I'm back again, didn't take as long to write this one, but I held off on uploading it for a while.
I do not own FMA, and part of it.
Lydia stretched her limbs as she exited decrepit house they were staying in. Her stomach growled, but she was still feeling the nausea from when she'd woken up, and didn't feel like eating.
Scar had gone off in search of his next target: Giolio Comanche, a state alchemist who had reportedly slaughtered many of Scar's kinsmen. Unfortunately, she'd been unable to come up with an argument to convince Scar to give up on killing his opponent. Instead she'd seen him off wordlessly, unable to give any words of encouragement or opposition. Scar had hesitated for a moment, a conflicted expression on his face before he squeezed her fisted hand and went on his way.
After that she'd spent several hours taking care of her children, cooking, and trying to keep Yoki busy with tasks he could finish despite his grumbling and mumbled vows of revenge.
Several hours had passed and Lydia's worries had weighed on her mind the entire time. In the end, found she needed to take a walk to calm herself down. She'd made the excuse of fetching water, a task which needed to be done anyway.
The fresh air worked, and some of the stress she'd been feeling abated. She was making good time to the well when she heard someone calling her from behind.
Lydia glanced back and sighed as she caught sight of Yoki chasing after her. She was tapping her foot impatiently when he arrived huffing loudly as he gasped, "I'll go with you to the well." A terse smile on her face, Lydia said, "I'm a big girl Yoki, I don't really need a escort." Yoki finally stood up as he replied, "Well, Scar told me to go with you if you left our camp so that's what I'll do."
Yoki crossed his arms with a superior expression on his face as he tried to stare her down. In the end, Lydia sighed and conceded the argument before she continued on her way. If Scar had insisted that Yoki should go with her, then she wouldn't complain.
After several minutes of Yoki failing to get her to slow down, the pair came across a person collapsed on the street.
Lydia aproached the person cautiously while Yoki walked ahead. He knelt by the person and said, "A child, huh." Lydia gasped slightly, and hurried over to see the person was in a fact a young girl who appeared to be a foreigner.
Yoki licked his lips and mumbled, "Maybe ..." as he reached for the girls pocket.
Lydia swiftly struck his hand as she snapped, "No! Shame on you!"
Yoki winced and rubbed his hand as he grumbled, "That wasn't really necessary was it?" He received a glare in response along with the words, "Of course it was. You can't go around stealing from people whether they're collapsed by the side of the road or not!"
Lydia proceeded to ignore the man as she placed her hand on the girls forehead. She heard a growl and turned long enough to see a tiny black and white cat glaring at her. She smiled at it and said, "Don't worry, I won't let him do anything to your owner." before she refocused her attention on the girl as she stated, "She doesn't seem to be sick. She must have collapsed from exhaustion or ..." her statement was interrupted by the sound of a stomach growling and Lydia continued, "Or from hunger. She must've been starving."
She proceeded to lift the girl into her arms as she headed back toward the camp. Yoki chased after her as he called, "What are you doing!? We can't take random people back to camp with us, It's absurd!"
Lydia made no effort to either slow down or glance back as she replied, "We can't leave someone in this condition by the side of the road either. Once she's eaten and recovered some, I'll send her on her way."
The rest of the short trip was spent with Lydia ignoring Yoki's complaints, and he was still going as they reentered the building they were staying at.
Aaron stood up and approached as he asked, "Who is that? What happened?"
Lydia set the girl on a makeshift bench as she replied, "A girl we stumbled across on the road. I think she collapsed from hunger, so she'll need something to eat." The cat, who Lydia had nearly forgotten, hopped from it's place on her shoulder to sit by the girl's side.
Aaron nodded skeptically, but did what she asked nonetheless. Edgar and Elsie walked over both curious about the commotion over the strange girl. Edgar looked from the girl to his mom before he asked, "Is she hurt? Does she need my blanket?"
Lydia smiled back at her son as she replied, "She should be alright, but I'm certain she be grateful to borrow the blanket."
Edgar smiled and hurried on his way with his sister with followed him. Both children returned quickly with their blankets in hand before they gave them to Lydia who covered the girl. Aaron came back just a minute after with a bowl which he handed to his mother. A couple minutes were spent coaxing the girl awake and carefully feeding her some soup before the girl was able to feed herself.
Once the bowl was emptied, the girl smiled widely and said, "Thank you very much, you saved me!" She proceeded to bow as she added, "I owe you my life, Miss."
Yoki smiled craftily as he began, "That's all right, you can" " There's no need to worry." Lydia interrupted, "I was just a concerned mother passing by."
The girl nodded and said, "My name is May Chang, I'm from the Chang clan." Lydia nodded before she said , "I'm Lydia, and these are my children Aaron, Elsie, and Edgar. Over there is Yoki."
If May noticed anything unusual about the introduction she didn't say so and replied, "Pleased to meet you!"
Lydia smiled briefly before she said, "If you don't mind me asking, are your parents nearby? They're probably worried about you."
May shook her head before she answered, "No, The only person with me is Xiao-Mei. We're looking for someone." Her expression became hopeful as she asked, "Have you heard of someone named Edward Elric?"
While Yoki ranted on about how the person supposedly ruined his life, Lydia admitted, "The name's familiar, but I don't know much about him. He's a state alchemist so perhaps my boyfriend would know more about him."
May seemed satisfied with her answer and asked, "Do you mind if I stay long enough to talk to him? I promise not to cause you any trouble."
Lydia nodded before she said, "It might take a while for him to get back. He's ... on a business trip at the moment."
May nodded calmly and settled herself down for the wait.
After a moments hesitation, Lydia stood and reentered the 'kitchen'. After everything that had happened, she was finally hungry enough to eat something.
In case your wondering, I had Lydia describe herself as a mother because that's what I see her as: a mother. I've always liked how Izumi Curtis described herself as a housewife, and wanted to replicate it.
Next chapter should be up in roughly a week, but it might be longer since it includes something that happens in the anime and that makes the process take longer than usual.