The train ride felt like a long one, and we'd had a busy few days lately. I found Edward's head on my shoulder after he had been resting on the palm of his hand. I felt him grab onto my arm as I looked down, Alphonse chuckled as I looked at him,
"Hey… don't laugh, my shoulder is probably more comfortable than his palm he was sleeping on," I smirked, I felt Edward grip me for a moment as I smiled,
"He does care about you a lot." Alphonse spoke as I looked at him, I didn't respond as I rested my hand on Edward's as he held my arm.
"I know." I smiled, "he's just too stubborn to say anything." I chuckled as Alphonse agreed, "I also know his actions speak louder than his words. So, he'll tell me one day. In his own way." I smirked as Alphonse nodded,
"Do you like my brother?" Alphonse asked as I froze, I felt my stomach jump as my face flushed,
"I… do, I just don't want to break his heart if we aren't able to get me back to normal." I frowned and looked away, Alphonse sighed,
"I'm sure we will be able to help you, Rea." Alphonse spoke as I smiled,
"Thanks," I nodded, and I felt Edward shift as I looked at him, I sighed gently, hoping he hadn't heard the conversation.

Edward stirred a moment later and lifted his head from my shoulder as I smiled at him,
"Brother, we've almost reached the Dublith station," Alphonse spoke,
"We're you having a dream?" I asked,
"Yeah… I was dreaming about him…" Edward moved away from me. Edward looked down and saw that his arms were holding onto my arm, "I-I'm sorry," Edward quickly let ok,
"It's ok, if you want to sleep on my shoulder in the future just let me know so I can put a tissue on my shoulder to stop you from drooling," I smirked,
"Hey!" Edward snapped,
"Joking, you moron," I smirked,
"Stop calling me a moron," Edward glared, "I'll call you whatever I like," I stuck my tongue out, Edward glared then folded his arms as I couldn't help but smile at him, he was cute when he acted like this.

I noticed Edward was smiling to himself a moment later as I glared slightly,
"What are you thinking?" I asked, Edward jumped,
"Nothing." Edward snapped and turned away as Alphonse chuckled, I looked at Alphonse and then sat back and folded my arms as I could see we were pulling into the station.

I stood up and went to grab my bag, but Alphonse stood with me,
"I've got it." Alphonse smiled as I nodded,
"Thanks Al," I grinned, and he handed me my backpack as I put the straps on my shoulders. I rolled my shoulders and stretched my arms into the air, "will be nice to move about again." I smiled as Edward stood with a nod.

We walked down the train and jumped onto the platform as I walked ahead of the boys to the exit, they seemed to slow their pace as we made it out the station, I looked back at them both and Edward looked scared.

"I don't know the way; you'll both have to lead." I explained as Edward swallowed and moved forward as Alphonse timidly followed, I'd never seen them so freaked out before.

Making our way through the small town it didn't take us long to reach a butcher shop with a house at the back,
"Well Al, we're finally here, it would be nice if teacher wasn't home," Edward bowed his head down,
"Yeah." Al just simply spoke,
"It'd be nice if teacher wasn't home." Edward added,
"Uh huh!" Alphonse nodded as I just looked at them both.

"What's so wrong with your teacher?" I asked, as the door opened and a huge blade appeared out of nowhere then a tall bulky man followed, he was wearing a brown top, dark brown hair with dark skin as I looked up at him.
"Erm… hello Sig," Edward spoke,
"Long time no see," Alphonse added,
"Good to see you, you've grown up a little huh?" Sig patted Edward on the head,
"You probably don't recognise me but its Alphonse. Sorry we've been away for so long," Alphonse bowed,
"Looks like you've grown up more than a little," Sig patted Alphonse's head, I giggled,
"I'm Reaka, it's a pleasure to meet Edward's and Alphonse's teacher in Alchemy," I smiled and held my hand out, Sig gripped my hand, I cringed a little as his strength crushed my hand a little,
"It's a pleasure to meet Edward's girlfriend, and I'm not the boy's teacher," Sig spoke,
"She's not my girlfriend…" Edward was too afraid to yell. I flushed as I looked away and Alphonse chuckled, did we really look like a couple? A lot of people got us mixed up…

Sig leaned in the window,
"Izumi, the Elric shrimps have come for a visit. Do you think you could see them?" Sig spoke, I could see Edward's eye twitch hearing shrimps, but he didn't dare say anything as I watched him.

