Yes! so our main character is coming into view!
For a good five minutes the room was in utter silence, the girl who had walked in was a strange sight indeed. She was wearing a long sleeve, form fitting black shirt that had slits on the upper part of the arms, she was also wearing short black shorts and black thigh highs. She wasn't very tall probably on the short side possibly reaching 5'1 if they were generous but it was the intensity in the one visible eye that made the people in the room realize that she was serious. Before anyone could react she quickly strode across the room toward the two younger brothers who's mouths were gaping as if trying to say something but unable to speak the words. And just like that to everyone's surprise she pulled the two boys into a bone crushing hug,
"WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?"
She kept them close to her as she patted their heads,
"DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW WORRIED I WAS? WHAT MADE YOU THINK IT WAS A GOOD IDEA TO GO WITH SOMEONE FROM THE STATE? DIDN'T YOU REALIZE HOW DANGEROUS IT WOULD BE?…"
Ed and Al watched in surprise as the girl ranted away not giving the children in her arms a chance to speak, but the look on their faces was one they hadn't seen. It was a look that even though they knew they were in trouble they were content to be in her arms; it was one they remembered having when with their own mother.
"HONESTLY WHAT WERE YOU…"
She stopped as pulled away from them and finally took a good look at them. She took a step back and seemed to circle them taking in their appearance before her face lit up and she grabbed a hold of them again pulling them into if possible a stronger hold,
"YOU GUYS HAVE LIMBS!"
At this point James had had enough and managed to separate from the girl,
"Yea Ed and Al took us to Granny's to get auto mail"
This made her turn to Ed who was startled by the fast emotion change, one second she was beaming with joy and then she looked at them as if unsure whether they were enemies or allies.
"You must be Ash Pencil I presume"
Mustang said drawing her attention, this was what made Ed and Al finally register who the girl was. Indeed it was obvious that the three of them were siblings however there was an intensity that she had that somewhat made them question it for a second.
"And you must be Colonel Roy Mustang the infamous Flame Alchemist"
Mustang whistled in appreciation,
"I'm impressed it would seem you've done your research."
Ed tired of standing sat back down on the couch watching her as Al continued to stand,
"I'm sure you understand the severity of the decision that they made in committing one of the forbidden acts of alchemy"
Chris and James swallowed nervously unsure what their sister was thinking seeing as she had an unreadable look on her face,
"I'm aware"
She said tersely, Mustang leaned in on the desk his chin resting on his interlocking hands,
"Seeing this I'm sure you're also aware the consequence of such actions. However, I'm willing to overlook such things if you and the boys will give me your cooperation in some simple research after all we are always looking for amazing alchemist such as-"
"Are you saying that you want them to be a part of the military?"
The room was quiet, for a second Chris and James' eyes had sparkled to hear a powerful alchemist like Mustang say that they were amazing but Ash's curt interruption brought them back to reality.
"Yes and no, because they are young they would not officially be a part of the military but-"
"I refuse"
She said turning to a simple chair and plopping down. Her legs were crossed but her arms were stretched over the back in a display of confidence. Mustang's face fell slightly,
"You do realized that I have the ability to punish them and place them in jail for the crime they've committed I'm merely coming up with a-"
"Oh please"
Ash said enjoying the wrinkle of annoyance in his brow from her repeated interruptions.
"These boys are 10 and 11 not even the age when your Fullmetal alchemist over here joined the army and you want them to join? You fail to recognize that the Elrics were orphans and therefore adopted by the state and hence the state was able to call the shots in that regard."
Mustang's brow deepened, Edward's was confused not understanding how she had such information on such things,
"Christopher and James are not orphans nor are they own by the government."
Mustang sat up straight as if challenging her,
"If so who is their current guardian seeing as your mother has died and the father is nowhere to be found"
Ash gritted her teeth at the offhanded comment he had made about her mother but then smiled,
"It would seem that your records aren't as detailed as I had thought, which is understandable seeing as I was an at home birth, but let me introduce myself"
She stood up placing a hand on her hip,
"My name is Ash Pencil biological sibling of Christopher and James cross, 18 years old and their legal guardian"
The room was quiet before a loud cry was heard from the couch,
"WHAAAAT!?"
