FMA Fanfic - Chapter 2 P2 ''The Cost Of Life''

Fullmetal Alchemist Fanfic Cahpter 2 - "The Cost Of Life" P2

"Nothing," hissed Lucas, wrapping her arms around her legs, pulling them against her. She squeezed her eyes shut and hid her face in her knees.

Edward, stunned for a moment, was silent, mouth hanging open slightly. Then he shook his head as if to shake off the frozen surprise. He stood and moved around to stand in front of Lucas, eyes big. He pointed at her leg.

"Lucas, what was that scar?" he persisted.

"Go away, I'm tired," she snarled, laying over, resting her head on the arm of the couch.

Ed knelt down in front of the couch, his facet softening even though beneath was aching curiosity and determined worry. He reached up, gently putting his right hand on the side of Lucas' knee, getting her attention as far as opened eyes.

They stared at him fiercly, but numbly, as if she was afraid of something that might happen. Edward gave her a reassuring smile, brushing his fingers acorss her knee once. "Hey," he murmured to her. "You don't have to be scared. You're safe, okay?"

She met his gaze for what seemed like ages. Then she sighed, slowly blinking. Silently, Lucas sat up, Edward moving back so she would have space. The red-headed girl folded her thin-fabric loose pants up, stopping it above her knee. It looked like shorts to Edward but he focused on the scar he'd seen.

As he'd seen before, it started at her ankle and snaked around her leg, stopping below her knee. Edward shook his head, the sight of it sickening him.

"Who did this to you?" he growled.

Lucas shook her head, features filled with distress. "I can't tell you," she whimpered just above a silent voice.

"Tell me," he insisted. The hard anger in his face changed to sympathy and gentleness as he quickly moved up onto the couch, sitting beside the girl. He didn't invite her to do so, but Lucas laid over against him like before when he almost blew up from embarrassment, even though now it wasn't like that. This was a serious situation, and Edward was determined to find out who would hurt such a nice girl like Lucas.

"I can't tell you," she repeated, a sob in her voice. She shook her head and sniffled, biting her lip.

Edward sighed and put an arm around her cautiously, pulling her close comfortingly. He turned his head, setting his chin on top of her head. Whatever was wrong with her, it was obviously traumatizing. Why would a fourteen year-old girl with such an attitude like Lucas suddenly become vulnerable over a scar?

Ed squezed Lucas' shoulder lightly in an attempt to calm her. "Lucas, come on," he said to her. "It's better to talk about something than to hold it in. You know?"

She nodded. For a few minutes, she stayed leaning on the alchemist. But then she sat back up, wiping at her face. Lucas stroked some random strands of hair behind her ears and cleared her throat, letting out a big sigh.

She lowered her head and was quiet. Then she spoke.

"When I turned ten, my mother and father started fighting," she started. "A year later, they divorced. Mom died of a heart attack a month later and my dad, he... He felt so guilty. He thought it was his fault. So, one day, he started learning alchemy."

Edward's eyes widened. "Oh, God," he breathed. "He tried to... bring her back, didn't he?"

Lucas looked up at Ed solemnly. She nodded, swallowing. "I was there," she whispered. "Mom, she turned into... into..."

Lucas shook her head, dropping her face into her hands. Her shoulders shook and she cried. A babble of words that Edward couldn't understand emitted from the crying girl. He didn't know what else to do besides hug her.

So he did.

She immediately buried her face in Ed's chest, clinging to him like a frightened child. He put light hands on her back, every now and again patting her easily. Finally, after a few minutes of crying unintelligably, Lucas pulled back from Ed, tears streaking down her cheeks and still coming. She looked absolutely terrible and a blade of guilt mixed with pain stabbed Edward's heart. If he had just left Lucas alone and let her sleep, she wouldn't be crying or reliving anything.

"Edward," she sobbed, "my mother was a monster! She looked like... I don't know what happened, Daddy said he got it all right!"

The blonde alchemist gripped Lucas by her shoulders, locking eyes with her. "I know," was all he said to her in a gentle voice. "I know."

