"So the Higher-ups that are assumed to be a part of the fifth laboratory plan die or turn up missing." Edward said looking through the files Hughes brought.
"Well that's an efficient way to tie up loose ends…"Esmè mumbled leaning closer from her standing spot between Winry and Lieutenant Hughes.
"Yet the criminal you had drawn with the Ouroboros tattoo wasn't on the list." Hughes said.
"But the scientists who worked under Dr. Marco should still be alive." Armstrong assumed. "We just need to find them."
"Leave it to me." Hughes nodded.
"About that…" Al started.
"We don't really care about that anymore." Edward finished.
"What? What are you two talking about?" Winry asked surprised.
"We don't need to be dealing with that danger anymore." Edward shrugged.
"We'll find another way." Esmè added.
"We know one person that may know how; our teacher." Al said.
"She lives southward, in a place called Dabris. We're planning on going there."
"Ms. Krants, Elric brothers…" Armstrong was stopped by the lieutenant.
"On the way to Dabris is 'The Mecca of auto mails', Rush Valley!" Winry cried excitedly.
Winry started to beg for Edward to take her along while he tried to ignore her. This went on for minutes and the group watched awkwardly as the teen mechanic tugged on the boy's cloak. Winry suddenly jumped up and went to the shorter girl.
"You're going along, right?" Winry asked.
"I b-believe so, yes."
"Could I come with you? As your guest." She was asking like it was a party where each invited person was allowed to bring one guest of their own.
"I, um…" Esmè Glanced at Edward, who simply shook his head. "Um, w-well I see no problem with you coming with." Esmè said looking up at the ceiling as if it was so interesting.
Winry did a little happy dance in front of Edward, bragging about how nice Esmè was to her. Glancing down, Esmè bit back her laugh. Edward was glaring at her irritated, but his irritable look ebbed away at the sound of her laugh and he rolled his eyes.
At the train station, Esmè hugged Elisa who was atop of Conner's back riding him as if he was a horse. The two girls grew very fond of one another, Esmè saw her most days of the week, and they do the little girl things Elisa want to do. Esmè had also become very good friends with the lieutenant; she hung out with him as well as his daughter. Elisa climbed off of Conner and let the husky step onto the train about to be followed by his owner.
"Wait! Maè! I made you something." Elisa shyly handed the older girl a piece of paper. It was a crayon colored drawing. Two girls and a dog in a field.
"The wed haired one is you and the bwown haired one is me, and that is Horsey." Horsey was the name Elisa heard when Esmè said that Conner was a Husky. "I am sowwy it's not vewy good like your picters…"
"It's beautiful! I love it. Thank you very much Elisa." Esmè smiled bending down to the little girl's level and watched as her face lit up.
"Bye, bye Maè!" Elisa waved as the girl stepped onto the train.
"She adores you, you know." Edward said as Esmè sat down next him.
"Well good thing I adore her too, sh-she's cute." Esmè smiled.
"You're a good kid person; you'd be a great mom." Edward added.
"Th-thank you." Esmè blushed.
After the train started moving along Edward finally told Winry where they were really going, with the trip to Rush valley still promised by Esmè and Al. Esmè believed they were going to meet their teacher… The brother's hadn't told their teacher about Edward becoming a State Alchemist or that they tried to do human transmutation. They were certainly afraid of their teacher.
Actually they planned to go to a large Ishbal camp in the south mountains. That is where the Philosopher's stone was created, but the people of Ishbal where never taught Alchemy so they think it was made another way and they could use that way to get their original bodies back.
"I'll beat him up and make him spill the secret." Edward mumbled.
Suddenly a hand hit the back of his head, rather hard. "You will not!" Esmè scolded. "He….he's not that bad of a person."
"He's a murderer that uses Alchemy. I can't forgive people for that. I can't forgive him for that." Esmè had raised her hand to smack him again but her hand was frozen stiff at his words.
Feeling a mixture of emotions rippled through her body she dropped her hand before snapping at Conner to seize his growling. He didn't like the word murderer; he knew what it meant to Esmè. She stood and walked away to the back of that cart, far away from the confused group.
The boys watched Winry swoon over the shops all about while tugging a flustered Esmè along. Esmè looked a bit different with the new attire she was barrowing from Winry—a light blue sleeveless dress that fell to mid-thigh, much like Winry's black skirt, while easily dancing with the soft breeze.
The group noticed a large crowd down the path and there was the sound of wood snapping repeatedly with the cheers. They made their way over to it and pushed their way to the front. It was an arm wrestling match. The watched the man with two auto mail arms beat his opponents but Esmè noticed something.
"Yes, I know." Edward said as she nudged him slightly.
The referee man was using alchemy to break the table each time. He looked towards Al and asked him to come up but Al being Al, he refused. The man moved on to Edward, teasing him about his size and then about his auto mail. At first Al held him back but then Winry order for him to be let go and go compete.
"Ed, you'd better not loose!" Winry yelled.
"Yeah, show them what her auto mail can do!" Esmè yelled obviously pointing out that Winry made it.
Once they started Edward didn't even give it time, he ripped the man's forearm off. The crowd stared surprised at the group as they cheered happily and congratulated their friend. Collecting his reward he was off.
Later in the day they were walking through the town following behind Winry who seemed too happy to be healthy.
"I can buy the parts I wanted with this money!" Winry swooned.
"You did a great job today! That was really awesome!" Esmè said walking backwards in front of Edward, her excitement controlling her. "I mean, you torn apart his arm with this! The auto mail Winry made!" Esmè grabbed his hand interlocking their metal fingers, not really thinking about it.
"I-it was nothing, really." He rubbed the back of his head with his free hand then he glanced at their hands with realization. His face burned, matching the color of Esmè's French braided hair.
"O-oh! Sorry…" Esmè pulled her hand away, leaving his hand empty. She turned around to walk straight and sped up to walk next to Winry.
"What's up?" Winry asked, noting her odd behavior. Which normally wouldn't be odd, but it was odd at the moment.
"I just b-basically held Edwards hand…" Esmè whispered.
"And…?" Winry matched her whisper.
"I'm not sure…"Esmè really wasn't sure. "M-my hand feels empty now, and I don't like it… I think." She added unconsciously closing her hand.
"Hmm…Weird." Winry shrugged as if it was nothing. "Hey guys what do you think about Esmè's outfit today?" She asked suddenly stopping and turning around.
"I think she looks nice." Al answered.
"Yeah, you should wear a dress more often." Edward said. "You look cute." He added. A faint blush on his cheeks.
"Well, this is Winry's so…" Esmè pulled at the edge of the dress.
"You can keep it. It looks better on you then it does on me." Winry started to walk again.