"Laying down, that's not a good sign," Alphonse spoke as I stood behind Sig,
"Guess she hasn't gotten any better since last time," Edward spoke as the door suddenly swung open and Edward got kicked in the face flying backwards. A woman walked out,
"Hello, my stupid pupil! I hear you've become one of the militaries dogs!" A woman walked out looking fierce, she had amazing black dreadlocks, piercing black eyes and pale skin, the door creaked, and she looked back at Alphonse,
"You see teacher… it's because… um…" Alphonse shook in fear,
"Al… look at you you've gotten so big!" she smiled,
"Teacher, it's really good to see- Agh!" Alphonse got flipped over and landed on his back as I started laughing at them both, "HA! I can see why you we're both so scared now," I smirked,
"And can I ask who you are?" the lady smiled at you,
"I'm Reaka, though I'm not going to shake your hand because I don't want to end up like them," I smirked,
"I'm Izumi, pleasure to meet you Reaka, and I wouldn't do that to you," Izumi smiled, I nodded,
"Okay," I replied and took her hand as she simply smiled at me, "it's lovely to meet their teacher!" I grinned as Izumi released my hand.

Izumi then glared at Alphonse and Edward,
"Your skills are rusty," Izumi folded her arms,
"You've got lots of energy for someone who's not feeling well," Alphonse sat up,
"NOT FEELING WELL! WHAT'RE YOU TALKING ABOUT I'M PERFECTLY-" Izumi coughed up bloody suddenly as Edward and Alphonse screamed out. Sig put his hand on Izumi's shoulder,
"You shouldn't exert yourself," Sig spoke,
"How sweet of you to worry dear. Thank you," Izumi smiled, and they both hugged. I watched the brothers on the floor for a moment as they slowly got up from the ground.

"Shall we head inside, my dear? Would be lovely to get to know you." Izumi put her hand on my back gently and then glared at the boys,
"Get up!" Izumi snapped and the boys quickly stood to attention as I chuckled and walked inside, it was funny to see them so scared.

We all moved inside, and Izumi sat me down at the table with the boys, they told her that they were looking for the philosopher's stone and asked if she knew anything about it,
"The Philosophers stone? No, I don't know much about it. It holds no interest for me," Izumi spoke,
"I see. Okay," Edward nodded,
"There was that one alchemist. I thought that one man from Central knew a good amount about the stone," Sig explained. Edward and Alphonse looked at each other and smiled,
"So, who was this guy?" Edward asked,
"Let me think, what's his name? Ah, Hohenheim," Izumi spoke, Edward suddenly cringed as I was very shocked, "What is it?" Izumi asked,
"Then he's alive…" Edward squeezed his fists, if Van knew about the philosopher's stone, then maybe it has some ties as to why I gained my immortality… I frowned in thought and looked down at the table as I wondered how he was, where he had been, why did he leave me all those years ago… alone…

"Someone you know?" Izumi asked,
"He's our father," Alphonse spoke,
"The one who ran out on you when you were little?" Izumi asked,
"Yeah, that's the one," Edward snapped, "It's all because of that bastard that our mother's dead… if it wasn't for him…" Edward snapped, I looked at Edward as I could see he was angry at the mention of his father, though I didn't agree that he should blame his father for her death, she died of a sickness, something that no one could really predict or help against,
"Did our dad say anything about the philosophers stone?" Alphonse asked,
"Something about a lifelong dream coming true, and he seemed very happy when he said it." Izumi stood up and punched Edward on the head,
"Now we're going to eat," Izumi spoke,
"Ok," Edward rubbed his head, I watched Izumi leave the room with Sig as I looked at Edward,
"He might know how to make me mortal, if he knows about the stone," I stood up as Izumi walked back in the room, I froze as she looked at the brothers,
"Come and help cook!" Izumi yelled as the brothers froze,
"Yes, teacher!" They both responded as she stared intently at me for a few moments before heading back to the kitchen,
"Can I help with anything?" I asked, Izumi looked back at me and smiled,
"You're our guest, you can rest and take a break." Izumi smiled as I was surprised at how kind she was with me compared to the boys. It was probably because I wasn't her student technically.

