A/N: I would like to thank everyone that reviewed the last chapter and added this story to their favourites and follows.
Today was the day everything was going to change.
Emma didn't know why but something was telling her that today was the day where things in her family was going to change. She wasn't saying this because of her two brothers growing frustrated at their lack of progress or did she say this because today was truly the last day she and her brothers were in school. No, something was going to change but the nine-year-old girl didn't know what was going to change. She just knew that today was the day where their family's whole life would change.
It probably didn't help that it was raining like hell and the last time their small town had so much rain was on the morning of Trisha's death. Perhaps if she was like Neji then Emma would think that something bad was going to happen but the blonde knew this wasn't the case.
She just knew that just like on the night their mother died, that today was the day things were going to change.
"Emmy, why did you stop walking? We need to hurry up! It isn't like you to stop walking in the rain!" Alphonse said, shaking her arm to snap her out of her thoughts. The blue-eyed girl stared into her brother's warm eyes then looked at Edward, who was staring at her with so much concern that Emma just wanted to smile. Her twin brother was still a brat but she couldn't deny he cared for her, even if he still didn't listen to her warnings.
"I just had a strange feeling that today is the day everything is going to change," Emma admitted to her brothers as they walked near the river bank. She stopped in her tracks when she noticed the men of this town rushing towards the river with sand bags in their arm. Was the rain really that bad? The girl asked herself as she and her brothers wandered off the path leading to their home and into the path leading to the river.
"Is there anything we can do?" Alphonse asked as the three of them ran down the stairs leading to the river. "Big sister? Big brother?"
"It will be hard for us to do alchemy," Emma immediately answered as Edward furrowed his eyebrows, no doubt thinking of a way to fix the town's problem. "Drawing a transmutation circle will take time and the chalk we have will go away the moment the rain hits it. The only way we can fix this problem is if we can do alchemy without drawing anything or if we use blood."
"Blood!" Edward yelled, looking at her like she was crazy for even thinking about using her blood to make a transmutation circle.
Hypocrite.
If she was crazy for thinking of using blood to fix this town's problems then what should she call her two brother's plans for bringing back their mother? Not even Sasuke would do what they would do and her former teammate was insane. Not only that but Emma distinctly remember that in her past life that she had used her own blood to draw seals when she, herself, had no paper or ink to do them. The result was more permanent and it could be potentially dangerous if the seal wasn't drawn properly.
There had been quite a few times when Naruto had caused an explosion in her apartment.
"Are you crazy?"
"Well, genius tell me a better idea! Because I don't know how to do alchemy without drawing a transmutation circle," Emma retorted, folding her arms against her chest. Edward opened his mouth but then closed his mouth and shook his head, earning a triumph look from the blond-haired girl.
Even her dear brother didn't know how to fix this problem, which was saying something because out of the three of them, Edward was the one with the most talent. He was the one Emma could see becoming one of those alchemist that found a solution to an impossible problem though she wished he turned his talents on something else. She wished he wasn't so obsessed with bringing their mother back to life.
She wished Edward could be happy again, could see that their life wasn't all that bad but then again she was asking for the impossible.
"What are you kids doing here? Get the hell out of here! It's a dangerous for you to be here!" One of the men yelled when he noticed the three of them standing there with their eyes fixed on the overflowing water. Emma twisted her head, opened her mouth to snap at the man and tell him that this wasn't all that dangerous, only to stop when an older woman walked towards the overflowing river.
This woman was different.
That was the first thing that came to Emma's mind as she watched the woman ordered the men to leave the place. Unlike most of the woman in this small boring town, this woman radiated a presence that demanded respect. The way she strolled in here like she owned the place told Emma, this woman didn't give a damn about the social norms. In a way, this woman reminded her of the person the blonde wanted to be again.
'Why the hell should I give a damn about what people think of me, Sakura? I ain't changing my behaviour for anyone just because they are important! Besides one day, I'm going to take that hat!"
Those were the words she once said to her former teammate when she saw how disrespectful she had been to the two Hokage. In the back of her mind, Emma could see her other self smiling widely as she said this to her scowling teammate. She could see Sakura looking at her like she was an idiot for even thinking of becoming Hokage, could see Sasuke rolling his eyes and Kakashi-sensei looking almost amused with her declaration.
It wasn't until she was much older that Emma learnt that her mother had once declared to her whole class that she was going to become Hokage.
"Did you see what she just did, Big sister?"
"See what?" Emma asked, raising her eyebrows at Alphonse.
