I like how I said 'and the chapters should be updated a lot quicker' in the last chapter...
Well I fail. Ha-ha.
"You're kidding," Edward grumbled as he stuffed his mouth with a piece of bread. "No way will I let that happen." He glared at Roy who sat on the opposite side of the table, who shrugged his shoulders.
Roy took a slight sip from his coffee and set the cup down, staring down at the steaming light brown liquid. "Even if you like it or not, you're still a part of the military. Just because you went missing in action doesn't mean that you got kicked out." He grinned evilly at Edward. "Just think of all the fun times you had with the Military."
"Yeah, and boy did I love being the dog of the Military," sighed Edward, then wiped his mouth on the backside of his hand. "I won't officially announce my name to the public until I know that Alphonse is here." He looked back at Roy, eyeing him suspiciously. "Are you going to try to recruit him?"
"Only if he wants to," Roy answered back.
"There is no harm in being in the Military," Riza said, walking into the kitchen. "We are in a time of peace right now and you won't have Military officers constantly nagging at you. You'll be able to do as you please unless commanded otherwise."
"I have a perfect place to assign you, but I won't say until after you're welcomed back," Roy said. He stood up and chugged down the remaining remnants of his coffee.
"What type of welcome back are you thinking of?" Edward asked slowly.
"You'll see," Roy said, putting both hands in pockets. "Alphonse should be here later today. You can meet him at the train station at 4 o'clock. Rose Thomas has decided to accompany him. Give them both my greetings." Roy turned to go. "Report to my office by 5 o'clock and bring what you have with you. You're going to stay in a Military dorm so Riza can have her house back."
"Alright," Edward replied. He watched both Riza and Roy leave, and then stood up when the door closed. "4 o'clock, huh..." It's strange, he thought, how Alphonse ended up all the way over there. It just doesn't make sense. He walked out of the room and sat in the living room, glancing up at the clock. They had several hours until they had to go pick up Alphonse. He twiddled his thumbs impatiently and turned his head toward the bedroom door that opened.
"Noa, you awake?" He asked, smelling the clean smell of a shower.
"Ja," came a hesitant voice. "I don't like the clothes that Riza gave me."
"Did she give you pants or something?" Edward asked.
Noa walked out of the room, clad in loose black Capri's and a form fitting white t-shirt. "It's too different," she said.
Edward laughed lightly. "It's fine. Clothes are different here, but I'm sure you'll get used to it. Do you have a jacket? I was thinking of walking around town for a little bit. I don't like being stuck in a room for too long."
"Won't they recognize you?" Noa said, knowing that his automail arm would be obvious. He was dressed in black pants and a red long sleeve shirt, with currently bare feet. "I thought you didn't want..."
He shrugged. "It'll be fine. I'll just wear a cap. Now, how about Winry? Is she awake?"
Noa nodded. "Ja, but she's still lying in her sleeping bag."
"I'll go get her up," Edward sighed. "Go ahead and grab a bite to eat." He passed by Noa and went into the room and slowly walked to where Winry was laying on the ground, arm over face, probably trying to block out the light. "Winry!" He whispered and kneeled down beside her.
She mumbled something intolerable in reply.
"Winry," he repeated, though lengthening the syllables. "Get up!" He poked her arm and watched her do nothing. He sighed. "Yo, automail freak." Quickly a wrench was taken from under the pillow and landed briskly on his head. He gave a yelp and landed backwards on his behind, rubbing his sore head.
"What do you want?" Winry asked, a bit of anger in her voice, though Edward sensed that the anger was leftover from two days ago from when he had first woken up. She was still angry at him.
Edward got up and sat on the bed next to them and leaned over, put his elbows on his knees and put his hands together. "I'm really sorry for what I said two days ago," Edward said, looking down at the ground.
"Ah, now you're sorry. I see," Winry muttered. She sat up and placed the wrench back under the pillow. "You know, I had given up on you returning. Or at least tried to. I thought... that if you had ever returned, you'd be happy."
"I am happy," Edward cut in. "But you have to realize that I'm still upset at once again switching worlds. I plan to never go back to Germany. But I also said 'I can never go back to Amestris' when I got to Germany. I don't know what will happen in the future," Edward whispered. "But somehow I got through that gate and no sacrifice was made as far as I know. Hans hasn't been found, so maybe he was the sacrifice. I just don't know."
"Well, can you make me a promise?" Winry said, sitting down next to him. At Edward's nod, she continued, "Promise to never go back. To anywhere." She laughed quietly, but it sounded sad. "I'm getting tired of explaining everything to Granny."
Edward laughed. "Fine, I promise." Truth is, is that he felt something was once again going to happen... for good or bad, he didn't know. Winry was a friend and he was tired of hurting her. "Anyways, it's too early in the morning to discuss this. Now that I got you less upset, we're going to go walk around town. You have some automail you wanted to sell, right?"
