"No act of kindness,
no matter how small,
is ever wasted."
- Aesop
Amelia watched as the landscape changed from cities to small homes in small towns, to rolling hills as they got further from Central and more into the countryside. The trip had been going on for the better part of the day, with the Major finding excuses to get up so he wouldn't have to deal with Ed's glaring. It hadn't been easy getting him to stay on the train after suddenly taking him from his hotel, but he seemed willing to see what was at the end of the line for them.
"It doesn't make sense." Edward muttered, and Amelia glanced over at him as she heard him, "Resembool isn't just far out of the way, but the only reason I go is because of Winry, and she's in Central right now…" He paused and looked over to see Amelia looking at him, "What?"
"You know how weird you look when you talk to yourself?" She asked, and Edward's face flushed in shame before he scowled at her.
"Shut up. You want to know what's going on too, don't you?" He snapped back.
"Of course, but the Major isn't going to tell us, especially after you've asked him like a hundred times." She said with a frown, "Whatever is going on, he's clearly not going to tell us until we get to wherever we're going." Ed only grumbled more, and he crossed his arms.
"He mentioned these were orders…" He muttered, and Amelia sighed as she sat back in her own seat, rolling her eyes as he kept going. She let him keep talking to himself, wondering just when he would stop talking. Eventually, he did and let out a frustrated sigh, "I just can't understand why Mustang would send him to Resembool and take me with him."
"Maybe it's an apology?" Amelia offered, "I mean, after everything that just happened with Ross, he might want some space from you guys and give you a little vacation." She didn't like mentioning it, but it might be a pretty clear reason for why this was happening.
"But then why are we going all the way out to Resembool? If he wanted to put us on leave, he could do that. He could bar us from entering Headquarters entirely, because of that leave." Edward said, "But instead, he's sending us out to my hometown. Just us, not both me and Alphonse."
"Well, Al isn't military, right?" Amelia shrugged, "Though it doesn't really make sense that he wouldn't come with, I don't know why Armstrong said he couldn't…" Edward had told her a little bit about what had happened when the Major came to pick him up, how he punched him in the automail shoulder and talked about taking him to Resembool for repairs but keeping Alphonse from going by saying he would stick out too much. "This is really weird, I agree. But I don't think it's anything dangerous, otherwise the Major wouldn't have let me come." He didn't really seem too satisfied with that answer, but it was all she could come up with at the moment.
He let out a groan, "I can't stand being left in the dark like this!" He stood up from his seat, "And how long can it take for that one man to use the bathroom?"
"Train bathrooms are weird." Amelia said, wrinkling her nose, "Everything is shaking and junk, it's hard to concentrate in there."
"It's not that hard to concentrate in the bathroom," Edward said.
"Depends on what you're doing in there," Amelia responded.
Edward grimaced, "You're disgusting."
"You're disgusting." She reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone, not as fully charged as she'd like it to be, but she should be able to find a place in Resembool… if that was the end of the line. She put one earphone in her ear and was about to put in the other when Edward spoke up.
"What do those even do?" He asked, and she looked over at him.
"I use them to listen to music."
"How? That thing doesn't have a radio signal, does it?" He leaned over to get a closer look at it, and Amelia held it closer to her chest.
"I will absolutely drop kick you if you touch this." She sneered at him.
"Well you never let me see it, so of course I'm going to ask about it every time I see it," Edward said. Amelia rolled her eyes and reached for the other earphone, holding it out to him.
"Fine. Here." He stared at it for a moment before taking it and putting it in his left ear.
"I don't hear any music." He said, looking at her oddly.
"I have to find some first, shut up." She said as she scrolled through her music list, trying to pick something that would match the music tastes of the early 1900s, not wanting to freak him out with something from the modern day that he would have no idea about. She eventually found some music from Beethoven and played one of his symphonies, the sound of the piano and strings coming through clearly for both of them and Ed's eyes widened as he listened.
"It's really clear." He said, surprised.
"Well, you couldn't hear it if it wasn't." Amelia quipped, earning her a glare from Edward. She pulled on the headphone to bring it back to herself, cleaning it off before putting it back in her ear and changing the track, "Now I'm sure you can find something else to do." Edward frowned as she purposefully ignored him, crossing his arms as he went back to trying to think of a reason why all of this might be happening. She didn't pay attention to him as she looked out over the landscape as the train rolled on.
When Edward suddenly stood up, she looked up to see the Major had returned from his trip to the bathroom and Edward marched over to him, probably demanding more answers. Amelia couldn't hear what they were saying, but it was clear that the Major wasn't telling him anything and she watched Edward storm off to another car as the Major came back to his seat. He looked over at Amelia, who gave him a small smile that he didn't return. He wasn't exactly pleased to be here, under orders of the man who had killed his subordinate officer. She paused her music and put her phone away, looking up at him.
"I guess you're still not telling Ed what's going on." She said, "Did they tell you anything besides meet up in Resembool?"
"Unfortunately, no." The Major said, sighing as he brought his hands up to his head, his one blonde curl lost behind his large fingers as they threaded together. "Just a rendezvous, that's all I was told."
"This is really weird." She commented, "I know he's your superior officer, but couldn't you have said no? I mean, this is your leave time, you should be doing what you want to do. Or at the very least help me out with alchemy." And finding a new teacher, "We could go over some lessons if you want?"
"I suppose that would be the best use of our time." He said, "This train is a direct line to Resembool, no stops. We should be there by early tomorrow morning. We'll have a lot of time to talk then."
"Yeah, I guess," Amelia said, and she glanced over to where Edward had stormed off, not seeing him come back yet. She sat up a little straighter as she and Armstrong went over some of the more detailed parts of alchemy. A lot of it was memorization of the periodic table of elements, but also just learning what kind of reactions made what, it was more familiar to her now. It was almost like having a chemistry tutor, and she was getting better at it one lesson at a time. And while she hoped they could continue their lessons, they both knew better.
Armstrong watched as Amelia took her diligent notes, ever the careful student, and there was a part of him that was proud to see how she had progressed from when she had first come here such a short time ago. He thought over the time they had together, had it really only been over a month ago that she had met him? It felt like so much longer, and she had made beautiful progress, but he wouldn't be able to keep teaching her like this. He would need to make sure that her next teacher would be someone who would work with her progress, rather than hinder it by having her begin again. And hopefully be someone that she would respect and be respected by in turn, though he knew that was something of a long shot, given her criminal status.
After a while, Edward came back and sat beside Amelia, their lesson pausing for a moment, "Where have you been?" She asked the teenager.
"I went to the dining car to get a snack." Was his reply, and they left it at that as they went back to the alchemy lessons. Edward didn't seem particularly pleased with this, but he let them continue. Armstrong saw how he would glance their way as they began to discuss different aspects of bio-alchemy in regard to the human body, and he had an idea.
