AN: The characters and concepts of FullMetal Alchemist belong to Hiromu Arakawa. This story revolves around the first anime of FullMetal Alchemist, not the manga. Do not flame because of that small difference, I've read the manga and seen the real anime that follows it, but the first anime is what captured my heart about FMA, so this story is tribute. Enjoy the story. The lyrics are "It's Time" by Imagine Dragons, I do not own the lyrics to the song. -Carrie.
"It's time to begin, isn't it? I get a little bit bigger, but then I'll admit;
I'm just the same as I was. Now don't you understand?
That I'm never changing who I am."
Ed watched the rolling green hills of his home town until they melted away into the next town, and the town that came after that one. He didn't look at the girl sitting across from him until they were nearly an hour from Resembool, too far for her to hop off the train and run back to the Rockbells'. The send off had been a tense one. Carlina stood in the doorway with her suitcase already packed, everything thrown in so quickly, it was obvious she had spent many years planning the journey.
A stiff hug was Pinako's parting gift when breakfast was over and she disappeared to fill an order for an old friend. A couple of hours had passed, she was still working in one of the back rooms. Winry was crying and kept trying to hide the other girl's suitcase. Ed and Al both knew it was probably hard for her to watch the other girl leave, but the intention behind her actions was lost. Instead of Carlina seeing how distraught her friend was and taking a moment to reconsider, the constant game to find her luggage left the departing girl more eager to leave.
The brothers both hugged Winry goodbye, while Carlina just shot her a glare and turned heel for the front gate. Now that they were comfortable on the train, Ed took a moment to actually look at the pinkette for the first time since leaving the Rockbell residence.
Her hair had faded a bit after washing it that morning, distinct blond tones were poking through. She wore boots like Ed's with yellow soles, a knee-length skirt and white gloves. The top she wore was similar to his own, but tailored for a girl. Every time she moved her right arm, the sleeve would hike up enough for faint white lines, visible on her human arm. Carlina moved and the sleeve rode up a little more, while Ed squinted and leaned forward in his seat. Are those words- his thoughts ended abruptly as his companion cleared her throat and pulled the sleeve back down her forearm.
"Something on your mind, Ed," she asked, shifting uncomfortably under his gaze. "Why did you do it, the taboo? You're from a super alchemist family, you should have known better." Carlina winced and shook her head, chuckling sadly under her breath, "Of course, you wouldn't understand how it is."
Ed started to chuckle, catching her off guard. "Actually, I know better than you think-" he got cut off as the train lurched to a stop, nearly sending Carlina flying into his lap. Al caught her before she landed, placing her on her feet on the compartment floor. She sprung to the window before either brother could react, yanking it open and sticking her head out. Gluttony stood by the door to the conductor's compartment, watching as Lust walked out with the conductor skewered on her nails. She retracted them and let his body collapse into the dirt, turning her violet eyes directly to the window Carlina leaned out of.
Carlina hoisted herself up and almost completely out the window before Ed grabbed her ankle. "What do you think you're doing," he hissed, trying to pull her back inside. "Going out. They're here for me, I don't want anyone else getting hurt." "How do you know-" Ed's question ended from the sound of footsteps, the two sins strolling up the side of the train.
"Dear, we need you to come with us," Lust crooned when she was within earshot, looking past the brothers at Carlina. "This is about my teacher, isn't it," Carlina asked Lust, kicking out of Ed's grip and landing on the ground. Clapping her palms against the side of the train, Carlina watched all the windows and doors slam closed, locked tight. "Yes Lina. We've been searching for him for some time. He never showed himself after your family died, we need a more personal bait." "What makes you think he would fall for your tricks?" "We're only guessing. If he doesn't, we still have other uses for you," Lust nodded toward Gluttony as drool began trickling from the corner of his mouth.
Inside the train, Ed clapped his palms against the window repeatedly, but the invisible locks would not release. The muffled voices of the brothers made the hairs on the back of Carlina's neck stand up, "You should know I'm not coming without a fight."
Her stance became lower to the ground, palms open and facing the two sins with a smirk on her face. "Of course, I expected no less," Lust spoke with a smirk of her own, watching the brothers frantically scramble in their compartment. "Brother what do we do, we have to help her! She can't fight them on her own," Al wailed, drawing a circle on the wall and sighing when his alchemy failed to unlock the window. "I think I've got an idea," Ed spoke slowly, standing on the seat and reaching his hands for the ceiling. He was a few inches short, growling and crouching on the floor instead. Clapping his hands against the floor, yellow light flashed and constructed a ladder connecting the ceiling to the floor.