After walking for another little bit the men from the arm wrestle stepped in their tracks. Winry took a stepped away from them while Esmè stepped in front of her. They wanted the money back, they accused Edward of using alchemy…and he admitted it…
Esmè and Winry believed he did it himself, now Esmè was disappointed, and Winry was hurt. Suddenly simultaneously the girls hit Edward. They beat them all up, Edward for lying, Al for not telling them, the other men because they threatened them. With that the girls stalked off with a slightly scared husky following behind.
"I do-don't think he meant to hurt you, y-you know…"Esmè murmured.
"Yeah but…I thought I was the reason he one. I thought it was the auto mail I made for him. I felt proud for a moment." Winry admitted sadly.
They lapsed back into silence for a minute until Winry spoke up again. "Do you like him?" She asked with little smirk.
"N-no!" Esmè said quickly.
"Liar." Winry laughed.
"I-I..."Esmè looked everywhere but her friend.
"Well, I think he likes you too." Winry smiled.
"One; never said I liked him. Two; I doubt it." Esmè put her hands on her hips.
"One; I'm not stupid. Two; I'm not stupid." Winry copied Esmè's stance.
Sighing the red head walked away before noticing someone on a bench a little ways down the path. Walking closer they saw it was the girl who had challenged the man at the arm wrestling match.
"Did you hurt your arm?" Winry asked. "We were watching the match today." She added.
"Ah…" The sheepishly rubbed the back of her head.
"M-may we sit with you?" Esmè asked.
"Sure." She moved over and Winry seemed to note something else.
"Your legs are auto mail, too?" Winry asked sitting down.
"How'd you figure that out?" She asked.
"She's a mechanic. You hurt your arm right?"
"Yeah."
"Lemme see."
Esmè sat quietly as Winry examined the girl's arm and pointed out the problems easily. Winry pointed out the simple design of the auto mail yet it's high quality to Esmè, now the girls were gawking at their new friend's body parts.
"Why did you get auto mail?" Winry asked suddenly.
"W-Winry! That's rude!" Esmè exclaimed.
"…There was a train accident…" She started. "I lost my arm and my legs, nobody wanted to help the homeless child that was most likely gonna die anyway until a man came along. He took me in and gave an arm and legs. His name is Dominique." She said thoughtfully.
"Th-then that's all the more reason to ask him to fix it…" Esmè told her.
"That's true but…" The girl started.
"Why won't you ask him?" Winry asked.
"I don't want to tell him I lost in an arm wrestling contest. I wanted to prove that his auto mail was astonishing." She admitted.
"I know!" Winry started after her pause. "You want to prove that your auto mail is astonishing, right? If you beat a state alchemist that uses auto mail, that'll do it!" Winry explained.
"Edward…?" Esmè asked.
"Yeah, just leave it to me." Winry stood.
"We finally found you guys!" Winry panted with Esmè, Paninya, and Conner behind her.
"That's our line, stupid." Edward exclaimed.
"S-sorry, we lost our temper yesterday." Esmè said sheepishly.
"Good morning." Paninya greeted.
"You're the girl from the arm wrestling contest!" Al said.
"This is Paninya, we stayed at her house last night." Esmè explained.
"Hey, Edward, can I see you silver clock?" Winry asked.
"What?"
"Please?!"
With a sigh he dug inside his pocket and fished out his watch only for Paninya to snatch it from him as soon as it was out of his pants. She ran past Esmè and easily pulled hers off her wrist as well, surprising all but Winry. With the watches secured she jumped up some crates to the building and looked back at them.
"What the hell?" Edward yelled.
"Fight her. If you get your clocks back from Paninya before she gets to the pawn shop you win but if not you lose. Esmè is not allowed to help." Winry explained as Paninya ran off.
"Winry!" The two alchemists yelled.
"You'd better hurry, or both of you clocks go into pawn, Mr. Alchemist." Winry taunted.
"Edward," She grabbed the boy's collar. "I swear on everything under the got damn sun, get my clock back or you will regret it severely." She growled. She was pissed…and worried, but mostly pissed and would possibly kill him if she didn't get her watch back.
Eyes wide he scrambled past her and ran after the girl. As he left Esmè turned to face Winry who simply held her hands up in a plea. Esmè let out a war cry and chased Winry around in a circle.
Esmè, Winry, and Edward sat quietly in their hotel room. The only sound at the moment was Winry messing around in her tool box, until she sparked a conversation with Edward. She started about him growing a bit, and then asked if he wanted to go back to Resembool for that which he refused. Finally she asked him if he wasn't satisfied with auto mail and started spouting about studying more and trying harder so it wouldn't be an inconvenience. They just wanted their bodies back.
"Th-there once was a ten year old girl…" Esmè started from her bed, they had believed she was asleep. "She lost her leg to a gun wound, she was shot and she laid out in the woods for days, i-it was infected by the time she was found and the little town she lived in didn't have the medicine to help her so they…they had to remove it." She sat up and got off the bed and took a seat next to Edward. "The girl had a best friend, they were together the day she was shot, and she was shot in order to save the other girl. Her best friend was a future mechanic, spent half of her time building things with the town mechanic. So she made an auto mail leg for her friend. Ever since then the girl kept the same auto mail limbs, and hasn't changed a damn part and never will." Esmè finished.
"Was that girl …?" Winry started.
"I…I'm the girl who was shot…and the mechanic was nine year old L-Luna." Esmè kicked her auto mail leg out slowly. "You remind me of her, Winry, and she was a great mechanic." Esmè smiled despite the tears falling off her face.
"What…Where is she now?" Edward asked.
'Somewhere she shouldn't be…' Esmè opened her mouth to answer but Al barged through the door screaming about an emergency. In the door stood a very large man, at the sight Edward paled and Al was scared stiff this left the girls very confused and cautious.
"Ed-Edward do you know him?" Esmè asked not looking away from the man.
"This means…" Edward got up and tried to exit the window only to be shoved back in.
"Where were you trying to run to?" A voice, followed by a woman, entered the window.
"Sensei? Why are you here?" Conner was growling lowly at the woman.
"Conner, hush." Esmè said next to her dog. "Wait, s-sensei?" Her eyes bugged.
"That's the person who taught us alchemy…"Edward mumbled.
"Where's Al?" She yelled.
"Yes!" Al stood at attention.
"Oh, I'm sorry. Thank you for showing us the way, would you happen to know where Al is?" She asked.
"Uh…I-I am Alphonse." He answered.
"Oh, I see." Then it dawned on her.
Suddenly he was flipped onto the ground. "Were you trying to get away by disguising yourself?! We heard the rumors. You idiots went against my teachings and degraded yourselves to become dogs of the military!" Edward simply hid behind Esmè.