Izumi gave us all a plate each, even Alphonse, obviously not knowing that Alphonse can't eat currently. I was surprised Izumi didn't know about this… but then I thought the boys clearly had their reasons for not telling Izumi.
"You aren't eating Al?" Sig asked, the two had notice as I started eating,
"Oh no, I'm fine, I had a big meal on the train ride here," Alphonse spoke,
"Hey Al, you should her about Rush Valley, about the baby being delivered!" Edward smiled,
"Oh yeah! We helped deliver a baby! There was this big storm, and we couldn't get the mother to a doctor!" Alphonse explained,
"I don't know! It's pretty generous to call what we did 'helping'." Edward smirked,
"Heh… Yeah, it was mostly Winry, and Rea helped. And the whole family pitched in, too! The mother was so brave. Everyone's blessed when a baby's born, huh?" Alphonse smiled,
"Yes, that's right, that same miracle is how we were all brought into this world. Always take pride in the lives that we're given you," Izumi looked up, I smiled and nodded as she spoke.

I was given a room to myself as the boys were set up in another of Izumi's bedrooms, but I was sitting at the table looking out the window later that night,
"Rea? Are you not going to bed yet?" Izumi asked,
"No, I've just got a lot on my mind recently," I spoke,
"Like what?" Izumi asked, I frowned and looked down, "if you don't want to talk about you don't have to." Izumi spoke as I smiled,
"Thanks." I nodded and looked out the window.

"Tell me, though. Are those boys, okay?" Izumi asked, I looked at her and smiled, she may act tough, but she clearly did care about them,
"They are amazing." I smiled, "they get into trouble a lot. But they are pulling through it." I nodded, Izumi smiled,
"What happened to them?" Izumi asked,
"That's not for me to answer, Izumi." I replied, she nodded with a smile, "they've been through a lot. But they help people daily without question a lot of the time." I explained,
"They're helping you?" Izumi asked as I turned and rested my hands on the table.

Nodding I pulled and played with my fingertips as I thought,
"What are you struggling with?" Izumi asked,
"I'm immortal. And I want to be normal again." I explained, Izumi looked surprised as she looked over my face, "It's not fun. I've been around over four hundred years and hated a lot of it. Watching the people I've grown to care about die while I live on. It's not great." I admitted, Izumi reached her hand across the table and gently held mine, stopping my fidgeting.
"I'm sure they'll be able to save you." Izumi spoke gently as I nodded,
"They have in some ways already." I chuckled as she smiled
"It's obvious those boys care about you and want to help. Edward, more so." Izumi smirked as I nodded,
"It's pretty obvious to a lot of people now huh? Even Alphonse questioned me about it recently." I spoke as Izumi smiled, "With my condition though… I don't know how long it will take to become mortal." I frowned and looked at Izumi,
"I'm sure no matter what, those boys will always be there for you." Izumi smiled as I nodded, "Edward does struggle with words though." Izumi chuckled as I nodded,
"I'm not the only one to notice. That boy… I love him but-" I stopped as Izumi smiled and I flushed bright red, "I… didn't say that." I pointed at Izumi as she chuckled,
"I won't say anything." Izumi stood up as I took a shaky breath.

I did love Edward… I put my hands on the table gently as Izumi tucked her chair gently under the table,
"I'd recommend getting some sleep. See how you are in the morning." Izumi smiled as I nodded,
"Thank you for hosting us." I spoke and stood up straight and Izumi smiled with a frown, looking confused,
"It's my pleasure, no need to act so formal." Izumi added as I nodded,
"I'll see you tomorrow." I nodded and walked out the room.

Heading upstairs I saw Alphonse sitting in his room with Edward sleeping as I smiled, he obviously couldn't move for the rest of the night because Izumi and Sig would know. I waved as I walked past, and Alphonse nodded slightly.

Heading to bed I got under the covers and wrapped up for the night.

I woke up that morning, got dressed into my white cargos and a green T-shirt as I headed downstairs. I heard a commotion outside and made my way out the front.