"Okay, so I get this, but what exactly makes up a person?" Amelia asked, "I know carbon's in there, and ammonia, water, obviously…"
"Edward Elric," The boy turned his head to the Major at the sound of his name, "You are well-acquainted with this particular field, are you not? I feel there are some aspects of bio-alchemy that you might be better at explaining."
"Sure." Edward turned to Amelia, "The human body has a lot of basic elements in it, all in their usual measurements. You start with 35 Liters of water, 20 kilograms of carbon…" He continued on as he listed out the elements and their measurements, explaining what he could about the different reactions that are caused by placing these ingredients together, with Amelia nodding along and listening intently. She listened as he explained the basic theory behind how alchemy could help to seal a wound by manipulating the proteins in the skin. All the while Armstrong sat back and let them talk, watching as Edward gave his own impromptu lecture on the alchemical properties of the human body, teaching Amelia all that he could. He was impressed, despite how often they clashed when it came to learning alchemy they both seemed to be on the same page. There were no dry comments or sarcastic insults, just a student and her teacher.
Well, that certainly made his search a little bit easier to handle.
As the trip went on, they slept through the night until morning, when they finally arrived at Resembool. Amelia could hear the voice of the conductor calling out to them and the scant others that were at the train station as they announced their arrival. She walked out with the Major, Edward walking with them with a scowl on his face. "Are you ever going to tell me what's going on?" Edward asked the Major, who had hardly said a word since that morning after he demanded answers he still didn't receive, "This is starting to feel a little too much like a kidnapping."
"I haven't been fully informed on the details," The Major recited to him yet again, "My only orders were to retrieve you and rendezvous here."
"Rendezvous? With who?" Edward asked, and again he didn't receive an answer from the Major, though this time it was his own eyes that gave him the answer.
Just ahead of them, down the road with a brown bag at his feet, dressed in a casual suit, with his overcoat thrown over his arm, and a bag with a couple bread loaves sitting in the curve of his elbow, sat a rather rotund redhead that all three of them were able to identify pretty quickly, especially as he stood to salute the Major.
"I'm glad you made it alright, Major Armstrong, sir." He called out to him as he saw him coming. He dropped the military etiquette for a moment when he saw Edward and Amelia, "Hey! 'Sup, big guy?"
"Lieutenant Breda?!" Edward was in disbelief that he was their rendezvous, whereas Amelia was in disbelief for other reasons.
"Hey! I remember you!" She smiled, glad to see him again as she started to walk over to him.
"Well, if it isn't the little lady." He smiled as she came up, "I haven't seen you in quite a while."
"And you know, you still owe me a rematch on that card game." She laughed a little.
"We can get to that later." He promised, reaching to his side to pull out a small bag with some bread loaves, "I figured you guys might be hungry. It's not much of a breakfast, but a little bread and cheese will fill you up." He handed her the bag and she immediately picked out the loaf she liked most, ripping off the end with her hand and biting into the crunchy bread.
"Wait, how do you know Lieutenant Breda?" Edward asked as he came up, Amelia offering him the loaf, "Jeez, you couldn't use a knife?" He muttered that question more to himself as he pulled one out of the small bag and cut off a piece for himself.
"He was one of my prison guards after I got arrested when I first got here." Amelia quickly closed her mouth once she saw a few bits of bread crust go flying from speaking with a full mouth, "Sorry." She swallowed down the bite she had before speaking again, "He taught me how to play GOPS."
"What the hell is that?" Edward asked curiously.
"It means Game of Pure Strategy, and the little lady here isn't too bad at the game." He said and started walking away from the train station, gesturing for them to follow him, and so they did. "We had a nice little time in that prison cell."
"Yeah, I never really looked you up once I got out, but I didn't really think I could come over and have fun or anything with you," Amelia said, handing the bag of baked goods to the Major, who started to eat as well, handing some cheese to Amelia so she didn't just eat plain bread the whole time.
"That's fair, I didn't blame you for it, either." Breda said, "Not that I was expecting any kind of rematch. Hardly anyone can beat a strategic master." He gloated, and Amelia rolled her eyes at his response. Edward was a little dumbfounded at their interaction. They couldn't have met more than a couple times since Amelia was arrested, but they were both acting like they were old friends.
"Dude, I'm totally going to kick your ass next game." The pair of them laughed a little at her promise of victory.
"Lieutenant," The Major's voice caught everyone's attention, "Where exactly are we going? I was told to meet here in Resembool with you, but little else."
"I know, and I'm sorry to pull you guys out on another trip, but we have one more that we need to make before the day is out." Breda said, his voice losing that joking tone he had kept with Amelia when they had talked, "I have a contact waiting for us not too far from here. I have a car." He turned a corner, and Amelia could see the car in question, which had just enough space to fit the four of them, and no roof. It was a good thing it was a sunny day. "Everyone climb in, shouldn't be too long of a drive."
"This is all so secretive." Amelia said as she went to the backseat, Edward following her, "Can I at least get clued in as to what this is about? The Major doesn't know anything, I don't know anything, it's a little worrying to just meet you out here in the middle of some hick town."
"Hey!"
"Oh, come on Edward, you have to admit this isn't exactly Central City," Edward grumbled in response, and Amelia left it at that.
"Sorry, but I've been told we need to keep the surprise a surprise." Breda said, "But don't worry, it won't be anything bad if it helps."
"Not really." Amelia sighed as she sat back in the seat, hearing the engine rumble as Breda started up the car and made their way down the bumpy dirt road further into town.
"How long will this trip be?" Edward asked, "We just spent a whole day on a train."
"Don't worry, this ride will be pretty short." Breda promised, "Just sit back and relax a while. Feel the wind on your face and enjoy it."
The drive itself was pretty short, only about twenty minutes, but they were far from any sign of civilization. They had gone from the dirt road to off-road, riding alongside a river into a heavily wooded area, watching as the large trees thinned a little bit before they came to a stop. Breda had them all step out, making a gesture for them to hang back a moment before he stepped ahead of them.
"Stop." A voice called out from the trees, and Breda stood still, "As the cat rounds the tree, he finds the rabbit…"
"As the rabbit flees, the dog has his day," Breda replied, and that seemed to be enough for the man, stepping out from behind the tree, putting his gun away. "Allow me to introduce these good people, this is Alex, Edward, and Amelia."
"Good to meet you all. You may refer to me as Mr. Han." The mysterious man said. He had dark hair and pale skin, his eyes covered by a pair of sunglasses as he greeted them. "Alright, now we need to hurry and get going. We don't have much light and we have a lot of ground to cover before it gets too dark." He gestured for them to follow him as they moved deeper into the forest.
"Can someone please tell me where we're going?" Edward asked, "Who even is this guy, Breda?"
"That's Mr. Han, and he's doing this as a favor to us." Breda said, stepping a little closer, keeping his voice down just in case someone was nearby, "He's a world-class smuggler from Xing."
