Myosotis
"Hey, Al... where are we again?", Edward asked his younger brother, shading his eyes with his hand and looking around.
Alphonse sighed, a slight echo resonating through his metal body. "We're in Sambuella, Brother... It says it right there...", he answered, pointing at a fairly big sign to their right.
Ed simply gazed at it for a moment, reading it in his head. "Welcome to Sambuella, where you'll find the best food around!" He slightly recalled hearing about this place before. It supposedly had a very warm and welcoming community, especially to tourists.
"... Oh, right," he said, somewhat sheepishly. Al stared at him, as if to say "really?" Upon noticing this, the older brother gave him a small glare. "Oh, shut up... I'm still tired," he growled, as he began walking into the town.
The armour gave him another look. "You slept for ten hours straight, and we had been planning on coming here for days, Brother..."
He huffed. "Gimme a break already! It's not my fault my memory isn't the greatest today!", he retorted, marching onwards.
Al sighed again. As much as he loved and respected his big brother, he was quite a handful at times. The whole reason they had come here was because they had heard of an amazing alchemist who lived there, and, most importantly, seemed to know something about the Philosopher's Stone, from what they had heard. Unfortunately, that was all they knew. They didn't know the age, gender or name of this supposed genius alchemist, but this didn't frustrate them... because this was a chance to get some answers.
Al snapped out of his daydream to see that his brother had already walked far ahead of him. "Hey, wait for me!", he yelled, running to catch up.
The two looked around the town. It was fairly small, and it had a nice, quaint air to it. It was obvious that the entire town was like a big family; everyone knew each other, everyone liked each other, it all felt very comfortable.
Ed walked up to a small stand that was selling all different kinds of fruit. The lady who was working there gave him a bright smile as he started gazing at all the food.
"Hey there, sweetie!", she greeted him happily, her voice full of warmth and, even more so, Southern accent. "How're ya doing today?"
He looked up at her. "I'm fine, thanks," he replied, smiling, then returned to ogling the mounds of delicious-looking fruits.
Al, who had been looking elsewhere, noticed him and sighed again, walking over to him. "Brother, we didn't come here to buy food!" he said, crossing his steel arms.
The lady slightly gawked at the armour, but quickly brushed it off. "Hiya, hon!" she smiled. "If ya didn't come here for food, then what was it that ya wanted?", she asked, cocking her haid slightly to the side.
"Well, we wanted to find out about this genius alchemist we heard lived here," he replied, gazing down at her. "Could you tell us anything about them?"
"Genius alch-...", she froze, face darkening. "Ah, yes... If ya go to the Babineaux Hotel, they'll be there..."
He looked at her curiously. "What's wrong...?" he asked softly, concerned.
She looked up at him, smiling again. "Nothing, sweet pea. Why did ya wanna know?", she asked.
"We're alchemists too," he replied happily. He was still worried, but he decided to just brush it off, as she seemed happy again.
"Alchemists, huh? Are y'all some of those alchemists that work for the state that I heard about?", she inquiried, cocking her head to the side again.
Al nodded. "Well, Brother is. We're known as the Elric brothers," he answered, watching Ed, who was still inspecting all the fruit. "We're prety well-known."
The lady looked surprised. "The Elric brothers?! As in, the famous Fullmetal Alchemist Edward Elric, and his younger brother, Alphonse Elric?!", she exclaimed happily. "Why, I've heard tons of stories about you two! So then I reckon...", she gazed up at Alphonse.
He braced himself. He knew what was coming. "Why, you must be Edward, then!" That's what always happened.
After a moment of thought, she smiled brightly and said, "You must be Alphonse then! My name is Tilly! Pleased ta meetcha!" She held out her hand, inviting a handshake.
He was fairly surprised, as he took her hand and gave it a small shake. That's the first time someone didn't mistake me for Brother... he thought to himself, feeling unusually excited.
Tilly turned towards Ed. "Hey, young 'un!"
The older brother glanced up. "Yeah...?", he asked, still somewhat mesmerized.
"Yer younger brother just told me yer a state alchemist!", she grinned. "You can have all the fruit you want for half the price!"
