The capital of Xing was a huge place, bustling markets full of people selling pretty much everything and anything.
Ed couldn't help but study the stalls in front of him and bitterly think how true this fact was.
The fact that they even sold human life here.
Both brothers travelled through the streets until they reached the hotel; sign marked in Xingese, flamboyant in every way.
Ed snorted at the peacock-shaped hedges either side of the entrance's doors. "Looks like this place was designed by Garfiel…"
He promptly shut up as he reminded himself of why they were here.
It didn't take long for them to reach her room. The receptionist knew a little Amestrian and Ed was quite happy to play along with the story that he and Al were here to visit their best friend whilst on holiday, stating she'd forgotten something important; despite the fact that he so desperately just wanted to punch the woman in the face for letting this go on. He could see it in her eyes; she knew what was happening behind her back, and she turned a blind eye to it. The hotel business wasn't the only money she dabbled in.
He realised later, as she raised her right arm to gesture to the stairs, that she did it for herself; her skin was pricked with dark holes. Holes where she'd been injected, where the veins were started to become infected, yet she ignored the signs in aid of the substances that kept her going.
She was a drug addict.
Ed turned away and began to climb the stairs.
He watched as Al inserted the key into the lock before rushing inside, ignorant to the fact that his brother had so quickly stepped out of the way to let him in.
The place was littered with the signs of a struggle.
Straight ahead of them was a balcony, the doors wide open and white curtains billowing in the breeze; a trail of knocked over and smashed objects lay in a track across the room. Ed's boots crunched underneath his feet, tiny pieces of a cheap vase being crushed into even smaller grains.
He turned and made his way down the small corridor to the left, passing the room where Paninya's belongings were carelessly flung; and then he reached her bedroom.
He knew it was Winry's because the first thing he saw was a pair of silver earrings laid out on the side, the sunlight through the window bouncing off them and catching his eyes.
The room appeared spotless, until he steadily walked in and round to the other side of the bed, seeing some of her clothes lying abandoned on the floor from her bag, knocked over in the fight.
Ed's vision hazed over with water and he sat down on the bed, holding his head in his hands. He could still see the intend into the bed where she had sat whilst she'd talked to him, her fingers twirling the phone cord as she laughed, her voice light…
Then he could hear her screams flooding the room; imagine her fear spreading like wildfire throughout the air, thick like smoke- and a single tear fell down his face.
He couldn't let anything happen to her.
"They're forced into Xing's sex slavery trade."
He couldn't let her be taken like that.
Her life. Her soul. Her purity.
He felt his brother's presence in the doorway and finally stood, his back still to him.
"We're going to see Ling." His voice was laced with trapped tears.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Al nod before he moved away again.
Her white clothes by his feet caught his eye and he crouched, taking precious moments to scoop them up and place them back into her bag, expression soft.
They smelt like her and it was almost enough to make him start crying again.
He needed her so badly right now to say that everything was okay; then she'd hold him and let him cry. Or he'd do the same for her; he'd hold her close and watch as those crystalline tears fell down her face- then he'd wipe them away and watch as she smiled. That pure, beautiful smile.
But she wasn't here for either of them to comfort each other. The room was empty except for him, her essence gone.
Before Ed went out the room again, he stopped by the pair of earrings, pausing; then he placed them in his pocket and walked out.
More confusion.
Fog drifted in and out of her vision; she was moving but she couldn't work out how. Or where.
Fresh air eventually crept at her face but it was gone almost in an instant.
She felt hands work at her clothes, stripping her bare to the very core; afterwards, she was still cold. Her skin chilled despite the fact that they'd dressed her in something else. She told herself not to think about what she looked like right now.
Luckily, her blonde hair hid her vision, loose around her shoulders; and as she kept her eyes closed and her mind still, the world kept moving.
Half of the capital of Xing was taken up by the Emperor's palace, Ed had decided.
Not that he cared, despite Al's awed looks at every single room they passed.
He didn't care about anything else anymore, just the two earrings lying in his pocket, and the person they belonged to.
By the time they'd managed to get to the Emperor's hall, the sun was setting outside.
"Emperor Yao will see you now." The doors opened with a creaking echo and the pair of Amestrians were ushered inside down a royal purple carpet, heading towards the throne at the end of the room, where their old companion sat atop.
"Edward! Alphonse! What a surprise to see you both out here!" Ling's hearty response was only greeted by a scowl from Ed, his eyes avoided.
"We need your help with something. Can we talk?" It was Al that was first to ask; Ed would never be able to word this properly. He was so trapped in his thoughts lately that he hardly spoke at all.
Seriousness set into Ling's face and he nodded, flicking a hand in which all else except him and the two Elric brothers were left in the room.
"I hope you don't mind Lan Fan staying too- she is my bodyguard, after all." The shadowed figure of a young girl – although no-one would be able to tell if not Ed and Al, due to the mask on her face – made her presence known by the throne that her emperor was sat on, trusted gaze trained on the pair of brothers.
Ed only nodded, waving his hand about and stepping forwards to sit on the chair graciously provided by one of the palace's servants.
It was the older brother's turn to speak now.
"Winry's been kidnapped."
Throughout his explanation, Ling's face steadily grew more and more serious, listening to everything with his chin resting against his hands. He could feel Lan Fan steadily growing more upset next to him but ignored it, focusing on the matter; he remembered Winry well. He'd even – if only jokingly – proposed to her a few times, if not only to be refused. It was only when Ed stopped that he realised the furious fire burning in the golden eyes ahead of him.
"The Fuhrer said… she's going to be sold into Xing's- slavery trade." The blond's voice cracked near the end and his head turned sharply, fists clenched at his knees.
The evening wind was the only noise for a few moments and then Ling spoke, straightening upright.
"I don't know much how I can help you; the capital of Xing is a huge place and thousands are sold as slaves everyday. There isn't really anything I can do to stop it; people see it as business. Of course, young Amestrian girls travelling on their own are commonly taken-"
He stopped as he saw the look on Ed's face.
The Fullmetal Alchemist steadily rose to his feet and the Emperor noticed his fists were trembling by his sides, almost unable to meet his gaze again in fear of being burnt.
"How did you feel when Lan Fan had her arm taken from her?"
The question was sharpened yet Ling hadn't expected it.
From beside him, Lan Fan shifted her real arm across to her automail one, almost as if she was reminding herself that it was there.
Ling's gaze hardened.
"You know how I felt."
Ed's response came almost as once, his voice rising in volume.
"Then think about what Winry's about to have taken from her- it's more than just her arm! It's her entire life, her entire soul- AND YOU'D LET THAT BE TAKEN? WOULD YOU?"
Would you? Would you? Would you?
His voice echoed across the hall until it finally faded to dust, leaving quiet in its wake.
The emperor finally focused and turned away, fists clenched in copy to how Ed's were.
"I'll see what I can do."
Inside Ed's pocket, the pair of silver earrings were beginning to lose their glint.
AN: Drama...
My stomach hurts when I wait for people and I don't know where they are. I wonder if Winry's does too.