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

When Ivy woke up that morning, there was a feeling she couldn't shake off her chest.

She blinked at the ceiling of her room in the housing portion of Atelier Garfiel and paused. Her bandanna had slipped off in its sleep and she could smell the smell of bacon frying wafting through the door, the sun blearing in. Ivy shot up immediately, throwing the blankets off of her. "Yo, did I oversleep?!" She called, getting out of her bed when she spotted that Winry was nowhere to be seen in their shared room.

Ivy stumbled to the kitchen, seeing Garfiel standing by the oven. "I overslept, foreal?" She groaned.

"Did you stay up late?" Garfiel looked over his shoulder, cracking eggs into the skillet. "I know you girls can get quite caught up in your work."

Hey, I'm no Winry. Ivy wanted to protest thinking of the nights she had to often drag Winry back to bed saying the combat automail studies could wait for daylight. I get my full hours of sleep! "Not any later than I normally did." Ivy muttered, crossing her arms. The feeling in her chest remained like that feeling you had when you swore you didn't finish all of the tasks set out for you. She could hear the distant sound of a sanding tool being used. "Winry! You should've woken me up!" Ivy groaned as she made her way to the workroom, Winry expectedly hunched a leg plate in-progress .

Winry paused, shooting Ivy a look. "I did try waking you up, four times." The blonde replied, though Ivy was sure the lack of guilt indicated that she had no problem that their morning jog had been skipped for once. "You wouldn't even budge though, so I left you alone thinking maybe you got up to work more after I went to sleep."

That definitely wasn't the case.

Elizabetta 2.0 was still packed neatly in her case underneath Ivy's worktable, tools placed neatly in their rightful locations. "... That's odd then." Ivy said dumbly, not sure what else to say. "I never oversleep." Not once in their few months of living in Rush Valley.

"It's probably because you're suddenly so obsessed with bulking up." Winry suggested with a frown and shudder. She'd still been vehemently against the idea saying all she could imagine was Ivy with the signature curl and mustache flexing her shirt off whenever it was mentioned. "You're not giving yourself any time to rest."

"I get plenty of time to rest in between my increase of pushups and squats." Ivy stuck her nose in the air. "You're the one who will stay up all night working the night away even if we don't have to."

Winry's counter argument was to simply continue on sanding a jagged edge of her plate, occasionally stopping to blow away metal shavings. Ivy sat down quietly with no other reason to continue the conversation and looked at the clock. The shop would be opening in an hour and a half. Her anxious feeling only seemed to increase with every breath she took.

I know I finished everything I was supposed to do yesterday outside of work on Elizabetta. Ivy curled a finger around her chin as she went through a mental list. She took scrap tools to the blacksmith like Garfiel told her to, and Ivy knew for a fact that she had cleared the gunk out of the tensile machine because it got all over her jumpsuit and despite heavy rubbing, there was still a stain on the left knee. "... I changed the disk on the grinder yesterday, right?"

Winry nodded, eyes still on her work. "Yep." She answered readily.

"Oh."

"Are you okay?" Winry asked, setting the micro sander down. "Maybe you should sleep a little longer. Mr. Garfiel wouldn't mind if you told him."

Ivy shook her head, "no, it's nothing. I just thought I forgot to do something yesterday because I feel like something's out of place." Ivy scratched her braids, her scalp was a touch dry and would need some moisture before the shop opened. "I'm gonna go and get ready and stuff and set to work after breakfast."

"Okay then." Winry offered a soft smile and picked her tool up again. "Drink some coffee if you need some."

"And you make sure you get up and grab breakfast instead of getting zoned out and me bringing it to you." Ivy motioned a hand in a firm 'I got my eyes on you' signal. Winry worried about everyone to the last minute detail but heaven forbid the girl actually took decent care of herself. "We're eating breakfast the moment it's ready." Ivy said firmly and ignored the amused eye roll Winry gave her.

So I got everything done yesterday and I was just trippin'. Ivy thought to herself as she rubbed olive oil firmly between each section of her corn rows. The feeling still persisted despite the confirmation when Ivy wrapped her bandanna around her head, looping the excess into a high bun style twist close to her right ear.

The feeling would pass soon enough, Ivy thought once she had her jumpsuit on.

But even a couple hours later when Ivy was hunched over Thomas Becker's wrist cleaning and refiguring the knuckle joints in his left hand, the feeling persisted. "So how does that feel now?" Ivy asked the man, trying her best to ignore her discomfort that had nothing to do with him. "Wanna give me an experimental finger wriggle?"

"I say it's feeling great, Boss." Thomas smiled satisfactorily, his finger plates clicking pleasantly against one another. "I really gotta tell Casey to be more mindful about how she swings the jelly spoon. Six year olds." The man chuckled. "You want 'em to learn how to make their own peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and you get jelly in your automail."

Ivy nodded and screwed back on the dorsal plate. Only by becoming an automail engineer could a girl learn that the back of the hand was technically referred to as the 'dorsal side'. "I have a friend who's always wearing gloves for his automail. Maybe wear that while she's getting used to it?" Ivy gave the man the finger guns. "Better jellied gloves than grape jelly inside your dorsal plate."

