A Flash of Starlight

S J Smith

Rating: PG13

Spoilers: Pretty much anything in the manga up to chapter 73 is fair game with a little of the anime thrown in where it doesn't conflict.

Synopsis: …Winry couldn't help but wonder if the brothers could see this, the way they saw the lantern blink when their mother called them home.

Thanks to: The usual suspects, i.e., D. M. Evans and Ishte.

Disclaimer: If I were the owner, I'd not be writing fanfic about the characters. It would be canon.

A.N. Written for the Ed+Win Fire and Ice challenge at Live Journal, with the chosen prompt of 'fireflies'.

It seemed like the stars had fallen from the skies to play in the grass around the old yellow house. Flashes of lemon yellow brightened the dusky landscape, children chasing after those sparks of light. Their giggles and shouts echoed around the hills as they scooped up the insects, carrying them back to the house to pop them in a big jar. Handfuls of grass carpeted the bottom of the jar and inside, the fireflies flickered, their glow brightening the night.

Alphonse carried three more of the bugs to the porch, grinning at Granny Pinako who unscrewed the lid of the jar. Al shook his damp hand over the mouth, spilling the fireflies inside. Pinako clapped the lid back on and Al took the jar from her, turning it in his hands. "Hey, Winry?" He glanced around for her. "Are there enough fireflies or do you want more?"

The thunder of feet heralded her approach and Winry pounded up behind Alphonse. He held up the jar in triumph. Making an appreciative noise, Winry squinted at the jar, tapping the side of it. "Bet there's a hundred fireflies in there!"

"Nuh uh." Edward hopped up on the porch from the other side of the building, his hands cupped together. "You couldn't fit that many bugs in the jar and 'spect them to live."

Winry took the jar from Al, admiring it. "They look like fairies," she went on doggedly, ignoring Ed.

"Do not," Ed said, just as doggedly, "fairies look like people."

"Fairies aren't real anyway," Alphonse added, not to be outdone.

Winry eyed her two best friends, a little scowl marring her face. "I know," she said, letting out her breath in a huff, "I just said they look like fairies."

Ed rolled his eyes. "Whatever," he said, shoving his cupped hands towards her. "I got some more."

"Thanks, Ed." Winry carefully uncapped the jar, letting Ed shake the insects he'd captured into the mouth. With them safely inside, she held the jar up. "These'll be great in my window!"

Ed snorted. "They'll die if you keep 'em in the jar." He tapped the lid. "Even with the airholes." He folded his arms and nodded once. "That's what Mom says."

Granny took her pipe out of her mouth. "Your Auntie Trisha's right, Winry. You can't really keep fireflies for very long."

"Aw." Winry pouted, looking at all the fireflies in the jar. She'd really wanted to put them in her window that night, so she could go to sleep with their winking lights but she didn't want them to die. "I guess I should let them loose."

Alphonse patted her arm. "You don't have to let them go right now," he said, "you can keep them for a little bit, right, Granny?" He turned his bright eyes toward the old woman.

"At least until you get ready for bed," Pinako said, giving them a fond smile. "Which, considering the time, is coming up soon. You boys ought to get home before Trisha wonders where you are."

Glancing at the sky, Al nodded. "Uh huh." He slapped Ed's arm. "We don't want Mom to get worried, Brother."

"She knows where we are." Edward stuck out his chin stubbornly.

"You boys better get home." Pinako pointed with the mouthpiece of her pipe at the lantern, blinking off on a hillside, seeming so far away. "Looks like your mom is calling for you."

"See, Brother?" Al smacked Ed's arm again.

"Ow!" Ed rubbed his arm, making a face. "Stop that."

"I told you." Al took a few steps away from Ed. "Come on." He waved at Winry. "See you later, Winry!"

"Bye, Al. Bye, Ed." Winry waved at them both, watching as Ed turned almost reluctantly to follow his brother. When Alphonse took off running, Ed shouted at him to wait up, chasing after. Winry watched them as long as she could before they vanished into the twilight. Turning her attention to the blinking light that she knew belonged to Auntie Trisha, she sighed a little. "Granny?"

"Yes, Winry?" Her grandmother puffed on her pipe, making smoke rings.

"I miss Ed and Al when they go home."

"I suppose you do." Pinako got up, complaining of her creaking bones. "Come on, girl. Girls," she amended, as Den leaped up onto the porch, a thistle burr stuck in her ear. Pinako's gnarled fingers caught the sticker and pulled it out. "Time for you to get ready for bed."

