I do not own FMA

A Place to Call Home (Bonds: Part 2)

Resembool, 1914

Nathan.

Never was I so ashamed to be related to Bailey 'Bo' Bennett. When we arrived the next morning to the train station of Resembool, she literally bent down on her knees and happily thank God that the torture she had endured of a two days and two nights train ride was over. At least we only had the dark chocolate wavy hair and the grey eyes as proofs of that we were siblings. We did not look much alike besides that. We also had the last name, but Bennett was a common last name.

I was feeling better after that ride, because I was able to think and make peace with myself. I actually slept a little more during the second night. It was my first real night in a week almost.

We followed Ed who made us walk a fairly long distance to his mechanic's house. I wondered how they really looked like. Was Pinako really that small? Was Winry really cute?

We were welcomed by their dog, who barked. I look at the surroundings. The house was in typical countryside fashion. In front, there was a big sign with 'automail' written on it.

"It so pretty, Nathan, can't you see," Bo exclaimed. "The scenery is so beautiful. I always loved the countryside. It is always so mesmerizing to look at."

I stared at her.

"Oh, I share the same point of view, Bo. I really love how gray everything seems to be. The light grey grass, the lighter grey house, the dark grey trees…everything is so harmoniously grey!" I replied.

"I forgot that you couldn't see colors," Ed said. "It's a shame, freak."

I stared at Ed.

"Who are you calling a freak, midget? You're more of a freakshow than me." I brush it off with a smirk.

"Who are you calling a midget, you bastard?" Ed showed me his fist.

Our little squabble was interrupted by Pinako. She was short, shorter than Ed.

"Oh dear what have you done?" she asked.

"A lot has happened, can you fix us up?" Ed asked, referring to Al and him obviously.

Then he presented Major Armstrong who dropped Al on the ground to shake Pinako's hand.

"These two are new friends of ours, Nathan and Bailey Bennett," he presented us as well.

"Nice to meet you, madam," I said, shaking her hand.

"What a gentleman. I'm Pinako Rockbell." She shook my hand.

Bo just smiled at her, because she was too occupied with playing with the dog. It made Pinako laugh, but I felt embarrassed by her behavior.

Pinako took a few steps back. "I know I haven't seen you for a while, Ed, but you've gone and grown smaller."

Bo and I laughed, while shorty got annoyed.

"Granny, you've got it wrong. You're supposed to say 'how big you've grown lately Ed'," he corrected her.

"Why would I say something clearly untrue?" she asked, which made us laugh even more.

"I'M STILL TALLER THAN YOU, YOU MINI HAG!" He roared.

"It's sad that your only consolation is to be taller than your granny." I smirked.

"SHUT UP, BASTARD! WHY DON'T YOU GO BACK TO YOUR DULL SELF?" He was angry.

Suddenly, a wrench came out flying from nowhere, and hit Ed straight in the forehead. I turned myself to the balcony, and saw her, Winry Rockbell in her mechanic uniform minus her jacket that was tied to her waist, her crop top, her bandana and her tied hair. She was way cuter than I thought. You know those moments when you meet that one person. I was not able to say a word.

"Edward, I thought I told you to call first before heading back here for maintenance," she said.

"WINRY, ARE YO TRYING TO KILL ME?" Ed screamed.

She just laughed and welcomed them.

I remained there while the others were entering the house.

"Brother, you're not going to stay outside, right?" Bo waved her hand in my face. "The earth is calling Nathan Bennett back. Earth to Bennett, do you copy?"

I nodded still dreamy. "I think I'm in love."

Bo eyed me, and I just patted her head while walking towards the house.

Bo.

My brother had never said those words before. Love was not part of his dictionary. Caring was more figurative to him. He seldom cared for me indirectly. He was not the type to give hugs. He was not the type to give you a hundred percent of his attention. Annoying people was his primary form of showing that he cared. To hear my brother saying this was just outstanding.

"If there is a God out there, I thank you. My brother is human for the worst, but also the better." There was a twinge of joy in my heart.

The Rockbell's place was nice and homey. I felt all cozy here. Our host invited us to their living room, where I sat next to Ed.

He was drinking his tea like nothing was wrong, while Winry saw the totally damaged and probably beyond repair automail arm. I could feel her pain.

"Yeah, sorry, it's a little smashed up," Ed dared to say.

"A little smashed up, a little smashed up," she repeated. "Ed, did you see what you did to my beautiful creation?"

"It's basically the same except in smaller pieces," he added.

Winry punched him. He deserved it. "You're so heartless it hurts," I commented.

"I know, right," Winry added. "Only a girl can understand."

She turned herself to Al. "You got a little smashed up too?"

Ad did not reply, but his expression said it all. It earned him a kick.

"Well, they're boys, Winry," I added.

"I know right," she replied.

I could feel a bond between us even if we had just met.

"Don't let manly girl mislead you," my brother interrupted.

I glared at him furiously.

"You're just as much as a boy as they are," he continued. "You break your glasses all the times, and I have to repair them. You manage to break your pocket watch into pieces, and I have to repair it." Nate sighed. "You kids are the same."

