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

"This dude is out like a light. And you know what, I'm gonna do the same thing Edward's doing. Night guys, Pinako remember… wake me up at the earliest convenience."

"It's hard to believe that he's a 'human weapon'. After all, we're the same age and he's so tiny."

"But when he heard the miner boss say 'the mines are our homes and our graves', he ended up helping them out after all."

"That's why I appreciate how you and Winry always welcome us back like we're your real family. Ed does too, even if he doesn't say it."

"Maybe we could get over it if we just had a good cry. But with this body, I can't cry even if I wanted to."

"And then there's this idiot who has a body that can cry but won't."

"Granny, Winry... thank you."

Crying bald man.

Ivy yawned as she packed her bags.

Procrastination hit her hard that morning after Winry had completed Edward's arm and in exchange for being properly packed for tomorrow, Ivy spent it napping off and on and groggily hoping for tomorrow to rear its ugly head. "So much for sleeping." She grumbled, folding the clothes gifted to her by Pinako. (But halting at the sight of the Major and eavesdropping on a personal family conversation for a few extra minutes definitely didn't help in rushing her way to bed.)

Though without much to actually pack, the complaining on Ivy's part was mostly for the sake of tiredly having something to think about.

Tomorrow she'd be out of Resembool and be taking the first steps to her journey back home and tonight would be the last night she'd ever spend in the sleepy town.

… I wish I could be happier. She bit her lip, finally folding the last of her pants and zipping her duffel bag closed. If it had been a month ago, she'd definitely be on the happier side about this. The notes and books on automail and engineering that had been accumulating on her borrowed desk had been stacked neatly, her clothing for tomorrow already picked out. Everything more or less in the exact state it had been in when she had first been invited to stay in their guest room.

The air of finality was tangible.

A yawn pushed past Ivy's lips once more and she sat down on the mattress, eyes closed as she took a deep breath. The smell of the room, an odd mixture of old cedar and oil, was comforting. Something worth an extra five or so seconds breathing in one last time.

Yet at the sound of a soft knock, Ivy's eyes fluttered open."Ivy? …. Are you awake?"

Her smile was small but present nonetheless as Ivy softly called back, "Yeah, I'm up." She tapped a foot against the wooden floor. "Just finished packing."

The door opened, revealing the sight of a familiar blonde. "Sorry to bother you, I know you have to get up really early tomorrow." Winry smiled apologetically. She was in her pajamas, an oversized lavender shirt and pale blue shorts, hair billowing past her shoulders. "I just wanted to say goodnight."

Ivy gave a two fingered wave, "No problem." She eyed Winry's hands, or lack thereof, as they were hidden behind her back. "Oh? You got somethin' back there? A present? You shouldn't have. Well, you totally did. I love pre-"

Winry cut her off with a soft laugh, "You're rambling so I know you're starting to get tired, so I guess I'll go ahead and just give it to you now." She walked forward until she was finally able to sit on the bed, pulling a wrapped gift from behind her back. "It's… not really a big present but I thought you'd find it really useful."

Brown hands grabbed the thing giddly, "All presents are big presents." She replied as she lifted the hard-shaped present and gave a small shake, hearing something metallic scraping. "And I am pretty sure I know what this is." Ivy chuckled, peeling the paper away until what was revealed a small green tin. Opening the tin a moment later revealing the small wrenches, fasteners, washers, cloths, and oil tin inside. The polishing gave everything a fine finish, everything looking practically if not, brand new. "Aww Winry, this is so cute!" She whispered loudly.

"Tada. I know you won't be building automail anytime soon but I still thought it would be useful for you while Ed and Al were in Central. I know he's never going to keep up with his maintenance or any kind of advice I give him." Winry moved a stray hair behind her ear. It had been an experience watching the remainder of what she had to do to finish Edward's arm, the arm itself being composed of steel (with a good 17% of chrome. Winry had said it would make it more rust resistant.) "The oil should come in handy if he ever runs out of his own or just looks like it needs a good checkup."

