I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist. I own my OC, Avis. And Leigh and Anabelle are owned by my you notice any spelling, grammar, plot issues (especially plot issues), OOC, or anything else please let me know. Reviews are always nice.
A/N: This chapter (the one before it and probably the one after it) have been plot fillers. There's the skip to the Promised Day in the anime and I can't just skip all that precious time to grow relationships between people.
.-.
Morning rolls around and Leigh and I are dragged from sleep again. I groan and rub at my eyes as I shuffle beside the little pact we have going. Sleeping on trees is a pain in the ass and I vow never to take a bed for granted ever again.
One of the beefy men talks to Ed and Greed, they point to a map and then back at me and Leigh as we walk side by side. Greed nods his head and says something before he drops back to our sides, his arms loop around our shoulders and he pulls us close. "Are you two ready for your first mission?" The homunculus smiles wide.
"Ah?" Leigh murmurs.
"You're mission is to go into New Optain and gather supplies. Ed will give you some money and a list. All you have to do is buy everything on the list and come back to us. Simple enough?"
"Yes."
"If you get caught or asked any questions-"
"We'll take care of it." I say surely.
Greed grins wide at us.
.-.
It's easy to move about New Optain, it's just like any other city. People wander this way and run that way all trying to get somewhere. Leigh and I keep our eyes open for a market or a general store, but we try not to look too desperate. We've been to three towns and nobody has asked us why we were there, why start now? A tiny yellow "General Store" sign flags me over, me and my partner head inside and start to pluck up various object. Matches, a new canteen, some canned food, some material so Ed can make us a blanket or something, and a few other objects. Arms full of things we check out. The middle aged man behind the counter looks us over.
"You girls going camping?"
"Yessir." Leigh says.
"Are you from around here?"
"No, we're from down east, we're trying to camp all the way around Amestris." I smile. The man seems to buy it, gives us some words of wisdom and a few tricks he knows and lets us go. Blue eyes meet green eyes and we smile, thanks mister, you helped a lot!
When we get back to the area we left our fugitives I'm happy to see they've settled down for lunch, apparently there's a stream nearby since there's six fish cooking by the fire. Heinkel takes the supplies and tells us thanks then it's off to fighting with Greed and Ed. Once my body warms up and I'm ready to fight Greed and Ed suddenly trade places. The blond is much faster than the black haired man and I struggle to keep up.
My hair flies my face and jump away from him to yank my hair up into a ponytail with a piece of string Leigh gave me. Once the nuisance is out of my way I jump forward ready to fight. Ed dives and moves much smoother than I'm used to and he constantly finds weak points to jab at. My ribs ache by the time Darius calls for us to stop and eat.
.-.
For the next few days, we fall into a routine: get up early, walk, stop for lunch, spar, walk, stop for dinner, walk until it's dark, find a place to stop, sleep, repeat. My body aches from the bruises and being stretched and used so much but at the same time I like the satisfaction of knowing I accomplished something. In the morning I wake up and stretch my hands above my head and yawn. My body has gotten use to waking up so early so I just spring to my feet and start walking with the rest of the pack.
I rub at my stomach, the ribs ache. Boots crunch in the leaves and twigs, the only noise in the whole forest it felt. We jump over logs and walk around stones and try to find a clear spot. Leigh makes a sound, grabs Ed's arm, and points to the left of us. There is a small shack just waiting to be used. Ed and Darius scope out the building before giving us a thumbs up. The shack is just that, an empty shelter. It's better than sleeping out in the open though. Darius and Heinkel disappear to find us lunch and Greed takes me outside to a tiny clearing.
I expect him to start fighting but instead he just stands there for a moment. He takes a deep breath before standing behind me and showing me how to punch and block and kick. We're both quiet as I allow my body to be moved under his instructions. He sighs and puts his arms around my waist, his breath warms my neck as he sets his chin down on my shoulder. "I'm sorry."
"For what?"
"For all this." He says vaguely. "I miss the chimera." He admits softly.
"Martel and them?" I verify.
"Yea. I should have protected them… I should have saved them."
"I'm sure they knew what they were getting into when they met you Greed."
"Did you?"
"I could assume." I reply, "But even if I did know… I didn't leave." I turn in his grasp and hug him. "They loved you Greed, don't go being sorry, remember them ok?"
"Why are you so smart?" The homunculus jokes as he hides his face into my hair. "Huh? I'm 200 years old and you're what 14?"
"15!"
"Yea, whatever kid, and you're wiser than this old geezer."
"You're not an old geezer." I say happily.
"If only that were true kid." He ruffles my hair and pulls away from me. "We should spar or else that stupid kid is going to start teasing me. The idiot prince is already laughing." Greed points to his chest and I poke the spot.
"So does Ling feel everything and see everything and hear everything?" I ask.
"Hn? Yea I guess he does."
I smile. "It's fate Ling and I keep running into each other."
Greed laughs, "Whatever you say kiddo."
"You don't believe in fate?" I ask as the black haired man starts to walk towards the woods. I trail after him quickly.
"Nope."
"Why not? Nothing's impossible. Why is fate impossible?"
Greed chuckles. "It just is kiddo."
"Well what about us? Don't you think it's more than a coincidence I found you twice?" Greed's purple eyes make my stomach twirl. I take his hand and smile. "Whether it was fate or not I'm still happy you were the one who found me."
"Yea me too kid." We stop in front of a large tree, Greed looks up to the leaves and I do the same. Suddenly Greed bursts out laughing and I step back a little frightened. "Ling says you should stop flirting with me since I'm so old… he says you should flirt with him instead." When I flush he laughs again. "Alright, here's your next test, climb this tree." I cock my head to the side at Greed who merely jerks his head towards the tree with a smirk on his lips.
