Chapter 5

A/N: OMG, I'm sooooooooo sorrry, this has been one of the most distracting months for me ever. Like first, Naruto ended, and *horribly* I might add, so i sorta lost my muse, and then to drown my pain I started reading a lot of UlquiHime from Bleach so I got super distracted by some really awesome stories, and then I got a job so I'm super ultra busy, on top of the regular school thing, and then it was Thanksgiving! Blarg...

tetraforce theory: Stop it, you're making me blush! And PM me anytime you want, dear.

Infinite Katalyst: You know you love Reed. And yeah, like c'mon Ed, Al, you can't seriously expect your kids wouldn't get into any trouble?!

GummyDrive: Indeed, some things just never change!

Reed Mustang glared across his family's sitting room at the dinner guests he now to put up with. Cursing inwardly, he examined the so called vagabonds, wondering as to how he was so unlucky that these people happened to be family friends.

The older boy seemed the more sensible of the two, sitting on the couch constructing a mechanical toy shaped like a cat with a small tool. Based on a picture his mother had shown him earlier, he looked just like his famous father, without the garish clothing choices.

The girl on the other hand...

She looked very much like Fullmetal's wife, but she seemed to have inherited her father's fondness for braids and the color red, based off the cardigan she wore. 'At least it isn't some silly cloak,' he thought to himself. She was glancing around the silent room, a bored expression gracing her features.

Nobody spoke. Reed's sister, Scarlett, was reading contentedly next to him, preferring quiet over most things in life. The only sounds came from Wesley's tinkering, and even that wasn't very noisy. Looking to the door, and lamenting the fact his parents still had yet to return from whatever discussion they were having alone, Reed looked back to Elizabeth. Her blue eyes briefly met his, daring him to speak, before darting away, watching her brother and the toy cat.

He couldn't take it anymore. He had to speak. "So you're an alchemist?"

The Elrics both looked at him, not entirely sure who the question was directed to. The brother and sister's eyes met for a moment, before Elizabeth looked to him. "We both are," she said slowly, wondering if she should reveal her plan.

"And you came to study something? Why not ask your father?"

"He wouldn't tell me," she replied, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. Wesley lifted her hand and moved it to hold a piece of the toy down so he could attach it, but she didn't seem fazed, going along with what he needed, still looking at Fuhrer's son, egging on his questions. Unbeknownst to Reed, Wes had given her a warning pinch when he moved her hand, warning her not to reveal too much.

"Maybe he doesn't know?" Reed offered, a smirk appearing. Fullmetal had retired awfully early...

"Perhaps. Are you an alchemist?"

Elizabeth watched delightedly as the smirk sank off of his face and was replaced by a dark scowl. "I wish. My father would never teach me, won't even tell me how he makes the flames or transmutes without circles. I've never seen anyone else do it, so I know it's special."

The black haired boy became somewhat confused when he saw Elizabeth become lost in thought suddenly, as if weighing options in her head. She knew something, perhaps even about his father and what he wasn't sharing with him.

"My uncle can do it," she nearly whispered after a few moments, her eyes still faraway. "And my dad used to be able to," she added, before she could stop herself, ignoring Wes' pointed look.

"How come they are able to do it? Are you able to?" Reed asked, and even Scarlett looked up from her book to the older blonde girl, perhaps pondering the reason herself. Elizabeth opened her mouth, and no sound came out, as if she did not know how to explain the atrocious reason so casually.

Before any answer could be given, Roy and Riza finally reentered the sitting room. The Fuhrer immediately looked down to the couch, gazing at the Elric teens. "I tried calling your parents several times, but there appears to be nobody home. Do you happen to know where they are?"

"I can honestly say, at this point, I have no clue," the girl spoke, shrugging. They were supposed to be in Rush Valley, but surely, Alphonse had already called them. They could be out searching for them for all she knew.

"Where are they supposed to be?" Riza asked, catching on quickly, her observant eyes searching the girl's face. The younger girl could certainly figure out where Reed had inherited those probing looks, seeing the Hawk's Eye in action.

"Rush Valley." It was Wesley who answered this question, ignoring any betrayed glares his sister may be giving him. Roy nodded.

"Noted. Now, who's hungry?"

Elizabeth's eyes snapped open, no longer able to bear the sound of Scarlett's light snoring from the bed. Wrapped up in a blanket on a futon, the older girl had been tossing and turning, trying to get to sleep.

She still couldn't quite figure out how she felt about the Mustang family in general. The girl she shared the room with was quiet and unobtrusive, preferring to read over getting involved in Roy's dramatics. There was something impressive yet slightly irritating about the Fuhrer, and the irritation only increased towards his son, who seemed to worship the ground his father stood on while simultaneously being unimpressed. Quite contradictory, and quite like his mother in that way.