"I'll make sure he takes great care of it whenever I run into them." Ivy vowed. "I'll remember everything from your notes."

"You're not taking them with you?" The surprise in Winry's voice sounding as if she expected her notes and books to be gone with the wind in Ivy's bags.

"I kinda thought you'd want them to be here." Ivy mumbled sheepishly, rubbing the back of her neck with the hand not keeping her toolbox in place. "It isn't like I can just put them back on your workbench whenever I want to, you know?"

Winry shook her head, "No it's fine." She gave Ivy a hardy pat on the back. "You should take them so you don't forget everything! Just leave the books on alloys and tempering, those are Granny's. Everything else is yours 'cause I'm expecting a confirmed makeup session with your mom and a revved up spirit for creating automail the next time we see each other in person!"

"Pfff." Ivy covered her mouth, not sure if the tiredness made the statement funnier than it should be. "Making automail sounds great, Winry. Just get your butt to bed, I know you haven't slept at all today."

"Yeah yeah." Winry stretched, arching her back a little as she stood up. "I wanna sleep for a century."

"That's a mood." Ivy went slack, allowing her back to fall against the mattress as she closed her eyes. I could fall asleep just like this. "I'll probably fall asleep on the train ride."

In the self-made darkness, could still picture Winry's face as she giggled. "Hey, Ivy?" Ivy hummed wordlessly to indicate she was still awake. "... Can I sleep in here tonight?"

"Yeah sure." Ivy grumbled. It hadn't been the first time they had shared a bed. They'd had their sleepovers laughing about Ivy's puns or arguing over who would cuddle Den. There'd been times Winry stopped by to chat and fell asleep tiredly on Ivy's bed and Ivy got stuck with a sleeping partner. "Lemme just put the toolbox up." Ivy grumbled, forcing herself up to properly close the thing before it spilled over onto to the floor loudly. She crawled to the right hand side of the bed, placing her gift beside her lamp. Beside her, the bed felt heavy as Winry crawled into the blankets. "Yep, just make yourself at home."

Another tired giggle escaped Winry's lips, Ivy collapsing beside her. "You'll catch a cold outside the blankets."

Ivy groaned but properly got under the covers anyway. Sleep couldn't come fast enough even with her eyes remaining closed. "Night, Winry."

A warm hand wrapped around Ivy's and Ivy's eyes shot open as she looked to her left. Winry's eyes drooped with warmth, smiling tiredly but pleasantly locks of blonde framing her face like a stream. "Good night, Ivy." She squeezed Ivy's hand. "Good luck in Central."

Ivy's heart stuttered before drumming like a cacophony of thunder as blue kept staring at her, gaze unwavering. "Uh yeah, you too." Realizing her mistake, Ivy corrected herself. "With the business I mean. No more all nighters. Sleep tight, don't let those bed bugs bite."

Winry beamed one last time before closing her eyes and snuggling closer into the pillow on her side of the bed, but her grip on Ivy's hand hadn't loosened. Ivy's hand felt warm and she prayed it wasn't sweaty. And if it is. I'll just say it's because it's so warm under the blanket. Ivy did her best to turn her face fall down into her pillow, hoping she'd smother herself. Oh no. No. Nope, nope, nope. That's bad, that was bad. Thinking she's really pretty is really bad.

All of the hand holding and the stuttering heartbeats were bad.

Suddenly, leaving Resembool seemed like the best idea she could have conjured and when Winry's breathing turned into rhythmic and shallow, Ivy wrenched her hand away, flustered.

God, kill me. Ivy couldn't stop the yawn that forced its way out her throat, eyes watering heavily.

"You'll get plenty of rest on the train, once you get there." Pinako tittered as Ivy wiped her eyes.

