Avoiding the military was no easy feat, and it made what should have been a straight drive to Central into a long and winding trail... so instead of a day or two, the trip took a little over two weeks.

And of course, just as they were nearing the abandoned house, the car ran out of gas. They decided to leave the car and trek the rest of the way on foot.

"So what's up with this place?" Darius asked, as they climbed up a hill and saw an abandoned house in terrible shape in the distance.

"We used this place as a hideout before…" Manami answered him.

"And you're sure your brother is here?" Heinkel looked to Ed.

"Absolutely!" Ed nodded, confident. "This is the only place he would be."

Manami made a weird face, but luckily he didn't see her. They approached the house and stepped inside.

It was dark… and quiet.

"..." Darius smacked Ed over the head. "There's no one here!"

"We busted our tails for hundreds of miles for an empty house?" Heinkel groaned. "I knew we should've listened to the girl."

Manami couldn't hide her grin of flattery, but it didn't last long, for Heinkel suddenly knelt down and drew his gun.

"?!" Before Manami could ask, he put his finger in front of his lips and pointed it to the doorway. Everyone was quick to catch on and follow suit, Darius swiftly extinguishing his lantern while Ed and Manami crouched at opposite sides of the doorway.

They heard footsteps approaching them. Manami dared to peek at who was coming, and saw a familiar ponytail.

"!" She caught a glimpse of his face in the moonlight just as he started to collapse, and she instinctively lunged forward to catch him before he fell face-first onto the floor.

"?!" Everyone gasped at her sudden movement, but Ed was the first to understand who just fell into Manami's arms.

"Ling..?" He whispered, but then looked up to Manami. "Or Greed?"

Suddenly, the sound of a growling stomach filled the room.

"Hungry… need food..."

"It's Ling…" Manami breathed a sigh of relief. She didn't want to be this close to… Greed.

"Hohoho!" Ling set down an empty can down next to a pile of other empty cans.

"Thanks a lot! I thought I was a goner!"

"It's amazing you're not a giant fat-ass…" Ed sighed.

"He ate all of our rations…" Darius grumbled, holding the empty paper bag.

"I'll get us more…" Manami assured him with a nervous chuckle.

"Are you going to introduce me to your new friends, Edward?" Ling inquired.

"We're not friends, this is gorilla—"

"I'm Darius." Darius said over Ed.

"And my name is Heinkel." The other man said.

"And who is this?" Ling looked to Manami and went to hold her hands in both of his. "The fair maiden who caught me—"

"Hands off, Ling." Manami quickly pulled her hands back and went to take off her glasses. "It's me, Manami."

"C-C-Cutie Kami?!" Ling's mouth fell open.

"How many times do I have to tell you to not call me that?!" She barked.

"B-But… your hair..!"

"I know, it's red. It's a disguise." Manami sighed as she put her glasses back on.

"We're fugitives now." Ed clarified.

"Then why aren't you in a disguise?" Ling blinked.

"Because he's as stubborn as a mule." Manami muttered, and Ed shot a glare at her.

"Who are you, anyway?" Heinkel's eyes narrowed at Ling.

"I'm a Homunculus!" Ling grinned.

"D-Don't say that so casually..!" Ed and Manami stammered.

"Seriously..?" Darius asked in disbelief.

"I-It's more complicated than that!" Manami assured him.

"Enough about that, what are you doing here in Central?" Ed turned back to Ling.

"Well…" Ling's smile faded. "To put it simply, Greed had a falling out with the other Homunculi." He explained.

"I took advantage of Greed's confusion and managed to take control over my body back."

"So it's possible…" Manami thought aloud.

"Yeah, it's not easy though." Ling replied. "I needed someplace to hide… so I came here."

He flinched, and put a hand on his forehead.

"What's wrong?" Ed asked.

"It's Greed…" Ling groaned. "He's starting… to fight back!"

"Hey!" Ed pounded against the top of his head with his automail fist.

"No, no, no, no! Fight back! Don't let him overpower you!"

"Hitting him isn't going to help him!" Manami yelled to Ed, but Ling reached up and caught Ed's hand.

"You two, listen..!" Ling said through gritted teeth. "That 'Father' guy who lives below Central… he's going to open the portal on what they call the 'Promised Day!'"

"What..?" Manami whispered, her eyes wide.

"I'm not very knowledgeable in alchemy, but…" Ling looked up to Ed.

"I think you and your brother should jump in when he does… it's the best chance you have to get your bodies back!"

Ed stared at him, his eyes also wide.

"That may be true… but when you open the gate, there's a toll that must be made to even open the portal…" He said quietly.

"When is this 'Promised Day?' Specifically?" Manami quickly asked.

