Awwww yeeaaaaa! Here is chap numba 12. Enjoy!
Chapter 12: Her Reason
"I'm sorry for having to have called you out here, Sir. Here." Lt. Ross said as she gave Col. Mustang some papers. "It's from Edward Elric." She continued.
"A bill?" he asked
"Hospital charges, doctor fees, food while in the hospital and more. All to be paid for by the Eastern Command Center." Ross answered him. Lt. Hawkeye then took the bills from him.
"Snacks, reading material, as well as a large bill from a toy store." Hawkeye read out loud. Mustang then looked at Ross, a stern look on his faced.
"Where are they?" he asked
"They left on a trip to do further research. I believe they will contact us before long, so for the time being…" she began to answer
"I asked where they went!" he asked again. She didn't want to tell him. Hawkeye the gained his attention.
"Colonel…" she said as she pointed to the wall with a map on it. A circle indicating where they were going. As he moved to go look at the map, the door suddenly burst open.
"Are the Elric Brothers here!?" asked the women who opened the door. Her husband behind her. All three of them caught off guard.
"No, they not." Answered Ross.
"Where have they gone?" the woman asked again. Ross stuttered, not wanting to tell the strange woman.
"Hey." The man said, the map in his hands and showing her.
"Oh! Nice job, dear. Let's go." She said as they gave each other a thumbs up. They then walked out of the room, leaving the other three occupants confused on what just happened.
- - - Rush Valley - - -
After a long trip on the train, and a many moments of making Edward blush, you guys were finally in Rush Valley.
"We're finally here! Rush Valley!" Winry exclaimed excitedly. You, Ed, and Al just looked at her.
To the right a woman was rambling about a new ring as she asked the guy that she was with to buy it. Suddenly, Winry was doing the same thing about a piece of automail. You three just looked at her like she had gone crazy.
"Yo man, are we really friends with her." You said, Winry instantly turning an evil eye at you.
"I'm kidding, I'm kidding!" you said as you stood behind Ed. A sweat drop on both Ed and Al's heads.
"If I would have said that, I would have gotten some type of tool thrown at my head. How come she didn't throw anything at you?" Ed asked. You then let your arms hang over his shoulders. He blushed as he quickly stiffed up, not expecting you to have done that.
"That's because I'm awesome." You told him, a smile on your face.
A while later Winry finally got over her excitement, so your group started moving further into town. Looking at all the shops as you walked by them. When you looked up ahead at the road, you saw a crowd standing in the middle.
"Come all! Come all! It's what Rush Valley is famous for! Automail arm wrestling! Entrance fee is 10,000 cens! Beat the champion, and you win all the money collected so far! Come and take it, you thieves!" a smaller man said into the intercom he held in his hand. The guy next to him was huge and with wo automail arms.
"Excuse us." Al said as you four made your way to the front to get a better look. Just then another man in the crowd stepped up to challenge the champ. The challenger failed, miserably.
"Hm." You said as you looked on, putting your hands in your pant pockets. Your sweater in bag that you carried, you took it off awhile ago, since it was to hot to wear at the moment. Then some other guy came up, but he also lost.
"Brother, did you see that?" Al asked as he leaned down to whisper to Ed.
"Yeah." Ed replied, as more guy went up to challenge the champ. Then a girl went up to him.
"Little Lady, are you sure you're okay with that substandard rig of yours?" the Champ asked her.
"Hey, this is crazy! After all, she's using that old man automail!" Some guy said from the side
The match began, and the girl was proving to be a match for the champ. That is, until table broke and the champ slamed her arm down. The crowd cheered as the champ won another match,
"Too bad!" the announcer said
"If you like, I can introduce you to a good mechanic." The champ said before laughing. The girl got up and ran off.
"So are there any more challengers? Oh! The strong looking guy there! How about it?" the announcer asked
"Huh, me? No, that's okay." Al said
"Is that so. How about you there, young lady?"
"No, I'm good." You replied
"Very well. How about the… or so I thought, but calling out such a bean sprout of a boy wouldn't be right of me." The announcer then proceeded to say.
"Don't call me a bean sprout!" Ed yelled. Al moved to grab him, before he could hurt the guy.
"Ohhh, he's got a lot of energy for a bean sprout, huh?" he asked the crowd. You were have tempted to tell Al to let him go. And… he said it.
"Although, his automail is awfully shoddy." He just signed his death warrant. Winry's face just took that one of fury.
