So you know how I said mom got a seasonal job and our problems were behind us cause there was a big chance she'd transition to full-time? Yeah, forget about that. They called, day after Christmas, to let us know they weren't hiring any of the seasonal workers. Back to square one. But! I am going to (try to) remain optimistic and focus more on my writing! We've been in situations worse than this and if we can survive that, we can handle this.

Besides, I can't be upset when it's the fifth year anniversary of The Sulfur Alchemist. TSA is five! Five!

I hope everyone had a wonderful New Year's! Any interesting celebrations?

The Lovely Daaaarlings!

Rei13Reaper: I've replied in PM, but just to say again; Thank you so much for the awesome review and even more awesome fanart! You have no idea how happy that makes me. It's shocking to see how much other people like this story, so seeing fanart just floors me.

XXStarburstNinjaXx: D: Three updates? Whoa. Though I'm glad you like it! I have quickly become attached to Jonah, more than I should be. Ahaha, that's awesome – glad you like the characters!

Katsekala: They were going somewhat well. It's just a roller-coaster at this point, blech. Thank you, though, I'm glad you like the chapter!

StarTrail: Ahaha, patience may be a virtue, but it's also a bitch, yeah? I totally get that you like Riley's more – I have more fun writing hers, so I knew others would most likely prefer her. Write for yourself and others will enjoy it. I'll have more fun writing Ed soon, though! Right now I've had to stretch his story out as much as possible so his more important storyline fits parallel to Riley's. x_x A lot of planning ahead for this sequel, I tell ya.

Gummy'Fish'Lover: I do that all the time when reading a story. It's really annoying. But that's really awesome that you've read it a few times! That makes me very happy! I'm glad you liked the chapter so much, I had a lot of fun writing it.

Want to Be a Lovely Daaaarling? Review! Bwahaha...

I don't own

No, really, that's it, I don't own

Soldier

Morning at the Mauler dojo, Ed came to find out, was a chaotic one.

He woke to the sounds of yelling and mingled conversation, and thudding footsteps in fast succession along the hallway. Daisuke was gone from their room, leaving Ed to his solace while he got ready for the day ahead. This was fine by him. He was still reeling from the night. It had been one of the shortest nights he'd had since he died in Amestris, and he didn't appreciate it. Riley was there, in his dreams, and she was opening up to that fact.

He knew as little as she did, when it came down to it. She very well could have been just a dream, a memory of the girl he traveled with, his own thoughts and desires influencing his mind. That wasn't what he wanted to believe, though. There was a gate, that much was sure, and it was possible for people to cross through it, so maybe it was possible? Maybe it was Riley?

Grabbing his coat, Ed left the room with that state of mind. There was a possibility that it was the actual Riley who was in his dreams, he felt it, he knew it – and so that was what it was. It had to be. Ed shut the door behind him before having to lean into it to avoid the boy barreling down the hall. A sigh escaped his lips and he, once more, wondered what he'd gotten himself into. He watched as people left the hall, when a hand slapped his shoulder. He jumped, turning in surprise.

The boy from the day before, who pulled him off Blackburn, stood there. He was taller than Ed by a few inches, bald and tanned. He was thin, though his lean muscles were obvious along his arms. His eyes were a warm brown, inviting and polite, but the frown on his face and the straight stance counteracted it. "I hear you're our newest member. Ed, right?" He asked.

Ed nodded. "That's me," He replied in a simple tone, neither kind nor rude.

"Jacob," He introduced, "I'm the boys' teacher. You're sharing a room with Daisuke, right? He's this side of the dorm's caretaker. You have any problems, take it up with one of us."

Despite the civility of the statement, Ed could hear the warning it implied. He couldn't blame Jacob for doing so, considering their first meeting was Ed trying to strangle a prominent Rebellion member. That being said, Ed didn't have to like it. "I won't have a problem if Blackburn doesn't," He stated, his expression blank.

"You won't." Jacob's response was swift, eyes intense on Ed. His tone was firm and his grip was tight. Patting Ed's shoulder once more, he walked past him and out of the hall with the others.

Ed followed the few who were still in the hall, and was welcomed into a cafeteria of sorts. Big, rectangular tables were spread out in the room, chairs wherever they could be placed. Ed was surprised, to say the least, by not only the size of the room, but by the amount of people. It wasn't overcrowded, just… Fuller than he expected it to be. He expected an empty room, maybe one or two small groups.

He looked around at them all as he headed to the back of the room where the others were going. Everyone looked happy. Some were in deep conversation with one another, others were joking about trivial things, and a few were playing games – hacky sack, some paper games, arm wrestling, and the like.

Reaching the long table at the end of the room, he noted people grabbing plates and heading off to eat the food already placed atop them. He followed in their action, before hearing his name get called across the room. Daisuke sat a table, motioning Ed over. The latter boy, growing more and more nervous, approached the table and sat down as he was ushered to do so.