"That's what you get for doing all nighters with Winry when you knew we'd be leaving in a couple of days." Edward chaffed as he slipped a metal hand into a white glove. "What were you doing up when you weren't the one building the arm anyway?"

Ivy offered a shrug. "Automail emotional support?"

With a small and exasperated shake of his head, Edward pointed his eyes at Pinako. "Thanks for everything, Granny."

Ivy could see a smile just beneath Armstrong's mustache, as he nodded in satisfaction. "Indeed, Madam Rockbell." He stood on one knee, a large hand extended for a handshake. "Your hospitality was quite wondrous."

"Why you're welcome, young man." It's seriously hard imagining this guy being anywhere close to young. Ivy sniggered in her observation. The Major had seemed more like a well-illustrated grandpa, one popular with children and who always seemed to be in a good mood. He at least had great stories to tell about his family last night at dinner. (Something about his great great great grandmother.)

Alphonse pet Den's head, "Hey, where's Winry?"

Ivy flinched at the name. When Pinako came in to wake Ivy up after the hours it took for her to fall asleep, Ivy was relieved Pinako had said to leave Winry be for some well-deserved rest. Even once she had finished making Edward's arm, the girl hadn't slept at all. Staying up to make sure that Edward didn't wreck his arm all over again while he sparred with his brother and the Major.

"She did so many all nighters that she's still asleep." Pinako replied matter-of-factly. "Want me to go wake her?"

"Don't bother." Edward waved a hand passively, already turning away from Pinako's house in a few steps. Ivy felt relieved herself. "If you did that, she'd just go on and on about automail. 'Don't forget about your maintenance', 'Make sure you dry it off after a bath', or something like that."

There was a drag, then a laugh. "You make it sound like we're smothery." Alphonse laughed nervously in response. "You all take care of yourselves out there in the big city. Don't get Ivy wrapped up into being an absolute babysitter either."

"Yeah yeah."

"Oh. And don't forget," Edward turned back around slightly, curious. "if you're ever in the mood for some good home cooking, come right on back. Even you, Major."

Ivy forced a smile as the two beside her, Alphonse and Armstrong returned sentiments of agreement. "We'll be back."

Edward grinned in disbelief, "You want us to come back to the boondocks for a meal? You really are getting senile, Granny."

Armstrong crossed his arms but his expression was pleasant. "Oh Edward Elric." He clipped. "Having a home with a family to return to, it's such a wonderful feeling."

"Sounds like the the Major is getting senile too." Ivy clasped a hand over her mouth, looking pointedly away from them and at the sheep farms she'd been acquaintanced with over the past month.

But a sleepy "Hey guys!" brought her attention back to everything behind her, Winry tiredly waving a hand. "Come back soon, okay?"

Really bad. Ivy ignored her stomach as she waved back nonchalantly. "I'll be back for Den, eventually!" She called, the joke calmed her nerves slightly.

Winry slouched comfortably on the balcony rail, her smile not faltering. "Don't forget your promise, Ivy."

"I'm not, I'm not or you won't be forgetting yours, I know!" From the corner of her eye, Ivy could see Edward and Alphonse sharing a look, Edward shrugging promptly. "See you guys, later."

The turn around and walking away seemed almost seamless, but Ivy could feel her chest having its own internal cage match. It felt like her back was burning. "What promise was Winry talking about?" Ivy kicked a close pebble, giving Alphonse a glance.

"Oh that thing?" Ivy was almost surprised at how calm her voice came out, despite her feelings. "I uh… I told her that I'd smack Ed with a wrench for her if he didn't keep up with his maintenance. She gave me a toolbox and everything; the wrenches in this thing are top notch quality." She pat her duffel bag with a smile that deserved a Shit Stain of the Year award.

"What?!" Edward's eyes widened to a comical scale as he latched onto his brother. "What the hell?! I thought you didn't get that upset over wrecked automail! Smack Alphonse, he can't even feel anything!"

