Stand by You

XXX

We began to explore building by building, jumping rooftop to rooftop before Edward sighed, "But this place is...too damn big!!!!"

We explored another building before Alphonse sighed, "Where could Scar and that girl be?"

"Guys, can we stop for a moment?" I was bent over my knees, feeling overheated in the fleece I wore.

"Unless they come to us, finding them will be quite--" Edward grumbled.

"Alphonse...!" A girl squealed. "Alphonse!" She squealed again, getting closer to us. Her voice sounded familair.

"It can't be..." Alphnse gasped.

"No..." Edward groaned.

"Alphonse!" A small girl tackled Alphonse to the ground. I recognize her-she was with us when we fought Father!

"She really did come for us," Edward chuckled dryly.

"What are you doing here?" The Xingese girl giggled.

"May!" Alphonse sighed. "Thank goodness! We really did manage to find you!" Obviously these two had some time to get close with one another.

"You mean, Al, you were pursing me?" She blushed.

"I wanted to see you again," Alphonse nodded.

"Oh, Al..." She squealed.

"I wanted to see you, and learn more about alkahestry," Alphonse explained.

"What do I do?" She sighed dreamily. "What do I do? Am I dreaming?"

"Hey now, little girl!" Edward yelled. "Al is after me! I've missed you! You're not getting away again! Now tell us about your alkahestry, right now!"

"Both brothers are after me, to steal my love!" May held her face and began to shake, caught in a daydream. "No, Edward, you are not my type."

"Stop playing dumb!" Edward gritted his teeth.

There was rapid knocking. "Let me out, Al!" Winry shouted from inside.

Edward, May and I gasped. Winry? What was she doing here? "Sorry, sorry!" Alphonse apologized as he opened his chestplate and let Winry out.

She rubbed her head gingerly, "Yow, I bumped my head."

"Alphonse, who is this woman?" May demanded. "How mean, Al! You've already got me!"

"Oh, she's just a friend from childhood," he assured.

"May, you shouldn't go running off like that," A gruff voice spoke. In stepped in a man dressed in a cloaked hood. "The Elric brothers?!" The gruff voice gasped.

"Who are you?" Edward asked.

"It's me! It's me!" The hooded man took off his hood, revealing a deformed face. "Marcoh!"

"Eh? Dr. Marcoh?" Alphonse gasped.

"What happened to your face?" I asked.

"What about you?" He asked. "What are you doing here?"

Another man stepped in. He had black hair that was hidden in a skin-tight white cap and had a mustache resembling those comical villains in stories. "The Elric brothers!" He shrieked.

"Who are you?" Edward asked.

"You can't tell me you've forgotten me!" He shouted. "Not me, Yoki, the great colliery proprietor of Youswell!"

"We've forgotten," Edward sighed. "Or I should say, we never knew you."

"How mean!" He cried. "After what you did to me!" He began to remember the past and recalling everything. "The coal mining town of Youswell. I, Yoki, was both military governed and operator of the coal mine. Thanks to me, the people of the town lived in happiness. That's when the greatest criminal of all time, the State Alchemist, Edward Elric, suddenly appeared. You offered me gold bars in exchange for the town's title and I accepted. However, it was an ingenious trap! That night, all the gold given to me turned into coal and when I came to demand why, I saw you with the townspeople. They had set this up together behind the scenes. And so, having the mine defrauded from me, I was treated cruelly by the ungrateful townspeople, and branded person non grata by the military. Planning my comeback, I expanded my ventures all over. But they all failed. My fallback investments...also all failed. As a last resort, I went to seek a goodwill loan from a millionaire family. If it weren't for them...if it weren't for those Elric brothers...that's when I swore an oath. Yes, I would take my revenge against the ones who had done this to me! A vengeance far worse than death! I won't be outdone by a thieving hussy like you!"