The Value of a Human Heart

Reunited

Years later...

Your POV

"Y/n honey! Can you help me wash the dishes?" Gracia's voice yells from the kitchen as I put down the book I was reading and rise from the couch. "Sure Ms. Gracia!" I answer back and give a small smile as I walk to the kitchen and take the lunch dishes from her, placing them in the sink. "Oh dear, you can just call me Gracia, no need to be formal." "But I must, you guys have done so much for me, I feel that it's necessary." Gracia gives me a small closed eye grin. "Honey, you're like a daughter to us. It's no trouble to help." I return the smile, my mind set with true thankfulness.

"Gracia! Y/n! Elicia! I'm heading out for my job! I'll be back shortly with a few guests." Hughes's happy voice shouts from the door as he walks out and closes it. "Guests? Seems interesting." Gracia says as she looks down to me. "Oh y/n! The pigments are low. If we are having guests you have to go quickly refill them." She says as she shoos me away to the bathroom. I run to the bathroom and look at the mirror, seeing that what she said was true: my disguised e/c eyes are now returning to their normal red color. Hastily, I turn on the water and take out the bottle of e/c specified dye and place them on the sink, then clap my hands, combining them to my needed pigment eye drops to mask my Ishvalan eyes. I lift up the bottle and, slightly shaking, drop the drops into my eyes, wincing in pain. I do the same for the other and slam the bottle back down, breathing heavily. It hurts every time. Damn, I wish people were less judgmental and I could walk around Central without having to disguise my eyes. I sigh as I know that that will never happen; for now, I must continue to place painful pigments in my eyes every 5 hours to disguise their red irises, making them look e/c, so that people don't know that I am half Ishvalan. And they burn like hell...but they aren't as bad as my sickness. As if on cue, a burning sensation forms in the back of my throats as I hunch over the sink and cough rapidly, blood starting to splatter and stain the white porcelain. I need my medication. I fumble for the bottle of pills until my eyes land back on the blood in the sink.

Painful memories shoot through my brain of that day as tears come to my eyes and I cough again, more blood coming out in result. Finally, I find my medications and take them, the dizziness from blood loss leaving my head. I pant slightly and release my iron grip from the sink, walking out of the room to do laundry. "I wonder who these guests will be...."

(Timeskip)

Edward's POV

"WHY YOU LITTLE!!!" I continue to rant at the little girl's RUDE behavior as Alphonse restrains me back and we walk into Hughes's house. "Brother, these people are nice enough to let us st-" he stops and drops me, looking forward. "Ow what the he-" I stop as well as my gaze 'supposedly' follows his and lands on a familiar head of h/c hair. The figure turns to us as I see s/c skin and a familiar female face. "Y-y/n?" I mumble slightly in disbelief. Her face is a look of shock as I suddenly jump up and bolt forward, tackling her to the ground. "Y/n!" I hear Hughes's voice as I'm suddenly lifted into the air by my shirt collar.

Your POV

As I continue to pick up Elicia's toys in the living room while Elicia and Gracia greet Hughes and the guests, I hear a familiar high pitched voice that my ears haven't met in years. I turn swiftly and widen my eyes in shock as I see a familiar suit of armor, along with a short blonde haired boy. Ed? Al? Before I knew it, the boy ran up to me and tackled me to the ground in a hug. "Y/n!" I hear Hughes shout as Edward is lifted off of me. "Put me down!" Edward yells as he flails his arms. "Hey what's the big idea touching my daughter!" I sweat drop at his use of the word 'daughter' considering that we aren't blood related, yet he still refers to me as his daughter and is just as protective as an overprotective father.

"It's okay Mr. Hughes, I know Ed." "You do?" Hughes asks as he release Ed who falls to the ground. "Y/n!" Alphonse shouts happily as he engulfs me as a hug as well, except not knocking me to the ground. "Alphonse!" I reply back, with a smile as I (attempt) to wrap my arms around his armor. We release and I look over to an annoyed Edward. "Ed, I see you're as short as last time." At this I see steam emit from Ed's head as he shakes his fists at me. "Y/N YOURE JUST A SHORT AS ME SO SHUT YOUR MOUTH YOU-" Al cuts Ed off as he slaps the back of his blonde head. "Hope you boys are hungry! Gracia's cooking is amazing!" Hughes announces from the kitchen as I realize he, Elicia, and Gracia are already out of the room. "Come on guys. I'll explain everything after dinner." They follow me as we head to the kitchen. Oh God, I have a lot of explaining to do.

(Timeskip to dinner)

Ed POV

"Dig in!" Hughes shouts as I grab my fork and knife, readying them for the delicious looking meal. "Wow! Thanks!" I say excitedly as I dive into the meal, savoring the delicious keesh. "You weren't kidding, this tastes great!" I continue to scoff down the food as Hughes lets out a nervous chuckle. "Alphonse, how are you gonna eat with all that armor on?" I stop mid-chew as Alphonse stiffens. "Uh..." "Please don't mind it Mr. Hughes, Alphonse is just extremely insecure and feels that if he wears a suit of armor, he's shielding his heart with it's own armor." Y/n replies with a slight giggle as Alphonse's 'jaw drops'. "Hey-" "She's right. Right Al?" I ask him, gritting my teeth and jamming my elbow into his side, resulting in a loud 'thump' as a signal for him to go along. "Y-yeah." He replies, his childish voice coated in shame. "Yay! Inswecure!" Elicia yells to the best of her ability, earning a cute giggle from Y/n. Damn, I've missed her smile- wait what?! What the hell am I thinking?! I brush off my thoughts and continue to eat. I can't be...no way! Y/n's just a friend that I haven't seen in awhile. Yeah that's it for sure!

(Time skip brought to you by Isaac McDougal, also known as Isaac the Freezer)

Y/n guides Al and I to the guest rooms to stay for the night. "Okay guys, here you go." She says quietly as she swiftly turns to leave, only for me to reach out and grab her shoulder. "Hey Y/n, you've got some explaining to do!" I raise my voice slightly as she turns towards us and nods, then opens the door and we go inside. I take a seat on the opposite bed of her and Al.

"After we had that fight all those years ago, I couldn't take the pressure. I always thought that this was all my fault, that I'm the reason you guys attempted human transmutation and failed. So I ran off and searched for a new home and eventually found my way to Central where I was taken in by Hughes." She looks down and Al puts a hand on her shoulder. "Y/n, it's not your faul-" Yes it is! Maybe if I hadn't wandered into your house like the idiot I was, I wouldn't have been caught up in the mix and ruined the formula. Maybe you guys would have real bodies! Maybe...maybe Trisha would be here." I look at Y/n in shock as tears begin to fall down her face. "Y/n, I-" Before I can finish, she bolts up and runs out of the room, down the hall. "Y/n!" I start to run after her but Al holds my arm back. "This is a lot for her to say brother, we should leave her be for now." I send one more glance back to the door then nod in agreement and prepare for bed. Y/n...it was never your fault. It was always mine. It's my fault you got hurt, and I couldn't protect you, but I swear I'll make sure to stay by your side and keep you safe.