"Al, let Ed go." She said. 'He's ganna die.' you thought, with a small smirk on your face. Al saw the look on her face, and did as she told him. Ed then moved up to the table for the challenge.
"Ed! Don't you dare lose to him!" Winry yelled out to him.
"Show'em who's boss, Ed!" you cheered
"Alright, let's go. Ready… Go!" the guy said, and not two minutes later the champ's arm rip right off at the forearm. Needless to say, everyone around you but Al was surprised.
"Sorry about that. The scrap collectors are going to be really busy today." Ed told them while still holding the champ's arm. Everyone cheered as the champ and the announcer stood there defeated.
The sun was now setting as your group continued down the road. Winry gladly holding up the winnings from Ed's match.
"510,000 cens! With this much, I can buy all of those parts that I wanted!" she said happily as she pranced around, before getting in front of you all.
"But what I'm really happy about is…"
"What?" Ed asked
"Nothing." She answered and turned to continue walking. The brother's looked at each other confused for a second.
"Your automail doofus." You said as you all started walking again. As Winry made it to the top of the hill. The champ and his announcer buddy stood in the way.
"You're the guys that were just…" she was able to say before the announcer guy cut her off.
"You really did a number on us back there. Unless you want to get hurt, hand over the money quietly!."
"What do you mean!? We beat you fairly for it!" Winry told. You, Ed, and Al moved to stand between her and them.
"Shut up! We can tell that the bean sprout cheated!" he yelled back
"What about you!? You used alchemy, didn't you!?" Ed yelled back
"You used it too, didn't you!?" announcer guy accused
"Ed, did you use alchemy?" Winry asked Ed.
"Yeah." He replied
"Al, (_y/n_), you knew about it?" she asked the both of you.
"Uh-huh." Al answered
"Yeah." Was your answer.
"Is that right?" came from her. This was not going to end well, you thought.
"Ed…" she turned to him, her bangs covering your eyes.
"Yeah?" he asked, still keeping his eyes on the other two guys. Suddenly there was a wrench that connected to Ed's head.
"Winry!" you and Al called. Then the wrench went to Al and You. Then she turned on the two guys and proceeded to hit them as well. Leaving them knocked out on the ground. Ed was getting up as she made her way over to him.
"Ow. That hurt! What are you doing, Win…!?" she hit him again, knocking him to the ground again.
"Brother!" Al yelled as he ran to him.
"Ed, you idiot!" she turn to yell at him, before turn again and walking off.
"Ow. That freakin hurt." You said rubbing your head as you got up. "We need to go looking for her." You continued, as Al helped Ed up.
- - - Night, Rush Valley - - -
The brothers were sitting on a hill overlooking the valley. You three split up in order to find Winry faster. But they didn't have any luck.
"Winry's not anywhere, huh? Maybe it was a bad idea to use alchemy in your match." Al said to Ed
"That's only because they're the ones who were cheating, you know." Ed told him
"That may be…" Al began, but you cut in
"But two wrongs, don't make a right." They both turned back to look at you. You shook your head.
"No luck either I see." You said, looking up at the moon. Ed just stared at you.
"The air here is heavy with oil. I couldn't get her scent."
- - - Elsewhere in Rush Valley - - -
Winry was walking around in the park of the Valley and when she looked up further, she noticed the girl from the arm wrestling competition. She noticed that she was hold her automail as she walked towards her.
"Did you hurt your arm?" Winry asked her. She caught the girl off guard.
"I saw you at the arm wrestling competition." She added. The girl just scratched her head.
"Mind if I sit next to you?" she asked
"Go ahead." The girl replied as she made room for the blond.
"Are your legs automail, too?" Winry asked
"Yeah. I'm surprised you could tell." The girl answered.
"I'm an Automail Mechanic, myself. You hurt your arm, right?" Winry asked again as she moved to sit next to her.
"Mm-hmm." The girl replied looking at her arm again.
"Let me see." Winry said as she grabbed the girls arm.
"Incredible. The working is simple, yet high-performance. There's nothing wasted in this design." Winry said as she looked over the automail. "There's a kink on your suspension here. Looks like you bent a cylinder." She continued as she moved the hand.
"You can tell just by looking that quickly?" the girl asked with surprise in her voice.
"Whoever made this has incredible skill. You should have them look at it right away." Winry told her
"Yeah, I guess you're right." The girl said. Both sat there looking up at the moon filled sky. A howl, barely making it to their ears.
"What was that?" the girl asked
"Uh, a dog maybe." Winry answered, stuttering a bit.
