Travelers

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I am the Pumpkin King! Hahahaha! Jack Skelington, the Nightmare Before Christmas

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He blinked away the inky blackness, head pounding. His golden-brown eyes came into focus on a familiar face, although different clothing. Funny…he hadn’t seen her in a while. What was he doing here?

“Gracia…?”

The woman blinked and jerked. “Do I know you?”

Alphonse sat up. “Gracia. It’s Alphonse.”

At first her look was weird but then she smiled, soft and sweet, “Your head must still hurt from your fall.”

“Where am I?”

“My flower shop.”

Alphonse did indeed look around at the many, many flowers; it left a sweet tang in his mouth.

“You and your friends took quite a fall.”

Suddenly his senses crammed back into his brain. “Ah! Where are they?!”

“Ah, a young lady—she’s still unconscious—no, it’s all right, she’s fine. She’s just got a scrape on her face. A young man woke up quite a while ago but then he left, asking me to tell you he’d return soon. Another…rather…ragged looking girl is still out, I’m afraid. I was going to ask my renters upstairs if she could lie on one of their beds, but they’re both out for the day. The pretty blond girl is on my bed and the other girl is on the floor.” Grace bit her lip. “I hope she doesn’t mind…”

“Ranen won’t care. She sleeps in the woods. The floor’ll be fine.” He blinked again. “You don’t remember Winry?”

She looked at him curiously.

Alphonse straightened. Is this the other side…? He got on his knees. “One second.” He clapped his hands together and placed them on the floor.

Nothing happened.

He blinked. “What the…”

“Maybe you should lie down a little longer, Alphonse…”

He glanced at her. “Ah, I’m sorry. I was just…thinking of something. Do you mind if I see my friends?”

She stood up, nodding, sweet smile again and led him back into her room. Instead of going to Winry, he knelt by Ranen, shaking her. “Ranen. Ranen, wake up!”

“Ah—Alphonse! That may not be—“

Ranen opened her sleepy eyes and batted at him and then she jerked, sitting to attention. “Where are we?!”

Alphonse gave her a hard look. “We’re at Gracia’s house. She sells flowers.”

Ranen suddenly smiled, very nicely. “Oh, how nice. I bet they smell wonderful.”

Gracia smiled. “Thank you very mu—“ she perked suddenly. “There’s someone at the bell. I’ll be back in a moment.”

As soon as she was gone, Alphonse turned back to Ranen. “Gracia is someone I know but she doesn’t recognize me at all. I just tried to use alchemy and it didn’t work—try yours.”

She rolled onto her stomach and pushed herself to her knees. “Where’s Russel?” she asked, clapping her hands to activate the tattoos.

“He woke up a while ago but she said he said he’d be back.”

“Did he recognize her?”

“He’s never met her.”

Ranen stared down at her hands, against the floor.

Nothing happened.

“My alchemy….”

“It doesn’t work. Maybe this is the other side?”

Ranen looked away, truly startled and blinked it away. “We should find Russel and figure out where the hell we are.”

“Ah, yes, they’re still here, Maes. I found the four of them in the alleyway this morning. The eldest, called Russel, went out for a bit but these are the other three.”

Alphonse nearly choked, staring; mouth agape. “Hughes.”

“You see? The poor boy seems to know who we are.”

Officer Hughes knelt down, smiling a little. “Why don’t we talk in the kitchen, Alphonse?”

He doesn’t know me either.

Then he blinked. But I’ve only seen him in photographs and it’s been a long time…

And suddenly, it all came back in a rush. Edward. Golden-eyed, gold hair, michevious grin, his armor, the Colonel, Pride, Lust, Envy, Dante, his father, his mother, the military, first training with Izumi, himself as a child, Winry as a little girl, Edward again, the Circle, Scar, his arm, becoming the Stone, Edward’s death and return to life—

It was too much at once, he crumpled over, vision blurring—Ranen reached out and grabbed him. “Al! Al! Are you all right?!”

“We should call a doctor!”

“No!” Ranen snapped that out before she thought about it. On the bed, Winry started to stir. “He just needs a moment. He must have hit his head pretty hard. He’s always been a bit scattered.”

“How did you all…fall?” Hughes asked, looking at her.

Good question.

Ranen smiled bashfully. “We were playing around on the roof. Russel kept telling us to get down because he’s such a—ah, ahem. But then poor Winry slipped, Alphonse grabbed her, I grabbed him, Russel grabbed me—it was something of a domino effect and that’s all I remember.”

