Hello, everyone! I'm still alive and kicking and am finally managing to write again after a severe bout of writer's block. Those of you who want to remind me to update my other stories, rest assured, I haven't forgotten them and will do them when I do them. I'm not making any promises as to when, since pushing myself was what started the writer's block in the first place, and I don't want to go through all that nonsense again, heh.
Anyway, the rest of you have either clicked on this story because it sounded interesting, received a notification in your inbox, or have simply been waiting on this story because you knew it was coming. Welcome to all of you, and I hope that you all enjoy this fic. It might be a little rough at first because I'm still pulling myself out of writer's block, but hopefully each chapter will be successively smoother.
Much thanks goes to AdventureAddict, AuricVision, Azure-Spiral, and Azure-Spiral's brother who doesn't have an FFN account, hehe. All of them have helped me tremendously with this fic, and I doubt it would have gotten off the ground if it weren't for them. Many of the ideas implemented into this story have come from them. Also much thanks to my beta Weirdly for finding ways to make sense of my awkward phrasing and pointing out that I really should stop saying words like "individual" and "obviously" so much, hehe. Also the fact that she points out plotholes is a major help.
And now, I know you're all screaming, "Get on with it!" so okay, okay, I'll move along. Hope you all enjoy!
Disclaimer: Hmm, I can come up with a creative fic, but not a creative disclaimer? What's the matter with me? Maybe I need to get all the people mentioned in the previous paragraph together just to think of one.
Muse: What about me?
Me: No, you suck at disclaimers.
Muse: ((crosses arms)) Do you want me to help you write your story or not?
Me: ((shrugs)) If the disclaimer means that much to you, then say it.
Muse: She doesn't own Fullmetal Alchemist. So THERE! ((sticks tongue out))
Me: ((rolls eyes)) Okay...you're weird. Now let's get on with this, shall we?
Muse: Fine...
Al and Winry fidgeted on the train platform as they waited for the 5:10 train. Winry was shifting her weight from one foot to the other, complaining periodically about how uncomfortable her shoes were or how they should have built the platform better or that the station should have more benches to sit on, but Al said nothing. He knew exactly how she was really feeling, as he was feeling it too. After wringing his hands and then wiping his sweaty palms on his pants for the tenth time in the past five minutes, he checked the time on his watch. 5:05. Was his watch running slower than normal? He could have sworn that it had read 5:04 ten minutes prior.
Winry finally sighed and lowered her head, causing Al to look away from his watch to find out what was the matter. "Al," she said, "I hope we didn't do something stupid."
Al raised an eyebrow. "In what way?"
Looking up to meet his gaze, Winry said, "In not specifying anything about the exchange student we're hosting. What if he's a creep?"
"What if he's not a he?" asked Al.
"Exactly!" Winry threw her arms up in the air in an obviously exasperated gesture. "We don't even know whether the person is male or female. What made us think this was a good idea?"
Al placed a reassuring hand on the frustrated girl's shoulder, causing her to lower her arms back to her sides and sigh. He really couldn't blame her for her reaction, as he'd been having doubts the past few weeks as well. But it was a little late to change one's mind now, with the subject of their discussion only a few minutes away. Like it or not, Mystery Person would need a place to stay, and they had agreed to provide that place.
They couldn't go back, though unfortunately the thought that their family home would contain another member was enough to make anyone a bit queasy, especially since they didn't actually know who was coming to fill that role. They might as well just make the best of what they had gotten themselves into.
The train whistle jolted Al out of his reverie; both he and Winry looked up to see the train pulling into the station. Al unconsciously stepped forward in anticipation, though the train had not yet stopped. He breathed out a sigh of relief even as his pulse accelerated. That was an unusual feeling, being relieved and terrified at the same time. He wasn't sure if he had ever experienced that before, but then, he'd never had a foreign exchange student, a stranger, move into his home before either.
