Title: A Fangirl's Dream
Summary: With an anime loving best friend, Ivy has heard plenty about whatever show of the week they're into. But when she manages to cross the gate during an attempt to take a shortcut home, she finds herself in a frightening position. The main character in an Another World fanfiction trope; and with reluctance, she finds herself teaming up with the main characters to get back home.
Pen Name: FanfictionIsMySideHustle

Ivy discovered something about Alphonse's suit of armor when the giant man brought him inside the house. His armor's mouth didn't move.

"Who's this, Granny?" The boy's voice was tinny, like he was talking into a bowl or something else otherwise hollow. But with the red eyes that shone through the black of its sockets like a sprectre possessing a suit, it was enough of a reminder that this boy was just an empty suit of armor walking. Well, had been walking if the fact he was all wrapped up in a crate being carried by a giant said anything.

Pinako pointed at the girl with her pipe. "This is Ivette Carter, she's a girl from Central that we took in about a month ago. Think of her as an assistant of mine." She smirked, her brown eyes looking pointedly in Ivy's direction. "'Apprentice' is apparently too final a word for her." Ivy chuckled nervously, looking away.

The giant perked up. "Another Central native?"

"Oh. You're from Central?" Ivy scratched at the back of her head. Just stay chill, Ivy. Just stay chill. She lived in Vallant for years and it wasn't like she knew every nook and cranny of the town. "Nice to see I'm not the only one here enjoying the Resembool scenery. Oh and just call my Ivy. Ivette is my auntie."

"Major Alex Louis Armstrong, young lady." Ivy tried not to gawk at how large his hand was in comparison to her own when he extended one to shake her hand. "It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

"S-same to you, sir."

"I didn't know you took on apprentices." Gold eyes stared sharply at her. Edward seemed mostly indifferent. "Kinda hard to imagine anyone coming all the way to Central from Resembool to learn anything about automail."

Ivy smiled stiffly. "Believe it or not, that wasn't the goal." She replied, hoping Winry would appear now to distract him. "Still not an apprentice, by the way. Winry's just trying to rub the gearheadedness of on me. I guess it's working. I'm also guessing you're both the famous Elric Brothers I hear so much about? Cute pictures."

Edward choked but Alphonse laughed so Ivy sighed mentally as Winry finally appeared with her blue eyes narrowed suspiciously. "I'm guessing you're here for maintenance since you're never here for anything else when you visit." It was a complaint that Ivy heard many a time whenever it was brought up.

Edward made a face. "Er… Is another wrench going to be tossed at my head if I say that I do need maintenance?"

"A wrench?" Ivy raised an eyebrow.

Edward pointed a gloved thumb in Winry's direction. "Your pal here has the aim of a sharpshooter, that's all I'm gonna say."

"Damn, Win. Savage." Ivy snorted trying to imagine Winry tossing any kind of tool at someone's head. "Is that what the yelling was about outside?"

Winry pointed her nose in the air. "I don't know what you're talking about." But her head came back to earth, "Besides, I'm actually happy that he's here for a maintenance check." Edward blinked in surprise, letting out a 'really?' in disbelief. "Yep! Now Ivy can see automail maintenance in action instead of just traditional prosthetics! So I guess I'll let you off the hook for this time."

"And how did I know it had to do with me witnessing the beauty of automail?" Ivy chuckled as Winry giggled sheepishly. "I guess this means you should head on into the shop part of the house. This way." She waved, taking her steps to the workshop. "But I hope you know that you're eating lunch before you get started on anything automail-related. If it's something quick, you're eating right away."

"I know, I know." Ivy didn't feel any sense of reassurance from Winry's proclamation as the blonde's shoulder brushed against hers.

Pinako was already in the workshop, Ivy guessed she had quietly walked away while they were distracted. "Everything's already set up for the examination." She nodded at her work table that was already laid out with tools. "So what's the damage we have to look over this time, Ed?"

