Fullmetal Alchemist Fan Fiction ❯ Descent ❯ A Chance Meeting ( Chapter 28 )

 

 

Descent

 

Chapter Twenty-Eight

 

A Chance Meeting

 

 

Dominic LeCoulte(1) tightened a bolt, then picked up the automail arm and scrutinized it carefully. He turned it this way and that, giving it the inspection that only a seasoned automail mechanic could do.

 

“Try moving the fingers,” he said gruffly.

 

Paninya(2) nodded and moved her fingers as directed.

 

“Good. Now move the wrist and then the elbow joint.”

 

The girl twisted her wrist, then brought the arm up in a position that looked like she wanted to arm wrestle…which, of course, was exactly how she'd broken the damn thing in the first place, Dominic thought with a scowl.

 

“Well?” he asked irritably.

 

“It's great! Perfect! Like always,” she said with a grin.

 

Putting his tools away, Dominic stood slowly and leaned against the shop counter. He winced at the thought that his arthritis was really beginning to act up and he was starting to actually feel his age.

 

“I don't want to see you doing any more fool things like that. I thought you'd learned your lesson,” he growled.

 

“But I just wanted to prove…”

 

“You don't need to prove anything,” he said, cutting her off.

 

“It wasn't anything dangerous, I was just…”

 

“Anyone who knows anything about automail, knows I do good work. I don't want you risking your body to persuade idiots.”

 

She grinned sheepishly, “Okay…I'm sorry Domi…” The sound of the shop door opening caught their attention and Paninya cut off what she was about to say as they both looked to who was coming in the shop.

 

A short young man with braided blond hair walked through the doorway and shut the door behind him. He was wearing a long black overcoat over a black button up shirt, the top button undone, and black slacks. The stranger wearily set down the suitcase he was carrying and gave a sheepish grin.

 

“Sorry, I know your sign says closed, but…”

 

He never got a chance to finish.

 

“EEEED!!!” Paninya squealed excitedly and launched herself over the counter. The young man's eyes widened and his grin took on an amused quality. “It's been so long! Is Winry with you?”

 

The blond shook his head apologetically. “No, sorry. It's just me.”

 

The excitement seemed to drain from the dark-skinned girl. Her shoulders slumped a bit and she said, “Oh,” clearly disappointed.

 

“Sorry,” he said again.

 

“So, why are you here?” she asked, all of the girlish excitement completely gone now.

 

“Well, I need to get my leg extended and you said that your mechanic is really good…” he trailed off and looked over at Dominic.

 

Paninya scowled. “What about Winry?”

 

“What about her?” he asked. He seemed to be very aware of what the girl was referring to, but he was acting dumb about it.

 

Dominic, for his part, had no idea what was going on. The name Winry did seem a bit familiar, but he couldn't quite place it…

 

“You know what I mean,” the dark haired girl said. She punctuated her words by poking him in the chest.

 

He grinned. “Well, she's not here right now, and I need an adjustment.” He shrugged. “But you did say your mechanic was good. Can't I at least see what you're talking about?”

 

“Whatever, bean. Obviously you traveled here, so why not travel to her?”

 

The blond's face soured and he stood straighter. “Who are you calling a bean?! I've GROWN if you couldn't tell!”

 

“Well actually I couldn't…” she began and laughed as he tried even harder to stand up straighter. “Okay, maybe you've grown a little.”

 

“A little?” he huffed and folded his arms. “I've grown more than that!”

 

“Okay, maybe you have.” She grinned. “From now on, you shall be `sprout', instead of `bean'.”

 

“Sprout?” he growled.

 

She nodded. “Yep. Sprout.”

 

The blond looked like he was about to start yelling again, and Dominic figured it was time he stepped in and restored order.

 

“Okay, kids,” he said loudly. They both looked at him as if they'd forgotten he was there. “Now,” he said. “You're here for an adjustment?”

 

The blond nodded. “Yeah, my leg is adjustable up to two inches. I was able to do the first inch, but I need to have a mechanic do the second.”

 

“Why don't you just take it to your mechanic?”

