Categories > Anime/Manga > Full Metal Alchemist > Separation and Reunion
Separation and Reunion
Chapter 4: Your Smile
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Listening to: "The Distance" - Evan and Jaron
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Another day trying to find a way back home; just like every other day, Edward Elric had discovered nothing in this dull other world that could help him find a way back through the gate. Five long months away from the people he loved had taught him to appreciate things so much more...why had things had to end up the way they did? He knew there was no way that he and Al both could've lived...Ed shouldn't have lived, theoretically. This whole thing had thrown his world out of balance...this wasn't even really his world anymore.
He kept on having nightmares that everyone was dying. Were all the homunculi really dead and gone anyway? Gluttony? Wrath? Where did they go? Had Ed left everyone in a safe world? He had to face up to the fact that he couldn't protect them here...and it aggravated him to no end.
"Hello?" he said, walking into the book store back in Munich. The man in Transylvania that had been studying space travel and flight had ended up not being able to help, and Ed's hopes had been dashed to the ground again.
It didn't seem like anyone was around...he walked to one of the bookshelves. This was supposedly where the Thule Society got most of their books on magic...however, Ed had no idea how this place got away with selling books like this without being burned to the ground. Magic was a controversial issue here.
"Can I help you?" a feminine voice said behind him.
He nodded without looking at the girl, flipping through a leather-bound book about the alchemy of this world. "I'm looking for your books on magic..."
"Oh!" she said. That voice...who did that sound like? "They're right over here...sir?"
Winry?
He dropped the book when he finally looked up at the girl. She looked so much like her...even if there were a few differences. Her eyes were softer, and she was shorter...about Ed's height, in fact. But she looked so much like Winry.
She smiled, blushing a little and quickly bending down to get the alchemy book off of the ground. "I'm sorry...you asked where the magic books were? I suppose you're with the Thule Society?"
"My father is," Ed answered, shaking his head a little before taking the book and putting it back on the shelf behind him. She looked so much like Winry...of course, the outfit wasn't right: a knee-length brown skirt with a brown blazer over a very similar brown shirt.
The girl walked over to a door on the side of the building and unlocked it. "Some people would burn these books and the store if they saw them...but since you asked, and you seem like a respectable man, I'll just let you see them." She unlocked the door and opened it, gesturing for Ed to go in. "Go ahead."
This room was darker, different from the rest of the store. Many of the books looked to be ancient. "Where did you get all these?" Ed asked, running his gloved hand over the dusty books.
"My father is a member of the Society. He supplies all of the books and has been collecting his whole life. Some of these have been in our family for generations."
Ed found one book that looked interesting and flipped through the pages carefully. The paper was brittle and yellow, as if it could crumble into dust any minute. "It doesn't look like these have been touched for generations," he said, quoting her and catching another glance at her familiar face. She blushed again when she noticed him looking at her.
"Why do you keep looking at me like that?" she asked.
Ed looked back down at the book, a little embarrassed himself. "You remind me of someone," he said. The book proved to hold nothing of interest, and he put it back in it's place on the shelf.
"What's your name?" the girl asked shyly.
Of course, he didn't notice the tone of her voice... "Edward Elric."
"I'm Annaliese Hilliard," she said, and then fell silent as Ed looked through some more books, his thoughts turning more and more towards Winry after seeing this girl that looked so much like her. "Well, please tell me when you're done, and let me know if you're taking any books."
"I will," Ed said, looking up at her again, "Thanks."
----
Another hour passed and he still hadn't found anything. It was seeming fruitless when he pulled out another book and a tiny notebook fell out of the shelves, sending up a cloud of dust from the old pages. Ed replaced the book he'd been about to look at and picked up the notebook, frowning. It seemed as if this book held something important...his excitement grew as he carefully pulled away the leather cord holding it closed.
When he opened it to the first page, he drew in a sharp breath, biting his lip.
A transmutation circle.
Here in this book was the very same transmutation circle that he and Al had learned in their basic guide to alchemy all those years ago...notes were written around it: homunculus, afterlife, the other side of the gate.
At the very bottom a note was written: The journal of Hugo Caspar.
Ed closed the book excitedly, leaving the room and locking the door behind him before walking up to the front desk and quickly letting Annaliese know which book he was taking.
