Title: A Fangirl's Dream
Summary: Ivy has it rough. She's no anime fan or FMA fan. But when she somehow crosses the gate, she finds herself in the worst possible position: a protagonist of an Another World fic trope. And between the alchemy, automail, lack of plot knowledge, and struggling with her attraction to a pretty blonde mechanic, Ivy reluctantly teams up with the main characters in her journey to get home.
Pen Name: FanfictionIsMySideHustle

"Winry." Ivy called as she shook the blonde's shoulders. Ivy was up and at 'em, already in her volleyball uniform and tennis shoes. "Come on, you gotta get up. You know what time it is."

"No." Winry whined back, clutching her pillow tightly. "The sun's barely even up yet."

"Ah ah ah." Ivy wrenched the pillow from Winry's eyes, ignoring the hard glare she received in return. "You know the deal. We get matching jumpsuits, we do morning jogs together." And Ivy had been keeping that deal consistent for the past few weeks since they moved to Rush Valley to begin an apprenticeship with a nice and openly gay man named Garfiel. Which honestly, Akasha should have mentioned. Ivy thought absently. As a best bi myself, I would have watched for that alone.

Winry's glare sharpened even more. "I wouldn't even call what you got a matching jumpsuit." She grumbled. "Mine is beige and green bandanna. Yours is light purple with a red bandanna. Those don't match at all."

"Hey, they were made by the exact same company." Ivy argued as she pulled Winry up into a sitting position. "And the tanktop I got is black. And our gloves are literally the exact same color. We are a matching, elite engineering unit now and we're getting up for our jog. It's just a small circuit around the neighborhood we're in."

Winry rubbed one of her eyes, "that might as well be all of Rush Valley."

"But better because there's barely anyone out right now." Rush Valley was considerably better than Central to run in. Even early in the morning, there were plenty of people that were going about their business and going to bakeries and cafes for breakfast or driving around in whatever vehicles were popular. Rush Valley was simple though, almost as simple as Resembool. If it wasn't automail time, there wasn't a lot of people out. And the few that were out were just prepping to open up their shops. Nothing to really worry about in terms of jogging.

Winry groaned one last time before getting up to brush her teeth and throw her hair into a sloppy bun. "I'll make pancakes when we get back." Ivy called after the girl and got a noncommittal 'mhmm' in return.

Winry still looked dead by the time she came out of the bathroom in a comfortable running outfit and a messy bun. "I'd rather be reading Mr. Garfiel's book on carbon fibers." She muttered.

"I'm doing this for your health, groucho." Ivy welcomed the cool breeze that passed when she opened the door in the back of the house. "Just a small circuit and we'll be back before you know it."

"And we can't walk because?"

"Because I already taught you the granny power walk and that helps get the blood pumping." Ivy said as she stretched. "We'll walk tomorrow, how about that?"

"Mmmm."

It was a schedule they would struggle with until Winry got used to it, but at the very least it was a start. Ivy took P.E., she knew it wasn't healthy to just sit around all day even if you were building prosthetics. "You're doing really good so far even with the granny power walk." Ivy said, more or less jogging circles around her friend. "I tried to get Akasha to jog with me once outside of school and she didn't talk to me for a week."

"I'm almost tempted to do that myself!" Winry huffed, sweat already dripping down her forehead.

"But then who would you talk to about automail?"

"Everyone else in town, of course!"

Ivy snorted, "now that's just mean." She replied with a fake sniffle that garnered a breathy laugh and Ivy smiled at the sound. "Just think of this as a great way to get to know Rush Valley up close and personal and scope out the competition." Not that either of them had acquired any real customers yet but they were working up to it. Winry had done maintenance checks so far for Garfiel's own customers and Ivy watched. Their mentor had a strict one period Ivy had to clear before she could really operate on anyone.

Until then, Ivy's clients had been the models Garfiel had developed for demonstration.

Even moreso, Elizabetta's construction had to wait; another disappointing (albeit unsurprisingly necessary) discovery.

"Just think of it this way," Garfiel had said. "you'll be extra prepared when you're finally working on your own customers!"

Still doesn't make the wait any less disappointing. Ivy held back a sigh hours later as she watched Garfiel demonstrate the intricacies of the ulnar, median, and radial nerves of the arm and replication of them in the wirework. Arms first and then legs, that was his motto. "The wirework is the most important part after making the frame regardless of the body part you're making." Garfiel explained in a serious tone. He was normally a lot more carefree though the personality shifted quite a bit when he was working. "Even a slight error will prevent the arm from working well or working entirely. So knowing which is which is also important so the prosthetic can move properly.

