Ed should've known things wouldn't have gone as planned. It wasn't a big deal, really, but every time he even remotely tried to follow up on Al's promise things never went the way he wanted them to.

Winry was busy, which was honestly something he should've expected. The past three days had been filled with whirring machines and the clang of metal on metal, clients rotating in and out of the shop in a seemingly endless loop.

It was why he wandered to the shore more often than not, away from prying eyes and humans he knew he shouldn't be so wary of. He had tried to help—to blend in—but with his near non-existent knowledge of automail he was more harm than good at the shop. Winry was too nice to tell him as such, but he wasn't an idiot.

Instead, Ed had found himself discovering things on his own, without pulling Winry away from her work. When he wasn't on the beach he was reading, absorbing new words one after another and learning everything he'd wanted to know since he was young. Over a decade's worth of information he'd gathered in Xerxes could be summed up in a single book, with thousands more available on top of that. The years of research suddenly felt useless in comparison, and no amount of distant human-watching could ever compare to being surrounded by the real thing.

Oftentimes he would sit and watch them quietly, which was almost laughably different from his usual style. He told himself he was researching rather than sitting idly by, which somewhat excused the times he blanked out while looking through the library windows.

Humans, as it turned out, weren't so different from merfolk. Despite the obvious physical distinctions, their behavior was just so… familiar. If Ed closed his eyes he could almost imagine himself back home, distracting himself with the mundane problems of the everyday folk.

Al, on the other hand, had taken a much more direct approach at getting to know the humans. The bakery was perfect for him, and he had figured out what to do as quickly as Ed had expected him to. As much as he wanted to loathe the place for trying to kick him out (why leave food out if it wasn't meant to be eaten?) he couldn't deny how helpful it had been for his brother.

Al would return home covered in flour with a grin wider than Ed had ever seen, launching into tirades of cooking mishaps and crazy customers. His passion had manifested in the form of baked goods and pastries, and Ed had no doubts he would be able to find a fulfilling life on the surface.

As for himself, he still had no clue what he wanted to do. Every time he closed his eyes and tried to imagine his future, Winry would always appear instead.

His brain was stupid.

Instead of finding a purpose, he'd occupied himself with his own "discoveries," learning everything possible without the threat of the castle staff looking over his shoulder. It was enough for now, as long as he pushed the looming presence of the future so far away he could almost pretend it didn't exist.

Ed told himself the experience of being human and the mysteries it held was challenging enough to tackle on its own, so who cares if he didn't have a job or a plan?

That brought him to his first discovery, which was far more underwhelming than some of his other experiments. He'd spent the entire morning trying to figure out how much water would change him back, experimenting over and over again until he was sure of the results. He had discovered that he needed to be covered in a substantial amount of water for any shift to occur, which was relieving to say the least. He no longer had to worry about spilling a glass of water on himself like a dumbass— at least, not out of fear of changing. Rain, on the other hand, he'd have to watch out for.

Lucky for him, the universe (or his father) had so generously given him a chance to further test his theory, right in the middle of town.

He'd been too distracted by his books to notice the oncoming clouds and wind, and by the time he'd left the library and begun his walk home, droplets had started to fall without notice. He'd been able to duck under a nearby overhang in time, but the small building it connected to was locked and abandoned.

Just his luck.

Ed wasn't foolish enough to try and move somewhere else; even the building next to him was too risky. He'd rather sit outside for the entire day rather than chance having a tail in the middle of the street.

Unfortunately for him, there wasn't much to entertain himself with on his small patch of dry land. He sighed, sinking to the ground and hoping someone would bother to look for him.

He'd gotten to counting the cracks on the pavement when a sudden screeching sound pulled him from his reverie. As soon as he lifted his head, he was greeted with a wave of water that had appeared from seemingly nowhere.

Ed pulled in his legs with a start, ignoring the small (and embarrassing) cry that had escaped his lips.

"What, scared of a little water?"

Paninya's voice. He should've figured.

He glared up to see her seated atop some sort of mechanical machine with wheels, soaking from head to toe. Her grin was way too wide for someone who was alone in the midst of a rainstorm.

"Shouldn't you be working instead of bothering me?"

She gestured to the basket in front of her. "I am! Dominic's got me doing deliveries since nobody else is willing to."

"Figures," he muttered.

"You never answered my question. Why are you all cooped up under there?" She leaned forward, squinting in a way that did not appease his stomach.