"Ugh," Winry sighed. So far she hadn't been able to sell one piece of automail. They had all admired her work, but they said they needed no more parts. Central was a place where many people sold lots and lots of automail. Maybe living out in Resembool was the best place to sell it for the people who lived out there... She shook her head. She came here to sell, not complain. The automail she had made was made for people of average size and it should sell quite well. She headed into the next shop, telling Edward and Noa that she would be back quickly.
"It's almost four," Edward told Noa. "Alphonse is coming with a woman whose name is Rose. She sort of looks like you."
"Really?" Noa asked. "That'll be interesting."
Edward leaned against the window, nodding. "She also has a child... though I never learned the name of him. He should be around... seven, maybe?" He shrugged.
A siren sounded off and a car passed quickly by them, with some people running after it. "I wonder what the commotion is..." He walked quickly after a man and grabbed his sleeve. "What's going on?"
The man turned back to look at him and stopped walking. "A man was found lying on the ground and he appears to be sick. Apparently he speaks a language that no one understands and he's beginning to freak out a lot of people."
Hans? "In what way?" Edward asked.
"He seems to be shouting out a name Edward Elric, the Alchemist who disappeared five years ago. Everyone knows that the Alchemist is gone, yet this man seems to be insisting that he's alive, which he says in English," said the man. "Now excuse me, I want to go see what's happening."
"Great," Edward muttered. It's definitely Hans. At least he's alive. He motioned to Noa and Winry who just walked out to follow him, and he started running at a fast pace. Quickly he passed the man and noticed the car stop a few blocks ahead of him. He picked up his pace and was there in half a minute. He slowed down and caught his breath as he gazed at Hans lying down against a building, wearing very dirty clothes and his hair was messy. The police was surrounding him, ready to put him on a stretcher.
"Wait a minute!" Edward called out and walked his way up to the policemen. "I know this man." He kneeled down beside Hans and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Hans? Are you alright?"
"I feel sick, Edward," Hans muttered and held his stomach.
"Yeah, passing through the gate can do that to you," Edward said. "Here, I'll take you into this restaurant. A drink should help you."
Hans nodded and accepted the hand that Edward held out.
"He's alright," Edward said to the policemen. "He's just nauseated. I'll make sure he gets home safely."
"Hans!" Noa ran up, shouting his name. She grabbed him in a hug and quickly released him, gazing worriedly at his sweaty face. "You're alive! I'm so glad!"
"Of course I'm alive," Hans grumbled at her.
Noa grabbed his arm and helped Edward bring him into restaurant. The policemen slowly backed off, confused. One policeman took a step forward hesitantly, "Edward Elric, sir?"
Edward ignored him. "Well, thanks to you Hans, they now know it's me," he muttered to Hans.
"How long did you think it would take them to find out, Ed? Your golden eyes are unmistakable and all your blonde hair isn't hidden much from that cap. What's up with the cap anyways? It's strange," Hans muttered back, sitting quickly down in the nearest chair.
"It's called a beanie," Edward sighed. He turned to Winry, who was trying to catch her breath. "Winry, this is Hans. Hans, this is Winry. Use your English." He walked off to order some hot food and water.
"My English isn't very good," Hans sighed, but looked up at slightly confused Winry through bleary and unfocused eyes. "Pleased to meet you, Winry," he held out a wobbly hand and shook her hand once as firmly as he could, then let it fall to his side. "A glass of water, anything?"
"Here," Edward came back and handed a glass to him. "Drink slowly."
Hans complied and drank until it was half full. "So we're in your world, huh Ed? How'd we get here?"
"I thought you would be able to explain that," Edward sighed angrily. "And how do you know it's my world?"
"I was just slightly kidding," Hans said, cursing at himself for letting that slip. "So... we are in a different world? You're joking, right?"
Edward shook his head. "Nope. And you're probably stuck here for the rest of your life, Hans. I'll explain everything later to you."
"Right," Hans mumbled. He watched as some food was placed in front of him a few minutes later and slowly took a sip of the soup. Ah, it felt so good to eat after two days without food... Halfway into eating his food, he took notice of a presence not there. Hmm... Alphonse was gone. He'd not ask where he was now...
"Are you well enough to walk some distance?" Noa asked him after he was done eating. "We have to pick up Alphonse from the train station."
"Yes, I noticed he had gone. I think I can walk a bit, but I want to sleep once we pick him up," Hans said and stood up. "Let's go."
Edward looked outside the window and sighed. "Why are all those people waiting by the door?"
"The news got out that Edward Elric has returned," Winry said. "A lot of people admire you, Ed, for going back and 'sacrificing' yourself to close the gate and stop the machines from coming into Amestris."
"I don't exactly care if I have their admiration. Well, let's go," Edward opened the door and brushed past all the people. "This is crazy," he mumbled to himself. Sure, his long hair wasn't all that contained by his hat and his automail hand was visible. The people dwindled off after he past them, and the group continued their walk to the train station.
"How do you feel to be back in Central, Al?" Rose asked, stepping next to him by the train.
