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Thanks so much for the reviews! And thanks to Scratchfox for pointing out I was spelling Lovi's name wrong. ^^
DISCLAIMER: I OWN NOTHING!
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Winry smiled the next morning when she walked into Feliciano's and Lovino's room and found them sleeping next to each other, Feliciano's arm over her brother's chest. They looked so cute, Winry felt guilty to wake them up. She shook her head, knowing that if she let Edward wake them up, he'd probably scare the two to death and back.
So instead, she kneeled down next to the bed and said softly, "Hey, you two. It's time to wake up."
"Five more minutes…" Lovino complained, waving one of his hands before hugging Feliciano closer.
Winry smiled. If that wasn't sibling love at a young age, she wouldn't be able to tell what was. "I wish I could, but you guys are going to be leaving soon and you still need to eat breakfast," Winry said.
Lovino's eye flickered open at her before nodding. He looked down at Feliciano and said, "Feliciano, it's time to wake up."
"Ms. Elizabeta, can't I have a few more minutes?" It was Feliciano's turn to complain, and apparently she didn't remember what happened. But the next moment she sat straight up before looking around, her eyes finally landing on Winry.
"I would've gladly let you sleep in," Winry said, patting Feliciano's head, "But you guys are going to be leaving soon."
"We'll see each other again, right?" Feliciano asked.
Winry smiled. "We sure will," Winry replied, thinking about how the next time they met would probably involve Edward's automail getting broken somehow.
Winry led the two downstairs, where they found their suitcases already sitting by the door. Edward was munching on some toast, resting on the couch. When he saw the two, he said, "We've still got about an hour before the train is set to leave. Go ahead and eat before we move to our next location."
"Where are we going?" Feliciano asked.
"Dublith," Edward replied. He didn't like the idea of Izumi meeting Feliciano and Lovino, especially since this was only his second day of guarding them, but they received a call from her saying she found a possible lead on the Philosopher's Stone.
An hour later, they were on a train heading for Dublith. Feliciano was watching the scenery go by today, waving to those two cared to look at the train, while Lovino curled up on the seat and went to sleep.
"What's Dublith like?" Feliciano asked once the scenery gave way to desert.
"It's bigger than Resembool, so it's busier, but you won't need to worry," Edward said, smiling at Feliciano and patting her head similar to how Winry does. "We won't let you get lost, and you're going to have a few more eyes on you when you arrive."
Feliciano smiled before following Lovino and falling asleep, although she laid down leaning on Edward. He stared for a moment before patting her head and turning to Alphonse. "I just hope Teacher takes their arrival well."
"I would worry more about Lovino than Feliciano," Alphonse said. They were remembering when Edward was rude to her and suffered for it.
Edward was rubbing his jaw as he remembered it. "Yea, that's a good point. I don't think Teacher would do anything with them that she did with us, but…"
"We're not positive," Alphonse finished his sentence for him. He couldn't see either of them being able to take on Teacher in a fight, let alone be able to survive the encounter.
"We can only hope for the best," Edward muttered. He decided to go ahead and call Izumi at the next station and explain their additions to her before they arrived.
Which didn't go exactly as planned. It was either bad luck or someone had it in for him, but at every station since Edward made that decision, they've either had widespread blackouts or no phones at all. So the group arrived in Dublith with Izumi Curtis only expecting two additions to her household.
Edward walked into the door of her butcher shop and found Mason standing there. He was well-muscled, but no where near as tall as Izumi's husband, Sig.
"Hey, Edward," Mason said as they walked in. "Alphonse, it's been a while. Izumi's waiting at the house."
Edward nodded. "You think you could call her beforehand?" Before Mason could ask why, Edward pointed down to the siblings standing by his feet; Feliciano holding onto his pant leg like it was her only lifeline to being able to stay with them.
Mason nodded and grabbed the telephone. After a few minutes of explaining Edward's new companions, he hung up and said, "Ok, at least she won't be surprised. She's going to want to know why you had to get all the way here to tell her, though."
"I'll explain everything," Edward said.
Alphonse said, "I'll stay here and help Mason a little bit."
"No you're not! You're coming with us!" Edward retorted, grabbing the feather on Alphonse's helmet. After a few more minutes of walking, they arrived at Izumi's house. Edward knocked on the door.
Sig, a tall male with muscles, answered the door. He looked at the group before inviting them inside. Feliciano took one look at Sig and hid behind Edward, but Lovino stared at him defiantly. Edward sighed; thinking about how that just about summed the two up. Edward knelt down and said to Feliciano, "He's not going to hurt you."
Feliciano looked between Edward's face and Sig's before finally nodding. She didn't let go of Edward, though.
"So, what exactly happened?" Izumi asked when they entered the kitchen.
Edward explained everything again, starting with when he got the call from Colonel Mustang saying he had a new mission.
Izumi nodded when he finished, looking down at the two arrivals that had Edward for a bodyguard. She asked, "Who are you?"
"I'm Feliciano," Feliciano introduced herself. "And he's Big Brother Lovino."
Izumi knelt down, saying, "I'm Izumi Curtis, and that's my husband Sig. You don't need to worry about anything while you stay with us, we'll be here to help you."
"Yay!" Feliciano cheered, hugging Izumi's arm.
Edward and Alphonse froze, but Feliciano didn't seem to realize she did something strange, so Edward and Alphonse were surprised when Izumi sighed and said, "We'd better get a room set up for you two. Ed, Al, I'll talk to you after dinner about that lead."
"Right, Teacher," Edward said. He guided Lovino and Feliciano from the room, sighing in relief when he was sure Izumi wouldn't hear him.
Feliciano commented, "She doesn't seem so bad."
"She can be a lot worse," Edward muttered, glad Feliciano didn't get beaten to a pulp. Of course, the only reason she may not have was because Edward was supposed to be looking after her and Lovino, so chances were he'd be the one to take the pain Feliciano would normally have taken under any other circumstance.
He left Feliciano and Lovino in the living room while he went to help Izumi with dinner.
"So, what's the real story behind those two?" Izumi asked Edward when they were alone.
Edward said, "I can't be sure, but the only explanation I can think of is that there's a power struggle inside their family for some reason. Maybe they're like the Armstrong family and they're being handed everything instead of this Francis, or maybe Francis has some kind of twisted plot to use them to get money from their parents, or maybe Roderich and Antonio have it completely wrong and they're not in any danger at all. It's impossible to be sure."
"It sounds like their older brother does have a bone to pick with them," Izumi agreed, "but it also sounds like you didn't get very much information about him. You may not be able to protect them when the time comes."
"They should be able to recognize him," Edward muttered. "I would bet that if I asked them, they'd point Francis out to me if they saw him."
Izumi nodded. "I would still keep my guard up, though. You don't know what he might have in mind for getting them."
"Right," Edward said.
xxx
"Looks like we can get him to play nice if we just get one of those kids," the person looking down on the Curtis household muttered before disappearing into the night.
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Hopefully we'll get to see what's going on with Roderich and Antonio in the next chapter, so look forward to it!
R&R Please!
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