Orphaned

Sorry I haven't updated in a while...I really have no excuse other than I've been trying to fix this problem I've been having with fanfiction.net. Stupid site...Anyway, enjoy!

PockyFille: Did it ever occur to you that hasn't happened yet, or it simply wasn't mentioned? Do you really think I'm that incompetent? It's a little insulting, but *shrugs* whatever. At least you've read this far, so I must have done something to hold your interest. Thanks for reviewing...
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"Well, here they are." Winry said, proudly, smiling as her and Roy entered the back yard where all the children currently were. Roy surveyed the children, looking to see which ones seemed the most interactive; he certainly didn't want a loner for a child. Winry tilted her head to the side, "You're free to talk with them and get to know them better." she offered.

Roy smiled a little, "That sounds better than what I was going with." he admitted.

Before he could move to one little boy who was hanging from the jungle gym, a ear-piercing scream filled the air, alerting everyone to whomever made the sound. Looking around, Winry quickly spotted the source of the siren-like sound; a little girl had fallen and scraped her knee. A few other girls were crowded around her, whom she was playing some game involving a jump rope with. Winry was at her side in a flash and bent down, removing the shild's hands from her knee, "Don't worry, it's just a scratch." she assured the girl. The girl said nothing, but sniffed back her tears and nodded, allowing Winry to pick her up. The older woman turned to Roy, "I've got to take care of this, can you watch the children for a minute?"

Roy hesitated at the responsibility of who knows how many children, but nodded nonetheless. Winry smiled her thanks and quickly took the injured girl inside. Roy sighed, turning back around to see that many of the children had already resumed playing their games. He smirked as one boy fell off balance trying to play hopscotch and realized it was the same boy he was about to go talk to before the interruption. Heading towards the brown-haired child, Roy almost made it this time, but was once again distracted by yelling. This time, though, it was a boy who was trying to reason with someone about something or another.

Scanning the yard, Roy quickly found that it was a blonde boy that look to be about 9 or 10 that was doing the yelling. Well, it was more like pleading since Roy really couldn't picture such a mild-looking boy yelling. The boy was surrounded by three older kids who were pushing him back and forth, laughing at his attempts to make them stop. The youngest one tripped over his own feet and fell face first onto the ground, making the older boys laugh even harder.

Angered at the immature kids, Roy walked over to them, "What's going on here?"

One of the older boys, seemingly the leader of their little group, turned to Roy, "Who the hell are you?"

Roy frowned at the language, "I really don't think Miss Winry would approve of that kind of language." he informed the kid.

The latter shrugged, "Who cares, she's not here, is she?"

"No, but she put me in charge of you, and I'm saying that I don't approve of your language." Roy countered, smirking at the glare he got.

"Whatever." the kid dismissed him, motioning to the other two to leave.

With the bullies gone, Roy turned his attention to the bullied. The youngest one was just standing up, and brushing himself off. After that was done, he looked up to Roy and offered the older one a smile, "Thanks." he said in a quiet voice.

Roy returned the smile, "No problem." he said, "What's your name?"

"Alphonse Elric." he replied, "Everyone calls me Al, though."

"I don't think I've ever heard anyone named Alphonse before." Roy commented, extending his hand, "Well, Al, my name's Roy."

Al took the older one's hand and smiled, "Hi."

This, of course, is the precise moment that Ed decided to check things out outside. The first thing that entered his sight was his brother, dirt and scuff marks up and down his arms and legs, shaking some strange man's hand. Warily, Ed made his way over to the two quickly. Reaching them, he looked the man up and down, but saw nothing incredibly special about him. In fact, he looked like a pervert to Ed, but he tried to tell himself to give the guy a chance and maybe it was just his paranoia, "Al, who's this guy?"

"Better than 'who the hell are you', I guess." Roy commented under his breath.

Al looked to his older brother, "This is Roy, he chased off Jimmy and those other two boys."

"They were bothering you again?" Ed growled, "What is their problem?" Sighing, Ed looked to the man, now known as Roy, once again. If he chased off those bastards, he couldn't be all bad. Finally reaching the older man's face, Ed stared into his eyes, mesmerized by them. His eyes weren't like the others; they were... kind. Everyone else's eyes were either a mask of their true feelings and intentions or simply nonexpressive. Roy's, though, seemed to hold a sort of warmth that filled you up simply by looking at him long enough.

Seeing that the other blonde boy who had joinged them wasn't going to talk, Roy decided to do so, "What's your name?"

Snapping out of his daze, Ed blinked and focused in on Roy's words, "My name?" he thought, wondering why Roy wanted his name. Telling himself not to be so paranoid, he grinned, "I'm Edward Elric." he stated, proudly.

"Edward, is it? Are you two brothers?" Roy asked; these two boys were interesting, to say the least.

Al answered this question, "Yeah, Ed's a year older than me."

"Well, it's nice to see that you two are close." Roy commented.

Just then, Winry emerged from the house, a smiling girl walking beside her, "You'll be okay now, right?" Winry asked the younger girl.

The latter smiled up at Winry and nodded, than ran off, "Thanks again, Miss Winry!" she called as she rejoined her friends.

Joining up with Roy, Ed, and Al, Winry looked to the oldest man, "So, are you interested in anyone?" she asked.

Roy glanced down to Ed and Al, "Actually, I'm interested in these two." he informed her.

Winry looked to the brothers, shocked, "Really? Both of them?"

Roy hesitated, "That's okay, right? I should make enough to support them both..."

Winry shook her head, "No, it's not that at all, you make more than enough." she assured him, "I'm just suprised is all." She then glanced down to Ed, "And... you're okay with this?"

Ed took one more look at Roy, glancing into his eyes and nodded, "Yeah."

Winry tried to contain her excitement of finding someone that Ed would actually consider leaving with, "That's wonderful!" she exclaimed, then looked to Roy, practically beaming, "If you'll come with me, I'll give you the paperwork to fill out."

Ed looked to Al, "I guess we should get packing." he suggested, heading inside.

Al nodded, "Brother?" he asked.

"Yeah?"

"You're not just doing this because of what I asked you to promise me, are you? Giving them a chance is one thing, but just going with the first guy you see..." Al trailed off, looking to Ed.

The older one walked the few steps back to his brother, "I did give him a chance because of you, Al, but you know me well enough to know that I wouldn't go with anyone I didn't trust. I have you to think of, too; do you think I would even consider someone who I thought might hurt you?"

Al shook his head, "No..."

"Exactly. I don't know what it is about that guy, he just seems...tolerable. He's so different from the others who have come here." A moment of silence passed over the brothers until the older one grinned, "Race you upstairs!" he shouted, taking off for the house.

Al gasped at the sudden change in mood and took off after Ed, "No fair, Ed, you got a head start!"
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Next chappy Ed and Al will move in with Roy, and much chaos will ensue! Hope this was worth the wait, review!