren’t even making a dent in the surface of the ship. The ship began firing onto the crowd bellow.

I grabbed onto Ed’s elbow and pulled him down as the ships weapon seemed to be searching for something. Al squatted down to join us, we lay there listening to the chaos that went on around us.

As we lay in wait a laser cut through our apartment. Ed, Al, and I scrambled to the door and ran down the stairs as fast as we could as the fire spread. We burst through the front door running as fast as our legs could carry us.

But that made no difference, the ship was following us and the laser was aiming at us. Al grabbed onto Ed’s arm and ducked into a alley way, I followed closely behind them as we crouched behind a dumpster. We waited hoping that we had gotten out of it’s sights.

I sat behind Ed, clinging slightly to his back. My thoughts at that moment were how I’d never been able to say what I felt deep down for him. I wanted to at that moment as well, but the chances of being over heard by whoever or whatever was in the ship were to great.

Several feet ahead of us across the street the ship was setting buildings on fire. We watched in horror as we saw the people inside become engulfed in flames. Several jumped to their deaths, preferring that than a death by the laser or the ensuing flame.

We watched helplessly as the building burned to the ground.

A sound came from behind us and we all turned around, ready to run. There stood a man. He was tall and dressed in a plain black suite and a black tie. His haircut was ordinary and if it wasn’t for the fact that he was wearing sunglasses in a dark alleyway and holding what appeared to be a large gun, he wouldn’t stand out at all.

“Get down!” He shouted as he fired at the ship. A blast like lightning came out of his gun and hit the ship dead on. As soon as it hit the ship it stopped moving and crashed to the ground.

“We have to get moving,” The man said. “I stalled them but not for long.”

“What is that, why was it attacking New York?” Ed demanded standing up and getting very close to the mans face.

“Isn’t obvious?” The man said in a cool calm voice. “They’re hunting for you, you and your brother.

He explained on the way to his hiding place that the ship was from a planet called Jylx and that the Jylxian army had figured out that Alchemy creates a type of energy inside the alchemists body, they had figured out how to harness this type energy but did not know how to work it themselves.

And that that’s why they were after us, because Al and Ed had done so much alchemy and transmutation in their lifetimes this energy would make the Jylaxian empire the most powerful in the galaxy. Which spelled trouble for all the other planets with sentient life on them. The Jylxian kings were intent on making sure that all the Jylxian royal family ruled all.

“There’s just one thing I don’t understand.” Al said. “How did you know about us?”

“Lets just say that the organization I work for, the organization that’s going to be protecting you, has been watching the two of your closely.”

I stopped dead in my tracks, if they knew about us. Then it was very likely that so did the Thule Society. We had faked my death back in Germany before we fled and we had thought that we had covered all of our tracks. And for all we knew this organization was working for the Thule Society.

“How can we trust you?” I asked.

“We don’t have time right now, the stun blaster will only hold them for so long. If you come with me you’ll be safe. Please, just come with me.”

“But we don’t even know who you are!”

The man let out a sigh clearly frustrated.

“I’m Agent L, I’m a top ranking agent for the Men In Black. An organization formed to protect humanity from extraterrestrials who would do the world harm as well as to help integrate extraterrestrials who’ve come here for work or pleasure.”

We stared at him for a while, unsure what to say. What he said did make a little bit of sense. That’s why he would know about the aliens who were attacking us, who we were, and the weapon he had.

“Then how come we’ve never heard of you?” Ed asked in a accusing tone.

“Humans aren’t ready to safely co-exist with another intelligent species. Most barely tolerate other humans. Plus if they were to find out that not only is there other life out there, that some of them want to wipe us out and take the world for themselves would cause a massive world wide panic.”

“Yeah…you do have a good point.” Ed nodded.

We followed L in silence as we walked stealthily through various alleyways, up fire escapes and over roofs. Until we reached what appeared to be a normal patent office building. L took out a set of keys and unlocked the door and quickly moved to the back and opened a broom closet.

“Gentlemen.” He said he motioning for us to step inside. We did so, thinking that we would be hiding in there until it was safe to go further. Until Agent L entered as well and closed the door. He then placed another key inside a the door and turned it twice. And the room began to move downwards. In about two minutes the room stopped moving and the wall behind us opened up in to a gigantic room.

It was less like a room and more like a gigantic meeting hall. Men and women dressed in the same uniform that Agent L were wearing were rushing around carrying our various types of work.

“This is M.I.B. headquarters, where agents are recruited, train, and where the heads of the organization monitor the extraterrestrial activity on earth.”

We could only nod as we looked around us, on the large monitor screens around the world we could see the areas around earth and various cities. It seemed almost to unreal to be true and I kept wondering if I was going to wake up any second.

At the very end of the room there was a large desk surrounded by other agents handing and receiving reports from what appeared to be a woman with what seemed like hundreds of arms.

“Morning L, I see you found them.” She called to L, as we passed by.

“Yes, just going to drop them off to Alpha.” He then turned to us. “Alpha is the head of the M.I.B. he’s the one to make the major decisions and gives the go ahead on who we should recruit.”

“Who do you usually recruit?” Al asked curious.

“Scientists, military officials, unusually talented people.”

“Then how come no one misses these people?” Ed asked. “If you were snatching up all these people wouldn’t someone notice?”

