Man it took a long time to get this chapter out. Sorry about that, I'll try to be more on time from now on. Computer broke, couldn't update anything for like a month, you know the drill. Hope this chapter is satisfying.

Disclaimer- Don't own Full Metal Alchemist

Chapter 3

Selim woke up extremely early the next morning, super excited for the day and very glad for the lack of nightmares. It was only seven am though, so he knew the his mother wouldn't be up and that Al wouldn't be here yet, so he decided to try and amuse himself in his room for at least an hour before he went downstairs. That was a rather difficult task though when the only thing he wanted was for the time to hurry up and pass so he could leave.

Finally, after skimming through three books, messing with the toys on his shelf, waking up shadow, organizing his bookshelf and then unorganizing it again, exactly one hour past and he almost bounced down the stares.

His mother still wasn't up, but she probably would be soon, and in the meantime he could try and make himself some breakfast. Now, Selim had never actually tried to cook before, but he'd watched his mother do it plenty of times, and it didn't look that hard. Plus, for the first time since he woke up, he realized he was hungry. He must have been too excited and busy trying to occupy himself to notice before.

Taking some bread out of the bread loaf bag thing, the black haired boy decided to make some toast. People always said that was really easy, and he didn't want to start out with anything too hard. Putting four pieces in the toaster, he pushed down the button thing and went over to the fridge to poor himself a drink. He'd managed to before without spilling anything, and was very careful to do it the same exact way as then. Putting the lid back onto the orange juice, the toast popped up, startling him a bit. He decided to just eat it without butter. He didn't like it that much anyway, and couldn't find any knives in the first place.

Eating his breakfast he began hearing the noises that signaled his mother waking up. He was usually up before her, but stayed in his room until she was awake. Hearing her come down the stares, he wondered if she would be proud of him for making breakfast all by himself this morning. It just dawned on his that this would be the first time he was ever away from her, and suddenly wasn't very sure if he wanted to go.

"Mother! I made myself breakfast!" the young boy said excitedly, not letting any of his sudden indecision about leaving show on his face. Mrs. Bradley smiled warmly at her son, and complimented him on what a good job he'd done. That made Selim's face light up like a light, he always loved getting compliments from her.

"So dear, are you excited about visiting Risembool? Mr. Alphonse and I talked yesterday after you went upstairs, he said you could stay for two weeks, although if you want to come home before that it'd be perfectly fine. How does that sound?" His mother asked. He knew that the part about coming home before then was probably Al trying to keep his mother from worrying, but it helped him too. He could do two weeks. It would be fun, and if Ed really wanted him to leave or something, then he would. It wouldn't be because he was homesick though. No, it would be fun.

"That sounds great mother! When will Mr. Al get here? What time does the train leave?" He asked hyperly. His mother laughed slightly before answering.

"What time is it, eight? He'll be here in about an hours. The train leaves at ten thirty, so why don't you go make yourself presentable," She told him, and the black haired boy nodded happily before running off to his room to do as she said.

An hour before he could leave. His earlier uneasiness about the trip forgotten in his excitement, he quickly put on a blue short sleeved collard shirt, tan shorts, and a simple dark blue hat. Almost all of his clothes had collared and were generally 'nice,' he didn't have that many play clothes, not that he minded.

After he got dressed he went through his suitcase again. Nothing seemed to be missing, his mother made sure of that. Shadow was asleep on the bed, so Selim sat down next to the old cat and pulled her into his lap. He wondered if cats were allowed on trains.

After sixty minutes of pacing around the house, Selim heard a knock on the front door and ran to open it. He could hear his mother coming from whatever part of the house she was in, but he got there long before her. Opening the door, he saw Al smiling down at him, hands in his pockets.

"Hey there, are you ready to go?" The older man asked kindly. Selim nodded before opening the door wider to let him inside. His mother walked in at that time and greeted Alphonse kindly. "Why don't you go get everything you need while your mother and I get everything situated," The young adult suggested, and Selim nearly flew up the stairs in reply.

