It was decided that the next step in the journey was to go back to Rush Valley. Ed hadn't broken his arm too bad, but the plate that covered the whole top of his forearm had come off, leaving the wiring and other vulnerable parts exposed. Izumi and Sig had walked them to the train station to see them off as they took off on the first train to Rush Valley.
"It's weird being back here again so soon..." Manami commented as they walked under the giant sign reading "RUSH VALLEY."
"After this, let's avoid the south for a while..." Ed groaned. "It's way too hot."
"Agreed."
They walked through the main street, looking for a person named Garfiel. That was the person Winry was sent to find and help work.
"There it is!" Manami pointed. They saw a sign that read "GARFIEL" and had roses all around it. Looked more like a perfume store than an automail shop.
They would have questioned it if they didn't see Winry out front.
"Good luck..." Manami gestured for Ed to walk first.
"Thanks for the support..." Ed rolled his eyes and started walking, Al and Manami behind him.
"Hey, Winry!" He called, and she looked back to see them and smiled happily.
"You're back!" She greeted them.
"Good to see you!" Manami said back to her.
"Looks like you're working hard and prospering in your business..!" Ed said, smiling weakly.
"You should have called! What brings you here all of a sudden?" Winry asked, then looked down to see Ed presenting his arm.
She had grabbed a wrench practically out of thin air to hit him over the head with.
"GAAAH!"
Winry brought them all inside to start examining and writing what she needed to fix Ed's arm on a clipboard. She asked about what they did in Dublith, and the three made sure to leave the parts out about Al getting kidnapped by Greed...
"Enough about us," Ed went to change the subject at a good stopping point. "How is your training going?"
"Great!" Winry yanked out a paper that had a design on it. "I designed automail that could fit a machine gun inside it!" She said with glee.
"..." Manami chuckled nervously. She envisioned Ed with a machine gun in his automail arm, and it terrified her.
"You sure you don't want it?" Winry asked Ed, and his face twisted in disgust.
"No thanks..."
Manami sighed in relief.
"Well, what are you planning to do after this, anyway?" Winry asked him, finishing up wrapping some bandages around the exposed part of Ed's arm.
Manami looked over, also curious.
"I'm thinking we're going to Central," Ed answered. "There's something I wanted to look into."
"I wanna come!" Winry chimed in. "I want to visit the Hughes family!"
Manami smiled softly. She felt herself start to get a little excited to see them, too.
"Are you sure you can leave?" Al asked. "Don't you have an apprenticeship now?"
"It's okay Winry!~" The man known as Garfiel stepped beside her, nudging his shoulder against hers. "You've been working nonstop since you got here honey! Take some time for yourself!"
"Ah, really?!" Winry beamed. "Thanks, Mr. Garfiel!"
"Looks like it'll be the four of us again." Manami gave her a thumbs up. "Being the only girl was getting to be a little exhausting." She joked.
That made Winry laugh. "I could only imagine..."
"I liked it better with just Al, period." Ed huffed under his breath, earning a glare from Manami.
"Alright, I have to get some parts before I can work on your arm." Winry said." Feel free to walk around town, I'm gonna be a bit."
"Okay."
The trio walked down the main street of Rush Valley and, per Manami's request, stopped to get a drink. Ed got one for himself, too.
"Not much to do..." Ed grumbled as he sipped on his drink, eyeing the establishments as they walked by them. "They're just automail stores."
"I'd rather be bored than fighting." Manami glanced to Al. "Al seems pretty content with everyone staring."
Al chuckled. "It's because everyone thinks this armor is automail. I can walk around without worrying about being figured out."
"Excuse me, you look like you could use a repai—"
"No thank you!" Ed barked at a stranger.
This was at least the tenth person he had to reject in the barely twenty minutes they spent walking around.
"They look at Al with admiration, while they harass me—" Ed went to look at Al, noticing that he wasn't right behind him.
Manami noticed and followed his glance. "Hey, where did he—"
They saw Al kneeling at an alleyway, and they blinked in confusion.
"Al, what are you doing over there?" Ed asked, his face curling to a frown. "You better not be picking up a stray cat."
"Oh, where's the harm in saving a poor little kitt— OH MY GOD!" Manami screamed, both she and Ed jumping back to see Al holding not just a cat... but a person.
"Thank you so much! You saved my life!"
Manami and the Elric brothers had taken the unconscious stranger to a restaurant so that they could get him a meal and something to drink, but that "meal" turned into a pile of dishes that obstructed his face.
"I couldn't be more grateful! I'll truly remember the hospitality you provided to this foreigner..." The stranger looked around the pile of dishes to see them and he smiled brightly.
Manami couldn't stop looking at him, studying his face. He looked so familiar...
"Foreigner?" Al asked, and the stranger nodded.
"Yup! I'm from Xing!"
Manami slowly nodded, understanding now. She probably just thought he looked familiar because he was from Xing. She left it at that.
"Did you cross the desert, or did you take the south route through Aerugo?" She asked.
"I crossed through the desert, I wanted to see the Xerxes ruins." He answered.
"So you're a tourist?" Ed asked, and the man shook his head.
"I came here to research this country's Alkahestry... I'm sorry, you call it 'Alchemy' here, right?"
"Alkahestry?" Ed blinked.
"It's a medical type of alchemy that they practice in Xing." Manami clarified.
"My! You know your stuff!" The stranger happily clapped his hands together.
"I've been there recently is all." Manami shrugged.
"I see... so, your 'alchemy' is used for the military, right?" The stranger asked Ed.
