Here is chapter two! I want to thank you all for reading! It means a lot to me; I hope you enjoyed chapter one, and I am willing to take an incorporate any suggestions you may have! I know the basic route the story will be taking, but I need ideas for how these events will take place. I appreciate the support from anyone who has read or reviewed!
Time had flown since Alphonse and May had arrived to stay with the elder Elric and his bride, for this day was only forty eight hours prior to the upcoming ceremony.
More people had come to help prepare for the occasion, and some came due to the lengthy trip not coordinating with the train schedules. This meant that the home of Pinako and her granddaughter was crammed with visitors.
All available places to sleep had been occupied, and things were becoming quite hectic...
The Elric's teacher, Izumi Curtis, along with her husband had arrived several days ago. Though they didn't live terribly far from Resembool compared to some, Izumi's relationship with Edward, and Al, was one of a mother and child, so she wanted to spend time with the boys prior to the wedding, for after that, Ed and Winry would be away, and Al would return to the east again.
Shortly after the teacher had arrived, another bunch of familiar faces were greeted. Roy Mustang, Riza Hawkeye, and the family of Maes Hughes, Gracia and Elicia, had all arrived from Central together. It was nice seeing those whom the brothers had not maintained contact with; however, the home had grown hectic as it was beyond its capacity for housing humans.
- the morning before everyone arrived -
The early morning sun had just risen, and everyone in the house, minus Pinako who was out for the current time, was sitting around the table eating breakfast that Winry had whipped up.
"Teacher's coming today, right brother?" Al, who had been visiting for a little over a week now, asked the older Elric.
"Yeah," Ed replied while scarfing down his meal, "she'll be here sometime this afternoon; Colonel Mustang and the lieutenant are coming, too."
Winry turned to him, but before she finished the mouthful she was chewing to address the concern Ed had induced, Alphonse spoke again. "Isn't he a brigadier general now?"
"Yeah, whatever," Ed snorted over the promotion, "either way, they're coming to stay, too."
"What do you mean they are staying?" Winry finally asked after swallowing her food.
"Mustang told me that since Hawkeye is pregnant now, he doesn't want to stress her out by trying to rush here," Ed said with confusion towards Winry's accusatory tone, "so I told him that they could come a few days before."
"But Mrs. Hughes and Elicia are coming to stay today; I told you that, didn't I?" Winry asked. "And with your teacher and her husband, we aren't going to have enough room for everyone!"
Edward abruptly stopped chewing. "Well... We're going to have to make room..." He resolved, though Winry was still distressed.
"Where? Al and May are in the spare room; Mrs. Izumi and Mr. Sig are going to stay in the room you're in, and I was going to let Mrs. Hughes and Elicia sleep in my room," Winry went over the preset plans that were currently in ruin, "we can't make Grandma give up her room, and there are only two couches; one for me and one for you... And we can't make someone pregnant sleep in a chair, and I'm sure that she and General Mustang will want to sleep with each other since they're married-"
"Winry," Ed cut in her rapidly increasing panic, "we'll figure it out. Don't worry about it; we've dealt with worse circumstances before." His words helped her relax, but his smile was the charm allowing her to fully believe that he was right.
Before another hour passed, Izumi and Sig were knocking on the Rockbell's front door. Though this teacher had seen her former disciples within the last year, she was eager to see them again, for to her, they were like the children she was prohibited from conceiving.
"Hello, teacher." Edward opened the door and offered his greeting before stepping aside, allowing her and Sig space to enter the house.
"Ed," Izumi smiled warmly at her student, "you've gotten taller..." Instead if congratulating the young man on his engagement, his height was the first thing she commented on due to the significant difference.
"I am," the eldest Elric grinned widely, proud of his growth, "now it looks like you can't call me short anymore, since I'm taller than you now."
Before Ed could continue to speak of his superior physical status, Al came out to the front room. "Teacher!" He exclaimed, happy to see the woman after two long years.
"Alphonse, you look great," Izumi noted, for she had not seen him since his immediate return from within the gate, "just like your old self," she added, "but a little older and taller."
"Yeah," Alphonse replied, "it took a while, but I'm feeling great now. It's nice to be able to enjoy the simple things we take for granted; I have so much more appreciation for everything now." Though his physical body had deteriorated while being locked within the gate, Alphonse's soul was still bright and warm, just like their teacher remembered.
"It's good to know that you are well," the woman turned back to the elder brother, "and I appreciate you letting us stay here, Ed; it's difficult to believe that you are getting married in just a few days..." It truly was a strange feeling; Izumi had taken in and trained these boys when they were still prepubescent children, so to imagine one taking on a wife was quite odd, even though she had witnessed them complete much greater feats.
"You'll be staying in the room that I've been sleeping in," Edward Elric told the woman and her large husband, "it's not that great, but it should work for a few days."