"Hey!" Alphonse snapped back angrily, a long arm pushing Edward as far as possible. "Don't use me to get out of discipline for your automail!"

"Ah yes, but my love for the Rockbell family requires that I do this one thing for her to make sure that you don't completely ruin it." Ivy wistfully turned her chin up to the sky, hushedly. "So you have to be the one to take full retribution for any hiccups you have when it comes to your arm. Right, Major?"

Armstrong nodded, nearly bald head gleaming. "Absolutely! Taking your responsibilities head on marks being a man, Edward Elric!"

"Oh come on!"

Ivy grinned, "If you don't want the wrench, then make sure your arm stays in good shape. Remember, its-"

"17% chrome, I know." Edward groaned, scratching the back of his head. "We trade one gearhead for the next."

Ivy sighed out a laugh, taking in the last of Resembool she'd probably be seeing for a long while.

The manure smell was practically nonexistent, the wetness of the grass smelling pleasant to her nose. The morning dew was practically white in the morning's light. The breeze cool though tinged with warmth to come later in the day when the sun's rays truly got to work.

Along the trail, Ivy could already see farmers leaving their houses as they readied to usher their livestock out to roam the pastures.

Feeling the corners of her eyes starting to prickle, Ivy directed her thoughts elsewhere. Think about Hannah Montana or all of those Trap Queen vines. She huffed internally. Akasha had gone through a huge Hannah Montana phase when they were in elementary school and Ivy had been forced to watch that the show in its entirety, the movie included. Zig Zag, across the floor, shuffle in diagonal….

But Ivy could feel it in her heart as she sat at the Resembool train station, the main village not even up and running completely as Edward and the Major purchased the tickets.

Resembool was always going to be alive to her, even when she finally found her way back home.

Ivy gave Alphonse a small nudge, leaning closer to his side."So how long til we get to Central?"

"Maybe 1 or 2 days." Ah. Ivy pursed her lips, nodding. "Resembool is kind far off from the capital so it takes a little while. But there's really nice scenery and a food trolley on the train too. Sorry we don't really have that much entertainment for you."

"No, it's fine. I have some stuff to read if I get really bored." Even if it would just be everything automail-related. "So, you guys said the reason you're heading to Central is for lead on that stone you're looking for, right? Funny enough there's a Philosopher's Stone in my world too, but it's mentioned once in the first book of a series where the main characters are all wizards and witches. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone."

"For magic?" Alphonse's voice echoed with amusement. "Brother would probably pull his hair out if he heard that, haha."

"I'd honestly pay to see that."

"But yeah, we're going there to find these notes made by an alchemist named Tim Marcoh." Alphonse crossed his arms, leaning back further on the bench they were sitting on. "He used to work for the military conducting research on the Philosopher's Stone and even managed to create one, maybe even more. So we're hoping to read his notes so we can finally make one of our own and get our bodies back. We're really excited since this is the strongest lead we've ever had on the stone before. So it really might not be long before we're back to normal."

Ivy pat the boy on the knee, smiling. "Well congrats on that, man. I know that you're gonna really like being all flesh and bones again."

If suits of armor could smile, Alphonse would be smiling. "And hopefully there's something we can do about getting you home." It was somewhat of a longshot, but it couldn't be completely out of the range of abilities of the Stone. "And even if there's nothing in his notes about other worlds, we might be able to find something on it. We just might have missed it before considering we've only been focusing on alchemy-relating to the human body and the Stone."

"We'll figure something out, I think." Ivy said, trying to reassure herself more than anything. "Be stubborn and all that jazz, and somehow we'll get answers." The entire subject of alchemy seemed more complicated now with the inclusion of some kind of Macguffin but things had to have worked out since Akasha implied there would be a happy ending. "You'll have to explain alchemy more to me though since that stuff goes out one ear and out the next for me."

Alphonse nodded, "We'll help you out for sure."