There was the longest pause as Edward and Alphonse exchanged a look and Ivy could already feel the 'We're fucked' solidarity she often shared with a friend whenever they were both in deep shit. She pursed her lips and looked away, the 'oof' sound effect from most vines she enjoyed echoing in her mind. That bad, huh? Edward coughed as he took a seat on the chair. "... So about that." He yanked his red cloak off quickly, like it'd make the reaction he'd receive pass faster. "I kinda need you to make me a completely new arm?"

'I guess I'll let you off the hook' went smooth off the table as Winry looked at the empty port where Edward's arm should have been. "WHAT?!" She pointed aghast, Edward smiling sheepishly. "What happened to your arm?!"

"Yeah it got broken."

"What do you mean 'it got broken'?!" Ivy winced as Winry's voice approached an entirely new octave. "Edward, that was my masterpiece! I slaved over that! Just- just, just give me the arm so I can see what can be salvaged!"

"Okay so when I said 'broken' what I meant was that it was 'smashed into tiny unsalvageable pieces'."

Winry leaned back, clenching her chest dramatically and Ivy swore that it looked like her soul was leaving her body. After that, Ivy thinks she must have blacked out because it was a 'blink and you miss it' moment but Edward was suddenly sprawled out on the floor, a wrench the weapon of choice.

Now that is rough, buddy. "Um, Winry, how about we put the wrench down?" Ivy raised her hand defensively as Winry fumed. "Alphonse, I think speak on behalf of almost everyone when I say that your brother shouldn't ever be an announcer when there's bad news." Ivy could already picture Edward in pilot clothing and unabashedly saying announcing to the plane's tenants: "Alright folks, so we've got some good news and a little bad news. The good news is, we're going to be landing soon. Bad news is, we're crash landing."

Alphonse's tinny giggle echoed with nervousness, "I think I'll let him know."

Winry whipped her head in Alphonse's direction. "You have no room to laugh right now. Why are you all busted up?" Edward rose back to the couch, jaw clenched tightly as he muttered incoherently under his breath. "What kind of lifestyles are you two leading?"

The tapping sound of Pinako's pipe on her ashtray stopped Winry's interrogation. "Alright now, I need my engineers to focus on the task at hand." Winry squinted but she otherwise dropped it as Ivy sighed. Remind me to never get on Winry's bad side. She'd seen the blonde get annoyed before in petty squabbles, but never furious to the point of unleashing hell on earth. "It's been a while so your leg's probably going to need some maintenance too."

"Especially since you suck at maintenance." Winry seemed more miffed by the second.

"I get it, I get it." Edward moaned. "I'll be more careful next time."

Armstrong nodded, an odd glint shining from his forehead. "It's best so that you don't end up worrying your family, Edward Elric."

These are some chill ass anime characters. Ivy could have laughed but the wrench still tightly clenched in Winry's hand made her reconsider the action as Edward changed into a tank top and shorts. His earlier statement about her sharpshooter accuracy made a lot more sense now. Why didn't Akasha mention anything about the wrench thing instead? One misplaced word before and Ivy could have found herself in the exact same sprawled out position as Edward just seconds ago.

"By the way, do you think you could get this arm done quickly?" Edward called out. "We have to head out back to Central soon."

"Oh you're going to Central?" Winry's anger dissipated. "Ivy's from Central."

Ivy's right toes wiggled inside her shoes. "Yeah we just talked about that. Major Armstrong's from Central too." She arched her back, pretending that she needed to stretch. "So what are you guys heading to Central for? I heard you guys travel a lot."

"We're just doing a little research!" Alphonse's piped from his crate. "We have a lead on the Philosopher's Stone so…" He trailed off and there was some kind of quiet understanding from everyone in the room that was supposed to be in the know. It's something related to their bodies.

Pinako nodded, kneeling down in front of Edward's legs. "I see." Her eyes were sharp as she steadied out Edward's feet with her hands. "So you want to get back to Central as quickly as possible to gather data on it." Without missing a beat, she added a quick, "Notice anything, Ivy?"

