You Know Everything But My Love{Edward Elric} Chapter Six

{{{Don't forget, I've also got the playlist for the story! ^-^ The link will always be at the top of every chapter. http://www.playlist.com/node/45545336 }}}

Edward, Alphonse, and Danielle walked around Risembool for two days, greeting old neighbors and asking around about the mysterious man they were chasing after. All they'd found out about him was that people believed he was a god of sorts. And that he was going around to gather followers. And any who apposed him and his followers were enemies to them, and would be cause for war. They couldn't figure out why this guy thought he could handle all these people that were now at war with him... One crazy guy who believes he's a god with a bunch of guys who also believe he's a god. There can't be that many people following him, can there? While discussing this with Ed and Al, Danielle's mind wandered off. Walking around in Risembool... It was like returning to her past. They continued walking until Danielle stopped, staring at the ground ahead of her. "Dani? Heelloooo???" Ed waved his hand in front of her face and poked her arm until she broke from her trance and turned to him. "What's wrong, Dani?" She shook her head, "Nothing.. It's just... This path..." "The path?"

Danielle looked around, seeing herself as a child, running through the town late at night, crying. Ed took note of her face, which was saddening by the second. He took her hand and pulled her across the path until they had returned to to the Rockbell residence. He sat down on the stairs and pat the stair next to him. Danielle sat down and closed her eyes, "Sorry... I didn't think that it'd bother me so much, y'know?" He nodded and put her hand in both of his. "It's fine. Just let us know whenever something like that is getting to you." She nodded and sighed, getting up and walking back into the house. They stepped into the dining room, where Winry had prepared lunch for them. Ed and Al quickly sat down and dug in. Danielle smiled lightly and walked over to Winry. "I thought you'd be forcing me to cook with you the whole trip? That's what you've been doing the last few days." Winry glared at her and shook her head, "Well, you guys have been working hard, so I just wanted all of you to sit down and enjoy a nice late lunch. Go right ahead, there's plenty."

Danielle shrugged, "No thanks, Win. I'll eat later.. I'm just going to go walk around some more. Maybe stop by the lake and swim a little, clear my thoughts some." "Hm? What's fogging them up?" "Just stuff.. I'm fine, really." She smiled and Winry hesitated before nodding. Danielle walked past the others and went upstairs to get a bathing suit on. She put her clothes back on over the bikini and left the others to their lunch. Alphonse watched her leave and turned to Ed, who shrugged. "Don't worry, boys, she just wanted to go for a little walk on her own. Make sure you leave some food for her.. Or you'll be meeting the broadside of my wrench again... Ed." She turned to him and held it up, tapping it against her hand. He gulped and his eye twitched. Al laughed some and went back to his food as Ed began to eat slowly, keeping his gaze on Winry, just in case she decided to hit him either way...

After reaching the lake and going through a few memories while walking through Risembool, Danielle stripped down to her bikini and swam for almost two hours. She didn't know what it was about the water, but it felt as if it washed away all her problems when she got in it. She could finally think clearly and even smile at times.. The others were probably worried sick about her by now, so she got out, dried off, and re-dressed. After running her fingers through her hair, she walked back through Risembool. She passed the house and kept going. She didn't know why she did, but for some reason or another, she really wanted to keep walking. After a few minutes, she started remembering more about the place. She kept her eyes on the ground and her hands in her pockets as she came to the edge of town. She'd managed to pass her old home without even looking at it. She went to the woods and through a small path, which had only seemed to get smaller with the years. Either that or she grew ten times the size she used to be.

Danielle sat on a rock in the clearing and looked around, smiling. She hadn't been here in a long time.. She bent down and ran her hands through the running water, picking up a smooth pebble from the shallow area. She sighed and kissed it, carefully placing it back in the brook. After a little while longer, she backed out of the woods and started walking through Risembool once again. It had already started to get dark, which meant that she'd been out for three hours or more. She shook her head, "Oh, man, Winry is so gonna hit me when I get back..." Danielle looked around and paused, her gaze being taken by only one source: A small house, the windows covered by wooden sheets and the door blocked by many wooden boards. It was... Her old home. Something was pulling her to it, she couldn't resist going in.. She squeezed past the boards over the door, which had been jarred from many break-ins and the like. She turned her attention to the floor, where small stains of blood had settled themselves into the beautiful wood flooring.

