He ate his lunch slowly.

For once, actully chewing the food before swallowing it into his bottomless pit of a stomach.

He had a lot on his mind, and Sokka was not helping by just sitting there sulking.

This country was foreign.

Very different from his.

The animals looked like some sort of chimera, like the one on Katara's plate.

How she managed to eat that. . . thing without throwing up was beyond him.

The traditions were more or less the same however, thank the-god-he-doesn't-believe-in for that.

Any more weird glances from Toph and he would lose it.

Because it didn't matter if he didn't know who the hell she was!

He couldn't possibly remember the name of everyone in a country.

It didn't matter to him if she was a 'Bei Fong', whatever the hell that is.

It's not fair!

Ling owed him one.

Big time.

He pushed the rest of his lunch off the table and gave it to what looked like a deformed puppy.

Aang patted it happily.

Strange boy, the avatar.

Strange boy.

"These people have no idea how close they were to being toasted last night." Aang commented after looking around.

Ah, yes.

How could anyone forget what happened last night?

Where a giant rock pummelled him to the ground and someone had to drag him out.

His automail was crushed to tiny tiny tiny pieces.

Which he was currently keeping in a bag he transmuted.

He could already feel the wrench. . .

"Yeah, the worst thing about being in disguise, is that you don't get the hero worship anymore. I miss the love."

He snorted.

What disguise?

All they did was change their clothing.

Even forcing him to do the same.

People should be free to choose what they wanna wear!

"Boohoo, poor hero's."

He turned to Sokka with a frown.

There was something in his voice.

Something that reminded him eerily of Gran.

He had NOT forgotten the way he had been spoken to during their first encounter.

It was like the man was mocking him or something.

Not that it matters, Gran was dead now.

Good old Scar was helpful in some way after all.

"What's your problem? You haven't even touched your smoked sea-slug." Katara pointed at the thing beside Sokka with her chopsticks.

It didn't even look like food.

"It's just- all you guys can do this awesome bending stuff, like putting out forest fires and flying around, and making other stuff fly around,"

"I don't bend." he muttered, pouting a little as everyone shot him a glare to be quiet.

"I can't fly around, okay? I can't do anything."

Sokka was degrading himself.

That was not healthy; he knew that by experience.

"That's not true. No one can read a map like you."

"I can't read at all."

"Yeah! And who keeps us laughing with sarcastic comments all the time? I mean, look at Katara's hair, right? What's up with that?"

"What? What's wrong with my hair?"

In his opinion, all this bickering was not helping Sokka.

"Nothing,i was just trying to-"

In fact, it seemed to make the depressing mood worse.

"Look, I appreciate the effort. But the fact is, each of you is so amazing and so special, and i'm. . . not."

That was so sad.

And making him lose his appetite.

Which didn't really matter because he had just given his lunch to a chimera.

"I'm just the guy in the group who's regular."

He toyed with the fact that all this was coming from last night with Sokka being a lemur sitter as Katara walked over to her brother.

"I'm sorry you're feeling so down. But I hope you know that none of us see you that way."

Toph kicked him as he opened his mouth.

He glared at her.

"I know something that's going to make you feel better." Katara said with newfound enthusiasm, putting a comforting hand on Sokka's shoulder.

"You do?"

"SHOPPING!"

He sweatdropped as Sokka clapped childishly, running to inspect the jagged surface of a spear.

At least it was a weapon store...?

He didn't know if that counted as anything seeing as he didn't buy weapons.

Watching Sokka goof around was surprisingly exhausting.

Who knew the guy had so much energy.

And who knew Aang liked armour.

With spikes no less.

Isn't the kid supposed to be a monk?

He looked around the store, eyes roaming the handiworks.

Some were actually pretty neat.

Though there were no guns.

There were no such stores in Amestris.

At least, not that he knew of.

Oh right!

Havoc ran one, and that Rebecca lady that seemed to like Hawkeye so much, probably because Hawkeye bought her guns there.

Maybe.

