Alright peeps! Chapter 4 is up and running, Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I own NOTHING.

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Chapter 4: House of the Waiting Family pt. I

"Uhh… Lt. Col. how old are you? I mean you look really young, like your around Ed's and my age." Al asks you out of pure curiosity and trying to start a conversation.

"Haha, really? Well, thanks Al, but you can call me (_y/n_). And I'm 18." you respond to him.

"But you look so young!" Ed says to you, as he looked toward you.

"Haha. Crazy, huh? I get that a lot. Hey, but it helps too, though. I can get away with things." you respond to them, as Armstrong looked at you.

"W...what!? Only for little things!" you tell him, as you wave your arms in front of you. So that he doesn't go crazy and start to lecture you on how a lady should act.

You, Armstrong, Ed, and Al were still walking… well Al was sitting in a crate and being carried by the Major, who was enjoying the scenery.

"It's very beautiful. And, so peaceful here." Armstrong comments while walking as you guys continued to Ed's mechanic's house.

"It's rural here, a nice way of saying that nothing goes on here." Ed tells'em.

"Four years, brother." Al speaks up.

"Has it really been that long?" Ed states.

"You guys haven't been here since you left?" you asked them, right before Armstrong had the chance.

"Well, it's hard to come home to a place where there's no family waiting for you." Ed tells you.

As the four of you approached the entrance to the house, you started to walk slower and with your head down, so they wouldn't see your face. As you guys got closer you hear a dog start to bark and that caught the attention of an elderly woman.

"Well, this sure is a surprise, Winry!" the women called out loud. You flinched as you heard this.

"You better get out here. Honored guests!" she called again.

As you guys moved closer to the door of the house the black and white dog came barking up to Ed.

"Well, hello to you too, Den!" Ed told the dog, while smiling.

"Old lady Pinako. It's been a long time. I need some more of your handy work." Ed told her as he smiled and looked down at her.

"Apparently so. You really have done a number this time, huh? I really don't know why you have so much trouble keeping your arms." Pinako said as she came up to Ed to take a closer look at him.

"Well, I've had a lot of things to swing at." Ed tells her as she tells him that he's gotten shorter. Which resulted in Ed throwing a temper tantrum. Then the two start throwing short insults at one another. Ed said something about her being so short that she was two-dimensional, but then Armstrong put the crate Al was in on the floor and intervened.

"Edward Elric! How dare you speak to your elders with such disrespect!" Armstrong said as he showed up in-between Edward and Pinako, flexing.

"Who the heck is this guy? He really doesn't get the joke, does he?" Pinako asks, as a sweat drop formed on the back of her head.

"Alex Louis Armstrong, humbly at your service." he says as he kneels down and extends his right hand to shake hers.

"Flattered, I'm Pinako Rockbell." she replied as she takes his hand and shakes it. As she does, she looks over at the other person standing near Alphonse. It doesn't take her long to realize who that person was.

"Dear god! (_y/n_), is it you!?" she asked as she walked over to you, so she could get a better look at you. The three males looked toward you, and you sighed.

"Yeah… it's me, Grandma Pinako. It's nice to see you again." you respond looking at her.

"What!? You know her?" Ed asked as he and Al looked at you.

"Yes, she use to come over a lot when she was younger." Pinako responded as she looked at you, coming closer, still not believing her eyes. She was reaching for your face, she had noticed your scars. Of course, your automail didn't go unnoticed by her. After two seconds of silence, a wrench came flying out of the sky and hit Edward right on the forehead.

"Brother!" Alphonse yells as Ed falls after receiving the hit. While the rest of you look over at him. Ed was now sporting a large bump on his forehead. He got right back up and started yelling.

"Great! I buy you a wrench, and you try to kill me with it!" Ed exclaims, yelling up at Winry.

"Well, apparently you're trying to kill yourself! What have you been up to!?" Winry yells back.

"Uh…uh?" respond both Edward and Alphonse. Winry then noticed that there was a girl that was standing by them that looked extremely familiar. You didn't notice that she was looking at you, but you could feel her gaze, until you heard a gasp come from the balcony where she was standing.

