I have a cold...and I don't feel like putting in an author's note here...just read the stuff at the bottom...sniiiiif I hope you like it.

Chapter 34 - A Trip
"Hey Mustang?" Ed's voice spoke sternly and seriously through the phone. "I need you to wire me over some money."

A bit of a laugh could be heard through the line. "Aren't you a little young to be living pay cheque to pay cheque Fullmetal? Why are you so short?"

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING A PIP-SQUEAK?!" Ed bellowed throught the phone. Aria choked a bit on the juice she was drinking, Winry couldn't help but smile.

"I meant short on cash." Roy defended himself.

Ed calmed himself. "Oh...right. Well, Al's in the hospital, and we need to pay the doctor bill. I've got that covered all fine and good, but I need some money to get a ticket to the Ishbalan camp. I hear it's only less than a day away and I need to get there as soon as possible."

Roy thought for a momet. "I could have some money in your account by this afternoon at about four...but, why's Al in the hospital...and why do you need to go to the Ishbalan camp?"

"Well," Ed began. "Al had to get his appendix out...and I think I know of a way to help with finding that nut case we've been tailing. I know it's a bit of a long shot, but I heard from a reliable source that he and his lackies are going to try a mass homosicde."

There was a moment of silence from the other line of the phone. "How many are you speculating there are?"

Ed sighed. "Not sure, I'll be heading back to Central to give you my report soon enough, but right now, I need to go see a certain Ishbalan."

"I'll take your word for it Elric, don't let me down."

Ed smiled. "When have I ever let you down?" He smirked. "Thanks." With that said, he hung up the phone. "It's all set. I can use the money in my account now to get the ticket, and then when Roy get's that money though, we'll pay the hospital charges."

Ed reached his hands into his pockets and pulled out his white gloves. "Normally I hate doing things without Al being there, but I need to go and see Leo as soon as possible. And even if it's not him, I'm sure I'll find who I need to there." All Ishbalans had red eyes, and there wasn't too many of them, so tracking down who they needed to wouldn't be too much of a problem.

"Are you sure you want to go alone?" Aria folded her hands in front of her.

Ed smiled. "Yeah. It would be safer having you here with everyone around you. I wouldn't be able to keep a good enough eye on you to ensure your safety."

She nodded. "I guess. I should help out around the house to earn my keep anyway."

Winry gave her a pat on the back. "You can help me with the laundry then."

Ed tightened the tie on his braid and grabbed the colar of his coat and flipped it out. "Great, that saves me the trouble. I'll head out now, the next train heading that way leaves within the hour."

Having said their good-bye's, Ed left for the station and Aria and Winry headed into the laundry room at the back of the house to tidy up. Ed and Al never did take to doing laundry, so they left theirs to someone else to do. Winry sighed and placed her hands on her hips. "I just love it when they leave everything for me, they don't even sort it." She glanced over at Aria. "Luckily I have you to help...and you won't run away, right?"

She smiled and nodded. "Of course." She rubed her hands together. "Let's get these sorted out then. The quicker we get through them, the quicker I can get to making my garden."

Wriny sweat-dropped. "Don't mind a little hard work I take it."

She shook her head. "If I'm not doing something, I feel useless, that's why I keep myself busy all the time. Let's get started."

The time passed quickly. It seemed as though when there was someone to talk to, the chores just flew right by. Half the laundry was done in a matter of hours. Washed, rinsed and hung to dry.

"You're pretty good at this." Winry complimented her.

"Yeah, my sister always kept me busy." She smiled as she sorted through some of the pants.

"Sister? I thought you were an only child." Winry asked, slightly confused.

Aria nodded her head. "I am, my sister is acutally only my sister-in-law, she's Felix's youngr sister...but I guess she won't be after I get rid of him. We got along pretty good...but around the end, a few months before the wedding, she started getting kind of weird."

Winry was a little concerned, why had she not mentioned her sooner?