The stains got bigger and bigger as she walked towards the kitchen, where a large, pooled stain sat in the middle. Blood had spattered the walls and ceiling, leaving it's mark everywhere it could. Danielle's heart broke and her eyes filled with tears.. She practically ran through the kitchen and into what used to be her room. She wiped her eyes where a few teardrops had fallen and sat on the bed. She picked up a picture on the nightstand. It was of her and her mother when Danielle was very little. She smiled lightly and got up, moving to the room next to the one she was in.. Her mother's room. The decorated dresser still stood tall and proud, covered in dust. There were many picture frames on the nightstand and dresser and desk on the other side of the room. She sighed and ran her fingers along the pillows that still lay on the bed as if someone had just gotten up from a deep slumber. Danielle opened a few drawers and searched through more pictures and mail. She found a small letter that had yet to be opened in the bottom drawer of the dresser, beneath a few items of clothing.

She opened it with care, making sure not to break the elegant symbol that held it together. She pulled out a slip of paper and read it:

My Dearest Daughter,

Today is your sixteenth birthday, and I couldn't be more proud of you. You take such good care of me, and I hope that I can take care of you the way you have for me one day soon. I am so sorry that you've carried all this weight since your father died.. I almost forget how hard it can be on you all the time. Your father loved you very much, Danielle. And he wanted you to do everything that you could with your life. Everything you wanted to do, he was always making sure that he stood behind you. The day you were born, he promised he would never let anything bad happen to you. And that he would let you be everything you wanted to be, and he'd do anything to make sure you did.

He told you that same thing every day. He never wanted you to forget, and he never wanted to forget... Don't you ever forget that he will always be with you, whether he's alive or not. And the same goes for me. I know I might not be able to give you everything you want or deserve, but I love you. And that's something that nothing and no one could ever take away from you.. We will always be in your heart, and you will always be in ours.

We love you so much,

Danielle's tears fell to the rough paper, and she held the letter to her heart, "I love you too, mom..." She sniffed and ran her sleeve across her cheeks, trying to remove the tears and stop them from ruining the letter.. She looked to the envelope and picked it back up, slipping the letter back in. Something stopped it from going in all the way, though, so she turned the envelope around and shook it some. A small locket necklace fell into her hand and she held it up to examine it. It was round and obviously hand-crafted. A small emerald was set in the middle of it, and the locket hung from a leather strap with white-gold chain wrapped around it. She put the letter in her jacket pocket and walked into the kitchen, pushing her hand to the bloody wall and tightening her grip on the locket. She fell to her knees, crying hysterically. "I'm so sorry..." She whispered, over and over again. She curled up in between the floor and wall stains, pressing her face to the cold wall. "Dani!" Ed came running through the kitchen and crouched down next to her, pulling her to him. "What are you doing, Dani?! You shouldn't be in here!" He gripped her tightly and she dug her face into his chest.

She silently cried for awhile until Ed pulled her up from the floor, "Come on, Dani. We have to go.. Pinako and Winry were so worried. Let's go back to them, okay? They'll be glad to know nothing bad happened to you." He tried to calm her down and started dragging her out. She started kicking and screaming through all her tears until she broke free, running for her room. "Dani! What are you doing?!" He ran after her to find her holding a picture frame. She pulled the picture out and held it tightly before he grabbed her hand. He practically had to carry her out. Not because she was resisting, but because she could hardly move. Her whole body was shaking uncontrollably and Ed kept trying to calm her down. He dragged her through Risembool to the edge of town. They ran as fast as they could until they reached the woods. After passing through the small path and past all the trees, Ed sat Danielle on the rock next to the brook. He bent down in front of her and held her hands as she tried to catch her breath.