Feeling as reluctant as Ed, Winry clutched her jar of fireflies tighter, walking across the porch to the door. "C'mon, Den. Let's go inside." Granny held the door open for both of them, Winry scooted into the house with her dog following behind.

After a bath and a promise not to stay up too late looking at medical journals, Winry set her jar of fireflies in her window. The winking bugs softened the shadows in her room and Winry decided she really liked that. Sitting in the window seat, she leaned her elbows on the sill, her chin pillowed on her crossed forearms. She could just make out the lights at the top of the hill, the Elric house, and wondered if Ed and Al were getting ready for bed, too. She wondered if they could see her jar of fireflies, winking on and off. With a little sigh, Winry unscrewed the lid of the jar, watching as the fireflies slowly realized they were free.

They flew out of the jar, a slow trickle of light, disappearing into the encroaching darkness and Winry couldn't help but wonder if the brothers could see this, from their house on the other hill, the way they saw the lantern blink when their mother called them home.

"We're burning down the house." Ed said it simply, matter-of-factly, as he pushed back from the kitchen table and the stew that Granny Pinako had made to welcome him back from his testing in Central.

Winry set down her glass of milk with a thunk. "You're what?" she asked, her brows beetling down. "Why would you do that?"

"Because it's a part of the past," Alphonse said, holding up the leather gloves that made up his hands.

"Yeah." Ed took a final sip of water before picking up his bowl and carrying it to the sink. He turned to face the table, leaning back against the counter, his arms folded. "If we want to move forward, if we want to accomplish our goal," here Ed met the points of light that passed for Alphonse's eyes, the corners of his mouth twisting, "we can't have anything stopping us."

"How is having a home stopping you?" Winry looked from one boy to the other, twisting her napkin around her fingers.

"If we have a home," Ed said slowly, as if finally voicing something that he'd thought about for some time, "then there's a place we could come back to. If there isn't a place like that, then we have to keep moving forward. Right?"

Alphonse nodded, the sounded of the plate mail scraping across itself. "Right." He reached across the table to touch the back of Winry's hand gently. "Besides, it's not like it'll be forever."

Ed chuckled, folding his arms. "Yeah! We'll be back in a few months. You just wait and see."

They decided to burn down the house at night, with Winry, Pinako and Den as witnesses. It didn't seem to take long for the flames to engulf the house, sparks rising up like fireflies. The light from the fire tracked orange streaks down Winry's wet cheeks and Edward felt his heart sink at the sight of them. Some of the local farmers, seeing the fire, came running to help but Pinako waved them back. "It's the kids' decision," she said, though her expression told what she didn't say on her thoughts of that.

When everything was gone; even the faint ember glow lost, they turned to go back to the Rockbell house. One final night there, before the brothers left on the morning train to East Command. "I can't believe I've been assigned to work under that bastard Colonel, Mustang," Ed groused as they walked through the early morning, dew collecting on their clothes. "Man, I'd give anything to be working in Central."

"Just remember," Pinako said direly, "you need to keep up with your automail maintenance. I expect you back here once a month for check ups."

"Once a month? Geez." Ed rolled his eyes. "That's too much, Granny. We're gonna be busy, right, Al?" He rapped his knuckles on Alphonse's breastplate.

"That doesn't mean we won't come," Alphonse hastened to add.

Edward decided to ignore his brother's comment. "You worry too much, Granny. Winry's beat into my head how to take care of this thing." He patted the automail arm. "Right, Winry?" When she didn't respond, he turned around, walking backwards for a few paces. "Hey, Winry?"

"Huh?" She jerked her head up, scrubbing the back of her hand over her eyes. "What?"

Forcing a smile, Ed said, "You showed me how to take care of my automail."

"Oh. Yeah." Winry nodded half-heartedly though a flash of her temper showed itself. "And you'd better take good care of it, too. That's a masterpiece, Edward!"

"Then it'd better work like a masterpiece." Ed smirked triumphantly at her irritated expression, pleased with himself for making her look something other than sad.

"It will, Edward." Winry glowered at him. "That automail will work fine."

"Those're some of the best pieces I've had the pleasure of helping to build," Pinako added. "You ought to be proud to carry them."

Touching the metal forearm again, Ed nodded, his smile a little soft. "Yeah, I know."

