Disclaimer: I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist or Legend of Korra

Edward

It was nice to be back in Central with Al and Ayana, but all the recent events left him with more questions than answers. Who were these homunculi, and why did they want them alive? Who was their Father? How high up did this all go in the military?

He dragged himself out of bed and wandered into the living room where Al was sitting. "Hey Al, I've been thinking about it and I've got an idea on how to find a homunculus."

"What are you thinking, Brother?" Al asked. He closed his book and looked up to pay attention.

"They need us alive, right? So, I doubt they'll sit back and let us die. We should let Scar find and attack us to draw them out. Besides, some Ishvalen refugees I met in Xerxes told me that he's the one who killed Winry's parents. They deserve vengeance."

"That sounds like a pretty big gamble to me. Have you forgotten that he literally tore us apart last time? If Ayana hadn't showed up, you wouldn't even be here!" Ed felt the heat rush to his cheeks at that. "Even if it does work, how do you plan on catching one of them? They're super strong and pretty much can't die!"

"Can't die? Really?" Ling exclaimed, startling them both. They turned to find him and Lan Fan peeking in the window. "We'll help you catch one!"

Ed sighed as he watched them climb in and throw themselves on the couch. They really needed to start locking the windows. "And why is that?"

"This is exactly what I've been searching for. This could be what saves my clan. Besides, you'll have better odds with more people. If we work together, we have a better chance of succeeding. I promise, I won't run off with whatever we catch."

Ed waved his hand, "Fine, fine, you're right. Let's come up with a plan, then."

"We should go get Ayana, she could help, too." Al suggested.

"I'll go knock on her and Winry's door, see if they're up." Ed jumped up, left the room, and walked to the next door down. He knocked and it took a moment, but Ayana eventually opened the door, rubbing her eyes.

"Mmm? What's up, Ed?"

"We're discussing details on a plan to lure out the homunculi. You in?"

The sleepiness was replaced with excitement. She smiled and answered, "Definitely." She followed him out the door and back towards his room. "I have a request, though. Can we not start until after lunch or so?"

"Why's that?"

He reached for the doorknob but she grabbed his hand, preventing him from turning it. "Yesterday morning I finally found a friend of mine in the spirit world. We agreed to meet again later this morning. I don't want to stand her up. I need to be there."

"That's great! Fair enough, we won't do anything until after noon."

"Thank you." She released his hand so he could open the door, and they both went inside and formulated a plan with the others.

He and Al would go out in the city and draw attention to themselves, while Ling, Lan Fan, and Ayana would follow from a distance. Hopefully Scar would be drawn to the brothers and attack them. If all went well, a homunculus would come out of hiding to make sure Scar didn't kill the brothers, and the other three would capture it. They planned to meet in the lobby of the hotel at noon to head out.

Everyone went their separate ways for the rest of the morning. Ayana must have been anxious to see her friend again, because she was fidgeting on the couch in her impatience. Al sat reading his book again. Winry, after peaking in to say good morning, had gone down for breakfast, and Ling and Lan Fan had disappeared who-knew-where. Probably to sit on the rooftop, since that seemed to be their thing.

Finally Ayana's meeting time must have rolled around because she suddenly crossed her legs on the couch, closed her eyes, and put her fists together. Al looked up at the movement and made a small disappointed noise. Apparently, he'd been hoping she'd invite him along.

"Why don't you just go? Meet her in there?" Ed asked.

"She's told me not to do that. She guides me in so that we end up in the same place together. She wasn't lying when she said it's dangerous, Brother, I've seen some really weird stuff. I wouldn't want to be in there, lost and alone. So I won't chance it."

"If it's dangerous, I don't want you going in anymore." He declared firmly.

Al shook his head. "It's safe with her. She knows the places to avoid, how to talk to the spirits there, and how to handle them when they're, uh, displeased with our presence."

Ed grumbled in response. He still didn't like the idea that it was dangerous, and his little brother was going there without him. He didn't like it.

Ayana

Jinora was there waiting for her, but she was alone this time. They hugged again.

"Everyone was so thrilled to hear you're alive and okay! My dad had some advice for you, about finding the portal. He thinks you should check out Wan Shi Tong's library, to see if you can find information about the world you're in. Maybe you'll be able to find a map that shows portal locations or something."

"I've thought about that. But last I knew, humans were still forbidden there, and I don't know if I have any information to bribe him with."

"You don't think the existence of another world would be good enough?"

"I'm not confident enough to bet my life on it." She rubbed the bridge of her nose as she thought about it. "If he has books about other worlds, I assume he's read them and knows about their existence."

"That's a good point." Jinora grudgingly agreed. "Maybe something unique from the world itself?"

"Hmm... Maybe. This world relies heavily on the use of alchemy. The people who can control it are able to take an object, break it down, and recreate it into something else. It's pretty incredible. Maybe that would be enough." Or maybe the definition and existence of homunculi would work. "Tell Tenzin I'll think about it and give him my thanks."

