-Chapter 2- "Auto Mail"

"Ugh…."

"Shh! I think he's waking up!…Ed?…Edu?"

Ed awoke on a dark, gloomy, rainy day. His missing arm and leg were now taped up in bondage. He was very tired, even though he had been asleep for the past two days since they tried resurrecting their mom. After Ed had fainted Al brought him over to their Grandma'"s house where she and their friend Winry lived. They ran an auto-mail business. Rockbell, which was their last name, Auto-Mail" it was called. Auto-mail is metal mechanical limbs. Auto meaning automatic, and mail meaning a kind of armor. If you were missing a limb on your body you could buy one and have attached on to your body, which is a very painful process. "Even the toughest full grown adults would cry when connecting it to the nerves." Grandma would always say.

After Ed was brought to Grandma's house a mysterious military man name Roy Mustang came to the house after seeing the lights of human alchemy shined through the home of the Elric brothers. Ed managed to secretly stay awake to hear what he had to say. Apparently, he was the only one to reply to the letters he sent in his secret search for his missing father.

"My name is Colonel Roy Mustang. I am here because I was sent a letter regarding the disappearance of these two boy's father. I to have been looking for him for quite a while. Though after seeing this boys performance, the fact that he is still alive after attempting human alchemy proves him to be far more interesting than his father. In my opinion I think when he grows up he could become a National Alchemist. I shall await his arrival."

He left after asking Ed's grandma to tell him about what he has said. Of course she didn't because she didn't want him ending up to be a dog of the military. But Ed heard everything so there was no stopping him.

"Ed? Are you okay? It's me, Winry."

She helped him to sit up. His grandma walked over to him and took of the bandages.

"Grandma?"

"Hmm…"

"We have some money still left in the house. My savings and some of the money dad left us when he left."

"No, you don't owe me anything for this."

"No it's not that. I want you to put auto-mail on me."
Everyone stared at him. He explained how he heard everything Roy said and that he wanted to become a National Alchemist. He could get almost unlimited research on how he could try to get his brother's body back, and how the silver watch National Alchemist receive increases the wearers power.

So they agreed.

A few hours later, in a separate room, Winry and Grandma were installing Ed's new metal arm.

"AHHHHHHHHHH!" Ed screamed in pain as they put the metal arm and leg on him, "Oh god! I've never felt such pain! AHHHHHHHHHH!"

Grandma looked at him, "Like I've always said…even the toughest of all full grown adults would cry in pain…"

"But this is nothing compared to the pain Al has to go through…AHHHHHH!"

Ed said that as he though of how Al would never be able to enjoy life as everyone else does.

Al sat down and leaned on the door of the room Ed was being operated in while listening to him cry and yell in pain.

"Ni-sa….hang in there…"

Al wanted to cry, but no tears came down.