Erimou Arouraioi

"Lypamai, adelfo," Edward whispered into the darkness of the room.

I'm sorry, brother.

He was quiet for some time. The nights were the worst. Ed knew Alphonse couldn't sleep like he could. He couldn't pretend those hours didn't exist and push off the dreams into nothing. He was just left with the silence, and Edward was tortured with that knowledge.

"Aplá xekourastoún, adelfo," Alphonse's hollow voice murmured in response.

Just rest, brother.

The Elric brothers had kept this secret their entire lives. They had been forced to live their lives in secret.

Because their mother had been an Ishvalan during the Eastern Rebellion.

Their father had been born in Xerxes, and therefore, the Elric brothers were no more Amestrian than any other Ishvalan.

Fortunately, Edward had inherited their father's lighter skin, golden hair and eyes. Alphonse, however, was less fortunate, and was passed down their mother's dark skin, red eyes, and white hair.

The boys tried to stay connected to their Ishvalan heritage in a world where they would never be accepted, but they knew they could never be so open about their true culture.

And while Edward felt so guilty about trapping Alphonse in that metal body, he was secretly grateful.

And so was Alphonse.

Because in a world where they would never be accepted, Alphonse's identity was hidden behind steel.

"Kalimera, adelfo!" (Good morning, brother!) Alphonse greeted in the early hours of the morning. The best time of the day was when his adelfo woke up. It was the end of the harsh darkness of night and Alphonse was always grateful to have the company.

When they were in their apartment, Edward and Alphonse primarily spoke their first language of Ishvala. They did this so they could keep in touch with their true selves and try desperately not to forget the language their mother had taught them. Of course, they always had to be careful so no one would hear.

"Kalimera, Alphonse," Ed grumbled out. Though he was not a morning person, he always tried to wake up and greet his brother because he knew Al had been alone the whole night, but he was just so damn tired. "Proino?" (Breakfast?)

"Abya kai beikon," (Eggs and bacon,) Alphonse answered. He tried to make breakfast for Ed every day. It was much easier to spend his time learning to cook and making his adelfo breakfast than it was to sit in the darkness and read. And he preferred to listen to Ed breathing than to try and read in the dark anyways.

"Echo na do to syntagmatarchi simera," (I have to see the Colonel today,) Ed spoke as he climbed out of bed and threw his coat over him. He mostly slept in boxers and a tank top, but the night before he had fallen asleep in his clothes and Alphonse had removed his coat.

"Mia alli apostoli?" (Another mission?) Alphonse asked. He was worried about the missions his brother was being sent on lately. They seemed to last longer and be more taxing than usual.

Ed just shrugged. He wasn't sure what was going on lately; all he knew was that the Colonel wanted to see him and he wanted him there on time.

"Elpizo oti ola einai entaxei," (I hope everything is okay,) Alphonse murmured. Lately there had been more tension between Ishval and Amestris. Edward and Alphonse had numerous conversations on the subject and they both agreed that Ishvalans were Amestrians as well. After all, Amestris had taken over Ishval as their own, and that's why there had been the Eastern Conflict in the first place.

"Eidika me tous oikogeneia," (Especially with our family,) Edward whispered. While the brothers had to keep their identities a secret, they didn't deny their family in Ishval. Edward was an atheist, and had been since he was twelve, but that didn't mean he didn't worry about his family in Ishval. And the family that had been lost in the rebellion. Though, they didn't even know any of the family they had left.

"I'll see you later, Al," Ed spoke, this time in the dominant language of Amestris. He needed to get used to speaking in the language of Amestrians if he was getting ready to go out.

"Me seautou?" (By yourself?) Alphonse asked. Usually he went along with his brother for visits with the colonel.

"I'm gonna go alone this time," Ed responded. "I figure this is probably super important and you might not be allowed to come. You know I'll tell you all about it when I get back anyways."

"Entaxei, adelfo."

"Fullmetal, I'm glad you made it on time today," the Colonel spoke. Edward was confused. There was no usual banter the two had together and everything seemed so tense and formal. It had been tense when he had walked into the outer office, but in the inner office with Mustang, it was ten times worse.

"Well, you seemed pretty adamant about me being here on time," Ed responded. "You said there was something you wanted to tell me and it seemed pretty damn important."