"Jacob tells me you've already met," Daisuke says, nodding to the boy who sat at his left. Ed nodded, frowning a little. Daisuke chuckled upon taking note of Ed's attitude. "A bit overwhelmed?" When Ed looked to him in subtle surprise, he nodded in understanding. "People think the Rebellion's a lot smaller than it is."

"As Master Claire wants them to," Jacob commented, rotating an apple around in one of his hands, "She'd have them all think we were the size of a nation if she wanted."

The tense dispute in the hall was forgotten as Ed turned his attention toward Jacob. "So the Maulers, they both run the Rebellion?" He questioned.

Both boys nodded. "Neither of them are more powerful than the other around here," Daisuke replied, "Then there's Gregory, Master Claire's second in command; and Blackburn, Master Mauler's second."

Ed didn't bother holding in the scowl at Blackburn's mention. Jacob didn't appreciate this. "How do you know Blackburn, anyway?" He asked before taking a bite of his apple.

There was a small pause from Ed, before he picked up his own piece of fruit, an orange. "We go back," He growled, peeling at his orange.

Daisuke blinked in recognition. "Oh, it was back when he lived in America, wasn't it? He doesn't tell us much about those days…," He muttered, looking toward Jacob as he thought it over.

"He doesn't need to," Jacob shook his head. He placed his apple onto his plate, going for his water bottle as he said, "You leave behind your old life when you join the Rebellion." He sipped his water after the comment, but his eyes were trained on Ed. Another warning.

Footsteps sounded on the floor from behind Ed and the boys looked in that direction. Moa stood there with a folder in her hands. She nodded to Jacob and Daisuke before looking down at Ed. "Here," She said, slipping out a piece of paper which was handed to him, "You're officially a Rebel." Ed took the paper, reading the words along it as Daisuke sent him a congratulatory grin. Moa turned her attention to Jacob.

Ed was reading the paper in his hands, not listening until he heard, "And here's Riley's report." He looked up quickly, as well as Daisuke, as Jacob took the folder from Moa's hands. "She wants the new students working artillery in a week," Moa commented, "Sounds like Ruhr is getting as bad as Kevin thought it would."

Daisuke asked the question Ed couldn't bring himself to ask. "Is she headed back, then?" He looked between Jacob and Moa, unsure of who would be able to answer.

Shaking her head, Moa crossed her arms. "Not yet. She's tying up some loose ends with the Rebels there and then she'll leave," She explained. Glancing to Jacob, she said, "Make sure that gets to Kevin after you look over it." Jacob gave a nod at this, skimming over the folder as Moa walked away and left them to their breakfast.

. . .

The sounds ringing throughout the shooting range were echoing in Ed's head halfway through the preliminary training. Once more, he was surprised by the size of the Rebellion dojo. He sat in a small room, taking apart guns with a few others, while students who'd been there longer were in the adjacent room, using the indoor range. The wall between the rooms was thick and while not soundproof, it muffled the gunshots to a point.

Out of the students in the room, Ed was one of the more experienced there when it came to taking apart and cleaning the gun in his hands. He didn't own one in Amestris, but Riley and Hannah did. It was certain he wasn't as good as Riley with taking apart the gun, but that was one of the few things she prided herself on. She moved with speed and precision in her work, whether it was cleaning her gun or taking apart her camera. Hannah may have been the sharp-shooter, but Riley was the one who could get her way through the ins and outs of weaponry. It became soothing to watch her work with her hands – he was more fascinated with it than he would ever willingly admit.

"Erm…"

At the sound of a throat being cleared, Ed looked up, his thoughts interrupted. The woman across from him watched him with big, concerned eyes. She was in her late twenties, by the look of her features. She glanced down to Ed's hands, where he had halted in his work. Looking back up at him, she quirked a brow and cocked her head to the side, asking a silent, 'Are you okay?'

Ed blushed, his eyes going down to his gun as he sped back up. "Focus, don't get carried away…," He told himself.

He became so focused on the task, in fact, that he couldn't resist a small jump upon the feeling of a hand rest on his shoulder. He looked up and saw Jacob frowning down at him. "You didn't hear me calling you?" Jacob questioned, pulling his hand away.

"Huh? Oh, erm, sorry about that. I got carried away," Ed replied. He shook his head and sat straighter at the table, eyes still on Jacob. "What's going on?"

Jacob nodded toward him and motioned to the woman across from him. "You and Elise seem to be familiar enough with guns. You're moving to the range." With an equal stare directed at Elise, Jacob turned and made his way to the door. Ed and Elise glanced at one another. Elise was native, that much he could tell, and she was older than him. She looked like a soldier, and she reminded him of Riza Hawkeye. He smiled a bit at that, standing from the table.

