Bleeding Hearts

Chapter 8 - Give or Take

"So, Akari," Ed struck up conversation with me while the three of us walked down the long dirt path leading to the train station. "I've been thinking."

"Didn't know you could do that!" Alphonse chimed in from behind. He ignored the remark.

"Your eye... you said you did the exact same thing we did, correct? With the gate and all?" I nodded. Ed looked a bit puzzled for a moment. "It's just that, well, when we attempted our human transmutation, Al ended up giving up his whole body, and I lost a few limbs. So how is it," He stopped in his tracks, "that you are still here?" I halted with him, thoughts buzzing around my head.

"I... I think... I may have payed the price. In a different way." He stood in front of me now, looking me in the eye.

"Take it off."

"W-what..?!"

"The eye patch. Take it off."

"Oh.." Slowly and silently, I removed the patch that covered my mysterious right eye. It gleamed a crimson red in the suddenly blinding rays from the sun. Edward moved his face close to mine. Closer. A small blush ran across my face. His golden eyes were less than a few inches away from mine. He glared at me, obviously inspecting my eye, but I was secretly wishing for it to be more than just that. He backed away, apparently finished with his business being so close to me.

"That symbol... It's the alchemic symbol for lead. Elementally, lead is the ruler of dark matter. But what I'm unsure of is why you had such strange reaction yesterday."

"What are you, an eye doctor?" Alphonse chimed once again from beside us.

"Nooo! I'm just..! Trying to help!" Ed cracked, yelling at Alphonse, clearly frustrated. They went on with their usual arguments, threatening each other and so on as we continued to walk. I interrupted them after a few moments.

"So, Ed. Do you know what could be going on? You know, with me being some kind of 'miraculous survivor' of a sort?" He turned to me, immediately ignoring Alphonse's comebacks. (Even though he's just a suit of armor, Al looked to be pretty annoyed.)

"I'm thinking that maybe, just maybe, the gate... instead of taking something as it's price, it gave you something. A piece of the truth." We all went silent.

"Could that be true, brother?" Alphonse's voice sounded distressed.

"I don't... know. But whatever it is, it's hurting you." Edward looked worried as he pondered the possibilities. We continued to walk in dead silence for the rest of the way to the train station. When we arrived, we were oddly solemn.

"I guess this is it, isn't it?" I asked. I had known since I first met them that they would leave. Everyone does.

"I wish I could say it wasn't. We have things we need to do back in Central." Ed seemed a bit depressed. He took my hand in his. "It was nice meeting you, Akari Sakuragi. I hope we'll meet again." I nodded, on the verge of tears. I would be alone once again. Soon, the train pulled into the station. They boarded, and with a heavy heart, I watched the engine trudge away.

I stood there, staring blankly ahead with tears streaming down my face. What was I going to do now? I thought I had finally met someone who wasn't afraid of me. I guess I was wrong... It was too good to be true.

At that moment, I felt a shadow looming over me. A tall dark figure stood behind me, and quickly clasped a handkerchief over my mouth. I couldn't breathe. I gasped for air, but it was no use. I felt myself falling faint, and suddenly, everything turned black.

[ Wow, long time no see! Kind of forgot about this story. Hope to see some readers return! ]