AdventureAddict: Yeah, on to chapter Nine! I'm just blowing through the chapters now!

Frodo: She's discovered the joys of a laptop…

AdventureAddict: Well, yes. But a few weeks ago my muse committed suicide, so I had no clue what to write, but now I think my muse has magically risen from the dead!

Ed: Oh boy. I'm so excited.

AdventureAddict: And it's almost winter break soon, too! So then I'll be able to write plenty! Anyway, let's start the story!

Frodo: As you all know, AdventureAddict does not in any way own any part of Fullmetal Alchemist.

AdventureAddict: That was my line, ya stupid side character!!!

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Chapter Nine – Promise

Winry climbed off the train and looked around. Down at Central, everything seemed so big and intimidating. She knew that she wouldn't be doing this if it weren't for Ed and Al.

She quickly walked through the military building, searching for any familiar face. She guessed that if she knew who they were, they would probably know the Elrics. She looked around in vain for a few minutes, then finally spotted a familiar bulk parting the crowd. Winry sighed. Major Armstrong might not be the…least painful person to help, but at least she knew that he would be as concerned as her about the boys' safety.

"Major Armstrong!" she called out, waving a hand high in the air for him to see. She could tell right away that it had worked, since the large man smiled and started walking towards her.

"Miss Rockbell!" the major said happily. "Why are you in Central?"

"I'm looking for Ed and Al. Could you take me to whoever's in charge of them?" Winry said with the best smile she could muster.

"Of course," Armstrong said pleasantly, offering Winry his arm. Winry gratefully took it, glad for the help he was providing. After a few minutes though, she realized that taking the major's arm was a mistake, considering the strong grip he had.

Armstrong led Winry down so many hallways that even if Winry had known where she was when she had started, she wouldn't have known where she was anyway after all of Armstrong's turns. She started to wonder how Ed, or anybody else in the military knew how to navigate through the military buildings so well.

The major finally came to a stop in front of a door, which he knocked on twice before entering. He let go of Winry's arm to salute Roy and Riza at the other side of the room. Winry quickly started massaging her arm, which was now a deep shade of purple.

"Colonel, Miss Rockbell here is looking for the Elric brothers," Armstrong explained as Winry's arm went back to a normal fleshy color. Roy winced, and Riza's pupils got a little smaller.

"I knew it!" Winry shouted. "I knew something was wrong! What's happened to them?!" Armstrong looked at Roy with a worried look on his face.

"Colonel, is that true?" he asked. Roy sighed and closed his eyes for a second.

"Both the boys are missing," he answered.

Winry gasped and collapsed on the floor. "All these years of worrying and it's finally happened," she whispered softly.

"Where were they last seen, Colonel?" Armstrong asked in a worried tone.

"Goarhausen," Roy replied. "It's a city that's rather well known for trading. They get packages from all over the country."

"Yes, I've heard of it," Armstrong said, thoughtfully stroking his chin.

"Both the boys went there to pick up a package for Edward," Riza told Armstrong, looking at some notes on a clipboard. "Records show that they picked up the package, but then disappeared shortly afterwards. There were no sightings of Scar or any homunculi in Goarhausen or the surrounding areas." Everyone was quiet as they absorbed this new information.

"What if the package told the boys to go somewhere without telling anybody?" Armstrong said thoughtfully.

"They would do that if they thought that it would keep others out of danger," Winry said softly.

Roy laced his fingers together. "Major Armstrong, do you think you could go searching for a certain military member?" he asked.

Armstong saluted. "Any time, any place, Colonel." Winry stood up next to him.

"Not without me," she said stubbornly.

"No," Roy said firmly. "This will not be the place for a young civilian girl like you."

"I promise not to put myself in any unnecessary danger," Winry protested. "I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I knew that Ed and Al were in danger and I didn't do anything." Armstrong looked over at Mustang and nodded his approval.

"A date?" Ed repeated faintly.

"Well, kind of," Al said nervously.

"Kind of?!" Ed yelled. "No wonder you were ironing your loincloth this morning! How could you do this?!"

"What do you mean-?"

