Unhappy Harvesting

Chapter 1

Phage was currently expressing his distaste over the fact that he was slowly gathering wrinkles around his eyes. Five years had gone by since Amelia had learned how to talk and walk. Now all her parents wished for was that she would sit down and shut up. The girl was very out spoken, literally she was a chatterbox propped open. The girl was seven years old and playing rough with the boys. Amelia had been known to run around the valley with Hugh, and head the expeditions to inspect different types of dirt. James however, was now ten and quite content to sit inside and read all day. He was pale as the milk he drank, and his shock of wild brown hair only made his skin look even paler.

"Dad!" Phage turned around, James was running towards him.

The boy tackled his father, bringing them both to the ground, "What is it James?"

"Mom wants you to go and help him set the table." James explained, "And, look at what I found out!"

James eagerly pushed an odd textbook into his father's face.

"What is it?"

"It's this really cool book I found when Steven took me into the library the other day. It's about this science thing called alchemy! The text is kinda old fashioned, and difficult to understand but I'm gonna learn how to read it and figure out how to use it maybe."

"Well good for you James." Phage grinned at his son before pushing him off his chest and saying, "But I personally have interest in learning about whatever you called it."

"Alchemy." James filled in for him.

"Right." Phage beamed, his son was turning out to be a real genius.

"Dad, you have wrinkles." James said, frowning.

"Yeah, well you have a zit, right here." Phage responded, pointing to the very tip of his nose.

James blushed and reached a tentative hand up to his nose to feel around for any sort of blemish, when he didn't find one he scowled. He looked around and saw his father just making into the house and shutting the door.

"Dad!"

Phage was now 30; it would bug him every now and then that he was becoming an old fart like he had called Patrick yesterday. There were now wrinkles around the corners of his mouth and his eyes. He couldn't find any grey hairs yet, so that was a good thing. The man sighed; coming into the kitchen he wrapped his arms around his husband's waist and buried his face in the brunette's soft hair. They stood like that together for several minutes, enjoying the simple presence of one another.

Phage turned Jack around in his arms and kissed him deeply, nibbling on the younger male's bottom lip. The two continued to kiss each other like the world was ending tomorrow. Then suddenly there was a loud cry from the entrance to the kitchen.

"EWWW!"

Both parents turned to see their son in the doorway. Phage grinned, and just to gross out James, he pulled Jack against him and kissed him long and hard.

"Stop it; you're just doing that to be gross Dad!" James exclaimed, pushing his way in between the two, he pulled an apple out from the fridge.

"James! We're going to have dinner soon; you shouldn't be eating a snack. Put that apple back in the fridge." Jack said sternly.

James smirked and then bravely took a large bite out of the apple, smacking his lips as he did so. Jack glared ferociously at his son before diving for him. James lithely leaped out of his parental unit's path. The boy then sped towards the kitchen door and out of the house. Phage grinned; James could be a real smart ass sometimes.

The ten year old shoved his book into the waterproof bag and quickly zipped up the top. He then strapped the book bag to his back and dived into the water. James smirked, holding his breath he swam full speed towards the bottom of the waterfall. Most would think him suicidal, but James knew something 'most' didn't. Underneath the waterfall there was an underwater tunnel that led to caverns behind the waterfall inside the cliff. It was there that James would run to hide when he got in a fight with his parents. He burst from the surface and landed on one knee on the cavern floor. Water dripped from his hair and face. There was a set of towels in the corner that he had brought from home for when he would climb out of the water soaking wet. The boy picked up a large towel and dried himself off.

The cavern was large in size and had two rooms, both of which James had equipped with things from home to make it more comfortable. No one knew of the caverns, besides Amelia. She was the only one that James had told…

"James! I can't believe you! What were you thinking? Do you know how much we had to pay the library because of what you did?" Jack screeched.

Phage was sitting at the dining room table looking sternly at his son. Amelia and James had taken a book out of the adult section earlier that day without checking it out. The security guards noticed and had charged the McDougall family with theft. Phage and Jack had taken responsibility for their children's actions and paid the hefty fine. But now, the parents were definitely angry.

"Not only that, but you brought Amelia into this too! Amelia wouldn't have done something like this, but you wanted to drag her down with you didn't you?"

At this Amelia looked guiltily at the floor. Taking the book had been her idea, but as usual James took the blame, he didn't even deny the statement as Jack screamed on. James was always that way, sure he and Amelia had their squabbles but they were extremely close. When Jack was about to keep going, James scooped Amelia up in his arms and fled the dining room. James could hear his fathers' screams, but he kept going. He sprinted off of the farm and up to the forest spring.

"Amelia, I want you to hold on tight to me and not let go, alright?" James looked down at baby sister.

"Okay." She murmured.

James dived into the water and swam quickly into the underwater tunnel that led to the caverns. When he pulled himself up onto the cavern floors, he made sure to dry Amelia off first. Then he took the same towel and dried himself off as best that he could.

"Are you okay Amelia?" James asked.

"I'm fine big brother…where are we?"

"This is a place I found a long time ago. It's where I come to hide when something like this happens with Mom and Dad. If you ever want to you can come here. Don't tell anyone about this place, okay?" James told her.

Amelia nodded, and they spent the night there, curled up in the second room. The next day they showed up at home to find apologetic and relieved parents. Apparently they had been looking for them all night. Everybody in the valley had been looking for them. James and Amelia shared a look. Even with everybody that lived in the valley looking for them, no one had found them. Amelia later told him that she would never tell anyone about the caverns. They agreed that it was their secret place…

…James snuggled against the warm pillow he had propped up against a wall in the second room. He knew that outside it was probably well after dark. James looked at his watch. It was 10:00Pm already. The young brunette put his book back into his bag and walked towards the main entrance. There was a loud splash and suddenly, Amelia appeared in front of him.

"Mom and Dad are REALLY worried about you. I came to get you. You missed dinner, and Mom is really sorry that he screamed at you. James you didn't have to run away that time. You should've just put the apple back when they told you to." Amelia scolded him, coming up to face him.

She was almost as tall as him and she was only seven. It upset James greatly that his baby sister was his same height.

"Yeah I know. But I've just been so annoyed today, Dad's been bugging me." James sheepishly scratched the back of his neck.

"Whatever, lets go." Amelia held her arms together above her head and dived into the water.

James sighed, before following his sister's example. When they both climbed up onto the river bank the two collapsed letting the warm night air dry them.

About a half hour later, James and Amelia walked into the living room. Beamed at her parents exclaiming that she had found the runaway. James scowled at her walking towards their room. He heard his parents telling him to wait, he simply didn't care. Amelia followed him, locking the door behind them.

"You should be nicer to Mom and Dad." Amelia told her big brother.

James ignored her, pulling off his shirt and his jeans. Amelia groaned, her brother could be really stubborn sometimes. She gingerly pulled her hands out of her hair and watched James pull on his pajama pants and shirt. He turned and saw her staring. James blushed, he picked up one of Amelia's teddy bears and threw it at her to get her attention.

"Hey!" She shouted.

"Quit staring!"

"I wasn't staring!"

"Yes you were!"

"Was not."

"Was too."

"Was not."

"Perv."

"Idiot."

Amelia turned away from her brother and started getting dressed for bed. She pulled off her t-shirt, revealing a floral undershirt. After that came her shorts, and then she took her night dress out of her dresser. All of this was done without comment. Once she was done getting dressed for bed, Amelia turned and saw that James had already gotten into bed. Even though they had fought, she saw he had left the corner of the comforter up for her like he did every night. Amelia smiled softly, climbing into bed she pulled the blankets up over her head.

