Sooooo I just sat for 6hrs getting a huge, really badass FMA tattoo, which is only about half-finished at the moment. My leg is dying. BUT in honor of this I am putting out the next chapter! It seems like an appropriate way to celebrate having Ed's face stabbed into my leg repeatedly. IMPORTANT NOTE: This is probably the biggest deviation from either anime, here in Dublith. I followed the manga timeline for my own purposes, so it'll seem a bit backwards from FMA:B. I did my utmost to keep it fluid and explain it enough so that nobody will be confused, but please please let me know if it isn't effective! Now, I'm going to post this and go rest my leg... So enjoy, lovelies!


"Again!"

Lissa panted, swiped blood from the corner of her mouth—and shifted, left right left right left, zigzagging a path in towards Izumi. She'd surprised the boys' teacher, just a bit. Not just when she'd unquestioningly accepted her offer-order to spar, but when Lissa had thrown herself into it at full capacity, transmuting the air almost constantly, shifting between particles with no resistance, the air shimmering blue all around her. It had been enough to let her land a hit or two, but Izumi was wicked fast and didn't hold back in her own attacks, either. The boys had warned Lissa that their teacher fought all-out, heedless of injuries, but it was still surprising to end up in a fight this fierce when it was just supposed to be a sparring match.

Well, a sparring match and a lesson. Izumi was definitely teaching, in her own way, constantly correcting Lissa on her form, the angle of her attacks, even her uses of alchemy.

She sensed the faintest ripple in the air as Izumi raised a leg, and Lissa reacted to it immediately, though she didn't change her trajectory. At the last second, she eliminated all the air resistance around her and slid on her knees beneath Izumi's kick, leaping to her feet on the far side and twisting back with a crescent kick of her own. Izumi deflected it with the flat of her arm, but Lissa felt a savage stab of victory anyway. Anything she landed was a victory.

Lissa rolled with the shove that followed the block, borrowing one of Ed's moves and rounding off her hand to put some distance between them. It didn't last long. Izumi came at her again, quicker than Lissa had expected—so she raised her hands and drew on the particles around her, increasing the resistance in Izumi's path.

"Very good," she told her, smirking as her every step became labored, like pushing through sludge. "Your control is admirable." Izumi clapped her hands together and pressed them to the ground, and Lissa stumbled back as a pillar of earth came hurtling up under her feet. She only narrowly avoided being knocked fifty damn feet into the air! Lissa knew this was a weak spot for her—she just couldn't sense the shifting beneath her feet, the changes that took place underground to use alchemy that way. Her abilities didn't allow for it.

"But you have very obvious blind spots, once your opponent knows how you use alchemy," Izumi continued as she kept up the barrage.

Lissa gritted her teeth and sprang upward as another pillar shot up beneath her. She kicked off it, leaping up, and twisted midair as she came down to absorb the shock. "That's true," she agreed breathlessly. And it was—she only had so many transmutation circles tattooed, after all. But she did have one more trick up her sleeve.

She rolled forward, in towards Izumi, as she tensed her fingers and curled them, dragging in all the dust generated from Izumi's alchemical attack. The air was full of so many tiny particles of dirt…which meant metals. Lissa could work with that.

As she sprang to her feet, Lissa met Izumi's incoming physical attack with the middle of a staff she transmuted right into her hands. She twisted the makeshift weapon and nearly caught Izumi's arm up in it—but the woman was too fast. She brought her hands together and gripped one onto Lissa's staff, shattering it immediately.

Lissa stumbled with the blow, tried to shift—but Izumi knocked her feet out from under her and planted a foot on her abdomen.

Shit.

She stared up at Izumi, not bothering to try and escape or keep going. Lissa had lost that one, fair and square, and she couldn't even feel bad. She'd gotten in some hits of her own, though she knew damn well after all the boys told her the night before not to go for Izumi's core—she was still sick, after all—and thought, at least privately, that she'd put up a good fight.

"Your abilities are quite interesting," Izumi observed, looking down at her almost imperiously. "But you're very reliant upon them. You need to spend more time sparring without the use of alchemy as a crutch." Her expression softened, just minutely, and she stepped back to give Lissa room to stand. "However… A decent effort, overall. Judging from your repertoire of moves, you've had very mixed training over the years, am I correct?"