"Of course. Listen, we're going to be traveling for the next couple days, we're headed to the Northern Air Temple for a few weeks. I probably won't be able to come back for a while. But I'll ask Furry-Foot and his friends to keep an eye on this place and if they see you, they'll come get me. Sound okay?"

"Sounds perfect. I'll see you later." They hugged again.

She spent a brief amount of time looking for the portal, figuring she had some time to kill anyway, so why not. After a little while she decided it was probably getting close to noon, so she pulled herself back to her body and opened her eyes.

To her surprise, Ling and Lan Fan were sitting on the opposite couch staring at her intently. Ed looked rather flustered, and Al was standing behind his brother. No one said anything so she asked, "What?"

"You weren't here. You didn't respond to us at all. Where did you go?"

She decided to go with a vague version of the truth this time. "I was just meditating. Nothing crazy about that, right?" Apparently, it was something unusual, though, because Ling responded by frowning at her.

"You've achieved spiritual enlightenment. Only a few of our shamans have managed such a feat. I'm just curious to hear more about it, since it is a very rare thing. Especially for someone so young."

"There's not much to tell." She shrugged as she stood and stretched her legs. "Is it noon, yet?"

"Nearly." Ed responded immediately. "Since we're all here anyway, let's just head out now." He walked over to the door, grabbed his red coat off a nearby hook, and swept out of the room. Al followed his brother.

She crossed the room to follow but stopped when she heard Ling say in a quiet voice, "I know there's something you're not telling us. I don't know why you feel you can't trust us, but I want you to know, we're your friends now. Please don't feel like you need to hide anything."

She didn't respond and continued out the door.

After a lot of showboat alchemy, they watched Ed and Al talk to Colonel Mustang and Hawkeye, who were apparently drawn to all the attention the Elrics were making. Shortly after that, Scar appeared, and the brothers were currently battling him. She stood with Ling, and Lan Fan on a nearby rooftop, watching for any signs of a homunculus. There were a few close calls with Scar nearly killing one of the brothers, and twice Ling had grabbed her to stop her from jumping down to help.

Lan Fan looked over at her, examining her body. "Where's your weapon?" She and Ling were both equipped with a variety of things, including swords, kunai, knives, and various bombs and explosives. Ayana had nothing.

She pointed to her biceps, laughing. "I've got these!" They didn't laugh at her joke, so she continued more seriously, "I'm best with hand-to-hand combat, I use my staff as a weapon. And I've got a couple knives hidden on me."

That last part was a misleading statement, but not an outright lie, either. She didn't have physical knives, but she could make her fire ones easily. And using her collapsed glider was an option, but one she didn't much like. She didn't want to risk breaking it; it had a lot of sentimental value to her.

But she really didn't want to bend in front of them. She figured it would be a dead giveaway to her true identity. But Ling had said himself, they were friends now. She shouldn't feel the need to hide anything from them. But she was afraid of how they would react; she knew they were smart enough to put the pieces together and realize she was their 'god of the elements'. And she had no desire to be viewed as a god in anyone's eyes. Perhaps the biggest reason of all, though, was Ling's ambitions to find immortality. If he found out she was his Yosono Kami, he would realize that she essentially is immortal, having been reincarnated for generations. Would he drag her back to Xing and throw her down in front of his emperor to save his clan? She didn't want to find out.

But they were friends now. He wouldn't do that to a friend, right?

She had a feeling she wasn't going to be able to hide it much longer, though. She doubted she could get through a battle with a homunculus today without bending something.

All three of them tensed as they sensed an odd feeling chi, one that was definitely not human. They all looked at each other. "You feel it too, right?" Ling asked them.

"Yes." Lan Fan replied, and Ayana nodded.

"Let's go." Ling ran and jumped to the next rooftop. She and Lan Fan followed. They crossed a few more buildings before they sighted their target. Ayana recognized him; it was the fat one that had nearly eaten Hawkeye and Fuery. They raced to intercept, and Ling jumped with his leg extended out in a kick that sent the homunculus sprawling on the roof.

The homunculus recovered and stood up. He looked between them all, confused. "Hello!" Ling called cheerily. "That's one unusual body you got there!"

"Don't bother running, I can sense your presence and follow it." Lan Fan added threateningly.

The homunculus smiled at her, which Ayana thought was an odd reaction to being threatened. She was distracted by a new voice, sounding from the street below.

"You can sense Gluttony's presence? Well, how inconvenient."

They looked down to see Fuhrer King Bradley approaching, brandishing a sword in each hand. They had barely registered his identity before he'd broken into a sprint, rushed up to the rooftop with incredible speed, and sliced at Lan Fan.

"Lan Fan!" Ling shrieked as he jumped over to help her. He sliced Gluttony's approaching body in half as he went.

Ayana decided she didn't care about secrets anymore, they couldn't fight two enemies at the same time without her bending, especially one like Bradley. She'd witnessed what he'd done to Greed and knew what he was capable of.