"Yes, it is." The Colonel paused. Whatever this was, it wasn't easy for him to say, and that worried Ed more than ever. Because the Colonel was usually playful and never really had anything hard to say to Ed. Well, not in a while, anyway.

Suddenly, the silence ended.

"My team, including you, has been summoned to Ishval," the Colonel explained. "I need to secure the border and my team needs to help me do this. It was ordered by the Furher."

"What?!" Ed asked. Ishval? Ever since the military found out there had been Ishvalans still in hiding, they had rounded them up and put them back in Ishval, where the military thought they belonged. Ed knew because of this the tension had grown between Amestris and Ishval in the past year or so, but he had never expected to be sent out there! Hell, he never even though he'd see it in his lifetime.

"You have objections?" Mustang asked.

Ed paused. He did have objections. But he couldn't tell Mustang it was because the Ishvalans were his own people.

"I don't think the border needs to be secured," Ed responded.

"Neither do I," the Colonel spoke. "Personally, I don't care if Ishvalans roam in Amestris. But we can't deny our orders. Our team will be meeting up tomorrow morning."

"Can I-"

"Yes, you can bring Alphonse," Roy interrupted.

"Aftos den borei na kane afto!" (He can not do this!) Alphonse exclaimed when his brother had returned and explained the situation at hand. The Colonel just couldn't make them go to Ishval to secure their own people! It was criminal. He knew the Colonel was just following orders, but it didn't make what the military was doing any better. Someone needed to stand up and put a stop to this. "Prepei na stamatisei afto, adelfo." (You should stop this, brother).

"Pos?" (How?) Ed asked. "Ego eimai apla enas skylos." (I am just a dog). He didn't pull the strings for anything. He wasn't even an officer.

"Den gnorizo," (I don't know,) Al responded. He knew perfectly well that they were helpless to stop anything.

"Emeis einai pigainan," (We are going,) Ed stated without a second thought. He didn't even have a choice, but he felt strong enough to accept their only option in that moment.

They were going to Ishval.

"Hey, Lieutenant Havoc?" Ed asked during the train ride. They were taking the train to Ishval, where the military had just replaced train tracks in order to send more troops over and send Ishvalans back if they were found in Amestris.

"Yeah?" Havoc turned to the kid.

"Have you ever been to Ishval?" Ed knew that Lieutenant Hawkeye and Colonel Mustang had been when Hawkeye was just a second Lieutenant and Mustang was still a Major. But Ed didn't know if any of the others on Mustang's team had been to Ishval.

"Nope," Havoc responded. "I joined after all that happened. I think it's just the First Lieutenant and the Colonel who have been. Unless you count Major Armstrong and Lieutenant Colonel Hughes, but they're not under Mustang's jurisdiction."

"I was just curious," Ed stated. "I don't really know what to expect of Ishval is all."

"It's a desert wasteland," the Colonel spoke suddenly, having heard the kid's words. "It's nothing but sand and slums. Everyone is miserable there; the Ishvalans and the military personnel."

"From what I've heard I always thought it was a nice place," Ed responded.

"And what exactly have you heard of Ishval?" Mustang asked sharply.

Ed paused. He had to lie.

"Well, Resembool is so close to Ishval that we heard a lot about it growing up," Ed responded, which wasn't exactly a lie. Resembool was definitely closer to Ishval than Central and that was the reason their mother had ended up in Resembool, where she told her children everything about her home of Ishval.

"It's not as nice as it used to be, kid."

Ed huffed a bit and kept his attention away from the others for the rest of the trip. He wasn't getting the answers he wanted to hear. Especially not from Mustang.

Edward had held a lot of resentment for Mustang for a long time. He personally had never been to Ishval and only held attachments to what his mother had told him and Alphonse when they were growing up, but he still knew all about the Amestrian war hero, Roy Mustang. The one who helped to destroy Ishval and the people.

But Ed tried not to think about it anymore. He could see that the reason Mustang was so tense about going to Ishval was because of guilt. He felt guilty for what he did, and that was punishment enough for someone like Mustang in Ed's book. Because nothing anyone did could punish Roy Mustang more than he did himself in his own mind.

Three days was a long time to be cooped up in a train with a bunch of military men. It was even longer for two Ishvalans. Edward and Alphonse did everything they usually did around Mustang and his team. They spoke Amestrian and acted as if they had no clue what to expect in Ishval. Though, they really did have no clue what would happen when they reached Ishval.

