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
"THERE'S ALWAYS THAT ONE PERSON THAT WILL ALWAYS HAVE YOUR HEART. YOU NEVER SEE IT COMING 'CAUSE YOU'RE BLINDED FROM THE START. KNOW THAT YOU'RE THAT ONE FOR ME, IT'S CLEAR FOR EVERYONE TO SEE. OOH BAAAAAABBAAAAAY!" Ivy belted as she two stepped down the hall, fresh out the shower and in a wife beater and sweats. "YOU WILL ALWAYS BE MY BOO!" Her hand slapped the door in front of her over as the 'boo' left her lips, Akasha jolting from her bed.
"I HATE YOU!" The brunette screeched, hand reaching for one of her pillows.
Ivy accepted the hit to the face with a laugh. "Oh shit, sorry."
"You're not sorry." Akasha glared.
"You right, I ain't." Ivy stuck out her tongue before plopping down onto Akasha's bean bag on the floor. It was the beginning of spring break which meant a beautiful week of solace from school and she was having a sleepover at her best friend's. Mr. Maverick was working late at the office, Melanie was out getting a pizza, and Austin was at John Huntly's. They literally had the house to themselves for at least ten more minutes. "You can't not sing Usher and not be extra, Akasha."
"You've never even had a boo."
"Excuse you, unlike someone here I actually have had a relationship with a real person." Ivy tossed the pillow right back at her friend, nailing her right in the face. "Your only boyfriend is on a poster right behind you and he's fictional."
"And your two weeks of romance with Rebecca Perkins in 6th grade counts?"
"And I had that thing with Ryan Jimenez in 8th grade before I started volleyball." Ivy added smoothly.
Akasha only returned a look of with maximum stink eye but Ivy knew she had her beat. It still counted a helluva lot more than the blond cyborg she worshipped day and night and who she currently had the screen paused on on her laptop. "Well none of those relationships weren't that serious so it doesn't count as what a boo by all definitions of the song." Akasha crossed her arms, green eyes flashing. "And if we're going by that, Ed is totally that guy for me to which every 3D man will be compared."
"I seriously have questions for your sanity sometimes, Akasha." Ivy replied dryly.
"You can crush on Shin from NANA-"
"'Cause he's fine as hell."
"But if it's Edward Elric, I'm the crazy one."
"If he is who you are dedicatin' 'My Boo' too, then yes, white girl." Ivy nudged Akasha's shin from where she sat, and got a nudge back in indignation. "Seriously, he don't even look that cute right there." Ivy sat up trying to get a closer look. She didn't know what the hell was going on with the blond but he definitely looked different than he did on the posture on Akasha's wall. He was leaning over some metal structure, yelling down below. "His hair always been this… round?"
"Quit smack about my husband." Akasha flicked Ivy's shoulder but she nodded at her screen. "This is the Sacred Star of Milos movie." She explained. "I really don't know why they didn't just go with Brotherhood's animation for this but I like this movie. It doesn't have much Winry and the girl character is cool and actually, you know, does something productive to the plot and doesn't just sit and cry."
"Oh the blonde engineer girl? You mean your fictional best friend?"
There was a pause before Akasha turned her unamused expression onto her and Ivy struggled not laugh. "Don't joke like that." She said before pressing play, Ivy couldn't hold back the snort.
"Ed!" A voice yelled from the laptop and Akasha instantly groaned as a blonde familiar blonde girl ran across the screen dressed in white and pink.
"Her voice is like nails on a chalkboard, kill me."
"She is literally a two-dimensional girl, chill out." Ivy snickered. She really didn't understand the beef Akasha had with that Winry girl.
Ivy blinked blearily as her eyes adjusted to the darkness of the very early dawn. She didn't know when she fell asleep last night. She could vaguely hear Akasha's distant soft snoring. The hell is Akasha doing all the way over there? Ivy yawned as the confusion kicked in. She rubbed her eyes, uncaring of the crusties that settled in the corner she could just wash off later. She noted the warmth that was pressed against her left shoulder and looked over, fully expecting to see long brown hair only to see blonde.
