Disclaimer - I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist or Bleach

Chapter Seven - Partners

A couple of years had passed by during which time Ed and Al Elric had made their way through the ranks of the Shinigami Academy. Both brothers had progressed rapidly through their formal training and as a result of their skills they found themselves promoted to fifth year in only two years. This was a great accomplishment for both of them and both brothers were excited because it put them that much closer to graduation.

Not to mention the fact that fifth year was the year when they would undergo the trial to attain their zanpaktou, which both brothers wanted more than anything else at this point.

As Ed stared down at the blade that he held in his hand he couldn't help but feel somewhat disappointed by it. He was not the first one to pass the trial to obtain his zanpaktou and the others had all returned with traditional katanas.

"So of course I had to be the exception to the rule," Ed muttered, feeling slightly cheated.

His hand involuntarily clenched around the hilt of the short sword that he held. "Everyone gets a sword and I get a glorified butcher knife."

"I am the embodiment of your heart and soul Edward and my form reflects what you are. . ."

Ed's eyes narrowed as he listened to that far off voice that only he could hear. "Did you just call me small?"

"No."

Ed wasn't sure whether or not he believed the words that were spoken to him by his zanpaktou but realized that there wasn't really anything that he could do about it. He would simply have to resign himself to the sword that he had been given and work hard to unlock it's secrets.

"I guess I'll eventually figure out what powers you possess," Ed muttered as he sheathed the sword and tied it's sheath to the belt of his Academy uniform.

"First you must learn my name Edward and then we must truly become partners."

"Whatever you say," Ed said as he prepared to return to the small apartment that he shared with his brother in the Squad One barracks. His ordeal to gain his zanpaktou had taken hours and school would have been dismissed quite some time ago so there was no point in returning there. "It's not like I have any choice in the matter," he thought to himself as he began to walk away from the spot where he had acquired his zanpaktou.

"You must learn patience Edward," the far off voice of the zanpaktou said in a calm tone. "Until you master that you will not be able to harness my powers."

"Then I don't have a snowball's chance in hell," Edward muttered as he walked across the Seireitei toward the Squad One barracks. Patience had never, NEVER, been his strong suit and he didn't really foresee that changing, at least not in the near future.

When the young man reached the apartment that he and his brother shared he slid the door open and stepped inside, completely exhausted by the trial. Walking across the room to his bed he collapsed, not even bothering to change out of his school uniform first.

"Are you alright Nii-san?" Al asked from the spot where he was sitting in a chair, reading a kidou text book. He glanced over toward his brother, a concerned expression in his kind gray eyes.

"I'll survive," Ed muttered, too exhausted to even raise up and look over at his brother. "I just need to sleep for about a week."

"So did you get your zanpaktou?" Al asked, a note of curiosity in his voice.

"Yea," Ed replied, his voice devoid of enthusiasm.

"You don't sound happy about it," Al said, his gaze shifting over to the corner where his own sword was propped up against the wall. He had been absolutely ecstatic when he had passed the trial to obtain his zanpaktou and couldn't imagine why his brother wasn't equally excited.

Reaching for the sheathed sword that he was wearing tied to his belt Ed held up the miniscule blade. "This is what I ended up with," he said as he held up his short sword for Al's inspection.

Al immediately clamped his hands over his mouth to prevent the comment that threatened to burst forth. He knew that his brother wasn't in the mood for his teasing and yet he couldn't help but think that the Japanese short sword was perfect for Ed. Not that he would ever dare tell his older brother this thought. He had yet to learn how to call upon the powers of his own zanpaktou and wasn't eager to face his brother in combat. It was true that he was a match for his brother under normal circumstances however any comment on his brother's height would shift the odds decidedly in Ed's favor.

Several weeks passed, during which the remaining students in Ed and Al's class at the Shinigami Academy underwent the trial to gain their own zanpaktou and then, once everyone had a sword of their own the instructor informed them that they would be taking a trip to the world of the living to battle low level Hollow.

"Alright!" Ed exclaimed when he learned about the training mission. He had been working hard to form the necessary bond with his zanpaktou and couldn't help but think that an actual battle might be just the thing to cement their relationship. He had yet to learn the name of his partner and was anxious to do so since this was necessary for him to unlock the sword's powers. "I can't wait to kick some Hollow ass."

Al shook his head as he gazed over at his brother. "Nii-san, you get excited over the weirdest things."

A cocky grin appeared on the young man's face. "I'm going to show these Shinigami how it's done and then, once I've trained for awhile, that white-haired brat and I are going to have a rematch. And I promise you this time I'll come out on top."