At last the train came to a halt and Winry and Al watched people board and get off the train, trying to detect anyone that might possibly be from a foreign country. As this was Reisenburgh, a foreigner would likely stand out among the country homogeneity. It would have been so much easier if they had even just the country they were to come from, as that would help them know what ethnic characteristics to look for.
Somehow they had thought that being surprised would be a good idea at the time, since they couldn't make up their minds, but now that Al could see how much anxiety it caused, he wondered if it had been worth it. What if they couldn't even find him or her? Would the person end up sleeping here all night at the station in a country they knew nothing about? Would the poor person get sent back to wherever they had come from? Al felt a lump form in his stomach at such thoughts, and became all the more determined to find whoever it was so that they would at least not feel abandoned.
Al closed his eyes and took a slow deep breath to calm himself down, but was rudely brought out of his trance by Winry repeatedly poking at his shoulder and shouting, "Look, look, there he is!" He opened his eyes and followed her pointing finger to a cloaked individual standing a little way off. With the cloak drawn up over his head, the stranger's facial features were unrecognizable, and one couldn't tell whether he was foreign or not. Al wondered briefly how Winry had known that this was their exchange student when he finally noticed the suitcase that the boy was carrying: a piece of paper had been attached to it that read "Alphonse Elric and Winry Rockbell". This person was smart to have figured out how to get noticed when neither side knew what to look for in the other.
Al took another deep breath for courage and then sauntered up to the young man, Winry trailing closely behind. Having apparently heard the sound of their approaching footsteps, the stranger placed his suitcase down by his feet and stepped forward to greet the two Amestrians.
"Alphonse Elric and Winry Rockbell?"
Al smiled briefly and then nodded. He had expected whoever came to have an accent, since they were coming from a foreign country, but this accent was very mild. This person must have been studying the Amestrian language for a long time in order to attain such a level of proficiency.
"Yes, we're Al and Winry," Al said as he thrust out his hand to initiate a handshake. "And I presume that you're our exchange student?"
"Yes," said the person who, even though his face was hidden underneath the hood of his cloak, still seemed a bit confused as his head tilted between Al's hand and his his face. "What am I supposed to do with that?"
Al was nonplussed for a moment before suddenly realizing that the young man must have been referring to his outstretched hand. He tried to keep his amusement to himself, but he couldn't help it as a few chuckles managed to escape from his lips, causing Winry to jab him in the ribs with her elbow. This person may have studied the Amestrian language extensively before coming to this country, but he had obviously not taken the time to study their culture very much.
"It's an invitation for a handshake," Al said through a broad smile which he was trying to keep from turning into a fit of giggles, "I reach my hand out to you, and then you reach your hand out to me and clasp mine, and then we pump our arms up and down a few times."
"Like this?" said the stranger, reaching out and taking Al's hand and following the procedure Al had described. After being given confirmation that that was indeed the correct method, the stranger withdrew his hand and said, "So what do we do that for?"
Al had to bite his tongue to keep from laughing this time, as he didn't want the poor guy to feel bad for not knowing anything about their culture, but it was hilarious to him to see just how ignorant one could be about everyday things when in a foreign country. After regaining himself, he turned back to the stranger and said, "That's the way we greet each other. It's how we show friendliness."
"Oh!" said the individual, his hand coming up to his head as though contemplating this new notion. "I'll keep that in mind. That's different than what I'm used to. "
Winry finally found her voice and ventured to ask, "So, how do your people greet each other?"
Al could have sworn that the boy had chuckled slightly at her question, but he couldn't see the expressions on the person's face, so all he could do was guess. The boy then said, "Like this," and bent at the waist, going down into a low bow, to which Winry chuckled and returned the gesture.
When they both stood back up, Winry turned to the boy and asked, "So, what's your name?"
The boy bent down and picked up his suitcase and then turned back to face the girl. "You can call me Edward."
"That isn't your real name then?"