Hawkeye didn't really specify where she got her guns, and no one really cared to ask due to the fact that the main thought in everyone's minds at the time was getting the gun shoved in their faces gone.

Something caught his eye.

His breath halted for a few seconds before he exhaled slowly.

"Ignition gloves!"

Mustang said there was no way he'd find one seeing as they were made from rare materials, and only he, the Great Flame Alchemist, knew where to get them.

Looks like the bastard was wrong.

He fingered them thoughtfully.

"That is the latest design for archery gloves."

He turned to see a man in his mid fifties, probably a sales man.

"Archery gloves, huh?" he murmured, looking them over again.

He raised his head to look at the man.

"How much?"

"Not much."

He walked up to his charges with newfound happiness.

Think I just spooked Toph.

He mused lightly after he flashed the earthbender a smirk and she stumbled.

"That's what you needed all along, Sokka!" Aang exclaimed, not noticing his presence, which was right behind him.

The kid would fail in survival training...

"A sword?"

"Not the sword! A master."

Sokka took down the sword from a wall dubiously.

"We've all had masters to help us get better, you should see if you can study with Piandao."

Weren't they on a tight schedule?

How on earth would they have time for this?"

"That's a great idea!" Katara piped up. "I could've never gotten where I am without Master Pakku. Everyone needs a teacher."

"I learn from badgermoles." Toph offered with a small smile. "They don't talk, but they're still good teachers."

Sokka was considering his options, and it was taking too bloody long.

"It would be nice to be master sword fighter..."

He didn't think these children understood war.

They should've been prepared before they started their journey.

"Alright! I'll talk to him."

There was a chance this 'Piandao' would reject Sokka; if he was as well known and famous as they say, won't there be a range of people wanting to be his student?

How does Sokka stand a chance if he can't even hold a sword right?

But he preferred to keep these thoughts to himself.

Sokka seemed so excited after all.

And it was kinda rude to burst someone's bubble.

Surprisingly, Piandao accepted Sokka as a student.

He was more than shocked at the news, and maybe a little doubtful.

However, he dismissed it due to the fact he finally had free time for training and he had to somehow fix his automail so Winry wouldn't notice...

He couldn't see that happening.

But for now, he'd just have to make do.

He couldn't possibly call his childhood friend over in the middle of a war torn country.

It was too dangerous and Al would probably yell at him for interrupting their honeymoon or something.

He clapped, trying to put the pieces back.

Failing miserably.

He needed some tools if he were to put them back.

Metal tools.

He had sent Momo to get some, and the lemur had yet to come back.

Irritating.

He'd have to transmute tools from the earth then.

"Wha'cha doing?"

"Fixing my limbs."

Toph paled.

Yeah...

They had freaked after seeing his automail crushed, believing that to be his real limbs before seeing the metal pieces.

He refused to explain, and they had the liberty of not asking.

"Does it hurt?"

He started; not expecting the sudden question.

"Not really."

"You're lying."

He scowled, but left it at that.

"I can help."

"I doubt it."

"Do you even know what you're doing?"

He paused before answering. "Yes."

"You're lying."

He clicked his tongue irritably.

"I can help. I know how it works."

"Somehow, I doubt that." he drawled, earning him a punch on the arm, which he couldn't avoid due to the fact he was missing 2 limbs.

"Taking advantage of my disability." he mumbled, making Toph smirk.

"When I was young, my toy broke, and my parent called someone in to fix it. I watched the entire process. It was facinating. I have never seen those before though." she pointed at his crushed automail. "But I do know a little about machines."

Grudgingly, he pushed the pieces to her.

She picked up the screwdriver.

"So what were you so happy about?" she asked in an attempt to converse.

"I bought something." he answered shortly, shrugging.

"Really? What?"

"Gloves."

She raised an eyebrow. "Gloves? That's what made you so happy?"

"They're not ordinary gloves." he defended.

"Then what are they?"

"I'll show you." he huffed, taking the white gloves from his bag.

Toph eyed it suspiciously. "You know Katara would rather you wear red gloves, right?"