Amelia stared at her brother's back for a few minutes, before nuzzling her face into the soft white fabric of his t-shirt. James could feel his sister snuggling into his back and he mentally sighed. He knew she hated to fight with him, but it was like a horrible habit that he couldn't break. His little sister knew him better than anyone, even their parents. Because of this, they were closer than most siblings. James turned over and enveloped his little sister in his arms.

"I'm…sorry." She whispered.

"I know…its okay."

The next day Amelia woke to find her brother poking her from across the room with a long tent pole. She turned over and saw that he was covered from head to toe in pillows and knee pads. The sight was too much for her, the girl let out a long laugh.

"What?" James growled, "You should see yourself in the morning! I'm simply taking the necessary precautions!"

Amelia frowned at him. She then walked over to her dresser and got dressed for the day. Together they headed for the kitchen. Everybody was already there, joking and laughing about this and that. Jimmy looked at them oddly, and was about to comment on something James did not want to here. The boy shot an icy glare at the farm hand, before continuing to guide his baby sister towards her place at the table.

The five farm hands, now each at the age of 22, couldn't remember what life had been like before they arrived to work for Phage that one day five years ago. Jimmy didn't stop directing his questioning glance to James. There was definitely something going on between those two that he didn't know about. Jimmy wouldn't stop until he found out what that thing was.

Five minutes later, Jack brought a lovely breakfast feast to the table and the family quickly dug in. James avoided Jimmy's gaze throughout the whole meal. He sent urgent looks, however, to Amelia. She nodded, understanding the request to meet at the caverns.

James sat in the caverns' main room waiting for his little sister. Jimmy was going to say something to him and James didn't want to think about, let alone hear. Just then Amelia broke through the water's surface and clambered up on the cavern floor.

"What is it big brother?" Amelia asked, drying herself off with a towel from the corner of the room.

"Did you see the way Jimmy was looking at us earlier?"

"Yeah, that was weird. What do you think he wants?"

"I'm not sure. But I think he doesn't like us getting along. As weird as that may sound." James said, moving his arms so that Amelia could curl up next to him.

"Yeah, that is weird." Amelia muttered, "Oh well, he'll just have to get over it won't he?"

James laughed, "Yeah, he will. Hey, you want to see something cool?" James asked her.

Amelia nodded. The seven year old girl watched uncertainly as her brother drew a large simply circle on the cavern floor with some chalk he had taken out of his bag. Then, he took a bottle of grayish stuff that looked kinda like sand from his bag and poured it into the middle of the circle. James looked at her and then clapped his hands palm down on the floor at the edge of the circle. A bright light filled the room, and only a couple minutes later, a beautiful doll was sitting where the grey sand had been a moment before. Amelia looked with wide eyes at her brother, who proffered the doll to her.

"Here, you take it. I don't think I'll be playing with it." James smiled at her.

Amelia took the doll and cuddled it against her chest, "What was that thing you did?"

"It was called alchemy. I learned it from that big book I've been carrying around."

"Oh. That was so cool big brother. You should make something for Mom with that alchemy stuff. I'm sure he'd like it." Amelia suggested.

"No!"

Amelia moved back from her brother a few spaces at his sudden exclamation.

"Why?"

"Because I don't want them to know that I can do this kinda stuff. Mom will probably tell me to stop. And I don't think Dad will really care." James looked angrily at the ground.

"Don't tell anyone Amelia." James looked up at her.

Amelia nodded, before crawling back towards her brother cautiously…

…James mentally kicked himself. He hadn't said it that harshly. Amelia was sensitive to peoples' tones almost to the point she could be considered an aphasiac (1). The boy held his sister in his arms, softly apologizing for raising his voice with her. They sat together like that for a long time.

Later, after James had shown Amelia several other alchemic arrays that he had learned he decided they should probably head home. James hid Amelia's doll and the other things he had made in the hidden niche in the second room.

"Come on, it's getting late." James gestured that she could go first.

Amelia dived into the water, James quickly following her.

Chapter 2

Jimmy was watching the boss's son like a hawk. James and Amelia were acting stranger and stranger since Steven took James to the library a couple of days ago. The farm hand definitely wanted to find out where those two disappeared to every day. He was tired of not knowing what was going on, he had to know…call it paranoia or habit whatever you like. So that day after breakfast, Jimmy followed the two kids on their way to flee the farm. Every once in a while, James would look back and Jimmy would have to leap into a bush or hide behind a tree. But finally he watched them dive into the water together in front of the waterfall. He repeated their actions and wondered where they had gone. Spotting a small gap near the bottom of the waterfall, Jimmy headed for it…

…James and Amelia were drying themselves off in the caverns, they had started meeting there every day to practice alchemy. James was getting better and better at it, so he had started to teach it to Amelia. The girl caught on quick and was learning just as fast as James was. They were learning the principles and the different arrays, but James knew there was only so much they could learn from that book. Suddenly as they were about to take the book out of James's bag, Jimmy shot out of the water and landed on the cavern floor.

"So this is where you guys come to hang out…I can see why." Jimmy muttered, he looked forward just in time to see James angrily push him into the water.

Jimmy broke the surface and was about to climb back up to the cavern floor when James stepped on his fingers.

"Why couldn't you just leave us alone!" James shouted angrily, "This was supposed to be our secret place. No one was supposed to know, and you couldn't just give it up you had to follow us. You aren't going to tell anyone about this place, you understand?"

Jimmy looked up guiltily at James; Amelia was standing back against the wall sadly staring at the floor. James was right, Jimmy shouldn't have followed them. The farm hand hated the need to know things that constantly plagued him.

Two teens walked down the path into the valley, looking around appreciatively at the similarity to their old home. One was slightly shorter than the other and had long braided blonde hair and golden eyes. The other had soft short brown hair and grey eyes. The blonde's right arm and left leg were made of metal and he seemed to be carrying a large brown brief case.

"Well Al, what do you think of this place?" The blonde asked his companion.

"I like it; it reminds me of Rizenpool though." Al responded, "But do you like it brother?"

"I think it's a good a place as any, and I don't think that the crap colonel will be able to find us here." Edward Elric replied to his little brother.

Together they made their way further into the valley. Looking around they saw a large building that probably was the local inn, a beach not to far away and a couple of other residential buildings. A large laboratory was stationed up on a hill, with large spirals every once in a while showering sparks onto the building beneath it. Farther away there was a large metal structure and a metal trailer. Two farms were here, that they could tell and one of them appeared to have animals.

"Let's stop at the local inn for now and see if there are any houses for sale." Ed suggested, walking into the Inner Inn…

…Ruby Inner had never had stranger looking guests stay at her inn before. One was wearing a long red cloak while the other wore a matching one of green; both wore white gloves with strange circles on them and leather pants and shirts.

"Hello, do you have an empty room available? We'd like to stay here for a while." The one in the long red cloak asked.

"Um, yes, it's 55 G per night, sirs." Ruby told them.

The two looked confusedly at each other before asking, "G? Is that the form of currency you use in this village?"

"Yes, and in the next several villages over, and in the cities near by, why? Do you not have any?" The inn keeper explained.

"Um, no we don't. This is the only kind of money we have." The stranger revealed to her many faded bills with large numbers on them.

Those were the modern currency now being used by the larger cities and by most of the country.

"Oh, you have the modern currency. That's alright; we still use the old system. I'll let you two stay here for free tonight, so that tomorrow you can go into the city and get your money exchanged. Then you can pay me." Ruby told them, she had a strange need to mother the two boys.

Her maternal instinct was telling her that they didn't have anyone to look out for them. How sad, Ruby thought.