"And, uh, I'll find a way to help out too. Even if there's no alchemy."

Alphonse raised a hand, "You really don't have to-"

Ivy cut that sentence off before it could even reach a period. "You're already doing a lot even believing anything I've told you." She lifted a finger, a second joining the ranks soon after. "Not to mention you're actually going along with everything and trying to help me get back to the right side of the universe. So me trying to be helpful in some kind of way is a given here, alright?" I'll feel totally useless if I don't contribute anything!

"Winry gave me some tools and notes and stuff, so I can help with maintenance for your brother's automail." Ivy had her own notes taken during the building of Edward's arm and they were scripted cleanly including the proper oiling schedule, its tensile, compressive, yield, and impact strengths, and the alloys it was constructed from. "And uh, I'm not really sure about the maintenance of armor but I know about keeping steel polished, y'know. So you guys are gonna be in top form."

Alphonse was still laughing by the time Edward made a sprightly return to their bench. "What's so funny?"

"Ivy was just saying that she'd help you out with your maintenance." Alphonse said lightly, pointing at Edward's right arm. "So you don't have to worry about having a wrench thrown at your head."

Edward's lips stretched into a scowl, left hand clenching his right forearm tightly. "You're not funny."

"I wasn't trying to be for once." Ivy replied dryly with a smirk. "It isn't like I'll be doing any hard repairs so keeping it oiled and polished is something I can do. Not to mention I've been studying and I've got all the crucial information. So you can feel rest assured, young one. Your head won't be needing any bandages while you have your research binge and your hand will be moving as fluidly as possible."

"Anymore quips and I'll just tear up your ticket and kick you back to Granny's." Edward squint, Ivy looking off to the side innocently to see if she'd be able to see the train coming towards the Resembool station.

It took the better part of twenty minutes for the train to Central to finally arrive, and it was about an hour into the train ride when the word vomit slipped between Ivy's lips. "Oh yeah, so I read a little about alchemy while I was in Resembool because there was a book about it in the general store. But I don't really get how the Deconstruction phase thing is before the reconstruction one. Wouldn't it be the opposite?"

"Actually, it's Deconstruction first since you have to be able to make the material you want to reconstruct into something malleable before you turn it into something else. Of course you need to make sure the proper materials are there of course since the entire concept of alchemy is wrapped tightly bound in the laws.

Then you continue on with the flow of energy so you can finish the transmutation. But there are some who seem to stop completely at the Deconstruction phase…"

There was a concerned shared look.

"But alchemy itself is simple enough in it's basic premise but there's plenty of ways to go about transmuting and state alchemists all have their various styles from transmuting flames to, well…. Whatever it is the major does."

"Hmrph! The combat alchemy used in the Armstrong family has been intricately developed for generations to what it is today now! Utilizing the users own physical strength and alchemical knowledge, it's specialty stems from the act of deconstruction; something Armstrong alchemists of the past realized could be used in more purposeful functions. So it was subsequently decided by Theodosia Armstrong, who also developed the scabbard passed down the Armstrong family for generation-"

"Geez, Major, just how many things have been passed down your family for generations?"

"Allow me to tell you!"

"Nope, nope nope, we are not getting him started again! He did this on the train ride to Resembool and I am not listening to him go on about portraiture, cross-country tracking, and even hair brushing!"

"Hair brushing is something worthy of a skill passed down a family?"

"Of course! Allow me to tell y-"

"Anyway, back to alchemy! Alchemy is typically done with transmutation circles and each one is comprised with its own runes, but all the runes have their own meanings too so they can affect a transmutation. The sun for instance is masculine and signifies gold and the moon, its opposite is feminine and represents silver and they can be used together or separately, but a lot of alchemists say that combining them together is the most powerful use of them.

Then there's-"

"Uh… Brother, I think Ivy's starting to look like she's going to explode."