Esmè and Winry sat across from the two males that were tied together on the train. The woman, their teacher, took Edward's clock, tied them up and they all got on to the train, headed somewhere.
Edward told them the story of how they became that woman's apprentices. It was after their mother died. It had been a rainy night, the dam was going to break and she fixed it. Later they were taken for a test and training.
Finally the rope around them gave and they were free. They decided to make a break for it, but they barley took a step outside and Edward was already down. Esmè ran to his side seeing as Al froze at the door. And once again they were back tied up.
Now walking along the road of Dublith Esmè had to drag Edward along while Izumi greeted people along the way. Edward and Al finally came across a man they were familiar with. The man, Meisun, offered them lunch.
"Wow, you've had quiet the journey." Meisun said.
"You shouldn't get too involved in too much danger." Scolded Sig, Izumi's husband.
"It was all too bad. We've helped people. We even helped someone deliver a baby!" Al told them.
"Actually we were panicking most of the time." Edward laughed.
"You're right. But babies are born with the whole family's cooperation. The mother put their lives on the line and then recived blessing from all." Al added.
"That's right." Izumi nodded. "You two were born like that, so value your lives." She continued.
"Do you have any children, Izumi?" Esmè asked.
Suddenly Meisun slammed his hands on the table startling everybody. He quickly recovered though. "Ah, you've gotten better with this?" He put his hands back on the table again. "Show me?" He asked.
"Sure." Edward agreed.
When they were outside they let Al go first, letting him make a horse out of sand. Before Edward could do his own a group of little boys ran past them, straight to Izumi. One had broken his toy train and wanted her to fix it and was a bit disappointed that she didn't use alchemy. As they left a little girl ran up.
"Chico…Chico!" She panted.
"She's on the roof?" Izumi asked as they stood in front of the house.
"I'll go up." Esmè started climbing up the side of the house only to see Chico lying dead and her kittens feeding on her.
One of the kittens moved away from its mother and started to fall. On instinct Esmè jumped over towards it, clapped her hands and used the water in the drainage gutter to make a little hand. She wasn't quick enough to grab on again so she hurled towards the ground. She gasped when she landed in Edward's arms easily.
"Th-thanks." Esmè stuttered.
"Don't scare me like that again, stupid." He breathed putting his head on her shoulder. "Sensei, did Chico break?" the little girl asked petting the dead cat. They were now all on the ground safe, along with the kittens that Conner was lying around.
"That's not the case here, she's dead." Izumi corrected.
"Sensei, fix her! You can do anything, then you should be able to—." the child cried.
"I can't do that. Lives and things are different. I am not a god. Chico's life has ended and will never return." Izumi explained.
"But…but she was moving just a little bit ago…" Tears fells from her eyes.
"I cannot create Chico's life, but you can create a grave for her. Can't you?" Izumi smiled sadly. "When you live your life will end sooner or later. Your body will return to the earth, grass and flowers will grow on top of it. Your soul will nourish the hearts and it will live on in the hearts of other people. Everything in this world flows around and circulates. That goes for human lives too." Izumi told her.
"Wh-why am I here too…?" Esmè asked confused as she watched the boat with Conner, Winry, Izumi and Sig row away.
"She wants you to learn too, I guess." Edward shrugged his shoulders.
Esmè sighed and followed the boys into the trees. They walked about, and the boys talked about their time on the island before. They were left on it for a month and that whole month they were being chased around by some crazy man in a mask thing.
"Hey Esmè?" Edward called from the shore as she resurfaced.
"Yes?" She answered.
"Uh….um how do you do that?" He asked.
"What?" She started towards the shore.
"What you're doing now…in the water." Edward looked away from her, partially because she was wearing shorts and her bra.
"How do I, um, ca-catch fish?" She set the little net of fish down by Al.
"No, how do you…uh move around in the water?" he stumbled on his words.
"How do I swim?" She asked. He blushed with embarrassment. "It's really easy, here I'll show you." She grabbed his hand and pulled him into the water.
He tensed as she held his hands and she did too but she relaxed and kept pulling him in until they were chest deep. She slowly showed him the basics; she swam around and showed him how to move. Esmè tried not to laugh at his failed attempts but alas she giggled a little. It took a while but he learned how to keep afloat so she started to move deeper.
"I'll move back a bit and I want you to swim to me." Esmè instructed.
Esmè slowly swam backwards just in reach of him and he swam towards her. That practice didn't get too far because he started to go under and panicked. Quickly Esmè pulled him up out of the water ceasing his flailing limbs.
"One; don't freak out when you go under. Two; that's next." Esmè slowly lowered them into the water until it was to their necks.
"Now, pinch your nose and take a deep breath." He did as he was told. "Now submerge yourself, with me."
The two sank into the water together, Esmè without holding her nose. She touched the side of Edward's head softly when they were below, making him open his eyes. She smiled at him and pulled him along through the water. As they resurfaced Esmè invited, well told Al to join them so she could help him too.
They all eventually got out of the water, the boys sort of knew how to swim, Esmè was tired and over all they had fun. Esmè hummed quietly while walking back to their campsite to see Al scolding Edward and their food eaten.
"Wh-what happen to the fish?" Esmè blinked at the mess.
"We were about to ask you the same thing." Al said.
"It couldn't have been me. Look there is a handprint and it's a right hand." Edward pressed his hand into the sand.
"My hand is too small." Esmè confirmed it by doing the same as Edward.
"So there's somebody else on the island?" Al wondered.
"Maybe it's you're old friend from before." Esmè teased.
"Sensei must've brought us here for this reason." He muttered before turning around into the woods.
"Where are you going?" Al called.
"Let's search around while we look for more food." Edward said.
"Okay."
The separated a bit but stayed in an earshot with each other. Esmè stopped upon hearing the bush rustle next to her. She pulled her knife, the one Izumi let her have so she didn't have to share with Edward, and waited as a fox jumped out from the bushes. It hadn't noticed her yet and it sniffed at the ground for a second before turning to face her. She took her shot and impaled the knife into its eyes.
Esmè hoisted their dinner onto her shoulder with slight trouble and she caught sight of Edward. She called out for him but he just ran forwards. Confused she was about to go after him but a face dropped down in front of her and they clicked foreheads, quiet hard.
"Ow… you called?" he rubbed his forehead.
"I thought I saw you out there." Esmè pointed forwards while rubbing her forehead as well.
"You caught a fox!" He exclaimed noticing the creature on her shoulder.
"Well maybe if our friend decides to join us again tonight we'll have enough to share this time." Esmè said softly.
