Alphonse was back in Xing.
After his brother had been found, and his living arrangements had been decided, Alphonse and Mai had headed back to her home country to deal with a new web of crime that had sprung up in there absence. According to the report that he had been sent, there was a band of eight men using Rentanjutsu to kidnap and enslave children, or sell them to other countries as slaves. Slavery was strictly against the law in Xing, ever since Prince Ling Yao had become Emperor, but there were people who still made huge profits off of slave trading. And besides, anything that's against the law makes the job pay even more money. Ling needed help, he was too busy dealing in negotiations with other countries to look at it himself, and all his battle forces were already caught up in capturing a serial killer and mass murderer that had escaped from a neighboring country and into Xing, and was now killing by the dozens. So he had asked Mai and Alphonse to help out, and, of course, they had obliged. Not to mention it was a serious offense, but child slavery was so wrong. Alphonse hated it, and it was the only reason he had been so willing to leave his brother behind.
Well...the main reason.
The other one was...his brother was afraid of him. He knew he was, otherwise why else would he have trembled every time he gave him a hug or a pat on the back? It broke Al's heart to see his brother like that, and he knew he would be in safe hands, with Colonel Hawkeye.
Al's head snapped up as one of the slavers walked idly past his hiding spot. Alphonse silently cursed himself for not paying closer attention and focused himself. Mai was hiding in the bushes directly opposite him, on the other side of the clearing where the slavers where camped. In the middle, surrounding a large yet-to-be-lit bonfire, where the slavers' tents. There were four of them, each only just large enough for two men to fit in. A little way away were the children they had so far captured. There were fifteen kids, all tied at the wrists, ankles and necks. Each child was connected by a rope that threaded through a loop made at the neck ties, so that they all were connected, and not one could slip away without dragging the rest with them. It was simple, but effective. It was easy enough for one child to make his way out of the camp if they were all individually tied, because kids knew how to be silent when they wanted to be. But it would be a butt-load harder if they all tried to escape at once. As silent as they tried to be, fifteen feet moving out of sync all at once would make an alarming amount of noise. Besides, it was easy not to notice one missing child. A lot harder to miss them all gone. Alphonse reviewed the plan in his head one more time.
At sundown, when the slavers lit and huddled around the fire, Mai would sneak silently around the camp and place several shurikan on the ground in the pattern of a Xingese Transmutation Circle. Then, when she was finished, she would send Al the signal, and together they would both use their combined knowledge of Alchemy and Rentanjutsu to Transmute a massive cage around the slavers. It was a simple plan. But Alphonse liked it that way. Easier to remember, so less likely that he would make a mistake. He sat patiently in the shrubs, waiting for nightfall. It was only a few hours away, but already his muscles were beginning to cramp. Hopefully, everything would go smoothly and he wouldn't have to fight.
He barely noticed when it became almost too dark to see, and, for the second time that day, cursed his ill attentiveness. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Mai give him the signal, and, without further ado, he clapped his hands together and slammed them into the ground. The earth where Mai had lain the shurikan began to crackle with red energy, and it sunk in on itself, then reformed, creating dozens of steel bars that towered into the air, eventually curving inwards and meeting in the middle. To top it off, a ring encircled them all, so the bars could not be bent outwards more than an inch or so. The eight slavers, now trapped, began to scream and shout and curse as Alphonse and Mai made themselves visible. One of the men inside quickly drew a circle in the ground and pressed it with his palms, and was completely shocked when nothing happened. Alphonse smiled. That little bit was the result of months of research he and Mai had undertaken. After all those months, they had found a way to combine techniques from Alchemy and Rentanjutsu together, so that nothing inside certain creations could be altered alchemically. It had taken Mai several days to invent this particular Transmutation Circle, and it was the only reason they needed the shurikan. Had they not known that one of the slavers was a Rentanjutsuist, Alphonse would simply have clapped his hands and made a regular cage.
