Two Worlds Cross

Chapter 6

No Idea is A Good Idea

The ride home was...not exactly as expected, but no one was surprised.

There were four to a booth on the train; two on each side. Natsu, Happy and Lucy sat on one side, while Ed and Winry sat facing them. Happy was curled in Lucy's lap, who was consoling a green-looking Natsu. Winry was looking slightly worried and Ed was laughing.

"Motion sickness? How do you even get around" he asked with a hint of mirth.

"Well," Lucy said sweetly, rubbing Natsu's back, "Most of the time, he just has to grin and bear it."

"Although," Happy said cheekily, "I've hardly ever seen him grin in this state! Well, apart from the time that he went to the girls' changing compartment instead of the bathroom." Happy laughed, while Natsu managed a small, smug smirk, his cheeks painted pink.

Lucy, however, was rather red in the face. "Shut up, Cat! They don't need to hear this!" Lucy stuttered a bit about how they were being mean to her, and Ed and Winry shared a look. They wondered if this is what their friends felt like in the short time that they realized that they had feelings for each other but were too afraid to admit it.

In the seat behind them, Roy and Riza sat beside each other, both looking rather grumpy. They had been hassled by the conductor about their guns. When they tried to explain they were under military authorization and even showed their ID's, the conductor still argued.

"Look," he had said grumpily, "Your uniform and badge ain't like anything I've seen before. Sure not from this country, and I'm afraid that unless you re-quip your guns back, I am going to have to confiscate them."

Roy and Riza had just been about to explain that they didn't even use magic, when Erza stepped in, gave the man an evil smile and said, "It's alright. They're with Fairy Tail."

At this the conductor bristled, paled, then stepped aside without another word. The Amestrians weren't quite sure what Fairy Tail would be like, if the mere mention of their name made peoples' blood in cold.

Across from them sat Erza and Gray. Erza and Hawkeye made uneasy conversation with each other, talking about each other's weapons of choice. They still weren't comfortable with the whole "not-quite-look-alike" bit, though.

Gray and Mustang were looking uncomfortably at each other. It's not like they could talk about their magic. Fire and ice. Mage and Alchemist. Military man and questing wizard. Not exactly a whole lot of common topics of interest.

In the booth beside them, Wendy and Charlene sat on one side, with Charle in Wendy's lap. They sat across from Mai and Al, with Xiao Mai on her shoulder. Al, Mai and Wendy were talking about Alchehestry and Sky Magic, and the pros and cons with each. Charle and Xiao Mai were staring uneasily at each other, not quite sure what to make of the other species. Meanwhile, Charlene stared out the window, feeling squished. She didn't take trains a lot, considering they took money which she didn't bother herself with. Everything she needed she could make. And now she was seated with several other people in a closed compartment, smooshed up against the window (even though Wendy took up almost no room at all), staring at the world zooming by.

It hadn't been this bad in the car, since she had had something to concentrate on and worry about. Now, her mind was pre-occupied with what would happen at the guild and the mass of bodies that surrounded her, boxing her in.

She looked around at the people travelling with her. Her... "Friends".

She laughed silently to herself and continued staring out the window. She hadn't had a decent conversation with someone other than interrogating them or asking for directions, let alone friends. She didn't have friends. Not for many, many years...

Meanwhile, the other conversations were going fairly smoothly.

"So," Lucy asked Winry, "How did you come across this auto-mechanics?"

"Auto-mail," she corrected politely, "And actually, my parents were doctors, and my grandma is an auto-mail mechanic. I learned everything I know from them. Oh, and Garfiel, he took me in as his apprentice."

"That's really cool," Lucy chirped brightly, "so how exactly does it work?"

Immediately, Winry's eyes lit up, and she smiled, slapping her hands together close to her face, which was now flushed with joy.

"Oh no," Ed muttered sarcastically, "Here we go."

Fortunately for Ed, his comment had gone unnoticed by Winry, who had now begone a spiel about the technology of auto-mail. "Well, it's made of re-inforced steel, so it's difficult to break," at this, she shot a glance at Ed, who shrugged innocently (hah!). "But someone always manages to figure out a way to ruin its beauty and come crawling back to me for repairs. Thankfully though, this someone is still very well respected in the military and gets paid well. So, Granny, Den and I can eat all we want! Anyways-"

"Wait a minute," Lucy interrupted, "You're a part of the military? And who's Den?"