Ed clambered up the ladder, pressing one of his palms against the ceiling. While the brothers were scrambling inside the train, Carlina had already begun the fight with the two sins. Lust brought her nails down on an arch and narrowly missed cutting open Carlina's leg. The girl slid to a stop, turning and punching Gluttony between the eyes as he snapped his jaws at her.
Gluttony came back with a closed fist, connecting with Carlina's stomach and sending her flying into the side of the train. She wheezed and clutched the place where he hit her, a small trickle of blood coming from the corner of her mouth. A blue light came from the top of the train, the sins looking with wide eyes while Carlina struggled to see straight up the side. Ed sat in a manned cannon mounted on the top of the train, smirking as he fired the first shot. The cannon ball clipped Gluttony's left arm, blowing it off. He staggered away as his arm regenerated, Carlina pressing her hand into the side of the train. She pulled her hand away, grasping the hilt of the sword she had transmuted.
Dodging under Lust's nails again, Carlina ran up behind Gluttony and cut through his head, watching as the fat sin collapsed. Lust shot her nails out again but they broke from another cannon ball fired by Ed. Gluttony's head started to regenerate, Carlina backing up toward the train while Lust moved toward her comrade.
"It's obvious we aren't taking you today, but we aren't through with you," Lust said, glaring at Ed before running off into the line of trees with Gluttony. Carlina took a deep breath, slouching and clutching her ribs with her right hand. She staggered over to the train, pressed her left palm against the side and heard the windows and doors all release their locks. Grasping the edge of the window with her left hand, she released her ribs long enough to pull herself into the compartment. Al immediately pulled her into a hug, shaking her back and forth, "What were you thinking, going out there alone? We were so worried, what were you going to do if they caught you!?"
Carlina started chuckling, "I didn't have a plan, so I guess it's a good thing I didn't get caught." Ed smacked her upside the head with his human hand, the three sharing sheepish grins that dropped off into silence. "What do the Homunculi want with your tutor," Ed asked, trailing off as he stared at her face. Al looked now too, both with mouths slightly ajar as she stood and backed toward the door.
"What's-" She cut herself off as her ribs pulsed again, wincing and wiping her mouth on the back of her hand. Her white glove shown a streak of red as she started chuckling nervously. "These are all questions for another time, we have to get the train running," she rushed over her words and ran toward the conductor's compartment with the brothers on her heels. "Carlina, wait," Ed finally caught up with her, grabbing her hand in his just as she reached the compartment. She jerked her hand out of his and jumped out the door, appearing a few seconds later with the body of the conductor on her back. She rolled it into the floor and climbed back in, somberly closing his eyes before looking over the train's controls.
"How do you expect to get this thing running again," he asked skeptically, looking over her shoulder at the controls. Al appeared in the doorway with the two suitcases in his hands, looking around the compartment. "With electricity, of course," Carlina trilled, clapping her hands together against the floor.
A few minutes passed before the train started to hum, pulling forward and beginning to speed toward Central. On the platform, Ed and Carlina fabricated a story to the military police about the train getting hijacked by some thugs who ran off into the woods. The family of the conductor tearfully claimed the body and thanked the two alchemists for not leaving it behind in the confusion. As soon as things were clear, Carlina pulled the Elrics through Central and straight to the military base. Ed flashed his watch to the guards as Carlina blew right past them, neither batting an eye that she showed no identification.
"I'm home, I'm finally home," she whispered, looking around the hall excitedly. "You've been here before," Al asked, receiving enthusiastic nodding in response. Carlina opened her mouth to respond but cut herself off, taking deep breaths through her nose.
Without another word she took off with the brothers on her heels, rounding the corner in the hall and nearly colliding with Jean Havoc. Instantly her demeanor changed, batting her eyelashes and looking at the Lieutenant innocently. "Sorry sir, the smell of cigarette smoke was just too appealing, it reminded me of someone I knew," she rambled on, the Elrics catching up and looking confused. Havoc looked confused as well, surveying her and asking, "Who would that be...?" A wide grin split Carlina's face as she looked him directly in the eyes, "My brother, your best friend, Mr. Carlton Joihanson."
The cigarette fell from Havoc's lips and he began coughing, his eyes wide as he looked at the girl. "Carlina," his exclamation, accompanied by wrapping his arms around her tightly and spinning her in a wide circle. "Hello Havoc, I'm home! Where's the rest of my family," she asked, her eyes twinkling as the older man continued to hug her.
AN: And with that, our girl is back in her rightful home. Obviously she knows Havoc, and the next chapter will continue with the rest of her extended family coming into play. Special thanks to Ed's.Curious.Kitten for the review on the last chapter! Thanks for reading, I hope it was enjoyable. More reviews and feedback would be greatly appreciated! -Carrie.