The war was intense. Neighboring countries had all banded together to attack the small but densely populated country that Ed and Roy lived in. Every alchemist was requested to help. State alchemists were ordered to help.
"Don't worry," Ed reassured Eternity. "I won't get hurt." He couldn't understand the anxiety in her eyes. He was worried, of course, but not that worried. He could handle it!
"Don't," She whispered, looking down. "Stay alive so you can come back." She wiped her eyes, gave Ed a quick, tight hug, and disappeared into the room prepared to pull money from Ed's and Roy's bank accounts for rent.
"You better come back alive," Aria told Roy quietly, choking back her own emotions. Unlike Eternity, she was better at controlling her feelings. But Roy saw right through the facade.
"I will," Roy vowed with an impish grin. "Would you expect anything less?" She smiled tightly at him and shook her head.
"A wise person once said 'Two wrongs don't make a right, and two lefts don't make a right...but three do.'" Eternity quipped, popping her head out the door. Her eyes were red and puffy already, and Ed hadn't even left yet. Ed grinned with grim good humor.
"I'll keep that in mind," He told the girl, already backing away. "We have to get going, Mustang." Roy nodded and walked away quickly. "Goodbye..." And then they were gone, bound for the car downstairs where Al was already waiting. Eternity let a few tears slip down her cheeks, but wiped them away quickly.
"What are we going to do now?" Eternity sniffed, her voice trembling uncertainly. She knew the city a little bit, but not enough to go anywhere and know how to get back.
"We wait," Aria responded, walking into the room. When the two alchemists had told them that they might be gone for a long time, they had been outfitted with everything that they wanted. They were surprised that most of the anime that they loved existed here. And every game system. And almost every game. For the life of them, they couldn't find a single mention of the show Fullmetal Alchemist, the games Fullmetal Alchemist, or the upcoming movie Fullmetal Alchemist. It drove them up a wall to hear how clueless these people really were, when any otaku just getting into the anime business knew about the ever-popular Fullmetal Alchemist. The two girls popped in the movie Spirited Away, Eternity's personal favorite anime movie, made some popcorn, and sat down to watch.
But Eternity couldn't keep her mind on the movie. She could just imagine Ed out there, getting hurt...she stifled a sniffle, trying not to distract Aria from the movie.
Unfortunately, Aria wasn't thinking about the movie either. Roy could be scared for once, with a broken arm or leg. He could be writhing in pain in some mud-filled hole, with none of his comrades to save him...Aria shook her head. She had seen way too many war movies, to be thinking like that. She turned her attention to the girl on the screen and her adventures, hoping to forget her own.
That was how the girls lived for months, slowly losing weight. Eternity spent long nights out on their balcony, staring down the street and praying to see an unusually short boy and his dark-haired partner to walk over the hill. Aria paced restlessly during the day, unable to stay still. They felt like they were in confinement, that they were waiting for the news that Ed or Roy had died. To them, the excruciating waiting was worse than saying goodbye. They were hurting like hell.