How to Get What You Work For

by PurpleTurtle21

After a friend attempts to perform alchemy from one of her favorite anime shows, Amelia finds herself on military property and about to go to prison for trespassing, until the Fuehrer offers her a chance: She gets a one-year trial period learning under a certified alchemist and if she passes, she gets a get-out-of-jail-free card. Now if she could only find someone to teach her…

37. A Festive Evening

37

Amelia sighed as she looked over the map, marking off the places they had been along the edges of each town. They had followed lead after lead, and hopefully this was the last one they would need, but it was still a little frustrating. She let out a frustrated groan as the carriage they were all riding on went over a large bump, messing up her x mark and turning it into more of a crooked y. She turned the pencil over to erase it, muttering to herself as she fixed it, "I know it's not something that's supposed to be on maps, but you'd think people would mark where their slums were in Amestris for Ishvalans."

Darius looked over at her curiously, the two of them sitting beside each other in the back of the wagon. Across from them sat Heinkel and Edward, with Edward napping away against the wood, tired from having stood watch early that morning, and Greed laying back on the tarp, crushing the goods underneath. "Why would they?" Darius asked her.

"For the same reasons they put 'Do Not Enter' signs on doors. I'm not saying it's a good thing, but I'm saying it would be convenient so we wouldn't have to rely on word of mouth to figure out where we're going…" She said as she looked down at the map before folding it up. "Do you know how close we are?" She asked as she tucked the map away into her jacket - something she had transmuted herself after using the dress she had borrowed from their last venture. It had plenty of inner pockets to make use of and she was quite proud of it, even if it was a little bulky, and a little eye-catching since it was so white.

Heinkel glanced through some of the fencing around the wagon, "We're getting close to the mountains. He said he'd take us to the road and drop us off, so it shouldn't be much longer."

"God, I wish we hadn't lost the car." Amelia sighed, leaning back against the wood of the wagon, "This would be so much easier if we still had the car."

"There wasn't anything we could do," Greed said, his voice and personality once again having become dominant after the night Amelia and Edward spent with Ling, "Once the soldiers found the license plate, we were screwed anyway." Even if he said there was nothing to be done, he didn't exactly sound happy about the loss of the car either.

Amelia hummed, glad they had been able to get a ride from a local, a farmer making a delivery of some kind somewhere, they weren't sure what exactly, but it was kept safe under the tarp that Greed was laying back on, a large pile of something that he claimed was perfectly comfy but there wasn't enough room for everyone to join him. "Still, making the trek back into town after this isn't going to be easy, and I'm not looking forward to having to choose between finding an inn after a few long hours of walking, or just camping for the night."

"You'd think you'd have gotten used to camping by now," Heinkel said with a small chuckle.

"Yeah, used to it enough that I don't hate it, but I definitely prefer a bed over the ground any day," Amelia replied. She and Heinkel jumped a bit as a loud snore came from Edward, slumping over slightly and Heinkel reached to pull him back up, so his head was leaning against the wall post of the wagon again.

"Jeez, kid's dead asleep." Heinkel said, "You could probably throw him off the wagon and he wouldn't wake up."

Amelia let out a small laugh of her own, smiling a bit as she looked at Edward asleep, "Yeah, he's always been a kind of heavy sleeper, I think." She said, taking the time to look over his face since she had the opportunity. It was rare for her to catch him like this, completely at peace even if his occasional snores were almost comical, smiling a bit to herself as he really showed more of his age when he was like this. It was easy to forget that she was a year older than him when he was awake and drilling her for alchemy or putting up one hell of a sparring match that knocked her on her butt more times than she could count, but not when he was asleep. She could see that little bit of color in his cheeks that reminded her of that little age difference, and the reminder that she and he were both very young to be a part of this huge fight that they had ahead of them in just over a week. Thinking about that impending date just created a sense of dread in her stomach, so she tried not to think about it too much. As much as Edward was ready to fight, she couldn't help but feel they were still woefully unprepared for what lay ahead.

"You know," Darius's quiet voice pulled her out of her thoughts, "Maybe you could switch places with Heinkel before we get there." Amelia looked up at him curiously, before realizing he probably wanted to sit next to Heinkel.

"Oh, uh… sure." She said, looking over at the other chimera, "Heinkel, do you want to trade spots?"

"Right now?" Heinkel asked, looking over at Darius who gave him a silent, firm expression, giving a pointed glance between Amelia and Edward, "Ugh, fine…" Heinkel got up, the wagon still moving slightly as he shifted his weight and Amelia got up to walk over to where he had been sitting and Heinkel went to sit where she had been. She saw how Darius's hand seemed to slide right up next to Heinkel's once he was close enough, though neither of them took each other's hand just yet.

Amelia looked over at Edward, the wagon going over another bump that jostled his body and moved his head onto her shoulder, her cheeks turning a bit red from that brief contact. She tried not to think about it too much as Edward rested against her, snuggling up closer to her body in his sleep on the bouncing wagon, that blush growing a little darker as she reached for the map again to pretend to look it over so the others wouldn't see.

It was a little hard to ignore though, Darius looking over at Heinkel, pointedly glancing at Amelia and Edward, asking a silent question. Heinkel looked over at the teenagers, and then shrugged, nodding his head with a small smile on his face. Darius looked back at her, "You know, you and he make a nice-looking couple."

Amelia's eyes widened as she looked up at Darius, and Greed's head popped up from where he had been lounging on the supplies from their borrowed ride. He looked over at Amelia and Edward together and let out a long sigh, "Oh for goodness' sake, this again?" He groaned, "It's bad enough with all that quiet staring, but now you two are snuggling up together?"

"It's not like I made him do this…!" Amelia huffed out in her defense, "He did this on his own…" She looked over at Heinkel, "He was doing this to you when you sat here, didn't he?"

"Nope," Heinkel replied with a bit of a sly grin, "He must've known it was you."

Her blush grew worse and she looked away as she opened the map again, "Well, don't go thinking it's going to be a thing…"

Darius chuckled a bit, "Seems like you want it to be," Greed's eyes narrowed as he looked at the chimera as he spoke to Amelia.

"Well, it's not going to," She replied, "Things are more complicated than just…" She trailed off and folded up the map again, "Whatever, it doesn't matter."

"Maybe you should tell him how you feel," Darius said gently, Amelia's eyes widening again, feeling a bit of an anxious dread filling her stomach at the idea of telling Edward how she felt, "Who knows? It might not be so bad."

"And with The Promised Day coming up in a week or so, you don't want to go in with anything left unsaid." Heinkel said, "If we're going into this, it's all or nothing. You don't want to risk dying and having any regrets."

"I guess…" Amelia said softly, looking over at Edward as he slept on her shoulder, reaching up to close his mouth as he started to snore again, "I don't know that… it would be that good of an idea, though."

"Just do it and be done with it," Greed said, surprising Amelia that he was encouraging this when he usually was the one encouraging her to argue with Ed, "At the very least it would stop that annoying puppy dog stare you do at him. When he wakes up, just tell him, and that'll be it."

Amelia frowned as she looked at the three other men, "Wait… just how long have you all known about this?" She asked.

Darius and Heinkel looked at each other before looking back at her, "Honestly? Probably about two days into traveling with the two of you." Heinkel replied, "It was kind of obvious."

"Really?" Amelia was surprised her feelings were seen so plainly by the two older men, but then again, she supposed the two of them were pretty good at picking up on body language and quiet signals that told someone they were interested… they had to be since it seemed they couldn't really talk about it much among others.

Greed shrugged, "Yeah, pretty much. You're not as subtle as you think you are."

She blushed a little more, "So you guys basically knew this whole time… so you think he knows?" She asked, looking over at the still-sleeping Edward.

"The kid's skull is thicker than concrete," Darius replied dryly, "I doubt he would notice anything like that unless you told him outright. He's not as perceptive as you are." She let out a hum, not really saying more than that as she pictured how it would go. She could stand in front of him, tell him how she felt with him, that he inspired her to do better, that she thought she was a better person for knowing him, and how she treasured their time together, that she was in love with him and wanted to try and see how well they could love each other… Only for him to awkwardly look away, clearly uncomfortable, flesh hand going behind his head as he apologized and said he didn't feel the same. That he was in love with Winry, and he wanted to be with her and couldn't return her feelings, asking instead to be friends as they had been. But they wouldn't be, nothing could be the same after that.

"I don't think it's the best idea…" She muttered.

Before anything more could be said on the subject, the cart slowed to a halt, and Edward lifted his head. "What…? Are we there?"

"This is far as I can take y'all." The driver said, and everyone started to make their way out of the cart, Edward sliding off of his seat first, jumping down onto the ground and turning around to face Amelia.

"You want any help?" He asked, offering his hand, which she wordlessly took as he helped her down from the cart. Darius and Heinkel came off and Greed was last.

"Thanks for the ride," Heinkel said, coming up and offering him some money, which the older man took.

"If you want to find that slum, it's over there." He pointed out the path, "Just follow the dirt road to the river and follow it upstream. The Ishvalans took up space in the old mine settlement there, no one's touched it in ages. Ran out of ore decades ago."

"Thank you, sir." Amelia said, "We really appreciate it."

"Just be careful up there. Those Ishvalans get up to who knows what this far from town. Little ladies like yourself oughta be mindful. Don't stay alone too much." Amelia frowned, knowing the man was well-intentioned but at the same time he was very much misguided. The past few places they had been were full of friendly people, a little stiff and stern maybe since they were intruding in their spaces to find information, but good people. Rumors of the worst kind always seemed to pop up about any Ishvalan slums or refugee camps in nearby towns, fueled by fear and racism. "Y'all make sure to look after each other, now. Good luck." The old man said before he nudged the reigns and his horses started to move forward again.

The group turned to start to make their way up the path, Greed taking the lead, "Great, how long of a trek is it from here?" He asked Amelia, who reached for her map again. She looked around the area for a path leading to a river, finding it and pointing it out on the paper.

"I think we're about here, so if we follow the river upstream…" She traced her finger along the drawn riverbank, "It looks like it'll be a little bit of a walk, but we should make it to the foot of the mountains before it gets too late. That's probably where the mines are." She looked up at the path ahead of them, seeing how it twisted and disappeared in the hills, "It'll probably be a little bit, but we should get there before it gets too dark."

"Guess that means we'll be sleeping outside again unless someone decides to give us a place to stay." Heinkel sighed.

"Well, if we're lucky, we'll have caught up to them this time and it won't be a total waste." Amelia replied, "We can all handle sleeping outside again if we need to," Heinkel gave her a pointed questioning look, and she felt her lips curling into an angry pout, "I can handle it! I'm allowed to complain if it sucks." Heinkel just sighed again, looking over at Darius, who gave him a subtle shrug and a smile, the two having a silent conversation that ended with Heinkel rolling his eyes and they all started up the path with Greed leading the way.

---

The trek was a bit more arduous than Amelia had been expecting. The hills made for plenty of steep spots where they climbed up and down and up again, but they never made a stop to rest, at least not for too long. She was a little impressed with herself when they finally made it over one of the hills and they were able to see the lights of the refugee camp. There were able to make out the canvas tents, though some people seemed to have taken up space in the buildings that had been built back then as well. It was a sign of how close they were, and she was all the gladder to see signs of their progress as they continued up the mountainside.

As they came closer, they started to notice something was different about the camp. The lights seemed more plentiful than they had been in previous towns, people having created little paper lanterns on strings hanging between trees and buildings, none over any tents that could potentially catch fire if they fell. As they approached the camp, they could hear music and laughter that grew louder as they grew closer, and they were able to see Ishvalan children running around holding little streams of paper or flimsy fabric behind them as they ran.