Ed yelled drawing the attention back to himself, but Ash quickly returned to the conversation,
"I am well aware of the consequences of their actions but I will not allow these two boys to become dogs of the state. If you are willing to go through with the punishment I am also well aware because they are underage that I would bear the consequence of their sins and in which case I would turn guardianship to someone else whom I deem who be appropriate."
Mustang frowned,
"However nowhere on my list is the government or the military on it so either way they will not under any circumstances be involved."
Mustang sighed he had heard that the girl was rational and adaptable and so he had hoped to win her over. He had not heard that she was far too intelligent for her own good and now it came to no wonder that the two young boys had had enough intelligence to perform the alchemy.
"I see I would hope that we could discuss this privately and I could show you my actual plans for the matter at hand."
Ed and Al looked baffled because it looked like Mustang was compromising for the girl, she however seemed unimpressed,
"On another note I would like to clear up what actually occurred the night of the transmutation, seeing as there are some missing elements that I believe you can fill in"
She inhaled deeply rubbing her forehead and was about to speak when someone knocked at the door,
"Sir I have important papers that I need you to read and sign right away,"
A voice called from the other side,
"It will have to wait!"
Mustang huffed in irritation,
"But sir I was told these were urgent"
Mustang sighed, Ash instead turned to walk to the door,
"I have nothing to hide so I don't mind taking a break for you to complete your work and coming back later to finish our business"
Ash said as she opened the door and left,
"ASH WAIT UP!"
Chris and James yelled as they left the room chasing after her. Mustang frowned unhappy with the turn of events and looked at the frightened soldier in the hallway timidly looking in,
"WELL HURRY IT UP!"
He yelled making the man jump. Ed sat on the couch deep in thought as he wondered how the girl by the name of Ash had gotten a hold of the information. Al on the other hand decided to go after the three siblings. He was amazed by the content look on the young boy's faces when she had hugged them but also by the way she had handled Mustang unafraid of the consequences.
"Ash are you okay?"
"I'm fine"
She said tersely, Al saw them as she sat on a step rubbing her forehead. Chris and James stood behind her obviously nervous and unsure of how to approach her as they kept a clear two steps away,
"Ash we're really-"
"Enough"
She said cutting Christopher off and they were in silence again.
"We'll go get you some water"
James said sadly as he pulled his brother's sleeve to pull him along. As they disappeared Al watched her sigh and lay back on the ground throwing an arm over her eyes,
"They really are sorry, ya know"
Ash lifted her arm to peek at the large tin man that had come up beside her and sighed,
"Alphonse Elric right?"
"Just Al is fine"
She made no motion as if she cared and Al took it that it was okay to sit beside her on the step,
"They'll have to face the consequences of their actions every day, it will be painful and I'm sure they regret it already."
She remained silent,
"Ya know, they really worried about you too"
This got her attention and she lifted her arm to look at him,
"Especially James he didn't want to do anything without your permission but we sort of forced them."
She smiled ruefully and Al couldn't help to think it looked a little cute,
"That's James alright."
She sat up quickly startling Al,
"I'm not mad."
She said looking toward the blue sky,
"I mean I was hurt by they're actions. It was tough after mom died but I thought we were healing, I thought we were doing alright. They had just begun to smile happily again… I guess I was wrong. I suppose…"
She continued sadly,
"I suppose I thought I was doing a good job, thinking that I would be enough and I guess I wasn't, I guess they wanted more than me."
Al's heart clenched at the confession, she chuckled as she turned to look at him and he couldn't help but notice her eyes were strangely unreadable,
"For a tin can you're rather easy to talk to"
"Eh!?"
Ash slowly began to laugh and Al felt a surge of pride that he seemed to ease the tough woman somewhat. Chris and James made their way closer with a bottle of water in each of their hands. Al watched as she turned to them and smiled lovingly as if basking in the fact that they were alive,
"I suppose we should head back, so we can sort out all this mess huh?"
Chris and James looked at each other with a smile,
"Yea! And there are so many things we have to tell you!"
Chris said animatedly, Ash smiled making Al inwardly smile as well,
"I see well then…"
She stood but just as she did she seemed to sway and then all three boys saw her fall over.
"ASH!"
They yelled as Al caught her in his arms and noticed she had passed out, and then with the two boys quickly ran to the infirmary for help.