And that's my cue. She thought as she found a place to kneel down next to her mentor of sorts. The leg was in general good shape, a cool dark gray color. Steel, I'm guessing? "Well there's no loose bolts sticking out. The coat looks like it needs to be polished though."

"In cases like these, you shouldn't just look at the automail." Pinako explained. "Humans are always growing, so you should always look at the limb you should be comparing too or even the outfittee's entire measurements to make sure they're at the right size they should be in."

Oh. With a closer look, Ivy understood what Pinako was referring to. "His legs are kinda off. Someone got taller."

"Really?" The excitement in Edward's voice was almost palpable.

"How tall are you anyway?" The boy stiffened and Ivy cocked her head to the side trying to get a better estimation on his total height. Standing next to the Major, he had seemed puny but even sitting alone on the chair he looked a little… Well for sure shorter than Ivy herself who stood at around 5ft7in.

Pinako stood up, "I'm afraid you're touching a sore spot for him."

Winry nodded, smirking. "Ed's always been short. The last time we saw him, he was just-"

"This isn't about my height!" Edward snapped abruptly. "Can we go back to talking about my automail please!"

"Well your old leg can still be used with some minor adjustments." Pinako remarked, her pipe near her lips as she readied herself for another drag. "But the arm's going to take longer to take care of."

Edward leaned back in his seat. "So about a week?"

Pinako scoffed then took a drag. "Don't underestimate me." She gave the biggest smirk Ivy had ever seen her make. "We'll have it ready for you in three days. But in the meantime, you'll just have to settle with one of our spares. Do we have any already made?"

Ivy stood up, "I think so." She glanced over to where they'd be kept.

"We're not gonna actually use the regular traditional prosthetics actually." Winry held a hand out.

"We're not?"

"Nope, we actually have spares for people with automail too since it still needs to be attached to the port in the limb's place." Winry showed the way to a large leather case; the limbs inside sleeker and made almost entirely out of the same metal that they use their pylon for. "We usually keep them separate in here. We don't really have a lot though. They're still made of pylon like the traditionals but it's just got extra details."

Ivy leaned closer, admiring the sleek form. There was some sort of switch mechanism on the side, most likely for locking it in place. "These don't connect to the nerves?"

"Not even a little, so we don't have to worry about clients being in pain."

"You really didn't make any of these for the Waidsill order?"

Winry nodded. "They didn't ask for any." She made her way to her grandmother who was waiting expectantly.

"So much for not being an apprentice." Edward said while raising his leg a little higher as Pinako made quick work of switching his automail and replacing it. "You're already speaking like them. It's only a matter of time before you start dressing like them too."

"Don't give her any ideas please." Ivy coughed. It'd be a matter of time before Winry would give her some sort of matching jumpsuit with a happy smile on her face. "Now we can match!" The blonde would most likely say and like the weakling she was, Ivy would humor her and put it on and it would all just go downhill from there. "Besides, I'm just here for the time being and I haven't even made my own prosthetic yet. So there's no real commitment to the apprentice thing."

Winry looked over her shoulder, mouth open slightly.

"... What?" Ivy coughed after a few heartbeats passed and Winry hadn't said anything yet.

Winry blinked. "Oh. Nothing." She turned back around and took Edward's leg from Pinako as if they hadn't just had an… off moment but her movements had been stiff. "I should get started on your arm soon if you want it done in three days." She held up three fingers, eyebrows furrowing. "Between crafting all the parts and assembling and making sure everything's connected properly… Gah, that's three all nighters."

Ivy took a step forward, hands on her hips. "Then you're definitely eating before you work." Brown eyes looked at the story's hero. "Hope you don't mind if lunch is eaten first or anything." It wasn't so much a question so much as it was a definitive order.

"I'll just eat in the workshop." Winry replied but her voice was far from light and she didn't spare her companion any kind of look. "Just know you're paying a fortune for the rush order fee, Ed." She said instead as Edward glared in return.

"Skeezy mechanic."

"Oh, you'll be watching me work now?" Pinako glanced up from her work table for a few moments before focusing on her work.