“That’s very simple. We delete all trace of them until they’ve fulfilled their duty. It’s like they’ve never even existed.”

“But what about their families?”

“Memory wipes, then when their family members come back it’ll be like they were never gone. We have a whole department who manufacture photos, memories and other bits of info.”

We were shocked to say the least, and I could tell Ed was a bit angry. And I really couldn’t blame him, to manipulate that many people into believing that this gigantic lie was the truth seemed beyond wrong. I placed my hand on his arm to make sure that he didn’t have an outburst, it was to risky they might throw us out and then we’d have no way of protecting ourselves from the Jylxians.

“Good the new recruits are safe.” A tall thin man said approaching us. “I was worried the Jylxians found them first.”

As he got closer I could see he was a elderly man who had long white hair pulled back into a ponytail that almost merged completely into his pale complexion. And on his face was a pair of thin silver frames that shone brightly every time a ray of light hit them.

“Gentlemen, let me introduce you to Alpha.” L said in a formal tone.

“You said ‘new recruits’ what makes you think we’ll join in the first place?” Ed asked suspiciously.

“Because it’s the only way you and your brother will be able to get your alchemy abilities back.”

“How?” Al asked a bit shocked. “It’s not possible to use alchemy in this world. There’s a different set of rules and laws in this world.”

“True, in this world. However you’re forgetting that we’re in contact with other worlds with more advanced technology.”

TO BE CONTINUED...

They've known each other for years, shared bottles and naps and losses and grins. He doesn't want people to get involved with the problems he feels responsible for, and he pushes even those dearest to him away, not realizing how much more that hurts them. She gave him a leg to stand on and he used it to walk away from her.

She's the sort to end her battles with a well-placed wrench to the skull, he'll yell at you for hours and probably knock you out if he's not restrained.

He's saved the world, and she's saved him.

They are fighting words with a hint of truth, quiet sobs and comforting words, bright smiles and blushes and two halves of a whole. They are golden and shining but with a not-so-obvious tarnish; living proof that nothing is perfect. Her eyes are as blue as the sky, his as golden as the sun. The sun's endless journey will always lead him back to the sky, back to her.

She is metal and oil yet soft and sweet. He carries her with him everywhere he goes, in his metallic limbs, helping him stand and helping him live.

He is crackling blue energy and torn and scarred, but somehow still childish and innocent, no matter how he denies it. She tries to forget him and his maddening golden stare, but she's not quite sure that this will ever happen.

They are teenagers who were thrust into a world that they didn’t belong in, with too many tears and too many losses and too many words to say in too little time.

They are stubborn and violent and children born into a future crueler than they could have ever imagined. He is not quite an adult, not quite a child, but with more memories and knowledge than men five times his age.

And she stands behind him, not quite invisible, and hopes that one day he'll poke his head out of the shield he keeps around himself, and turn around and see her.

Because no one else could understand as well as they do.

Because they are awkward smiles and automail repairs and a hope that one day he's return for good.

Because, in the end, golden is just another shade of brown, and he is not a god, not a demon, just a boy whose only wish is to set things right again.

Because her passion doesn't allow him to touch her with both hands, and because she's willing to give it up to see him flesh and whole again.

Because his passion takes him far away, unrelenting in his search, separated by a dream.

Because names mean nothing.

Because time means nothing.

Because sun and sky always reunite.

i1021.photobucket.com/albums/af336/FMAclubhouse/Gift Exchange 2010/forMina-day4.jpg

Knowing

Although it took her years to realize it, she’d always known deep down that she loved him.

Now that she knows it, it takes more than ever not to fear the path he’s chosen. It’s a path that could very well get him killed. But, she knows, if he doesn’t succeed in saving Alphonse and returning him to normal, he’ll be good as dead inside anyway. She’s always known that, too.

So she waits and worries and patches him up as best she can when he returns, always knowing his biggest wound is one only he can heal and always keeping quiet about her feelings. He would never let her love him in this state anyway…would never want her to settle for someone who wasn’t whole.

And somehow that very knowledge settles her worries about his feelings toward her – knowing that he loves her enough to want her to have more.

Okay, maybe it hadn't been that bad...

Scratch that, it had been terrible. The characters were clichéd, the plot dragging, and the entire thing had dissolved into a gigantic filibuster on the writer's part after the half-way mark, going on and on about something related to glitter and vampires...

Yet, Alfons sat through the new soap opera patiently, constantly suppressing his urge to run far, far way every time a commercial break interrupted it. He was doing this for Edward's sake, he told himself. Edward, who had seemed so very excited for this particular pilot of this particular show...

"So, what did you think?" Edward asked him excitedly as the credits rolled. Alfons started, and stuttered a bit, not entirely sure how to express his distaste politely.

"Well," Alfons said, "It... wasn't like anything else -"

Edward cut him off by holding up his hand and pointed at the screen, grinning. "Check out the head writer." He said.

Alfons whipped his head around to catch the name in time, watching before it scrolled out of right. He sighed, exasperated, as he puzzled everything together.

Of course, Alfons thought, only Edward would call a show Love and Rockets.

SGB Note: I told a friend I needed RoyEd ideas, and he doodled this for me. So it is a gift for me for you! Because I didn’t finish my gift for today! ;

MOD NOTE: Proboards prohibits adult content, so the offending picture has been taken down. -Puzzle

MYSTERY!

(Stuff to be here soon <3)