He pushed her hair back out of her face just as her breathing had returned to being as regular as it could be. "What were you doing in there, Dani?" His voice was full of pure concern now, and her furious shaking was only making it worse. She shook her head and leaned her head onto his shoulder, falling to her knees on the ground in front of him. He wrapped his arms around her and rocked back and forth, running his fingers through her hair to calm her. She had basically cried herself dry when she'd stopped, at which point Ed finally released her. "I'm sorry, Ed.. I just.. I just thought... I don't know..." She sighed and clutched the necklace in her hand. "It's fine, Dani. But if you were going to go even near that place, you should've brought me with you." "Well, I wasn't planning on it, all right? I just.. I went past it on my way to and from the lake. And, I don't know, something just pulled me to it... I just wanted to go back to.... To tell her how sorry I am. And how much I love her. And miss her.." Ed put his hands on her cheeks and wiped the leftover tears from her face. "She knows you didn't mean to. She forgave you a long time ago, Dani... But.. You really need to forgive yourself. It wasn't your fault. You have to stop blaming yourself for what happened."

"I just can't help but blame myself.. I was the one that killed her, I was the one that started up everything that had happened. If I'd kept my mouth shut and found some kind of regular job-" "No. Dani, stop it. You did everything you could. It was a last resort. And you were willing to do anything to help her." "Obviously not enough..." "Damn it, Danielle! It's not your fault!" She flinched and he looked down, "I-I'm sorry.. It's just sometimes you can be so frustrating..." He grabbed her hand and kissed it, brushing the back of his hand against her cheek. "Ed?" "Yeah, Dani?" She lifted her hand and opened it, then reached into her pocket and revealed the letter she had found earlier. "Look..." She handed him the letter and the locket, crossing her hands in her lap. He took a moment to read the letter and then turned his attention to the necklace. He put the letter back in it's envelope and returned it to Danielle, then undid the small lock on the necklace. He moved behind Danielle and moved the necklace to her throat, latching it and fixing it in place. "Now you'll always be reminded that they're still with you."

She smiled and pressed her lips to the cold locket, whispering, "I love you.." Ed wrapped his arms around her from behind and kissed her cheek. They sat there for awhile, and Danielle washed her face with the water from the brook. After dusting themselves off and another few hugs, Ed lifted her chin and kissed her lightly. It was a lot different than the kiss back at the lake. That was full of lust and want. Given it had passion as well, but this one.. It was full of passion. And concern.. And... Love. This made Danielle's smile grow large, and when they finally parted, she hugged him once more. It was still so odd for her to have someone who cared. But she didn't question it, she just enjoyed it. She was beyond grateful for Colonel Mustang putting them on this mission together. Somehow, she thought, he didn't just do it because they made a great team...

Ed removed his jacket and placed it on Danielle's shoulders, blocking out any more cold air from getting to her. He held her as they slowly walked back to the house, stopping every once in a while to make sure she was really okay. His concern for her was nice.. A little overbearing at time.. But nice. She basked in the fact that he cared so much for her. When they finally got back to the house, Winry, Pinako, and Alphonse were all waiting on the steps for them. "Where'd you find her?" Winry held in her excitement for a moment before jumping at Danielle and hugging her tightly, "We were so worried.." Danielle laughed lightly and sighed as Winry stepped back from her. "I'm sorry I worried you all so. I got a little.. Distracted. But I'm safe. Thanks to Ed, that is..." She turned to him and smiled as he grabbed her hand tightly. Pinako grinned at the two, "We're just glad that you're all right, Danielle.. I think we should all get inside and eat dinner now, though. I'm sure you're hungry, since you didn't eat any lunch."

Danielle nodded and Ed helped her into the dining room, holding her chair out for her before sitting next to her. She turned to him and mouthed a 'Thank you' before gathering a bit of food on her plate and eating it. "You'd better be eating a huge breakfast if that's all you're gonna eat right now." Winry announced after taking a large bite into her chicken leg. Danielle shrugged, "Depends on what you make and what I'm in the mood for, Win.." She didn't really feel like eating much at the moment. She just had a kind of traumatic experience back there, and although her stomach was growling some, she just couldn't keep her mind on eating right now. But she knew how much the others would worry if she didn't eat at all again, and she didn't want to hurt herself, so she did her best to push the rest of her thoughts to the back of her mind and focus on food. Ed took awhile to eat his food as well, seeing as he was watching Danielle most of the time. He had practically made himself sick earlier worrying about her. He'd had a bad feeling in his gut not long after she'd left.