"What's wrong with wanting to watch the rain?!"

"On the floor? When there's a bench ten feet away from you?"

Okay, he set himself up for that one. With Paninya as naturally mischievous as she seemed to be, he'd have to make up a convincing lie, and fast.

"I um. Might've hurt my ankle a bit," he said, feigning embarrassment. "It's nothing to worry about, though. Just gonna sit for a while before I walk on it again."

"You need a ride? I could make room for you on my bike, if you wanna get home." Her tone was completely sincere, which made him feel like a bit of an asshole.

Only a little bit, because she did cause him unnecessary stress two times in a row by now.

"Nah, I'm okay. Thanks for the offer though." He looked at the seat of her "bike," which absolutely did not have room for two people. Just what kind of offer she was making, he didn't want to know.

"'Kay! I better see you at the festival tomorrow!" She gave a quick two fingered salute and sped off, nearly splashing him with another puddle of water.

As irritating as she was, five minutes was all it took for him to wish she'd return. At least then he'd have some form of entertainment. With the way the sky was darkening and the torrent of rain poured increasingly harder, it was looking like he'd remain in the same spot until nightfall.

With no options left, he tucked himself into the corner and closed his eyes, letting the sound of raindrops lull him to sleep.

Unsurprisingly, his wake up call was not the sound of birds or a bustling marketplace. It'd been a rather abrupt shake to the shoulder, with the sound of rain no softer than it had been before.

Oh, and Winry was there too. She held a long stick with a large round top, effectively shielding her from the rain. It was a simple yet genius invention, especially for him and Al.

"How long have you been sitting out here?"

He pushed himself away from the wall, meeting her concerned eyes. "Dunno. Since whenever the rain started, I guess."

"And you didn't think to go inside?" she scolded, small droplets shaking off the top of whatever she was holding.

"I would've! I was trying to get back and the stupid rain just started out of nowhere!"

She sighed. "Remember to bring an umbrella next time, at least."

So it was an umbrella, got it.

"Wish I'd known they existed first, but yeah, I will." He watched as she carefully closed it, moving to sit beside him on the ground.

"Why-"

"We should wait for it to calm down before heading back. The umbrella can only do so much when it's windy like this," she interrupted.

"You sure you have time to be sitting out here? Don't you have work?"

The corners of her lips rose, and Ed had to remind himself to breathe. "I'm done for today, actually! I managed to finish all my pieces early, so now it's just your arm that I'm working on."

"Oh. Cool," he said lamely.

They sat in silence for a moment, the drumming of rain on the roof creating a relaxed ambience.

Winry shifted to get comfortable, putting her hands out behind her. "I'm still mad at you for not telling me you're a prince, by the way."

He should've known she was going to mention it. They'd barely even had time to talk since it'd first come up, and it was only natural she was going to be curious.

"You know now, don't you? It's no big deal." He avoided eye contact, focusing on the trail of water trickling down a storm drain.

"It is a big deal, because it's you. How am I supposed to know you at all if something that important is kept secret from me? You know I won't think of you any differently."

Ed groaned, hanging his head back. "I don't know. It's just… I wanted to forget about it for a while, I guess."

As stupid as it had sounded coming from his mouth, it wasn't a lie. It had seemed like a good idea at the moment—to just ignore everything—but now it was clear he had fucked up once again.

"What's it like?" Her voice broke him out of his thoughts; tone far kinder than he deserved. "If you don't mind me asking."

"It's…" there were a million adjectives to choose from, yet none truly felt right. "...I don't know."

She tilted her head in an exaggerated "go on" motion, so he took the cue to let his thoughts spill from his lips like bubbles.

"I should feel grateful for it all—I am grateful—but it's hard to be happy all the time when I feel like my life isn't really my own. Our bastard father won't even look at us, and Al and I are hardly allowed any freedom beyond the palace."

Winry kept a cool composure, but Ed couldn't help but notice the creases beside her eyes. "You weren't allowed to leave?"

He shook his head. "There's strict rules in the kingdom, and Al is under especially close watch. It's why we left so early. I was afraid that once I became king, I wouldn't be there for him anymore."

"Wait, you were gonna become king?" Winry asked, eyes widening.

Well. Shit. So much for any more secrets.

"On the day after tomorrow, actually?" he said it like a question, tensing up as hints of realization began to show on her face.