Lissa nodded, licking a bit of blood from her lips. "I was lucky enough to train with a lot of different alchemists and soldiers since I was seven. Some of it was just standard hand-to-hand, but…some of them had really specialized styles. I picked up what I could."

Izumi folded her arms over her chest thoughtfully. "I see. It shows, certainly. But it also does you a disservice. You're accustomed to fighting opponents who use one or two styles of combat, rather than an entire array, such as yourself. Your ability to recognize those styles and understand how best to retaliate needs work."

She was so…matter of fact about it. Lissa couldn't even be offended, honestly, she just tried to take in every criticism. If she wanted to protect the boys…she'd need to improve. This was an opportunity, not an insult.

No matter what it felt like.

"Thank you, Ms. Izumi," she murmured, bowing at the waist.

Izumi raised her eyebrows. "Hmph. It's not often I get thanked after a session like that…" She then scowled, but her ire wasn't directed at Lissa in the slightest. "Where did you say you grew up again, Lissa?"

"Um…in Central. My parents died when I was seven, and because I already had studied alchemy I was placed in a sort of…military-based educational facility there." Lissa shrugged faintly, a bit confused by the line of questioning. She'd mentioned it during breakfast, just in passing, and it hadn't seemed to mean much then. "I'm from Rayerk originally, but I don't remember much." She curbed the desire to ask why, guessing Izumi didn't take kindly to her motives being questioned.

She nodded absently, already deep in thought as she turned away and began cleaning up the yard, using a little alchemy to put the everything back to sorts. Lissa wondered what had made Izumi so interested in her past for a moment.

"Nice job," Ed told her softly, squeezing her shoulder. "That was some fight, Liss."

"Yeah, you were amazing," Al agreed earnestly.

Lissa gave a rueful grin. "I still lost. I mean, I expected to, but I lost."

"Eh, don't sweat it. I've never seen anybody win against Teacher," Ed dismissed, smirking.

Izumi rose from her task and stood a moment, contemplating—then she spoke up in a low, serious tone. "So, boys… What was it you wanted to ask me earlier?"

Ed almost flinched in surprise. "Um, well…" He looked up at Al sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head.

Clap!

Lissa backed away, Al right beside her, as Izumi transmuted a spear out of the wall in front of her, a move so similar to Ed's preferred method that Lissa realized he'd stolen the technique from his teacher.

Then Izumi spun and launched into a flurry of quick, decisive attacks on Ed.

He leapt back, clearly caught off guard, but recovered well—he got a hand on the end of her spear, the nonlethal side, and deflected a kick from her moments later. Izumi refused to let up, her attacks harsher, more severe than anything Lissa had faced. She almost wanted to help, her instinct from years of fighting together kicking in and screaming at her to run to his aid… But this was his teacher. She couldn't interfere.

Izumi reared back, swung the spear around—and then shoved forward, sending the blade directly at Edward's stomach.

With a yell, Ed brought his hands together and transmuted his automail, the blade ripping through his glove. He brought his right arm up sharply and cut clean through Izumi's spear, severing it below the blade and saving himself…but only with a demonstration of his abilities.

Oh, no. She was just forcing him to reveal it, wasn't she?

Izumi scowled down at him. "As I suspected, you can transmute without a matrix!"

Ed gasped and staggered back a step, realizing too late what he'd done. And he'd been trying to keep it a secret, well…that wasn't an option anymore.

"On top of which, Al is now a suit of armor!" Izumi continued irritably, pointing up at him. Then she shifted her attention back to Edward and added, with a jab in his direction, "And two of your limbs are made from automail!"

Lissa winced and tugged at the edge of her own gloves uncomfortably. She'd realized all of it.

"Teacher, how did you know?" Ed asked anxiously, pressing his left hand onto his right arm in a sort of reflex.

Izumi scoffed and slammed the end of her spear into the ground. "Please, I could tell from sparring with you!" She narrowed her eyes and fixed her gaze on Ed, something darker creeping in around the edges of her expression. Lissa felt a chill, despite the warm day. "You saw it," Izumi began lowly. "Didn't you, Edward?" When he didn't reply she pounded the spear down and yelled, "You saw it!"