Her younger brother frowned and pointed towards the wall that appeared out of nowhere. Emma blinked her eyes, furrowed her eyebrows at Alphonse, who took that as the prompt to rave about the raven-haired woman in front of her. Apparently this badass woman used only her hands to make that huge wall to appear. Alphonse said more then this but this was the long story cut short for her.
"How is it possible to do alchemy without drawing a transmutation circle?" Edward asked, scratching his head. "None of the books we read talked about it."
No, they didn't talked about it but perhaps this woman was able to find a way around the problem that they had. As much as Emma loved learning about alchemy, she would not deny the fact that it was time consuming to draw a circle. If she was ever to fight, it would be impossible to do it on time. It wasn't like sealing where she could draw a seal on a piece of paper and carry it with her, ready to be used on the right time.
"We've to learn from her!" Edward said, looking so excited that Emma couldn't help but smile at her brother. "We still don't know that much when it comes to alchemy. She will be the perfect teacher for us."
For you guys, not for me, Emma thought to herself, staring at her two smiling brothers. She loved learning alchemy but the way she wanted to use alchemy was different from the way the woman used it. She wanted to learn how to combine alchemy with sealing, not learn how to use it on the ground. She didn't want to make alchemy her life and learning alchemy required dedication that Emma wasn't ready to give.
A part of her was still dedicated in making this country better and to see what other cultures could offer this world.
"Emmy, what do you say?"
"Say about what?"
"Learning alchemy from that hag?"
Emma stared at her brother's golden eyes and then to the older woman before shaking her head at him. "You and Al should go for it, she can give you guys the experience that you need…but I won't be going with you guys. I'm not meant to become an alchemist like you guys."
"What do you mean, Emma!" Alphonse said, frowning at her. "I thought you love learning alchemy!"
"I like alchemy Al but I don't love it in the same way you and Ed do…" Emma trailed off when she saw that the woman was now coughing out blood. For a brief moment, the memory of Neji last moments flooded into her mind. He had looked so pale as he coughed out blood, a result from having his lungs punctured. She clenched her hands into a fist as she remembered how the older boy had said that this was his choice.
It wasn't fair that Neji had to die so young.
"Emma, if we go then what are you going to do? We can't leave you behind!" Edward said, looking at her with so much hurt. "You're our sister! We can't go if it means that you are going to be here by yourself. I know Granny can take care of you but it isn't the same thing."
"Ed, I will be fine if you leave me alone…I'm not a baby," Emma said, ruffling her brother's hair, which earned a scowl from her twin. "I'll be fine."
Edward opened his mouth to argue with her but the blond-haired girl just rolled her eyes and stared at the fallen woman, who was being carried by her husband. Out of the three of them, she was the only one who could safely say they didn't need anyone to take care of them. Unlike her loving brothers, she had the memories of what being truly alone felt like. She might have a body of a nine-year-old and even the emotional capacity of one but she was an adult.
"We can't leave you behind Emmy," Alphonse said, curling his lips into a pout. "If we leave then what is going to happen to you? We have never been separated before."
"I have Winry and Granny, Al. I'm going to be fine."
That wasn't true. She wasn't going to be all that fine, not when she didn't know what was going to happen to them. Who was going to make sure they eat properly? Who was going to break up their arguments when they were just being plain stupid? Were they going to be happy? She had so many questions but no one could answer her question. All she could do was just sit there and watch the events that unfolded.
"Emmy, if you changed your mind then you know where to find us."
She was never going to change her mind but it was kind of her brothers to even think she was going to come back to them.
Izumi stared at the people surrounding her, noticing how almost every one of them had a grateful expression on their face. What happened before she fainted? She remembered using alchemy to make a huge wall to block the incoming flood, telling the people about who she was and then that was it. Oh, she also remembered the damn blood. She flickered her eyes to her husband, who remained impassive to the whole thing.
"Where are you guys from?" One of the people asked, flickering his eyes to her.
"We're from Dublith," Izumi answered, forcing herself to sit up right. "We just came here for holiday. It was just your luck that we happened to pass by and helped you."
"Even if it was luck, we're in your debt."
Izumi thinned her lips and ignored the men, who were praising her alchemy. Scanning the room, she ignored the bland smiling faces and stared at the one face which caught her attention. Those whisker marks on that girl's face was really something. It reminded her of those artic foxes she used to hunt to survive. Except unlike those foxes, she had a feeling this little girl wasn't going to be that easy to deal with. In fact, if the older woman was honest with herself, there was something about the girl which just caught your attention.
