Chapter 9

Ayana

She'd tried to meditate but she couldn't clear her mind. It was for the best, anyway. Even though the branch she perched on was fairly wide, it probably wasn't smart to leave her body there like that. She didn't want to come back from the spirit world to find herself sprawled on the ground with a broken neck.

The sun was setting, and she figured it had to be getting close to dinner time. She could faintly smell Pinako's cooking wafting through the open window, and whatever it was, it smelled delicious. Her stomach growled in agreement with that thought.

Deciding that she'd sulked up here long enough, she stood on the branch, stretching and cracking her back. Bending her knees slightly, she waved her hands in a horizontal circle in front of her, air-bending a small tornado. She jumped down into it and let it carry her softly to the ground. She dissipated the small whirlwind with a wave of her hand. She could see Al sitting alone in the same exact spot she'd left him in. Ed was nowhere to be seen, and neither was Major Armstrong. Maybe they were inside already.

She approached Al and decided to go with a happy attitude and completely ignore her earlier argument with Ed. She smiled at him, "Hey Al, want to head inside for dinner?"

"Sure." He didn't seem to want to discuss the events from earlier, either. "The Major is inside, if you don't mind going and asking him to come get me."

Ayana waved her hand. "No, no, I can manage. As long as you don't mind me showing off a little." She grinned mischievously. Before he could respond, she jumped into a wide stance, flowing her arms back and forth, bending the air beneath his crate to create a thin cushion. Al made an odd sort of squealing sound, but there was no fear in it. Ayana laughed as she continued to move her arms to sustain the air. She focused a bit more, raising the crate up the stairs and through the front door, which she blew open with a quick exhale. Turning the corner, they entered the kitchen and Ayana carefully lowered Al to the ground, being careful not to drop him. The kitchen was empty, but a pot of stew sat simmering on the range.

Al was ecstatic. "Thanks, Ayana! That was fun!" She suddenly stood at attention, placing one fist inside her other cupped hand, and gave him a formal bow. He laughed at that.

When everyone finally gathered for dinner, they were surprised to find Al already in the kitchen. Armstrong inquired how he got there, and Al simply replied, "Ayana brought me in." No one commented on it after that, but Ed did shoot his brother a weird look. While she did have an athletic body type, and visible muscles to prove it, she still doubted she'd have been able to lift Al physically and figured everyone else was wondering if she was stronger than she looked. She didn't care if the Rockbells knew she was a bender or not, but since Al had left that part out, she decided not to say anything. Maybe he had a good reason.

After dinner, she followed Winry to her bedroom.

"You can sleep in my bed." Winry said as she opened the door and ushered Ayana inside. "I'm going to have to pull a few all-nighters to get Ed's arm done in time, so it's not like I'll be using it. I changed the sheets, and the bathroom is down the hall to the left."

"Thanks, Winry, I really appreciate it." Ayana smiled, and Winry returned one of her own.

Winry sat on the side of the bed. "So, how do you know the Elric brothers?"

She didn't think it would do any good to worry Winry by mentioning Scar. "We met a few days ago, in East City. I'm traveling the country, seeing all the sights. So, I decided to tag along with them here, since I'd never been down this way before."

They talked for a little longer until Winry announced that she had to get back to work and left Ayana to get some sleep.

Edward

Edward wandered down the stairs the next morning. He found his way into the kitchen and grabbed a muffin from the basket on the counter. He wasted no time shoving it in his mouth. He was about to walk out the door but hesitated, considering. Making up his mind, he reached back and snagged a few more muffins, swallowing the first as he made his way to the living room where he'd left Al last night. He wasn't there. Frowning, he made his way out the front door and found his brother sitting at the bottom of the porch with a book propped in his good hand.

"Hey Al, how'd you get out here?"

Al looked up and tilted his head to his left to indicate Ayana sitting cross-legged next to him. "She air-bended me out here." He said softly, his voice just above a whisper.

Ed hadn't even seen her there until now, since Al's crate and large body had blocked his view. She sat there, head slightly bowed and eyes closed, with her fists placed together in front of her chest. She didn't react at all to Al's words.

"Why are we whispering?" Ed murmured back.

"She's meditating, I didn't want to disturb her."

"Oh." Ed walked around his brother and sat down next to her. He felt bad for yelling at her yesterday and wanted to apologize, but he also didn't want to interrupt her. So he waited, chewing on his second muffin.

As the minutes passed, he grew more impatient. His third muffin was gone by now, and he was half tempted to go in and get more. Maybe if he stuck one under her nose, the smell would draw her out of whatever she was doing.