Thomas grinned heartily, "you drive a hard bargain, Boss. How much do I owe you for this?"

"2,000 sens oughta cover it, my good sir." Ivy replied in a posh accent.

"Your girls are certainly getting more skilled, Garfiel." Thomas said to the man as he dug out his wallet.

"That's because they're both fast learners." Garfiel replied matter-of-factly from his own project of building a leg for Hugo Schneider. "I'm always impressed at how much they study in their free time and work outside of hours." Only because I need to catch up to Winry. Ivy thought with a smile as she accepted Thomas' fee. "I'll start feeling more worried when they start talking about leaving to set up their own shop here in the valley. It'll be tough competition."

"I'm pretty sure we'll be no match for you, Mr. Garfiel." Winry chuckled lightly. That, Ivy could agree with. Garfiel was like the less sparkly engineering version of Armstrong. "I finished reorganizing the toolshed like you asked."

Garfiel nodded. "Then I see no reason why you can't start on the size adjustment order now." He directed in a light, cheery tone. "I left the notes in its case on the third shelf. Her arm's grown a few centimeters, so make sure to be exact."

"Got it!" Winry beamed before skipping to where they kept stored away orders to tackle when they got to them.

Thomas left with a wave, "I'll let you guys know if I have any other problems."

"You try not to get any soon!" Ivy called back, thumbing through the bills for Mr. Garfiel's cut of 600. "Jelly under a dorsal plate, I've seen it all." Ivy chuckled to herself just imagining the mess Casey had to have made. "Here's your 600 sens Mr. Garfiel."

Garfiel accepted with an amused look, "you've truly seen everything when you have a customer coming over with a defeated look after they tried giving themselves a fix." He sighed, eyes distant. "That just makes more work for poor little ole me. But they eventually learn that a mechanic's job can't be replaced so easily."

"Geez, let me prep myself for my own customer horror stories." There hopefully wouldn't be many when she did inevitably set up her own shop.

"The most picky customers are the ones that have caught on to a new trend." Garfiel went on with an annoyed look. "That's always the problem with Rush Valley when someone comes up with something brilliant. Customers want it one after the other because of a friend showing it off and raving about it."

"What is it this time?" Last month, everyone was making a big deal about hands having longer life lines. Then the month before that there was a thing with sculpted fingernails. Dominic still outright refused to get in with the trends saying his automail was just fine as is. That was probably another reason he was based so far in the mountains.

"Mr. Schneider is adamant on having encrusted kneecaps." Garfiel groaned gesturing to a very small bit of gold beside the leg. "I really don't know why anyone thinks encrusted kneecaps are a good idea, but he wants them encrusted with his initials." He muttered on quietly with a shake of his head 'what a waste of gold'.

Ivy shrugged, "maybe it's so they can feel fancy."

"Whatever the reason, the trends still help an engineer stay on their toes and master different techniques. Just try not to get too caught up in them. Your automail should speak for itself and trends only go so far."

Ivy nodded with a thumb's up. "Speaking of which, I know Elizabetta's calling me and I should go see her." She shot the man a hopeful look that there were no more tasks that needed to be done. When she got her nod of approval, Ivy grinned. The strange feeling was probably just her compulsion to finish Elizabetta 2.0. Yes, that was probably it. "So far, so good?" She asked Winry as she walked into their work room and made her way to grab Elizabetta 2.0's case.

"Yeah, size adjustment orders never really take long." Winry replied airly. "When do you think you'll be done with your arm?"

With a thoughtful hum, Ivy opened the case and took a long look at what Elizabetta 2.0 had become. She was just a forearm at this point, the culmination of a few weeks of work, and the wires and cords making up the nervous system were bunched neatly with ties to keep them from getting tangled. "Maybe one more week. I'm still pretty nervous about actually having someone test it."

The feeling just before connecting the nerves for a customer still made her anxious. Even more so the thought that there would be some imperfection in the arm. Maybe the armor would be too heavy or it would feel off-balanced. Sure Elizabetta 2.0 looked better, a lot more symmetrical thanks to the extra hours practicing with cheap steel and the micro sander, but there could be plenty wrong with the internal mechanisms. "But so far, she's looking like an elegant lady so I have high hopes. Elizabetta 1.0 looked like she was going through a rebel phase."

Elizabetta 2.0 would be nothing less than perfect by the time that Ivy finally felt she was perfect enough to be sold. Even if it took a few solid weeks to finish. I should probably make other sizes for the model too. Ivy was more than ready to suggest making an Elizabetta Armstrong. For the variety for any customers interested.

Elizabetta: a steel-aluminum arm designed for the active Amestrian. A lightweight model in two varieties, Slim and Armstrong. The catalogues could read. "You know what? I think I'll probably make one more version of Elizabetta and then attempt to sell." Ivy grinned to herself.

"Don't worry, it'll be fine." Winry's tone was reassuring, unaware of the thoughts in Ivy's mind. "You've already improved a lot since the first time you made an arm so this one is gonna be great."

Ivy sat down, the feeling in her chest dulling slightly. "Now to figure out what to price her when I finish and Mr. Garfiel thinks she's good enough to sell." Winry had sold quite a few so far with raving reviews from her new customers and Ivy was anxious to see what her own would be. "I want a fair price even if the price of automail usually makes me die a thousand times over."

