Long Winding Road

EdxOC &AlxOC

Edited: 8/3/12

[Mikayla]

We arrived in Central mid-afternoon and checked into a hotel.

"I'm hungry." Reena complained.

"Can it wait till after I go check when the next exam will be held?"

"No~!"

Sighing, I took her to a nearby café and we got sandwiches.

"You're a real brat, you know that?" I grumbled.

"But you love me!"

I scoffed, "I never said I loved you."

"But deep, deep down you do!"

I paid for our food and we started walking to Central Military Command.

"Excuse me," I said to the secretary, "Can you tell me when the next state alchemist exam will be?"

The secretary checked through her papers before answering, "Next month on the 6th."

Seriously?

"Oh… okay, thank you."

"What are we going to do for a whole month?" Reena asked as we walked outside.

I slumped onto a bench, "Don't know."

"We could go back to Risembool!"

I knew what the little devil was planning and it wasn't happening. "No, Ed made his choice."

"But-"

"Drop it Reena!" I didn't mean to snap at her but thinking of Ed ticked me off and made me want to cry. We sat in silence for at least ten minutes before the guilt began to eat away me. "Sorry Reena."

"It's okay."

"Well," I stood up, "Let's go."

"Go where?" She asked, jogging after me.

"We're going to go to South City and visit a friend of mine. We have time, so why not?"

"But we just got here." She whined with a pout.

"I should have left you in Risembool." I muttered.

"When I traveled with Ed he always said he should have left me with Al!"

I opened our hotel room door, "Because your constant whining gets to us. Al has more patience than me and Ed combined."

Instead of being offended like any other regular ten year-old, she simply grinned, "But you love me anyway!"

"Yes, very deep down in my heart, I love you." I said, gathering what few things I had. "Let's get going."

I checked us out of the hotel and we went to the train station to look at the schedules.

[Al]

"Hey, Al."

I looked up from the book I was reading to look at my older brother, "Yeah brother?"

"Where did Mikayla and Reena go?"

I couldn't help but feel sorry for Mikayla and extremely bitter towards my brother. She came back for him and she got nothing in return. I loved Winry like a sister but I also felt that way towards Mikayla. I knew brother didn't love Winry. It was wrong to mess with Winry's feelings when Mikayla was back now and he could be with her again.

"They left for Central this morning." I replied, trying to keep my voice light.

"Oh." He muttered.

Glancing out the window to make sure Winry wasn't coming back home, I asked him, "Why did you do it?"

"Do what?"

"You love Mikayla but you're still with Winry. Don't play with their feelings Ed or it's going to come back and bite you in the butt."

"Al it's-"

"Not that complicated, brother." I interrupted, "You just need to make your mind up before it's too late."

I could see an inner battle being fought inside Ed's mind. I hoped he'd follow his heart and go back to Mikayla so he can stop torturing himself and Winry.

[Mikayla]

When Reena and I arrived in South City it was almost midnight. I walked into a neighborhood that sat by the edge of town and turned down a few streets until I came to the house I needed. After knocking a few times, a tired teenage boy came to the door. His black hair was spiked up all over his head and his rattail hung slightly over his shoulder. His green eyes looked at me annoyed.

"Hey Zack!" I grinned.

Slam!

"ZACKARY OPEN THE FREAKIN' DOOR OR I WILL BREAK IT DOWN AND YOU KNOW GOOD AND WELL I CAN!"

The door automatically opened.

"Hey Kaylaaa~" He yawned, "Come on in."

I walked into the messy ranch style house with Reena not far behind me.

"You never told me you had a kid."

"Does she seriously like she's mine?" I asked, "Plus she's ten. That means I would have had to have her when I was… six?"

Reena and I looked at each other and shrugged, not seeing the resemblance.

"Well, I don't know what that boyfriend of yours looks like. What's his name… Ed?" Zack said, "And your math is wrong, you would have been eight. Your eighteen now aren't you?"

I cringed, "Well, Ed doesn't have black hair… and yes I'm eighteen… please don't mention Ed anymore."

Zack raised an eyebrow, "Why?"

"Just don't." I muttered, "Can I crash here for a little while. I did heal you after all."

Zack shrugged, "Yeah sure, follow me."

He showed Reena her room and then mine which was right next to hers.

"I want to talk to you after you put the kid to sleep." He muttered in my ear.

I sighed and nodded. After I knew Reena was asleep, I walked back into the living room and sat next to him on the couch.

"So what happened? You always told me how excited you were to see him. You couldn't see him because you were always helping people around here, right?" Zack said.

I unwillingly explained to him what had happened and I was surprised to see an irritated, almost angry look on his face. I hadn't told him exactly why I had to leave Ed except that I went on a long trip.

"Jerk." He grumbled.

I shrugged, "I'm over it."

"You are such a bad liar." He chuckled.

I stood up, "I'm going to bed. Thanks again Zack."

The next morning I heard two annoying voices yelling at each other. With a groan, I wrapped my blanket around me and walked to the living room.

"Why are you guys shouting at 11:00 in the morning?" I asked.

"Make her/him shut up!" They both shouted.