"This place seems… oddly festive," Amelia commented as they came into the village.

"Yeah, is something special about today?" Edward asked curiously, looking around. As the five of them came in, Amestrian and Xingese, they were quick to catch the attention of some of the locals. One was an older Ishvalan man who approached them.

"Hello there," He greeted them civilly, "Can we help you folks?"

"Yeah, we're looking for a couple of people that we heard might've passed through here." Edward said, "One is an Ishvalan with an x-shaped scar on his face, and the other is a doctor."

The man didn't say anything at first, looking over the five of them warily, mainly focusing on Heinkel and Darius since they were so massive and intimidating, "I'm not sure if they're still here, you might have better luck finding them in town."

"We know they've been going from slum to camp to look for people," Amelia said, "We don't mean them any harm, we're friends of Doctor Marcoh," She could see his eyes flash with recognition at the name, "Please, if you know where they are can you tell them Edward is here to see them? They'll know why."

The man looked uneasily at the others with them, but looked back to Amelia, seeming to trust that they were telling the truth, "I'll take you to them, follow me." He started to lead them through the slums, and they could see more of that festive environment that was around. The smell of delicious food was wafting through the air, Heinkel lifting up his nose to take in the scent and letting out a long sigh.

"Something smells really good…" He couldn't help saying, the others nodding in agreement.

"So, what's the deal here?" Greed asked, "Some kind of festival going on?"

"You've arrived at our new year celebration," The man explained, "So we're celebrating as best we can, given our circumstances. If you're friends of the doctor, you're welcome to stay and join us."

Edward's head tilted to one side, "Isn't the new year supposed to be in winter?" He asked.

"Ishvala works from a different calendar than what you Amestrians use." The man explained, "Ours is based on a lunar cycle, and our calendar says that tonight is the last night of the year." As they walked around the camp, they could see other people gathering firewood for a bonfire, setting it up in a massive triangle of branches and wooden planks, "So we celebrate it, same as you do." The conversation seemed to end there as they were brought around a corner to a building wedged into the wall of the mountain, looking to be an old mining office. There were lights inside and figures moving about from what they could see from the small window. "Wait here," He ordered, leaving them some distance away from the door as he went to knock and speak to someone who cracked it on the other side. After a moment, the door closed again, and the man made his way back towards them, "Someone will get you in a moment," words said in passing as he went back to the festivities and celebration with others.

"Huh, so it's an Ishvalan New Year," Greed spoke up, "Maybe we can grab some festival food before we head out? Some of that stuff looks damn good."

Amelia put her hand over her stomach, feeling it grumbling eagerly at the idea of eating something that didn't come from a can, "Maybe, that would be really nice."

The door of the office opened, showing Scar on the other side looking over towards them and beckoning them inside. Amelia and Edward were the first ones inside, and they could see Doctor Marcoh at a table with a few other Ishvalans. "It is you!" Doctor Marcoh stood up from his seat, smiling as he saw them, "It's good to see you, Edward." He came up, shaking his hand and Edward returned the gesture.

"It's good to see you too, Doctor." He greeted.

Marcoh went to shake Amelia's hand, and looked up at the others that had come with them, "You two were at Briggs, weren't you?"

"Yeah, we used to work with Kimblee, but somehow we ended up working with these kids." Heinkel said, holding out his hand, "I'm Heinkel, we've been looking forward to this meeting for some time, Doctor."

"I'm Darius," He introduced himself, offering his hand to the doctor to shake as well. Marcoh nodded at the two of them, looking over at Greed.

"Well now, and who might you be?" He asked, "I don't remember seeing you at Fort Briggs."

"Probably because I wasn't there," He replied, crossing his arms, "But we're all the more interested to meet you, Doc." He turned to look up at Scar, grinning at him, "And you too, big guy. Heard a lot about you." Scar only scowled at him.

"This is Greed, he's a rogue homunculus," Amelia said, already prepared for the shock that showed itself on Scar and Marcoh's faces, "He's really on our side, I promise! He had some kind of falling out with the other homunculi and he's looking to take the guy down. He's also inhabiting the body of our friend Ling, so if you hear a different voice coming out of him, that'll be him." She could see the shock shifting to confusion, "Believe me, I know how it sounds, but I promise he's on our side."

Marcoh looked up at him warily, but then focused his gaze on Edward, "Well… if nothing else, it's good that we've met. I'm sure you have a lot you need to know before The Promised Day."

"Yeah, where's Al?" He asked, "I know he's not with you, so what happened?"

"We separated some time back," Marcoh said, "Here, let's talk about this elsewhere," He looked back at the other Ishvalans, "We'll only be a moment." The others nodded, going back to looking over a map of what looked like Central City, seeming to try and find something on it, comparing it to another document they had with them. Marcoh led them into the next room over, which seemed to act as a gateway between the office and the rest of the mine itself with an open entryway leading into a dark tunnel. Scar closed the door behind them as Marcoh went to take a seat on a nearby stool with a heavy, gravelly sigh. "After we met with Alphonse, we moved on to another location in the hopes of continuing our research and decoding, as well as have May try to teach him alkahestry in an effort to gain some advantages over our enemies." Edward and Amelia looked at Marcoh expectantly, wanting to hear more about how things went, "It took some time, and a bit of creative thinking on May's part, but we did manage to discover some interesting information that we plan to use against our enemies, and we've made the first strike towards them as well."

"Already?!" Amelia asked, shocked.

"How?!" Edward asked, equally shocked.

"We managed to lure out Envy with the promise of capturing me, but instead we managed to capture him. It was an exercise in the practice of alkahestry for Alphonse since he and May didn't seem to be learning well together." The doctor looked down at his hands, "And in the end, because of my knowledge on how to make philosopher's stones, we were able to undo Envy and bring him into his true form." Edward's eyes widened.

"His… true form?" He asked.

"Yes, the form he takes when he can no longer create disguises for himself or turn himself into monstrosities when his stone is completely tapped out." Marcoh grinned, "It was somewhat amusing, he's really no bigger than the palm of my hand."

"He was an ugly worm," Scar agreed.

Marcoh chuckled, "Yes, indeed. We planned to interrogate him for as much information as possible, but he wouldn't tell us much beyond the details of the mine shaft collapse in Baschool where you went missing, and how Amelia was left in the care of Fort Briggs following their new leadership." Amelia looked over at Edward at this news, a grim expression on his face, "We were thinking we should go back to look for you, but it was your brother who insisted that we move forward with our plans to use the information we found in the decoded notes to our advantage."

"What did you discover?" Amelia asked.

"We discovered a second country-wide transmutation circle," All eyes in the room widened, "But one that was based in alkahestry. In theory, it should reverse the unusual barrier that lies between us and our energy source."

"Barrier…?" Amelia questioned.

"It's something I felt when I stepped into this country," Ling's voice piped up out of his body, getting everyone's attention. Marcoh's and Scar's eyes widened as they heard a different voice speaking from what was supposed to be the homunculus, "In Xing, we're taught to read the dragon's pulse, it's an energy that flows in all living things and it's how alkahestry works. It's what allows for our medical specialties, as well as long-range transmutations. But as soon as I stepped into this nation's borders, I found that I wasn't able to sense it as well as I could outside of it. Something about this country… something under the ground. It was as if there was a swarm of people wriggling under the earth."

"Gross," Amelia grimaced at the description.

"Yes, we believe it's some kind of extension of a philosopher's stone, so that description may be somewhat apt." Marcoh said, "But once we realized we weren't going to get any more information out of Envy outside of that incident, we instead gave him to May to take back to her clan in Xing." Ling's eyes opened for just a moment at this news, but said nothing as Edward and Amelia kept listening, "Apparently her clan is one of the lowest-ranked clans in their dynasty, and Scar thought that her bringing back the living remains of a once-immortal being would be enough to help save them from the fate that waited for them."

"I see… and what did you do then?" Amelia asked.

"Scar and I separated from the group from there," Marcoh said, "It was his idea to recruit Ishvalans to help us in our plan to outline the alkahestry circle for the nation. Five of the most critical points will be in Central. We've worked to narrow down their locations exactly, but there is still a great deal of work ahead of us and we've recruited as many as we can. Often, in exchange for medical treatment, there are a great deal of people in Ishval who are willing to help us."

"And Al?" Edward asked, "What happened to him?"

"As I understand it, he wanted to see Lior with your friend and the two chimeras who came with us, as well as Yoki. That was the last we had heard of them, but we agreed to meet with them there before the Promised Day arrived to prepare for everything." Marcoh answered.

"I see…" Edward replied, "He probably wanted to investigate if Lior had part of the tunnel running under it."

"That was also my assumption." Marcoh agreed, "I don't know if he intended to do anything, but as far as we know there hasn't been any change from our enemies. Our messages back and forth with them have been very brief, but you can rest easy knowing your brother is safe." Edward's eyes widened, "Your brother reached out to a few people to help prepare them for the Promised Day, including the men at Fort Briggs. I believe they're working now to carefully smuggle Alphonse outside of the enemy's reach, as well as return your friend back to her home in Resembool." Edward let out a sigh of relief, not realizing how tense he had been until he had heard that they were both safe.

"Who else did Alphonse reach out to?" Edward asked.

"He sent messages to a great deal of people in the hopes of getting as many allies as possible. He sent one to the men in Briggs, as well as one to Colonel Mustang so that we might recruit him, General Armstrong, Major Armstrong, and the Brigg's soldiers."

"That's… a lot of people," Amelia said, surprised.

"Nice sounds like a whole army to command," Greed chimed in, only to be met with a fierce glare from Scar that made him quiet.

"Yes, and he wanted to make sure I passed a message onto you, Edward, should we ever cross paths." Edward's eyes widened, "He wants you to go to Kanama. It's a slum village just outside of Central City's borders. Your father is waiting for you there."

"Hohenheim?!" Edward immediately tensed at the mention of the man.

"Yes," Marcoh nodded.

"What the hell for?!" Edward snapped.

"Hey, easy," Amelia put her hand on his flesh shoulder, getting him to calm down, "I'm sorry Doctor. Edward doesn't exactly have the best history with his father, so he's not very fond of the man… Why do we need to meet him?"

"I'm not sure of the exact details, but apparently your father has crucial information that you need to hear, Edward. And he also claims to know the enemy's most crucial weakness." Marcoh said, "As it turns out, he's been aware of this much longer than any of us have, and he has his own plans to stop the leader of the homunculi."

Edward was still scowling, but his expression relaxed slightly as Amelia squeezed his shoulder again, reminding him to stay calm and collected, "He didn't tell them to you?"

"No, I'm afraid Alphonse didn't pass that on to me, I'm sorry." Marcoh said, "When we finalized our movements on The Promised Day, it was determined that information was need-to-know for those who might be facing him. Scar and I plan to organize the Ishvalans going into the city to work with Mustang's men and the Briggs soldiers in creating a powerful distraction."

"What kind?" Edward asked.

"The Promised Day happens to line up with quite a few events, including the War Games practice between Fort Briggs and Eastern Command soldiers. He's spread the rumor that General Grumman is planning to use the Eastern forces to stage a coup, though it will ultimately just be a distraction." Marcoh said, "He plans to lure out whatever surveillance they have on him and the Northern forces with this rumor and potentially use it to our advantage to take them out before they can reach Central." Amelia's eyes went wide, "And in Central, Colonel Mustang and his men will be working with the Briggs' soldiers to create a real coup under the guise of the higher-ups trying to take advantage of the Fuhrer. He plans to turn the people onto his side through a little manipulation, though I have no idea exactly what."