"Just for a little bit. I might go on a jog soon to work off lunch." Ivy took a seat across from the old woman. Edward's leg was now strewn apart into separate pieces. "Plus, Winry wanted to concentrate more on just designing and going through existing parts she could use and I didn't wanna be in the way." It felt too awkward now after what happened earlier.

"Well it won't be the most linear training since you haven't even started making your own limbs, but this will be a good experience for you." Pinako replied as she made some notes on a stray paper. She and her granddaughter both had the same chicken scratch that was almost infuriating to look at let alone try actually read. "I'm just readjusting the size and making the leg a bit lighter. You'll do things like this for traditionals for obvious growth but we generally just make new sizes in advance. It won't be as intricate as the details in updating in aut-"

"I kinda just wanted to watch in silence right now, Pinako." Ivy mumbled her chin into her palm, her gaze firmly resting on a random bolt. "I kinda have a lot to think about." Pinako didn't respond and Ivy bit her bottom lip.

From the workshop, Ivy could hear the dull sounds of wood being chopped. (A small request from Pinako to Armstrong who seemed more than happy to oblige.) All the while Winry worked alone in her workshop while the boys, Edward and Alphonse, sat on the grass outside with Den.

The Elric brothers were finally here. It was just a little harder actually saying anything to them now that they were. Let alone when they thought she was here to learn how to engineer. "Why are you out here chatting with us when you should be in there with Winry or something?" Is all she could imagine Edward saying to her if she stepped out to really say anything.

And what the heck would I even say to them? There's literally no way I can just smoothly go 'So yeah, I come from another dimension and I just figured that if I asked the main characters, you guys would have some sort of information. So be a pal and a friend and help me out?' It would be disastrous, there was no doubt in Ivy's mind about that. Especially now that they all think I'm from that Central place. She gave the floor a tap of her foot. She knew that Pinako and Winry meant no harm, but everyone else actually knowing her fake home location really put a damper on her spirits.

"Something on your mind?" Pinako asked at last. "You're starting to look wrinklier than me."

"Er… It's nothing really." Ivy shook her head. "It's more of those inner rhetorical questions you're not supposed to actually answer but you keep asking yourself anyway."

"I'm guessing it's not about automail then." It was no question on the part of Pinako. Ivy bit her lip, looking down at the table. Does she know that I lied about where I came from? She pressed her teeth down harder, restraining herself from suddenly blurting out something she would regret. "Is it about Ed and Al's bodies then?"

Oh thank god, I can work with this. "... Kinda?" It wasn't a complete lie this time. Of course she was kind of curious about it. Just the more nitty gritty details rather than the general plot Akasha had told her. "I mean, I have my questions about it but I figured if it was gonna be talked about it would have been talked about by now. And it isn't like I really know 'em so…"

"I respect you for wanting to respect their privacy." Pinako loosened a fastener of some kind and placed it next to a few other stray pieces beside her. "I think the boys would appreciate being treated like normal kids for once too. I hope you become friends with them too."

"Normal's overrated anyway." Ivy mumbled. It was Akasha's favorite thing to say whenever anyone wanted to call her a weirdo. Made sense for a girl obsessed with a show with a giant sparkle man in its cast. "Whatever happens with them, I wish them the best. Just milk 'em dry for having this rush order though."

Pinako chuckled despite herself. "You're quite ruthless aren't you? You'd fit in in a Rush Valley work setting. It's a cut throat environment there."

"Oh you've been?" Ivy's eyebrows perked up in slight surprise.

"A few times in my younger days." Pinako admitted. "We could have settled shop there if it weren't for the competition. But I think we made a good choice in staying where our heart's felt most comfortable."

"You know Winry would be pretty heartbroken if she heard that you were that close to moving to Rush Valley before she was born." Ivy chuckled as well. The silence that followed was comfortable as Ivy watched Pinako's fingers strum about, carefully detaching wires from their places. Beside the leg set up were similarly colored but lengthier wires with various labeling on them with and an extension bit.

