Chapter Text
Ed was getting bored in Resembool, they had been there 4 months recovering. Ed had recovered faster than Alphonse as she had only recovered an arm and a leg, not her entire body, but still, she was adjusting. Alphonse had gotten better slowly, with proper food and care he had gained weight, and he no longer resembled a skeleton. He had also gotten his strength back and he and Ed trained daily, Ed to get used to fighting without automail, and Al to get his body back into shape. And while their time in Risembool had been necessary, they had fully recovered and she could tell that Al was also getting a bit bored. They had spoken about what they would do once they recovered on their train ride to Risembool from Central, and Ed really wanted to start on their new adventure.
"Hey, sister." Ed turned around to see Al, she had been so deep in thought she had not heard him exit the house. "What are you thinking?"
"I am thinking that we are both fully recovered and its time to start on our plans on going to Xing."
"If you want to know the truth I have been thinking the same thing. It's been nice being back home. With our bodies back and no homunculi to worry about, we've been able to be here without worries. It's been so long since we could do that. It's been incredible for our recuperation, but there isn't anything more here in Risembool for us. The truth is, I miss our friends, all of them, I miss having something important to do. I have realized in my months here, that after going to Xing I want to do something, something important."
"Like what?"
"Study medicine, become a doctor. I want to help people sister, I want to heal them. We are going to study alkahestry in Xing, that focuses on healing, but after that, I am going to enroll at the University in Central and study how to become a doctor."
"That sounds amazing Al, and very you. I am glad that you have such great conviction, I am not so sure what I want, just to not be stuck here forever."
"Well then, let's figure it out. First, we go to Xing then to Central." They looked at each other and they smiled and fist bumped. They stood up to go into the house, it was time they told Winry and Grandma Pinako their plans.
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It took a few days to sort everything out. Neither Pinako nor Winry were particularly surprised by the news. They had sensed their restlessness and seen it coming. Winry had decided that she was also leaving for Rush Valley, Ed didn't need any more automail repairs and it was time for her to get back to her career. So in few days, they were organized, Winry would get the train to Rush Valley and they would start their journey to Xing.
They said goodbye to Pinako when they left. "Be careful you two, don't get into any more trouble, you have driven me grey with worry there last few years."
"Don't worry grandma Pinako, I'll make sure sister behaves."
"Hey! Why me? You got into as much trouble as me, brother!"
"That is not true sister."
"Yes, it is!"
"Stop arguing the both of you!" Pinako gave them a long look, then she smiled at them. "I'm sure you'll get into some trouble no matter what. Just take care of yourselves especially you Edaline, remember what we talked about."
"Yes, granny." It had been quite a mortifying conversation for Edaline. Ed had always gotten quite angry at her small size and blamed the gate for it, and she was right, she just didn't realize how right. The gate how somehow frozen her development, she hadn't realized that it was more than just being short. Physically and hormonally she hadn't developed much since they had gone through the gate the first time, she had grown some, but she had never matured as a woman. She got her first female courses the first month she was back in Resembool at age 18. She had started to grow not only in hight but in curves, getting a more womanly shape. She suddenly started looking more like a woman than a small boy. And while a part of her was delighted, another part of her felt very strange looking in the mirror and seeing a woman. Her breasts had started to grow and were almost the size of Winry's. Pinko said it was all the hormonal changes that were catching up to her. She wondered where would it end as Pinako said she still had some to go.
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In the months they had been recuperating in Resembool they had gotten the news that Ling had won the competition for Emperor, just in time as well, as the emperor had suddenly died. So Ling would be in charge when they arrived. When they finally make it to Xing, they decided to go to the palace first. It would be easier to find and Ling would be there. He would help them with their plans for learning Alkahestry and the dragons pulse. Ed had always been a bit jealous how they could sense people and the advantage it gave them on a fight. She really wanted to learn how to sense chi.
They arrived at the palace and were taken straight to Ling. Apparently, he had told his guards that if they ever appeared to take them to him. Since their Xerxes looks where so unique, no one had golden eyes and hair, they were easy to recognize. Ling waited for them in a gorgeous room dressed in his ceremonial clothes, looking far too smug, not something Ed could go without mentioning.
