Okaaay. I really wish I updated this yesterday because yesterday was the hundredth anniversary of the day Ed and Al burned their house down! (Insert Nerd Grin Here.) But oh well.
This chapter is still kind of short, so I apologize for the lie in the last chapter where I promise this would be longer. It isn't. But it's something, right? 8D Anywho, this month has been busy, and it's only four days in. What with Halloween coming up, my favorite day of the year, my mom and I have been planning a lot of big stuff.
So there's my lame excuse. xD
The Lovely Daaaarlings!
A-Prayer-4-da-Damned: Thank you! I'm glad you like it. And of course I'm continuing – I plan to until the end.
XjipushiHotaruX: IKR? Dx The world is cruel to make her look like Winry. But I guess it's the price you pay for love(whut.)
Lana: PASTAAAAAAA! But yes, I love Hetalia. My absolute favorite character of all anime has become Germany. I'm obsessed with him. But I also love America and Russia. xD My ex actually planned this get together this weekend for an entire Hetalia special. It's gonna be G-N-A-R-L-Y.
Well then maybe I should start making them all shorter, yeah? (Shot)
IceFire Dragon Alchemist73: If Riley has anything to do with it, she most certainly will.
CloudEnvyKunoichi: Laptop problems suck, don't they? Maybe it was overheating. That was the problem with mine. The Blue Screen of Death! (Wriggles fingers in scary fashion.) Haha, I know what you mean. Though I was a natural blond when I was a kid so I guess I can't say much. XD
amber: I love it when people tell me they finished it in one night. It's so awesome. XD But thank you! I'm glad you like the story, and Riley!
Katsekala: Aren't they GNARLY? 8D I love them, too.
Mizunou: Oh wow. That sucks. Dx A friend of mine dropped hers about a week before mine started having problems. They had to replace the entire laptop. =/
SummoningShadows18: The horrible thing about technology is that it has so much power over your sanity. XD Thank you! I tried to make it longer, but couldn't. And thank you for that kind comment, I'm glad Riley fits in with the FMA atmosphere enough. (And I think that would've been an Armstrong moment if you added sparkles. So you're good. XD)
BladedancerOfIce: Haha, yeah, I used to have really blond hair so I know all too well about looking like Winry also.
Leenaluvsanime4eva: Lawlz xD It's definitely a new twist on Riley's image.
Bloody Bonez Alchemist XD: Like, crazy mad. Murderous mad. No one messes with Riley's hair. XD
Headstrong Emo Girl: I'm glad you like my story! But I've read your stories and they aren't bad. Everyone on here has to keep writing and stay open-minded to improvements. (Insert Cheesy Grin Here.)
ausumist: Thank you! I'm glad you like it!
ToshiroHitsugayagirlfriend: Haha, thanks! I enjoyed it a bit myself. XD
fma 4eva: I think a lot of people would! One Winry is enough, if you ask me.
Oh-You-Know-: It's funny because you reviewed my story as I was writing the next chapter. XD But thank you for the kind words! I'm glad you like it, and don't worry – Riley would never keep the Winry look. Never.
Want to Be a Lovely Daaaarling? Review! Bwahaha...
Ohmai, are these Lovely Daaaarling moments getting longer? 8D I love you guys.
Oh bad (yet totally irrelevant) news, my laptop shut itself off today! I'm hoping it's not a sign that it will revert back to its old problems. I've had enough of Geek Squad to last me a couple years.
I don't own FullMetal Alchemist. If I did, I'D USE THE MONEY TO MAKE THE BEST HAUNTED HOUSE IN THE WORLD.
But I don't have a Haunted House, let alone THE BEST HAUNTED HOUSE IN THE WORLD. Or money. So I don't own FMA.
What do I have instead? Riley. Yeah. Real nice…
Chapter Forty-Two:
Spur of the Moment Decisions
"I…I need to tell you something," Ed said, looking down at the ground. He refused to actually face me.