Ulnar nerves move the fingers, median nerves move the hands, wrists, and forearms, and then radial nerves will send pulses to move to the rest of the arm. These nerves all wrap around and connect to the elbow as well. There's so many wires and cords you'll need, so color coding is important! I personally use pink, red, and yellow for mine." Garfiel winked as he showed the sleeves he had covered his wires in. "Silver is honestly the best conductive metal to use but copper is the most available nowadays with the boom in business. But if you can get your hands on some high quality silver, nab it!"

Well at least I know how else outfittees are avoiding electrical shocks when they take baths. Ivy noted as she quickly wrote this information in her notepad. Okay, maybe she did need to sit back for a month considering she never really bothered reading anatomy books while in Central. It was all just so fascinating. The mechanical engineering required to build the prosthetics work, the bioinstrumentation to make sure they moved properly, the electrical engineering to replicate the pulses of nerves. To think that an anime set in 1914 fictional Germany was able to crack the code on making perfect prosthetics. "Is brass good too? That has copper in it."

"Yes, but the other materials in the makeup can work to reduce the conductivity." Garfiel answered with a dissatisfied hum, setting his gloved hands on his hips sternly. "Brass is the cheap and shameless engineer's tool! One relied on when we engineers didn't know better. I'll not see either of you girls using it as my pupils even once you get out of here!"

Winry laughed from her place handling the drill press. "Yes, sir!"

"Is there no option to potentially improve on the properties of the brass?" Ivy joked as she finished off writing her last sentence on metal conductivity. "You never know, we could shake up the automail world with a newer and improved brass."

"Never in my life will Atelier Garfiel be known for using brass in its automail! And that's that!" Garfiel said with a loud 'hrumph'. "The day engineers swoop to using brass again is the day I start entertaining women."

This guy would be perfect on Pose. "You're gonna be leaving a trail of broken female hearts, Mr. Garfiel."

"They'll survive, I'm sure." Her teacher replied without missing a beat.

"Well it certainly sounds lively in here." Paninya's voice sounded amused as the girl stood in the doorway donned in a fresh pair of overalls. She waved as she took it upon herself to take a seat on a bench, grinning. "How's the engineer's life going, ladies?"

"Oh taking a break, Paninya?" Garfiel asked.

True to her word, Paninya had stopped pickpocketing and taken up a more honest trade to earn her money to pay Dominic back. "Eeeh." The girl winced, shaking her in a s-so motion. "More like I haven't really gotten anything much yet. "It's still hard trying to get work since everyone is still not exactly trusting me after all the theft I did." Paninya sighed. "But I'm still gonna do my best even if Dominic still isn't accepting what little I have earned fixing roofs."

"Well your business is just starting." Winry smiled reassuringly, ever the blonde optimist. "He's just giving you time to get on your feet before he starts taking your payments."

"Hopefully." Paninya shrugged. There wasn't much use in crying over spilt milk, a saying from home that Ivy knew would rile Edward to the highest degree of disgust. "So since business is so slow, I decided to stop by and see how you nerds were doing and saw you weren't that busy either."

Garfiel nodded, "it's the perfect time to stop and explain things to my lovely pupils."

"Not that he's doing much explaining to Winry." Ivy pouted, pursing her lips. "But I'm gonna catch up soon enough and start selling my wares." Sales would be split 70-30 between themselves and Garfiel whenever a transaction took place selling their own automail, the deal established to earn their own money and get used to the business side. Not that Ivy was sure that Elizabetta would be selling quality by the time she finished her creation. "Elizabetta's gonna be a-"

Paninya held up her hands to stop the impending explanation, "a steel-aluminum alloy, I know. It's all you talk about!"

"It's what keeps a girl happy, Paninya." Ivy stuck out her tongue. "A precursor to my automail specialization." She crossed her arms thoughtfully. "I honestly wanna go into northern models but where I live, it honestly doesn't get all that cold so it would be a waste dedicating my research to it."

Winry's eyes glinted at the mention of it, "I love northern automail too!" The blonde ceased her actions on the drill press immediately as she swooned. "The Mad Bear M1910 is so amazing! It has diamond-tipped claws and allegedly gleams just like one in the sunlight!"

"Now, now!" Garfiel clapped his hands. "You won't be making any northern models if you can't make automail at all, Ivy. So let's get back to work!" He gave Paninya an apologetic look. "Sorry to ask, but could you stop by later, Paninya? My pupils are gonna get distracted otherwise and one of them needs to finish learning about the intricacies of crafting the nervous system."