"So… is there really going to be a coup? A real one?" Amelia asked, a little worried, "Like… a bloody one?" Edward's eyes widened, his face getting a bit pale at the idea.

"Colonel Mustang assured me that they plan to have as few casualties as possible," Marcoh said, smiling to Edward, "He used to be your commanding officer, didn't he? I'm not surprised that he would take your feelings into account for his plans." Edward relaxed a little, but he frowned.

"Yeah, he's still my commanding officer, I guess." He grumbled, "But he's getting all of his people together?"

"They plan to storm the front gate and do what they can with General Armstrong inside to work from within to find a way to take over Central Command. All of this, of course, will be a distraction so that the higher-ups won't be able to send any forces to stop the rest of us from doing what must be done to create the alkahestry circle, and you from fighting the leader of the homunculi." Edward's expression steeled with an eager determination at the mention of the fight, "I imagine your brother will be joining you for such an event, all of those who are labeled as sacrifices such as the two of you will be critical to this." Edward's eyes widened, knowing they weren't the only sacrifices the enemy had.

"Wait, what about a woman named Izumi Curtis?" He asked, "Do you know anything about her? Or where she is?" He knew that she had been sent to Briggs to deliver a message to Miles and Buccaneer, but beyond that he was hoping she wasn't around too long. These people clearly needed a certain number of sacrifices, getting as many of them out of there as possible would help a great deal.

"Izumi Curtis…?" Marcoh repeated the name, trying to remember.

"She's acting as a messenger." Scar spoke up, "But at the moment, I believe she's working to find her way out of the country."

"Good," Edward said, sighing with relief at the news.

"Okay, that's great and all, but it still leaves some questions," Amelia said, "If we're making an opposing circle based on alkahestry, who's going to activate it? Edward isn't an alkahestrist, the only one we knew was May and she's gone." Scar moved to step beside Marcoh, shedding his jacket to expose the tattoos on his arms. Where one had been bare, it was now covered in a style similar to the other arm, though there was a great deal more to it.

"This was part of my brother's work," Scar explained, "He combined alkahestry with alchemy, my right arm deconstructs, and my left arm reconstructs." He tightened his hands into determined fists, "I'll be the one to activate the circle using my brother's alchemy. This was his design, and I made sure to get it right to the last detail." Amelia's and Edward's eyes widened, surprised that he would take on such a task given that he was the one killing alchemists for going against Ishvala and his religion. They both looked up at him, a little uneasy as they wanted to ask this question about how this worked with his faith that he held so dear to himself that he became the mass murderer they knew but couldn't bring the words out of either of their mouths. Scar noticed their faces as he put his jacket back on, "I no longer want to achieve vengeance for what Amestris did to my people, but I want to change the nation so that they can rectify what was done. Give my people the treatment they deserve after being annexed into the nation."

"We are ready to make what sacrifices we must to prevent them from creating this Philosopher's Stone," Marcoh said, "And this plan has many moving parts, which should be enough to stop our enemies from going forward with their own plan at the sacrifice of our nation."

"Good… this is really thought out," Amelia said, relieved. "It's complicated, and a little crazy, but there's a plan."

"So… we'll just meet you in Central?" Edward asked, "All of us?"

"That's the plan, we all need to make sure we can hurt the enemy where we can. Although… admittedly, I'm not certain of the location of where he is." Marcoh said, "We were hoping you might know."

"I… went there once," Amelia admitted, "Gluttony led us there after… well, the swallowing incident," She looked over at Edward as she mentioned this, "It was the most direct path, but it was heavily guarded by a ton of vicious chimera. And I'm sure they would hear us coming, anyway."

"So, we'll find another way in," Edward said, Marcoh nodded, seemingly satisfied with this.

"Good, then it seems all the pieces have finally come together." He said, pleased.

"Okay, and that's great and all," Greed spoke up again, getting everyone's attention, "But since you guys have got everything covered, maybe we can get a little extra muscle to travel with us?" Greed grinned up at Scar, who didn't make any expression towards the homunculus, "How about it, big guy? There will be plenty of monsters to beat up."

"I will not," Scar said firmly, "Marcoh and I still need to rendezvous with the other chimera that were left in Lior, as well as the other Ishvalans that will be joining us in Central."

"Their presence will cause enough of a stir to get the attention of the military," Marcoh said, "They'll likely believe it's a terrorist attack, something that will further our work in spreading their forces as thin as possible."

"Using their own racism against them… smart," Amelia praised, "Though I hope that means the Ishvalans you end up recruiting won't be part of the fighting."

"We also hope it won't come to that, but we are prepared if it does." Scar replied to her concerns, "If we are to change how Amestrians view my people, we must work with the Amestrian allies we have in order to help change things."

Amelia nodded, knowing that he was right and she was glad to see that he had turned away from his more murderous ways of dealing with Amestrians. She looked up at the older man, about to ask him something when Marcoh spoke up.

"There's a few things I want to make sure we go over before then, though," Marcoh said, "The details of the circle and the location of the fight."

"Excuse me," Heinkel spoke up for the first time since they had come in, "I understand this information is pretty need-to-know, but we've also just spent a full day traveling to be here. Is it alright if we take a breather while you two talk it out?"

"Oh, sure," Edward said, looking up at Amelia, "Why don't you go with them?" She looked down at him, a little surprised, "I'll fill you in on the details afterwards."

"I'll stay," Greed said, "Considering I'm the leader of this little party, I'm pretty sure I need to know this stuff." He said, coming to stand beside Edward.

"Alright, I guess…" Amelia said, going to join with Heinkel and Darius as they made their way out. Scar followed behind them, leading them to the door of the office where everyone had been meeting. "I guess this gives us a chance to look around and see what this new year's event is all about."

"Yeah, that's a good way to look at it." Darius smiled, "Maybe we can talk someone into giving us some real food, I'm starving for something that didn't come out of a can."

"Same here," Heinkel said, smiling up at Darius, "Let's go see if we can find someone willing to teach us how to cook this stuff, I can smell all the food from here." As the two walked off together, Amelia hung back a moment.

She looked back up at the Ishvalan man who was still holding the door, not able to close it as she stood in the doorway, "Um…" She wasn't sure how to ask this at first, "Do you… remember when we first met?" She asked him, Scar gave her a curious look as she brought it up, "Back that day in East City. We were both hiding." He nodded, showing he remembered, "If… If I hadn't said what I did back then, about that alchemy textbook… would you have…?" She trailed off, not sure if she could actually bring herself to ask if he would have killed her over the fact that she was learning alchemy that day. The man's expression shifted ever so slightly, something she couldn't quite read though she could see a resemblance to how he looked when Winry confronted him for killing her parents back in Briggs. That same sort of steely expression when he admitted he knew what he had done and accepted responsibility for his actions, but this time he hadn't done anything to her…

"Hey, Amelia," Darius called out to her, "Come on, let's see if we can't find something to eat."

"Coming!" She called back, turning back to Scar and bidding him a brief goodbye with a wave before she went to join the happy couple, seeing the two of them holding hands as they walked, "Since when do you two do that?" She asked, watching as Heinkel's hand slipped away as soon as she mentioned it.

"Wasn't really thinking about it…" The mustachioed chimera replied, a bit of pink in his cheeks whereas Darius just seemed to smile.

"Come on, I think I saw someone selling some food," Darius said, leading the three of them through the tents and housing to see what there was to be found at this festival.

---

The three of them did manage to find a vendor, someone running their own little business for the refugees. The food was very cheap, and delicious. Amelia wasn't quite used to some of the spices on it, but she adjusted as they ate their meal, sighing happily once her stomach was full, "Oh man, real food tastes so good!" She happily commented, "I think eating all that canned food just made me appreciate real cooking that much more."

"As it should," Darius chuckled, "Back when we were at war and all we had were ready-to-eat rations, I practically had a buffet when I came home of as much real food as I could get my hands on."

"Yeah, we'll need to make sure to save a plate for Ed," Amelia said, "I'm sure he'd enjoy this stuff, too."

Darius and Heinkel sat on either side of Amelia, both of them sharing a glance as she mentioned the blonde-headed alchemist they were traveling with. Heinkel nodded and looked back down at Amelia as he watched her take her flatbread to scoop up the last bits of sauce from her plate. "You know, you really should go about telling him how you feel."

Amelia stopped mid-bite, sighing as she started to put her bread down, "This again? I already told you I don't think that's a good idea."

"Oh, come on, what's the harm?" Darius asked, "The Promised Day is only a week away, and for all of our planning our enemies could still have something going on. Do you really want to go into battle knowing it could be your last moments and still have that on your mind?" Amelia's expression shifted uncomfortably at the mention of how close The Promised Day was.

"Besides, the kid likes you," Heinkel said, trying to encourage her, too.

"Yeah, as a friend," Amelia looked up at him, "Edward has feelings for someone else."

"Who?"

"Winry, his mechanic," Amelia went back to the piece of bread, stuffing it in her mouth, exhibiting some surprisingly poor table manners as she started to talk with her mouth full, "They've basically known each other since they were babies, she's been one of his best friends since he could remember, they're basically made for each other."

"So… what, are they dating?" Darius asked.

"Well… no, they're not," Amelia conceded.

"Has he said that he's in love with her?" He asked again.

"No…" Amelia conceded again.

"So, it sounds like he's not in love with her."

Amelia frowned, "Okay, but you haven't seen them together the way I did!"

"Did you see them kissing?"

"No, but-"

"Were they cuddling? Holding hands?"

"Okay, I get the point you're making, but you didn't see the way they looked at each other!" Amelia snapped, her voice rising high enough to get the attention of the vendor they had bought the food from, as well as a few passersby. She sheepishly quieted herself before she spoke again, "I'm positive he's in love with her. He has to be." It was how the story ended, Winry was made to be his perfect person that he had his happy ending with, having children in their home in Resembool living out perfectly happy lives.

"You're 'positive,' huh? With no evidence?" Darius asked in a doubtful tone.

"That doesn't really sound like you," Heinkel agreed, "You're usually the one with sense around here. The kid has a skull thicker than concrete so he can't know anything about people unless you or someone else tells him. And with that hard head, he's stubborn and rash. And Greed is… well, Greed." He shrugged, and Amelia nodded in agreement with him, as did Darius. "And Darius and I aren't without our own misgivings here and there. We're certainly no geniuses like you and the kid are. So to hear that you're not even going to try when, as far as you know, there's nothing holding you back except the fear of rejection…" Amelia's grip tightened, and Darius noticed. She didn't say anything as Heinkel trailed off, waiting for Amelia to snap back and make a remark, but instead she just looked down at the empty plate in front of her with a frown.

"...Is that it?" Darius asked in a gentle tone, "Are you afraid he'll reject you?"

Amelia was quiet for another moment before she admitted in a very soft voice, "...I'm terrified of it." She was no longer the person she was when she first came to Amestris. The person she was wouldn't have given two shits about what Edward thought of her, that he wouldn't have deserved her, all very self-serving thoughts that protected her ego, shielded her from the reality around her. By not caring, she could ignore her mother's vanity, her father's neglect, all the people and the lives around her that were using her as a means of networking and connection to her parents. She couldn't do that in Amestris, not when Armstrong bared his soul to her every day they lived together, not when Edward and Alphonse genuinely wanted to see her progress and get better at what she was doing. And the idea that she cared more than he did, that he wouldn't accept those feelings, or worse turn her away for it because he wanted someone else… she wasn't sure that she could bear it. "I've never liked someone the way I like Edward, I don't want to mess things up." She was certain she couldn't have him, so she could only settle for being friends, which she was fine with since that was all she had ever really known… though she couldn't deny she wanted more.