"I'll show you to your room." Ruby walked past them and up the stairs, seeing that they were following her she continued.

"Here you are, this room's has two beds so this is the one you'll probably want. That room across from yours is our son's room. We usually have breakfast around seven and dinner at six in the evening. We don't eat lunch, but I'm sure if you got to know the McDougalls across from the inn they would welcome you to lunch." Ruby nodded to them, "Here's your key."

"Wait, who are the McDougalls?" The blonde boy asked her.

"They're the family who owns and runs Myishi farm. If you walk out onto your balcony and look straight, behind that hill you'll see Myishi farm."

"Thanks."

…Ed smiled at the woman before walking into his and Al's room. She was very kind, most inn keepers even in other villages they had been to would let them stay for free. He walked out onto the balcony and looked straight as the raven haired woman had instructed and saw a pair of children walk off of the farm. Al was the one who saw it first, the book that the boy was holding: an introduction to alchemy.

"Al, did you see that? There are actually some people who know alchemy here." Ed looked over at his brother and smiled.

"Brother, look, there's a man following them." Al pointed to a tall man probably the age of twenty two.

"Yeah, I wonder why. Oh well, let's go and meet the 'McDougalls' shall we?" Ed smirked at his brother before heading into their room.

Al grinned, his brother had been much happier since Al had gotten his body back. The two had gone through a lot of hardships, one of them had been Al's soul being sealed into a suit of armor after an alchemy array gone wrong. They had spent many years trying to find a way to return Al back to normal, and just recently they had finally found it. Now they just wanted to live life normally, relax.

Ed and Al walked onto Myishi farm to find it buzzing with activity. There was two beefy men washing cows in a pasture, and another three slightly thinner men picking fruits.

"Hello! This is Myishi farm, correct?" Ed called.

One of the cow washing boys looked up, "Yeah, who are you?"

"I'm Edward Elric, and this is my younger brother Alphonse Elric. We're staying at the Inner Inn and thinking about living here for good. The inn keep told us this would be a good place to meet people." Ed grinned as the strangers hopped over the pasture fence to come and greet them.

"We're two of the farmhands that work here. I'm Mark, and this is Matt." The man shaking Ed's hand reminded him very much of Alex Louis Armstrong, only with cherry red hair.

"Don't let Mother Hen see you, or he'll start fussing and trying to get you to stay for dinner." Matt winked at him; he looked just like Mark only with blue hair.

"Who's Mother Hen?" Al asked.

"He's the boss's husband. When we and the other guys first came here to work we had no idea we'd be living here. See that house over there? That's the dormitory that the boss had us build. That's where we and the other boys live. Mother Hen was fussing over us the entire time we were building it." Matt explained.

"Hey guys! Get over here; some new guys are moving into the valley!" Mark called.

The fruit picking crew jogged over. One was tall and lean with long black hair and golden eyes, he reminded Ed of Mae. Hughes. Another was slightly shorter with golden blonde hair and deep blue eyes, and the other was over weight and had dark green curls.

"Hi, this is Timmy, and Joey. My name's Steven, do you guys have names or are we going to force to say 'hey you'?" The man who looked like Hughes asked.

"I'm Edward Elric, and this is my little brother Alphonse." Ed shook hands with the three of them.

"We'd like to introduce you to Jimmy, but he ran off earlier. He's Timmy's identical twin. The boss is going to get really ticked at Jimmy for shirking off his chores. This is one of our busiest seasons." Joey informed them.

"Come on, I'm sure the boss and Mother Hen would love to meet you. Word of caution however, once Mother Hen sees you, that's it, you're a part of the family whether you like it or not." Mark warned the Elric brothers seriously.

Alphonse laughed, "I don't think we'd really mind, we're looking for a place to live around here, we'd like to stay in the valley if possible."

"Cool, maybe the boss will let you stay in the dormitory with us." Timmy spoke for the first time since the brothers had stepped foot on the farm.

Together the group of boys walked into the main house. There was a brunette man about the same height as Ed dusting and sweeping at the same time. He turned and smiled at them.

"How goes the work boys? Are you sure you don't want to take a break and have a snack?"

"Actually, I think that might be a good idea Mother Hen." Joey smirked, "We have potential mover-inners!"

The group stepped aside so as bring Edward and Alphonse into view. Ed barely had time to react as the cleaning brunette blob pulled him and Al into a tight hug.

"Welcome to Forget-Me-Not Valley! I'm Jack. My husband must have run off somewhere, but I'm sure he'll be back for dinner. Would you like some lunch?" Jack asked.

Ed and Al didn't have time to nod before Jack pulled them towards the kitchen. The farm hands followed, laughing at the look on the Elric brother's faces. Ed was plopped down in a wooden chair at a huge plank wood table. On it was a long traditional table cloth, and an iron plate filled with a variety of fruits sat in the middle.

Jack had already started cooking something or other, and was talking to them from the stove.

"So, when did you get here?" Jack asked them.

"Well, not too long ago actually. We just checked into the Inner Inn, when Ruby mentioned if we wanted lunch we should probably come over here and make friends otherwise we wouldn't be getting any. They don't serve lunch over at the Inn." Alphonse answered.

At this Jack laughed, as did the other boys at the table.

"What's so funny?" Ed asked.

"Nothing," Jack replied, "It's just that this happens to us a lot when travelers come through the valley. Not that many people usually come to Forget-Me-Not Valley, and fewer come to stay, but every time someone new comes through Ruby sends them over here to eat lunch!"

Al smiled at this.

"So, does your farm make a lot of money?" Ed changed the subject.

"Yes, quite a lot. We make money mostly off of the sale of high quality fruit seeds. But we also sell milk, butter, and cheese in the city closest to us. Our farm produces some rare hybrid fruits so sometimes wealthy stores from the city come to our farm to buy our hybrid seeds and fruits." Jack said, bringing a large pot of fish stew to the table.

"Hybrid fruits?" Al questioned, thanking Jack when he served him some stew.

"Yes, we have found a way to combine the seeds of certain fruits and make hybrid fruit trees. Sometimes we even take the seeds of two hybrids and mix them together; the fruit of those trees fetch a high price on market days." Jack continued, walking back to the kitchen to keep cooking.

"Hmm, from which fruits do you make hybrids?" Ed took a sip of his stew and thought he had died and gone to heaven.

"Usually we combine apples and bananas, or grapes and oranges." Mark said, also beginning to dig into his stew.

"We also put peaches and oranges together, or apples and peaches." Joey added.

"Here's an example of one of the hybrids we make, boys. This is a Lanmuge; it's a peach and orange combined." Jack offered a plate of sliced fruit.

Ed took a slice and put it in his mouth. It was sweet, and slightly sour. Al took one as well and eagerly grabbed a second. In less then a minute the two had polished the plate and were back to stew heaven. They were about to fill their bowls with more stew when Jack brought another heavenly looking dish to the table. It was a very good looking salad that smelled wonderful. That's it, Ed thought, I'm never leaving this place…

…Meanwhile, Jimmy was walking back to the farm, ashamed of himself. He had promised James and Amelia that he would never tell anyone about the caverns. But if he had known where they were all those times they had run away, then he could have saved Mother Hen a lot of grief. Still, Jimmy knew that he would tell the children's parents about their hiding place. Kids needed a place like that to run away to when they had a tiff with their parental units. If Jimmy had a place like that when he was younger, he probably would've had a much happier time growing up. The tired farm hand stumbled into the kitchen and quirked an eyebrow at the two strangers seated at the table.

