It was almost spring. Edena could feel the shifts in nature. Winter was fading away and the frost would soon give way to the wild flowers. She loved this time of year. Mostly because it was soon her brother's birthday. She'd been working hard to save up some money to take him and Winry on a trip to East City to look into the book stores and any other places they wanted to visit. She did odd jobs all around Resembool. Fixing things with alchemy here and there, watching the local children, helping out on farms with the animals. They had been cautious of her at first, but were surprisingly respectful of the dragon girl and were easy to handle. The farmers loved her. But her current long term job was working in a massage parlor. She'd been learning from books at the library all she could about the human body after she stumbled across this job due to a need for a massage herself.
It was three years ago when they did what was forbidden. Three years since Alphonse watched his big sister have her leg and her arm break down in front of his very wide and terrified eyes. Three years since he wrapped her wounds and ran as fast as he could with her in his arms to the Rockbells, banging on their front door and begging Granny and Winry to help his big sister. It had only been two years since she went through with automail surgery and because of her dragon healing, it had only taken eight months for her to recover from it properly. The only problem that arose from Ed having automail the fact that when she shifted into her dragon form, even though she somehow had all of her limbs in the form, when she shifted back, the pain in her ports was immense and the only thing that helped was a deep massage.
Alphonse had been the one to find the masseuse in a small town that neighbored Resembool. He dragged his sister to the older woman's shop and begged for her to be treated. It had been quite an experience that led to Ed wanting to learn all about the practice herself from the library and from the woman herself. And Ed was a quick learner. She and her brother had always been. So it didn't take her long to start actually helping the woman, Helena Smith, out in her shop.
There was only one problem.
"That feels great, sweetheart. This can't be your first massage."
Perverts. Perverts were the problem.
Ed felt her temper rise as the man she had on her table wrapped an arm around her waist and settled his hand on the swell of her ass. She took a very deep breath to keep herself in control as she took his arm in her automail hand and gave it a bit of a squeeze as she placed it back on the table. Her dragon grinned with sharp teeth at the small grunt of pain she heard the man let out, but when she spoke, she was very proud of herself for how professional she sounded.
"Not quite my first massage, but you are the first person I've been able to work on unsupervised. Ms. Smith finally trusts my skills enough to give a proper massage. Which, speaking of, it would be very much appreciated if you kept your body relaxed and your limbs completely on the table as I work so that I can give you the best experience while you're here today." She continued on working out the knots in his back and shoulders.
"I know one way you can give me a great experience." He turned his head to give her a look that made Ed's stomach roll with nausea, so she forcefully grabbed his head and turned it back down into the face hole at the end of the table.
"Please be still, Sir. I don't want you tensing up after all this work I'm putting into you." She rolled her eyes and finished with the client as quickly as possible.
Ed ended up with four more clients that day, as she covered for Ms. Smith, before she was able to shut the shop down and haggle a ride on a cart back to Resembool so she could get home to make dinner for her little brother. She smiled as she thought about him. Alphonse was only about to turn twelve years old, but he sure was growing up pretty quickly. He had taken a lot of the blame on himself from the night she lost her limbs, but she told him that he was being foolish. Izumi had told him the same thing as well… After she beat him to a pulp over the entire situation.
Their Teacher didn't like the feeling she had gotten from the last phone call she had with her adopted daughter, so she had called back the next morning when she knew the kids would be awake. When she didn't get an answer, she dragged her husband along on a trip to Resembool to check on her kids and was in for quite a shock. Alphonse had apparently explained everything that had happened that night and took the beating that went along with it. Teacher had been so mad at him that she immediately sent him back to Dublith with Sig for a week to work in the shop as punishment as she stayed by Ed's side. Once Edena woke up, she begged the woman to take it easy on Alphonse. She explained to her about the bad feelings she'd had about the entire situation and how she should have pushed more for it or outright refused. But she also realized she couldn't have done either of those things because then Al would have just tried to do it all by himself. She would forever be grateful that the lesson was learned by both of them, but she was the only one who had to go through the consequences.
Izumi had called her a stupid girl, but stayed with her for the entire week until it was time for Al to return. She gave them both a stern talking to and expelled them both, but no less demanded that they were to call her every day with updates and come see her and Sig in Dublith the earliest they could.
