WHOOOOO! Finally done chapter 12. Muahahaa I felt like being really mean so I went back to the Elric house and left you in your suspence about Ed and Crystal and the evil man... BWARDEHARHARHARHARHARHAR! (cough) and on that note, I give you, CHAPTER 12! WHOO!

DISCLAIMER: Blah blah blah, Don't own FMA, blah blah blah, Evil lawyers...

ONWARD!


Al slouched back into his chair and groaned. His brother was gone and had taken Crystal with him, Amber was still unconscious… which may not be a good thing, and the doctor was in another room making a phone call. He still didn't understand why the man couldn't just make the phone call in the kitchen. Al closed his eyes and hoped for sleep, or at least some sort of daydream to keep him occupied and away from being bored to death. Sigh. He slouched a bit more but frantically sat up as he nearly slid off the chair. Not a good thing to do when you only have one and a quarter leg left to support you. His right leg was bandaged up and was under a pile of icepacks. If this was an anime this is where he would have sweat dropped. At least 10 icepacks covered the injured leg. Well this was going to be just the most amusing day he had ever had in his life… not. The dirty blond haired boy sighed and closed his eyes once more in attempt to amuse himself, one last time. Darkness engulfed his sight until something came into view. He swore he could see the gate ahead of him, in his far sight.

He was shaken from his thoughts by a familiar voice. "Al…?"

He strained to see the blond girl lying on the couch. "Amber?"

"Alphonse? Is that you?"

"Yes. I'm in the kitchen," he stated blatantly.

"What are you doing?" her voice was cracking. "Can you come in here?"

Al glanced at the icepacks on his leg. "I'm… uh… a bit… disabled at the moment…"

"Disabled?" Al could see the girl groggily shifting around so that her head poked out around the corner of the doorway. "AL!"

Amber leapt off the couch and stumbled into the wall. She dropped to her knees and crawled over to Al, who sat watching her from the wooden chair. Amber held up a weak arm and, removing a few icepacks, lightly touched the bandages that suffocated the leg. Al winced a bit. "Does it hurt?" Amber took her hand away.

"Not really. I've gotten used to it."

"What happened?"

"Nothing…"

"Alphonse, tell me!"

He looked away. It was like he couldn't tell her, but why? It would make her worry. That was why. Al ruffled his short, dirty blond hair. "I… I just… It… um…"

Amber grasped Al's hand and stared intensely into his eyes. "Please tell me! Can't you trust me?"

"Of course I can trust you! It's just… I don't want to worry you or anything…"

"You're worrying me by not telling me you big dope!"

"Dope?!"

"Yes, dope," Amber confirmed causing Al to blush. "Tell me or I'll have to call you something worse." Amber let her voice become a bit more serious, "Please, Al."

Al stared at the hand that Amber was still clutching onto. "I… I had to or else I wouldn't get you back."

"From what?" Amber pushed him on.

"The Gate."

"The Gate? The one from my dreams?"

Al nodded, brushing a loose strand of hair behind Amber's ear. Her ice blue eyes were filled with emotions that raced about. Al gazed into her eyes to try and figure out what each one was. Grief, sympathy, anguish, despair, resent… Tears were forming in her eyes. Al gave her a small empathetic smile and brushed away her tears. "It isn't your fault." The whisper seemed to echo about the room. Amber bowed her head a bit.

"Oh, the girl is awake. Good, good."

Al turned to see the doctor standing in the stairwell, a smug look planted on his face. Amber looked up at the man and then to Al. "Who is this?"

"The doctor." Al stated without taking his eyes off the man. There was something suspicious about him and Al didn't trust him. He knew something was wrong with this man since Ed and Crystal left the house. Something wasn't right…

The door suddenly burst open and Amber jumped up, spinning around. "AAAAAAAAAAMBEEEEEEEEEEEEERRRRR!" Ayla appeared around the door and waved happily. "I knew I'd find you here!"

Al practically fell off the chair. "How did you get in here? Ed locked the door."

"Oh. Roy's pretty good at picking locks." Ayla smiled and tucked some hair behind her ear.

Sweat drop. "…Roy?" Since when was Roy good at picking locks? And since when was Roy in this world?!

"Ayla!" Amber steamed. "You can't just break in! That's against the law, no matter how good of friends somebody is! Learn to knock or ring the doorbell like a normal person!"

