Chapter 2: Coming Back

Resembool

After the incident with Scar, Edward is walking on the pathway with Major Armstrong as he carries Al on his shoulder. Edward then spots a familiar girl standing in front of a rock.

"That's…" Edward mutters.

The girl holds the wooden sword in her other hand and quickly makes a slice movement at the rock when the top half slowly slides off and lands.

"That's amazing!" Alphonse exclaims when the girl turns around and see two familiar faces.

"Ed, Al." The girl calls.

"Edward. Who is this person?" Armstrong asks.

"That's our older sister, Ella." Edward says as Ella approaches them. "It's been awhile nee-chan."

Instead of a hug from Ella, she puts Edward in a headlock. "That's supposed to be my line, you jerk. What have you two been doing all this time? You had me, Gran, and Winry worried."

"It couldn't be helped! Both of us were busy!?" Edward replies and Ella let go of her brother.

"Your right arm is broken and Al's body is in shambles." Ella says as her eyes goes from Edward's flapping sleeve to Alphonse who is in a crate.

"Sorry, onee-chan." Alphonse apologizes.

"There's a reason for that…" Ed trails off not meeting Ella's eyes and the older Elric sibling turns around.

"Let's go. You guys came here to get repaired, right?" Ella asks and Edward looks up.

"Yeah!"

They continue going down the path and Ella looks back at Major Armstrong.

"By the way who is this?" She asks.

"Oh, he–"

"I am Alex Louis Armstrong. The Strong Arm Alchemist. I have heard about you, Ella Elric."

"Eh?"

"What a loving elder sister! As the Elric brothers are traveling, you became stronger for them! Let me embrace you in my arms."

"I'll pass." Ella quickly declines and goes to Edward's ear. "Ed, is he always like this?"

"Yeah."

Then they hear a dog barking and look up to see the dog, Den standing at the pathway.

"Den!" Ella calls out when Pinako comes out of the house.

"You, Granny." Edward greets.

"We're back!" Alphonse greets.

"God, what happened to you two?" Pinako questions.

"A lot. We're going to need your help again." Edward says.

Once they reach to the house, Major Armstrong puts Alphonse down and shakes Pinako's hand.

"This is Major Armstrong." He introduces.

"Pleasure to meet you, I'm Pinako Rockbell." Pinako introduces and steps back a bit. "But gosh darn, looks like Ed got shorter after not seeing him for some time."

This comment causes a tick mark to form on Edward's head.

"Hey, I'm pretty sure you're supposed to say 'got taller' at times like this…" He says with anger in his voice.

"If you really did, then I'd say so." Pinako counters.

"What did you say, you minimum hag?!" Edward shouts.

Then a wrench is thrown and hits him causing everyone except Edward to look up to see that Winry is the one to threw it.

"Didn't I tell you to give me a call before stopping by for maintenance?!" She shouts.

"You trying to kill me, Winry?!" Edward questions.

Winry laughs a bit and greets with a smile, "Welcome back!"

"Yeah."

After entering the house, Edward puts the cloth that covers the remains of his arm and sits on the couch as Winry shouts, "WHA―?!"

"My bad, my bad. It broke." Edward admits as he drinks coffee.

"'Broke'? An automail of the highest quality… That I worked so hard on…"

"Yeah, to smithereens." He finishes when the mechanic punches him to the ground.

"And Al is broken, too? What the heck have you guys been doing?"

"Gehe~" Alphonse laughs when Winry kicks him to the ground also.

"All you ever do is worry me!"

"Now, now, Winry. Even if they didn't contact us, they still made it back here." Ella tells her.

"But, Ella-nee…"

"Well, if they took any longer, I will have to punish them myself." She adds.

This causes the Elric Brothers to flinch at the word 'punish' from Ella since they remember the last time that she punished them before.

Later, the brothers tell them what happened back at Central and quickly come back after repairs to look for the data that they are looking for.

"I see." Pinako says after getting rid of the ash from her pipe. "So you want to return to Central as soon as possible to get that data, eh?"

"Yeah. So I want you to fix me up as quick as you can." Edward requests.

Pinako starts to inspect the his remaining automail and says, "Looks like I'll need to adjust your legs too, and not just your arm."

"Oh my, seems like you've at least grown a bit." Winry teases.

"Shut up!" Edward shouts.

Pinako taps the knee cap of the automail. "Unlike your legs though, I'm going to have to remake your arm from scratch."

"Will it take a week?" Edward asks.

"Don't underestimate me." She replies and blows out the tobacco. "Three days." Winry helps her grandmother to replace the leg into a spare one. "You'll have to bear with a spare for now."

"Okay." Edward stands up only to falter a bit. "It's tough to walk when you're not used to the leg."

"I'll fix it up before you get used to it."

"But seriously…" Winry says as she puts the automail leg over her shoulder. "Material, assembly, connection, calibration… It'll be all-nighters, no doubt."

"Sorry for being so unreasonable." Edward apologizes.

"But you want to go back to Central as soon as possible, right? Then we'll work to make that happen! But we'll charge extra for the express fee!"

