Finally, more humor! I thought lively Selena was lost forever... But then, she does take a lot of naps in this chapter.
Oh, and some random cat trivia! Did you know that cats purr not only when they're happy, but when they're stressed as well? It's not relevant to the story at all, but I thought I'd point that out just for the heck of it...
I had apparently slept through a lot. Al, now with his damaged armor bandaged up in a way that was almost funny, had related to me the news a phone call had brought. Edward hadn't been the only one to arrive at the Rockbell's place.
"Your dad?" My inquiry was met with a nod from both Al and Winry, as well as Lin and Xing idiot number two—the woman known as Lanfan.
"His name's Von Hohenheim," the metal fourteen-year-old told me. "My big brother and I haven't seen him for ten years, and a day or two ago he suddenly showed up in Resembool at Granny Pinako's house."
"Geez, that must have been a real shock. He just abandoned you guys?"
"I don't know… He just left one day."
"Damn, what kind of father is that?" I snorted. "I hope shorty really lets him have it."
"I wouldn't put it past him," Al sighed. "Ed hates our dad."
"Well, I guess I can trust him to do that then. But wow," I let out a breath of air, "that's some news."
"That's not all we just found out," Winry put in, sending a sharp glance at Al before he could voice an evident protest. "If Al doesn't get his real body back soon, the armor could reject his soul!" I furrowed my brows in shock and confusion, turning the statement over in my head.
"But a soul transmutation should be—No, wait…" I paused a few seconds, suddenly remembering what Barry the Chopper had said about the lab animal in his body. Several alarms went off in my brain.
"Al, you've got to get back to normal as soon as possible!" I burst out, nearly rushing forward to shake him. "There's no telling when that could happen! How could this have—?"
"I know, I know!" he cried, shrinking back defensively. "You don't need to worry about it too much, okay? I know you have your own troubles to think about."
The statement was meant to be reassuring, but it stung. Clenching my teeth, I smacked him in the side of the head with an open palm.
"Idiot! You're the one who needs worrying about! Sure, Greed and Dorchet and Martel and everybody were important to me, but no amount of worrying is going to do anything about what happened! All that trouble from that day up until now just showed me that I've got to focus on what matters now. I can move on now. I can start living in the present again."
Alphonse simply stared at me dumbfounded, the one hand he had left holding his helmet in place.
"…You've never hit me before."
I couldn't hold back a laugh, provoking the other four to do the same and breaking the sudden tension in the atmosphere. Slumping back down onto the couch next to Lin, I let out a long sigh, remembering how tired I was.
"This is what happens when I don't get enough sleep…"
"So, where are you going next?" the culprit asked Al, oblivious to the sidelong glare I sent him.
"My brother and I are going to discuss that when he gets back."
"And you, Winry?"
"I can't leave until Ed gets back either."
"Why's that?" I queried.
"We've almost used up the money he left to pay for the hotel room, so we can't leave until he pays it off."
"Really? I didn't know that. I guess I'll have to punch him when he gets back."
"Poor brother…"
A few more days came and went, during the nights of which I didn't sleep well, anxious in spite of the resolve I showed in front of Alphonse. I'd said I could move on, but it was much easier said than done. And I didn't have the patience to try for another sunrise—that, I decided, wasn't worth the trouble and would hardly do any good. While Winry, Al, and the two easterners (I had no idea where number three went off to) passed their time chatting, I spent most of mine sleeping or trying to sleep. I was curled up on the couch when shorty finally made his entrance.
Damn him and his vocal chords to the farthest pits of Hell.
"What the hell? Al, you're busted! What trouble have you been getting into while I was gone?"
I grimaced and buried my face deeper into a cushion while Sir Yells-a-lot ranted at his brother and the Xing idiots, and then kicked the latter out of the hotel room.
"Crap, Al, you're a real mess—Selena's in here too?"
"Yeah. She's sleeping, I think."
I set my jaw, resolving to ignore him and praying he would shut up.
"Wow. She can actually be kind of cute when she's not ranting and raving and hitting people."
That was more effective than Lin's poke attack.
"Could you possibly be ANY LOUDER?" In one motion, I sat up and swung a fist at him, landing (as promised) a good, solid punch…
…In his right shoulder.
Clang.
"Hey! I just got this fixed, dammit!"
I ignored him, busy spouting a stream of every derogatory word I knew.
"Shit, that hurt! Get a real arm!"
"If it were that easy, I would've done it by now!"
"Oh, just shut up, asswipe," I growled, flopping back down and curling into a ball again. "I'm too tired for this…"
"Your hat's slipping off."
"Ahdungivafuganymore…" I muttered sleepily.
"Um, shouldn't you fix it…? You know…"
I cracked an eye open to send him a questioning glare and then realized he'd sent a glance meaningfully from me to Winry. My heart skipped apprehensively when she noticed and cocked her head at him questioningly.
"Her hat?"
Panicking, all three of us struggled to come up with a plausible lie before she said the last thing I expected.
"Wait…So you guys know about that too?" There was a brief silence while we gaped at her in bewilderment. Finally, I sat up.
"Winry, you know about…?" I trailed off, pointing uncertainly to my hat and what I was hiding beneath it.
"The cat ears, right?"
"When did you find out?" Ed demanded, still gaping.
"Why didn't you say anything?" I added.
"Well, the morning after you and Al came back," she began, smiling as though embarrassed, "you were fast sleep and your hat was slipping off, so I took it off because I thought it might be more comfortable. I meant to ask about it when you were awake, but I had no idea what to say, and I wasn't sure if anyone else knew about it…" She laughed sheepishly, and I did the same, slumping over the head of the couch.
"I guess I couldn't expect to keep it a secret for long when we share a room…"
"Sorry about that," Al chuckled.
"Um…" I bit my lip, raising my eyes to Winry again. "It doesn't…bother you?"
"I was surprised at first, but it doesn't change anything," she reassured me with a beaming smile. I felt color rising to my cheeks as the corners of my mouth turned upwards involuntarily, and I ducked behind the couch in embarrassment. Ed laughed, dodging a cushion I threw at him.
Alphonse's armor was noticeably thinner by the time Edward fixed all the damage Lust had done. Everything in the room was sideways from my angle on the couch while the two caught up, but I only absorbed a little of what was being said as I drifted in and out of sleep. From what I did process, shorty had done something without permission back in Resembool and somehow found out that Al's body still existed somewhere. It wasn't until a worker knocked on the door to alert Ed about a phone call from Izumi Curtis that anything really clicked.
"Ed," I called as he made his way towards the door. "Say hi to Mrs. Izumi for me." The blonde nodded and left with his brother, and I drifted off again with a smile on my face. Al can be returned to normal.
Thank god.
Personally, that chapter ending was craptastic. Wish I could have figured out something else...DX
Yay, she punched somebody! It's torture shorty time! :D (Apologies to all Ed fans.)
I find it funny that for once they agree on something, and it turns out to be hating somebody. (Poor Hohenheim.)