Hello, everyone! ((Waves melodramatically)) This is Agent000 reporting from, um...Agent000land? Ahem. Me and AdventureAddict both decided to get ourselves a joint account so we could coauthor stories with each other more easily. So, our first assignment: Each takes a fic from the other that badly needs rewriting and rewrites it the best they can from their perspective. I took AdventureAddict's fanfic "The New Neighbors" and began to rewrite it, and she took my fanfic "My Body, Your Soul" and began to rewrite it. Both will be up shortly.
This was originally my story, but since we had agreed to do the swap, AdventureAddict took it under her wing, and I must say she's done an awesome job with it, making things make sense where they didn't before, and giving the characters a lot more character than they originally had. Both of us were new writers when we had written the original stories, but as one can tell from this example, she's definitely improved in her writing skills. I am honestly amazed at how well she treated this story.
Anyway, a hearty welcome to both the old fans of this fic as well as to the newcomers! I really hope you all enjoy this story.
Disclaimer: Neither one of us own Fullmetal Alchemist. I'll come up with something more creative for my disclaimers when it's not four in the morning.
"Katie! Hurry up!"
I jumped in my seat at the yell. My dad sure knew how to be loud when he wanted to be. It didn't help matters much. I was already stressed out enough from trying to get myself looking perfect for the night ahead.
I brushed out my dark hair as quickly as I could manage. It was Halloween night. I wanted to get out of the house as soon as possible. I grabbed a hair net off my dresser and began pushing my hair on top of my head. I wasn't about to dye my hair blond for just one night of trick-or-treating, so a wig was my next best option.
"Katie, what are you doing up there?" my dad yelled, and I winced. "You're going to be late meeting your friends!"
"I'll be right there!" I yelled back while hurrying to my bed. I had laid out my entire costume on the sheets. It was the most awesome Edward Elric cosplay I had ever seen, and I wasn't even wearing it. I grinned and grabbed the tank top, pulling off my own shirt as I did.
I wasn't sure what had driven me to make the costume accurate down to the last detail, but somehow I had pulled it off. Months before October I had considered saving some of my money to buy a replica of Ed's coat, but something had felt wrong about that. I knew it wouldn't be exactly like Ed's coat anyway.
So then I had decided to make myself my own costume and make it as perfect as was humanly possible. I had gone to the secondhand shop in town to try and see if I could find myself any red cloth to make the coat. I figured that sewing Ed's coat would be the best place to start.
And then I had seen it. A long red trench coat sticking out in the men's clothing section of the store. I couldn't help but go over to investigate to help fulfill my curiosity.
The coat was made out of a thick cloth, and looked like it had seen a rough life. Some places near the bottom had worn out and the last owner looked like they had tried to fix it, but their stitches were a little crude. The shoulders of the coat had been faded, as well as a strange spot on the back.
The coat fit me perfectly. It had spooked me out a little that I had gone to the store looking for cloth and found the perfect coat instead, but I had shrugged off the feeling and bought the coat for myself. Attaching my own symbol to the back would be easy enough.
The same pattern continued over the days leading up to Halloween. Every time I thought I would have to make an element of my costume from scratch, a perfect replica would show up in some other way. Even when I had been looking for blond wigs and getting frustrated with none of them matching the exact color, a neighbor down the street came over and said she had found an old blond wig in her attic and was wondering if any of us had a use for it.
I didn't even know why she thought my family would have a use for it out of all her neighbors, but I wasn't one to complain about it. The wig had been the perfect length and color for Ed's hair exactly. It even had the right bangs.
By the time Halloween was only a week away, I had everything I needed for a perfect costume except automail, but I wasn't even thinking I would be able to have an automail arm and leg. I didn't even need it. The rest of my costume covered those limbs well enough.
And then the garbage truck accidentally left a box of old scrap metal by our trash can when the other trash we had put out was picked up. My mom and dad had been considering calling someone to complain, but then I had noticed how the scrap metal had some parts to it that looked perfect for automail. There was no way I wanted to let the garbage truck haul that off to the dump.
"Katie, what are you doing?" my dad yelled, and I jerked in the middle of doing my best to strap my "automail" to my right arm.
"I'll be down in a minute, Dad!" I yelled back, fiddling one last time with the main plate. The automail was a little uncomfortable to wear and hindered my movement a lot, but… it looked so cool.
I went back to the rest of my clothing and picked up the black jacket off the bed. First I jammed my right arm into it, then carefully stretched to get my left arm in the other sleeve. I knew I wouldn't be able to bend like that with my automail covering my arm. I then pulled on my pair of white gloves.
I grinned at my reflection in the mirror. All that was left to put on was the coat. I already looked like the best Edward Elric imitator I had ever seen.