Then the memories came flooding back.
Hughes' death.
Finally divulging the truth to Winry.
The kissing.
Ivy's face felt hot and she sat up quickly, wincing for a moment and settling when she realized Winry was still clocked right out. She hadn't meant to fall asleep in the same bed. It was just supposed to be until Winry fell asleep! Ivy shouted internally. You weren't supposed to fall asleep too! Ivy moved slowly as she lifted the blanket from her legs and inched away.
She wasn't tired anymore, whatever she had dreamt about was a distant memory in comparison to the heaviness that was yesterday and the night before that. Air, she needed fresh air it was so stuffy in there. Thankfully, the windows opened without much creaking and Ivy sighed again in relief when she felt that cool rush of the morning crisp air on her touch her cheeks.
Central hadn't woken up yet though she saw a few odd people here and there walking among the streets, heard the distant clacking of a horse.
There were buildings as far as her eyes could see, some red, others cream and brown.
This is nothing on Resembool. She thought to herself, noting how some of the gray clouds were darker than others. The air wasn't as fresh and the sight of city building after city building just didn't seem to awaken that same feeling in her chest as the sight of rolling green hills stretched for miles and miles, small houses and sizable farms dotting the land until she and Den finally reached the main town. That had always been magic no matter how often she'd seen it.
Even a Rush Valley dawn had its perks before the sun began to beam down by 10AM. It wasn't complete without Winry's tired complaints as they power walked through main street and got to wave as others began opening their shop doors to let in the cool air. It was like a familiar hug.
What were dawns in Vallant like?
Ivy could barely remember the feeling of munching on a toaster strudel as she walked by bus stop after bus stop to her school's baseball field.
When would she get back to that?
She had to go back to that.
She ignored the heavy feeling in her chest, grip tightening on her own arms.
"I didn't notice before, but up close you look pretty banged up." Winry's comment broke the silence in the room.
Alphonse chuckled though it was humorless.
It had been quiet for the past ten minutes, Winry buffing out Alphonse's back while he buffed his helmet. Ivy glanced at the blonde briefly before looking back at her own reflection in Alphonse's arm as she scrubbed away at a small scratch on his right bicep. The kiss hadn't come up again since it happened the previous afternoon, but Ivy could still see they were slightly puffy and her eyes were still a bit red.
Thankfully no one else mentioned it when everyone congregated to room 502, no one seeming to want to really be alone.
Edward was sprawled on his bed, staring at the closed curtains of his window. Akasha quietly munched away at a slice of apple pie, only a few slices remaining on the coffee table. There were no quips, no light arguments.
It was solemn all around.
Ivy was glad Winry spoke up again before the silence drove her mad. "What are you gonna do now?" Winry looked over her left shoulder pensively, Edward sighing for a moment before he looked at his automail hand.
"What should I do?" He mumbled more to himself than anyone else. "What do you want me to do?" He glanced over only to see blue eyes looking back at him in surprise. "Why are you looking at me like I just grew a third head?" The blond furrowed his brow and scrunched his nose.
"Well, it's just that you never asked me for advice before." Winry retorted with no bite. "I was just kind of surprised you actually said that."
"Oh." Edward laid back down on his pillow. "That's true."
"Um…" Winry blinked a few times, eyes flitting from corner to corner of the room before her gaze rested upon her own gloved hands. "... I was scared." Winry said at last with a shaky breath. "When I thought about how you and Al have been battling in a situation where even someone like Mr. Hughes got killed… It made me really scared. I mean, you could actually die on this mission.