Winry released a nervous chuckle, herself. "It's gonna be fine." The blonde repeated.

More like you know there's no way to make it cheap.

With a comfortable silence falling over them, Ivy exhaled loudly and set to work. Prices would have to wait later, for now, she had an arm to build. Specifically, creating the elbow joint and attaching it to the ulnar wire system. Last time it all just seemed so clunky, so I really wanna make sure it's a lot more slender and allow more mobility. Ivy picked up the cylinder that would be the elbow. I should shave it down a few degrees and try and see if it works better and get some different bolts. Alright, grinder time it is then. Ivy stood up with a light 'oof'. Then tomorrow I can build the hydraulic system. "Winry, for the hydraulic system which oil do you recommend this time?"

"I say AW-46." Winry said after blowing away another chunk of metal shavings. "But I think we're running low so we'll have to buy some more."

"I'll buy some today then when it's about time to go on a break." Ivy replied as she turned the grinder on, carefully angling her gloved fingers to not get destroyed as she sanded down the elbow cylinder.

The feeling only remained as the silence continued and Ivy bit her lip to distract herself from the discomfort.

Things were fine.

There was no reason to feel like this.

Things were fine.

Things were fine when Ivy hissed in frustration when she over-sanded the elbow cylinder. Things were also fine when the wires she was twining together with her tweezers snapped despite her best efforts to be careful.

"You know what." Ivy said with a twitching eyebrow, setting her tweezers down and tossing the broken wires in the scrap box. "I'm just gonna go and buy that oil now and get some fresh air. I'm having a bad building day." The annoying twisting, sunken feeling in her chest wasn't going to help her concentrate enough right now to get out of her weird slump. It also wasn't going to help if she just kept sitting still and working when things clearly weren't going well.

Winry offered a sympathetic look, she had her fair share of bad days but today was the opposite. Her progress on the size adjustment order was steady and would probably be done by tomorrow, Ivy guesstimated. "Maybe you should get a snack while you're out too? Something to help you relax."

"Maybe I should." Ivy scratched at her bandanna covered head. She wasn't particularly hungry or thirsty, but an ice cold drink would probably do something to wash away the funk she was going through. "Did you want anything too?" Ivy said as she readied herself to go and get her wallet.

"I really like the orange juice at Clemmen's Stand, could you get me one of those? And my usual."

"Sure thing." Ivy saluted, welcoming the beam Winry shot back. "I'll be back soon, alright?"

Winry nodded, "come home safe." She said with a soft yet satisfied look, the way she looked after making a successful automail piece. Ivy's heart squeezed at the sight though the feeling tugging at her chest remained.

"I will." Ivy said when she realized Winry was still waiting for an answer. With that, Winry looked back at her work. "Mr. Garfiel," Ivy called as her tennis shoes landed roughly on the floorboards. "I'm gonna go and buy some AW-46 oil before we run out and I'm hitting up Clement's, afterwards. Did you want anything?"

"The cucumber sandwich!" The man called back.

"Alright!" Ivy called back. I dunno why I'm even trippin'. Things had been occurring normally for the most part, minus the lack of the morning jog. They all got to work on their respective projects, splice in the lessons from Garfiel during down time, and Paninya would show up at some odd hour or another to chat. It was a pleasant rhythm, a comforting rhythm that Ivy had no protests against since Edward and Alphonse's departure to head to their teacher.

The feeling still persisted, though.

Ivy briefly considered that it had to do with the fact that she had been gone for almost five months at this point from her world. But there was nothing that could be done about that. Everyone was on a hard reset with their abilities and journeys and there was nothing to be done about that. She did her best to smile as normal when she approached the oil shop, waving down the shop owner, Melissa. "Heyo, I'm here to get some beautiful AW-46 if there's any in!"

The woman nodded, gesturing over to a stack of brand new large cans. "We just got in a shipment yesterday." Ivy shot the woman an appreciative wink. Melissa was, honestly, gorgeous with her long black hair and steel gray eyes and undoubtedly popular. She never seemed to let it get to her though, always operating coolly with a seemingly permanent pokerface. "You don't have your shadow today?"

"My shadow?" Ivy looked over her shoulder curiously as she picked two gallons of the needed oil.

"Winry." Melissa clarified. "You two are rarely apart for long."

"Oh um, she still had some work to do and I offered to get the oil." Ivy coughed as she brought the oil to the cash register. "And we're not together that often." Just usually when they were on break and were too lazy to cook or if they had to buy some parts at the Main Street Market. Even then, Paninya would tag along occasionally.

"That'll be 3, 368 sens." If this was a while back, Ivy would have had a heart attack hearing that price. But thankfully, sens seemed to follow a completely different system than the USD. That was honestly a great price for two gallons of oil this quality. "I wouldn't have made the shadow comment, if that was really the case, by the way. The two of you are always together."

It wasn't the first time that Ivy was happy that her skin was too dark to show a blush. "We're just really good friends."