"I think you might be slightly obsessed," Al said in a quiet voice as he listened to his brother's plans to beat the Captain of Squad Ten.

"I'm not obsessed," Ed snapped. "I'm just determined to kick his ass."

Al chose not to comment on that statement but couldn't really see how that was any different than being obsessed.

"Alright everyone," the instructor called out, instantly gaining everyone's attention. "We're going to split up into teams of two and then leave for the world of the living." This said the instructor set about dividing his students and when he came to Ed and Al he automatically paired the two of them together.

"I'll try not to make you look bad," Al said, offering his older brother a wide grin.

Ed merely rolled his eyes. It was obvious by his actions that he didn't consider his younger brother a threat however he didn't verbally reply to the taunt. Instead he gripped the hilt of his zanpaktou, anxious to get to the world of the living and show everyone what he was capable of.

"Patience," the now familiar voice echoed in his head.

"I know, I know," Ed muttered under his breath, releasing his grip on the sword.

"Are you ready?" the instructor called out to his students once everyone had been divided up into their teams.

"Yea!" the group chorused in one voice.

"Excellent," the instructor said, offering the group a wide smile. "Once we arrive in the world of the living make sure that you look out for your partner and remain within the boundaries of the exercise. The Hollow in this area are all low level and you shouldn't have any problems defeating them. This training mission is meant to help you form a bond with your new partner."

"Right," the students said, nodding to show that they had heard his instructions.

"Let's go."

The group of students feel into step behind their instructor, who led the way toward a Senkaimon that had been set up for their trip to the world of the living. The instructor led the group through the gate and then, once they arrived at the area where they would be fighting the Hollow, he gave them each a small area to patrol and left them to it.

"Come on Al," Ed said as he pulled his zanpaktou from it's sheath.

"Right," Al said, drawing his own sword as he fell into step behind his older brother. The two of them might enjoy giving one another a hard time from time to time however both were all business in situations such as this. The siblings wandered through the seemingly deserted streets, keeping an eye out for any signs of the Hollow that they knew were there.

"Do you feel that Al?" Ed asked as he felt a somewhat familiar energy cut through the air.

Al nodded as he raised his sword to the ready position.

In a split second a piercing scream cut through the air and the Elric siblings' gazes immediately fell upon a huge beast with a white mask covering it's face. Although they had never seen a real one the brothers knew this to be a Hollow and they immediately rushed to attack it.

"This is what we've been training for," Al thought to himself as he swung his sword in the direction of the Hollow's mask. He knew that cutting the mask in half was the only way to kill the Hollow and was determined to destroy the beast and prove that he could be a Shinigami.

Ed was on the same page as his brother however his thoughts soon shifted to a second, smaller enemy. This one appeared to be almost human and the only way Ed could identify it as a Hollow was by the slightly broken mask that it wore on half of it's face. "What the hell is up with that?" he thought to himself as he turned his attention toward the newcomer. "Al can you handle that one?"

"I've got it under control," Al called out, also having noticed the second enemy.

Ed nodded in his brother's direction and then dashed toward the new enemy. Holding up his zanpaktou the Shinigami in training swung the blade in the direction of the enemy however the Hollow dodged the blow with lightening speed.

Ed managed to dodge the Hollow's first attack and he swung his sword in the direction of his enemies head. The beast effortlessly dodged the attack and then aimed yet another blow at his opponent, this time catching Ed before he managed to dodge in time and raking his claws across the flesh of his upper left arm.

Ed hissed as he felt the white-hot pain caused by the Hollow's claws and he narrowed his eyes in anger. There was no way that he was going to lose the battle to this beast and he held up his sword and swung the blade in the direction of the Hollow's legs. His thinking being that if he could wound the beast then it would be easier for him to kill it.

This time his blade made contact and the beast howled his outrage, swinging his claws wildly.

"Damn," Ed muttered under his breath as he jumped back away from the enemy. He was surprised by it's speed, having been told that the enemies they would be facing would all be low level. "If this is low level then I'd hate to see high level."

Ed's thoughts were interrupted at this point as the Hollow leapt toward him, it's claws held out and aiming for his throat. "Not good," he muttered as he used the blade of his zanpaktou to block the attack from the Hollow. "Okay sword," he said as he attacked the Hollow. "I know that you said I had to learn patience but I think that if this thing kills me that will be kinda hard to do. So if you could help out with this situation I would really appreciate it."