"Smuggler?" Edward's shocked repeat of the title quickly earned him a shush from Lieutenant Breda. "What are we doing with a smuggler?!" he kept his voice down as he asked Breda again.
"We're being smuggled, of course," Breda said, smirking a little before they came to where Mr. Han had been leading them. It was to a small area that had about five horses for all of them.
"I'm assuming you all know how to ride and mount these things." Mr. Han said as he went up to one and quickly mounted it, sitting up tall on the saddle, "Don't worry about directing them, I'll take the lead and the others should follow naturally. Everyone pick a horse, in each of their saddlebags are some hooded coats, I suggest you all put them on now before you regret it later. There's also a canteen of clean water for each of you." Amelia went to the first one she saw, reaching into the saddlebag to find a rolled-up coat, just like Mr. Han had said. It was a tan coat with long sleeves and she was able to put it on easily enough.
"It's a little warm for a big coat like this, isn't it?" Amelia asked as she put it on, seeing the Major and Edward doing the same with their own horses.
"That coat isn't to protect you from the cold." Mr. Han said, and he clicked his tongue and the horse started to walk. Amelia hurried to get up on her horse, and while she had a little difficulty, she managed and had it following after the others as they went deeper into the forest, into whatever "surprise" awaited them.
It had been three hours, the majority of which had been silent as they all rode. They rarely took breaks, but Amelia could already feel her legs getting sore as she watched the landscape change from green forest to a dirt-covered cliffscape, with no trees in sight. In the distance, she could see a warbling horizon of tan sand, and some buildings as well.
"Hey, what's that all the way over there?" She asked, pointing to it, getting Mr. Han's attention.
"That would be what's left of the Ishvalan territory." Mr. Han said, "It's got too many military men there for my liking, so we'll just be along the outside of it for now."
"Oh." Amelia looked back at the city, not able to make out much in the desert's growing heat, but she could make out a few buildings, and a little moving dot that she could only guess was a car full of soldiers that were patrolling the area. She didn't know much about the war, but from the sight of it, she could guess that the area was still occupied by the military. Did they have to worry about insurgents there? From what she understood, that part of the war was over, and most troops had been sent home, so why were there still people stationed out in the desert? She guessed there must have been a resource that Amestris wanted to use while they were there, like when the United States invaded Iraq after the 9/11 attacks and still stayed to try and get some of the oil that was there.
They walked on through the sand, and she was very glad to have the coats they were given as they walked out into the hot sun of the desert, the landscape was dry and unforgiving to all of them. She could tell that her horse wasn't exactly pleased with the weather either, seeing how badly it was sweating. She looked up to see the sky was completely clear so there was no chance a cloud could hover over them and give them a little shade somewhere… She let out a sigh and she just tried to bear it. There had to be a reason they were here, though she didn't like that they were going so far out into the middle of nowhere… "Do you think the colonel wants to get you killed out here? Because this heat will kill me in a minute or two." She groaned to the Major, who looked back at her at the mention of it.
"Make sure to drink some water, Amelia. We don't need you to be overcome with heat stroke." He advised her, though he didn't do much more, and Amelia guessed he was still suspicious about what was happening here, so he was keeping his words as short as possible. She followed his advice and took a sip from her canteen. She had been rationing it somewhat, since she didn't know how long they would be out here, or when they would find a place away from the sun.
"The colonel never said we'd be crossing the border…" Edward muttered from beside Amelia, "Tight-lipped bastard."
"We've been out here for hours." Amelia groaned, "How far do we have to go in this god-forsaken desert?!"
"Mr. Han, how much further do we have left?" Breda asked the man.
"We've almost made it." Mr. Han said, pointing ahead to something in the distance, "Look, you can see the ruins ahead." In the heat of the sun, the horizon wobbled and shook, but they could make out the remains of a civilization, white stone buildings all gathered together, columns that have cracked and collapsed with age, and not one sign of plant life so far away, but as they came closer to it, Amelia would be able to make out a little cactus or two in a couple of spots along the sand. As they came closer, Amelia would be able to see some plant life that had been left behind for who knows how many centuries that had overgrown and taken over different parts of the stone city. There weren't many buildings that were completely intact, most of them having a fallen hole in the ceiling or a collapsed wall.
As they came into the center of the city, a figure came out from behind a wall, "There you are, I've been waiting." It was an older man, well into his 70's, but still somehow spry enough to easily make the jump over a dilapidated wall to greet them as Mr. Han got the horses to stop.
"Old man Fu?!" Edward seemed to recognize him right away, scrambling to get off of his horse, "What are you doing here?!"
"Oh, you know each other?" Mr. Han inquired as he dismounted from his horse.
"Yeah, this crazy old man tried to kill me once!" Edward growled out, marching over to the older man as Armstrong and Amelia also got off their horses, "Why the hell are you here?! Did Ling send you out here?!"
"What is he talking about?" Amelia asked, looking up at the Major, who shook his head and shrugged. He didn't know what they were talking about either.
"I am here at the orders of the young lord, but I didn't know that you were coming." He stepped back as one of the horses got closer, heading for a pool of water to drink, and Edward noticed it too.
"We'll be able to fill up our canteens here for the trip back." Mr. Han said, "Once we've finished our business here, we should be able to head back when the sun goes down and it's much cooler."
"WATER!" Edward didn't care for Mr. Han's words as he ran for the pool, tossing off his coat and the jacket underneath before jumping straight in with a large splash that disturbed a couple of the horses as they drank. Amelia gave him an odd look until she saw some steam coming up from his body in the water. She could see how he relaxed inside the depths of it, and she figured his automail must have gotten terribly hot in all that heat. Edward sunk under the water, his words turning into bubbles as he sighed in relief, "My automail was about to sear through my skin…"
Amelia came over, reaching to fill up her canteen with the water and pulled back from it a moment later. "So, there's no more traveling from here, wherever we are?" She asked, looking over at Mr. Han and the older man named Fu.
"Whose idea was it to bring the kids?" Fu asked, ignoring Amelia's question as he looked at her and Edward.
"It was a direct order to bring Edward, and the Major here never really goes anywhere without his student," Breda explained, and the old man let out a displeased grunt, but said nothing more. Amelia capped off her canteen and went over to the horse that had carried her, watching as they drank from the pool. The horse had been pretty good to her, so she wanted to make sure it was at least well-watered.
When Edward felt his automail had cooled enough, he got out of the water, reaching up to take off his shirt to wring it out. Amelia looked up, and her eyes widened a little to see that Edward was actually kind of ripped. She looked over his stomach and saw a pretty muscular body, and as her eyes went further up to his shoulders, she noticed they were pretty broad, but his right shoulder was covered in scars… she could only imagine that was from whatever surgery was involved in putting automail on someone. Even years after that incident, they were all still so red and angry.