"You're too nice. They could be a murderer." Edward said dropping down from the tree.
"Or just a friend." Esmè started back towards the camp. "And ho-how am I too nice?" Esmè asked.
"Well you could be feeding a murderer," He stepped in front of her and started walking backwards. "You're always helping people, even when it's not in your benefit. You're always polite." He listed.
"That sounds like a normal nice person." Esmè teased.
"Well you also—ah!" Edward tripped over a tree root and fell on his behind. Esmè's feet tangled with his and she fell as well. His hands shot out to grab her and her hands were braced on the ground.
"Y-you also deal with…me…"Edward finished his previous sentence.
The two sat silently in the fallen position, frozen unsure of what to do. Edward sat up a little bit until their noses were touching and kept eye contact. Esmè's heart was pounding in her chest so hard that she was scared he could hear it.
Before she could close the gap between them Al's voice called for them and they could hear his armor clanking close by. Esmè picked herself up quickly and retrieved the dead fox and proceeded to make her way to their camp.
Esmè woke up feeling a dull weight across her stomach. Opening her eyes she looked down to see it was an arm, Edward's normal arm. He had his arm snaked under his cloak she was wearing and wrapped around her waist. Esmè tried to move away from him but he simply tightened his grip on her and snuggled closer to her. She gave up and pressed her face into the crook of his neck and decided she didn't need to be up too early and she just laid there.
An hour or so later Edward awoke and tried to explain his unconscious actions but Esmè continued to tease him about it. Finally giving up on any redemption they all went to the edge of the beach to wait for Izumi to come pick them up. Becoming bored, Esmè decided to go for a swim.
Edward tried to stay on shore to save himself from more embarrassment, and Esmè spent a good five minutes pulling him in to the water. Finally the two were able to enjoy themselves and Al decided to stay on the beach, no matter how many times Esmè offered to help him dry afterwards.
"Edward?" Esmè called.
"Edward!" She looked around for the missing boy.
"Brother! Where are you?" Al yelled stepping into the water.
Esmè dove under and looked around and finally laid eyes on the floating boy. Quickly swimming over, she pulled him above the surface and made her way back to shore. While Al ran around in circles like a chicken with his head cut off Esmè pressed her ear to his chest. He was still alive. Good.
She started to push on his chest with a steady beat. After a few seconds she stopped and pressed her mouth to his trying to move air into his lungs. He still wasn't breathing. She repeated the pattern two more times before he finally started breathing.
"Next time I put my lips to yours, you had better be conscious." Relief filled her voice.
"There'll be a next time?" Edward said after her finished heaving the water from his lungs.
"Sh-shut up!" Esmè blushed.
After Edward's near death experience they decided to stay on the beach and waited for Izumi to pick them up. Completely bored and not content on swimming again Edward started to think. Esmè never talked too much about her past, she clammed up (worse than she normally does) and shut them out. For some reason Edward felt a bit hurt that she closed up, her past couldn't be that bad…Could it?
"Esmè, do have any brothers or sisters." Edward asked before a thought was giving.
He looked over to see her facing the sky but her eyes were closer, pretending to be asleep. His eyes narrowed and he scooted closer to her and poked her cheek. She didn't move so he did it again, and again after a few times she bit her lip trying not to laugh at him. So in response Edward shifted to where he was over top of her and got so close to her face to the point that their noses were touching.
She opened her eyes and stared at him trying not to laugh at him. He was waiting for her to answer but was losing his focus as she giggled. She eventually stopped all laughter but kept a soft smile on her face. She knew he wanted her to answer but she didn't want to, not exactly. Her past wasn't her favorite cup of tea. She closed her eyes again and tried to actually sleep but something pinched the tip of her nose softly.
"Ar-are you biting my nose?" Esmè blinked at him.
He bit down a little before pulling away, and she pouted. "You were avoiding my question." He said matter of factly.
Now she looked away uncomfortable. "Wh-what question…?"
"Any siblings?" he asked again.
She didn't answer again and a sad frown was prominent on her face. Tears welled up in her eyes and she pressed her mouth into a firm line. She opened her mouth to avoid the question but he stopped her.
"Why do you hide from us?" He asked.
"I… I just…" She didn't know how to answer him.
"Just what? You won't tell us anything about your past! You keep hiding it from us! Why? Why can't you just trus—!" She cut him off.
"I'm scared of my own damn past! Things happened back then that I want to forget. I've locked them all up in a little box in the back of my mind, just to try and forget them. But it seems I can't!" She yelled at him.
She was now sitting up on her elbows once again nose to nose with the blonde. He stared wide eyed at her, surprised by her outburst. Tears were falling from her eyes and guilt washed over him. He reached up and brushed a tear off her cheek and realization swam in her eyes.
"S-sorry…" She murmured looking away.
"What are you sorry for, stupid?" He made her look at him again.
She kept quiet and avoided his eyes. He was okay with that he wasn't going to force her anymore, seeing her cry hurt him more than anyone could believe. He moved from over her and sat next to her and she sat up. They sat like that for at least an hour more before Izumi showed.
"Do you remember?" She asked standing in front of them.
"Yes!" The boys said in unison.
"Did you realize?" She asked.
"Yes!" They answered again. Esmè had almost no idea what they were supposed to realize and remember but she had a feeling.
"It's true that we tried to transmute our mother, and that was a mistake. This is what resulted from our mistake." Edward bowed his head.
"But that's why we want to regain everything back!" Al added.
"Are you trying to regain something that you lost from a mistake's mistake?" Izumi asked.
"W-we may be wrong, bu-but what should we d-do?" Esmè asked, she didn't transmute anybody, but she promised she'd help them. No matter the cost.
"We'll move forward because we are still alive." Edward said finally lifting his head.
"Is that your answer?" Izumi asked.
"Yes!" Now they all answered together.
"Then…Wait, who's there?" Izumi looked into the tree line.
"Wh-what are the chances that your fr-friend from last time actually c-came to visit?" Esmè asked turning to face the trees.
"That's not possible, since that was me." Meisun said.
"Wait, what?!" Edward deadpanned.
"I asked him to watch over you two the last time you were here." Izumi revealed.
"But…But…" The boys gaped.
"It looks like we don't have time to discuss that matter though." They all turned around to face the tree line and a person appeared.
"Is he working with you too, Meisun?" Al asked.
"I only watched over you two, back then. She asked me to make sure you didn't die." Meisun defended.
"Then why did you attack us?" Al yelped.
"She asked that I train you a little bit." He shrugged.
"That was a 'little bit'! We were seriously about to die!" Edward flailed his arms.
"Wimp." Esmè teased pinching Edward's cheek.
