"What now, Brother?" Alphonse asked in the silence as the two stood where they were, not having had moved from where "Sara" had abandoned them.
"I don't know, Al," Ed folded an arm about his torso, resting his elbow in that hand while cradling his chin with the other; his contemplating posture. "But I do know something," he paused, this comment was unnecessary but he wanted some confidence from it, "she has that kid working for her as a distraction."
"What?" Alphonse's helmet turned his direction.
"What better way to stop a brawl than letting out a bloody scream?" Ed sighed and set his hands on his hips; now he felt lighter.
"Oh I see," Alphonse commented, "where shall we begin our search?"
"I think we should start with the alley ways," Edward's mouth stretched into a grin, "that's where we were headed last time when that kid distracted us."
"And we can interview the people around here and get more information too. We don't have to ask about her location but hear more stories. That way, if our search fails, we'll have something to fall back on. That might work, right?" Alphonse voice rose to a higher octave with excitement.
"Good idea, Al," Edward smiled but it faded somewhat, "the people are going to be suspicious. We'll just have to go undercover somehow." He eyed his brother with doubt. How in the name of alchemy was he going to disguise a nine-foot, never-missed suit of metal armor? Al would be a dead give-away, Edward thought.
Alphonse wasn't hopeful, "I'll search the alleys and you can do the interviewing, okay? It's obvious you're not going to be able to disguise me."
Edward's shoulders slumped, Alphonse was right. Although he has the better people skills, Edward made a face about this thought as he stared at the ground.
"It's settled then," Alphonse filled the silence.
"Alright," Edward looked up at his brother, "we'll meet back here at…." He flipped open the State Alchemist pocket watch, "let's make it noon, we don't have all day."
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
Edward took a deep breath and knocked on the fifteenth door in an hour. Hopefully, unlike the other fourteen, this one wouldn't shut in his face. He found a way to make his hair a dark forest green but the clothes are giving everything away. Apparently, in this town, it was illegal to even ask for stories. He'd heard two from Mustang, was that all they got? It would make sense considering the bad luck he'd been having.
Finally, a young girl answered the door and Edward was about to say hello when the mother showed in the doorway. She scowled, grabbed her daughter back from the door and slammed it. Edward lifted an eyebrow with curiosity and he looked over the house. Yep, his assumptions were right: he'd already been to this place.
He let out a sigh and walked down the steps onto another house. Why was this plan going so badly? He thought had good enough people skills but suddenly, Alphonse's accusations seemed correct. How annoying.
"Excuse me," a voice across from him took his attention. The voice came from a man, probably in his late teens with a very ordinary look about him: brown hair, green eyes and a humble smile. "You're the guy from earlier, right …..Ed?"
"Yes," Edward blinked.
"Ah, you changed your hair and I almost wasn't sure but I would remember that red coat from a fuzzy childhood dream." He chuckled at his own joke.
Edward attempted a smile. Evidence that he should've exchanged the coat.
"My name's Jacob," he kept his smile but his eyebrows set over his green orbs with a serious skeptical look, "Do you know her?"
Edward knew immediately he was talking about this "Sara" woman from earlier. "No, I don't. I just got here and I've been trying to find out a little more about what she does for the people here, I've only heard two."
The man's smile widened in sort of a sly look, "Which ones have you heard?"
"One about the old woman with talent in plant alchemy who broke her ankle and the one about the boy who was healed from a dog bite." He answered simply.
Unexpectedly, the man spun around and cursed. "Why do they insist on calling me a boy, I AM A MAN!"
Edward blinked; he never thought that he would ever meet one of the witnesses. He also wanted to tease the man for being called a boy but Edward knew that he wasn't even allowed to laugh. Unfortunately, he could sympathize with this person. "It's good to see you're healthy, Jacob." Edward decided to make a verbal answer.
"Yeah, she did a fantastic job, didn't she?" Jacob lifted his right pant leg to show the skin.
"May I?" Edward gestured to his leg.
"Go for it." Jacob said.
Edward knelt on one knee and reached out his flesh hand brushed his pale skin, "Where exactly…?" His voice trailed off.
"Oh," Jacob bent and traced a small vertical arch near his shin, "here was the top jaw," he reached back and traced another small vertical arch on his calf, "and here was the bottom of the jaw."
Edward scrutinized the traced arch by his shin and saw that it was just slightly paler than the rest of his skin. "There's a scar." He thought aloud.
"Yeah," Jacob chuckled, "she did that on purpose because she knew that I would want someone to show it to so she let a scar stay."
Edward stood back up, still overlooking Jacob's leg. "That's so incredible that she was able to heal you."
Jacob clasped a hand to Edward's shoulder-a foot below his and chuckled. He almost snapped. "I don't know what it is about you that she felt like she needed to defend you but there's obviously a reason. How about this, I go find her, ask about you visiting her hideout and then I'll come back to you with her answer?"
"Sure," Edward couldn't believe that all he really had to do in the beginning was find Jacob.
"Go find Al and I'll be right back." Jacob patted his shoulder and left.
Edward watched him as he walked up the street. He made an imitation of a stereotypical snob, "I'll just patty your shoulder and say you're a good little boy because you're so small I wanna skip you across the water like a little rock. Very funny, kid."
Alphonse, luckily, showed up early to the meeting spot and Edward told him everything. His little brother was ecstatic.
"That's great! We'll be able to meet her after all!"
"We already did meet her, Al," Edward smiled and rolled his eyes under his lids, "just not formally and don't get your hopes up. There's still the chance she'll say no."
An hour later, Edward spotted Jacob walking down the street towards them. Now Edward was excited though he didn't dare show it. Here he would get the answer of whether or not he could officially meet the amazing white alchemist; the only one of her unknown kind. If she said yes, he would be the first State Alchemist to encounter the one alchemist that could heal against the laws of science, the other loop hold. The chance that they could be sewn back they way they were. If she could heal without Equivalent Exchange, she could probably find a way to get Al's body back. Edward prepared to take any answer she might throw; he would make any sacrifice. Yet, it was still a chance, she could just as well say no as she could say yes.
Jacob stopped in front of them with an expression that was carefully blank, not giving anything away.
"She said no," Jacob shrugged.
Edward slumped in deep disappointment, his forest green hair shadowing his eyes but Alphonse just let out a sigh.
Jacob scratched the nape of his neck with uncertainty of how to ease the distress. "But what weird's me out it that she smiled when she said it." He spaced out staring at the sky, "She baffles me sometimes-I really thought she would say yes."
"Well," Edward's voice was heavy, "Could we meet you tomorrow and here more stories? Just to get to know her from a distance, I suppose."
"Sure, do you want to meet at the Sweet Shack in the morning? It's just down the main street here, it's all colorful and stuff so you can't miss it."
"Sure, see you tomorrow." Edward looked up and smiled a weak smile for Jacob, "Thanks."