"I'd rather not have anything to do with her anymore though...she's turned into a bad memory I just want to forget." There was an awkward pause.

"Alright." Winry couldn't help herself. "...why?" She had to ask.

"She liked...me, a little more than I was comfortable with."

Winry blushed. "Oh...oh my...that must have been...weird."

Aria nodded in an exadurated manner. "You wouldn't believe it. It was espically bad when she would go out partying and then she'd come home all doped up on God knows what." She folded her arms tightly and rubbed them to get rid of the goose bumps. "She'd get all touchy-feely and GAH!" Aria shook her hands frantically and then placed them down on the washing machine. "So gross."

Winry laughed. "I take it you're slightly homophobic."

She shook her head. "No...It just creeps me out to have a girl hit on me...so creepy." Aria took a few steps to the right to continue sorting out the clothing. She picked up a pair of Ed's pyjama pants and noticed something stuck in the leg. It must have been a sock or something, it was only small. She reached her hand in to properly sort it. "I think it's fine for someone to have their own little thing they like doing...so long as they don't push it on some...one...else..." She held up a pair of panties and blankly stared at them. "Uh...right then...Winry?"

Winry turned her attention toward Aria, holding up Ed's pants in one hand and the little pair of panties in the other. "Where did that come from?" She noticed Aria wiggled the pants. "How did they get there?" She walked over and tugged the underwear out of her hand.

"I guess some people have stranger hobbies than I thought." She giggled and shook her head.

A rabid blush crept all over Winry's cheeks. What in the world would a pair of her panties be doing in Ed's pants. Was there something he wasn't telling her? Then it hit her. She remembered the first night they spent together a day ago, and how she had thought she had lost her panties. Ed must have gotten them stuck in his pyjamas before he left the room. 'That makes sence...'

Aria leaned against the table with the cloths on it. "Care to explain?"

Winry tossed the garment into the correnct pile. "Not really." They laughed about it as they continued the laundry.

Ed walked through the streets, checking down alley's and in between tents; the Ishbalan camp was pretty small, but the larger tents still made alleys. It seemed as though since the military was back in good hands, the Ishbalan's had nothign to fear. Building up their civilization again and bringing peace to the members of the village was easier ever since things were returned to the way they should have been from the start. Ed smiled as he walked by an open tent, a mother and her baby were cuddling by a small fire which was being stoked up by what seemed to be the father figure.

Seeing everyone so happy made Ed feel good inside. If not for him and Al, none of this would have been possible. For the first time in a while, Ed felt worthy of the title 'Hero of the People'. A twinge of pride revealed itself in Ed's mind, he soaked it all in. He wasn't about to shoot down self confidence.

Finally, after a bit of walking, Ed found exactly who he was looking for. "Mind if I come in?" He tapped his hand against the tent flap. It rippled beneath his hand. Ed couldn't see, Leo from the other side of the tent flap, but Ed recognized the voice talking to someone.

"Hmm?" The tent's door openend up revealing Leo on the other side, his younger brother in behind him. It seemed as though they lived alone, it was a smaller tent. "Ed?"

Ed held a hand up in greeting. "Hey." He smiled. "Mind if I come in."

"So they're looking for me?" Leo questioned. After sitting down by the warm fire, Ed had explained everything in detail.

"Yeah." Ed sipped his home grown Ishbalan tea. "So that's why I needed to come and see you. You wouldn't happen to know anything that might benefit this group of crazies, would you?"

"There is that book Scar left us." Rick spoke from the other side of the tent.

"That's right. It's pretty damaged, but I think it might be just what they're after." Leo rose form his spot and went into the other room of the tent, then quickly reappeared with a semi-burnt book in hand. "Like I said, damaged, but only in the later half of the book, and only at the bottom corner." he handed the book to Ed.

"Let's see." He flipped through the pages and skim read the text. "Hmm." He read a little more in depth. "Human transmutation." He flipped more into the book. "This bit's in ancient text...I can't read anymore."