"I'm sure it will work out just fine; come on, honey," she turned to the burly, bearded man standing slightly behind her, "let's take our bags up."
"I'll show you which room it is," Al offered helpfully before leading the two Curtis's to the top level. Once they were cleared from the entryway, Ed went to sit down on the arm chair.
"I see Mrs. Izumi and Mr. Sig got here," Winry came into the room several minutes later, "I heard them come in, but I didn't want to interrupt your conversation."
"You wouldn't have," Ed replied, "have you come up with any ideas about where to put everyone else?"
"I think that we should give Mrs. Riza and the general my room," she mused; it would be insulting to make a pregnant woman sleep elsewhere, even though she was a soldier used to much worse, "but as for Mrs. Gracia and Elicia, I have no clue... It would be rude to make them sleep on one of the couches, and that would mean you would have to sleep on the floor, too."
"We could make Al sleep somewhere else," Edward suggested, "there are twin beds in that room, so Mrs. Gracia can sleep in there, and Al can sleep down here in a chair or something."
"And what about Elicia?" He had forgotten to assign a place for her.
"She's small; we can figure that out later," the young man brushed the topic aside, "she'll be able to fit anywhere we put her."
"People didn't used to that to you when you were way shorter," Winry mentioned, "so you should repay that favor."
The only reason Edward did not explode about being much shorter than the average human was due to the fact that he had grown quite a bit, making him average size. However, Winry's comment did strike a nerve since he was offended so many times during his pipsqueak stage.
"I know it's not ideal," Ed commented on the topic if sleeping arrangements rather than his previous stature, "but we don't have room for everyone to stay here comfortably, so we'll have to squeeze whoever we can wherever they will fit."
"That's true..." A heavy sigh came from the blond female. "Well, since you were so willing to volunteer Alphonse, you can join him in the floor. That way, there will be one more open sofa, and everyone visiting will be somewhat comfortable."
"I think they will," Ed responded casually, "it's not like anyone expects to be staying at a fancy hotel."
Winry smiled at her fiancée; he always knew how to help her relax... though they did disagree and argue over quite a few things.
Edward raised himself from his chair and took his soon-to-be bride in his arms, enjoying the feel of her warmth with his flesh limb.
Their tender embrace was cut short when the there was knocking at the door once again. This time, however, four faces were just beyond the barrier of wood.
It was Winry's turn to greet the guests, so she moved away from Ed to the door. "Hi! It's so nice to see you all again!"
Standing on the porch were Roy Mustang, Riza Hawkeye, (though now that she had been married to Roy, she would be Riza Mustang) Gracia Hughes, and Elicia Hughes. Since they were all coming from Central, it was not unexpected for the two families to arrive at one time.
"Please, come in." Miss Rockbell said, stepping aside to let them enter. Both she and Ed took note of the distinct changes in the group. The most notable being Riza's protruding stomach. She and General Mustang had married about a year and a half after the Promise Day and gotten pregnant only months after that. The Hawk's Eye, as many referred to her as, was now in her second trimester.
Along with this change, Riza now had much shorter hair; it had returned to the length it was prior to her joining of the military.
"Colonel," Ed said from across the room, "you've grown a mustache." He observed, examining the facial hair of his former superior officer.
"You've also grown, Fullmetal," Roy remarked on Ed's height, "and it's general, now."
"I'm not an alchemist any more," Ed replied, "so don't call me Fullmetal."
"If you stop calling me Colonel, I'll stop calling you Fullmetal." Roy bargained as if they were children swapping treats from their lunch bags, and Ed nodded in agreement to the offer.
"Congratulations to the both of you," Riza said with a smile. She had known for quite some time that Ed had developed romantic feelings for this girl, so it pleased her to know that he had spoken his mind to her.
"Thank you," Winry replied kindly.
"Yes, congratulations," Gracia added while Winry pushed the front door shut, "this is very exciting for the two of you."
"Thank you; how have you two been?" Winry asked as she looked down to see Elicia; this little girl had also grown significantly in the previous two years. "I'm sorry I haven't come to visit in a long time; it's been busy around here with all of our automail customers."
"Don't worry about that, dear," Mrs. Hughes replied kindly, "we've been doing well, and I'm glad to hear that your work has been successful."
"A lot of the customers I had in Rush Valley while I was working under Mr. Garfiel have been making appointments here," the young blond informed them, "it's been nice having so many people wanting me to make their automail."
"So Ed," Mustang began while Winry and Gracia continued to chat, "where should we put our things?"
Edward scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "Well... I'm not sure yet... We kind of invited more people than we have room for."
"That's okay, Ed," Riza said, "I'm sure it will work out somehow."
Winry caught onto the conversation about sleeping arrangements. "We came up with a few different options, but it will be a squeeze no matter what we do. I'm really sorry about that."