"We kind of have to," Ed sighed. "We're at peace with Xing, but the other three countries around us: Aerugo to the south, Creta to the west, and Drachma to the north— they aren't particularly fond of us. Especially Drachma. In fact, they would probably take over if Mount Briggs base wasn't so strong." He explained.
"Sounds scary." The Xingese man said. "So, you three are alchemists?" He asked, and they nodded.
"Yeah. I'm Edward Elric, this is my brother Alphonse." Ed gestured to the suit of armor.
"Nice to meet you!"
"I'm Manami Kami." Manami introduced herself.
"Nice to meet you Ed, Al, and Manami... I'm Ling Yao!" He went right to the point. "Listen, I'm looking for something, I was wondering if maybe you can help?" His smile faded. "The Philosopher's Stone?"
"Huh?" The three of them widened their eyes. How did he know about that?!
"It seems that you do. Could you tell me more?"
"Actually, we realized we have to go." Ed went to stand up, Al joining him. "So we'll be taking our lea—"
Ed stopped immediately, noticing a blade at his neck. Al noticed a blade carefully poking through the underside of his armor, threatening to stab.
Manami had glanced behind her to see two masked people aiming their weapons at Ed and Al, and then glared back at Ling.
"Why not stay a minute and tell me what you know?" He grinned devilishly at her.
"Even if we did know, what would you do with that information?" Manami remained sitting, but dared not to move for Ed and Al's sake.
"Kind of you to ask, my lady..." His squinty eyes opened. "I want to become immortal."
"..." Ed clicked his tongue. "Funny, we just ran into someone who wanted that too. Is it the new fad?"
"I seek it for family reasons, nothing more."
"I don't believe you." Ed snapped.
"It's true." Ling shrugged. "You can choose to believe me or not."
"Regardless, I don't think this is the way you ask someone a favor!" Ed quickly went to throw his fist at the face of the person holding the knife to his neck. Al went to grab to blade and pull it out of his armor, both ensuing a fight between them and their attackers.
Manami watched them for a moment before quickly looking back to Ling. She had a feeling if she went up to help them, this guy would stop her.
As much as she didn't want to... she knew that it would be best to stay here.
"Why don't you stay with me and chat some more?" The stranger reached for her hand and leaned forward to kiss it. "My bodyguards and your bodyguards will work out the kinks..."
"They're not my bodyguards." Manami ripped her hand out of his grip, frowning in disgust. "And I don't think I owe you much of a conversation, Mister Yao."
"You mentioned that you've been to Xing... and I feel like I recognize you. I'm starting to wonder if we've met before."
"Probably not."
"Maybe it's that we've known each other in our past lives," Ling sighed dreamily. "And we were meant to reunite again, as star-crossed lovers."
"Definitely not." Manami's frown grew deeper.
"Come on..." Ling whined. "Where do I know you from..? Manami Kami... Kami..." He put his hand on his chin and looked up in thought.
Manami thought it was strange that he seemed to recognize her like she recognized him, but she couldn't place it either.
"... ah!" Ling's eyes opened. "Kami! You were the Amestrian Ambassador's escort last year!" He grinned.
Manami was speechless for a moment. "H-How did you..?"
"I remembered your strange last name! It's neither Amestrian nor Xingese!" Ling added, but noticed the waiter. "A dessert for the lady and myself, please!"
"Cancel that order." Manami immediately said to the waiter, then glared at Ling. She was going to be stuck with this bill, since Ed and Al were gone.
"Oh come on, you don't even recognize me, do you?" He pointed to himself. "Ling Yao! Of the Yao clan!"
Manami lifted a brow.
"We obviously met in the Emperor's Castle. So..."
"..." Manami's eyes widened a little as she came to the realization. "Oh..! You're one of the princes!"
"Bingo! The twelfth one to be exact." Ling laughed.
"It wasn't like we really met..." Manami recalled the introduction of the Emperor's children. She wasn't allowed to speak to them, but only look at them. "We just... kind of looked at each other."
"And I never forgot your face..."
"Yes, you did." Manami said bluntly. "You forgot until literally just now..."
"I extend my previous offer again..." He reached to take her hand again. "Marry me and you can help me find immortality, then we can lead Xing together!"
"Would you quit?!" Manami smacked his hand before he could grab it this time.
"Aww..." Ling whined. "You have your own knight in shining armor, I take it?"
"N-No..!" Manami's cheeks turned red, mostly at the way he worded that phrase.
"I see. Oh well..." Ling let it go.
"What the hell is a prince doing here looking for something like immortality?!" Manami barked, quickly changing the subject. "Shouldn't you be in your elegant palace eating exotic fruit or something?!"
"Well, as you already know, our clans compete for the throne. What better way to win the competition with the ultimate find?" Ling said, rather serious.
"Or you could find something that is actually realistic." She shook her head. "I'm telling the truth when I say we haven't seen a Philosopher's Stone."
"I'll find a way." Ling said, his tone as cold as ice. "... I have no other options."
Manami noticed his hands clench on the table, and her expression softened. She sort of felt for him, but... he was just going about it the wrong way.
Before she could say anything, she jumped as she heard an explosion in the distance. She shot up to stand, seeing the cloud of smoke rising in the distance.
"Oh no..."
"Well, we'll see which of our bodyguards won the fight." Ling also stood up. "Until next time, Cutie Kami!~"
"What... what did you just call me?! HEY!" Manami yelled after him as he ran off, to look back and see the waiter present the bill.
She shrieked once she saw the number.