It wasn't her whisker marks that made you pay attention to her. No, it was her mere presence in the room and her eyes which made you want to stare at her. The girl must be no older then nine but she carried her with so much confidence that not even a grown woman carried. Those turquoise eyes didn't just shine with intelligence, it also shone with a wisdom a girl her age shouldn't hold.
Izumi couldn't help but wonder what type of life that girl had.
"Granny, please accept us as your disciples!"
Izumi blinked her eyes and automatically, she threw her bed over her shoulder and towards the two boys, who had rushed towards her. Even if they were kids, they shouldn't try to make her older then her actual age. God damn it, she didn't even have grey hair.
"Who are you calling Granny!" Izumi snarled, clenching her hands into a fist and glaring down at the two children.
"My brothers are idiots when it comes to woman," She blinked her eyes and turned her head to look at the source of the squeaky voice, only to find it was the same girl that she was staring at. "I always tell my two brothers not to call a lady old but, they don't listen to me."
"We forget, Big sister!" One of the boys protest, giving his older sister a pout but the girl must be used to her brother's pout because she just rolled her eyes. "I'm honest, Big sister!"
"Apologize to the nice lady then and then I believe you," the sister said, folding her arms against her chest. "And be sincere too! If you are not, I won't talk to you guys ever again and you know that I can do that damn well!"
Izumi felt her lips twitch when the two boys robotically turned their body back to her, bowed their heads and said their apologizes, going even further to call her big sister. Those two boys must really love their sister because she had never seen two boys behave this well. Most boys avoided interacting with their sisters but those two were different.
"Big sis, please accept us as your disciples!" The other boy demanded, sweating a little bit as he gazed at her with determined eyes.
"What is this about your sudden interest…" An old lady demanded, pushing forward to look at the two boys.
"They have always been interested in Alchemy, Granny!" The girl answered before her brother could answer. "Al, Ed and me have been learning alchemy in secret. Unlike me though, Ed and Al wants to learn more."
"And what about you Emma? You're ok with your two brothers going like this!" The old lady demanded, staring at the little girl who stared back at her.
"Yes, I am."
The little girl said it so seriously that Izumi had to do a double takeback. How could she be ok with her brothers going with a stranger? No, maybe this girl wanted to go with her brothers because there was no way this girl would leave her brothers behind. Besides, it wasn't up to the girl. Their parents would be opposed of them doing this. God knew, she would be if she had a child of her own.
"I haven't even agreed to take the boys in," Izumi said, drawing the people's attention to her. "I don't take disciples and I'm returning to Dublith."
The two boys rushed towards her and tugged her by the sleeves, staring at her with such pleading eyes that Izumi was tempted to roll her eyes at the two boys. Why did this happen to her? She asked herself as these two boys pleaded for her to take them away. Didn't they want to stay with their sister? Izumi looked at the sister, who was smiling and laughing at her brothers' antics.
At least someone found amusement in what those two were doing at her.
"Please! Please! Accept us as your disciples!' The boys yelled. "Please…"
"Why do you want to learn alchemy anyway?" Izumi asked, stopping the boys midway from their pleads.
"Be…Because we want to make life better for other people!"
There was more to the story but Izumi didn't really care much about the story. No what she cared about was why these boys so insistent about coming with her? And why wasn't the sister doing the same? Not that she wanted to have one more brat to come and beg her to train her but it was a curiosity. In fact, did their parents even accept this.
She decided to voice the last question out to them.
"Does your parents approve?"
"Our mother is dead," The little girl answered, smiling tightly at her and Izumi wished she didn't ask the question, not when she felt the whole mood becoming sombre. "And our father basically left us to fend us…so we're orphans. Even if our mother was alive, she would have approved because it would make my two brothers happy."
"And what about you? You don't want to learn alchemy? You said you learnt alchemy with your brothers!" Izumi said, crossing her arms against her chest.
The blond-haired girl shook her head, stared blankly out at the window before giving her a smile. "Ms. Izumi, I love alchemy but not like how my brothers are. If I went with you then it is going to be a waste of both of our time…because I won't pay attention. My brothers will devote their life and heart for alchemy but I can't do that. My heart has other things it wants to do."
"Emma will be fine, Izumi," The old lady said, putting her wrinkled hands on the blond-haired girl's shoulder. "She might be young but this young lady can take care of herself…unlike her two brothers."
"We can take care of ourselves!" The two boys protest.
