"speaking"

thoughts

Colonel Mustang left a nice sized purse of money and a note in his sleeping daughter's bag before he and the Lieutenant left the next morning. Rayna hadn't gone with Ed to see them off, she had simply been too tired after staying up half the night working; but Al had stayed behind to keep an eye on her.

Al was trying to figure out what she could have possibly done to make his brother fall in love with her.

"What's wrong Al?" She asked waking up to what appeared to be Al deep in thought.

He hadn't even noticed that she was waking up, "how do women make men fall in love with them?" He asked.

Rayna was more than a little surprised by his question. "That's not really how love works..." She said trying to think of how to explain it a way that he would understand it.

"Then how does love work?" He asked.
"Well, love is when you find someone you want to share the rest of your life with." She said. "You never want to be away from them, you want to start a family with them."

"How do you find this person?" Al asked.
"Well, you meet someone new. You share interests with them, you are physically attracted to each other, and you feel as though a void within you has been filled." She told him. "If you have anymore questions I suggest you ask married people, or read some romance novels."

Al went off to find some work; while Rayna, who had been touched to find her father's present went off to do a small amount of shopping.

First thing that she did was buy a bigger backpack, and then some snacks that she would be able to take on the road with her. "I'm going to need all of the energy I can get...I must not allow that haunting sleep to return." She vowed to herself as she made her purchases.

XxXxXxXxXx

Ed found Al helping some construction workers, "if you wanted some books all you had to do was ask."Ed told him.

"I know big brother, but this is for personal research so I want to do it on my own." Al replied.
"If that's what you want." Ed said with a shrug, "but where is Rayna?" He asked after a second hoping that she hadn't come across another pervert.

"She went to do a bit of shopping, so you are also free to do as you please before we have to get back on the road." Al told him returning to his own work.

Ed decided to just go to the book store and see if he could find something of interest to take on the trip with him, and to do a bit of shopping of his own. "Our travels are about to get a bit more difficult, so I should get some supplies." He mumbled to himself.

It was while he was getting some gear that he literally ran into Rayna as she was buying some first aid supplies.

"Hey what're you out shopping for?" He asked scratching the back of his head in an effort to seem less nervous and more casual.

"Rasia and Al told me that you have a habit of getting hurt all the time, so I was getting extra supplies for my medical bag." She explained.

"Oh...what else did you get?" He asked keeping up conversation.
"Some personal necesities and entertainment for the road...what have you purchased?" Rayna replied.
"Some books, and a few things I thought would make our travels easier." He answered.
"Can I ask you one more question?" She asked innocently.

"Sure." Ed said both wary and confused.
"Why are you so nervous?" She asked.

"I'm not nervous..." He lied.

"You seem nervous." Rayna argued.

"I'm just trying to keep you as comfortable as possible." He told her, "I'm not used to traveling with girls for long periods of time." He added coming up with an excuse that wasn't a lie but at the same time wasn't the truth.

"Well, try not to worry about it too much, I'll let you know if something is wrong." She smiled warmly at him.

Sorry for the long wait, next chapter going up this evening as well.

R&R Please