"Who are those guys?" Jimmy asked, pointing to the two currently feasting on Jack's famous fried vegetable salad.

"Hey, guys this is Jimmy. Jimmy this is Edward and Alphonse Elric. They're going to be living in the valley from now on." Mark introduced the three, and then continued eating.

…James wasn't really sure whether or not Jimmy was going to tell anyone about the caverns. But the man had looked rather ashamed and guilty about what he had done, and then promised that he wouldn't tell anyone. Amelia had already dived into the water; they were going to go home for lunch. No doubt Mom had made another luxurious lunch. The man certainly had a talent for cooking.

James and Amelia walked into the house and were greeted by the loud noise coming from the kitchen.

"Sounds like everyone's home for lunch today." Amelia laughed, hurrying to wards the kitchen, James hot on her trail.

When they entered the kitchen they saw some strangers sitting at their kitchen table. James and Amelia felt something strange, as though there was someone else who could do alchemy in the room. The kids knew that no one had heard them come in, but suddenly the two strangers turned around and looked at them.

"Oh, Edward, Alphonse these are my children: Amelia and James." Mom walked forward and greeted his children.

"Hi mom, hello Ed, hello Al!" Amelia said, walking over to the table and sitting next to Al as if she hadn't felt anything at all.

James quickly caught on and said hello to the guests, coming to sit next to Ed. They ate lunch and talked with Ed and Al casually, but Amelia and James were definitely going to talk to them alone later. There was something strange about the two, and Amelia and James were going to find out exactly what.

Chapter 3

After lunch, James and Amelia looked up at the two alchemists sitting next to them and tugged on their long sleeves. Both Ed and Al returned their gaze quietly.

"We want to talk with you." Amelia said seriously.

James added, "Alone."

The two men shared a questioning look before following the children out of the kitchen, out of the house, off the farm and soon after a thoroughly soaking swim into a cavern.

"Where are we?" Ed asked the two children.

"This is the cavern that I found a long time ago. Usually its where me and Amelia come to hide if we get in a fight with our parents. But recently we've been coming here every day to practice alchemy." James explained, briefly heading into the second room.

Amelia looked up at their guests, "We wanted to talk with you because you can do alchemy too. We felt it when we walked into the kitchen."

…Edward and Alphonse were surprised to say the least. These children could feel just by entering a room that they were alchemists? Soon James reentered the room, only this time it was with a bag full of assorted items. He began slowly pulling them each one by one out of the bag. First there was a doll, then a metal pig, soon to be followed by figurines, and finally a large book.

"Did you transmute all of these things?" Al asked.

"With the exception of the book, yes." Amelia responded.

"Where did you find that book?"

Amelia looked over at James now too; she herself didn't know where he had found it.

"I found it in the adult section of the library the other day when Steven took me into town. He let me check it out, but he didn't really tell me why." James deftly opened the book and flicked through its pages, "I've already read the whole thing, I'm aware of every array in it, its purpose, what it makes, and how to use it."

James then closed the book in one hand, "But I want to know more about alchemy. I've heard rumors of great alchemist, who once worked for the state. Known as the Full Metal Alchemist. I recognized you before you had even turned around, Edward."

"Did you?" Edward smirked, "I suppose you would like to learn alchemy from me correct?"

James looked straight into the Full Metal's eyes without intimidation or hesitation and replied, "Correct."

"Brother…" Amelia looked up at him, he said before that alchemy wasn't that big a deal to him, that once he learned what was in the book he'd done with it.

"What do you want to do once you learn more about alchemy?" Al turned to James as well.

James sighed; he had to think of something quick that they would approve of. His real goal was to transmute his real mother and then live with her. He had known since he started reading books a couple of years ago that it was impossible for two males to produce children. They had to have had a surrogate mother or something, James knew it. He was tired of living here on the farm; he wanted to live in the city with his REAL mother.

"I'm tired of feeling useless on the farm, if I can learn more about this alchemy I can learn how to fix tools and maybe I can learn medicinal alchemy and heal the animals when they get sick. I want my father to notice me…" James left that off as a side note to make it more dramatic and convincing.

The two alchemists seemed to have bought it. James mentally sighed in relief…

…Ed looked over to Al and nodded. Al returned the look; he didn't buy that story either. This kid definitely wanted to learn how to do something he knew they wouldn't approve of; otherwise he wouldn't have paused to think before telling them his reason. Either way, they'd agree to teach him so that maybe they would eventually find out what this kid had up his sleeve.

Later that day, Ed and Al headed into the kitchen to sit down with James's parents. The two alchemists had promised the kid that they would talk to his parents for him. They were considering about taking the boy away for a couple of years to train him like their teacher had trained them. It had been effective.

"Jack, Phage…" Ed began, "Your son has come to us asking about alchemy. It is a highly complex and sophisticated science. My brother and I are very talented and powerful alchemists, we used to work for the country. We think that your son has a great talent, and we would like to teach him more about alchemy. He wishes to learn more so that he could possibly help you more on the farm."

Ed gave a pointed look to Phage, "He clearly told us that he wanted his father to notice him more."

Phage's face softened, the wrinkles around his eyes frowning. Edward hated to bring that into the conversation, but he had to find a way to make this convincing, and to be able to get them to let go of their son.

"Anyway, we know that you might be uncertain, and disagree at first with us. But we would like to take James away for a while so that we may train him thoroughly enough. The types of alchemy he has asked to learn about are very difficult and take a couple of years to learn. He would like to learn medicinal alchemy so that he can heal the animals if they get sick, and take care of you and the farm hands if something happens." Al explained this in a gentle voice, pausing to give it time to sink in.

"For a couple of years?" Jack asked, tears quelling up in his tone, "Why couldn't he just stay here and learn alchemy? Does it really take that long?"

"Yes, the only reason my brother and I are as powerful as we are is because we started learning alchemy at the ages of five and six. Your son is ten. He may be very gifted in the science, but he still needs several years of education." Ed continued, "You can say no that is your right as his parents. We're just telling you what would be the safest way for him to learn. I can already see the rebellious nature in him Jack. If we didn't teach him or train him in any way, he would find a way by himself and probably end up hurt in a way that you could do anything about."

Phage said quietly, "We'll talk about it with James, and then by ourselves tonight. We'll tell you our decision by tomorrow morning."

Ed and Al nodded. Together they left the kitchen and walked carefully into the children's room.

"We've talked to your parents but they're still skeptical, James. They want to talk it over with you, and then they would like to talk amongst themselves. They said that they would tell us their decision in the morning." Al informed the two children.

James nodded; Amelia simply climbed into bed and turned away from them, not saying a word. Al saw this and walked over to the bed. He put a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"Even if we do end up training James, you'll see him again some day Amelia." Al said comfortingly, rubbing soothing circles on the girl's back.

"I know…" Amelia replied, turning over she looked up at Al.

"Alright, we're going to head back to our room at the inn now, okay?"

They were almost to the door when Amelia shot out of bed and wrapped her arms around Al's leg. He looked down at her, and then picked her up and held her gently in his arms. Al gave her one last squeeze before setting her back down and telling her good bye once again.

…Edward and Alphonse Elric sit thoughtfully on their beds at the inn. They were both worried about the boy. Al was more worried about Amelia; he could connect with her well. He understood as a younger sibling that she was worried about her older brother. It was obvious that they were close, and Amelia didn't want James to leave. But it couldn't be helped.

"I'm not so sure about teaching James," Ed said to his brother, "I see too much of myself in him."

Al understood what his brother was getting at, "Do you think he seeks human transmutation?"

"I'm pretty sure."

"Why?" Al climbed onto his brother's bed and moved closer to him.