Alphonse fell into a depression and worked himself until he was bone tired to keep himself busy all the way up until his sister was fully recovered from getting automail installed. Ed then gave him her own beating for being so sad about the situation. Was it a terrible thing that happened? Yes. Did he share some of the blame? Yes? Did she actually blame him for it at all? Absolutely not. She explained the same thing to him that she had to Izumi and then she whooped his ass in a spar even though she was fresh out of recovery for getting new limbs. Ever since then, he'd dove into his studies and learned everything he could about the human body as well and even more about alchemy. She'd just rolled her eyes at him and went about making sure she could provide for her family.
When she got to the Rockbell's to pick up Alphonse, he was sitting on the porch with Den, reading books he'd probably gotten from the library. She knocked him on the head with her metal limb and chuckled at the whine she got out of him.
"Hello, little Brother. Is this all you've been doing all day?" She crouched down to check out the collection he had.
Al rubbed his head and glared at her. "No, it's not. Granny Pinako had me working around the house today. And I even went out to the neighbor's farm to help fix their fence before the sheep escaped." He put a marker in his book before looking up at Ed. "How was your day today, Sister?"
Ed groaned and sat fully on the porch next to Den and gave her little scratches behind her ears. "I only had one, unfortunately, perverted client today. All of the rest were regulars." She rested her head on her brother's shoulder. "I'm going to wait until the day after tomorrow to shift though. Ms. Smith will be back to cover the shop and give me a massage by then. But I have a surprise for you and Winry, so come inside so I can tell you about it." She ignored Al's look of concern and guilt as she got up, and went inside the house to say hello to Winry and Granny and get them all gathered as she started on dinner with the elder woman's help.
"So, what's the surprise, Ed?" Alphonse asked as he and Winry set the table.
Edena smiled and flipped over some chicken she had cooking in the pan in front of her. She glanced over her shoulder at the both of them. "Well, you know how I've been working quite a bit lately?" They two younger teens both nodded and looked at her, their confusion very visible. Ed chuckled and turned back to the pan. "Weeelll, I've been doing that to save up enough money for the three of us to go on a trip to East City for Al's birthday. I wanted to take you to the better bookstores and I wanted to give Winry the opportunity to check out some shops there as well. Izumi and Sig are even coming and pitching in to get us all a hotel room for the night and dinner in the city. Sound exciting?" She turned the stove off once she was finished cooking and looked back over her shoulder to see their excitement, only to be surprised by tears streaming down Al's face. "Alphonse, what's wrong?!"
Al surged forward and pulled his sister into a bone crushing hug and hid his face in her neck. "You're the best big sister ever."
Ed smiled softly and hugged Al back. "Anything for my little brother." Winry and Pinako watched them with smiles on their faces as well.
When it came time for the trip, Ed was sure she'd saved up more than enough money for it. Not to mention Granny Pinako threw in some extra money besides the amount she already gave her to cover Winry's costs.
Ed had stopped at the train station the day before the trip to buy tickets for the three of them. She'd even grabbed a map of East City to study it all night to make sure she knew exactly where they were going every part of the trip.
She was taking on a lot of responsibility with this trip and having a twelve and thirteen year old be in her care for two days away from home, but she was prepared for it.
Their train was leaving from the station at 2 pm and Ed was already having a bit of a time calming her two younger travel mates down in order to get them to walk orderly to the station. She rolled her eyes at them as they made it to the train finally and the two of them stopped short of just entering the actual locomotive to talk about all the things they wanted to do in the city.
"Can you both please stop being country bumpkins and just get on the damn train." She growled at them, her eyes flashing a darker gold that always prompted Al to do what she said and sent chills down Winry's spine. She called out their bench number as they ran away from her onto the train. Some onlookers laughed at her expense and she just glared at them in return. She followed her charges onto the train and made her way to their bench. She couldn't exactly blame them for their excitement. Winry had never been to the city before and Al's mood was always influenced by those around him, so Winry's excitement was rubbing off on him. She just wished they'd actually listened to her instructions.
She was no longer prepared for this responsibility and couldn't wait to foist it all over to Izumi when they met her and Sig at the hotel in the city.
