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⤷ .𖥔 ݁ ˖ ┆𝘾𝙃𝘼𝙋𝙏𝙀𝙍 [ 015 ] ᯓ

𝐑𝐈𝐙𝐀 𝐇𝐀𝐃 𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐔𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐘 𝐂𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐄𝐃 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐄𝐃𝐖𝐀𝐑𝐃 𝐁𝐀𝐂𝐊 𝐓𝐎 𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐀𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐌𝐄𝐍𝐓, 𝐄𝐗𝐏𝐋𝐀𝐈𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐌𝐎𝐑𝐄 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐒 𝐒𝐇𝐄 𝐑𝐄𝐌𝐄𝐌𝐁𝐄𝐑𝐄𝐃 𝐀𝐁𝐎𝐔𝐓 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐖𝐀𝐑.

"I'll let you know if I hear anything new." She said as you and Ed grabbed your coats and made your way to the door.

"The Fuhrers basically hired you to be his hostage, will you be alright?" You asked. "Well it's all on how you look at it I guess. This close to him just means I have a better chance to kill him in his sleep."

The two of you smile nervously at her. "You scare me." Ed laughed. Opening the door he stopped, turning back to the lieutenant.

"Oh yeah, pass this on for me. Tell the Colonel that Scar is back."

"Sure thing, no problem."

Picking up Hayate she walked you two out the door. "Hey Lieutenant." You spoke, coming to a stop in the hall. "Yes, what is it?"

"I just wanna say thanks for telling us about Ishval then later calling us back to tell me about Bell-mére and how she was during the war."

A smile tugged at her lips as she raised a hand, waving goodbye accompanied by a bidding bark from Hayate.

—

"Al!" Ed called out, dragging you by your hand as he ran over to his brother, who was coming back from Doctor Knox's house.

"Brother, [y/n]. What's wrong?" He asked, coming to a stop. Ed panted, resting a hand on his knee not bothering to release your hand.

Patting his back you went on to explain everything Riza had beholden to the two of you about the Ishvalan war.

"That's terrible. It's tough to even hear about Ishval."

"And she didn't hold back. Even though we're practically kids." Ed sighed, holding his metal hand up towards the sky.

"They say an Alchemist is one who seeks after the truth, and yet, I knew nothing about what happened in Ishval." Clenching his fist before lowering it to his lap.

The three of you having sat down on the fountains railing you and Ed had sat an hour or two before.

"You think the Colonel's concerned about what happens after he gets what he wants?" The suit of armor questioned. "I know I would be if I were him. You know?" Ed muttered.

Glancing to the side he looked up at his brother. "Hey, Al. What are you gonna do when you get your real body back? I mean afterwards."

"Well let's see. First thing I really want to try the apple pie [y/n] made that one time."

The two of you laughed. "And what about you?"

Ed hummed in thought. "I've been so busy trying to get our bodies back that I haven't even thought about what happens next."

Giving your hand a squeeze before standing up and stretching.

"I guess the first thing. I'll make some courtesy calls, let granny and our teacher know we're alright."

Al nodded. "Yeah, of course. They've both helped us out so much."

"And you know what? They'll be smiling when they see you two." You stated, wrapping your arms around their shoulders.

"That'll be nice, just to see them smile."

"Yeah." Ed chuckled.

"What are you gonna do, [y/n]?"

Your smile faltered for a second.

"I... I don't know. Trust me I love sailing the blue's and my crew there are like a family to me, but so are you two, and Winry. So, I don't know if I want to leave with them or stay with you guys."

Their brows rose. "What about your dream, making a world map?"

Looking down at the blonde you stared into his amber gold eyes. "Dream's can change."

His eye twitched slightly at your words, a subtle pink dusting his cheeks as he stared up at you.

Al stood up, making you follow after, arm still tossed over his shoulder. "I know things are rough right now, but I'm starting to cheer up!" Al proclaimed joyfully.

"Well I found a trace of hope for us." Ed claimed making Al make a sound of interest.

"You know how our alchemy and your weather powers wouldn't work when we were under central command?" He questioned.

Earning a nod from Al.

"Well guess what, it wasn't working above ground either."

"But what about Scar and that girl?" Al inquired in confusion. "Exactly, they were the only ones who could use it."

"Well if that's the case, they're doing something different. Something with their alchemy we don't know about." You determined. "Yeah, which means we haven't hit a dead end yet."

୧ ‧₊˚ 🍊 ⋅

The next day you all stood in the lobby of the military hotel, on the phone with Doctor Knox.

"You mean she's gone, the little obnoxious girl left?!" Ed shouted in disbelief.

"Yeah, sometimes this morning."

Knox's muffled voice admitted form the other line of the phone.

"Where was she going?"

"She didn't tell me."

Groaning, the blonde slammed the phone down, hanging up. Turning on his heels he stomped towards the exit, you and Al calming walk by his sides.

"We could still find her!" He proclaimed. "The city is huge and we don't have any clues." Al said.

Huffing the alchemist looked up at his brother. "But we do have a clue guys."

—

Wandering the streets of central Ed shoved a poorly drawn picture of Xiao-Mei into peoples faces. "Hey, have you seen this cat? I'm trying to find a little girl who owns it."

Off to the side you and Al presented more accurate pictures of a group of civilians.

"No it looks like this, I promise it's not some weird alien." Al reassured, showing it to a woman.

Time went by quickly and before you knew it the sun was once again setting and the street lamps flickered on.

Sighing Ed flopped down onto a bench beside you. "Seems like this search is getting us nowhere." He huffed.

