The Empath Alchemist {Edward Elric X Reader}

16

(Y/n) wasn't sure what to do. The man her best friend had always refused to speak about was standing right in front of her, before he decided to make his way over to the pair of teenagers. She stood close to Edward, who was itching to push the (h/c) haired girl away from the man- simply because he didn't like the idea of the girl he cared about being so close to the person who had brought him and his brother such anger and frustration. The image of Father appeared in his head as he took in his own father's appearance, and he wasn't fond of the way he shivered when he pondered how the two of them were connected. Edward had felt many things toward the blonde man who abandoned his family so many years ago: hatred, sadness, guilt, but he had never been scared. He wasn't sure why his uncertainty of their situation was making him feel this way now.

Hohenheim walked with slow strides. His face was patient, neutral but not in the same way as Father's. Hohenheim looked as though he was trying to portray himself as calm and unaffected by the sight of his son, but (Y/n) could peek past the facade and see the fear and pitiful sorrow that remained in his expression. She almost felt bad, but it was hard to feel that way when she'd spent so many years building the same walls as the Elrics had, in case she was ever faced with this exact situation. The man's face was concealed in his only picture hanging on Granny's wall and the very thought of him made Edward's mind go blank with hatred, and understandably so. He had left.

When his family had needed him the most, he left. When his boys had barely grown into toddlers, he left. When his beloved wife had softly begged him to stay with a kind and understanding look in her eye, he left. And the Elric siblings never understood why.

Too many children grew up without affection from either parent. Too many children were forced to endure the hardships of life alone, left to their own devices by a parent who feared their very creation or a parent whose life had been taken far too soon. Too many children grew up without the feeling of a mother's kiss upon their head or a father's hand softly ruffling their hair. Too many children grew up alone, and it wasn't fair. It wasn't fair to the Elrics, who spent their teenage years questioning if they were worth any kind of love due to the absence of their father and the loss of their mother. 

As pitiful as Hohenheim's expression was, as familiar as he seemed to be, and as heavy as the weight felt on his shoulders when he came into close proximity with (Y/n), she could not sympathize with the man who left his family.

As Ed trembled with a combination of valid and complex emotions, (Y/n)'s hand smoothed across his back- from his shoulder to the space between his shoulder blades. Edward appreciated the subtle act of comfort, though it did little to ease his nerves. Still, it at least reminded him that he was not alone as his father towered over his body, making him feel uncomfortably vulnerable. 

In his eyes, Hohenheim was a figure of intimidation. A frightening man who wanted nothing to do with his family and thought very little of the children that he had given his wife- a man who was beyond the likes of his son. A man who would shake his head in disappointment each time he'd catch a glimpse of Edward's automail arm, though he had not been around to shield him from the mindset that influenced the blonde boy and his brother to commit the ultimate taboo that led them to this point.

In (Y/n)'s eyes, she saw a man frightened of his beautiful son. A man who had no clue about how to approach the boy he'd failed over and over again, a man who was so ashamed of himself that he couldn't be bothered to look at himself in the mirror to neaten his beard. A man who had traveled very far, and a man who had 'coincidentally' showed up a week or so before the Promised Day. A man who had left and returned for a reason... one she would not be able to decipher unless he decided to explain it himself. 

Above all, she saw a man who glanced at her with the same question in his eye that she was biting back:

Who are you? And why do I know you?