"Yes, sir." Edward Elric saluted and, after being dismissed, walked from the room back to the office. While he was still not the most formal person, he had grown accustomed to being in the military as the years went by and was professional when actually working.

Besides, it had been worth it to see the chaos and suspicion the first time he had come in quietly and respectfully listened to his orders from the newly elevated Major General Mustang, following his own promotion to Colonel and subsequent move into the office. As a full Colonel, he technically had his own office, but had refused to move out of Mustang's. The Fuhrer had been obliging, but saddled him with five of his own subordinates who Edward checked up on less than he probably should. He still had a disproportionate number of assignments in the field, along with more paperwork. Contrary to all expectations, he had become rather skilled in finishing it quickly and forging the Major General's signature when time was of the essence.

Hawkeye loved this development, regarding him with an indulgent pride that saved him from her various forms of encouragement by firearm. The rest of the office was too scared of her to heckle Ed about it, but they damn well noticed that he did not get the gun pointed at him unless he was arguing with Mustang and even then, was shot at less.

This assignment though… He mulled it over in his head. This was going to be annoying. He had a latent talent with magic and had planned to keep it that way, but he wasn't sure he had much of a choice. Using alchemy on this mission wouldn't be a very smart choice. No need to tip his hand and reveal the full breadth of his skills when they were preparing to go to war. Even if the Fuhrer hadn't specifically mentioned preparing for battle, it was implied. Amestris was always caught up in one conflict or another, so this was just adding another possible enemy.

Mustang caught up to him around then, after being dismissed himself from the Fuhrer's office. They walked companionably for a few moments before Edward broke the silence.

"I don't think I'll be a very good ambassador."

"And I will?" Mustang asked absently.

His mind was obviously somewhere else. It was also obvious that Mustang would make a better ambassador than Edward, despite a week-long crash course from Mustang's officers, enforced by Hawkeye. They seemed to be under the impression that he planned on rising high in the ranks after his promotion and would need it. Little did they know, Edward's only career plan was to be behind Mustang every step of the way to the Fuhrership. It may have been a horrible seven days, but would come in handy now.

"Better than me. I understand why I'm going, especially as these people haven't heard of me, but I am not looking forward to this," he muttered, "I'll probably stand out because of my age and that's the opposite of what we want to happen." Of course, if he remembered his lessons right, wizards were considered adults at seventeen (or had it been eighteen?), so it might not be that much of an issue.

"Honestly, everyone who expects you to act like a normal seventeen year old is in for a surprise. You're more dangerous than many twice your age, even if it doesn't show sometimes." Edward's eyebrows raised slightly at that.

"That sounded suspiciously like a compliment, Major General," Edward informed him, in an almost official tone. Mustang's lips twitched for a moment before he resumed an impassive face.

"Did it?" he asked, faking surprise.

Edward rolled his eyes and didn't respond to that. Instead, he asked, "What's the date today?"

Mustang looked at him for a moment, obviously slightly confused by the non sequitur. Still, he thought for a moment before answering, "July 14, I think. I'll have to check the calendar. Why?"

"We're leaving soon then," Edward mused. "I'll have to pack. Can't be late after all the strings the Foreign Department has pulled to get this done."

"Did you just appreciate manipulation?" Mustang asked in jest. A glare was the only response he received. "How long does it take to get there?" he asked, more to divert Edward's attention than out of actual curiosity.

Ed looked at the ceiling for a moment, face thoughtful, before he looked at Mustang once more. "Well, we have to take Amestrian trains to get to the West and then we'll take some a flight to get to England. I'd rather not risk the consequences with using magical transportation to get there. I've heard non-magical transportation is really fast too. Could probably get us there in under a day. The whole trip outbound will probably take about a week."

Mustang hid a smirk. Of course Edward would know how fast transportation was outside the wards, even if Mustang was sure he had never needed the information before.

"Wait," Ed paused and, when Mustang continued walking, grabbed Mustang's arm. "I said wait, bastard." Too used to the insult to take offense, Mustang simply looked at Ed, raising one eyebrow and managing to seem unconcerned with the too tight grip his subordinate had on his arm. "Do you even know English?"

