Fullmetal Alchemist Fan Fiction ❯ Where The Heart Is ❯ Those Heavy Thoughts ( Chapter 4 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
Oh wow, long time since my last update, aye? Sorry! I’ve just started school and it’s kind of hectic (A laid back hectic. The first day was rush-rush and I was COMPLETELY LOST. It wasn’t even funny. How I ended up on the totally opposite side then where I was supposed to be for first period I may never know.) Anyway, I’ve also been kind of lazy lately, so forgive my procrastination. I do that often. With Schoolwork. --sweat drop--

I forgot to disclaim for the past two chapters…--gasp--….Oi! When did this happen?

Disclaimer: I do not own FMA. No clever clichés or anything, I just wanted you to know that.

So, is it Chapter 4 already? Wow, I’m not even a third way done, am I? This pretty chapter is not full of ACTION PACKED ADVENTURE SCENES, or ANGST-FULL REUNIONS AND HEART-FELT GOODBYES. I’ll save them for later. This chapter is, instead, full of ALPHONSE! YAY! Alphonse with a PH! That makes it all better! (Not that I don’t love you Hiederich , actually I adore you, I’m just focused on Elric for now… --woof--)

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Chapter 4

Those Heavy Thoughts

---Which We’re Always Eager To Ignore
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(Ishbal, 1919)

“You’ll have to excuse everyone. It hasn’t been an easy road for most people here, and they still blame alchemy for that.” Rose nervously said, referring to the few ungrateful gathered in the crowd that observed Alphonse’s heroic deed.

He managed to get a grateful, tear-full thank you by the young girl’s mother, along with the gratified recognition of a few others.

“Yeah…” he responded, absent-mindedly glancing at the room Rose had soon after lead them too. It looked beaten: patches of cloth draped over the dusty, make-shift walls. It gave the room a drank, drab feeling, and Al shifted his glance from corner to corner uncomfortably.

Rose watched his reactions to the room, giving a sweet smile as she spoke. “It was brave of you to save that girl.”

Alphonse turned to face her, his surprised look quickly becoming a smile, a light shade or red appearing on his cheeks as he glanced down.

“Thanks…but anyone would have done it…”

He gave a another quick look around, wondering why Rose would bring him here. It suddenly dawned on him as he turned to her.

“Is this the school?” He asked, shifting his curious eyes from one thing to another.

Rose turned, fixing a slightly off-set vase seated upon a lone wooden desk that rested against a wall of the room.

“Yeah. It’s not much, but it’ll do. I’m helping with caring for the children. Some of them have no parents.” She said calmly, a sad tone in her voice as she reached to pick up a small stuffed bear from the floor with white cotton sticking out from various places.

Her lavender eyes reflected a bittersweet happiness as she placed the tattered animal gently on the lone table. “It may seem hopeless, but it’s the least we can do. An education is the best thing we can give these children right now…so more things like this don’t happen. So we don’t repeat our mistakes.”

Alphonse watched a cloth draped where a door should be flap in the wind. She was right, without knowledge there would never be healers in this wounded world. He supposed it also offered some hope for the city, a temporary school until a unified educational program could be established for the kids.

“But Al, let’s focus on something else.” Rose said, interrupting his thoughts. “I was hoping you could help with the construction. I don’t think alchemy would do much good here, with all that’s been going on. You can use it in my company, but try to refrain, OK? I’m sure some old-fashioned work will do good anyway, plus, it won’t be strenuous.”

“Sure.” Alphonse replied, opening his mouth to say something else, but he was quickly cut off by an unfamiliar voice.

“Rose?” It asked, and the two turned to meet the intruder who had poked their head in through the cloth. Alphonse met the gaze of a blonde-haired girl with kind, hazel eyes. Rose instantly recognized the face, and Alphonse watched as she took a step toward the non-existent door.

“Isabelle. Is something wrong?” Rose asked, her voice remaining calm as she spoke. Alphonse had grown to admire that about her. Over the years her appearance, her entire outlook on life, had changed dramatically. She had grown from a weak girl living off a dream of seeing a beloved reborn, to a young women raised in the arms of despair, and strong enough to see past it. To help others face it as well. She had developed a strong voice in today’s world as well, not afraid to speak her mind about the troubles she, and the rest of the country, were facing.