She hadn't realized she had been staring until Edward gave her a look, "What?"
"Oh, sorry." She looked away and stood up, going over to her teacher as he took a moment to relax in the shade of a nearby tree. She looked around and noticed the tents that were there, room enough for a few people, but she didn't see any others besides themselves and Mr. Fu. "So, does this place have a name?"
"It's the Ruins of Xerxes." Armstrong said, "It was said to be a very advanced civilization almost a thousand years ago, but it was also said to have been decimated in a single night after a great catastrophe." Amelia looked over the ruins, curious as to what that great catastrophe might have been. She might have guessed a flash flood, but that was unlikely in the middle of a desert, so that left some sort of natural disaster, but she couldn't really see any signs of damage on the old buildings other than simply age.
"Yeah, it looks just like the fable described it," Edward said, and Fu turned his head at those words.
"Did you say a fable?"
Edward looked back at him, nodding, "Yeah, the Eastern Sage. It's a story about the origin of alchemy in Amestris. It claims the entire Kingdom of Xerxes was destroyed in a single night, and that the only survivor wandered into Amestris shortly afterward. He was the one who went on to spread the science of alchemy."
"How interesting," Fu replied, "We have a similar legend in Xing about a drifter from the west. It's said that his teachings were combined with our ancient techniques to form the alkahestry we practice today."
"What's alkahestry?" Amelia asked, not following along with that story.
"Alkahestry is what they call alchemy in Xing, but it's not exactly the same." Edward explained, "As I've been told, alkahestry is primarily used for medical purposes, right?" He looked to Fu for confirmation.
"Yes, the drifter guided this process and we greatly revere him. We know him as the Western Sage." He replied.
"So, the 'west' in his title is supposed to refer to here?" Breda asked, looking over the ruins.
"It is believed so, yes," Fu confirmed. Breda let out a small, interested hum as he took in this information. "Come, our rendezvous point is further in the city, and we shouldn't waste daylight while we have it." Armstrong stood up to follow him, Breda, Mr. Han, Amelia, and Edward followed behind as the blonde started to dress again, taking advantage of the water on his clothes and letting them stay cool as they started to walk further into the remains of the city.
Amelia stayed by Edward as they walked, looking over at him, "So… how do you know that old man?" She asked, wondering how they met.
"He's the personal bodyguard for some Xingese prince I met not too long ago." Edward said, "There's him, and also his granddaughter named Lan Fan."
"How in the hell did you meet a prince?" She couldn't really see Edward as a diplomatic sort.
"Ling came to Amestris searching for immortality, it's all part of this weird competition he has to be emperor." Edward said, and grinned dryly as he remembered how they met, "He mooched food off of us and I had to pay a huge bill to that asshole…" Amelia snorted a bit in laughter, but she held it in for a moment. Ed looked over at him, "He's really weird, too."
"Well… at least it can't hurt to have a prince as a connection." Amelia commented. She looked up at the ruins around them, "I'm sure he can do a few things for you."
"He's one prince out of 25 or something." Edward said dryly, "Apparently he can't do that much with his power now, so he came here. Each of the emperor's kids is competing to see who which one will be the next emperor."
"Oh." Amelia's shoulders dropped a little at that news, not really sure how that kind of royalty process worked, but she just attributed it to another part of this weird world that she wouldn't entirely understand. She and Edward were quiet as they walked through the ruins, with her looking up at the remains of the once great, and large city that was Xerxes. She looked over the designs, everything reminding her of the Roman empire and the remains that she had seen once or twice in a textbook or two, or in just her basic history studies. "So, what was Xerxes known for?" She asked aloud to everyone that was there.
"Xerxes is seen as one of the foremost territories in the west." Armstrong began, "It was a highly advanced society, with multiple territories across this desert, and what information we have of these people suggest that the beginnings of alchemy were formed in this very city. The earliest alchemists studied Xerxean texts to gain a greater understanding of the science and have been advancing it ever since."
"Sure, but if it was such an advanced society, how were they wiped out in a single night?" Breda asked, "That's the part of the story I never really understood."
"It could very well just be a legend." Fu replied, "Nothing more than that." As they passed by the remains of a room, Edward paused to look up at the wall. He could see the remains of an alchemic circle carved into the stone, with the top half of the wall missing so he couldn't exactly tell what it was for, looking over the different designs, recognizing the different symbols carved in from his own alchemic studies. He ended up staring at the ancient carving as the rest of the group continued down the path that Fu was leading them to, though his absence was noticed by Amelia after a while.
"Ed?" She looked at the wall, seeing something like a transmutation circle, though she didn't understand much of what he was seeing.
Fu looked back at the sound of Edward's name being called, seeing the boy staring off at something that he couldn't, "What are you gawking at?! Come on!" He shouted, getting his attention, and Edward looked back at him before taking one more look at the carving and making his way to join the group again.
After a while longer, they went even deeper into the city and came to a shady area where the shadows of the collapsed walls covered over their path and hid all of them behind the stones.
"We're going in pretty deep now, aren't we?" Edward said in a quiet voice. He said it more to himself than to anyone else, but Amelia could tell that he was on edge, mostly because so was also on edge. They had been told to rendezvous out here, a gathering of ruins in the middle of the desert with no real reason being told other than that they were "orders" from their superiors, and Amelia was just dragged along because she had nowhere else to go. It didn't help that they were traveling with one of the subordinates of the man who had sent them out here, as well as some foreign bodyguard trained to kill and a relatively anonymous smuggler. One couldn't help but be a little fearful of what it meant to be in a group with these people, if they were to be left out here to rot in the sun, or something else.
"Edward!" A voice calling out grabbed their attention. The three of them turned to see a silhouette showing in the light above the cracking remains of the city, and at first, it was hard to see who it was, but Amelia's eyes widened as she began to recognize them. For a brief moment, she was reminded of the words from Colonel Mustang, "Back east, where I was, it's a nice place. None of the big city noise and lots of beautiful women." and couldn't help but wonder if that was his coded way of saying that Maria Ross was safe, considering that she was standing right in front of them.
"That… damn colonel!" Edward exclaimed, a smile growing on his face as he saw the woman. Armstrong's reaction was not quite so withheld, however.
But would he really be Alex Louis Armstrong if it was?
With tears streaming down his cheeks, the major threw off his cloak and his shirt as he cried out in a mixture of relief, happiness, and disbelief, "LIEUTENANT ROSS!" He sobbed as he reached to hug his subordinate, who grew pale and couldn't help but try to run from him, being chased by the man as he still cried out in his happiness, "THANK THE HEAVENS! MY HEART'S BEEN CONGESTED WITH GRIEF! COME, LET US OFFER YOU A WARM REUNION EMBRACE!"
"No hugs, Major!" The lieutenant cried out as she scrambled to run away from him, eventually running towards Amelia to try and use her as a buffer.