Rather than scold him, she sighed with a small smile. "I should've figured. You seem like the type to make impulse decisions like that."

"I wasn't expecting you to almost drown! You're the one who gave me the idea in the first place!"

"You wouldn't have decided on something that major if you hadn't already entertained the idea before, right?"

Ed froze for a moment. Al had told him to be honest, after all.

"We… tried before, actually. It's how this happened," he gestured towards where his right arm used to be.

"Oh," she said softly.

"It was a while ago," he added. The last thing he wanted was for her to apologize.

"You don't have to explain if you don't want to."

He began to chuckle, of all things. It was strangely freeing to be able to make light of something that had plagued his thoughts for years, but suddenly it felt more distant now than it ever had before. For once, he could think about what happened without the onslaught of emotion that usually accompanied it, and he smiled at the realization that Al's laughter was now much easier to imagine than his screams. It wasn't like the guilt had disappeared, but it was so much easier to deal with now, and that was more than enough.

"Nah, it's okay. It's not that long of a story, and we have time to kill."

She raised an eyebrow, seemingly catching on to the mood. "As long as you're sure."

He nodded, allowing himself to think back to the day that had changed everything.

"We were still kids, then. Mom had died years before, so we were pretty much all we had."

Winry looked on with interest, not daring to move. Her eyes reflected a flash of lightning.

"She always told stories about the surface, going on and on about how fascinating and incredible the humans were. We didn't really understand—there was no way we could from such a distance—but we still pried for more and more," he said, breaking eye contact. "It was all we had left from her, so I became a little… obsessed. It was only a matter of time before I convinced Al that we had to see them ourselves."

"Had none of the merpeople tried before? Ever?" Winry inquired.

"Not that I know of." He scratched his chin. "Nobody wants to challenge the rules and risk being punished for it, and besides, they're all boring and traditional anyways. Everyone's terrified of humans, and I can't really blame them."

She hummed, signaling for him to continue.

"Anyways, we had just been out searching for human items when we saw a, um… butt?"

Winry let out a loud laugh before covering her mouth with her hand. "Boat."

"Right. Boat." He sent her a glare, because being angry was so much easier than being embarrassed. "I convinced him to go see it with me, and he really had no reason to refuse. We'd been waiting years for that moment, so we just felt like we had to."

Now for the tough part. Ed closed his eyes, basking in the feeling of pure air entering and leaving his lungs. He was safe here.

"Things went to shit pretty quickly after that. The humans on the boat were hunting, and they were serious about it, too. We swam too close, and they spotted us in an instant. 'Didn't even bother to question what we were— they just attacked."

There were no words to describe what he'd felt in the moment. The pit that had formed in his stomach once he'd realized that he was wrong was immeasurable to anything else. It had manifested in the form of rage, swirling like a whirlpool inside of him and spreading from his fingers to his fins.

"I didn't know what to do. We couldn't get away fast enough… and-" he took a moment to breathe, noticing just how close Winry was sitting to him. "They got Al first. I knew he wasn't prepared to swim and I had still dragged him into it."

"You were just a kid. You couldn't have known-"

"I should've expected it, and I was naive not to." Ed cut her off, despite her intentions. No matter how unpredictable the situation had been, Al had been his responsibility. "They caught him in a fishing net, and I panicked. They must've thought I was some sort of monster or something." He scoffed at the thought. Humans thinking he was the monster? Ironic.

"I started attacking their boat— doing anything I could think of to make them let him go. I even pleaded with them—in their own language—and they still…" He trailed off, remembering the absolute disgust in their eyes. There had been no pity or remorse in their expressions. To them, he was a creature to be sold away and experimented on; nothing more.

"Your arm?" Winry asked quietly.

He nodded. "Yeah. The fuckers threw a harpoon at me, even after all of that. Went straight through my upper arm and I barely even noticed, since I was still so focused on saving Al. Then... I ended up doing something crazy. And stupid."

"Naturally." She spoke in a joking tone, but it still came out strained.

"I um. May have pulled it out myself."

Winry paled. "You-"

"And used the tip to cut him out of the net…"

"Oh my god."

Ed shrugged with his remaining shoulder. "When you're in a situation like that you don't really think logically. All I knew was that I had to save him, even if it meant losing my arm. He was worth it."

Winry swiped at her eyes, which were… leaking?

"What are you doing?"