I reached for the coat on my bed. A strange warmth blossomed in my fingers through the material of my gloves when I touched the coat. I frowned in confusion and stared at the red fabric.
"Katie!"
"Coming!" I yelled back. I threw the coat over one arm and ran out my room. My "automail" leg thumped loudly on the stairs. I wasn't used to its heavy weight.
It was just as uncomfortable as the metal on my arm, but I had decided to keep the metal off my foot and only put it on the rest of my leg so trick-or-treating wouldn't make it so I needed a real prosthetic leg. I was glad I had thought to attach a bit of cloth to each of the pieces of metal so it wouldn't give me blister and bruises everywhere.
"Do you want me to drive you?" my dad asked when I ran into the living room. I shook my head and ran straight for the front door.
"We're only meeting a couple blocks down. Bye, love you!" I said as I ran outside. I could hear my dad yell that he loved me from inside the house. I ran down the street, unfolding my coat as I did. The coat rippled in the wind, and I suddenly realized how grateful I was to add another layer to my outfit. It was cold outside, and all the metal on my body wasn't helping much. I thrust my arms into the coat and pulled it on.
I nearly fell over from a dizzy spell, but instead managed to only stop running in my tracks. I winced and held a hand to my head. I had never known a headache to come on so quickly. I had no idea what could have caused it.
After a few minutes of my head swimming in pain, I finally managed to open my eyes and look around. My headache seemed to be gone for the most part, but it still felt like there was something tugging at the back of my head.
"Katie?"
I jumped a full 180 degree turn to see who had said my name. Sheila and Tammie were both there, looking and me with worried faces. Shelia had more of the wide eyed expression, while Tammie's way of showing worry was an unhappy purse to her lips. I smiled sheepishly and scratched the back of my head.
"We called your name a million times," Tammie said, crossing her arms. "Why didn't you answer?"
"I… Uh… I didn't hear you," I answered nervously. I'd really had no idea they had been calling me.
"Are you okay?" Shelia asked, stepping forward and putting her hand against my forehead. "You look pale, dear."
I frowned. Did I really look that bad? I didn't feel like I was sick, it had only been a headache, after all.
"Um, I'm fine," I said, trying my best to slip my head away from Sheila in a way that wouldn't hurt her feelings. It felt weird to have one of my best friends treating me as if she were my mother. "I just had a headache, that's all. I think I was just nervous about being late and making you two mad."
Tammie rolled her eyes and smiled. "You always worry like that. We're not going to stop being your friends just because you're late for trick-or-treating."
"I… I know," I said, looking down at my feet. The other two were silent for a minute, probably exchanging a few glances if I knew them well enough. I sighed and looked back up at them.
"I still think you two should have gone as Al and Winry," I said, trying my best attempt at a weak smile. "Matching costumes would have looked so cool."
"Well, you could have always gone as a fairy," Tammie snorted. "Sheila and I both are fairies, you could have tried to match with us."
"Elf," Sheila corrected. "I'm not a fairy; I'm Arwen."
"Well, tell those elves of yours not to dress so much like fairies," Tammie grinned. She then looked back over to me. "Though… then again, you are dressed as Ed. He's certainly small enough to pass for an elf." I snickered. Tammie was such a goofball.
Then what she had said seemed to seep deeper into my brain. Short? She had just called me short? How could she?!
"WHO ARE YOU CALLING SHORT ENOUGH TO MAKE EVEN ANTS BREAK FORMATION AND STARE?!"
I said it in a half-trance, not even realizing what words were flying past my lips. I huffed at the two once I had finished and crossed my arms with a pout. The two stared at me for a minute, then looked back at each other and burst out laughing.
"That was great!" Tammie said between laughs as she clutched at her sides. "You made all the little kids and their mommies stare at you!" I felt my cheeks get even hotter as I looked around. Everyone was staring at me, either with freaked out or amused expressions.
"How did you do that?" Sheila asked, still chuckling and watching me. "You sounded just like Edward." I felt more blood rise to my cheeks.
"It's not funny," I huffed at them. I felt like I was in a haze. It was like a cross between being aware of what I was doing and… not. "Don't call me small, got it? Let's just go get some candy before they hand it out to all the five year olds." I walked between Sheila and Tammie to the closest house on the street. I could hear them chuckling behind me as they followed.
I shook my head with a frown and felt the haze lift with my concentration. What was up with me, anyway? It seemed like dressing like Edward Elric had gone to my head.
Tammie rang the doorbell. An old woman with silvery hair down to her waist answered the door. She smiled at us, holding the bowl of candy at her side.
"Trick or Treat!" we chorused, and the woman's toothy grin widened.
"My, what lovely costumes," she said as she started reaching in the bowl of candy. "Who might you girls be?