"Because I think he's not sure of his parents…maybe he thinks that there's some real parent out there that he can bring back." Ed suggested.

"I hope not." Al said quietly.

"Well, once we start training him we might be able to find out for sure."

"You're right."

…James turned over in bed and watched his sister sleeping. He knew she was worried, and that she didn't want him to leave. Maybe if he told her what he was thinking about doing, she'd understand…no, she won't understand, she just goes along with everything Mom and Dad say, his mind angrily replied. James turned back towards the wall; he needed to stop worrying about Amelia. If he was going to be separated from her for several years he needed to learn not to worry so much about his baby sister.

The next day, James was standing in the living room talking with his parents about why exactly he wanted to learn more about alchemy. Again he repeated the story he had told the Elric brothers, only this time with a little more detail. Then, when Mom and Dad told him to go outside and play for a little while he knew they were talking about it. He walked over to the Inner Inn and knocked on the alchemists' room door. Ed answered, looking around for whomever it was who had knocked on his door. James poked him in the knee, and Ed looked down to see James standing there.

"I'm sorry, I didn't see you." James wondered why Ed seemed to receive so much pleasure from uttering those words.

"Whatever. My parents are talking about it now. I know they are because they sent me and Amelia out of the house." James walked past the older boy and came to sit in the middle of the room.

"Make yourself at home." Ed muttered shutting the door.

"Can you show me some of the alchemy arrays you know?" James asked.

Al walked into the room, from the balcony and answered, "Sure. I'll handle it brother. I doubt you remember any of the arrays yourself."

James looked up at this and asked, "Why wouldn't you remember? If you're such a great alchemist wouldn't you know all of the arrays?"

"He doesn't use them. He can do a transmutation with a circle so he doesn't draw them very often." Al explained to the younger boy.

"Oh."

Al took out some chalk and drew a slightly difficult circle on the floor. James put his hands on the edge of the circle before Al had a chance to. There was a flash of light and suddenly the floor inside the circle was clean and with out scratches or blemish. Al looked up at the boy in amazement. He hadn't even told him what the transmutation circle did.

Al looked over to his older brother; Ed was having the same reaction, only less exaggerated. This boy definitely had the talent to become an excellent alchemist. But the two teens were worried how the boy would use his talents. A few moments later, and the door to their room opened. Ruby walked in and promptly told them that the McDougalls would like to see them.

Jack and Phage had decided after much thought that they would let James leave the valley to train. Ed and Al were glad that they had agreed. The only problem, one that Edward had realized the night before was that they would have to return to central to request leave so that they could train the boy. The colonel wouldn't be happy with that request. But who really cared what the colonel thought? Ed certainly didn't.

Amelia watched as her brother started to walk away. She had promised herself that she wouldn't cry, or make a big scene. But she couldn't stop herself as she ran to catch up with her brother and wrap her arms around him from behind. She sobbed into his shoulder.

"Promise me you'll come back." She whispered in his ear.

"Amelia…" He whispered her warningly.

"Promise, you have to." Her voice broke, and she buried her head against his shoulder blade.

"I promise." He told her.

Then, he gently took her arms off of him and kept walking. That simple action made Amelia want to cry even more. Her brother had changed. Ever since he started learning alchemy, he had been harsher with her. James wasn't the same as he used to be. Why did he have to learn more about alchemy? Why couldn't he just stay on the farm and be her nice older brother again? Amelia turned, and ran past her parents into the house. She hurried into her room and shut the door.

When she got to her room, she was about to run to her bed, crawl under the covers and cry when she saw something that made her smile through the tears somewhat. There on the bed, the corner of the comforter had been left folded back.

Chapter 4

Amelia had been acting strange the past couple of days. She would walk around and stare at the sky every now and then. Phage groaned at the memory of Nami that Amelia's actions would awaken in him. Nami used to the same thing, with the same cool empty look in her eyes. He now seriously regretted letting James go off with those two alchemists whatever they are things. His baby girl was sad and hurting, and Phage was now inevitably angry at himself.

Jack was sitting at the dining room table, putting together a scrap book of family pictures. Every time he would find himself looking at the same one: the one where they were standing in the baby orchard over on the dark soil near the dormitories. James was looking suspiciously at a young Phurum tree, while Amelia was hugging her father's legs. Phage had his arm wrapped lovingly around Jack's waist, both parents were smiling. It was one of the few memories that Jack had of James that was happy. The youngster had always been quiet, and slightly grim. Jack had never known why. He had always loved his son with his whole heart; he had raised him, and always tried to be kind of him. But James had always had a cold shield up around him. Jack could hardly remember a time when he wasn't that way…

…James flew back against a tree, his whole body was sore. He had been training with Ed all morning. He had said that in order to train you mind you had to train your body. So he had begun teaching James martial arts. James was currently getting his ass kicked. He had snuck out last night to read up on human transmutation, and thusly got no sleep. Now he was really tired and wasn't focusing. Every blow was a surprise. All of it was worth it though. His mentors had access to an unlimited amount of books on alchemy. He could research human transmutation as much as he wanted…as long as his mentors didn't find out that is. I'm gonna meet you some day mom…than we can live together in the city. Maybe I'll even teach you alchemy…

… "Got any fives?"

"Nope. Go fish."

"Damn…"

Steven calmly picked up another card from the large pile. Ha, now I have a pair he thought. The raven haired man laid down two pairs, now all he needed was a queen and he could…the guys sitting opposite him had already laid down all their pairs. They had already won! And they didn't say anything? Steven chucked his card at Joey, hitting him in the nose. Blood dripped down the nose of Steven's victim. Mwahaha! Behold, he had inflicted a paper cut! Steven gracefully stood, leaving the living room of the dormitory to walk outside. If they were just going to sit around and find ways to trick him all day, then there was definitely something else he could be doing…

…Mark and Matt walked out of the blue bar, reenergized and ready to get back to working out. Hugh was waiting for them over by the well. Thanks to that tall glass of milk, they could continue with their squat thrusts. It had been several days since James had left, and the whole atmosphere of the farm had changed little. Mother Hen was still worried about his son, and Phage had continued to be the happy-go-lucky man that he was. Amelia however, was different. Even the cows knew something was going on. Bessie would often times follow Amelia around the valley as if to watch over her. Lumina had become worried by the little girl's behavior. Auntie Lumina had asked Phage what had happened, and the man had turned away from her. This only worried her more. Usually Phage told her stuff, and now he wasn't. What was going on?

…Lumina sat in her room at the villa, trying to distract herself by painting. But for some reason, its usually soothing affects were not coming to her. The poor girl was just too worried about Amelia, and why Phage was suddenly shutting her out. This wasn't good. She walked out of her room, and down the grand stair case. Her feet led her automatically to the piano bench. Lumina's hand went to the piano keys, pulling a mournful melody out of the instrument. It was not a melody that she knew, or had ever played through sheet music. It was a melody that her hands knew, and that her heart knew, but her mind did not. This melody was informing anyone with in five yards of the villa, that something was not wrong with the pianist inside. Her lush honey brown hair fell to her shoulders in delicate locks, and her thin plaid dress hung around her knees when she sat down. The girl's hands were small and graceful, her eyes beautiful but troubled. Everything about her screamed to anyone bearing witness, that something was not right. Lumina finally stopped playing, she looking outside and saw that the sky was dark. What happened Phage? She thought desperately…why won't you talk to me?