Raising a brow, I shrugged, "What is it?"
Sighing, he shook his head and finally looked up. "I really like you," He spat out. My eyes widened in surprise. I looked over my shoulder to make sure he was talking to me. No one else was there. So it had to be me.
"Ed… I, um… I like you too," I admitted finally, rubbing the back of my neck. He grinned and I looked away sheepishly. My eyes landed on the glass window beside me and I stopped when I saw my horrible reflection – Winry was staring right back at me.
Yelping, I felt myself jerk awake and I sat up quickly, yanking away from Hannah's shoulder. My arms were crossed, just as they were when I fell asleep. I looked around quickly, and in horror, as I tried registering what happened. The hell was that? Those horrid clothes were getting to me! Those clothes and my new hair color! Damn it all…
I looked out the window and saw that the sun was about to start setting. Some people had fallen asleep as well, and others were talking quietly amongst themselves. Ed wasn't in the booth anymore. I held back a sigh of relief. Standing up, I glanced down to the sleeping Hannah before walking toward the door at the end of the compartment. Opening it, I paused when I saw Ed standing there. I shut the door behind me and walked over to his side.
Hearing me, he glanced down at me and I scowled. He smirked. Since he was in 'disguise', he wanted to be taller. This compensation of his made me the "short one". Leaning on the railing, I scowled out at the scenery racing by us. "Not only do I look like Winry, but Edward Elric is looking down at me," I grumbled out.
"Stop worrying about it. It's not like we had a choice," Was his casual response. Even so, I knew he was laughing on the inside. That bastard.
I looked away from him. "Yeah right. You just wanted an excuse to touch my ass."
Ed stumbled over and I smirked. Revenge. "W-What?" He shouted in shock, looking over at me with wide eyes and red cheeks.
Feigning an innocent look, I nodded as I closed my eyes and sighed. "Really, all you had to do was ask. There was no need to use dying my hair as a decoy. It would have been enjoyable if I knew my hair wasn't going to be ruined."
Ed was quiet for a bit longer as he looked down at me. Examining my face. Trying to see what I was planning. Finally, he shook his head. "I didn't touch your… I didn't touch that!" I burst out laughing when I realized he couldn't say it. His blush deepened, "S-Shut up, Riley. You're just exaggerating."
My laughs died down as I shook my head. "You're too easy to read!" I was about to continue my torment, but the train started slowing down. We both turned away from each other in curiosity. We shared a quick glance, the humor gone from the air. Something was up – we weren't supposed to be stopping for a while. The train came to a complete stop and I leaned over the railing to look around. Finally, at the head of the train, I saw several officers standing together. Two of the military personnel were climbing onto the train, one of the two shouting orders. "The military's searching the train," I commented blankly.
I looked back up to Ed to see his reaction. The collar of his brown trench coat and the sunglasses hid most of his face, but I knew he was coming up with back up plans. Not too long afterward, I could hear the same officer walking through the compartment we were near. "Search carefully! We have to assume they're in some sort of disguise. There's a tall one and a dwarf, accompanied by two females. The dwarf could easily be overlooked so take extra precautions!"
A smirk found its way to my face, despite the seriousness of the situation. Also ignoring what could happen, Ed's fist tightened as he growled through a set jaw. I saw the officers at the door and quickly looked away. For all we knew, they had a good idea of our faces. I could hear them stop behind us. "That can't be them," The quieter one said, "The guy we're looking for is the size of an ant."
Ed twitched and his growl became louder. His fist began shaking and my eyes widened in anger – toward him. Quickly wrapping an arm around where I hoped to be his waist, I chuckled out, "This trip has been great, hasn't it?" Ed's gaze jerked down toward me, his body stiff. Red rose to his cheeks as he shot me a 'what the hell are you doing?' stare. I glared up at him as I whispered out, "Calm down, you idiot."