Ed found the two sitting innocently on the bench, Winry sitting at the window. She rolled her eyes and lifted their luggage that they had sitting at their feet to the overhead racks as they snickered. They always left Ed to do the heavy lifting because she was significantly stronger than a lot of people due to her being part dragon. Alphonse was also strong, they had learned while with the Curtis', but he still liked to torture his sister with heavy lifting even though it didn't really bother her.
Ed was lifting the second bag overhead when a blue covered arm appeared in her peripheral and a large gloved hand took the case from her to slide it into place.
"Please allow me, Ma'am. I've got a bit more height to help out." A deep, smooth voice spoke to her and she saw Winry and Al pale a little as they glanced up from the map they had stolen from Ed that morning.
Ed turned her head with a growl to yell at the man who dared call her short, but the words died on her lips. The man was taller than her, yes, but he was also quite the looker. He had dark hair that was somehow well kept and messy at the same time, his eyes were such a dark blue that they were almost black, and the smirk on his face was so damn devilish she was sure it made all the ladies swoon.
As he bent to pick up their last piece of luggage, giving Alphonse a look that the boy in turn gave a guilty one back, Ed realized what he was wearing and that he wasn't alone. A very pretty blonde woman, so pretty that Ed felt quite inadequate, in a matching blue uniform as the man's had sat in the bench across from theirs and was watching the man with an annoyed look on her face.
They were both military.
"Thank you." Ed said softly before ducking her head and sitting at the end of the bench next to her brother. The man gave her a smile and sat next to his partner on the other bench.
"You're welcome. I'm only doing what any gentleman should do." He gave Al another look and her younger brother slouched a bit in his seat as he hid his, and Winry who was glaring at the soldiers, from the man's sights with the map.
Ed rolled her eyes. "I suppose, but you can stop giving my little brother those scathing looks. He has been raised correctly and understands that a lady must not be viewed as completely fragile and can do some heavy lifting of her own. He also knows that I'm strong and didn't need any help like a damsel in distress." She crossed her legs that were covered in black tights and pulled a book, a medical text, out of her inside coat pocket to read during the ride.
The two soldiers smiled at the young woman and the blonde nudged the dark haired man with her elbow.
He cleared his throat. "Of course. Anyone would be wrong to look at you and assume damsel in distress. I'm sorry if I came off that way." He leaned forward to reach a hand across the small table that separated the bench seatings. "Roy Mustang. I'm a Colonel based in East City. My companion here is First Lieutenant Riza Hawkeye." The blonde woman nodded in acknowledgment.
Ed was hesitant, but placed her book down on the table to reach out a gloved hand of her own to shake his offered one. If he was surprised by her strong grip, he didn't let it show. "Edena Elric. These two are my brother, Alphonse Elric, and our friend Winry Rockbell. We're headed to East City for my brother's birthday tomorrow." Said parties lowered their map long enough to give little hellos before hiding again.
Upon hearing their names, did the two soldiers actually show surprise. Caution showed on Ed's face.
"Elric, you say? Maybe luck is actually on my side!" He and his partner looked her over and Al straightened up and lowered the map to give the two of them his own skeptical look. "We were just at your home almost an hour ago looking for you. I'm a state alchemist and I've been given the task to recruit more alchemists into the military. We'd been given intel that two alchemists by the name of Elric were living in this town so we came to check them out. Our intel was quite wrong in your age though. A local man mentioned that the only people in town with that last name were young and were the children of Van Hohenheim. Are you his children? We would love to speak with your father if you—"
The man, Roy Mustang, stopped speaking when his lieutenant put her elbow in his ribs and he realized he had gotten carried away in his excitement and didn't notice the glares the two younger looking people across the table were giving him. The young woman, on the other hand, was looking over his shoulder, ignoring him completely.
"I'm going to go grab something from the food car. Would you two like anything?" Ed's voice was rough as she was holding back a lot of emotions at the moment. Al placed a hand over hers.
"We'll take whatever, Sister. Take your time. We'll be alright." He squeezed her hand and she nodded before getting up and walking away. Mustang and Hawkeye were confused and watched her go.
