Chapter Twenty-One
Where they get a surprise phone-call.
Disclaimer: I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist.
Edward allowed no stop while they were traveling through the desert. Yet, despite that, Alphonse still found time to give Aya more Amestrian lessons. The blond was nowhere near speaking the language fluently, but she was able to make small-talk conversations with Al by the time they finished their trip. Aiame had remained quiet most of the time, the heat had begun to take its toll on her after all – the quicker they got back to Amestris, the better it would she would feel. The trek across the sands only ended up taking little over a week, relieving the four of the dry heat much faster than they had expected.
Arriving in East City reintroduced three of the foursome to poor weather. Although the thunderstorm had ceased, the sky was still painted with a dreary shade of gray. Rainwater had collected in the curbs of the cobblestone streets. The worst of it was, along with the bad weather came a strange buzzing feeling in the port of Aya's automail. She wanted so badly to scratch at her skin that was covered with metal plating. It was a relief when Alphonse found a quaint hotel with an open suite just mere blocks from the Command building where the brothers would be spending their time.
As soon as they had been checked in, Aiame and Aya raced to the two-bedroom apartment on the very top floor. The suite was made of a tiny living area with a single loveseat in front of the window and a table with two chairs just behind it. There was a door on each side of the room that led to separate bedrooms along with their bathrooms, each with two twin beds outfitted with cotton comforters and a vanity – Aiame and Aya in one, Edward and Alphonse in the other. The girls had longed for a bit of privacy since their second night in the desert, and had immediately snuck into their shared bedroom. While Edward was storing away their suitcases and other bags into small closet, his brother sat at the dining table.
"So, how was everything in Xing, Al?" Edward asked, stacking three of their suitcases into the top shelf in the closet. "You seemed to be very chummy with May." He smirked to himself, using the fact that Al could not see his face to his advantage.
Alphonse rolled his dark golden eyes. "Please. May is just…a friend." He ducked his head in embarrassment. The younger Elric knew he had absolutely no feelings for the Xingese princess, but the way that May acted around him would just make anyone uncomfortable. "A friend who likes to cling to me and stay by my side at every waking moment."
"You realize how obnoxious she really is, right? I would hate to have someone following me around like that," Ed remarked. The thought made him cringe; to have someone who worships the ground you walked on and completely obsess over your well-being. May acted not like Al's girlfriend, but more like a mother cares for her young child. Edward knew he would not be able to put up with it.
Al smiled, looking up at his brother. "Brother, you already have someone following you around like that. Her name is Aiame, need I remind you," he chuckled.
"Aiame at least helps me when I need her to. May is simply overprotective." Edward stood upright, twisting to crack his back. His muscles and spine felt immediate relief.
"If you insist…"
The older Elric was very quick to change the subject from there, hoping to avoid any awkward silences. "Speaking of, do you think it will be harder to track down the Stone with two extra people tagging along?" Edward asked. He was worried about either Aiame or Aya getting hurt, even if they don't realize the intensity of searching for the Philosopher's Stone in the first place.
"I have no idea, Brother," Alphonse replied, "I just think you should be glad and a little bit more appreciative that you have such nice friends that are willing to help you." It seemed to him that his sibling did not necessarily want Aya and Aiame to be with him. He knew that Edward liked to do things by himself, but asking them to travel with him in the first place seemed odd if that was what he wanted. Al was confused.
"I am appreciative, Al!" Ed snapped, getting cut off by the shrill telephone ring that interrupted them. He took a step towards the wall where the receiver was ringing off of its hook. Alphonse stepped in quickly, taking the phone and holding it to the side of his face before Edward could grasp the handle.
"Hello?"
"Alphonse?" asked Fuhrer Mustang. "Well, well, well; this is a surprise. I did not expect you to have returned from Xing." His deep voice slurred through the receiver.
Edward rolled his eyes. He was able to hear Roy talking from three feet away. Arrogant bastard, he thought. How did he even find us here? I haven't checked in with the guys at Eastern Command yet!
"Yes, no one planned on it either," Al told him, shooting Edward a sharp glare. He meant the look to tell him to just back off and go sit down. Ed obviously did not get the message.
"A soldier called to tell me where you were staying, in case you were wondering. I am sure that Edward is wondering about that, or will be as soon as you tell him about this. Anyways. I am taking the first train tomorrow morning out to East City. Before you ask why, all I can say on a tapped military line is because I don't trust anyone but myself to retrieve what you and Ed have…acquired," Mustang explained, lowering his voice.
The first thought that ran through Alphonse's mind was that his brother was not going to be happy about that. "Alright. In that case, I can't wait to see you again." He flashed a genuine smile, despite the fact that Roy was not in the room with him.
"Same to you," Fuhrer Mustang saluted. "I really am glad that you are back in Amestris, Al. This country is in desperate need of people like you, you know."