We began to argue in whispers; I was scolding him for getting so angry and potentially ruining our disguises. Ed was complaining about being called short even when he's taller than me, which set me off into a whole other subject about not being taller than me and how he should just wait and see what I was going to do to him after those boots came off and he was back to his puny size again. Which only got him angrier, of course.
Neither of us really noticed the two men behind us, until we heard a man shout, "Commander! We've found some weird bronze statue in the back."
Falling quiet and still, Ed and I continued staring at each other as we intently listened to the three men. "How big is it?" The quieter one asked.
"I think it looks bigger than a suit of armor," The new man said, "But I don't know."
The commander, who had already annoyed me, sighed. "Let's crack it open, just in case."
They ran off down the compartments and I pulled away from Ed, who was staring in their direction. "I'm going to go get Hannah," I said calmly, knowing this would be our leave. Ed nodded and jumped off the gauge, taking off toward the storage unit where Al was. I, on the other hand, pulled open the compartment door and ran inside. Hannah, who sat in the middle booth, jumped up after seeing me. I ran over to her and waited for her to grab her bag. "They're going to crack open Al, we need to go," I explained simply before taking her arm and dragging her away.
By the time we jumped off the gauge and reached the compartment, Ed was growling as the commander shouted, "You're the dwarf!"
"Al, let's go!" Ed shouted, throwing his jacket off and into the air. Al destroyed the statue and the soldiers let out more cries of surprise. The commander shouted for them all, and we took off.
Reaching the brothers' side, I scowled as I ran with them. "I knew a statue of Armstrong was obvious!" I shouted out into the air. I had to make sure I stated that before I forgot. I had to.
Ed's brow twitched. "Now's not the time for that, Riley!" He shouted. I was about to reply but he only looked to Al, "Al, run ahead!"
The boy looked down to his brother, now aware conversation was turned toward him. "Brother… I bet with the stone's powers, we co-"
"Just run!" Ed interrupted, irritated that Al insisted on using the stone. Al paused, but did so. I looked over my shoulder to Hannah, who silently nodded and sped up to get in line with Al. "You too, Riley!" I looked over in surprise, ready to yell at him, but saw the look in his eye. I paused and, knowing he wanted to get this over with, I sighed and ran forward after the others.
. . .
The room was quiet and calm, something I was thankful for at the moment. Just as I had thought, Ed handled the situation quickly – none of us were in the mood to get into a big fight with them. Hannah and Al sat on the bed together as I knelt in front of them, rummaging through Hannah's bag for my clothes. Ed stood by the window silently. "Thanks, Brother," Al finally broke the silence. "But I could've-"
"Al. You can't use alchemy anymore," Ed stated matter-of-factly. Almost… Bitterly.
The younger Elric was quick to respond. "But why not? I remember the gate now, Brother! And I'm the Philosopher's Stone, so I've been thinking I could probably do it without a circle-" Ed snapped.
"Just don't, Al!" He shouted angrily. He had spun around, glaring down at his brother. The two fell silent. Regretting his actions, Ed's shoulders eased, as well as his expression. Smiling slightly, he softly explained the situation. "If you use the stone's power, we don't know what will happen to you. We'll take our time, okay? We'll study more… And do it right."
Silence fell among us all.
I was growing tired of the tension – between the mood swings I had gone through, and the drama between them, I was sick of it. So, lazily glancing to either of them, I smirked down at the bag. "Here there are," I said casually as I pulled out my clothes. "Thought I'd never find them…," I grumbled to myself as I stood and kicked off my shoes. My hands guided themselves to the belt of the pants I had on and I began to undo it.
"W-What are you doing?"
My lazy expression turned slightly as I glanced over to the red faced Elric. "What? I want my own clothes again."
"So change in the bathroom like a decent person!" Ed exclaimed, leaning back so far I thought his back would mold into the window he stood in front of. Like he was trying to stay away from cooties or something.