Once Ed was out of earshot, Al turned a full blown hazel eyed glare at the two officers sitting across from them.
"You will not bring up my father again in my sister's presence. We do not know where he is and we have not seen him in more than ten years. There is no need for you to bring up our mother either. She is dead."
The two soldiers winced. "I apologize. I had no idea. I guess the rumors of two talented alchemists are unfounded then."
Al frowned at the man, still glaring. "I never said that." Mustang and Hawkeye looked up with questioning looks. Al sighed and Winry just smirked as she looked out of the window. "I may be young and my sister may be a bit… vertically challenged, but we are both alchemists. Some may say even talented ones. And that's not just me tooting my own horn. My sister and I are both very well trained and well studied alchemists. We didn't go to any academy in a big city or anything like that, but we know quite a bit."
Mustang looked a bit skeptical. "How old are you and your sister that you can say that you're alchemists with such confidence?"
In a very Ed like move, Al rolled his eyes and leaned back in his seat, crossing his arms over his chest. "I'm about to be twelve and my sister is seventeen, but don't let those numbers fool you. I have been reading my father's journals since I was four and my sister when she was nine. I'm sure she even learned some things from the man himself when he was still around. We found an alchemy teacher not long after and we've been studying and practicing ever since. My sister doesn't care too much for alchemy, but she definitely knows more than I do on the subject and many others— Ow!"
They all jumped at Al's shout when the golden haired young woman in question bopped him on the head with her left hand. Mustang and Hawkeye were surprised. They hadn't even heard her approach.
"Stop bragging about me, little brother. It's unbecoming." She placed three hot teas and some pasties on the table in front of them from the tray she carried and even placed two coffees in front of the soldiers, surprising them. "Please don't entertain my brother. I'm sure there are more talented and well trained alchemists out there than us." She sat down and picked up one of the teas to sip on.
"Don't let Teacher hear you say that." Al grumbled as he rubbed his head. "I was just explaining to the Colonel here that he didn't come to Resembool on unfounded rumors, is all." He passed a cake looking pastry over to Winry who thanked him and started to nibble on it.
Ed rolled her eyes. "They're not unfounded, no. But you're the real alchemist out of the two of us, Al."
Al turned to glare at her. "Says the person who knows more no matter how much I study and can perform it better than me." Ed sighed and just sipped her drink. "Sister, don't sigh at me! You can literally look at and change a circle to fit your needs without even having to sketch it out a couple of times to make sure you're doing it right. Even i have to think it over for about five minutes."
Ed picked at a danish she had placed on the table. "But even if it takes you five minutes, you never forget an array and you're super quick at drawing them. Perfectly at that. I once saw you draw that array for fixing old man Riley's wood fence in four seconds flat. You can't tell me that's not crazy."
Winry shook her head at the two of them. "Alchemy freaks."
Mustang and Hawkeye just watched their back and forth with wide eyes. Mustang's eyes were especially wide. If everything they were saying about each other was true, then he definitely had a couple of child prodigies on his hands and there was no way he could not offer them the opportunity to be state alchemists. He just needed some proof.
"Show me." He looked at them with amusement in his eyes when they jumped at the sound of his voice, probably forgetting he and Hawkeye were even there. "Show me what you can do." His lieutenant must have been reading his mind because she was already opening up his briefcase and taking out a pencil and a couple of blank sheets of paper to pass over to them across the table. "Show me how you can draw fast arrays," he said as he pointed at Al. "And you show me how you can come up with arrays off the top of your head." He pointed at Ed this time.
The two siblings looked at each other, and seemed as if they were speaking almost telepathically to each other before shrugging after a while. Al picked up the pencil and pulled a sheet of paper close before completely wowing Mustang with the perfect circle he drew, even while on a train and the literal seconds it took for him to complete an array. He dirty blond held up the array with a big smile on his face.
"It's a refrigeration array. Meant to make things cold." He placed the paper back down and took the lieutenant's coffee out of her hand and placed it on the array, activating it quickly and damn near freezing her coffee that was hot a few seconds ago. "I sucked the heat out of the coffee to help power the array."