Luckily, he listened to it. And he was able to get to Danielle before anything really bad might've happened. He was glad that she'd found that letter and necklace from her mother, but he was still very bothered that she still believed that it was her fault. And that she still needed to apologize to her mother so much. He understood what it was like. He sort of went through the same thing when he and Alphonse had tried human transmutation and Al had lost his body. He'd apologized to him for so long, every day. Even presently he'd sometimes apologize for it, even though he knew that he had Al's forgiveness. He guessed that Danielle already knew that her mother had forgiven her. Still, she'd never forgiven herself. He knew that position too... And he didn't want her to feel guilt any longer. It was too much of a useless burden to carry. It was as if she'd been carrying all this baggage, and then saw another large bag sitting on the ground and just picked it up. And she won't put it down, even though she could if she'd tried hard enough. Maybe it was that she felt that if she didn't feel guilt about it, it was wrong. How could she be happy and having fun without her mother there?

Edward felt bad sometimes about his mom too. But he was happy because she wanted him to be happy. And he knew that she would always be with him.. Perhaps Danielle just doesn't think that her mom, or either of her parents, would watch over her or stay with her after what she'd done.. That because of another's sin, that she believed to be mostly her own, she could never live with them near her. All of this puzzled him, but he knew that he couldn't do anything to change Danielle's mind. All he could do was help hold her up while she walked down the crazy path, much like he'd done earlier today.. But in the end, it would be her job to find the destination. She had to figure the way out on her own, the others were just here to help keep her from straying. To give her comfort whenever she fell down. To help her up and get moving again. Everyone finished their dinner, and started getting on their night clothes. Danielle stayed at the table, just staring at it for a short while, with Ed staring at her, waiting for her to finish.

"Dani?" She snapped out of it and turned to him, "Hm?" "Do you.... Do you want me to stay with you tonight?" He hesitated. He wasn't sure that it was all right for him to be asking. But he just wanted her to be okay. He worried that she'd have trouble sleeping. And he thought that maybe he could comfort her until she fell asleep, that's all. She flushed and scratched the back of her head, "Um... Are you gonna wear your boxers?" He coughed and shrugged, blushing a little himself, "I don't really have anything else at the moment... Just wake me up if you need me, kay?" She giggled a little and shook her head, "It's okay, Ed. You can stay with me tonight.. I'd like the company." She smiled lightly and kissed his cheek, "Thanks." He smiled back and watched her go up the stairs to get ready for bed. After a few minutes, he walked into the living room to and plopped down on the couch between Alphonse and Winry, putting his hands behind his head. "What was that all about, hm?" Winry looked at him and grinned as she questioned him. He glared at her and coughed some, "What was what about?" "You know what I'm talking about, Edward.. What happened today, huh?"

He put his arms back down at his sides and sighed, "Stuff, Win.. It's a touchy subject for both of us. You can pry later.. Like three years from now. Just don't bother Dani about it, okay? She doesn't need you poking into her life." She stuck her tongue out at him and he rolled his eyes. "I will find out eventually, you know. I'm not the kind of person to keep secrets from." She pulled her wrench out of no where and her eyes widened as red horns and a spiked tail popped out of her head and lower back. Flames came up behind her and she laughed maniacally, showing her suddenly-sharp teeth. Ed crossed his arms and glared at her, "If you put one finger on her, Winry, I swear-" "Relax, Loverboy! I'm not gonna hurt her... Just you!" She grinned and laughed evilly once more before the horns, tail, and sharpened teeth disappeared to show her normal self again. Ed's eye twitched and he turned around to face the wall, huffing. "And I am not a loverboy..." He grumbled under his breath, "Call me a love-sick puppy if you must. But I am most definitely not a loverboy...."