"Not many people can read the ancient texts. If you'd like, I can help you translate them." Leo smiled and sat across from Ed once more. "I'm been learning how to read it, so has Rick. We're still not that good, but I'm sure we can find something out."

Ed thought for a moment and shook his head. "Thanks, but I need to get back. Im sure this is just what I need." Ed tugged out his watch and checked it. The train he was taking back was only stopping in for twenty minutes and then heading right back. It was dropping off cargo in Ishbal, so it was only staying for a short while. The Ishbalan camp was the end of the line, so it was no wonder.

He rose from his seat and fixed his coat so that it wasn't bunched int he back. Leo and Rick all went along with Ed to see him off, but to their dismay, by the time they got there, the train had already left. "What do you mean it's gone?!" Ed leaned over the ticket booth at the poor scared vendor.

"They had extra hands today helping and finished ahead of scheduel." The man behind the counter waved his hands frantically in defence. "If you have a complaint, you should take it up with the staton director."

Ed calemed himself. "It's fine then...I'll just get the early train tomorrow."

"Uh, Ed." Rick sounded from right beside him. He was looking at the train schedule. "Tomorrow's an Ishbalan holiday, there's no trains running."

"WHAT?!" Ed was furious. "I have no where to go, I'm completly put out! Where's that station director?!" Ed then felt a hand on his shoulder.

"You can stay with us if you like, we have the food and the room." Leo sounded sincear with his offer.

Ed, though he realy wanted to get back, decided to stay. This gave him time to translate the book with Leo and his brother. "I suppose there's no harm. Al won't be out of the hospital till tomorrow anyway."

"Great." Leo smiled and they all headed back towards their tent. "...wait a sec. How could Al be in the hospital? I thought he didn't get sick on account of the armor."

Ed nodded. "That was true. But a few months ago, we finally managed to get his original body back. Sorry I didn't let you guys know sooner."

"That's alright. With all the traveling we did with the camps, it would have been a miracle if you found us anyway. It's good to see everything is returning to normal for everyone." They continued walking. "So...you said Aria pointed you in the right direction?" He saw that Ed nodded. "Did she ask anything else about me?"

"You still like her?" Rick snickered.

Leo gave him a quick smuck in the back of the head, a bright blush on his cheeks. "Quiet."

"Haha! You have a crush on her!" Rick teased.

"Shut up you little twerp!" He took a swing at him but missed.

Ed couldn't help but snicker. "I think you might be a little too late. Al and Aria are pretty close."

Leo sighed. "Oh well." It was only a one day crush, so Leo wasn't all that let down. Still, he did think she was quite pretty.

"How much of this do you think we can translate tonight?" Ed quickly changed the subject.

Leo, though he was still slightly depressed, stood up straight and began estimating how much time it would take. "If we really grinded, we should be able to get through half of the old text tonight. More than half the book is in modern text, so it sould take no time at all."

Rick chimed in. "Yeah, I'm pretty good at reading it too, I'm sure we can have it done by tomorrow sometime."

Ed smiled. "Great, let's get to it."

Sorry it took so long. I didn't have writer's block, I was just being lazy. :P

But on a good note, I took some advice from a friend of mine who also writes. He outlines all the chapters he want's to write about and then goes from there. So what I did, was wrote out an outline for the next two chapters so I know just what to do with them.

I'll be writing out more outlines tonight...and let me tell you...I'm totally going to kill someone...XD Just you wait and see!

It's a big twist and I'm sure no one will expect it. Let's see...Ch 35 and 36 are outlined...and chapter 37 tonight...then 38...I think it will happen in the end of 38...pretty sure anyway.

I don't want to drag this arc on too long, you'll get bored with it. So I'll be moving on after these next few chapters.

Then...I get into the more romantic and fun stuff.

Anyway, tell me what you think! I'll never improve unless you guys tell me what I'm doing wrong.
Thankies for sticking with me this long!!!