Yay! Next chapter! Thank you for your support! I really appreciate it lots and lots!

Edward: No more replying to reviews… Damn, I'm gonna miss that.

Orenji: Yea… I will too.

Al: Look on the bright side! At least they're still reviewing you!

Orenji and Edward: Yea..

Roy: And you don't have to waste so much room replying to each and ever single on you get.

Oreanji and Edward: Yea…

Hughes: And you sill got us!

Orenji and Edward: ……

Roy: Nice going, Maes!

Hughes: What did I do!

Roy: Now I'm gonna have to introduce the story! … Actually, I want to introduce it.

Hughes: Then by all means, go for it!

Roy: Thank you for your support, and we hope to hear from you soon! This really is a generous thing of you all to do. –waves 'properly' and winks- See you soon.

Disclaimer: Orenji Yoh-chan does not own Hagane no Renkinjutsushi. If she did, then there would never be a scene without shounen or shoujo ai.

V-V-V

"Wh-What!" Al asked, stepping back from the question.

"I want you to teach me Alchemy." Edward repeated firmly, his gaze seem to pierce the metal.

"B-But brother, that's too risky! And besides, I'm no good at Alchemy! I'm not even a State Alchemist like you!" The younger brother frantically said, waving his hands out in front of him. Edward shook his head, standing up and tossing a strand of his loose hair behind his shoulder.

"That's alright. I want to do this… for Roy's sake." He replied, standing his ground as he brought his hands up to the back of his head, parting his long, blonde locks three ways and braiding it, finishing it up with a rubber band to hold it in place, leaving out his bangs during the process.

"Brother.. are you positive you want to do this?" Al asked again, with uncertainty in his voice. Edward nodded, looking exactly the same the last time the youngest brother saw him last, before he was in the coma.

"Yea; I'm positive about this Al, and I really need your help to do it. I.. I don't want to be any trouble to Roy, so I want to help him and not get in his way when Takill comes back." The youth explained, clenching his fists at the tanned-man's name.

"I don't want to be helpless anymore! I want to fight with him; I want to protect him instead of him protecting me!" Edward shouted, staring up at Al with determination and vigor. "Please.."

Al sighed inwardly before nodding, still not completely sure he should be agreeing to this kind of thing.

"I understand, Ed… And I'll help you." Al said, knowing that there was no way out of this. Edward smiled as he walked the few extra feet to Al and wrapped his arms around the armor's waist, looking up at him.

"Thanks, Al.." Edward whispered, stepping away to give Al his space. Al's soul smiled back as he nodded, leading the blonde outside where they could practice Alchemy without Roy's realization.

They sat underneath a large, weeping willow tree and faced each other, breathing in heavily.

"Alright; so what you want to do is to concentrate really hard on something. Focus all of your mind and energy onto it." Al instructed, watching Edward breath in and out, trying to calm all of his senses as he nodded, giving Al the sign he was ready.

"So.. Um.." Al began, but then realized he had no clue what he was doing, also not realizing how long he was stalling.

"Al?"

"What?"

"You do know what to do, right?" Edward asked, arching a brow up at him.

"Uh, yea, I know what I'm doing.. but maybe you'd be better off reading Alchemy books before you actually decide to perform Alchemy." Al said, chuckling nervously.

"Alchemy books? Does Roy even have Alchemy books?" Edward asked, slouching over.

"I'm sure he does, since he is an Alchemist. He must have some lying around his house somewhere, right?" Ed nodded, getting back up and heading towards the house without waiting for his brother. He entered the home and strolled into the living room, searching in the book cases and in the cupboards for any trace of Alchemy, but no use.

Al walked inside soon after, helping his older brother with his search, lifting up sofa cushions; looking behind counters; looking in the rooms; anywhere he could think of along with Edward. Nothing came up, not a single trace of Alchemy or anything about its books. Edward groaned and fell to the ground, right on his butt and raised his head up to the ceiling, muttering things to himself. Al joined him on the ground soon after, and tried to raise his hopes.

"It's ok, brother. We can go to the library tomorrow, or when Hughes gets back, and do some research on it. Don't get discouraged." Al said, leaning forward to look at Edward's expression.

"I feel so stupid… so useless, like I couldn't help, I couldn't accomplish anything." The blonde quietly said, feeling so incomplete.

"I feel so weak."

"Don't say that, Ed! You're very strong; we just don't have the right supplies!" Al said, raising his fist in the air to show his belief and resoluteness. "There are lots of things we can do, but right now all we can do is stay positive and be there for the Colonel!" Edward stared at his brother, and listened to his words carefully, repeating every word that Al had said in his head.

Edward smiled as he nodded, turning his amber eyes away from Al. "Yea… thanks Al. I mean it." Edward said, standing up with much energy.

"Alright! So when we get the opportunity, we'll go learn Alchemy!" Edward shouted, grinning down at the armor, who grinned at him back through his soul.

"You will do no such thing. Not under my watch, Edward."

Edward's grin disappeared as he whipped around, staring at the now awake Colonel Roy Mustang.

"But Roy; I have to! I want to help you out when Tak…"

"I said no, Edward. And that's final. As long as you're under my watch, you'll do things my way." Roy said firmly, staring coldly at the small blonde, who faltered under his gaze.

"But.."

"Do you understand me? No Alchemy."

"Why can't I…"

"FullMetal, I said no!" Roy shouted, not noticing his harshness towards Edward, who merely nodded. Mustang then looked over at Al, with those same onyx eyes.