"So will you be leaving now that the boys are here?"

Ivy lifted her chin from her hand, taken aback by the sudden question. "Excuse me?"

"I was wondering if you'd be leaving now that the boys were here." Pinako continued on without missing a beat, still focused on her work.

"..." The sound of Ivy's shoe grinding against the floor was the only sound between them, the thud of Armstrong's wood chopping even less audible than before.

Pinako was less than bothered as she worked. "For a time, I figured you might have been lying about running away from your home in Central. Maybe a fan of Ed's hoping to learn a little more about alchemy from him." She tugged at another wire. "But when you showed even less interest in alchemy, I figured I was at least wrong with that guess. Even more so once you started taking more of an interest in engineering. But you never really seemed to settle in Resembool with us and seemed anxious most of the time."

"... How'd you-"

"I may be old, Ivy, but I'm not senile yet." Pinako tittered. "Raising those boys, you notice the signs. And your feet seem to reveal more than you intend whenever your home was mentioned." Ivy's foot halted. "So I figured you were lying about something. Things always seem to happen when the boys are around, so I thought maybe now would be the time for anything abnormal to happen when it came to you."

"Oh." Ivy bit her lip. And here I thought I was fitting in. "Does Winry… suspect anything too?"

"If she does, she hasn't told me anything." Pinako answered truthfully. "But I don't think she suspects anything of you lying to us. But I know that she probably thinks you're going to be leaving soon. But for what, I'm not entirely sure. I definitely won't pretend to know why."

"It's…"

"Complicated?"

Ivy nodded, trying to push down the lump in her throat. "Complicated. I don't really know how to talk about it. But…" She bit her lip. "I'm searching for something too."

Pinako's lips turned upward slightly. "Well you certainly won't find it in quiet, old Resembool, kid."

"Oh trust me, I know." Ivy snickered despite herself as her chest clenched. "I tried for about a month but whatever the thing was, it's long gone from here." And even if I like Resembool, I can't keep sitting on it forever and trying to force something to happen here when it won't. It was a hard truth Ivy was starting to face. Those morning jogs weren't paying off when that gate was stubbornly staying away from wherever she was. "I really.. I really like staying here with you and Winry. I just have to leave now."

"Will you leave for Central with the boys?"

"No idea." Ivy admitted. "I don't really know them. And they might find it odd if some random girl wanted to tag along with them. I don't even know if our goals are gonna line up in anyway. Did you…." Ivy trailed off nervously.

"I have not." Pinako replied. "And I'm not planning to since I'm sure you're not a threat to my family by now."

"... Thanks, Pinako." Despite the relief, Ivy's chest still felt heavy. If an old lady was seeing right through my BS, I can only imagine how fast those geniuses might. "I dunno, maybe I'll talk to them about the problem. I don't know if I made obvious or anything but I'm really kind of winging it right now."

That tore another chuckle from Pinako's lips. "Oh I can tell."

Ivy snickered as well and another silence swept over them as Pinako organized her discarded wires and wrapped them around neatly with a stray chord. "Just make sure to tell Winry that you're planning on leaving officially." Pinako finally looked up from her work, eyes serious. "She's grown rather attached to you this past month; she'll be sad to see you go."

Ivy laid her chin back onto her hand. "Yeah." She sighed. "I know. I'll miss her too." It would be weird in general not waking up in the Rockbell's odd colored house that she had grown accustomed to over the weeks. The quiet mornings and seeing the farmhouses come to life during her jogs in the morning with Den. The sound of the drill press being used as it scrapes through whatever metal pieces being utilized that day. And Winry's plain excitement when it came to automail and Ivy seeming to pick up the trade made Ivy feel all the more guilty about having to go even if it had been a month. "I'll really miss being with all of you once I take off."

"Well as long as you visit," Pinako began. "I don't think you'll find too many complaints from us. So whatever you're hoping to find, I hope that you come back between your looking."