 

“Er… it's complicated…”

 

Dominic frowned. “How so?”

 

Ed looked down and tapped his fingers on the counter.

 

“Remember my friend Winry?” Paninya asked. Dominic looked at her, trying again to remember where the name was from. “Remember? Blonde, young, cute, Rockbell?”

 

His eyes widened slightly and he cringed.

 

Oh, yes…that Winry.

 

Dominic turned his gaze on the young man. “Your mechanic is a Rockbell?”

 

Ed looked up. “Yeah,” he said in confusion.

 

“Say no more,” the older man said with a wave of his hand. “I know how scary those Rockbell women can be sometimes.” He thought of his experiences with Pinako Rockbell in the past, and shuddered. Pushing the memories away, he reached under the counter and pulled out a sheet of paper.

 

“You'll need to sign this before I can work on you,” he said, handing the blond a pen.

 

“What's this?” Ed asked, looking down at the paper.

 

“It's a waiver, saying that you are responsible for any damage that could be done to the automail while I'm working on it,” he explained.

 

“What!” Ed exclaimed. “How could it be my fault if you're the one working on it?”

 

“Oh it's not, but this protects me in case your mechanic gets angry that I messed with her automail. There's also something on there about it being your decision to have me work on it.”

 

Paninya walked over and said, “I've never seen you make anyone else sign a form like this…”

 

“No one else has had a Rockbell as their mechanic…”

 

;-;-;-;-;-;-;

 

Russell poked at the fire with a stick and looked over to where his traveling companion had gone. Supposedly, Urayami was taking a leak, but he'd been gone pretty long. The chemist was wondering if perhaps the other teen had been attacked and eaten by a wild animal.

 

No...

 

Russell wasn't that lucky.

 

At first, he'd been happy to have a traveling companion, and it was good that he seemed to have recruited someone for The People's Army, but after the first day he thought that maybe he'd rather travel alone.

 

The guy was just creepy, and he seemed to get stranger every day.

 

That first day the brunet had asked what seemed like a million questions. That would have been fine if they'd all been about The People's Army, but they weren't. As the day wore on, Urayami stopped asking questions about the rebellion and focused all his questions on Russell, and sometimes Fletcher.

 

The questions had continued the next day, and then the next, each one more personal than before. `What did he think about this', or `how did he feel about that', or even questions about how he'd react if this or that happened'… it was all so nerve wracking.

 

Russell heard some twigs snapping off to his right and a moment later the other teen came into sight. Russell sighed and looked back to the fire with the thought that if Urayami kept questioning him, the guy would know enough about him to actually be him…

 

;-;-;-;-;-;-;

 

Roy sighed as he stared down at the stack of documents waiting for him to read. It was times like this that he truly despised his career choice. Not that this was exactly his first choice, there were definitely other jobs in the military befitting someone of his rank that he'd rather have, but this job kept him close to those of higher rank.

 

He scanned the request form in front of him before he scribbled `Request Denied' at the bottom with a few lines of explanation. He'd really love to kill that damn Hakuro for giving him some of the pointless shit he did. Roy went to the next page and scowled when he read what it said.

 

“Nice to see you're getting things done,” Hawkeye said as she let herself into the office.

 

At that, Roy directed his scowl at her, then picked up the paper and handed it to her. “Give this to Tolten down at the warehouse. I don't even know how that ended up here, and I don't want to know.”

 

“Yes, sir,” she said calmly. “Anything else?”

 

Yes, he thought. Find out where the hell Ed is... Three weeks was way too long. Ed should have returned a week ago, even two weeks ago. It shouldn't take three weeks to travel to Rush Valley, get an extension, and come back.

 

He jumped as his thoughts were interrupted by the ringing of a telephone. Instead of answering it, he waved a hand for the lieutenant to get it. After another ring he heard, “Colonel Mustang's office.”

 

Roy glanced up at her and watched as an amused smile crept across her face before she said, “Yes, he's legal...yes, that's right...Yes, he really is a State Alchemist.”

 

He straightened and mouthed, `Ed?'