"Of course," Mustang drawled, "I'm a bit rusty, but English is one of the languages at least half the population of Creta speaks." He ignored the fact that it was technically no longer Creta, but Amestris's western territory. There were enough rebellions in the area that there was no doubt as to what the former Cretans thought of the whole issue. Returning to their conversation, Mustang asked, "Do you?"

"Of course. Certain journals never get translated," Edward replied, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world and why wouldn't he know English?

Mustang's eyebrow twitched at his tone, but Edward was already walking away and they were almost to the office anyway. He doubted Hawkeye would hesitate to use her gun if she heard them arguing after he had arrived late in the morning and subsequently fled to his meeting with the Fuhrer. Perhaps if he started working fast enough, he would be spared. With that in mind, he confidently strode into the room. Very few would notice that he was walking slightly faster than normal. Unfortunately for him, most of those few were in the room he had just entered.

Hawkeye had already turned, the deadly glint in her eye at odds with her respectful salute as she spotted him. He had begun praying for a swift death when Edward spoke up. "Major Hawkeye, I may have to leave a little early today. I have to get Winry and Al over here in the next few days."

With that statement, Edward had effectively caught the attention of the entire office and Mustang thanked him silently him, even if the other man was not aware of what he had done.

"Why do you have to do that?" Breda asked.

"I can't take a few days off from work before going away on a mission in order to go visit them. I'll have to ask Winry is she's made any improvements since I last saw her…" He trailed off with a small wince.

Noticing that, Havoc said, "Probably not. You saw her a just few weeks back after destroying your arm again."

Edward winced again before retorting, "That was more than a few weeks back. It's been at least four months. Besides, it wasn't destroyed! It was just… a bit broken."

Havoc raised an eyebrow before leaning back in his chair and saying, "Your definition of broken is very different from mine."

Edward sighed explosively before grumbling in a manner reminiscent of his younger, brasher self, "Whatever." He huffed and continued with his earlier statement. "Anyway, after that, Mustang and I are heading out on a mission, along with a few others in various departments, although I'm not sure who."

"What type of mission?" Falman asked.

"Information gathering, mostly. Technically we will be there to observe the community and then attempt to renew a treaty at the end of our stay once we've learned more about their culture and customs. Of course, everyone knows that means the Fuhrer just wants us to spy on them." Hawkeye sent him a disapproving look and he supposed that he shouldn't have used those exact words where someone could hear him and report back to the Fuhrer. He would have to be more careful, especially with this mission on the horizon "It's in the British Wizarding Community though." Here, Edward wrinkled his nose in distaste. He was trying to forget that aspect of it, but logically, he knew it was the most important part.

He noticed the looks of pity mixed with sympathy directed at him, and his eyebrow twitched. "What are those looks for?" he asked, annoyed.

"Nothing," the office replied simultaneously. Everyone knew the British Wizarding Community was the most troublesome of all of them. It was at this moment when both Hawkeye and Edward noticed something.

"Where did Major General Mustang go?" Hawkeye asked. When her question was greeted by shrugs, she pulled her weapon out in one smooth motion and quietly slid the safety off. Immediately, they pointed as one towards the door that led to Mustang's office. Hawkeye sighed and put the handgun away. It wasn't worth it today, especially if he was already in his office. Besides, he had a mission soon and no one would want to replace him.

Edward sat down and began to do his work. The others quickly followed suit and Hawkeye smiled approvingly. After a few hours, Fuery came back and the office went to get lunch. Edward grabbed the coat he had taken off in protest of the heat and slung it over his shoulder. Proper decorum be damned when it was this hot. He should get a commendation for even wearing the uniform. Even the air conditioner they had stolen courtesy of small, forgettable, indispensable Fuery was doing little to combat the heat.

"I'll be going now." He gave a very lazy half-salute-which prompted lazy half-nods from the others and a chorus of goodbyes-before walking out the office door.


"Yeah, yeah… I got it, old lady! Pass me over to Al already!" Edward sighed. Winry hadyelled at him for ruining his automail already before he managed to get out that he hadn't-at which point Pinako began to question the suspicious activity of him calling when he didn't need something. He realized that it was only half-joking on their part.

"Brother? Are you injured?" Edward glared at the phone box in front of him. Sure, he usually didn't call more than weekly nowadays, but did they really have to jump to that conclusion when he did? Whether they were correct or not was irrelevant.

