Hey everyone this Lucky Sleven finally updating after forever. I haven't forgotten about you my pretties. ;) A lot has been going on, most of it good and some bad, but let's just say I finally figured myself out and had a long overdue epiphany. I'll keep this short and simple; thank you all for reviewing and favorite-ing my stories, because honestly it helped put me back on track. I would also like to add that this hasn't been proofread. ^_^;; So without further ado here's chapter 5!

Disclaimer: I don't own squat, if I did I would take all the homies out for food lol.

Chapter 5: The Prince

xXx

Scar was the last person Winry expected to see; her morning with Al had gone smoothly, they had passed by the Aerugonian café where Claudio should've been and to her dismay he was not. They ate there anyway. They decided to splurge a little of the money Edward had given them and went shopping, Winry buying multiple different tools and instruments to add to her ever growing collection of automail tools. It was all going well until….

"Hey… Scar…." Alphonse said meekly stepping forward a bit.

Sensing the tension Miles broke in. "Hello Winry, Alphonse, I see you've gotten your body back."

"Uh… yeah," Alphonse looked back at Winry who had her head hung. "It's been real swell having it back, finally seeing the world from a different pair of eyes, literately."

"I'm glad, and you seem to be doing well Ms. Rockbell." Miles turned to the blonde girl.

She snapped out of her daze and put on a weary smile. "Yeah just, you know, strolling by…."

It went quiet again, Scar's red eyes meeting with Al's for a fleeting moment, hazel eyes widened and Al swore he could feel his heart beat right out of his chest. The young teen had, had a dream about the Ishvallan man, it was romantic overall but there were some other adult things that had happened. A smile curved Al's lips and perfectly lined teeth were revealed. Scar gulped a bit, pulling on the collar of his shirt. When did it get so hot? Winry eyed the both of them, her female instincts and perceptiveness automatically detecting that something was amiss.

"Am I missing something here Al?" Winry turned to her companion.

"Wh- what do you mean?" Al stuttered slightly, just peeling his eyes away from Scar's.

"Is there something going on here between you and him?" Winry looked back at the man that had killed her parents.

Al's cheeks dusted themselves with a light peach color as if he had been caught. "What, don't be silly Winry he's the man that killed your parents right? Of course it's going to be awkward."

Scar shamefully turned his head down, the words were true but he knew it wasn't what Al truly saw in him. Still, it didn't make anything any less awkward. "It's true, I'm the man responsible for their deaths."

"It's not about that and I know it! But it's pretty terrible that you would bring that up!" Winry stomped her feet, the very memory of her parents bringing water to her eyes.

"Winry-"

"Ugh just leave me alone you insensitive jerks!" Winry clutched onto her bags pushing past the two Ishvallans.

She was angry, no angry wasn't the word that could perfectly portray how distraught she was. It was a low blow for whatever they were trying to hide. She walked into an alleyway before she bumped into a sturdy person.

"I'm so sor-"But a blade was pressed against her neck before she could finish her apology.

Winry saw the man she had bumped into and felt the other one, pressing the sharp blade against her neck. The man in front was completely covered in a cloth that she couldn't see past with a mesh on the eyes.

"You were with the girl from yesterday correct?" The voice carried a thick accent, one she had heard before. "The girl with Claudio."

Claudio, the weird guy from yesterday..? Winry thought, clutching onto her bags for dear life, fearing for her life as she felt the tip of the blade cut into her skin.

"We are looking for his majesty, he has strayed from home." The man said again.

"Majesty, what are you saying?" Winry whispered harshly, ready to just head but the mysterious masked man.

"The prince, the one you spoke with yesterday," The man said impatiently, "The man at the café, we managed to track down the Prince Claudio Rico from Aerugo."

Winry gasped, not sure whether or not to believe that disguised men. It might actually explain why he looked so funny.

"Tell us where the prince is or we'll kill you right here." The man behind her whispered in her ear, the voice sent cold tingles down her body.

"I- I don't know anything about him, I swear..! He just offered to buy me food." Winry tried to explain frantically.

"Wrong answer little girl," the man behind slowly cut her skin, blood now dripping down and Winry held her breath in.

But instead of getting her throat cut the man and her were knocked forward and the knife cut her skin downward, missing her jugular. She crawled away and heard the other man that was in front of her get knocked out.

"Winry we have to get out of here!" An arm snaked around her waist and pulled her up. She was thrown onto his shoulder and Winry knew it was the Claudio.