"Oh," Ed said, rubbing the back of his neck, "It's a long story. But basically I used to be an alchemist. I enrolled as a State Alchemist, where you work for the military and get paid well, so long as you show your yearly research. Anyway, since I couldn't do Alchemy anymore, I couldn't be a State Alchemist. But, since I had assisted somewhat in saving the country, they made an exception. Now I travel the continent, digging up what I can find about alchemy or other similar studies. I just have to hand in my notes on time."

"I see," Lucy said, nodding, "But what about Den? And what do you mean you mean, 'you assisted somewhat in saving the country'?"

Winry laughed. "Well the first part's easy. Den is my dog. Here," she dug around in her purse that she carried with her, pulling out a brown wallet. She took out a picture and give it to Lucy.

Happy, who had been drifting off, sat up and looked at the picture in Lucy's hand. The picture showed three children; two golden haired boys that looked suspiciously like the two brothers, and a young blonde girl with blue eyes. Standing off to the side slightly was a small old lady with her hair up in a strange bun, smoking on a pipe. The young girl was laying on a black and white dog that had a metal left front paw. They were all standing in front of a lovely two-storey farmhouse, with a sign out front that saidRockbell Auto-Mail. Everyone in the picture seemed genuinely happy.

"Is this," Lucy said softly, "you guys when you were little?"

Winry nodded, while both her and Ed were smiling, as if remembering the good old days. "Yeah. That's my grandma there with us. And that's our farmhouse."

"Where are your parents?" Lucy asked, wishing almost immediately that she hadn't.

Ed and Winry's faces darkened. "My parents were sent to the war going on at the time, since there weren't enough doctors," Winry explained, "They were killed while they were there."

"And my mom died of a horrible sickness that swept the country," Ed croaked, "Dad had left just before that, and we've only just met him again this past year. He died peacefully, in front of my mother's grave. Granny was the one that found him actually."

"I'm so sorry," Lucy said, "I know how you guys feel."

"Really?" Winry asked, amazed. "You mean..?"

"Yeah." Lucy's voice suddenly had an undertone of sadness to it, and Natsu immediately perked up, his face full of concern. "My mom died when I was a little girl. My father and I never had the best relationship, but we're still working on it."

Sensing her distress, Natsu put an arm around Lucy's shoulder. "Never knew my brith parents," Natsu said solemnly. "My adoptive dad went missing about seven years ago."

Ed laughed without humour, "Looks like we all have sob stories to tell. But Natsu, what was your adoptive dad like?"

Natsu smiled, his motion sickness returning now. He hunched over and was barely able to talk, so the others had to strain their ears. "Well, he was really nice. Taught me all of my magic. He was really gentle, and he loved humans."

"Well good thing," Ed laughed, "'Cuz then he wouldn't like himself."

Natsu looked at him as if he had gone a little crazy. "What?"

"Well he's a human isn't he? Why would he hate humans if he is one?"

Lucy mumbled something like "Wait until you guys meet Porlyusica," but Ed and Winry didn't know what that had to do with anything.

Natsu grumbled something incoherent. "Wha-" Ed started to ask, when Happy smiled and said,

"He said 'Igneel wasn't a human; he was a dragon'. Oh, and he liiiiiiikes Lucy."

Winry and Ed were too shocked to laugh, but Lucy's face flushed pink and she snarled "Shut up, stupid cat!" while Natsu grumbled his objection.

"Are you serious?" Ed asked, leaning forward, "You were raised by a dragon?"

Lucy nodded, having successfully captured Happy and now held him in a headlock, said "Uh-huh. As were Wendy and Gajeel. Don't worry, it freaked me out too when I first found out."

The five of them continued their conversation, asking about each others' childhood.

Meanwhile, Erza and Riza were still chatting somewhat tensely.

"Does anyone with magic in this world use guns?" Riza asked.

"Actually," Erza replied evenly, "Yes. There are two Mages back at Fairy Tail who are top-notch gun-slingers. One of them, Bisque, uses re-quip magic like me, but with guns. The other one, Alzak, uses magical guns with magic bullets that have different purposes. I don't know a whole lot about it, you'll have to ask them when we arrive."

Riza nodded. "I see... By the way, what exactly is 're-quip'? I saw you do it earlier, but frankly I don't understand."

"Well, you see," Erza started, "There is an empty alternate dimension that I can access..." She proceeded to explain her magic, while Riza listened thoughtfully. Meanwhile, Gray and Roy were still staring uneasily at each other.

"So," Gray finally managed, "You're a part of the military. What's that like?"

Roy snorted. "Well, for one, it's not for the faint of heart. We've had to do some terrible things, back when the government was corrupted."