If Mustang thought he was amazed by that display, then Ed truly threw him for a loop. She grabbed the pencil and moved the cold drink off of the array her brother had drawn. She looked at it for all of thirty seconds before drawing an array on a different piece of paper in front of her. It took her a bit longer, but she eventually held up the array for the Colonel to see. He frowned at it.
"It's got a heating element and it looks stabilized, but what powers it?" He looked away from the array and didn't like that too eager smile on Alphonse's face.
Ed put the paper down and placed the cold coffee on the array and closed her eyes. Suddenly, Mustang could feel his hair stand on end and his heart rate accelerated. Hawkeye must have got the same feeling because she placed a hand over the grip of her service weapon in preparation for whatever had freaked them out. They both jumped as the array flashed gold before the usual blue sparks of the activation of alchemy showed and the coffee was suddenly putting off steam again as if it was fresh from the pot.
Ed smiled and passed the lieutenant back her coffee. "There you go, Miss Hawkeye. Nice and hot."
Mustang's jaw was damn near on the floor. "How the fuck did you do that? And what the hell was that feeling just before you activated the array?"
Ed pursed her lips and went back to sipping on her tea and reading her medical book. "I used my own kinetic energy to power the array. That feeling you felt before I activated it was me concentrating on my core energy and bringing it to the surface." She turned the page on her book. "It's also what those in Xing call 'qi'. It follows a very different mindset than most alchemists use here in Amestris when it comes to powering arrays. Alchemists here use the energy from the shifting of the tectonic plates to pull from when using alchemy. People in Xing use their qi and mind's eye to pull energy from nature around them and filter it through themselves into usable energy for the task that they need to perform. And then it is released at a steady pace into a certain array in order to power it. It's why you got that feeling when I powered the array. I was pulling the energy from the air around us and even a little bit from you yourself, Colonel." Ed looked up at him, her golden eyes just a bit too intelligent. "You've got fire in your veins."
Ed went back to reading her book uninterrupted and Mustang was thoroughly spooked. It took a whole ten minutes of him just thinking to himself and Hawkeye looking at him in concern before he opened his mouth to ask another question, but he was cut off again. It was actually starting to annoy him.
"No, you can't use alchemy the same way my sister does. Not immediately, anyway." Alphonse was resting his head on Ed's shoulder, having been watching Mustang try to figure some things out in his head. Winry had fallen asleep with her head against the window. Maybe it had been more than two minutes. How had he gotten so lost in his own mind? And how had Alphonse known what he was going to ask about? "It was so obvious what you were thinking about." Mustang was surprised again. Was he speaking out loud?
Al chuckled. "You're an open book when you're confused, Colonel. If you must know, my sister and I decided on which arrays we would draw and use based on your gloves." He pointed at the red array sewn into the back of the white gloves the man wore. "We can't completely decipher how it works, but we know fire is involved. Probably some sort of oxygen manipulation with an ignition source." He grinned as the man hid his gloves from their prying eyes. Ed even smirked from behind her book. "I chose the refrigeration array because that was the only one that was simple and safest to use on a train without damaging anything. And Sister has just always had her own way of dealing with alchemy. It's taken me five years of her teaching it to me and I can still only do the bare minimum when it comes to how much energy I can pull from around me and filter. But training with qi comes in a lot more handy than just using the energy to power arrays. For example, not a lot of people can sneak up on us. And we can find each other pretty easily if we get lost." He started to play with Ed's long golden hair that she had braided that morning and kept handing over her shoulder.
The young woman in question spoke up when Al was obviously done talking and Mustang was still confused.
"Learning to read and use qi takes a lot of meditation and concentration that most alchemists here in Amestris would find insignificant. Especially when they learn that the tasks the energy is mostly used for of the medical variety. In Xing they call it alkahestry. The energy can, of course, be used in many combat situations, but it's mostly used to heal wounds that a doctor would otherwise need an operating room to heal. It is not an automatic thing for serious wounds though. The amount of energy that is needed to perform these feats can be a bit too much for most people to draw on and filter. Even though there are alkahestrists in Xing, there are also still doctors that complete the work." Ed looked more at him, lowering her book. "You're part Xingese, are you not?" She tilted her head a bit at him.
