Poisoned Memories

Nothing much to be said right now other than: It's the end. This is it. And, I really hope you like it!

Disclaimer: I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist.

All eyes were glued to me. They were all going to start yelling – with the exception of Alphonse who was going to stay quiet. Pride began barking orders at me to move, to kill them, to do something besides stand there. But I couldn't bring myself to do anything. Did I really have it in me to kill them? I mean, there were still my parents after all.

"Godammit, Hughes!" Ed exclaimed, transmuting his automail into a blade. To anyone else, it would have looked like the end. To me, it looked like a cheap trick that I could probably snap in half. Whether or not I wanted to try I was still debating. He lunged for Pride, slicing his shoulder with the blade. Red sparks flew as Pride healed himself, almost automatically.

"Edward!" Winry screamed. She wiped the tears from her eyes furiously. "Edward, stop that!"

Ed stepped back, breathing hard. He was looking apologetically at Mom but didn't transmute his arm back to normal. I glanced up at Pride, who was glaring at me, and realized that just standing there made me look even more idiotic than I felt. Before I could shift my gaze again, Pride had one of his Ultimate Shadows coiled around my neck. "Kill them or I'll kill you," he breathed against my ear.

I hoped that no one else had heard it; that could have allowed me to just run off like the coward I am. But they did. Mom's eyes grew wide, still glossy with tears. Alphonse tensed, clenching his hands into fists – I hadn't ever seen him like that. Edward was the worst; he lunged again, only this time he purposely missed Pride. He slashed the shadows in half from around my neck and pulled me down to the ground in front of his feet as he retreated back to Al and Mom.

I looked at Pride again, he scowled at me. With three swift punches he had Edward on his knees before him. My eyes grew wide in horror as various splotches of blood began to soak through Ed's clothes and hair. Despite being injured, he got back up on his feet, ready to fight. The next time I peered up, the automail blade in place of my father's arm had sliced through Pride's core. I could see the Philosopher's Stone inside of him turning to dust. How?

"Alphonse, help me get Romi out of here," Mom ordered, slipping her hands under my arms in attempt to help me get up. I tried to shake her off, mesmerized as Edward trudged back panting. Al just stared at me, his eyes fogged with worry. "Al, help me!"

"Winry, what good is this going to do for her?" he countered softly. Alphonse helped his brother to stand up straight, letting him rest on his shoulder for support. Age doesn't do anything for you, I suppose. "How could we get her back to normal?"

Ed groaned, "We can't. Hughes…injected her…with the Philosopher's Stone."

Mom pulled me closer to her chest, wrapping her arms around me protectively. So much for a happy ending, I thought as my eyelids drooped. I couldn't have moved a single muscle in my body if I had wanted to. "What are you suggesting, Edward?" she demanded, a strand of her hair falling into my face.

Edward opened his mouth to explain but Al shushed him. "The only thing we could do for her now is human transmutation. And even that will not be a sure success – it might not work to begin with and if on some stroke of luck it did, someone could end up in a suit of armor again," he sighed. "Are we willing to risk that again?"

Mom's tears started back up. "This is our daughter, you're niece, whom you are talking about here, Alphonse!" she scolded. "Do you have any idea what you're saying? I don't think that we have a choice here!"

"Winry," Edward croaked, "Listen to yourself. Human transmutation isn't even in question here. Besides, there are only theories on how to turn a human into a homunculus not how to turn a homunculus into a human! I wouldn't know what to do!" His voice was painful to listen to.

"Edward, please!"

I didn't know what to say other than, "You guys, I'm done for. Stop arguing."

"Romi!" Mom sobbed. "Don't you dare say that!"

"Why not?" I asked. "If I live then I am only going to end up as some kind of lab rat for a sick and twisted scientist who's working for the military. Besides, you shouldn't want a homunculus for a child anyways. It just isn't right!"

"Romi!" Ed growled hoarsely under his breath.

"Teacher would probably take her in, no questions asked," Alphonse muttered. "She is probably the only one who would know how to look after Romi now. What do you say, Brother? Winry?"

"Teacher?" the two echoed.

Al nodded, "Yes, Teacher."

"That might just work out," they decided.

At first, living in Dublith was hell. Pure hell. Izumi, Ed and Al's teacher from before Dad became a State Alchemist, classified me as an unworthy student right off the bat. She put together the hardest training sets and set me up with the toughest of opponents just to see what it would take for me to crack. I hated every damn minute of it but put up with it because Dad said giving up in front of her would get me the biggest ass-whopping of my life.

By the end of winter though, I heard her gushing to her husband and to anyone else who listened about how amazing of a student I was. Of course, they all asked who I was and why I was so great. Izumi and I were the only ones who knew the truth; that I had been injected with the Philosopher's Stone and turned into a homunculus. So naturally, she had to lie to whoever asked. The only answer Teacher ever gave out was: "Oh, Romi? She's Edward Elric's daughter."

WOOHOO! Thumbs up if you like that ending way better than…oh wait, you don't even know what I was going to write. Well, all you need to know was that the ending took a completely different route than what I had planned. It was cheerier than what I wanted but I'm in a good mood today so I figured it shouldn't be a sad ending, but it shouldn't be that happy either. I really hope y'all liked it! Until my next fanfic, au revoir! (I'm not giving up on my French skills!)