He gawked at her. "Really?!"
She nodded. "Yep! We're all huge fans of alchemists 'round here, especially the younger ones! Goes to show that the little ones are the most powerful sometimes!", she grinned.
Edward glared a bit before registering that she had added "most powerful". He was then utterly confused. His natural Ed-stincts told him to go psycho, but she had complimented him, making exploding at her a complete jerk move. This confusion rendered him silent for a moment, and he gazed off into space.
"... Hon, are you alright there?", she asked, looking at him quizzically.
He shook his head around a bit, making him a bit dizzy. "Whoa... Uh, yeah, I gues I'm fine..." he said, slightly dazed.
Al shook him a little. "Brother...?"
The alchemist instantly snapped out of it, and pointed at a melon and some apples. "I'll take those, please," he told her, smiling.
"Sure thing, hon!", she replied, as she smiled warmly and bagged them. "That'll be 1500 Cenz, please!"
He nodded, taking his wallet out of his pocket. He withdrew the money and handed it to her. "Here you go."
She smiled, taking it and handing him the food. "Here you go, hon!", she replied happily, winking. "Hope you enjoy!"
He nodded again. "Thanks!", he grinned, turning towards Alphonse. "Hey, Al, let's go!", he said... to the empty air next to him. "Huh...?" He looked around and spotted his brother across the street, petting a cat. He sighed and called out to him. "ALPHONSE!"
He perked up. "Yes, Brother?", he called back, looking over at him.
Ed waved goodbye to Tilly as he began walking towards him. "Al, you can't just go running off to pet cats all the time!", he told him as he reached him.
"Hey, you wandered off too!", he retorted. "And besides, just look at its little face and tell me you don't want to pet it!", he gushed, picking up the cat and holding it up to Ed.
He stared at it for a moment, then reached out with his right arm to pet it. It immediately bit down hard on his fingers and began to attempt to knaw through the glove.
Both brothers stared for a moment. "... See?" Ed glanced unamusedly towards his steel-bodied brother.
"Maybe it just doesn't like you...?", he offered, still staring at the cat.
He sighed, and tugged his arm away. "Let's just g-" He froze. "... I forgot to ask her about that alchemist...", he mumbled sheepishly.
Alphonse looked back over to him. "I asked her for you, Brother," he replied.
"Oh, you did?", he brightened up. The armour nodded. "Good! What did she tell you?", he asked, taking the cat from him carefully and setting it on the ground, watching it as it ran the hell away.
"Apparently they're at the Babineaux Hotel," he answered. He then recalled the look on Tilly's face when he asked. "Although..."
"Hm? What is it?", he asked as he stood back up, looking towards him.
He glanced down at his older brother, then gazed back towards Tilly. "When I asked her about that person, she seemed... sad, for a second...", he replied with a slight air of concern.
The older brother glanced towards the woman. She looked quite happy as she continued selling her fruits. "She looks okay to me," he said, as he turned back around to face Alphonse. "Let's go." He started walking away.
He continued watching Tilly for a second. To him, she seemed slightly less happy than before, but he thought that might have just been him. He looked back towards Ed. "Brother, do you even know where it is?", he asked, catching up yet again.
"We'll just wander around until we find it!", he replied with a dismissive wave of the hand. "Shouldn't be too hard, right?"
"You can't just-", he started, then sighed. "Never mind, it's hopeless with you..."
"What's that supposed to mean?", he glared at him slightly.
He sighed again. "Nothing, Brother."
The brothers approached the hotel. It looked quite run-down and very old, moss growing all over and vines creeping up the walls. The somehow unaffected sign above read "Hotel Babineaux" in large white letters. It was the only thing that wasn't cracked and/or covered in greenery.
"THIS is the hotel...?", Edward stared, gawking.
"I had imagined it as a lot more fancy than this...", Alphonse said, looking up at the sign. "... Why is that part still fine?"
The older brother glanced up at it as well. "... Huh. Maybe the plants don't like it or something."
The metal brother looked down at him. "Like the cat?", he snickered.