When the team finally reached Ishval, Edward and Alphonse felt anxiety running through their bones. They had never seen Ishval and weren't too keen on seeing what it had become after the war. They envisioned destruction, and mostly what Colonel Mustang had described of as a 'desert wasteland'.

So when they got off the train and saw that there was nothing but sand and decaying buildings surrounded by military troops, Edward felt that Roy had described Ishval perfectly.

A desert wasteland.

Edward was awestruck, staring at the nothingness that was left for Ishval. This was his mother's home and it had been destroyed so easily. He always knew that the war had been destructive, it had even hurt Resembool with hard times, but nowhere near as bad as what Ishval had been subjected to.

"Fullmetal!" the Colonel called from where him and the rest of the team was. They were already at the checkpoint station for them to sign in. "Hurry up!"

Ed looked at Alphonse, who was standing beside him.

"Lypamai, adelfo," Ed whispered just loud enough for Alphonse to hear. He then turned and headed toward Mustang and the others.

Edward sighed as he walked through the ruins of Ishval. He was assigned to patrol the area with Havoc and make sure the Ishvalans - who were trying to live their lives as peacefully as they could with the threat of the military over their heads - were falling in line and weren't being too disruptive. Ed knew what he would do if he lived here. He was just lucky he could pass off as an Amestrian so easily.

Ed had been separated from Alphonse to do this job, and watched on. He saw plenty of citizens trying to pretend that the military wasn't invading their home. They were walking about, trying to do their laundry, but every time they had to walk through and see a military office, they gripped their children a little closer to them.

And Ed felt guilty as hell being forced to wear a military uniform to intimidate his own people.

"Adelfo!" a small child exclaimed as she ran in the vicinity of Ed and Havoc. "Pou eisai?"

Havoc sighed from beside Edward. "I wish these people would take this seriously and keep their kids inside."

"What?" Ed asked.

"A kid being shot was the whole reason for the war in the first place," Havoc explained. "If people took this whole thing seriously they would keep their kids inside so that they wouldn't get hurt."

"So it's an Ishvalan's fault if their kid gets shot by an Amestrian officer?!" Ed exclaimed. "She's just looking for her brother, and I for one am going to help her instead of criticize her parents!" Without another word, Edward huffed away and headed toward the little girl.

When Ed came closer, the girl became a bit more scared of the blue uniform she was taught to fear.

"Adelfo!" the girl exclaimed once more.

"Ego den tha sas vlaptei," (I will not hurt you,) Ed spoke softly so many people wouldn't hear. "Eimai enas adelfos poly. Eimai Ed; ase me na voithiso." (I'm a brother too. I'm Ed; let me help.)

"Eseis mila Ishvalan?" (You speak Ishvalan?) the young girl asked. She had never spoken to an Amestrian soldier; her mother told her to stay away. But if they spoke their language, they couldn't be that bad.

"Nai," (Yes,) Ed responded. "Ase me na voithiso," (Let me help,) he repeated.

The two looked around for a bit until they found the girl's brother. Afterward, the two quickly returned home with the big brother scolding his sister for speaking with an Amestrian soldier.

Ed didn't care that they thought of him as an Amestrian soldier. He was just glad he could help someone of his own race.

"Hey," Havoc spoke and Ed turned around quickly, startled by the sudden reappearance of the blonde man. "I saw what you did. How did you know she wanted her brother?"

"Well, when the Colonel told me that we were coming to Ishval, I wanted to be able to understand what they were saying. I brushed up on a little bit before coming here."

"So you can speak Ishvalan?" Havoc asked.

"The basics," Ed answered. It was a lie, but it would have to do for now. He couldn't tell them that he had grown up speaking both Ishvalan and Amestrian. "We should finish our patrol and head back to Colonel Dipshit."

"You seem more hostile toward him lately," Havoc commented, though there was no response.

The two walked in silence for their patrol until an older man walking by stopped short of them.

"Armartolos!" the man shouted, pointing to Edward.

"What?" Havoc asked.

"Sinner!" the man repeated, this time in Amestrian. "You have the golden eyes and hair of the sinner!"