As for the First Lady, Riza, Elizabeth found herself very in awe of the woman. She was a no nonsense type, yet protective and gentle, and highly observant. The girl had talked to her the most over dinner, desiring to know why she quit the Amestrian military.

"Well, there are several reasons why," Riza had said, candidly, and yet gently. "The first was that I had gotten pregnant with Reed, and I knew I couldn't hide it forever, or take care of him if I stood the risk of dying in battle. The second was that I joined the military to help Roy achieve his goal, and at that point, he had just become the Fuhrer. I assist him with accomplishing his political goals, and I still protect him when I feel it's necessary, just without a uniform."

Elizabeth nodded in understanding, before Riza continued. "The last reason, was that your mother sort of inspired me. She was a young wife with a young child, carrying another when I got pregnant myself, and even though she had all of that going on, she was still an accomplished automail mechanic, looking out for her patients and her family without feeling like she'd lost one to gain the other. She made me realize that just because I was giving up my rank, it didn't mean I was giving up my choice to protect and help Roy with his goals. It was the second time she inspired me, the first being when I decided to grow my hair out."

Feeling a blush rise to her cheeks, a choked out "Really?" was all the Elric girl was capable of saying. She had never considered her mother that way, always viewing her as loving, but unwilling to let her out in the world.

Roy had interrupted, though, with a sudden "And don't forget anti-fraternization laws!" Having wholly interrupted the moment, Elizabeth could practically feel Riza rolling her eyes at him.

Shaking away thoughts of dinner, she sat up from the futon, before slowly making her way to the door, an excuse of needing to use the bathroom ready on her lips, lest Scarlett should stir. Getting no interruption, she slipped down the hallway to where her brother was staying, her loose hair brushing her shoulders and setting her on edge.

Nobody caught her, and she carefully entered the boys' room, making her way to her sleeping brother's futon. Placing a hand over his mouth, she prodded him until gold eyes shot open, hazy and panicked.

Despite her hand gently placed on his mouth to muffle any sounds, his panic made him quite loud, as he shouted "Oh my God, El, what the fuck?!"

Elizabeth desperately whispered "We need to get out of here," but not before Reed shot up in his bed, and turned to the sight before him.

"Just what do you think you're doing?!"

Wesley seemed to know as much as Reed regarding what the girl was doing in the room, and shrugged. Narrowing his eyes, Reed turned his attention to Elizabeth's form, noting her mussed, but loose hair, and her nightgown still being on.

"Please be quiet," she pleaded, surprising him, as he expected another scathing remark. "I think Wes and I should leave, before our parents are notified. You want that right, for us to be out of your hair?"

She squirmed nervously as the boy seemed to sit and think for a minute, something that did not escape him. Wes still looked incredibly confused, wondering if he should get up or not.

"I'll be quiet," Reed started, noting the girl's look of relief. "...if you tell me why you're here in Central, instead of Resembool, where you live."

The color drained from her face, and she pondered for a moment what she could tell him that would keep him distracted enough to let them go. However, Wesley once again decided that honesty was the best option, and began to explain on her behalf, much to her chagrin.

"My half-brained sister wants to become a State Alchemist, and she wants to do it by figuring out to transmute without a circle, but without-"

El's clamping of her hand over his mouth startled the two boys, before Wesley remembered what her eyes were frantically trying to tell him. Reed doesn't know how that's possible. He doesn't know alchemy like we do.

"Without what?"

The two blondes remained silent, clearly not willing to say why certain people were able to do such a thing.

"Answer me! I'm not going to let you go unless you answer me honestly! How come my dad can transmute without a circle?!"

More silence greeted him, as the brother and sister's eyes met, trying to figure a way out of this mess. The other teen leapt off of his bed, grabbing Elizabeth's shoulders, and bringing her face closer to his. "Why?! I know you can tell me! Why won't my dad say?!"

Wesley moved to free his sister from his grip, but Elizabeth put her hand up, stopping him in his tracks. She started to understand why he was so desperate, knowing that she also feared secrets were being kept from her as well.

"The cardinal sin," she spoke finally. "The worst thing an alchemist can attempt, human transmutation."

Surprise filled his eyes as he let go of her, sitting down in a slump. "No..you're lying. That can't be true, my father would never do such a thing."

"It's the only possible way," Elizabeth explained gently, surprising herself. "That's why I want to find a different one."

"Your uncle then? He did it too?" Reed asked, almost accusingly. Wesley looked at his hands, feeling bad for causing the whole discussion.

"Our Uncle Alphonse and our father Edward attempted to revive their dead mother as children. Most people are killed trying it, and those that survive...they're missing things. Our father lost an arm and a leg, and had automail prosthetics, that's why he was called Fullmetal. Our uncle...he lost his entire body, and spent a few years of his life as a living suit of armor," Wesley explained.

"What's my Dad missing then? How do we know he didn't figure out how to do it without doing human transmutation?"