Paninya had no problems standing up with a tired expression, "there's only so much automail-related rants I can take. I'll come back when it's tea time and we can talk about cool, like architecture!"

Ivy wished she had enough time to tell the girl that automail was basically architecture in its own right. But Mr. Garfiel's right, I gotta get my head in the game. Determination alone didn't build automail, there needed to be hard work. And it was only more apparent now than ever that Ivy really had her work cut out for her. "Alright, so tell me more about these nerve systems, Teach."

"That I can." Garfiel said with a pleased expression. "There's a lot to cover before the break including how to twine the wire pieces before you put on the sleeves."

Ivy yawned as she peered over her anatomy book.

All was quiet in the shop and the surrounding area, everything now closed. Mr. Garfiel was in the kitchen, singing offkey a song that Ivy didn't recognize as he cooked dinner, and Winry was taking a shower. Perfect time to study without interruption. There was just so much to learn about the human body in order to replicate it. And I knew that but I didn't even really consider all the stuff in anatomy books I'd have to read even before constructing anything.

The overall mass, the automail itself with its wires, plating, nuts, and bolts all had to be as equal to the weight of a normal limb to avoid straining the user. So she couldn't go crazy.

Wrist extension, 60 degrees. Wrist flexion, 60 degrees. Wrist adduction/ulnar deviation, 30 degrees. Ivy scribbled as neatly as she could into her notes, glancing at the biomechanics of the forearm. She would get to the biomechanics of the legs tomorrow when she cleared this chapter.

"You still haven't run for the hills, huh?" Winry's voice came from behind her.

Ivy gave a small wave with her free hand, not turning around as she felt Winry looking over her shoulder, wet blonde strands touching Ivy's shoulder. "It's been two weeks and now you're asking me that? A bit late, Winry, my dear." The blonde had even tried getting Dominic to be their mentor not too long ago, though Ivy was slightly sure that was a hasty addition when Ivy pouted about it.

"Just making sure." Winry said, carefully setting her chin atop Ivy's head. "I know that making automail isn't as easy as other things. So I won't be upset or anything if you ever come out and say that you change your mind."

Ivy set down her pen and turned around in her chair, causing Winry to have to find her balance again. "Geez, why the sudden depressing atmosphere?" She raised an eyebrow. "I told you I wanted to learn how to make automail with you weeks ago at Elycia's birthday party. And I'm pretty sure my rambles about Elizabetta and northern region automail should really add up to you knowing I'm one satisfied customer here." Rush Valley might not have ever been a place she would have seen herself living in a few months ago, but it was certainly amazing to be in.

The people were kind and Garfiel was a great teacher.

Most of all, Ivy discovered a sense of purpose. She didn't really know what she was planning to do after high school at all once she graduated though she knew her mother would damn well make her go to university. But for what, Ivy couldn't tell you. Akasha planned from day one of discovering anime that she would be going into writing and art and Ivy, well, she definitely never pictured her volleyball career going anywhere aside from school-related activities.

Now she had something.

Winry's hands fiddled, twirling her thumbs and her blue eyes looked anywhere but Ivy's own. "I just… I thought that I might have forced you into it. I've been avoiding asking you about it." The blonde muttered at last. "Even if you thought automail was interesting at first, I was the one who really pushed the study material onto you."

"Didn't you also tell Pinako that you wanted me to be an engineer because I wanted to?" Ivy said, distinctly recalling that conversation in the downstairs workshop that seemed to be eons ago. "Trust me, you can't force me to do anything if I really don't want to. It's like what I tell Akasha, she's always doing stuff that I have no interest in and I can only go along with it so far before I tell her I need a break." Like Saturday evenings of watching anime and Ivy finally erupting and saying they needed to put on something else. "I haven't done that with automail and don't see myself doing it for the foreseeable future, so you're getting all worried for nothing."

"Who's Akasha to you?" Was Winry's next question.

"I ain't ever talked about her before?" Ivy asked back. Ivy was pretty sure Akasha had come up in light conversation at some point before this.

"I mean you have, but I don't really know much about her except that you said she gets really excited about stuff. Like alchemy."