"Never heard a dog that loud before." The girl shrugged as said that.
"Say, how did you come to have automail?" Winry asked
"I was in a train accident." The girl started. Telling her how she ended up on the street after she was rescued. And how one day a man found her in an ally and saved her.
"And he's the one?" Winry asked
"Yup. He took me in, and even gave me an arm and legs. Mr. Dominic." The girl said
"In that case, shouldn't you have him fix you up all the more?" the blond asked
"I should, I suppose." She replied, as she put her hands behind her head and leaned back on the bench.
"Why don't you ask him?"
"I don't want to tell him that I lost the arm wrestling contest. You see, I… I want to prove that his automail's amazing. But then…" she continued as she then leaned her elbows on her knees.
"I know. So then, all you need to do is show that your automail is amazing, right?" Winry asked, getting an idea.
"Uh-huh… but how ?" the girl asked
"You know what? I know how you could show that your automail is amazing. If you beat a State Alchemist who also has automail, couldn't you?" The blond said
"You might be right…"
"Let me take care of that."
- - - The Girl's House - - -
The girls had gone from the park the girl's house. They were in a room where Winry was fixing the girls arm.
"Paninya, what are you doing there?" an older man said as he opened the door. The girl, who's name was finally reveled as Paninya, froze as she heard him there. She turned with a sacared look on her face.
"D-Dominic…"
"S-sorry to intrude. I'm Winry Rockbell, an automail mechanic from Resembool." Winry introduced herself to the man. He then looked scared.
"Rockbell from Resembool?!" he asked "D-Don't tell me you're Pinako's… Not the Leopardees of Resembool…! Just thinking about her horrifies me!" he continued as he held his head with his hands.
"Are you an acquaintance of my gradma?" Winry asked him
"Don't be ridiculous!" he said, his arms up in front of him. He then regained his posture after looking at Paninya's arm.
"What's the matter with your arm?" he asked her
"N-Nothing much." She replied, putting her arm out of his view.
"Do as you will." He said before turning and walking away.
- - - Morning - - -
The three of you were sitting on a park bench after looking for Winry again.
"Geez, where is she?" Ed asked. Arms behind the seat.
"I wish there wasn't so much oil in this place, but seeing as it's the automail capitol, there's no helping it." You said as you leaned on your elbows.
"I wonder if she slept outside." Al said
"I hope not." You said. You and Ed both gave a sigh.
"Hey!" you heard someone yell out. Looking over to your left you saw Winry and the girl from yesterday running towards your group.
"I finally found you!" Winry said as she and the girl stopped before your group.
"What?! That's our line! What were you thinking?" you asked, anger in your voice, "I know you were angry, but what the hell?!"
"Sorry! Yesterday I flew off the handle." She apologized
"Good morning!" the girl said
"You were there at the arm wrestling…" Winry said as she cut off Al.
"Her name's Paninya. I stayed at her house last night."
"Is that right?" Al ask
"Say Ed… can I take a look at your pocket watch?" Winry asked
"Why all of a sudden?" Ed asked
"Please?" she asked again
"Agh. Fine." He said as he took it out of his pocket
"Here." Then it was taken from his hand by Paninya. You, Ed, and Al's eyes widened at this. She then took off to the roof of the building next to you.
"I'll take this!" she said holding it up
"What the… hey!" Ed yelled to her
"It's a contest, ED!" Winry told him. You three looked at her.
"If you can get your watch back before Paninya takes it to the pawn shop, you win!"
"Pipsqueak, come on up here!" Paninya yelled down. Then she took off.
"Hey! Winry…!" Ed yelled
"If you don't go after her quick, she's going to the pawn shop, Mr. Alchemist." She said. Sometimes, she scared you. You just felt lucky that you didn't piss her off this time.
"Brother!" Al yelled out, as Ed ran off after Paninya.
"Winry, why?" you asked, but you had a feeling you had the answer to your question.
"I want d to say that her automail is amazing." Okay, you were half right. You noticed the look on her face.
'I see.' You thought
Both Paninya and Ed were running on the roofs of buildings.
"Hold it!" Ed yelled out. She turned to look as Ed was sprinting in order to catch up to her calm running. She ran and jumped over two other building as the people on the ground looked up as they saw shadows of people on the floor beneath then.
"What the hell!" a random man on the ground said as he looked up.
"You're hanging in there pretty well, aren't you?" Paninya asked Ed. Not stopping her run.
"You bet I am!" Ed yelled up to her. She then jumped off the roof to the ground.