"Y-yes!" he admitted, cringing away from her, his expression crumbling.

Izumi sighed and tossed her spear away, looking so deeply…sad. "It seems both of us are beyond help," she murmured.

Ed looked up at her in shock. Maybe he hadn't expected her to admit it so easily… Maybe he'd never really believed it… But the look on his face nearly broke Lissa's heart. "Teacher… You saw it too," he whispered, his voice unsteady. "Could you tell me…"

She stared down at him for a moment, considering. "I suppose…you deserve to know, now."

Izumi left them standing there and walked back inside, clearly intending them to follow…but though Al and Lissa made to go after her, Ed seemed…too stunned to move, at first. He just stood there, clutching his automail arm so tightly, staring at the ground with his brows furrowed, distressed, clearly lost inside his own head.

Lissa crossed to him and took his hand, gently pulling his fingers off the automail. "Come on," she murmured softly. "It'll be okay, Ed."

He looked up at her and sighed. "I hope so."

She knew, standing with her fingers twined into the hem of Ed's jacket, that this was going to be…difficult. Lissa had learned so long ago what the boys had done, and seen it for herself… They'd never needed to explain all of the horrors to her. She'd seen enough to piece it together without ever making them relive all the details. But Izumi's story was different, that much was obvious from the expressions on hers and Sig's faces as they settled in the dining room to tell their story, the truth of why she'd attempted human transmutation.

"For a while, it seemed we were barren," Izumi began softly, slowly. She was the only one seated, either her illness or her emotions keeping her off her feet. "We wanted a child but couldn't conceive. When we were finally able to conceive…I ended up falling gravely ill."

Lissa thought her heart might stop. She knew, she knew where this was going… But oh, she didn't want it to be true, not for a moment…

"And our child as well… He was not able to take a living breath in this world. And so…" Her eyes turned down, her expression falling even further. "I committed the taboo." She sighed deeply, wearily, one hand raising to press into her abdomen. "As a result, I lost parts of my inner organs. What an idiot I was."

The irony was sickening. A boy who only wanted his mother back lost the ground beneath his feet and his brother, the only person he had left in the world, lost all ability to feel another's warmth. A woman who only wanted a child had the ability to conceive stripped away. This Truth, this entity through the gateway… Lissa hated it, more than she'd hated anything before in all her life. It wasn't equivalency, it wasn't a fair exchange, it…it wasn't fair. How could it be right to take those things away? To rip the leg from a little boy, the body from another, the organs of a woman…without warning, without a sign, just…gone…

Lissa heard the creaking of metal under strain, and looked up through her fringe to see Ed's hand clinging tight to his automail, distorting the fabric of his sleeve. Slowly, afraid to startle him, she unwound her fingers from his jacket and reached behind him cautiously. Her fingers crept across his automail from behind, her arm lightly pressed into his back as she brushed her fingers atop his—just enough to settle him, to release that tension. When he'd stopped gripping himself so tightly, she went to move her arm back—but his fingers closed around hers and held her there, pulling her in closer. And how could she possibly say no?

"Now I realize I should've told you sooner," Izumi admitted, looking across at the boys with her eyebrows deeply furrowed. "It must have been awful."

Ed's fingers tightened around Lissa's almost painfully as he looked up at Izumi in shock, struggling for a moment. But then he forced a smile as best he could. "Nah, I did it to myself after all," he told her, his tone buoyant with false lightness. "It hasn't been that big a deal, actually."

"Besides," Al chirped, hurrying to add his own feigned ease, "now I've got this long list of things I get to look forward to eating when I have my body back. Right, brother?"

Lissa pressed her lips together hard, fighting back a sudden wave of tears. They were…trying to reassure her, she realized. The boys didn't want Izumi to feel guilty, or feel that she'd somehow caused what they did, failed to prevent it—so they were putting on this act, pretending it hadn't been nearly as terrible, just to try and make her feel better.

"Yeah! It's nothing!" Ed agreed, grinning.

Izumi rose and crossed to them unnoticed, and Lissa stepped back, carefully freeing her fingers from Ed's. She didn't want to get in the way for a moment.

