Good day to all of you reading this! It's me again, back from the dead! I know you've all been waiting... and threatening me, for this 8th chapter of Collisions. I should just crawl in a hole and die for making you all suffer this long... *huddles in a corner* Stupid school... projects... *mutter, mutter* homework... life...
Enough of my woes! Time to answer your questions and to read the story!

PokkiChoco: Yes, I hope to include some eventually. But to tell you the truth, this stories starting to slip from my grasp...

Faith Altoire: Okay I give! Thank you for reading it anyway, and yes you are amazing :D

PhantomMouse1115: NUUUUUUUUUUUU! *ish attacked*

Queen NekoChan: *appears in lowly peasent clothes begging for change* Please... I'm nothing more then a poor teenage writer... Trying to survive her reviewers...

ChristianGirl1023: Ehhh, well if you've read the series you should know her father does dress like a woman. Even though I'm not quite in favor of it (other people reading: nothing against people who do, don't hurt me!) I try to keep all characters in character.

PennyShort: That my friend, is an excellent question. One that I cannot answer right now as I don't know XD Thank you very much for the complement, I love it when you internet people love my writing :D

Disclaimer: I don't own FMA or OHSHC. There, I made it short *is killed by Ed*

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Collisions

By StarNight888

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

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"We have to go now!"

But you only just started playing.

"That's not fair! He's got the upper hand!"

More like a handicap.

"Uh… I could only invite three."

You invited five the week before.

You don't even look at me anymore.

.

Ed abruptly came back to the present with an unnoticeable start. Unluckily for him, everyone was still staring, still silent, still unmoving. Don't think about it… he thought with a weary anger. The blond looked side to side for a moment, then picked up his cover and slid it back on as if nothing had happened. As the Host Club began to recover, Edward walked toward the window and did something most teens don't usually do.

He jumped out the window.

…And ran down the fire escape.

"Ed! Brother, come back!" Al shouted as he ran over to the open window. "You're going to miss dinner!"

"Nah, I'll be back in time!" Edward yelled without turning around. Shoving his hands in his uniform pockets, the teen began walking in the direction of the woods behind their house.

"No you won't! You always—," Al shouted again, before realizing Ed could no longer hear him. "Augh, he'll be late if I don't get him back here." Then, with a quick vault out the window and dash down the fire escape much like his brother, Alphonse ran to catch up with his brother, leaving Winry alone with the rest of the stunned Host Club.

Now, Winry was upset. The one thing that was to be kept secret, the one thing that even she had kept mum about for years, was now out of the bag and into the eyes of probably the worst people. And she didn't lift a finger. Didn't move, didn't try to smooth things over, no. She just stood there gaping just like everyone else, her mouth wide open in shock. Just like that day, she unwillingly thought. Her eyes began to sting and anger stirred in her chest at what she had just done (or rather, what she had not done).

The teenager was so frustrated and so upset that she forgot about the other guest for a whole 3 seconds and took her anger out on a wall with a good kick. Winry immediately regretted it, quickly crouching down to hold her foot in silent suffering (if you could call a bruised toe suffering).

"You okay there?"

Winry looked up to see Haruhi next to her, hands gently resting on her knees as she had bent down to inspect the other girl. The brunette looked completely normal, like nothing out of the ordinary occurred at all. Winry nodded and attempted a weak smile as Haruhi helped her up. The rest of the Host Club had now fully recovered, if not a little more sober now. The blonde rubbed her eyes to try and get rid of the pesky tears that were pooling and offered an apologetic smile.

"I am very sorry that you had to be surprised by that," Winry said formally (1). "But we do not try to publicize this. If you could please not talk about this… or treat Edward any different…." She trailed off helplessly, not quite sure what else there was to say and feeling very embarrassed.

"Surprised? I'm not surprised, and there's no need to talk so formally," Haruhi replied easily, throwing out a gentle grin herself to try and show Winry she was fine as she took a seat on the old chest.

"What, you… you…." Hikaru sputtered before Koaru helped him finish together with, "You knew?" Haruhi tipped her head slightly to the side, as if he was asking if the sky was blue.

"Of course," she answered. "I mean, I think it was obvious the way he moved it, the different skin tone, and whatnot…"

"That's not 'obvious'!" the twins argued loudly.

Kyoya remained quiet, thinking this new development over. I could… No. I'll just wait until the right time comes, he decided silently, a sly grin slipping onto his mouth. It's all about timing.

"Eddie is still Eddie," Hunny put in with a stubborn tone. "We don't have to talk about things like fake arms when we could be eating cake~!" Mori bobbed his head without a word, as usual, in agreement.

Winry was no longer upset, mad, or frustrated. Everyone seemed to have been perfectly fine with learning, or already knowing, about Ed's prosthetic arm. And they appeared truthful in there vow of silence as well. Now only one person hadn't spoken a word. This person was standing rather still, blonde hair not bouncing for once and violet eyes staring hard at the window where the two Elric's had disappeared.

"That was SO AWESOME!" Tamaki shouted, suddenly breaking out of his stupor. "He's like, Metal Man or something, with a secret identity— And then the whole jumping out the window! That was epic! How does someone not jump out a window without being hurt? That proves right there that he has super powers or something, or maybe—!" Koaru interrupted his babble.

"Boss, he ran down the fire escape. Even I can see that," the red-head pointed out to try to get him to shut up. Tamaki stopped and thought about this revelation for a full minute before coming to a conclusion.

"…It was still a pretty cool way to get away," he pouted.

