Chapter 2: I'm here for Honeheim of Light
Ed and Al rushed into the house, Ed, being hungry, smelling pie. Ed and Al turned to the kitchen.
"Mom, what're you making?!'' Ed asked, running up to her.
"Raspberry Pie, you and Al's favorite,'' Trisha answered, setting the pie on the window seal.
"When can we have it, mom?'' Al asked.
"After dinner. Now, why don't you guys go into your fathers study, and study more alchemy, hmm?'' Trisha suggested.
"No thanks, mom, I've had enough studying for today,'' Al said.
"Well, I'm going to go study, so I'll catch ya later, Al!'' Ed said and ran off to the study.
"Well, Alphonse," said Trisha, "why don't you help me make dinner? I could use some help.''
"Yeah, sure mom! I'll help! What's first?'' Al asked, eagerly.
" Well, you can start by gathering some vegetables in the garden,'' Trisha said.
"Okay!'' Al said and ran off to do that. He came back in, reporting that there were very dark clouds out now.
"I can see that. But thanks for the report anyways,'' Trisha said, putting the plates on the table.
"Well, I did get the vegetables;'' Al said and lifted his basket of added apples and other real vegetables.
"Thank you Alphonse,'' said Trisha as she smiled, reached down and grabbed the basket from Alphonse. A little later, during dinner, it was raining hard outside, and there was the lightning and thunder to add to this. It wasn't supposed to be as dark as it was outside, but all the dark clouds blocked the little sunlight that was supposed to still be there. Suddenly, there were a few knocks on the door.
"Who could that be in this storm?'' Trisha asked as she stood up.
"Wait, no, Mom, it's probably just Winry. She's stupid, so I wouldn't doubt that she'd be stupid enough to go outside like this.'' Ed said and stood up, rushing to the door.
"Brother, you know that's not true! Winry is SCARED of storms! She wouldn't go out in them! She hides in a corner and cries.'' Al said. Ed ignored him and opened the door. He was about to say, 'hello,' but stopped and looked up. It obviously wasn't Winry, and it wasn't anyone from the village.
"Hello there kid, is your mother or father home?'' The man asked. To Ed, he was a giant, and was scared.
"Mom!'' Ed called for her, looking away from the, in his case, scary man. Trisha came walking over.
"Oh…hello my good sir," she said in a friendly tone, "what brings you here? You're from Central, right?'' Trisha added, seeing the military uniform and wondering why a soldier would come all the way out here.
"Um, yes ma'am, I've got a question about a missing alchemist.'' The man started as Alphonse ran up next to his brother.
"Brother, who is it?'' Al asked, then looked up.
"Oh, a question? Well come in, come in. There's no sense in staying out in this rain.'' Trisha said, letting the man in.
"But mom!'' Ed whined.
"Edward, mind your manners. We have a guest.'' Trisha half scolded him as she shut the door.
"Um, if I may, take my jacket off, miss?'' The man asked, gesturing to the coat rack next to the door.
"Sure. I'll get a cup of tea going, and you can explain yourself in the meantime.'' Trisha said.
"But mom, we were in the middle of dinner!'' Ed whined again.
"Well, you can go finish eating. No one's stopping you. But please mind your manners.'' Trisha said as Ed scampered off to the kitchen.
"Hello mister, welcome!'' Al said, reaching out a hand for the man to shake.
"How cute,'' the man said, and shook Al's hand.
"You'll have to excuse my brother," said Al, "he's always snippy when he's hungry.''
"Please follow me. I'll take you to the living room," said Trisha, "You can take a seat there while I get the tea going.'' She led the man to the living room.
"Pick a seat, any seat. I'll be right back.'' Trisha said and walked off to get the tea.
"So, what's your name, mister? I'm Alphonse Elric.'' Al tried to strike up a conversation as the man sat on the sofa.
"Well, I'm Lieutenant Colonel Roy Mustang. I'm in the military. And I guess I did get the right house.'' He answered.