He ignored her, simply taking his red gloves off and slipping the white one on.

He was slightly nervous due to the fact he had never tried this before and he might blow the whole place up.

However, if he didn't try, he'd never know.

So he invisioned the array, and snapped, wincing a little.

A flame the size of his fist appeared, and he sighed in relief.

"Woah!" Toph lost her balance on the rock she was sitting on and fell to the ground.

He would've allowed her to try if fire alchemy wasn't so dangerous.

"You can firebend too?" she asked suspiciously.

"No, I can't bend."

"Then what is that?"

"Alchemy."

"Which is..?"

He stubbornly ignored her question.

In a flash, she took his gloves.

He started. "Hey!"

"I guess these help you firebend, huh?" she waved it infront of his face, just out of his reach.

Dammit, he couldn't stand without a searing pain in his leg.

"Aang! Katara! Get over here!" she hollored, a smirk on her lips.

He growled, making a grab for the goves only to miss as Toph took a step back.

Great, now she was well out of his reach.

"What is it?" Aang panted, looking around for threats.

Katara placed her hands on her hips as she realized no one was in danger.

"These can firebend!" Toph said smugly, glancing at him out of the corner of her eyes, making him growl again.

Katara and Aang stared at the gloves before Katara spoke.

"Toph, we know it's boring and all, but do you really have to sca-"

"No really." Toph slipped the gloves on. "Watch."

She snapped her fingers and his eyes widened.

He slammed his palm onto the ground and covered Katara and Aang from the burst of flame that left Appa roaring.

He stood, ignoring the blinding pain on his left leg, and stumbling over to the stunned and perhaps a little horrified earthbender.

Ripping the gloves from her hands, he proceeded to yell at her for nearly killing them all.

"YOU ALMOST FRIED YOUR FRIENDS!" he pocketed the gloves furiously. "IT IS DANGEROUS IF YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND! WE COULD'VE BEEN CHARCOAL!" he snarled, shaking her roughly.

"Toph!" Katara and Aang ran over to their friend.

"What was that for?" Aang yelled, wrenching Toph from his grip.

"One mistake and we all die! You should know fire is not a toy! If I hadn't defended you then, do you think we would be having this argument?!"

He didn't give them a chance to say anything else.

He found her sitting by herself on a boulder.

Walking over, she stiffened, turning her head slightly in his direction.

"I'm...sorry for grabbing you." he apologized gruffly, feeling more than awkward in this situation. "And thanks for fixing my limbs."

She nodded. "I'm sorry too. I shouldn't have simply done...that."

It was silent for a few moments, where he sat down beside her.

"Friends?"

He eyed her outstretched hand before grasping it firmly.

"Friends."

Two sighs of relief were heard behind them.

He felt vaguely irritated he hadn't sensed them.

"So, Ed. Now that everything's alright, maybe you could teach Aang firebending?"

He didn't even bother correcting them anymore.

"I don't wanna."

"Why not?!"

"Why don't you learn it your way?"

"But Aang doesn't have a firebanding master!"

"He'll find one."

"But-"

"It's too dangerous." he snapped.

"He's right, Katara." Aang interrupted. "It's best if I learned it frm a firebending master."

He nodded in agreement.

Katara sighed.

"Fine." she said grudgingly.

Days passed with literally nothing to do, until he got his first proper look at Sokka's master.

Said 'regular guy' earned a little respect from him when he confessed to his master he had lied.

It took courage to do that.

He smiled in approval.

Something his friends found completely inappropriate in this situation, due to the fact Sokka and Piandao was fighting to the death.

Though he personally disagreed.

The boy would be fine...

There was no glimmer of murder in Piandao's eyes; he had been around criminals for far too long.

As Aang, Katara and Toph jumped down to keep Sokka from getting his throat slit, he stayed, leaning on the railing and quite content with watching everything from afar.

"I think i'm a little too old to be fighting the avatar."

Now that was a surprise.

He narrowed his eyes, but other than that, did nothing.