Mai ran over to the kids and began to untie them. Alphonse, however, ran the other direction, fetching the horses they had left tied to trees several hundred meters away. He led them to the clearing and Transmuted a large horse cart, big enough to fit himself, Mai and the fifteen children comfortably. He made sure it was light, so the horses wouldn't have too much difficulty pulling it. The slavers, now prisoners, would be tied and tied again to rings he had made onto the cart, and they would walk all the way back to the Imperial Court, where they would be trialed, convicted and sent to jail the rest of their lives. If they were extremely lucky, though, they might be sentenced to work in the fields.
Alphonse sighed. Now that this was almost over -the Imperial Court was a mere two days from here by horse carriage- he would have nothing more to do than research.
He wondered if perhaps he should go and visit Edward? After all, it had been quite a few weeks since he'd left Amestris.
A little while later, back in Amestris, Winry was attaching auto-mail to a customer. As she connected the nerves to his hand -it was the full thing, just the hand- his face contorted in pain and he let out a short scream, which he did his best to bite back. His name was Jeremy. He was a tall, strong man, late forties, and he'd lost his left hand in the Ishvalan war. She felt about as sorry for him as she did for the rest of her customers, and that was very sorry indeed. While she didn't actually need auto-mail herself, she knew how terribly painful the connection was. She had witnessed it so much throughout her life that she had no doubt whatsoever. "Sorry." She said to him when it was done. "I know it hurts."
"Ah, don't worry about it, Mrs Elric. It's nothing." He said, twisting his lips into a smile she could tell he was struggling to maintain.
"Mrs Elric?" She laughed. "What do you mean by that?"
"You're married to Edward Elric, aren't cha?" Jeremy said.
"No, not yet. We are engaged, though." She clarified.
"Oh." He said shortly. "Where is he?" He asked, twisting his head around from side to side as though Ed might magically appear from behind the couch.
"He's in Central." She told him.
"Why's that?" He asked. She hung her head, her brilliant blonde bangs falling around her face.
"He needs to be close to the doctors right now." She said, her voice low and almost defeated.
"Really?" Jeremy asked. She almost wanted to yank his hand off. Did this guy never stop asking questions?
"Yes." She said, her tone implying that he should shut up.
He didn't take the hint.
"Why does he need to be close to the central doctors?" He pressed, flexing his fingers, testing them.
"I don't think he'd appreciate it much if I told anyone, to be perfectly honest with you." She said, an edge to her voice that he would hopefully notice and shut up. Thankfully, this time around, he did. She finished giving him his maintenance and he paid her the fee, which was cheap, considering all he had was that one hand that needed doing. He left, thanking her for her fabulous work, smiling and waving, and she forced on a smile and waved back, trudging back inside the house which she had reluctantly left. She dragged her feet to the room she shared with Edward and collapsed onto the bed, perfectly ready for sleep right now. She wasn't hungry. To be perfectly truthful, she hadn't eaten any food for two days straight now. Her stomach was constantly rumbling, but she ignored it, certain that any food she ate would just make it's way back up again. So she sank into bed and, from under the covers, pulled out the red cloak she'd been hiding under it. She knew Edward lost his in Drachma. She'd since taken up needlework, and had bought a cloak almost identical to Edward's in shape and size, dyed it the exact shade of red that Ed always wore, and took a ball of black wool and began to carefully sew the alchemist's symbol onto the back, in the exact spot where Edward always had it. When Edward was, for want of a better word, healthy enough, to come home, she would give it to him as a welcome home present.
She just hoped he would like it.