Winry rubbed her eyes and sat up. “Alphonse….Alphonse!” She jumped up, stumbled and went down on her knees. “What happened?!”

“Winry,” Ranen cut in, trying to catch her gaze. “We fell, remember. We were messing around on the rooftops.”

But Winry was staring at Hughes and Gracia as if she’d seen a ghost.

“And these are the nice people who found us.” Ranen purposely put her face in Winry’s view, forcing those blue eyes to her gray ones. She just barely shook her head

Alphonse opened his eyes again, taking a deep breath of air. Winry attention jerked back down. “Alphonse?! Are you all right?!”

Ranen stood up. “I’m gonna go find Russel. He said he’d be back. I’ll tell him you two are awake and we can get going.”

“Ah, yes, I’m sure your parents must be worried.”

Ranen looked at Winry, then smiled and nodded. “Thank you so much for your hospitality, Miss Gracia. I’ll come back with Russel and we’ll thank you properly.”

Ranen left the room, glanced back to make sure the adults’ attention was still on Winry and Alphonse and took a bundle of cloth from under the counter, pulling the Stone out and wrapping it in the cloth, went out the door.

Edward leaned back in his chair and yawned. Alfons was at the library. Again. He’d been there a lot lately. Or with his cousins. Not that Edward cared—it was just odd. Alfons was staying away for time on end since about two weeks ago. That and his cold didn’t seem to be improving but he wouldn’t go to the doctor.

Noa was back in the flat. Ed had already taken slack for her being there, her being a gypsy and all. He shrugged and finished his tea, leaving some coin on the table of the outdoor patio to leave, shrugging his coat on.

“I think I’ll go down to the river. It’s a nice day.”

He rubbed his arm and proceeded away.


Russel wandered through the streets. Unlike Alphonse’s and Winry’s clothes, his didn’t much stick out, as they were quite plain. He had asked around for information.

According to one, it was the same day they had left, around the same time. Then he had asked, “Is there a train leaving today?”

“Of course, sir. A train always leaves Munich around six in the evening. Are you heading for Berlin?”

“Maybe. I haven’t decided.” Then he’d smiled a little and walked away. So it was the same day and hour, in some land called ‘Munich’ and he couldn’t use his alchemy.

It looks a lot like our world. This must be the other side of the Gate.

And them he froze. Far up ahead. A blond young with a pony-tail….

Could it be--!

But it wasn’t, as the young man suddenly turned around and spoke to someone selling apples.

He sighed. I should have known. Ed wouldn’t have grown that much.

Someone bumped into his shoulder.

“Ah, excuse me.”

Russel turned to take a step back just as the one who’d bumped him apologized. The young man paused in the middle of fixing a pocket on the front of his coat, hence his not paying attention in the first place.

They stared at each other.

“I’m sorry,” the young man said suddenly. “You reminded me of someone I knew.” He looked started.

Those golden eyes looked startled.

“Edward.”

The young man froze again. He turned around, eyes wide, swallowing.

It took a second for Russel to gather his wits again and then everything came out in a rush, “It’s me. It’s Russel Trigham! Do you remember?! You’re Edward Elric?!”

Ed stared, eyes wide, and finally nodded, mute.


Alfons walked out of the library, another old volume under his arm as he made his way back to the apartment. Idly, he wondered what Ed would be doing. Hopefully the dishes or at least something equally useful, although that wasn’t likely. He was probably buried under a stack of papers, reading a book. That wasn’t necessarily bad—but it did get aggravating to find Ed in a closet or on the kitchen floor, covered in papers, calculations, pencil markings and books.

In the completely opposite side of Munich, Ranen—who was very conspicuous—was looking over some little booths with tobacco and little trinkets sold by…well, people called them gypsies, although she really didn’t know what that meant. Their skin coloring reminded her of the people from Ishbal, but their eyes were dark. Someone, had, however, hurled the word at her, although her skin tone wasn’t so nice. She looked at the women. They were very beautiful.

One said, “He likely thinks you’re one of us. We’re gypsies—we don’t have a very good reputation.”

Ranen took her cigarette out of her mouth to yawn. “Why’s that?”

The two women looked at each other. They shrugged. Ranen eyed them and then shrugged in return.

“He might think you’re a bum too. You are dressed pretty horribly.”

Ranen looked down at her ragged overcoat. “Ah well.” She put her cigarette back at the corner of her mouth and scratched her head.

“Are you going to buy something?”

She blinked blearily at them. “No. I don’t got any money.”

They raised their eyebrows.

Ranen knew that look. She half-smiled and turned to walk away. Some kid came hopping up. She went to sidestep him and he suddenly snatched her pack of cigarettes right out of her hand. “HEY!”