The couple looked up at each other, sharing yet another knowing look as the two men both put their hands on her shoulders and her back to comfort her, "Come on, let's walk and talk a little," Heinkel said, the two of them standing up with her and she followed them as they all began to walk around the camp, hearing cheers as they were about to walk on. They watched as people began to gather around a growing bonfire, hearing music start to play as the flames slowly started to grow taller.

"You know, Heinkel and I didn't exactly start out like this," Darius began as they all started to walk together behind tents and away from the general public, his hand going into Heinkel's as they walked side by side with her, "Back when we first met, we just happened to be part of the same platoon together. We had never met before then, but…" Amelia saw him gently squeezing Heinkel's hand, "I was sure he was what I wanted when we first met." Heinkel's cheeks were a little pink and he kept looking ahead of them, but Darius looked at him with an immense amount of love that she had never seen him show before, "But I was scared at first, too. After all, he was another man, I had no way of knowing how he felt for sure and it wasn't the first time I'd felt like this about a comrade-in-arms, so I kept everything to myself." He looked over at Amelia as they kept talking, "It wasn't until about maybe a month or so into fighting together, back during a skirmish on the border with Creta. One of the cannons fired into the trenches as we were running through and knocked me straight on my ass." He brought his free hand up to his head, "There's still a bit of me missing from where it almost took me out. An inch deeper, and I would have been a dead man. There was shrapnel there and I was on the ground. My ears were still ringing, and I thought Heinkel's were too." He looked back at him, "He was hauling me over, trying to get me somewhere safe and tend to me before he could get everything together to take me to the medics. I could hardly hear anything he was saying, but I could see he was trying. And just before I began to pass out, I thought to myself 'I have nothing to lose, I'm going to die,'" He stopped walking, making Heinkel stop with him, the blonde chimera looking at him.

"So when he was trying to stop the bleeding, I took his hand like this," He pulled up the hand he was holding, encircling it with both of his, "And I brought it to my heart," He pulled Heinkel's hand to his chest, "And I looked him right in the eyes - or what I thought was his eyes since my vision was getting blurry," He chuckled, "And do you remember what I said?"

Heinkel had a bit of a pout on his face, though Amelia could just barely tell from under his mustache, "You told me you loved me with all your heart and soul… And you were glad to die in my arms."

"Aww!" Amelia couldn't help a little coo of adoration, watching as Heinkel's face seemed to only get redder, "That's so romantic!" Heinkel moved his hand out of Darius's grasp, the blonde chimera a bit embarrassed as he crossed his arms. Darius only smiled and looked back at Amelia.

"Yeah, I was a bit of a hopeless romantic back then. And as you can imagine, when I came to after Heinkel had managed to carry me back to the medical tent to get fixed up, he was in the bed right beside me. Another canon had hit the trenches and nearly took out his arm, but he had managed to bring us both there in time." Darius said, "And he told me that he never knew I felt that way, and because I told him that, we're here together now." He reached for Heinkel's hand again, and the man silently gave it, glancing down as he watched Darius's fingers interlocking with his, "So I understand why you're so afraid Amelia, but I really think this isn't a better time to tell him how you feel."

"Um… I mean that story was very romantic and a little dramatic, but I'm not about to die in Edward's arms…" Amelia noted, "I don't really think I could successfully get my feelings across like that."

"What I mean is you won't know how it will go until you try. You think I wasn't incredibly nervous to know that not only was I still alive, but Heinkel was my bedmate?" Darius chuckled again, "It wasn't until I was sure he accepted my feelings that I could relax. And you don't know for sure that he'll deny your feelings. Just because you think he might have something for his mechanic doesn't mean that he does. You could be seeing something that's not there."

Amelia frowned, putting her hands on her hips, "Have you ever known me to not see something about a person?"

Darius's lips pursed as he realized who he was talking to, "...Alright, fair point. But I think I'm still right." He insisted, "What do you plan on doing once all of this is over, anyway?"

She shrugged, "Well…" The story would be over after the big fight, right? So then maybe that means she would be able to find her way home, "I'd work on figuring out how to make my way back home, I guess…"

"And how would you do that?" Darius asked.

"I guess I'd have to consult with some smart alchemists to figure out how the gate and everything worked, test some theories and experiment a little…" It wasn't just her that needed to get home, after all. There was Katie, too. She had a life back home that she sacrificed so that Amelia could be where she always wanted to be.

"And who's the smartest alchemist you know?"

"Well, Ed I guess, but-" She paused, her expression falling, "Oh. I see your point now."

"It's not like you can just go about your life once this is over, can you?" Darius asked, grinning a little, "Why not tell him?"

She shifted uncomfortably, "I really don't want to risk making things awkward…"

"Hey, if anyone would be able to recover from making an awkward mistake, I imagine it's you." Darius encouraged, "After all, you're the person who knows society so well, you can pretend to be someone else completely and get away with it, remember? And the kid's skull is so thick that if you tell him everything is fine and you can still be friends, he'd probably believe it."

"I don't think he's that thick-headed,"

"But things would still continue as normal, wouldn't they?"

"Not like we can afford to do what we're doing and be worried about if saving someone makes things awkward." Heinkel agreed, "Darius is right. The worst he can do is tell you no thanks, and you two continue on as friends. And you've already said you'd be okay with that, right?"

"I guess…" She was still a little unsure as she walked with them. She watched as the couple released each other's hands as they came around the corner to the cliff at the side of the mountain. The camp was right next to the river that flowed down from above, creating a somewhat noisy but still beautiful waterfall that everyone seemed happy to have. The bonfire wasn't too far from it, there were people playing music and having fun celebrating their Ishvalan holiday. They all started to walk towards it, seeing that the festival was really starting to get in full swing now, "I suppose you have a point, and it's not like it would be the worst thing I could ever say to him, but when am I supposed to do that?"

"Whenever it feels right," Darius encouraged, glad to hear that she was giving way to their point of view, "And you'll know when that is, just trust your instincts."

"If you say so," She said, looking over at the mining office where they had left earlier, seeing Edward and Greed stepping out with Marcoh and Scar, still talking over their plans a little. "Oh, they're done talking." She went over to go join them, not realizing how close she was to the crowd of refugees and didn't see one come over her way, bumping into her shoulder, "Oh! I'm sorry!"

"Ah, it's alright." The Ishvalan stranger looked up at her, red eyes meeting hers for a moment. She looked him up and down for a brief second, figuring he must be right around her age, and he wasn't bad to look at either. He smiled at her, "Hey, you wanna dance?"

"What?" She was a little shocked at the sudden question.

"It's good luck to dance under the light of the full moon on the new year!" The stranger insisted, reaching for her hands, "Do you know how to dance?"

"Well, yeah, but I-"

"So come dance!" The stranger pulled her into the growing circle of people dancing around the bonfire. He was clearly enjoying himself enough during this celebration to forget about the fact that not only was she an outsider, but she had never said 'yes' and pulled her along into the crowd. She was about to politely decline as he brought her into the growing circle of people, hearing clapping hands joining the music as the song changed and she could hear the strings picking up. The boy in front of her grinned, taking her hands, "Just follow my lead," he had her spin out, and back into his arms, both of his coming around her body as she was pulled back against his chest and she suddenly realized how much taller he was than her, "I'm Raffi, by the way." He introduced himself with that same friendly smile.

"Amelia," She looked up at him as he released her, spinning her back in front of him and taking her hands.

"Here, like this," He opened his arms, one hand in the air and she copied him, their other palms pressing together as they walked opposite each other in a circle, moving amongst the other couples around the warm bonfire. She could hear the lively music thrumming through the air, her feet moving with him effortlessly, "Well, look at you, you really can dance like you said!"

She smiled a bit at the compliment, "Well, I didn't take all those dance lessons for nothing."

"Ah, a student? Then we can step it up a little." He took both of her hands, the two of them moving around the bonfire, him moving her around him in circles, putting her on display to anyone that was watching. She found herself actually having fun as he brought his hand around her waist, his palm resting on her stomach with his arm and shoulder around her back, his other hand taking her left hand to lead her around the dance floor, her other hand free in the air as he moved her body in time with the melody. It was an exciting new way to move, her feet barely stumbling as he led her with the expertise of someone who loved the act of dancing itself. He was beaming as she smiled and laughed, unable to help letting out a delighted squeal when he brought his hands up at the climax of the song, lifting her up into the air before putting her back down on the ground as the music stopped. The crowd around them applauded the musicians, and Amelia joined them with Raffi.

"Hey," She turned around when she heard a familiar voice, looking to see Edward walking over to her with a stony expression on his face.

"Hey," She smiled at him as he came over.

"Who's your friend?" He asked, looking over at Raffi with a pointed stare, who looked right back at him.

"Oh, this is Raffi," Amelia said, introducing him, "We uh… we just had a dance."

"Okay, but who is he?" Edward asked again.

"Um…"

"Okay, Raffi. You made your point," The two of them looked over as an Ishvalan girl came up to lock her arm with Raffi's, "I can keep dancing with you, but I want to get something to eat first."

"Alright Sadia," Raffi beamed at her, the two watching as the other couple walked off, "Did I make you jealous?" He asked her teasingly.

"Oh, hush." She brushed it off, and the two were left alone by the bonfire as the chatter around the crowd kept going. Edward relaxed a little as he watched them leave, looking back at Amelia.

"Uh, I guess you didn't know him?"

"No, he sort of just pulled me in for a dance," Amelia said with a small laugh, "But it was fun, though." She heard the music starting up again, and she decided to follow the impulsive ways of the boy she had just met, reaching to take both of Edward's hands, "Hey, you want to dance?"

"What, right now?" Edward asked, a little flustered from the sudden request.

"You know how. I taught you," She said, bringing his hands up as if they were waltzing, hearing the song begin again, "Come on, it won't be hard and it's fun. We could use a little break from all this end-of-the-world stuff."

Edward's cheeks turned a bit red as he was suddenly brought in such close quarters with her, "I guess… Just don't complain when I step on your feet." He grumbled.

"You'll be leading, so you won't." Amelia said, smiling as the music started and she encouraged him to take those first steps, "Remember? 1, 2, 3 and 1, 2, 3…" She watched as Edward mimicked the steps well, slowly moving them around the dancing crowd of people around them. He relaxed a little as she kept encouraging him, "See? Now just go a little faster to keep up with this music." She said, and he nodded, the two starting to move a little quicker, their steps becoming lighter as they moved across the ground around the bonfire. She could feel the heat of the flames as it moved around the two of them, spinning around this way and that with Edward's coat and her own fanning out around them not unlike the way a dress skirt would on a ballroom floor. She was smiling all the while, and as Edward started to relax more, he started to smile and enjoy it as much as she did.

For a moment as they danced around to the song, her right hand in his flesh one, feeling his automail arm keeping her close as they kept moving together. It was very different from what she had just experienced before, before she could hear the crowds clapping and snippets of words being spoken from people around them, looking ahead of her as Raffi kept himself to her side or behind her. With Edward it was different, neither of them looked away and her focus was completely on him. It felt like it was just the two of them together, and she could feel her heart racing, her body felt lighter when she was with him like this. She felt like everything was suddenly becoming better now that she was with him, she could forget about how sore her feet were from all the walking, she couldn't care less if the Ishvalans around them were a little unsure of these Amestrian newcomers, it was just her and him. Edward seemed to be in a similar state, the two of them finding themselves laughing and giggling as they moved around together. As he spun her out and brought her back, she couldn't help but notice something different, she didn't have to just look back over her shoulder to see him, she had to look up. She was sure he would be thrilled to know that he had grown taller than her.