"If you say so." Melissa replied calmly as she accepted the money Ivy handed her shakily. "You might as well be a couple that's going through their cupcake phase. It won't surprise anyone if it happens, we're half expecting the two of you to open shop here in the valley. But Winry's fans will be quite disappointed."

Flusteredness only filled Ivy's chest alongside the persisting oddball emotion. "Winry's fans have nothing to worry about." The blonde had been exceptionally popular since their arrival to Rush Valley and involvement with customers. Winry insisted she had no interest in any of them though, not that ever stopped the occasional irritated twinge when Ivy noticed someone trying to put the moves on her during maintenance. "And it's way too early for me to even be thinking about setting a shop."

That garnered a look that could almost be described as surprise, "I was honestly expecting to hear that the two of you had talked about opening a shop together."

"I gotta go and get some food for everyone." Ivy's face felt hot as she lifted the handles of her cans with ease in one hand. There were benefits to her new workout regimen, not that that stopped Winry from complaining like a woman who disliked her husband's new mustache. Damn it, now Melissa has me thinking it! Ivy stormed out in a huff to Clement's Stand.

Her and Winry, a couple.

Her and Winry, having a shop.

That was just preposterous yet so tantalizingly easy to imagine.

They could have some shop a good distance from Garfiel's to avoid being in direct competition. One with a built-in home. And even if they'd have petty disputes over things like something needing a triple axel versus a seven, they'd still each other.

"I'm going to get some steel." Ivy could announce to her adoring girlfriend. "I hear there's a new type that Murray's selling, a steel with some interesting properties. I wanna nab some before it's out."

"Okay!" Winry could say with a large smile on her face. "Come home safe, dear!"

"I will, darling!"

Ivy nearly slapped herself at the thought, shaking her head adamantly. "Your imagination needs to stay firmly planted to the ground, Carter!" She shouted, garnering a few heads turning her way.

Ivy winced at the attention and the festering cesspool in her chest flickered. This was all Melissa's fault.

Ivy sighed, sitting on her cans on the side of the street.

The food and drinks had been carefully placed in a large paper bag but that didn't change the fact that she should have just taken the oil back to the studio first. This is still your fault, Melissa. Ivy grumbled thinking about the beautiful yet evil shop owner. You kept me from thinking straight. Literally. Ivy could have snorted at her own joke but the bag was starting to get wet from the condensation of the drinks and she refused to let the sandwiches get ruined.

Alright, Carter, time to get up and be a badass. Ivy stood up carefully, readying to pick up the cans again.

"Well if it isn't the mechanic I was hoping to run into!" A familiar voice called and Ivy looked behind her.

"And if it isn't Edward and Alphonse Elric." Ivy grinned widely at the sight. "It's been a minute, guys! Al, gimme some love!"

The younger boy chuckled as he leaned lower, welcoming the tussle on his head. Ivy poked at the small teather of feathers that acted as the helmet's hair. "It's good seeing you again, Ivy. Has your training been going well?"

"Yep!" Ivy answered cheerily as the boy stood up. She looked over at Edward, gesturing him to come forward and meet his ruffle of doom. "And you guys? How was it at your teacher's?"

"Fine enough." Edward said, surprisingly accepting the act of affection. "What?" He asked defensively when he saw the look of surprise on Ivy's face.

"I just figured you'd put up more of a fight when it came to getting your hair tussled." Ivy said after she regained her composure. "Al? I can be as great a sister as I want, but you complain too much, short stack." A temple burst onto Edward's forehead. "Speaking of which, did you get shorter? Or is just me getting taller? Something you know nothing about." Ivy guffawed obnoxiously, each 'ha' punctuating a firm pat on Edward's head.

Edward had three temples bulging on his forehead by the time he brandished a fist. "WHY YOU-"

"Brother, remember why we were trying to run into Ivy first?"

Edward stopped just short of swinging, a look of fear on his face and Ivy shook her head. "Don't tell me you busted your arm again." The sweat that began raining down Edward's face told Ivy everything she needed to know. So much for peace and quiet. At least Edward managed to go longer than two weeks, not that Winry would see a difference either way. "Let's go get your head bashed in, I guess."

"Don't let her hurt me, please!" Edward begged, falling onto his knees. "I'll do anything! I'll call you super amazing awesome big sister from now on! I'll buy you all the oil that you need for your hair! Just don't let her throw anything at me!"

Ivy pinched the bridge of her nose. The feeling in her chest swirled.

Is it just me developing a sense for when Edward is gonna come back ready to cry about his arm? It probably is just me developing a sense for when Edward is gonna break his arm.

"Winry, I'm back!" Ivy announced as Atelier Garfiel came into focus. "I got the food and oil! And some stragglers."

"Are they customers?" Winry called before popping her head around the entrance, blinking in surprise then smiling pleasantly. "Ed, Al! Welcome back? What are you both doing here?"

Edward flinched back and pushed Ivy forward. Ugh. "Winry?"

"What?"

"Ed needs maintenance, please don't throw a wrench at him."

There was a pause before blue eyes narrowed, zeroing in on the boy behind Ivy's shoulder. "How much maintenance does he need?" Winry asked suspiciously.