The kid took off.

“You little shit!” She almost clapped her hands and then remembered at the last moment that that wouldn’t work, so she took off like a shot. “Get back here!”

“Well,” Hughes went on, Alphonse sitting awkwardly at the table, Winry awkwardly drinking some tea next to him. “the cars here—a lot are German-made but sometimes you find imports from Japan, usually the rich. For example, in Japan there is a company called Kwaishinsha Motorcar Works, it was established in 1911, they built a vehicle called the DAT—something to do with the names of somesuch other guys,” he waved his hand vaguely and went on, “it was changed to Kwaishinsha Motorcar Co. in 1918. They built a lot of trucks. They ended up having to merge with another company thoough. Anyway, rumor is, “and here Hughes leaned forward as if it were some sort of conspiracy, “that a guy named Yoshisuke Aikawa is gonna take it to the Japanese stock market under the name Nissan. Heard it might be a few years though.”

“Officer Hughes, Alphonse may be interested in vehicles but that’s a bit much, isn’t? He looks a bit young to be thinking about the stock market in Japan.”

“Oh, he seems very knowledgable,” Alphonse said, wondering where and what Japan was. They’re not married here…

“Ah,” Hughes leaned back, “I’m sorry Miss Gracia. He seems very keen for being so young. And he asked and you know how I can be sometimes.”

Gracia smiled, looking a bit exasperated, behind him. “So, Alphonse, how do you and Winry know each other?”

Alphonse nearly froze. “Uh—“

“He’s my younger cousin,” Winry supplied, putting down her teacup and smiling. “He just doesn’t like to admit it sometimes.” She gave him half-smile, crooking an eyebrow and nudging him with her elbow.

Then she stood up. “I’ll take my cup to the kitchen but we should probably go find Russel. Our parents are going to murder us.” She cleared her throat awkwardly.

“Ah, well, let me show you into the kitchen, Winry.” Gracia walked around the counter and started down a hallway, smiling and sweet.

“We’ll come back and thank you properly later. Our parents will likely be very thrilled to know you two took such care of us.”

Officer Hughes’ gaze followed Gracia as she left and then looked ruefully back at Alphonse. “I wouldn’t worry. Gracia is very sweet.”

“Is she your girlfriend?”

A look passed across Hughes’ face. “No. Well, anyway, who are your parents, Alphonse—maybe I know them?”

“Uh. Well…actually…I live with Winry. My parents are gone.”

Hughes paused. “Oh….I’m sorry, Alphonse.”

“It’s all right. It’s been a while since it happened. Uh, Winry’s probably right though. Um. We should go look for Russel.”

He stood up, Officer Hughes followed suit.

That’s when the door burst open.

Edward could hardly believe it.

Russel Trigham. Standing right in front of him. He could only stare and then manage to mumble. “H-how…Russel…”

And Russel’s face split into a huge grin. “C’mon!” He grabbed Edward’s hand and started to drag him away.

“W-wait! Russel—how did you—“

“I’ll explain later! Alphonse is back at some lady named Gracia’s flower shop!”

Edward jerked to a stop. “…what?”

Russel skidded a few steps and looked back. “Alphonse is here…Winry is here too.”

“How did you guys get here?” His mind had taken a nose-dive into the ground.

“I can explain all that—“

“Wait! You said Alphonse is as at Gracia’s?!” Edward took off, flying through the street, jumping over children. Desperation had suddenly taken over. He tried not to get his hopes up. He tried to stay calm for a moment there. But he couldn’t. He couldn’t. It was Russel Trigham.

It was—

He kept running. Running and running and running and then blasted in, throwing himself at the door, Russel not far behind, nearly tripped and stopped.

He stared at a young boy, hair blond, and his eyes were dark gold. He recognized his own clothes. He saw…

A near double of himself.

He shoulders slackened, and if time could have stopped, it would have. He was trembling all over, just staring. It went right…

“Alphonse…”

Russel jumped in behind him but said nothing, stepping off to the side, smiling still. He couldn’t imagine the emotions that must have been running through Edward right now, or Alphonse for that matter—but any moment…


Alphonse froze. Memories soaked through him again. This was. This was. That young man in the doorway, breathless, staring at him as if he were a ghost.

Officer Hughes said, “Do you two know each other?”

Alphonse heard that, faintly. And then that young man across the room said his name.

“Brother!” Alphonse scrambled across the room and jumped on him. He laughed and laughed and felt something prick his eyes and then looked at him. “Have you really always been this short?”