As the song started to come to a crescendo, Edward kept dancing, and he moved his arms around her waist, "Let me try something," He said, and lifted her up, making her squeal in delight again as he spun her around twice before putting her back down and the music stopped. She laughed as she stayed next to him, hearing the applause for the musicians as they both began to relax.

"I didn't teach you how to do that!" She said between giggles, feeling giddy and so excited.

"It wasn't hard to pick up." Edward replied, grinning as the two of them started to walk away from the bonfire, "Besides, you're not all that heavy."

"You're such a liar," She said, her laughter dying down as they went back to the others, seeing knowing smiles on Heinkel and Darius's faces, whereas Greed just seemed to have a neutral frown on his. She looked over at him, a bit more serious, "So did you get everything sorted out with Doctor Marcoh and Scar?"

"Yeah, we have the details a bit more pinned-down now," Edward said, "But apparently, Hohenheim is more directly involved in this than I thought. We'll have to meet him before we make our way back to Central and meet with them." He obviously wasn't pleased about it.

"I see, I'm sure it won't be so bad." She tried to reassure him as they rejoined the others, "So will Marcoh and Scar meet us there?"

"Yeah, they'll be leaving in the morning. Scar can't stay in one place for too long without attracting bounty hunters, apparently." Edward said, looking up at the others, "But we should be able to find a place to sleep for the night, Scar said we could ask around for someone named Rio and he could offer us a place to stay."

"A belly full of real food and a roof over our heads?" Heinkel jokingly asked, "Sounds like it'll be a good night, then."

"You guys already ate?" Edward asked.

"Yeah, there was this vendor over there we got some food from," He said, pointing Edward in that direction. He glanced over at him and Amelia, "Hey, why don't you go show the kid where it is, and we'll go looking for this Rio guy? We'll come find you once we know where it is." Amelia grew a little nervous, knowing what he was trying to do after all that time they spent trying to talk to her and encourage her. She glanced over at Darius, who smiled and gave a subtle nod. Yeah, they were definitely trying to set her up.

"Good, I could use a little grub to eat." Greed said, only to be met with Heinkel's hand on his shoulder.

"First, let's make sure you find this Rio guy. You'll want to claim any beds first, right?" Heinkel said, trying to appeal to his avarice for luxury and comfort to get the two teens to be alone together.

"Yeah, I suppose so," He looked over at Amelia and Edward, "I'll come find you two later."

"Sure," Amelia nodded, looking over at Darius and Heinkel, who both gave encouraging smiles to support her before they left with the homunculus. She looked over at Edward, who seemed a little curious that they had all left just so it was the two of them, but he didn't seem to question it, "Come on, I'll show you where we got some good curry."

"Curry sounds so good right now," Edward grinned, eager to get some kind of food that wasn't from a can. The two of them began to walk together, Edward taking in a long breath through his nose and letting it back out, smiling as he brought his hands up behind his head casually, "Man, I think I can smell it from here. It feels like it's been ages since we had real food."

"Right?" Amelia laughed a little, "It was so refreshing after eating canned this and vacuum-sealed for… what, 3 weeks now?"

"Has it been that long? It feels like it's been longer." It didn't take them too long to approach the booth, with Edward ordering the curry and the two of them taking a seat by the bar and waiting for his food to be made, "It really makes you appreciate the hard work that goes into cooking when you've been eating all the pre-prepared stuff."

"Totally," She voiced her agreement, looking over at him, "So… what were the details Marcoh wanted to go over?" Edward shrugged in response.

"Mostly just seeing where we would meet up, we actually decided to change the rendezvous point to Kanama. They'll meet us there after finding everyone else." Edward said, "Apparently since that place isn't too crowded outside of whoever lives there, it shouldn't be too difficult to get all of us together and then head on to Central."

"I see," Amelia replied, "Still, I'm really glad there's a plan."

"Me too," Edward nodded, "It's nice to have so many allies on our side going forward."

"It's kind of a shame about Al, though." She looked over at Edward, "I know you were really hoping he was here." Edward's expression shifted, a little distant as he thought about it, but then shrugged again.

"Al's smart enough to know what he's doing; I trust that he's working well with everyone else." He smiled at Amelia, "Besides, it's not like us traveling together is terrible."

"Yeah… you know, I think this is the first time we've been alone together since your teacher dropped us on that island," Amelia commented, thinking about how rare it had been for the two of them to have a moment alone together, if alone at all.

"Is it really?" Edward thought back for a moment, trying to recall any other times they had been alone together with just the two of them. Before he could collect all of his thoughts, the vendor came over with the curry he had ordered, "Alright!" He happily grabbed his spoon and started to dig in, thoughts about the two of them left behind as he eagerly devoured his meal, "Ah, it's so good!"

"Don't talk with your mouth full," Amelia chuckled, giving him a light nudge with her elbow. Edward gave her a sly look before deciding to open his mouth and show her the chewed-up food inside, "Ew! God, what are you, five?" She shoved his shoulder and he laughed to himself as he continued to eat. She laughed a little to herself, watching him eat for a bit as she enjoyed the comfortable quiet as she looked around them. She glanced back over at the bonfire, remembering that brief song they had shared together, the feeling of his arms around her, remembering the difference in sensation between his flesh hand and his automail one. The smile she must have worn the entire time they were dancing… and she remembered seeing one on him too, "Did you… did you enjoy dancing, just then?" Edward looked up from his meal as she asked, "I kind of just pulled you in without giving you a say, so I just…"

"Yeah, it was fun," He said, "Not really used to it, though. Not much of a dancer." He went back to eating, shoveling the curry and rice in his mouth and enjoying the taste.

"You're not bad at it, I'm glad you remembered the waltzing lessons at least," She said, glad to hear that he had enjoyed himself despite her just suddenly pulling him into it and barely asking for consent to do so. She was quiet for a moment longer, reflecting on what to say to him now that she had the opportunity while they were alone, "How long has it been since we met?"

"Hm?" Edward's head popped up from his plate, letting out a thoughtful hum as he tried to think, slowly bringing up one of the last bites of fried rice up to his mouth, "Maybe… The incident with Isaac was a while ago, that's where we met, I think?"

"Jeez, was it then?" Amelia was a little shocked, "That feels so long ago."

"But if we count back…" Edward counted on one hand for a moment, his spoon in his mouth as he counted backward, "Yeah, it's been more than half a year now, maybe 7 or 8 months?"

She slumped slightly in her seat as Edward put his spoon down, picking up the bread on his plate and running it through the remains of the curry to eat, "That… I mean, thinking about that, it feels like it's such a short amount of time when you say it like that, but it feels a lot longer doesn't it?" Edward nodded in agreement, stuffing the last of his bread into his mouth, showing a clean plate left behind. "Did you think we'd ever be friends then? I think all I did was yell at you."

Edward chuckled, "Yeah, I remember you swore a lot."

"God, I did, didn't I?" She laughed with him, "I used to drop the f-bomb a lot." She paused, "I don't… really do that anymore do I?"

"Not unless you're really pissed, or you hurt yourself." Edward said, "You say it plenty when we spar."

She let out a small hum, the two of them sitting together at that little table off the side of the vendor's little booth. She looked over at him, "I guess you didn't really think we'd be friends then, huh?"

He shook his head, "Nope, if anything I figured you would always be with the Major, be his headache to deal with. You were a little shit back then compared to now."

"I'm still a little shit, I don't know what you're talking about." Amelia joked the two of them sharing another laugh, "God, I was a spoiled little thing. I still am, but… I feel like I'm not as much as I used to be. I'm more of the person I always wanted to be."

"Oh yeah? And who is that?" Edward asked curiously.

She shrugged, struggling a little with putting it into words, "I… Well, I mean I kind of always… I always wanted to be the popular girl, I guess? The girl who was friends with everyone, or at least had a little group of friends she could call on when she needed it. Like all those main characters in books and movies and stuff. I wanted to be like them." She looked over at Edward, "And here I am, sitting with an actual main character, knowing damn well I'm not the star of your story," Edward chuckled, "But… I feel better for my time spent with you. And the major, too."

"That's good," He said, "I'm glad you could find your way there."

"Well, I'm not there yet," Amelia specified, "I will be, I'm getting closer, but not yet." She looked up at Edward, her brown eyes meeting his golden ones, "What about you, Ed?"

"Me?"

"Yeah, did you ever… want to be someone you weren't?"

Edward took a moment to think about it carefully, his automail hand coming up to his chin as he took the time to process her question. As she looked over his profile, she had to wonder if Edward had noticed how much more… manly he looked at that moment. His profile had changed, his cheeks didn't seem as round as she remembered them, and seeing him sitting there stoically… God, it was like looking at a statue, "I don't think so. I mean, I guess there were times when I was a kid that I thought maybe I shouldn't be a jerk but at the same time I was only a jerk because people were dumb." Amelia laughed, "It's true! Everyone else I knew was so stupid, and that would just make me mad that no one else could understand what I did."

"Yeah, that sounds like the most genuine version of you," Amelia said as she thought about what a young Edward would have been like, angry at kids that were crying for one reason or another. "I guess you never felt like you had to work to an ideal person, that's good."

"Well…" He rubbed his hand on the back of his neck, "I mean… it's not like I've never wondered what things might be like if I was different." She listened as he went on, "Like, if I was more of a gentleman and a bit more suave, maybe I could be seen as cooler instead of just some hot-tempered kid."

"I think you're cool," Amelia said, her cheeks turning a little pink as she realized what she had just said. She watched as Edward grinned at her.

"Yeah? Thanks, that's actually nice to know!" He said, smiling with all his teeth, and while she had just seen the maturity in his face a moment ago when he had been deep in thought, now he showed his age. He wasn't any older than her, and seeing him beam like that so genuinely, she could feel her heart twisting up. He looked around, "I guess we should get around to finding where the others are staying. Don't want you to miss out on getting a bed if Greed hasn't taken the only one." He turned and hopped out of his seat, waiting for her to join him. She followed him up, "Alright, so where did they go…?" He was talking to himself, leading the way and she followed behind him as he tried to remember vaguely where the others had gone off to. She walked behind him, feeling her heart racing as she looked at his back, seeing the broadness of his shoulders in the white coat he had worn since their time escaping Fort Briggs.

She walked with him past a few other homes and people chatting happily, singing, eating, enjoying the festive night. It felt like everything she had for him inside of her was boiling up, threatening to boil over and spill out of her if she didn't take control of herself. She could feel their bond more strongly now after that brief little talk, knowing more about Edward as a person and a little of how he came to be who he is now. She wanted to tell him… she needed to tell him.

"Hey," She reached out and gently tugged on his sleeve, "There's… something I need to talk to you about."

"Okay, what is it?" Edward asked, turning to face her, grunting a little as a pair of running children came by, accidentally bumping into him as they ran off, laughing and giggling with a pair of pinwheels flying with them in the air.

