"You promise you'll be there at the station?" She asked again.
"Yes. I'll be there to meet you when you arrive, okay?"
"You promise?"
"Yes! Come on Winry! This is the tenth time already!"
"If I don't pound it into your head, then you'll forget and bury yourself in the library and then I'll be on my own again! Or even worse, you'll get into another fight, and break your automail! Again!"
"Uncute automail freak."
"Shut up alchemy freak!"
Ed opened his mouth to say something else, but a hissed "Nii-san!" distracted him. He turned to see Al pointing to the clock.
The clock read 12:30.
Ed stared at the clock in disbelief for a few seconds, then groaned.
"Ed, what's-"
"Listen Winry, we've got to go now!"
"Don't forget to be at the train station at 9:30!"
"I won't! Bye!"
Ed dropped the phone back into the cradle and dashed out the door, followed by Al.
"Aw crap! Crap! How could I not notice? I just know what that stupid Colonel's going to say!
"What Fullmetal," he started imitating Mustang's voice, "was the clock too high up for you to see? Or were you mistaken for a pre-schooler and carried away there? Or-"
"Nii-san, don't you think you're overreacting just a bit?"
"No! I just know he'll say something like that!"
"That's what you said last time, but I don't remember him saying anything like that."
"That's because you were busy with that kitten you found!"
"Oh, that's right." Al avoided bumping into a woman with her arms full of groceries. His brother seemed calmer now. Maybe he should ask...
"Hey...Nii-san?"
"What?"
"Why do you always fight with Winry?"
Ed tripped and fell on his face.
"What kind of question is that!" he asked, picking himself up.
Al stopped beside him.
"Why do you? And why do you always insist that she's not cute?"
Ed looked like he was ready to protest some more, but he heard the sincerity in Al's voice.
He sighed.
"I don't know."
He looked down, frowning slightly.
"I don't know. Why are you asking me this?"
"Uhh..." Al looked away. This was mostly a reflex move, seeing as his metal face couldn't betray his expressions even if he wanted it to.
What do I tell him? "Well, Nii-san, the reason I'm asking is because I have a feeling that the reason you keep insisting she's not cute is because you're trying to convince yourself."
Al shook his head.
Definitely can't tell him that.
"What are you thinking about?"
"Uh, nothing!"
"Are you sure?"
"Yes! Um...aren't we even more late now?"
"...Drat it!"
As the two started running again, Al thought ,You know Ed, you're going to have to admit it sooner or later.
------------------------------------------------------
She stumbled against the brick wall, and almost fell, only saving herself by clutching the wall, like a drowning person to a lifeline.
She stood there panting, wincing both at the pain and at the bright afternoon sunlight that was burning her eyes.
Slowly, carefully, she lowered herself down, fingers burning from gripping the gritty wall for support. Once she was close enough she simply let go, gratefully dropping into a spot that wasn't covered with garbage.
She bumped her head on the way down, and groaned before she realized what she'd done.
Clapping her hand over her mouth, she looked up and down the dirty alleyway.
When no one came, she sighed from relief.
She looked down at herself, at the faded brown boots, once so smart and neat, now filthy, covered with mud, and wearing thin.
She looked at her green pants, just as worn out and filthy, and beneath them...
Carefully, she rolled up her pant leg.
The gash from the arrow was still there, but instead of looking better, it looked even worse.
She wiped away some blood with her stained glove, and looked at it for a moment, before tenitiviely tasting it.
Poison.
Wolf bane, if she was right.
She sighed and rested her head against the wall.
Nothing to do now but wait.
She thought back to the reason she'd run into woods in the first place. That girl with the short black hair.
She'd only seen her for a moment, but she looked so much like her...so much like...
"Lin," she mumbled under her breath, "I'm sorry...about our promise...maybe one day...you'll be able...to do it by yourself."
"YOU IDIOT!"
The archer, apparently thinking she meant him, fired another arrow.
She dodged this one too, and threw one of her daggers, making the archer fall from the branch he'd been hiding on.
She smirked, and raced over to pick up her dagger, not wanting to lose another one.
She glanced over at the fallen archer's quiver.
She picked up one of the arrows.
She sniffed it, then scowled.
Poison.
She wasn't sure, but she thought it might be wolf bane.
I wish Rae was here. She would known.
She smiled half-heartedly at that thought.
Of course Rae didn't like poisons, she liked the cures.
A whirring sound alerted her to the presence of the archer's friends, and she took off again.
She tripped and tumbled down a hill, cursing all the way.
Reaching the bottom, she shot up and took off running again, not daring to look behind her, the whirring of the arrows proof enough that they were still behind her.
She noticed a small cave opening, almost completely covered up with vines and long grasses.
She smirked again.
Good thing I'm an expert at spotting hiding places. I bet those stupid archers won't notice it.
She spun around, hand in her pockets.
The archers stopped for just a moment, wanting to know what she had up her sleeve.
She pulled out a small round ball and threw it on the ground in front of her.
Smoke burst out of it, completely covering everything.
Long before it was starting to clear, she was far inside the cave.
She paused further in, and listened.
When she heard no footsteps, she grinned cockily and whispered to herself, "And she does it again!"
Sighing happily, she sat down and started going through her backpack.
"Let's see...someone's sword... that purse I just stole... a butterfly knife...a big white t-shirt?"
She frowned slightly at this, and pulled it up, examining it. "Why'd I steal this?" she asked herself, then shrugged and put it down, and went back to searching the backpack, until she found what she was looking for.
A small brownish yellow crystal.
"A-hah! I found it!" she cried triumphantly, tossing it in the air and then catching it again.
As soon as it touched her hand, it began to shine brightly.
She smiled even wider and stood up.
She looked ahead, to the tunnel leading further inside the cave, and frowned thoughtfully.
It seems to be the kind of place she'd hide...I hope I'm right. She's probably already jumped to the next world by now, and I have to find the portal before it closes!
She glanced once at the opening of the cave.
The sunlight glinted cheerfully at her, as if inviting her to come back out and play.
She sighed and headed further into the dark cave, the light stone guiding her path.
"Rae?" she called, "Rae? It's me, Lin! Rae?"
Why'd she run away? Didn't she see that it was me?
Maybe that's the problem.
Why! Doesn't she trust me?
Maybe she thinks you haven't forgiven her for-
She gagged the voice.
"I don't want to think about that!" she snapped out loud.
Fuming silently, she kept walking forward, still looking.
Anyway, I'm glad he's gone. Really. I always hated his guts anyway. He was always a jerk. I'm glad. Really glad.
This didn't sound convincing, even to her.
She was about to try to think of ways to make it more impressive, when she saw it.
The light, the brilliant multicolored light.
The light of the portal.
Forgetting everything else, she broke into a run.
The glow was beginning to fade.
She was running out of time.
She ran even faster, and dove through it, just before it closed.
Yes, I'm rewriting the entire thing. Hope this time, it's better. By the way, if anyone can tell of a site where you can still see the fan dubbed version of FullMetal Alchemist, or a site where I could download the songs, I'd be really grateful.