Edward stared at him. “Al…Alphonse…Al—HEY! I haven’t—hey! Hahahaha!” He grabbed him by the shoulders. “How did you guys get here?!”

“We—“and then Alphonse stopped short at Officer Hughes, who was still looking at them, curious. “We took the train from—“

And then Ed wasn’t looking at him anymore. A shaky breath hissed between his teeth.


Winry took the teacup into the kitchen, as Gracia chatted with her amiably. She didn’t ask any other questions. Winry had just cleaned up the cup and was about to dry it when the door burst open. The two women jumped.

“What was that?” Gracia said, eyes wide, looking to peek around the corner.

Brother! came a yelp. And laughter.

Winry’s heart almost stopped. “Edward,” she whispered.

Gracia looked at her. “Edward? Edward Elric? He’s back for the day? I’m surprised he’s back so soon. Usually he stays out for the day, especially if he’s going to work on something.”

Winry looked at her.

“He lives upstairs, I rent the apartment to him and—“

Winry took off down the hallway and froze. Alphonse had latched onto a just slightly taller young man. The boy was laughing and the young man was asking how they’d arrived and then he glanced up and did the tiniest of double takes.

Winry locked eyes with Edward.

She trembled, tears pooling but they didn’t fall. “Edward…”

“Winry…”

She scrambled across the room. Alphonse whisked aside, laughing and grinning. Winry jumped onto Edward. “Oh God….Edward…this is where…all this time…” And only then did the tears threaten to make their way down her face. She buried her eyes into his shoulders, grabbing into his coat.

Russel watched. He smiled a little. If anyone deserves it, he does. Alphonse was right. She is still in love with him. I guess she never really did accept that he was gone.

Edward wrapped an arm around her shoulders, blushing a little and put out his other arm for Alphonse, who willing leapt into it. Then Winry really did start to cry, grabbing them both and bursting into sobs. “We’re all—we’re all—us…”

Gracia had come to the end of the hallway. Hughes looked at her and shrugged. He stood up and leaned against the wall next to her. Gracia only smiled and shook her head, a little bewildered.

Winry looked up, vision blurred, she gestured at Russel. “Come on, Russel. Come on. Come here.” Then she was crying too much to speak

“No—I—you guys—“

Alphonse opened an arm; he was shaking, practically crying himself. But it was Edward who convinced him as looked over the top of Winry’s head at him and gave him a lost sort of smile, as if everything happening around him—as if he wasn’t sure if it was real, but was desperate to know. Russel walked forward awkwardly and clapped a hand; one on Edward’s back, one on Alphonse’s. Winry tried to hug them all at once.

Edward looked down at Winry’s shoulder, at Alphonse, then up at Russel and then suddenly remembered Hughes and Gracia. He looked up. “Ah…” Very gently, he pulled Winry away. “These are…some old friends. I haven’t seen them in a very long time…I’ll take them upstairs. We’re causing quite a commotion.”

Gracia smiled, laughed a little, shaking her head. “All right. Would you like me to bring up something extra? Or do you and Alfons and Noa have enough for them all?”

Alphonse lifted his head and looked at Edward curiously.

“No, we’ll be fine. Thank you anyway.” He looked back at the three of them, caught Al’s glance and gave him a little nod. “C’mon, I’ll take you upstairs.”

Winry seemed to gather her composure and they walked outside the shop up a set of stairs.

Meanwhile, Alfons stretched and yawned and then coughed hard into his hand. He looked down at the blood, feeling unease and sadness. I wonder if I’ll make it for Christmas this year…

He wiped the blood on a handkerchief in his pocket and walked into Gracia’s shop. “Miss Gracia, I have this month’s rent and I—“ he paused at the totally confused looks on the faces of not only Gracia, but Officer Hughes. “Is everything all right?”

Gracia looked up, a slight laugh in her voice. “You may want to go upstairs, Alfons. It seems you have company.”

He blinked. “All right…” He pulled out the money first. “The rent…and, thank you.” Curiously, he turned away, up the stairs and opened the door. He heard laughter and yelling first and then he froze.

It was him. It was that boy from his dreams with the red coat and the black clothes. Edward didn’t look at him, he was laughing and hugging a very pretty girl and talking fast to a much taller boy, while the shorter one hung onto him like a leech. “….Edward?”

Alphonse turned to look and gasped. Winry and Russel looked up and froze. Edward looked at him and laughed a little, raising his eyebrows. “Alfons…meet my brother, Alphonse, and my two friends, Winry Rockbell and Russel Trigham.”

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