…Amelia sat on the beach, letting the waves wash all the way up to her neck. At that point she really didn't seem to care. She didn't know what was going on with James. He hadn't written her a letter yet. Surely, she thought, he would have written me a letter by now, right? Amelia sighed. Her heart ached, and tears flowed down her cheeks to mingle with the sea water around her neck. She was so sad, she missed her brother terribly. But more so, she missed the brother James used to be. Steven, Joey, Mark, Matt, Jimmy, and Timmy were great brothers. She loved them a lot. But they couldn't fill James's place. Amelia knew the tide was coming in, but she didn't notice. The water was up to her chin now. She didn't care when she felt the water reach her lips. If I was meant to stay in the world, Amelia thought solemnly, wouldn't someone have saved me by now? Wouldn't someone have noticed the little girl sitting in the water? Wouldn't someone have cared back at the farm if Amelia wasn't home yet? It was getting dark, and the moon was rising into the sky, bringing the tide with it. Her mouth was under water now. James would have noticed, he would have been here to pull me out of the water. Waves were lapping at the tip of her nose. Amelia mentally laughed; if she hummed she would be able to make nose bubbles. There was a chill filling her body. During this time of year, the water got very cold at night. She felt strong arms wrap around her and pull her out of the water. When Amelia looked up, it wasn't her father, or mother holding her…it was Gustafa the guitar player who lived near the beach. Again, emptiness filled her. Amelia's family hadn't saved her; it had been one of the other people living in the valley. She might as well not been saved. Probably wouldn't have made any difference to Mom and Dad…Amelia thought bitterly…

…Phage sat down at the table for dinner; he looked around and saw all of his family there. But wait, where was Amelia? He knew James was training, but Amelia should be there for dinner.

"Where's Amelia?" Phage asked suddenly.

"I don't know, I haven't seen her all day." Steven replied.

"Yeah, I don't think any of us have really seen her." Joey admitted.

Suddenly there was a loud knock on the front door. Mark went to answer it. They all sat nervously at the table. There were some concerned voices in the next room, and suddenly Mark burst into the room, Gustafa following him with Amelia in his arms. The girl was pale, her lips were blue and she was soaking wet.

"What happened?" Jack asked worriedly.

"I was going to head over to the blue bar a little while ago, when I saw something sitting on the beach in the waves. The tide was coming in. I wasn't really sure what it was but I went down to check and I saw the top of Amelia's head poking out of the water. She was just sitting there, letting the tide go over her!" Gustafa exclaimed.

Everyone's gaze turned to a seemingly lifeless Amelia. Her skin was extremely pale, and her hair was sticking to her face. Rose bud lips were an unnatural shade of blue, and eyes were staring into nothingness. Phage shot out of his chair and took Amelia into his arms. He kissed her on the forehead and murmured her name. She didn't respond, even though her eyes were open, they weren't looking at anything at all.

"Amelia, please talk to me! Why were you sitting on the beach like that? Why didn't you come home?" Phage pleaded.

Amelia had a dark look on her face as she responded, "If no one noticed that I was gone, why would they care if I didn't come home? No one bothered to save me, except Gustafa. He isn't my family."

"Amelia, we do care about you. We didn't know where you were." Phage said.

"Yeah, great job looking for me you guys…" Amelia muttered.

She was shivering in her father's arms, and by habit she snuggled closer to sap the body heat out of the person holding her. Phage grimaced; he had no idea that Amelia had gone anywhere until he didn't see her at the kitchen table. She was right; no one had noticed she was gone. He felt horrible now. Probably not as horrible as Amelia felt, but still horrible nonetheless. Amelia fainted in his arms, from the cold.

…Later Jack was washing Amelia up in the bathroom, in warm soothing water. Amelia didn't talk the entire time. Afterwards, Jack dried her off in a fluffy towel; he calmly dressed her for bed.

"You know that your father and I love you, don't you?" Jack asked his daughter.

"…" Amelia didn't answer; she silently stared at the tile floor of the bathroom.

"We do love you, we were about to start looking for you when Gustafa knocked on the door." Jack explained.

"Why weren't you looking for me earlier, huh?" Amelia snapped.

"Because usually you come home before dinner's started, or just in time for dinner. It didn't occur to us to start looking for you until we didn't see you at the dinner table after we had sat down to eat." Jack held his daughter firmly in his arms.

"Mama…" Amelia sniffled.

Jack had to hold back a gasp. Amelia hadn't called him Mama since she was much smaller. She had kept up the tough girl act, and had always called her Mom. This was the first time in a long while.

"I'm sorry I was mean to you, and to Papa…I miss James!" Amelia cried.

She finally let it all out. Everything about James leaving, and how he started acting so much different…and that when no one had come to look for her that she thought no one really cared about her. She cried until her tears became sobs, Jack all the while holding her.

"Amelia…you can always come to me or your father when you need us. We will always love you. You know you'll always be my baby." Jack smiled, before giving Amelia a raspberry on the cheek.

Amelia giggled, "Would you come tuck me in for bed, Mom?"

"Sure, honey." Jack responded.

Together, Jack and Amelia walked to her room, where Phage sat on the bed waiting. Phage looked guiltily down at the floor. Amelia felt bad for saying those things to her Papa earlier. He and she had always been really close. And then she snapped at him just because she was upset about James. That was no reason for her to snap at him. Her Papa hadn't done anything wrong. Amelia walked over to Phage and pulled herself up onto his lap. She snuggled her face into his chest and sighed. Grabbing small fistfuls of fabric, the small girl sniffled again.

"I'm sorry Papa, for being so mean to you. I didn't mean any of it. You're a great Papa." Amelia looked up at Phage smiling.

Phage nodded, holding his daughter close.

"Daddy…guess what?" Amelia asked.

"What?"

"Holy Shit!" She cried laughingly

Phage laughed; tucking his daughter into bed he kissed her forehead softly. Jack followed suit, before they both said good night and left the room. After they had left, Amelia turned over in bed. She stared at the empty space next to her, the space where James should have been. But he wasn't anymore, because he had left. He wouldn't be back for several years. If he came back at all. Amelia grabbed the pillow he would've have been using if he had been there next to her. She pressed her face into it and breathed in his smell. That older brotherish smell the, one that all older brothers have. Amelia hated the fact that James had left. She hated that he had started learning about alchemy. She hated that he had met those older alchemists and then ran away with them. Damn it! Amelia thought angrily. James, why did you have to leave? Why couldn't you just stay home and learn more about alchemy? Why did you have to learn alchemy at all? Amelia cried herself to sleep…

…Jack pulled his shirt up over his head and crawled into bed with his mate. Phage pulled him close and they lay together like that for a while. They enjoyed the soothing effect each other's presence had on one another. It was relaxing to go to bed like this after what had happened that day. Phage was glad that Amelia was okay, but what if Gustafa hadn't been curious enough to wander down to the beach? What if no one had found Amelia in time before the tide came up? What if she just drowned, sitting there in the water? Just knowing that Amelia hadn't tried to get away from the incoming tide had had a great effect on Jack. Jack had been devastated by the fact, but miraculously put up a brave front and handled it well. Phage loved his husband so much; he didn't like to see the small brunette so upset.

"I love you." Phage whispered against Jack's soft hair.

"I love you too." Jack replied, snuggling his head against Phage's neck.