"You darling little idiots," Izumi murmured, her tone swelling with fondness as she put her arm around Ed's shoulders first, then Al's, drawing them both into an embrace. She'd seen through them completely. "It's okay to hurt."

The reassurance was so simple, so easy… It took Lissa's breath away. She closed her eyes and pursed her lips, biting down until she tasted blood, just to keep the tears back. It wasn't about her—it wasn't about her life and her experiences, not for a moment, but it struck her heart all the same. All the losses, her absent memories, the system that swept in and stole her childhood… Most days she could keep it away, could push back the hollowness and the sorrow and the acute ache of loss… But just then… Faced with those words… It's okay to hurt.

But against this…against what Ed and Al had suffered, what Izumi had suffered…

No. Not here.

Lissa opened her eyes to see Izumi had crossed the room and given the boys a moment to compose themselves. It had been years since she'd seen Ed get remotely that close to crying himself—he was truly shaken by all of this.

"To think that you saw it and managed to survive," Izumi mused, staring thoughtfully out the window. "I doubt you even know how impressive that is."

Ed looked at her uncertainly. "I…no," he admitted quietly.

"Regardless… I can't accept the decision you made."

Lissa swallowed hard. That didn't sound good…

Izumi turned to face the boys, her expression harsh and near-merciless as she regarded them. "You're expelled."

Al reached for her, seeming horrified and shocked. "But—Teacher-"

But Ed reached up and put his arm across his brother's chest. "Al," he murmured, cutting him off from arguing any further.

"The trains are still running," Izumi told them shortly, turning back to the window. "Get on one."

Looking like it took every bit of strength he had left, Ed bowed at the waist and all but choked out, "Thank you… For everything."

Sig saw them down to the train station, while Izumi remained at the house. Lissa felt lost, wrong, like she knew this wasn't the right thing to do—but she had no idea how to fix any of it. She didn't know Izumi, but she recognized the defeat clinging to the boys as they walked back to the station. They'd…given up.

"Are you sure about this, Ed?" she asked quietly, reaching out to brush her fingers along his gloved left hand. She'd taken his cloak partway there to free his arm, just in case.

He sighed and shook his head. "No. But…we don't have a choice."

Outside the station, they paused to say their goodbyes, standing in an open archway. "Feel free to drop by if you're ever in town," Sig told them almost amiably.

Al wilted a bit. "I'm not so sure about that."

Sig's eyes narrowed. "You idiots!" he snapped. "You're so busy pouting you can't see what your expulsion means. You aren't her students anymore, so now you're finally free to speak to Izumi as equals!" he explained, a bit harshly—but the boys stared up at him like he was changing their whole world. "Unless, of course, you're too chicken to try it."

Of course! Lissa almost grinned as he spoke, realizing she'd been right—there was more going on here than a simple expulsion.

"Aw, damn!" Ed groaned, smacking his own face. "Al, we haven't done what we came here to do in the first place!" He grabbed Lissa's free hand tightly and turned back to Sig. "Thank you! We're going back there right now!"

As he yanked her away, racing down the street with Al keeping pace, Lissa heard Sig call, "Don't let her kill you!"

"Kill us?" she hissed, glaring sideways at Ed as they ran. "Well, this should be a fun visit. Do you think she'll actually tell you anything?"

"Maybe—if we're lucky," Al told her. "But we have to try!"

They ran all the way back to Izumi and Sig's house, through alleyways Lissa might've been a bit worried to traverse on her own, but wasn't afraid of with the boys—and finally skidded to a halt outside the door, nearly tumbling over one another. Lissa squeezed down on Ed's hand and gave him a firm nod, and one to Al too. "Good luck," she told them encouragingly.

"Thanks, Lissa." Al inclined his head.

"Stay behind us, okay? She might…" Ed swallowed. "React badly."

Apparently that was enough preparation, because with that, he flung the door open and stepped inside, yelling, "Teacher!"

Izumi flung the knife she'd been sharpening right at him—he screamed in shock and ducked down, narrowly avoiding being stabbed through the head. "What the hell are you doing, coming back here?!" she demanded, enraged. "And you call me Teacher?! I do not teach scum like you! Get out of my home!"