"And you will not be teaching him these things, you hear me?" Al nodded and managed to say, 'Yes, Colonel sir..' and stayed quiet, watching Edward's vacant expression. Roy sighed and turned around, walking into his kitchen and looking around. When Al saw and opening, he stood up and put on hand on Edward's petite shoulder.

"It's ok, Edward. I'm sure he's just a little upset after his fight." Edward nodded, not hearing his brother's words and sighed, turning away and walking towards the door, opening it and walking out. Al felt sorry for his brother and decided to talk to Roy about this whole matter and walked into the kitchen where Roy was, scavenging for any edible substance.

"Colonel.. Why won't you allow Edward to learn Alchemy? What's the matter?' Al softly asked, approaching the man cautiously.

"Because, I don't want him to get sucked into it again. It's too much for him right now, and if he were to learn Alchemy this early, it could be too much for his body." Roy simply said, not bothering to turn to talk to Al.

"But he's really determined to do it. He's trying to learn so he can protect you. He felt so weak after he witnessed what happened in the fight with you and Takill, so now he wants to be strong for you. Please, Colonel." He tried again, only to get shot down like before.

"How many times must I say no? No is no, and that's final Alphonse. Now drop the subject." The Colonel replied, closing the cupboard door and standing up, groaning as he did so.

"You should go back to bed, Colonel Sir. You're not healed, and you should really get some more rest." Al said in concern, knowing there was no way to change Roy's mind about Edward learning Alchemy. Mustang nodded and yawned widely, looking around.

"Where's Maes?" He asked, looking at Al groggily.

"He's running your errands." Al replied.

"Oh yes, that's right." Roy blinked and leaned against the wall, staring at the sink on the other side of the building.

"I shouldn't have yelled at him." The dark haired man finally spoke, resting his head in his head. "That was so stupid of me…"

"It's ok, Colonel. Edward's strong; he can handle a few yells from you."

"Yea… I guess so. I just got so upset over nothing. It was selfish of me to yell at him for something like that."

"Don't beat yourself up. My brother will be fine, even though.. this is the first time you've yelled at him." Roy groaned.

"Ah! S-Sorry, Colonel." Al apologized, scratching the back of his head.

"It's alright, Alphonse.."

V-V-V

Edward stormed down to the willow tree, sitting down behind it so that he was out of view from the house. He grumbled and muttered, mumbled and growled about how insensitive Roy was, and how selfish the Colonel was being.

He crossed his arms across his chest and sighed heavily, pouting.

"He's so selfish. I can't believe that jerk. He's a bastard… I try to help him out, and then he yells." Edward said, throwing his head back to stare up at the small leaves that fell from above him, suspended by their skinny stems.

"He never yells at me.. Why is he so mad at me? What'd I do?" He asked himself, trying to think for a while before blinking.

"Oh.. that's right.. Takill." He whispered, bringing his knees up to his chest and hugging them tightly. The youth buried his face in his knees and sighed heavily, his heart pained.

"I guess he has the right to be mad at me.. After all, it's my fault he was hurt so badly." Edward whispered to himself, looking back down at the ground, where he drew little stick people in the dirt.

"It's my fault.." He muttered, getting up and patting himself off.

"Well then, I'm just going to have to make it up for it. I can still learn Alchemy, as long as no one knows, right?" He said to no one in particular as he looked back at Roy's house, a sudden wave of quilt washing over him.

"I'm sorry, Roy.. but I have to." He whispered, running away from the house and running down the road, not knowing where he was going, or who he would encounter on the way.

V-V-V

Hughes grinned as he walked through the door, setting down loads of groceries from his arms onto the table, wiping off an invisible stream of sweat from his forehead.

"Well! I managed to get everything inside in one trip! That's a miracle." He said as he smiled over at the Colonel and the soul-filled armor. "So, what are you doing out here, Roy? I told you that you should be resting."

"Yea, I know. But I woke up." He replied dully, turning his gaze upward to look into Hughes' smiling green eyes.

"Well, I don't care! You're hurt, and you need to rest up!" He scolded, before realizing someone very important was missing.

"Where's Edward?" He asked, turning to Al.

"He's outside."

"Why? Aren't you supposed to be out there with him?" Hughes asked, arching a brow.

"Well, um… I thought he could use some time to himself." He said, hoping he could get around the part where Roy and Edward had a little dispute.

"Ah, well. Ok then. Can you bring him inside? I got something for him that he may like." Maes said, turning back around to fumble in the many bags of groceries while Al went to search for his brother.

Al walked outside and called his name. After not hearing a response, he walked around the back.

"Edward? Brother?" He called out, searching everywhere around Roy's home before getting frantic.

"Edward! Edward, where are you? This isn't funny, brother! Come out! Please!" Al gasped shakily, running back inside and into the kitchen.

"Colonel! Hughes! Edward.. he's.. he's.." He started, trying to put his words together. Roy stared at him before getting up from his spot and taking a few steps toward him.

"Edward's what..? Al..?" He studied the way Al was reacting before asking his question.

"Where's Edward?"

Al shook his head violently before blurting it out.

"Edward's gone!"

V-V-V

There youz go! Hope you enjoyed this chapter! –finished this chapter the same day she finished the last one- Heheheh… Yea.

Edward: That was quick.

Roy: Damn you, Edward. You ran away from me.

Edward: Pfft. Hell yea I did. Who wouldn't?

Orenji: -blinks and raises hand- I wouldn't run from Roy.

Edward: That's because you're a fangirl.

Orenji: Yup!

Al: Hm.. I dunno, but I'm surprisingly cute in this chapter!

Orenji: You're always cute, Aru!

Al: Thank you!

Read and Review! See you next time!

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