• ❁Alchemic Scars [Editing]❁ •

Chapter 10 - Heat of an Unknown Source

(the artwork above does not belong to me!!)

Chapter 10 - Heat of an Unknown Source

The old house of the Rockbell family was once a peaceful place to go, get your auto-mail done and/or make friends. But the home is no longer quiet, at least not since we arrived.

Winry's screams shake the very floor of the quaint place. Her discovery of Ed's missing limb is no longer a mystery, and it makes her furious. A work of art that she slaved over for days has been shredded with nothing but inbuilt wires hanging from were it once remained.

I sit by the foot of the door, amused by the yelling and going on's of the families.

When I walked in earlier this evening, Winry seemed to not notice me at all. Well, at least she didn't recognise me as one of her oldest friends. I declined to pester her then and show the none existent right arm that I hold. If she knew, let's just say I wouldn't be in the position I am right now, I would be running from her throwing arm.

After her screaming, ranting, hitting and carrying on, Winry finally calmed herself enough to turn to me. She looks my form up and down a few times over, lingering on the flatter sleeve of my blue coat. I make my way to my feet, and she walks over.

"And who are you?" She asks. Even though I'd expected this, I feel my heart fall ever so slightly. My friend, my 'sister' doesn't even recognise me.

"I'm not surprised you don't remember me," I say in my blunt tone. "After all, it's been a good six - maybe seven - years."

Winry looks at her feet for a few minutes, seemingly pondering on her thoughts. She glances once again at my inexcusable absence of an arm, before tapping gently on her chin. A light appears in her mind after another second of confusion, and her eyes grow to saucer-sized circles.

"Elleah?" She whispers in a shaky voice.

"The one and only." I feel my mouth tug up into a smile, revealing the delight inside my heart. Winry takes ahold of my flesh arm and pulls me into an inescapable embrace. She squeezes me tightly as small tears form in her eyes, soaking soon after into my cloak. A moment later a sharp pain pierces my upper skull, sending a trickle of blood through my scalp and down my forehead.

"Why'd you stop writing?!" Winry yells with her precious wrench clutched in her hands, my blood covering the tip. "I thought you were dead!"

I send a quick death glare in her direction before slowly rubbing my head, acting as if nothing had happened. "You can blame the Colonel for that..." I admit. "He wouldn't stop sending me on errands or on missions, preventing me time to write letters. And don't get me started on the paperwork." I whisper the last part so only Jacky could choose to hear. She keeps quiet, whether she understood or not.

Winry admires me once again, lingering on my arm. Her smile fades to an annoyed glare. "You too?!" She yells at me, clutching her wrench tighter and steadily raising it. "And after I worked for a week to try and get that done for you! Ugh!" She grumbles further about her disapproval and anger. I stand in place and listen, displaying a blank canvas of expression. But that soon changes when she says something that pulls at my heart. "After that attack, I thought you were gonna die! I slaved for hours-"

At this point I block her talking out entirely. I still haven't told her about the taboo. I was too afraid then about it, and I'm still terrified to speak about it to her. The Elrics had done it previously, and everyone just went along with it after a few lectures. But in my case, I had lied flat out, to her face. I'd never be forgiven by my foolishness.

"E-Elleah?" Winry mutters to me. I look up from the floor that I had unknowingly been glaring down at. Winry's eyes soften at my actions, and she places a hand on my right shoulder-socket. "Don't worry, I'll get your auto-mail done in no time!" She cheers, pumping her other fist by her head in determination.

I look towards the brothers for any sign of emotion or statements. Instead of that, I'm met with a half-naked Edward, getting his auto-mail checked out by Granny. I turn my head back to the girl in front of me as I feel heat prickle at my face. I nod once and set off to exit the house.

"I'll be outside if you need me," I whisper over my shoulder. "You need to repair and adjust Edward's Auto-mail first. He is more important." With that, I'm out of the door and on the porch.

-

I sit on the steps in complete silence for quite some time. All talk from inside the house is drowned out by the door and closed windows. The wind whistles a few time as it passes and lifts my clothing and hair, but apart from that, the silence is almost deafening. I train my eyes on our earth's blazing star, watching as it slowly makes it's way to the horizon, showering the fields in an orange-pink glow.

"Hey, you doing alright?" A voice speaks from behind me, sounding soft and gentile, yet low and troubled. I turn my head to the side to peer at the figure. Edward stands at the door as he quietly shuts in behind him, standing strong on a temporary, prosthetic leg. He unsteadily makes his way to the step and stands beside my slouched form.

"Yeah, I'm alright," I whisper back. "Why do you ask?"

"You seemed a bit, off, when you left the room." He stated. "I got worried. But if it's nothing, then..."

I nod my head again and look back out to the horizon. The silence ensues on the area again. Ed slowly shifts himself - with some difficulty - to sit down on the step, becoming just at eye level. I look back at him and find a calculating gaze looking back. I cock my head to the side with a blunt stare before he speaks.

"When do you plan on telling her?" He asks softly.

I just shrug my shoulders before pulling the book from my pocket. "What do you guys say?"

"I don't think it's really up to us," Marcus states, ruffling his pages after being pocketed all day.

"He has a point," Jacky adds in. "But if I had to choose, id wait for a bit. I don't want another reaction like Ed and Al's..."

I nod to the two of them before placing Marcus down on my lap. Edward 'hmph's in agreement and stands up. I fiddle nervously with my pocket-watch as I think over my options, not making any form of eye contact. Edward places a hand on my head and ruffles my hair, before walking back to the house. I place a hand to the place where he had touched, feeling a tightening in my chest. The feeling is weird, and I'm unclear about where the source is coming from.

'What's wrong with me?'

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I think we all know what THAT feeling is... 💕

So, just to put something into place; Elleah does know what love is - she's not that stupid. But, she doesn't know what the symptoms of getting this so-called 'love bug' are. This is because of her memory loss and lack of using a lot of emotions.

[Spoiler alert!]
When she was younger, about 6 years old, Elleah had developed a crush on Edward. But after getting her memories taken with her parents, the feelings of those time have been mixed up and miss labelled as getting sick or embarrassed. This is the main cause of Elleah not comprehending what the feeling she is getting properly.

Well, until next time my storybook friends. Bye~