Visits are something I might not be able to really guarantee. "Who else will I have mentor me in the art of maintenance?" Pinako chuckled lightly. "I'll make sure to tell Winry. This was kind of a last minute thing so… I'm kinda glad that I have a small amount of things on me for once. But I should probably milk all the affection I can get out of Den now."

"And to think I thought you were talking about Winry and I."

Ivy shook her head, a playful smile on her face. "Sorry, Pinako, I got priorities. It was always about Den."

"I see."

Ivy stood up, carefully working her legs around the bench. "I'll take her out on a walk, come to think of it." She gave Pinako a small wave. "I'll be back in time for dinner, so no worries."

"Be safe while you're out there then."

Ivy paced quickly to the front door and opened it to the side of Edward standing up. "What, did Granny need something?"

The nerves returned and Ivy had to remind herself not to panic. He doesn't even know anything, he doesn't even know anything. "No. I was just gonna take Den out for a run." The dog herself was already up on all fours, tail wagging slightly. "Did you need something though?"

"I was actually about to take Den out with me."

"Oh."

"But you can take her out if you still want to." Alphonse tipped in instead. He was now out of his crate prison and Ivy's words seemed to have evaporated as she took in the fact the half of his body that wasn't present wrapped up with some cloth. "Ed wasn't gonna go far." Ivy nodded as her eyes swept over Alphonse again, it was hard imagining that armor that huge was being utilized by some kid's spirit. This is like some PG version of FNAF.

"Can you not stare please?" Edward's sharp voice cut in and Ivy held up a hand defensively.

"S-sorry, I was..." She searched her brain for something, anything. "Was just wondering what kind of metal was used in the armor. Like steel or titanium or something."

The glare of Edward's glint seemed to call her bullshit but Alphonse lightly shook it off. "It's steel." He answered, lifting his one functioning arm as if to display the fact. "It's kind of old but it belonged to our f-"

"Hey, girl, you can take Den on your walk." Edward all but spat and Ivy felt herself shrink inside her shorts. It was a hard pass on talking to either brother about anything main character-wise today.

Ivy gave him a thumbs up, "Gonna take her near the lake off one the back roads over here." She gestured to the back of the house. The lake in Resembool was small but could be accessed using this small trail behind the house and it was discovered during one of her many walks with Den in trying to find more spots in the town that would be conspicuously hiding some kind of gate that would miraculously lead back to some road to Vallant.

Waving Den towards her, Ivy tried her best to walk as unbothered as possible as she heard Alphonse making some exclamation about something.

Operation Become Friends is a bust. She sighed audibly.

"I thought the main characters of anime were supposed nice and dense twerps, Den." She whispered to the dog, who gave her no indication that she was in fact a talking dog like Scooby Doo. "Maybe I'm just asking for too much at this point." I don't even know what Akasha sees in that guy. She thought bitterly too herself, pointedly ignoring the fact that it probably didn't help she gawked at his younger brother like he was some kind of display. Or the fact she's a stranger in his eyes. And most of the anime that Akasha seemed to watch outside of Fullmetal Alchemist didn't all include protagonists with missing limbs, parent killers, and metal prosthetics.

Ivy sighed again. Maybe I was the actual asshole this time.

The amount of information she held on this show had nothing on Akasha or even Austin. So whatever was going on with them, she could only imagine that it was bad enough if they came here half in ruins.

This world was every bit as alive as the mornings that Resembool had. One with its own history and civil wars and very real amputees.

Ivy picked at the lakeside grass as Den napped quietly beside her. I don't belong in it. And neither did Akasha even though she would clearly be a better fit for it.

"Okay so this OC I have is from their world and she's an alchemist and she-"

"So this is, ba dadadaaaa, Riku, she's this girl who is planning on being a State Alchemist and her speciality is gonna be this kind of water alchemy-"

"Okay so this Ishbalan OC-"

"Girl, how many OCs do you even need?" Ivy laughed.

