Disclaimer: I do not own the characters from Fullmetal Alchemist nor do I claim to.

See chapter 1 for trigger warnings.

BOLD means they are speaking in Japanese.

YES I KNOW ITS BEEN FOREVER but inspiration randomly struck. So here it is.

Chapter 21

The Mistake

First thing's first, I had to exchange these American dollars for yen. It wasn't too hard to find a foreign exchange machine, especially this close to the airport.

Ed seemed fascinated by the foreign money, so I let him hold some to play with as we began our search.

Turns out finding an affordable hotel in the middle of Tokyo is a little harder than I thought. We keep passing by these shit hole dives that I don't want to bring Edward anywhere near, even though he seems to be okay with anything.

"I can't even tell what's what here. Everything is in Japanese!" Ed whines as my eyes search the signs.

"You're not in America anymore, love." I tell him, and he holds his mouth sideways with an implorable look. I just grin.

As we navigate the twists and turns of the side streets in the city, Edward is getting a lot of stares. It kind of ticks me off, but I try to ignore it. He's of course oblivious to it, being the obvious tourist that he is. It's starting to get dark, too, and these streets are not a place I want to be when the sun goes down.

Finally, we come upon a semi-decent looking place that isn't completely hidden from plain view in a back alley or something. It is along one of the main streets, but it's kind of small. The plackard hanging out from reads "ホテル", which is the Japanese version of hotel.

"Hmm. This one looks all right." I say with an unsure tone, and we come in through the door together which jingles loudly. There is bells attached to it so the clerk knows when someone comes in. Pretty tacky for a hotel, if you ask me.

I smile and greet the man with a small bow. "Yoroshiku onegaishimasu."

Ed gives me a weird look at my Japanese formalities. Soon I'm sure he will understand why it's important to be polite around here.

The clerk grunts at me and we begin to converse in Japanese, much to Ed's excitement. The little blonde's eyes are riveted on me as I talk, almost as if he were discovering a part of me he never knew about.

He tells me the prices of the rooms, and I'm a little shocked at how expensive they are given the quality, or lack-there-of of the hotel. Maybe we were better off just renting a flat, geez.

Begrudgingly, I end up signing some paperwork and handing over a good quarter of my total money to the guy, and he gave me two card keys in exchange for a room. Room 6. Disgustingly enough, he had the audacity to wink at me, tilting his head slightly towards Edward in a suggestive way. Guess this is what happens when I try to get a cheap room in the middle of the night. Morning. Whatever it is now.

I frown at the guy but say nothing before taking Edward's hand and practically drag him down the hallway to find our room.

"What was that all about?" He asks me, obviously completely clueless as to why my mood suddenly turned sour.

"Nothing. Don't worry about it. Just don't talk to anyone, okay?" I tell him, and he snorts with laughter.

"Yeah, as if I would even be able to talk to anyone around here. In case you forgot, I can't speak Japanese."

I smile at him as we finally come up to our room. Luckily, the decals indicating the room number on the door are actual numbers so Ed could find his way back here if he needed to.

We come inside, and I'm pleasantly surprised that it's a lot nicer on the inside than I had anticipated. There is a single double-sized bed with an armchair and a small table adorned with a lamp. There's also a small tube-TV and a bathroom with a shower tub. It's basic, but at least it appears clean.

Ed didn't waste any time to run in and flop on the bed. "Dibs!"

I stand there with my arms crossed and sigh at him, giving him an unimpressed look. "There's only one bed."

He just grins at me. "I'm just kidding. C'mere, you!" He beckons to me, sprawled out on the bed basically taking up the whole thing. Double beds aren't very big.

A blush creeps onto my cheekbones, and I shuffle over to sit on the edge of the bed near him. He grabs my waist and pulls me down with him, holding me there in his arms.

"Love you, En." He murmurs, his eyes drooping now that he was comfortable.

I allow my eyes to close as a real, happy smile graces my face. "I love you too." I whisper as sleep takes me easily.

It must have been mid-day, because I'm woken up rudely by knocking on the hotel room door and the sun is shining in brightly through the window.

"Ughhh." I groan as I sit up. I realized Ed and I fell asleep with our clothes still on, and the blonde was still snoozing away without a care in the world.

More knocking. "I'm coming!"

I make my way over to the door and open it warily, the little chain lock still in place, just in case.

"It's an hour past check out time. If you don't plan on paying for another night, you need to leave." The stout, grumpy-looking woman tells me. She's dressed like she must be the cleaning lady. Well, shit. I guess we over slept after all.

"I'm sorry. We'll be gone in 10 minutes." I tell her apologetically, and she eyes me with suspicion, before nodding and taking her leave.

I sigh in relief, shutting the door and leaning back against it. Where do we go now? Or should I just give in and pay another night? No, I can't afford much more of that. We'll just have to figure out something else.

My eyes slide over to the slumbering beauty still in bed. Regret pools in my stomach as I look at him, my beautiful Edward. What if I can't take care of him? What if something happens to him, because of me? I bite my lip as I try to shake the fearful thoughts from my mind.