"What the hell, lieutenant?!" She tried to get back, but it was too late, she had been pulled into the muscle-bound embrace of a tearful Major Armstrong as he picked Amelia up off the ground with her face planted into his chest. As he sobbed and held Amelia tightly, Ross made her way behind Breda, who just laughed at the entire exchange.
"There wasn't really any place in Amestris that we could safely hide a dead girl," He began, "Especially one that's still alive, you know?" He reached back and pat the lieutenant on the shoulder, and she offered him a sheepish smile, mostly just glad she hadn't been caught in Armstrong's hug as he still held a struggling Amelia.
"So, the colonel knew that Lieutenant Ross was innocent all along?" Edward asked. Breda smiled and nodded.
"It's a bit of a long story, but I'm sure you'll want to know all about it." He said though he had to wait for the Major to calm down, and he eventually did. Amelia panted for breath as she was dropped out of his arms, back on her feet and stretching.
"Jesus, Major! That hurt." She said, rubbing at her shoulders where he had hugged her, knowing they would be sore for a little while after being so tightly squeezed. She looked over at the lieutenant, not really sure how to react as she saw her again after taking her for dead, "It's… It's really good to see you're alive." Lieutenant Ross smiled at her.
"I'm glad to see you again, too, Amelia." She said, and Amelia smiled back. It was admittedly relieving to know that they hadn't been the only ones to suspect everything wrong with her trial, but instead of trying to stop it from happening, they simply found it easier to go along with it and have her escape… though she wasn't entirely sure how that was managed.
Once the Major had put his clothes back on at the insistence of everyone present, they all took a seat in the shade and got comfortable as Breda explained how they had gotten to this point, "We thought it was strange from the beginning, how she was arrested so quickly and her guilt was announced before her trial had even begun, and the Colonel wouldn't have done anything about it until we got a phone call from a captive friend of ours." He looked over at Edward, "You remember that trip to the fifth lab? Those two armored guards that they had inside?" Edward nodded.
"Yeah… one was the Slicer brothers, and the other was some guy named Barry the Chopper, right?"
"We managed to catch Barry after he tried to attack Lieutenant Hawkeye. The Colonel decided to keep him under watch until we could use him to figure out a bit more about the people who made him to guard that lab," Breda explained, "And the same day the paper comes out, he calls the colonel to tell him about how he knew it was all wrong."
"Well, how would he have known?" Amelia asked.
"The way I heard it, he was the one that got Lieutenant Ross's bullet that she fired, not Hughes. Put a hole in his hand." He lifted up his own right hand as a gesture, "But that was when the colonel decided to put on a little show of our own to compete against the one for the Lieutenant's trial. He had Barry go out to the prisons to release her and made a good contact there at the same time, and while he was doing that, I was out gathering enough ingredients to make a fake human corpse to swap out for Ross's body. I don't know how the colonel managed to get ahold of her dental records without anyone noticing, but I didn't ask." He shrugged, "Once everything was set in motion, Ross was supposed to meet up with the colonel during Barry's rampage and her escape, come in as a soldier on a manhunt and burning her to death since she 'resisted.' But we weren't exactly counting on you showing up." He said pointedly to Edward.
"Oh, so that's why I'm here?" He asked, and he turned to Fu, "That doesn't really explain why you're here." Fu nodded.
"The contact Lieutenant Breda mentioned was the Young Lord, who had apparently been arrested on charges of illegal immigration," Fu said, and Amelia's eyes widened a little at that news. "After Madame Ross was prematurely freed, the Young Lord made a deal with Barry the Chopper. The orders I've been given are to personally escort this woman to the east to take refuge."
"So, we all agreed to rendezvous here, in one big effort to aid the Lieutenant's escape," Breda said. The Major nodded, letting out a thoughtful hum as he considered the plan that had been explained to them, and Amelia had to admit that she was thoroughly impressed with Colonel Mustang's work in freeing someone he knew was innocent, but Edward didn't look quite so convinced of the colonel's genius in figuring out this strategy.
"You've got to be joking. I can't believe the colonel was able to pull one over on us like this." Edward was still smiling, despite his comment.
"He knew it'd be easier to convince you if you actually saw Lieutenant Ross," Breda said.
Edward held up his hands, "Fine, I'll admit it, alright? He actually knew what he was doing this time."
"It sounds like he really knew what he was doing," Amelia added.
"He mentioned something else," Breda began, getting their attention, "He said he didn't want to take a chance on some hot-tempered kid endangering the operation, so he sent you out here." He grinned as he watched Edward's expression contort to an angry scowl.
"Hot tempered kid?!" He was clearly furious at being given a title that Amelia thought was pretty fitting.
"You said 'operation,' is there a phase beyond liberating Lieutenant Ross?" The Major asked.
"Indeed, he's got a plan to reel in the puppeteer," Breda answered, "The one that's behind the conspiracy that started all of this."
At these words, Edward forgot his angry rant about the colonel's disrespect, "No one calls me a-- Wait, what'd you say?"
Breda's grin only grew wider, "You remember Barry, right? He went on one hell of a rampage. They're bound to send someone to reclaim him."
"That seems dangerous." Amelia said, "But I guess you guys aren't too worried about losing him."
"We currently have him shacked up in a safe house with Warrant Officer Falman. He's been keeping an eye on him for the last week or so, but after this incident, we have Lieutenant Hawkeye and Lieutenant Havoc keeping an eye on the house. Whoever comes to get him probably won't get too far with those two keeping watch."
"Oh, yeah, Havoc." Amelia smiled as she remembered the other soldier who had kept her company in the prison, "How's he doing?"
Breda shrugged, "The transfer from East City to Central wasn't fun for him, but I hear he's got a new girlfriend now and she's keeping his thoughts occupied."
"Well, at least he found someone." She said with a laugh, only imagining how obnoxious Havoc must be now that he had a girlfriend to gush about.
"So, the plan is to simply trap whoever they send to reach him?" The Major asked, wanting some more details on the operation they had planned.
"Trap, interrogate, and identify the people higher up the chain." Breda said, "We think it might be some of the people from the fifth laboratory, or at least involved in it." He looked over at Edward, "That was part of another reason we brought you along, you're the only one that's seen anyone involved in that particular facility. Mustang looked up some of the reports that you made with Hughes before this happened, have you learned anything else about them since then?"
"Well…" Edward paused and thought before nodding, "Yeah, I've learned a little bit more since that trip to Dublith that Al and I took. He ended up getting kidnapped by a guy who had the same tattoo as the people from the fifth lab, and he claimed he was a homunculus, and there was a lot about him that definitely pointed to him not being human… I saw the same thing in the woman from the fifth lab, though not exactly."
"There was a woman in the fifth lab? We didn't see that in the report." Breda said.
"Sure, there was! I made a sketch of her." Edward replied.