If possible, Alphonse's smile grew wider. It had been a long time since anyone had complimented him. (May's frequent praises and affectionate gestures did not count so much anymore, considering how often she forced them on him.) "Thank you, sir."
"Yes. I will see you tomorrow evening then."
"Tomorrow evening." Alphonse heard the loud dial tone before he could hang up the phone.
Edward had moved to sit in the free chair at the table, leaning against the back of the couch. His eyes were sharp. "What was that about?" he asked, as if he did not already know. Al glared at him. "I don't want him to come here!"
"Brother," scolded Alphonse. He folded his arms under his chest. "We don't have a choice but to welcome him here."
"I just…" Edward cut himself off with a dramatic, overdrawn-out groan. "I just hate the way he treats you! It's like you're the best thing in Amestris or something. I cannot stand it."
His brother's jealousy made Alphonse uncomfortable. He fidgeted nervously. "Fuhrer Mustang is not that bad. He deserves to be treated better than how you treat him. If you had a better attitude with him, he would be much nicer to you."
Edward's eyes narrowed. "Fine then. Maybe I should try it," he drawled out angrily.
"You should."
Aiame sat cross-legged on the edge of the mattress, a thin fleece blanket that had been folded at the foot of the bed now wrapped around her shoulders. Aya sat on a stool before the vanity two or so feet in front of her, the right side of her t-shirt pulled down over her shoulder. The blond was examining the plating of her automail, tracing it delicately with her index finger. The redhead could not help but think about how good of a job that she actually did with constructing her friend's automail. If Aya had been wearing long sleeves, Aiame would have barely been able to tell the difference between her prosthetic and flesh arms.
"Do you know that no one back home has actually seen me with this?" Aya asked absentmindedly. "And beyond that, there are only a few people that have seen me without my arm. Natani homeschooled me while you were gone. Hell, I could barely stand up on my own." She leaned in closer to the mirror, her forehead nearly touching the reflective surface. "I wonder what everyone is going to think. I mean, no one has probably ever seen automail before."
"What does it matter what everyone else is going to think?" Aiame questioned, raising her eyebrows. "You look badass with your new arm. Either hide it and act as if everything the same or show it off and have everyone drooling over it. Well, no drool. If you get anything under that plating, I swear I am going to rip your head off."
Aya threw her head back, laughing. "I'd like to see you try!" she exclaimed. "I could totally just take you out with one punch now, if I needed to!" She lifted up her metal arm, pretending to flex it as if the muscles were human and not mechanical.
"Remember who built that arm for you, I know how to take it apart and make it so unusable that not even Winry could manage to put it together again," Aiame lied smoothly, holding her head high to give off the appearance that she knew what she was talking about.
The blond spun around on the stool, cocking her head to the side. "You do?" Her eyebrows knit together and she pressed her lips to form a firmly-set line, clearly showing that she did not believe Aiame.
"Of course not!" the mechanic shrilled, bursting into a roar of laughter. Aya was soon to follow. "You actually think I would be able to manage something that my teacher could ever handle? That's a good one!"
Aya fought off giggling by biting her lip. "No one likes empty threats, Aiame," she spat through her teeth. "Wait. What are people going to think of you? Are you going to start up a huge automail engineering business and become super rich or something?"
"What are you talking about? I am going to stay in Amestris. Once I go back to Winry's, I am going to finish my training with her and then leave for Rush Valley. That's the automail capital of Amestris, in case you didn't know. I think I am going to study there and then work on opening my own shop or something in a town near Risembool," Aiame explained. When she said it out loud, her plan sounded a bit less thought-out than it was in her head. She sounded unsure of herself. She watched Aya's expression change, her lips slowly curling downward. "I thought you would be happy for me. No need to frown."
"Oh." Aya turned towards the vanity again, tucking her chin to her chest so Aiame could not see her reflection in the mirror. She did not want to be alone again. Sixth months by herself in a huge house with absolutely nothing to do was hard enough to deal with, she knew that any time longer than that would surely drive her insane if she did not have Aiame to talk to. "I suppose it's good to hear that you actually have a plan to stay in Amestris – even if it isn't that detailed. It's a relief that you aren't going to stay in a foreign country for a boy you think is hot."
Aiame forced herself to laugh, despite being hurt that Aya thought her reasoning would be that idiotic. "No way!" she smiled. "I do have hope with Edward, though. We kissed."
"I gathered," sighed Aya monotonously. "You make it so painfully obvious whenever something romantic happens to you." She could not stand the fact that her best friend was having better luck with men than she was. It seemed unfair. She muttered under her breath, "I hate it."
"I'm sorry?" the redhead asked, raising her eyebrows. She had only pretended not to hear.
The blond shook her head. "Nothing." She drew in a deep breath, and released it with a quick exhale through her nostrils. "What day is it today?"
"The fourteenth…" Aiame tried to look ahead, attempting to see where Aya was going with this.