"(_y/- (_y/n_), i-is that really you?" she asked, as her hands were on her mouth, shock written all over her face.

"Yeah, it's me." you say as you looked up and gave her a sad smile at her. The same one that you gave Pinako.

"Bu- bu- but, how? Your house burned down. And we never saw you again." she told you, as tears were coming to her eyes.

"I wasn't there." you responded up to her.

You were all in the house after Winry practically flew down the stairs from the house and hugged you to death. You were now standing by the window, which you were currently looking out of. Ed was sitting on the couch in his black shirt, and his light blue boxers. He was being questioned by Winry about his automail being destroyed.

"Al's armor is busted up to, and steel doesn't shatter on its own. You've been getting into some serious trouble." she says as she looks toward Alphonse.

"No… um… I mean… ask Ed." Al responds nervously to her questioning.

"I guess I was wrong, pipsqueak. You've gotten taller, at least by an inch." Pinako says as she finished measuring Ed's feet.

"Then don't say pipsqueak!" Ed says to her as she gets up and says…

"You're off-balance… we're going to have to make height adjustments to your leg, while you're here. And of course, the new arm will have to be built from scratch…" she says

"Listen, I know I'm asking a lot, but can you finish it in a week? We don't have a lot of time." Ed asked Pinako as she looked up toward the ceiling, breathing in on her pipe. She looked back at Ed and let out the puff of smoke.

"Don't insult me, Ed. We'll have it done in three days." she responds with a smirk on her face.

"You're the best there is, Grams." Ed says smiling at her.

"But, you guys just got here. Why are you in a rush?" Winry asked looking at Edward.

"We need to get to Central." Ed responds

"We're just looking for something." Al put in.

"This wouldn't be something dangerous, would it?" Winry asked lifting up the wrench.

"No!" Al responded in a worried voice.

"Right." Winry gives in. She then walks over to the table, leaving Ed and Al to talk amongst themselves.

"I'm ganna go outside for awhile." you said as you got up and started walking toward the door. You've been quiet the whole time.

"Where are you going?" asked Winry, looking up from her spot. A worried look on her face.

"Don't worry. I'll be back." you responded with a smile as you headed out the door. Winry just continued to look at the door, before she went back to work.

After awhile. Outside

Once Ed got a spare leg from the Rockbells, he went out side where Al was waiting.

"Ah… yeah, I know it's a spare, but there's just something about the way the old lady makes'em." Ed says as he stands next to Al, smiling and moving his left leg.

"Haha. It's weird being back. It's kinda nice. Nothings really changed here." Al comments, looking out onto the country side of Resembool.

With you

You had changed into your wolf form, and were just running around the country side.

"Ah. Feels good to just run around." you said out loud. Nobody was around, so you talked normally. You were currently standing on a hill and were looking over the town. Breathing in the fresh air that only the country side had to offer. That's when you saw it. The remains of your house, or what was left of it. You didn't want to go, but you started to walk towards it so you could check it out.

Inside the Rockbell home

Winry and Pinako were hard at work, on the new automail for Edward. Pinako started to talk with Armstrong, about yours and the Elric's daily lives. Winry was just listening to what Armstrong had to say.

Back with Ed and Al

Ed currently had his left leg up in the air, and was telling Alphonse that they were wasting to much time there. He also said that he was getting fidgety without doing anything. And by the way he was moving, Alphonse believed him.

"You should go visit mom." Al told Ed, as he stopped moving like crazy.

"You mean, go visit her grave?" Ed responded, as he sat up and looked at the sky.

"I'll be back in awhile, I guess." Ed says as he gets up, still looking up. Meanwhile Armstrong was cutting firewood with his hands. He went back into the house where Pinako was working. Armstrong hadn't seen Ed in awhile and he was started to get worried.

"Don't worry, he has the best escort in Resembool with him." Pinako reassures him.

With Ed and Den

Ed was walking with Den to the graveyard where his and Al's beloved mother was buried. He was holding some flowers that he had gotten from somewhere.