He continued staring for a moment. "Maybe. Anyways, let's go. This bag is really heavy," he replied, hefting it up a few times.
He nodded. "Okay."
The two walked up the cracked and overgrown path to the equally as messed-up patio. The armoured brother glanced at a sign hung by the door that said "Please come in, no need to knock."
"Guess we can just walk in then," Ed remarked, having noticed the sign as well, and opened up the door, walking in and holding it for Al, who had to duck his head under in order to get in.
As they entered, Alphonse heard a faint voice coming from the reception counter in front of them.
"I-is someone there...?", the younger brother, now standing at full height, asked softly, as he walked up to the desk and peeked over.
To his surprise, a girl who looked like she was about Al's age was collapsed on the floor face-down next to the chair, looking almost like a wilting flower. Her long brown hair was splayed out around her head, making it look like the snakes that make up Medusa's hair. She wore a clean white dress that cut off around her knees, seeming out of place for everything else but perfect for her body, seeing as she was so pale she could almost use it as perfect camoflauge.
"He... llo...", she greeted him weakly. "Would you lih' to 'tay hee...?"
"A-are you okay?!", he asked, freaking out quite a bit.
"Someone is behind here?" Ed asked as he walked up behind his brother. "I really hope you haven't gone crazy and started talking to yourse-", he froze, gawking at the girl.
"'Mfih... Do you have anneh foo'...?", she asked feebly, voice so faint they could barely hear her.
"Food?", Al asked, looking down at her while his brother rushed behind the desk and helped her up off the floor and into the chair.
"Yeh... And 'ebbeh 'um wahah hirh...?", she asked, completely out of energy and unable to speak properly.
Ed quickly transmuted a cup of water, somehow able to understand her limp-jawed speech.=, and held it out to her.
"Cah ya hoh ih foh ee?" she asked, slumping forwards a little.
He quickly corrected her position, making sure she didn't fall, then replied, "Uh, sure.." He for some reason blushed slightly as he held it to her mouth, letting her drink.
She quickly finished, and he took an apple out of the bag. "Here... Need me to feed this to you too?", he asked, holding it out in front of her.
"Tahn yuh... Juh puh ih ih mah mouh...", she replied, sounding a bit stronger than before, but still incredibly weak.
"Uh... A-alright...", he said, opening her mouth and placing the apple inside it. All the while, Alphonse had been attempting to join them, but he was too tall with his helmet on, and he couldn't just take it off right in front of her, so he just stood and watched.
She attempted to give them a small warning of "you may wanna stand back", which was difficult with the apple in her mouth, that rendered her speech almost completely incomprehensible. The two got the gist of it, however, and backed up, quite confused.
Once she was sure that they were a safe distance away, she slowly tilted her head so that she was looking at the ceiling, then began eating it at light-speed. The Elrics gawked as she completely devoured it within a mere two seconds.
"You got any more? I'm still really hungry!", she exclaimed, energy suddenly restored as she licked her lips.
The two continued to simply stare at her, Al bent forward slightly and Ed's jaw slightly agape. She grinned, looking proud of herself. "Impressive, isn't it?", she asked, as she continuously glanced between the two of them. After they didn't respond, she huffed a little. "Just 'cause I'm a girl doesn't mean I can't eat however I want to!", she pouted, crossing her arms.
Her attention turned to the bag of fruits Edward had left on the countertop in front of her. "Hey, can I eat these, too?", she asked, peeking inside.
A few moments later, Ed half-broke out of his trance. "H-how... did you...", he managed, cocking his head to the side, as if making himself more horizontal would help him better comprehend all that.
She looked towards him and grinned. "It's a skill that runs in my family. I'm currently the absolute best out of all of us though," she boasted. "So, can I eat these or what?"
"Sure... leave a little for me though please...", he said, still not completely there.
She grinned, not noticing. "Thank you!", she replied happily. She delivered a quick and precise cross-chop to the melon, slicing it into four quarters. "How much do you want of this?", she asked the two. She glanced up at Alphonse, and remarked, "You seem like you would eat a lot... Should I just take one?"