"No, Alphonse. Have a little faith in your older brother! I'll be going away for a while and wanted to see if you and Winry could come to Central before I left. I can't get down to Risembool," he explained, fingers idly tapping the glass he was leaning against.

His little brother paused for a moment before asking, "How long will you be gone?" Edward detected a hint of anxiety in his tone and he squashed the urge to frown at it.

"The mission will last a year, at least. We'll be going to the British Wizarding Community. It'll be Mustang, me and a few other people."

"A year…" Alphonse trailed off before pragmatically asking, "When are you leaving then? Winry and I will be sure to come up."

He stopped tapping, words flowing from his tongue without him really thinking about them. "Well, I just found out about the mission today, so I had to-"

Alphonse cut him off, realizing his brother was stalling. "Brother. When?"

"Next week." Edward tensed, waiting for something, though for what he wasn't sure.

Alphonse sighed lightly, with a hidden resignation that Edward was intimately familiar with. "That's not much time. We'll be there in a few days. Don't do anything stupid until we get there."

If Edward hadn't known that was his brother's way of reassuring himself, he would have been tempted to launch into a tirade about how he rarely did stupid things, and Alphonse should already know that. Instead, he simply replied, "I won't. I only have a few days to do anything and I don't think I can think of anything suitably catastrophic in that time."

Alphonse laughed and they said their goodbyes. Winry was put back on the phone and Edward quickly asked, "Have you made any improvements?", trying to derail any further comments about how his recklessness. He could practically hear her glowing with excitement.

"A few. I wanted to try out a new material actually. I think you'll like it if you're going to England, but I'll have to work quickly if you want to try it out. The material is an alloy that's more resistant to cold-" At this point, Edward tuned out her ramblings. He understood her passion, but the subject still wasn't of interest to him.

Hearing a pause, he interjected, "Sounds great. I have to head out now, so I'll see you soon."

Quickly saying goodbye, Edward hung up and walked off. He really did have to pack, although he had plenty of time. He briefly considered packing a few books from Central First Branch library, but considered how zealously the librarians guarded their hoard and dismissed the idea. Either way, he had to brush up on his English. It had been a while since he had read something that required it and he never had learned to actually speak the language.

Edward sighed again. He was going to have to read a dictionary again, and it would be good to read up on the English Wizards. He was reluctantly proud of his country if not its history, and his behavior would reflect upon Amestris and the other ambassadors. He would have to find out exactly how he was supposed to act in English society.

This week would involve a lot of research. Edward grinned and several people moved away once they saw it. The Fullmetal Alchemist grinning like that didn't tend to bode well for the people around him. Ignoring the reactions of the people around him, he began wondering which books would be the most helpful. He hadn't had a challenge like this in a while. It would be fun.


"Hughes?"

Maes blinked a few times, trying to force himself awake, before he slid on his glasses. "Ed? Why are you calling me at-" He checked the time and almost recoiled from shock. "-five in the morning?"

"I need some help," Ed said shortly. It took a moment for the sentence to sink into Maes's sleep-deprived mind, but once it had, he was very awake.

"What's going on? Did you blow up a building again? What do you need?" Maes asked quickly, not bothering to pause for breath. Edward was a trouble magnet in the best of times, but he didn't often need Maes's help.

"I didn't blow up that building! That was an unstable alchemic reaction drawn by an idiot who activated it right when-"

Maes's mini-panic attack quickly faded once Ed started talking. If he had enough time to rant about how he hadn't technically blown up a building yet, he was fine for the moment. "Of course, Edward. What do you need though? I'd like to go back to sleep at some point." Really, he'd like to go back to sleep at that moment, but it wasn't likely to happen.

"Ah. Right." Maes shook his head, a fond smile on his lips. Edward could get distracted so easily sometimes. "Where can I find information on the British Wizarding Community?"

"Oh, you're one of the ones chosen for the mission." That was a smart move on the Fuhrer's part, in Maes's opinion. "Have you looked in the library already?" That was usually Ed's first resource, and the participants had only been informed yesterday that they were chosen. It was odd that he was calling Maes at this point.