"The sketch that looked like it was made from a preschool art class?" Amelia asked dryly, and Edward frowned.
"Okay, I'm better at drawing transmutation circles than people, so what?" He crossed his arms as he scowled at Amelia.
"Allow me, Edward Elric." The Major pulled out a small notebook and pen, "The Armstrong art of portraiture has never failed me before." Edward nodded and proceeded to describe what he remembered of the two homunculi he had met in the lab, the woman with long, dark wavy hair and what Amelia could only describe as eternal bedroom eyes with pouty lips. A part of her was a little jealous of her appearance, if only because she was so beautiful to look at. The other was a young man…? It might not have been a man, she wasn't sure just from the appearance, but Edward insisted they were and that was enough for now. The third was the one who identified himself as Greed that Edward met in Dublith, tall and lean with some muscles on him. He also made sure to draw out the transmutation circle he had seen for the philosopher's stone experiments that had been done, as well as the ouroboros symbol itself.
"So, there's something that's still bugging me about all this," Amelia spoke up, getting everyone's attention, "Why exactly did they frame Lieutenant Ross for the Hughes's murder? It can't be just because she happened to line up with what they read in his autopsy report about that single bullet. If that was the case, then they could have just as easily arrested Sergeant Brosh, since he fired a bullet for the same reason." She remembered that much from their investigation into Ross's trial. She looked over at the woman in question, "I mean, you don't have any connection to any of this, do you?" Her expression changed from neutral to one of exhaustion, and just general frustration.
"I've got nothing to do with this. Zilch." Ross sighed, "And yet, here I am. Stuck in the middle of it, and framed by homunculi."
"I guess it was just a luck of the draw, then…" Amelia said, reaching out and putting a hand on the Lieutenant's shoulder to comfort her, something the woman appreciated, smiling back at Amelia.
"We've gathered a fair amount of intelligence, and once we properly piece it together we'll have the General's killer," Breda said as he picked up the sketches of the homunculi portraits as well as that of the transmutation circle and the ouroboros symbol.
Armstrong crossed his arms over his chest and looked back at his subordinate, "I promise you this, Lieutenant: We will absolve you of this crime." Ross nodded, knowing that it wasn't going to be an easy promise for the Major to keep, but one she appreciated anyway.
"Lieutenant Col- I mean General Hughes…" Edward let out a heavy breath, "It's just hard to accept that he's dead." Amelia looked over at the younger boy, not really knowing if she should, or if there was anything she could say to help ease his grief over his friend. She didn't know Hughes as well as he did, and she didn't know what their relationship was entirely like, but she could understand how it was hard to accept that he was gone. Part of her found it easier to deny it, trick herself into thinking he was just off on some long vacation, or that he had quit the military and moved away even though she knew none of that was true, but she supposed that was just part of the grieving process.
"And what shall you do now, Edward Elric?" Armstrong asked.
Edward lifted up his head as he thought about his answer, "Al and I committed a taboo. We still have people that help us, some people get angry at us, others support us silently… each one of them has tried to help me keep my promise to my brother." Amelia saw his flesh hand gripping around his automail one, "So I have no choice, I can't turn back." His automail hand curled into a fist and he held it up, "All I can do is move forward, right? And I'll protect everyone I can along the way." His eyes narrowed slightly as his determination grew with every word, "I refuse to let another person become a victim, not while I'm alive." He released his automail fist and looked down at his open palms.
"That's a good promise to make to yourself," Amelia said softly, "But no matter how tough you are, you can't protect every single person all the time." It was a harsh reality to throw back at him, given what he just said, and Edward nodded at her words.
"I know that's a hard promise to keep," He admitted, "It's hard enough just trying to take care of myself. To think that I'm even capable of it… maybe I'm just arrogant, but it's the only thing I can think of… so I have to do it." He lifted his head, his golden gaze piercing into Amelia's brown eyes, "I have to."
Amelia was quiet as she heard his determination, his resolve to see to it that no one else would be a victim as he and his brother made their way to get their bodies back as they used to be, and she let out a breath, "Well, then I guess that's what you'll do." The corners of Edward's mouth twitched up, and he nodded back at her. All around them, the adults watched the two kids as they spoke to one another, hearing the naive and arrogant promise that was made, and Amelia couldn't help feeling that she had a better idea of who Edward was as a person beyond just the obnoxious know-it-all she had met however long ago.
"And you, Lieutenant?" The Major turned his attention to Ross, "Where do you intend to seek asylum?"
"Well, I think that I'm going to give Xing a shot." She replied with a determined smile of her own.
"Where is Xing, anyway?" Amelia asked, not even having heard of this place until today.
"Xing is the country that borders the very desert we're currently in." Fu replied, "It's the country directly east of Amestris, haven't you ever seen it on a map?"
"The only maps I've ever seen around here are Amestris and not much else," Amelia replied with a shrug. "Geography isn't exactly part of my current education." Though she hadn't been receiving much of an education these days, either… But what she didn't know that Armstrong had been watching her exchanges with Edward since they left together, and hearing Edward's promise was enough to cement a decision in his mind, though he would need to relay it to Amelia first before any action was taken.
After they compiled all of the intelligence they had on the homunculi, they headed out to camp, where Mr. Han and a few other members of his crew were waiting with horses for them. The day was starting to wane, and the heat was starting to die down as the sky changed from its bright blue to a pale yellow as the sun began its descent beyond the horizon, the shadows of the ruins of Xerxes stretching out further along the sand dunes as they walked with the lieutenant to see her off.
The Major made sure to walk with Amelia, putting his hand on her shoulder after a while to get her attention, "Amelia, I think I know who we can ask to be your replacement alchemy teacher."
"Really?" She didn't think he had been looking that much, but she was surprised to hear it now. "Who?" The Major nodded towards Edward ahead of them, and Amelia grimaced slightly, "Are you sure? We kind of hate each other."
"But when it comes to alchemy, you both seem to work well together." Armstrong said, "On the train, you listened and understood him as he explained those different concepts to you, and now the two of you seem to be without quarrel."
"We just talked about Hughes's murderer, that's not exactly the right time to be an asshole to someone." Amelia replied dryly, "And besides that, I'm pretty sure he would turn it down. He doesn't want anyone getting involved in this thing between him and his brother, and I doubt adding me into this mess would make him feel any better…" She had been pulled in too deep against her will already as it was, going in with Edward and Alphonse gave her no doubt that she would be pulled in deeper still to this conspiracy theory.
"Ask him first," Armstrong said, "See if he is willing to, now that the two of you know each other a little more. Despite what you may think, I can see the two of you getting along well in alchemical studies and pursuits." Amelia didn't share his certainty, but he smiled warmly at her, and she let out a small sigh.