"We will be fine wherever you put us," Gracia noted, "we're all thankful that you are having us." This was true for everyone; they all agreed that having the opportunity to reminisce and catch up with the Elrics was more important than being one hundred percent comfortable.
- present time (two days before the wedding) -
The sun was slowly starting to creep over the horizon, taking its rightful place above the land. The dull light shining through sheer curtains was not enough to wake anyone, so the household was silent.
The eleven people located within the Rockbell home were still in deep slumber, even with the conditions being less than ideal...
Pinako was still located in her room, but everyone else was placed randomly about the home. Winry's room contained Mrs. Hughes and Elicia; originally, Roy and Riza were assigned this room, but the Hawk's Eye insisted that Roy should sleep on a couch rather than one of the other women, which Mustang agreed with.
In the room Ed tended to sleep in, Izumi and Sig slept. The bed was large enough for this giant man and his wife, so it made sense for this couple to take it. Al and May had been sleeping in the room with the twin beds, but that also changed. May was still in there, but Riza slept on the other bed.
Downstairs was just a mess of people... Ed had originally started out by sleeping on the floor directly in front of the couch Winry was on, but when the girl for up in the middle of one night and tripped over him, he moved to the other side of the room. Now, he and Al were in close proximity to one another. They would have spread out, but this room was the only one with carpeting, so they managed to cram themselves around the furniture.
Mustang claimed the couch that formed an L with the other. It was a bit short for him to stretch out on, but he managed to get comfortable and doze off. Unfortunately for the others on this floor, he snored throughout the night, making rest nearly impossible for them...
"Hey!" Edward, who was thoroughly annoyed by his former officer's snores, quietly shouted. "Mustang, wake up! You're being really loud!"
Roy's eyes opened a fraction to stare icily towards Ed. "I'm trying to sleep... quiet down..." He grumbled at the former alchemist.
This unsettled the blond male, but he didn't want to wake Winry, who had somehow managed to fall asleep while Mustang growled in his sleep. Instead of trying to wake up the man, Ed decided to go out to the kitchen and grab some food rather than continue to become enraged over Roy's obnoxious wheezing.
To his surprise, there was some light radiating out to the hall from the kitchen as Ed moved closer to that room. There was also the sound of some quiet rustling; perhaps someone was going through the cabinets to find a snack.
"Oh, hey Al," Ed said as his brother made a sandwich on the counter, "I didn't hear you come in here; what are you doing up?"
"General Mustang is pretty loud," Alphonse sighed, "so I came to get some food. I'm guessing that you're here for the same reason?"
"Yeah. I can't believe Winry fell asleep with that... it's ridiculous," he said quietly so no one would wake up from their conversation, "he's so loud, and then he got mad at me when I tried to wake him up."
Al chuckled lightly at the thought; Mustang always did seem to turn things around on Ed, even petty things such as this...
"So Al, do you have any plans to get married?" Ed asked as he slowly ate a plain piece of bread, for he was too tired to actually whip up anything.
"Uh..." Alphonse hesitated before answering. "Maybe... Probably..."
His response made Ed laugh a little. "It's weird to think about, you know? It wasn't that long ago that I became the youngest state alchemist, and now, I'm about to marry Winry."
"It is kind of strange..." Al mused. "But it was pretty obvious for a few years that this would happen."
"What are you talking about?" Edward had not realized his feelings or Wirny's feelings for him until rather recently, which was understandable considering his prior task of reuniting Al's soul and body.
"Winry liked you for a long time; it was pretty obvious," Al responded, "that was back when you were still shorter than her."
"And you didn't tell me that?" The older one asked in an accusing tone.
"It really doesn't matter now..." Alphonse smiled guiltily, feeling as if he was keeping a secret from his brother.
"I guess that's true." Ed shrugged it off and continued to eat another piece of bread.
"So brother, where are we going to sleep?" Al threw out his trash after taking the last bite of his sandwich. "There's no way either of us will be able to sleep with the general being so noisy."
"I have no clue..." Ed heaved a tired sigh, wanting to return to a state if slumber. "It's kinda funny though, isn't it? When we didn't have places to stay while we traveled, we had to find the most obscure areas to rest, but I always fell asleep with no trouble. And now, Mustang's snoring is keeping us up."
"That's sort of sad... My body didn't need sleep, but I can remember you sleeping through a lot more noise than just someone snoring." The food was returned to the cupboards while Alphonse spoke.
"I guess we better find somewhere to lay down, huh?" Ed stretched his arms above his head; it was still relatively early, and both brothers had been up before the sun thanks to Roy, so finding somewhere peaceful to rest sounded like a good option.
Chapter three is coming out on the 18th! I hope you continue to read! Thanks again for the support I have received from you! Please continue to review; it inspires me to write more! :)