"I just barely find out I have a brother and you go running off with a girl!"

"We're not running off-"

"Fine! Go ahead and go watch your stupid bands in the park! I'll just stay here and do more research!" Ed slumped on the couch angrily and picked up Harry Potter. Al started to move towards him, but then the doorbell rang. Al slowly walked up the stairs, still looking at Ed.

"See you tomorrow morning, Brother," he said softly, and then walked out the door. Ed watched him leave, and then rubbed at his eyes angrily.

Al slowly opened the door. "Hi Robyn," he said without looking up.

"Hello Al," Robyn said sweetly. Al looked up from the ground and gasped in surprise. Robyn wasn't wearing a skirt like Ed had said, but instead she was wearing a nice pair of jeans and a royal blue sweater that attractively showed off her shoulders. On top of that she had curled her hair and was wearing her guitar pick neclace, which looked surprisingly good with the sweater.

"Wow," Al breathed. "But…Ed said that you were wearing a skirt."

Robyn laughed merrily. "Al, haven't you heard of how girls change their outfit fifty times before a date?" she paused. "Speaking of Ed, where is he? Isn't he going to say goodbye?"

"No," Al said sadly. "He didn't want to."

'I finally got the girlfriend I wanted, Brother. But was it worth it if it meant making you so mad?'

'Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive, were very proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much.' Ed had read the first line of Harry Potter for what seemed like the hundredth time. He looked back up from the book as he heard a door shut. He quickly looked back down at the book, desperate to distract himself.

'…Dursley…number four, Privet…proud to say… normal, thank you…' Ed scanned over the page without absorbing any of it as one word drifted across his mind.

Wimp.

Ed ignored the voice and flipped on the TV. He tried desperately to focus on the news story of a missing girl.

You know you wanted to.

"No!" Ed shouted, standing up. 'I can't have a girlfriend,' he thought desperately. 'Besides, she already said that she wanted to go to college, and I've got to go back to Amestris with Al.' Ed nodded to himself. "Can't have a girlfriend," he muttered under his breath.

Robyn leaned back on her hands next to Al. Both of them were sitting on the grass in the park, listening to the band play as the sun set behind the stage. Robyn turned to Al.

"You know this can't last," she said softly. Al looked down sadly.

"Yeah, I know," he said slowly, then turned to look at Robyn. "But you knew that too, so why'd you say yes?"

Robyn grinned at Al. "Because Al, You're a great guy, and girls should lining up to be with you." She chuckled. "And Fullmetal Alchemist is popular enough that they probably would if we let you out of the basement more often." Al may not have had a body, but Robyn could tell that he was beaming anyway.

"Really?" he asked happily. Robyn nodded and they both turned back to watch the band, with Al turning to ask Robyn if she was tired every now and then.

"Robyn?" a familiar voice called out above Robyn and Al. Robyn turned around to face it and saw Kari standing there with a shocked look on her face. Robyn and Al both quickly stood up, and Kari pulled Robyn aside for a hushed conversation.

"What are you doing? Have you finally lost it?"

"Listen Kari, I can explain-"

Kari grinned, "A guy, Robbie? A real guy? Is it a date?" Robyn blushed and scuffed her foot in the dirt. Kari looked back over at Al. "Well? What's his name? He's an obvious FMA fan."

Robyn looked up at Kari with a wild glint in her eyes. "His name is Al, Kari." Kari laughed. "Come on Kari, you can't say you still don't believe me now," Robyn pleaded.

"Robyn, don't you think this is getting a little childish?' Kari asked. Robyn looked at her with a hurt expression. "I mean, how much work did it take to get that guy's armor so perfect? Just admit you're growing up and that you actually went on a date."

Robyn huffed at her stubborn friend. "This isn't just a bunch of coincidences, Kari. Besides, he actually remembers Amestris," Robyn said softly as she walked back to Al's side. Kari crossed her arms and turned her back on her friend.

"Come on Al," Robyn said angrily as she grabbed Al's arm and pulled him out of the park. Al didn't stop her until they were standing back in front of the Elliott house.