"Ed, mind showing us what's gonna need fixing?"Edward could only offer the most fragile of smiles as he displayed the wrecked state his arm was in. The dorsal plate was missing entirely as well as the casing for the forearm and he was missing the external phalanges on his thumb and pinkie. Ivy winced. At least it wasn't completely destroyed but it was scratched to hell. Winry practically had a demon looming over her. "Winry, please? Let's cut him some slack, it's been a while since he wrecked it."

Winry inhaled deeply, trembling, and held the position for a few moments before releasing a heavy breath. "Get your butt in the chair so I can look over what's missing before I change my mind not to absolutely murder you." She grumbled quietly, turning around with a grouchy walk.

Edward nearly had tears in his eyes. "You're welcome, champ." Ivy whispered before following after Winry. "I'm gonna give Mr. Garfiel his sandwich. Al, can you set that oil down in the corner next to the tensile machine? It's the thing next to the drill press."

"Sure thing!"

Ivy found the man in the back pulling out wire covers from the storage. "Back already?"

"And with a cucumber sandwich and a lovely ice tea." Ivy said, fishing the contents out of the bag.

"Why thank you." Garfiel said, taking his order. "I heard voices from the front. Do we have customers?"

"Yep, Winry's childhood friends are stopping by. What about Paninya? Is she here fixing the roof now?" The former pickpocket was scheduled to stop by and fix a small leak in the roof. It wasn't much now, but it was going to be a real pain when the rainy season hit, so Garfiel had gone ahead and purchased her services. "I got her some stuff too."

"She should be wrapping up just about now." Garfiel pointed to the roof. "She deserves a meal for the help she's given us time and time again."

Sure enough, the girl had finished and had been chatting with Alphonse. Winry, on the other hand, was snapping away at Edward. "No matter how old you get, you never listen to my advice!" The blonde raged as Ivy awkwardly set aside on a small table the sandwiches and drinks. "What are you, a kid?"

"Cut me a break." Edward mumbled testily. He might have avoided a wrench getting swung at his head in the beginning, but whether or not Ivy could stop it a second time was in the air. "We managed to make some progress like Al said. We managed to get some info from our Teacher that's important and then stuff happened. What about you guys? Your training going along well?"

Winry brightened up at the question, "it's going great! I came up with a way to make an automail machine gun!" She proudly held up the notes she compiled.

"Are you turning into a mad scientist?" Edward said blankly, unimpressed. "Don't look at me with innocent eyes when you're creating combat automail."

Ivy took a sip of her tea, "Elizabetta's turning out pretty well if I say so myself." She flexed her free arm. "And I can gladly say that working with all this machinery is making me even hotter."

Edward gagged. "I thought you were exercising your ability to craft prosthetics, not your ability to lift weights."

"I'm doing both." Ivy said, eyeballing Winry's own look of dismay. "Winry isn't happy about it though."

"You said you were going for an Armstrong look!" The blonde cried indignantly, Edward and Alphonse started choking.

"The Armstrong look?" Paninya's eyebrows knit in confusion. "I don't get it."

"'S not important and the point is I'm getting healthier!"

"But like Armstrong!?" Edward choked on his own laughter he was failing to keep contained. "Oh god, that's great!"

"I said that I didn't want to get that muscular! Just a little more! Think about it, it'd come in handy if we had some jerk customers coming in trying to shake us for free maintenance!" No one would do it if Ivy stepped out, arms flexing.

"I don't think anyone would even come near our shop if you stepped out with that curl and mustache." Winry shuddered as she wrapped bandages around Edward's forearm as a mock casing. "I've been trying to stop her. But she just keeps doing more pushups!"

"I-Ivy-" Brown eyes shot Alphonse a look of betrayal. "I-I agree with Winry. I think you're already at peak health for your age!"

"You guys suck." Ivy said sourly.

Edward waved a hand. "Relax. If anything like that happened, Winry would just throw a wrench at them and they'd back off like that." He flinched when Winry's eyes landed on him at the mention of a wrench being thrown. "Anyway, we're gonna head to Central to do some research next when you finish the arm."

"Central?" Winry perked up at the mention. "Take me with you guys!" She exclaimed as she stood up to grab a parts chart.

"What for?" Edward asked incredulously, raising an eyebrow.

Winry smiled, holding the board to her chest. "I'd like to thank Mr. Hughes and his family for housing me!"

"That's right, Brother!" Alphonse chirped from the bench he shared with Paninya. "We still haven't thanked him from before!"

"Ah right, from when I was in the hospital." Edward's gold eyes flashed in realization. "What about you, Ivy? Wanna come too?"

Ivy looked carefully at Garfiel who had quietly entered earlier during the muscle debate, with a thoughtful hum. "Oh." Winry said, tone considerably dull. "We have work."

Garfiel smiled gently, "it's fine if you want to go on a brief vacation." He said standing over the Schneider order. "You've been working very hard like little bees since you became my apprentices."

"Then it's a yes from me, chief!" Ivy grinned.

"Thanks so much, Mr. Garfiel!" Winry smiled.

"It looks like we're all heading to Central then." Edward said lightly with a smile, Alphonse nodding in agreement.