Isabella glanced around the room before answering Rose’s question, taking the time to take in Alphonse’s sudden presence. “No. Sorry for the intrusion, but someone’s here to see you. Both of you, I think. If your name’s Alphonse, that is.” She turned toward Alphonse now, giggling with a playful smile, and turning back to Rose. “If it’s something important, don’t worry to much, I’ll be able to handle them alone. I’m sure Jenel will be back by tomorrow anyway.”

He didn’t know who Jenel was, or why she had left in the first place. But he knew that ‘them’ was the students, and that Rose and Isabella had to be the teachers. Was Jenel a helper? He quickly dismissed the thought as he watched Rose whisper a ‘thank you‘.

As the girl, Isabella, brought the cloth back down to cover the opening again, Alphonse followed Rose outside, putting an arm up to shield his eyes from the sun’s unforgiving rays. The deathly hot day could easily be a downer on Alphonse’s duties. Would he have to work in this heat? He hoped not.

Before long, a shadow suddenly loomed over him, blocking the blazing sun. Alphonse could have let out a sigh of relief, until he realized what was obstructing the afternoon blaze.

“Alphonse Elric! What a surprise! I didn’t think you’d be all the way out here!” Alphonse was pulled into a crushing hug without any warning as the form before him spoke. He let out a small ’mph’ of displeasure as he was swept off the sand covered earth.

“M-Major Armstrong?” He managed, a single eye opening as he peered up at the slightly familiar face.

“Of course! It’s been so long, how are you faring?” He asked, putting the startled boy down after the question, giving him a chance to answer.

Alphonse couldn’t help but let out a laugh, smiling up at the major as he answered.

“I’m fine, it’s been a while, hasn’t it?”

“To long, I’m afraid! And Ms. Rose, it’s a pleasure to see you again!” He extended a hand toward her, and she hesitated slightly before taking it. She smiled at the muscular man before her, watching with amusement as the pink sparkles surrounding him began to grow in numbers.

“It certainly has been awhile. Alphonse. Rose. It’s nice to see you again.” A smooth voice from behind the Major chimed in.

Alphonse glanced curiously past Armstrong at the approaching officers.

“Brigadier General, sir. I thought you were helping Lieutenant Breada.”

“Breada? He can handle himself. And when I heard Alphonse would be in the area, well, you can understand.”

“Of course, sir.” Armstrong responded, stepping lightly out of the way to make room for his superior officer.

Roy looked down at Alphonse with his able eye. The youngest Elric glanced away distractedly, refusing the colder man’s gaze. It wasn’t so much of a fear of the officer, but more of a necessary avoidance.

Roy had forced his way into Alphonse’s life so quickly, constantly questioning him on Military matters about his brother and asking about his forgotten memories. He didn’t remember anything about this older, unfamiliar brother of his. And with Mustang trying to pry these memories from Alphonse’s head, the boy had grown quite distant from the Military. Choosing to remain in quiet seclusion formulating plans and formulas for finding his brother.

Eventually, Alphonse met the man’s stare, trying to force a polite smile. Riza Hawkeye stood faithfully by the man’s side, and relief flooded Al as he spotted her. Alphonse had gravitated to the 1st Lieutenant ever since the questioning began. She was always the logical one. Not sniffing in Alphonse’s past like all the other dogs seemed to want to do.

He grew more at ease as Rose approached from behind him, coming to his side and giving him a comforting smile. He smiled as warmly as he could up at the two officers before him, giving a sideways glance to the ever-so-silent 1st Lt.

“I hope I didn’t come at a bad time.” Roy quickly dropped his gaze, slightly shifting his good eye to his side, watching the construction with an unreadable face. Rose straightened herself, as she gleefully,-and unexpectedly-clapped her hands together.

“Of course not. I was just asking Alphonse if he’d like to help out with some of the repairs. Right?” She turned to Alphonse, giving a short, reassuring nod.

“Huh-er…yeah!“ He kept it short and brisk, not wanting to open up much of a gap for conversation. He looked up at the Major who stood sternly by.

“Well, this is perfect then.” Riza stepped forward into the discussion, surprising Alphonse with the abrupt statement.

She turned to Alphonse with a stern but kind smile, and he instantly knew there was no worming his way out of this one.

“If you’re looking for work, I think we’ve found it for you.” Riza watched Rose glance down out of unease, but continued on. “There’s two boys who need help with unloading and delivering some supplies.” She paused for a second, Rose brightened at where the officer was leading. Riza finished her part in the discussion with one last sentence.

“I believe their names were Rick and Leo.”