"Oh my god!" the younger girl exclaimed. "I've spent the entire summer traveling with you and Edward! That's insanity." The last time the date on the calendar read 'the fourteenth', Aya had been in the desert on the way to Xing, it was only her sixth night out of Aerugo. "I have to go back to school in two weeks."
"You just said that you were being homeschooled, how would that work?"
"Natani still wants me to be home for the beginning of the new semester. That shouldn't change."
Aiame pouted teasingly. "So you are just going to pick up and leave me?"
Something about the tone of her voice just ticked Aya off. She hated when Aiame said things like that. It was pathetic. "Like you left me?" the blond shot back cruelly.
"And what about Alphonse, then?" the redhead continued without a second thought. She had to bring up a topic that she knew Aya could not pass up talking about.
Aya shrugged. "Alphonse will still be here, with his brother. Or he will be studying alkahestry in Xing, with May Chang. Or doing whatever else he likes to do. I don't really care."
"You know that you care," Aiame remarked sharply. "You can't tell yourself that this is just a phase."
Aya leaned forward, resting her elbows on the edge of the vanity countertop. She really did want to stay with Alphonse, more than anything else in the world. "This is just like all of the other crushes that I have ever had. It is perfectly harmless and sure to pass." Aya hated lying. In fact, she could not stand it. But saying anything else would just get her in a shitload of more trouble.
Aiame did not believe her in the slightest. She extended her legs, stretching them over the edge of her bed. Her calf muscles felt strained. "Fine," she murmured, "If you think so."
The blond yanked at the right sleeve of her shirt, pulling it back over her metal shoulder. She tied her hair up into a sloppy ponytail at the top of her head and rose from her seat before the mirror. Aya stepped into the living area, closing the bedroom door behind her. She figured that it would be best to just walk away now instead of waiting around and getting made at Aiame. Alphonse sat at the table, his palms wrapped around a crinkling, nearly empty water bottle. She slid into the chair across from him, wondering where Edward was. Al gave a subtle gesture towards the couch; peering over the back, Aya saw Ed sprawled across the cushions – probably asleep.
"Hello, Arufonsu," Aya said mechanically, just the way Al had taught her. She nailed the pronunciation perfectly, as far as they were both concerned. "How are you? How is everything?"
Al smiled. "I am fine. Everything is running smoothly," he answered her; using the only responses he had taught her.
"Wait, wait, wait," Edward snapped, bolting upright. He leaned over the back of the couch, looking at the pair. "Since when? I thought you didn't speak Amestrian."
"I've been teaching her," Alphonse explained, rolling his eyes. "Did you meet Fuhrer Mustang while you were in Central?" he asked Aya.
You meet…Fuhrer Mustang…in Central? She shook her head. "No," she replied.
"Ah. Well, he is taking the morning train here."
"Why do I need to know that?" asked Aya.
"He wants you to be extra careful around him," Ed interrupted, cutting Alphonse off before he could force the words out of his mouth. "You and Aiame both."
Aya appeared puzzled. Ed's sentence structure was confusing; when he spoke, the words jumbled around in her brain like clothes in the dryer. She could not translate whatever he had said, she was lost. "Extra careful…?" she echoed.
"You need to be cautious with Mustang," Alphonse explained, reforming his brother's words. "Despite being here for physical therapy and helping Edward on his assignment, you still are an illegal immigrant when it comes down to it. I know that Fuhrer Mustang would not do anything drastic but I don't want to see you sent home because of something that could have easily been avoided."
"I don't want to leave!" Aya protested. "And he cannot make me!"
"He can and he will," Edward said. "He is a womanizing, pompous, military bastard that is more worried about him than anything else at the moment."
Aya barely understood what he was trying to say. Alphonse had not taught her many adjectives yet, just things he knew that would come up in everyday conversations. He left out his brother's exact word choices when it came to Roy Mustang. Her thoughts switched gears from translating to going home. It could not be that bad; she had just told Aiame that she was going home for school, after all. She hated being left out of the loop though, it was depressing that Aiame would have such a good life here in Amestris and Aya would be wallowing in self-pity. She knew that it would be the smart thing to do to finish school; she still has all of her advanced classes and exams to worry about. If she got all of that done and then came back to Amestris, she would probably be able to do anything she wanted to. Yes, that is what she would do.
"So, now what?" she asked.
Edward glanced towards the widow, letting in soft moonlight. "It's one in the morning; you shouldn't have to ask that question," he sighed. "Good night."
"Good night," Aya sniffed, shuffling into her shared bedroom.
I hope all of the picky readers out there don't mind that I skipped over their trip back to Amestris through the desert; I just think the first time was hard enough to read for all of you. It was boring and I was not going to make you reread it again. By the way, I went back through my chapter notes and decided that since this story is going to be relatively long, I should add a few more twists to the plotline to make the climax more powerful. Just thought that you all should know. Thank you again for all of my reviews!