Ivy swore her eyes felt like they were swirling in spirals. I literally only just wanted to know why Deconstruction came before Reconstruction. "I can't believe you guys somehow made automail sound easy." It had seem daunting at first when she first started reading the books lent out to her by Winry. Yet now everything she had learned seemed like basic algebra compared to whatever had just been spewed out the mouths of the alchemists before her "You guys just made me reconsider any hint of me trying alchemy in the future."

Armstrong's blue eyes sparkled curiously, "I'm sure you'd be a splendid alchemist, Ivette Carter."

"Trust me. I wouldn't. I think I'll just stick to everything I learned from Pinako." That, she could understand. "You guys can take care of alchemy for me instead."

Edward scoffed, "You're no fun." One of his hands held a small dark brown notebook. "Alchemy just seems daunting because you haven't actually applied it in practice yet. And there's plenty of amazing female alchemists- Major, do not start-" Armstrong's only response was to shake his head. "Our teacher was a woman, actually."

A woman with black hair in long micro braids came to mind. "Oh yeah?" Akasha said her alchemy was pretty amazing. "And my mind's broken enough, but what kind of alchemy did she teach you guys?"

"..."

"Um… Guys?"

Edward and Alphonse latched onto each other, practically in tears. "It was horrifying!"

"God, I'm sorry I asked." Ivy shuddered herself.

"Teacher would eat us alive." Edward grounded out. "You're lucky that you have Granny, the only things scary about her is her wrinkles."

"Your teacher doesn't live in Central, does she?" Ivy wriggled, her rear already starting to feel irritated from the wooden seat. "Because if she does, I think I should be properly prepared for this meeting."

"She doesn't." Ivy sighed in relief at Alphonse's answer.

"Odd, you make it sound like you'll be traveling together." Armstrong stroked his chin. "Aren't you planning to return home with your family?"

"Er, well, if things go well with them, of course." Ivy coughed. "But nothing interesting really happens to me so I'm hoping to learn a bit from this experience. I have a friend who's a big fan of alchemy and would probably love to be in my shoes so, uh, I wanna take in everything that I can."

Armstrong's gaze intensified, "Friend or not, you shouldn't leave an apprenticeship to play about with others not in your field of practice." He said sternly. "Automail is an amazing practice, even where alchemists lie considering not even we can replace limbs lost from a human body under normal circumstances. So you should make sure to take your training very seriously when you return back to Resembool, young lady."

Ivy could see Alphonse and Edward sharing a look as Armstrong stared her down and Ivy did her best to smile normally as she ignored it. "Of course, I'm already planning on it." Her right leg bounced slightly. "I still have notes and everything that I'll be looking over while I'm in Central that tell me everything I need to know about the basics. The hardest part about it is just that Winry's handwriting is so bad that I spend half the time having to rewrite everything separately on different papers so I can understand it. But I've got everything written down about the four strengths determinants of metal and the color coding accepted around engineers when it comes the wiring and circuitry. Each one is supposed to react to various brain commands until eventually everything comes together in harmony to make the thing move. I even got to see the forge where they bought their metal too."

"It sounds like you were close to starting to construct your own automail!" Armstrong exclaimed. "Good for you."

"Ha, yeah actually." If Edward and Alphonse had taken any longer in returning to Resembool, that's probably what would have happened. "Funny, I'm actually kinda regretting leaving before even making one." That kind of discovery would shake up the world back home!

"Well maybe once your time in Central is taken care of, you'll be able to go back and finish your training."

"Maybe indeed."

Winry stumbled down the stairs, rubbing at her eyes.

Somehow, she still felt tired even after just waking up from what was probably hours of sleep. Occasionally she'd wake up to use the bathroom, but soon after Winry would find herself plowing back down face first into her pillow and blankets. I probably slept through the entire day. She scratched behind her right ear roughly. "Good morning, Granny." She yawned.

