Disclaimer: I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist.
As people began to disembark, three figures detached from the crowd and started to look around; a man, woman, and a boy. They were there to visit a young woman named Winry Rockbell, a relative of the mother.
The father noticed a young man with blond hair approaching. He nudged his wife and son.
The young man came up and asked, "Are you the ones Winry is waiting for? She had to pull an all-nighter last night because someone trashed their automail. She's still sleeping, I think."
The mother thought back to her recent phone call to her niece Winry: A guy with long blond hair named Edward will pick you up if I don't come. He's a good friend we've taken care of since his mother died. He returned from a long journey a couple years ago. You might recognize him, actually.
She responded. "Are you Edward, the one Winry told us about?"
Ed sheepishly responded, "I prefer Ed, actually, but yeah. It's nice to meet you."
The mother smiled. "It's nice to meet you too. I'm Sofia, this is my husband Derek, and our son Nickolas."
"Call me Nick!" The boy exclaimed.
"It's nice to meet you all. Here, let me help you with that," he said, taking a suitcase from Sofia. "We have to walk a ways, I hope you don't mind. It's only a few minutes."
"Oh, it's no trouble," Sofia assured him. Why did Winry say he would be familiar?
As they walked, the family asked Ed some questions to try and make conversation.
"So, what do you do here?" Derek asked.
Ed thought carefully before responding. "Well, ever since our mother died, and when we weren't traveling, Granny Pinako has been taking care of my brother Alphonse and I. We're best friends with Winry, and my dad and Granny Pinako used to be drinking buddies. I didn't know that until recently, though. He left us when we were young, and not long after that, Mom passed. That was around ten years ago now. Now I do odd jobs, chores, help the neighbors and stuff. Sometimes I teach at the school. I used to have another job, but I had to quit a couple years ago. I still have a decent amount of savings from that. Winry's job and shop in Rush Valley - they love her there - bring in a rather hefty amount of money. I sometimes act as security for her, or an assistant, and in return, she repairs my automail free of charge when I break it (which is a lot better for me than our previous arrangement was, let me tell you). A real genius, that one. Created my automail when we were both only ten years old."
After Ed's long-winded, rambling answer to Derek's question, Nick decided to make a comment of his own. "I heard that the Fullmetal Alchemist grew up here."
Ed got a funny look on his face. "Yeah, I-"
Nick interrupted with a question. "Did you know him?"
Ed smirked. "I guess you could say that."
"Wow, that's awesome!" Nick exclaimed. "He's my hero, you know." He said confidentially.
Ed looked vaguely embarrassed, and both the parents wondered why. "You remind me of Selim," Ed stated.
"Who's Selim?" Nick asked. The parents were wondering the same thing, then probably figured it was one of the local kids. They were taken aback by Ed's response.
"Selim Bradley, the late Fuhrer's son."
"You knew the Fuhrer?" Derek asked, obviously surprised.
"Yeah. My old job brought me around Central a lot. The Fuhrer once visited me and my brother once and he gave me a melon... I'm still not sure why... anyways. He was trying to escape paperwork - when his assistant was coming up the hallway, he even climbed out the window so as not to be seen. And we had tea with his family because Selim wanted to introduce us, show his mother who he ran into at the library. Oh look, there's the house," Ed said, pointing. "Hey, Winry! We're here!"
While Ed was distracted, Derek and Sofia made eye contact. They both agreed there was something strange with this boy, however nice he seemed to be. They all made it up to the house, and Winry greeted her visiting family. After that was over, Winry told Ed about the upcoming events.
"By the way, Ed," she started, "Al decided it was time for a get-together before he knew Derek and Sofia and Nick were coming. It's gonna be interesting - he invited Mustang, Riza, Mei, Lan-fan, Ling, Izumi, and Sig."
"And they're all coming? Here?" Ed asked incredulously. "Even the Colonel Ba-"
"Ed!" Winry warned, glancing at Nick.
"Sorry."
"Yes, they all somehow managed to clear time in their schedules to do this. Talk about irresponsible."
"What about space, then? We have enough rooms for Derek and Sofia and Nick, and Al and I can share, but there aren't enough here."
"They can just go stay at the inn in town." Winry decided. "You should let Mr. Bauman know he'll have a lot of visitors soon."
