UNEXPECTED

CHAPTER 4

"Um…" A small voice drifted from the doorway, one I didn’t recognize.

"What," I grunted irritably, no longer caring one way or the other. My head lay face down on the kitchen table where I slumped, arms hanging listlessly at my sides.

"He didn't mean it," the voice continued. I propped my chin on the hard table and saw yet another child looking back at me with forlorn eyes. Just how many kids were running around this place anyway? A young girl with light blond hair (I was starting to wonder if everyone in this world had blond hair, or if they were just all related), pretty blue eyes and dressed in a cute pink sundress shuffled her feet in the doorway. I immediately regretted my harsh tone.

"I know he didn't," I said, much more gently, even though I didn’t believe the words myself. It wasn't this pretty girl's fault that Tyler was being an unbalanced prick. I felt I might be being unfair to the boy, but all I had to do was remember just what I lost to reject the feeling. I just wasn't in the right mind to forgive him at the moment and I couldn’t really imagine ever doing so, but there was no reason to take it out on her. At my change in tone, the girl smiled tentatively and joined me at the table.

"My name is Winry."

"Alex–" I almost introduced myself by my birth name, 'Alexandria', but that wasn't quite right anymore, was it? I was no longer a woman, and having a woman's name would just cause unnecessary confusion on everyone else's part. "Alexander," I said decisively, "but you can just call me Alex." That wouldn't be too bad, since that was my nickname in my other life anyway.

Winry frowned at my choice of name. Obviously she had heard my story from Pinako, but to my relief didn't comment. Smart girl. I was really in no mood to discuss it at the moment.

Sensing this, a silence fell over us two. I didn’t want to be rude, but...well, I just didn't care at this point. I made to lay my head back down, dismissing the child, when it seemed like Winry had had enough. She bounced off her chair and took my hand, tugging a little. I pulled back, startled out of my black mood.

"Come on Alex, let's go outside!" She flashed an adorable grin. For a moment I was stunned at her easy acceptance, but the slight strain at the corner of her eyes gave her away. She was hurting too, I could see it, but for my sake, it seemed, she would push it down. Gratitude flickered through my numb heart and I allowed myself a small smile, touched. She was trying to cheer me up. I nodded slowly. Maybe some fresh air would do me some good.

"Thanks Winry."

She pulled me out of the dark kitchen and into the sunlight.

-o0o-

Days passed, and I found myself in the company of Alphonse and Winry, mostly. It was odd for me to spend so much time with children when I hadn’t been one for so long, nor had I been around them much since before I graduated high school years ago. The college scene and then the working world, where none of my friends had children, didn’t exactly allow for much contact with those of my two new companions’ age. Still, I found them both to be intelligent, much more than I knew I had been at that age, and their dispositions bright. We became friends easily, despite any awkwardness I might feel or the tragedies that had recently befallen us.

With the help of Al and Winry, I started to get the hang of my new body. I found that not only was my equilibrium off because of my change in bone structure and height, but because this world was just different. It felt like gravity was somehow less here; not enough to change things drastically, but enough that I was able to jump higher and move faster than I was sure was even possible in my own world. Al's body was also cut hard, like a diamond, and more physically fit than I ever was in my own. I wondered just what kind of physical training he was used to to get so built at his age.

Alphonse was also having a tough time adjusting to his new body, his big bulky frame causing him to misjudge his strength and run into doorways. I found it kind of fascinating that even though the armor was hollow, it functioned just as well as if it had moving muscles. Alphonse really had to concentrate when he touched things, because his strength was astronomical compared to what his previous body was capable of. If he gripped something too hard, it was likely to shatter.

Also in this time, I dedicated myself to learning about my new world. I was constantly grilling Al and Winry about how things worked, especially what the government was like and how Alchemy worked. It helped keep me focused on the here and now rather than dwelling on my dark thoughts.

It turned out that I was in a place called Amestris, which was like a huge military state with a commander-in-chief serving as a king. Winry brought me a book that had a map in it, and I discovered just how very different our two worlds looked. There were no familiarities between the continents of my world and the seemingly one giant continent that was this one. Amestris looked like a giant circle surrounded by even larger countries.

"Where are the oceans?" I asked after examining the map for some time. Winry gave me a confused look. "Do you mean the Great Sea? That covers the other half of the planet, but I don't have a map of it. There isn't really much out there." That was interesting news. So this planet basically had one continent, just like Pangaea millions of years ago in my version of reality.

Alchemy was even more foreign to me than this world's geography and government. I could not make heads or tales of the complicated textbooks and Al's dizzying explanations. My own world's physics and sciences had made little sense beyond basic understanding to me, and alchemy was no different. I just didn't have the mind for it. When Alphonse showed me a transmutation, I was floored. He just drew a circle in the dirt, and a flash of lightning later, there was a little toy horse where only dirt and rocks had been.

"Ok, I get that you can't make something out of nothing and that you need the exact amount of materials to make something of equivalent value. That's basic science. But what I don't get is, where does the energy for these reactions come from?"

"There are several theories in regards to that," Al started in what I came to recognize as his 'instructor voice', " the primary being…" The more I listened, the more my headache grew. Just about everything he was saying was way over my head, and after a while I just gave up on understanding. Yup, definitely not cut out for this alchemy business. From what I understood Alphonse was somewhat of a prodigy, and no matter how much he dummed it down for me I just couldn't keep up.