"Alright." Winry clicked her tongue, pleased. Her blue eyes skimmed over the clipboard in her arms. "Now I've just gotta go and restock the parts, so you two just hang out awhile." She pointed her pencil in their direction. "Try not to get into any more trouble."

"Ugh, what are we supposed to do in a town full of automail shops though?" Edward groaned. "I-"

Ivy held up a hand, "I've got work to do too, sorry." She said with an apologetic look. "I wanna finish my arm before we take off to Central, so I gotta kick it into overdrive." Edward only groaned once again, already looking like he was ready to melt into a puddle from the boredom. "Why don't y'all talk with Mr. Garfiel? He's pretty fun. He has this great book about carbon fi-"

Edward and Alphonse dashed out immediately.

"... Brats." Ivy hissed.

Paninya laughed heartily. "Can't blame them for running for the hills! The mechanics here are nutty!"

"Oh get out and take your sandwich with you!" Ivy snapped, chasing the handygirl off. "Have fun getting those parts, Winry." She said, turning at the girl who was giving one last look at her clipboard.

"I still can't believe you stopped me from destroying him." Winry said pointedly but her eyes stayed trained on her clipboard. "I'm definitely gonna smack him the next time this happens. He can't ever come back for maintenance." Winry grumbled some more. "Never even calls in advance. I'm hitting him with an extra fee for it."

"Winry, your inner Rush Valley mechanic is coming out." Ivy chuckled, leaning against a wall. "Try not to charge him too hard."

Winry stuck her nose in the air, not even commenting on it. "I'll be back soon." She looked at the table set with food. "Sorry, I can't eat any of it now. But knowing them, this is something that'll be a rush job so I should get to the market right away." Blue eyes shone apologetically.

Ivy shrugged. That was true enough, all the more reason to set to work on Elizabetta right away "Don't worry about it. We can eat together when you get back, there'll be enough time for a small break then." She kicked herself back onto her feet, setting her iced tea on the table. "So come home safe."

Winry smiled widely, "I will."

"Come home safe, dear!"

"I will, darling!"

"You might as well be a couple that's going through their cupcake phase. It won't surprise anyone if it happens."

Ivy stopped herself from groaning in disdain as she quietly made her way to her worktable. "Alright, alright. Time to work." Ivy sat down heavily in her chair, gazing down at Elizabetta's form. If I do an all nighter tonight and tomorrow and wrap up the elbow joint and do the hydraulics system tonight, maybe I can get this done by the time Winry finishes up the repairs for Ed. Ivy picked up her tweezers and grabbed two copper wires. Don't snap on me this time.

She held them as firmly as she could without practically mashing them together and slowly began the process of twisting them together. If Ivy continued on without incident, it was likely she would be able to begin the hydraulics before nightfall. There needed to be a few more wires for the ulnar nerves in this particular area to craft before any real work could be done to connect the elbow cylinder that was used as a base for the beginning of the hydraulics. A process so delicate that Ivy knew she might as well start the whole arm over again if she fudged it.

If only Akasha could see me now. Ivy smiled sorrowfully as the girl swept through her mind.

"I can't believe you." Her green eyes would flash in annoyance. "You go to the world of FMA and you learn how to build automail!?"

"Automail is an artform, my child." Ivy would reply coolly, showing off Elizabetta 2.0 in her glossy case. "And alchemy was way too hard to figure out. But lemme tell you a thing or two about the amount of intricate metal work that can be done when steel is alloyed with aluminum! And did you know that steel is actually more elastic than rubber? Quit running away and let me explain this to you!"

Ivy chuckled to herself.

Akasha would definitely think that she wasted her time but at least Ivy knew that the process of crafting automail was something to be in awe of. Something that could change a life for the better. Something that was maybe a lot better than alchemy. Ivy knew that much and no amount of Akasha's cringing would be able to change her mind.

Ivy worked in silence for about an hour, twining wire after wire just in case snapping occurred once more.

It really wasn't a busy day that day. Ivy realized. Aside from Thomas, there'd been no other customer that had showed up- not counting Edward.

Works for me, I guess. Ivy set down her tweezers at last with a satisfied nod. She had more than enough wires to compensate for any potential breaks while she connected and soldered them to the terminal joints of the elbow. Ivy grabbed the mini blowtorch and her protective goggles.

BOOM.

Ivy jolted from her seat, dropping her newly acquired materials on the ground. Was that an explosion?! "Mr. Garfiel, are you alright?!" Ivy called, running to the front of the store where her mentor was standing in shock as she looked on outside.

"I'm fine, but what on earth?" The man said, dazed. "Explosions in Rush Valley? That isn't something that happens often."

Everyone on the street was gossiping, watching as two clouds of smoke billowed into the air. Some dashed ahead to see what the ruckus was, others just went on about their business claiming it was probably some engineering project gone wrong.

"... It's probably Edward and Alphonse." Ivy said, a knowing feeling in her chest.

"Do explosions usually follow them where they go?" Garfiel asked.

"Let's just say they attract trouble the way honey attracts flies." Ivy eyed the smoke clouds. She felt anxious but she was sure enough that Alphonse and Edward were fine, though she wouldn't be able to say that for long if Edward came back with his arm even more bashed. I dunno know if I'll be able to save you from Winry's wrath at that point, Edboy.