"It's—" Ling flinched and grabbed his face again.

"Ling?!" Ed cried.

"He's coming back…" Ling growled. "Edward… my message to Lan Fan… you gave it to her..?"

"Y-Yeah…" Ed nodded. "Al gave it to her! And she's alright..!"

"We don't know where she is, but… she's safe." Manami added.

"Thank you guys…" Ling said in a strained voice. "Sorry to cut it short… but that's it for me."

"?!" Ed and Manami watched as Ling suddenly fell limp and hung his head low.

After a long pause, he spoke in a different voice.

"Pain in the ass prince… never keeps his mouth shut."

"..." Manami swallowed thickly. "G-Greed..?"

"That's me."

Manami heard a click from behind her and looked to see Heinkel pointing his gun at Ling.

"No!" She cried.

"Don't bother. You need way more than a gun to kill me." Greed muttered as he went to stand up and stuff his hands in his pockets.

"See you later. Thanks for the grub." He started to walk out.

"Hey!" Ed stood up as well. "You're not gonna try to capture us? Or fight us?"

"Did you not hear anything the prince said?" Greed looked over his shoulder back at them. "I'm working solo now. After all these memories came flooding back—"

"Memories?" Manami blinked.

"Of my previous lives, yeah." Greed said to her. "I flipped out and attacked Bradley. I'm not about to crawl back and find out what they'd do to me."

He lifted his hands out of his pockets to shrug. "I never worked well with others, so this is best."

"Then why don't you team up with us?" Ed suddenly asked, and everyone's eyes widened.

"..." Greed turned to fully face them. "Me? Team up with you?"

"You got nowhere else to go," Ed seemed to be serious. "So why not?"

"Up yours, kid!" Greed laughed. "But thanks for the laugh! This world is about to be mine!"

He pointed to them. "Now if you wanted to follow me, that's another story."

"..." Nobody said anything.

"Alright then. Toodles." Greed turned once more and walked out the doorway.

"... what the hell was all that about?" Heinkel asked Ed after Greed's footsteps had faded.

"... you wanted to keep tabs on Ling, didn't you?" Manami asked quietly. "To make sure he doesn't get hurt."

Ed let out a sigh.

"Yeah." He admitted, looking down to the floor. "That, and… well, if Greed isn't on the Homunculi's side… he could be on ours."

"Yeah, he seemed thrilled about the idea of joining us… clearly." Darius gestured to the doorway.

"..." Manami put a hand on her chin. "Well… what if we made it seem like we joined up with him?"

Everyone looked over to her, and she smiled sheepishly.

"I mean... I'd say it's my turn for an idea, isn't it?"

"She's got a point…" Heinkel looked to Darius.

"But it did start out as his idea." Darius pointed his thumb at Ed.

"Come on!" Ed whined. "You treat me like a bad luck charm!"

"..." Heinkel and Darius avoided his gaze.

"I think it was smart of you to try to get him on our side, Ed." Manami offered with a small smile. "You just have to appeal to him more, I think."

Ed gave her a nod.

"Don't we have a say in this?" Heinkel asked.

"Um…" Manami and Ed both looked to each other, hoping the other would answer.

"..." The grown men sighed.

"Just get us food, like you said you would." Darius said to Manami.

"And return my spare glasses when you're done." Heinkel added.

"Deal." Manami smiled at them.

And with that, they turned to run out the door.

"Ling!" Ed and Manami called.

"I told you, it's Gree—"

"You win!" Ed cut him off. "We'll join you."

Greed gawked at them for a solid second before he shook his head.

"That's too easy. What are you playing at?"

"Nothing." Manami stepped forward. "We've been followers ever since we joined the military. We ditched our dignity forever ago, and… the truth is, we need your help, Greed… and if we have to follow you to get it, that's what we'll do!"

"Hmm…" Greed approached her until his face was only inches from hers. Manami flinched when he got so close to stare into her eyes, like he was looking for a trace of a bluff.

"How far… are you willing to go for my help?"

"..." Manami frowned, her eyebrows furrowing as she stared back at him. She could tell that he was trying to intimidate her, and she stood her ground.

"... I like your spunk." He finally said, moving to back away. "And how can I say no… to a lady in distress?"

Manami internally sighed in relief.

"Alright! So it's done then!" Greed roared with glee. "First thing's first… I need a hideout!"

"I got just the place…" Manami took a deep breath. "But it's a bit of a trip."

"Yeah, girlie? How far?"

Manami glanced to Ed, Darius, and Heinkel out of the corners of her eyes before taking a deep breath.

"Resembool."

Two and a half months passed.