Alphonse scratched his brown hair and laughed. "I'm very happy, actually. I lived four years of my life basically in and out of Central and I can actually feel at home here." He picked up the luggage and gazed down at the boy that stood next to Rose. "Are you excited to be in Central for the first time you'll remember, Kain?"
"Yep!" Kain, Rose's son, said. He looked up to his mother. "Are we going to meet the Full Metal Alchemist now?"
Rose laughed and patted her son's head. "Yes, we are." She smiled fondly at him and let her eyes flicker up and look around at the faces around her.
"Al!" the voice of Edward called out.
"Hey Ed!" Alphonse shouted eagerly back. He walked towards his brother and grinned at him. "How are you?"
"I should be asking you that," Edward said and crossed his arms. "I'm fine, and so is Noa. We found Hans not too long ago." Edward motioned behind him to Hans who was walking up beside Noa and Winry.
"Guten tag Al!" Hans said, shaking hands with him. Noa did the same, except hugged him lightly.
"Tag Hans und Noa!" Alphonse turned to Winry. "Hello Winry, what are you doing here in Central?"
"Selling automail," Winry shrugged. "Hey Rose, I'm happy to see you!" She and Rose hugged and Winry turned to Kain. "You've grown a lot since I've seen you!"
Kain grinned up at her. "How do you do, Miss Winry?"
"Wow, Rose really does look like Noa," Alphonse commented once he saw the two women next to each other. He introduced them to each other and they shook hands. Rose walked up to Edward and grinned at him.
"It's been awhile, Ed," she said.
"Yeah, it has. Is that your son?" Edward asked. At Rose's nod, he held out his hand to the boy. "Hey Kain, I'm Edward Elric."
"So the Full Metal Alchemist did return!" Kain said joyfully.
"Isn't this just the happy reunion," came the sarcastic voice of Jean Havoc. He took the cigarette out of his mouth and blew out the smoke. "Long time no see. I've been given orders to drive you up to the Military." He opened the door. "Get in, though it's going to be a tight fit."
Roy watched as the Edward, Alphonse, and Hans piled into his office and he motioned for them to sit down in the seats he had prepared. He gazed at the man that stood next to Edward, frowning at him. Something wasn't right about him... he shrugged and stood up, shaking hands with the man. "I'm Roy Mustang."
"Hans," the man said.
Roy turned to look at Edward and Alphonse. "So... dates have been set and invitations have been made," Roy grinned. "Welcome back, boys."
"Wait, wait, wait! What date or invitations?" Edward asked. "Is it a welcome back party or something?"
"Of course! You're allowed to invite five friends and all higher-ups and people under my jurisdiction are coming to the party. It's next Saturday," Roy said. "Ed, since you're still in the Military, you'll get a new uniform. You're not a young boy anymore so you have to follow Military dress code. After you leave, talk to my secretary and she'll take your measurements.
"I've already sent an article about your return to the press; the whole city will know that you've returned by morning. We know that it may not be smart letting whoever brought you over here know that you're alive, but your name is bound to come out sooner or later, like it did this afternoon. Just be on your guard. Alphonse?"
"Uh, yes?" Alphonse quickly said.
"Do you wish to join the Military or not? Don't worry, I'll let you think it over as long as you want to. But we'd be happy to have you with us," Roy continued speaking without stopping. "Now, the three of you best leave and prepare to dress nice and bring a date to the party. Those three women out there are beautiful; I'd suggest that you'd pick one of them. Arrive at the front door at a little before six; the party doesn't start until then. Oh, and learn a few dance moves, it might help. For now your mission is to find how you guys got over here. We don't want another war." He ushered the two speechless men out of his room, laughing at their confused faces. He turned to Hans and put a hand on his shoulder, ushering him out. "The same applies to you. Got all that?"
"Yeah," Hans replied. "No worries."
"Good! I'm also glad that there is no complaining..."
"But-"Edward said, regaining his voice.
"I take that back. Go on Edward, you have a lot of planning ahead of you. Here's four keys; go to Room 106 in the Military dorms and that'll be yours for now. The ladies have the room right across from it, Room 107. Here are the keys. I'll see you next Saturday," Roy said, smiling evilly at them. He shut the door to his office and the hallway was silent.
"Um," Alphonse laughed nervously. "That was interesting. But come on brother, we need to get your measurements and head to the bank to grab some money."
"Right," Edward said hesitantly. "Is it just me, or does Mustang enjoy ruining my life?"
"The latter," Alphonse shrugged. "Don't worry about it."
Edward followed Alphonse to the secretary, cursing the Colonel. A party... and with dancing? Yeah right... What was that blockhead thinking?
Haha I love Roy Mustang and his character! It's so fun to write him! (Yet I don't have any stories that only focus on him, hmm)
Though I do have a FMA one shot coming out, currently untitled, but it's half completed. I'm writing it to be my 30th story on here. Yipee!
Hoped you enjoyed :)