A couple days later, they heard Den bark. Ed opened the door after he heard laughter.
"Al! You're back!" Ed exclaimed, seeing his brother's face as he opened the door.
Al smiled cheerily and greeted Ed. "Hello, brother! While I was away, I applied to be a State Alchemist. I'm studying combining alchemy and alkahestery. And brother," he added with determination, "I'll find a way to get your alchemy back."
Ed's face softened. "Thanks, Al." He paused, then spoke again. "By the way, some of Winry's relatives are here."
"Relatives?" Al asked, confused.
"Yeah, apparently her mother's cousin, as well as her husband and son. The kid is about ten, I think."
"Oh, okay," Al said, brightening.
"When will the others be here?" Ed asked Al.
"They all said they would be here before dinner. Other than that, I'm not really sure."
"We should probably go help with lunch, then." Ed stated.
"Probably." Al agreed.
The two brothers stood up from where they were sitting at the table. Al hugged Ed spontaneously, and Ed returned the affection from his brother. He marveled once again at the fact that Al was able to regain his original body.
"It's good to see you doing okay, brother. I missed you." Al murmured.
"I missed you too, Al. And you'll have to thank Winry for my well-being. But enough of the heavy stuff. I've still got to introduce you!"
A few hours passed until the Xingese visitors arrived.
"Hi Al!" Mei greeted brightly. Then she saw Ed. "Oh, hello, Edward."
Al blushed and scratched the back of his head. "Uh, hi, Mei." He got an elbow from Ed, who smirked, and Al shot him back a scowl. "Come in! You too, Ling, Lan Fan." As he called her name, she appeared out of nowhere, startling the four people unaccustomed to her habits.
"Hey, Ling. Nice to see you again. Um - is Greed still gone?" Ed asked him awkwardly, not sure what to say.
"Yeah...I kinda miss the guy." Ling admitted.
"Me too," Ed agreed, before remembering their audience. "Um, well, anyways, this is Winry, you already met her-"
"I should say so, that was a fiasco."
"...Thanks, is her Aunt Sofia, her Uncle Derek, and cousin Nick. Guys, this is Ling-"
"Hello! Nice to meet you! I'm the Emperor of Xing!"
"Stop interrupting!...his bodyguard and interest Lan Fan-"
"Do not disrespect the young master!"
"...And this is Mei. Probably the most normal out of the three of them. And her cat-thing bites, so don't touch it."
Sofia and Derek looked shocked and a bit out of their depth, both slightly pale. This was the life their young niece was leading? How did they even know all of these people, anyway?
Derek didn't realized he had asked the last question aloud until Winry, who was standing near him, answered. "Ed's former job. He lived in Central for a while, and he met a lot of people. Actually though, we both met Ling when we first went to Rush Valley. Ed told me he found him passed out on the road, apparently from lack of food. He came to my place, ate, and we've kind of been friends ever since…" Derek thought the last statement sounded suspiciously like a question.
"Oh…" These kids are so strange!
A knock was heard at the door.
"I'll get it!" Al called, walking to the door. He opened it to let in a blonde woman and a man with black hair. Al just stared, his eyes following the man. Ed took one look and burst out into hysterical laughter.
"Oi, Mustang, what's on your face!" He sputtered, before breaking down into chuckles.
Derek looked at the man and noticed that he did have an unfortunate-looking mustache. He winced inwardly.
The blonde woman rolled her eyes while the man got a nasty smirk on his face.
"How are you doing, pipsqueak?"
"You can't call me a pipsqueak anymore, Colonel," Ed said, smirking.
"He's right, you know," Hawkeye said gently. "He's as tall as you are. And by the way, Ed, I am the Colonel now. He's a Brigadier General."
"Eh. It's not like his head needs any more swelling."
Hawkeye laughed ruefully. "True enough. It's nice to see you and Al again. Mustang frowned, obviously troubled. Before he could protest, though, Winry walked over. "Oh, hello, Winry."
"Hello Riza. Hi, Roy," she greeted politely. "Everyone else - Izumi, Sig, Lan Fan, Mei, and Ling – are already here, and I have to introduce you to my relatives!"