Ayla waved off what Amber said, rolling her eyes, before turning to pull the raven-haired teenager around the corner. Roy? As a teenager?! Al rubbed his forehead and yawned. …What time was it? It was already 5:46 PM! Ed and Crystal had sure been gone a long time.

"Who's the kid in the chair?" Roy poked Ayla.

"Oh, that's right. Roy, this is Al. He's Edward's younger brother. Al, this is Roy."

"Ed? You mean the runt?"

"He's not a runt, Roy! Just… smaller than normal."

"Meaning a runt."

"Whatever."

Al stayed completely silent. Something was different… Roy wasn't the same person… yet, he was. Something pricked at Al. Why hadn't Roy or Ayla said anything about his leg? As if Ayla had read his thoughts she suddenly gasped. "Oh my! What happened to your leg?!"

Amber stared at her sister with a look of cold irritation on her face. "It took you that long to notice it?"

"Well it wasn't my fault! I was simply too… busy to notice."

"Too 'busy' thinking about your new boyfriend?" Amber rolled her eyes. "You've changed a lot, Ayla. You used to be a… a better person before we came here."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You know exactly what it means."

"You can't talk to me like that, Amber!"

"Yes I can. I have every right to. Just because you're older than me, doesn't give you the right to control me."

"I'm not controlling you."

"Not here. At home is a different story. What's with you?" Amber quickly stood and jolted up the staircase, bumping into the doctor on her way.

Amber brushed tears from her eyes. '… no right… she has no right… she's changed… why has she changed?' A soft knock came at the bedroom door before it creaked open. Ayla poked her head into the room to lay a soft gaze on her little sister. "Oh Amber…"

"Leave me alone."

Ayla moved into the room and closed the door behind her. She stood, leaning against the handle for a moment before she stepped towards the girl sitting on the neatly made bed. "I said, leave me alone!" Amber shot at Ayla.

Ayla sat on the bed next to Amber but didn't say anything. "Why wont you listen to me?" the younger sister sobbed.

Ayla turned herself so she was facing Amber. "I don't know…"

Amber looked at the wall in front of her. "There has to be some reason. People like you don't just ignore their sibling for no apparent reason. I may be growing up but I still want the comfort of family." Amber stared her sister hard in the eye. "It's because of the gate isn't it?"

"The gate?"

"Oh don't give me that. You know exactly what I'm talking about," Amber spat back. "When I was completely distant from you and everyone else. I heard Crystal talking on the phone with you about it. You're scared I'm going to get possessed again and that I'll come after you or something, isn't that right?"

Ayla kept silent, searching for the right words. "…I suppose that's why."

A heavy silence weighed down on the sisters. Amber looked down at her hands that were firmly clamped down on her knees. Ayla examined the room. A desk was only a few feet from them, sitting bare. On the bedside table, a digital alarm clock and a lamp that was switched off sat. There was a cat poster hanging on the wall near the door and beside the poster, a white dresser was blocking the closet door. Ayla squinted her eyes a bit in thought. Why would you block a closet? Amber stood up. "I don't like not being able to talk to you like I used to, Ayla. I really miss that."

"I do too."

"Then why can't we? We're the only family we've got right now."

"You're right, Amber."

"Of course I am!"

"… Don't ruin the moment."

"Sorry… So we're cool?"

"Yeah."

Amber sat back down on the bed and smiled at her older sister. "Good."

Ayla hugged her younger sister. "So you remember what happened when the gate possessed you?"

"Barely. I'm just starting to remember things and the memories are foggy."

"Well that's in the past now, I'm just glad you're okay."

The two girls turned towards the closed door and blinked. "Did you hear that?" Amber asked.

"Depends… What did you hear?"

"It sounded like Al yelling…?"

The noise came again, but louder. "AH NO! GET AWAY!" CRASH CLATTER BANG


I'm the same height as Ed... Ed isn't short... Not short at all... Anyways. I had to make a floorplan of the Elric house because I kept forgetting where everything was... " It's got a basement, a main floor, and a top floor. It's a cool house too! It's kinda funny though becuase Ed's and Al's rooms are pretty much exactly the same... But that's okay... right? Ah, whatever... I'll get onto chapter 13 as soon as I'm done my stupid portfolio... (hates health)
NOODLES! (ahem) I mean... Please R&R!