"Yeah. They only have a few books that even mention the place, and most of them are fiction. Poorly written fiction. Only one of them was helpful in the least, but it was one of the fiction books, and so it could all be wrong for all I know." Maes shifted the phone slightly as he rubbed at his eyes. It was just too early for him to be functioning properly. Edward may wake up at this sort of time whenever he went in for work, but Maes had a later schedule. Really, practically everyone had a later schedule than Edward Elric. There were rumors floating around that the boy never slept, and Maes would be worried for the boy's health if he hadn't seen him sleep until noon on his off days.

Edward had better drive when it came to what interested him than many researchers far older than him. The potential of his formidable mind would tempt any department, and Maes often wished Roy would share. Then he went and did something stupid and Maes returned to being glad that Roy was the one who had to deal with it. He was almost certain Edward had so few missions that went as planned that he now abandoned the carefully drawn up plans by default, and played it by ear because it had statistically worked out better for him.

"Yeah, we don't deal with them often. Information can be a bit hard to come by and most of it is hopelessly outdated if it came through official channels." Or even some of the unofficial channels. Wizards were annoying to deal with at the best of times. "Amestris hasn't directly dealt with them since sometime in the 1500s. I'll check some of the files at work, see if I can find anything for you. Either way, you should probably ask Roy about it."

"Mustang?" Edward sounded honestly perplexed that the man's name was even mentioned. "Why would he have anything?"

Maes chuckled lightly and leaned on the counter behind him. "You guys don't really discuss hobbies with each other, do you? He likes learning about other cultures. Doesn't care much about the specifics of their machinery or anything, just likes knowing about their languages and etiquette. Even if information is hard to come by from here, he used to convince people who were traveling out of the wards to bring him back a book or two when we were in the academy," he explained. "I think he even managed to travel outside the wards for a couple of days at some point."

"Clever bastard. Half the population of Creta and some people outside the wards, more like," Edward muttered. More loudly, he said, "I'll ask the bastard what he knows at work today. Thank Hughes."

"No problem." Edward may not be able to see it, but Maes's glasses glinted as a goofy smile crossed his face. "Do you know what Elysia did just the other day though? She was so cute, working on-"

"Right, Maes, I'll see you soon! Bye!" Edward said hurriedly and a dial tone came through moments later.

"Geez. You would think he didn't want to hear about Elysia."


"It doesn't count as breaking into your house if you invite me to look at your books anytime," Edward said the moment he heard the door open, not even bothering to look up from the book that had captured his attention. His face rested on one of his palms and his entire body showed how relaxed he was, making the intensely focused expression on his face seem out of place.

"It wasn't an invitation to break into my house and then splay across my couch," Mustang said without heat, hanging up his jacket as if finding Edward in his home was an expected occurrence.

"I made coffee," Ed offered with a shrug, turning a page as he shifted into a more comfortable position, laying his head on the armrest of the couch.

It was unclear whether he was making an offer or simply making a statement, but Mustang took it as the former. "Excellent. Which book is that?"

Edward shot him an unimpressed look, as if he were supposed to recognize every book in his library on sight, before he tilted the book up slightly to expose its spine. 'Pride and Prejudice' it read in English, in almost indecipherable loopy golden writing. "It's not a particularly helpful book," he said flatly.

Mustang's lips twitched as he refrained from chuckling. "It's not supposed to be." He disappeared into the kitchen for a few moments, reappearing with a steaming mug clasped in one hand. He moved over to the shelves in his living room, hands skimming over his books before he came to the one he was looking for.

The thin, black book had no title on its cover, but there was a small 'D' in red cursive on the lower right hand corner.

"This is the one I started on. It's a journal from one of the men who made the trip a couple of times over the years. He never traveled to the British Wizarding Community, but he did go to England. I bought it off him before he moved out of the wards," Mustang explained, handing the book to Edward. It would be almost impossible to replace the thing if it somehow got ruined, but he wasn't that worried; after all, this was Edward Elric, and the one thing he could always be trusted with was books.

Edward took the book a lot more gingerly than Mustang would have expected, hand lightly touching Mustang's for a moment as he slid it out of his grip. Ed brushed his hand across the cover, scattering a slight build-up of dust. It had been a while since Mustang had needed that book, so it was to be expected. "Did you know him well?"

Mustang breathed out slowly, considering the question. "Once. He's gone now."

The young man had enough tact not to ask what he meant. A lot of people were gone now, one way or another. He simply nodded and gave Mustang a short smile of gratitude before setting down Pride and Prejudice and carefully opening the journal.