Outside, Major Armstrong cuts the wood perfectly with his bare fists without wearing his shirt as Alphonse is sitting against the barrel looking at the chickens. Then Armstrong enters the house while holding the firewood as Pinako adjusting the leg.

"It's finished." He reports.

"Thanks." Pinako replies and Armstrong looks outside.

"I don't see Edward Elric and Ella Elric around."

"Yeah, Ed said that he was visiting his mother's grave with Ella."

Edward and Ella are walking down the road talking to each other as Den follows them with a bouquet of flowers in his mouth when they see some familiar faces tending a herd of sheep.

"Major. What kind of lives have those boys been living?" Pinako asks catching the Major's attention. "They don't send us a single letter."

"They are famous alchemists, even in Central. That drags them into trouble, as well…" Armstrong answers and looks up. "But don't worry. Those boys are strong."

"Are they?" Pinako repeats. "That makes me feel better, at least."

As the man comments about Edward's height, he tells to stop mentioning that making the boy and Ella to laugh.

"Are those two like grandchildren to you?" Armstrong asks as he looks at the picture with Pinako, their mother, and the younger, Edward, Alphonse, Winry, and Ella.

"I've been watching over them ever since they were born." Their father was an old drinking buddy of mine, but he left the village, leaving his wife and children behind. I don't even know if he's still alive."

Once the three gets to Trisha's grave, Den puts the flower on it as Edward stares at it with Ella behind them. Then Edward remembers something and looks at where their house use to be.

"Now that I think about it, where are Miss Winry's parents?" Armstrong wonders.

"They died. During the Ishbalan war." Pinako answers causing Armstrong to be silent. "My son… her parents… were surgeons. They left for the battlefield because there was shortage of doctors, but…"

"It was a horrible war." Armstrong admits.

"It sure was." Pinako agrees and continues working on the adjustments. "Oh, shucks." She says noticing the time. "It's about time to start preparing supper. You look like you'd eat a lot, so you can expect a big dinner."

"Oh no, I can't trouble you any further…"

"A meal tastes better with more people at the table. There's an extra bed open for patients, so you can sleep there." Pinako says. "This is the only place those brothers and Ella can stay, anyway. Adding an extra guest won't make a difference."

"What about their home?"

Pinako blows out the smoke and answers. "It's gone. They don't have a home to return to. They burnt their house down they day Ed decided to leave this village after getting his state qualification. They probably did it to make sure there would be no going back."

Edward, Ella, and Den are standing in front of the sibling's ruined house for the moment when Ella notice the time.

"Ed." She calls. "It's about time we go back."

Edward smiles sadly at her. "Yeah. Let's go back. They're all waiting for us."

As they go back to the automail shop, Ella looks at Edward and asks, "Ne, Ed. On the lid of your silver pocket watch, did you write that date?"

Edward quickly looks at her. "How did you…"

"I knew it. If it's you, you would definitely write down something important on it. Don't worry, I won't tell those two about it."

"…Yeah. Nee-chan."

"What is it?"

"Are you okay? With our bodies like this."

"Even though you're alchemist prodigy, you're such an idiot." Ella comments. "No matter what form you take, you two are my precious little brothers."

"…Okay."

When they reach to the shop, Edward opens the door. "We're ba-"

"Edward Elric!" Armstrong cries and hugs him tightly as he nuzzles him with the other watching this as Edward screams in pain. "Your innocent love that drove you to attempt to revive your mother! Your tremendous love that drove you to affix your brother's soul while prepared to throw your own live away! Your unearthly determination that drove you to destroy your way out by burning down your home filled with memories! Accept my embrace!"

Before Armstrong could do that, Ella delivers a kick on the face protecting Edward from the hug.

"I won't let you hurt Ed like that." She says as Armstrong's face slips down from the foot.

~Next morning~

Ella already woken up and dressed as she ties her hair higher and then grabs the wooden sword to start practicing and leaves her room. As she walks down the hallway, Ella sees Edward walking out of Winry's room all bummed out.

"Ed, what are you doing at this early?" She asks.

"I was hoping that Winry would be finished by now…" Edward replies. "What about you?"

"My morning practice. I always wake up at this time to do my practices since you two made that decision."

"I see…"

"Then I'll be back around for breakfast." Ella walks past him and looks behind her. "Oh. And Ed, try not to bother Winry about your automail." She says and leaves the shop to go to her training ground leaving Ed standing there.

However, instead of listening her advice, Edward enters Winry's room to check up on the progress for two days and when Winry had enough, she tosses the Fullmetal Alchemist out of the room and now lying on the grass with Alphonse, Ella, and Den.

"You should know that this is bound to happened if you keep bothering her like that." Ella points out.

"She's right. They said they'd get it done in three days, so wait patiently." Alphonse adds.

"I know, but I just can't sit still when I know a secret to the philosopher's stone lies in Central!" Edward comments.

As Edward stares at the sky, he hears Den barking and looks to see Winry coming out of the house holding the new automail arm.

"Sorry for the wait! We're done!" She shouts.

Once the three comes back into the shop, Edward immediately sits on the couch with the spare leg detached and both Pinako and Winry sets up the automail into the detached limbs as he begins to pale for the next step.

"You up for this?" Pinako asks.

