A/N: this chapters longer. the plot is furthered and we begin to see a pairing, perhaps...

Special thanks to those who reviewed!! kudos to you!!!

STAGE TWO: CAST

News that the Elric brothers and Winry Rockbell would be the lead characters in the local drama of Star Wars spread quite quickly, considering the fact that neither of the Elrics would admit to it. When they told their mother, she merely smiled knowingly. Whatever that meant.

Winry, on the other hand, could not stop talking about it. She seemed really exited about her new-found career as an actress. She was anxiously waiting for the director of the play to tell her what role she would be. Her ecstasy eventually contaminated Ed's attitude, and he too began to be excited about the upcoming play. After all, it was better than detention.

At least, that's what he thought; but his opinion changed radically when he learned the exact casting. While exiting class, they noticed on the bulletin board the following list:

"The Cast Involves the Following People:

Luke Skywalker…………………………………...William Smite

Princess Leia Organa Skywalker………………...Winry Rockbell

Han Solo………………………………………...Edward Elric

Chewbacca the Wookie………………………….Alphonse Elric

Darth Vader……………………………………...Mr. Rockbell…."

The list continued for a long time, revealing the identities of the actors involved with the other main characters and lesser characters until there read at the bottom:

"Scripts will be handed out tomorrow and rehearsals shall begin the following afternoon. Practices start at 2 and will be continued until 5. Roles are final. If you have any questions, please contact the director.

Also note that R-two D-two and Three Pio will be puppets supplied by Mrs. Pinako."

insert cricket noises

"YEAH!!!!!!!" Winry screamed, obviously delighted at the idea of playing the leading lady, especially one as famous as Leia Organa.

"What's there to 'yeah!' about??? I-! I-! I have to play your lover!!!"

"At least you're not a wookie," said Al, more dejected than before.

"Oh, get a grip, Ed, this'll be great! All of us are involved!! Your mom and mine are doing costumes, Dad's gonna be Darth Vader, and Granny is designing the robots, what more could you want? Besides, aren't you the one who's always asking me to marry you??"

Ed muttered something about differences before Winry shook him out of his reverie.

"Well, you could always ask about being Yoda. After all…you are small enough for the job description…" she said slyly.

"STOP SAYING SMALL!!!!!!" But Winry was already gone, sprinting off towards home in her own way of saying 'catch me if you can, shorty.' Ed and Al took off after her.

School came way too early for Alphonse. He had seen the movie Star Wars (as have all children in his generation and mine) and therefore knew exactly what wookies were. The problem was that he was a little…afraid of the oversized bear-like things.

Immediately after class began, the teacher handed each of them their scripts. Hardly glancing over the first page, Edward returned to the alchemy book he always read from at school. Winry diligently read and re-read her lines, memorizing them almost immediately from her sheer determination and excitement. Al, however, hardly accepted the large stack of papers with the words "Official Script" as his own. He didn't look at it throughout school. The day passed.

On the way home, Winry was already reciting her lines, chastising herself when she found a mistake. Her current actions were making Al more nervous; they seemed to only get on Ed's nerves, as Ed consequently put a stop to her recitation by calling her an machine-obsessed tomboy and then running away, her hot on his heels, leaving Al to catch up.

At least nii-san's also involved with this so I won't have to do it alone. And I don't seem to have any lines, which is also good.

These thoughts comforted Alphonse, and the stomach ache he had endured because of nerves began to lessen. He still didn't really feel like running after his brother and Winry. They had the tendency of playing with each other more than with him, anyways. So Al was content to walk alone, lost in his thoughts. Suddenly, a very evil idea occurred to the five year old. He remembered that Win and Ed were supposedly playing lovers…this might be interesting…

Rehearsal took place, as promised, the following afternoon. It took place in the large, empty field behind school where most physical education classes took place. The field had been cleared and there was what slightly resembled a stage being built towards the center. A large congregation of kids were grouped around the director as he shouted orders.

"Main actors!!!! You know who you are!!! Line up over there!!! In a STRAIGHT line!!!!" he gestured to an unoccupied space. Several parents stood behind him, perhaps there for emotional support. The man needed it.