Finally, he asked Al, talking across Ayana and not bothering to whisper. "How long has she been sitting here like this?"

Al considered. "Oh, I don't know. Maybe twenty or thirty minutes."

"Oh. Well did she say how long it'd take?"

"Shhh Brother, she's trying to concentrate. You're being rude."

Edward examined her again. She didn't show any signs of hearing them at all. Not even a twitch of the eyelids or anything. She hadn't moved a single muscle. "I don't think we have to worry about being quiet, Al, I think she's in a coma." Al shook his head without responding and turned his attention back to his book.

Suddenly Ed remembered the drawing the Major had given him. A warm feeling spread through his body and he smiled. Maybe the Major was right, that would be a nice way to apologize. He stood up suddenly and rushed back into the house, startling Al with his sudden movement. He ascended the stairs and dug through his clothes, searching for the pants he'd worn yesterday. He found them and dug in the pocket. The sketch was still there. Perfect.

Ayana

"Avatar Ayana, I am Avatar Tiong." She opened her eyes and raised her head. She was sitting in a flat, grassy plain extending as far as the eye could see. In front of her sat one of her past selves, a middle-aged bald man with air-bender tattoos. He was cleanshaven, with a thin, oval face with high cheekbones, and his body was surrounded in a soft ethereal glow. He leaned forward, bowing slightly. "How may I help you?"

"Avatar Tiong." She bowed back. "Please, I need to know. In your lifetime, did you ever come across any portals in the spirit world? Besides the ones that lead to the poles." She didn't have high hopes. Tiong was the fourteenth Avatar she'd asked. So far, no one had any knowledge of other portals.

Avatar Tiong thought for a moment. "I recall one event that may be of interest to you." Ayana perked up expectantly. "There was a time, when I was in the spirit world, I came across an odd scene. A rather large dark spirit was inhabiting an area of sparsely spaced trees, similar to the forest that existed at the south pole, at the time. When it saw me, it became angry and attacked, unprovoked. I was unable to dispel its darkness. Eventually, I escaped. However, during our fight, I caught a glimpse of an object within the forest. Having only gotten a brief view, I can't be certain, but it looked to me like a closed portal. It was a large black orb, glowing faintly."

Ayana stared. Finally! A lead! "Tiong, can you describe its location? How did you find it?"

"I came across it accidently and never saw it again. Although admittedly, I did not put much effort into finding it. I am sorry."

Sighing, Ayana gazed back at him and smiled. "Don't apologize, you've given me a lead. And that's as good a place to start as any. Thank you." She dipped her head again.

"Good luck, Avatar Ayana." His form slowly faded. She closed her eyes, concentrating on breaking the connection. She felt the familiar warmth spread across her skin as she pulled her spirit back to her body. Everything went silent and dark for a few seconds, then slowly the backs of her eyelids lightened from the sunlight. The sound of the wind returned to her ears, and she knew she was back.

Opening her eyes, she found it was still morning. She hadn't been gone very long, judging by the distance the sun had moved. Maybe an hour, max. It had been long enough that her feet were asleep, though. She unfolded them and stretched, and the blood rushed to her toes. Al looked over at her, where he was still sitting in his crate. "Hey."

She smiled at him. "Hey."

"Uh... well… how was it?" Startled, she turned around to see Edward sitting on her other side. He was watching her intently, his golden eyes piercing hers with curiosity.

She rubbed her thighs with her hands, trying to encourage more blood flow to them. "It's not a lot to go on, but it's something. During one of his trips to the spirit world, Avatar Tiong remembers seeing what he thought looked like a closed portal. It was not either of our portals, since their locations are both known. He said he was chased away by a dark, aggressive spirit, and he never saw it again after that."

"What's all that mean?" Al questioned after a minute of silence.

"It means there's more portals than the two I'm familiar with. It means there's a possibility your world has one, too. Maybe more than one. If I can find one, I can cross over, and travel through the spirit world to the portals that lead to my world."

"If its closed, how will you get through?" Ed asked. "Can you open it?"

"I should be able to. I can open and close the ones in my world, so I don't see why that would be any different here." She sat for a minute, thinking, as both brothers watched her closely. "Now I just need to find one."

"We'll look when we get to Central, right, Brother? We'll see if the library has anything on the subject that might help."

"Yeah!" Ed agreed enthusiastically. "Don't worry, I'm sure we'll find something!" Suddenly his face took on a more serious expression. "Ayana, look, about yesterday." She waited. She hadn't wanted to talk about it again. He continued anyway. "I'm sorry for yelling at you. It was a stressful day, and I lost my cool. I thought I could make it up to you with this." He reached behind his body and grabbed a long pole Ayana hadn't noticed was laying there before. It kind of looked like…

Ed pressed a button on the side, the sails snapped open, and her heart skipped in joy.