"Alright… I'll ask him before we leave." She figured she could at least get that out of the way before they headed back to Central… or would she leave with Edward? Well, he would also be going back to Central, but she would be traveling with him from then on, and she wouldn't see the Armstrong family anymore. That thought struck a chord with her, not see the sisters anymore? She should at least take a moment to say goodbye to Catherine, Strongine, and Amue before she left them completely. She had really enjoyed her time with those girls, and she knew she would miss them… but hopefully, she would get a chance to visit them every once in a while, or exchange letters with them or something. They probably wouldn't take this news too well, she imagined that Catherine might take it the worst, given how she was the only girl even close to her height in that mansion, it was so easy to feel so small in comparison to her older sisters, which she always guessed attributed to her shyness.
She shook her head as she tried not to think about it too much. All of this was hypothetical, she hadn't even asked Edward if he would take her on as a student, much less if he would say yes to that. She could worry about the realities of his answer when he actually gave it to her.
As they came to the end of the ruins, they waited to give the horses one last drink of water and make sure they had everything packed for their journey eastward. Lieutenant Ross tended to the horse she would be riding, petting it and letting the animal get used to her so her ride would be pleasant for the both of them. Amelia realized as she watched the woman that she hadn't really gotten to know her that well, though she could see a kindness that shone through with her, even when they had just talked before she had seen it, and it was something that always put her at ease. She wondered if she would ever see her again… and thought it was probably best if she didn't, since that most likely meant she was safe if she wasn't seen in Amestris.
"Do you have any parting wishes?" Armstrong asked her, "Shall I tell your parents?" He imagined it would be a great relief for them to know their daughter was still alive, even if it meant she was still in hiding all the while.
Maria Ross turned away from her horse to face the Major, "No, sir. As much as I want them to know I'm okay, I'm scared it would be too much of a risk. I just don't want to put them in that kind of danger."
The Major nodded, "Very well."
Suddenly, the lieutenant straightened into a stance of attention, "Major Armstrong, Lieutenant Breda," The two men looked up at the sound of their names, "Please deliver a message to the colonel, I need him to know how grateful I am for what he's done. If there's any way I can help him, tell him to send for me." She moved up her right hand in a salute, "I owe him a great debt and I am willing to put my life on the line to repay it."
Major Armstrong and Breda both saluted her in return, though Amelia didn't since she wasn't sure it was appropriate if she should, and Edward seemed caught up in his own thoughts as they all said their goodbyes to Lieutenant Ross. As he began to lift his hand, Ross walked over and smiled at Edward as she held out her hand to him, "Goodbye, Edward. Take care of yourself, okay?"
The blonde smiled up at her, "I still owe you- for slapping me, that is." He said with a small chuckle, and Ross's smile grew a little wider at the memory.
"You can get me next time." She promised, and Edward reached out to shake her hand. She turned to Amelia next, "I know we didn't get to know each other very well, Miss Seymour, but I wish you the best of luck in everything you do from here on. Whether it's alchemy, or the piano, or something else you do that I don't know about."
Amelia let out a small laugh, "Sure, and I hope you have a safe journey that has a comfortable destination." She said, and she shook the lieutenant's hand before she turned and mounted her horse, heading off with Fu and Mr. Han and the rest of his team with their camping supplies. They had been left with some horses of their own to take them back into Amestris, so the four of them knew how they were getting back home as they watched the lieutenant and the others walking off into the distance. "Do you think she'll be okay?" Amelia asked as she watched their silhouettes grow smaller and smaller.
"Lieutenant Ross is a hardy woman, she's been through plenty, I imagine she'll survive this trek through the desert." The Major assured her. Amelia nodded, still watching them head off further and further away.
"Alright… next time, then." Edward muttered under his breath, his own way of saying goodbye with that little promise of a next time. Once they were nothing but dots on the horizon, Breda turned to the rest of the group.
"We should start gathering up everything we need for the trip back, it'll be a little more comfortable to travel at night, but we'll need to be careful." He advised them. "So, go stock up on water and do whatever else you have to do."
"I'm going to be a couple minutes, I want to go take a look at something before we go," Edward said.
"Alright, just don't wait until it's already dark, I don't want you wandering around the ruins on your own when it's pitch black," Breda said, and Edward nodded before making his way back down the path they had taken before. Amelia watched him go, and she felt the Major giving her a small nudge and she let out a small grunt.
"Let me at least pack up everything first." She grumbled.
"I'll take care of it, just go and ask." The Major insisted, "I don't want to leave this place without an answer and let me know if he refuses, then I'll have to ask a few other alchemists I'm acquainted with to see if they're willing to help you." Amelia let out an unhappy groan but went to do as he asked.
She followed behind Edward, though admittedly much slower as he went through the ruins. He didn't seem to notice that she was following behind him, his mind focused on finding whatever it was he wanted to look at so badly. She ended up finding him back in the middle of a large room, pillars having toppled or cracked around the sides as he looked up at a transmutation circle that had been carved into the stone. "Um, hey." She called out to him and got his attention.
"Hey…" Edward turned to face her, "What are you doing here?"
"I, uh… I wanted to ask you something," She said, and let out a small breath to try and ease her nerves a little bit. She was sure his answer would be a refusal, so that just meant things would be a little harder with her and the Major in the near future, but hopefully it wouldn't be anything they couldn't handle, "So… look, you know how the Major is in the investigations department? Well… since Hughes died, his workload has kind of increased because he's taken on all of his cases that were still in progress when he was alive, and… well, Armstrong's kind of getting the short end of it because he's having to work a lot of hours to make up the slack of what Hughes had in that department, on top of the fact that he has other responsibilities, too. And he told me to ask you this, I would honestly understand if you said no, but… he thinks that you would be a good replacement as my alchemy teacher. I mean, again, I don't expect you to agree to that, given how we are around each other, but-"
"Yeah, I'll do it."
Amelia froze when she heard him agree. She took a moment to gather herself from the rambling she had just done and looked up at him, "Huh? You're serious?"
"Yeah." Edward shrugged, "I understand your problems, and I know how the bureaucracy of the military can be a real bitch sometimes, especially for the ones with a higher rank. I was wondering about how the Major was dealing with all of it, I'm guessing his time spent working doesn't leave much time for him to teach you."
"Uh… no, it doesn't… You're actually agreeing with this?" She was more surprised that he said yes than anything, "I kind of thought that we hated each other."
Edward shrugged, his cheeks turning a little red, "Yeah, well… Al thinks you're a good person, and I trust his opinion." He put his hands in his pockets, "And if I'm honest, I think you have some good potential as an alchemist. I wouldn't mind having a little extra help with all the stuff that Al and I get into."
"Oh. Okay, yeah." Amelia smiled, "Sure, I mean… that sounds like a plan." She was unsure of what to say next, "Uh, do you want to… shake on it?" She asked, holding out her hand. Edward reached out to take her hand, and then suddenly yanked her forward and pulling her off balance to where she fell on her side, "What the hell?!" It wasn't until she heard the sound of someone else grunting and falling that she saw Edward pinning someone to the ground, his hand empty of his wooden baton. He had pulled her out of the way of him hitting her. Who was this guy? Another smuggler? A bandit?
