Free Falling

Chapter 5: A Fun Train Ride

We got on the train twenty minutes ago. I was already dying. I sat in a separate seat then the other three just because I could. Ed protested but Winry told him to give me my space. I totally loved her now. She is now my third favorite female character. Olivier Armstrong was my first. Izumi Curtis second and I was going to meet her!

I had the huge alchemy book I was given back in Mustangs office. I couldn't use my phone. I would be totally busted. I leant against the window with my legs up on the seat; bent up so the book stayed upright so I could read. My hood was still up yeah, but my hair was hanging out the side of my hood. 

I shifted slightly and sighed. 

"Hey Anna?" I looked up and saw Winry.

"Yeah?" I asked as she sat down across from me. She opened a box to reveal a pie. Oh yeah. The pie.

"Would you like a piece?" She asked with a smile. I gasped slightly. I've never been offered something like this before...

"I don't mean to sound rude but, why would you offer me some?" I asked confused.

"You seem kinda down. I thought it might help." She smiled. I gave my signature small smile back to her and nodded.

"I'd love a piece." I sat up, placing a piece of paper I had ripped in my place in the book. Winry smiled and handed me the box with a slice left in it. "Thank you." 

"Not a problem." She smiled again before standing up.

"Hey Winry?" I asked before she could leave.

"Yeah?"

"Ed hates me doesn't he?" I asked setting the box next too me. She sat back down across from me.

"I wouldn't say he hates you. I'd say he's confused about who you are." I smiled a bit bigger.

"Am I really that confusing?" I asked. She giggled. 

"I think you're special. And special people were brought to the world for a purpose." 

"Thanks Winry. And not just for the pie." She giggled again. Man, I loved her now.

"Not a problem." She stood up again,and walked back over to Ed and Al. I loved back into my position and took a bite of pie. Oh it was delicious! I placed my book open, to the page I was at and continued to read until I fell asleep.

**Ed's POV**

Ed watched from his seat as Anna fell asleep with her book in her lap. She looked so peaceful...

'I wonder if she has a boyfriend...' he thought. 'Gah! Why did I just think that!?' Ed sighed.

"Whats wrong Brother?" Al asked. Ed looked up at his younger brother and smiled.

"Nothing. Just thinking."

"About what?" Al asked confused. Al had a thought of what he was thinking about but, didn't say.

"About how teacher is going to kill us." He said shrinking into a corner where a dark aura surrounded him. Al "paled". 

"I at least wanted to have a girlfriend Brother." Al said shrinking into his own corner.

"Your teacher can't be that bad." Winry said waving a hand to show how ridiculous they were both being.

"She left us on an island for a month alone." Ed told her deadpanning. Winry giggled. Al sighed. 

"Teacher can be pretty violent. Especially when she was training us." Al stated. Ed started to play with the sleeve of his coat while Al poked his metal index fingers together. 

"We haven't seen her before that night." Ed told her. "We don't know if we'll live through the visit or not."

"Are you just visiting or looking to ask her something?" Winry asked. Ed turned to look out the window.

"It's not your problem." He muttered. Winry, being the kind person she is, slammed her wrench into his head.

"You guys never tell me anything!" She said as Ed rubbed his head with a look that could kill. Literally. 

"It's just because we don't want you to get hurt Winry. We care about you." Al told her. Winry simply hit him on his metal head with her wrench.

"And what about you guys?" She asked sadly and on the verge of tears. "You guys are getting hurt too."

"W-why are you crying?" Ed asked fearfully. Winry just let the tears fall down her cheeks and into her unfolded hands in her lap.

"Because I'm scared I'll loose you both." She whispered. Ed, feeling bad, hugged her awkwardly from the side. 

"You won't loose us Winry. We promise we'll come home happy and healthy." Al promised her. Ed let Winry go after she smiled. She looked up and wiped away her tears, streaking her face.

"Thank you." She said smiling up at him. "What are you going to do about Anna?" She asked, changing the subject entirely. Ed shrugged as his hair flew in the wind of the now open window behind them.

"I don't know. But, I get the feeling she's hiding something from us. Something big. I mean, we found her after a column of alchemy light shone from the sky! It makes me wonder what she did..." Ed explained briefly. 

**Nicole's POV**

I woke up with a start. I surveied my surroundings and realized I was on a train. The train the Dublith. Great. So this isn't a dream. It is real. I sighed and rubbed my face, with the sleeve of my sweater and turned to sit up. I placed my elbows on my knees and rubbed the crust from my eyes.

When I looked out the window, I saw nothing but black. Black with white dots, scattered everywhere. Stars. You could never see them in New York. All the lights and tall buildings, it was nearly impossible in most parts of town.

The moon brightly shone among the starts, making some around it, invisible. I stretched my arm up and yawned silently. The sight of stars were beautiful. I rarely see them.

I couldn't read. No light. Al couldn't sleep. No phone. I sighed and lied back down with a small yawn and closed my eyes. My first thought, was the roof of the apartment building my parents lived in. How I would always go up there, to heal from the beatings I got. That's one of the reasons I never take off my sweater.

I has scars that littered my stomach, back and chest. I yawned again and opened my eyes, unable to sleep anymore from the though. 

A light, started to creep up to me and shone on my shoes. The sun.

By now, Hughes would probably be gone.

Dead.