He shook his head, finally breaking out of his daze in order to be the walking Canadian stereotype that he is. "No, no, I'm not having any, you can have two if you want to," he told her, waving his hands in a "it's fine!" gesture.
She looked at him curiously. "Do you not like watermelon? Or are you just not hungry?", she asked.
"Uh, not hungry!", he replied quickly, trying not to arouse suspicion about his armour.
She stared up at him for a minute, making him worried that she might have figured it out. She finally replied, an adorable and very bright smile on her face, "Okay! So long as it's fine with you and you won't regret it later!" Upon seeing this smile, Alphonse melted a little and almost squee'd. She looks like a cat, but human... So cute...
She turned her head towards Ed, keeping the adorable grin on her face, and asked, "Well? How much do you want? One quarter? Two?"
He blinked. "Two is a bit much, so just one for me," he replied, unaffected by the incredibly cute smile she was giving him.
"Okay!", she nodded, then turned back to the melon. She almost instantly devoured the three quarters she had been allowed, then moved on to the apples.
"There are ten here... How many do you want?", she asked, looking towards him once more, not bothering to ask Alphonse this time.
He walked over, looking at the fruits. "This melon piece is pretty big... I don't think I'd be able to eat much more after all that, so maybe just one," he replied as he picked one up and inspected it.
She smiled cutely again, giggling. "Okay!"
Meanwhile, Al was almost spasming at the pure adorableness emanating from her. So adorable... I just wanna hug her and pet her and give her some milk to drink... he thought, not realising that if anyone had been reading his mind, they would have thought he was into some really kinky stuff... or maybe that's just me. Anyways, moving on...
The girl quickly finished her food, Ed eating as well but nowhere near as fast. "Mmm... That was delicious...", she mumbled happily, flopping herself onto the top of the desk.
"Yeah, it is really good!", he smiled, taking a huge bite. "We have to come back here later, Al!", he said, looking up at his younger brother... who was still swooning over the girl's cuteness.
"Uh... You okay, little brother...?", he asked, staring.
"M... hmm..." the younger Elric managed, nodding slowly.
He continued staring for a few seconds. "If you say so...", he replied, a bit concerned for his younger brother's sanity, even though THERE'S NOTHING WRONG WITH LIKING CATS! ... Ahem. Anyways.
Ed looked towards the girl. "Oh, right... We were looking for a genius alchemist who we were told lived here... Know them?"
She looked over at him, and stared for a second.
"Did we... get the wrong address...?", he asked her, a quizzical look on his face.
She got up off the desk and pointed at herself. "It's me."
Cue MASSIVE WINDS blowing at both Ed and Al, anime-style. They both looked at her, the older brother's jaw completely open.
"Y-you're... the..." Ed stuttered, staring.
She nodded. "Why do you look so surprised? You don't seem to be much older than me, and you're an alchemist too. You didn't even use a transmutation circle or anything," she remarked, looking between the two.
They both remained silent for a few moments longer, then they simultaneously shook their heads, breaking out of their trance. "I guess I just didn't expect it, is all...", he answered, looking off to the side. "Sorry."
She shook her head and giggled, sending Alphonse into another adorableness daze. "It's fine! My name is Mia Babineaux! What're your names?", she asked, looking between the two once more.
Ed held out a hand for her to shake and replied. "I'm Edward Elric. You can call me Ed though."
Mia stared at his hand for a second, then gave him a quizzical look. He looked as bewildered as she did, not understanding how she didn't understand a handshake. Someone go get the Yo Dawg meme for me, please.
After a moment of utter confusion for the both of them, he simply shook his head, pulled his hand back and said, "Uh, never mind." He turned to Al. "You wanna introduce yourse-", he stopped short as he observed him cooing and swooning all over the place from the cuteness. Ed slowly turned his head back to Mia and said, "That's my younger brother Alphonse... We usually just call him Al, though..."
She smiled, completely fine with Al's spazzing as if it were the most normal thing in the world. "Pleased to meet you!", she giggled, bowing. "So, what brought you here to lil' ol' me, huh?"
"Oh, right," he blinked. "We heard you knew something about the Philosopher's Stone, and we came to ask you about it."