The walk back to the house continued in silence with the soft sounds of the night blanketing their journey. Pinako entered the house, saying something about breakfast. Alphonse paused on the steps before going inside, taking a long look back down the dirt road. Edward stopped next to him, his hands shoved deep in his coat pockets.

"What?" Winry asked wearily, holding the screen door open for Den.

The brothers exchanged a glance, Al fishing something from his pouch. He handed it to Ed, who turned it over in his hands. "Here." With a faint flush staining his cheeks, he passed over the object to Winry. She accepted it, looking from it to the brothers.

"It's the lantern Mom used to call us home," Alphonse said, his voice sounding very quiet.

Ed scratched the back of his head in embarrassment. "We thought, you know. You might want it." He blurted out in a rush, "Soyou'dknowwe'dcomeback."

"Oh," Winry whispered softly, her eyes huge. She clutched the lantern close to her chest. "You promise you'll come home?"

"Of course!" Alphonse said quickly as Edward nodded, saying, "Promise!"

"Okay." Giving them a tentative smile that slowly broadened, reminding Ed somehow of the sun coming up over the horizon, Winry said, "You'd better."

"If you boys want breakfast before you leave, you'd better get in here and help make it!" Pinako shouted from inside the house.

"We're coming," Ed yelled back, adding, not quite under his breath, "old hag."

"Brother," Alphonse said, holding the door for Winry, "that's not nice."

Grumbling, Ed followed Winry into the house, Al trailing behind and closing the door behind them.

When the brothers had been gone for a while, Winry remembered strange things. Things like Alphonse's favorite bugs being caterpillars and cicadas. Edward preferred the praying mantis, up until he found out the females were bigger than the males and when they mated, the female usually killed the male. Winry had always favored butterflies, june bugs and fireflies, because, as she said, they were colorful in a way other insects weren't. Or, she'd explained it that way when she was old enough to make that come out sounding like something sensible, rather than just the word, 'pretty!'

When the cicadas started creeping around the house, Winry took to catching them in a little cage, letting them leave behind their ghostly little shell and become the green, clicking insects that Alphonse had so loved when they were kids. When she got to see one break out of its shell, it almost seemed to her she watched with Alphonse, that each one was a tiny representation of him. One day, she knew, the brothers would come home and Al would be like one of the cicadas, burst out of his armor to become a real, flesh and blood boy again.

And Ed? She wasn't sure there was a comparison to Edward Elric. It gave her something to think about though, when she allowed herself to think on the brothers.

In the meantime, all she had to do was wait.

When the Elric boys did show up again, finally, after far too long, the summer sun warmed the land. Edward's automail arm was completely missing, Alphonse's armor was partially destroyed and they came with a protector, a man named Armstrong, who, if Winry wasn't already long accustomed to flamboyance of another type, might've found off putting.

Three days they stayed, three days after being gone four long years. Winry felt like she barely had time to get used to them being there, hungry, demanding, underfoot – before they were gone.

Ed knocked on her door the night before they left, after she'd blinked the lantern out over the fields to call them home. "You still have that thing?" he asked, when she let him in, pointing at the lantern.

"You gave it to me." Winry cupped her elbows in her hands.

"Yeah." Ed gave her a little grin, not one that showed all his teeth. He picked up the lantern, turning it in his hands, holding it up so the light shone on it better. "I'd forgotten all about it."

Winry felt for an instant like she'd been punched in the stomach. If Ed had forgotten that, what else didn't he remember? She and Granny had guessed after the first three months passed that Ed and Al wouldn't be coming home for regular maintenance. Winry got used to not having them around, even if it did hurt, but she didn't forget them. Their photos were on the wall downstairs, a few of their old books were on the shelves, their ghosts lived on in the hills of Rezembool. Winry stubbornly refused to look at her little collection of Elric trinkets; a rag doll, two metal horses, a jar that used to contain fireflies, now half-filled with screws, nuts and bolts.

"Hey, Winry?" Ed gave her a concerned look. "Are you all right? You have a funny expression."

"I'm fine, Ed. Just a little tired." Winry dredged up a smile from somewhere, sinking onto her bed.

Setting the lantern back on the shelf, Edward didn't face her, fiddling with something up there. Winry watched him in dull curiosity, trying to take in that he was here, in her room, and obviously still had something more to say. And this was Ed, so who knew what it would be.