Gray sighed and leaned back, "We know what you mean. Our government, the magic council, had some, uh," he paused, and glanced at Erza who either was oblivious or pretended not to notice, "not nice people who had infiltrated the council at the time. They were influencing decisions, and probably would've successfully taken over the world, had we not intervened. But that's old news, and everything's fine now. Well, most of the council are complete dicks, but whatever."

Roy laughed, "Yeah, I've met quite a few rude ones in my day. But I've made plenty of friends throughout my years in the military." Almost subconsciously, he glanced over at Riza, who was talking with Erza animatedly about the guild's cake.

Gray chuckled to himself. Roy turned at him and glared. "What?"

"Oh," Gray said easily, shrugging and pretending to look innocent, "It's just seems that you and the Lieutenant seem to be more than friends." Gray smirked and wiggled his eyebrows.

Roy scowled and blushed slightly, "I would watch it if I were you..."

At the same time, Alphonse had asked Wendy about the guild. "What's it like?" He had wondered aloud, leaning forward. Mai and Xiao Mai leaned forward as well, anticipating the answer.

"Well," Wendy said, fiddling with Charle's bow, "They're very friendly, and very nice most of the time. The Master is very warm and friendly, though a little strange at times." At this, Charlene scoffed, turning her attention to the conversation. She didn't say anything, and Wendy continued, "The bartender, Mirajane is very lovely and makes good food. I've heard that she can be pretty scary, but I've never seen her like that, so I wouldn't know personally." Charlene shuddered inwardly, remembering the dark aura of pure evil that was lying underneath a thick layer of joy and sweetness. How those two traits could belong in one aura, not even she was sure. "And they're all, well, a little..." She seemed to be searching for the right word when Charlene laughed.

"Crazy?" She offered. She laughed again, starting to feel slightly more comfortable on the train now. "I'm not even in Fairy Tail and I know that much. Heck, I've barely known you guys for a day!"

"Wait," Mai said in a confused tone, "I don't understand... Are you not a part of the guild?"

Charlene was surprised, and it showed. She had never, in all her time in this universe, spent enough time with a group of people to even be thought of as a part of them. She was an introvert, a hermit. She didn't hang around with humans. I guess that I should be moving on soon, she thought to herself, before I get too attached. These are good people. Crazy, yes, but good. I don't want them getting hurt.

"W-well," she managed to stutter out, "No. I just came yesterday after a run-in with Gray and Mustang. I usually don't hang around with humans too much, so this is weird for me. I'll be gone once you guys are back home safely though."

Wendy looked sad at that, while Al, Mai and Charle looked slightly surprised. "You're leaving?" Wendy pitted, shooting Charlene a sad puppy-dog face with big, watery brown eyes, a pouted lip, sad, arched eyebrows. It didn't help that her aura was sad and cute too. Charlene almost wondered how hard she was trying to achieve this look, but she knew that she wasn't trying at all. She was just showing how sad and hopeful she looked.

"I never planned on staying," Charlene grunted, putting up her walls again, shutting off emotions. Suddenly she stood up and slid past them and out the door, where she stood on the platform, taking in the fresh air as the country whisked by.

She sighed. She had worked so hard to become what she had. For so long she'd tried and tried to get her inner emotions to leave her, to no avail. After so many years, she'd finally done it. And now, those feelings were coming back, a brick falling out of the walls that she had worked so hard to build with every smile that was shot her way by these people. She groaned, massaging her forehead with her left palm. How had she let things get this far? She had a job to do, a very important one that couldn't be left to anyone else, no matter how badly she wished. And she was wishing harder than ever before, looking back at the door. It had been left open a crack, and she could hear the sounds of chatter, sense the happy auras. She wished more than ever before that she didn't have this job. That she was allowed to have emotions and friends and lovers-

No. She thought sternly, pushing the mental image of a grinning boy out of her mind, These people are getting too close for comfort. No amount of wishing is going to accomplish anything. It's bad enough that they're getting me to feel emotions now, but things from the past... If this happens again I'm leaving. I burned that bridge and I'm not going back to fix it anytime soon. I have a job to do, and that job includes bing here and now. Once they've gone back home, I cut my ties. I'll move on, just like I always do. And I'll deal with it, just like I always have. But for some reason, Charlene found that she wasn't quite ready to go back inside yet, with all of the laughter and happiness. She was taking a lot longer to compose herself than should be needed. Yet she couldn't make herself go in just yet, finding herself wondering if any of her ideas were good ones...