"You mean you meant to come here?'' Al asked.
"Yeah. I got a letter, asking about Honeheim of Light. I too want to know more about him. We've been on the case forever, but have only turned up dirt.'' Roy said. Al frowned.
"Then you don't know where our dad is?'' Al asked, his face growing sad.
"No, I don't. But, I'm still looking into the case. There might be hope. But, when did he disappear from here, anyways?'' Roy asked.
"Um…I don't know exactly. It would be better to ask my brother, but I don't think you'll get anything out of him. He's stubborn.'' Al said, trying to remember.
"You were that young?'' Roy asked. Al nodded.
"Yes. I don't remember him at all, really.'' Al said.
And it's better you didn't.'' Ed said, coming into the living room, with a sour look on his face.
"Why is that, brother?" said Al, "You knew him. You couldn't have hated him then.''
"I've always hated him. He left us and hurt mom.'' Ed said, crossing his arms.
"You don't hate him!" Al argued, "You're just mad at him.''
"Now boys, that's enough.'' Trisha said, walking into the room. She handed Roy a cup of tea.
"That was fast.'' Roy commented.
"Forgive me for being rude earlier," Trisha started, "I'm Trisha Elric. And you must be a Colonel, right?''
"A Lieutenant Colonel to be precise, how did you guess?'' Roy asked.
"Lucky guess. Well, so who's the missing alchemist?'' Trisha asked, taking a seat next to the Lt. Colonel.
"Honeheim of Light. It seems like your boys know something.'' Roy said. Trisha's face saddened a bit.
"Well…yes, he was my husband.'' Trisha said.
"So, do you know why he left, or where too?'' Roy asked.
Trisha shook her head. "No, I don't. And it pains me, because I loved him. But I also worry for the boys, especially Edward. He's got such a grudge. Alphonse was too young to know if he should hate him for leaving or not.''
"HEY! I'm RIGHT HERE!" yelled Ed angrily, "Stop talking about me!''
"Brother, lets go! Let the adults talk!'' Al said and tried to drag his brother up to the study.
Ed tried to argue, but decided to go along with his brother instead.
"So Lt. Colonel," started Trisha, but was cut off by the man.
"Please, call me Roy," he said.
"'Roy' then. You said you were looking for my husband, so have you found anything?" asked Trisha, hoping for a better answer.
"Unfortunately no," responded Roy, "All of our leads have turned up dry. I'm afraid your husband is a difficult person to find."
"Oh…" Trisha said sadly.
Roy finished his tea and handed the cup to Trisha.
"Well, I should be going. I need to continue my search," he said standing up.
"But it's pouring outside," said Trisha, "you'll be soaking wet!"
"I know, but I need to head back," said Roy.
He grabbed his coat and opened the door, only to be greeted by loud thunder, lighting, and a torrent of rain.
"On second thought… do you mind until I wait out the storm?" asked Roy as he closed the door.
"Yes, we have an extra room you can use," said Trisha.
Roy hung up his coat and thanked her, and Trisha led him to his room. Meanwhile, Ed, who had been spying on them, complained to Al.
"Why does he have to stay here? He doesn't know anything about dad," complained Ed as he watched his mom lead Roy to his room.
"Brother it's pouring outside! You can't expect him to go outside," said Al.
Ed knew he had a point, but didn't say anything. All he knew was that they didn't need him, and he'd be glad he be leaving tomorrow.
Al on the other hand suddenly got an idea. He noticed how nice Roy was being to his mother, and started wondering. But as he continued thinking, his stomach rumbled. He had forgotten about dinner and was getting hungry.
"Come on Al, let's go finish dinner," said Ed who also noticed he had forgotten.
The two brothers walked back to the dinning room to finish their meals, but Al hadn't forgotten his idea. At the moment however, he just felt like eating.
