Disclaimer: I do not own FMA or any of its characters.
Ch 1
A teenage girl was sitting on a rock, looking at the sunset. The girl had a little girl in her lap who looked around three years old, the older one stroked the girl's hair as the little one looked like she was about to fall asleep. One would think that the two looked weird, since all of the people in the country had black hair. The teenage girl had black hair, but the little girl had blonde hair. She lived in a country northwest of Amestris, they live in a country called Lebarya. Now, some people may get them confused with Ishvalans, but Lebaryans have coal black eyes. The girl looked down to the sleeping girl and said in her mother tongue, "My daughter, we will go back to the life we lived, before we were taken away from your father's country against our will." The little girl looked up and said, "Mama, how can we make it back? They guard the border just like a stingy man guards his money." The mother smiled at her daughter, she knew that for a three year old, she was pretty bright. "Sweetheart, when your mother was at the tender age of eight, she escaped Lebarya unscathed. If she can do it once, she shall do it again." The daughter nodded and then said, "Ok, mother. When shall we escape?"
"We shall wait for half an hour, after the sky has turned ebony black. After that happens, we will make our escape. What makes this even better is that we both have the power of invisibility." That's right; both of these girls are homunculi. They have seen many things change, but the one thing that hasn't changed is the greed of man. This woman remembers being alive, her memories are imprinted into her mind, even if it was hundreds of years ago that the girl has been through the flames of hell for what seemed eternity. The one thing she wanted was her life back, and she wouldn't let it fall apart due to the ignorance of the human beings that scarred her human life before her. Her daughter has seen her share of pain, why her mother had run away to Lebarya. She knew why her mother moved to Amestris, so her daughter, unlike her, could grow in a family with loving parents. She wanted her daughter to have the one thing in life that was deprived from her during her childhood, the feeling of love. One could not go on in life unless they had at least one person that loved them unconditionally, no matter what situation lies ahead of them.
When the sky turned black, the girl led her daughter into a place where only her eyes have seen. They walked in the middle of the street and she picked up a big piece of concrete, and through it aside, she held her daughter as she put the piece of concrete back into its place. The girl knew this underground tunnel did not have any other means of light, or any confusion along the way. The girl remembered this tunnel, the one she made hundreds of years ago to escape her horrifying life in Lebarya. The girl had many memories as she felt the bumps as she walked away from her home country of Lebarya. The youngest one decided to speak up and say, "Mother, what are we to do when we arrive in Amestris? You are not good in their language, even if you have lived there many years before my existence?"
"Sweetheart, I understand their language, but it is hard for me to speak the language."
"Why mommy? Why can I understand and you can't?"
"Because baby, I was scared of what people would think if I could speak. If your mother tried to speak their language, only her mother tongue would be able to come out of your mother's mouth." Her daughter understood her, since she has been around her more than any life form on this Earth, and that includes both humans and homunculi. "Mommy, when are we going to make it to Amestris?"
"In a few hours baby. I know you are hungry and tired, but you must have patience. When you have patience, the things you seek will be worth the long wait." She felt her daughter nod, and her daughter decided to go to sleep for the rest of the trip. When they finally made it to Amestris, the girl had to find lodging. She would have been able to walk farther, but with the little girl in her arms, she could not go very far. She walked in a little village and tried to find a place where they could stay the night. The girl walked to the house and knocked on the door. An old lady wearing an apron answered the door, she said, "Welcome to Rockbell Automail Outfitters, how may I help you?" She looked at the woman wearing foreign clothing, and holding a child that did not look to belong to her. The mother of the blonde said, "Excuse me miss, but my daughter and I need a place to stay for the night? May we stay here?" The older woman said, "Excuse me miss, but I didn't understand you?" The youngest one woke up and said, "Mama, where are we?"
"In Amestris." The blonde turned around and said, "Hello lady." The older lady looked shocked that the woman who held the child could not speak her language, but the little blonde could. "Do you mind if we stay for the night? We only have foreign currency, but we can do manual labor if you can't accept the money." The older woman thought for a while and said, "Come on in." She took the two in and said, "Winry, these two will be spending the night here. Please show them to their rooms." Winry gave her grandmother a puzzling look and her grandmother's look said, 'just do it.' She showed them the guest bedroom and said, "This is where you will be staying." The black haired girl felt the bed, and smiled and said something to her that she couldn't understand. The blonde looked up and said, "She said thank you." Winry nodded, and walked downstairs. When Winry walked downstairs, she said, "Grandma, does that girl speak our language?"
"No Winry, I believe she is from Lebarya. How she got out of the country is news to me. They guard that place from day in to day out." Winry nodded, then said, "Don't you think it's strange?"
"What are you talking about Winry?"
"First of all, the black haired girl can't speak our language, but the blonde girl can. And even when she does speak, she has an accent. Second off, the black hair girl looks my age, maybe even a little younger. What is she doing in Amestris with a small child. Thirdly, how can a child as young as her be so smart? It's like she has already grown up."
"That's what I'm wondering too, Winry." Winry decided to go upstairs to speak with the two foreigners. When she reached the door, she knocked twice then entered. She walked over and sat on the bed next to the black headed girl. She said, "Hi, my name is Winry, what is yours?" The black haired girl said, "Ismii Durate." Winry gave her a questionable look and the blonde said, "Her name is Durate."
"Oh, is that a common name in your country?" The woman named Durate said to her, "No it's not. That name is what you would give to a dirty animal." Winry gave her a skeptical look and the blonde little girl said, "No, it's not. And she doesn't like her birth name that much. She prefers to go by Mella."