Izumi sighed, stared at the girl called Emma, who stared pleadingly at her. This child was an orphan, in all but name, yet she was willing to be selfless and let her brothers to come with her. What kind of kid was she? No child should be like this. Would her own child had been like this girl? Even though it had been years since her baby was taken away from her, since her attempt to bring the baby back to life, she couldn't help but wonder what her child would have been like.
"Please take care of them!" Emma said, bowing her head down. "If my brothers do or say anything stupid then you have my permission to punish them as you see fit."
"We're not babies!"
"Who says I need your permission or that I'm taking them in?"
"Because I'm their big sister and I'm always going to worry about them," she declared. "And you're going to take them in because Ed and Al will annoy you until you do what they want. Also, you don't want them to think you're a hag right?"
"Who are you calling a hag!"
And despite this meeting, Izumi would come to think fondly of the day where she saw the first proof that Emma wasn't like what other people would later declare. In the future, she would wonder why this little girl refused to stop her brothers from leaving her when it was obvious that she loved them. However for now, she couldn't help but think this girl was just as much as a brat as her brothers.
"You got everything packed?"
Edward looked away from his suitcase and to the door, where his twin sister was standing there with her arms folded against her chest and a large smile on her face. If he was anyone else, he would think his sister was happy but he knew better. The smile on her face was just a disguise to hide her pain of Alphonse and him leaving. He looked down at the photo of the three of them smiling together which sat on top of his bag.
"Almost," Edward finally answered, sitting in his bed. His sister raised her eyebrows, slid her arms down to her sides before walking towards his bed. She flickered her eyes to his mostly packed bag before finally taking a seat beside him. She stared sadly of the photo of the three of them with their mother. "Want to nag me more about my clothes?"
"You're old enough to know what to pack," Emma declared, grinning. "I just wanted to see you before I go check on Al…you know if I don't check on him that he would try to pack unnecessary stuff with him."
"He would be upset with you if you try to take some things away from him," Edward said, grinning. "And then he will pout until you give in to his demands. You always give into his demands…"
"Like you also don't give into his demands," he didn't bother to argue against her because why fight against something that was true. His sister smiled and then stared out at the window. "We spoil our brother too much don't you think? It's so hard for us to say no to him."
Did they spoil Al? Edward hadn't really thought about it before but then again, he never really cared about these small things. Maybe once their mother come back, he would start to care a little bit more about how much they were spoiling their baby brother. For now though, he just wanted to focus on their training. Though currently, he wanted to spend some time with his baby sister before they left for Dublith.
"Isn't it our job as the older siblings to spoil him rotten? Mum would have been sad if we made Al cry," Edward pointed out, looking out at the window. "Remember how angry she got when you hurt Al."
"That was you, I never made our baby brother cry."
"What about the time you snatched his sweet?"
"It wasn't good for his health and being his loving big sister, I decided to take the sweet," Emma denied but the twinkle in her eyes told him just how funny she thought it was to do that to their baby brother. If Edward remembered correctly, Alphonse tried his hardest not to talk to Emma, thinking that was the best way to punish their sister for her bad behaviour.
Emma didn't care one bit that Alphonse wasn't talking to her, which annoyed their little brother so much that he threw a tantrum.
"Mum was angry with you for doing that to Al."
"I know but I couldn't resist doing that to him," Emma admitted. "She scolded me so badly for hurting Al's feelings that I wanted to say sorry to him, but then I will remember how tasty it was and forget about it. You know Mum never liked it whenever one of us was sad or hurt. Do you remember how she would try to kiss our pain away? Or tickle us to make sure we smile?"
Yeah, he did remember just how much their mother loved seeing them smile. Whenever Emma and him had an argument, their mother would tickle them and tell them that they shouldn't fight. One time when he said he hated his twin sister, Trisha had given him a look that said she was disappointed before telling him that he shouldn't say something he didn't mean. His mother would then get them to play a game or remind them stories of when they protected one another, just to remind them just how much they care for each other.
He remembered how jealous he was that Emma inherited their mother's pretty eyes.
Even now, he was still jealous that his sister had a physical reminder that she was their mother's child.
"You're okay Ed?"
"I'm fine Emmy," Edward answered, knocking her shoulder with his. "Though I should be asking you the same question, are you sure you don't want to come with us? We've never ever left you alone before. We have never been separated before."
"I'm certain that I don't want to come Ed," Emma said, looking at him straight in the eye. "If I come with you then there is no telling what I will do. I might tell her about your plan to bring Mum back so she can talk you out of it…though I doubt you will listen to her. Besides, I've other plans…I'm not going to stay here."