"How did you know?" She exclaimed happily as she took it from his outstretched hand. The detail was exquisite; small symbols of water, fire, mountains shapes, and air swirls decorated the wood, along with some shapes she didn't recognize. Probably alchemic symbols. The fabric of the sail was her favorite color, a deep red, with an emblem matching the one on Al's shoulder emblazoned in white on the right sail.

"Major Armstrong showed me the drawing." She met his eyes and found a look there that she wasn't quite able to read. There was a bit of pride there, some amusement too, but also something else. She wasn't sure what it was.

"What is it, Ayana?" Al asked, clearly feeling out of the loop.

"It's a glider!" Ayana jumped to her feet and took off running, Ed and Al shouting in surprise. Holding it above her head with both hands, she pushed off, bending the air beneath the sails. It took her up into the sky, soaring higher and higher.

She circled back and looked down. She laughed at their expressions. She was sure Al would have been beaming if he could because that's the look Ed was wearing on his face. They were shouting and waving at her, and Ed had jumped to his feet. She bent more air, soaring higher, and showed off a bit by looping, twirling, and spinning. She may be a native fire-bender, but she'd always found flying like this exhilarating. It made her feel free.

Looping around and upside down, she divebombed the earth and heard them shout out in worry. Pulling up at the last second, she rocketed past them in a flyby maneuver and turned in a lazy 270 degree turn back towards them, bleeding speed in the curve. When she was in front of them again, she folded the sail and twirled the rod above her head, landing lightly on her feet. They both cheered, and she graciously took a bow.

"That was incredible! How'd you do it? Wait, let me guess, air-bending wind currents around the sail, right?" Ed. Always the scientific mind.

"Exactly. Want a ride?"

"What? I, uh," Ed stammered. "How?"

"The easiest method is you on to my back between me and the sail. Or we can find something to strap you in so you'd hang underneath me." She laughed at the look on his face.

"I think I'll pass for now, maybe when I get my other arm back…" He hesitated and looked away as he rubbed the back of his neck. But he was still smiling. She could tell her offer was tempting.

"Suit yourself." She walked back over and sat in the spot she'd vacated earlier. Man, she'd needed that. It reminded her of being home. It had made her forget, however briefly, all of the stress and worries she'd been feeling lately. "If you want, Al, I'll take you for a ride when you get your body back. Sound good?"

"Yeah!" Al responded, delighted.

The next two days passed quickly for Ayana. She spent a lot of it meditating into the spirit world, trying to find any clues to where the portal could be. Any spirits she came across either didn't know what she was talking about, or simply ignored her. Making things even more difficult, it seemed that none of her spirit friends were to be found, either. She was especially close with a wolf spirit named Raashu, but when she couldn't locate him, she decided it was likely he'd noticed her absence and was searching for her in her physical world. She wished she could send a message to him somehow. She felt guilty, knowing her friends were looking for her, but she was unable to do anything about it. Unless she got lucky and one of them decided to come back through the portal, that is. She could hope.

She also found herself feeling rather lonely in her searches. She wished she could bring Ed and Al with her. They'd be fascinated by the spirit realm and could help her look for the portal. Not that they couldn't come, it was just something this country didn't seem to be familiar with doing. On the other hand, it could also be a dangerous place. Maybe it was better that they didn't. Although they did seem to be quite capable of self-defense, judging by the way they were currently sparring, but safety in the spirit world wasn't just about physical protection.

Winry and Pinako had finally finished Ed's limbs and reattached them, after which Ed had wasted no time in transmuting Al's armor back to normal. It had been the first time she'd seen him transmute something and it was fascinating to watch. All he had to do was clap his hands together and touch something to transmute it. She'd never seen anything like it.

Drawing her thoughts back to the present, she watched them battle in the yard, exchanging punches and kicks, dodging and rolling, each trying to best the other. It had been a while since she'd practiced her moves; maybe she should ask one of them to spar her, too. Al would be the best option of the two, since his metal body meant she wouldn't have to be as careful with her bending. She didn't want to risk injuring Edward. They continued to spar for a while longer before Ed finally tapped out, panting. She saw her opportunity and took it.

"My turn!" She stepped forward. Al turned towards her, and Ed stopped as she walked past him. Before either of them could say anything, she sped up her feet and brought her staff off her back, swinging it around to land the first strike. Al brought his arm up in an easy block. She jumped back and dodged the swing of his opposite fist. "Don't go easy on me!" She taunted.