Looking at the tree I begin to frown, the first branch is easily four feet above my head, how am I supposed to get that high? I attempt to look at Greed for advice but he just folds his arms over his chest. I look back to the tree and frown. The tree is a few feet around and the bark has a little ridges and waves to it. My heart starts to hammer as I try and calm myself, then I bolt forward, jump, kick my foot off the tree and lunge for the branch. I miss and fall hard on the ground. Greed doesn't laugh or help me up, his indifference hurts way more than the fall though. Not giving in I stand and brush dirt from my knees and pluck a leaf out of my hair.
This time I walk around the tree searching for anything to help me get up. I find nothing and frown. Wait. Alchemy. I have to be able to do something. My eyes widen and I touch the tree, the black circle on the back of my glove starts to glow and I feel all the water molecules inside the tree and pressing around me. I accumulate the water on the soles of my boots, if I freeze the water the second my feet hit the tree it should stick long enough for me to climb up. My mind empties and focuses on the task I need to accomplish.
I race forward, jump, the molecules on the soles of my feet condense and freeze. Another step, I freeze that and melt the other foot and grab onto the branch. That took too long. Still I made it up and I climb and weave between the branches until I reach the top. Beyond the treetops is flat land, off in the distance I think I can see a city. I smile and listen to the branches rustle until Greed pops up beside me.
"We need to work on that… still you made it up. Good job." He pats my head and I pout, I'm not a dog. A breeze blows by, my hair lifts off my shoulders and it feels nice. Greed grunts and my hair pulls. My brown locks were getting in his face, I giggle and he growls. We watch each other before his purple eyes soften, his hand reaches out and he plucks a leaf from my hair. "You're hair's so long again… if I cut it will you bawl your eyes out again?"
"I didn't bawl my eyes out!" I exclaim.
Greed laughs and pats my shoulder. "Now, let's get down." We start to shimmy and slide our way back down the tree. Greed jumps first and peers up at me as I kneel on the branch far above his head.
"Hey, Greed?"
"What kid?"
"Stop calling me kid…. And promise me you won't die on me and Leigh again." Greed's eyes widen for a moment before he laughs.
"I can't promise anything." He says and I frown. "But I'll try my best ok?"
I nod and jump from the tree without thinking. Suddenly I realize I'm too high up to land normally and safely. My arms flap in vain attempts I'll suddenly be able to fly. Not wanting to see my death I close my eyes and feel the air rush by my body. There's an oomph and I suddenly stop moving. My eyes fly open and Greed glares down at me. "You're such an idiot." He says making me smack his shoulder and kick my feet.
"You're so mean to me." I pout making him laugh.
"If you only knew how nice I was to you." Greed snickers.
"What's that mean?" I tease as Greed sets me down.
"Nothing kid." He ruffles up my hair and I poke his side.
"Don't call me kid." I whine.
"I can't promise anything doll face." We head back to the house side by side in silence. "Hey, k-… doll, can I ask something?"
"Sure."
"Why do you always hold my hand?" He gestures down and I realize, without thinking, I took his hand in mine. Our fingers squeeze together.
"Because I like knowing you're really here…" I stare down at our feet, "And that I'm not alone."
"You're never alone kid." Greed's hand squeezes mine.
"Hey, Greed."
"Yes?"
I didn't have anything to say, if I did the thought was gone before I could make a question. "Never mind." The black haired man chuckles, removes his hand from mine, and stuffs both his hands into his pockets just as we arrive back at base.
"Hey!" Ed calls out, "We need to stop at Risembool… we should be there tomorrow."
"Why?" Greed asks.
Ed points to his arm, the automail one. I offer to look at it, he slides his sleeve up and I touch the metal, it's not iron… it's made of a lighter material, something I'm not used to. I can't fix it, as much as I'd want to Josh never taught us about dealing with other metals. Since I can't do anything I apologize, we'd save a lot of time if I knew how to fix his automail.
"Well," Greed tucks his hands into his pockets, "tomorrow we're heading out… I'd hope to stay here a little longer," Purple eyes glance over at the house, "Alright?" We all nod.
.-.
Morning comes around with someone poking me hard in the side. My eyes open to find dark eyes right in front of my own. I jerk back and hit my head against the wall, my arms fly away from the unusual figure. A lighthearted chuckle sounds in my ears and I gasp. "Ling?" The eyes close and a smile forms on his lips. "Ling, what are you doing here?" I reach my hand out and touch the black clothed chest, yes he's here, where's Greed?
"Greed dropped his guard for a minute. C'mon." He wraps his hand around my wrist and slowly pulls me from the cabin. Nobody else was awake, the sky was light yellow colored. The Xingese prince lead me to the tree Greed and I were at yesterday before he turned to me. "Ok, I want to teach you this. Focus." His fingers press to my temples and I close my eyes. "Can you feel the ground? Feel the energy. Open your mind." I feel the ground under my feet. "Do you sense the presence of the others? Back in the cabin? Do you feel the people under your feet? Do you feel the strong presence to your left?" My mind disappears and I feel what he's talking about. I can feel something. "Think hard. Use the earth to find them." I take deep even breaths and try to hone in on the large presence to my left, as I try to find it my body shudders and I lose focus.
"What was that?" I ask looking to my left, trying to find whatever caused the sensation.
"That would be Father." Ling tells me. "Keep practicing that technique ok? Use the earth to your advantage. Read the Chi of those around you. Everyone has this energy, everything does." Ling's hands wind around my own, holding them close. "Protect yourself, he cares for you too much."
His eyes close for a moment and when they open they're the purple color I'm used to. "Idiot prince." He rubs his head and starts back to the building but stops and turns to me. "Practice that technique ok? As much as I hate that idiot for taking over at least he did something constructive." And just like that he walks back, hands tucked into his pockets.