W00t! It's the sequel! Hazel is back with a vengeance! This fic is only categorized as romance because of the zillions of pairings such as RoyxRiza, HavocxFury, AlxWinry, and a smidge more EdxHazel. Anyway, I know you probably don't really care about me going on about the pairings so on with the fic!
"Yeah, that's the one." A teenage girl with wavy, brown hair pressed against the glass of a bookstore's window in Central.
"Hazel!" Edward ran up to her, followed by the living suit of armor Alphonse. "You disappeared as soon as we got off the train!"
"We were worried." Al added. Hazel turned from the window to look at them.
"I'm sorry about that." She laughed. "I've just never been outside my hometown before. Especially not to somewhere as big as this. I mean, look at all the people and shops! And look how happy everyone looks!"
Ed and Al exchanged glances. They could understand Hazel's excitement. Her hometown was a dusty run-down little place with every building in some state disrepair. The man running the town was Hazel's abusive stepfather, although he was very wealthy. After the brothers arrived in the town and met Hazel, she had become rather attached to them and left to go to Central with the two.
"Uh... What're you looking at anyway?" Ed asked, changing the subject.
"Well, you promised that you'd get me a book bag once we got here so I wouldn't have to lug this suitcase around." Hazel reminded him, pointing to an old and nearly empty suitcase at her feet.
"Right, I did, didn't I?" Ed laughed nervously, his hand reaching in his pocket to fish out his wallet. Once he had done so, he quickly opened it and looked inside. He was half hoping to find it empty so he wouldn't have to buy her anything, but instead he found plenty of money inside.
"What's wrong Ed? Don't have enough money?" Hazel asked, seeing the somewhat disappointed look on his face.
"No, I have plenty of money." He admitted.
"Okay then, let's go inside. I already saw the one I want in there, that's what I was looking at." She said, grabbing his wrist and dragging him inside the store. Immediately she ran off to a far corner of the store, trying to find a book bag to put her few precious belongings in.
For a moment, Ed considered taking Al and leaving the girl in the store, but he knew that Al would never agree to that. The boy was too kind.
"You here with your girlfriend?" Asked the man behind the counter. Ed looked around. Surely the man couldn't be talking to him. When he noticed the lack of other people, he turned back to the man.
"Y-you mean me? No, she's not my girlfriend." Ed told the man. He simply smiled back. "Say, you wouldn't have any books on alchemy, would you?" Ed asked him, hoping to avoid any further conversation on the subject. The man laughed.
"Only a few and they're all basic ones. Nothing a State Alchemist like you could use!"
"Wait, how do you-" Edward started before realizing that he was in Central and lots of people knew about the Fullmetal Alchemist, especially in this city.
"Okay Ed!" Hazel bounced up to him, holding a simple, sky blue book bag. "Here's what I want!" Ed sighed with relief. He was afraid she was going to pick out something expensive, but this didn't seem to be so. He paid for it and let Hazel drag him back outside.
"Did you find one?" Al asked. He had to wait outside as the store seemed rather small and cramped and Al didn't want to risk bumping into anything in his overly large armor.
"Yup!" said Hazel proudly, holding the bag up as if it were a valuable prize. She then sat down where she was, opened her suitcase and emptied out the few things within it into her new book bag. She took out the last thing left, a very old locket, and she looked at it lovingly for a few seconds before accidentally dropping it. Being the old thing that it was, the locket broke into two pieces upon hitting the ground.
"Oh no!" she said quietly, scooping up the two pieces.
"What is it?" asked Alphonse, peering into her hands to see what she was holding. "Oh dear."
"What?" Ed asked in an annoyed tone, also looking at what Hazel was holding in her hands. "Is that all?"
"This was my mother's I'll have you know! And it has the only picture of my father I've ever seen!" Hazel spat at Ed, obviously mad at his lack of concern.
Ed and Al took a closer look at the locket. Sure enough, inside one of the halves was a miniscule portrait of a man. He looked kind and the resemblance to his daughter was obvious.
"Put that back on the ground." Ed said suddenly.
"What?" asked Hazel.
