The Burned Forest

Ed could feel the stares on him as the saddle creaked under his grip when Appa dived faster than he liked through the air. He couldn't understand how Aang could enjoy this or how the others didn't mind but they did care about his Alchemy when they had things similar to it. He could still remember the confrontation with them after they left Omashu.

Flashback

Ed watched as Aang talked with Sokka out of hearing while Katara stood to the side listening to them and judging by the way they kept glancing at him he was the subject of their discussion and it was starting to annoy him.

"If you guys have something to say to me say it now, don't talk about me like I'm not here dammit." Ed shouted at them making Katara and Aang go red from either anger or embarrassment while Sokka glared at him as he stepped forward.

"Why did you lie to us and not say you were an Earthbender?" Ed scoffed at him only to immediately scowl. That scoff sounded too similar to Mustang's for his liking before looking at Sokka.

"I didn't lie when I didn't say we didn't have benders or knowing about bending what I did is called Alchemy and before you ask it's a science not some mystic mumbo jumbo you make you bending out to be." Sokka looked taken aback while Aang and Katara glared at him lightly not that he cared.

After an uncomfortable silence settled over them Katara asked. "Is that what you meant when you said you were a scientist earlier?"

Ed simply nodded while the other digested the information. Surprisingly Aang was the one to break the silence this time as the boy looked to Ed like he was going to wait this one out earlier to him.

"Are their others like you not located in your country that we need to worry about?" Ed thought about it for a few seconds wondering what to say. He could go with a vague no but it wouldn't surprise him it Truth threw in another Alchemist just to mess with him he was a sadistic bastard. Realizing he was taking too long Ed settled with a safer answer.

"No as far as know of I haven't seen another Alchemist since I got here." Aang let out a sigh of relief when Ed said that. He was a caring person and liked to make friends but if there was a bunch of people like Ed he could only shudder at what they could do if someone was able to get them in the war.

"If you're not an Earthbender than how were you able to move the earth earlier?" Ed stared at Sokka wondering. If I tell them they might try to do it themselves not that I plan on teaching them how on the other hand they might turn me over to the closest military outpost with the hope I'll fight this damn war for them and I don't plan on turning into another dog of the military. Ed continued to think of a way to answer Sokka's question when an idea popped into his head.

"Alchemy is a special science only a select few can actually do as it takes years of understanding and work to be able to use it without killing yourself." Ed watched as all three of them flinched and he grinned inside his head before continuing, "It also has a set of laws that govern the whole thing with the first and for most being Equivalent Exchange."

And following along that line Ed explained Alchemy to them while making it seem like a thing they would never be able to achieve. Personally he didn't like that idea but given everything in this world there was no way in hell he was going to teach anyone with how this Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom seemed to be searching for any advantage in this war and he was positive they would be fully prepared to break the Alchemy taboo just to win.

Flashback End

After that they went to some village and were able to break the Fire Nations grip on it but Katara lost her mother's necklace in the fight. He could understand why she felt bad when it happened after all it was the last thing she had from her mother.

"Guy's look!." Katara yelled as they went from forest underneath them to a chard forest for almost a mile in all directions.

"Fire Nation." Sokka cursed while Ed nodded. From what he understood of the Fire Nation it looked like something they would do but he wouldn't have been surprised if it was caused by lightning or something either.

Aang just looked at all the destruction with sadness as they landed near a totem pole that while blackened was still intact much to Ed's surprise. Everything around it is burnt and destroyed while it just lightly blackened either this is a one in a million chance or something prevented it from burning up. Ed didn't know which one it was but at the moment he didn't care as Aang looked like he was going to have a mental break down.

"Oi Aang cheer up it's not like the forest isn't going to grow back." Ed shouted while the others stared at him. It was starting to annoy him how often they stared at him like he had grown a second head but he didn't comment on it.

"Ed's right Aang the forest will grow back all that's needed it needs is time and care and this little acorn will grow into a tree to help replace all the lost ones here." Katara said as she showed them the acorn she picked up. Aang nodded at them a smile returning to his face as he took the acorn and put it in his pocket.

Wait a minute he has pockets I can't see them or the acorn. Ed thought as they got back on Appa and headed to the town marked on the map for resupplying and maybe someone to nock some sense into Aang on which way to go to the North Pole.

Sorry for the long update things came up im happy to say i can now devote more time to this and a couple of ideas i've been thinking about so be prepared for other stories on my site and i apologies for the short chapter.