There was something that both Alphonse and I shared common ground in, and I was delighted to find out that he was also a martial artist. Martial Arts was something I had been into for as long as I could remember, and had started training right about the age that my current body was. It was something I never skipped if I could help it, and I hadn't been able to train for months because of my pregnancy. I had dearly missed it, and found in the following days that it not only helped me to regain control of my motor functions, but it helped me maintain a sense of normalcy. I was still me, and I could still do something I loved. Alphonse and I seemed evenly matched in our fighting abilities, a fact that kind of irked me. How could a kid who could only have been training for a couple years match someone like me, who had been training for a decade? It may have been the way we had been taught, but it could also just have been his prodigal side peeking through again. I decided not to let it bother me, and just enjoy the fact that we shared a passion.

Al and I continued to work on our connection. We found that if we both did meditation techniques before we touched, we could strike a balance, as it were, with our emotions. It was an extremely intimate experience, one that made us irrevocably close. When we were connected, we could feel exactly what the other felt, but in a mutual understanding we never spoke of it. I never asked him about his pain, and similarly he never spoke of mine. In that way, he was able to feel again, and I didn't feel quite so alone.

Days passed into weeks, and I saw little to none of Tyler. He refused to come out of the room where we had met, and Pinako took care of his body's needs with silent stoicism. He did not talk to anyone but Alphonse, and would not even look at me. I didn't know if it was out of guilt or disgust, but either way, I had little to no hope that he would be able to help me return to normal. So for the moment, I lived in the now. That small, pale boy was broken, and none of us knew how to fix him. I never stopped thinking of home, but for now it was an impossible dream.

It was on one of the days I sat outside by myself contemplating this, when I observed two people wandering up the dirt road. Everyone else was in the house doing this or that and I was seated underneath a shade tree nearby. I did not move, hoping they would not notice me and observed them with interest, for they were the first people I had seen outside of Pinako's family. I was about one hundred yards away, so I could not make out too many details, but I could tell the one leading was a man, and the second person walking two paces back was a slightly smaller woman. The man was tall with black hair–the first person I had seen like that, confirming that there was diversity–and the woman had the familiar blond. Both wore what looked to be blue uniforms and walked with purpose.

Probably military or some kind of government officials, I thought, remembering what I had learned. I could not tell if this was a good or bad thing, so I continued to observe to see how Pinako would react to them. After all, I couldn’t imagine a couple of military officers waltzing up to my home for any reason other than some dire circumstance. The thought made my heart race a little.

The two figures reached the house and knocked. Pinako answered and after a brief exchange, they were admitted to the house. Before she went back inside, Pinako spotted me on my hill and raised her hand in a halting motion.

The message was clear. Stay away.

So, not good then. I contemplated whether or not to obey. I didn't know much about this world's politics, but from what I gathered, this military was no stranger to taking things by force. It could be really dangerous but…

Oh who was I kidding, there was no way I could hold back my curiosity.

I quickly snuck from my position by the tree and ran to the house, careful not to be in view of any windows. It took several minutes, but I made it and paused underneath the kitchen. I was in luck; it was open, and though I had to strain I could hear everything that was said from my vantage point.

"…heard there was a talented alchemist living in this town, I came down from Central to see him for myself." A smooth male voice drifted through the open window. "The last thing I expected to find was a boy skilled enough to attempt human transmutation, nor advanced enough to bind a soul to a suit of armor. I'd say he's more than qualified to become a State Alchemist.” I frowned. Were they...recruiting the boys? How did they know what happened…? I tuned back in.

“Should he choose to accept the position, he will be required to assist the military in times of national emergency and in exchange, he'll receive otherwise restricted access to research materials in Central Library. Given time, they may be able to find a way to get their bodies back, or even more."

My heart leapt into my throat, hammering is if I had run miles. There was a way, I thought dizzily. It wasn't just a fantasy, but something that could actually happen. If Tyler became a ‘State Alchemist’, he might be able to find away to put everything right! It was too good to be true. So good in fact that I could hardly believe it. It couldn't be that easy, no way.

I tuned back into the conversation just as Pinako finished yelling. The man no longer seemed to be addressing her though. "I'm not forcing you, I'm merely offering you the possibility." Wait, Tyler was out of the bedroom? That was new. "Will you sit in that chair wallowing in self pity, or will you stand up and seize the chance the military can give you? If you believe there is any chance of getting your bodies back you should keep moving, whatever it takes, even if the way ahead lies through a river of blood."

With that, I heard a scrape and boots walking towards the door. I quickly shuffled around the corner when I realized they were leaving. I peeked carefully from my vantage point to get a better look at the two. It was difficult though, and I barely caught a glimpse of black hair and a pale face before the man was striding swiftly back down the road.

The blond woman paused and I heard her speak for the first time. "Well, I guess this is goodbye young lady,” she said, crouching slightly to speak eye level with Winry.

"It's Winry," the young girl replied. With a small nod, the woman said a quick goodbye. She turned in my direction and I hid myself swiftly, hoping to god that she didn’t see me. That was the last thing I needed, to draw the attention of these people. After a slight pause, she left with a promise to meet again, following her fellow officer down the country lane and eventually out of sight. As soon as they were gone, I whipped around the corner and entered the house, coming face to face with Alphonse standing quietly by the window and staring out into the sunset.

"Is it true?" I demanded, a bit out of breath in my excitement.

Al seemed startled by my sudden appearance. He looked back down the road. "I don't know. But I believe it's possible. I have to."

I nodded and turned back into the house. I found Tyler in the kitchen, and for the first time in weeks, felt a surge of hope. In that boy's eyes, I no longer saw the look of defeat, but hard golden orbs filled with determination. He looked me in the eye for the first time since the day we met.

"Are we going to get our bodies back?" I asked.

"We are going to get our bodies back." He replied.