"What about me?" asked Winry. She was the only female lead, and did not know if the stressed man was including her or not.

When her question went unanswered, Ed came to her rescue and bellowed, "WHERE DOES SHE GO??!!!!"

(crickets hum contentedly in background as the poor man struggles to digest what just occurred)

"Line up with them." The director politely ordered, somewhat frightened of the lung capacity of Ed.

After that incident, things calmed down quite a bit. The director's orders were listened to, and soon everyone was in there proper places.

"I want you all to get into groups of four and practice your lines while I organize the adults so that they can accurately set up this stage. Please, please don't disrupt," the man finished, a hint of begging evident even to the children.

"He must be stressed," Winry whispered to Ed.

With that, Ed, Winry, Alphonse (who had been strangely quiet, an odd look in his eyes), and William (the older boy who was acting out Luke's part) all grouped and began reading their lines. As to be expected, Winry already knew all her lines flawlessly; Ed was reading the lines in a "I really would rather be studying alchemy" voice; Al, who had completely recovered from his nerves, was actually getting pretty involved with the grunts and roars necessary to his role; and William was awkwardly practicing as best he could, unaccustomed to the presence of younger people.

The afternoon passed slowly.

For the next week, not much progress was made. The stage was still being built, the director looked like he had evolved into a psychotic insomniac, and the actors continued memorizing their lines. However, once the stage was finished, practice went by more smoothly.

Many of the adults who had been there were gone, their job completed with the stage. It was now on to step two: seeing if the actors could act.

This was what the director was most concerned about. He wanted this play to be a success, and the play was dependent on the believability of the characters. So, he had each of the children read several of their more…epic lines, two at a time. The pairing and lines went as followed:

Luke—Vader: "I am your father." "NOOO!!!!"

This 'audition' went by relatively well. Mr. Rockbell seemed quite enthusiastic about his role, and William…hesitated. Only for a moment, though, so it was still passable.

Chewie—Leai—Solo: "Into the garbage shoot, fly boy!!!" "Chewie grunt before getting pushed into the imaginary garbage shoot" "Wonderful girl! Either I'm about to kill her or I'm beginning to like her!"

This scene was comical to everyone except the director, who almost collapsed with frustration. Winry delivered her line marvelously. Al was perhaps a little too enthusiastic. But Edward ruined the moment.

How? you ask. Simple. He stopped, hesitated, and then finished his line with a face so red one could have mistaken it for a…well….a person who had just admitted that they liked someone in front of the whole school; which, incidentally, is exactly what he did.

The director really was at a loss as to what to do. He couldn't recast anyone, so that left him with two options: tutor the boy or try again. As the first option would require him to work harder, he allowed the boy another scene. Ed reluctantly accepted, picked a different scene, and performed it well, much to the director's relief.

The rest of the audition-like-scene-moments went by moderately well. It was revealed that several people (like the person playing Ben Kenobi or Jabba the Hutt) could not act. However, the rest of the leads and other people of importance were mediocre and the director was satisfied. The outcome was beyond his wildest dreams.

But Edward was concerned. He had frozen in the middle of a scene and almost ruined it for Winry and Al. It was only a practice, but what if that happened during the production? Why couldn't he deliver that line. As soon as he had begun to form the word "like" he had felt the blood rushing to his face as he quickly turned red. He managed to salvage his acting capability by performing a different selection, but his pride was sorely wounded. He had completely made a fool out of himself because of that stupid word. "Like."

Immediately after their group was dismissed, Edward started homeward. He didn't feel like talking to Al or Win. Right now, he just wanted some time to sort out what had just happened. And more importantly, why. Why he had frozen. Sure, he had to say that he liked the girl he had a crush on, but she already knew that (I mean, come on, Al and I have already proposed to her in turns); moreover, he knew that it was all a part of the play. He'd had no difficulty saying it to himself and to the group as the memorized their lines last week. So what was with the sudden embarrassment?

-----A/N: please review; constructive criticism welcome. no flames, please.