 

She grinned but simply said into the phone, “No problem, goodbye.”

 

As she hung up the phone, Roy asked, “What was that about?

 

Hawkeye opened her mouth to tell him when the phone rang again. He reached for it, but she beat him to it, grinned, and said, “Don't want to interrupt what you're doing.”

 

He glared at her, feeling cheated out of his chance to delay what he was working on. Hawkeye's grin slowly faded and she listened to whoever was talking for a moment, then said, “Just a moment,” before handing him the phone.

 

Roy glanced worriedly at her, and slowly said into the phone, “Colonel Mustang speaking.”

 

“Good afternoon,” a man's voice said. “This is Doctor Wilson Booth from the hospital. We have some good news and some bad news...”

 

;-;-;-;-;-;-;

 

Ed set the grocery sack down, leaned against the front of the store and scowled darkly before opening the new pack of cigarettes. Was he legal? Of course he was fucking legal! He wasn't that short! Still seething over the clerk's attitude, Ed pulled one of the smokes out of the pack and slipped it between his lips before pulling out his lighter.

 

The fact that he hadn't gotten much sleep the night before added to his irritability. After signing numerous forms and promising that he'd never reveal who had worked on his automail to either Winry or Pinako, the old guy had finally agreed to do the extension.

 

While he waited, Paninya had badgered him for reasons why he was `slighting' Winry by not having her do the extension. After the extension was complete, they had offered him a place to sleep for the night since it was so late. He almost refused, but his cheap side finally won out and he ended up sleeping on the couch. He'd gotten exactly what he'd paid for in that. It was lumpy and he'd tossed and turned all night.

 

Ed lit the cigarette and took a drag before slowly blowing out the smoke. And, of course, there was the fact that he'd be heading back to Central today. Part of him wanted to delay getting back, but he'd already stayed in all of the towns on the way to Rush Valley...

 

Ed sighed. He still hadn't made a decision about what to do concerning Mustang. He wanted to stay with him, but...

 

Every time Ed thought about going back and living with the colonel again, he just ended up feeling mad. He wanted to know what was going on. He wanted to be included. It was obvious something dangerous was going on. He wanted to protect Roy...

 

Ed put the cigarette in between his lips and left it there. This was all just so fucked up... Even though he wanted to continue being mad, he still thought about him, still dreamt about him, still wanted him...

 

“Damn this whole mother fucking situation...” Ed muttered around the cigarette and thought that there was no way his life could get any worse at this moment.

 

Suddenly the door to the next shop over opened and a big muscled man wearing black pants and a dark brown shirt came walking out carrying a long flat box. Ed's eyes widened as he recognized the man. Quickly picking up his bag, Ed turned to walk away before he was seen, but it was too late...

 

;-;-;-;-;-;-;

 

Winry gazed out of the window to where Al was sitting on the back porch. The alchemist was tapping his pen against his cheek as he stared fixedly down at a pad of paper. He was at it again. Winry didn't know what he could be writing, but she was beginning to be more than a little curious.

 

At first, she'd wondered if he was working on a new array, but then decided that probably wasn't it. He would have told her about it. He always talked to her about whatever he did with alchemy, and she always listened, even when she had no idea what he was talking about.

 

It was nice when he talked to her. Sometimes he would come into the work area of the house and just rattle off his ideas to her while she worked. She loved hearing his voice, and it was so wonderful to have him around. Winry just wanted to be with him forever.

 

She sighed and let her forehead touch the glass windowpane. Alphonse hadn't said anything else about going to find Ed and in a way she was glad. Winry couldn't bear the thought of him going away. It was such a sad and lonely thought and she always got tears in her eyes when she thought of it.

 

The corner of her lips pulled up in a small smile as she watched Al shake his head in frustration and start over on a clean page, then the smile faded.

 

But...

 

She knew he longed to find Ed. Alphonse wasn't the type of person who liked contention. He wanted to make sure Ed was alright, and he wanted to try to work out whatever had caused Ed to blow up like that. Winry knew this, even though Al had said nothing about it.