I make up my mind on the spot as I look at Edward. I have to pay for one more night, for his sake. I can't just yank him out of bed right now and make him run around town with me. One more night, then I can figure out what to do from there.

Decidedly, I walk over and kiss him lightly on the forehead. He scrunches his face in response, but doesn't open his eyes. He must really be tired. I leave a key card on the little table for Ed incase he wakes up, and leave the room to go fork over some more money to the hotel. I make sure the door to our room locks securely behind me, then make my way up to the front desk.

I'll only be gone a minute. He'll be okay til I get back, chances are he'll probably still be sleeping by the time I do.

This time though, there's a different person there. Younger, more educated looking. "I decided I'm going to pay for another night." I hand him my key card and some money so he knows what room I'm in.

He narrows his eyes as he inspects my face carefully before taking my money, and I smile nervously. What's with this guy? I think right about now I'd rather have the pervert back.

Standing there, I shift from one foot to the other and fiddle with my own fingers as he types things into his computer, completely ignoring me now. Then he takes out his phone, and texts something that I can't see. I'm really getting nervous now, I don't trust this. Call me paranoid, but half of Tokyo works for my Father. You never know who is a member and who isn't. Does this guy recognize me somehow?

Only then do I realize my fatal mistake. My heart races as I remember what I had done. I had written down my real name in the paperwork I filled out last night. I had been so tired I hadn't been thinking straight. I'm such a moron!

The man grins at me, his golden front tooth gleaming in the poor lighting of the front room and it sends chills up and down my spine.

"Here's your card. You're cleared for another night, Envy."

I gulp as he says my name. He drawls it out like it has some significance. I need to get Edward out of here, and fast. Dread pools in my gut and I feel like I'm going to be sick. I left him all alone in that room! How could I be so fucking stupid?

I race down the hallway towards our room. Room 6. Around the corner and I'm there, but it doesn't feel right. The feeling of dread increases as I step towards our room. The door is open. Why is it open?

Fear grips my heart as I push it open further to peer inside.

"Edward?" I call, my voice shaking against my will. I'm so scared. Where is he?

No answer.

I hope with all my heart that he's just in a really deep sleep, but my better sense tells me otherwise. Panic sets in as I walk into the room. The bed is made up perfectly as if no one had ever slept in it. The key card is still where I left it on the table, but there is also a note next to it.

My body feels numb as I take the note in my hands, feeling the paper between my fingers as I open it to read it.

In typed up, professional-looking text, there is the following written.

We have the blonde boy you were with. If you want him back, you'll have to give yourself up. Your Father wants to see you.

Then, underneath in hand-written kanji, I recognize my Father's hand writing. Bile rises to my throat as I read what he wrote, directed personally to me. I even hear his sarcastic, smoothly drawling voice in my head as I read what he wrote to me.

I know you ran, Envy. I don't know where you went, but I know you're back now. Did you really think you could come to Tokyo without me knowing? My men are everywhere. I thought you were smarter than that, but I guess I was wrong. You're just as stupid as ever.

I could easily have you brought to me, but what fun would that be? No, that's not my style, you should know that. You are going to come to me of your own free will, but I'm going to take something from you to make sure that happens. Call it 'incentive'.

See you soon. Love, Daddy.

As I finish reading, I hadn't realized tears had already begun to stream down my face, dripping off my chin. I grimace as the pain hit my chest, and I fall to my knees in a heap, scrunching the note in my hands as I begin to sob.

"Fuck you! Just, fuck you! First you take my brother, now this!" I wail to the empty room. "I'm so sorry Ed. You should have never come with me. It's my fault and I'm sorry!"

You should just kill yourself now to save the rest of the world the trouble.

The evil voices start their chanting.

If it wasn't for you, Edward would still be safe in New York.

You're worthless and cause nothing but trouble for everyone around you.

"No! NO!" I cry, rolling onto my side on the carpeted floor and begin to hyperventilate as I cover my ears with my hands as if that would silence the voices in my head that torment me.

Why don't you just give up now? It would be so much easier.

"I won't! I can't. Edward..." I squeeze my eyes shut and try to drown it all out. I need to think. I need to get him back.

Finally, it was as if someone cut off the radio in my head and there was blissful silence. It's so quiet I could only hear my own breathing, and occasional sobs that escape my lips.

There was only thing I could do. I had to give myself up, just like Father wants. There was no way around it if I wanted to save Wrath and Edward. I would have to sacrifice myself for them both.

My breathing calms finally as I come to my conclusion. I feel braver than I ever had, though my heart still pounds relentlessly in my chest.

I don't have much time. Who knows what Father will do to Edward if I'm not there to protect him. I can't even think about that now, I just have to find him. If I find him, I find Wrath. I will do anything to save them, even if it costs me my life.

I steel myself as I struggle to stand, and walk out of the room still clutching my Father's note.