"Yeah, heh, that's my fault. Sorry." The apology was tossed over his shoulder with a glimpse of his profile and Winry wondered at it. He turned around, leaning against her dresser, looking pointedly at the toes of his shoes. "This," he slapped his automail arm, "this feels great."

"I'm glad." Winry's smile grew more genuine at that.

Ed glanced up at her then, saying softly, "I'm sorry we didn't keep in better contact."

Winry waved off that apology. "I know you, Ed. You…get distracted." She had to muffle a yawn. "Go on. Get out of here so I can go to sleep." Shooing him towards the door, Winry tried to keep from yawning again.

With a wry little grin, Ed shuffled to the doorway, pausing before actually leaving the room. His expression turned a little wistful as he said, "I didn't forget, Winry, not my promise. It's just we can't come back yet." Before she could answer, he slipped through the door, shutting it behind him.

It was proof, definite proof, that Al's body was somewhere. But still, Ed couldn't quite fathom it. "I can't believe you remember all that." He looked from Winry to Al and back again. "All those memories I don't have?"

"You always were distracted," Winry scolded. "Nose in a book, learning some new alchemic equation."

Rubbing the back of his head, Edward muttered, "I had my reasons."

"Right." Winry folded her arms, leaning back into the sofa.

"We weren't ignoring you, Winry," Alphonse said hastily. "Remember when we used to catch fireflies together?"

"Huh?" Ed wrinkled his forehead. "We did that, too?"

Winry sighed. "Yeah. Yeah, we did. And you told me I couldn't keep them in a jar, because they'd die." Her smile turned melancholy, Ed thought. "I took them up to my room and turned them loose out the window, wondering if you could see them from your house. Silly, isn't it, the things you think of when you're a kid?"

Ed wished suddenly that he'd never noticed how cute Winry Rockbell was.

Nights in Rezembool seemed so different after being in Rush Valley and then in the Briggs mountain range. Winry sat on the porch, heat still lingering from the summer day, a light breeze stirring her hair and the long grass in the yard. The scent of Granny's pipe drifted past her, carrying with it memories that almost seemed like they belonged to someone else. Closing her eyes, Winry felt the breeze washing over her body, letting her sense of hearing remind her of what home was – the sound of crickets, the rustle of leaves, Den's leg thumping on the wooden porch as she scratched at a flea, the faint squeak of Granny moving the swing back and forth. A nightingale started up his night song, a chortle of notes that would accompany them far into the early morning.

The soft clomping sound coming from inside the house made her smile and Winry tilted her head back a little more, listening closely. She could almost track the progress made by the way the sound, now down the stairs, now in the hall. Wrapping her arms around her knees, Winry watched as the brothers came outside, Edward supporting Alphonse, both of them smiling so huge, it seemed like their faces would split.

"Easy, now." Ed's warning was a gentle reminder as they came out onto the porch.

Alphonse reminded Winry of a newborn foal she'd seen once, all slat ribs and limbs and huge eyes, wobbling on his own legs. If Edward hadn't been holding his brother up, she had no doubt Al would've fallen. Clinging to Ed, Alphonse let his brother half carry him to the porch swing, setting him down next to Granny. The lightweight blanket fluttered on his shoulders like a cape, accentuating Al's narrow cheeks and gaunt face. His smile more than made up for it, seeming almost wanting to leap off his face in joy. Al blinked rapidly, as if he wanted to preserve each image behind his eyelids. Granny tamped out her pipe, not wanting the tobacco smell to overwhelm Alphonse more than he already was.

Ed fussed with Al's blanket, making sure it wasn't going to slip before he settled down next to Winry, his arms loosely clasped around his bent legs. His shoulder bumped lightly into hers, the metal still warm from the summer heat. Winry thought they probably reminded Granny of when they were kids, waiting for her to tell them another story before she sent them off to bed.

She wanted to bask in this; the early evening, with the stars just starting to peep out in the east, the sky still painted in lingering orange, rose and the faintest hints of gold in the west, the sonorous buzz of cicadas, trying to rival both the crickets and the nightingale. The soft squeak of the porch swing. Al's expression, wondrous and brilliant, even in the dimming light. Ed's shoulder, rubbing against her skin. Den, moving so she could sprawl half across Ed's lap, let out a heaving, contented sigh as if she'd been waiting for him to be her pillow forever.