"You might walk away and I'd never see you again. Then Ivy said she wasn't from this world and she had to go back. When I thought about that, I was terrified. It made me wish that you'd stop traveling." Winry's scrubbing became more impassioned. "But when Al said he'd give up on getting his former body back… I knew that I didn't want him to give up. Those are my honest feelings." Winry paused for a few moments with a thoughtful expression on her face. "I want you all to get what you want but I also want this dangerous journey to stop and… I guess I don't know what I really want." Winry finished quietly. "I'm sorry. I'm trying not to be selfish."
There was a light quiet before Alphonse chimed, "Winry, you're so nice."
"Wh-what are you talking about?!" Winry sputtered with a flustered expression. "I'm always nice!" And with that, a wrench came from her pocket and somehow, not the open tool box she had placed on the floor.
"Hey knock it off you're denting me even more!"
That tore a genuine snort out of Ivy's gloom, "I am really gonna miss the Mary Poppins pocket thing, I need to learn that trick."
"Don't encourage her, Big Sis!"
"It's not encouraging per say…" Ivy coughed feeling a sudden pang of mentioning her eventual exit when she knew that it was sensitive territory now. Damn it. What could she really even say about it? She had no one to talk to. She glanced over at Akasha. She hates Winry's guts. And Alphonse and Edward? Ivy didn't really think it would be all that… positive to let them know that she macked their childhood friend. Then broke her heart immediately afterwards. The shovel talk would be skipped entirely. And… Ivy thought back to that time at Central Hospital and Edward's blush at Winry's apologetic nature. I'm pretty sure Ed likes her anyway.
There was surprisingly no twinge of jealousy that followed with that thought. Just a dull and bitter hole. Ivy dabbed at the oil and moved to another scuff on Alphonse's arm.
"Well I have a question to ask." Akasha piped up at last and Ivy looked over in curiosity. The couch didn't face where she was sitting, so she could only see the back of Akasha's head. "I was wondering if you and Al wanted-"
Knock. Knock.
The interruption was almost too perfect.
"Just wait a minute." Edward heaved himself onto his feet before making his way to the door. Ivy barely had enough time to blink before she saw Edward go flying through the hall with a loud skid.
Holy shit.
"What the hell did you do that for, Major?!" Edward screeched.
Alphonse shoved his head back onto his body, rushing to the door with the girls in tow. Sure enough, it was Armstrong in his shredded glory paced to the boy, grabbing him with ease in his large hands. "Oh, dear!" Ivy swore she saw roses and sparkles surround the man as he lifted Edward's right sleeve and revealed his heavily dented arm, it creaked loosely as he fiddled with it. "Your automail is broken! This is a grave situation." The man continued. "We must leave for Resembool at once!"
"Wait- what?" Edward stammered. "Winry's already here so I really don't-"
"Oh nonsense! Miss Pinako has lovely work!"
Ivy blinked as Alphonse at least tried making sense of the Major's new brand of crazy. "Brother, what's this about Resembool?"
Edward didn't get a chance to open his mouth before he was heaved over Armstron's shoulders. "Alphonse Elric, I am afraid you stand out too much. So you must stay put!" He waved with a sparkle of finality. "Let's go at once, Edward Elric. Worry not about luggage, I am sure Miss Pinako has clothes to spare for you!"
"Wait a minute!" Akasha squeezed passed excitably. "Can I come too?! I'd love to meet his mechanic."
"Hey genius," Ivy raised an eyebrow, unamused. "his mechanic is right here." She gestured to Winry who was confused as everyone else at that moment. Ivy had no idea what sort of stunt Akasha was trying to pull but that shade wasn't about to be ignored.
"Sorry, young lady, but this is not that sort of visit!" Armstrong replied. "We are in a rush!"
"But I could help and-"
"Akasha." Ivy interrupted glaring back when green eyes met hers fiercely. "Quit being a brat and just let them go already. The man said he in a rush."
Akasha looked like she was ready to retort when another interruption in the form of Ling appeared over Ivy's shoulder, "are they leaving yet?"