"Edward Elric? Is that really you?" a guy that was working on the side of the field by the road asked. There were two of them working there.

"Yup." Ed replies as he gets closer to them.

"How many years has it been… four or five. Yet your just as puny as ever." the second man adds in.

"Don't call me puny!" Ed replies with a scowl on his face.

"Haha, don't mind him. Hey, are you still you of those state-whatever-they're-called?" asked the first man.

"Yup. Sure am." was Ed's reply.

"Well, you be careful know. That must be a dangerous job, with you being puny and all." the first man says to him.

"Would you stop calling me puny!" Ed raises his voice at the laughing men, Den was also laughing at Ed's reaction.

Meanwhile

Al and Winry were talking about a girl that passed by with her cow. Al was depressed because he couldn't remember who she was.

At the gravesite

The sun was already setting as Edward was standing and looking at the gravesite of his mother. He had placed the flowers that he brought with him down on the stone. You had come up beside him… without him knowing.

"Hey Ed." you said as you got his attention. You came here after you saw what was left of your house.

"Hey." was his simple and sad response.

"What are doing here (_y/n_)?" Ed asked, before you had the chance to ask him.

"Just visiting my sister… you?" you answered and asked, as you pointed to a tombstone with fresh flowers on it that was a couple of yards away.

"Visiting my mother." Ed said as he looked at the tombstone again. To Ed's surprise, you kneeled down and did a quick prayer.

"You believe in god?" Ed asked, as you got back up.

"I do… but at times… I don't know what to believe." you answered as you faced him, with a sad smile of your own. He didn't like that look on your face, for some reason it bothered him.

"You guys ready to go home?" Ed asked as he pets Den on the head. Den barked and you just nodded while you gave a short "Yeah."

Rockbell home, night

You and Ed were sitting on the couch, while he was getting his right leg measured by Winry, when she spots his the chain to his pocket watch.

"Is that the pocket watch they give you?" Winry asks as she stops what she was doing.

"Yeah… its got amplifiers to boost your transmutatio-" Ed replies, but is cut off by Winry.

"Can I see?" Winry asks with starry eyes, as she snatches it out of Ed's left hand.

"The loving workmanship, the detail…" was only the beginning of her upcoming questions towards the elder Elric brother, about his watch.

"Can I see how it works, Ed! Please!" Winry asks as she gets almost in his face. Ed's expression changed.

"Are you crazy? I know how you get when you get your hands on mechanics. You'll take it apart until the last screw" Ed replies while taking the watch back. She said that she would put it back together, but Ed just told her to get someone else's. Winry then turned to Armstrong with starry eyes again, but he just looking away mumbling something about a year and firewood. She then turned to you, but you weren't even paying attention. You were thinking about something different .

"Wow… you guys are stingy, aren't you." she replies with a pout on her face.

"(_y/n_), what's wrong?" Winry asked, but you didn't answer, you didn't even hear her. She then waved her hand in front of your face, which successfully did get your attention.

"Huh? What?! What's wrong?!" you asked, as you put your guard back up and started looking around.

"Nothing, but what's wrong with you, you seem… out of it." Winry asked you, as her and Ed were both giving you worried looks.

"I'm fine… why?" you asked.

"Why were you gone all this time?" she asked

"I… I guess… I don't know." you replied, you didn't want to answer her.

"Why weren't you in your house that night? I mean, I'm glad that you weren't there, but… you could have come here, you know." she replied looking down, and taking a seat on the floor in-between you and Ed. She was facing the both of you.

You sighed as you were about to tell them the truth.

"Because… I couldn't take it anymore. I ran away." you replied, as you rested your arms on your knees and looked toward the ground. Knowing full well, that you had gotten their full attention.

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Well peeps, hope you liked it. I'm ganna haveta leave it with a cliffy, if you can even call it that. I'm ganna be gone for 3 months, hopefully only 3 months. I'm ganna be at recruit training in Parris Island, SC, for the Marines. Well, review please. Ja ne!

Key : Lt. Col. - Lieutenant Colonel Maj. - Major