She gazed at him for a moment. "Sorry, but you were misinformed. I can see why someone would think so, though," she replied, slightly more serious than before, but only barely.
He sighed. Great, another dead end... he thought, before realising the other part of what she had said. "... Why, if you don't mind me asking?"
"Why they would think so?", she blinked. He nodded, and she gazed off for a moment, looking thoughtful. She glanced towards Alphonse, who had finally calmed down. "... Are you guys State Alchemists?", she asked, tone much more serious.
"I am, but Al isn't," the older brother replied. "Why...?"
She fell silent. After a minute or two, she climbed up on top of the desk and grabbed Al's helmet.
Ed jumped up and exclaimed, "Hey, what the hell are you doing?!"
"Wuah!", Al yelped, trying to get her hands off, but to no avail. She calmly removed his helmet and peeked inside at the blood seal.
"I see...", she muttered, putting his helmet back on. She hopped off the desk.
"What the hell were you trying to pull?!", the older brother yelled, clenching his fists in anger.
"I was simply seeing if my suspicions were correct," she told him. "It's not like I'd rat out someone who gave me food anyways, so I don't see the problem."
Her personality had completely changed, and yet it hadn't at all. She stared at the other alchemist, facial expression showing that she sincerely didn't see the problem with it. Noticing this, he sighed, calming himself down.
"You.. really don't understand why just suddenly doing something like that usually isn't okay, do you...?", he asked, giving her an odd look.
"Should I apologise...? I didn't mean to cause any trouble...", she whimpered, suddenly feeling very guilty. She looked almost like she was about to cry, and neither of the Elric brothers really knew how to handle that.
Ed noticed this and immediately started freaking out. "Uh, no, no, i-it's fine! It's all good! You didn't know!", he said, all in one frantic, garbled rush. He was waving his arms the same way Al had done earlier, trying to express that it was fine better.
The armour shook his head, just as frantic as his older brother. "Yeah, yeah, it's fine, it's completely fine! Besides, you look like a cute little kitty cat, I could never hate a cat!", he told her, waving his arms exactly like the other had.
He whipped his head back towards her, and spouted more words at her. "Yeah, see? It's fine! It's all good! Don't worry, please don't cry!", he pleaded, still extremely frantic and worried.
She listened to all of this, and her expression brightened a little. "If you say so, then. I really am sorry though, I'll remember to not do something like that next time."
Ed breathed a sigh of relief, then realised what Al had said. "..." He looked towards his brother. "'A cute little kitty cat'...?"
The younger Elric pushed the tips of his pointer fingers together a little bit. "W-well, when she was smiling, she looked as cute as a kitten...", he replied sheepishly.
Upon hearing this, Mia grinned, and said cutely, "Meow!"
Al fell silent for a few seconds, then had another slight spaz attack. "A-aaawwww...", he cooed, barely resisting the urge to reach out and pet her.
Edward chuckled, but quickly turned serious again. "So, you still haven't told us why one might think you knew something about the Philosopher's Stone...", he said, keeping eye contact with her.
"Ah, yes...", she replied, returning to her different-and-yet-not personality. "Well... You two attempted human transmutation, did you not?"
The two were silent for a moment. "... How did you know...?", Ed mumbled, eyes suddenly more sorrowful.
Mia didn't answer. "Did it work?"
He tensed up a bit. "... No, it didn't... Why do you even need to know...?", he asked, growling slightly.
This time it was her turn to tense up. She had only been stalling by asking them those two questions, as she had already known the answers. She took a deep breath, then said, "... I performed a successful human transmutation, without losing any of my body parts to the 'Truth'."
Both brothers gasped, but she continued.
"I did lose something very dear to me... It wasn't anything neccessarily tangible, but it was very important... Please don't ask what it was though...", she continued. "I foolishly told everyone in town about my success... Luckily for me they didn't give away too many details. I guess someone thought I had used a Philosopher's Stone to aid me, but I didn't," she told them, looking down at the floor.
The brothers took a moment to absorb all that. After a good minute or two of silence, Edward spoke up. "... If you don't mind me asking... Who was it that you transmuted...?", he asked softly.