"DON'T TALK LIKE IF YOU ARE SOME GREAT DEAL, BRO!" I yelled.

"See, you're the same," Nate said, crossing the arms. "If you were as short as Goldie and had his honey hair and eyes, you could have totally been his doppelganger."

"STOP SAYING THAT I'M SHORT!" Ed yelled.

Nathan smirked.

When things cooled down, Edward took the lead and told the whole story minus many personal or important parts. Granny Pinako understood that Ed was in dire need of heading as quickly as possible to Central to get his hands on Doctor Marcoh's notes. Because of him, the two would have to pull three all-nighters.

"Not just the arm, the leg needs some adjusting too," she noticed.

"I guessed that your growth is not completely stunted after all," Winry wittily commented.

"JUST SHUT UP!" He yelled back.

The ladies went to their work station.

I was about to go play with the dog, when my brother stopped me.

"While we're here doing nothing, I might as well fix your watch," my brother said.

"But it's not broken again," I retorted.

"Sure, what time is it?" he asked.

I sighed, and handed him my pocket watch.

"You could ask them for some tools," I told my brother before leaving. "I'm sure that the old geek in you just wants to do it."

He smiled. "You're right. It's been a while since I haven't dissembled and reassemble stuff."

My brother did not smirk or did not cunningly retort. He smiled at me. What the hell?

Nathan.

Whistling as I walked to Pinako, I could help, but being happy. I did not know why, but it bothered me greatly. There was something about this house. You could not help but feeling at ease here.

"Madam Rockbell," I said.

"Pinako's just fine," she answered back.

"Without permission, I wasn't going to call you by your first name." I was just being polite.

It made her smile. "Ed should be learning a few things from you. What do you want?"

"Can I borrow a screwdriver?" I asked.

"A screwdriver," she looked at me.

"I have to repair my sister's pocket watch," I gave as answer.

"Can't you use alchemy for that?" she questioned.

"True, but nothing is like doing it with your bare hands." It was true. "Back when I was a kid, I would be with my father assembling all kind of things."

She remained quiet, which destabilized me.

"What did you two do to become State Alchemists?" Her voice was low.

I made sure that the Major was still outside. He was cutting wood in his own Armstrong family like way.

"We attempted alchemy a while ago. I was fourteen and Bo was twelve. I did not believe in it, so I told her that we could only know that it was true if it rebounded. We could have just created something, but I wanted a more striking irrefutable result," I told her. I felt like I could trust the old lady. She had that homey grandma feel. "We lost our mother and our sister, because of my foolishness. I also became affected with monochromia. Bo has hyperopia. We could have continued with our lives, but I thought that, if we could access the National Central Library, we could make things right. We met an alchemist. Things became worst. Sorry, I can't tell you the details, because I was ordered not to. I can tell you that I stained my hands with blood too many times. Bo wanted to stay by my side, and became a soldier. I wished she wouldn't have. Only one should have been bound to the state."

"You care about your sister," she said.

"We could say that, but I feel more responsible of our ill fortune," I denied.

"She cares about you," Pinako said. "What kind of lives have the boys been living these days? They have yet to send us as much as a single letter."

I realized that I had changed history at that moment. That was a question that she was supposed to ask the Major when he was going to come in with wood. It did not matter; it was already the past, but it made me think about how badly we were altering history.

"I've only met them recently, but for the short time we've spent…I can say that they've been doing lot of good. They are quite known in Central and the East. Even though I like testing Ed's limits, I can say that he's really a good kid," I answered. "Al is the sweetest, though."

"Is that so?" she said.

I nodded. "Hum…about the screwdriver…" I changed to topic. I always disliked being emotional.

"Oh, yes, ask Winry for one," she said.

I nodded, and went upstairs. I forgot that it was inappropriate to enter a girl's room without permission, and only realized when I opened the door. At least, she was not changing.

"I'm…yeah," I sort of apologized.

She looked at me with surprised eyes, and then laughed.

"It's nothing," she reassured me.

"I guess…" I looked away. "May I borrow a screw?"

She was startled by my demand.

"I just need to fix my sis's watch," I explained.

"You can fix things with tools?" She blinked.

"Don't be so surprised," I responded.

Winry was curious, so she kept me in her room. While she was rebuilding from scratch Ed's arm, I was fixing dissembling my sister's watch to fix it. We remained there silent. I would glance at her from time to time. It was so rare to see a female mechanic.

"You know if you keep on staring at me like this, I might think that you're a creep," she said.

I could feel the heat rising in my cheeks. I hastily finished fixing Bo's watch to get out.

"Thanks for the screw," I said. "Sorry to have bothered you in anyway."

Bo.

Why did Ed have to bring Den with him? I really wanted to play with her. I ended up following Ed, who was furiously against it, to stay with her. We walked silently the whole time. It was until Ed bought some white rose that I realized that he was going to visit his mother's grave. At least, he had told us before that he attempted to bring back his mom, so I did not have to act surprised, when we arrived at her grave. She had a nice name. I really like 'Trisha' as a name. It was better than Bailey anyways. Were my parents drunk on Bailey's when they procreated me or something?