Exhausted, she put herself under the covers and pulled the now complete coat close to her. She fell asleep cuddling it every single night, and she would continue to do so until Edward was back home and she could cuddle with him instead. But for now, the coat would have to do. It wasn't dark yet, nowhere near, it was only five in the afternoon, but she was so tired. She'd pulled an all nighter to get that hand finished for Jeremy before he arrived today, and she'd been living completely off coffee. But the effects had worn off hours ago and she was definitely ready for some nice long shut-eye. She fell asleep the moment she shut her eyes. The dream that followed wasn't a pleasant one. She dreamed that she was at the graveyard. She was standing beside Trisha's grave. To the right of it, was the gravestone of Van Hohenheim. To the left...was Edward's. It read: Edward 'Fullmetal' Elric. 1899-1915. In front of the grave were bunches upon bunches of flowers. Winry was alone, and she could hear what sounded like a phone ringing in the background. She wished someone would answer their phone already. This was her time to be alone with Ed. How dare that stupid phone interrupt her time of grieving! She dropped to her knees, tears streaming down her face. Why did Edward have to die? He was too young to die! It wasn't fair! She was alone. Alphonse couldn't take the grief, and had fled to Xing with Mai. Winry was alone, all alone, with no one that really cared. Sure, Hawkeye and Mustang dropped by every now and then to check up on her, but that was probably just a courtesy to their relationship with Edward.
Winry had been considering suicide lately. And why not? Mum and Dad were dead. Granny was dead. And now even Edward, the last light in her life, was dead. Alphonse was weeks away, and he didn't care enough anyway, or he wouldn't have left her here. It was a good thought. Trembling, she took the knife she had brought with her out of her purse, and, kneeling in front of Edward's grave, she pointed the blade in front of her heart, which was pounding a million miles an hour. She closed her eyes, and took a deep breath. She could hear the wind blowing softly around her, and that damned telephone was still ringing! It was a shame, that the last thing that she would hear was a phone ringing. Ah well. She was going to die, right here, beside her fiance's grave. And then she could be with him forever. She pushed the blade into her skin, wincing a little as the blood oozed around it, and then, with one final effort, one last ring of the telephone, she pushed it all the way in-
-and woke up.
Screaming.
She jumped out of bed and took in deep breaths. She could hear her phone ringing from the kitchen. She hurried to answer it, trying her best to calm herself down before she said "hello?"
"Hey, Winry. It's Ed."
"Hi Ed! What's up? And why are you calling so damn early in the morning?" She asked.
"Uhhh, it's two in the afternoon..." He said. "Winry, are you okay?"
"No! I mean yes! I'm perfectly fine! Just had a late night and a bad dream, that's all." She rushed out, not wanting to make him worry. "So what's up?"
"I was just wondering, if you have time, would you like to visit me in Central? My next psychiatrist appointment isn't for another fortnight so I'm gonna be bored for a while." He explained.
"Oh." She said. "Yeah, sure! I'd love to! So you did end up deciding to see the psychiatrist then?"
"I've been seeing him for nearly two months!" He said.
"Well sorry. I would have known that if you had bothered to call me at least once before now!" She snapped, her temper suddenly rising.
"Well I'm sorry for being busy!"
"How busy could you possibly be? You don't even have a job, you're just sitting in Riza Hawkeye's house all Goddamn day!"
"Oh, so this is about Hawkeye now?"
"No, this is not about Hawkeye!"
"Are you coming or not?"
"Yes! I'm coming!"
"Well okay then!"
"I'll be there on Saturday!" She snapped, slamming the phone down. She sighed, shaking her head, The first time she talks to Edward in a little over two months and she yelled and fought with him! What was wrong with her?! She knew he was having...problems, so why did she get so mad at him? He probably was busy, but, being a woman, there was always that tiny little worm of doubt that wriggled away in her head, that her fiance living with another woman could never be a good idea. There was nothing mush she could do about it, but still...And suddenly a brilliant idea came to her! She smiled. That worm of doubt was going to be forced out very, very soon.
Really sorry this took so long. And sorry it's so short, I've been sick since Thursday and I haven't had much energy to write anything. Again. sorry. Hope you enjoyed this chapter.
~Kala~