"What do you mean 'good morning'?" Pinako chuckled, folded sheets in hand. "It's already almost time for dinner. I just finished doing laundry, the sun was pretty warm today so the sheets dried pretty fast."

Winry barely heard her grandmother's remark, blearily staring at the clock. It was 7:30. Ooof. "I really did sleep through the whole day." The blonde winced.

"And now that you're up, you can go clean up your work table." Came Pinako's response as she left to the hall closet to put the cleaned sheets away. "You haven't touched it since you finished Ed's arm."

"Yes, Granny." Winry scratched her head again. She was taking a long shower after she was done. "It'll be done before dinner."

"Good." The sounds of ruffled sheets and a creaky door accompanied Pinako's gravely voice. "It'll be quiet now that it's just the two of us. I was just starting to get used to there always being three. Four if you count Den."

Winry nodded even though Pinako couldn't see her doing it, blue eyes darkening. The silence in the house was one she had been dreading for the past two days since Ivy had confirmed that she would, in fact, be going back to Central. They spent the last two remaining all nighters together and Ivy would eat breakfast in the workshop, trying to get every possible second in before she would have to go. Time still managed to go by too fast, the sound in the house lacking and the weird jokes fading away.

"Den and I are back and I am one. Hungry. King of the World." "You're not really even a king. Or a guy." "Just quoting a man I know named Kuzco."

"Winry, darling, your knight in nagging armor approaches-"

"Would nitinol be a good metal for the joints or would it suck since it would have to constantly be replaced since repeated cyclic bending strains it?"

"Yeah… It is gonna start getting quiet around here." Winry mumbled. I'm glad we had one last sleepover before she left. Winry was sure she'd probably had cried alone in her room if they hadn't. Ivy's hand was sweaty but it was warm and comforting to hold onto.

Pinako's sandals clipped and clopped closer and Winry felt a small hand on her back. "She'll be back soon enough, Winry. Don't feel sad." Winry's smile was a small one. "And besides, she made you a promise."

"... Yeah, she did." The smile grew a tad larger. "And she said she was finally gonna make up with her mom too! So maybe next time she might come with her and show her everything in the shop so she can see what her daughter's been doing. I'll just have to work hard and make the time pass by until then."

Pinako grinned, "And you can get started with that by cleaning your work table."

A laughed bubbled out of Winry's throat adamantly, "Granny!"

"Hurry up now so you can shower before we have to eat."

"Yes, yes." Winry took her steps to her part of the workshop downstairs. The desk was a mess, wrenches and unused parts scattered about alongside an oil-stained rag. "Sheesh, that idiot better not wreck his arm any time soon." Gingerly, Winry started with lifting the rag and tossing it atop a barrel used for cleaning them. "Every time they come over, things get so crazy." She continued mumbling as she made quick work of picking up stray sockets. "I really hope the next time Ed comes back his arm is one piece, I don't wanna do any-"

Winry's hand, holding an unused plate, stopped just short of being brought up to her chest as she spotted a bolt.

On it, a tag labeled A-08.

With a blink, Winry set the plate down, bringing up closer to her face and within seconds, her expression of confusion became one of weariness.

I forgot to put this bolt in the shoulder disk. "... Whoopsie."

"Hurry up, Al!"

"You don't have to be in a rush, Ed!"

"It's not as if the library's going to run away."

"You certainly would think it with how fast the guy is running."

"Just hurry up and come on!"

Ivy rolled her eyes in amusement, slinging her backpack on with her duffel bag resting on her left shoulder. So this is-

"We're finally in Central!" Edward exclaimed excitedly, arms outstretched in victory.

Asshole, he stole my line. The smile was still on Ivy's face despite the thought, taking in the sight of the station. It made the one in Resembool seem puny in comparison. I'm pretty sure it could fit in this one! There were enough tracks for three separate trains and the large crowd made it feel cramped and stuffy. The very same feeling she'd get waiting at a crowded bus stop.

"Welcome to Central." Alphonse whispered.