Rose and Riza were both unfazed by the fact that Alphonse showed not a hint of recognition.
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(Germany, 1923)
The bustling entryway was obstructed by two certain persons, whom were standing against the walls on opposite sides of the small room discussing what looked to be a dire matter. A pudgy family waddled between the conversation, stopping the flow of words with their own talk. Other interruptions occurred as more people continued to file in and out of the restaurant, looking full and happy, and hungry and impatient. Hohenhiem may have been full, but he certainly wasn’t tipping toward the joyful side of the scale.

Karl Haushofer stood opposite of Hohenhiem, not paying much mind to the patrons weaving their way through.

“Perhaps we should discuss this outside, Professor.” Hohenhiem said with a smile to his evening dinner partner. He was referring to the conversation over dinner. Something he didn’t want to dwell on.

He maneuvered through the crowd with Karl following close behind, both heading to the open door.

As Hohenhiem set foot onto the wet, cold ground of Munich, his apparent light-hearted mood immediately grew darker. Karl loomed on the restaurant’s steps behind him.

The crowd inside, who were waiting to be seated, watched with mild interest.

“She just wanted your help, there’s nothing more to it.” Karl said, his voice straining to sound sympathetic.

“I’m not sure there’s much I can do to help her at this point.”

“There’s plenty you can do. Shirking your duties won’t earn you points.”

“I’m not looking for points, Professor Haushofer.”

The conversation paused, both men thinking of what to say next. They hadn’t the time to dig deeper, and Karl wanted to lay the information down simply. He didn’t like to elaborate, it only wasted time. He was the first to speak after the bout of silence and cold air.

“You fail to see,” His voice had become threatening almost. “how dire this is to her. Your involvement isn’t a favor. It’s a commitment. You realize that, don‘t you?”

Hohenhiem stood silently on the pavement, refusing to turn to the man behind him. His face held a neutral emotion on it as he watched the streetlight flicker slightly above him.

“If she needs my help so desperately, why send you to give me the message? She should have come herself.”

“Important matters came up; she has higher priorities then to personally deliver messages.”

Hohenhiem’s unreadable expression grew shadowed, a heavy paperweight keeping his thoughts from scattering. Behind him, he heard Karl saunter noisily down the steps. He now stood a mere few feet behind Hohenhiem.

The conversation seemed to be at a stand still as Hohenhiem refused to push any further. Karl watched the ongoing silence with an interest. The minutes dragged on for a while as more groups exited the building, each shooting commands and throwing laughs at one another.

They both knew the point had been made, and the friendly conversation before was lost to the restaurant’s constant pool of voices.

Karl began to casually walk away before he stopped short and turned around again.

“Oh, and Professor.” He held a much kinder tone in his voice now, summoning it up through his clenched mind. When Hohenhiem turned to face him with a slightly surprised look, Karl smiled.

“She also hasn’t met Edward yet, I’m sure she’d be ecstatic to meet him, wouldn’t you say?” Without even waiting for an answer or giving a goodbye, Karl strolled silently away.

If the previous statement had been a bullet sailing straight to Hohenhiem’s heart, it would have landed a direct hit.

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Oh, um…no cliffy this chapter? Forgives me! --squinty eyes--

This was surprisingly short, I hope it was good enough though.

Well, in case you’re wondering, I will not describe what Roy, Riza, Rose, Armstrong ect, ect physically look like. You should already know. If you don’t then wtf are you reading this for?

And yes, yes, more obscure questions that need to be answered, if you see any that just seem entirely “OMGWTF?!1”-ish, then feel free to ask!

Now…since school’s started, I won’t be putting up chapters that often, I’m only going to be allowed on the internet on weekends. --hiss--

I will get to go on the computer though, to type it, but just not the internet. If worse comes to worse, pen and paper will work too. I also would like some more reviews (no offense to my current reviewers! --sweat drop--) I’d just like to know if other people are reading. I have at least 196 visits. Even though I did 19, and k.a.y.r did about 35. (Haha “You can stop refreshing now! AHHHH”) Ok um…Eh? What was I saying again?

Oh yeah….uh…Bleach premiered last week, it was awesome. FMA still pwns it though. Oh, and I NEED A NAME FOR ROSE’S BABY! HOLY CRAP, I CAN’T THINK OF ANY. SHOULD I JUST CALL HIM “THE BABY”? No, Rose would be mad and me. That’s a horrible name to name a kid. So ideas are helpful people; giving pointers, ideas, ANYTHING. I just don’t like flames or hate reviews. I eat them.

--RAWR--

--An Angel’s Wings