"You're right. Call out to me and I can help you. I am the embodiment of your heart and soul and my name is Hikari no Shinjitsu."

Grateful that his zanpaktou had chosen to help him Ed instinctively tossed the blade into the air, clasped his hands together as if he were using his alchemy and called out, "Shine the light of truth on my enemies Hikari no Shinjitsu!"

Ed watched as a light enveloped the sword as it however in mid-air, transforming it into a staff. The staff fell back to earth and Ed caught it and twirled it in his hand. It was eerily similar to a staff that he had once constructed using his alchemy, complete with a blade at the end. "Now this is more like it," Ed said as he turned back to face his enemy. "Now you're ass is mine."

The Hollow looked completely unconcerned, almost bored, as it stared at the weapon that Ed now held in his hand. It was obvious by his demeanor that he didn't view the Shinigami in training as much of a threat and there was a malevolent gleam in his eyes as he held up his claws and prepared for yet another attack.

"I think not," Ed muttered as he dodged this second attack from his enemy. Doing a back flip in mid-air the young man landed behind his enemy, swinging his zanpaktou as he hit the ground. The blade at the end of the staff cut a wide streak across the Hollow's back and the beast cried out in pain and whirled around to face his assailant.

"Wrong move," Ed said as he used his blade to slice the mask as the Hollow turned to face him.

"Elric!" a voice called out as Ed watched the Hollow disintegrate. The young man turned and watched as his instructor and several other black-clad Shinigami ran toward him. "We felt the reiatsu of an Arrancar," the instructor said as he locked his gaze on Ed.

"Arrancar?" Ed repeated.

"They're an upgraded form of Hollow," Al said as he too came to stand beside his brother. "They result when a Hollow breaks their own mask."

"So that's what was up with that guy," Ed said, placing his hand on the wound that he had received in his battle. "I was wondering why he was so hard to kill."

"You fought it Nii-san?" Al asked, his eyes wide.

Ed nodded. "And I would have lost to it but I learned the name of my zanpaktou and was thus able to call upon it's powers." Ed held up the staff that was his zanpaktou's Shikai form and nodded his head. "Thank you Hikari no Shinjitsu."

"You're welcome," the now familiar voice said.

"I knew that you were going to be great," the instructor said, placing his hand on Ed's uninjured shoulder. "But now I think that you should return to Soul Society and let Squad Four tend to your wounds."

Ed nodded and followed one of the unknown Shinigami toward a Senkaimon, with Al tagging along at his side. He was extremely proud that he had learned to call upon his zanpaktou's Shikai and yet he knew that this was far from the end of his training. His next goal was Bankai.

"I WILL get stronger," he thought to himself as he stepped through the Senkaimon.

"Toushirou!" a voice called out, breaking into Captain Hitsugaya's thoughts. The young captain glanced up and watched through narrowed eyes as Hinamori stepped inside his office and walked toward his desk. "Captain Hitsugaya," he corrected automatically as his childhood friend came to a stop in front of his desk.

Hinamori was completely unphased by the correction and she stared at Hitsugaya. "Did you hear what happened in the world of the living today?"

"No," Hitsugaya said, knowing that if he hadn't heard about it then it didn't concern him and therefore he didn't really care.

"That Academy student, Edward Elric, fought against an Arrancar and won," Hinamori said in an excited voice. "The students went to the world of the living to fight against low level Hollow but somehow an Arrancar managed to make it past the barrier. Edward fought against it and won, unleashing his zanpaktou's Shikai for the first time. Isn't that amazing?"

Hitsugaya shrugged, still unsure why Hinamori insisted upon talking to him about the student that he couldn't stand. Honestly he would never understand the inner workings of Hinamori's mind. "Why does she do this to me?"

"Better watch out Toushirou," Hinamori said in a sing-songy voice. "I hear that his goal in life is to beat you in battle."

"Yea right," Hitsugaya said, his tone cold. "And then he wakes up."

Hinamori offered her friend a smile and then abruptly left the office.

Hitsugaya shook his head and then went back to his work. If that blonde-haired menace wanted to waste his time training to beat him in battle Hitsugaya really couldn't care less but it was a waste of time. "There's no way that I'll ever lose to him."

A/N - I am SO sorry that this update took so long but I've been working on other things. But people keep adding it to their favorites so I thought that I should probably update, so here you go. Hope you enjoyed this chapter, please review and let me know what you thought. And assuming I got the translation right the name of Ed's zanpaktou is supposed to be Light of Truth. Til next time this is Hitsu-taichou signing out.