…Steven was sitting on his bunk, staring out the window. He couldn't believe that Amelia had let something like that happen to her. Had James leaving really had that big of an effect on her? He wondered. Moonlight spilled in through the window across his bunk, and the floor almost reaching to the first bathroom. The decorating of the dormitory had been finished long ago, but such happy memories were a treasure. Now that everything was going so wrong, there might not be many happy memories to be made. Steven leaned his head against the wall; he had put his glasses on his bedside table. Even though he was on the top bunk, the night table had to levels one for the top bunk, and one for the lower bunk. His raven hair was loose about his shoulders, untamed and scraggly. Golden eyes flitted from the tree right outside his window, to the boy sleeping on the bottom bunk on the other side of the window he had been staring out. Jimmy's hair was just as mussed as Steven's and he had a thumb in his mouth. A thin blanket revealed the top of his bare chest, and when he was asleep he actually looked peaceful. The two had secretly gotten together a couple of years ago, but told no one. How desperately Steven wanted to sleep next to his love, but he knew he couldn't. Then the other guys would start asking questions, and then Jimmy and he would have to tell their secret. Steven wasn't really sure he wanted to do that, and Jimmy had made no protest to keeping it a secret. Steven knew however, that Jimmy wanted to hold his hand in public, and kiss him at the dinner table…and basically do things that he saw Mother Hen and Phage do. But Steven wasn't ready for that, he was scared. He was afraid that things would get more serious after that, and he didn't know what to do. Jimmy would start asking things about where they were headed. Steven wouldn't be able to answer those questions, because even he didn't know himself…

…James's eyes flicked from page to page, he was reading a page per minute. He had started drawing out his theories and formulas, maybe it could actually work. This book had offered him a theory that other books he had looked in hadn't. Maybe…just maybe it could work. He would bring back his mother, and they would live together. Yes, they would. And then James wouldn't have to go back to the farm ever, and he would never have to talk with his 'parents' again. Amelia's face briefly flashed in his mind…but as soon as it had appeared it was gone and James was left with a horrible feeling of shame and guilt in his abdomen. A part of him told him to stop the research now, and to go home and live with Jack and Phage, his Mom and Dad, and his baby sister Amelia. But another part of his mind told him to go on, he chose to listen to that part, and continued reading his book. It must've been near midnight, but he didn't care, he had to keep going. He was bout to open up another book, when an angry metal hand smashed the book closed.

"So this is what you've been studying, my foolish apprentice…" James looked up into furious golden eyes.

He wasn't going to live to see tomorrow…

Chapter 5

James was sitting on a very uncomfortable chair in front of his two mentors who were now drilling him with questions. He was ashamed of himself for getting caught, he now realized he probably would not be allowed to visit the library alone anymore, and more importantly he feared for his life.

"Did you honestly think you could successfully bring someone back to life?" Al asked seriously.

"Yes, I did. With enough research, and lots and lots of reading I thought I would have the information needed. I had also planned on practicing on dead animals, like dogs or rabbits. To, I don't know, get the hang of it." James explained, looking at the floor nervously.

"Who were you planning on bringing back?" Edward had his arms crossed, and his eyes were holding a rage so scary that there were no words that would bring it justice.

"I was going to bring back my real mother…I know that Jack and Phage couldn't have possibly brought me into the world without a surrogate mother of some sort. I was hoping to bring her back, so that maybe we could live in the city together. I wouldn't have to go back to the farm and see my parents ever again." James snarled out the word parents like it was a foul word that left a horrible taste in his mouth.

"Why didn't you just ask your parents about this 'real mother' and find out the truth from them? That probably would've have been much easier, and much more legal than the option you chose." Ed explained crisply, walking closer to James.

The boy shivered in his seat. He had grown to respect his mentor, and to fear him. He had heard stories of what Edward had done and was capable of doing. James definitely did NOT want to be on the receiving end of Ed's alchemic wrath.

"I knew they would probably lie to me." James told his mentor, fighting off the case of shivers that had begun to plague him, but to no avail.

"How would you know that? Did they lie to you your entire life? Is there evidence that they have lied to you in the past? If there is, where is this evidence? What is it?" Ed asked questions that James couldn't answer, or think up an answer to in a reasonable amount of time.

Damn it! James thought. He couldn't think of any times when he was living with his parents that they had lied to him. They always told him the truth; they always told him that they loved him before bed even if they were angry with him. His Mom and Dad had never told him how he had come into the world because he had never asked. It was that simple. James would admit that out loud though, he didn't want to see the I-was-right-and-you-were-wrong look on Edward's face. That would be humiliating and annoying.

"Well?" Ed prompted.

"I can't think of any at the moment, but that doesn't-"

Ed cut him off, "Exactly, you weren't thinking, so in a blind rage to get back at your parents for something they've never even done you were going to do something incredibly stupid!"

"Oh, and what you did wasn't incredibly stupid!" James asked.

Ed's face faltered, to James's extreme satisfaction. He had hit a nerve.

"So when you commit the ultimate taboo, human transmutation is okay! But when other people try and do it then suddenly it's something horrible and it shouldn't be done?" James watched a haunted look enter Ed's eyes and continued on, "I've heard the stories of what happened to you two, and what you did! Yeah, I know all about it. So, what did you have to do to get Al's body back, huh? Human transmutation! What? Because you're some famous all powerful alchemists you can bend the rules and disobey the laws and principles!"

Edward turned and walked slowly out of the room. Al looked at James with a murderous anger that he would have never thought to see on the teen's face. He growled under his breath and he too left the room.

Suddenly, James knew he had gone too far. That was something he didn't have the right to talk about. He had used their own mistakes and faults against them in the most cruel and underhanded way possible. James sneered at them. Whatever, it was there fault! They were the ones who brought him in here to interrogate him! They deserved what they had gotten. James no longer felt bad about what he had done. He got up and left to go back to the library. There still some other books that he needed…

…Amelia looked up at the sky from where she had been sitting in the pasture. She had felt something, as though someone she knew was hurting…badly. Amelia gasped, James. She stood, looking out over the tall grass and frowned. What was happening? Why did she feel this way? Why did she know what James was feeling? She sat back down in the pasture. Bob and Joe padded over to her. Bob licked her face, but she simply swatted his muzzle away. Joe curled up beside her, and Bob did the same in her lap. The two canines knew something was wrong. Amelia's face was scrunched up in contemplation, and her usually beautiful innocent blue eyes were now a stormy black with golden specks floating in them. The bandana holding back her hair fluttered in the breeze that passed by. It would seem that even the weather knew that she was upset, and was responding appropriately with the cinematic dramatic breeze and white fluffy clouds suddenly turning grey. It was going to rain soon. Better round up the girls…Amelia thought.

Recently, Amelia had been helping out more around the farm. She had told her father that she wanted to be more of a help to him, and he instantly began teaching her how to do farm work. Phage had gotten that 'My baby's all grown up' look in his eyes and disappeared into the house. Amelia knew he had gone off to cry a little, the thought made her laugh. All daddies did that. The girl often wondered why. She walked around the valley, looking in all the usual places for the cows to be. Amelia did eventually find the girls, but it was weird, Bessie wasn't with them. She thought on it a while, and decided that Bessie would come back on her own later. The seven year old hopped onto Jelly's back and led the rest of the girls back to the farm where they all hopped over the fence. Together they walked inside at the feeling of small droplets on their backs. Amelia made sure they were all fed, brushed and properly snuggled before heading into the milking room. There she picked up the crates of milk out of the auto-mated milking machine and carried them over to the storage room. After putting the crates of milk in the shipping box, she went to check up on the rest of the farm. Making sure that the chickens and ducks had enough food, and that they hadn't laid anymore eggs in the past couple of hours she went to check on Smithie and the other trees. They all replied that they were fine, and didn't need anything. The baby trees whined quite a bit that they wanted more fertilizer, even though they still had a lot left.

"I think you guys can wait until morning." Amelia told them firmly.

"But 'Melia! We want more now!" One of the baby peach trees whined.

