Chapter 3

I knocked on the door, and he answered.

     "Afternoon," he said with a smile. "Come on in."

     "I wanted to ask you about this rocket launch thing at the carnival next weekend," I said. "Are you and your buddies launching?"

     "Heh, yeah, that's us," he said with a laugh. "I hope you can make it there."

     "I'll try and go," I said. "But, I'm definately staying if Gracia needs help with the shop."

     Alfons was about to say something, when he was interrupted by a fake arm with a harness thumping down the stairs, and then Edward spouting, "Damn it!"

     Alfons sighed and said, "It'll be just a moment. Let me help Edward put his arm back on."

     Alfons grabbed the arm and harness and ran up the stairs saying, "Keep it down, Miss Lucille's over!"

     So. The dopplegangar version of Edward had a fake arm, too. That I had not known. I couldn't help but wonder what it was made out of. I mean, Edward still always wore gloves, but whenever I saw his arm, it looked like skin, only lighter than everywhere else he had skin that was visible.

     Alfons bounded back down the stairs and said, "Heh, sorry about that. Did it scare you?"

     "No, no," I said. "I was just wondering...um, why did his arm fall down the stairs?"

     "Edward had a childhood accident," Alfons explained. "but, he won't tell me what happened. He has some kind of machine built to be an artificial arm that he covers with rubber skin. He keeps it 'connected' to his body with a harness. Unfortunately, the genious has trouble putting it on himself."

     "I see," I said. I glanced out the window, and saw the sun was setting.

     I stood up and said, "I'll see you later, Alfons. It's getting late, I should go. I have to open the shop tomorrow."

     "Okay, Miss Lucille,' he said. "See you tomorrow."

    "Oh, and one more thing," I said as I paused in the doorway. "Just Lucille is fine, don't have to be formal."

     "O-Okay, Miss-- I mean, Lucille," he stuttered. I laughed and waved goodbye as I left.

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"There you are," Gracia said when I entered the flower shop. "I was begining to think you got kidnapped or something."

     "Trust me, they'd bring me back," I said with a laugh. Gracia locked the flowershop door, turned off the lights, and we headed into the house section of the building.

     I followed her up the stairs as she said, "Want something for dinner?"

     "No thanks, I'm good." I yawned and hung up my coat on the rack after I closed the door to the stairs. I took off my (Edward's) gloves and stuck them in the pockets. I looked at my right hand, a scar there from when Envy peeled back my skin to show Edward my Oreborus Tattoo in Amestris. The tattoo wasn't there, but the skin was still trying to grow back in some places.

     "Two years, and it's still not healed?" Gracia said at the table. She set cups of coffee on it.

     I sat down and said, "Probably just another thing about this skin condition." I had to lie about it, of course! When she first saw it, two years ago, I told her I had some kind of skin condition that no one knew anything about. And every stinging cream she tried on it either failed, or made it worse.

     "That's probably why it's still not healed..." I grumbled as I took a sip of my coffee.

     "What was that?" Gracia asked. I shook my head and stood up, announcing that I was gonna pack it in early that night.

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I layed in bed and stared out the open window at the stars. They soemhow looked different than the stars did in Amestris. Maybe because I was only familiar with the stars of Central City, and there was so much pollution from all of the buildings, most of them were blocked out.

     I could see millions of stars from where I was laying.

     I don't know why, but I started singing a lullaby I heard a woman sing to her daughter a while ago.

     "Little child, be not afraid," I sang. "though rain pounds hard against the glass like an unwanted stranger, there is no danger, I am here tonight." I may not have the best singing voice in the world, but I felt myself get more and more tired as I sang the song. I finally yawned one final time before closing my eyes and losing to sleep.

Author's Note

The song Lucy sang. :)

Reviews

[Emunah June.]

ITS NOT A FAKE YOU RETARD!!! ITS THE REAL DEAL!!! REAL EDO!!! REAL!!!