"Ok, I'll just remember that you prefer to be called Mella. Mella nodded. She then turned her sights onto the little blonde girl and said, "What's your name little one?"
"My name is Nawal. And Winry, I have a question. Do you have a spare notebook? My mother can't speak the language but she has learned to write in it." Winry nodded and went downstairs and said to her grandmother, "Hey grandmother, that blonde haired girl is the black haired girl's daughter."
"I wouldn't be surprised Winry. They make them marry young in Lebarya."
"What makes me wonder is that wouldn't her husband be with her if she was travelling. Isn't it scandalous for a Lebaryan woman to travel without a male companion?"
"I think so, Winry. But don't scare her."
"I won't." Winry brought the notebook to Mella. Mella nodded, and grabbed her pen and put it next to her bed. Winry said, "Mella, how old are you?" Mella took her notebook and wrote 17 on it. Winry then proceeded to say, "So you got married when you were 14?" Mella shook her head and wrote 13. Winry nodded, and then asked, "Where's your husband?" Mella wrote, "I don't know." Winry then said, "How can you not know?" She wrote, "I was taken away from him, and I haven't seen him for a long time." Winry nodded and looked across the window. She saw someone approaching the building. She smirked, open the window and threw her wrench at that person's head. The person grabbed his head and yelled, "Winry!" She smirked. A few minutes later, she heard two people barge into the room. They said, "Winry, that hurt!"
"What's wrong with you Edward? You haven't come to visit me in a long time?"
"I've been busy searching for the Philosopher's Stone!" He then looked at Mella, who was seated on the bed. He said, "Hi, I'm Edward. What's your name?"
"Mella." He nodded and then saw Nawal sitting next to her. What's your name?"
"Nawal." He then said, "Are these two going to stay awhile?"
"No, just for the night." He nodded and said, "Are you two sisters?"
"No," Nawal said, "That's my mother."
"How old is she."
"17."
"Oh, where's your dad?"
"I don't know."
"How can you not know?"
"Edward," Winry said, "Where's your father?"
"How should I know?"
"See, you shouldn't pick on someone who's in the same situation as you."
"It's not the same! She wants to find her dad, but I could care less!"
"Alphonse, do you want to find your dad?"
"Well, it would be nice if we could."
"See Edward, you're outnumbered."
"Whatever Winry. Can you fix my automail?"
"You already broke it with your wrench!"
"Oh really, how?"
"You threw it so hard that it hit my head. It then bounced off and hit my arm and broke it!"
"Alright, just come down." Edward nodded. They left. Nawal said, "Mama, he looks so much like him."
"Like who?"
"He looks like either daddy or grandpa."
"Don't bring up your grandfather around me. Not after what he did to me."
"Mama, it's been 400 years ago."
"I realize that. But ever since he has done that unforgivable act on me, my life has changed for the worse."
"Mama."
"Sweetheart, this is a lesson I must teach you. Love the people around you, even if they treat you like dirt, are from a different culture, looks different from you, has a different taste in clothing and all the differences in the world people might have from you. One should not be hostile if they haven't walked a mile in the other person's shoes. Do you understand?"
"Yes mother."
"Hey mommy?"
"Yes Nawal?"
"You know how I have the power of invisibility, just like you?"'
"Yes my darling. I know"
"But I can also morph as well, is that normal?"
"I do not know. If I have the power of invisibility that you inherited from me, your father must also be able to morph."
"So, in order to find dad, we have to find a homunculus that can morph."
"Yes."
"But where do we start?"
"I don't know. Let's go downstairs to join the three of them." While they were going down the stairs, they heard a cry of pain. The two got downstairs as fast as they could. They ran over only to find Ed on the couch and Nawal said, "Ed, are you ok?"
"I'm fine; it's just the automail that was recently connected to my body."
"Oh, okay." She then saw Ed's state alchemist watch. She pointed at it and said, "What is that?"
"Oh this," Winry said, "That's Ed's state alchemist watch." Nawal went to touch it and Ed yelled," Don't you touch it!" Nawal ran and hid behind her mother. She then said, "Winry, what is a state alchemist?"
"An alchemist that works for the Amestris military."
"Oh." Mella pulled Nawal into another room and said, "Nawal, he might help us."
"He might, but mom…"
"Sweetheart, he's still in pain from that automail being installed. Maybe if we asked nicely, we can travel with him. Along the way, we might run into him or get a big lead as to where he is."
"Okay." They then walked into the room and Nawal said, "Hey Edward, can we travel with you?"
"Why should I take you with me?"
"Because, you need help with the Philosopher's stone and we want to find my father. We can help each other along the way."
"Why should I?"
"Hey Al…"
"Ok, you can travel with us!"
"Yay!" Mella smiled a smile that she hasn't smiled in a long time.
"Hey, when are we leaving?" Nawal asked.
"In a few hours." Ed said.
"Ok Nawal, you need to go to sleep. We have a huge day ahead of us."
"You shouldn't be talking! You look sleepy, and you have walked under that underground tunnel for a few hours, and you still haven't had any sleep." During the conversation, Ed and Al looked at Mella and Nawal with questionable looks. Winry then said, "They're from Lebarya."
"Ohhh… well I better get some shut eye. Goodnight." Ed fell asleep on the couch, Mella and Nawal went to the guest bedroom. And Al just sat there, since he couldn't go to sleep. Winry and Pinako looked at each other and then decided to get some shuteye as well.
Please R&R, flames welcome.