I saw Edward fly back into a wall as I gasped, and he clapped his hands and created a blade on his arm.
"As I suspected, you can transmute without a matrix, on that of which Al's body is now a suit of armour and two of your limbs are made from automail!" Izumi pointed,
"Teacher? How did you know?" Edward asked,
"Please, I can tell from sparring with you!" Izumi yelled,
"You saw, it didn't you, Edward?" Izumi asked, Edward didn't reply, "YOU SAW IT?!" Izumi yelled,
"Y-yes!" Edward quickly replied, Izumi sighed her shoulders slumped as I walked over to Edward and stopped not too far away,
"It seems both of us are beyond help," Izumi sighed, I looked at Izumi, she tried human transmutation as well? That was probably why she was sick all the time, I frowned and looked down,
"Teacher… you saw it too, could you tell me…" Edward asked.

We moved back inside her house, and we all sat back at the table. We listened to Izumi as she sat with Sig on the table,
"For a while it seemed we were bearing, we wanted a child but couldn't conceive. When we were finally able to conceive, I ended up falling gravely ill, and our child as well, he was not able to take a living breath in this world. And so, I committed the taboo. As a result, I lost parts of my inner organs. What an idiot I was." Izumi explained, "Now I realised I should have told you sooner. It must have been awful," Izumi spoke, Edward gripped his arm bowed his head down then put on a tough act which made me smile a little, and a tear appeared in the corner of my eye,
"Nah, I did it to myself after all. It hasn't been that bigger deal actually," Edward smiled, I shook my head as I leaned back on the chair,
"Besides, now I've got this long list of things I get to look forward to eating when I get my body back, right brother?" Alphonse looked at Edward,
"Yeah, it's nothing!" Edward smiled as Izumi walked over to them both,
"You darling little idiots," she pulled them close and embraced them both,
"It's ok to hurt," Izumi spoke. Edward and Alphonse started apologising to Izumi as I moved and stood next to Sig with a small smile.

I walked over to the three of them as Izumi stepped back, Edward looked at me and quickly hugged me as I froze and felt his arms wrap around me securely as Izumi smiled,
"Ed…" I whispered as I felt him grip me a little tighter, I moved my arms around him and smiled, leaning my head into his as I held onto him.

I stepped back as Izumi put her hand on Edward's shoulder and he moved back to looked at her,
"To think, you saw it and managed to survive, I doubt you even know how impressive that is," Izumi spoke,
"I… no…" Edward spoke,
"Regardless, I can't accept the decision you made. You're expelled," Izumi looked at Edward and Alphonse,
"But, teacher-!" Alphonse started,
"Al." Edward put his hand up, interrupting the younger brother, Izumi turned back to the window,
"The trains are still running… get on one," Izumi folded her arms,
"Thank you for everything," Edward bowed down, I grabbed my bag and got ready to leave with the boys as they didn't say anything.

As Edward was ready to go, I moved next to him and took his hand in mine. Edward froze for a moment and then looked at me as I smiled gently. The boys just needed to know they had support right now, and I knew Edward would understand this. He smiled and looked down at our hands as he moved to interlace his fingers with mine as I felt my cheeks heat up. Edward pulled me along the street as we walked with Sig to the train station.

"Feel free to drop by if you're ever in town," Sig spoke, the brothers looked upset as I was still holding onto Edward's hand as he had refused to let go since,
"I'm not so sure about that," Alphonse looked down,
"You idiots! You're so busy pouting you can't see what your expulsion means, you aren't her students any more so now your free to speak to Izumi as equals! Unless, of course, you're too chicken to try it." Sig folded his arms, after I smiled and saw the determination return to them both,
"Damn! Al, we haven't done what we came here to do in the first place. Thank you, we're heading back there right now," Edward ran back with Alphonse following, I squealed as Edward pulled me along,
"Don't let her kill you!" Sig called as I chuckled and tried to keep up with Edward.

"Teacher!" Edward spoke when he opened the door but suddenly screamed as I saw a knife in the wall above his head,
"What the hell are you doing coming back here? And you called me teacher! I do not teach scum like you! Get out of my home!" Izumi yelled at Edward as she pointed at him.

Edward and Alphonse kneeled on the ground, he had finally let go of your hand to bow to Izumi with Alphonse,
"Teacher!" Edward spoke,
"We came to you because we're trying to find a way to get our bodies back," Alphonse explained,
"And we won't leave without your help," Edward added,
"Get out now!" Izumi snapped,
"We're staying!" Edward and Alphonse yelled. There was a moment of silence as Izumi's expression softened,
"You idiots…" Izumi looked away. I smiled gently as I moved next to Edward as they slowly got up from the ground.