"Faries," Tammie answered with a grin.
"Arwen."
The old woman looked over to me. I felt the haze settle over my mind again.
"I'm Edward Elric, the Fullmetal Alchemist!" I felt myself say and punch my fist into the air. Tammie and Sheila started giggling again, but the woman said nothing, only smiling and handing out two pieces of chocolate to me. I frowned, realizing suddenly that I had remembered every part of my costume except the most crucial part. I had forgotten a bag to carry all my chocolate in. I had been in such a rush to leave that I had completely forgotten it.
But that chocolate… I couldn't pass up free chocolate. I grinned at the woman and held out my empty hands. She chuckled and handed the chocolate to me.
"Have a great night, girls," she called out as we headed back down the path.
"You too!" Tammie and Sheila called back, waving at her. I didn't bother to answer. I was too busy grinning at the chocolate in my hands.
"Oh, old friend, I've missed you," I found myself cooing as I held the chocolate up to my face. I nearly laughed at my own behavior. Sheila and Tammie were the ones to laugh for me instead.
"Oh come on, it hasn't been that long since you last had chocolate," Tammie said with a roll of her eyes as we started walking to the next house.
"It's been an eternity," I sighed, starting to unwrap one of the pieces of chocolate. Shelia looked over at me with a frown.
"Don't go nuts," she said. "You know too much sugar gives you headaches."
"What?" I felt myself frown and look over at her. I then sucked in a breath of air and sighed heavily. "Oh, right. I forgot about that. I'll go easy on h-myself. Just one piece."
I frowned as I popped the piece of chocolate in my mouth. Something was definitely wrong. I had nearly called myself "her." Maybe I was just tired and not thinking entirely straight. I frowned and scratched at my head. The wig was starting to get incredibly itchy.
As soon as I started scratching at my head, my automail arm and leg started itching as well. I grunted and started to scratch at those. I could feel Tammie and Shelia look over at me curiously as we got closer to the door of the house, but I didn't pay much attention to them. It seemed like no matter how much I scratched, the itch kept pulling at my skin. I was starting to think that so many layers wasn't a good idea. I couldn't even feel my hand through all the thick cloth.
"Kate, are you okay?" Shelia asked as Tammie rang the doorbell. I closed my eyes and scratched harder. I just wanted the itch to go away. I decided that the best idea would be to take off the automail parts as soon as we were away from the house.
"Trick or Treat!" Sheila and Tammie said when a man answered the door. I could feel the haze settling over my eyes as I kept rubbing at my right arm. The man handed up some fun sized Starburst and we were on our way. As soon as we had reached the sidewalk, I felt myself wrench my coat off my own shoulders and then unfasten the clip at my neck. Both jackets feel to the ground, letting the cold wind wrap around my shoulders.
I felt myself freeze as I held up my right hand in front of my eyes.
"Wow, you really weren't kidding when you said that stuff looked like real automail," Tammie said, taking a couple steps forward. I ignored her and kept staring at my hand.
"No," I said, and I started feeling more and more like I was watching the scene play out in front of me than being a part of it. I winced and closed my eyes, holding the cold metal up to my cheek. "What have I done to her?"
"What are you talking about, Kate?" Sheila said, and I felt the worry lacing her voice. "Done what to who?" I felt my head turn to look over to Tammie. She was frowning at me as if I had grown an extra head.
"Tell us what's wrong," she said, placing a hand on my shoulder and squeezing. Hard. "Tell us now."
"Don't touch me!" I felt myself snap at her. I looked between her and Sheila for a minute, then turned and ran the opposite way down the sidewalk.
Something was wrong with me. This wasn't how I behaved. I didn't run when my friends were worried about me. I could hear them calling in the distance, but the fog over my eyes was getting thicker and thicker. I frowned and concentrated hard on making it go away.
I skidded to a stop just as Tammie stretched out her arm to grab at me in an attempt to make me stop running. Her fingers grasped around my braid and pulled.
My head jerked back and I yelped. I had expected the blond wig to pull off my head, but it felt like she had tugged at my own hair. I felt Tammie let go as I fell to my knees, holding at my head and sobbing.
Tammie and Sheila were both silent, and then I felt them crouch beside me. I felt one of them put an arm on my shoulder. I shrugged it off. I was terrified. I had no idea what was going on with my own body.
"Kate, tell us what's wrong," one of them said. I wasn't sure which; I was losing track of them. The fog was slipping over my eyes again.
"I didn't want this to happen to her," I felt myself mutter. "It was an accident, I swear. Just seeing her in those clothes…"
"Her?" one of my friends repeated. "What do you mean 'her'?"
"I'm not Katie," I felt myself say and then I turned my head up to look at them. "I'm Edward."