It was Friday that night in her house and Akasha was sleeping over in anticipation for Disney's High School Musical triology rerun and somehow, anime had been brought up when all Ivy wanted to do was dramatically sing along to the lyrics about going her own way. Akasha had even brought her Edward Elric plush with its characteristic main character smile and hands clapped together in some kind of signature pose. "It ain't even Saturday yet." The night when anime reigned supreme and Ivy found herself lost in bankais and in some solid foundation of security in Naruto, the one anime she really did like watching. (Outside of NANA, Pokemon Yugioh, and Sailor Moon. Now those, she could get down with.)

"I know, I know I'm just excited! I have a lot of reviewers now for this one fic I'm writing so I gotta get it out my system." Her notebook was smeared with pencil smudges from her hand but still had a lot written on the pages. "There's gonna be a lot of drama in this one."

If Akasha was here she'd have a shit ton of OCs to pretend to be. Ivy bit her lip, wishing again that she had paid more attention to Akasha's rants about them. But I guess that wouldn't solve the alchemy problem. Akasha had spent numerous days online even googling real life alchemy, which to her disappointment was nothing like in her favorite anime. But it didn't stop her from trying to make something out of it and try applying it to the chemistry set her dad got her a while back from Toys R Us.

That book at Mr. Lee's? Outside of understanding her magic gate thing wasn't in it and this Equivalent Exchange mess, Ivy came to the stark conclusion that she wasn't going to be making gold bars anytime soon even if she really wanted to make it rain.

I don't even know what she would even try doing right now if she were in my shoes. Probably try seducing Edward immediately? A snort escaped her but Ivy shook her head giving Akasha more credit. The girl could be hilariously silly sometimes, but Akasha would at least know to have more tact with this particular set of main characters considering their more suspicious behaviors.

And she probably wouldn't have haplessly stared at Alphonse's armor situation so Akasha had that point her corner as well.

Life, next time send in a girl who actually knows what she's doing here? Ivy stared up at the sky, the blue completely gone in place of saturated oranges and reds as the sun set. I guarantee you that you'd have been more entertained with Akasha's crazy ass. Or maybe you could have sent me to Avatar. Not the one with the blue people. Why am I talking like the universe is even listening to me? Because if it was, Ivy was sure she'd have been home like yesterday.

[;';]

Ivy let Den slip into the house first, the smell of ham in the air was stale. She could assume that dinner had long since been made and was sitting in a tin for her to get her own portions.

"I'm not sharing with you, by the way." Ivy remarked as she saw Den walk into the kitchen without her.

She stepped mindfully of creaking floorboards, hoping to eat then hop her way to bed. Winry would have to make this all nighter on her own, though Ivy was sure she'd be able to sit up for the next one. Then her eyes swept over gold and gray in the kitchen and she blinked as she took in the sight of Edward and Alphonse sitting there.

"Um…. What are you guys doing up?" She looked over at Alphonse. "And why are you sitting on the floor?"

Alphonse seemed flustered. "It was kind of hard sitting in one of the chairs without my leg." Ivy nodded feeling the burning sensation of a glare on her. "And Granny wanted someone to wait up for you so we offered to."

"Honestly, I can appreciate that. I kinda don't know how to handle the Major's intensity." He seemed nice but Ivy wasn't sure how much more the man could sparkle around her before she snapped with some kind of joke about a completely different Edward from a different franchise.

"He can be like that sometimes." Alphonse agreed. "Right, Brother?"

Edward didn't say anything and Ivy fought the urge to cough awkwardly. So he was probably still angry about earlier. "Uh… so sorry about earlier? I'm guessing you're probably upset about the staring thing." Ivy got out. "I'm not gonna ask questions or anything like that. I just kinda never saw someone legit going around in armor before. It's kinda not the thing where I'm from."

Edward finally said something, eyes seeming to flash despite the dim kitchen light. "Central, right?"

Ivy was now fighting the urge to do anything with her right leg. "Yep. Central. It's the capital of the country." Ivy subsequently fought the immediate desire to kick herself in the shin.

"Yeah. It is. We've been there multiple times." Edward's tone was crisp.