"We don't know your father's circumstances. He could have regained whatever it is he lost, after all. Our Dad got his arm back, and Uncle Al has had a human body again for 20 years now," Elizabeth objected. "Besides, some things people lose aren't visible. Our Dad's teacher, she attempted to revive her dead baby, and lost some of her internal organs."

For a moment, the two feared Reed would shut down faced with the sickening information. Instead, he looked to them. "Wherever you're going, I want to go too."

"What?!" Elizabeth gasped. "No way, you aren't coming! You have no way to take care of yourself!"

"I'll steal a gun," he replied, shrugging carelessly.

"Don't you consider us vagabonds?" Wes asked, an eyebrow raised in mild confusion.

"I realize now that your criminal actions make sense in context. Besides, I want to know more about this sordid mess, and you guys seem to have the information, or are in pursuit of it. I'll even help you with money and stuff, I just have one request."

"You want to transmute without a circle too?" the girl deadpanned, crossing her arms petulantly and fearing he was going to steal her idea to become a State Alchemist while he was at it.

"Not quite," Reed answered. "I want you to figure out how Flame Alchemy works for me."

"Huh?!"

"I've tried to piece together the puzzle myself with observation, but my Dad isn't very forthcoming with information on how it works, and I don't know enough to decipher this picture," he said, digging in his side table drawer, before pulling out a picture of a person's back, uncovered by a halter dress, revealing some sort of tattoo.

"Who is this?" Wesley asked tentatively, examining the picture.

"My mother," Reed answered. "Her father tattooed his research on Flame Alchemy on my Mom's back before he died. My Dad was his apprentice. For some reason though, parts of her back are burnt, and I can't figure this out."

"Why does this picture exist?" El asked, somewhat perturbed. Reed didn't meet her eyes, fiddling with his sleeve.

"I may or may not have bribed my sister to take it covertly."

Wesley seemed to think for a moment. "Maybe we shouldn't leave right away, El."

"But what about our parents? What if they find us? Thanks to your loose lips, his parents know they're supposed to be in Rush Valley!"

"We can risk a day, I think," he replied with finality. "We may be able to accomplish more if we stay a day or two. Reed, can you get us into the National Library?"

The boy nodded, and Wesley laid back on the futon, satisfied. "That settles it then. El, go back to bed, I'm tired as hell."

The next day, Alphonse stood once again in East City, looking at his watch.

"Ed should be here soon," he called to his wife, who was sharing a cinnamon bun with Henry. She nodded, waiting for him to say whatever he was thinking. "I think you should go take Henry to Xing, in case the kids turn up there."

"But Ling is on the lookout," Mei pouted, standing from the bench and approaching him, a careful eye still trained on Henry and Xiao Mei.

"I know, but I don't want to risk Henry being put in danger too. Who knows where the kids are, and if they're even all together? I mean, if you don't want to go to Xing, there's Rush Valley with Winry, or being alone in Resembool."

With a sigh, Mei caved. "Fine! I'll go to Xing! But only because I don't want to bother Winry with her work."

"Actually, Winry could probably use a sympathetic ear, she can't focus for the life of her," a voice behind them spoke, causing them to turn and see Edward standing there with a suitcase.

"Oh, ok," Mei nodded, before going back to Henry and their bags, sensing an impending argument.

"Brother..." Al began timidly, looking at his brother's face. "Brother, I'm sorry, I-"

Ed waved a hand in dismissal, setting his suitcase down. "Stop it, Al, I don't want to hear it. It isn't just my kids out there, and frankly, I should have known Elizabeth would try something like this eventually."

"You think they escaped?"

"It's what I would've done," Ed conceded. "I'm not thrilled about it, and if they did escape, they're in some serious trouble, but yes, I'll admit, we probably would have escaped too."

"But why though?!"

"I have some theories, but I'm not entirely sure yet."

Seeing no confrontation, Mei approached, Henry holding one hand, and her bag in another. "Alphonse, I'm going to buy tickets to Rush Valley now, since it sounds like Winry and I both could use moral support. When you find Jade and Opal, make sure they know I love them, ok?"

"Ok," Al answered, giving her a kiss goodbye, and squatting to his son's level. "Be good for your mom, ok buddy?"

Henry gave him a hug and nodded, not entirely grasping the situation withhis 6 year old mind. "Say hi to Jade an' Opal, Daddy."

"I will bud, see you later."

Edward patted his brother's back, before grabbing his suit case once again. "Alright, let's go find those punks."

A/N: And there we have it folks, finally, an update. What an excellent feeling. Once again, I'm dreadfully sorry for the wait. Life is...a bitch to say the least. But it's ok, I've got it under control, maybe sort of a little bit.

Anyway, read, review, enjoy! Til next time! Hopefully that's not too long from now? Maybe I'll do special Christmas updates. Who knows? I don't!

MyHikari