When Alphonse finally found Mustang, it would have been an understatement to say that he was shocked. "Mustang, sir! What happened to you?"
Mustang's onyx coloured eyes widened a fraction upon noticing Alphonse, an action that didn't go unnoticed by the latter, before returning to normal. "Ah, hello Alphonse. How have you been? I thought you were in Germany." The Führer's eyes kept darting to the side, afraid to meet Alphonse's eyes as if he was hiding something. The younger Alchemist couldn't help but feel a pang of hurt at this, as he felt that whatever Mustang was hiding concerned him somehow. Alphonse would know. That was the same look he had on his face when he tried to hide Hughes's death.
"I was in Germany, but I just got back today." Alphonse answered, pushing away the hurt feelings. He wasn't like Ed, who would press for answers. He'd wait until Mustang was ready to tell him. "So anyway, why do does it look like quite a few books fell on you? Heavy ones, at that."
Mustang grimaced, rubbing the blooming bruise hidden beneath his tousled dark hair. "You're quite accurate. I knocked into a shelf while I was in the archives, and it was just my luck that it was the shelf with the encyclopedias. The hard cover ones."
Alphonse winced, giving Mustang a look of sympathy. "Ow. That must have hurt."
Mustang gave a light hearted chuckle. "You don't say."
Walking alongside the new Führer, Alphonse decided to strike up a conversation of a different topic. "So, how's things in Amestris? I haven't got a chance to look up the recent news."
"A- ah, yes. Well, we've been having trouble in the Xerxian desert, so the Emperor should be arriving today-"
"Ling's coming?" Alphonse asked, eyes glowing with happiness. He hadn't seen Ling for a couple of years, give or take, and quite frankly, he missed the Xingese Emperor. "But wait, why's Ling doing this stuff? Isn't that somebody else's job?"
"In a way, yes. But that person is currently indisposed, and your friend wanted to do this himself." Mustang answered.
"Great! Maybe I'll hang out with him afterwards. But first, I'd have to visit Winry. Could you tell Ling once you're done?" Alphonse smiled, before the smile slipped off his face, his hand reaching up to grip the fabric of his shirt, right over his heart.
Noticing this action, Mustang asked, "Is everything alright, Alphonse?"
Alphonse plastered a smile on his face. "It's nothing. It's just that recently I've been getting these strange feelings. I've been feeling much more complete than I ever have since Ed, well..." Alphonse trailed off, but Mustang understood perfectly. No words needed to be said. However, Mustang filed away this information into his brain. The new information he received only seemed to solidify his theory that Edward Kirkland was Edward Elric.
0o0
"Big brother?" England looked down to where his little brother stood, a map clutched in the smaller nation's hands as the small kitten Amestris had picked up earlier affectionately rubbed itself against Amestris's leg. The two siblings had recently finished their tour of Central city with a record of six hours, courtesy of Amestris, and they were ready to move on to the next city. "The train stop furthest south is south city. But we stopped there already since the train broke down there and we were stuck for about five hours."
Looking over the map in Amestris hands, England nodded. "I think you're right, Edward. I guess we'll skip that. What's the next stop, then?"
Furrowing his brows, Amestris answered. "There are three. One's called Resembool, the other is Hamburg -heh, hamburg. Just add an e and r and it'll be hamburger-, and the last one is called Dublith. Huh... I think Hamburg's station is closed for maintenance, and for some reason, I really don't want to go to Dublith first. So... Resembool?" Amestris looked up at England for confirmation.
England nodded. "Alright then, lad. Resembool it is. Well get back to the other two sometime later."
"Okay, big brother." Amestris grinned, putting away the map as he picked up the kitten from the ground, scratching it's ears. "I can't wait to see that area. I heard it's really nice part of the countryside! Oh, and I heard that it's got sheep!"
England smiled at his little brother, bending to ruffle his hair. "Well, if you want to get there sooner, let us be off, shall we?"
"Alright!" Amestris cheered.
0o0
Jerso and Zanpano would be staying in Central City for the course of Alphonse's visit to the country, in order to give him space for when he visited his childhood friend. Besides, the two men had no desire to accidentally become victims to Winry's deadly wrench, because damn, those tools hurt. Why exactly have the tools not been included into the military's weaponary?
Shaking his head, Alphonse stepped away from the ticketing booth, making a beeline for the train to Resembool. Exactly how long had it been since he last so Winry? He winced slightly at the thought of the wrench to the head he would most likely be getting for not visiting. Granny Pinako would probably sigh, and continue smoking her pile while muttering something about visiting more often.
Sitting down at his seat, he felt yet another pang of longing in his chest. Winry probably was going to feel down, even if she doesn't show it, seeing as how he had yet to make progress on finding Ed. As the train began to move, Alphonse stared out of the window, watching the surroundings blur into a movement of colour.
He just wished his brother was by his side once more.
0o0
Amestris breathed quietly in his sleep, his head leaning against England's shoulder as said nation smiled softly as he watched his little brother sleep. It was at times like this, when England could hardly believe that such an innocent child used to be a cracked nation with a thirst for power, no matter how brutal he had to be to attain it. Amestris brows furrowed in his sleep. "Al... Don't steal the last piece... Mattie... Kuma ate the pancakes..." He mumbled, causing England to give a slight chuckle, before Amestris brows furrowed further. "Huh...? Who are you...? Alphonse...? Who is...?"
