I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist

The Elric Brothers were 20 miles away from the train station when the rain started to pour heavily. By now, the eldest Elric was groaning in pain as his automail ports were aching. Both of them had to trudge through the wet and muddy woods in search for shelter.

"Damn it! We gotta find someplace dry quickly. I'm drench and cold right now," Edward wined to his younger brother who was holding up a suitcase above his brother's head in an attempt to keep him dry. Edward began to rub his shoulder port to ease the pain he was suffering. "Ugh, I hate rainy days."

A sudden loud thunder clap surprised the two brothers resulting into them sprinting away. They didn't went far when Edward slipped and fell face first to the muddy ground.

"Brother!" the younger Elric exclaimed. He hurriedly went to his brother's side. "Are you alright?"

Edward spat out dirt from his mouth and wiped the mud from his eyes using the back of his gloved hand. "Yuck! I think I just swallowed some."

As Alphonse helped the State Alchemist to his feet, he saw a small house a few yards away from them. "Brother, look!" he pointed his finger to the direction of the said house.

Ed squinted his eyes to where Al was pointing, a gleeful face immediately crept on his face. "Well, it seems our luck is beginning turn. Let's go, Al!" he paced fast towards the house, his younger brother followed suit.

When they arrived at their destination, they immediately saw a boy with short brown hair in the front porch. He was seated on a rocking chair, enjoying a piece of sandwich. He didn't realise the Elrics' presence on the house's front lawn.

"Excuse me?" Edward said to the boy, but he didn't hear him. "Hey! Excuse me?" he tried again and receive the same result as before. Edward cupped his hands by his mouth. "Hey, kid! Hey! Excuse me?" Edward was practically yelling to him angrily.

The boy finally perked his head up to where Edward and Alphonse were standing. He rose from his seat. "Are you lost tourists or debt collectors?" he asked.

"Neither. We just want a place to stay until the rain stops. Can we crash here for a while?" Edward said to the boy.

The brown haired boy took a bite of his food before answering. "Sure." The two brothers smiled happily. Well, maybe just Edward. The boy eyed the brothers from top to bottom. "But, I don't think I'm going to allow any soaking wet guests like you guys inside the house."

Edward held up his hand. "It's alright, we don't mind waiting here. At least we're out of the rain," he said.

The boy stuffed the last piece of bread into his mouth. "How about you guys dry yourselves out here first." He said with his mouth full. "I'll go get something to dry you up." With that, the boy entered the house and left them alone.

"He seems nice," Alphonse said and his brother nodded. Both of them climbed in the house's porch and took a sit on the floor.

Edward took off his red coat and his leather boots. "I need to dry my automail or it'll rust. You should do the same to yourself, Al." Edward ordered and then squeezed out water from his coat

Moments later, the boy came back out with towels and clothes in hand. "Here," He placed it on the rocking chair. "You guys can change and wear these while yours are wet." He said, then looked at Al. "Maybe not you. You must be dry inside there."

Alphonse flinched. "W-well…" he stuttered and couldn't find the right lie to cover the truth. "That's r-right. I don't need to change. I'm safe from the rain inside this, ha-ha!" he nervously laughed and scratched the back of his helmet. "I'll just need to wipe dry my armour. That's all."

The boy stared confusingly and shrugged. "Okay, whatever you say."

Edward clapped both his hands and placed them on his coat. Blue alchemic energy were formed and steam came out from the red coat. He picked it up and flailed it. "There! It's instantly dried. I don't think I need to borrow any of your clothes, kid."

"Wow! You're an alchemist," The brown haired boy said in amazement.

The eldest Elric flashed a toothy smile. "I'm surprised you don't recognise me. I'm the youngest State Alchemist, Edward Elric or more likely known as the Fullmetal Alchemist!"

The boy clapped his hand. "Cool! I've never heard of you before. I thought you guys were escaped circus freaks," he bluntly said the last sentence making both the brothers sweat drop.

"What made you think of that?" Edward asked, a little hint of anger in his voice.

The boy pointed a finger to Alphonse. "That guy wearing a huge armour," he then pointed to Edward's left foot. "And metal foot. Your right arm is probably the same. I accidently saw it under your sleeve. That's how I got the idea of you being circus freaks." He explained.

"Why you-"

Alphonse had to quickly cut his brother from fuming at the boy and asked about the boy's name. "What's your name? You haven't told us yet," he asked. "I'm Alphonse, by the way."