"What are you talking about?" Ed asked, confused. Though, he suddenly realized exactly what this man was talking about.

His father, Van Hohenheim, with the same coloring as he had, came to Ishval years ago when his mother was young. He practiced alchemy, which was considered sinful to Ishval. And Ed distinctly remembered his mother tell him how the people of Ishval thought his father to be a sinner.

"You have the coloring of the sinner," the man repeated. "And in a blue uniform, you must be a descendant of the sinner."

"Who's the sinner?" Havoc asked.

"He must just be referring to alchemists," Ed spoke, trying to deflect the situation. This man was old enough to have remembered his father. It was actually a miracle this man had survived through all the fighting in the war.

"No," the old man spoke once again. "Van Hohenheim is the sinner."

"Now that name sounds familiar," Havoc commented, scratching his chin in thought. "I think the Colonel was looking for him a while back. About six years ago."

"Let's go; this guy is talking nonsense," Ed responded before hastily walking away. He couldn't have someone recognize his dad and start spewing out that his father had been in Ishval. That wouldn't go over well with Mustang.

"Sinner!"

"Good job, brother, you spoke Ishvalan to a little girl and almost got recognized by an Ishvalan," Alphonse spoke in the privacy of their tent. Despite their privacy, they still couldn't risk speaking in Ishvalan, lest someone hear them.

"I didn't almost get recognized; I got recognized," Ed responded. "The guy said Hohenheim's name and everything. Havoc was standing right there."

"But Havoc doesn't know who our dad is," Alphonse added. "I'm sure it'll just roll right off him."

"But he does recognize that Mustang was looking for him!" Ed exclaimed. He growled a bit in frustration. They were so defenseless out here and it was way easier to get caught.

"The Colonel was looking for dad?" Al asked.

"Yeah," Ed answered. "And he found me instead."

"Colonel Mustang, sir?" Havoc asked by the checkpoint with the rest of their team. Mustang wasn't going to let himself rest until whatever he had to do was finished with and he could return to Central. Being in Ishval brought up all sorts of feelings he had never wanted to think about again. "Weren't you looking for a man named Hohenheim a few years back?"

"I was," the Colonel responded in a disinterested tone. "What of it?"

"Well, I was just kind of curious as to why," Havoc explained. "Because one of the Ishvalans kind of pointed at Ed and was yelling at him about being a sinner and that he looked just like some guy named Van Hohenheim."

"Hohenheim was in Ishval?" Mustang asked, suddenly very interested in what Havoc had to say. "Did they say when?"

"No," Havoc answered. "They were just yelling at Ed about it. Why did you want to find that guy, anyways?"

"Van Hohenheim was a very skilled alchemist that the military was interested in for some time," the Colonel explained. "He also happens to be Edward's father."

"What?!" Breda exclaimed. "You're telling me that some alchemist the military wanted is Edward's dad?!"

"Exactly," Roy confirmed. "I was ordered to find him when I was just a Lieutenant Colonel and I still haven't found him. I don't know if he's even alive or not, but the one thing I did find was his son. Seems alchemy runs in the family, because Edward and Alphonse both seem to be very skilled."

"Some people just want to emulate their father," Fuery provided. "Maybe that's why they're so skilled in alchemy. They wanted to make their dad proud."

"No," Hawkeye added. "Their relationship is estranged. The only time I've heard Edward speak about his father was to curse him. He's not emulating anyone."

"They're just child prodigies," the Colonel spoke. "Both of them. They're very skilled, which is why I took an interest when I first found him. If I couldn't find Hohenheim, I was going to recruit the next best thing, his oldest son."

"That's kind of harsh, Colonel," Havoc commented. "He was just a kid. He's still just a kid. And I think he's taking this trip to Ishval pretty hard. He kind of snapped at me earlier."

"He snaps at everyone," Breda responded.

"This time was different," Havoc spoke. "He's just more tense than usual. He got mad at me earlier and then went and spoke to an Ishvalan girl. In Ishvalan."

"He knows Ishvalan?" Mustang asked as he tensed.

"He said he picked it up when you told him we were coming here," Havoc recited. "Dude's a child prodigy; I didn't think it was weird that he learned so quickly."

"That's strange."

Edward hated being on patrol with others. But when he was alone, it didn't feel so bad. Sure, the Ishvalans were looking on at him as if he had killed their children himself with his blue uniform, but he felt like he could finally see his mother's home.