Mustang blushed and looked away to escape from her golden eyes. "I was born and raised here in Amestris by my aunt. I've never been to Xing or had the need to learn anything more about that part of my family." He looked back at her. "How do you know so much about Xing? You're too young to be well traveled."
Ed scoffed. "Maybe in another life I could have been well traveled by this age. A life where I didn't have to start work so young to take care of my little brother. A life where my mother was still alive. A life where my father decided he would sate his wanderlust, only with his family instead of alone." She sighed and rested her cheek on the top of Al's head. "We know so much about Xing because our father stayed there for a significant amount of time in his life. He wrote about it in many of his journals and he even told me stories about the country and its people all the way up until he left us when I was just six years old. I would like to visit there one day." She gave him a smile and took Al's hand into hers. He was always so tactile like this when it came to cuddling with his sister. He ran a bit warm himself, but Ed was a furnace compared to most people because of the type of dragon she comes from.
Mustang looked at Hawkeye and the woman was giving him a very disapproving look, but he knew he couldn't let this opportunity go. He'd pay for it later, yes, but he knew this was going to be worth it.
"Have either you or your brother ever thought about joining the military? Becoming state alchemists?" Ed suddenly scowled at the dark haired man and Al blinked at him like he was talking nonsense. "Hear me out, please." He threw up his hands in a placating manner. "All state alchemists who start out have the rank of Major and a very significant salary. Not to mention the research funds you would get. And the missions you would get sent on are all over Amestris. It's not Xing, but it isn't a small countryside like Resembool either. You could work out a contract and travel and research to your heart's content and save up enough money that you could eventually travel to Xing without worrying about the costs." He pointed at the book Ed had been reading. "You could even save up enough money to go to University and become a doctor. That's a pretty advanced book you're reading there. And you're almost through with it. That's pretty impressive."
Ed growled. "Don't spew bullshit at me one moment and then try to flatter me the next. Why would either one of us want to become a dog like you? That's what they call you state alchemists, isn't it? Dogs of the military? Did you get pretty words like money and power thrown at you as well, only to get used by your government as weapons under the guise of patriotism? The military has done my family and my 'small countryside' no good over the years. Winry's parents were killed during the Eastern Rebellion. They were two of the only doctors in our small town and they were taken away because the war was getting so bad. And then they were killed. Do you know how often my mother worried about having to move our family away from Resembool because of how close the fighting was getting? A stray bullet caught a farmer in the shoulder one day because he was out in his field trying to get his sheep back into the barn." She was seething at this point. "I'm sure you are a very kind man, Colonel, and your lieutenant is probably a very nice woman, but I would appreciate it if the both of you refrained from speaking to us for the rest of this trip." Her word was final as she picked her book back up and continued to read. Alphonse kept his head on her shoulder, a small frown on his face as he looked at the two of them across the table in contemplation.
Mustang looked like he wanted to say one more thing, but Hawkeye nudged him and shook her head. This conversation was officially done.
The rest of the ride was quiet and awkward and when they finally arrived at the station in East City, Ed was quick to put her book away and stand up to grab their luggage. When they finally made it out to the train platform, Ed looked around for street signs so they could start making their way to the hotel. She should probably find a payphone as well to call the hotel and give Izumi a heads up.
Al and Winry went to take a seat on a bench as Ed followed through with her thoughts. But before Al could get too far, he felt a hand grab his arm. He turned to see who it was and found Colonel Mustang holding out a slip of paper towards him.
"I'm sorry that I upset the both of you. It's just hard to see good talent and not want to offer up an opportunity." Alphonse didn't say anything in response, but he did take the paper to look at what it said. "That's the number to my office here in East City. If you or your sister ever change your minds about becoming state alchemists, just give me a call. I do hope you reconsider." He gave the teen a pat on his shoulder before he and Hawkeye walked over to get into a car that was sitting on the street outside of the station. Al hesitated for a long moment before slipping the paper into his inner coat pocket and moving to sit on the bench with Winry. The blond gave him a questioning look, but he just shrugged it off.
The trip to East City ended up being everything Edena wanted it to be for Alphonse's birthday.