"What do you want?" Edward demanded of him, holding his arm back in a painful position to keep him still, "We don't have any money, so you've…" He trailed off as he saw the color of the man's eyes that glared up at him, a deep shade of red. "You're an Ishvalan." Amelia noticed movement out of the corner of her eye, and she saw more ishvalans were making their way out of the ruins to approach them, and they were soon surrounded by a group of Ishvalan men. Amelia got up on her feet, looking for places to run, but they didn't leave any openings for her. Something she noticed was that they all wore a striped sash on them, over their shoulders… and she wondered if that was a sign of some kind of affiliation, maybe to a rebellious group… or was it a religious one? She couldn't really know.
One man came forward, half of his face was heavily burned to where his eye was just barely open, "Excuse us, you both, but I'm afraid we're going to have to take you two hostage until your military returns our holy land to us."
"They're not going to return squat." Edward said, turning to face him, still keeping his attacker pinned down, "Not over a pair of kids."
"It was the death of a single child that triggered the entire Ishvalan Civil War." The man replied, "So you really shouldn't doubt your significance in the eyes of history."
"I think maybe you need a history lesson," Amelia said, "Wars are always started over something small, it's just the straw that breaks the camel's back."
"Then you two will simply be the straw that returns our land back to us." The man replied, and one of the others began to step forward to grab her and she stepped back to Edward, but they stopped when a voice cut through.
"That's enough of your shameful behavior!" An elderly woman came through the crowd, helped by a wooden cane and a young man who held her hand and straightened her back. The woman had a patch over her eye, but she still glared at the men around her.
"Madame Shan…"
"Look at you fools," She berated them, "Are you all trying to dishonor the name of Ishvala?" The scarred man was taken aback by her words and looked down shamefully.
"Look, he won't try to attack you again," The young man said to Edward, "Can you please just let him go now?" Edward didn't look particularly pleased with the idea, but he let go of the man's arm and got off of him, letting him get up and join the others around him.
"You stood up for me," He observed as he took a closer look at the pair, stepping closer to Amelia's side, "I don't get it, I always heard that you guys hated Amestrians."
"Despite the atrocities your country has committed, I know that not all Amestrians are bad." Madame Shan replied. Edward's eyes widened a little bit, and he noticed that Madame Shan's eye wasn't the only injury that was on her, the young man also had a large scar on his shoulder that stretched out over his chest.
"Madame Shan and I were both injured during the civil war, but then we were saved by these two Amestrian doctors." He hung his head as he glared at the ground where Edward and Amelia's feet stood, "To be honest, I do hate you." He looked back up at them, his expression much kinder, "But the two of them saved me, and you deserve the same treatment."
"Huh… One act of kindness changed your opinion that much…" Amelia was a little impressed that they felt this way, considering the rest of their group was just about to kidnap the two of them and hold them hostage, it was a clear difference in opinion that not everyone shared, but Madame Shan's voice seemed to hold more weight than all of theirs.
"Wait a minute… you're not talking about the Rockbells, are you?" Edward asked, seeing how the pair's eyes went wide as he said their name.
"What, like Winry?" Amelia asked, confused as to where this was going.
"Are… are you saying you were a friend of Doctor Rockbell?" The young man asked, and Edward nodded.
"Yeah…!"
Madame Shan and the boy smiled, "They saved the lives of countless Ishvalans, all throughout the course of the entire war."
"No kidding." Edward smiled as he remembered them, "They were like family to me."
Madame Shan's smile mirrored Edward's at her own memory, "They refused to abandon their post. It didn't matter how much the fighting escalated."
"Wow… I can see why you would admire their dedication." Amelia said, knowing Winry would probably be proud to know that her parents were working so hard in the middle of a war. "They sound like great doctors."
Edward's expression became a bit more serious as he looked at the pair, "How did… How did they die?"
Madame Shan's smile fell as this question was asked of her, her expression steeling to where it was unreadable, "They were killed. They were both murdered in cold blood." Her voice broke slightly as she said, "And it was by the hand of an Ishvalan they'd saved."
Edward went pale hearing this, and Amelia felt her stomach drop. She couldn't help but think that was too cruel, to save someone who still had enough hatred in him to kill them… "But that's so…" Edward shared her sentiment, horrified at this information.
"I'm so sorry." Madame Shan bowed slightly as she apologized, "There was nothing we could do to stop him."
"Tell me who did it!" Edward demanded, his horror turning to anger, wanting to find who it was that had killed the parents of his friend, who had taken them away from her as well as from him.
"His face was wrapped in bandages," Madame Shan said, explaining that's why she couldn't give him a name, "But he was an Ishvalan monk and his right arm was tattooed." Amelia's mind went to the only other Ishvalan she had ever seen, which was Scar. If he had been treated for that scar on his face… there's the reason his face would have been bandaged up, if it was the same guy, but she didn't remember any tattoos on his arm, but she also remembered how he wore a jacket, and she hadn't been able to see it. Edward's hands clenched into fists, just trying to calm down as he tried to process this information from them, knowing more about who it was that had killed Winry's parents. After a moment, he sighed, and let his shoulders drop, the tension leaving them, though his hands were still fists at his side.
"Thank you for telling me." He said, "At least I have an idea of who it was." Madame Shan nodded, "And thank you for keeping the rest of them from holding us hostage. We have people that are waiting for us not too far from here, and we should get back home."
"Of course," Madame Shan looked up at Edward, "But if you should have the chance, would you deliver a message to the resting place of the Rockbells for us?" Edward nodded, "Give them our thanks… and our apologies."
"I will," Edward promised, he took Amelia's arm to lead her away, the pair of them heading through the crowd and starting to make their way back to camp to make the trip back to Amestris with the others. Once they were out of sight of the Ishvalans, Amelia looked back at Edward.
"Are you okay?" She asked, knowing it couldn't be a great moment to find out that someone he considered family was murdered in cold blood.
"I will be once I find the bastard that killed them," Edward muttered, and Amelia was quiet for a few moments after that before she looked back at him.
"Thank you, by the way." Edward looked over at her curiously, "For pulling me out of the way… And also, for agreeing to be my replacement teacher."
"Yeah, well… I'll do the best that I can." Edward said, "No promises, though."
"Just so long as you teach me enough that I can pass the state exam, that's all I need," Amelia said, and as they rounded a corner they met up with Breda and Armstrong, with the horses ready for them to travel back into the countryside. It was a long day traveling to get here, and it would be a long night going back, but somehow Amelia felt a little lighter knowing that she would be helping to ease some of the burdens that Armstrong was carrying with the good news she had for him.