FMA Future RP Part 4

Tammi seemed to realize what was wrong "Oh, not that I have anything against dead people... I mean... Yeah I'll shut up now." “well… Ed is a cousin who's been in Xing, Winry could be a "good friend" of his and um..." Alice paused. There wasn’t much room for lost relatives on Al's side. Tammi sighed, "An older sibling who’s been away at boarding school?"

"Al's habit of calling Ed Big brother is one he won't break easily." Winry reminded. "Either we'll have to say it was a nickname or they're going to have to be brothers in the cover story to."

"If Ed's been in another country, then I could be a nurse of his." She smiled, Ed was staying very quiet, resting his head in his hand he was able to conceal his blush, there was something about the way she said 'good friend'...

"Me..." Alphonse murmured. "... I really don't know..."

"Well if Ed is Eden's cousin like we've been saying then Alice can't be a sister to him. We have to explain Alice's resemblance to Al and there is no room for cousins on Alice’s family tree. It'll have to be a nickname. Ed and Al went to the same school and became close friends. Al called Ed “big brother” because Ed plays that role to him. Al came home to take care of his little sister when he heard about the other Al's death. Ed did not want to be separated from his "little brother" and was pronounced good enough to travel as long as he took a nurse with him. That works." Tammi nodded

Ed couldn't decide whether he was happy about Winry being just his nurse...

"I don't have to wear a uniform do I?" Winry chuckled. Ed decided he was now out of his depth in this conversation and began to concentrate on the food.

"I suppose that works." Alphonse smiled. "I think we're going to have to warn the rest of the family though..."

Eden went pale.

"What’s wrong?" Alice looked concerned though she could venture a guess...

"Uh..." Eden reached for some food. "It's really nothing..."

"Ok" Alice didn’t really believe the girl but decided not to push it anyway. Instead she reached for the strawberry shortcake and helped herself to a piece smiling, "mmmmm strawberry..."

"Aren't you meant to eat the savory things first?" Alphonse scolded, hefting his own bowl of stew as proof. "Desert first is a little unhealthy, isn't it?"

"Awwww" Alice never understood why people insisted in eating their meals in that order. If both got eaten what did the order matter right? Still she obliged and served herself some stew. Finishing her bowl Tammi sighed. "Sorry, but I’d better get going for the day. I'm pulling an all-nighter in Central Library tonight and I want to get a nap in first."

"Well I guess you should." Al nodded. "Well good... night, I guess."

Tammi left the house closing the door behind her. Alice looked at Ed and Winry "How longs does rehabilitation take?"

"Well, as he's already familiar with automail, it shouldn't be too long." Winry assured.

"Oh... what should we do to help?"

"Stay out of the way so that he doesn't fall on you or take out his temper on you." Winry giggled. Ed muttered something under his breath

“Oh” Alice cocked her head to the side. “ok”. Finishing her stew the girl moved on to her piece of cake. she paused for a moment "what are we gonna tell the family members?"

"Don't know." Eden replied simply, setting aside her bowl.


"I'll have to talk to the rest of the family, I think." Alphonse murmured.


The next morning first person up, surprisingly, was Edward, who was up and wandering around the kitchen with a sour look on his face. Winry soon followed as she'd been sleeping on a camp bed in the same room so he wouldn't have to wake up the entire house every time he woke up in pain through the night, Alphonse came down the stairs a few minutes later and set about making breakfast.


Alice, whose alarm clock had broken, came rushing into the kitchen 15 minutes latter with her hair still wet. "Sorry! Sorry! Sorry!"

"Whoa." Alphonse juggled his coffee expertly so he didn't spill it. "What's the rush? We're not going to eat your share!"

"What? No, that's not it. I got up to late to help!"

"I can cook my own food once in a while." Al scuffed her hair. "You're my Granddaughter, not a live-in cook."

Alice thought for a second then nodded "Kay" she turned as the doorbell rang and went to open it. A girl around Alice’s age with short black hair and green eyes stood there. "Oh, Krissi (kree-see) come in." The girl stepped inside and gave Alice a hug "Alice, we just got back last night and I just heard. I'm so sorry!" "What?" Alice looked taken aback for a split second "Oh, y-yeah right, um thanks" Krissi turned to look at Al then back to Alice. "You never told be about any older siblings!" "Oh yeah, Krissi this is my big brother Al, Al this is my best friend Krissi. The one a wrote to you about in my letters."

Alphonse smiled and gave a little wave "We've been pitching in since the funeral." He explained. "We didn't want Alice in the house alone, not after all that's happened."

Ed poked his head out of the door, wobbling slightly on the leg that wasn't quite his yet, then disapeared again when he'd seen who is was.

Eden wandered out of the kitchen with a cup of tea in hand, waved absently to Krissi and headed through into the front room.

Alice looked at Al admiringly from behind Krissi. That had been so smooth! "Defiantly" Krissi nodded. “Mom said I could stay the night if you wanted." Krissi turned back to Alice. "After all you did the same when Jem died." "Sure." Alice nodded smiling "That would be nice." Krissi looked at Alice quizzically "Lets go to your room..."

"Well we're a little short on space." Al replied. "We've got five people staying in a three bedroom house... but I guess we could fit you in somewhere. Want coffee?" He disappeared into the kitchen. "We're going to have to do something about all these people eventually... Winry and Ed can't sleep in the front room for ever."

"Nah thanks" the girl shook her head "Is Alice’s trundle bed still open?"

"I think so." Al replied, "And there's sheets and blankets in the airing cupboard."

“Good then” Krissi grabbed Alice’s hand and dragged her to the girls room. "Alright fess up! what’s going on?" "W-what do you mean" "First of all when you grieve you do so by bawling your eyes out for a week or so then going into a weird sort of shock mode. Second you've told me stories about growing up and none of them included an older brother, and third that older brother of yours attracts the same cat like a magnet. Your excuse is probably good enough to fool most people, but not me, I don’t know much about alchemy but I can hazard a guess at what happened.”

"You're going to have to pull the bed out from under Alice's!" Al warned with a smile, carefully picking up his old cat and setting it on his chair. "Stay there please, you don't need to follow me."

A minute a later a loud "I KNEW IT!" came from Alice’s room

Alphonse sighed and sat down at the table. "Pretty soon the entire city's going to know."

"Hey but at least if the officials try anything they'll get mobbed by all the fans" Tammi had just entered the room.

"Yes, but so would we." Ed replied, not turning around as she entered. "And I don't feel like being molested by complete strangers."

"What do you propose?" Tammi raised an eyebrow at him as giggling could be heard from the direction of Alice’s room.

"I don't know-" Ed frowned and turned to look in the direction of Alice's room. "What's bitten them?"

Well they are twelve-year-olds... Who knows!"

"I don't think I want to know." Ed admitted, draining his mug.

"Well I think the rest of the family needs to be rung." Al mused.

"I'll call Auntie Sara, but I'm not speaking to my parents." Eden warned.

"This is gonna be interesting..." Tammi commented. Alice and Krissi came out of the room "what’s going on? Alice looked back and forth between them all.

"We need to talk to the family," Alphonse explained. "The faster we can tell them what's happened, the better. But we need someone who can call Aiden and Bethany."

Eden edged out of the room, going to call her aunt.