Ivy was relieved that she wasn't the only one that released an ungodly shriek.
"Ling, what the hell?!"
"How did you even get in here?!" Alphonse gestured in shock.
Ling only shrugged nonchalantly as he pointed his thumb behind him, "the window." He stretched as he turned around and walked back inside. "I knew that as a state alchemist that you guys would be in a military hotel, so I just checked all of them."
Talk about thoroughness. Ivy laid a hand on her chest as her heartbeat evened out. "But a window, my guy?"
"Well I am a wanted criminal right now so I can't just go around in public all willy nilly, like you Amestrians would say." He chortled like he had just made a joke about the air they were breathing.
Ivy pursed her lips. "Can you please, please elaborate on that."
"It's nothing major, just evading deportation and escaping prison with a suit of armor with a cleaver. Simple stuff." Ivy was sure she looked like the blinking guy meme as she stared blankly at the invisible camera like she was in The Office. "But enough about me! Alphonse!" The boy grinned. "I heard all about your adventures from Barry the Chopper, you and Edward have certainly gotten yourselves into a big mess. So I decided to help!"
"What do you mean by that?" Alphonse asked warily. "How do you know Barry the Chopper? What were doing that night with him and Ross?"
"He was with Ross?!" Ivy exclaimed with meaning to, brown eyes wide.
"It's a very long story with not enough time to explain." Ling started as jumped over Ed's bed and to the window sill like a cat. "But I'll try to explain as swiftly as I can before our side of the operation begins. Barry is certain that that Ross woman wasn't the one who killed that military man that was in the newspaper and he broke her out. But there's no way to keep her in this country without others coming for her head.
So while I was Barry in his hideout, I talked to this fellow, Mustang." Ling continued. "He wanted to arrange for Miss Ross' safe exit from the country and to Xing and now, there's a raid planned for a laboratory where Barry says the prospective real culprit can be found." He stared Alphonse down, somehow seeing everything despite his closed eyes. "Are you coming?"
Ivy's hand latched onto Akasha's almost immediately. Don't you dare offer. Ivy stared her down. This was all sounding way too deep of a conspiracy for either of them to get involved with. Don't.
She was all too grateful that Akasha kept her mouth shut, looking away as she yanked her hand back gently.
"You going, big guy?" Ivy asked, though her eyes stayed on Akasha's form for a few more moments before she looked up into glowing red.
Alphonse nodded, "if Brother and I are even partially responsible for his death, then I think we need to see through to the end."
Winry's expression was anxious and she fiddled with her skirt. "You have to tell us everything when you come back." It wasn't enough when Alphonse nodded. "You come back, right? Whatever happens, you come back?"
"Yeah." Alphonse's confidence felt reassuring though it didn't do much to assuage much of the worry swarming in Ivy's chest. She knew that that mustn't hold a candle to whatever Winry must have been feeling. "I promise. You guys just wait here."
"Both of you idiots stay safe, you hear?" Ivy nodded to Ling. "I'm expecting you to come back in one piece too."
Ling's body language was confident and Ivy's eyes darted briefly to the sheathed sword on his back. "You don't have to worry about a thing, we'll be back before we can even be missed."
Alphonse bolted for the door, the window too small a fit for him. Ling disappeared shortly after with a 'ah, he's outside'. The room felt cold as the afternoon sky burned a blood orange. Akasha sat on Edward's bed, her brown hair hiding her expression. Ivy held back a huff. She'd rather her best friend be here annoyed at her and alive than out there and getting herself killed in a raid and wherever that rendezvous point with Ling's arrangement for Maria is.
She turned her gaze to Winry who was muttering to herself.
"He promised to come back. He promised to come back."
"Hey." Ivy touched her shoulder gently. "What if we finish that apple pie while we wait and if it gets too late, we can wait outside for him, okay?"
"Yeah.." Winry whispered. "Yeah. We should wait outside for him."