"... Cool." Ivy coughed out finally. "So, I'm gonna-"

"You know when I was out earlier," Edward cut her off.

"Brother-"

"I'm fine, Al." Edward's tone didn't change the slightest though he did look to his brother to give him a reassuring look. "So I was out earlier when you were still on your walk with Den."

"That's…. Nice." Ivy commented. "I know it's probably been a minute since the last time you saw your hometown."

"Yeah, just peachy even." Edward's tone didn't sound peachy to any degree. "I even ran into some old friends. Do you know anyone named Erial and Otto? They run a sheep farm near Granny's."

Those were definitely some familiar names. "We don't really talk a whole lot, but yeah I know 'em. They're pretty chill." And a constant view during her morning jogs. Occasionally she would see them in town. "Why?"

"Well when I saw them today, they mentioned you as Granny's new helper."

Edward's voice was surprisingly quiet and the room felt even more tense.

"And Otto mentioned something about how when you first came here he thought you were pretty weird." He continued. "He said something about how you were walking around aimlessly asking about some stone gate in Resembool. Which is funny since Resembool doesn't have anything of the sort like that."

Ivy felt small and she choked out, "Yeah I learned that the hard way."

Edward finally stood up, his glare more intense than any kind of projectile Winry could have thrown at him earlier. "Quit playing dumb and tell me why you were asking about the Gate."

"I really don't-"

"I said quit acting dumb." His voice raised slightly, but he seemed to be making a huge effort to not yell and disturb everyone in the house. But the appreciation of that fact was dimmed over the pressing matter of the situation. Edward and Alphonse did know about this gate. But whatever it was and whatever kind of truth the thing held,

It was bad.

"Well?"

Alphonse placed his hand on Edward's shoulder, still able to reach from his spot on the floor. "Calm down, Brother." He looked over at Ivy. "... We aren't going to hurt you or anything." He tried placating her but the look on Edward's face was telling Ivy something completely different. "We're just worried about our friends and if this is anything that might get them in trouble."

Lie.

Don't be stupid, what if you lie and they find out?

Imagine what they'd do to you then.

"I'm waiting for answers." Edward spat.

Ivy bit her lip and opened her mouth then closed it before opening it again. "Look. You might not… believe anything I tell you right now but this is wholeheartedly the truth." Edward and Alphonse's gaze were unrelentless. "I'm not from here. Literally. Like from this world at all."

"Do you seriously expect me to believe that cr-"

"I crossed some gate in my hometown trying to take a shortcut." Ivy cut him off, heart beating the hardest its ever beat. "And when I went back because I thought this shortcut wasn't worth shit, it was gone. I don't know what that thing was but it wasn't anything from my world."

There was another long pause for the umpteenth time that day as Edward's face contorted into one of disbelief. "Are you serious right now?"

"As serious as the fact that alchemy and automail aren't even things where I'm from." Ivy rubbed her arms awkwardly. "I don't know too much about this place other than what Winry and Pinako told me. But that's all the information I can give you right now. I'm not from here. And I'm just trying to go home."

"... Brother, I don't think she's lying."

Author's Note

And here's Updated Chapter 5. I was, on the highest of keys, proud of the chapter title for this one ha. I love puns even if really all I did was take off the L from the series title but... meh. This was one of my favorite chapters to write so far since Edward is and isn't the typical protagonist. Even in anime where the protagonist has gone through some serious shit, they're usually still super nice almost to a fault. So I feel like anyone with a basic set of knowledge on the laws of anime would be thrown off by his personality. He's serious, blunt, and straight to the point and his short temper doesn't do him in any favors. Like, if Ed was a DND character, he would have a 5 in charisma (and if anyone plays DnD, you guys know that is a really bad, below average score to have but I feel like maybe he might have a 6 instead.) So I wanted to focus on him having a more intimidating presence in contrast to the warmth of characters like the Rockbells that Ivy has become accustomed to.

If anyone is still reading this, I hope you like this chapter's fixing.