"Let's talk over here," She said, pulling him by the sleeve over to one of the old buildings left behind from the mining. She couldn't hear anyone inside, and the area was relatively private, "So… I've just… been doing a lot of thinking lately," She began, feeling her nerves threatening to get the better of her, but she tried to ignore them, "About… all of the stuff we've been through since we started these lessons, and since I came here. And… I keep thinking about you and… and how things have just continued to kind of get better in their own way when I was traveling with you and… um…" It felt like the words were building up in her throat, blocking the way and making it impossible for her to get them out. As she kept speaking, she found it harder and harder to look him in the eyes, her hands starting to fidget with the sleeves of her coat as she looked at him, "And… I think I've definitely become a better person for knowing you, Ed. Like, being with you and knowing you has turned me into a better person than who I was, and in that time I've… I've learned more about you, and… I…" She looked down at the ground, feeling her cheeks getting hotter as she knew she had to be blushing as she was getting so worked up, "I think… Because of that and, and other things - Like, your determination, and the way you always seem to think of the best of me and everyone else, the way you work to do your best and refuse to hurt anyone if you can, I…"

She could feel the buildup in her throat again, and she swallowed it down, taking a moment to take a quick breath, "You're one of the smartest, bravest people I know. And with the Promised Day coming up soon, I wanted to go into it without regrets and… and tell you…" She looked up into his eyes again, "That… I love you." She watched as Edward's eyes grew wide at the confession, his cheeks turning their own shade of red. "And I… I just… I wanted you to know that…"

Her voice had gotten softer with those last words, feeling like the sound was being drowned out by her thundering heartbeat in her ears. She saw Edward look away from her, eyes still wide, clearly trying to figure out how to process this, "Um…" He was quiet, she could see how he tried to look at anything and everything that wasn't her eyes, clearly getting nervous as his fingers fidgeted at the end of his sleeves. Why wasn't he saying anything? The seconds ticking on felt like minutes, standing there awkwardly as she waited for him to say anything to her after hearing this. But instead, he just stood there, trying to piece the words together in a way that she was sure he was trying to do to be gentle with her. She could feel that anxiety and nervous energy she had from confessing sinking into her stomach. She was right, he didn't feel the same.

She swallowed the intense feelings building up in her chest and put a smile on her face, stuffing her feelings down, "It's okay, you don't have to say anything." She said, getting him to look at her for the first time in what felt like a small eternity in that awkward silence, "I just didn't want to go into our final battle with any regrets. And now that you know, that's the end of it."

"Uh… it is?" Edward asked, a little surprised that she was handling it this way.

"Yeah, we can just go on as normal, don't even worry about it." She reassured him, "Hey, how about we split up to look for the guys?"

"Split up?" Edward repeated.

"Yeah, I'll go over that way and ask about Rio, and you head over that way. I'll meet you back at the bonfire in a couple minutes if I haven't found him, okay?" Before she could get his answer, she walked around him briskly. Edward watched her go, a little stunned as he stayed in place, but she kept walking. She never turned back once, feeling a heavy weight in her chest that seemed to reach up into her throat, creating a lump as her eyes started to sting with tears. She knew this would happen, she knew… that's why she didn't want to say anything, why did she listen to those lovesick chimeras? She knew better, this was Edward's story, he was in love with Winry - the girl who was literally made for him. She knew better, why did she let herself get swept up in the romantic stories? She wanted a happy ending for herself that she hadn't earned. She knew better, she knew so much better, why did she do it?

Her vision blurred as she kept walking straight on, not even paying attention to the people she was passing as she could feel those tears starting to roll down her cheeks. She hadn't realized that she had passed Greed as he waited outside one of the shabby old buildings. He watched her pass him with wide eyes as she walked straight on through the people, arms stiff at her sides, her shoulders shaking as she was trying to hold back the worst of it, keep herself calm and keep herself from breaking down right then and there in front of everyone who could see.

She eventually found herself at the side of the river, watching the water rush by from the waterfall near the camp. There was nowhere else for her to go now unless she wanted to turn around. She couldn't hear anyone nearby, the sound of the water rushing by was too loud, and when she looked to make sure she was alone, she brought her hands up to her face, hiding herself as she knew she wasn't a pretty crier by any means. She hid behind her fingers as her shoulders shook and she quietly cried, standing there by the river that flowed off the side of the mountain. She let it all start to flow out of her as the river floated down the stream, wiping at her tears as they didn't seem to stop falling. She knew better. She definitely knew better than this.

She didn't know how long she was standing there, unable to hear the footsteps of someone coming up next to her until she felt their presence beside her, a hand reaching out to gently touch her shoulder. She looked up from her hands, face red and skin splotchy from her tears as she met the eyes of a gentle-faced Greed… but no, it wasn't him, "Ling…?" She asked in a hoarse voice, reaching up to wipe her nose as she looked up at him.

"Hey, are you okay?" Ling's voice came out of the body, and she was sure it was him, "What happened? Why are you crying?"

She sniffled as she tried to clean herself up, suddenly finding it easier to calm down as he spoke to her. She didn't want him to see her crying any more than she already had, "I'm… I'm fine."

"You're clearly not, don't lie to me." Ling said, gently squeezing her shoulder, "Hey, tell me what's wrong…?"

She wiped at her nose again, her breath quivering a little, but she was calming down, "I… um… it's really stupid, but I… I told Edward how I feel about him."

"Oh," Ling said gently, able to understand the rest without her saying it, "I'm sorry it didn't go well."

"No, I mean, it's… don't apologize." She wiped away the last of her tears that seemed to be forming in her eyes, though the weight in her chest didn't leave her, "I mean… As much as I liked him, there was no way it was going to work out." Ling's hand slid off of her shoulder as she brought her arms up, crossing them in front of her chest, "I mean… I knew. I knew he didn't feel the same, but I… Heinkel and Darius talked me into telling him and I got a little carried away."

She sniffled a little, looking up at Ling, "It's kind of dumb, isn't it? Telling him knowing he wouldn't return my feelings."

"It's not dumb," Ling said gently, "It's important to tell people these things."

"Yeah, but… now things just…" She brought her hands up, trying to articulate how it complicated things between them more now that she had revealed it, "It's awkward and… He didn't know what to say - I didn't know what to say! I never not know what to say!" She sighed, her hands going up into her hair in frustration, "I should have never let myself get carried away like that by all those stories, I knew better. Why did I do it?" Ling stood by her, listening as she kept going, "I knew it wasn't going to work out, I knew Edward and Winry were basically made for each other, but I told him anyway! God, I feel so stupid…" She gently tugged at her hair, letting her fingers slide through it until her arms flopped at her sides, "I mean, I told him we could pretend like nothing happened, but I don't know that he… You know how he is, he's not exactly great at…" She trailed off, looking down at the river as it kept rushing by, "I feel like such a dope, saying all of that to him… I am, aren't I? A stupid, idiotic little dope."

"You're not a dope," Ling said gently, "You needed to say those things to him, what else could you do with your feelings?" He looked over at the river with her, "And it's not as if you had no chance at all, there was still a chance he might have returned them. I think you should be happy for that."

"Happy for that chance that didn't happen?" Amelia asked.

Ling was quiet for a minute, "You remember Lan Fan, don't you?" She nodded, "Her family has served mine for generations, creating loyal bodyguards to service and help our royal bloodline continue to succeed…" He put his hands in the pockets of Greed's coat that he wore, "And… Lan Fan is also a very special person to me. We've known each other since we were very young, she means a great deal to me as both my bodyguard and my friend." He looked over at Amelia, "But no matter what happens in Xing, no matter if I return with my philosopher's stone, I can never act on those feelings." Amelia's head tilted, and Ling went on to answer her silent question of 'why not?' "Because we're from separate clans of different placements, my family is placed much higher than hers, and therefore considered superior. Her family serves as a servant clan, creating expert bodyguards whose only purpose is to sacrifice their life for mine because they're seen as lesser." He frowned, looking back to the river again, "Even if I became emperor, that status wouldn't be changed. Lan Fan wouldn't be among the women brought to me to bear one of my children should I succeed the current emperor and come to a place where I would be able to do that. She must always be ready to sacrifice her life for me, even when I don't want her to… Even when I would rather she would be at my side as my queen."

There was a moment between them, Amelia had never seen this part of Ling before. He had always been a little goofy, whether that was on purpose or if it was because he wasn't familiar with things around Amestris had been anyone's guess, but to see him so serious like this when they weren't in a very serious situation was a bit shocking to say the least. Still, she could see where he was coming from, "I guess being emperor doesn't allow you to change the way status works."

"Not really," Ling chuckled dryly, "That was put in place ages ago, trying to upheave that so that servants and their lords could be together without scandal would be next to impossible, especially considering the duty they have to their clan and their wives." Amelia nodded slowly, "I'm always grateful for when she's by my side, but no matter my feelings it can never be acted on in a way that I want." He looked over at her, "I'm jealous of you, in that regard. You could still tell him."

"Yeah… even though I knew it would blow up in my face." She muttered, her foot coming forward to kick a loose pebble into the river rushing by. She let her vision blur as she watched it rush on, the stream and light coming together as she looked at it, relaxing a little as she stood there with another lovelorn soul, the two of them sharing that moment and those feelings together, "...It's really silly. I knew it would turn out this way… I don't know why it still hurts so much." She said softly, her voice just barely heard over the river, but still Ling responded with a nod of the head, the two sullenly looking down into the water. She stood there with him for a moment before lifting her head up, "Also… why is it you talking to me and not Greed?"

"Greed saw you rushing by," Ling explained, "But he's not really the best at handling 'woman problems' as he said." Amelia rolled her eyes a little at the mention of it, "So he sent me to help instead."

"Yeah, that sounds like him." She let out a small sigh, "Well… thank you for talking with me, at least. I think I've calmed down a little."

"Good," Ling smiled, "Glad to hear you're doing better."

"Well… not better, but…" She shrugged, "Just… it's better to have someone to talk to about it than not to, I guess."

Ling nodded in agreement, glad to be of use for his company if nothing else. He turned to her, "Well, what do you think you'll do now?"

She let out a long breath as she tried to think about it, "I told him to forget about it… hopefully he will, and nothing will come out of it." She said, "I'm sure that was just as mortifying for me as it was for him. He'll leave it alone… probably. Hopefully." Ling didn't respond to that, simply letting her speak or be quiet as she needed. "Love is weird."

"Yes, it is." Ling agreed, "Have you never felt this way before?" She shook her head.

"It's not like I've never been flirted with, but I never really liked anyone, not like this." She said softly, "I really… really like him. Like, he makes me want to be a better person, a better alchemist, someone… someone he'd be happy to be with." Ling nodded along as she spoke, listening as she dealt with the tumultuous feelings inside of her, "And for all of that… I mean, I just…" She sighed, "I feel so… stupid. I don't know how to do this right."

Ling took a moment to think, unsure if there was anything he could say to make this situation better. She was in a difficult place, trying to console her own feelings while acknowledging they wouldn't be returned after coming clean to Edward. He had always gotten the impression that Edward would like her, but he supposed he had been wrong. He turned to her, about to ask more about what happened when a sudden bang and rumbling sound caught their attention. They turned to see a plume of smoke rising up from the entrance of the camp, separate from the one the bonfire was making.

"What is that?!" Amelia exclaimed as she saw it, hearing the distant screams of people becoming louder as she could see the crowd starting to run. She heard Ling grunting, seeing his hand coming up to his head and his eyes opened, revealing Greed's purple irises.

"Looks like trouble. Go find the chimeras and the little guy and get out of here." Greed ordered, and Amelia nodded, running back into the camp as Greed took off towards the smoke. Heinkel and Darius weren't hard to find, the two of them were well over 6 feet and built like refrigerators, easy to spot amongst the moving crowd.

