An Elric Cat-astrophie!

Time flies like a fluffy cat?

True to her word, Genevieve did buy Ed a collar... but it was sparkly and Ed hated it so he managed to 'accidentally' lose it... in the bin... on collection day. And it wasn't even the first time he'd 'lost' it either. He'd managed to take it off and 'lose' it once or twice every day since she'd bought it a week ago. "Eddy, I really don't understand. Don't you like your collar?" she asked after she and Al had searched the house from top to bottom for the elusive item. "Guess not. He is a fussy cat." Al sighed. "Well I guess I'll just have to make him one myself. I'm sure he'll wear it then." Genevieve smiled, stroking Ed gently.

Ed didn't look convinced but that had been an hour ago and now he was curled up on a chair in the front room, reading an alchemy book Al had left out for him and had forgotten about Genevieve's 'threat' so was surprised to see her suddenly appear before her with a huge smile on her face and her hands behind her back. "Maw?" Ed 'said' sarcastically. "That's right, I've finished Eddy! want to try it on?" she asked happily. Ed glared but she didn't see it as she moved her hands towards him. Ed closed his eyes, bracing himself for the worst but it was unfounded as finally he heard her say "There. Now don't you look handsome my special man?" she smiled as Ed opened his eyes. "What do you think?" she asked, holding up a hand mirror she'd brought down with her. Ed looked at her annoyed but slowly dared to look, though since gaining the kitty body he tried to avoid this.

He slowly lifted his head. Tips of ears... golden and fuzzy as expected. These flattened as he slowly raised his head more. Darker golden stripes on the crown of his head.... yep still fuzzy. Lifting his head more showed his bright eyes, the colour and appearance if molten gold... though the middles were still black slits like any normal cat. Lifting his head more he could see his adorable little pink nose and the white fine whiskers... well he would be less of a cat without them. Lifting his head more showed his purr-fectly cute kitty mouth that currently had a fang showing. He glanced at Genevieve and sighed as he took the plunge and lifted his head more, sitting up straight, and looked at the collar she had made for him. It was a black leather looking one but had a lovely strip of blood red cloth along the middle that broke up the black nicely. It had a little silver buckle and was finished off with a small silver bell and a little pendant.

Ed frowned as he stared at the pendant. "Do you like it Eddy? It's an ankh. A symbol that means 'life' in a distant land where I was born and has become my family's crest, so wear it with pride! You're an honorary member of the Le Beau family!" She smiled proudly. Ed's eyes widened at her words. Dr. Jacques, who had turned Ed into a cat, had the full name and title of; Dr. Jacques Le Beau. The surname wad very rare so it couldn't have been a coincidence. She simply had to be that crazy guys daughter!

Ed was about to lose his temper and lash out at Genevieve for the trouble her father had caused but when he looked at her he stopped. Ed wasn't good at dealing with crying girls so seeing tears cascading down Genevieve's cheeks surprised him enough to make him bite his tongue. "Oh Eddy! I'm so worried!" she sobbed Ed tilted his head, his new bell jingling slightly. "Papa's out there all alone." she sniffed. "He's really poorly and I'm not there to give him his medication! And now those horrid men are hunting him down like an animal!" Ed had never been good at sympathising with people but did consider her words as she mentioned he was ill. But being ill is NO excuse for turning him into a cat!! Genevieve picked Ed up gently and cuddled him as she tried to calm down. "Its all my fault. I left him alone to get a refill of his prescription tablets and when I got back he was gone and Mr. Mustang was there!" she whispered. "I'm such a terrible daughter and a horrid person. I knew leaving him alone for a day was too much. I was so selfish in wanting a day alone... I thought I could justify it... just because since mum died eleven years ago I've had to take care of him." she finished, putting Ed down now. Ed tilted his head thoughtfully. Eleven years? she looked about sixteen so that meant she'd had to look after and care for her incompetent father since she was five.

Ed still couldn't feel sympathetic towards her because he couldn't understand why she was crying. But he did feel empathetic towards her, after all, he knew all about useless dads and having to care for someone even though he had been a child himself. Those feelings of empathy made him want to comfort her so he rubbed his head against her, purring loud enough to feel embarrassed so tried to 'mew' to disguise it. "But it'll be ok. I'm going to find him and sort all this mess out. I'll prove he's not dangerous." She said as she pet him. Ed rolled his eyes. "The sooner I get this mess sorted out the sooner you, papa and I can carry on searching for the cure." she finished, smiling again and drying her face with her sleeve. Ed turned to face her and put his paws on her chest. Hearing her story made him see just how alike they were in their own way and, as he would with anyone struggling to keep on with their personal quest, he wanted to give her support so she knew she wasn't alone. Genevieve accepted his silent offer and cuddled him.

"Don't worry, things will get better Eddy and I won't leave you behind." she promised him. Ed found himself smile up at her. She'd just promised him the one thing he'd sworn mentally to Envy; that he wouldn't let Envy (posing as Ed) have her. Even if she WAS daughter of the enemy... or daughter of some strange sick man who thought it was funny to change innocent (if provocative) handsome young talented state alchemists (aka. Ed himself) into a fur-ball. Ed frowned in thinking about Envy. Since the fight between himself and the humonculus, Envy hadn't entered the house again. But Ed had found that this hadn't stopped Envy from continuing to string Genevieve along. He called her phone twice a day, sometimes three, and would visit the house at least once to speak to her. Ed had thought that Envy was just trying to get information from her about him but had found, just yesterday, that it was literally lip service Envy was offering.

He'd got a funny feeling from watching Envy (posing as Ed) kissing Genevieve. A strange mixture of disgust, from seeing his body do something he simply didn't believe he would do, and anger from how easily Genevieve had been fooled... though as Al had pointed out several times, Genevieve had yet to meet the real Ed so couldn't be expected to notice it wasn't him. Al had also suggested that perhaps Ed was feeling jealous of Envy as he had felt that Ed wouldn't be angry at Genevieve for not knowing... but Ed thought this was stupid and was quick to say so every time Al brought it up of hinted at it.

Little was Ed to know that in the weeks to come he would have to show her the true self, not to mention choose between doing what was right and doing what his country and friends said was right.