Edward sprawled out on the grass, taking deep breaths of the clean air and never being so grateful to see dawn in his life.
It had taken them all night to get out, if not longer. Time lost all sense in that wretched cave. He was never going to set foot in a mineshaft or tunnel again.
"'Niisan? Are you okay?" Alphonse loomed over him and Edward opened his eyes.
"I'm fine, Al-" he started to say, stretching and lolling to the left. Then he solidly cracked heads with Edana, who was doing the same, only in an opposite direction. "OW! GODDAMMIT!"
Edana rolled away, clutching her head and swearing right back at him colorfully.
The other Alphonse sat up and rolled his eyes at them both. Then he turned his gaze to the suits of armor. He glanced from one to the other, then frowned. "There's no way to tell who is who," he said.
"What?" Alanza sounded indignant. "I don't look a thing like those two!"
The other two sets of armor glanced at each other, and then at Alanza. They were all identical, down to the color of the apron.
"Okay, there's one way to tell who is who," Alphonse corrected himself dryly. "But there's no way visually to distinguish each one of you."
"Do we have to worry about this right now?" Edward asked, his head throbbing.
"Yeah. I want a shower." Edana wriggled in the grass, then lifted her right arm in the air and twisted it a few times, before frowning and sitting up.
"What's wrong, 'neesan?" Alanza asked.
"Something's off."
Edward propped himself up on his elbows, now curious. It hadn't occurred to him that the female version of himself would have automail, although it made sense. Edana tugged off her red coat and rolled up the arm of her black jacket to frown at her automail. Then she glared at Edward. "What?"
"What?" Edward responded.
"Why are you staring at me? Are you some kind of pervert?"
Edward flushed angrily. "I am NOT a pervert," he snarled at her.
The other Alphonse rolled his eyes again. "We came out the same side we went in," he observed, changing the course of the conversation.
"We could probably get back to Resembool before lunch," Alanza said. "It would also be the easiest way to figure out whose world we're in."
There was a thought that hadn't occurred to Edward. There was a strong chance that they weren't in their own world. They could be in Edana's world, or the other Alphonse's.
"That's a good idea," the other Edward said, standing up and clanking at the same time. "Pinako-baachan and Winry's would be the safest place to go first."
"Winry?" Edana repeated, before a light clicked in her head and she snickered.
"What?" Alphonse asked.
She waved her hand for a second. "Sorry. It makes sense, since everything is reversed for you guys. Your Winry is probably our Winston."
"...Winston?" Edward repeated, then snorted himself.
"We call him Winnie," Alanza supplied helpfully. "Although, he doesn't seem to like it very much."
"Well, whoever we end up seeing, they can probably fine-tune Edana's automail," the other Alphonse said. He got to his feet, then stretched his arms over his head. "Let's get moving."
Edward bounded to his feet, scowling at Alphonse. "Who said you were in charge, Al?"
Alphonse shrugged. "Didn't seem like anyone had taken charge-" he started, when Edana clambered to her feet and glowered at them both. "Who said that either of YOU two get to lead?"
The Alphonse in armor got in the middle of the triangle of glares, desperately trying to play peacemaker. "NO ONE's in charge yet," he soothed. "We'll find out whose world this is, then whoever is native will be in charge."
"That sounds fair," Alanza said, also trying to mediate. "'Neesan, stop stomping around. You're tired anyway."
Oh, this was going to be a long trip...