Entering the next room, Ed was engulfed in the atmosphere of a gun range. There was a group of students already there, side-by-side along the counter in their own units, targets lined up on a machine that slid them back and forth across the field. Jacob guided them to the two empty units, where he instructed them along the steps of safety and precaution. Ed was not on the best of terms with Jacob, but he had to give the Dojo teacher credit where it was due – Jacob was good at explaining things, and surprisingly patient with them.

Once everything was in order, Jacob stepped away from them and began to pace up and down the range, watching each student shoot. Ed lined his sights with a stationary target in the back, and shot. Miss. He narrowed his eyes, aiming once more.

"How long have you been in Germany?"

Ed looked to his right, attention lost from his target. Elise was aiming her gun, her eyes on her own, but it was clear she asked him a question when she glanced his way. It was a quick glance, as she turned her attention back to shooting. Ed did the same. "Two years," He told her in a dull tone before shooting at his target once more. Hit.

He could hear a small huff come from her, sounding like a light snort. "Thought so. You look like a native, but you don't have the look of a native," She commented, shooting a target further down the line. Hit.

Ed's eyes widened a bit, staring at Elise's target, which now contained a bullet hole between its eyes. Definitely like Hawkeye, he mused to himself as he aimed at the same target. "So you were born here, then?" He asked. Miss. Damn it.

Reloading her gun, Elise gave a nod. "And raised." Hit.

"You sound proud of that," Ed muttered. Hit. He grinned, seeing his own bullet hole, six inches below hers.

Chuckling, Elise nodded her head in approval and moved on to moving targets. "I am proud of it," She said with a bold voice, "It's the people fighting for a uniformed nation that need to rethink their so-called patriotism. They're not even following a German!" Wearing a large scowl, she shot twice and missed her target once.

Ed gave a small, sheepish grin. He focused on a target before saying, "To be honest, I don't really know all the details."

He shot his target and then noticed Elise's look of dismay in his direction. "And you're fighting anyway?" She asked, unsure of what to make of the boy. He knew the expression well – should she have been suspicious or annoyed?

A moment passed. Ed didn't know how to answer this. He knew exactly why he was there, but he couldn't come outright and say it was 'for a girl.' He scoffed; that sounded so inaccurate. "My loyalties lie with the Rebellion," He finally answered.

This was an answer Elise seemed to understand. She eyed him with a bit of admiration, lowering her gun as her attention lost itself from the targets. "You're a soldier." Ed was taken back. He looked over at her with wide eyes, and she nodded her head, perhaps in confirmation more to herself than to him. "I know that look. My father had it after the war."

"I'm not a soldier," He refused, shaking his head as he gave a subtle laugh.

Elise would have none of it. Quirking a brow at him, she hummed in skepticism. "Mhm, that's what my father says, too. He also sleeps with a gun under his mattress, and puts a hidden knife in all his walking canes," She stated, turning back to her targets.

Ed said nothing in response to that – it sounded like a good idea to him, but he wouldn't agree with the implication behind it. He wasn't a soldier. "So," He murmured, wanting to change the subject, "What are some of the details about this group we're fighting, anyway?"

With a small sigh as she reloaded her weapon, Elise shook her head. "They think they're protesting for a better world, but I say it's all crock. They want to rid Germany of anyone not like them. Anyone they believe inferior to their race and opinion," She explained with a tone of disgust, shooting a target multiple times. As the sound died down, she lowered her arm and scoffed. "They're pigs, if you ask me."

"I can't imagine they've gotten that popular," He muttered, watching her in her rant.

Elise glanced his way and he could tell by the look how wrong he was. "They're growing in size and reputation. Quickly. Right now a lot of people shrug them off, but that'll be what makes them so powerful. It's why I'm here. The Rebellion doesn't ignore any threat."

There was no time to respond, as Jacob let out a loud whistle and caught the attention of the students. Ed and Elise turned to him and he pointed to the door. "We're done, for now. You have an hour to yourself, and then I want you all in the arena for combat. I suggest you spend the hour resting and getting lunch," He told them before making his way to one of the students to give them side pointers.

Ed turned to Elise and smiled. She returned it with one of her own, nodding toward him. "You're not too bad of a shot, kid," She told him, crossing her arms over her chest. She eyed him a moment, before adding, "Not a soldier, my ass."

He could only laugh in response, not used to such a dominant ascertion. She slapped him on the shoulder as she walked by, grinning to herself as if knowing more than she let on. Ed took no time to debate this, instead making the decision to get as much food in his stomach as possible before meeting Jacob for combat.

Had Riley been there, she most likely would have warned him otherwise.

Almost done with Ed's filler chapters! One more and I can begin my main storyline for him! I is excite.

Be Responsible. Don't Flame and Drive! Rawr.