Training

Again it was noon in Rush Valley, and in the small yard behind Garfiel's automail shop, Ed and Ran Fan sparred. This time Ran Fan wore no mask, her left arm now made of automail, while Ed took the offensive and launched a barrage of attacks.

"Hah!" Ran Fan blocked a kick with her right arm, her left dragging at her side and slowing her down. Next, she swerved a punch, and was left unprepared as Ed kicked her legs out from under her. She tried throwing her arms out to catch her fall, but the weight of her left arm upset the balance and she fell on her back with a THUD.

"Brother, that was mean!" Al commented from where he sat with Ling in the shade.

"Shut up, I know what I'm doing!" Ed called back, then turned to Ran Fan, frowning. "Come on, you can do better than that! I had to train with Al while getting used to an arm and leg. How can you be a good guard if you can't even rival me anymore?"

"I…I will not be…" Ran Fan sputtered indignantly.

"What'd you get that arm for anyway, huh? If you can't even fight with it! You want to be luggage forever!" Ed continued taunting.

"I WILL NOT BE USELESS!" Ran Fan roared, and jumped to her feet, throwing a punch with her right arm.

"Wrong!" Ed shot back, knocking the arm away. "Your left!"

"Unghh…!" With a heave, Ran Fan threw a punch with her left arm, and it fell short of hitting his face. Ed easily threw her off, making her fall to the ground again on her side. "Oof!"

"Don't be so hard on her, Ed!" Winry came out with a tray of lemonade, on her break.

Scowling at the sight of her serving Ling first, Ed growled, "I have to! It's for her own good!"

Winry gave a glass to Ran Fan next, then headed back into the shop. "Well, you better not break her automail along with your own!"

Ed raised his fists to shout, shortly before realizing that he was lacking his own lemonade. "Hey, waita…WHO SAID I WAS BREAKING ANYTHING!"

A door slam, and Al snickering.

Ran Fan sat on the ground, dripping sweat, and quietly sipped her lemonade. A moment later she set the glass down.

"You done?" asked Ed.

"Yes…and thank you," she added at the end, stood up, and resumed a fighting position.

Ed looked surprised for a second, but that was soon replaced with a smirk, and he put up a stance as well, taking the defense this time.

It felt odd, he being the one doing the teaching this time. Every now and then he found himself barking the same orders that his Sensei used to-- but this wasn't the time to be thinking that, Ran Fan was swinging her right leg toward his head, using the arm's balance to her advantage at last.

He ducked, caught her leg between his arms, and tried twisting her over to her stomach, but she dug the automail into the ground halfway and used her other leg in midair to push him away. He stumbled back; she made a flip back onto her feet.

"Better!" Ed grunted, and without another moment to lose, rushed her on the offensive.

First move, a punch with his right—CLANG! It connected with Ran Fan's left arm in a block…they paused as the reverberations rang through their shoulders, and then Ed abruptly stepped away.

"Much better," he said with a smile.

"No more?" Ran Fan blinked.

"I need a break now; you can keep practicing those moves you just did." Stretching, Ed marched into the shop, calling Winry's name.

Ran Fan remained standing, her left arm still raised. She looked at it, flexed the fingers, fisted them, and punched the air. She felt better already.