I rose a brow and scowled. Turning to face him completely, I pointed to my stomach which was bare due to Winry's shirt. "Like you haven't seen my skin already! After making me wear this get-up, you're worried about seeing my skin? Look at this! Look!" I shouted, repeatedly jabbing my finger at my stomach as I stepped forward for a more dramatic statement.
His blush worsened as his eyes, of course, were directed to where I was pointing. "I see it, Riley, you don't have to point it out!"
"So you've been eying me?" I shouted in response, feigning a look of surprise and offense. Quickly looking away as I hid my mouth behind my hand, I closed my eyes sadly. "You pervert."
"Me?" Ed shouted loudly and incredulously. "You're the one that's been staring at my ass!" Silence fell once more and I gained a wide smirk at how painfully hilarious that had sounded.
Noticing my smirk, his expression immediately turned to a scowl. Shaking his head, he shoved his hands into his pockets as he sulked to the door. "Brother?" Al asked curiously. We all watched his back as he opened the door.
"There's something I need if we're going to stop the homunculi," He grumbled out, still embarrassed. Before Al could offer to go with him, he looked at us all. "You guys just stay here and rest. It won't take long."
He left and I sighed as the door shut back in place. "He's going to get himself killed like this one day," I grumbled to myself. Hannah began to lay down as I went to the bathroom to shower.
. . .
Yawning, I stepped out of the shower leisurely. Water dripped from the shower head in a painstakingly slow manner as I grabbed a towel. I could hear a faint noise outside the door as I wrapped the towel around myself, but thought nothing of it. It was probably just Al or Hannah. Walking over to the sink, I grinned as I saw my familiar dark brown hair. "Thank you," I whispered toward the ceiling before brushing out the tangles.
Just as I slipped on my underwear, I heard a loud thud, followed by rushed mutters. "What the hell?" I wondered aloud as I walked over to the door and opened it.
It was definitely not Al or Hannah. Wrath leaned over Ed on the bed, hand wrapped around the blond's neck as the two struggled against eachother's strength. Lust stood near the door, but was frozen to her spot. A locket was entwined with her extended nails. Poor Hannah was sitting at the head of the bed, looking as though the fight woke her harshly from her sleep.
Without thinking much about it, I ran forward and grabbed the back of Wrath's collar. I yanked him backwards and threw him toward Lust. He caught his fall, rolling forward as Ed jumped up from the bed. He clapped and slammed his hands on the floor, bringing up a rock wall in between us. Ed glanced over to me so I finally questioned, "Where's Al?"
"Al went to meet Tucker," He replied. Our conversation was interrupted when Lust slashed the wall into pieces. We both turned back to them, stepping back slightly. Glancing behind him, Ed spun around and grabbed my arm. He ran to the window, dragging me with him. My eyes widened when I realized what he was doing. Wrapping an arm tight around my waist, he leaped through the window. I yelped, grabbing onto his jacket sleeve as we fell toward the alley's ground.
We landed side by side and I winced as I felt the stinging impact on my bare feet. "Idiot, give me warning next time!" I complained, glaring at Ed.
Before he could snap back at me, Lust jumped down in front of us. We braced ourselves for a fight as Wrath jumped down behind us. "Kill them now, Lust!" He shouted angrily.
Ed didn't bother looking back to Wrath as he glared at the woman before us. "I guess you want to become a human too, don't you?" He growled out.
At first, Lust said nothing. Looking Ed in the eye, she finally spoke. "If there is a Philosopher's Stone… Then Shou Tucker is teaching your brother to use it as we speak." She paused once more to glanced downwards, frowning. "Let's say you did decide to use it…"
"Stop, Lust! We can't talk to him!" Wrath protested.
But she continued. "Then… Would you…," Looking up with hope and desperation, she asked, "Then would you make me a human being?"
Ed was taken back in surprise. "Traitor!" Wrath shouted, running around us both to attack Lust.