Ivy stood up for a second and turned her chair around, just sitting there with her head turned over her shoulder was killing her back. "She's an old friend, we've known each other since we were five. Ish." Something like that. Ivy could still remember when they met each other at daycare. Ivy had picked up a Pooh bear plushie and Akasha immediately started crying and trying to snatch it from her. It ended in a tug of war and Pooh breaking and a timeout subsequently followed. "But then she made some stupid joke about pudding almost instantly afterwards and she's been a thorn in my side for ten years." Ivy continued fondly. "To be honest, I've been thinking a lot about her lately. It's been a while since I've seen her."

"Didn't you get to see her in Central?" Winry asked softly.

Fuck. "Uh no." Ivy answered quickly trying to fish for some sort of excuse. "It's complicated but she's not in Central right now, she's somewhere else." Like another dimension entirely. "So we can't see each other or talk right now which sucks because there's stuff I really wanna ask and regret never doing before I got to a point we couldn't talk anymore." Ivy clenched a fist, thinking back to the times that Akasha had raved on and on about this place and how she, reluctantly, told her best friend that she just couldn't find much interest after the first episode. "I keep trying to make decisions based on what she would do because I feel like she'd be better at it. Or how she would try and do certain things.

I really miss her and the rants she'd have about stuff she liked. Akasha can be a huge handful and can be super loud and obnoxious, but she's the one person I think who really gets me. Can't really imagine my life without her constantly going on and on about what she likes or sending me funny stuff." Keeping her phone off and no longer being able to receive memes from Akasha really hit Ivy like a freight train her first real week in Resembool.

I've adjusted now I guess. Ivy thought bitterly, wondering about the memes she was missing out on. Living memeless was difficult but at least it was doable.

Barely.

"Is…" Winry's voice brought Ivy out of her bitter stupor and she shot Winry a nod to show her attention was front and center. "Is Akasha…. your girlfriend?"

Ivy swore she heard something snap inside her. "EW NO." Ivy retched clawing at her face as the sudden image of her and Akasha gazing into each other's eyes romantically hit her mind's eye. "Oh god no! GROSS!"

"B-but you were just talking about how much she meant to you!" Winry stammered, taken aback by the reaction. "So I thought-

"As a friend!" Ivy snapped. "The day I'm attracted to her ass is the day I lose my eyesight 'cause I won't be able to even look at myself anymore! We're way too different, for one thing! We'd just be a couple that argues all the time if we got together! She isn't even my type!" High maintenance friends were one thing, but Ivy couldn't deal living in proximity to a high maintenance anime loving lover. That was a different ordeal entirely. "Trust me, Akasha is the last person in the universe that I'd wanna date." The world would literally have be void of other people and her taste would have to change considerably.

God, my crush thought I was dating someone. That's the worst. Ivy groaned internally, vaguely registering Garfiel telling them not to yell so loudly. Ivy sat back in her chair with a sigh. "God, me and Akasha. That's rich."

"So… you're not dating?" Winry asked again. "Really?"

"Trust me, we're not dating at all." Brown eyes whirled onto the pretty mechanic ready to go on another tirade about why and she Akasha would be the most incompatible couple in the universe but stopped just short of seeing the expression on Winry's face.

"Oh." Winry said, a small smile. She almost looked relieved. "You're not."

Ivy's heart stuttered, "What's with that statement, huh?"

Ivy wasn't sure if it was just lighting or if Winry's cheeks turned a shade of pink, "nothing!" She stammered, holding her hands up defensively. "You asked me about me and Ed a while ago so I just wanted to ask about you and Akasha!"

The stuttering stopped at Edward's name being mentioned. "You're not gonna ask if I'm dating him, are you?"

Winry shot Ivy a look, "are you?" She asked, skeptically.

Ivy's only response was to pretend she was gagging. That was even more impossible than her and Akasha dating. "He's like the brother I never asked for. Al is the sweet brother I brag about and Ed is the gremlin I fight with over the remote." Ivy could just picture that one meme on Twitter about blocking the monitor on the cable box so your siblings couldn't change the channel.

"Remote?"

"The remote control over the universe."

Winry gave Ivy a weird look but chuckled anyway. "You're such a weirdo."

"Honey, I'm awesome." Ivy fluttered her eyes petulantly.

"Winry, your knight in annoyed armor has to say something."

"Yes, dear knight?"

"I'm gonna scream if these wires get tangled again." Ivy groaned, slamming her head on her worktable. It was nighttime, passed work hours and the two of them were at their respective workspaces beside each other. "Every time, Winry. Every time, I set the damn things that I've finished aside neatly and organized- the moment I look back, Elizabetta's hand is a tangled mess."

Two weeks into Month 2 and Ivy had finally been able to start working on her creation and it was only going about as terribly as one could imagine as she began the wiring process.

