DISCLAIMER: Ed Elric, Al Elric, Hawkeye, Bradley, Barry the Chopper, Hughes, Mustang & co., etc. © Hiromu Arakawa / Marina © author / Shukaku © Masashi Kishimoto.

Key:

Normal text - speaking/narration

Italics - thoughts

bold italics: - jutsu

Ch. 2: She Moves in Her Own Way

I slowly opened my eyes to inspect my surroundings. Said surroundings were like a sewer: dark and damp. The only difference was that there was a giant cage in front of me with a piece of paper that had the word 'Seal' stamped on it. "Shu-Shukaku's seal? What the––" I muttered to myself.

"Long time no see. What did you do this time, Marina?" sighed the one-tailed tanuki demon. A pair of beige-colored eyes with black diamond-shaped pupils appeared behind the cage as Shukaku awoke.

"Haha, very funny. It's not even my fault this time, OK? And the situation could be worse."

"You've got 4 broken ribs! What do you mean 'The situation could be worse'?!?!" Shukaku fussed over me like a mother hen over her chick. I rolled my eyes in exasperation. "Unfortunately, there's not a whole lot I can do to heal your ribs."

"Thank you for trying."

"I'm not going to keep you long; your knight in shining armor *coughboyfriendcough* is coming to your rescue."

I blushed furiously. "Tanuki no baka, he's not my boyfriend! I'm not even sure if he likes me that way, anyways."

"He did come to rescue you, didn't he?"

"Yeah, but…………"

"Lord, Marina, you have next to no self confidence. If you don't make any progress in the next month, I'm making some for you. Now get outta here!" I blinked, and found myself bound in chains again.

Back in Barry's Butcher Shop, Ed had charged at Barry, promising mutilation or worse. Ed transmuted his auto-mail arm into a blade and attempted to behead the butcher, who ducked and swung his cleaver at the alchemist. Ed avoided the knife, and lured Barry away from me. As soon as they got far enough away, Ed trapped the butcher in a cage transmuted out of the concrete floor, then ran to me and liberated me from my chains. Once I fell, he caught me and took the rag out of my mouth.

"You OK?"

"I-I think so." Green chakra covered my hands as I tried to heal my broken ribs. However, I didn't get very far because an angry butcher––who completely destroyed the transmutated cage––came at us with cleaver raised.

Jashin, will I get ANY breaks?!?! I sighed internally and made the healing chakra disappear. Fine. You asked for it Barry. My hands formed six seals in a flash. KATON: GOKAKYUU NO JUTSU! A huge fireball erupted from my mouth and burnt everything in its path to a crisp, including the butcher. Ed's jaw dropped. What the hell?! A fireball that came out of thin air? That definitely doesn't follow the Law of Equivalent Exchange. How did she do it? "Holy crap Marina, what was that?"

"Ahaha, I'll tell you later?" I looked towards the door to see that Alphonse Elric had come to our rescue, followed by Colonel Mustang and co.

"BROTHER! MARINA-CHAN! Are you guys OK?"

"Al! Yeah, we're fine."

"Why does it smell like barbeque pork in here?"

One of Ed's eyebrows twitched. "And hello to you too, Mustang."

"The Fuhrer's gonna kill you, Hawkeye," commented Hughes. "Pictures of my daughter will help take your mind off your doom. Wanna see some?"

"……………"

"Just kidding, just kidding!"

*Thud* I suddenly collapsed due to exhaustion and shock. Concerned, Ed knelt beside me. I lost my composure and started to cry. Ed, looking bewildered, mouthed to Al Help me! What do I do? Al whispered back, "Comfort her, you idiot!" Ed tentatively held me in his arms, rubbing my back and continuously murmuring, "You're OK. It's all right now." I eventually stopped crying and I blacked out, again.

When I awoke, I found myself in a white bed, staring at an equally white ceiling. I gradually turned my head to the left, and saw Ed sitting next to my bed.

"Good morning sunshine!"

"Ugh, how long have I been out for?"

"For at least a week, I think"

"WHAT?!?!?!" I sat up abruptly, then winced as pain shot through my ribs.

"Whoa there, take it easy. You've actually been out for a day."

"…………" I glared at Ed.

I started to shiver, despite the warm temperature of the hospital room.

"Marina, are you cold? You're shivering."

I nodded. "A-a little."

"Here." Ed moved from the chair to my bed and put his red coat over my shoulders. I felt a bit warmer, but my shivering continued. All of a sudden, Ed pulled me closer to him, and I blushed. Ed apologized for something different. "Sorry about my right arm. It's auto-mail, so it won't keep you warm, but––." He stopped as I snuggled into his chest. "Thank you Ed," I whispered. His surprised expression changed to a softer one when my shivering stopped altogether and my breathing slowed. Ed deduced––correctly––that I had fallen asleep, gently put me under the covers of my hospital bed, and returned to his chair.

I woke up a second time to see that Ed was still in the chair beside my bed.

"Oh good, you're awake! I heard that you don't like hospital food, so I, um, went to the cafeteria at HQ and got you some apples and milk. I didn't know what kind of food you like, so I went with fruit to be safe." The alchemist shuddered at the mention of the odious white liquid.

"You didn't have to! How much was it? I'll pay you back."

"No, no, it's OK. Don't worry about it."

It took me several tries and Ed's help to sit up. There was a blue flash as Ed transmuted his auto-mail arm into a blade. Ed started to peel and cut one of the apples. He held out a piece in front of me.

"Not to be rude or anything, but I can feed myself."

"I disagree. Your ribs are healing so you're still weak. I'll. Feed. You."

I relented. "All right, if you insist." I leaned forward and with my mouth, took the piece of apple from his hand.

An apple and a half later, we both heard the door open. Breda stuck his head in the room, right as I was about to take another slice of apple from Ed. The pudgy lieutenant remarked, "Sorry to interrupt. I'll let you guys have your privacy and, uh, come back later." He left, closing the door behind him. Ed then announced, "Once you get out of here, I'll treat you to some REAL food, OK?"

I nodded, smiling. "I'd like that."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~2 days later~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After getting released from the hospital, Hawkeye picked me up, and we drove to her house. Upon our arrival, Black Hayate, Hawkeye's black and white pooch, tackled me. "Haha, hey boy! I guess you're happy to see me, huh?"

Hawkeye stated, "Everybody's happy to see that you're better." Sneakily changing the subject, she mentioned, "So I heard that Ed kept you company while you were in the hospital…………"

"Heard from who? Breda?"

"Uh-huh."

I blushed slightly and my gaze traveled to a rather interesting piece of concrete by my feet. "Yeah? What of it?"

Hawkeye raised an eyebrow. "Oh nothing, nothing."

"Riiiight."

By that time, we had made it into the house and were sitting down at the table. Suddenly the phone rang. We both got up, but Hawkeye made me stay put, seeing as I just got out of the hospital. The only thing I could do was sigh and wait while my guardian answered the phone.