Maybe tomorrow he'd tell his brother…
But his brother had other plans. Ed didn't like this Lt. Colonel at all, and he wanted him out of his house now. The next morning Ed woke up early, a little too early and slowly crawled out of his bed, tip toeing to the door. He was almost to it when he heard shuffling coming from Al's bed. Ed stopped dead in his tracks and turned to his younger brother, who was sitting in an upright position, rubbing his eyes.
"Brother, what're you doing up? It's still dark outside.'' Al asked. Ed had to come up with something, and fast.
"Um…I was just going to the bathroom." Ed said quickly, "I'll be right back.''
"Oh, okay. Just as long as you're not going to do anything stupid.'' Al said and laid back down to go back to sleep.
Ed walked out of the room, and headed for the room Trisha had so nicely guided the Lt. Colonel too. But the door opened. Ed froze again. The Lt. Colonel walked out, his movements sluggish, still being tired and not having been fully awaked yet, or, that was until Ed shouted.
"Y-you!'' Ed shouted accusingly, pointing at the Lt. Colonel. The Roy stopped his walk to the bathroom not far off, and turned to Ed.
"Oh, you must be Edward. The one who's not so nice when hungry.'' The Lt. Colonel almost laughed at what he said. Ed sent a glare to him.
"What're you doing awake?!'' Ed asked, his voice sounding as though he were trying to accuse the Lt. Colonel of something. The older man just stared down at the small boy for a moment.
"I always get up at this time. It's a habit I'm afraid. But I could ask you the same.'' The Lt. Colonel said, lifting a suspicious eyebrow at Edward.
"Wha-hey! How do you know my name?! And, I was just going to the bathroom! There's no harm in that! It's not my fault my body woke me up for that!'' Ed yelled, getting offensive.
"There's no need to be so offensive about it all. I believe you," said Roy, "Don't worry. I know it happens, and to answer your question, your mother and I had a talk last night. She told me about you two and a little more on Honeheim of Light.''
"I'm not offensive! I'm tired and angry and you're in my way!'' Ed said, making a motion as though he were going to walk up to the Lt. Colonel and kick him, or push him out of the way, or maybe even both.
"Well, excuse me for being in your way, I mean, you are the man of the house after all, and if he's not happy, no one else can be.'' The Lt. Colonel said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.
"Yeah! That's right! I'm the man!'' Ed said, jumping up a little in agreed excitement. He marched off to the bathroom, a wide triumphant grin on his face, but then stopped. What was he doing, acting like an idiot? The Lt. Colonel was just staring at him confused. Didn't he realize he was being sarcastic? But, then again, Ed, after all, was only a kid still, and in such a peaceful place, there wouldn't be any sarcastic people, and if so, not that many. Ed turned around.
"You say anything, and I'll hurt you.'' Ed said and walked off to his room.
Later that morning, everyone was up but Edward. Al had been hanging around his mom, Trisha, and the Lt. Colonel all morning, getting into the conversations and starting ones.
"Brother will be happy to hear you're going…but I think you should stay another day. I mean, it's all wet outside. You could get hurt if you go to fast.'' Al said.
No, I've got to get back. I'll be going around noon. Sides, I've had a wonderful talk with your mother. I'm good to go.'' The Lt. Colonel said, smiling at Trisha. She smiled back.
Al smiled to himself, without the others knowing. He was right. He had to be right. Ed would hate this, Al knew. But, if Al could do something to stop the man from leaving, without hurting him or anyone else, he'd have to stay at least another day.
There were strong men in the village, but not enough, so it would take awhile to move a big tree if perhaps it somehow…just somehow landed on the tracks, stopping the train. But the station was quite a bit of ways away, and it would take a while to get there. There was only an hour left before the Lt. Colonel would leave for the train station. Al knew that, even if his mom and the Lt. Colonel just thought of each other of friends, he didn't want them to be separated just yet. They needed time, and this Lt. Colonel seemed like the perfect person to be able to make his mom happy again.
"He'll be glad? And why is that?'' Trisha asked.
"I don't know, but mom, I'm going over to Winry's, we'll go play by the river and be gone awhile, so if Ed wakes up, tell him that.'' Al said, then waited for a reply.