England raised an eyebrow, taking note of the name Amestris had uttered in his sleep. Amestris had mentioned that name in his sleep once or twice. When he had been younger, the Brit always had the little nation run to him in the middle of the night, sobbing as he muttered names of people under his breath. But there had been one time, where Amestris had screamed, sending England running to younger's room, where he had witnessed the little boy cry something puzzling, which the Brit had yet to figure out the meaning of to this day.
"Al, what have I done?! My leg! It's gone! Give him back! He's all I have left!"
Once England had managed to calm the hysterical boy down, and asked him what it was all about, Amestris had been unable to give a good explanation as he sobbed, so England let the boy spend the night in his room when he had held on tightly to the older nation. By morning, Amestris had already forgotten the night's events.
England was thrown out of his thoughts at the sound of gunshots. "Wha-?" Amestris mumbled, sitting up straight as he rubbed his eyes, mind still sleep fogged. "Al, I swear I didn't take the firecrackers."
"Attention all passengers," A voice that didn't belong to the train conductor rang through the train's announcement system. "We have taken over this train. Refrain from coming up to arms, or we shall have to forcefully remove you."
England curse silently under his breath. Hijackers. Right. He had completely forgotten that Amestris still had problems with them.
Footsteps thudded heavily through the corridors outside of the private train compartments, and as England pulled Amestris behind his back to ensure the little nation's safety, the compartment door was flung open.
Just as England began to stand, the barrel of a gun was pointed directly at his head. "Stay down unless you want to get hurt." The armed man sneered, missing the tiny scowl that crossed Amestris's face as he was only focused on the Brit in front of him. A child couldn't possibly hurt a grown, armed man, right?
No, that was wrong. Especially when said child was a country with a large military.
"Leave big brother alone!" Amestris punched the man in the most sensitive part of the body. It wasn't entirely wise to leave such an area unguarded, especially so when there was somebody who was at the right height to deliver such an attack.
The man collapsed to the floor, groaning as he clutched his manhood before promptly being knocked out by the ex-pirate who turned to look at Amestris with wide eyes. "Who taught you that?"
"Al did. He said he learnt it sometime in the eighteenth century from some guy called Prussia." Right. England now had another reason to maim America.
"C'mon big brother!" England was dragged out of his thoughts as Amestris pulled on his arm. "I'm gonna get rid of the mean people and I want you to help me!"
"A- Amestris!" England spluttered. "That's dangerous! I don't want you to get hurt!"
"But big brother! Those mean hijackers are going to hurt my citizens! I can't let them do that!" Amestris protested. England faltered, seeing Amestris's determined expression, something that seemed like a reminiscent of who the younger nation used to be, before he grudgingly gave his consent, turning to the door. "Alright then. I guess I can't stop you. But I'm in front. I still don't want you getting hurt."
"Okay! Then I'm going on the roof! I'll get to the back!" Amestris smiled as he threw open the window, his foot on the ledge.
"Eh?!" England turned his head, just in time to see Amestris's foot disappear past the window frame. He shook his head, sighing. "He's going to be the death of me, one day."
0o0
In the public part of the train, Alphonse sighed after hearing the announcement. Of course. Only in Amestris do train hijackings occur so frequently. Getting up from his seat, he left his coat there and rolled up his sleeves. Alphonse knew he probably shouldn't be doing something so reckless, but thwarting these hijackings had become something of a second nature to him, thanks to his reckless idiot of a brother.
Alphonse smiled softly. Or perhaps he kept on doing this because it was something his brother would do? He didn't know. But still, he got ready to, as Ed would put it, kick some ass.
He tapped the hijacker in the compartment on the shoulder, who spun around, brandishing a gun. "You know, it's not very nice to point guns at people, sir." Alphonse smiled innocently, clapping his hands secretly before touching the barrel of the rifle, transmuting it into a U-shape that pointed directly back at the man's face.
"A-an Alchemist!" The man spluttered, falling backwards on his bum, twisted gun laying forgotten on the ground.
"Yup!" The youngest Elric brother smiled cheerfully, before the hijacker's face met a fist, knocking him out cold.
Brushing his hands off, Alphonse prepared to move on to the other compartments before the sound of the door separating the compartments sliding open caught his attention. Spinning around, hands raised in a defensive position, an accented voice rang out. "Oh, for heaven's sake, I'm not a terrorist, so please put down your hands."
The voice belonged to man who clearly was foreign, if the accent wasn't anything to go by, but his most characteristic feature was the set of thick, bushy eyebrows.
"Ah, I'm sorry." Alphonse apologized. "I'm just a little high-strung right now, what with the hijacking business. I'm Alphonse Elric. How about you?" The man's eyebrow lifted slightly, but not enought to warrant attention.
"Arthur Kirkland, a pleasure to meet you, but I must be off. My little brother insisted on getting rid of these hijackers, and went on the roof. I have make sure he doesn't accidentally blow himself off the train." Arthur made to move, but Alphonse called out to him.