"I will bite your nose again!"
"Stay away from my nose!"
"Shut up!" Izumi yelled.
"S-sorry!" They yelped, before letting her walk past them to the boy in the woods.
"He's just a child. He may have stolen his parent's boat and ended up here." She started before she started coughing and fell to the ground.
The boy looked on scared before falling to his knees with a rock in his hand. There was a quick flash of light and before anyone said anything, Edward ran and tackled the boy. The two boys wrestled in the bushes and as Esmè pulled Edward off the boys clothes were gone and leaves fluttered around him.
"Note to self, Edward can't have children." Esmè muttered before easing over to the crying boy.
"He's just a child, Edward." Izumi stepped up behind Esmè, who was soothing the boy.
"He could've come here after us!" Edward exclaimed.
"Are you a wanted criminal already? A bit early in life." Izumi said with a smile.
"I'm not kidding." He argued.
"W-well we don't know that he was after us…" Esmè said.
She noticed a scar running along his shoulder, but said nothing of it. When Izumi covered the boy with her jacket Esmè picked him up into her lap. He simply hid his face in her shirt and she let him cry into her shirt.
"Wh-where did you come from, wh-where is -your family?" Esmè asked.
"I don't know…" His voice was muffled by her shirt.
"What's your name?" Izumi asked crouching next to them.
"I don't know… I don't know anything!" He cried harder into the latter's shirt.
"Shh, shh. You don't have to cry." Esmè pulled him back and wiped his tears.
"It'll be okay." Izumi added.
The boy said nothing else he just launched himself into their arms and hugged them.
Yelling and whining from down hall woke Esmè from her sleep. Opening her eyes she noticed Winry was still asleep. So quietly she snuck out of her room, she followed the cries to another room and noticed the giant hole in the floor. She heard Edward and Al talking and anger took over her.
"Are you two really, breaking into his room in the middle of the night?!" Esmè whisper yelled.
"Go back to bed Esmè." Edward brushed her off.
"Do not tell me what to do!" She dropped down into the room to see the child tied to the bed.
"You are unbelievable." Esmè started towards the child to undo his binds but Edward grabbed her arm.
"Why are you trusting him so easily?" Pulling her away.
"Because I don't believe he did anything and if he did he probably does not remember it!" She was raising her voice.
"He's probably faking it!" Edward was raising his voice as well.
"And how the hell would you know that?" She was in his face now. "I do not care if you do not trust him, because I do! You can go to he—!" a bright light and a crackling noise interrupted her.
The boy was not one with his bed! His complete bottom half was encased in wood and fabric. He simply wailed louder. And before a thought could be processed Izumi was in the room. Esmè freed her arm just as Izumi kicked the boys into the wall. She noticed the bot's state and casually walked over to him.
"Don't cry!" She said making the boy hush. "Do you remember your own form? Just remember your own form." She said soothingly.
Slowly the boy sank to the ground and the bed became normal. Esmè sighed in relief as the boy fell into Izumi's arms. Granted he started crying again, he was alright. She turned to give the boys a disapproving look and caught Edward glaring towards the floor.
"What were you trying to do this boy?" Izumi yelled scaring all of them.
"We were just worried that he was one of the guys after us…" Edward said shamefully.
"Who is chasing you guys?" Sig asked.
I was a few seconds before Esmè took it upon herself to answer. "Th-they call themselves the Ho-Homunculus…"
Esmè sat at the table in Izumi's household. She simply ignored Edward and he seemed to get the hint and left her alone. She tried to ignore their gazes on her angry form but they were burning a hole through her. She had never been this angry before, even Conner knew to keep his distance.
Esmè listened quietly as Izumi and Edward talk about a 'gate'. Edward said that when they were trying to transmute their mother he saw the 'Truth'. He expressed how it felt like a massive amount of information was being forced into his head. Like he was just a step away from the complete theory of human transmutation. When he affixed his Al's soul to a body of armor he says he saw the boy's face.
Irritated and confused Esmè left to go check on the boy. She walked in to see him jumping on the bed, joyously. He stopped instantly when he saw her, his face lit up and he leaped off the bed into her arms.
"Hi, pretty girl!" he yipped.
"H-hey, little one." She greeted with a small dose of blush on her cheeks.
Later on the girls were bathing the boy, Edward and Al were locked in there room so they couldn't get anywhere near the boy. Winry could tell Esmè was still upset with Edward but didn't acknowledge it the girls helped the boy out of the tub and dried him. They dressed him and not even a second later a telephone appeared through the ceiling. They had forgotten that the boy's room was right above the bathroom.
"Winry?" Al's polite voice came through the phone.
"What did you guys do to the child, he's really frightened." Winry asked looking at the cowering kid behind them.
"This may be weird, but I'd like to ask something. It's about his body." Al said.
"About his body? I was wondering what happened as well." Winry said.
"Th-the bases on his arm and leg are…" Esmè trailed.
"Brother, you said that you saw his face across the gate, right?" the girls heard all ask.
Suddenly the ceiling was transmuted into pieces and the girl rushed the boy out of the way. They stood protectively in front of him. They weren't supposed to be near the boy.
"We only need a few minutes." Edward pushed the girls away.
He put his hands against the wall caging the boy in and then began talking about an equivalent trade. He gave his leg to try and bring his mother back and then gave his arm for Al's life. Esmè's eyes widened when she realized what he was inquiring. The boy had his arm and leg… Edward suddenly ripped his shirt open to look at his arm. There was a scar… from a fox bite.
Edward gripped his arm and yelled in his face, asking if it was his arm. The boy stared on terrified, he yanked his body free and ran towards the window, using alchemy to break it before escaping the blonde. Edward tried to follow but Esmè blocked his path, transmuting the water from the tub into a frozen wall. She moved in front of the wall when he went to break it.
"What are you doing? He's getting away!" Edward yelled at her.
"And what are you going to do when you catch him? Rip his got damn arm and leg off because they are yours?" She yelled. "He's innoce—oof!" he slammed her up against the frozen wall much like he did with the boy but he restrained her wrists by her head.
"Why do you trust him so much but you won't trust me?!" He yelled. She stared wide eyed at his question. "You trust him, so much, a complete stranger! Yet you won't trust me, your friend." He yelled gripping her wrists painfully tight. "Why?!" He yelled making her flinch.
"…I…I ju-just…" She couldn't form words.
He released her and stepped back. "I meant it when I said you're too nice too people. You're too nice to the wrong people." He transmuted a hole into the wall and left after the boy.
"Esmè? Are you alright?" Winry asked, her voice filled with worry as Sig jumped through the hole.
"Y-yes…I, um, I'll be ju-just fine." She mumbled rubbing her clothed wrist.