"It's good to be in Central." Ivy whispered back.

"We need to head straight to the library." Edward threw his arms up in victory, his suitcase swinging haphazardly. "The moment I can dig my hands into that journal… We're going to be doing just fine, Al!"

The enthusiasm was contagious, Armstrong sounding satisfied himself. "Now, now, we still need to make sure that everything is safe- ah!" His posture straightened. "Just what I was expecting. This way." Around the tall man, Ivy spotted a pair of saluting individuals, a man and a woman with matching dark blue uniforms.

"Major Armstrong," the woman smiled politely. "we've come here to escort you"

"Thank you, Second Lieutenant Ross, Sergeant Brosh."

The man, Ross?, perked up, eyes narrowing on Alphonse. "And this must be the Fullmetal Alchemist?"

A snigger tore out Ivy's throat before she realized it, the pair surrounding Alphonse in excitement. "My name is Maria Ross." The woman said (Ivy met a mental note to check her personal biases and low expectations of the early 1900s. Apparently, this 1900s was a lot more equal.) "It's an honor to meet you, sir!" Maria's hair was black neatly cut and short with blue eyes, a small under the left.

"And I'm Denny Brosh, reporting for duty, sir." His eyes were green with his shoulder-length hair a sandy blond.

"Um…" Alphonse pointed a black finger in the direction of his brother.

"... Oh it's the little guy over there?"

Edward sister snapped, for lack of a better phrase. "WHO DO YOU THINK YOU'RE CALLING-"

"Now now…" Armstrong grabbed the back of his cloak-coat thing and Denny and Maria shared apologetic looks.

"S-sorry, Fullmetal Alchemist, sir."

"Well, I had best head over to Central Headquarters to file my report then."

Edward's fumes turned into a cheesy grin, eyes glinting like the sun. "Oh really? So I guess this means that we won't be seeing for a while! Bye, Major~"

"Oh, you're leaving?" Ivy shoved her hands into her pockets. "It was nice hanging with you, Major."

"It was a pleasure of mine as well, Ivette."

Maria extended a hand, "And you are?"

"Oh, I'm Ivy Carter. I'm a new friend." Ivy pulled back out a hand to return the gesture. "So you'll probably be seeing my face for a while. It's nice meeting you both."

Armstrong looked pointedly at Ivy, "And you don't forget to check in with your mother."

Right. Mother. "Yes, Major Armstrong, I'll get on that." Ivy tugged at her duffel bag strap. "Just taking my time to brace myself."

The Major hummed, returning his gaze back to his subordinates. "Well, I leave the Elrics to you."

"Wait, we're getting set with more bodyguards?!" Edward scowled, mood switching once again completely.

Ivy raised a hand, "More like, you guys have bodyguards?" Her eyebrows furrowed. "The hell you need bodyguards for?!" Alphonse didn't answer, only laughing sheepishly as Edward scratched the back of his head awkwardly. Why do they have to be involved in something that has to gain bodyguards? Why couldn't they be involved in something different? Like trying to farm sheep or fighting pokemon? "Why me?"

"Eh, look on the bright side?" Edward coughed.

Author's Note

And here's Updated Chapter 7. I actually did a big change for this chapter. In the original, Winry went to sleep in her room on her own. I felt that a last sleepover would have made the moment more endearing, so I added that. Now Ivy's in Central. But for this chapter, I think what I liked most when I first typed it up was the bit on the train when Ivy learned more about alchemy and Armstrong was getting ready to divulge his family history. Will he ever be able to without being interrupted? Who knows. I also liked showing off Ivy's knowledge of automail. I like that I took a different approach for her character, when I wrote this originally in middle school, I never got this far into the story but I think I wanted her to learn alchemy. But I feel that this was an improvement, her developing a skill set in automail maintenance I mean. Let me know what you all think about it!

If you're still reading this, I hope you liked the small changes.