Of course, this wasn't exactly where his mother lived, but it still felt as though he was close to her.

"Ed!" a familiar voice called out. Ed looked over to see the little girl he had helped the day before. "Ed!"

"Chairete, adelfi," (Hello, sister,) Ed greeted, kneeling down to her. Ishvalans commonly referred to each other as brother and sister, seeing themselves as family that Ishvala had created. He felt more comfortable with his heritage in Ishval. "Mips den mitera sas na sas po na min miliso gia mena?" (Didn't your mother tell you not to talk to me?)

"Alla eiste mia oraia Amestrian," (But you're a nice Amestrian) the girl spoke. "To onoma mou einai Aoede." (My name is Aoede).

Ed stopped short, taken aback. Ishvalans very rarely gave our their names of Ishvala. They were only those given by choice, which was another reason everyone referred to each other as their own siblings.

"Einai oti to onoma pou dinetai se sas apo Ishvala?" (Is that the name given to you by Ishvala?) Ed asked. Typically Ishvalans were given their name of Ishvala and their name of their own parents. The name given to them by Ishvala was the one they rarely told and took pride speaking.

"Nai!" Aoede spoke gleefully. "Einai Ed to onoma pou dothike se sas apo Amestris?" (Is Ed the name given to you by Amestris?)

"Nai," Ed responded. "I mitera mou me to onoma tou gia Amestris." (My mother named me for Amestris). He paused, wondering if he should tell this innocent girl about himself. She would just be talking nonsense to any adult. And Ed had always wanted to admit who he was.

"I mitera onomazo mou meta Ishvala poly," (My mother named me after Ishvala too,) Ed responded. He had never spoke about his Ishvalan name to anyone besides Alphonse and his mother. Alphonse had done the same. Only his family knew his name, and it had been Ed's choice entirely whether or not Alphonse knew his, just the same as it had been Al's choice to tell Ed.

"Eiste mia Ishvalan?" (You're an Ishvalan?) Aoede asked with wide eyes. Edward did not look Ishvala with his father's coloring.

"Nai," Ed answered. "To onoma mou einai Bazyli."

"Efcharisto pou mou to eipes," (Thank you for telling me,) Aoede thanked.

"Aoede!" a woman suddenly yelled as she saw the young girl standing beside Edward. He assumed that must be Aoede's mother. She was probably very unhappy with seeing her daughter with an Amestrian officer. "Eseis meine Makria apo oti Chalfa!" (You stay away from that halfa!)

Ed's eyes widened. He hadn't been called that name in a long time. A Chalfa was known as an offensive term for those born half Amestrian and half Ishvalan. He remembered being called such when he was young and lived in Resembool, where his mother was visibly Ishvalan while he and his brother were obviously of Amestrian descent. Winry had defended them, but they had been teased for being a Chalfa until their mother's death. This woman must have overheard him and Aoede talking in Ishvalan together.

"Mitera!" Aoede cried. "Aftos einai oraio!" (He is nice!)

"Ochi!" (No!) the mother exclaimed. "Aftos einai ena chalfa!" (He is a halfa!) The outburst was ended with the mother dragging Aoede away.

"What was that all about?" the Colonel suddenly spoke from behind Ed. He quickly turned with his face paling at the fact that Mustang had just heard him speaking in Ishvalan. "I thought you said you just knew a little Ishvalan."

"I'm still learning," Ed fibbed.

"You sound fluent," the Colonel responded. "I think you might be an asset to us for this mission after all."

"I'm not helping you translate to seem more appealing, Mustang," Ed responded. "These people don't like me either, even if I can speak a little Ishvalan. You heard that woman shouting at me."

"She was nervous about her child being around an Amestrian officer," the Colonel responded. "But you can explain to them properly that we have no interest in hurting them. We can relate to them."

"No thanks," Ed responded before storming off.

"To matia sas einai kokkina," (Your eyes are red) a quiet voice spoke while Alphonse was walking. He turned to the voice to see an older man standing and watching on at him. He knew he was bound to receive attention, being a suit of armor.

