metal heart║edward elric x reader [fullmetal alchemist]

Chapter 10: In Which You Remember Things You'd Rather Forget

A/N: I'm so sorry this was late, I've been working on it for hours and hours over the last two days. I won't bore you with the details and stuff, so anyway here it is now.

I'm also sorry about what happens in this chapter. I didn't think this story was going to get this sad but that's just the way it turned out.

Warning: This chapter contains instances of verbal child abuse so if you're sensitive to that stuff I would suggest you don't read. If you want you can message me and I'll give you a brief summary of what happened so you can skip this and keep reading the next chapter when I post it.

Chapter 10: In Which You Remember Things You'd Rather Forget

EDWARD STUMBLED THROUGH the door, sweaty and breathing hard. "That guy was strong!" he exclaimed. "But I managed to--[F/N]?"

You didn't know what expression was on your face, but it was apparently disturbing enough to make Edward's words stop in his throat. His eyes flicked from you to the woman.

The woman.

You couldn't believe it was her.

"Hmm," she mused. "There seem to be two of you now. That's inconvenient. Looks like I might have to get what I want another time."

"If you think you're leaving here, you're wrong," Edward said, taking a step forward.

Your head began to feel fuzzy. With a stab of panic you remembered what you had forgotten in your shock: there was no longer any barrier protecting your lungs from the poisonous air. Every breath added to the darkness encroaching on the edges of your vision.

You stumbled, falling back against the file cabinet. Edward's gaze shifted to you. "[F/N]! Are you alright?" You couldn't reply; it felt like a wad of cloth was being forced down your windpipe.

The last thing you knew, the floor was coming towards you at an alarming speed. There was the sound of running footsteps, shouting, and then nothing.

***

In the memory, you were thirteen years old.

It was your birthday. Your first birthday since you left home. You were excited because you had been told that today you could visit your parents. You were long since dressed and ready when Farnon knocked on your door at seven in the morning. He led you down the hallways you had become accustomed to in the course of your last two months of training. And what training it had been--your skills in engineering and fighting, both with alchemy and without, had increased immensely.

Your parents were going to be so proud.

Although...

An unwelcome thought had been haunting you in the previous weeks, and it ate at you with more ferocity than usual as you stared out the window of the car that was taking you home.

What if your parents didn't want to see you?

You hadn't heard from them in the last two months: the few phone calls you had been allowed to make in your strict training regimen had gone unanswered, as well as the letters you had sent.

Could it be that they didn't miss you?

No. That was impossible. They were probably just really busy trying to get their business back on its feet.

The car rolled to a stop on a familiar street outside a familiar home-your own. "You have one hour," Farnon said in his usual clipped, emotionless voice. You stuck your tongue out at his back as you exited the car. Two months in the military hadn't made you any fonder of following orders.