"Guys!" She called out to them, getting their attention and they made their way over to her.

"What's going on?" Heinkel asked.

"I don't know, but I think we need to get out of here." Amelia said, "Where's Ed?"

"Wasn't he with you?" Darius asked, and Amelia's stomach dropped. She looked over at the plume of smoke, seeing a group of Amestrian men coming in. Her eyes widened as she saw they were all wearing animal masks, one of them wearing a dog mask carrying a molotov cocktail that he threw onto one of the tents. She knew Edward well enough to know he wasn't about to just let them do this.

"Shit," She glanced over at the mining offices, seeing the Ishvalans that were inside making their way out, Scar coming out and looking over at the group, his hands tensing as his brow creased in a deep rage at the sight of them. "Scar!" Her voice caught his attention and she rushed over to him with Heinkel and Darius just behind her, "What can we do to help?" It was a simple question, and one that seemed to direct his attention away from his rage that there were Amestrians attacking them unprovoked. He glanced over at the men, and then at the crowds of running people.

"Do what you can to evacuate everyone, there's a path alongside the river that leads back into town." He told her, "Try to get them somewhere safe."

"Okay," She turned back to Heinkel and Darius, "Do you guys think you can handle that while I go stop Ed?"

"By yourself?" Darius concernedly asked.

"No, Greed's already over there, and I'll go with Scar. Just help these people as much as you can, you're both big and tall, you're easy to see, people will come to you if you say you're helping. Go with Doctor Marcoh." She explained briefly, "I'll get our boys and then I'll meet you by the river, okay?" She turned to Scar, "Ed's going to try to fight these freaks, I need to grab him and our homunculus. The sooner we get everyone out of here, the sooner you can do what you need to without hurting any innocents." Scar nodded, the group splitting as she left with the Ishvalan man. The chimera couple didn't seem completely on board with this, but there wasn't exactly time to argue, calling out to the running crowd to try and direct them down the path that should hopefully get them out.

Amelia and Scar ran towards the masked man she had seen with the molotov cocktail, who seemed to be working on lighting a second one as they started to close in. He looked up at them and she jumped up, shouting as she sprinted and jumped up to drop-kick him before it could light, taking a little satisfaction in how she could feel the weight of her body on his chest as she knocked him to the ground, managing to land standing up while he had the wind knocked out of him. She jumped off of him, taking advantage of his state to kick him in the back of the head, watching as he slumped to the ground afterwards. Edward had taught her that if she wanted to knock anyone out, she needed to aim for the back of the skull towards the bottom, try to hit the part of the brain that controlled sight. She was glad to see his advice worked.

She kept running towards the front of the camp, seeing that a fire was growing, wincing a little as she could feel the growing heat as they rushed by some of the old buildings that had been lit aflame. Among the bodies, she could see about 7 or 8 adult men, one of them getting their asses handed to them by Greed as three of them tried to take him on and she could see Edward's hands moving to throw punches at one man that was hitting back just as hard. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw something moving and stepped back in time to avoid another masked man bringing down an axe where she had been standing. Scar stepped in immediately as she stepped back, bringing his hand up to the man's face and she watched as a transmutative light surrounded him, and blood spewed forth from under the mask.

"Scar!" She called out in shock.

"He's not dead," Scar called back, watching as the man cried out under his mask, taking it off to reveal that the skin underneath was what had been broken as he screamed in pain. Amelia couldn't look at it for too long as she saw the blood dripping down from the muscles on his face, feeling nauseous. "Can you make a barrier?"

"A what?" She looked up at Scar.

"Make a barrier to cut off these men from the rest of the camp." As she looked around, the fire was mainly in the forest and only reached a couple of buildings. If they cut it off, it wouldn't spread to do anymore damage to the refugees and the homes they had made.

She nodded, "Yes, but you have to get Edward back on this side so we can go," She said, Scar nodded in agreement and went to go get the teenager in question. She clapped her hands and brought them to the ground, watching as the light from her transmutation spread forward, watching as the ground caved in around the growing fence as she brought it up higher and higher until it was roughly ten feet up, watching as it slowly started to build, hearing the sounds of fists and feet meeting bodies and skin until Scar managed to come back over, dragging a raving Edward and Greed just behind him as she managed to get the barrier all the way up, cutting off the fire from doing any more damage, though that didn't stop the men from walking around.

Edward was put back on his feet by Scar, already sporting what looked like an open cut on his forehead. "Come on!" Amelia shouted at him, running back to lead the others, knowing the men were right behind them. Edward ran up next to Amelia.

"What's the plan?" He asked.

"We have to stall so everyone can get out safely," Amelia said between breaths, "I think the five of us can take them, yeah?"

Edward looked a little uneasy at the thought of her joining, but nodded, "Okay," He looked back to see the masked men were still following behind them. "Where do we go?"

"The middle of the camp, they won't be able to follow everyone else." Edward nodded and as they kept running, they could see Heinkel and Darius make their way over to them, Darius's taking the time to transform, his shirt ripping apart as he let out a deep rumble of a roar that scared the men to stop in their tracks as he ran forward and charged two of them. The bonfire was still burning, but no one was around save for their little group.

"Did everyone get out safely?" Amelia asked as she ran up to Heinkel, turning around to face the others as they started to come their way.

"The doctor's leading them into town," Heinkel answered, "Who are these guys?"

"They called themselves the Amestrian Avengers. Think you can let loose and take 'em?" Edward asked, and Heinkel nodded.

"Shouldn't be too long," He said, and she watched as he transformed in front of her, his skin shifting as the hair grew thicker on his arms and face, his hair lengthening into a mane, his nose growing wider as he took off his glasses, depositing them into the neckline of his shirt, letting a massive roar before he went after the others, the two chimeras taking on about three each at a time, Scar going up against one other, the other two coming straight for them.

"Move, Princess!" Greed shouted at Amelia as he knocked one guy down with his shielded hand, though the man was quick to get back up and come back after Greed. The last still came charging towards them, and Amelia took a stance with Edward, the two of them bringing up their legs in a high kick to knock him back. The man stumbled, Amelia charging forward to take advantage of his misstep and bring her hand up right under his jaw, knocking his head back. Edward came to finish him off, hitting him hard with his automail hand and watching him crumple on the ground.

As he fell, another man charged forward to take his place, Edward knocking him back, "Arm yourself!" He ordered Amelia as he took him on. Amelia looked around her, finding a stone on the ground and running with it. It was limestone, and the conversion of stone to metal wouldn't be too difficult, though it wouldn't be very strong. She clapped her hands together, watching as the rock transformed into a blade in her hands. A simple double-edged short sword. She wasn't too familiar with wielding it, but it would have to do. She gripped it with one hand, seeing one of the bigger ones charging right for her with a machete. She brought the blade up to block its path, and again, and again. The man was relentless, and she found herself moving back to try and put some space between him and her as the fight raged on.

She could feel the metal in her sword giving way to his machete. His blade was designed to last through all kinds of things, but hers was a haphazard transmutation from a rock of limestone. It wasn't made to last for too long, so she had to find something else. She started to run, though not too far, watching as the man swung his blade back and forth towards her, doing everything she could to dodge him. She had remembered all of her training with Edward, and she blocked him where she had to, but she could feel the integrity of her sword giving way with each hit. She had become faster, and she had learned to think faster, on her feet in a fight like this. She thought how it would be easier to take him on where he couldn't call on his friends to back him up. She started walking, being careful as she started to lead him away from the others, focusing entirely on him as all of the boys worked to get the rest of the men incapacitated.

---

Edward knocked down the third one in his way, watching as the fox mask he wore came apart, falling back with what was definitely going to be a bad black eye. He looked around at the others, seeing Heinkel and Darius were standing, slowly transforming back into their human selves with bodies of unconscious men that had been taken out one way or another. Greed seemed fine, and Scar was looking around at the number of them, "We had been having issues with some of the locals, but I didn't think it would reach this point." The Ishvalan said.

Edward looked around the camp, seeing the damage done was minimal, but that wasn't where his gaze was focused, "I heard them shout something about Amestrian avengers or the like, these are all the kind of nuts people that think any change is bad in this country." Heinkel said as he looked around, finding his glasses again and putting them back on as he started to smooth out his blonde hair so he looked like his normal self again. "We should tie them all up and send them back home, I'm sure there isn't much else we can do here."

"I agree," Scar replied. As Edward kept looking around, he noticed she wasn't there, he didn't hear anything, and his heart began to drop into his stomach. "I imagine my presence here helped escalate things as well, we should be moving on, anyway."

"Where's Amelia?!" Edward asked frantically, and the other men all looked around, not able to find her. He snapped his head around, "Lionus!"

"That's not my name!" Heinkel barked.

"Where is she? Can you smell her?" Edward was starting to panic; he knew she had been fighting but what if something had happened to her? For all the improvement she had made in their training, she was still nowhere near his level, and he was afraid she might have gotten overconfident. Heinkel saw the clear worry, bringing his nose into the air, Darius doing the same as he tried to see if he could smell her.

"I think she went this way," He pointed out the direction, and Edward took off without another word, "Hey! Hold on a minute, kid!" He and Darius ran after him, Greed and Scar not far behind. He had pointed towards the river, and as they rounded the houses and tents that had been made that had thankfully received very little damage in the skirmish, they could hear the sounds of metal clashing as they came closer.

As Edward rounded the corner of one of the buildings, he could see Amelia backing up towards the river as she still held up a short sword, taking swipes at another man with a machete that he kept bringing down on her. He had at least a foot in height and easily another 70 pounds in weight, he was hardly a fair opponent for her to fight. Edward watched with wide eyes as the blade she was using to defend herself, trying to swipe at the man and get him back but he kept managing to get just out of reach or didn't seem to care about a scratch or two that she would manage to land. He could see she was getting closer to the rushing water of the riverbank, and he wasn't about to watch her fight on her own like this.

"Bastard!" He growled out, clapping his hands together in his transmutation, planting them on the ground, watching as the lightning shot forward between the two of them, Amelia's eyes wide as the ground suddenly jutted up as a fist that came straight to upper cut the man's jaw, knocking his mask back as his machete came down on Amelia's arm. She cried out, jumping back and not realizing that she didn't have a place to stand. Her heel went over the edge of the riverbank and she lost her balance. Watching her fall into the river, it felt like watching it in slow motion, Edward catching Amelia's terrified eyes as she fell back, the splash the only sound he heard as he rushed to the water. "Amelia!"

As he came to the end, he could see she wasn't there, looking down the river, he saw her head pop up as the water rushed on, the current pulling her further downstream. He started running down the water's edge, "Hang on!" He called out, looking around down the river for anything she could use to stop herself, but there weren't any low-hanging branches. He could see stones, and he tried to point them out to her, "The rocks! Hold onto the rocks!"

His voice was unfortunately drowned out as all Amelia could hear was either the disturbing silence of having water in her ears when she dipped under, or the rush of the river as she kept moving through it. She could swim just fine in normal conditions, but fully dressed in her coat and shoes, it felt like it was getting harder to keep her head afloat. She kept trying to swim in the current, but she had fallen so suddenly and she could feel her throat burning as water kept falling into her mouth when she tried to breathe. She was panicking and afraid, her hands trying to reach out to Edward but her terrified mind couldn't think straight, the adrenaline rushing through her as she tried to find any quick solution to get her out of the water without thinking it through, flailing in the river as it carried her on. She was coughing and trying to breathe where she could, but it was starting to turn into a losing battle and she slipped under just before the rocks could catch her.