"You heard me, put that back on the ground." Ed repeated. Hazel obeyed, eyeing him with suspicion. Edward knelt down next to Hazel, clapped his hands and placed them on the broken locket. One blinding flash of alchemical light later, the locket was fixed.
"Oh wow Ed! That's amazing! Look, it's even polished and everything!" Hazel commented, holding the locket up in amazement. She opened it and looked once more at the picture of her father inside. "Thank you!" She said, hugging him.
"Okay, you can get off of me now." Ed told her. Damn, her hugs were tight. She obeyed and let him go, putting the locket in her book bag.
"Hey Al? Would you mind putting my suitcase in your armor until we can find a place to dump it?" Hazel asked the younger Elric while standing up. She got no reply. "Al?" Hazel looked around but didn't see him anywhere.
"Al!" Ed called out for his little brother.
"You called?" Al appeared from the alleyway between the bookstore and the next building.
"There you are Al. Now, would you do me a favor and store my suitcase in your armor so I don't have to lug it around with me?" Hazel asked him. Immediately, Al's seemed nervous.
"U-um, I-I don't think that would be a good idea." He stammered.
"Why not Al? It'd only be for a little while. And besides-" Hazel heard a sound come from the armor.
"Al, what's in there?" Ed asked.
"N-nothing brother!" Al lied as the sound came again. It was definitely a meow.
"Al." Ed said in a warning tone. Al looked at the ground.
"Okay brother." He said quietly. He opened his armor and inside there was a kitten.
"Al, how many times have I told you: no cats." Ed said, walking up to his brother to retrieve the thing. Just before he could grab it, Al pulled away.
"But you should've seen it Ed! It couldn't even get to its mother to feed! It was all alone and mewing, trying to get its mother's attention!" Al pleaded, a very pathetic tone in his voice.
"Al, we've been through this before, we can't take care of a cat." Ed explained. Of course he knew that his brother wasn't going to come to his senses anytime soon, he looked at Hazel for help. However, he soon found that she would be no use whatsoever.
Hazel was looking at the kitten with watery eyes. Ed was slightly surprised at the sight, but was completely taken aback when she ran up to the armor, grabbed the cat and hugged it.
"Oh Ed, how could be so heartless? The little thing is a reject! We can't leave it here!" She squealed, hugging the cat so tightly that its eyes bulged.
"Yay! She agrees with me!" Al cheered. Hazel smirked.
"It's two against one, now what?" She said. No sooner had the words escaped her mouth than the kitten leapt out of her arms and ran back into the alley to its mother. Ed burst out laughing.
"Looks like it's two against two, but the kitten gets to decide." He said, wiping away tears.
"You're mean." Hazel said, glaring at him. "Come on Al." She threw her suitcase into Al's now empty chest and shut it before walking off into what she thought was the direction of the military building. She had gone only a few paces when a voice stopped her.
"You're going the wrong way!" Ed laughed. She looked over her shoulder to see Ed and Al facing the opposite direction.
"Come on Hazel!" Al called.
"Uh, right!" Hazel said, blushing from embarrassment and running up to the two.
After a few minutes of walking, Hazel started feeling nervous. She was aware that she was soon going to be surrounded by unfamiliar people. She always had been somewhat shy when it came to meeting new people. The Elrics were an exception, of course, because she had foreseen their arrival. But now... Surely these people who knew the Elrics would be curious about her too. She would have to talk to them eventually. That was what was great about a small town like hers, everyone knew each other. There were no awkward introductions. But in a big city such as Central, the situation was pretty much unavoidable.
"We're here." Edward announced, snapping Hazel from her thoughts. She looked up at the giant building with awe. Everything looked well kept, from the grounds, to the windows, to the picture of the military chimera decorating the building itself.
"It is impressive, isn't it?" Ed said, noticing Hazel's expression.
"Must be very different than what you're used to." Al spoke up. Hazel nodded, unable to speak.
"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go." Ed said, walking up the steps and stepping inside. Al and Hazel quickly followed.
See? See? I TOLD you there'd be a sequel! And here it is! Although, this chapter is kinda short. :sweatdrop: