A/N: Ugh, another long update. Sorry about that.
Disclaimer: I don't own ANYTHING OR ANYONE from this story, other than my OC, Yumi.
…The sky was full of puny, white wisps. They were like long strands of cotton, floated around in the air. There weren't much solid clouds here, just two of them that managed to maintain their shape, while everything else drifted into those tufts of white that surrounded them. And, although they were still miles apart, the little threads of cotton seemed to connect the two clouds…
1st Person POV (as always XD)
"I should get going now," I announced, standing up.
So focused on eating their own breakfast, the rest of them took a while to react. I wouldn't blame them. Pinako-senpai is damn well at cooking.
Finally, Al looked up from his scrambled eggs and complained, "You eat too fast."
I shrugged. "The deal was I stay for breakfast and I can take off as soon as I want after that."
Al grumbled, "Why don't you wanna stay? Don't you like it here?"
It was times like these when I really wondered if Al was a whole year older than me. It seemed the opposite. It was like he was the little kid, begging to play.
"No, no!" I amended. "I love it here," I said, trying to put some pertness in it. When Al was pushed far enough to break out his puppy-dog eyes, I was sure that I'd probably be convinced to stay here for, oh, another week or so.
"Then, why don't you want to stay?" he asked.
Carefully, carefully, I thought, avoiding a direct look into his eyes. No need to do those eyes, Al.
"Well, I need to find my parents for one thing. And another, the train I'm supposed to catch leaves in 20 minutes." I took a quick glance at the clock, and thought guiltily, you know, give or take 15 minutes.
Al sighed.
In an attempt to cheer him up, or at least make him understand why I was in such a rush, I added, "It's like the urgency you had before, when you guys were searching for the Philosopher's Stone. I want to get this done and over with so I can come back here and hang out longer."
He studied me for a minute, while I prayed he wouldn't notice any lacked enthusiasm he was expecting. It looked like I passed the test, because he started to smile again.
"You're coming back?"
I walked over to him and gave him a good whack on his head.
"Of course I am, you baka!" I rolled my eyes for emphasis. "Now, if you'll all excuse me, I need to get going. Thanks for the meal!"
I slipped on my boots and grabbed my stuff. I actually thought that I was going to be able to slip out the door without any complaints or worried comments from them, but, I guess I was hoping the impossible.
"Hey, you could've at least waited a few minutes for me to finish my breakfast!" called Ed.
I turned around and saw his plate still had some pieces of sausage left on it. And, no duh, his glass of milk was left untouched.
"Fine, fine…," I said. But, before he could get his hopes up, I finished, "You have to drink your milk first! I'm heading out. Good luck catching me before the train comes!"
I opened the door and called a good-bye, and started walking down the grey path that led to the train station.
I didn't get very far before I heard the door behind me open again. I looked back and saw Ed grinning and walking up to me, showing me his drained glass of milk.
"Hah. Now, I can come with you."
"Yeah, right. I was joking about that! You can't actually come!"
"Why not?" he countered.
"'Cuz, you haven't even told Al and everybody else, and you're not prepared."
Ed rolled his eyes. "I'm dressed, and I have my wallet in my pocket, which is stuffed with money. That's my preparation. Alchemy doesn't really require much."
I was miffed. He got me there. "What about Al, Winry, and Pinako-senpai?"
"I told them before I told you," he said simply.
I growled, remembering last night.
F.B.
"What? You're kidding right?" I laughed aloud.
He just stared at me. "I'm going with you tomorrow, Yumi," he pressed, without laughing.
I stared back. We had an involuntary staring contest. He must have not like them, because a while later, he grinned and said, "That's it, Yumi. Now, you should get some rest. G'nite."
And he shut the door before I could mouth a comeback.
End F.B
"I can't believe you were actually serious about that!" I exclaimed.
"Well, I am."
I groaned.
Suddenly, the door opened behind him again. Jeez, don't tell me, Al wants to come, too?
To my demise, Al indeed popped out. Winry, Pinako-senpai, and Major Armstrong followed. Worst of all, they seemed like they were all dressed for traveling…
"Uh-uh, no way!" I shook my head, trying to push Al back into the house.
"What? Hey, whoa, wait, what are you doing?" Al scrambled out of my reach.
"You are so not coming with us!"
"Wait, us? So that means I'm going, right?" asked Ed, victory evident in his voice.
I whipped around to face him. "No! That's not what I meant! Ugh, you guys are sometimes so annoying."
He just smirked.
"So you did convince her, Ed? Huh, darn," sighed Winry as she handed Al a couple of bucks.
"You betted on me?" I gasped. Those devils. Those annoying, disloyal devils.
"Whoo-hoo!" cheered Al.
"Why, you little…come here!" I started to chase him around the path.
I heard Pinako-senpai chuckle, "She's still a child at heart after all."
"Shouldn't we tell her?" asked Major Armstrong.
"Shh…" whispered Winry.
I was too busy dragging Al back by the neck of his collar to make sense of what they had said. Ah, uber grumpiness.
I dumped him on the ground and sulked in place.
"Aw, don't look so sad, Yumi," said Ed.
"Yeah. We're just coming to the train station to see you off," noted Pinako-senpai.
I stopped my pouted for a second.
"What?"
Al nodded vigorously, obviously trying to get on my good side again. Well, on the bright side, he definitely knew me; and the fact that I liked to hold grudges for a long time. Ahem, Edward-who-stole-my-last-yogurt-in-the-1st-grade. But, that was a whole other story.
"Since Nii-san and Major Armstrong are going with you, might as well."
"Major Armstrong is coming with us?" I inquired. I don't remember agreeing to that!
"Just for the train ride to Central," said the Major.
"Oh…," I thought about it for a moment. "Wait, we're going to Central?" I don't remember agreeing to that either…-_-
"Yeah, why not?" asked Ed.
"I haven't even told you where we were going yet," I replied flatly.
"Huh. Oops. Guess I didn't think of that," admitted Ed.
"Baka," I muttered.
"So, where are we going?"
"I got a lead a while ago. I'm heading north."
"Oh, you should go to Briggs!" suggested Al.
Hmm…Briggs, eh? That cold, icy place that seemed just plain creepy when Al had told the story. Wonderful.
Major Armstrong seemed thoughtful though. "I could tell my sister. She can pull a few strings for you, I suppose."
"Your sister?" I echoed.
"Yeah. That's a good idea. And, Central is along the way, right Yumi?" agreed Ed.
See? They were all teaming up against me. No fair.
"Guess I have no choice," I sighed.
So, in the end, despite all my efforts to go alone, everybody ended up going with me to the train station. Ironic, isn't it?
Along the way, Winry saw a 50% off sale for automail, and we had to stop by. I tapped my foot impatiently as she scrambled around the store, fussing about whether to get a 2-inch screw or a 3-inch screw. At one point, I was stupid enough to ask her what the difference was.
I walked out of the store with quite a large, purple-ish bruise.
Then, Pinako-senpai claimed that she wanted to go grocery shopping. Now.
"Why?" I exclaimed. "Right now?"
She nodded, bustling to the nearest store. "The store is going to close soon! Besides, you probably already missed that train. 20 minutes passed already. Might as well follow me."
Dang it, I knew that lie would backfire some time. I regretfully glanced at the train station a couple blocks down.
And so, we wandered around the store. When Pinako-senpai was paying for the items, I paced in front of the store. In that time, I passed by the store's sign that said, OPEN 24/7.
…Liar.
But, I think Pinako-senpai noticed I had found out, because she came out with a triple-scoop ice cream cone. I softened up a little after that.
Busy licking away at the ice cream, which was delicious by the way, I allowed Al to drag me to various places, showing me all that has changed in the town.
By the time we finally reached the station, 2 hours had passed. Although it had been somewhat fun before, I started to get grumpy again. The next train wouldn't come for another 20 minutes, for real this time. I was slightly worn out from running all over the place with Al. And, my ice cream cone was finished!
I moped in silence. When we heard the roar of the train coming, out of nowhere, I was attacked with a hug from Al. Since he was now taller and stronger than me, this hug was actually painful. I wrenched him off me, gasping for breaths.
"Miss you too, Al," I muttered.
The hug with Winry and Pinako-senpai was less hurtful. We exchanged our proper farewells and stepped onto the train.
"Good luck! Come back alive!" called Al, waving. I stuck my head out the window, seeing his figure shrink rapidly in size and then disappear altogether.
Come back alive…huh, what an odd thing to say. I mean, Ed and me as a pair wasn't bad right? We cooperated…sorta, right? There was no need to say that kind of good-bye, right? I didn't think so.
Jeez, have some faith you little monster.
Now, if only I could be sure his faith would be rewarded.
A/N: I didn't like the introduction, T_T. It was hard to describe…anyways, review, review, review! (Come on, you know you want to…right? Right? *poke poke*)…please. =D