A/N Here is my advice for the day: If you ever go to the beach, wear sunscreen. A lot. Unfortunately, my friend and I found this out too late the other day and got burned like marshmallows roasting over a campfire. Not fun, I assure you. Now, onto the chapter!
The next morning, Winry found herself once more in Mustang's office, tiredly wiping the sleep out of her eyes. It was early–earlier than she would have liked to be up. She pulled her thick coat closer around her, more out of nervousness than the cold weather.
Ed was leaning nonchalantly against the back wall, his arms crossed as he stared out of the opposite window. Al was sitting next Rina on the beat up couch on the other side of the room, both of them drinking cups of warm milk and rubbing their hands together to get warmer.
The heater in the building had broken down late last night, making the building almost as cold as it was outside. Most of General Mustang's officers were out on business, leaving only Hawkeye in the office with them. She was silently sorting papers on the large desk in the center of the room, only speaking to ask one of them to do something for her every once in awhile.
Everyone was waiting for Mustang to appear. Once he came with the documents, Ed, Al, and Rina, with Winry tagging along, would leave for the East to start their mission. The sound of shuffling papers pervaded the room, but Winry could almost hear the tension crackling in the air.
Glancing at the door, Winry sighed as she saw that it was empty. She didn't know what she had been expecting, but somehow, this was not it. She had always seen Mustang as the type of person who was responsible, reliable, and on time. They had already been waiting for twenty minutes, and Winry wasn't sure how much longer she could just stand there doing nothing.
"Is he always this late?" Winry muttered to no one in particular.
"Something came up," Hawkeye answered, not even turning back to look in Winry's direction.
"Isn't he the one who said this mission couldn't wait any longer?" Ed grumbled. He looked aggravated, but Winry got the feeling that it wasn't just because of Mustang's tardiness. Normally she would've asked him what was wrong, but right now, she felt too tired.
The next ten minutes played by slowly, Winry glancing at the clock every five seconds and twirling a lock of her hair absently. She was starting to wonder if they would miss the train at this rate as Mustang walked in. He looked like he had just rolled out of bed; his hair was a tangled mess and he covered a yawn before coming to stand in front of his desk. In his hand, he held a small package.
"Everyone is here, then?" Mustang asked, glancing around at the people in the room.
"You were the last one here," Ed confirmed, a slight scowl on his face. "What took you?"
"Something came up," Mustang answered vaguely. Winry could tell by his tone that it wasn't a 'something' that he wanted to discuss. Apparently Ed noticed too, because he didn't press the subject. "Here are your fake IDs, your background information, train tickets, journals, and the address of the place you'll be staying at." Mustang tossed the package to Al, who caught it deftly in his right hand.
"Background information?" Winry repeated.
"We have to have some sort of story," Rina answered for Mustang. "If someone sees four kids walking around, alone, they'll wonder what's up, right? So we have to have some sort of explanation."
"Oh," Winry replied, for lack of a better response.
Al had already opened the package and was about to start distributing its contents, but Mustang said, "Just get out the train tickets for now; you can give out the rest later. You need to hurry so you don't miss the train headed for the East." Al nodded, stuffing the pack in his suitcase after rummaging in it for the tickets.
Ed and Rina were already headed towards the door, Winry right behind them. Al caught up on the way out, then glanced back at Mustang and Hawkeye. "You aren't coming?" he asked.
"We can't have passengers on your train seeing us wishing you off; they might get suspicious about who you really are," Hawkeye replied, not looking up from her work. "Have a safe trip."
"Uh, yeah, thanks," Al responded, then hurried to catch up to the others.
"What time is on the tickets?" Ed asked as they pushed out of the double doors and headed into the bustling streets of Central.
Al pulled one of the tickets out of his pocket and scanned it for the time, then said, startled, "Seven o'clock."
"What?" Ed asked. "What time is it now?"
Rina pulled her long sleeve up and checked her watch, exclaiming, "It's close to six forty five now!"
"Damn the Colonel!" Ed yelled, nobody bothering to correct him. "We need to run to get there on time!" Having said this, Ed broke out into a full out run, heading towards the outskirts of the city. Rina was hard on his heels, but Winry, not used to running, and Al, being the shortest, struggled to keep up.
Just as they reached the train station, the clock tower in the center of the city chimed, announcing that it was seven o'clock. "Hurry!" Ed called behind him, slowing down momentarily to grab Winry's wrist and pull her forward with him. His hand was warm and firm, definitely not his automail limb, and the contact with him made Winry flush slightly.
Now they were on the platform, their train pulling away with the steady, rhythmic sound of the tires squealing against the tracks. Rina, in the lead, jumped onto the back of the last car, reaching out to pull Al on beside her. Ed practically shoved Winry forward into the waiting arms of Al and Rina before bounding on after her.
"Geez, we almost missed it!" Al gasped, completely out of breath. Winry couldn't even speak she was panting so hard, but Ed and Rina looked almost unfazed.
"We'd better go inside," Rina suggested. "It's probably warmer there, too."
Winry nodded in agreement, as did Al. Ed didn't make any more to agree or object, so Rina went ahead and opened the door. Since she was behind it as it opened on them, Al led the way inside, then Ed, followed by Winry, and Rina closed the door behind the four of them.
The car was nearly empty; only a middle-aged man and an old couple were there, all of them seated near the front. They looked up when Winry and the others came in, but soon returned to whatever it was they were doing before. Ed chose the farthest seats back, sitting with Winry as Al and Rina slid in the seats across from them.
"Do you have the package from the Colonel?" Ed asked his brother.
"Yeah," Al answered. He dug the pack out of his suitcase and gave everyone their assorted papers before studying the papers that belonged to him.
