Fullmetal Alchemist: The Next Generation
Chapter 1: Meeting the Family
"Come on, up!" Winry shouts. She walks into the nursery, and picks up her youngest, little Anna. The infant squirmed in her mothers arms, upset that she was awakened from her sleep. "I think it's about time we woke up your brother and sister: Will and Nina, eh? They sleep just like their father. " Winry sighs.
She rests Anna on her one arm. And opens up Will and Nina's shared bedroom door.
"Will? Ni-na. It's time to wake up."
"Mmm, five more minutes..." Will rolls over with his feet in the air moans.
"Momma the sun isn't even up yet..."
Winry walked over to the window and slid open the curtain, letting the warm sun shine in the room.
Nina sleepily sat up and rubbed her light blue eyes. Her long blonde hair sat frizzed on her round face. But she slid out of bed and stomped down the steps.
"Come on, William. You're going to be late for school!" Winry exclaims trying to get her son out of bed. "Your just like your father used to be; sleeping all the time and cranky when you woke him too early. "
Will sat up, letting his golden blond hair cover his dark gold eyes. "Mom, can't I just skip school? Just for today?" He moans.
"No. Your not sick your just tired. You're going to school. " Will moaned, but still tumbled out of bed and followed his younger sister.
Winry bounced baby Ann in her arms. The baby was beginning to wine and was squirmy. Someone wanted breakfast.
Winry stepped out of Will and Nina's room and into the hallway, her bare feet not making any noise on the hardwood floor. At the end of the hall sat her and Ed's bedroom. She knew her husband hadn't come upstairs last night. He and his brother, Alphonse, were off on another journey, learning more about alchemy to help those they couldn't before.
Winry spotted something on the nightstand. While still cradling Ann, she walked over and saw an automail cleaning kit. Winry sighed, and squished her eyebrows together. "Ed... what am I going to do with you..."
Downstairs, Will poured water into the tea kettle so he could make himself some oatmeal, while his younger sister Nina sat pouring herself a bowl of cereal. Milk was always in the house, and the siblings often heard their mother arguing with their father about drinking his milk and setting an example of the children.
Uncle Alphonse always chuckled when they had a fight like that.
"When do you think dad'll be home?" Nina yawns as she begins eating the cereal.
The kettle screams and William pours the steaming water into a bowl, adds in the dry oats, and then looks on the shelves for some cinnamon. "I dunno. He said he had to go see someone way out in the west. "
"Across the desert?" Nina said surprised. Would her father really make that journey alone?
"I think Uncle Al might have been with him and Auntie Mai to help guide him but..." Will shrugged and sprinkled cinnamon onto his breakfast before coming to the table.
Nina and Will's mother, Winry, came down the wooden steps with their younger sister, Ann in her arms and slippers on her feet.
"Did Daddy call you last night?" Nina asks.
"No, dear. They don't have telephones in the desert; he won't be able to call until he reaches Xing. "
"Xing? " Will curiously asked. "Why'd he go there?"
"I only have half a mind of what your father does." Winry sighed. She looked to the clock that hung on the wall. "Oh, look at the time! You two are going to be late. Time to get dressed!"
Nina and Will hurried up the steps. Winry slid Ann into the wooden high chair that she had used as a baby. Winry's mother instincts take over as she cleans the bowls, serves Ann her breakfast, and then packs Nina and Will's lunch all before the two clabber back down the steps.
"Have a good day! Do you need me to walk you to school? I can call Miss I-"
"No!" The two said quickly. "No.. we're fine. We can walk to school. Besides you and dad an' Uncle Al used to do it. " Will says as he and his sister walk out the door.
"In a few years, you'll be going to school with your brother and sister." Winry smiled and pinched Anna's nose. "But that's still a few years off."
Meanwhile, Will and Nina walked along the old quiet road to school. They waved at the few neighbors they encountered. Other then that the two siblings didn't talk much.
"Do you think Dad's okay?" Nina whispered to her older brother. The thought bad been nagging her since they left home.
"Yea, I'm sure he's alright. That desert's big. It'll probably take him a week to cross it. He said he'll call when he get's to Xing."
"Why do you think he went to Xing?"
Will shrugged. "I think he said he was meeting a friend. Did you know Auntie Mai was from Xing?"
Nina nodded her head. "She tells me stories about when she was a little girl." Nina stopped walking and lowered her already quiet voice. "She told me she was a princess."
Will chuckled. "Come on, Nina. If Auntie Mai was a princess, why doesn't she live in a palace n' have servants?"
Nina shrugged and began walking again. "Maybe she left that life for Uncle Al..." Nina said, but Will didn't hear her.
Weeks passed. Will and Nina still hadn't heard from their dad who was supposed to be traveling to Xing. Winry began to worry. When Anna woke up in the middle of the night she would take her out to the cool, crisp night and simply stare at the sky.
"It's going to be okay, Winry." Winry's old friend, Panenia came over. "You know how Ed is. He'll be back. He always comes back." She patted Winry on the back before heading back to Rush Valley.
One day, Will and Nina came home to someone who wasn't their mother.
"Granny Izumi?" Will said surprised and slightly worried.
"Don't call me granny, it makes me feel old!" Izumi shouted.
"Sorry, Miss Izumi..." Will corrected himself.
Izumi stood, looking over Will and Nina. She smiled and kneeled down, hugging the both of them.
"How come you're here?" Nina asked. "Is it about daddy?" She whispered.
Izumi looked at both Nina and Will. She smiled to show everything would be alright. "Yes. You're mother is going out for a while. I'm going to stay here and watch you for the next few weeks."
Will and Nina looked at each other, thinking the same exact thing.
Hell was a few minutes away