There was no time to think as she Claudio ran with her on his shoulder, jumping like a manic through the buildings and into the window of a hotel. He shut the window and locked it, closing the blinds as well. Winry had launched herself at the man, kicking and pulling on his hair until the black wig came off revealing chestnut brown hair and Winry froze.

"I demand an explanation! Who the hell were those people!? Who are you!?" Winry pulled out her wrench and stood away like a cornered animal.

"Let me explain," Claudio sighed, pulling off the large sunglasses and mustache, he also removed the long baggy pants and shirt. A rapier, similar to the on Olivier held, rested on his left hip.

Winry stood, astonished, as the real Claudio stood before her. Blue eyes stared back at her and she could finally see the lightly tanned skin and impressive jaw structure that was being hidden before. Short chestnut hair and ruffled bangs framed his face as he looked back at Winry.

"My name is Claudio Rico, I'm the prince of Aerugo. I've ran away here because I don't want to rule my country. Those people that attacked you were assassins from our royal guard tracking me down."

Winry didn't know what to say, obviously taken back by what she was hearing and Claudio sighed. "Let me show you some proof."

He walked over to a bag on the other side of the room, pulling out a newspaper written in a language she didn't understand. But the cover spoke for itself. Claudio handed her a handkerchief for the bleeding and applied disinfectant to the flesh wound. The newspaper headline read-

Il Principe e Scapatta Di Casa!

"It literately translates to the prince has escaped his home, rather silly if you ask me. It makes me sound like a caged animal, which isn't too far off from what I felt."

Claudio tied down the bandage then took a seat in front of Winry.

"I didn't mean to get you caught up in any of my affairs, honestly. But I couldn't very well leave you to those incompetent bastards my brother sent after me."

Winry sighed, "Well, to be honest… it's not the weirdest thing that's happened to me…."

Claudio smiled, "Well at least you don't want to kill me now. But please, let's stay put until I come up with a plan to get you back with your friends. I don't want to put you in danger. I'll tell you everything you want to know."

xXx

"This is my fault you know…" Scar told Al as they walked down the street.

Al sighed, "No it's not, it's not anyone's fault really, Winry had every right to react the way she didn't and why should we expect anything less?" The two walked out of the alley and back into the sun where its rays smacked down on the back of their neck like heavy bricks.

They were both silent again until Al spoke up, a light flush enveloping his cheeks as he looked away from the Scar. "So was Winry on to something?"

Scar looked at everywhere but the boy. "What do you mean?"

"You know what I mean…! Last night…!" Al stopped himself, his throat felt incredibly dry and his heart was thumping so loudly he could hear it in his ears.

Scar and Al couldn't look at each other; both of their faces burnt like brands and while they had wanted the time alone together, courtesy of Miles, they had no idea how to approach each other. One of them had to confront the other and it certainly wasn't going to be Scar.

The young blonde walked forward slowly, as if Scar was a lion willing to strike him down, and wrapped both his hands around the Ishvallan's burly ones. "Did you forget already?" Al asked sadly.

"Of course not, I just…." Scar remembered the dreams he'd been having of the young Elric and moved his hands away suddenly as if he was burned with fire. "I need to be away from you because I can't be myself."

Al blinked back confused. "What do you mean?"

Scar shifted his eyes, unsure of what to say without him being too straight forward. "You make me feel… happy."

"Happy?" Alphonse's slightly dejected expression brightened immensely. "I don't see how that's a bad thing."

Scar hesitated for a bit before answering again. "You make me feel happy… in more ways than one and it shouldn't be that way."

"Scar, just because it may be different doesn't make it a bad thing. You make me happy too even if you think the whole world hates you." Alphonse flashed him a large smile and Scar's heart nearly stopped.

"Alphonse…."

"No really, for a long time I thought I hated you but could never really bring myself to do it, not when I had my own sins burdening me…" Alphonse looked down before he looked straight into red eyes, determination burning his bronze irises. "I feel happy when I see you and when we talk. It made me really happy when I found out you were still alive and that's a huge difference from when I thought I hated you. So tell me Scar, are feelings always bad just because they're different?"

Scar stood silent, a small smile crept up on his face causing the slightest curvature of his lips. He knew there would be consequences, but consequences but damned he wanted to push this further. "Young alchemist, do you harbor feelings for me?"

Alphonse could compete with a beet for reddest anything and he quickly turned away. "I- I never said that…."