"I guess I'm Marisa Wellington now," Rina announced, an amused expression on her face. "I came to the East with my friends–you guys–because my parents left the country on business and I needed to stay with someone. But Marisa is a dull name; you can call me Risa."
"That's like Colonel Riza Hawkeye's first name," Winry observed.
"I'm John Emerson," Al announced. "Apparently I came to the East with my older brother because our parents passed away and we have some distant relatives out here. Well, at least this means Ed and I are still brothers."
"You two look too similar to not be brothers," Rina pointed out, her lips turned up slightly at the corners. "How about you, Winry?"
"I'm Elli Morley, a mechanic looking for work in the East," Winry said dryly, scanning her papers. "Oh, there's something else, too. I'm looking after Ed's automail and I'll be pretending to be his…what?"
"What?" Al asked, frowning as Winry gaped at the paper in front of her.
"Ed, want to help us out here?" Rina prompted when Winry made no sign of saying anything.
Ed was looking over his own sheet. "Jason Emerson, older brother to John, came to stay with distant relatives, blah, blah, blah…" He froze as he read another line, presumably the one that Winry had read. "Boyfriend to Elli Morley?" His voice was incredulous as he read it out loud. "Who made these?"
"Colonel Hawkeye, like always; right Al?" Rina answered, looking to Al for confirmation. He nodded.
Winry finally decided that she couldn't make up her mind whether or not she liked the sound of being Ed's girlfriend. Of course, it wouldn't be real at all, but she could at least pretend it was. She made a mental note to thank Colonel Hawkeye later for writing their parts like this.
"I can't believe this!" Ed exclaimed.
"What, you can't stand the idea of me being your girlfriend?" Winry asked indignantly.
"You're happy about this?" Ed asked, his tone and face bewildered.
"I didn't say that," Winry argued.
"Then do you like it or not?" Ed retorted. "You can't have it both ways."
"Aaaw, you guys are already acting like an old married couple!" Rina gushed, holding her clasped hands in front of her. "It's so cute!"
"We are not!" Winry said defensively, feeling her cheeks warm up.
"Yeah, who'd ever want to be with this mechanical geek for the rest of his life?" Ed asked.
"What did you say, alchemy nerd?" Winry questioned, her voice dangerously low as she glared at him.
"Nothing," Ed muttered, averting his eyes.
"Yeah, I thought so," Winry told him, then returned to looking through her papers. Once she had read them enough times that she was certain she could remember it if asked, she turned to the lavender journal she had been given. It was thick, with a lock on the side of it, a small key attached, and a pen stuck in a holder along the binding. She flipped through the pages after unlocking the journal; they were plain with no noticeable features, so she locked it again and stuck it in her suitcase with her papers.
"We'll have to burn those papers later," Rina was saying when Winry realized the others were talking. "If anyone found them, it would be bad news."
Al and Ed were nodding in agreement, and Winry was surprised to find herself nodding with them. "Elli, are you nervous?" Ed asked, smirking.
It only took a moment for Winry to register that Ed was talking to her. "Not at all, Jason," she replied confidently, then let a sly smile creep onto her face. "I mean, darling."
Ed looked like he was about to start another argument with her, but seemed to think better of it and turned his gaze towards the rolling green fields outside of the train, Central already far behind them.
"Risa, do you want me to get you something to eat or drink?" Al asked a woman with a rolling cart entered near the front of the car and started talking to the elderly couple.
"Tea would be nice, John," Rina replied, her chin resting on her fist, elbow on top of the armrest.
Al nodded, and the woman with the cart made her way towards them, smiling. "Can I get you kids anything?" she asked. She seemed to be staring at Winry, who quickly looked down, but then she realized that the woman was actually watching Ed with something close to awe.
"I'll have one tea please," Al said, handing money to the woman in return for a green bottle. He handed it to Risa, too absorbed in her to notice the woman. Does she recognize Ed? Winry wondered uneasily. After all, he and Al did ride trains a lot when they were looking for the Philosopher's Stone.
"Sir, can I get you something?" the woman asked Ed with the utmost politeness.
Ed turned to look at her and smiled. "Do you have any water?" he asked.
"Of course," the woman answered, flustered. It was then that Winry realized that she didn't recognize Ed as the Full Metal Alchemist; she just thought he was handsome. She felt a flood of relief wash over her that they weren't exposed, but also a sort of irritated feeling. Why did this random person think she stood a chance with Ed?
"Thanks," Ed said, reaching over Winry to accept the proffered bottle of water from the woman, and handing her the money in return.
"Is that all?" the woman asked, and Winry could detect the note of disappointment in her voice. She resisted the urge to snort out loud at her pathetic attempts to stay near Ed and glared resentfully out of the window.
"Yes, thank you," Al answered.
The woman left them, her cart groaning as it wheeled over the carpet back towards the front of the car. Once she was gone, Winry glanced at Ed. She supposed he was rather eye-catching with his golden-colored hair that glowed like a halo in the light, his amber eyes that were as warm as honey–
"What?" Ed asked uncomfortably.
Winry realized she was staring, and quickly looked away, muttering "It's nothing."
"Here," Ed said, and thrust the water bottle at her. Winry stared at it blankly for a minute before Ed sighed, and said, "I got it for you. Do you want it or not?"
"Oh, thank you," Winry replied, taking hold of the water bottle.
"Sure," Ed responded, shrugging.
Winry took a sip of the water, then balanced it between the armrests before pulling her knees up to her chest and wrapping her arms around them. She laid her head on her knees, the sleep that she hadn't been able to grasp last night catching up to her. The buzz of her friends' conversation was silenced as a black veil fell over her senses and she slipped into a light sleep.
A/N Okay, so it was pretty much a filler chapter. But fear not, the action and EdWin will come soon!…I think. Actually, I really don't have this story planned out at all; I just write whatever comes to mind when I start working on the chapters. XP