Garfiel crossed his arms thoughtfully, "well if it was military, there would be a lot worse of a reaction so I suppose things are fine enough." He turned back around and headed inside. "Let's get back to work then."

Ivy stared out into the distance for a few more moments before following suit. "No need to tell me twice."

"Do you need any help with your project?" Garfiel asked as he watched his second pupil head back to the workshop area.

Ivy shook her head nonchalantly, "I think that so far things are good. It's just been a rougher construction day." She thought back to the instances with the first elbow cylinder and the wires that kept snapping. "But it looks like I've got my groove back. If I stay up all night, I should be able to get the hydraulics crafted by tomorrow and I can start working on the biceps. Then from there I can finish up by making all the plating."

"Remember what I said about the micro sander." Garfiel said, pointing a screwdriver in her direction. "Small corrections, not complete redesigns."

Ivy groaned with a nod, remembering what happened with Elizabetta 1.0. She got so caught up in the small details she sanded the hell out of her and everything got uneven. Clunky and uneven, the worst thing possible for an automail engineer. "I'll try not to go overboard this time."

Ivy stretched as she made her way back to her worktable. Those two better be alright. She thought as she picked up her fallen materials.

Ivy took a brief break when her mentor asked her to take out the trash.

Winry had yet to return yet, the ice in their drinks long since melted into the rest of the liquid. Edward and Alphonse were still out as well. Ivy was sure things were alright though considering the amount of peace in the valley as the sky approached sun setting hours. Rush Valley was the same as it always was, save for the occasional comment about a short alchemist wrecking the town all over again.

Figures. They really can't stay out of trouble for long.

There was no mention of any engineers that tried hounding said alchemist into a deal to repair his arm, so Ivy at least guessed that Edward's arm was in the same condition as when he left. A silver lining was always somewhere to be found when one looked hard enough.

Ivy set down the placed her trash bag into the nearest trash can, holding her breath. Chores could never be escaped even when you were in a fictional count- Ivy stopped when she saw a flash of yellow and black on the ground. Setting the lid down, Ivy peered over to see what could have just gone by, half expecting it to be a cat.

Full unexpecting it to be a person collapsed on the ground.

Ivy shrieked almost immediately as she rushed to the man's side. "H-hey!" She pulled the guy up into a sitting position and gaped at his pale skin. He was handsome, long black hair pulled into a ponytail and garbed in loose white trousers and an open yellow shirt. Ivy wasn't blind to the sword that was sheathed on his back, though. Still, she braced herself. Regardless of why he had the weapon, this guy still needed help. "Do you think you can stand?!"

The man garbled some nonsense Ivy couldn't make out. "What was that?" She asked, leaning closer to his lips.

"F-food."

"Don't worry, we have something for you to eat at the shop!" Ivy struggled a bit to get herself and the man on their feet. "It's literally the shop next door. Everything will be alright, I promise! Mr. Garfiel! Can you get some water?! This guy collapsed in the alley next door!"

"What!?"

Ivy huffed, trying to catch her breath when the dust finally settled and the stranger was sat at the table scarfing down what was once her sandwich in seconds. "Thank you so much for the help!" The man said with a large smile, his voice was surprisingly young for how big he was. Maybe he was younger than he looked. "Honestly, this is the second time I've collapsed so far and you were so quick to help me! Amestrians are so kind!"

Ivy shook a hand bashfully, "it's really no trouble." She smiled, relieved that the guy seemed alright. "I was more freaked out finding some random guy collapsed in an alley. Are you sure you don't need to go to, like, a doctor or something?" She eyed him carefully.

"No, no, I'm fine." He replied, unwrapping what was once Winry's sandwich and taking a large bite. "This is just what I needed!"

Ivy sighed, well as long as the guy was sure. She took a closer look at him. He was clearly Asian, something she hadn't seen at all in her limited traveling of Amestris. This world was clearly a lot more diverse than she thought it was. "So, where are you from?" She asked. "I mean, unless you're from here and I'm just being insensitive about your nationality." She added quickly.

The boy shook his head, "not at all, you're right I'm not from here. I'm actually from Xing."

"The large empire east of the desert?" Ivy looked to her left, seeing Garfiel arrive with a tray full of teacups and cookies.

Ivy kept her mouth glued shut firmly, lest she accidentally outted herself as someone who knew nothing about the country she supposedly grew up in and its neighbors. She eyed Ling's clothing once again as the boy went on to confirm Garfiel's inquiry. His clothes definitely looked nothing like a kimono or anything else she'd seen in whatever period anime Akasha would have on. So Xing is China-inspired? I wonder what this place's version of the African continent is looking like then. I can only imagine the countries there considering the variety. "Indeed! I'm here on a trip with my travel companions, though I've seemed to have lost them."

His voice was light despite the disconcerting news about his lost friends. He even laughed a bit when Ivy raised the point. "I'm sure we're going to run into each other again sooner or later, they always manage to find me. I tend to get a bit lost from time to time. But at least it led me to meeting two lovely people!"