Al absolutely raided the book stores and Winry would have absolutely bought out tool shops if Ed had given her the chance. Izumi and Sig took care of buying all of the food and the hotel prices even though Ed expected to pay for at least half of it. Because of that, she had a bit of extra money to get herself some books and to splurge a little on getting all three of them some new clothes. Ed was even feeling generous enough to let Winry be the one to pick the clothes out for her.
Ed technically wore dresses. If you called the style of long blouse that Izumi wore a dress. Which Winry did not. She was forever annoyed by Ed's need to mimic her teacher's style. She wanted Ed to be her own type of woman and wear different types of clothes. Especially "dresses" that she didn't have to wear pants underneath of. She dragged Izumi and Ed to different shops the day after Al's birthday while Sig took Al to different places, trying to be the father figure the boy needed.
By the time the shopping trip was over, Ed had to buy a new suitcase to fit all of their new things in.
All in all it was a very successful trip and Ed was very happy that she had a very satisfied little brother. It was when they made it back to Resembool that things started to go south.
Edena wondered if she was leaving her brother alone too often. She wondered if he resented her for working too much like she resented her father for not being there for them. Maybe he wouldn't have gotten these crazy ideas in his head if she'd worked a bit less and spent more time with him.
The Monday they got back from East City, Ed was immediately back at work. The trip hadn't wiped out her budget completely, so Ed still had a bit of money left to put into savings for her brother's future and have some extra for bills, but money was always needed so she had work to do.
After a month of Ed complaining about the many perverts she had to give massages to and her talking about how she just wished she could go back to being a full time farmhand, Winry suggested that Ed was out of sorts lately because she hadn't shifted in a while. Which was probably true, but still made Ed grumble about brats who use the phrase "out of sorts" to replace the word "bitchy". She invited Winry over to the house for dinner that night. Since it was her great idea to have Ed shift, then it could be her responsibility to give Ed a massage when she shifted back since she wouldn't be able to go see Ms. Smith the next day. Winry huffed about it, but relented. The girl felt bad because she couldn't figure out how to make the ports more comfortable for her adoptive big sister. Ed had told her that was something she was going to have to get over, though. She's never had to make automail for a person who can shift shape and species before. It was going to be a given that there would be some problems.
What Ed didn't count on was her brother's guilt from her having fake limbs resurfacing.
The teen had watched Winry butcher the massage for his sister for about fifteen minutes before he moved along to shut himself into their father's study. Ed assumed it was to read more of the books he got from East City last month, so she let him be.
It was another month before he actually came to her with the real reason for him becoming even more of a shut in than normal.
"You want to run that by me again?" Ed's voice was more of a growl and she ended up spooking the horse she had been brushing at the farm she was working at today. She sighed as she had to calm the mare and herself down.
Al had been in the study all morning when she left for work and it was about midday before he'd come running to find her like a crazy person.
"I-I said I'm going to become a state alchemist, Sister!" He looked a bit fearful, but continued on despite it. "You've been working a lot trying to provide for us and I know you're strong and brave and can handle anything, but I'm tired of you coming home complaining about perverts. I'm tired of you coming home tired every night. I'm tired of you fretting over me like it's your obligation to take over being the parent. It's not fair to you! And I'm tired of seeing you in pain after every shift because of your automail ports. I've been looking into Dad's journals again—" Ed gave Al a look that had him gulping. "Nothing like before! I just remembered something, you know. I remembered a mention of some sort of material that could help with bypassing equivalent exchange. So I went back through his journals to find it and I did! It's called the Philosopher's Stone, and if I could find it or create one, then I could restore your limbs, Sister! You wouldn't have to be in pain anymore!"
Suddenly, Al looked down. "But there's only mentions of the stone and what it can do in Dad's journals. Which means I need to find more information on it elsewhere. Thinking about all of that made Colonel Mustang's offer come back to mind. And I realized… If I become a state alchemist then that kills two birds with one stone." He peeked up at his sister through his bangs. She was still glaring at him, but didn't look quite as murderous anymore. "If- No. When I become a state alchemist, I'll make enough money to send you back part of my salary so that you don't have to work so much, and I'll be able to do research on the stone in better libraries so that I can get your arm and leg back!" He looked her in the eye, feeling a bit more brave now.