"Just like a cat! Why you…!" the blond said as he jumped down as well.
"How about you use that alchemy of yours?" she said as she ran through the alley ways.
"Stop jerking me around!" he responded
"Uh-oh…" she said as she ran into a dead end. She turned to face him.
"Now, how about returning my pocket watch?" he said as he caught his breath. She just stuck her tongue out at him. She took a left knee and lifted the right pant leg to the top of her right knee.
"Take this! My 1.5-inch culverin cannon!" and she fired.
"What?!" he screamed put surprised.
You, Winry, and Al were standing on a roof top. You looked to your left as you heard an explosion.
"Maybe they're going too far." Your blond female friend said
"You think?" you asked her
"Brother…" Al said, sulking next to you.
"I wonder if he's okay." Paninya said to herself as she was running on the roof tops again.
"Let's see… the pawn shop…" she said as she stopped to look for her target. Suddenly, Ed comes flying from the roof to her left and grabs the watch back.
"That's mine!"
"Why you…!" she said, moving back, but not realizing how close she was to the edge. Then she fell backwards, off the roof.
Ed reacted quickly, clapped his hands together and slammed them hands to the roof. Hands came out of the side, from the bottom up. Succeeding in slowing Paninya's fall to the ground.
"Ow."
"Are you okay?" Ed asked as he landed on the ground.
"And I was so close, too." She said, rubbing her head with her hand.
"I don't know what your reasons are, but I can't let anyone beat me when it comes to my automail." Ed said, as you Winry and Al came up. Letting the appreciation of her automail sink in.
- - - Dominic's Shop - - -
"And here, all I wanted to do was show Dominic how amazing his automail is…" Paninya said to Al
"It was amazing." Al told her
"For crying out loud, you stupid girl…" Dominic said as he walking into the room, acknowledging him by waving his hand.
"Good morning." Al said to him as he walked passed't need you to do that for me. him.
"I don't need you to do that for me."
"But…"
"Listen to me, your automail isn't just some device. They are your very limbs. And they're yours alone. I don't remember raising any daughters that weren't aware of such a thing." He told her. Paninya just looked sincere.
"I get it. You make your automail with the person in mind. It becomes a part of that person's body, doesn't it?" Al asked him
"Now that you mention it, I guess I was glad when I was able to stand on my own two feet again." She said, as she looked like she was remembering something as she looked at her leg.
- - - In a hotel room - - -
You were sitting off to the side as Winry worked on Ed's automail, the shoulder to be exact. Of course you would look at Ed. Then to Winry. And you felt a small pang of jealousy. You shook your head to get rid of the feeling, not liking the taste it gave you.
"(_y/n_), dose you hand feel better?" Winry asked you.
"Yeah. It feels like I can move it a lot more. Thanks." You answered. For some reason, ever since the Red Water incident at the 5th Lab you would get random small pains in your automail.
"Glad to be of help." She replied back.
- - - Night, outside the shop - - -
"Well then, if you'll excuse me…"Al said
"Give Winry our best." Paninya said. As Al walked away from the shop. He went around the corner and stopped. There was a man and woman showing a picture to a man from another shop.
- - - Hotel - - -
Ed was lying down on the couch, Winry was putting her tools away, and you were laying on one of the beds.
"Ed, are you asleep?" she asked
"No."
"Say, I noticed earlier that it looks like you've gotten surprisingly taller." She said
"Course I have." He said
"Which means that before long, I'll need to get you a new arm and leg. How about it? Why don't we go back to Resembool?" she asked
"I dunno… actually, I'm okay for now." He replied
"How come?" she asked
"Is it because I'm not a great automail mechanic?" she said. His eyes widened and he sat up to look at her.
"I'll do my best." She continued "I'll study harder and harder, to keep you from being handicapped for the rest of your life… so… so please…" she was crying now. You could smell the tears. The smell of the salt in the air caught your attention. You moved to sit up and saw what was going on.
"Winry…" Ed started, you looked from her to him and figured he might have said something to upset her.
'He'll never learn' you thought.
"Even so, we want to get our bodies back. It's something we have to do ourselves." He told her. She started crying a little more, as you figured out what the conversation was about. You were about to say something to Ed, but the door suddenly flew open, Al was running in.
"Bad news, Brother!" Al yelled as he stopped in the room. You turned you attention from Ed to the door as Winry got up and turned as a large man stood at the doorway. Al looked horrified, as did Ed.
Then you realized who it was, and you turned pale.
Hope you guys liked it. Peace out!