"Hey, if it isn't much trouble, do you mind if I tag along? I was planning on taking on the hijackers as well." The other shrugged. "I don't see any problem with it, so why not?"
With that, the two men moved off to kick some hijacker ass, as a certain short Alchemist would have put it.
0o0
Amestris braced himself against the wind, his hair whipping into his face. He should have been saying that roof walking on a train was hard, but it just felt like a second nature to him.
"Almost there..." He mumbled to himself, nearly falling off again.
Eventually, he reached the compartment where he could tell was the base for the hijackers. Amestris frowned as he noticed the men where his citizens. It pained him to know that his own citizens could pull off such an act.
"... Lost contact with all the other compartments!" Amestris grinned smugly at this. England was fast.
Kicking open the overhead window of the train, the glass shattered, alerting the hijackers of Amestris's entrance.
"I don't like hitting people," Came Amestris's innocent voice. "But you guys pointed a gun at my big brother, and people like you hurt others. You're in for it."
"I- it's just a little kid!" One of the hijackers spluttered. "And he's not even over ten!"
"Yup!" Amestris grinned widely, clapping his hands and placing a palm against the wall beside him, transmuting a short blade. "And this little kid is going to kick your butt!"
Suddenly, one of the older hijackers with a patch over his eye who looked to be in his early fifties, gasped as he pointed a finger at Amestris, who tilted his head in confusion. "You're that blasted runt from sixteen years ago!"
"Eh? I'm seven, so how do I know you from sixteen years ago?" Of course that wasn't true, but Amestris didn't know the guy, so he just assumed the man mistook him for someone else. "Oh well. Ready to get sent to the slammer?"
And thus, the butt kicking commenced.
0o0
"Owie... You shot me." Amestris sniffed, tears pooling into his eyes as he held his hand up, watching the hole close up thanks to the almighty power of nation healing, much to the horror of the stunned conscious hijackers as the wound closed up completely, as if there was never any wound in the first place. The only evidence of there ever having been an injury was the blood.
"W- what the devil are you, freak?!" The men panicked, faces paling drastically, hands shaking as they tried to hold the guns up.
"That's hurtful!" Amestris wiped away his tears, still sniffing sadly. "You people shoot me, and then you call me mean names! My own citizens, at that!"
Just then, a few muffled thumps came from outside, before the door was thrown open, revealing a rather annoyed Brit.
"Big brother!" Amestris ran up to England, his fight forgotten as he pointed a finger at the hijackers. "Those men shot me! And it really hurt!"
"Oh, really?" If England's mood was terrible, it intensified about hundred times more as the former pirate cracked his knuckles, his menacing forest green eyes staring down the conscious hijackers evenly as his protective side kicked in. "So... Which one of you shot my little brother? I'd advise you to speak fast, before I decide to kill of you."
Alright, maybe his protective side also brought out his pirate side, which wasn't actually a good thing for anyone who hurt any of his younger siblings.
They all pointed at the offender, who paled further drastically if that was even possible, seeing as how pale he was already.
0o0
Arthur had gone ahead by himself, feeling worried for his brother while Alphonse held off the hijackers. Alphonse did so because he knew how it felt to lose a brother, and he didn't want Arthur to know the same feeling as well. (If only Alphonse knew)
By the time Alphonse finished up on his side, the train had already pulled into Resembool's station, where the military personnel had surrounded the station, closing off all entrances until they could ensure the arrest of all hijackers.
Alphonse stepped off the train, looking for a familiar shock of messy blond hair so he could thank the Arthur for the help on the train. He also wanted to know if Arthur's brother was fine.
Finally, he spotted the man talking with a shorter blond, kneeling down and cleaning the boy's hand off with a handkerchief, a small kitten curled up near his feet. Alphonse felt his jaw drop in shock. That boy didn't seem older than eight or nine! He couldn't have possibly taken on some of the extremists by himself, could he?
Shaking his head, he made his way over to the two, noticing that with every step he took, his heart felt lighter, and his being more... Complete.
Nearing them, Alphonse felt his eyes widen as his heartbeat sped up in his chest. It couldn't be... He walked faster, hope rising in his chest, all the while wishing that this wasn't a dream.
That smile, hair, and those eyes...
"Ed...?" Alphonse breathed, sounding so desperate and hopeful as vibrant golden eyes flickered up to look at him in confusion.
"Huh? Do I know you, mister?"
Crack. Once more, Alphonse felt everything shatter around him and fall to the ground.
[A/N Hey guys! I'm back with a new chapter! This sure is fun! So anyway, guys what do you think? Alphonse is finally meeting Amestris/Edward! Yay! Anyway, do you guys think I'm rushing the encounters? It feels that way, but I'm not entirely sure. Also, please give me your suggestions in your reviews on how else you want Ed to meet his former comrades and whether or not you want me to bring in other characters- by that, I mean the rest of the G8 and a few other choice characters I can write. By the way, the rest of the FACE family will be coming in soon. Preferably between next the next couple or so chapters.
My proofreader is still indisposed, just to let you guys know.
Bye guys!
~ Gwntan12]