The group had no choice but to travel on foot, and it was even harder to evade the military without a car. There were even a few times where they had to make detours due to military barricades blocking their way.

When they made their nightly camps, the humans would take turns with watch shifts. Greed didn't need to sleep, so he would often look out the opposite way the human did as the other three slept. Though he came to trust the humans after a few weeks, because every now and then he allowed himself to doze off... just because he was bored.

Manami was dreading the visit to Resembool more and more as they got closer. She started having the underwater dream again, and the dreams were happening more and more often as they closer they got to their location. She insisted to take watch shifts more and more in order to avoid the dreams… and, the night before they expected to be in Resembool, she didn't wake Heinkel up to trade shifts period.

"..." Ed woke up in the middle of the night and looked over to see Manami sitting a few feet away from him, her back facing him. She was still keeping a look out, when he was pretty sure it was well past Heinkel's turn to take over for her.

She was up all night… and he knew why.

He glanced over to see Greed sitting a distance away, looking out in the opposite direction. Ed sighed softly and went to get up, approaching Manami and going to sit next to her.

They sat in silence for a moment, until Ed finally spoke up.

"You were supposed to sleep, y'know." He said quietly, looking over to see Manami pulling up her knees to hug to her chest.

In the faint light of the campfire, he could see that she had bags under her eyes.

"... can't sleep." Manami said quietly.

"I figured." Ed rubbed the back of his neck. "... you must really want to see Al, if you're willing to go home for it."

"Let's just say that the idea of going back was a lot easier said than actually done…" Manami mumbled.

The two of them were quiet for another moment.

"It's true… that I have a grave there, don't I?" She asked.

"..." Ed sighed through his nose and nodded. "Yeah."

"... I'm going to have to face that." Manami said quietly. "I'm going to have to face all of my family's graves. I'm going to have to face the house I burned down."

Ed saw Manami's hands, still wrapped around her knees, ball her pant legs into her fists.

"As I get closer to the things that I ran away from... I'm getting more and more terrified."

"..." Ed looked down to his lap. "Ran away, huh..?"

He thought back to what Hohenheim said to him, the last time he was in Resembool.

"You just ran away, like a child hiding the sheets after they've wet them."

"... do you think... Al and I ran away, too?" Ed suddenly asked, and Manami looked over to him in surprise. He didn't look up from his lap.

"Of course not..." Manami shook her head. "You guys left to find a way to get your bodies back."

"Right... and we burned down our home as a reminder of that, so that we couldn't turn back." Ed replied, finally looking up and meeting her eyes.

Something in his eyes told her that… he was unsure.

"Well... if you're asking my opinion about it..." Manami shrugged her shoulders, turning her head and breaking their eye contact to look up to the starry sky. "I think you didn't need to burn down your house for that."

"Huh?" Ed's eyes widened a little.

"I mean... you're stubborn enough to where I don't think you would have turned back, regardless if you burned the house down or not." Manami replied.

"... it just made sense at the time." Ed looked to his lap once again.

"I get that." Manami shrugged. "Look at me; I left everything and everyone behind because that's what made sense to me at the time..."

Her eyes lowered as she let out a bitter chuckle.

"I just… was wrong."

"..." Ed thought about her words for a moment.

"Well… maybe we were both wrong." He said, once again catching Manami by surprise and earning her glance.

Hearing him admit something like that… was unexpected.

"But… we can't do anything about it. We just gotta keep moving forward." Ed looked back to her.

"..." Manami stared for a moment, but then scoffed and turned her head.

"Sympathetic isn't a good look for you, you know that?"

"Well excuse me for trying to be nice!" Ed huffed, making Manami chuckle softly.

"It's Winry and Al's job to be nice. I need you to keep being tough on me." She looked up to the sky again. "Ever since we were kids… it was that toughness that would keep driving me to be better. Even after I left."

"Yeah?" Ed clicked his tongue and bumped his shoulder against hers. "All those races and wrestling matches finally toughened you up?"

"I ditched the skirts and dresses so that I could beat you in those races and wrestling matches." Manami said. "And I managed to do so a handful of times, too."

"Ahh, I don't remember..." Ed stuck a pinky in his ear and wriggled it.

"That's a load of crap, and you know it!" Manami hissed, making Ed laugh.

"Yeah... I guess." He mumbled. "But… I also know that we're gonna be okay, too."

"Yeah?" Manami looked over to see him looking up at the sky.

"Yup." He nodded. "I can't explain it… but I just know."

"Well…" Manami followed his gaze to also look up at the sky. "I guess I just have to trust you then, huh?"

"It'd be helpful."

They stared at the sky in silence for another brief moment.

"... thanks, Ed."

"... no problem."