"Edward… not Edward Elric," Tammie snorted. Sheila was watching me without saying anything.
"Yes," I felt myself say. "Edward. Edward freaking Elric."
"Don't you think you're taking this a little far, Katie?" Tammie groaned and threw her hands up in the air. "I'll admit you have an awesome costume, especially with those gold eye contacts and that awesome automail, but that doesn't make you a fictional character!"
"Gold eye contacts?" I felt like it wasn't even me speaking anymore, though it sounded just like my voice and was coming from my lips.
Then it dawned on me. It wasn't me, it really was someone else. Whether it really was Edward Elric or not who was possessing me, I was being possessed, all the same. I wasn't in control of my own body anymore, and I wasn't even acting like myself. It had to be possession.
"Katie's got it," the other person muttered through my lips. Tammie and Sheila didn't seem to hear. The person then sighed and looked back at them. "Katie's parents didn't let her get gold eye contacts, remember? They said it would damage her eyes too much, so she had to go with her normal eyes instead. Her eyes must have turned gold because I'm in here."
"And if you're not Katie, then how do you know that her parents said that?" Tammie scoffed.
"Because I've been hanging around her a while!" the person snapped back. He glared at her for a minute and stood up. "I'm Edward Elric. Katie's wearing the same clothes I did a hundred years ago."
"She found that stuff at thrift shops."
"Because I helped it get there in the first place," Edward snapped back.
"What do you want with her?" Sheila said, cutting off their argument. "Edward Elric or not, if you're possessing her, then you want something, don't you?" Edward was frozen in place for a moment, then sighed and relaxed his position.
"I didn't mean for this to happen," he said, closing his eyes. "I've been hanging around Katie for a… while now. When I saw her in all my old clothes, I just… accidentally jumped into her. I didn't mean to hurt her in any way."
'Cat, can you hear me?'
I jerked at the voice. It sounded like it had come out of nowhere. And Cat? What did it mean by Cat? The voice chuckled.
'It's me, Ed. It's easier to communicate telepathically since we're in the same body. Just concentrate your thoughts and I'll hear you fine.'
'Oh. Um, okay. Were you talking to me when you said Cat?'
'Oh, right, I forgot you're not used to me calling you that. It's my nickname for you, since your name's Katie and you like cats so much.'
I laughed, but it didn't reach my physical lips. Tammie and Shelia were starting to look at me funny after Edward had been silent for so long. He took a deep breath and looked between them.
"I swear, I don't want to hurt her in any way," Edward said slowly. "I'm going to try and get her back to normal as soon as I can. I don't know why my hair or my automail became a part of Katie, but I don't intend for it to stay that way if I have anything to say in the matter."
"Your hair?" Tammie frowned. Edward scratched the back of my head.
"Yeah. This guy really picked everything he could off my corpse and sold it all for money."
"That's really…" Sheila began. Edward sighed and shook my head.
"Look, it doesn't matter whether you believe I'm really Edward Elric or not. I know that's all a television show to you guys, so it's logical you wouldn't think to believe me. Just forget I'm here and let Katie have her fun, alright?"
Tammie and Sheila exchanged glances.
'Cat?'
'Yeah?' I jolted. I wasn't used to the new nickname.
'Thanks for believing me. This is the best proof I have.'
An image flitted across my mind.
It was a large office with a desk standing at the front of the room. A man with dark black hair sat behind the desk. I looked over to my side. There was a boy with messy hair that was a cross between blond and brown. I grinned at him, and he smiled back at me.
I gasped when I realized the image was one of Edward's memories. The man with black hair had to be Roy, and the boy I had seen must have been Al. And he was no longer bound to the armor, at that. So Edward had succeeded. I smiled.
'And Cat?'
'What?'
'Stop thinking of me as Edward. It's too formal for a friend. I'm just Ed, okay?'
I grinned again, but that time it reached my physical lips. The haze was falling away from my eyes. Ed was letting me have control of my own body again.
'Okay, Ed.'
I then looked at my friends, who looked too shell-shocked to be able to say anything. I smiled and stretched out my sore muscles.
"It's me again," I said to them. I felt the most relieved I had the entire night. It felt so much better to actually know what the nagging feeling at the back of my mind was. "He's not lying, you guys. But he's going to let me trick-or-treat with you. We've only been to two houses. I think we should do more than that tonight."
My friends nodded, still watching me as if they were expecting Ed to take control again. I tried smiling again to reassure them as I set down the street.
I had always heard the phrase "be careful what you wish for" through my childhood, but I hadn't thought much of it. I had never thought that not only would my wish to meet Edward Elric would come true, but in a skewed sense I would even get to become Edward Elric. The old saying seemed to hold some truth, after all.
I hope you all enjoyed that. Check back soon. The next chapter should be up shortly.