Alchemy: Tiny Steps

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D/C: I own nothing.

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"English Speaking."

"Amestrian, Foreign Languages, or to add emphasis."

Written Notes or Add Extra Emphasize

'Inner Thoughts.'

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How are do they even consider human?

How?

Just how?

What they are doing goes against everything he was taught or learned throughout the years.

Ho… Merlin's Beard! How does a human body bend like that?

Cornelius Fudge openly gawked at the supposed show that is occurring in the gardens. The younger Elric brother and the Emperor's sister are 'sparing' against each other. Friendly sparring. This appeared to be anything but a friendly spar. They looked like they are aiming to kill each other with no amount of remorse shown anywhere.

The only one that is even remotely excited of the show is Bone's niece. She keeps shooting out question after question to the eldest Elric brother and the latter would answer attentively. It appeared he is holding back his answers for the girl to understand. No matter how much he listens into what he is saying, it makes absolutely no sense on how what he is saying to what is occurring in front of them. It does not match up.

"They are both self-taught?" Fudge overheard Bones

"I could only talk for Alphonse and Edward. They had a teacher but are primarily self-taught." Mustang Responded with a hint of pride in his voice. The man almost sounded like a proud and gloating father. Gloating on and on about his children's achievements. Who was their teacher? Did someone teach this man? Are they the same person?

"Did you have a teacher?"

"…More of a mentor than a teacher…"

Bones did not comment on how Mustang's voice tensed and how he glanced over at Hawkeye momentarily. There appears to be far more to Mustang's mentor then what appears on the surface. A note for a later time…

"Kill him! Maim him, Mei!"

"Shut up Ling!"

"My lord…"

"…Oh brother…"

"Tell me about it."

Alphonse and Mei momentarily stopped their spare to see Ling and Edward arguing onto how they should fight against each other. It appeared that everyone is more focused onto them then the actual spar. With a shrug and silent agreement, Alphonse and Mei jumped away from each other and bowed respectively signifying the end of their spar.

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"Truth… they are finally gone…" Edward groaned as he plopped himself onto a giant pillow. Everyone that had come from Great Britain had returned back to their homes leaving behind bigger headaches and semi-answered questions.

Roy sat himself down on another pillow with a groan of satisfaction. "Well… that went well."

"If you consider the fact they see everyone here as future enemies or allies. Which one is still up for debate." Lan Fan replied with a grunt, she had replaced her robes for her typical garb. She made it a point to not look at Ling once she had returned from the change of clothes. Ling, in turn, is trying to grab her attention but is failing miserably at every turn. The Guard is still rather miffed at the notion he made with the clothing he made her wear and the fact he made a very loud statement with his actions towards her. So, loud, Lan Fan could sense the whispers that are currently being said about her. None of them are too good for her.

"Lan Fan…pay attention to me." Ling whined, he attempted to reach out towards her but the young woman paid no mind to him. "Lan Fan…"

In the background, Mei could only shake her head at her brother's attempt to gain Lan Fan's attention. He really messed up tonight with having Lan Fan sitting with them in such a prominent position. She has nothing against her, not at all. Lan Fan could have been seated somewhere else at the table but not right next to Ling. The elders are going to be such a pain tomorrow about this. If only Ling could have waited and taken tiny steps instead of taking a humongous step. A step that will set everything back several months of planning.

"What's our next course of action, boss?" Jean asked out from his spot in the room. He and Alphonse are playing a game of chess and he is trying to figure out a way to not get easily beaten this round.

"Amestris and Xing have to finalize the Magical Alliance. We've already named you and Alphonse ambassadors for Amestris and Xing respectively. We can't do much until they finalize onto who's going to be the next Minister." Roy replied with a shrug, he had laid his hands over his chest and closed his eyes in an attempt to fall asleep. "Fullmetal, are you returning back to Amestris?"

"Winry already headed out North… I don't have anything planned there or here…" Edward grunted out, he had one arm covering his eyes and the other laid across his stomach. "Since the wedding is pushed back, that leaves me with extra time… sort off. The only thing I have left to do is get prepared for next year."

"Does that mean you have to return back to Kooky Land?" Ling pipped up, he had managed to wrap his arms around Lan Fan. Lan Fan, in turn, looked like a giant tomato but made no attempt to push him away.

"…Yes."

"You could take Alphonse with you! He's going to be teaching too! He might as well get used to the Magical World!"

"What?" Alphonse's head shot up when he heard his name, Jean took that distraction to pull a move put him one up against his opponent. "What about me?"

"If Alphonse is going, I'm going too!"

"Of course, of course, Mei. Eddy-Boy, take your brother and future sister-in-law." Ling smiled at the eldest Elric brother.

Edward lifted his arm that was partially covering his face to glance over to see Mei wrapping her arms around Alphonse's neck and giving her brother a challenging look. Ling was too busy trying to get Lan Fan to talk to him again. "Fine. I'll send out a letter to my contacts tomorrow. I've been meaning to mail Severus and Filius…I don't feel like using the floo though…"

"Er… how would we get there then?" Alphonse asked hesitantly.

"Train, ship, car… stuff. We can make. I don't want to feel like I'm going to end up losing my lunch."

"Ship? Does this mean we get to see the ocean?"

"Oh dear…" For an unknown reason, Alphonse suddenly felt sick down to the bottom of his stomach. "I don't feel so well now…"

"Take Jerso and Zampano."

"You do realize we intimidate them already as it is…right?" Alphonse deadpanned, he rubbed his forehead in trying to figure out what Ling is thinking of. Everyone had made it a point to hide the chimera from the magical community in Great Britain and bringing them along will cause more questions to arise.

"For protection and to make a point. Mei is my sister and a princess of Xing; you are my unofficial, official advisor, and is set to marry said sister that is the only one I maintain close contact with. You are a very important figure in Xing, it's not only for both of your protection but to emphasize who you are… that and they are getting stir crazy."

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"I knew this was a bad idea…" Alphonse grumbled over the railing, his face is turning into a hideous shade of green. In the background, Mei running around enjoying the salty and breezy air, Jerso and Zampano are fishing while Edward is sitting on a deckchair to enjoy the sun for a bit. When a particularly large wave hit the boat, Alphonse leaned further into the railing and puked out his lunch. Seasickness… who knew?

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"They can't stay at the Leaky Caldron! We are talking about an actual princess here! What if she goes back and tells her brother about the conditions!"

"Where do you plan on having them stay? Mr. Elric is with them, if we open up our homes for them, he will tell them it will be ill-advised and for the fact they are muggles…"

"Where in bloody hell do you think, they should stay then? Where they will stay will say a lot to everyone. This has to be dealt with delicately…"

To be continued…

R/R