Scar smirked deviously walking closer to the blonde that tried to squirm away. "Are you lying Alphonse, because if I remember last night correctly it seemed like you wanted to kiss me." Scar turned Al around to face him, their bodies nearly touching. "Because I had wanted to kiss you then too."

The short haired blonde might as well have turned to putty; his legs shook from the bizarre tension surrounding them. Scar had hit the nail on the target and Al had dreamt of their lips crushing each other underneath that garden, Scar's tongue demanding entrance as he practically melted into his arms. The older man whispering sweet nothing of affection and security, holding him close so that Al never left him. Last night Al had wanted just a taste and the wine was ready for sipping, but then it was taken away, the sweet nectar gone. Al couldn't lie about it and he wouldn't be restrained by his own fear, not when he was unbound by the very laws of the world for years.

"I did want to kiss you; I wanted you to kiss me."

None of them could stop it this time as Scar pulled the gorgeous blonde to him for a passionate and impulsive kiss. The young alchemist's bronze eyes shot open but closed the next second while a gentle hand ran through silver hair. Scar didn't try to push his tongue through Al's pink lips, the kiss felt intimate and perfect as it was. Scar pushed Al back into the little alleyway they had exited and against the brick wall. Every touch felt like a fire as the two touched every inch and crevice before pulling away for air. Al held onto the wall for dear life, his other hand touching his trembling lips. Two pairs of eyes, one pair a deep wine red and the other a bronzed brown, looked to each other before kissing again.

xXx

"That damn brat, I'm going to kill him when I get my hands on him…!" Roy mumbled to himself as he searched vigorously on the street for the rebellious blonde.

Riza silently rolled her eyes as she drove Mustang's vehicle down the road. "Sir, may I ask what Ed did this time?"

Roy huffed, "What didn't he do, that fucking kid, just damn!"

Riza stayed quiet again, whenever Roy threw one of his tantrums it was best to let him vent it out especially if it had anything to do with Edward. The man was more in love with his subordinate than anything else. If there was one thing Riza knew after all these years of knowing her father's student it was that. But after the party and last night's little event Roy and Ed had been acting stranger than usual; they purposely avoided each other and before it had been just the opposite. Then yesterday morning she saw the marvelous hickies that decorated Ed's neck which were a definite sign of Roy's overdue love bites. Riza knew they would have complications but not this bad. Maybe it was time for a little Riza probing. As they drove to the office Riza decided to push it further.

"Sir, do you want to talk about it?"

Roy ran a gloved hand through his raven hair, "About what Hawkeye?"

"About what's going on with Edward?"

Roy sighed, "It's nothing out of the ordinary, just Ed and I having our little disputes."

"Permission to speak freely and off the record sir?"

"Granted."

"Ever since the block party you and Ed have been acting strange."

Roy hesitated a bit before answered, choosing his words carefully. "Well we got into an argument that night."

"Roy, Ed told me everything." Riza continued to focus on the road, letting Mustang fall for her white lie.

"He what?! I can't believe him! He'll talk with you but he won't talk with me about it!?" Roy fumed loudly, ready to set the next thing that annoyed him on fire.

"Sir, I lied, now tell me what happened." Riza coolly stated.

"What!? Oh geez," Roy smacked his face. "I'm a mess today."

"You always are sir, now will you let me assist you?"

Roy sighed, there seemed to be no winning with these blondes. "It all started at the bar…."

xXx

Olivier was always at work twenty minutes before her schedules time; as a punctual woman she always had her tea before anyone else lest they face her wrath. She could already imagine it now, her inauguration for her ultimate position, as yes Amestrias would truly be a different country after that. She was making her way back upstairs when she heard a window being opened abruptly in Mustang's office. She pulled out her sword, even if Mustang was an eccentric man he would never sneak into his office like that. She walked into his office only to see a very startled Ed.

"Olivier!"

"Fullmetal, what are you-" But she was interrupted as Ed ran across the room to a nearby trashcan throwing up his stomach's contents inside.

Olivier cringed walking briskly to the boy before pulling out a handkerchief and handing it to him. "I don't know what's going on but you look sickly. I'm taking you to the infirmary after this."

"I ugh-" Ed was in no position to argue, as the ice cold general held his braid back with a hand.

xXxXxXx

I know this is short but I think I actually like writing my chapters like this and it's been so long since I've updated. ^_^;; But I've been busy and once again apologize for that but now that I have a steady schedule I should be updating all my stories more regularly. Remember to favorite and review!:)