"Well, that's just too bad for you isn't it?"

Amelia then walked over to the house in time for dinner. Still wondering where Bessie had gone off too. But she didn't ponder too much, because Bessie always came back, whether it is several days from when she left or a merely a few hours, the cow would always come back. Amelia clearly had no idea what the rebellious normal cow was up to…

…Bessie was very tired, but it simply had to be done. She was doing it because her humans were too stupid to do anything. They were all ignorant and obviously not aware that James had left and hadn't come back for dinner that same day. He had been gone for over a month! Stupid humans, sometimes I wonder why I even bother… Bessie thought. She knew where James was, and had informed herself and the rest of the herd that she was going to collect him. He was to come home like a good boy without a fuss. After all, Jack was very worried about him. Phage, oh Bessie's lovely Phage was clueless to the whole ordeal; however much Bessie hated to say it.

Several hours later, Bessie arrived in Central. Call it mother's instinct, but she somehow knew that James was somewhere in this city. All she needed to do now was to figure out where James would be. The cow knew she was getting strange looks for walking about the city, but she didn't really care. Didn't other cows wander around here? Surely it was a normal occurrence, right? If no cows wandered this city, there must be a good reason Bessie thought. She continued to walk her way over to a rather large building. It had a human sign on it, thusly was unreadable to her. But it seemed like an important human building. The cows had stayed up late on that day that James left. They had over heard the humans talking about some silly thing that James had to do. The girls knew that it must be some stupid thing that humans thought was gravely important. As this crossed her mind, Bessie realized there was a lot of stupid things that humans thought were 'gravely important'. She walked into the library and immediately let out a loud moo. A very recognizable head among many shot up near by. It was James, with two people that Bessie had only seen on the farm once or twice.

"Bessie!" James called out.

Bessie was happy to be recognized by one of her humans. She then promptly trotted over to him and stomped firmly on one of his toes. James scowled, and sucked in a swear word that Bessie knew he probably would have said if he hadn't been in a big human building. She gave him the most stern, angry look that she could muster. Then, she gave out a very angry moo and grabbed onto his shirt sleeve. Trying to drag him out of the big human building was very difficult. James was very heavy. Not only that, the people he was with was constantly trying to stop her from carrying out her mission. Sometimes, humans could be extremely frustrating…

…James was sitting at a table in the library when Ed and Al found him. They immediately pounced. He was currently trying to look at a book that did not involve human transmutation long enough that maybe his mentors would give up and go away. He knew, unfortunately that his mentors were more stubborn then him. James tried to ignore this fact, and continue reading. His attempts were interrupted by a frighteningly familiar moo; one that he had heard many a time on the farm, shortly before he was coated in cow saliva. Oh no…James thought.

"Bessie!" He called out to the cow in response.

The cow trotted over, James was fully prepared to be covered in cow spit. What he wasn't prepared for was Bessie angrily stomping on his left toes. He bit his lip to keep from screaming.

"Why is there a cow in the library? And how do you know this cow?" Ed questioned in a confused voice.

"She's one of the cows from the farm I used to live on…she probably decided to come after me and bring me home." James explained.

"She walked all the way to Central City by herself to bring you back? What kind of weird cow is she?" Al questioned in disbelief.

"Well, she was my father's first cow that might explain it a bit." James hurriedly told them before Bessie tried to pull him away.

"Don't even try and stop her guys, there's no use. Bessie is extremely determined, and there is no way you can possibly stop her if she has her mind set on something." James exclaimed.

Ed replied, "But she's still a cow. Are you saying that I'm not strong enough to stop a cow from kidnapping you!"

"No, I'm just stating the facts so you don't get your hopes up!" James shouted, Bessie and him were almost to the door.

In fact, James was telling the truth. Bessie had him half way back to the farm when Ed finally managed to stop her. He picked her up and tied her ankles together. Then with her over his shoulder Ed took her back to the farm and Al took James back to the dorms. It certainly had been an eventful day…

…The next day Phage was sitting out front of the house watching Amelia carry the milk and eggs into the storage room when a familiar figure came shuffling onto the farm. It was Ed! And he was carrying Bessie over his shoulders….wait a minute.

"Hello Edward!" Phage called, "Why do you have Bessie with you? What happened?"

"She made her way to Central City and tried to bring James home." Ed explained, "She almost succeeded to, Bessie had gotten James half way home when I finally managed to stop her. You have one good cow Mr. McDougall."

Phage grinned sheepishly, "Just untie her and go ahead and put her in the pasture with the rest of the girls. I don't think she'll try again."

"Alright, I just hope I don't get my State Alchemist qualification taken away for this. I mean, they'll probably think it was my fault a cow wandered into the national archives. It was my apprentice she was after." Ed said calmly as he set Bessie down in the pasture.

The super cow gave him a nasty glare. She then trotted over to the rest of the herd and mooed loudly. Probably relating the details of her trip…Ed thought dismally. He had no idea how wrong he was. A few minutes later, a herd of very angry looking cows rammed the fence, officially scaring the shit out of Ed.

"What the hell!" Ed shouted, falling backwards and scrambling to get as far away from the fence as possible.

"They probably don't like you because you meddled with Bessie's plans. I suggest you leave now if you don't want to be trampled to death by a herd of angry cows." Amelia explained, coming up to pet Bessie on the forehead.

Bessie mooed appreciatively, but continued glaring at Ed.

"Hey Mr. Alchemist!" Amelia called, "When do you think James will be coming back?"

Edward Elric turned to the young girl and saw the hope in her eyes; he hated to crush that hope. But he knew that James wouldn't be able to come home for another couple of years.

"Not for a while." Ed told her.

Amelia sadly looked at the ground, her hands gripped the handles of the wheel barrow she was pushing so tight her knuckles turned white. As Ed walked past her, he put a hand on her shoulder.

"I'm sorry." He said quietly, before walking off of the farm…

…Amelia grimly continued with her chores. But it was definitely harder to carry on now that she knew for sure that James wasn't coming home any time soon. She wished that Bessie had succeeded in her mission, to bring James back. Amelia didn't blame Mr. Ed, he had after all apologized. It was his fault that James wanted to learn more about alchemy, he had told the truth in that James would be gone for many years…and James had gone anyway.

Later that evening, Amelia sat in the middle of the orchard of baby trees. The air around her smelled like fertilizer, and the dirt was wet beneath her jeans. The night sky was a dark indigo, while the rim along the beach and hills was a light pink. Her stomach grumbled but she ignored it as her head fell on top of her arms on her knees. She curled up under the showers that started breaking out above her. The water droplets that started to cover her didn't bring her back to the house. The girl simply stayed there, out in the rain…not really caring how wet she got or that she would most likely have a cold tomorrow. She wanted to disappear, into the cold wet earth. Let a huge black hole open up beneath her and swallow her whole. Or better yet, she wished she hadn't been born at all. That way she never would have to experience the misery she was right then…but oh well…guess she had to keep living anyway. Oh well, She thought dimly lifting her head up to look at her father whom had come out to check on her, maybe I'll stay till tomorrow…but then I'm definitely leaving the world. That was her decision. But then the next day, she was sitting at the table eating dinner with her parents, and saw how her mother looked lost and barely holding on. Amelia couldn't leave…not yet, James had already abandoned their mother and father. Amelia would be just as bad as James if she left like that. Her mother needed her that much was clear. It was horrible for a mother to lose his/her children; it just wasn't mean to happen. It was a cruel and unusual punishment that was bestowed onto many mothers. Amelia didn't want her mother to lose both of his children. So maybe I'll stay…for just a little while.

TBC…