"Ego eimai Ishvalan," Alphonse responded. He didn't have to worry about anyone discovering him at the moment. Everyone was preoccupied with Edward. The Colonel had caught him speaking fluent Ishvalan and were currently questioning him and trying to get him to talk about where he knew his Ishvalan from and how he could help them explain to the Ishvalans that they were trying to help.

"Eseis, Ishvalan?" (You, Ishvalan?) the man asked. "Alla eiste me to strato." (But you are with the army.)

"Eimai enas amartolos," (I am a sinner,) Alphonse spoke. "Eimai o gios tou o amartolos." (I am the son of the sinner).

"Kai o xanthos?" (And the blonde?)

"Nai."

"I'm telling you, if you help us, it will be revolutionary!" the Colonel exclaimed. He had about enough of arguing with Edward over what he should do. "If you don't do this, I'll court martial you!"

"Under what grounds?!" Ed shouted.

"Not following orders for starters!" Mustang bellowed. "The sooner you do this, the sooner we all get to go home!"

"Maybe this is home to me!" Ed growled out.

Everyone stopped.

Ed hated himself.

They were all going to jail.

"What are you talking about?" the Colonel asked, suddenly very delicate with his words. "You're an Amestrian. Your home is in Amestris."

"I know," Ed responded. "It's just, this place feels safer than Amestris."

"They're in a war with Amestris," Mustang spoke. "They're fighting us."

"You're fighting us," Ed said. "We're just trying to cling to the last of what we have."

"We?" Hawkeye interjected.

"My mother was born in Ishval," Ed spoke. Alphonse was going to kill him. "She was an Ishvalan, and she left with my father before the war broke out."

"You're an Ishvalan?" Havoc asked. Mustang had paled and wasn't responding to anyone.

"I am," Ed answered. "Alphonse and I both are."

"But you don't look Ishvalan," Breda commented.

"I took after my father," Edward explained. "Alphonse wasn't so lucky. He took after our mother."

"And that's why he wears that armor," Falman interjected. Ed didn't correct him.

"This is the first time I've been to Ishval," Ed spoke. "It's the last connection I have with my mother. I'd like to keep it safe."

"Then don't tell the others you're an Amestrian soldier," Hawkeye added. "Help us with the others and relate to them as an Ishvalan."

"Chalfa's are looked down on," Ed told. "They wouldn't listen to me either."

"What exactly is a 'Chalfa'?" Falman asked. Of course he would be looking to add a definition into his dictionary.

"It means 'halfa' in Amestrian," Ed answered. "Basically it's an insult to those who are half Ishvalan and half Amestrian. To go against Ishvala is against our ways. My father was known as a sinner and my mother became one for leaving with him."

"You have more of a chance to relate to them than any of us," the Colonel spoke, suddenly responsive. "Please, Edward; try."

After a long moment, Edward sighed.

"Fine."

The military had worked to gather the people of Ishval to hear their pleas. From Edward. And Alphonse still hadn't even heard about Ed telling the others that they were Ishvalan.

"Anthropoi tou Ishval," (People of Ishval,) Edward spoke. "Eimai ena Kratos Alchimistis. Eimai episis imisy Ishvalan. Eimai episis me to stratos. To stratos tha sas voithisei. Pistepse me." (I'm a State Alchemist. I'm also half Ishvalan. I'm also with the army. The army will help you. Believe me."

Alphonse, who was standing by, gasped. He hadn't been told that the others knew about their identity and he definitely wasn't pleased with his brother not telling him.

"Chalfa!" a woman - who Edward recognized as Aoede's mother, shouted out. "Mi akouo na ena Chalfa!"

"What is she saying?" the Colonel asked.

"Eimai ena Chalfa," (I'm a halfa,) Edward responded. "Alla eimai episis ena Ishvalan." (But I am also an Ishvalan).

"Brother's trying to reason with them," Alphonse spoke, since he knew Edward was focusing on the Ishvalans and not answering the Colonel. "They're insulting him by calling him a Chalfa, but he's trying to relate to them anyway."

"Eimai gios tou Ishvala," (I am a son of Ishvala,) Ed spoke for all to hear. "Echo pote gyrizo mou piso apo Ishvala. Ego den tha afino to stratos afino Ishvala eite." (I have never turned my back on Ishvala. I will not let the army forsake Ishvala either.)

"I need to learn Ishvalan," Mustang grumbled to himself.

"I don't know if they're accepting your brother or not," Havoc muttered to Alphonse.