God knew how long we remained at Mother Elric's grave. Ed did not say a word. I wanted him to say something, anything.

"How was she like and how did she look like?" I asked. Since he was there, he might at least remember the good times with her.

He did not answer at first. I thought it was inappropriate to ask.

"She was strong and caring. Even if our father abandoned, she would still smile. She was playful, and she encouraged us when we were learning alchemy," he finally broke the silence. "She had light brown hair and brown eyes."

I kind of already knew, but it did not matter.

"What about you?" he asked.

So he was going all 'equivalent exchange' on me now. I tried to come up with an answer while thinking of my memories. I panicked a little, because it seemed that I had forgotten. It was only temporary.

"She was nice, but not the happiest person, when my father died. She was not as strong as your mom, because her remedy was liquor. On the other hand, Zoey was a bright child. She was my one year younger counterpart. I was the tomboy and she was the princess," I replied. "Mom had black hair and grey eyes. Zoey was just like Nate and I with the brown hair and grey eyes."

On that we left the grave to go to their burned down house. I was about to ask him their reason, but he bit me at it and answered.

"Without a house to go back, we would keep on moving forward," he explained.

"But it's not really true," I thought out loud, which earned me a glare. "You maybe won't come back to your original home, but you'll head to Granny Pinako and Winry's. In a sense, you still have a place to call home. We call a place home, when we have people we can go to. They take care of us, they treat us like family. Where lies the heart, lies the home."

We walked back to the Rockbells' house in silence. I preferred it that way. When we arrived, the Major jumped on Ed.

"Oh Edward Elric!" He gave him one of those tight hugs. Then, he started a speech with tears and sparkles. Pinako I told him their backstory alright. Poor Ed, he even had to endure another bare hug. I was glad that the Major did not know that much about my brother and me.

It was supper. Granny Pinako made some kind of homemade feast: salad, mashed potatoes, roasted meat, boiled vegetables, milk and an apple pie. My tummy was happy except I did not touch my vegetables.

"Ed, drink your milk," Pinako said to Ed.

"I hate milk," he refused.

I turned to my brother, and noticed he did not touch his milk either. He looked at me, and noticed I did not touch my vegetables. He took my plate, and I took his bottle of milk. Everyone stared at us.

"What do you think you are doing?" Winry asked. She was a little scary.

"We've been doing this since we're little," Nate said. "Bo never liked vegetables except for lettuce and, maybe, onions. I've never liked milk. Depending on what is left, we exchange the same amount."

"But milk is good for you." Winry stared at him.

"I'm 5'11" which is probably a foot taller than Ed. I think I can take it easy on the milk unlike a shorty over here." He poked fun at Ed's height again.

"SHUT UP YOU DAMN FOOL! IT'S NOT MY FAULT IF I'M NOT A GIANT LIKE YOU!" He yelled.

"True, some people are just not blessed with a few things. Nature had to be fair with you, your big brain for your tiny height," he continued.

"That means that for your big height you have a tiny brain," Ed retorted.

"Sorry, but did you forget that I outrank you, midget." Nate smirked.

"You want to have my fist in your face, don't you!?" Ed breathed. "But I wouldn't want you to become completely blind."

I started to get annoyed by this fight. I was not the only one. Winry punched Edward, while I elbowed Nathan.

"SHUT UP," we both yelled.

The guys stared at us. Supper pretty much ended after that. Geez, boys sometimes could but just so annoying.

Granny Pinako gave us a room to stay in. It was really nice of her. We could have just taken the couch. It was the first time of the day that I was alone with my brother. He gave me my watch back. I opened my suitcase, and threw some clothes at him.

"So that bag was not just for you." He said as he took off his shirt.

"Well duh, why would I bring a whole packed suitcase?" I rolled my eyes.

"Real girls usually pack clothes for a month, when it's just a little trip," he said. I wanted to hit him for insinuating that I was no girl.

I looked at his bare back shoulders. I could see those intricate markings and tattoos. On his skin were carved all sorts of things that together made one huge array. His right shoulder was completely covered and most of the right side of his back. It must have hurt so badly when he was marked. Tattooing in the old ages was not as soft as how they do it in the 21st century. That was a permanent scar of his alchemic training. I felt a bad.

His eyes met mine. Nathan exactly knew what I was thinking, and it made him 'sad'.

"Stop now, Bo" he ordered, as put on a shirt and changed his pants.

He opened the door to leave the room.

"Hey Nate," I said, looking at the window.

"What?" he asked.

"You know, I almost forgot how Zoey and mom looked like," I told him.

"And?" He stared at me.

"We don't have any pictures of them, and I'm scared that I would forget about them for good in the future." I bit my lip.

He did not say anything.

"They are lucky, aren't they? They are lucky to have Granny Pinako, Winry and a home/" he cut me.

"Don't let it get to you," Nathan said, leaving and closing the door.

I fell asleep pretty sad and envious.

Author's note: Nathan's reaction when he saw Winry was a little inspired by Han's reaction in Fast Five. This chapter was lightly inspired by The Cinematic Orchestra's To Build A Home.