Quick to act, Lust ran forward, extending her nail to throw Wrath backwards. Ed glared up at her. He wasn't buying into this, and for good reason. "What the hell are you trying here?" He exclaimed.
"I already told you," She replied calmly.
"Oh come on. If you really think I would turn you guys into humans, you're even crazier than I thought you were," He refused still. I sighed silently; maybe she was being honest. And I could definitely see the plus sides to him turning them into humans. What was so wrong with that, after all?
Lust was apparently on the same train of thought. "Why wouldn't you?" She whispered out lowly. Ed looked over at her, startled slightly. She looked over her shoulder at us. "If you transformed all of us homunculi into humans than we wouldn't be chasing you anymore. You'd have no more enemies, would you?"
Ed gritted his teeth together as her words ran through his head. Wrath took this opportunity to jump up, rushing toward Lust. "Traitor!" He repeated as he clapped his hands. Lust slapped him away and moved to pierce him once more, but he was ready. Holding up the locket, he glared at Lust as her nail pierced the locket. She gasped slightly, falling to her back. My eyes narrowed. I didn't like where this was going. "You just couldn't be patient, could you?" Wrath sneered out as he walked over to her and placed a foot on her chest, "Didn't Master say she would turn is into humans once we found the Philosopher's Stone?"
"I don't believe her…," She whispered out, weak from the locket, "I can't. I know she just wants the Philosopher's Stone to prolong her own life. For that reason… Countless wars have been fought. You know our master has no intention of ever making us all human…"
Wrath smirked in his own twisted way. "Well I never cared if she helps me or not. I've got my own strategy for becoming a human, Lust," He said as he reached up and grabbed one of her nails. He bent it backwards and as it cracked away from her, she let out a painful scream. Wrath attached it to his hand as he continued, "I guess it's like our master said. You really can't be trusted, can you?"
I'd had enough. Running forward, I growled out, "That's it!" Ed shouted my name in protest but I ignored it. Wrath looked up upon hearing me, but I was already in front of him. I threw my fist toward his face and he grabbed my arm. Quickly, I grabbed his own. He flinched as he felt his arm heating up, and let go out of instinct. Since he was off guard, I punched him. He flew backwards, just as Ed reached my side to stop me.
Obviously he was a little late for that. Ed reached forward and removed the locket from Lust. Almost immediately, she had Wrath pinned to the ground. Smirking in victory, she sent another nail into his forehead. "Let's go," She said, looking to us simply. They started walking out of the alley and as I began to follow them, I felt a sharp breeze slamming into my body. W-What the… I reached around myself to grab my arms, and felt bare skin.
Bare… Skin? Looking down, my eyes went wide.
I hadn't changed yet.
Letting out a loud, short scream, I quickly grabbed the towel as if it would leave me. In shock and worry, Lust and Ed quickly turned to see what was wrong. Lust's expression didn't change, but Ed's did. We both blushed heavily as he stumbled back. "Y-You – Wh – What were you thinking coming out here in just a – just a towel?"
I jerked my head up to glare at him, "You're the one that made me jump out a window, idiot! Now I'm freezing!" Shaking my head, I ran forward, shoving past the both of them as my hair hid my reddening face. "I have to change!" Ed continued to blush. Lust glanced down at him with a bit of amusement and he looked away to the other end of the road stubbornly.
Barging into the hotel room, I slammed the door behind me. Hannah looked over and smirked widely. I glared at her. "Don't say a word," I hissed out before grabbing my clothes and running into the bathroom.
From outside the door, I could hear Hannah fall of the bed from laughing so hard.
Chapter Translation Time!
Chapter Forty's Title is Russian.
Chapter Forty-One's title is Dutch.
And this chapter is Estonian!
If I got any translation wrong, please let me know. I am by no means fluent in these languages and don't expect to be right every time.
Now, Be Responsible. Don't Flame and Drive! Rawr.