Ivy was sure it was some sort of ghost trying to make her life miserable. "Save me from the nightmare."

"Have you tried tying back the ones you've completed?" Winry asked with an amused tone.

"... I hate my life."

An amused snort filled the air.

"Oh shut up and give me one of your extra hair ties!"

Ivy sighed at the blonde heap laying in front of her. "Winry."

"Ten more minutes!" Winry buried herself further into her blankets.

"You said that fifteen minutes ago."

"It's nicer in bed."

"For a girl who has no problems getting up early to work on automail, I am beyond surprised that you can't even get up to take a thirty minute jog."

"Those are two entirely different situations." Winry mumbled, curling into a ball.

….

Ivy sighed as a few moments passed on. "Winry, I'm trying to think about your health." She pressed gently. "And you're already improving a lot with your running. Sure you're no Ivy Carter-" Ivy broke away with a chuckle when a pillow hit her in the face, blue eyes glaring at her. "I have to be honest, you know. Not everyone can be a me when it's time to jog it up."

"I'm only getting up so I can show you that we're on equal footing."

Ivy only snickered at the end of their run when Winry realized she'd been baited. "I can't believe you." The blonde muttered. "I take back what I said about trying to make apple pie this weekend."

"Oh come on, Winry, I was thinking about your health!" Ivy tried to stop the laughter from bubbling further. "What are people gonna say if their engineer isn't that healthy?"

Winry crossed her arms with an indignant pout. "No one is gonna care if their automail engineer isn't a walking bag of muscle." She said gesturing to Ivy's build, which while greater than Winry's, Ivy only wished she had the muscle to flex like Armstrong. Maybe even the sparkle. I should have asked what his upper body workout looks like. Ivy clicked her tongue as she realized the missed opportunity. She didn't need to get Armstrong levels of buff, but she definitely wanted to be 'buff enough to do a flexing brag' buff.

She could see herself now wearing her jumpsuit in a style akin to Winry solely for the purpose of beefily wrenching bolts tightly in place for customers who would gawk in awe.

I need to start doing more pushups.

Ivy came back to reality at the feel of a finger poking her forehead and looked down in surprise at the blonde mechanic. "What?"

"You suddenly drifted off, that's what." Winry chirped with a curious expression.

"Oh. I was just thinking…" Ivy flexed a bicep and gave Winry a curious look of her own, wanting a second opinion. "I wanna start doing more pushups and get absolutely shredded like Major Armstrong, do you think it'd look good?"

A look of horror was on Winry's face in seconds as she shrieked the loudest 'please don't!' Ivy had ever heard. "Geez, it was just an innocent question." Ivy grumbled as they walked inside the studio, Winry stumbling after her in a daze. "I'm not going for the super shredded look, but just shredded enough that I could look aesthetically pleasing to customers and equally intimidating if they get all uppity."

"You're absolutely perfect as you are right now! Please don't get any more muscular!" Winry more-or-less begged. "What if instead of that, we just focus on jogging?!"

Ivy wasn't sure whether or not to be happy at Winry's sudden gust of enthusiasm or feel insulted. "I'm still gonna ask Armstrong what kinda pushups and lifting he does the next time we see him." She grumbled, looking pointedly away from Winry who latched onto her arm the moment she made her statement.

"I will make you the biggest apple pie in the universe if you don't!"

"Girls, if you want enough time to do some work on your projects before the shop opens, hurry and eat breakfast!"

"Yes, Mr. Garfiel!"

Author's Note

(Before anyone asks… yes I gave Ivy Winry's 2003 colors as an homage to the first anime, I thought it would be a nice touch.) This chapter came at a whirlwind of emotions for the behind the scenes work of making my chapters. I wanted to stretch this quite far in terms of a true training arc for the girls, but I didn't want to make it too dull and stretched out and had a ruff time making a more linear story. So what the end result kinda became is kinda janky but I wanted to have some light-hearted moments to balance out the angst from the previous chapters.

Lowkey disappointed in myself since I really wanted to make about three more chapters surrounding this, but this is just a case of a bad writing moment and we all have them. So I wanna be honest with my audience about the jankiness with this chapter here. If I can stretch it out some more, I'll definitely try but I might just make some Rush Valley fanfics oneshots on the side if I really want that.

I still hope that you get enjoyment out of it 'cause 17 is coming quickly soooo meh and by quickly, I mean... right after this goes up OTL so you at least have some sort of quality.

CallMeAnon: This chapter is a mess so I'm glad you liked the last one TAT