Chapter 3 "The Newspaper and Auto-Mail"

Ed

Edward put the phone back on it's receiver.

"Let's go to bed, Al." he said, yawning.

"Sure..." Al agreed. He was pretty tired, too.

"We have a big day ahead of us tomorrow, don't we, Al? Heading back to our hometown..."

"Yeah..."

Next day, train station

"G'bye, Colonel." Ed said, saluting. Col. Mustang raised his hand.

"Get going, you'll miss your departure time, Lieutenant." he said with a smile.

"Lieutenant? Since when?" Ed asked, an eyebrow raised. Col. Mustang laughed.

"Yesterday! The Fuhrer sent me a letter that stated you, Edward Elric the "FullMetal Alchemist" was to receive one rank for outstanding work in all previous research and investigations."

"Huh...tell him thanks." Ed said, his mind drifting. The train's horn brought him back.

"ACK! You're making me late, Colonel!" he shouted over his shoulder as he and Al rushed to the door. Col. Mustang just laughed and waved.

"Well, seeing as I'm Lieutenant now, I'll help you up to the top, okay?" Ed said through the window. Roy's face grew somber as they remembered an old friend.

"Yeah." he said, with a small smile. "Thanks, Ed."

"See ya'round, Colonel."

"It's pretty hard thinking about Hughes now isn't it?" Al asked, when the train moved forward and past different places.

"Yeah..." Ed said sadly. Their mother had been gone for a little over a year now, and now they lost their closest friend. "That stupid letter! If it hadn't come we wouldn't be like this! And to think the first one didn't get here to us for a whole year and a half! That's the one that said that she was dead, but no! It didn't get here, so we kept sending her letters until one was finally replied to! And that one had past tense meaning she had died before that letter was written and sent! I feel miserable, Al!"

"Don't stress yourself. Remember what Dr. Nina Tucker said? She said to not stress yourself."

"You're right, Al." Ed curled up into a ball and slept the rest of the way.

Rizenbul train station

"Jee, I hope you remember the way back to the house, Ed! I don't recognize this place at all!"

"That's because 've never been here! Here, wait here, Al, don't move. I'm going to call Winry."

"Okay..." Al said timidly, firmly planting his feet.

"Hello, Miss Rockbell? Uh, yeah, this is Edward Elric speaking from the Rizenbul train station. I know you don't know me, but could you help us find an address? My brother Alphonse and I haven't been here in a while and you're the only person our mother used to know here. I'm sorry if I'm causing inconvenience..."

"No, no! It's okay! I can take a break soon anyways. How long are you two going to stay?" said Winry.

"Thanks alot! Um, well, how long does it take to re-dock an auto-mail arm? I kind of messed it up yesterday..."

"Oh, well, concidering who you're going to for repairs, I'd say about three days!"

"Really? Oh that's great! Thanks, Miss Rockbell!"

"You can call me Winry." she said shyly. "I'll be there as quick as I can! What platform are you on?"

"Platform 2, Winry." Ed said with a smile. "I'll see you, then!"

"Al! You still there? Oh, good! Guess what? Winry's going to pick us up!"

"Yay! Did it bother her that you are a stranger calling?"

"No, I don't think so...I think she would have said no if I hadn't said my name..."

"Why's that, Brother?"

"Uhn...nothing..."

several minutes later

"Brother, where's Winry?" Al asked.

"Oh, she's coming." Ed replied, he had been reading a newspaper all that time and didn't notice how much time had passed. It was almost evening.

"Brother...I'm cold and it's getting late...let's go try to find the town on our own..."

"Fine," Ed said, getting up and looking at the clock. It was 4:30. "ACK!"

They ran around looking for some kind of tansportation device they could use. A car pulled up and the driver asked if they needed a lift.

"Yes, please!" the brothers said at the same time.

their hometown

"Wow...it's pretty here." Al said, in awe. The sky was red from the sunset.

"Yeah..." Ed whispered. He saw something by the river. "WHOA!" he gasped and hid behind a rock; he pulled Al over to him.

"What is it?" Al asked.

"Look by the river..."

Al gasped, too. They watched the young lady play along the beach with some small children. "Who is that, Brother?"

"That's...that's Winry, Al... she's busy, let's go back..."

"Go back to Central?"

"Yeah...I'm embarrassed...I don't want to walk up to her like I know her and say 'Can you fix my arm?' I'm not going to do that!"

And, so, they trompsed around back to the station and after a long night on the train they were back in Central.

Winry

As Winry sat on the beach remembering that earlier in the day she had tried to leave the house to help the Elric brothers find their way. But Pinako had stopped her.

"Don't get carried away just because he was the one on the radio!" Pinako had scolded her.

Winry sighed. Some kids had run up to the beach to play and skip rocks. One of them had sat on a rock to watch. Winry walked up to her.

"What's the matter?" she asked.

"I'm shy..." the little girl said, twiddling her fingers and pushing her toes into the sand.

"That's okay." said Winry, smiling. "I'm Winry, do you want me to help you build a sandcastle?"

The girl smiled.

"I'm Samantha, but you can call me Sammy. Thank you!"

They played on the beach building sandcastles then before the sun set, they rolled up their pants and waded into the water a bit. They watched the little fishes swim around their feet and they giggled when they were tickled.

They heard a small yelp from up on shore. Winry looked and saw a tiny flash of red.

"Don't worry, kids." she said smiling. "It's probably just someone walking their dog."

They laughed and played in the water until it got too cold to swim and play in the sand. They all said good bye and went home.

Winry looked out her window upstairs and thought about the radio show she had heard three days ago. She daydreamed about what Edward Elric looked like and where he lived.

Well! Here's chapter 3! I hope you like! Chapter 4 is coming soon!