"What do you mean you're not going to stay here?" Edward yelled, jumping off from his bed. "Emma, what are you planning to do? And why am I hearing this for the first time? Wait, are you going to stay with Winry and Granny?"
His younger sister thinned her lips, stared out at the window and then back at him before shaking her head at him. She wasn't going to stay with Winry and Granny? Then where was she going? There was nowhere for her to go. Was she leaving because of them? No, Emma was a lot of things but she would never leave because of them. His sister did think for herself after all.
"I'm going to travel for a bit before joining the army," Emma admitted, looking down at her hands. He opened his mouth to argue with her but one annoyed look from his sister was enough for him to shut it down. An annoyed baby sister wasn't someone he wanted to deal with. "Ed, you know me. Do you really think I would be happy here? I want to be able to protect people. I want to change the world and I can't do it from here. I want to learn about other cultures too. I think if everyone just got to learn about different cultures and learn how to tolerate then none of this would have happened."
But his sister could be stationed in another town if she went to the army. His baby sister would be forced to kill people and maybe a little kid would blame her for murdering her parents. Not only that, it would mean there was a chance she wasn't ever coming back to them. He already lost their parents, he didn't want to lose his sister too.
Yet his sister wasn't content in this town. Even though he was studying his butt off to bring their mother back, Edward didn't miss the twinkle in his sister's eyes whenever she heard stories about new cultures or the desire in her eyes when she saw a map.
"I know you won't be happy here but I don't want you to join the army! No, I refuse to accept the fact you are going to join the army!" Edward yelled, clenching his hands into a fist. "We lost a mother Emma, don't make Al and me lose you too. I don't want us to end up with the same story as Winry. If you go there then…"
"Then I might die but I'm not scared," Emma admitted, staring into his eyes. "Dying isn't scary Ed…it's peaceful. It is like going to a really deep sleep. I want you and Al to live in a country where you are safe to do whatever you want and joining the army will let me do that. You shouldn't worry about me dying."
"Emma, you're my baby sister," Edward said softly, freezing his sister on the spot. "I'm always going to worry about you. I know we fight a lot about my plans but it doesn't change the fact that I don't want to lose you. I…I can't afford to lose you and Al too."
"And you won't lose us," Emma declared, gulping down a lump. "And you know why? Because Al and me have an overprotective big brother watching us. You won't lose me because I've a reason to come back alive and that is you two. I'll do everything in my power to come back to you guys in one piece."
And when his sister say it like that then Edward had no choice but to believe in her.
"Does Granny know?"
"No but Winry does, I told her about my plans a long time ago," Emma answered and Edward couldn't help but feel a bit betray that their best friend knew about her plans long before him. "But enough about me. I want you to promise me something Ed."
"What?"
"Eat all your vegetables and drink all your milk," Edward made a face at the last part, earning a laugh from his sister. His blue-eyed twin shook her head. "I'm kidding, Ed about that. No, I want you to promise me that you will take care of Al and that you won't do anything stupid or dangerous."
"I won't! You know I won't do anything reckless or stupid!"
"Ed, the moment you said you wanted to bring Mum back to life was the moment I decided that you will do something dangerous," Edward opened his mouth but his sister continued on before he could get a word in. "Ed, I know you think you know what you are doing but I am going to say this again…what you plan to do is something very dangerous. No matter how I think about it, it is going to come with a heavy cost."
"If it means we will have mother back then I can deal with it."
His sister thinned her lips but didn't say anything instead, she just hugged him like there was no tomorrow. Maybe, he would see his sister before she join the army. Once they bring mother back, he would tell her to come back home and things could go back to the way it was.
It wouldn't be a few years later when he realised just how right his sister had been to warn him off.
Q: Is Mustang Sasuke?
A: No
Q: Will Emma have chakra again?
A: It has been hinted but Emma does have chakra, she just doesn't use it in front of everyone.
A/N: Please review to tell me what you think about this chapter and the relationship between Emma and Edward. Do you think it is realistic? Also do continue to tell me about the pairings? Also, I might need to announce this but after much thought, I decided that maybe Emma going with a reincarnated Sasuke would be a bad idea. The two character would have too much history and issues to work though and I really can't see them working through it, especially when Edward and Alphonse find out the truth. However, reincarnated Sasuke is still going to appear along with a few other characters. Also please tell me what you think about Emma.