"You know they might not be in central anymore." Al brought into retrospect. A car comes driving up and screeches to a stop.

Gasping you all look up, spotting Roy in the driver's seat. "Fullmetal."

"Colonel?" He questioned, helping you stand up.

—

Sitting in the silver car you had handed Roy the picture you and Al had drawn of the small panda.

"You don't say? Xingese Alkahestry sounds promising, I'll ask around and let you know what I find." Handing the picture back to you.

Ed resting his head on his fist, leaning against the window, metal thumb running over your knuckles.

"Thank you but I don't really wanna get any deeper in debt to you than I already am."

"Speaking of." Roy began, turning towards the two of you hand held out.

"You owe me some money so how about you cough it up?" He rhetorically asked.

"Watch the road!" You exclaimed, holding onto the blonde.

Roy pulled the wheel, swerving back into the left lane.

"You remembered? Come on. How much did I borrow?" Ed scoffed. "Five hundred Cens?" He recalled.

"It was 520 Cens!" Roy yelled. "Don't con me." He gritted out.

"I'm not conning you! I'm just not a penny pincher like you are." He mumbled, rummaging through your jacket pocket.

"Hey!" Tugging harshly at his cheek.

Al sweat dropped in the back. "I'm sorry Colonel."

Pulling the unused 520 Cens from your pocket he clutched them in his palm. "I'm just gonna hold onto this, but I promise to pay you back when you become Fuhrer."

The two glare at each other from the corner of their eyes. "Who told you?"

"Lieutenant Hawkeye told us." His claim makes Roy glance at you. "And she told us about Ishval too." You added on.

Coming to a stop outside of a building The three of you got out of the vehicle.

"Fullmetal." Perking up Ed turned back to Roy. "Go on and keep that money for now but you will pay me back."

"Alright and when that day comes I'll borrow some more change. And pay that back when this country's a democracy, but when that day comes I'm gonna ask to borrow even more money from you."

Roy jokingly sulked, resting against the steering wheel. "You're not planning to let me off the hook for a very long time are you?"

"Now you get it, and you better not worry the Lieutenant either." Slamming the door shut made him gasp and sit up in shock.

"Thanks for the ride!" Giving him a parting wave. "Sure, see ya later." A grin tugging at his lips as he drove off.

Opening the door to the building someone sat in the darkness. "You took long enough."

Screaming you jumped behind Al as the brothers got into fighting stances. "I was getting tired of waiting." Fu expressed.

୧ ‧₊˚ 🍊 ⋅

Bringing Fu to Doctor Knox's house he stood in front of Lan Fan. "You lost your arm, you couldn't protect the prince, and look at you now." Tearing her a new one.

She looked down, bangs covering eye sad eyes as she held her arm.

A slap ricocheted through the room and a grunt left the girl. The three of you gasp ad Fu rears back once again.

"Hey, what do you think you're doing?!" Knox exclaimed, holding the old man back.

"How dare you call yourself a member of the chosen clan!"

"Cut it out old man, she hasn't recovered yet." The doctor scolded as he continued to struggle. "I told you to stop."

Sighing his struggle gave out. "It's really gone. Your arm." Staring in horror at his granddaughter. "You lost your arm."

"Please forgive me grandfather, I'm sorry." Stepping forward he shakily grabbed the empty and limp sleeve of her coat. "You fool. You damned fool."

Smacking his hand against his face, tears shedding and dampening the material of the sleeve.

Waiting a few minutes for Fu to compose himself Ed spoke up. "I promised Lan Fan that I would introduce her to an automail engineer."

"We decline." Glancing at his granddaughter.

"Huh?" The three of you express, surprised.

"We appreciate such a kind gesture, but you've already helped us enough. We can find an engineer on our own if we must." Fu stated.

"But we have to do something." Al claimed. "The enemy has now clearly seen Lan Fan's face. We refuse to risk the life of your engineer friend."

Ed lets out a sigh through his nose. "Alright then, thank you."

Taking off his white headband Fu walked up to Doctor Knox.

"You're the only reason that my granddaughter is still alive. You have my gratitude." Bowing in respect for the man, hands placed together.

"What, do I Look like the kind of doctor that wants gratitude?!" He shouted, feigning anger.

Sputtering he looks at Lan Fan who had stood up with a slight smile. "Thanks Doctor knox, thank you for saving me." Giving a bow of her own.

"Just clear out already! I'm not such a pushover I'm gonna let you take my bed for an extra night. Now get out."

Holding a tray under his arm he stomped out of the living room.

—

Walking back to the hotel from Knox's house minutes after Lan Fan and Fu had left you all followed the street lights.

"You know." Al spoke up glancing down at you and Ed, specifically to where your hands laced together.

"I've noticed, you two are always holding each other's hands, is there anything behind that?"

Tensing up you both pulled away from each other, sweat dropping nervously. "What? No!" You denied.

Ed nodded frantically in agreement.

Al examined the two of you. The way your bodies figited, the way a pouty and flustered look took over his brother's features and the way you narrowed your eyes up at him.

A gasp left his armored mouth. "No way. You're together and you didn't tell me?!" Hands grabbing the sides of his helmet.

Ed groaned in defeat, hanging his head low as you laughed. "And we weren't going to because I knew you'd act like this!" Ed exclaimed.

Metal arms wrapped around the two of you, lifting you both off the ground and spinning around excitedly.

"I always knew you liked each other!"

Groaning you both struggled against his grip. "AL!" His childish laughter filling the night air making a smile tug at your lips.