"More like a transliteration," he said, "You wouldn't be able to pronounce my real name."
Winry nodded in understanding. "Okay, that makes sense. Now why don't you take off your cloak so that we can see who we're talking to?"
At this, Edward twitched and reached his hand up to grip at his cloak, pulling it tighter so that it caused the opening in the hood to close slightly more than it had been. It didn't affect Al's and Winry's line of sight any, since they hadn't been able to see the guy's face in the first place, but the fact that he was so shy about his appearance was slightly disturbing.
"Are you okay?" asked Winry, obviously noticing the emotion behind the gesture. What was this guy afraid of?
"I wear this for traveling," said Edward, seemingly disregarding Winry's question entirely.
"I understand that," she said, "but you've reached your destination. You can take it off now."
The boy shrugged his cloak even tighter around his frame and silently shook his head. There was something seriously wrong in Al's opinion if someone wasn't even willing to take off their cloak, but what? Was it something simple and innocent like shyness, or was there more to it? The not knowing made him feel very uneasy.
"Come on," Winry persisted, as her nervousness tended to show with more force and hostility than Al's did, "No one's going to look at you funny for being foreign. Now take your cloak off!"
Edward took a step back at her harsh tone and shifted his weight from one foot to the other. Now he was nervous too, it was obvious to anyone watching. Maybe Winry shouldn't have been so sharp, but then, it was a bit odd that the boy didn't want to remove his cloak in the first place. If he didn't want to do it, he should have at least been so kind as to tell them why. Surely he could see how much it worried them to not know what was going through his head. He shifted his grip on his cloak slightly and then looked up at Al and Winry.
"I—I'm not supposed to be—-" Edward started to say, but his voice had taken on a rather wobbly tone and he choked on his own words. "It's not safe for me to be—exposed."
It wasn't safe for him to be exposed? That could have meant so many different things, and the thought made Al twitch. Was it because he was on the run from the government? Or was it something as simple as being allergic to the sunlight? How he wished that the guy would just open up his mouth and tell them. Mysteries like this became amplified and scary when the person involved was unknown and abouut to live with you.
Winry let out a sigh of exasperation and threw her arms back. "You're honestly not planning on wearing that cloak the whole time you're here, are you?" Al placed his hand on her arm in a warning gesture, hoping that she'd catch on and not tick the guy off, but she just shrugged it off.
By the way Edward jerked his head toward her, he had made it obvious that he had thrown a glare. "Of course I'm not going to wear it the whole time!"
Winry placed her hands on her hips and glared right back. "Then why don't you just take it off? Did it ever occur to you that you might be creeping us out?"
Edward crossed his arms and turned away. Al stood nervously in place, looking between the two. "Maybe that was my intention." At this, Al smacked his forehead and let out a soft growl. What a way to start off a new relationship, by arguing and fighting about something so trivial. Maybe the guy really did have a legitimate reason to keep on his cloak while out in public, as unnerving as that thought was. He didn't like not knowing what the guy was hiding, but they couldn't just continue to stand here bickering.
"Look, let's just call a truce for now and pick this up again when we get home, okay?" Al said, looking up at the two who were now staring at him, apparently caught off guard by his exasperated smack. "We're making a scene. Let's just go and settle this at home."
Winry sighed and her shoulders relaxed. She cast one more glare at Edward, and then turned away with a look of determination. "Al's right, let's settle this at home. Come on, Edward." She then moved forward without another word and gestured for the other two to follow her. Edward and Al turned to look at each other, shrugged, and did as she asked.
The trio soon found the horse and cart that Al had thought to borrow from their neighbor earlier that day. They had known that their guest would be extremely tired after all that traveling, and they certainly didn't want to make him walk all the way back to their house. Mr. Jones had understood and graciously allowed them to use the cart for the day.