"Sister… Edena. I'm doing this whether you like it or not." They stared each other in the eyes for a long time. Al refused to back down and Ed looked ready to beat him down. But after a long while, Ed finally broke their stare down by turning around to continue brushing the horse. After another long moment of Ed not saying anything, Al was a bit more worried than he would have been if she had been yelling at him. "Ed? Please say something." He placed a hand on her shoulder and he bit back a gasp when she jerked away from him. "Sister?"
"Go home, Alphonse. We'll talk about this later." She continued to brush the horse.
Al waited for a few minutes before sighing and turning to make his way back home. If he had stayed, he would have been there to catch his sister when she fell. If he had stayed, he would have been there to comfort her when she started sobbing, her forehead pressed to the dirt. If he had stayed, he would have realized that his sister was not as strong as he thought she was.
When Ed had said they'd talk later, Al had thought his sister meant later than night. But apparently that was not the case because his sister never came home that night. Or the next night. Or the next. He'd called over to Winry and Granny's to see if she was staying over there, but it turns out she wasn't.
He knew she went to work because no one was calling the house looking for her, but when he went around looking for which place she was working at each day, he'd either "just missed her" or she wasn't working there that day.
Al really wanted to give Ed the space she needed, but he was starting to get really concerned to the point where panic was setting in for him. The next night, when she still hadn't come home, Al was ready to use qi to go find her, but as soon as he opened the front door to go look, she was there. Her hair was unkempt and she had dark circles under her eyes like she hadn't been sleeping. He wanted to hug her, but anger beat out his happiness at seeing her.
"Where the hell have you been!? Do you know how worried I've been about you? You weren't home for three nights, Edena! I-I thought you were hurt, o-or kidnapped, or—" That you left me! That you hated me… Al couldn't get those words out. Instead he choked out a sob and moved away from her. Al flinched as he felt arms wrap around him and move him towards the couch in the living room. He was pulled down gently and maneuvered so that he was cradled in his sister's lap. She held him close and rocked him back and forth. Just like their mother used to when he was little. Al couldn't stop himself. All the guilt, hurt and panic he felt over the past few days bubbled over and he clung to her like a hurt child, his sobs loud and heart wrenching.
Please don't ever leave me. Both of them thought at the same time.
Early the next morning, before the sun was even up, found Edena sitting on the floor next to where the table the phone sat on. She dialed a number and waited as the call connected.
"Whoever this is, you better have a good reason for calling me at the ass crack of dawn." A woman's angry voice filtered through the receiver.
Ed let out a breathless chuckle and brought her knees up to her chest. "I'm sorry, Mom."
There was silence over the line for a moment before Izumi finally spoke up. "Tell me what's wrong, Edena."
Ed's laugh turned into a quiet sob and she hid her face in her knees. "I'm about to do something stupid. You're going to hate me for it."
Izumi tsked. "I could never hate you, you idiotic child. I will be sorely disappointed though if this is your way of telling me you found some man at that stupid job of yours and you're going to elope." Ed laughed through her tears "Talk to me, Ed. I'm right here. Just talk to me."
So she did. Ed talked to Izumi about how she'd really been feeling over the years and about how she was just so tired. About how she was seventeen and basically the mother to her little brother. About how she just wanted to live and not be stuck. About Alphonse's plan and about how even though she hated it, she wanted it as well. About how even if she didn't want it she'd never be able to let him go through with it alone. About how she was scared that he'd hate her if she told him no. About how she was scared that Izumi would hate her if she told him yes.
Izumi was very quiet for a long time and Ed just cried. She'd finally done it. She'd finally lost one of her hoard and it had actually been her fault this time.
"You really want to go through with this? You really want to let Alphonse go through with this?" Izumi's voice was steady, no emotion was portrayed. Ed gave her a watery yes, a small fire burning in her soul. "Then board up that damn house and get your asses back here to Dublith. I will be giving you a refresher course on alchemy and hand to hand combat. I'll also be teaching you the ways of politics. Boring shit, I know. Sig will teach you about weapons. Give me six months and I'll turn you both into the best damn soldiers that shitty ass military has ever seen."
That fire slowly turned into a blaze.
"Yes ma'am!"