She scrubbed her face harder, leaving her cheeks stained red. "Sorry, I cry a lot when I don't mean to. I guess you can't do that underwater huh?"

He shook his head.

"It happens when you're sad, and your body wants to release those emotions. Like when your throat gets all tight and your head feels stuffy."

Ed knew the feeling, but this human form of reaction was definitely not something he was used to. After seeing Winry do it, he decided he didn't like crying all that much.

"I get that much… but why are you doing it?"

She stared at him for a moment, then let out a small chuckle with little humor behind it. "Because. Just… hearing everything you did to save him, and… and everything. I don't know. I still don't get why you'd want to try again after all of it."

Her explanation hardly served its purpose, but somehow he still understood. "I wouldn't have, if I hadn't met you. I dunno… it just felt like the risk outweighed facing the outcome we already knew. You seemed different from them… and more like the humans in the stories my mom told. It was the first time I really understood what she meant."

Ed realized what he had said after the words had left his mouth, and he quickly looked away as he felt his face begin to heat up.

"A-anyways! The rain looks calmer now so we should-"

"Thanks." She leaned in close, touching her lips to his cheek. It had only lasted a moment, but Ed didn't need to study to know that it meant something… affectionate. He was sure his face was crimson by now, and his hand unconsciously drifted to the spot her lips had been a moment before.

He felt himself smile, as stupid as it seemed.

"R-right. It's just the truth."

"Still. I appreciate you trusting me, dork. I can't even imagine doing what you did, and… I'm glad you're here. I promise I'll get you your arm soon, too."

"No rush. Really," he said, a bit too quickly to be normal.

She smiled back, picking up the umbrella and opening it in one fluid movement. "Alright then. How about we head back while the rain's light?"

"Finally, I thought we'd be stuck there all night." He stood and wobbled for a moment before regaining his balance.

"After you, Your Highness." Winry held the umbrella above his head, obnoxiously bowing with an exaggerated sweeping motion.

So much for the touching moment.

"Don't you dare start with that, gearhead. I'll leave raw fish in your pantry."

"Geez, what kind of threat is that?" she snorted, squeezing in to join him underneath the umbrella. Ed didn't miss how she was only covering half of herself, ensuring he'd be completely shielded from the rain.

He decided not to mention it, walking ahead without a single worry. She'd keep him safe, he had zero doubts.

Their shoulders touched as they made their way home, Ed treading carefully so he didn't end up tripping like an idiot. He'd have to come back later to get Al after his shift— if Winry didn't make him stay home, that is.

He didn't mind it, even if the only thing keeping him standing was a flimsy piece of fabric on a stick. There was something calming about the rain, like the entire world had gone to sleep for a while. There was nothing quite comparable undersea, besides how he felt when he was alone in his cavern.

Even then, he'd just been escaping the world around him. Now, he wanted nothing more than to thrive in it.

He shielded his eyes as a yellow ray of light broke through the clouds, nearly laughing from the cheesiness of it all. The damned universe seemed to have noticed it at the same time as himself.

It was only the truth, though. He was absolutely convinced that by saving Winry, she'd saved him in return.

The disappearance of the king's sons had proven more beneficial than not. Kimblee had never been one to make rash decisions, but now it seemed that he wouldn't have to.

The kingdom was in a scramble looking for the two princes, missing the obvious signs and intentions they'd shown to leave long ago. All expendable castle staff were out looking for them, confining their search to the seas. To them, going on the surface made the princes a lost cause. They were cowards, but that was no surprise.

The most interesting development by far had been King Hohenheim's behavior. Once thought to be a cold and steadfast leader, he was now showing more concern and emotion than he had since the accident. He cared for those boys, though he rarely displayed so.

That was more than enough for Kimblee to enact his plan. Everyone would fall into their roles like the predictable fools they were, never acting upon any whim that would dare disrupt the pattern they'd grown used to.

He'd get the crown, but not by force. Not even trickery was needed when all the pieces were coming together on their own.

The king would hand it over himself; it was as simple as that.

so so sorry for such a long break ;-; there's no excuse beyond me having no motivation to write, but i'm really glad to finally be back! the movie luca helped me regain my inspiration and here we are... with the filler/backstory chapter that i've been putting off for months lol... next one includes the festival, which will be tons more fun!

thank you so much for reading and sticking around! i will absolutely be finishing this, and i hope the inspiration sticks around for awhile so i can do so! :)