 

The blonde mechanic sniffled a little and pulled away from the window. She looked at the door for a moment before letting herself outside. It was warm out, but not hot like it had been earlier. The sun would set soon and the heat of the day was slowly beginning to dull.

 

“Hey,” she said softly and he started before hurrying to put the cover on the notepad.

 

“Winry,” he said in surprise as he turned a little to watch her walking toward him. She looked down at him for a moment before sitting beside him. “Are you alright?” he asked.

 

“Why do you ask?”

 

He shrugged and said, “Well...I don't know. You just seem a little down, that's all.”

 

I am, she thought, but she didn't say that. Instead, she said, “I've been thinking...”

 

“Oh?”

 

She nodded and looked across the vast expense of grass beyond the house. “I think that your injuries should be almost healed by now.”

 

“Yeah, I was thinking that too. I rarely get any pain at all anymore.”

 

Winry glanced at him, then away. “When do you think you'll leave to go find Ed?” She asked.

 

He was silent for several moments before he said, “I don't know... I'm not sure... Maybe I shouldn't... I mean, if I stayed here, then he'd know where to find me, but there are many places he could be and I could spend a long time searching. Even then, if he doesn't want to be found, I'm sure he could get others not to tell me where he is.”

 

The last was said with a slightly bitter note and she glanced at him again, studying his face. Had something happened that made him believe that, or was that just something he was afraid might happen?

 

She glanced away and said softly, “I think...” She stopped for a moment. She didn't want her voice to shake when she said this. “I think you should go...”

 

He looked at her and said, “What?”

 

“I want you to be happy, Al, and I just... I don't know...”

 

“Do you want me to leave?” he asked and she could hear hurt in his voice.

 

“Of course not!” she exclaimed and looked at him. “I want you to stay here with me, but... I know that you're worried about Ed. I... I don't want you guys to be fighting. I don't want you to be unhappy... I don't want to be the one holding you back...”

 

Her words trailed off as he began shaking his head. “Staying has been my decision. If I really wanted to find Ed, I would have already gone. I would have left weeks ago, but, Winry, I...” His cheeks took on a pinkish hue and he looked down. “I wanted to stay with you too.” This came out as a whisper and for a moment he didn't say anything, then looked back up at her. “I know Ed is okay. Well, at least, I'm pretty sure he's okay and that he's being taken care of.”

 

She opened her mouth to ask why he thought this, but he kept talking, “I will find him, Winry, but right now I have something more important that I need to do.” His cheeks flushed even more and he looked away. “Besides...I don't know what I'd say to him. I mean...whenever I think about that night...”

 

He shook his head. “I don't know. Sometimes I get really mad at him because of the things he did, not just to me, but to you too. And then, sometimes I feel bad...I mean, I knew something was wrong with him. He was always being so uptight and...” A sigh. “Maybe I could have done something...”

 

It was her turn to shake her head. “No, this wasn't your fault. None of this was your fault. You have to stop blaming yourself, Al.”

 

“Yeah... maybe...” he said noncommittally and looked away.

 

“No, not `maybe.' You can't blame all bad things that happen on yourself. Sometimes things happen that are out of our control. You couldn't have controlled Ed. Maybe there were things that you could have done differently, but you didn't. You can't change the past; you can only go forward.”

 

She paused, dying inside because she didn't want to say the next thing on her mind, but she knew they were the right things to say. “Perhaps...that's why you need to go find him. The sooner the two of you work things out, the better it will be.”

 

He glanced at her with a small smile, then said, “Maybe you're right. I'll have to think more about it.”

 

Winry wanted to push him to make a decision, she felt like she was being left hanging, still unsure about what would happen next, but she didn't. This was the most he had talked to her about that night and she wanted it to end on a good note.

 

“Okay...” she said, then gave in to the sudden urge to lay her head against his shoulder. Winry smiled when she felt his arm wrap timidly around her shoulder and pull her close to him.

 

Her eyes fell on the notepad and she fought the urge to ask him what he was working on. He'd tell her, eventually...

 

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1- Episode 26

2- Also Episode 26

 

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