Chapter 11

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Take the Memories of Those Distant Days

Your POV

[Central, Amestris, you and Ed are 14-ish]

Edward hasn't come to see you since the Valentine's Day visit, which pissed you off beyond belief. It upset you to think that he was somewhere, running around, completely oblivious to the fact that you were worried beyond belief. You recieved calls from Al every once in a while, but that's cause he's scared of you and Winry. Other than that, you don't hear a word.

And you really just wanted to hear the soft sound of Ed's voice again. The slight rhasp that it had, and how when he spoke to you directly, it always contained a verbal smile in it. A call would've been just fine, but since he hasn't rewarded you with even that, you got another train ride to Central once again.

The streets were always so cold and dreary, with the grey slush piling up. It was around March, though, so this crazy weather puzzled you. Resembool was paradise compared to this crap.

"Excuse me, sir?" You carefully tap the shoulder of a cloaked man, hoping that he could maybe tell you where your childhood friend could be found. He turns around, eyes hidden behind a pair of shaded glasses. You double back slightly, then peer at him closer. His eyes, although hidden, were obviously a dark maroon color. "An Ishbalan?"

The man's aura darkens, and you could feel the ominous air around him. Your heart starts racing, and you begin to run just as he grabs you by your ankle. "You, are a sinner of god," he murmurs, almost as if he weren't even on this planet. No, he seemed to be somewhere far away elsewhere. "Sinners must be punished!"

Your eyes widen as he begins to do something to your limb, unable to move.

Ed's POV

[Central, Amestris, you and Ed are still 14 (it's a POV switch)]

I don't quite know what it was. Whether it be the air surrounding Central, or the fact that Al was wandering around like a confused baby. Either way, it felt as if about a million warning signs were going off. I finally get frustrated at Al's franitc movements.

"Bro!" I holler at him. "What the heck do you think you're doing? You look like you're having a freaking siezure!" Al cuts me an annoyed glance, and I almost bust out laughing. He's so childish sometimes!

[A/N: childish, but precious!]

"But there's a crime scene out thereeee!" he whines, pointing like a 3 year old at the large crowds I hadn't even noticed that were gathering up. "Brother, I have this weird sort of feeling... I could've sworn that I saw..." He trails off at the end of his sentence, being a meanie and deciding to leave me in full suspense.

"See what?" I ask him. He doesn't move, or reply to me at all. He just stands there, seeming so silent and angry with that expressionless mask. I start to get frustrated. "See what, Al?!" He doesn't reply, still. I kick him, then recoil with a throbbing foot.

"It's going to take more than that to hurt me, brother," he whispers softly. "But I really think that telling you what I see, will hurt you even more." Dread fills my stomach and heart, making it hard to breathe. The only other person I feel so strong about, is [y/n].

Your POV

[Central, blah blah, we still be doing that POV switch over here]

Your face was pressed against the stone, breathing hard and ragged. The pain in your leg was unbearable, and despite your urges, you did everything you could not to look. You knew it was bad, though. You could hear muffled voices above you, and could only make out just a little bit of what they were saying.

"She's a friend of Fullmetal's," a deep voice exclaims. "We've got to take care of her..." The man's voice was blurring in and out. With a panic, you heard him say, "Maybe we should have him come over here."

No! you think, the shouting in your mind clear yet your voice remaining unheard. No, please... he'll worry. He'll worry. Don't do it, don't, don't, don't. I can't let him be hurt because of my stupid actions. Please. Please. It's all my fault. It's all my fault.

"She said something!" another man's voice yelps. So apparently, you weren't completely unheard. "Something about not getting Ed. And... it being her fault. It's not her fault, right boss?" The deeper voiced man grunts in reply.

"It couldn't have been," he states. "But that fact alone could never convince one person that they are free from blame. Our first instincts are to instantaneously ask ourselves what we could've done different. That's exactly how Fullmetal thinks as well."

"So you're basically telling us not to go and get him?"

The rest were just murmurs that you couldn't interpret. Then, you couldn't hold out any longer. Your eyes shut slowly, as you think, this could be the end.

***

"Remember, my dear," the soft voice echoes, distinct and familiar in your mind yet still unable to be fully recognized. "Remember that you still have a person who loves you. You'd most definitely hurt them, if you leave."

"But how I do stay?" you whisper back, then repeat it in a yelling voice. "Just how am I supposed to stay by choice?! What sort of choice do I even have?!"

"You have a choice as to how you will move from this," the other voice answers. "Ask yourself, sweet dear [y/n]. Ask yourself, and answer with truth. For with each person, comes this choice within them. Each and every one. You can ask yourself, and remember to be kind enough to yourself to answer in pure honesty."

There was a soft, quiet pause, in which you sat there, waiting. Waiting for something to stop this murderous silence. And there it was. The question.

Do you want to walk, or do you want to fly?

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