Without a second thought she turned and ran out of the hole while shout a quick 'Conner, come'. She wasn't going to let him hurt the boy with a stupid whim. Esmè kinda wanted to cry, but at the same time she wanted to hit something.
Does he really think I don't trust him? Why would he think that? Is it because I won't tell him about my past? Got damn it Edward! She followed Conner down the roads of Dublith, until she came to Edward and a weird guy in a cloak.
"E-Edward?" Esmè slowly walked towards the two.
"Esmè? Go back." Edward ordered.
"No, y-you obviously think th-that child has s-something to do with what ha-happened to you!" She was standing in arm's length with him now.
"I know he has something to do with it!" he yelled, making her flinch again. "You may not believe me, and I don't care."
"Esmè? The girl who's city burned down?" Esmè's eyes grew to the size of saucers. "I hear you were on a request when it burned." He continued, liking how it affected her. Edward looked at her and she seemed to looking at him but wasn't seeing him. "Why didn't you save them?" He laughed.
"I tried…"
"It sure seemed like it when your whole hometown burned to a crisp." He saw the tears well up in her eyes.
"No…"
"All of those innocent people…"
"St-stop…"
"Your friends,"
"Stop."
"Your family." He grinned. "You could've stopped it and saved them all."
"Stop."
"But it happened all because of one person. That one person you couldn't let go.
"Stop it! Stop it! Stop it! Stop it! Stop it! Stop it! Stop it!" She fell to her knees and screamed.
"Now you all are being chased by the Homuncu—Ow!" Edward had kicked the weird man in the nose.
"I'm trying to help you two and your monster little brother!" He cried.
"What did you say about the little brother?" Al asked picking the man up by the back of his collar.
Suddenly his head was slapped off by the guy's tail. As he jumped out of ranged he bragged about some guy name Tucker being right. He started to run away and Edward transmuted the ground into a tall wall. The lizard man paused for a second; giddy about Edward's skills but not even a second later he climbed the wall and escaped.
"Esmè?" Edward ran over to the girl who was sobbing uncontrollably as she laid on her side. "Esmè, he's gone. He won't hurt you." She cowered away from him. She still wasn't seeing him, it was like she was seeing someone else.
"I'm sorry…" She mumbled between sobs.
"Brother?" Al asked. She flinched away from Conner even.
"I'm so sorry!" She squeezed her eyes shut.
Edward sighed and tried again. "Esmè look at me. Edward. It's just me." He gently touched her arm. "Come on, just look at me."
It was a few second before she opened her eyes. He moved to make her sit up and she let him. Esmè was still crying but her sobs were quieter. She blinked at him and then looked away quickly. Edward grabbed her face softly, making her jump. He ignored it and turned her head so she would look at him. Concern was etched onto his face, it only made her want to cry more.
"I…I'm so-sorry…I'm so s—." He pulled her into a hug as she started to cry again.
"I don't know what you're sorry for." He whispered into her ear.
They sat there for a minute but two men showed up. It was Major Armstrong and another military man. Before they could actually talk Edward started to leave, after the little boy.
"Esmè, you should go back." Edward said calmer than the last time he told her to go.
"N-no…I told you th-that I would help you. S-so I'm coming with you." Esmè stood while wiping her tears.
He didn't protest anymore and just started running.
Now they all sat on a roof, having found the boy falling to his death. Esmè was lying on the roof with him, they were pointing out what the clouds looked like. He had his head pillowed on her stomach and he laughed at fluffy puffs of air. He really was an innocent child. It doesn't matter if he didn't start out as one, but he was one.
She looked down to see the quiet child had fallen asleep. She smiled lightly and dusted some dust off of his cheek. She felt someone move above her and looked up to see that it was Edward. He smiled, slightly stressed and she returned it with the same amount of tension.
Screaming. Crying. Smoke. Flames. Everywhere. She turned around in a circle. All she saw was orange flames licking hungrily at the building around her. She ran straight stumbling here and there as her tears blurred her vision. Everyone she cared about was dying and all she could do was panic. She tripped and fell right in front of a house. She could hear screams coming from it, so she picked herself up and ran into the house…
The roof shook violently waking her and the child up. She grabbed onto him and held him tightly, protecting him from the rubble flying all around from the blasts. Edward yelled at Major Armstrong but the blast kept coming. A particular blast jarred the roof hard, making Esmè and the boy tumble. The boy was launched from her arms as they flew over the edge.
The air flew from her lungs as Esmè slammed into the ground. The boy was caught gracefully by Armstrong. She wheezed hard, trying to refill her deflated lungs she didn't even notice Armstrong and the other Lieutenant walking away.
"Esmè? Are you alright?" Al asked.
"I, I'm fine… Just a f-fall." She mumbled. "Wh-what about the b-boy?" Esmè asked wincing as she stood.
"They want to interrogate him. They think he can lead them to the Homunculus, since he is one of them." He pulled her arm around his shoulders as he spoke.
"Wh-what are we going to tell I-Izumi?" Esmè asked.
"I have no idea…"
"What did you do to him?" Izumi asked.
"Nothing." Edward answered simply.
"Sensei? Why are you making such a fuss over him?" Al asked. "The military might look up his identity. Also, he's… Not human…" Al admitted. "You may not believe me, but we've met Homunculus before. They all had powers that no normal human can have. A mouth that could eat metal, fingers that could pierce anything, a body that could transform into anything… He was using Alchemy, but that's because he's a monster." Al said.
Esmè grit her teeth together when he said that. She watched as Izumi walked towards him and shoving him hard in the chest. He of all people should've seen different in that boy, but no.
"Do you know how a Homunculus is born?" Izumi asked. "Did you not think I noticed who he was?" Izumi asked before she doubled over coughing. Blood fell from her mouth and made a puddle on the floor.
Esmè sat quietly on the floor next to Edward's chair. They all now sat in the Dublith infirmary. The boys recalled how long Izumi has been sick and it tore them apart. Esmè stared at the floor counting each tear that fell from her eyes, she was surprised she could still cry.
"Maybe a hospital in a city could cure her!" Winry tried.
"That'll be difficult." A doctor appeared.
"W-why?" Esmè asked quietly.
"Pardon me for saying this, but it's better than a countryside hospital." Winry said with annoyance.
"It's incurable." Edward admitted.
"Let me show you…" the doctor started towards his office.
Edward helped Esmè up as she struggled to stand from the floor, her ribs hurt from the fall, but they weren't broken. They followed him into his office and sat around a dummy with the organs on display. The doctor pointed out that several of her internal organs were missing.