Maybe coming to Zack's house was a bad idea.

[A Few Days Later]

I was extremely bored. A bored Mikayla is a very dangerous Mikayla.

"Kayla…what are you doing?"

"What the heck does it look like I'm doing? I'm making a fort!"

Zack sighed as I pulled more blankets out of his closet.

"I'd expect that from that kid." Zack muttered.

"She's helping me." I said, pointing over to Reena who was dragging a chair out of the kitchen.

"Why did I let you two into my house again?"

"It's because you love me, Zack!" I grinned, throwing the blankets over the chairs.

[One Month Later]

The past couple weeks were rather uneventful (expect when we built our fort; that was fun). I kept in contact with Al whenever he called (I gave him the number before he left Risembool), and he would tell me about all his adventures he was currently on while in Xing.

"Kayla, what would you say if I told you Ed broke up with Winry?" He had asked me during one of our phone calls.

I felt a chill go through me at the very mention of Ed's name. I hated that he still had that effect on me. "I would say good for him."

It was June 5th and Reena and I were headed towards the train station so we could head to Central.

"Good luck." Zack grinned.

"Thanks bro." I smiled.

Zack gave me a quick hug before I boarded the train.

"Wouldn't it be great if we saw 'he-who-shall-not-be-named' when we got to Central?" Reena asked.

I raised an eyebrow, "Voldemort?"

She gave me a confused look, "No, Ed! Who's Voldemort?"

"I would rather see Voldemort then Ed." I muttered.

We arrived in Central that afternoon and checked into a hotel.

"Are we actually staying in the hotel?" Reena asked.

"Yep," I replied.

For the rest of the day I stayed in the library. I looked at numerous books on alchemy and tried to remember bits and pieces from the books.

"Just use this," Reena said, placing Ed's notebook in front of me.

"I already did," I said tonelessly.

"You didn't read the whole thing. This could be your key to passing," she said, shoving it closer to me.

"Fine."

I hated to admit it but Ed's notes were probably my key to passing because he takes amazing notes. Now if only his hand writing was a tad bit more legible.

The next day I felt anxious yet ready for the test to start.

"Good luck, Kayla." Reena grinned, giving me a hug.

I hugged her back, "Thanks."

I walked into the testing room and the hall was full of mostly guys.

"They let Ishballens take the test now?" One of the girls asked.

I sighed at the common mistake. "I'm not Ishballen."

My eyes were brown not red. There was a distinct difference.

The written part of the exam started and I felt like I was taking the ACT exam… except ten times harder.

"Ugh." I groaned, walking out of the building.

"How did it go, Kayla?" Reena asked.

"I didn't finish the freakin' test and I only got halfway and my brain feels like mush." I replied, "But hopefully since Mustang was there he'll be able to tweak my test a little so I'll pass."

"Think he'll actually do that?"

"Yeah, when hell freezes over."

The next day I went back to Central Command and found out that I passed. Next was the interview. I walked into a dimly lit room where Olivier sat at a table with a few other officers next to her, including Roy. In the middle of the room was a golden chair with three legs.

"Sit. If you have the power needed to become a state alchemist then you will not fall." Olivier said harshly.

She definitely wasn't going to play favorites. I approached the chair and cautiously sat down on it - it didn't fall.

Thank you God! I silently praised.

"Why do you want to become a state alchemist?" Olivier asked.

"So I can help people all around Amestris and protect the ones I love." I replied, using my best 'Riza Voice'.

(Yes, I dubbed my 'serious voice' my 'Riza Voice')

Olivier graced me with a smirked, "Thank you, you pass to the next round."

With a grin, I proceeded to the Practical Skills Test. Only one of the girls I had taken the written exam with made it this far.

I can do this. I thought.

When the test started I was the first one to walk onto the arena. First, I clapped my hands and placed them on the ground - transmuting twin katanas that looked like a pair I had seen in a movie. A design was formed onto the blade making them look pretty but deadly.

"Did she just do alchemy without a circle?" I heard someone asked from the side.

I smirked - feeling my ego rise. Let's do this.

I started running along the field while dragging the tips of my swords against the ground. I sent alchemic waves through them and the ground started to jet upwards - creating spikes and walls. When I was done I walked out of the arena feeling proud of myself.

"You also signed up to show us some of your medical alchemy?" An official asked, coming up to me.

He led me to a room inside the command center and I showed them what I could do. I healed an injured dog and took a brief written exam.

"How do you think you did?" Reena asked as I walked to her.

"Dunno, I have to go in tomorrow to find out." I replied.

The next morning, I walked into Roy's office trying to keep calm.

"Well if it isn't little Mikayla; hard to believe you'll be a state alchemist now." Roy smirked, "It seems like only yesterday you were just a lost kid in this world."

"You mean I made it?" I grinned.

He tossed me my silver pocket watch in response.

"You are the Silver Katana Alchemist." He said, showing me the paper work.

I glanced at my sheathed swords that were clipped onto my belt, "Silver Katana, eh? I could get use to that."

Author's Corner:

~Hehe did you like the Harry Potter reference? XD

~Next chap you get to meet a new main character YAY!