"Oh stop!" Garfiel gushed and Ivy pursed her lips as her mentor went on like a schoolgirl. "Flattery will get you nowhere! Just call me Garfiel!" He introduced himself gleefully, handing the boy a teacup bordered with rose print.

"Ling Yao, it's a pleasure to meet you both." Ling revealed his name at last. "And you, Miss?"

Ivy took her own teacup, "Ivy. Welcome to Amestris."

Ling grinned even more wide, "I'm certainly feeling welcomed! If I had known how lovely and kind the women were here, I would have visited ages ago."

Ivy coughed. Alright, so this guy was charming. "It's like Mr. Garfiel said, flattery is getting you nowhere!" She took a small sip of her tea. It could probably get this guy somewhere if he kept it up actually. "Do you think your friends are somewhere nearby? What do they look like? I can help you look for them."

"Well, the most easily identifiable is a girl around my age with brown-"

"H-honestly, flattery is gonna get you nowhere!" Edward's voice cut Ling short. His voice was pleasantly flustered. Smug even. "I know that my name is known far and wide and that it's garnered me plenty of attention, but I don't say I've ever considered having an apprentice before."

Alphonse's tired voice followed after, "you're honestly enjoying the attention, Brother."

"Shush, Al! The girl admires my work as an alchemist!"

Ivy was sure her expression was something akin to all those The Office memes. "Well, here comes two of mine." She said tersely, just imagining the smug face Edward likely had talking to this random girl. "Let me see if I can rope them into helping us out, alright?"

"No problem with me." Ling replied cheerily, a smile still remaining as Ivy stood up. The guy had a lot of positive energy going for someone lost in a foreign country, separated from his friends.

"I'm serious!" A feminine voice piped up warmly. "I've always been a big fan of your alchemy! I've had some training in alchemy with a skilled teacher but nothing compares to the stories I've heard about you circulating while I was traveling!"

Ivy froze.

That voice.

"You're seriously gonna tempt me into saying yes to your begging!"

"Brother, I'm not really sure if we even have the time for you to take on an apprentice right now."

"Come on, Al, this girl is clearly someone who admires me! She doesn't even call me short!"

"That's not a good reason to apprentice someone though, Brother!"

"I promise not to get in the way!"

Ivy knocked down a chair as she dashed outside, her heart was beating a million miles per hour, blood roared in her ears. It couldn't be. There was seriously just no way. The feeling from before was swirling in her chest like a typhoon. Alphonse's next retort to Edward's newfound fan came from the left and Ivy whipped her head so quickly, she heard a light cracking noise, eyes narrowing on the girl standing beside Edward who was smiling brightly.

Her hair was long and brown and even in the dimness of the orange sky, Ivy could see the green.

Yet nothing was more damning than the jacket the girl was wearing. Black with large white lines shooting down the sleeves with a gill-shaped pattern. Samezuka.

A name Ivy only knew from the countless times she butchered it only to get met with defensive screeches about how she was saying it wrong on purpose when the angered soul was heavily into an anime about swimming.

Ivy didn't dare breathe as her lips trembled in disbelief. "Akasha?" She asked hoarsely.

Akasha froze in place before slowly turning to face Ivy properly and her green eyes widened. "Ivy?" She whimpered.

Ivy slapped a hand over her mouth. Akasha! Ivy practically tackled the girl, forcing her a few steps backwards, breathing heavily. Akasha was warm and solid in her arms and Ivy could have cried because of that fact alone. "It's you." Ivy whispered. "It's really you."

"I-I thought-" Akasha choked, cutting herself off as her fingers dug into Ivy's shoulder blades

"Don't you dare cry." Ivy snapped, tightening her grip. "Don't you dare cry right now. Or I'm gonna cry and then you're gonna cry even more-"

"But I thought you were gone." Ivy's eyes watered as she heard the raspy cry. "I-I thought you were gone and- and- I was so lonely! And alone! And-and you were just here the entire time?! There were police and it was on the news and-"

"I'm sorry." Ivy squeezed her friend tighter, the tears slipped out little by little and Ivy squeezed tighter. "I'm really sorry. I was trying to come home, I'm trying. I'm trying."

That didn't stop Akasha's wails from hitting the air or the snot that got on Ivy's chest. "You're such an asshole, Ivy Carter! A big asshole!" Akasha spat weakly but her grip didn't loosen.

"I'm really sorry."

Author's Note

And the quickly uploaded chapter 17 to save me from the embarrassment that was chapter 16 :) and with a fun ending.

Akasha has finally been inserted into the story along with our favorite Xingese travelers. Well, some of our favorite Xingese travelers. I've had this bit of the story written out for a while in my non-linear writing folder and was honestly really excited to finally share it. Even in the original incarnation of this story, Ivy and Akasha were supposed to meet up again in Rush Valley but under different circumstances. I call this growth. It's def growth in comparison to Chapter 16. Idk what it is but no matter what I did with it, it just came out bad and horrendous and nothing like I wanted so instead of waiting a week to publish chapter 17, I just went ahead and did it since I wanted to at least have a more quality chapter out.

Plus, I could at least have a fun buzz generated between this update and the next with speculation about Akasha's arrival in the story considering what little the readers already know about her from chapters 1 and 2. Interested in hearing the theories.