The dark-haired man grabbed his own book, A Treatise on The Cost of Magic. While rather outdated and occasionally grossly biased, it was still widely considered one of the premier resources on magic. He shoved Ed's feet off the couch to make room for himself, not bothering to complain when Ed just put his feet into Mustang's lap after a moment. A companionable silence fell, broken only by the soft turning of pages and the clinking of their coffee cups as they drank.

A few hours later found Edward asleep, limbs haphazardly, one foot still in Mustang's lap while his other leg and one arm had slid off the couch. Their cups rested on the coffee table and the journal was clutched loosely in Edward's grasp, almost touching the ground. Mustang set down his own book and shifted Edward's foot off him before heading into the hall to get a blanket. He draped it over Ed, not surprised when Ed had managed to tangle himself in it once Mustang returned from the kitchen after getting a refill of coffee.

He grabbed the book from Ed's grasp, bookmarked it and set it on the table with his mug. He never did finish his drink as he was asleep himself a few minutes later.

Ed woke up early in the morning, carefully exiting the room and pretending that he didn't notice Mustang waking up. That scene was a bit too charmingly domestic for the both of them when Edward still lived for adrenaline and Mustang lived in fixed single-mindedness for the Fuhrer's seat. He walked back to the dorms and vaguely wished he had one of the mobile phones that the author of the journal had written about. They would be useful so he could thank Hughes for his advice before he had to head off to work, even if they did seem unnecessarily bulky. Edward was sure he could modify that design to make it smaller. Then they wouldn't have to be limited to automobile usage.

As Ed walked on, he continued to muse on his newfound knowledge of the world outside the wards. It had never been relevant before and probably would never be relevant again, but Edward loved knowledge.

The Colonel could be found sprawled on Mustang's couch every night that week.

Neither of them mentioned it.


"Brother! You're late!" His brother not only managed to call this over the low buzz of people wandering the train station, but also conveyed a certain pointed accusation in his voice that Ed was certain he would never be able to replicate.

Alphonse looked well, holding both his and Winry's luggage like the gentleman he was and having put on some weight since Edward last saw him. Ed was of the opinion that Al always needed to put on weight, ever since they had managed to restore him to his body, and both Winry and Pinako shared this sentiment.

The brat was wearing that blue coat to copy Ed though. He can tell from the mischievous twinkle in his eyes. Ed refused to comment on it, just to spite him. At least the rest of his outfit didn't copy Ed, because leather pants simply didn't go as well with Alphonse's personality, even if he was a cheeky imp sometimes.

"I was asleep!" He quickly moved on from that topic, because he had in fact been asleep on Mustang's couch once again. While he knew it was completely benign, Al has been trying to revive Ed's romantic life for a year now and wouldn't take it that way. He wasn't sure if Al would try to kill Mustang or try to force them into a relationship, but he's not particularly eager to find out either way.

"You're staying at the Hughes's, right? Let me take that," he said, snatching one of the suitcases from his brother's hand. It was a bit heavier than he expected, so it was probably the one for the automail. "How have you both been? Helping out on any of the neighbor's farms or has work kept you guys busy? Any interesting customers?"

Huh. Perhaps he had been speaking a little too fast, as Alphonse was giving him a look that implied he knew exactly what Ed was trying to do but would let it slide for now. Even after being separated for months, they know each other too well. Ed hoped, in the back of his mind where all the sappy thoughts he never acknowledged went, that this would never change, because they had been through so much already that they deserve to keep this one thing.

Alphonse told him about some of the more interesting customers that he had helped with and mentioned how busy Winry had been in the last week. Winry grinned and began talking a mile a minute about the limbs she had designed for him and how much work she had put into it and how sorry he would be if he broke it. Ed nodded at the appropriate places, content to walk and enjoy their company. He valiantly did not comment on how much closer than usual Al and Winry were walking. He was smart enough to know that there were some places where he couldn't interfere in his brother's life, even if his brother wouldn't return the favor. Then again, Alphonse was better at people than him, so having some help might not be that bad of a thing if it was from Al.

He still smirked at Al when he held the door open for Winry and was gratified to see his brother go red.

Still such a kid.