"Y-Yeah." He stammers.

"One…"

"Two…"

"Three!"

Edward flinches when the two connects his nerves to the automail.

"This feeling of connecting my nerves gets me every time." He says.

"Don't complain. You have to go through this eventually." Ella says.

"Well, I won't have to deal with this pain once I get the philosopher's stone!"

"That's too bad. You were a real money-spinner." Pinako says as she fit the leg tightly causing Edward to flinch again.

"Yeah. There's no need to go through the trouble of getting your limbs back!" Winry agrees as she also fix the arm tightly once again making Ed to flinch. "And besides, what's wrong with this? The smell of oil, the groaning of bearings… This beautiful form that was designed based on human engineering! Ah, how amazing! Automails, that is!"

"Machine freak." Edward comments.

"Shut up, alchemy freak." Winry counters.

"Well, at least you should know how Winry feels after you get your limbs back." Ella points out.

"All right, it's complete!" Pinako says after the two the armor on the automail limbs and Edward stand up and begins to do a few stretches. "How is it?"

"Yeah! Feels great!"

"We raised the ratio of chromium this time so it would be more resistant to rust. But that makes it less durable, so don't overuse-" Winry gets cut off when Edward opens the door as he runs off. "Hey, listen to me!"

"Al, sorry for the wait!" He shouts.

After putting a shirt on, he goes to Alphonse and spreads out the bit and pieces of the armor.

"Will you be able to fix him quickly?" Armstrong asks.

"Yeah. There's a trick to it, though." Edward replies. "This seal right here acts as the mediator between Al's soul and this suit, so I have to make sure I don't mess it up."

With a clap of his hands, a familiar electric blue of alchemy lights the area as Alphonse's armor reconstructs to who once again.

"There! Perfect! What do you say we test it out!"

"Sure!" Alphonse replies.

With that the two begins to spar as Armstrong, Ella, and Pinako who came out watch the two.

"It'll get quiet around here." Pinako comments.

"Yes."

~Night~

After eating last dinner with the Rockbells and Ella, Edward passes out on the couch with his stomach exposed from beneath his shirt.

"He's sleeping with stomach out again. Seriously…" Alphonse sighs as Ella retrieves a blanket to cover Edward with.

"You're like his guardian, Al." Pinako points out.

"It's a pain having such a needy brother."

"How old are you boys now?"

"I'm fourteen, and nii-san is fifteen. Oh yeah, you're eighteen right, onee-chan?"

"That's right." Ella confirms.

"He's so short, the same age as me, and they call him a human weapon?" Winry sits at the edge of the couch. "Look now defenseless he is right now."

"Thanks a lot, you two." Alphonse says.

"What's this formality all of a sudden?"

"You've welcome us as family. I'm really thankful of you two. He may not say it, but nii-san feels the same way."

"Al…"

"Hey, we know. You don't need to say it." Pinako says.

"Granny… Winry…"

"Al." Ella calls. "I already said this to Ed, no matter what form you take, you two are my precious little brothers."

"Onee-chan… Thank you."

At the doorway, Armstrong overhears their conversation and cries with a handkerchief to wipe the tears away.

~Next morning~
Outside

All dressed up, Edward pulls down his gloves to cover the metal hand and stands in front of Pinako and Ella with Alphonse and Armstrong behind him.

"Thanks for everything, Granny." He says.

"Sure." Pinako replies.

"You better take care of yourselves, Ed. Al." Ella tells them.

"Yeah." Edward replies.

"Huh? Where's Winry?" Alphonse asks.

"Her last few nights have all been all-nighters, so I bet she's exhausted. Want me to go wake her up?" Pinako asks.

"Nah, don't worry about it. She'll just keep on ranting about maintenance and all that stuff." Edward says as he walks away and Alphonse and Armstrong follow him. "Later."

"Hey, you two." Pinako calls out. "Stop by for a meal every once in a while, will ya?"

"If you do, I'll make your favorites." Ella adds.

"We will." Alphonse replies.

"Coming to a place so deep in the mountains jut for a meal? Well, nee-chan's food is good."

Ella and Pinako smile at Edward's comment when they hear Winry voice.

"Ed, Al." They see Winry lying on the railing all dazed with her hair all messed up. "Have a safe trip…"

Edward stares at her for the moment before turning around as he rubs his head and brings his hand up.

"Yup!" He replies as he, Alphonse, and Armstrong go on their way to the station as the other three watch them go.

~Later~
Late afternoon

When Ella comes back into the house after her practice, she hears footsteps from the stairway and sees Winry coming down with her rubbing her eyes.

"Did you get a good sleep, Winry?" Ella asks.

"Yeah… I slept for the whole day." Winry replies and goes to the table full of the leftover from putting the automail limbs into Edward. "Seriously… this place turns into a battlefield whenever he comes."

"It couldn't be helped. When they come back, it always end up for them to be beaten up." Ella points out.

"But Ella-nee…" When Winry picked up a piece of metal, she notice a screw with a label and picks it up to look at it closer.

"What's wrong?" Ella asks.

Recognizing the screw, she turns to her as she puts her other hand on her head. "Whoops?"