Lucas practically attacked Edward the next hug, latching onto him tightly. He just sat there, wishing he could calm her down somehow. He had a pretty good idea of what happened to her, even though the reason behind the scar wasn't fully explained. Ed dare not ask further, though, judging by what he had already caused.

Edward didn't remember when he fell asleep, but he knew that Lucas passed out first because he remembered her sleep talking, mumbling "Mommy" over and over. Later that morning, at about eight o'clock, Edward's yellow eyes flickered open and he, for a moment, couldn't remember why a girl was alseep, laying against him. Then, slowly, what had happened only hours ago came back to the alchemist.

He took a deep breath, looking around. No one was in the living room but the sound of voices from the kitchen reached Ed's ears. He didn't want to move, fearing it would wake up Lucas. So he sighed, shifted just barely to lay over agaisnt the back of the couch, and closed his eyes.

Suddenly, a hushed giggle came from behind Edward.

Instantly, he knew who the voice belonged to.

"Wow, brother, you two sure look cute together," the boy giggled.

Ed's eyes shot open and it took all of his being not to jump up and pound his brother into the ground. He growled quietly, fist clenching. He said in a quiet but threatening voice, "Al, walk away and I promise I won't kill you."

His brother giggled again, extremely amused. "Brother, you have a girl sleeping on you. I doubt you can even get up."

"Unless the girl's awake."

The two brothers froze, Alphonse in fear and Edward in surprise. Lucas slowly sat back, blinking sleepily. She looked exhausted, but nearly as bad as Edward had seen her earlier. As the minutes conitnued since waking up, Ed began to wonder if everything that had happened a few hours ago was a dream.

He blinked as well and then looked at Lucas, quiet for a moment. She yawned and scratched the back of her head. "Great, my neck feels stiff," she muttered.

"Sorry," Ed apologized, sheepish.

Lucas scoffed. "No, you were quite comfortable. I just slept the wrong way. Probably had my neck craned or soem crap..."

There was a complete silence between the three as Lucas slowly woke up completely. She was rubbing her face with her palms and then peered at Ed through her fingers. She nodded at Al expectantly.

"Edward, you can chase him now," she told him.

Al cried out in surprise and then took off, followed by Edward who was laughing maniacally. Lucas snickered and puffed out her cheeks, blowing out a big breath afterwards. She flopped over on her back, listening to the crazy yelling of Edward and the thumping of their feet through the kitchen, into the four-way square hall and then up the stairs. Lucas was surprised Alphonse wasn't caught on the stairs, being a big lumbering suit of armor.

She suddenly began to wonder why Ed's brother was just a suit of armor. He had gotten his head blown off but he was still alive. His suit was his body, but why?

Suddnely, a loud crash came from upstairs. Ed's laughter rose in volume and Alphonse shouted for help. Lucas snorted, giggling. Boys, she thought.

Billie walked into the living room, holding a pan in her hands. She saw Lucas and smiled at her. "Honey, do you want to come help me with breakfast?"

Lucas nodded and stood, stretching. She sighed happily after the stiffness in her body was mostly worked out, but frowned as she craned her neck slightly, trying to pop it. Billie flinched slightly when a loud pop came from Lucas' neck.

"I think that can hurt your spine," the woman said.

Lucas shrugged. "I do it a lot," she said casually. She stifled a yawn and nodded. "All right, what are we making for breakfast?"

Billie smiled and headed back into the kitchen, calling, "Well, I want to make bicuits and gravy, but I don't know if everyone would like that."

Lucas went into the kitchen as well, looking around. "Well, I like that," she said. "Edward probably does too. Didn't you say something about him eating like a pig yesterday?"

Billie laughed. "Oh, you should have been there. He ate almost two loaves of bread, downed two bowls of noodle and still acted like he was hungry." The woman giggled. "I offered him cookies but he must have not heard me or something."

The redhaired girl smiled. "Wow," she said in shock. "How isn't he fat yet?"

The sound of heavy footsteps on the stairs came to the girls' ears and they looked over as Ed entered the kitchen, a light bruise on his forehead. The ladies gasped, confused and surprised.

"Edward!" Billie cried. "What happened?"