The sky deepened, the stars becoming more luminous as they sat in the evening and Winry felt a little surprised when Al, rather than Ed, broke the silence. He asked wistfully, "Remember when we used to catch fireflies?"

"No," Ed replied promptly with a little snort. "We talked about that, remember?"

"Nose in a book," Granny said, cackling. "You probably remember all the titles you read when you were a kid but not what fun you had."

"Hey!" Ed glowered up Pinako, shifting his weight a little, automail brushing against Winry's arm. "I remember."

"You do not." Al's grin teased, his eyes luminous. "You couldn't remember half the things Winry and I did."

"Yeah, well, people block out bad memories and all the things you two remembered," Ed made a face at his little brother, "were mean things you did to me!"

"Bet you still remember everything your teacher did," Winry said, grinning when she felt Ed stiffen next to her. "Guess I was right."

"That's different!" Ed turned his spotlight glare on her, obviously disappointed it didn't have the reaction he wanted when Winry giggled. "Those memories," he shuddered exaggeratedly, "they were beaten into us. Worse than what you can do with that wrench."

"Maybe you should take lessons, girl." Granny cackled as all three teens turned various glowers at her.

"Don't give her any ideas, old hag," Ed growled.

"Oh, shut up. Like I need ideas!" Winry whacked Ed's chest with the back of her knuckles.

"Ow!" Ed grabbed for her hand, tightening his grip around it when she tried to pull free. "Stop hitting me, Winry!" He squealed, his whole body making a crescent, trying to avoid her other hand.

"I forgot you were ticklish, Brother." Alphonse giggled as Ed writhed, both trying to catch Winry's free hand and keep her fingers from making contact with his ribs. Den jumped up, barking at the loss of her pillow.

"I think he did, too." Pinako smirked.

Winry grinned wickedly, her fingers spiderwalking down Ed's ribcage. "Let go, Ed, and I'll stop." Yelping, he twisted away from her, winding up on his knees, his arm outstretched as Winry bent her elbow, intent on pulling him back within range again.

"Damn it, Winry, cut it out!" Ed jerked to avoid her raised, bare foot, nearly toppling onto Den. He overcorrected, falling flat on his face, arms windmilling too late to catch him.

Snorting, Pinako levered herself out of the swing. "I thought you were supposed to be graceful, shorty." She nudged Ed with her foot as she walked by him, ignoring the groan that came from him. "I'm getting lemonade. Does anyone want any?"

"Me," Alphonse said brightly. "Brother will want some, too, Granny."

"Me, too," Winry added as Ed pried himself off the wooden boards. He moaned and bitched and she and Al exchanged long-suffering looks with one another. Den huffed and grumbled, sounding enough like Ed that Winry couldn't help but snicker, making the elder Elric glare at her hotly. Getting up, he joined Al on the swing, pushing it with his automail foot, his flesh one tucked against his thigh. Winry leaned back on her hands, grinning at the brothers.

"What?" Ed scrubbed at his face, his expression quizzical.

Winry shrugged eloquently. "Nothing."

"Hey," Al said, before Ed could question her mood even farther, "look!" He raised a trembling hand, pointing at the little flash of lemony light. "Fireflies." His eyes dropping to Al's pointing finger, Ed's expression turned pensive. As if he could sense it, Al turned to his brother. "I want a jar full of fireflies, Ed."

"You what?" Ed's eyebrows climbed for his bangs, his mouth dropping open.

"Go catch me some. You and Winry." Al attempted to shove Ed's shoulder, his hand sliding down Ed's arm instead. "Go get a jar from Granny."

"I," Ed began, studying Alphonse's face. His own expression cleared and he shrugged, getting off the swing. "Okay. Be right back." Taking exaggerated care to step over Winry's bare legs, Ed entered the house, the screen squealing open and rapping shut.

Alphonse beamed at Winry, making her think the little brother had something up his proverbial sleeve. "What?" she asked, wishing her growl was as deep as Ed's.

"Nothing!" Al's grin remained in place, didn't even falter but Winry knew these boys too well. "Just…go on. Have some fun." He looked over the countryside and the little flickers of light. "Remind Ed," Al glanced at her and held her gaze, his tawny eyes warm. "Remind him that he can live now."

A grumbling from inside the house heralded Ed's return. "A jar," he said, holding one up as he came out the door, "and Granny even let me poke the holes in the lid." He snorted loudly, obviously remembering that none of the adults would let him have the ice pick when they were kids. "So we're ready for fireflies." Ed gave Alphonse an indescribable look and Al returned it with a sweet smile.