Ed gritted his teeth and dragged Al in beside him, refusing to give up. The both knelt before her, submissive and yet somehow aggressive, and Ed rammed his automail fist onto the floor determinedly. "Teacher!" he insisted.

"We came to you because we're trying to find a way to get our bodies back," Al explained, looking up at her. Lissa stood just inside the door, behind him, hoping Al's armor body would be enough to shield her. She'd taken the suitcase and Ed's cloak, in an attempt to keep track of her things, so she swung the suitcase around in front of her legs too, just in case.

"And we won't leave without your help!" Ed told her fiercely.

Izumi glared at them. "Get out now!"

But they just didn't back down. "We're staying!" both Ed and Al retorted, rising to their feet, brave in the face of her rebuke.

Lissa thought it was admirable, honestly. She had a lot of respect for their determination.

For a moment, Izumi only glowered at them in return, waiting to see if they'd crack—but they didn't. They didn't even look away. Finally, she sighed and averted her own gaze, and muttered, "You idiots. Fine. If you want to be that stubborn, go right ahead." She turned and stalked out of the room without another word.

"Um…" Al glanced between the door and Ed, uncertain. "Should we…follow her?"

"Well?!" Izumi's voice thundered from down the hall. "Are you coming or are you leaving?"

Lissa winced and pulled the suitcase in closer to her body. "I think that's a yes, Al. We don't wanna keep her waiting."

They reconvened in the sitting room, Izumi on one couch facing the boys across a low coffee table, while the boys took the couch opposite. Lissa planted herself on the floor, between Ed's left leg and Al's right, happy to rest her back against the edge and stay close to them both. Though it was just wishful thinking to believe it'd protect her from Izumi's wrath, should anything happen.

"From my understanding," Izumi began, looking across at them thoughtfully, "Al… You didn't see the Truth, did you?"

Al shook his head. "No… I don't really even know what that means."

She put her thumb and forefinger around her chin as she considered that. "You must've lost your memory from the shock…" Izumi sat forward, uncrossing her legs, and told them firmly, "We need to get Al's memory back. His entire body was taken from him. Just think what he must have seen."

Ed sat up sharply, eyes widening. "Oh yeah! We only exchanged parts of our bodies for what we saw, but Al paid the toll with his entire physical being. He must've seen more of the Truth than either of us did."

That Truth entity again… Lissa's detestation of that thing burned in her chest. Whatever it was, whyever it existed, she despised it and everything it stood for.

"So…" Al tipped his head to one side. "If I can remember what I saw, then we'll know how to get our bodies back?"

Izumi turned away unhappily. "But the memory of that thing…"

Ed grimaced. "That thing…"

"What, is it something bad?" Al asked, panicked.

"No," Izumi told him. "It's more like…awful…"

"Yeah… And horrifying…"

"It could drive you insane."

"Or even leave you brain-dead."

Lissa pinched Ed's leg, wondering if he was trying to scare his little brother, just to mess with him, or if he actually believed those things.

Al clenched his fists atop his legs. "That doesn't matter," he told them decisively. "If there's a chance that it can help us… Then I wanna do it." Goodness, that kid was so strong, it was incredible to see. After everything, nobody could blame him if he just gave up, just rolled over and accepted it… But he just kept on pushing instead, refused to stop fighting even for a moment. It broke Lissa's heart.

Izumi nodded, accepting his choice. "All right. I have an acquaintance that might know a way to retrieve your memory for you."

The boys leaned forward, excited.

"But…" She inhaled and smiled at them, turning warm and almost motherly in a second. "Let's eat dinner first. Gimme a hand, you can all help."

"Okay!" the boys chorused.

Lissa hopped to her feet and grinned, pleased they were getting fed again. She didn't even mind helping out in the kitchen—as long as she had a recipe or some directions to follow, she was usually just fine. And Izumi was too much of a teacher not to have a particular method for everything. Feeling more at ease, Lissa stuck her hands into her pockets—and promptly remembered something important. "Oh, Ed, I almost forgot." She tugged the remnants of his poor shredded right-hand glove out and dangled it in front of him. "I snagged your glove earlier, since I didn't feel like having to hunt for the exact white fabric again."