She remained silent, and for a moment, it seemed as if she wasn't going to answer, but just as Ed was about to say "never mind, you don't have to if you don't want to", she spoke up.
"It was my little brother...", she replied, just as softly as the other alchemist had spoken. "He had died from an accident..." She visibly shuddered upon saying the word "accident", facial expression showing that it had been a very gruesome one. She studied the ground, then said, "You can see him if you want to... He doesn't look like some kind of monster, he... looks completely normal..."
They fell silent again. "... If you don't mind, I think I'd like to see him," the older brother replied.
After a moment, Alphonse spoke up. "... I think I would too."
She nodded, and turned around, softly telling them to follow her as she did.
AN: I intend to add a bit more detail in this part in which Ed and Al ask her how she managed to do it without losing anything. I can't right now because I'm completely creatively drained, but I will.
She lead them to a room at the very back of the hotel. The interior was much less worn-out than the outside, but they weren't really paying attention to that. She opened the door and said softly, "Michel, you have some visitors."
A muffled-sounding voice came out of the room, and she nodded for the two to come inside.
They slowly entered, and the first thing they saw was a little boy, who didn't look much older than ten years old. He looked very frail, and had skin as pale as Mia's. His hair matched hers too, though his was much shorter, styled in somewhat of a bowl cut that didn't look horrible. His eyes were sky blue, as were Mia's. Overall, he looked like a younger, male version of her.
He glanced at the brothers, then let out a sigh. "You shouldn't be so trusting of these people, Mia...", he spoke, his voice much stronger than you'd think it would be, considering his body's feeble-looking condition.
She swallowed, then said quietly, "They... tried human transmutation too... so I thought I'd be able to..."
Ed and Al just stood there in silent shock and awe. Mia turned to face them and, upon noticing this, smiled slightly. "Edward, Alphonse, this is my little brother, Michel." She turned around again. "Michel, this is Edward and Alphonse," she told him, gesturing to each brother as she said their respective names.
"It's nice to meet you..." Ed said quietly.
Michel just glared at him. "I'm completely surrounded by idiots...", he growled.
"Eh...?", the other three people said, almost in unison.
He sent another glare their way. "You're all morons. You tried to do the impossible. I don't care what sob-story reason you had for it, you're all stupid."
"Mi-Michel, that's enough now...", Mia told him.
He stared at her for a moment, then huffed. "Whatever," he muttered, glancing back at Ed and Al. "And would you two please stop gawking at me like I'm some sort of exhibit?"
Upon realising they had been staring at him, the brothers quickly apologised and looked away, gazes now directed at the windows.
"Thank you," he said roughly.
Ed glanced back towards him for a second. "So, Michel, uh... What's it... like?", he asked carefully, trying not to make him upset.
The boy sighed. "If you're asking me how it feels to be part of some idiot's stupid attempts to get her little brother back, then I'll have you know it isn't exactly pleasant," he replied. "I can barely move any part of me besides my mouth, I can't feed myself, I can't use the bathroom by myself, nothing. I always need this idiot-" he nodded towards Mia- "-to help me."
Alphonse glanced at him now. "You should be more respectful to your older sister, you know...", he told him, quite inevitably so considering how much he looks up to his own older sibling.
"I'm just being honest," the younger boy replied sharply. "I think everyone in this room is a complete and utter moron, including me."
All three's attention was on him now. "Including... you...?", Mia asked, surprised.
Michel was silent for a minute. "... While I was dying, I kept crying and yelling that I didn't want to die... That was my biggest mistake," he replied, sighing. "It's obviously what had compelled you to bring me back... that, and all that missing me and wishing I hadn't died." He looked over at his older sister, who had become completely silent. "Completely correct, is it not?"
She slowly nodded, biting her lip. Ed looked at them both, feeling sorry for them. He could tell, however faint the signs were, that Michel was enduring a lot of emotional pain too. This surprised him - not the fact that Michel actually was hurting, but that he could tell that he was so easily. He glanced up at Al, who looked right back at him. He gave a slight nod, and Ed knew that he could see it too.