Danielle came back downstairs and the four played cards and many other games. After four and a half hours of the biggest random party in the universe, complete with comedic interludes of throwing random items at one another, and even the major amount of sugary sweets Winry had managed to pull out of it no where, it had reached 11 o'clock p.m. "Wow. You know, time really flies when you haven't seen each other in a long time and you're high off of sugar." Winry said, yawning and stretched before getting up. "I'll see you three in the morning. You should all get to sleep too. You and I have a lot of work to get done tomorrow, Danielle. Another two days and you'll be ready to go and more." Danielle nodded and smiled, waving lightly as Winry dragged herself to her room. Dani leaned against the couch and uncrossed her legs, stretching them out before standing up and plopping onto the couch. "Save yourselves from the Sandman! Go on without me!" She put the back of her hand on her forehead and fell back dramatically.

Ed laughed and started walking away, "Okay. We'll respect your wishes." "Ed!" Danielle and Alphonse exclaimed together before looking at each other and laughing some. "Kidding, kidding!" He grinned and held his hands in the air. He walked over and put one arm under Danielle's legs and the other under her back. "What are you- Ah!" She didn't even get her question out before he lifted her and started carrying her to the stairs. "Man, Dani! What have you been eating?" He joked, fakely tripping on his way to the staircase. She glared at him and punched his shoulder. "Kidding, I swear." He smirked with a little pout. She didn't punch him really hard, but it still hurt some. She couldn't help but smile a little at him, he was cute when he started to pout like that.. She rolled her eyes and wrapped her arms around his neck. Alphonse watched them from behind, raising his brow and coughing some before climbing the stairs after they'd gotten up half of the way. Ed walked into Danielle's room and quickly let her go, dropping her to the bed. "Woops." He commented, putting a finger to his bottom lip and smiling lightly, moving his body side to side as if he was a small child.

"You're not masking your purposeful dropping, Grasshopper." Danielle laughed as she spoke before sitting up and crossing her legs, patting the bed in front of her. Ed sat down and smiled at her, "I take it you're feeling better?" She nodded and kissed his cheek, "Thanks to you." He blushed lightly before speaking, "Well, I can't take all the credit. Al and Winry had to have helped a little bit.. Who wouldn't laugh and have fun when they throw pillows at Al and, even though it's not that funny to me, you seem to rather enjoy it when Winry hits me with that wrench.. Just do me a favor?" She shrugged and nodded, "Yeah?" "Make sure that she doesn't hurt me enough to cause any permanent brain damage. Preferably, I'd like to have no damage at all." She giggled and nodded some more, "I'll keep my eye on her.. But why not just ask me to talk to her so she'll stop doing it, though?" "Because for some odd reason or another, the idea of Winry hitting me with a wrench over and over again makes you laugh. And I don't want to take any of the joy from you, now do I?" She continued to smile and hugged him lightly.

After a minute of hugging, Danielle pulled her hair back into a high ponytail and started braiding it tightly. When she finished, she asked Ed to turn around. She pulled the bow out of his hair and re-braided it, seeing as it would end up more like a car wreck in the morning than his hair. "Ow! Hey, that hurts, Dani!" "Oh, don't be such a sissy. It doesn't hurt that much. Just breathe slowly.. Or don't breathe at all." He held his breath until she finished and wrapped the bow around the ends, securing them together. "How do you handle that all the time?" Ed asked after catching his breath again. She shrugged, "I'm a girl. I suppose we're used to suffering to look good. Heh." He shook his head at her and ran his hand over his new, seemingly-over-tight braid. "Winry is gonna need me for whatever work she's doing on my automail tomorrow. I think she's going to be taking it off too. So I have a feeling I won't get to sleep a little later like I have been doing the last few days.. We should get some rest, otherwise she'll be after us with her wrench in hand... Probably sharpened too."

Ed shivered and nodded, "It's really disturbing that we all know she would do that.." Their eyes twitched for a moment, but they shook their heads to get out of it. Danielle took off her black, knee-length, silky robe and laid it on the chair next to the bed. She moved some of the sheets down before leaning against the headboard, holding her hand out in a gesture for him to sit next to her. He crawled over her to get to the spot, grinning as he settled himself. She glared at him and he smiled innocently. "You know, one day that's not gonna work on me. And when that happens, you'll be very sorry.." "Which is all the more reason to do it as much as I can." He pointed out, smiling fakely before pulling his shirt off. Danielle scratched the back of her head and tried to keep her focus on other things within the room as she blushed some. "Aha! You've seen me with my shirt off four hundred times already, and you're still blushing!" He cooed, grinning at her. She turned to face him and crossed her arms, "I was not blushing. The room is just a little warm, that's all." "Uhuh... Warm because I took my shirt off, right?"