The rather eccentric group of people were all crowded around the biggest table of Winry's they could find, Ed and Al having lugged it up from the basement. As soon as everyone had eaten enough to take the edge off their hunger, a conversation sprung up.
"So what are you planning on doing with yourself now, Fullmetal?"
Nick looked up so quickly Ed could have sworn he heard something crack. "Fullmetal? The Alchemist? Is he here?" Ed coughed uncomfortably as all those 'in the know' stared at him.
"You didn't tell him?" Winry asked. She looked surprised.
"It... never came up?" Ed responded, noticing how (and disliking) his voice made the statement sound like a question.
Nick grinned, leaning back in his seat. "It's Al, right? He's the Fullmetal Alchemist – after all, he's the one who has blonde hair and does alchemy."
Al put down his fork gently, looking pained. "Ah, no... it's Ed." Despite fixing his gaze on his half-empty plate, Ed could tell that Winry's family were all shooting him weird looks. He grimaced, then pasted a smirk on his face. It was only as awkward as he made it – which, truthfully, could be really awkward, but really, what was there to be sensitive about. Sure, he missed it, but if he was given the same choice again, he would choose the same option a million times over.
He chuckled to himself. "Yep! You know, it's funny how he thought it was you, even though you aren't armor anymore."
Al offered a hesitant smile back. "You aren't mad? You used to always get mad when someone would mistake us for each other."
Ed shook his head emphatically. "Nope. Now I think everyone who did that was just ignorant or just plain stupid. Nick just didn't know, and after I told him I couldn't do alchemy he came to the next most accurate conclusion."
He glanced over at the boy – he looked really confused. "If... if you're the Fullmetal Alchemist, then why can't you do alchemy?"
Ed grimaced. If he told the kid everything, Winry would have him sleeping on the outside for the week, never mind the couch.
"It's... a long story. There was an alchemy accident, you see – I gave up my alchemy to save Al. So I ended up retiring, and now it's Al's turn to shine. He's applied to be a State Alchemist now as well."
Mustang cleared his throat, bringing all attention to him. Attention hog. "About that... Al's a shoo-in. If you want to know, I can tell you your name right – "
"Yes, please!"
"Well, then, I would like you all to meet the newest State Alchemist – the Ambassador Alchemist," Mustang finished, all of his usual flair present in the statement.
"Ambassador, huh?" Ed asked, resting his chin in his hand.
"It's because you boys just have a knack for making connections," Hawkeye explained, "a lot in rather high places."
"I propose a toast – " Izumi announced.
Ling interrupted. "But it's apple juice!"
"Who cares!" She snapped back. "A toast to Al, the Ambassador Alchemist and Ed, the now-retired but still wonderful Fullmetal Alchemist!"
Glasses of apple juice and water clinked, giving a welcoming air of camaraderie to the group dinner.
"You know," Nick said, and Ed saw that he was squinting at Mustang, "You look really familiar. Do I know you?"
Mustang raised an eyebrow. "I'm Roy Mustang, the Flame Alchemist. You've heard of Ed, but not me?"
Nick's eyes widened and Ed almost laughed. "Why didn't you say so before? Wait... if you're... you must be the Hawk's Eye! You guys were in Ishbal together, and last year at Central you were amazing!"
Ed was concerned; he knew Ishbal was a touchy subject for the both of them, and as for Central... the memories were rather unpleasant, and still quite fresh. After a moment of uncomfortable silence, Hawkeye answered.
"That was us."
Nick evidently was able to pick up on the tense air, and switched the subject.
"Um, we're having a 'Hero and Role Model' day at school, where we ask someone to come in and talk to the class for a minute. Do any of you want to come?"
"Yes!" Ed exclaimed, looking over at Mustang who had nearly shouted the same thing as well. Ed wanted to go; he'd love to see Elicia and Gracia again, as well as the rest of Mustang's old unit. Mustang probably wanted to go to avoid paperwork – Ed glanced at Hawkeye to see her huff in exasperation.
"Al and I are going," Ed said resolutely – unfortunately at the same time that Mustang announced his and Hawkeye's intention to go.
"Sweet! You can all come, it'll be great!"
A/N: This just kinda happened. If anyone wants to see the results of the Hero and Role Model day, say so in a review, otherwise it probably won't get written.