He grinned sheepishly and took it, repairing it with a quick clap of his hands and a burst of blue energy. "Thanks, Liss. I should probably keep track of that stuff, huh?"

"Probably," she agreed, winding her arm around his. "But then I'd have nothing to do."

"Aw, that's not true!" Al told her quickly, sounding very serious even though she'd just been messing around. "Brother probably couldn't put his shirt on the right way without you at this point."

Lissa snorted a surprised laugh. She hadn't realized he'd been joking too.

Edward's face turned bright red. "Hey! Al, c'mon, that's not fair!"

"It's just the truth," he quipped brightly.

Lissa grinned up at Alphonse as Ed grumbled to himself, muttering something about being able to take care of himself without any help—she wasn't sure that was true—and shooting little glares at her and Al every few moments.

"Come on, dummy," she laughed, and tugged him towards the door. "Let's get something to eat."

"Only if you don't make fun of me again."

"Eh…we'll see."

The next few days were all training, training, training. Lissa didn't mind—she felt like she was learning so much, in everything they did. Her body ached, she was exhausted down to her bones every night, but it was…kind of nice, in a way. She'd spent plenty of time training with the boys over the years, but nothing like this, nothing so intensive. Izumi never let up. They studied and refreshed their minds while sparring, stretching, doing anything physical—which made the knowledge that much more second-nature. Even though Ed and Al had technically been expelled as students, Izumi still treated them like pupils, and Lissa too, by default.

Though… Lissa had come to the conclusion pretty quickly that Izumi didn't like her much. She didn't treat Lissa poorly, by any means, but there was just…something in the way she acted, the way she talked at her, that made her certain of it. Not that she mentioned it to the boys. Lissa didn't want to burden them with it or upset them. Besides, they seemed happier in Dublith, happy to spend time around Izumi and train and exist in this little bubble. Who was she to alter that?

Lying on her back in Izumi's weight training room, Lissa contemplated the state of things while staring at the ceiling. She'd actually arisen early that morning, and come down here to work out her thoughts with some free weights. By the time Ed, Al, and Izumi came in, she was nearly finished—hence why she was being allowed to just lie there, stretching her legs one after another up towards her chest. Her hamstrings had gotten annoyingly tight from sitting on trains so much, so she was trying to work back to her old level of flexibility.

"Okay, seriously, how do you do that?" Ed asked her, leaning over his crossed legs and tapping her shoulder. "I can never just…lift my leg how you do. I always have to swing it up."

Lissa grinned and sat up. "Years of practice, plus a little natural flexibility. Watch and learn." She stood up on the mat, slid her right foot forward as she rolled onto the balls of her feet—and then slowly sank into the splits, all the way until she was resting on the floor.

Ed's jaw dropped. "Holy shit."

She raised an eyebrow at him. "Wait, I've never done that in front of you before? I really thought I had."

Al giggled and shook his head. "No, brother's usually sleeping when you stretch."

"True," she acknowledged. "Well, you've definitely seen it, Al. Ed just misses all the fun stuff because he sleeps forever." Lissa pressed her hands into the mat and lifted up slightly, just enough to rotate into side splits, altering the stretch. Then she walked forward with her hands, dragging herself as close to flat on the floor as she could. "When I was younger I could go all the way flat," she commented, gritting her teeth as her muscles protested her attempts to drag her stomach onto the floor completely. "I need to work on that again."

"Show-off," Ed muttered under his breath.

Lissa lifted her head and smirked at him. "Says the one with probably fifty pounds on that barbell."

He tightened his fingers on the bar he'd brought up to rest across his shoulders, ready for him to continue the overhead presses he'd been doing before he got so distracted by Lissa stretching. "Seventy-five," he corrected smugly.

"You're just proving my point, you know that?"

Ed scoffed and went to lift the bar over his head—only to freeze up, an expression of pure horror coming over his face. "Oh, shit."

"What is it?" Al asked him, sounding worried. "You didn't throw your back out, did you?"

He shook his head faintly. "Liss… What day is it?"

She sat upright and bent her legs slightly to relieve the stretch, thinking. "Er… The fifteenth, isn't it? Why? It's not… Oh. Oh." Lissa suddenly mirrored his horrified expression. "Oh, shit. The thirteenth, we missed the damned thirteenth!"