"Oi, Michel," Ed spoke up, focusing his attention on him again.
"What is it?", he asked coldly, sending another glare in his direction.
He was quiet for a moment, then said, "Me and Al can both tell you're hurting just as much as Mia is. Maybe even more. You don't have to hide it, you know."
He scoffed. "What makes you think that?"
His voice was cold, but both Elrics could hear a slight difference in his tone. He sounded slightly... scared, for some reason.
This time, Alphonse spoke up. "You don't have to be afraid to cry if you want to. No one would judge you, you know," he spoke softly, his voice slightly echoing through his emtpy armour.
Michel said nothing for a while. He just laid there staring at the two of them from his bed.
Mia grew slightly concerned, and asked quietly, "Are you okay...?"
He was silent a little while longer. After a few moments, he started laughing. "Pfft... hahaha..."
The three looked at him curiously, surprised.
He giggled, then said, "I hate peope like you, you know. You're too smart," he chuckled, actually smiling. "You were bang-on correct. I've wanted to cry ever since I woke up in this blasted body of mine, but I was afraid to. I didn't want Mia to worry. Looks like that's useless now, though, since you guys exposed it." He sighed, and looked over at them once more, still smiling. "Like I said... We're all idiots."
They were silent for a moment, then the brothers laughed a bit too. "Guess we are," Ed said, "... But that doesn't mean I like you calling me that, ya little jerk."
Mia had remained silent for a while, and finally decided to speak up. "Michel... You can cry whenever you want to, okay? It won't make me worry," she smiled at him, patting his head.
He let out an adorable giggle and grinned an adorable grin that made Alphonse melt again. "Okay, big sister. I don't feel like crying right now though, since I'm happy!", he told her, suddenly adorable in every aspect.
Mia grinned cutely and nodded, Ed smiled as well and laughed again, Michel laughed cutely some more, and Alphonse nearly had exploded from the sheer adorableness surrounding him.
"Hey, Al, hurry up already!" Ed called to his brother, who was still playing with Michel. "We have to go now or we'll miss the train!"
The younger brother looked over at him. "But I'm not done playing with Mewchel! Can't we stay a little longer?", he pleaded.
He gave him a look that just screamed "seriously?" "Come on, Al, we have to go!"
Mia walked by him, having just watched the two playing and pretending Michel was a cat. For some reason, he had suddenly gained full mobility after Ed and Al had made him admit his true feelings. "They really get along well, don't they?", she grinned, giggling
He nodded. "Yeah, but we're gonna miss the train... ALPHONSE, HURRY UP ALREADY!", he yelled.
"Okay, okay, I'm coming! Just give me a second!", he yelled back.
He waited for Al to come quite impatiently. He glanced over at Mia. "Hey, I've been meaning to ask... When we first came in, why were you under that desk like that?", he asked her, giving her an odd look.
She looked back at him. "I was fixing a loose screw and I ended up falling asleep there for a few days," she replied simply.
"A few DAYS?!", his jaw dropped slightly.
She nodded, as if it were completely natural. He stared at her for a moment. I think you might need to fix a few other loose screws to... he thought, slowly shaking his head.
"Okay, I'm coming!", Al said as he ran up.
"Finally!", Ed exclaimed, turning around to leave, Al following close behind.
Michel came running up next to his sister's side. "You guys will come and visit sometime, right?", he asked, latching himself onto Mia.
Ed glanced at him over his shoulder. "Yeah, sure!", he grinned, then looked back ahead of him.
"Goodbye!", the two called after them, waving.
The older brother chuckled slightly, and waved back without turning around. Al, however, turned himself all the way around and walked backwards for a second, waving. He quickly turned back around, trying to make sure he didn't bump into anyone or anything.
Ed stared out the train's window, watching the scenery go by. He sighed. "I wish we would get something other than a dead end for once...", he grumbled.
Al gave him a look. "Hey, we did get something out of that!"
The older brother was quiet for a second, then chuckled. "Yeah, I guess we did."
"We made some new friends," the younger brother said, nodding.
Ed grinned. "Some really good ones, too," he agreed, as he watched their last adventure end and their new one begin.