Looking at the two luggage holders in his room, the black haired child tried to think of a way to bring both down at the same time. Maybe he could put the duffle bag on top of the suitcase, but when ever he tried to move it the bag made a habit of falling off. Frowning in annoyance, he lifted the bag in his arms. He'd just take them down one at a time if it was going to be like that. Walking down the stairs bag in hand, he stopped upon hearing his mother's voice. He knew it was wrong to ease drop, but with everybody in his life always being so tightlipped, it was the only choice sometimes if he was going to learn anything.

"Are you sure this is a good idea? What if something happens and he-" his mother started, but Al cut her off before she could finish her sentence.

"Nothing will happen, I promise. It's not good for him to be locked up all the time. Now, I'm not saying we should just give him free range and then act surprised when something does happen, but that if we shelter him too much, it might have the same effect," Mr. Alphonse told his mother. There was no doubt in his mind that they were talking about him, he just wondered for how long he should hide.

"I guess you're right, but please keep a good eye on him. If anything happens…" Mrs. Bradley trailed off, and Selim wished he knew what they were talking about. It didn't sound good in the least.

"I know, don't worry, I wont let anything happen as much as you would. He's grown on me, you know? If anything were to happen, I'll protect him until there was no other option, and hey, it's only two weeks! Who said anything will happen, it'll probably be just a fun vacation for him, nothing else," Al said that last part happily, changing the tone of the conversation from one of worried anticipation to calm happiness. Selim could hear his mother sigh from behind the staircase.

"I suppose that's true. Now, he should be down soon, oh, here he is," His mother said happily, turning towards her son as he stepped into the room. He made sure to force a smile onto his face before walking in with the bag. He wasn't suppose to hear what he just had, and was silently thanking whatever god there was that he was such a good actor.

"I could only bring one down at a time," He said quickly before running back towards the stairs to grab the other suitcase with the excitement from before dulled down quite a bit. Dragging the suitcase down the stairs he tried to ignore the banging it made when it hit each step. Soon he was at the bottom and smiling to the two happy looking adults in front of him. It dawned on the black haired boy that he wasn't the only one good at acting, and it bothered him. Why were two of the people he trusted the most in his life hiding stuff from him now?

"When can we go? Can I bring shadow?" Selim asked cheerfully, trying to push back any more suspicious thoughts. This was suppose to be a fun trip.

"Well, I don't think you can take shadow this time, but I'm sure your mother will take good care of her while you're gone. And we can leave as soon as you're ready, so if you just want to say goodbye to your mom and shadow then we can be off," Al said happily. The black haired boy was a bit disappointed that he couldn't bring his ever present cat, but turned excitedly towards his mother anyway and gave her a hug.

"Goodbye mother I promise I'll be good! Please take care of shadow and make sure she has food and doesn't get lonely without me!" He said quickly and his mother gave another one of her laughs and hugged him back.

"Alright sweetie, make sure you listen to whatever Mr. Alphonse tells you and don't get into any trouble," She told him kindly and Selim nodded before picking up his cat and telling it basically the same thing his mother just finished telling him.

Once the goodbyes were finished Al promised once again that he would take good care of Selim, and the two headed out the door. They were walking to the train station, which didn't surprise the young boy in the least. His mother wouldn't of been so willing to let him go if Al had been going to drive him. For someone amazing at so many complicated things, it was almost funny at how something that most people picked up so easily eluded him.

On the way to the station Selim asked endless questions about Risembool. Sure, he'd heard about the small town in the east all his life, but that didn't mean he didn't want to know more. Not to mention he didn't want to seem suspicious, especially since his mind was actually elsewhere at the moment. Al didn't seem to notice anything though, answering his questions with almost as much excitement as he had in asking them.

When the train station came into view he was almost bouncing with excitement, not all of it faked. Sure, what he's heard earlier was a bit unnerving, but that didn't change the fact that this was his first time traveling anywhere far.

The two got onto the train after handing the conductor man or who ever it was their tickets. (Ed had left earlier that morning on a different train, Al having stayed behind to escort Selim.) The black haired boy sat across from Alphonse and stared out the window as the train began to move. Slowly at first, but quickly picking up speed. He couldn't keep the smile off his face as the thoughts of his overheard conversation faded into the background like the quickly passing trees.

And that's it for chapter three. Things will start picking up hopefully next chapter.

Well, to anyone who's read this far, please review.