She turned to him and stared at him silently. He stopped and continued smiling, returning her gaze. After a few minutes of silence, Danielle was the first to speak up, "What? You're gonna take your shirt off and not your pants?" One could tell she was joking, but she kept her face and voice serious. A moment passed and they started laughing. Ed shrugged and stood up, and in a split second, he'd thrown his pants at Danielle and plopped back down on the bed. "Oh, I feel so special, Ed." She said through the pants on her head, covering her face. They laughed some more and she threw them on the floor, shaking her head. "You're crazy, you know that?" She said as she stretched her legs out and pulled the sheets up over them. "Yup. You know you're crazy too, though, right?" She nodded, "I take pride in it, y'know? I try not to look at it as a set-back, but more of a... Blessing." They smiled at each other and Ed settled himself down next to her. "Two more days.. You ready for it?" He flipped to his side as he spoke, facing her. She turned to his as well and shrugged, nodding hesitantly.

He reached over and rubbed her shoulder, "I've got your back, Dani." "I know.. Still, there's always a bit of a doubt... It's not about you, though. It's more of a problem with myself. I'm just worried that I might screw up really bad.. Again." She looked down and started playing with the edge of a sheet. Ed just sighed and shook his head, "You're not gonna screw anything up, Dani. And even if you do something that makes you feel like you did, or you get upset or anything like that, I'm right here for you, okay?" She smiled lightly and nodded. He smiled back at her and leaned forward, kissing her lightly. The kiss grew quickly as Danielle opened her mouth almost the instant his tongue hit her lips. She practically melted at the feeling passing through her.. Ed moved his hand to her hip and she pulled back, shaking her head. "Sorry.. Too fast..." He moved his hand and smiled apologetically. He hadn't really realized what he was doing up until then.. "It's fine.. I'm just not completely sure... Sorry." She looked down and flushed lightly as she spoke. "No, don't be sorry, Dani. I went over the line. I'm glad you stopped me, really. I didn't realize what was going on for a second there.. I don't want you doing anything you aren't sure of." He pushed her hair out of her face and lifted her chin to look at him, smiling genuinely.

"Thanks, Ed.." She smiled back, kissing him once more before moving over and turning off the light. She lay down on her back and put her hands on her stomach, sighing with a smile. Ed put his head to the pillow and ran a hand down her cheek. She smiled more and kissed the tips of his fingers. He grinned as he moved his hand back to his pillow, adjusting it before wrapping an arm around Danielle's waist. She turned to face him and kissed his cheek, "G'night, Ed." He returned it with a light kiss to her lips as she curled up against him, nuzzling into his chest. "Night, Dani..." "And Ed?" "Yeah?" Danielle was already starting to fall asleep as she spoke, but her voice was clear, "Promise you'll never leave me.. Ever..." He smiled and nodded, kissing the top of her head, "Never.." He lay his head down and fell asleep quickly, dreaming of the very promise he'd just made.

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Sorry this one took longer than I thought. It was fun to make, though.. I think this is one of the best chapters of the whole story. By the way, I'm redoing the first chapter. Just fixing up grammar errors and such.. I hadn't fixed it for the roleplay until after I'd posted it on here. So, because I'm sure I lost quite a few readers by the horrible grammar put out by mostly one of my roleplayers, I'm gonna redo it for you guys ^-^ It won't take long to do, really. I'm a fast typer and sometimes a fast reader. Usually only when it comes to schoolwork x] But sometimes otherwise. Hope you liked it. See ya'll next time 'round(which shouldn't take too long, since I'm crazy ready to write more. Writer's block is no more after the last two or three chapters! Yay!) Rate and/or message! :D Oh, and this is basically what Danielle's necklace looks like, 'cept it has an emerald in the middle of it: http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h75/sesamuels/18-O.jpg