As if they were just cut out. That most likely meant that she had done the same thing that Edward and Al did. Suddenly a nurse ran in exclaiming that Izumi was missing.
Knowing exactly where she went, they all ran to the south headquarters. Running straight passed Sig, Esmè ordered Conner to stay with him and followed Edward and all inside. Following the path of destruction they split up with Al and the Edward and Esmè eventually found the woman.
"Pretty girl!" The child cheered making Esmè Blush a bit and Izumi turn around to face them.
"Pretty girl?" Edward muttered. "Well, he's not wrong." He enjoyed the bright color that spread over her face and neck.
"I-Izumi… P-please let him go and get out of here." Esmè tried.
"We are dogs of the milita—." Edward paused at the sound of footsteps.
"Wh-why is the President h-here?" Esmè asked.
Before anyone could speak Izumi ran past the Edward and Esmè but was stopped by a sudden explosion. She stumbled back and the teenagers stepped around her, partially protecting her and to see who the intruder was.
"Damn it. Sensei, lizard guy, Major… it's a five way battle." Edward scowled.
"You're Jork J. Kimbly. Why are you alive?" Armstrong gaped.
"Kimbly? The Crimson Alchemist?" Archer asked.
"A State Alchemist." Esmè's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. He seemed so familiar.
"One that should've been executed long ago." Archer said. "For disobeying military orders in Aer—." Archer was interrupted.
"Just say it clearly." Jork said casually. "I made women and children go boom and even the superior who tried to stop me went boom." Esmè clenched her fists. "I was looking forwards to an execution but I was kept alive for some reason.' He smirked.
"Why?" Armstrong asked.
"I don't know. Maybe the person over there does." Jork said pointedly at the President.
"How long are you going to let this chaos in the headquarters continue?" He yelled.
Esmè jumped back out of the way as Izumi kicked Edward in the chest. She turned to chase after the woman and stayed behind her as Al blocked her. Before she could open her mouth to speak the president jumped forwards, separating the child from Izumi. As he ran off Izumi sent a transmuted stone fist after him, which was intercepted by Armstrong.
As the two fought, the building started to crumble. If they continued this, the building was going to be destroyed. They all leaped forwards to stop them by Edward was snatched away by lizard guy and Al hand to jump out of the way of bomber boy, who happened to grab a fistful of Esmè's and yanked her into the hole.
"An explosion from mid-air?" Al wondered.
"I've heard of this before. An alchemist's skill that works by transmuting materials in a body into a gunpowder substance then compressing it rapidly to cause a big explosion…" Edward explained. "Why are you bothering us?" He asked angrily.
"We want that child too." Lizard guy cackled.
"And our boss has business with you." Jork said.
"Is that so?" Edward transmuted his arm into a knife and started cutting at the Lizard tail wrapped around his ankle.
The lizard guy unraveled it only for it to be caught by Al. Al swung him into a wall next to Jork, who grabbed his tail ready to turn him into a bomb. Much to Lizard guy's protest.
Esmè suddenly remembered something and ran in front of Edward taking his shot and surprising Jork.
She punched him square in the jaw. "Aerilon." She muttered, her voice depressed and heated at the same time. The brother's and lizard guy watched her. "That's the town where you disobeyed orders and blew everyone up, right?"
"Yeah, I see you've heard of my work." He smirked.
"And I see you don't remember me." She punched him in the stomach and quickly roundhouse kicked his knee, making him shorter than her. "I was there. I was the little eleven year old girl you blew to the side." She yanked her shirt up to reveal semi-large burn scar that was in the shape of deformed fish diagonal along her hip.
He suddenly grabbed her arm and stood up making her dangle in the air. He held her close and examined her hardened face. He started to laugh and threw her to the ground. He stepped back and laughed aloud, as if he had heard the funniest thing on earth.
"I do remember you!" he was laughing hysterically. "You're the Newbie state Alchemist! That was your first group mission. I remember it all now…" he calmed his laughed into a smirk. "I destroyed your hometown."
Angry Esmè screamed and ran towards him while swiftly cutting her hand open with on a rock. She transmuted a dagger from her blood and fought him, her anger fueling her. He dodged her swipes barely and kicked her back.
Esmè slid on the ground before bouncing back up, she didn't give Edward anytime to take a turn and left him with the lizard guy. She came back with a fake kick to his face but simply fan kicked over and then back into his knee making him drop down. She brought her knee up the send his head back, but as she brought her leg down he grabbed it and swung the short girl around like Al did with the lizard guy before throwing her into a pile of rubble. She started to pick herself up but he blew a hole above her burying her in more debris.
"You know where Sensei is, right?" Edward asked Sig.
"Please we are worried about her health!" Al said.
"And he's a Homunculus, we don't know what he'd do to her." Edward added.
"The place of human transmutation…" Winry started. "That's the place she lost her child… then transmuted her child's body, in attempt to revive him." Winry explained.
"How do you know about that?" Meisun asked.
"I think she's there…" Winry added.
Quickly, the teens made their way to the island and began searching, for Izumi. They called her name, Connor tried to sniff her out. They just couldn't seem to find her anywhere. Until they came to a clearing. The child was trying to kill Izumi, only to be stopped by a flying rock, courtesy of Edward. Edward started towards him for an attack but stopped at Izumi's voice.
"That child just tried to kill you…" Winry cried.
"It's okay… I was planning on killing him anyway, but I'm the one that should've died." Izumi sat up.
"Why?" Edward asked angrily.
"Because I created him… I used the Baby's remains and several other ingredients. When I came to, I was in front of the gate again… Edward, what did you see across that gate again?"
"All there was to know about Alchemy. The truth was there." Edward answered with a shaken voice.
"The truth? It looked like hell to me. What I created was not human… So I left the baby with the gate." Izumi admitted.
"But there's no way for that child to be the boy it was back then." Winry tried.
"I found out when I looked at him. If he had grown up, he'd be the same age. If a Homunculus came from her it must be my—." Esmè stopped her.
"Ho-Homunculus is a person cr-created by person!" Esmè stepped forwards.
"Do you know how a Homunculus is created?" Izumi asked her gaze hard.
"No, but they are probably created like the chimeras, in a place like the fifth laboratory…" Edward tried for another explanation.
"No… You foolish humans experiment with human transmutation out of curiosity. Then you create a being with a mind but no soul. And you call them Homunculus!" The child yelled.
"H-How do you know…?" Esmè almost whispered.
"Envy helped me remember it." He said.
"Envy? You saw him?" Edward asked."
"Yes, Envy and his comrades were born a long time ago, thanks to idiots who performed human transmutation." His sentence made Edward pale.