We all sat down in the other room and talked,
"Al, you didn't see the 'truth' did you?" Izumi asked,
"No, I don't really even know what that means," Alphonse replied,
"You must've lost your memory from the shock. We need to get Al's memory back; his entire body was taken from him. Just think what he must have seen," Izumi glared,
"Oh yeah, we only exchanged parts of our bodies for what we saw, but Al paid the toll with his entire physical being, he must've seen more of the 'truth' than either of us did," Edward agreed,
"So, if I can remember what I saw then we'll know how to get our bodies back?" Alphonse questioned,
"But the memory of that thing," Izumi looked away,
"Huh?" Alphonse was getting worried,
"What is it something bad?" Alphonse quickly asked,
"No, it's more like… awful!" Izumi spoke,
"Horrifying," Edward added,
"It could drive you insane," Izumi spoke,
"Or even leave you brain dead," Edward added, as they were both disturbed from what they saw all those years ago as I chuckled.

"That doesn't matter, if there's a chance that it can help us, then I want to do it," Alphonse was determined,
"All right, I have an acquaintance that might know a way to retrieve your memory for you. But let's east dinner first, give me a hand," Izumi smiled and stood up,
"Ok," the three of us spoke and moved to the kitchen with Izumi.

I worked on the food with Izumi as the boys just chopped, it was nice to spend some time in the kitchen and cook again. As we had dinner, I couldn't help but notice Edward was watching me more so than normal. I looked at Izumi as we were eating,
"Izumi?" I spoke, she looked up at me,
"Could you help me learn a few fighting moves?" I asked, Edward suddenly chocked on his food as she just stared blankly at me,
"They can teach you." Izumi simply spoke as I nodded,
"They could… but I think with some starting instruction from you, it would definitely help me." I explained as she stopped eating again and glared at me,
"I can't do alchemy. So, I'm not asking for alchemy training. Just to learn the basics of fighting." I explained as she nodded with a sigh,
"Get up early tomorrow." Izumi spoke as I smiled,
"Thank you!" I grinned.

Later, I went to my room and grabbed my sketch book and started doodling again. I leaned against the headrest of the bed and looked out the window as my door opened,
"Edward?" I looked at him with a smile,
"You're pretty brave asking teacher to help you learn to fight." Edward smirked,
"She's technically not your teacher anymore." I chuckled as Edward walked over and sat on the edge of my bed and nodded, "Plus, she technically said, you guys are my teacher." I laughed lightly and put my book down as Edward glanced at it.

I pulled it towards me and hid the drawing,
"What are you drawing?" Edward asked as I looked away,
"Nothing…" I spoke as Edward playfully glared at me,
"Let me see." Edward moved from the bed and tried to peer over me. I turned away on my side and Edward climbed on the bed as I held the book,
"No." I spoke as he pulled at my arm chuckling,
"Don't be like that. I'm sure it's amazing." Edward smirked as I tried to pull away from him, but Edward ended up climbing over me on the bed trying to grab the book,
"I already said, no!" I chuckled as Edward poked my side, I looked at Edward as he grabbed my wrist with his automail arm, and as he was a lot stronger, he was able to pull my arm away as I squealed, and his other hand tickled my waist. I laughed as I dropped the book on the floor and stopped as it made a loud bang. I looked up at Edward as he stopped tickling me and he was hovering above me on the bed.

I looked over his face as he used his free hand to move hair from my face,
"Rea…" Edward whispered as I felt my cheeks heat up, I lifted my hand to his cheek gently and he leaned into my touch as I smiled. Edward lowered himself slightly as I felt his body hovering closer to mine as he leaned down.

"Not in my house! Get out of her room Edward!" Izumi yelled as we both jumped. Edward quickly moved out of the room as Izumi was out of the door and I felt my body shake, it took me by surprise! I quickly grabbed my book from the floor and looked at the piece of work I was doing. It was a picture of Izumi and Sig; I was going to leave it behind as a gift.

"Sorry!" Edward had yelled as Izumi followed him out of my room and I chuckled as I moved into my bed again. I got ready to sleep and tucked myself away.

I was so close to kissing Edward then… I smiled gently and closed my eyes, I wished we had been able to kiss.