Maybe this was the information that could get him back home.
Chapter 4: Your Smile
----
Listening to: "The Distance" - Evan and Jaron
----
Another day trying to find a way back home; just like every other day, Edward Elric had discovered nothing in this dull other world that could help him find a way back through the gate. Five long months away from the people he loved had taught him to appreciate things so much more...why had things had to end up the way they did? He knew there was no way that he and Al both could've lived...Ed shouldn't have lived, theoretically. This whole thing had thrown his world out of balance...this wasn't even really his world anymore.
He kept on having nightmares that everyone was dying. Were all the homunculi really dead and gone anyway? Gluttony? Wrath? Where did they go? Had Ed left everyone in a safe world? He had to face up to the fact that he couldn't protect them here...and it aggravated him to no end.
"Hello?" he said, walking into the book store back in Munich. The man in Transylvania that had been studying space travel and flight had ended up not being able to help, and Ed's hopes had been dashed to the ground again.
It didn't seem like anyone was around...he walked to one of the bookshelves. This was supposedly where the Thule Society got most of their books on magic...however, Ed had no idea how this place got away with selling books like this without being burned to the ground. Magic was a controversial issue here.
"Can I help you?" a feminine voice said behind him.
He nodded without looking at the girl, flipping through a leather-bound book about the alchemy of this world. "I'm looking for your books on magic..."
"Oh!" she said. That voice...who did that sound like? "They're right over here...sir?"
Winry?
He dropped the book when he finally looked up at the girl. She looked so much like her...even if there were a few differences. Her eyes were softer, and she was shorter...about Ed's height, in fact. But she looked so much like Winry.
She smiled, blushing a little and quickly bending down to get the alchemy book off of the ground. "I'm sorry...you asked where the magic books were? I suppose you're with the Thule Society?"
"My father is," Ed answered, shaking his head a little before taking the book and putting it back on the shelf behind him. She looked so much like Winry...of course, the outfit wasn't right: a knee-length brown skirt with a brown blazer over a very similar brown shirt.
The girl walked over to a door on the side of the building and unlocked it. "Some people would burn these books and the store if they saw them...but since you asked, and you seem like a respectable man, I'll just let you see them." She unlocked the door and opened it, gesturing for Ed to go in. "Go ahead."
This room was darker, different from the rest of the store. Many of the books looked to be ancient. "Where did you get all these?" Ed asked, running his gloved hand over the dusty books.
"My father is a member of the Society. He supplies all of the books and has been collecting his whole life. Some of these have been in our family for generations."
Ed found one book that looked interesting and flipped through the pages carefully. The paper was brittle and yellow, as if it could crumble into dust any minute. "It doesn't look like these have been touched for generations," he said, quoting her and catching another glance at her familiar face. She blushed again when she noticed him looking at her.
"Why do you keep looking at me like that?" she asked.
Ed looked back down at the book, a little embarrassed himself. "You remind me of someone," he said. The book proved to hold nothing of interest, and he put it back in it's place on the shelf.
"What's your name?" the girl asked shyly.
Of course, he didn't notice the tone of her voice... "Edward Elric."
"I'm Annaliese Hilliard," she said, and then fell silent as Ed looked through some more books, his thoughts turning more and more towards Winry after seeing this girl that looked so much like her. "Well, please tell me when you're done, and let me know if you're taking any books."
"I will," Ed said, looking up at her again, "Thanks."
----
Another hour passed and he still hadn't found anything. It was seeming fruitless when he pulled out another book and a tiny notebook fell out of the shelves, sending up a cloud of dust from the old pages. Ed replaced the book he'd been about to look at and picked up the notebook, frowning. It seemed as if this book held something important...his excitement grew as he carefully pulled away the leather cord holding it closed.
When he opened it to the first page, he drew in a sharp breath, biting his lip.
A transmutation circle.
Here in this book was the very same transmutation circle that he and Al had learned in their basic guide to alchemy all those years ago...notes were written around it: homunculus, afterlife, the other side of the gate.
At the very bottom a note was written: The journal of Hugo Caspar.
Ed closed the book excitedly, leaving the room and locking the door behind him before walking up to the front desk and quickly letting Annaliese know which book he was taking.
Maybe this was the information that could get him back home.
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