Fullmetal Alchemist Fan Fiction ❯ Dancing in the Dark ❯ Silent Pages ( Chapter 6 )
[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
By: split personality fun 
With Edward gone to work, what will happen when Aeri comes upon an interesting, little book in his room?
Caution. Cliffhanger ahead. *evil grin*
Anime/Manga: Fullmetal Alchemist Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Adventure / Comedy / Angst | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 03.07.2006 | Pages: 2 | Words: 1.7K | Visits: 199 | Status: Work In Progress
With Edward gone to work, what will happen when Aeri comes upon an interesting, little book in his room?
Caution. Cliffhanger ahead. *evil grin*
Anime/Manga: Fullmetal Alchemist Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Adventure / Comedy / Angst | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 03.07.2006 | Pages: 2 | Words: 1.7K | Visits: 199 | Status: Work In Progress
Shi: Shi here, with a bit of an angsty addition to the fanfic! <3
Ed: I don't like where this is headed. First you get me drunk, and now you want to torture me emotionally too!?
Shi: Why else did you think I started this fanfic, silly. *innocent smile*
Ed: I hate you. I really, really hate you.
Shi: I love you too, chibi.
Ed: *jumps up and down, screaming insulting nonsense*
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Chapter 6
Silent Pages
Aeri sighed as she grabbed the last bowl and stuffed it into the dishwater. She scrubbed it wearily, checked for stubborn food particles, scrubbed it again, dried it, and then put it away. “Another day, another half hour doing dishes,” she muttered as she dried her hands.
“Ugh...”
The young girl looked down at her top, which was now soaked with dirty water. “I'm practically wearing the sewers,” she whined pathetically. Quickly, she went to her room and grabbed another shirt. She pulled off the wet one, tossing it across the room. Picking up the new one, she gave it an awkward look. It was Ed's black tank top.
“Aw man,” she muttered as she set it aside and got another shirt, this one an olive green color with half sleeves. She figured there was no need to conceal her automail arm if she was just sticking around indoors. Aeri picked up the tank top and left the room, heading for Ed's.
She gently pushed open the door as she had done so many times before. The room was an utter mess. Clothes were flung over his bed, and the floor was literally covered by layer upon layer of papers. “So much for a break before supper...” she sighed as she tossed Ed's shirt onto his bed with the others and began sorting through the endless sea of dead trees.
~Two hours later~
Aeri lay back against a pile of books, breathing heavily and appearing all around exhausted. The floor was now visible, except for the many, reasonably sorted piles of papers and books, and the bed was made neatly. One or two papers and a single book lay on the floor inches from Aeri's hand.
“C'mon. Just reach a little farther,” she moaned, stretching her hand out to no avail. “Must ... get ... up. Must ... finish. Must ... talk ... in complete ... sentences.” She sighed. Even when she couldn't move an inch, her horrid sense of humor remained.
Finally, she pulled herself into a sitting position and grabbed the papers. She set one at the top of one pile and the other on another. Now all that was left was the book.
Aeri picked it up, checking the cover to see where it would best be sorted. There was no title. Turning to the inner cover of the book, she saw written in Ed's sloppy handwriting, “Edward Elric.” Continuing to flip through the pages out of curiosity, she quickly got the gist of what the book really was.
The first paragraph looked something like this:
Silent Pages
Aeri sighed as she grabbed the last bowl and stuffed it into the dishwater. She scrubbed it wearily, checked for stubborn food particles, scrubbed it again, dried it, and then put it away. “Another day, another half hour doing dishes,” she muttered as she dried her hands.
“Ugh...”
The young girl looked down at her top, which was now soaked with dirty water. “I'm practically wearing the sewers,” she whined pathetically. Quickly, she went to her room and grabbed another shirt. She pulled off the wet one, tossing it across the room. Picking up the new one, she gave it an awkward look. It was Ed's black tank top.
“Aw man,” she muttered as she set it aside and got another shirt, this one an olive green color with half sleeves. She figured there was no need to conceal her automail arm if she was just sticking around indoors. Aeri picked up the tank top and left the room, heading for Ed's.
She gently pushed open the door as she had done so many times before. The room was an utter mess. Clothes were flung over his bed, and the floor was literally covered by layer upon layer of papers. “So much for a break before supper...” she sighed as she tossed Ed's shirt onto his bed with the others and began sorting through the endless sea of dead trees.