Al jogged silently down an old path through the forest, having a pretty good idea of where Edward had gone. When he was upset or wanted to not think about something, Al would always find himself at a stream, or river, or a trickle of water close by. He didn't know why, he just always somehow ended up sitting by running water. When Ed was upset though, he always went there.

Thump, thump, thump.

There it was, that steady thumping. That rhythmic tick of flesh against wood, leg or arm against timber. As soon as he heard it, Al knew he had been right about the location of his brother. Alphonse slowed to a walk, and suddenly the trees stopped before him. Beyond that was a nicely sized clearing, dotted with three trees and a medium sized post. At the worn post stood Edward, battering at the round stick of wood with martial arts moves in a sleeveless black shirt and black pants. The ports for his arms stood out plainly, but neither cared way out here. His uniform and shoes were dumped in a heap not too far away.

How his brother made it through school wearing two sets of clothes was a mystery to Al.

Alphonse watched Edward for a few moments, then called out, "It was bound to happen you know."

Ed froze mid-kick at Al's voice. The teen slowly lowered his leg, not turning to face his brother. His hands kept curling into fist before relaxing again, like he wanted to beat the crap out of the post all over again. And again, and again…

"It always happens," he growled loud enough for Al to hear.

Said brother strolled over to Ed, stopping a few feet away. Edward decided to try ignoring Al by giving in to his anger and started to attack the wooden post with renewed energy. Again there were a few moments of silence as Al let Edward cool off a bit. Then, quickly and quietly, Alphonse ran up to the post and hoisted himself onto the flat top easily. The brunet crouched down, mindful of his uniform, looking down at Ed. Edward made a small humph noise as he stopped his barrage, although Al could have stayed atop even with the post shaking from his brother's blows. The blond gave Al a look that said, Start talking and I'll kick your rear into next week. Alphonse decided to speak anyway.

"You've got to get back sometime," he pointed out, warm brown eyes trying to meet burning gold.

"Why would I do that?" Ed retorted, refusing to meet his brother's gaze.

"Mom would kill you if you're late for dinner again," Al tried to convince without brushing Edward the wrong way.

"I can live with a grounding," Ed replied smartly back. The teen looked in the opposite direction of Al, wondering if he could tear up a tree instead. Al frowned, becoming annoyed with his brother's way of avoiding what this was really about. A wash of memories that only made his irritation mount played in his inner eye, and he remembered all the goodbye's he'd said, all the whispers he'd heard, the health their mother was in…

As Ed started walking toward his next target, Alphonse called out angrily, "We can't move like last time!"

Edward stopped cold at his brother's outburst. He turned ever so slightly and glanced at him though the corner of his eye. Al stood tall on top of the post, wearing an expression of frustration that Edward hadn't seen since the brunet was little.

"I know you can't help what's happened, and I know we've moved because people are cruel," Al continued, a light sadness touching his words. "But think of Mom! I don't think she can take another move, and I don't know if I can either!"

Ed remained motionless, but his face lost the tension anger had brought it. His frown had suddenly become sad. The blond sighed loudly.

"… But would you be able to handle that at school if it got out again?" he asked quietly.

Alphonse had already lost his anger as soon as he shouted, shame of what he had just said and sorrow from the past making his face reflect more sadness then he let anyone see. Would he be able to handle it? The brief memories that had surfaced just a moment ago were already slipping away, making him want to scream into the sky about the unfairness of it all.

"I just want it to be different this time," the boy whispered, feeling himself crumple into a sitting position. Al let his head hang and he stared at the ground below him. Now it was he who couldn't look Ed in the eye.

The bird's chatter of the forest hardly lifted the heavy air that hung in the air, the stillness as dark and brooding as a funeral shroud.

"C'mon," Ed finally said. "I bet Winry's getting lonely."

Al lifted his head solemnly and jumped down to the ground. Edward quickly put back on his uniform, and both started back to their home without saying a word.

The walk was tense.

They were almost back to their backyard when Ed said, "We'll try to make it work this time." Al looked up to see his brother was looking at him with a smile softer then his usual smirk. He smiled back.

"Thanks."

(1) in Japanese, they can talk very formally or casually (like saying "Madam" instead of "Miss"). Here Wrinry is speaking formally, which is why Haruhi notices it.

I got you there with the whole jumping out the window thing didn't I? AHA. HAHA. HAHAHAHA- *shot* You know, I just ended this chapter today, but juuuussstt as I was getting on the internet to submit it... the cable guy (who was changing our cable/internet/phone service) cut the internet off. I was like "PORQUUUUEEEEE!" But seriously, thank you sooooo sooooooooooo much for staying with me through this story. It's been going on for almost a year now and you guys are still waiting for me TT~TT It make's me cry tears of joy! I hope you all enjoyed this latest chapter.

In another note, I've been keeping this story up for a long time. This is the longest story I've ever done actually, and I'm sad to say that it's slipping from my grasp. I'm trying, and trying to hang onto it for you readers, but it's so dang hard :( Along with life getting in the way, I don't know if the story will continue much longer. The inspiration for it is just... gone. Leeked out of my brain once high school started I guess. Just thought I'd give you a heads up... but I may be starting a new story soon if that helps brighten things up a little.

~StarNight888

This chapter is dedicated to:

Angelic Sakura Blossom
WildfireDreams
JessTalksAlot
FoxInBox aka FIB
pretend to be a mortician
wishfulliving89
GreyFitti
chibimaker
Beyond Myself
MilleniumHeart794
ichigo1508
Darkness Revolution
freedomtoaster
Areus Bookworm
ed3
Fantasy Dreamer1992
The Little Dhampir
Lueve
SuperNekofan
Marrow365
lambtastic
Neco-chan

There's so many of you... :'D