"Robyn, what's wrong?" Al asked, pulling her back around to face him. Tears were streaming down Robyn's face. She looked at Al sadly, and then collapsed onto his chest plate. She didn't know that two golden eyes were watching from a window in the house behind them.

Ed grumpily sat in his Chemistry seat on Monday morning. The entire classroom was empty – not even the teacher was in there yet. Ed glanced down at his right hand and tugged off the glove. He stared at the smooth metal, hearing the soft whir of gears as he flexed his fingers. He rested his head on his left hand and stared at the artificial limb. He felt guilty for not even being able to remember who had put so much work into it. Actually, he felt guilty for a lot of things, he realized with a sigh. A sudden creak from the door interrupted Ed out of his thoughts. He looked up to see Robyn walk in the door, wearing battered jeans and a long sleeve red shirt. She looked at Ed, grinned, and then sat in the seat next to him.

"You know, you might want to put your glove back on," she told him. "Other people will be coming in soon." Ed nodded and pulled the glove back on. "Are you okay?" Robyn asked. Ed nodded silently. Robyn looked at him strangely, then turned back to her books.

"So did you have fun with Al?" Ed asked sourly from his seat. Robyn looked back at him.

"Yeah," she said with a sigh. She raised an eyebrow and looked at Ed. "But didn't Al already tell you?"

Ed gave her a careless shrug. "Yeah," he said.

"Well, Al and I aren't going to do it again, alright?" Robyn said softly. Ed looked up at her with a surprised look on his face. Robyn stopped looking at her knees and looked up at Ed. "Come on Ed, don't act so surprised. You knew as well I did that it wouldn't last."

"Then why'd you do it?" Ed asked her.

Robyn sighed. "Because when he asked me, I remembered all those times where he said he couldn't get a girl because of his large body, and I couldn't say no. I knew that having a girl reject you would be more painful than if he never had a girl. Plus," Robyn looked up at Ed, "He's got you for a brother. Not only do girls drool all over you, but for what he lost his whole body for, you only lost a leg. Imagine if someone came up to you and said, 'Okay, all of you is equal to one of your brother's legs.'" Ed looked down at his knees. "So I gave him a date as a little boost to his confidence," Robyn finished.

"Girls don't drool over me," Ed mumbled.

Robyn scoffed. "Oh yeah, and the sky isn't blue." She paused. "Don't tell Al, okay?" she added softly. Ed looked up at her and held out his hand. Robyn took his hand and shook it with a smile.

"I promise," Ed said, barely loud enough for Robyn to hear.

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AdventureAddict: Well, another chapter bites the dust.

Ed: And another one gone, and another one gone!

AdventureAddict: Oooo-kay…Anyway, there have been a few reviews commenting on my neighbors. No, Ed is not my neighbor, if that was true, I wouldn't be here writing a fanfic, I'd be living it!

Ed: (pales and trembles as sweatdrops appear on his face)

AdventureAddict: Nope. All I have next door is a puppy…awww…puppy…

Frodo: Get on with it!

AdventureAddict: Right-o. Anywho, My friend Kairi Angel informed of a few things that might seem like references or something weird like that…These are pure mistakes!!! XD

Coincidence #1: I named Robyn's mom 'Lily,' and Robyn and Lily both have matching eyes – Harry Potter and his mom 'Lily' also both have matching eyes. (I named her 'Lily' because I thought it would be cool that her name and the color of her eyes match…)

Coincidence#2: The Elliotts son's name is 'Edward' and he has red hair. There is a character in Cowboy Bebop whose name is Edward and has red hair. (I just gave him red hair because I always need at least one character with red hair in my stories. XD)

Coincedence #3: nightbug08 threatened me with Darth Vader to name Robyn's brother 'George,' (IDK, it's random) instead of naming him George, I named him Luke, like Luke Skywalker, Darth Vader's son… (I named him Luke just because it fit!)

Frodo: Stop…please…

Ed: I feel death's warm embrace…

AdventureAddict: Drama queens. Yeah, I'm done now. If anybody else spots coincidences, feel free to tell me!