"How did you know?"

"Oh, i've been around a while; pick things up. Of course I knew from the beginning that Sokka was watertribe."

He noted the look of guilt and shame on Sokka's face, and felt iritated Piandao discarded the fact Sokka had owned up to the lie.

Even if Sokka wasn't his favourite among the group, he had formed some sort of weird, friend-brother bond thing with him.

And he always defended his friends.

"You might want to think about a firenation cover name. Try Lee, there are many Lee's."

It was most probably how Piandao took everything in a stride as if this - avatars and friends popping out of nowhere to receive training from him - was normal, that set him on edge.

"But why did you agree to train someone from the watertribe?"

"The way of the sword doesn't belong to anyone nation. Knowledge of the art belongs to us all."

"Were you even going to hurt Sokka?" Aang asked skeptically.

"No. Your friend knew that." Piandao turned to him, and he shrugged.

"If you were trying, Sokka would be a bloody pile on the ground." he said bluntly, making everyone sweatdrop.

"Very observant."

He shrugged the praise away, deeming it unimportant.

He already knew how great he was, he didn't need anyone else telling him.

"A friendly spar?"

"Swords are not my forte."

"That's okay."

So much for rejecting the offer...

He clapped, and transmuted a sword from the groud.

He didn't usually use swords. Blades were more his type, but it doesn't really matter.

He was itching to test the automail Toph had helped rebuild.

It felt weird and more than a little uncomfortable but...it would do for now.

"I'll fix that." he told the horrified butler as he glanced at the ground he had transmuted.

Sliding into a stance, he allowed his oppponent to make the first move.

He mostly relied on his 'monkey-like' abilities to jump and dodge than his sword.

Not that he'd ever say that outloud.

He would've swept the guy off the ground and maybe thrown a punch or two like he preferred, but sword fights weren't like that.

That was why it was called 'sword' fight.

He learnt that much from Ling during his stay in Xing.

Said emperor had whined about him cheating for days...

Not that he cared.

The sore loser would just have to bear losing every now and then.

Back to the sword fight at hand.

Piandao was very good, almost like Slicer without the evil.

Perhaps even better than Teacher.

If only-

"Ng."

His sword was forced out of his hand.

He back flipped and caught it again.

Note to self: when fighting a sword master, do not day dream.

The next thing he knew, he was pinned against the wall with a sword to his throat, though it didn't matter, because his own sword was already touching Piandao's neck.

The sword master took a step back.

"It's been a long time since I had such a spar." he commented. "You are very good, you must've had a good teacher."

"Yeah... she beat us up while reading a cookbook."

"Us?"

"Me and my brother would team up and try to take her down. We never will."

"Never give up."

"No, she's dead."

There was a short silence.

"I am sorry."

"Aren't we all." he muttered bitterly.

"You're too late. Even if you weren't, this is not a screwdriver, it's a damn banana."

"Don't take your anger out on Momo!" Aang pulled the lemur away from his friend, who had been in a sour mood since leaving the mansion. "He's innocent."

"Would you rather I take it out on you?" he growled, giving the avatar a lethal glare.

"No fighting!" Katara snapped, before turning to him with a gentler tone. "Ed, do you want to talk about it?"

He scowled.

"I'm not a child!"

For once, Toph didn't comment, merely staying silent behind him.

"This is about your teacher, isn't it?"

He pretended not to hear the quiet question the avatar had asked, but he might as well have stood right in front of the boy.

He had forced the depressing thoughts out of his head - destroyed them with thoughts of food, Al, enemies, food – then that damn brat brought it to the front of his mind again.

"Firenations killed my teacher, but he would've wanted me to move on."

Shut up. Shut up. Shut up. Shut up.

"I think your teacher would have too, after all, she must've loved you very much."

"That would be great and all." he snarled, whipping around. "If I wasn't just there and still didn't manage to save her."

There was a slight pause, and he turned again to continue walking.

Some things were better left alone after all.

The sunset bled a blood red that evening.

He pretended not to notice.