DISCLAIMER: Ed Elric, Al Elric, Armstrong, grandfather, granddaughter, policeman © Hiromu Arakawa / Marina © author.

Key:

Normal text - speaking/narration

Italics - thoughts

Bold Italics: jutsu

Ch 8: Having A Blast

The fullmetal alchemist watched the countryside speed by. "She loves you, you know." Armstrong informed him.

"Yeah, I know." The blond took a moment to tuck a stray strand of hair behind my ear. He chuckled softly. "When I asked her out, I honestly thought she was going to reject me."

"Because?"

"I dunno…......my auto-mail, I guess."

"And why is that?"

"I just figure having two auto-mail limbs was a huge turn-off, but Marina doesn't mind. If anything, she wants to learn more about auto-mail and help me take care of it. She's even willing to travel ridiculous distances with me to find the Philosopher's Stone. She's absolutely amazing, and I can't believe I found her!"

"From what I heard, she put her life on the line not once, but TWICE, in order to protect you. That right there is a testament to her love for you."

"Yeah." The blond gazed at my sleeping form and smiled.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~A few hours later~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Wake up sweetheart! We need to change trains." Ed kissed my cheek.

"Nnnhhh……." It took me a while to fully awaken. Once awake, I sat upright and stretched my arms towards the ceiling. Ed playfully poked me in the stomach and was rewarded with an indignant squawk. "Itai! Hey, how long was I asleep for?" I asked.

"You slept for the entire trip."

"Did I really?"

He smiled and kissed me again. "Uh-huh."

Armstrong and I waited on the station platform while Ed went to retrieve his little brother. A minute later, he returned, unusually perturbed. "Guys, Al isn't in the car!"

"Maybe they accidentally dropped him off at the last stop?" I guessed.

"I'm going to get Al. Marina, stay with the Major, OK?" The blond gave me a quick kiss. "I'll be back soon."

"Ed…………" I trailed off and sighed as my boyfriend sprinted away.

A while later, the major and I approached a policeman. "Have you seen a suit of armor that looks like this?" Armstrong pulled out a sketchbook and rapidly sketched a realistic picture of Ed's younger brother.

"You're good at drawing!" The policeman complimented.

It's been at least three hours. I hope Ed is OK. "Excuse me Armstrong, sir? I have to go to the bathroom, so……….." My notification fell on deaf ears as the state alchemist bragged about the drawing ability that apparently has been passed through his family for generations.

I headed in the direction of the bathroom but decided to make a left instead, ending up in a narrow alleyway. BYAKUGAN! I activated the Hyuuga kekkei genkai. After scanning for a bit, I gasped due to finding my boyfriend almost unconscious on the ground, sans arm AND leg. Sorry Major, but Ed needs me right now. Turning off the blood line limit, I shuushined to a spot close to where he had fallen. Running to him, I clapped my hands together and slammed them on the wet ground in desperation. To my surprise, a flash of purple light emanated from my hands, and Ed now had a right arm and left leg. Both were made of earth, but they would do. Was that––? D-did I just––? I was speechless for a moment.

"………Marina………you just performed alchemy. And without a transmutation circle to boot!" Ed shook his head in disbelief. "You really are amazing!"

I blushed, not used to the praise. "No I'm not!.........Never mind that, what happened? Why was your leg gone?"

"You are too! Don't you ever try to deny it!..........I have no idea. All I know is that I was trying to find Al, a crate got dropped on me, and when I woke up, I saw a little girl run away with my leg." I helped him stand up, and I spotted a house at the end of the path.

"Maybe your leg is in there?"

A worn-out looking man with a crutch opened the door when I knocked on it. "Excuse me sir? We have reason to believe your daughter has taken my boyfriend's auto-mail leg."

"She's actually not my daughter. She's my granddaughter."

"Ahahaha, sorry about that." I felt embarrassed, and Ed gave me a reassuring kiss.

He let us in, seeing as it was raining. We sat around a table drinking tea, me on the alchemist's lap. By this time, Ed had his auto-mail back on; the temporary leg disintegrated earlier.

"I'm sorry. She was trying to help out this old geezer in her own way."
"So she took it thinking it would help you out, huh?"

"I do not need an artificial leg. I lost my leg, but in exchange, I gained something much more valuable; peace in my heart, and this lifestyle with my grandchildren. And……….perhaps people gain something after losing something." After a while, the rain subsided, and I went outside to play with the guy's granddaughter. She had a ton of energy and ran around like crazy, showing off. I giggled and chased after her, tickling her when I caught her. Both adult and teen observed us through a window. "She would make a good mother."

Ed blushed at the mental picture that the comment created. "W-who? Marina?"

"Is that her name? Yes, she gets along well with children, it seems."

The granddaughter got tired after a spell, we went back inside, and I was greeted with a passionate kiss from my boyfriend, which I returned. "Mmmmmm, Ed, we have to find Al."

"We do? Oh yeah. Hehe, whoops!"

I rolled my eyes. "You forgot, didn't you?"

"………..No?"

I turned to the grandfather and bowed. "We have to go now, but thank you very much for the tea."

"Don't go onee-chan!" The little girl glommed to my legs, on the verge of tears.

"Awwww, there, there, don't cry. Onee-chan will come back to visit soon, k?" I knelt so that I saw eye to eye with her, and tenderly kissed her forehead. The grandfather gave Ed a See-What-I-Mean? look.

After waving good-bye, Ed and I strolled down the road hand in hand. A short while later, we found Al by the side of the road, and the major had caught up. We all heard the whistle of the train a minute later. "Oh no! If we miss that train, we'll have to wait until noon tomorrow!" The Strong Arm Alchemist picked up Ed and his brother.

"What are you doing?!"

"We're running with the very fast dashing method passed down in my family!" Armstrong started running with both Elrics on his shoulders. I sweat-dropped and channeled some chakra into my legs to increase my pace.