"Okay, just be sure to be back for lunch.'' Trisha said and watched Al run up to his and Ed's room.
Al dressed himself in some regular cloths, and put on the best shoes he had for running in, and then left his brother a note, and ran off out of the house and down the trail, heading for the train station. He had to get there and back before noon. Along his way, he ran into Winry. She was wearing a red summer dress, and some sandals; her hair was down today.
"Hey Al, what's the hurry?'' She asked, running up along side him.
"If I tell you Winry, please don't tell anyone! Not even mom! She can't know. And I already feel bad enough for lying to her, but now I don't feel as bad, because you're here with me!'' Al said, continuing his run.
"What did you lie to her about, and where's jerk?'' Winry asked, referring to Ed. Ed had never really apologized to her, and she was still mad.
"Well, a man came to our house asking us about dad last night. He stayed with us because the storm outside," Alphonse explained, "Ed doesn't like him, but mom does, and I think that they like each other, so I'm going to keep the Lt. Colonel from leaving without hurting him or anybody else.''
"Why don't you have jerk do it?'' Winry asked.
"Because, Ed wouldn't believe me. He'd refuse to believe it, and he'd be mad at me for thinking that way, and we'd only end up getting into a fight. Sides, even if he did believe me, he'd only end up hurting the poor man.'' Al said, then was about to say something else but slipped in a puddle left by the rain. He screamed and fell to the ground.
"Alphonse! Are you okay?!'' Winry asked in worry. She helped Al up.
"Yeah, I'm okay. I just slipped. But come on, we've got to hurry. He's going to be leaving soon.'' Al said and started running, ignoring his bruised knee. They finally made it to the train station. Many people were waiting for the train as always. Al and Winry sneaked over to the tree Al had in mind.
"Okay Winry, I'm going to make this thing fall onto the tracks. Please don't scream.'' Al said and started looking for the piece of chalk he was one hundred percent sure he had brought with him, but he couldn't find it.
"Wha-?! W-where is it?! I know I brought it with me!'' Al said, starting to panic as he couldn't find the piece of chalk.
"What did you loose?'' Winry asked.
"The chalk! The piece of chalk! I can't find it! Without it there's no way we can stop the Lt. Colonel from leaving, and mom will be lonely all over again!'' Al said feeling depressed now.
"It had of fallen into that puddle when you slipped and fell.'' Winry stated. Al was about to hit his head with his hand, but something stopped him, a train's whistle. It was starting up again. But that meant…
"No! The trains leaving, which means it took us a lot longer to get here then I thought! That means he's already on the train, but…how?! We should have crossed paths!'' Al was panicking and it was obvious.
"Looks like your plan is ruined,'' Winry said. Al hung his head down.
"I don't know how it happened. I thought we took the shortcut here. We should of made it before him. I don't understand it.'' Al said. The two walked back home. Al wasn't in the mood for talking as he had failed miserably to accomplish his goal. Winry followed him home, to his house. Al walked in the doorway, followed by Winry. He heard familiar voices.
"GAH! What are you still doing here?! I thought you were supposed to leave today! Get out! Get out! Out, out, out!'' Ed was screaming. Hope built up in Al, and he rushed into the kitchen, leaving Winry to close the door and follow after him.
"Edward, calm down! He's not staying forever. Just another night. Alphonse was right. It is too dangerous out after a storm like that. He'll be leaving tomorrow, promise!'' Trisha tried to calm Edward down. He was not happy at all. Al came into the room.
"Lt. Colonel! You're still here! I'm so happy! I thought you left!'' Al said, a lot happier then he had been ever since he found he couldn't find the piece of chalk. He ran up to the Lt. Colonel sitting in a chair opposite of Trisha and jumped up, hugging him, catching him by surprise. Ed could only gape in disgust.
"Whoa there Alphonse! Careful there, don't make him fall over!'' Trisha said, also surprised that Al would do that.