Fullmetal Alchemist Fan Fiction ❯ Milestone ❯ Chance ( Chapter 1 )

Edward Elric was born in 1899, with Al born a year later. I did not encounter the Elric brothers until 1911, on the night of Ed's 12th birthday.

 

It was snowing.

 

It fell around me in gentle flakes, but for the past few hours it had swirled around me in a blizzard. I really had nowhere to escape it, so I crawled underneath a parked car and curled into a ball for warmth. I don't know how long I stayed there, shivering. I was to busy thinking of how hungry I was.

 

I remember the first night I went without food…it was terrible. The sharp pains kept me up all night and continued until I was able to get food the next morning. My body has gotten used to the little food I eat. I have gotten used to the constant dull ach of an empty stomach.

 

So when the storm came into a gentle fall, I became very happy. My stomach told me to go look for food again, but I wanted to stay curled up in warmth. I hated the cold, always had. I got cold a lot more easily than most, so it made it that much more difficult. My brother was always nice about it. He would give me his comforter during the winter, since he didn't seem to mind the cold at all.

 

Brother…

 

I crawled from under the car before standing to my full height, which wasn't very tall at all. I looked around me, at the vast amount of white and dark blue. It occurred to me that nothing to eat would be found unless I caught it or checked in the alleys. There was very little I could ever hope to catch in a large city, so my only real option was the latter.

 

Before I realized it, I was lying in the snow again.

 

Though cold, the snow also felt very soft. I opened my mouth and let my tongue lick up a small scoop of snow. It instantly melted into water in my mouth, and I wondered if my body could really be that warm when I felt so frozen.

 

I felt old.

 

My ear that was pressed against the snow twitched as it heard something against the ground. It took me longer than usual to recognize them as footsteps. Soon my other ear was about to pick up sound from the air. I could tell there was more than one set, and one echoed loudly in the silent night.

 

I really should move…but I don't feel up to it. Hopefully they'll just pass by.

 

"I didn't think we'd be out so late. Then again, I didn't expect for Gracia to have her baby either."

 

"Yeah, that was a surprise."

 

"She sure was pretty, thou!"

 

I could tell they stopped by the sudden lack of noise.

 

"Brother, what's that?"

 

A pause.

 

"Doggy!"

 

I opened my eyes to see a little girl running towards me, a large smile on her face. Soon the other two began running after her.

 

"Nina, don't go near it!" A blonde boy shouted as he grabbed a hold of one of the girl's short arms. "It might have rabies."

 

For some reason I felt insulted.

 

Suddenly someone in a large silver suit of armor began to approach me. I lifted up my head off the snow in alarm. "I don't think it has rabies, Brother." The armor's voice sounded oddly childish. "I think it's just cold and tired."

 

"Yeah well, don't blame me when it attacks you." The boy scolded, but he did release the girl's arm.

 

"Even if she did, she couldn't hurt me."

 

Though being called an 'it' was no fun, I felt embarrassed when he clarified my gender. I suppose I'll never get used to being exposed. The man in the armor reached down and before I could think of responding his leather gloved hand touched my head and began to scratch. I couldn't help it; my tail began to swing back and forth beside me.

 

"Look, she has a collar Brother." The metal chirped as the boy and girl stepped closer. The girl knelt down and began to rub my side, which felt very good. The blonde boy crouched down and took a hold of the single tag attached to my collar.

 

"Well, it doesn't tell an address or phone number. It just says 'Luka'. Must be her name." He released the tag from his hand before giving a quick scratch behind my right ear.

 

I had never been petted before; not in the three years I've been in this body. In fact, I've tried to stay away from people, but I never imagined anything as simple as being petted could feel so good.

 

"Little Big Brother, can we take her home?" The little girl asked before she erupted into a fit of giggles when my tail accidentally brushed against her face.

 

The boy frowned slightly, his face only a small distance from mine as he scratched my ears. "This dog already has a home, Nina."

 

The girl stopped rubbing my side, and I could see a saddened expression on her face. "But she's so lonely…and no one is looking after her."

 

The blonde boy sighed and I could tell his resolve was cracking.

 

"Brother, let's just take her to Mr. Tucker's house for the night." The boy in the armor finally spoke. "Maybe he'll know who the owner is, and we could return her in the morning."

 

The boy looked hesitant, but it soon disappeared when he sighed and nodded, standing back up and looking up at the black sky.

 

The girl, Nina, stood up as well before the armor picked me up, surprising me greatly. When my body was pushed across the chest plate I felt its freezing temperature even through my fur. I would have squirmed away, but it wasn't worth it.