It took until about halfway into the week for Al to burst into Edward's home and find that Edward was not there. He said nothing to his brother about it, although he couldn't resist the odd smirk slipping through during the day. Edward looked at him askance more than a few times, but Al remained silent while he wondered who his brother was spending his nights with. He would know as soon as Ed was ready to tell him, but it didn't make him any less curious as to who had managed to capture his brother's attention.

The next day Winry decided it would be a good time to replace his automail, and he gritted his teeth through the poking and prodding, and tried not to squirm as the pain of reattachment made his vision blur for a few moments. There was a slight ache at his ports, as there always was when the nerves reconnected. It would be gone by the time he left, which was the only reason he allowed it so late into their visit. He would not let himself be anything other than at his best when he left Amestris.

The world outside the wards was unknown territory, and all soldiers knew what to do when going into unknown territory: assume everything was out to kill you.

He grinned-although it was more baring his teeth than smiling-at the thought; it had been all too true on some of his missions.

He closed his eyes as Winry connected his leg and forced his mind off of the procedure once more by mentally reviewing the train schedules and timing. It was something of a favorite thought of his when he had some downtime. He wasn't entirely sure why he was anticipating the journey to England so much- it was England and sure to be cold and wet and miserable for his ports there, if the journal was any the same, he had memorized the precise time and date for every arrival and departure and even a few of the more interesting stops.

He didn't move when Winry finished, letting the nerves readjust for a few moments before he stretched. He ignored the spike in pain that accompanied the movements and analyzed how his limbs felt. It took a little less energy to move them, and he hadn't been able to flex all the way like this with his last set. Those had been built with a focus on strength and durability while these seem to be focused on speed and agility. He noticed how there was some excess metal on the top of his arm and fought the urge to grin. Winry was even planning for him to get into fights now and designing accordingly.

He hugged her before she moved too far away. It was a bit awkward seeing as he was shirtless and not usually the hugging type of person, but she returned it well enough. "Thanks, Win. Your work is amazing sometimes."

She pulled back from his embrace and smiled indulgently at him. "No need to thank me. I'd do anything to make sure you're alright." They grinned at each other for a moment before she added, "And what do you mean sometimes? My work is always amazing, alchemy nerd!"

Al watched them fall back into their usual banter, leaning against the doorway as he listened to them casually toss insults at one another. He continued watching fondly even as Ed flinched away from Winry who was waving around her trustworthy wrench a tad too close to his head for comfort.

He couldn't help the niggling worry that it would be years before such a scene would be able to repeat itself.


AN: So, I got a review that someone was worried this was abandoned. Not even close, darling. I warn when I abandon and I just have far too many ideas for this story to just leave it be. It's just very slow going due to the sheer size of this thing.

In case you haven't noticed by the size of this chapter and how little it has done in terms of plot (Yay for exposition!), this shall be huge. Like 'oh my goodness, why did I think it was a good idea to start this?' huge. There's a bit of info on my profile, but to recap for those who don't want to look, this is going to span a year of recon and then a year of war, plus there will probably be an epilogue about ten or so years past the events of the story. It will involve politics (well, my version of politics, which is probably inaccurate in many respects) and character injury and some death (but I probably won't be able to bring myself to off many named characters anyway, so most of the currently planned deaths occurred in canon, are of nameless mooks or of the villains).

There was another review saying the prologue sounded like a documentary. I'm proud to say that was intended. ^.^

I'd like to say that this isn't just the type of story where the characters from the series go to Hogwarts. They are going to be changed in some ways, both due to different events in their lives (the lack of homunculi as well as the addition of the wards and their effects makes changes in the FMA universe) and their slightly older ages. I really hope I can capture that and still not make them seem OOC. The focus is going to be on the FMA characters, particularly Ed and Mustang, but the Golden Trio, Al and a few others (who I don't want to give away yet) will play a large role in this story as well.

Constructive criticism is always nice. Thank you so much for reading, and please review. Subscriptions and favorites are so nice to see as well.

EDIT: I now have a beta! It's the lovely forbiddenstars, and they are perf. We're going through the chapters, so all of them are being reuploaded. Chapter 3 in particular was changed a lot, so some rereading may be necessary. I'll leave a note on the individual chapters when they have been replaced. The new chapter 2 will be coming soon.

Ja ne!
~J. DCF