Ivy took that cue of omission in stride. "We should get your jacket then and we can bring the pie with us, the commissary might be closed by the time he gets back." She glanced at Akasha. "Want to wait outside with us?"
"I'm fine in here."
Ivy waited for a moment, then pursed her lips. At least she could see from the hotel staircase if Akasha tried leaving through the window. "Okay." She turned back to Winry hoping her small smile looked reassuring. "Okay."
Author's Note
And ch24 begins with a flashback and a Saturday chapter release. I have missed my AFD fam, one of moms has been having medical problems so it has been harder to write since I have been busy helping her. Thankfully it isn't COVID and she isn't dying, but it was still a lot happening all at once. But things have gotten a handle on it so I should be back in the game again! It's really nice coming back to the positive reviews, even if I made some of y'all look at me side ways with the Hughes death... Pour one out for the good husband we lost along the way.
This chapter for me is a gate way chapter to what important things will be happening very soon on the Ivy and Akasha side of things as they both try to navigate the ways they wish to navigate their journeys, which is polar opposite of one another. Which, let's just say a pretty big moment will be coming up in the next few chapters that will really be a make or break moment. That's all Imma say on it since I'm really looking forward to when that chapter finally drops. Other than that, Akasha tries putting herself into a moment an OC has no business being in in the canon and gets shot down as one might expect considering the secrecy of the mission and the fact it involves military personnel and she somehow thinks she as the OC protagonist of her own journey would be above that. Ah, the beauty of reality slapping you in the face.
Also, if none of y'all sing My Boo without belting it like it is your last concert before you retire from being a musician, are you really even singing My Boo correctly?
PeanutBanana: Oh I hope you will enjoy the ride wahaha... that aside... Hughes' death really do be hitting different TAT
5directionalpilots: :3c sadly can't give any spoilers on where their future is headed, but let's say it's gonna be fun... for me. But at the end of the day, Ivy's gotten off the denial train regarding her and Winry's feelings for each other. She's just now on the angsty train of self-imposed rejection. Teenagers are dramatic as hell so I really wanted to have fun with that last chapter.
CryClea7: Well this is a name I haven't seen in a long time! It's been a minute! Like high fiving an old friend, it's nice seeing a comment from you again! I'm really happy you are still enjoying this story and are feeling the same levels of conflict as our protagonist. With some OCxEd stories of fanfiction's past, characters usually either were immediately on the stay in Amestris train and forget about their journey's going home once they've truly fallen for Edward the Person and not Edward the Character. And even then, I always felt like the internal struggles with Stay in FMA vs Go Home was never that deeply rooted in the story. So I really wanted to focus on that in this story. She's made her choice and is deciding to lay in it while Akasha does fuck all. Speaking of which, I appreciate your liking her as a character and not a person XD. I wanted her to be that gal you love to hate or hate to hate and maybe, surprisingly love to love. And while I can't go into the details, let's just say I have A LOT planned for Akasha and where she will be heading in this adventure while Ivy focuses on her own internal dilemmas. Thanks again for commenting, I always love reading and responding to them, especially from regulars!
Sterling Bracken: Sorry, I had to do it to 'em.
Vedahzii: *passes a virtual tissue* We deserve a Hughes centric OVA.
Guest: Yoooo a new face and a binge reader to boot, welcome AFD Hell! I seriously feel you, I don't think I have ever read a fic where a lesbian relationship was the center of it and I was like 'we need to fix this'. I'm really glad you're having fun reading this so far! I always wanted to do a project with two OCs where one is into FMA and the other knows nothing about it co-exist at the same time and I'm happy to hear I'm doing that well so far! Akasha is really trying to shoot her shot and I feel for her. Meanwhile, Ivy is self-imposed rejecting and the 'Am I a joke to you?' meme. And finally... someone who wants Ivy to accomplish her goals of getting absolutely shredded like the Major. You gets it!