"You look ridiculous in those things, can you even fight with those or are you useless now and depend completely on your guards?"
"Sister!!!" Al gave me a you-embarrass-me look, but Ling just burst out laughing.
"Ed! I have missed you. Ever since becoming emperor everyone one has been bowing and groveling, and it has gotten boring, fast. But not you, you are incapable of being boring my friend. Welcome to Xing."
Ling gave them quarters at the palace for them to stay at, they were gorgeous and spacious as everything else in the palace. Ed wondered what reason Ling was giving for letting two foreigners stay in the palace in the guest quarters, and it turned out that Ling was as sneaky and manipulative as ever. As Ling had given the philosophers stone to the last Emperor, thankfully he had died just after getting it, he had told him some half-made up story of what had happened in Amestries. Part of that story had been mentioning that the Philosopher of the east, Van Hohenheim, had still been alive and had a son and a daughter that looked just like him, with golden hair and eyes. Their arrival had supported his story, as the philosopher of the east was so revered, Alphonse and Edaline were thought of as royalty or legendary for being his children and were revered as well. So their presence in the palace and their friendship with Ling was a benefit for the new Emperor. Ed was certain that Ling mentioned Hohenheim and his children knowing that Ed and Al would come to Xing wanting to learn Alkahestry, so that he could benefit of their presence when they arrived.
Ling introduced them to two teachers, one taught them Xinegese fighting and the other gave them Alkahestry lessons. The next few months were exhausting but exhilarating for both of them. They hadn't studied or learned so much since they became Izumi's students. They studied fighting in the mornings and Alkahestry in the evenings. From all their training, what was hardest to grasp at the beginning was understanding of how to sense the Dragons Pulse. Ling and May had both explained it before, it's what allowed them to sense a person's chi. It was essential for Alkahestry and it gave a great advantage in fighting.
They had lunch or dinner with Ling many days, May also joined their meals and most of their Alkahestry classes, she was living in the palace with Ling as a representative of her clan. Ling decided that Xing needed some changes and that he would do things differently. As he had sworn to protect May's clan they had become allies and May was helping him with the changes. Ed started to get to know her better during the classes. While they fought the Humonculi it was Alphonse that had gotten to know her better, but with the classes, she got to know May and they had become good friends. What had also changed was May's crush on Alphonse, the crush had slowly turned into a deep friendship, it might turn into a romance in the future but for now, they enjoyed being friends.
In the end, they end up staying a year and a half. By that time they had mastered both arts and also the language. And while Ed was very satisfied, a part of her felt like something was missing. She missed Amestries, that she knew, but it was more than that, she missed having a purpose. When she was little and her father had left, her purpose was to take care of Al and make her mother happy. When her mother had died her purpose became to still take care of Al but also to bring her mother back. When the disaster had happened it was all about getting their bodies back and later to stop father and the homunculi. After everything had settled she had focused on helping Al heal. Now, she felt without purpose or direction, they were both healthy and whole, Al had grown up and didn't need her to take care of him, truthfully even when he was stuck in the armor he had sometimes taken care of her, it had been more mutual than she wanted to admit. They had learned Alkahestry, Xinegese, another fighting style, but now Ed just felt a bit lost. She missed the times when she had something to do, investigate some bad alchemist, phony priest, crooked official. She missed helping people. Alphonse had become a great healer with Alkahestry and he already new wanted to get an MD to become a doctor. They had talked about going to central after Xing so he could go to University. But that what not what Ed wanted, she had mastered healing but it was not where her passion was. She hated to admit it and she never would out loud, but she missed working as a state alchemist, she missed making a difference, helping out. And now with the humonculi dead, the military was slowly changing and anyways she would work for Mustang who had always covered for her.
One thing was clear, it was time to go back to Amestries. She had already agreed with Al that after they left Xing they would go to Central so he could enroll at Central University to get his MD, so at least she knew where she was going, now she just had to figure out what she wanted to do.