Izumi scowled at them both, irritated without quite knowing the situation. "What did you miss, exactly?"

"I forgot this year's assessment," Ed explained in a moan, dropping the barbell from his shoulders and passing his hands over his face, distressed.

"Assessment?" she questioned, lifting an eyebrow.

"My annual state alchemist's assessment. If I don't do it, then they'll strip me of my title." Ed grabbed at his hair and moaned again. "We've been so damned busy, I completely forgot. They'll be up my ass about this any second."

Izumi hopped to her feet and crossed to the room's phone. "Excellent. I'll just call Central HQ and let them know you're quitting."

"What?!" Ed leapt up after her and shook his head frantically. "No, no, no, I can't quit. I still need access to their files and if I back out, Lissa gets shipped off to Central and stuck with some other stupid alchemist instead." He grimaced, already knowing his fate. "There's nothing for it now. Liss and I have gotta go there in person to give the report and handle all the paperwork."

"Both of you?" Izumi asked, with a bit of a bite to her tone. Lissa almost winced away from her.

Ed nodded grimly. "Yeah. She's my trainee, so she's expected to confirm it and add something about her continued education. It's all crap anyway, just a stupid formality. But if we both don't show up it'll be a huge mess."

Lissa stood up and exchanged an unhappy grimace with him. The yearly assessment meetings weren't exactly a party—mostly formalities, red tape, and plenty of bluffing on Ed's part. They were also a bitter reminder that Lissa was still needlessly being kept from her exams, when she'd long since reached a point where she should've been fast-tracked, especially considering all her experience in the field. But no, she kept getting shoved under the rug.

"We'd better get packed," Lissa sighed wearily. "It's gonna take at least a day to get back to Central on such short notice, and we're already late." Ugh… She really wasn't looking forward to the impending lecture from Mustang, either.

"Wait, isn't Southern HQ just a couple stops away?" Al pointed out helpfully. "Why don't you just go there instead?"

"Oh, yeah!" Ed brightened a bit. "Good idea. Thanks, Al!"

Quick as they could, Ed and Lissa threw on their traveling clothes, stuffed a couple spares into the suitcase—with Lissa adding some first-aid supplies as well—and within five minutes, they were waving goodbye to Al and Izumi and heading off for the station. Ed bought two tickets on the train heading south just ten minutes later, which was perfect.

"I hope they don't hold us up too long since we're late," Ed lamented, kicking his legs underneath the platform bench they'd snagged.

Lissa wrinkled her nose. "They shouldn't. Just put in something about how you were doing research in Dublith, and wanted to follow your lead and wrap up your loose ends before you put in your report."

"Good idea." He grinned at her. "See, this is why I make you help me write these things. You're as good at bullshitting as I am."

She rolled her eyes fondly. "Well, I hear so much useful material all the time, you see…"

Ed poked her side with two fingers, making her squirm. "Thanks for that."

Lissa swatted his hand away and peered down the tracks, where she'd heard a train whistle blow. Sure enough, their train was rolling into the station right on time—a blessing, really. "D'you think Al will be okay? He is stuck all on his own with Ms. Izumi."

"Eh, Teacher won't rough him up too bad. She'll probably put him to work, mostly, since he can't actually get stronger." Ed rose and grabbed up the suitcase, tucking his cloak over the same arm and offering her a hand. "C'mon. If we hurry, we can get seats all to ourselves. I bet this train'll be super empty, hardly anybody wants to go further south than here."

She quirked a smile, glad that even after their little…moment earlier in the week Ed was still comfortable with their closeness. Besides, it felt so natural to hold his hand, to be close with him, even in a way that was purely friendly—she wouldn't give that up for anything.

Sure enough, they went all way to the last car on the train and managed to get two whole benches to themselves, though a couple other riders gave the two dirty looks as they took over the entire space. Lissa just grinned and ignored them, spacing out the suitcase and Ed's cloak to take up one bench, while she took the space beside him and stretched her legs across to rest on the opposite bench. "Well, it's…what, a couple hours down to South City? It shouldn't be too bad."