 

"Okay Al, let's get going." The boy said as he pulled his red jacket closer to him.

 

"Right." As the armor moved forward it made a clanking noise, and continued as we traveled down the street.

 

Despite the cold and noise, I found myself becoming relaxed from the slight swaying. My mind wandered to the poor person inside the armor. He must be cold. Oh well, his fault for wearing it in the first place.

 

We continued down the main street for quite a ways, the only real sound being Al's footsteps. Even the girl was quiet, which I thought odd for her age. She must be tired. She was holding onto the other boy's hand, who was leading the way. The armor was carrying me a little ways behind them.

 

We finally turned towards a house I wasn't expecting to. It was a huge house, and I would never have guessed that the people who picked me up would be so…well off. I guess over the years I've grown used to people ignoring a dirty mutt.

 

When we walked in the large house we were greeted by warmth. Lovely warmth. I don't think I've ever been so happy. I didn't even notice when Al put me down or when a middle aged man and dog entered the room.

 

"Welcome back." The man greeted with a small smile. He had short, slightly orange hair and round glasses. He also had some stubble along his chin that made him look older and slightly un-kept. "Edward, how was the party?"

 

"Great! I never expected Hughes to find out today was my birthday."

 

"He turned twelve!" Nina giggled.

 

I looked over at the boy, Ed, and wondered if that was really how tall people get when they were twelve.

 

"Oh," Al knelt down and began to run his gloved hand along my back. "I almost forgot; we found this dog along the road, Mr. Tucker. It didn't look to good."

 

"Yeah," Edward looked back over to Mr. Tucker. "We thought you might know who she belongs to."

 

I was suddenly very much aware of the other dog when it came right up to me. It was large, a little larger than me, and very white. I really know nothing of the different dog breeds, so I couldn't tell what it was. To tell you the truth I'm wary of other dogs and often try and stay away from them. This one was doing fine so far; it was sniffing the air to find out more about me.

 

The man, Mr. Tucker, had walked over and knelt down in front of me while I was eyeing the other dog. I could see now that he had dark blue eyes.

 

"Actually, this dog does look familiar." He spoke, to the surprise of the boys and I. "Yes, sometimes when I go out I spot a German Shepherd in the back alleys while passing by. I'm almost positive this is the same one."

 

I had thought I did a pretty good job of staying out of sight. Apparently not.

 

"So you know who the owner is?" Al asked from behind me, some excitement in his voice.

 

Mr. Tucker shook his head. "I'm afraid not. You see, I've been spotting this dog for quite some time, at least a few years. I'm sure if her owners were still in town she would have been returned by now."

 

"Oh." Silence filled the room, but my ears were able to pick up the soft crackle of a fire in the next room.

 

"Daddy, can we keep her?" Nina suddenly spoke up. She wrapped her arms around my middle, or tried to at least. "If we kept her, Alexander and her won't be lonely. Please?"

 

Despite how cute the girl was, I was almost sure the man would say no. Space wasn't a problem for them, but I knew how much work having a large dog was. Two seemed to extreme for me.

 

To my surprise, and probably everyone else's, the man agreed. "Yes, we can keep her."

 

I wasn't sure what to think. My senses seemed to shut off. I vaguely noticed Nina's loud shouts of joy and the deep barks Alexander released. Even Al's shout of 'That's great!' wasn't very loud. I knew I was happy though, I could feel my tail wagging.

 

The rest of the night seemed like it passed in fast forward. I was given something to eat (dog food, but I was too hungry to care), and then I was being led down a small hallway by Nina, who was very much awake despite what time it was. We passed by a door and I could here Ed and Al whispering inside. A part me wanted to peek in to see what Al looked like without his armor, but the chance was gone once we passed the door and emerged into Nina's room.

 

Toys. Crayons. Dolls. The normal little girl stuff was scattered around Nina's floor. It was almost similar to my old room, only half of the room would have been filled with alchemy books from my brother.

 

Mr. Tucker had changed Nina into pajamas earlier, so she hopped right onto her bed, giggling as she bounced some. She looked over at me and smiled, patting the fabric.

 

"Up Luka, up!"

 

Though surprised, I did as she asked, and hopped up on the bed. I took up most of it, but she didn't seem to mind. She threw the soft yellow covers over us, and when she became comfortable she flung an arm over my back.

 

"I'm so happy you could stay…" She whispered into my fur.

 

I placed my head on the pillow next to hers, and stayed awake for hours while she slept.

 

I did not encounter the Elric brothers until 1911, on the night of Ed's 12th birthday. I was, in mind but not body, ten years old.