"They're thinking," Alphonse responded. "Hopefully they won't hate him for turning his back on Ishvala and becoming a State Alchemist."

"Yeah, I've got some questions for you two later," Mustang added. "For now, let's hope Edward can get through to these people."

"Einai akoma ena chalfa!" (He's still a halfa!) the woman shouted once more.

"Ase me na se voithiso," (Let me help,) Ed reasoned. "Ishval tha einai asfalis." (Ishval will be safe.)

"Emeis tha prepei na dino afton ena efkairia," one man spoke.

"Afo einai o pnevma!" (That's the spirit!) Ed cheered. "Kapoios allios?" (Anyone else?)

The chants of Chalfa were drowned out by the acceptance of giving it a try. Edward's work was done and he was just glad he wasn't under stress to make these people accept him anymore.

"Are we done here?" Ed asked the Colonel who was still standing behind him. "Because I'd really like to go hide in a hole before someone kills me for being a Chalfa or I get arrested for being an Ishvalan."

"Not quite yet," Mustang spoke. "I have some questions for you."

They headed back to the tent while everyone was still calming down from the speech Edward had just given out. He wished he could calm down over it too, but alas, he was unable to because of Mustang's badgering.

"Why exactly are you two even interested in alchemy?" Mustang asked when he had brought the Elric brothers back to privacy from the other Ishvalans and troops. "I thought Ishvalans hated that sort of stuff."

"We're not really religious," Ed answered. "We understand Ishvalan customs and we follow some traditions, but we don't really believe that Ishvala made us and everyone around us."

"Our mother was an atheist," Alphonse added. "She loved alchemy when she saw our father do it and I guess that's why she left Ishval with him."

"So I gotta know," Havoc spoke suddenly. "Mustang said Hohenheim was an alchemist the military was looking for and that he's also your dad. So did you two learn alchemy because of him?"

"He's part of the reason," Ed responded. "We learned from his writing, after all. When he left, that's pretty much all we had to learn from."

"But we did it for our mother." Alphonse looked over to his brother to make sure it was appropriate to tell. Ed nodded. "She loved our father's alchemy, but she was always so sad after he left. When brother and I started learning alchemy, she was happy. We kept working at it to get better and make her happier."

"But she got sick, and you guys can fill in the blanks for the rest," Ed finished.

"I don't understand how your mother was able to leave Ishval in the first place," Mustang spoke. "The military had locked down all Ishvalans long before the war."

"She got out before it was so bad," Ed answered. "And don't worry, the military looked for her in Resembool too. I remember that she and Alphonse had to hide underneath the floorboards for a week."

"I don't remember that," Alphonse commented.

"You were pretty little back then," Ed responded. "But luckily the military didn't look for very long in Resembool. When they realized there was nothing there, they left to search other cities in the east."

"Your mother was brave," Mustang commented. "I'm sorry for everything that she went through. And I'm sorry for what happened to your people."

"Pretty words coming from the war hero," Ed spoke. "I mean, you participated in the extermination of my people."

"I know," Roy responded. "Please understand that I want to make this right. I'm just trying to figure out how still."

"You keep figuring that out then."

Ed stormed away, pulling Alphonse along with him. He didn't want to hear any more of what they had to say. He had done what Mustang wanted him to do. He told all the Ishvalans his identity and convinced them as much as he could to listen to the Amestrian military. Now he just wanted to go back to Central so he could keep finding a way to get Al's body back.

"Edward..." a voice spoke from behind the brothers, causing Ed to turn around suddenly. It was Falman.

"Yes?" Ed asked.

"Would you...Could you teach me Ishvalan?" Falman asked. "I've always wanted to learn, but living in Amestris..."

Ed smiled.

"Sure thing."

So this was originally four chapters and I just decided to condense it into a one-shot because there really isn't anymore to it and this was just a little practice for me doing Ishvalan!Ed.

The language Ed, Al, and the other Ishvalans are speaking is actually Greek. In my research Ishvalans were kind of compared to Greece, so I just use Greek names and the language for that. Also, I've really fallen in love with the Ishvalan!Ed au.

On another note, I left some of the translations out on purpose. If you really want to know what they mean, just let me know and I'll tell you.

I might decide to do something else with this, but right now I'm just not sure.