After attacking Lan Fan, the Fuhrer immediately went for Ling, who was slashing relentlessly as he tried valiantly to protect Lan Fan's fallen body. Ayana jumped and kicked fire at Bradley, knocking him sideways and away from Ling.

Bradley turned his attention to her but didn't lower his swords. "Well, now, this is a surprise. What is the Avatar doing with strangers like these?"

She didn't answer. Gluttony had finished regenerating by now. Bradley's single eye narrowed as he continued. "No matter. Your constant meddling is annoying, and I won't stand for it!" He charged her with his swords raised.

She immediately threw some fire at him, which he dodged easily, sidling sideways while continuing to charge. He was so fast. Quickly, she jumped out of the way as his swords swiped where she's just been standing. She landed to his right, and he didn't miss a beat as he turned and charged again. She brought earth to her aid, bending a chunk of the concrete roof up and holding it in front of her, blocking his quick slashes. The blades cracked the shield; it wouldn't last much longer, so she shattered it into a million small pieces, hitting him with the shrapnel.

He was caught off guard and raised a hand to protect his face, but not quick enough. The sharp rocks cut the band on his eyepatch, causing it to flutter uselessly to the ground. He didn't seem to care and continued his furious attacks. It was all she could do to hold him at bay; he wasn't allowing any time for her to try a counterattack.

Behind Bradley, she caught a glimpse of Gluttony approaching Ling, who held Lan Fan over his shoulder. Blood was dripping from one of her arms. He had his sword extended out in a protective stance but was limited in his movements while holding his friend like that. She watched as Gluttony opened his jaws wide, tongue lolling out, drool dripping onto the ground…

Rage consumed her, and before she could even think about trying to stop it, she slipped into the Avatar State.

She felt the raw power course through her body, pulsing in her blood. Her eyesight clarity increased exponentially, the fatigue in her muscles disappeared, and her hearing sharpened. Bradley was apparently taken aback by this new development because his attacks paused as he looked on with wide eyes, and that's when she saw it. The eye that had previously been obscured by the eyepatch had an ouroboros tattoo instead of a pupil.

He was one of them. He was a homunculus. But why hadn't she sensed it?

She lashed out with the fury of all the Avatars. Her rage burned hot as she sent a bolt of lightning at Gluttony, knocking him away from Ling with such force that he landed on a rooftop three buildings way. The thunder echoed ominously.

With Ling and Lan Fan out of danger, she focused on Bradley. She spun a torrent of air underneath herself to lift her body out of his reach. She rained fire on him, which he tried his best to avoid, dodging and weaving around the attacks. He closed the distance and jumped high with his swords raised for the plunge. Pushing hard, she sent a spear of air at him, which successfully threw him backwards and off the roof to a plaza below. She followed him, and airbent a massive concussive blast that sent all the citizens in the area a safe distance away.

Her sharpened ears picked up Bradley's voice shouting a command to Gluttony, telling him to go find and stop Scar. Bending the water from a fountain in the plaza, she sent a stream of it at Bradley and turned it to ice on impact. With his arm caught in the ice, she whipped him sideways into a street light, where he grunted in pain and fell to his knees briefly. He stood and raised his swords again but didn't get the chance to charge her as she bent the ground below him into a box, encasing him all the way up to his chin. The earth was tight enough that he couldn't move a muscle.

Well, they'd caught a homunculus, but they couldn't very well take the Fuhrer himself as their captive. They'd have to go for Gluttony instead.

Lowering herself to the ground, she looked around the now deserted plaza in search of Ling. She found him standing on the rooftop looking down at her and Bradley, still holding Lan Fan over his shoulder. She airbent up to them.

"Yosono Kami!" Ling exclaimed in awe. "I can't believe it! The legend is real!"

"We don't have time for that." She said sharply, and she watched him jump, startled, at the sound of her voice. She spoke with the voices of all the Avatars, so she knew it sounded weird and echoey. "Gluttony's gone after Scar and the boys. We need to go capture him."

Ling nodded. "Let's take the sewers. It'll be more direct than the streets, and we can hide Lan Fan down there."

She didn't reply as she jumped down to the alley below, which was out of view of the Fuhrer. She opened a manhole and dropped inside, and Ling followed her quickly.

Once they were safely below the streets, Ling put Lan Fan down on her feet and tied off her bleeding shoulder. The wound didn't look good; her arm swung limply at her side, and there was a lot of blood. He said to her, "Stay down here, okay? We'll come back for you. I promise." Then he turned to look at Ayana expectantly.

She held out her hand to him. "Hold on tight."

He didn't question her at all, he looked at her with absolute trust. He took her hand, which she grabbed and wrapped around her neck, and he instinctively wrapped his other arm around her, too. With him hanging on, she jumped into the water and bent it under her feet in a massive wave, propelling them forward and towards Gluttony's chi.