Edward was starting to panic himself, shouting out Amelia's name desperately as he ran harder, his hands clapping together in transmutation as he saw her form slipping under the water, bringing his hands down on the ground, watching as the lightning from his transmutation shot forward past where her body was slipping, the ground pulling itself up in a thin wall that blocked the flow of water for just a few seconds, but not for long. It was done at the last second, made of the sediment and mud and dirt from under the river, slowly collapsing as Amelia's body was brought up against it by the current, "Shit!" He jumped in the water, grabbing her body as it still stayed under the water, yanking her up and pulling her to the riverbank as the wall he made started to collapse.

He was frantic, swimming up to the riverbank as the others all started to catch up with them, Darius and Greed grabbing onto Edward and Amelia to yank them out of the water as the wall completely collapsed and fell away. Edward was panting for breath, and Darius put Amelia on her back. She was soaked to the bone, and not breathing. He went straight for her, ignoring Heinkel's question of whether or not he was okay as he brought his mouth onto hers, blowing air into her throat and plugging her nose, hoping to get some kind of movement.

It didn't take much after that, Amelia coughing up a mouthful of water that sputtered up past her lips, turning onto her side as she started coughing out the rest that had fallen into her lungs. Edward sat back, panting for breath as he felt relief rushing through him. Darius's hand came up to rub at her back, patting it to help her cough out the rest of the water until she was able to take a gasping breath again.

"Oh, hell…!" She swore in a hoarse voice, starting to push herself to sit up, "God, my throat hurts…" She brought her hand up to her throat as she started to come back to herself. And hearing her complain about the pain in her throat, Edward couldn't help but feel a burning rage building up in his chest as he looked at her.

"What the hell were you thinking?!" He yelled, catching her off-guard, "Why did you try to fight him by yourself?! What the hell is wrong with you?!"

"Ed, what-"

"Shut up!" He cut her off, "You're not about to just play innocent to this, you knew better! I taught you better! You idiot! You had a whole team behind you, did you lead him away?! You know good and well I'm the one that's usually this reckless, not you!" He gestured angrily at her, "Look at you! You nearly drowned because you didn't know what the hell you were supposed to be doing!"

"Hey, I-!"

"You nearly died!"

"It wasn't on purpose!"

"Idiot! You don't go telling someone you love them and then almost die! What the hell was I supposed to do?! Huh?!" Amelia was stunned into silence as he brought it up, "I'm not about to let you die before I can even talk to you about that! And you're sure as hell not stupid enough to fight someone on your own when you can fight with a team! You know better! So don't go dying on me before I can tell you how I feel!" He finished, panting from the effort it took to save her, as well as the effort he had put into screaming at her just then. She looked over his body, seeing that he was soaked from the shoulders down and she knew she was completely wet, it wasn't hard to figure out what had happened. She glanced up at the others who were all staring down at them with wide eyes. She couldn't help feeling just a little embarrassed now that everyone knew about that moment, but also seeing the trouble she had caused for Edward.

"...I'm sorry, Ed." She said in a small voice, he looked like he was still ready to tear her a new one again, but he calmed down as he realized they weren't alone. His cheeks grew a little red as he realized he had just said something that was meant to be private out loud for everyone to hear.

"Just… stay with us next time, alright?" He pushed himself to stand up with a bit of a sheepish expression, still trying to retain a look of disappointed anger, reaching a hand down to help her. She took it, letting him help her up again. As she was back on her feet, Edward noticed something right away, "Your arm," She looked down at the mention of it, seeing a watery red trail of blood painted onto her skin, reaching up and wiping it away to reveal a small cut.

"You okay?" Darius asked.

"It's nothing too deep… I think." She murmured as she looked at it, "It looks worse than it is." She smiled up at Ed, "I'm fine." He didn't look so sure, but he didn't press the issue if she was sure that she was fine.

"The doctor can probably patch you up back in town, that's where everyone was heading" Darius said, "You think you and the kid are good to go on your own? We uh, should probably get back and round up those guys."

"Turn them over to the MPs if we can, or someone." Heinkel said, looking back at the path behind them.

"It'll be easier to leave them to their own devices," Scar said, "But there are some things I need to get. With all of this attention, it's best that Marcoh and I leave immediately with the information we need."

"We can give you a hand, make sure those guys don't bother you so you can get out of here," Darius said.

"Alright, then I guess we'll meet you down in town when that's finished." Greed said, looking over at Amelia and Edward, "Let's go, lovebirds." Edward's face flushed.

"Wha- Shut up!" He snapped at Greed, who just chuckled and started down the path.

Amelia looked over at Edward, smiling a bit as she started to follow behind Greed, though Edward quickly picked up the pace to walk in front of her, "Come on, let's go." He took her by the soaked sleeve of her jacket, the two of them walking with squishing footsteps in their wet shoes as Darius, Heinkel, and Scar started to make their way back to the mining office to make sure they got what they needed for the upcoming Promised Day.

"Um… Ed, we can dry ourselves off with alchemy, right?" Amelia asked, not really wanting to walk all the way back down the mountain with wet shoes and socks and risk getting a blister. Edward didn't say anything and kept pulling her down with him by her sleeve. She was a little confused, "Ed?" He didn't respond, just kept walking. Greed was already walking a little further ahead of them, unknowingly giving them space to talk as they kept moving, "Um… look, if you're still mad, I'm sorry. I just figured it would be easier to take him on if he was alone…" Edward still didn't say anything, just pulling her along by her sleeve as they continued walking downwards past the river. She wasn't sure what else she could say to help with this, "Uh… you know, I've hardly noticed it, but I think you've gotten taller." He stood up a little straighter as she mentioned it, but still kept walking in silence, still pulling her with him. She frowned as he still refused to say anything, "Can you just talk to me, Ed? I know I was reckless, I'm sorry but don't just yank me along and give me the silent treatment." She would rather he yell at her if he was angry. "You can't hold a grudge against me for doing something we both know you would have done."

He finally stopped, letting out a small sigh as he released her sleeve from his hand. He turned around to face her, and she could see the determined expression on his face. She wasn't sure what to make of it, looking up at him as he kept his gaze focused on her. She watched as his cheeks seemed to grow redder as his lips curled slightly. She blinked confusedly as she looked at him, "What is it…?"

He opened his mouth to say something, and then closed it with a wordless grumble that almost made it sound like he was choking on his words. He tried again, but he only grew more flustered, standing there with his shoulders tensed and his fists at his sides, "I'm… not good at this." He said haltingly, as if he had to force every word out.

"Good at what…?" Amelia asked, confused.

"This!" He gestured frantically between the two of them, "The- the talking, the words and the- the-" He only grew more flustered as his words seemed to disintegrate in his throat with a frustrated grumble. He looked away from her, looking back at the river as he still tried to get his words together, fidgeting a little where he stood. "I'm not… I'm not good at it like you are."

Amelia's head tilted to the side, still not entirely sure what he was talking about, though she was starting to understand, "Are you… talking about earlier?" He nodded, "When I told you that I…?" He nodded fervently, "So… you're saying that you're not good at… talking about stuff like that?" He shook his flushed head, glancing down between the two of them as she slowly nodded, "I see…"

"And you… you left really quickly." Edward added on. She blushed a bit as he mentioned it.

"Sorry… when you didn't say anything right away, I sort of panicked…" She felt a little silly now for being so quick to dismiss his silence as a rejection, but those seconds ticking by felt like a small eternity… though she had probably been standing there in silence with him for less than a minute. "So, does… Does that mean there was something you wanted to say to me?"

The blush on Edward's face only got worse as she mentioned it, but he knew he couldn't just stand here in silence the entire time again. He hadn't been able to find the words before, he could say a thousand different things about a thousand different alchemy theories, but when it came to more vulnerable things like this it felt next to impossible for him to get the words out. He straightened up, taking in a deep breath through his nose as he looked at her again with that determined glare. If he couldn't say it in words, maybe he should just let his actions do so… but then again that was pretty embarrassing, too. He wasn't sure what was worse, talking to her or doing what he was thinking of doing. As she looked up at him, a little concerned but her brown eyes holding onto that hopeful gleam as she met his gaze.

Finally, he gathered all of his courage, stepping forward and putting his hands on both of her shoulders, leaning in and pressing a quick, flustered peck to her lips, "T-There!" he said as he pulled away, "Does… does that help?"

Amelia's eyes were wide, not at all having expected a kiss, one of her hands coming up as her fingers ran over her lips. Her heart started to race quickly in her chest as she started to realize that she had been too hasty, the others were right. Edward did feel something for her after all. She almost felt like she was soaring at the news, Edward felt the same way she did. He wanted her like she wanted him! She couldn't help smiling a little as she looked up at him, seeing that he was still flustered from before, that determined glare melted into a look of a kind of hopeful but remorseful man. He wasn't very good at being vulnerable, any secrets she knew about him she knew from talking to others, or just being nearby when they were revealed as a necessity to keep moving forward. She smiled a little as she looked up at him, her hand moving away from her lips as she moved to rest it on the crook of where his shoulder met his neck. "It helps," She said in a soft voice, smiling as she saw him starting to relax at her words, "But… can you do it again? So I can make sure?" She asked coyly, a little excited that she had the chance to do it again.

"Make sure…?" Edward grew a little flustered again, looking away out of nervousness.

"I can do it this time, if you want," Amelia said, moving just a few inches closer to him, "Just close your eyes, okay?" Her heart was racing a little bit, and he looked to be just as nervous as she was feeling, but he closed his eyes like she asked. She realized she had to move up on her toes a little to meet him, but she did just that. His hands were still holding onto her shoulders, whereas she had one on the crook of his neck and the other coming up to his chest as she moved up to carefully brush her lips against his, giving a bit more of a proper kiss than the one he had given her. She could feel his heart thundering away under her palm as she let her lips move slowly over his, giving him time to get used to the sensation and adjust. It was pretty clear that kissing wasn't something he was used to, but he was a very quick learner. The two of them stood there for a few blissfully long moments, exchanging kisses that were somehow chaste but passionate at the same time.

"Hey!" Greed's voice in the distance snapped them out of the moment, both of them breaking away with flustered blushes, "You two can make out all you want when we find somewhere to stay tonight! Let's go!"

"We're coming, just hold on a minute!" Amelia shouted back, looking back up at Edward. The moment their eyes met, the two of them couldn't help exchanging giddy laughter as they realized what they had done.

"Here, let me help you with that first," Edward said, bringing his hands off of her shoulders, his palms coming together in transmutation before putting them back on her clothes, she watched as the transmutative lightning moved down her body, instantly drying all the clothes she wore down to her shoes. She smiled, seeing what he had done and then bringing her hands together to do the same for him, her hands going onto his chest and drying off the water, alchemically removing the moisture from the fabric of the coat and shirt he wore all the way down to his leather boots. "Nicely done," He praised.

"Now we don't have to worry about walking around like a pair of drowned rats," Amelia said, relieved.

Edward laughed at that a bit, taking her hand in his flesh one and starting to walk the path back down the mountain, looking over at her as they walked, "Yeah, I guess I wasn't really all that worried about that." He looked over at her, bringing his automail hand up to his forehead, watching as it went right over the top of her head, "Huh, what do you know? I did get taller." He beamed, suddenly walking with an extra spring in his step as they held hands together down the mountainside. "Guess my growth's not so stunted after all, huh?"

"Nope, guess it just took a minute." Amelia laughed, seeing Edward ridiculously happy at knowing that he had grown taller. The two of them walking hand-in-hand down the rest of the path to meet up with the others before continuing their journey onward.