"I remember it all. I waited and waited and my body gradually grew. Then one day an idiot dropped by, and put his arm and leg through the gate screaming something about 'give me my brother back', so I took his limbs. After a long time, I opened the gate and I was free. Thank you for the arm and leg." He thanked Edward. "Thank you for the faulty life." Izumi winced at his words. "My hate is inadequate in expressing the gratitude I feel for you." Edward and Izumi looked broken. "Now give me your whole body so I can be human!" He leaped towards Edward only to be yanked out of the way by Esmè.
"If you won't do it brother I will." Al said.
"Al, no! He'—!" Winry started.
"His arms and legs are brother's things he lost because of me." Al said taking his stance. "We have journeyed for this, and I won't let it go." Al finished.
Al ran towards him ready to attack him but Izumi Tackled the boy out of the way. Izumi really wouldn't let them hurt that boy, he was born from her child, after all. Suddenly there was a sparking from where the child was in her arms. Suddenly her clothes were carrying her through the air and threw her down.
The boy targeted Al next, sending his cloth weapon straight into his suit. The cloth was stronger than the boy, the child started to control the arm. Edward Ran to his rescue and Esmè ran to the boy. Esmè clapped her hands together quickly and skimmed them through a small puddle and pulled a frozen sword from it and cut off the cloth, freeing Edward from Al's controlled grip.
Without warning Al ran towards the child only for him to make a spear out of rocks and his hand. Their hands connected and they stood there. As if they were frozen in time.
"Brother, you said Homunculus couldn't use alchemy, right? But he's different, he can transmute his body and surfaces together by creating a circle with his right arm and left leg. He can transform his body because he's a Homunculus. But the reason he can use alchemy is…" Al said as he stood fist to spear with the boy.
"It's because his limbs are Ed's…" Izumi revealed.
"Give them back! Those are my brother's!" Al yelled at him breaking the rock preparing for another punch but The boy re-transmuted the rock knocking him away and then sending Esmè flying when she tried to help.
Now they all watched Edward and the child fight. Winry was almost crying at the fact that they wanted to kill the boy, Izumi looked torn, Al sounded angry, Esmè felt scared. Edward now had the boy pinned and lifted his blade to cut him but Izumi intervened. Now there was a large jagged gap between the two.
"Ed! Al! Esmè! I forbid you to meddle with this situation! That child is my responsibility!" She yelled before coughing out blood again. Seeing the distraction the child ran off.
The boys looked torn on what to do, Izumi was their sensei and they were obligated to listen to them but they wanted to go capture that kid. With a thought Esmè stepped forwards, yes, the kid was Izumi's child, but he was now a bad person.
"I am not your apprentice. Therefor I do not have to listen to you." With that Esmè leaped over the gap and chased the kid with Conner running along her side.
She ran out onto the beach and found the president and the secretary. No child. Esmè felt a bit irritated that he was gone. But she turned around ready to attack who was ever following her out of the trees. She relaxed at the sight of Edward and Al and turned back to the two other people on the beach.
"Full Metal. This is the island you trained on when you were young, correct." The president asked.
"Edward… the secretary…" Esmè whispered into his ear as he stepped in front of her.
"President, What are you doing here?" Edward asked.
"It appeared we all are looking for the same thing." He answered.
"The Homunculus." Al entered.
"Do you three know why Homunculus are born?" He asked. When no one answered he did himself. "Legend has it, that they are a full grown person created by a human who attempted a human transmutation and failed. That was written in your father's document, Edward." He explained.
"I don't care about his documents." Edward spat icily.
"Well, if the child Lieutenant Colonel Archer found was really a Homunculus, it would mean someone attempted human transmutation." The president responded.
"In any circumstances, human transmutation is forbidden. Do you know anyone who would do that." The secretary asked.
Esmè reached forwards to grab Edward's hand, he was becoming seriously annoyed. "What about the runaway Homunculus?" Al exclaimed.
"We have our men following him." The secretary nodded. Edward gripped her hand lightly, controlling himself.
"I'm sorry I can't think of anyone to do that. We are in a hurry." With his answer Edward started off back into the trees.
"Brother?" Al asked.
"There's no way I'm telling them about Sensei." He mumbled.
Esmè stood behind Edward and Al as they stood in front of Izumi resting in bed. "Not only is the teacher pitiful, but so are her students…And their partner." Izumi sighed.
Edward was still holding her hand. Their fingers were now interlocked, he hadn't let go let go since she grabbed it. He'd squeeze it now and then. Sometimes softly sometimes really hard, but Esmè didn't mind.
"We need to draw the line somewhere." Izumi took a deep breath before continuing. "You two are not my students anymore." Edward gripped her hand a little. "I didn't teach you alchemy so you could turn your bodies into that." He was squeezing a bit harder. "And I never want to see such a dreadful fight like that ever again." She finished.
"Sensei—." Al started.
"Thank you for taking care of us… Please, take care of yourself." Edward Said, his voice slightly shaky.
Now they all stood in front of the train station, bidding their byes. Sig, ordered them to drop bye, even though they weren't students anymore. Without that title they could form an equal relationship with her. Upon realizing that, the boy's remembered something.
"Damn it! We're going back!" Edward started back towards the house.
"W-wait! Why am I coming?!" Esmè asked as he dragged her along, their hands still bound.
Esmè squealed in surprise when a kitchen knife was thrown right by her face. She was, finally, untethered from him but still stood by the door next to the kneeling figures. She stared wide eyed at Izumi.
"Wh-what did I do?" Esmè stuttered.
"You came back with them." She stated simply.
"Sensei, we came here looking for clues on how to get our bodies back and we are not leaving empty handed.
"Leave." She ordered.
"No!" The boys said in unison.
"I'll chop you."
"We won't go."
"…Idiots." Izumi seemed to reach her breaking point.
With that they started. Izumi analyzed them and their past. About what they saw when they tried transmuting their mother and When Al came back. Al seemed to not remember anything from the other side of the gate. There was a possibility that his body was still there along with his memories of that time.
"Well, is there a way we could get it back? With the Philosopher's stone? Bypassing the law of equivalent trade?" Edward asked.
"Equivalent trade, huh? Do you really believe in that?" Izumi asked.
"Of course we do. In order to obtain something you must sacrifice something in its place." Al said. "That's the universal law for the world." He added.
"Really? My boy lost him life before he was born, I wonder what he got in return…" Esmè felt a ping in her chest, she understood how the woman felt. "I guess I'm not a very good teacher. Meisun!" Izumi called.
Suddenly his head popped up outside the window and then he paled, he was caught eavesdropping. "Show them where Dante's house is. I would like them to pick up my medicine for tomorrow. Did you think that I was going to let you off a free loader?" She smiled.