Edward stepped up to the cart and stared at it with what could only be perceived as an expression of bewilderment. Al cocked an eyebrow at this, but said nothing, instead climbing onto the cart and gesturing for Edward to do the same. The boy didn't take the suggestion immediately, however, as he began circling around the cart as though he'd never seen one before. It seemed strange to think that there could possibly be any location in the world that would be unfamiliar with horse drawn carts, but one never knew what was outside their country unless they actually left their country. Maybe Edward's country was so poor that they walked everywhere they went.
"So what does this thing do?" said Edward all of a sudden, gesturing towards the cart. Al had to snicker at that. Imagine someone not even knowing what a cart did! He was going to have a lot of interesting experiences with this guy, for sure.
"It gets you from place to place," said Al, holding his laughter back once again. The cloak may have been creepy to him, but the cultural illiteracy was hilarious.
Edward rubbed the side of his head and continued looking around the cart. "It seems like it wouldn't run very fast though. Oh wait, I know! It's got a jet pack hidden in the back, doesn't it?"
At this, Winry whipped around to face the boy. "A whattack?"
"A jet pack," said the boy again, "You know, the thing that forces air through it at such a high speed that it propels things forward?"
Winry snorted and turned back to her seat. "You've been reading too much science fiction."
"Science fiction? It's true!"
"Just get in, will you?"
Edward finally resigned himself to obeying and he climbed into the cart, seating himself in a position where he could see everything that went on. At least, that's what Al suspected he was doing. Considering all the strange questions, he probably wanted to see as much of Reisenburgh as he could.
Al sighed and turned back towards the front of the cart. He picked up the reigns, gave them a good snap, and the cart started to roll, throwing everyone but Al backwards at the sudden unexpected momentum.
"Whoa!" Edward said upon sitting up and shaking his head. This of course caused the horse to stop moving, so Al had to shake the reigns to get it to start again. It didn't jostle the others as much the second time since it was a bit more expected, though Edward seemed to be extremely tense...either that or extremely excited. Al couldn't tell which was the case.
"So," said Edward, "You pick up that steering device and it sends signals to that robot up ahead as to what to do?"
Winry turned and gave the boy yet another glare. "That's a horse, you idiot!"
"Oh," said Edward, rubbing the side of his head sheepishly. "That blank stare was confusing me." Al bit his tongue to keep from laughing once again, while Winry sighed and sat back into her seat and refused to say another word for the rest of the trip.
It wasn't long before the trio was standing at the front door of the house, Winry's hand raised to unlock the door, but Edward interrupted her. "What's this thing?" he said, pointing to the structure in front of him.
"You mean the door?" said Winry with a raised eyebrow.
"'Door'? Oh, so that's what it's called," he said without the slightest hint of embarrassment in his voice. His face then turned to look down at his feet. He pointed again and said, "What's this?"
"That's...a doormat..." Winry's patience was obviously draining out of her, judging by the tone in her voice, but either Edward didn't notice or he just didn't care. It was baffling.
"'Doormat'? Sounds similar to this 'door' thing." He looked back up and pointed to the door once again. "So what does a 'doormat' do?"
Winry sighed and shook her head. The poor girl obviously wouldn't last much longer under this kind of stupidity. She spoke through her gritted teeth. "It cleans your feet."
"Oh!" said Edward with a happy tone, and promptly stretched out his foot and just held it there, hovering above the mat. After a moment of saying nothing and much puzzlement going on between Al and Winry, Edward finally spoke up again. "Is this thing broken?"
Winry rolled her eyes, and Al decided it was time to intervene in order to salvage whatever was left of Winry's sanity. "Um, no, you do it yourself."
"What?" Edward put down his foot and whirled around to face Al, even though Al still couldn't see the face under the hood. He wondered how long this guy was going to persist in wearing it. "I have to clean my own feet? That's stupid."
Al didn't respond to that comment, and Winry didn't either as she had finally gotten the door unlocked and hurried inside, undoubtedly to get away from the crazy freak on her doorstep. Al started to follow after her, but had to stop and grab Edward's arm to convince him to come inside, as he hadn't seemed to realize that that was what he was supposed to do.