"I'm Jamie. My parents told me not to tell strangers about my last name. So, don't bother asking about it," the boy, now known as Jamie, said.

"Where are your parents anyway?" The State Alchemist asked, looking around for any adult figure. "You can't be living alone this young."

"They're out of town for the day. Said they had to run away from debt collectors or something," Jamie answered and Edward frowned. "I have cookies inside. I'll go get some for you." He immediately ran inside before voices of protest could be heard.

Alphonse used a towel from the rocking chair to wipe himself dry, Edward, on the other hand, used his alchemic abilities to dry his clothes. Jamie came back with a plate of cookies in hand, walking a bit fast towards his guests.

"Back with some cookies!" He announced cheerfully. As he was about to hand the plate to the Elric, he slipped and fell forward, yelping in the process. Luckily, both the brothers had good reflexes, catching the falling boy and his plate of cookies before hitting the floor. Alphonse caught Jamie by the back of his shirt and Edward held the plate.

"That was a close one." The golden haired alchemist sighed, placing the plate down.

"Whoa!" Jamie was surprised. He lifted his head up to look at Al. "You just caught me from falling! That's pretty cool!" He expressed.

"Thanks." Al placed him down.

Jamie sat on the floor with the brothers. He sat crossed leg with both his palms placed on his knee caps. "Help yourselves with some cookies. My mom baked those before she left."

Looking down at the cookies, Edward smiled to himself as he reminisced the cookies baked by his mother. He picked one up and immediately took a bite. His face brighten up from the taste. "It's delicious," he commented, taking another bite.

Jamie picked up a piece and hand it to his other guest. "How 'bout you have a taste."

Al flinched. He held his hands in front of him, waving it side to side frantically. "No thank you! I-I'm not that hungry."

"Come on, just a small bite." The brown haired boy shoved it forward. "It's worth it."

"He's actually allergic to gluten." Edward blurted out, trying to help his brother with a lie. "He can't eat anything that contains gluten."

Jamie looked at the armoured alchemist skeptically. "You're allergic to gluten?" he asked.

Al nodded furiously.

"You're like my dad then! I thought he lied to me about that. I don't know that sort of allergy existed." The boy told them. "Lucky for you, this cookie is gluten free!"

The brothers' face changed to utter worry. They had told the wrong lie.

Alphonse laughed nervously. "Really? That's good news." He grabbed the cookie from the boy's hand. "I-I'll eat it then." He announced. He raised the cookie in the air as he eyed his brother. "I'm going to it eat." He then looked down at the anticipating boy who had his mouth agape.

Ed knew what his brother was going to do; he'll lift his helmet slightly and throw the cookie inside his armour. What made him worry was the fact that the cookie will collide with the walls of the armour and create a sound that will indicate that the armour was actually empty. He knew that Alphonse knows about it as well.

"Hey Jamie," Ed said to the boy. Jamie turned his attention to him with a questioning look. "Wanna see me make this cookie look like a fish?"

Jamie shook his head in response. "I've seen people perform alchemy before. Right now," he turned back to Al. "I'm curious about your companion here. I want to see how he eats from inside an armour."

Both of them are out of ideas on how to avoid 'eating' the piece of baked biscuit other than pursuing with the idea of throwing the cookie inside the armour. Alphonse went with that. He grabbed the side of his helmet and twisted it open. Pulling the helmet off just enough for a piece of cookie to fit, he slid the cookie in and waited for the sound.

It was heard. Loud and clear.

Jamie tilted his head in curiosity. "Huh, funny. I think the cookie fell to the bottom of your armour. How bout you try that again." As he reached for a cookie, Edward grabbed his wrist. He turned his gaze to the young alchemist.

"You're a good kid, right?" Ed asked. "You won't go around town telling people about others' secret, right?"

The boy grew confused. "Er, yeah."

"Then, it'll be okay if I let you in a secret?"

"Course."

Edward pointed his automail index finger to Al. "He's my little brother, with nothing inside."

Jamie whipped his head around to the said person, eyes obviously widened. "You have got to be kidding me?!"

"It's the truth, unfortunately." Alphonse replied.

"You're this pipsqueak's little brother?"

Alphonse simply sweat dropped while Edward growled, a vein visibly popped on his temple. "I refuse to accept that fact!" Jamie added.