"Get a lot," he said. "I want my room to be bright with them."

Twisting the jar in his hands, Ed said, "You know you can't keep them overnight, Al."

"At least until I go to sleep. You can turn them loose then." Al raised his hand and pointed imperiously. "Go get me fireflies, Ed!"

With a grumbly growl, Ed offered Winry his hand. She took it, letting Ed pull her to her feet, a little surprised when he didn't let go once she was standing. "Fireflies," Ed muttered, tugging Winry along behind him as he climbed off the porch. "Al wants fireflies." He said it with the same sort of glum conviction as if Al had wanted the moon.

"At least we won't have to go far to get them," Winry pointed out, nodding at the sparks of light flickering across the lawn.

Ed swung the jar in his hand, leading her through the grass. "Yeah." He glanced over at her, grinning a little. "Bet you I can catch more than you."

"You will not." Winry gave him a mock glare.

"Wanna find out?" Without waiting for an answer, Ed let go of her hand, dumping the jar on the ground as he sprinted off.

"No fair!" Winry shouted as she took off after him.

It wasn't so much catching fireflies, Winry realized, as it was chasing each other. He'd make a dart for one of the sparks of light and she'd try to stop him. When she grabbed for a firefly, Ed would bump into her. The third time he did that, he knocked her into the grass, tripping over her legs as she went down. Winry rolled, trying to avoid him landing on her and Ed, despite his agility, fell flat on his face. Again.

"The hell, Winry?" Ed pushed himself up, spitting grass as she laughed. "What was that for?"

"What was what for? You're the one who pushed me." She grabbed a handful of grass and tossed it at him.

Ed sputtered. "You tripped me!"

"What are you, twelve?" Winry threw another handful of grass.

Glaring, Ed brushed the grass off his chest. "Look who's talking!"

Folding her arms, Winry stuck out her lower lip in a mock pout. "We're supposed to be catching fireflies for Al."

"Yeah, and that's a dumb idea, too." Ed flopped back, pulling a blade of grass up and sticking the sweet end of it in his mouth. "Fireflies." He huffed.

"They're pretty." Winry rolled onto her stomach, pillowing her cheek on her forearm. "Like little stars, fallen to the earth." She could feel Ed's contemplative gaze but didn't look at him. "You know, Ed," Winry began, in a different tone of voice, "maybe it's not a bad thing, being twelve." At his incredulous snort, she raised up a little bit. "I mean, you didn't really get a chance to."

"Yeah? What's so good about being twelve?" Ed rolled his head to meet her gaze, his brows drawn down.

"Well," Winry wriggled a little closer, "usually that's when you get your first kiss."

His eyes were huge in his face though he didn't look away. "Uh, Winry?" Ed gulped. "You didn't, uh…?"

She shook her head slowly. "There were some things that just kind of stopped for me, too, Ed." Winry gave him a little smile. "I think it's time to start them again." Leaning forward, she pressed her lips against his, feeling Ed's surprise in the stiffness of his mouth, nearly grinning at the thought that flashed in her head that he really was twelve in some ways. Winry pulled back a little, letting Ed consider what had just happened, letting him decide whether he liked it or not.

Ed licked his lips, his expression contemplative. "I don't think," he said deliberately, "I would've liked that when I was twelve." A little grin, wicked and toothy, flickered across his face. "Good thing I'm not twelve."

Winry managed to catch her breath just before Ed raised up, kissing her soundly.

Pinako came outside, carrying the tray with four lemonades on it. "Where'd they go?" she asked, frowning a little.

Cautiously turning to face her, Alphonse gave Pinako an arch look. "I sent them out to find some fireflies."

Pinako set the tray on a little table, handing Al one of the glasses. Watching to make sure it wasn't too heavy for him, she folded her arms, staring out over the countryside. "Fireflies. That explains the jar." She snorted. "And the ice pick." Shaking her head, she said, "Never should've let that shrimp know where that was."

Al snickered as Pinako started back inside the house. "Granny?" He watched her go through the door, heard her rummaging around.

She returned, a smug little grin on her face. Flicking a switch, Pinako nodded, pressing a lantern into Alphonse's hand. "Here," she said, ruffling Al's long hair. "You might need that to call them home."