The Alkahestrist ~FMA (OC X Edward)

Return to Resembool

<><>Alphonse's POV<><>

"Congrats, Aura!" I greet, cheerfully. She sends a quizzical look to me. "Aura?" I nod. "A nickname. Well, I can stop calling you that if you want-"

But she smiles. "No, that's fine. I like it. Has a ring to it." "Oh," I point out, "if you didn't know yet, Brother's nickname is Ed."

Brother pouts for a moment. "Don't call your higher-up a nickname," he arrogantly scolds, but Aura just laughs. "Alright, Ed!"

"Shut up, Aurelia!"

"Call me my nickname!"

"Why!?"

"Because-!" She halts for a moment. "Because," she continues softly, "it's one of the closest things I've ever had to anything genuine."

Ed hmphs and looks away, but I know he feels sincere. He's just acting like he's too tough to show it. But surprisingly, he grudgingly says, "Alright, Aura."

She grins. "Good shorty."

<><>After 10 Minutes of Bickering<><>

"Where to, now?" I change the subject, relieved that mess is over with.

"Oh, uh..." Brother stutters nervously. "Well, ah, I felt something kind of, um, wrong with my, uhhhh... automail."

I sigh, "good luck, Brother."

Aura glances questionably at him. "'Good luck'?" Brother scratches the back of his head. "My, um, automail mechanic, eh, isn't going to be... very... happy..."

"So," I say, "we're heading to Resembool?" "Y- yeah..."

Before we head over to the station, though, Aura changes into her military uniform, albeit involuntarily.

She now wears the classic blue, but with three gold strips along with a circle and a star on the shoulder.

Afterwards, we manage to just board the train at the last second. Unfortunately, we had only one row for ourselves, so Ed's squished in the middle.

"Why- why me..." he complains. Our new traveling companion simply rolls her eyes. "Deal with it, higher-up."

"Shut it, Alkahestry Freak."

"I can use Alchemy, too!"

"But not as well as I can!"

"That's because I'm from Xing, stupid!"

"Subordinate!"

"Red bean shrimp!"

"Wha- okay, I've been called a bean and a shrimp before, but never a red bean shrimp!"

"Get used to it!"

<><>At Resembool<><>

"Jeez," I disapprove, "you and Ed fight much more than he does with even Winry or Grannie!" She scoffs, but doesn't retaliate, and neither does Brother.

"W- well," Ed whispers, "Soon after this, I- I'm not even- even gonna get the ch- chance to d- do it again..." Aurelia snorts, "you're really that afraid of your mechanic?"

"Y- yeah. I- I'm too scared to think of- of any come- comeback..."

We start walking down the path to Winry's, our childhood friend and mechanic. Suddenly, a wrench comes flying out of nowhere.

It almost hits Ed, and he begins to freak out.

"Ah!" I shout. "Watch out!" Aura sighs, blocking the flying tool with her arm guard, and it bounces off and to the ground. Ed kisses the ground for being alive.

The door of the house opens. "YOU EVEN TRIED TO ESCAPE YOUR PUNISHMENT FOR BREAKING MY MASTERPIECE! WHAT IS WRONG WITH- oh, hello!"

We all sweat drop, as Winry jogs out to greet us. Aura tosses the wrench to her. "I, uh, found this." "Huh? Wait... you're from the military?"

"Yes. I'm guessing your name is Winry Rockbell, Edward's automail mechanic?"

The girl nods, offering her hand to shake. "Yeah. Um, you're the same age as us, but should I be speaking to you formally?" Aura easily laughs, saying, "no, you're fine. I'm called Second Lieutenant Stryder, but just call me Aura."

Brother mutters, "way to show off that title of yours."

In unison, Winry and Aura snap, "shut it, bean."

"That's not very polite," Winry scolds. "Anyways, what's wrong with your automail now? No, never mind. I'll see for myself, so all you guys just better come in."

Of course, I have to duck my head to enter the house. Machine parts lie everywhere, and screws and bolts dominate the tables.

"Winry!?" I hear a voice, coming from down the hall. "Who are our visitors?" Winry yells back, "Ed and Al! And their friend!"

After a few seconds, Pinako, or Grannie, walks in. "Ah, Al! It's nice to see you again. And Ed..." She looks between Brother and Aura. "You're still short."

"HEY, DON'T CALL ME SHORT!" "And who might this young lady here be?" Aurelia politely shakes Grannie's hand. "I'm Aura. It's a pleasure meeting you, Pinako Rockbell."

The old lady smiles, saying, "the pleasure is all mine. And I must say, that's quite the young age for joining the military."

"It is. To make it worse, I'm working to protect the red bean shrimp." "I'M NOT A RED BEAN SHRIMP! AND SHUT UP!"

<><>Two Minutes Later<><>

"Ed, my masterpiece is all busted up... WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS!?" "I- I dunno! I was fighting, and then suddenly-" "YOU WERE FIGHTING AGAIN!? JEEZ, TAKE A BREAK FOR ONCE!"

"OW! WINRY, WARN ME BEFORE YOU DO THAT!"

I sigh, tired of hearing their bickering. Aurelia smirks and takes a seat beside me. "A bit lively in here, isn't it?"

"Yeah. Looks like they're almost done, though." Winry walks over to where we are, and spots the metal brace on Aura's arm.

She points to it, asking, "what's that? Not automail, right?" The lieutenant replies, "no automail." "STILL, CAN I TAKE A LOOK AT IT!?" Winry exclaims.

"Umm," Aura says, "okay." Inspecting the metal, the mechanic replies, "although it truly isn't automail, it's actually very similar. Here, it might be a little too heavy."

After tinkering with it for a while, Winry overlooks her work. "I also adjusted and fixed some of the dents that were in it. Cleaned it, too."

Aurelia grins, obviously pleased. "Thanks. Hey, Elric brothers, where to next?" I ponder this for a moment.

In a bored voice, Ed answers, "Central. Colonel wants me to do his little chores for him again. But let's leave in the morning."

I look up, somewhat grim. "Brother, before we leave, we should visit Mom's grave."

=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~

I swear I am done with the boring chapters after this or the next one. Sorry 'bout that, I forgot what I had originally planned to write at the start of this book!

Hope you enjoyed! :)

~TheDreamOtaku