~Two hours later~
Aeri lay back against a pile of books, breathing heavily and appearing all around exhausted. The floor was now visible, except for the many, reasonably sorted piles of papers and books, and the bed was made neatly. One or two papers and a single book lay on the floor inches from Aeri's hand.
“C'mon. Just reach a little farther,” she moaned, stretching her hand out to no avail. “Must ... get ... up. Must ... finish. Must ... talk ... in complete ... sentences.” She sighed. Even when she couldn't move an inch, her horrid sense of humor remained.
Finally, she pulled herself into a sitting position and grabbed the papers. She set one at the top of one pile and the other on another. Now all that was left was the book.
Aeri picked it up, checking the cover to see where it would best be sorted. There was no title. Turning to the inner cover of the book, she saw written in Ed's sloppy handwriting, “Edward Elric.” Continuing to flip through the pages out of curiosity, she quickly got the gist of what the book really was.
The first paragraph looked something like this:
“My name is Edward Elric, formerly the Fullmetal Alchemist of my world, a world in which alchemy was developed instead of this world's destructive machinery and technology. Being a part of the military in my past, I was often forced into writing reports of my findings and thoughts on various issues and missions I was ordered to pursue. Now that I no longer belong to the militia, I felt that it would be a relief not to bother with such annoyances. In the end though, I guess that I have grown too accustomed to this habit and have decided to begin a journal in which I can gather my thoughts and research.”
“What a pathetic excuse for a guy to keep a diary,” Aeri laughed as she started flipping through the pages again.
There were three sections in the journal: Thoughts, Work, and Gate. A sharp intake of breath could be heard after she had read the last section aloud. Suddenly, all of her fatigue vanished. It was only one simple word, but that single word held so many prospects. A sinister grin crawled its way across her features (a very Winry grin). “Oh, Edo-kun...”
Seeing as Edward Elric was at his workplace at the moment and would be there for another hour or two, there was no reply. Knowing this, Aeri plopped contentedly down on his bed and began reading.
~*~*~
Edward Elric wearily strolled down the sidewalk toward home. His hands stuffed deeply into his coat pockets, he walked with the air of someone heading to a place he really didn't want to go. With a yawn, he walked up to the door, unlocked it, and opened it just a crack, expecting Aeri to do no less than tackle him because of the state he had left his room in.
Instead, he found the lights were all out and not a sound could be heard. In fact, the only lighting in the entire household was a single candle set on the living room table. Sitting in one of the chairs surrounding the fireplace in the living room, the light of the candle flickering solemnly upon her image, was Aeri. She was sitting so still that it bothered the young blonde even more than the lack of light; Aeri was always doing something, but here she was … simply sitting there.
“I ... read it,” she muttered. Her voice sounded a bit cracked.
Ed had absolutely no idea what she was talking about. He had no idea, that is, until Aeri slid the journal across the table and into the light. It was open to a certain page. Ed picked it up and scanned the page, his eyes widening with understanding and horror. “You ... you read this? Without asking?” he managed.
Aeri nodded, tears beginning to gleam in her eyes. “Why? Why didn't you tell me about it?! I think I deserve to know something like that!” she asked, her temper increasing with each sentence. She stood up, staring hard into Ed's golden orbs, the light of the candle dancing between them.
“The answer is right there, you idiot! If you read this, then you know exactly why I didn't tell you ... why I didn't tell anyone!” Ed replied haughtily, feeling that this violation of privacy left him as the one who should be asking the questions.
“You've given up, haven't you? You don't care about getting home anymore! You're just going to give up and wander around this world with your tail between your legs! Well, listen up, Dog! I don't give up as easily as you! I won't give up on my home, on my dreams! I'm not going to forget my life like you forgot your brother!” Aeri shouted at him, tears now running freely down her pale, candle lit cheeks.
With these heart piercing words, she pushed him aside and ran out the door. Ed just stood there, half of him not understanding what had just happened and the other half brooding over her words.
It was in this confused and dejected state that he quickly wrote a note to his father so that the man wouldn't get worried when he came home, deliberately lying about their cause of leaving, and ran out the door after her.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Shi: Muahahaha! The first of many cliffhangers!
Ed: You're so mean. You're not even done torturing me and you want to make the audience miserable too?
Shi: It's what I do best.
Ed: You got that right…
Shi: Anyways … Please review! Insult me; praise me; shower me with roses; bombard me with tomatoes! Just review! ^^