"Yeah, just a couple hours." Ed eyed her curiously. "How'd you know? Neither of us has been down this far before and I was the only one who read the schedule."

"I have, I used to go to South City all the time, and up to Dublith sometimes too," Lissa answered offhand, shrugging. "Fekief was the closest train station anyway, so it was a horse-and-carriage or a long-ass walk to the station, and then about…I think four or five hours all the way to Dublith."

Ed stared at her blankly, and Lissa wondered what she was missing. Why did he think she was being so….crazy? "Um, Liss… I'm kinda lost here. When did you do all that?"

Lissa pressed both hands to her mouth, suddenly feeling dizzy and overwhelmed, scarcely able to breathe. "I… Oh my gosh… I just…remembered, Ed… I remembered that from when I was a kid, before I came to Central, before my parents passed away! I remembered something!" She grabbed his shoulders and grinned, absolutely overjoyed with the sudden knowledge. "Fekief is the closest train station to Rayerk, where I was born! I didn't even know I knew that!"

He laughed and hugged her, crushing her into his chest and pressing a kiss to her forehead. "That's amazing, Liss! Oh, man, I was so freaking confused for a second, I thought I'd totally lost it!"

"Sorry," she giggled, pulling back a bit sheepishly. "I didn't even realize it; I'm so used to not remembering anything that it didn't hit me at first." Lissa tucked a strand of hair behind her ears, suddenly feeling more than a little nervous—he'd been so…casual about it, kissing her forehead that way, but… But she couldn't let things like that happen.

Not that it would be easy, considering they were facing a couple days alone.

"So what exactly did you remember?" he asked curiously. Lissa fought the urge to lean closer when he sank into the back of the bench and slung his left arm around her shoulders, casual and sweet.

"I remember traveling to South City for errands and things we couldn't get out in the middle of nowhere," Lissa mused, tipping her head back as she poked at the memories she hadn't even known she had. "It felt like it was so far as a kid to go all the way to Dublith, like we were going to the other side of Amestris or something. It's weird, though…" She felt a pang in her chest as she registered what felt so strange about those memories. "In all of this…I still hardly remember my parents. I remember their presence, I know they were around for it, but… It's all so fuzzy and indistinct."

Ed's hand tightened on her shoulder and pulled her into him. "I'm sorry, Liss. I wish I could help you with this stuff, I really do."

She frowned at him. "But you do help me. You and Al, every single day you help me by just…being there. It kind of screws with your mind, not really knowing your own childhood… You feel like you're missing something essential…" Lissa smiled when his fingers clamped down again. "But… It's easier because I don't have to do it alone, you know? I have you guys, and you're real, I don't have to rely on photographs or weird distant memories… And that's enough for me."

Slowly, his lips quirked up into a smile, though his hand didn't let up on her. "You know we're not going anywhere, right? It's not gonna be like your parents. Me and Al, we're always gonna be right there with you. You're pretty much stuck with us."

"You're stuck with me," Lissa teased back, grinning now. She appreciated him keeping it lighthearted—kind of his way of refusing to let her get too far down into her emotions. "I mean, I basically forced my way in three years ago. I refused to let you have any other options than to let me tag along."

He smirked and ruffled her hair, which she'd left down for the first time in several days—having it down wasn't conducive to training after all. "Psh. We wanted you around."

"That's nice to hear, at least." She shuffled down in the seat just a bit, conscious she was looking down on him when she sat at her full height. "Well, hopefully this doesn't take more than a day or two to get sorted out. Which reminds me… You have to write your report."

Ed groaned and rubbed his hand over his face. "Ugh. I don't wanna."

"It's either that or explain to the guys here at Southern HQ why you don't have one," she pointed out wryly.

"Yeah, yeah…" He sighed and yanked his notebook out of his pocket, thumbing to an unused page and reluctantly beginning to draft out a report. Lissa gave up and rested her head on his shoulder, exhausted of fighting the desire—and bit her lip when he leaned over, almost absently, and brushed his lips across her forehead.

Two days alone in South City. I'm so screwed.


The whole "assessment in South City" schtick is purely manga - and it affects the upcoming events back in Dublith just a bit too. But that'll become clear in the next couple chapters. (Also, poor Lissa.)