Once inside, Al turned to face Edward, and said, "You stay here for a few minutes, okay? Me and Winry have some things to discuss, so don't go anywhere."
"Okay," said Edward, who shrugged and then turned to pace around the living room.
Al sighed and walked into the kitchen where a very irritable Winry was waiting for him. The girl had placed her hands on her hips and was tapping her foot repeatedly, a warning sign for anyone who might annoy her to stay at least fifty feet away until the moment passed. Al took a deep breath, and then spoke up.
"So...he's not really what we expected, is he?"
Winry slapped her forehead in obvious exasperation and spun on her heels to face away from Al. "Not what we expected? Talk about the understatement of the year, Alphonse Elric!"
Al nervously rubbed at the back of his neck. His very nature wanted to stand up for the underdog, though he wasn't actually sure if Edward was really an underdog. Still, nature usually wins out. "Well, maybe he's just a huge fan of satirical humor."
"Do you honestly think I wouldn't recognize satire when I heard it?" Winry spun back around to face the boy, her eyes taking on a glare that would make Death himself scream with fright. "Alphonse, this guy believes the stuff he's saying. You can tell it in his voice and on his face."
"Well," said Al, still searching his mind for any excuse at all to protect the person who was the subject of their discussion, "You know, any exchange student will have a bit of a culture gap."
Winry snorted. "Culture gap? Culture gap? You think this is a culture gap, Alphonse Elric? The guy doesn't even understand basic human concepts!"
"That is precisely what I have come here to understand, you know."
Al's and Winry's heads both snapped up at the sound of the unexpected voice, but didn't see the source. There were footsteps just outside of the kitchen, so Al concluded that Edward had heard their argument, as it had grown quite loud in volume over the course of the last few minutes, and had decided to break his agreement to stay in the living room, not that Al could blame him.
The first thing Al could see once the footsteps got closer was the vision of sunlight flooding the room. Had Edward somehow managed to open a door on his way to the kitchen? That didn't make sense once he thought about it, as there were no doors on that route that would shine in the kitchen like that, nor was it the right time of day.
Finally the footsteps ceased as Edward came to a halt just inside the kitchen. Al and Winry gasped simultaneously, and unconsciously took a step back. The sunlight was not coming from outside, but from the figure itself, as little sense as that made to them. Rays of light were emanating off of him and dissipating in his wake, almost as if they were made out of steam, though they clearly weren't. Al didn't have a better guess as to what they were though. Who was this? This couldn't be Edward. Their exchange student didn't glow like this.
Almost as though reading his thoughts, or rather his body language, the figure before them sighed and said, "Yes, I'm Edward. Now you know why I didn't want to remove my cloak outside."
They understood alright, and Al reached a startling conclusion which would explain all the oddities of the day, as bizarre as it sounded, but what was one more odd thing among so many? Edward wasn't human, which would explain his complete ignorance of human affairs, and he'd probably come from farther away than they had originally thought. Possibly even from another world.
Okay, hope you liked that. I've got chapter two written and waiting to get back from my beta, and I'm working on chapter three, so I'll be updating fairly soon. Feel free to offer suggestions and questions though if you'd like, as it helps me to know what I haven't addressed yet that confuses the readers, or just tells me what the readers would really like to see. It's up to you though. I don't need reviews to keep going, I'm just doing this for fun anyway, hehe.
If anyone is interested, I drew a couple pieces of fanart for this particular fic and have them uploaded on my deviantart account. Just go to reincarnated-al(dot)deviantart(dot)com and look in my gallery. The pics relating to this particular story are called "An Unusual Exchange Student" and "Dying World", and there may be more in the future if I get any further inspiration. I'm perfectly happy to upload your fanart of my fanfiction to my gallery as well. Just ask!