"WHO'RE YOU CALLING A PIPSQUEAK THAT COULD ONLY BE SEEN USING A HIGH POWERED MICROSCOPE?!"

Jamie winced at the sudden outburst. "Yikes, what happened to you?"

Edward was ready to pounce at the brown haired boy. Good thing that Al was faster than him and jumped in between them, holding his brother back from harming the boy.

"HOW DARE YOU CALL ME LITTLE, YOU BRAT WHO CAN'T RESP-" That was all that Edward could muster before Al clasped a hand on his mouth. He shushed him to keep quiet.

Jamie just watched the duo oddly, waiting for the right moment to speak. He eyed the armoured alchemist. "So," he started. "You're just an empty can then."

Al replied him, "Yes."

"Nothing's inside that armour?"

"Yes."

"You positive?"

"Positive."

"Oh." Jamie rubbed his chin in thought. "You guys really are escaped circus freaks."

Edward forcefully freed himself out of Alphonse's grasps and flung himself towards the brown haired boy. "You're getting on my nerves brat!" Ed roared.

Edward sat on the living room couch with a pack of frozen peas on his head as he waited for Alphonse to finish pouring a cup of tea for him.

"You deserved it," Jamie bluntly teased, sipping tea from his cup.

"Tsk," Ed pinned down the urge to throw a punch using his automail hand square on the boy's face.

"I'm sorry, brother. It was the only way to stop you from tackling him." Al explained. Al had karate-chopped Edward's head before he had a chance to land a punch on Jamie. A huge bump was formed on the state alchemist's head from the attack and Jamie was saved.

Alphonse sat next to his brother, right in front of Jamie. The trio sat in silence, waiting for the rain to stop so the brothers could continue their journey.

Jamie started, breaking the silence between them. "If you guys aren't escapees, what are you then?"

"We're on a journey." Ed answered.

"Reason for the journey?" the boy inquired.

Edward rolled his eyes, mouthing an 'aw man'. "To regain our bodies. How, if you may ask, is by looking for the Philosopher's Stone. Where? We are still in searched for it."

"When?"

"What when?"

"When did you guys lost your bodies?"

"About 3 years ago."

"H-"

"Don't ask how." Ed cut him. "I ain't gonna answer it."

Jamie drifted his gaze to the armour sitting on his couch. "So you're like Pinocchio, but larger and made out of metal instead of wood, who wishes to be a real boy?"

"What?" both the brothers questioned in unison.

"The Adventures of Pinocchio. You guys don't know?"

The alchemists shook their heads.

"Gapetto? Jiminy Cricket?"

"Sorry, Jamie. We know nothing about that," Alphonse said, shrugging.

The boy sunk in his seat. "Wow, I've never stumbled upon people who don't know anything about Pinocchio. You guys are too caught up with facts."

"We're alchemist." Edward stated. "We don't toy with fiction-related stuff like that pinecone thingy."

"Pinocchio." Jamie corrected.

"Whatever."

Alphonse stood up and walked towards the window. He realized that the heavy rain had reduced to a light drizzle. "Brother!" Al called out. "The rain's stopped!"

Ed jumped off the couch and ran to where his brother stood. He looked out the window, a cheerful smile plastered on his face. "Oh yeah!" He cheered. "Let's get out of here."

The two alchemists made their way out, collecting their stuffs on the way.

"Well, I wish you guys the best of luck." Jamie stood up from his seat. "I hope you guys find that stone you were looking for and get your bodies back," he said, smiling at his leaving guests.

Ed had his hand wrapped around the door knob before turning around to face the boy. "Thanks for everything, kid."

Al nodded. "Yeah. Thank you, Jamie."

"No problemo." Jamie waved his hand. "Bubye!"

"Bye!" Both brothers responded.

With that final bid, both of them left, leaving Jamie alone. As he was about to close the door, he saw something red on the rocking chair. He went to take a closer inspection of it and discovered that it was actually Edward's coat. He looked at the direction where the alchemists ran off; they were no longer in sight. He picked it up, inspecting the piece of cloth.

"Looks cool," he mumbled to himself. He decided to try it on. It was about two sizes big for him. He walked around in it with the hood covering his head. "I feel cool in it." He clapped his hands together and placed it on the floor.

Blue alchemic energy formed under his palms.

Thanks for reading.

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