Chapter 2: Train Ride

Sorry it took me soooo long to write this chap. I was caught up with school and was in the hospital, but no worries, I have returned!

Ed sat on the stairs in front of HQ, it was six forty-five in the morning and Ed was still barely awake. To add to that, he was still recovering from the fact that Mustang is Lauren's Uncle; his sister was her mother.

"Hey!" Lauren called from the foot of the stairs.

Ed hadn't even noticed her. He got up and walked down the stairs, suitcase in hand. He looked at Lauren, whose red halter dress stood out against the brilliantly white snow. She had on the same boots and the white tights as yesterday. But this time her hair was down, straight, and parted to the side, it went down to just past her hips. Seeing her standing there, with her cloak's hood over her head (to protect her hair from the falling snow), made Ed realize it didn't matter who she was related to.

"What's wrong, do I have something in my hair?" Lauren asked when she saw hi staring at her.

"No…it's perfect."

Lauren blushed a little and picked up her black suitcase, which was sprinkled with newly falling snowflakes, and looked rather heavy.

"DO you need help with that?" Ed asked politely, but Lauren took it the wrong way.

"I am perfectly capable of carrying my own suitcase!" Lauren stormed off towards the train station.

"You gotta love her…" Ed whispered to himself as he followed her.

Mustang was watching his niece and Edward from his office window when he heard the voice that made his heart beat every time she spoke...but it was different this time…

"Roy…" Riza Hawkeye came into the office, tears strolling down her face. It was unusual, considering she usually hid her feelings from everyone, even herself.

Mustang turned around. "Riza, what is it?" He came around his desk and locked the office door. Then when he turned around, he came face to forehead with Riza.

"What if…they don't get to Kaara in time, Roy? And you…lied to them, you should've told them in the first place about our daughter. Lauren doesn't even know, snd she's her cousin." Riza buried her face in Roy's jacket.

"Roy unclipped his wife's (shh….it's a secret) hair and ran his fingers through it. He whispered soothing words of hope and love into her ear.

"Oh Roy! I want Kaara to come back!" Riza sobbed, holding onto Roy as if she would loose him too.

"So do I. So do I." Roy kissed Riza gently on her lips, and then he just held her as she cried for their lost daughter.

Ed bought their tickets to town he had never heard of as Lauren made sure her suitcase was loaded properly. When Ed walked up to her, her back facing him, she was holding a black cat. "Uhhh….what is that? Ed asked holding out her train ticket.

"He's a cat, his name's Fire." Lauren took her ticket and boarded the train with Ed right behind her.

"Why did you name him Fire, if you don't mind me asking?" Ed and Lauren took two seats next to each other towards the back of the train car.

"My Uncle gave him to me when I was seven, when I first became a state alchemist." Lauren stroked Fire, whose fur, Ed just noticed, had red/orange dashed in along with the black. Fire's nose, the tips of his ears and tail, and his paws were also red/orange.

"So you named him Fire because Mustang is The Flame Alchemist?...And did you say you've been with the state since you were seven?" Ed leaned back in his chair.

Lauren smiled. "Yes…and yes, you see, I was only accepted because I took out three chimeras."

"By yourself?"

"Uh-huh, but they were only just created, so they were weak." The train started slowly but gradually picked up speed.

Ed was silent for a moment, and then looked at Lauren. "Why do you wear your pants like that?

Lauren looked sad but then she smiled at him. She shoved Fire onto his lap and slipped off her boots. Then she stood up and slipped off her nylons/pants (she still has a dress on). When she threw the pants into her seat, Ed saw her auto mail leg, starting at her left knee. "This is why I pull my right leg up, just to show off some skin." Lauren sat back down, puts her boots on, and Fire jumped into her lap again.

Ed wanted to ask, but decided against it.

"You can ask you know." Lauren said as if reading his mind, as she looked down at Fire with admiration and love.

"Huh? Oh…How did…that happen? Ed glanced down unnoticeably at his own auto mail limbs, still covered with his pants, coat, and gloves.

"My dad, he…well to put it simply, he was insane. Alchemy drove it to him, when he heard of the philosophers (sp?) stone, he tried to create one himself, with…with my mother and my older brothers. He killed them, and made me watch him, because he wanted me to 'view his success'…He couldn't, and lost his life while I only lost my leg, along with the rest of my family. Lauren took a shuddering breath and didn't see 'it' coming….

Ed turned in his seat to look at Lauren then he wrapped his arms around her. "I'm sorry."

Lauren liked being hugged by Ed…but…"We can't." Lauren pulled away from Ed.

"Can't what..? I-Oh, no, no, no…I was just trying to be nice I don't like you." Ed smiled. It was the wrong thing to say, let alone smile about.

"And why don't you like me! There's nothing wrong with me!" Lauren stood up holding Fire.

Just as Ed was going to answer the train suddenly stopped, throwing Lauren into the empty seat in back of her.

"What was that?"

"What happened?"

"Why did we stop?"

"Are we there yet"

All of the people aboard the train started to panic.

"We can't be there yet, we've hardly just started the train ride, only maybe about fifteen minutes into it." Ed stood up and looked out the nearby window. They were on a high bridge over a fast moving river which was about a half of a mile wide. "We're wasting time here!"

Lauren put Fire into the portable cat carrier. "Now what?"

Ed looked at her. "Can you swim?"

Lauren seemed to have difficulty answering.

"What…can you swim or not?" Ed walked up to her.

I can't go in the water." She looked down.

"Is it because of your leg? Look, don't worry…" Ed rolled his sleeve up to show Lauren his auto mail arm. "…I go in the water all the time."

"You moron…I don't care about my leg."

Well then why won't you go in the water, the jump isn't 'that' high."

"It's because my father drowned one of my brothers, Ed! He made me hold him down!" Lauren started to tear.

Ed didn't know what to say in order to comfort her. "Well just think about that little blind girl, Lauren, if we stay here any longer, by the time we get to her, it might be too late."

Lauren nodded. "Al-alirght." She followed Ed put of their cabin and towards the dorr. "What do I do with Fire though?" Hearing his name, Fire meowed. "And the luggage?"

"Leave Fire here, and forget about the luggage." Ed said as he threw open the train door.

Lauren nodded and opened the cat carrier. "Ok, Fire, now you stay here and hide from everyone and when this train gets back to the central station, get off and find Uncle Roy, stay with him." She hugged him tight then gently pushed him under the nearest seat. Fire listened and stayed where he was put.

"Ok, are you ready? The river's deep and there's no rocks, so we can just…jump." Ed told Lauren as she jumped out onto the tracks after him.

Lauren nodded and grabbed his hand. "I don't want to get separated is all." Said Lauren as she saw the faint redness on Ed's cheek.

"Hey you two kids!" One of the baggage loaders spotted Ed and Lauren from the open door.

"I'm not a kid!" Both teenage alchemists yelled out at the same time.

They looked at each other, blushed a bit, then laughed.

"Come on." Ed pulled Lauren to the edge of the tracks. Her grip tightened on his hand.

"stay where you are, I'm going to get the conductor." The baggage loader disappeared, Lauren and Ed ignored everything he said.

"Are you ready?" Ed looked into Lauren's emerald green eyes.

"Y-Yes." Lauren never took her eyes off of Ed.

They jumped……….