"That's almost the last of it." Ed smiled, flashing his pearly teeth the way he always

did.  Alphonse nodded, glad to have this over with.  Both boys knew there was still

more sorting to do, but every book was cleaned, and much of the sorting had been going

on paralell to the restoration procedure.  



The two had found some important alchemaicle documents.  Most of the books were simply

peices of literature and nothing more.  Those would most likely be distributed away,

as they would prove little to no use to the military.  Both brothers began putting the

books neatly into crates in order based on subject.



The hulking suit of metal bent over, joints clacking and echoing dully in the solid

cement room under ground.  He picked up a tattered old book that looked more like a

cash ledger in binding than a piece of reading material.  A loose peice of paper fell

out and when the younger brother picked it up he examined it for a moment.



"Brother, what do you think this is?"  He handed the list over to the blonde boy.  He

examined it bordely for a moment.  As his lazy eyes drifted left to right and up to

down, his expression grew a little more serious.  Curious, he took the book Al was

holding, knowing that the page had fallen from there.



"Brother?" The metal man questioned, pressing his sibling gently to answer.



"It's a list..."  He flipped to the front of the book, using his metal index finger on

his right hand to keep the place where the page had fallen from.  The book was very

thin and there was not writing on every page.  "... it appears to be a list of..."  He

looked into Alphonse's red, glowing eyes, "... alchemists."



"What is so surprising about that?"  His hollow voice resounded from within the metal

shell.  He leaned into Edward's shoulder, hoping to glimpse at the contents of the

thin, brown leather book.



"They were other alchemists who researched human transmutation, the philosopher's

stone, and alternate means of creating it."  A surprised feeling of disbelief crowded both

teenagers.  What could it mean to them?  What could it mean for them?

"What all does it say?"  Al pressed in a hushed voice.



"It has each person's name, a brief description of their alchemical areas of

specialty, and where their research has been documented and stored!"  A silence passed

once more.  "We can use this to our advantage."  Edward looked up, golden eyes wide

and sparkling.



"But don't we have to turn it into Central?"



"They don't know we have it."  Ed smirked.  



The book was set to the side as they finished packing up the materials to be moved out

the next day.  After the Full Metal Alchemist typed up his report for the day, the

military would be notified and a crew would gather up the crates and take them away.

Book in hand, the red and black clad dog of the military, along with his faithful

little brother ascended the stairs.  The Ed placed his metal hand on the heavy, rusty

door, preparing to push it open.  He paused, leaning his ear close to the portal.



"What is it?"



"Shh."  Ed placed a gloved finger to his lips, entreating the younger Elric to be

quiet.  "Quick," he raspily whispered, "drop the book down into your body!  I hear

foot steps."



Al looked around frantically for a moment before lifting his head, dropping the book

within the empty cavity as if he were gobbling the thing up.  



"Okay.  Don't act suspicious."  Edward plastered a smile on his face and started to

open the door again.  He pushed a second time to no avail.  His false smile was

quickly wiped away.  His eye brows furrowed with a mixture of emotions, from

confusion, to frustration, to determination.



"What's...?" Al began to ask from behind, cowering slightly on the stairs.  The lights

had been turned off and there was nothing but murky blackness below him.  Edward's

face was slighly illuminated by a space in the door frame, where a brilliant full moon

shown down from above.  Edward only had the soft red glow from his artificial eyes

lining his face and keeping him from being swallowed completely by the dark.



"Somebody's barred the door.  I can get us out.  Hang on."  He began.  He turned once

more with determination.  He drew his arms back, ready to clasp them together in a

brilliant show of science.



"I wouldn't do that if I were you."  A throaty, femanine voice floated from without.  

Edward stopped abruptly, not wanting to chance something.



"Do what?" He pressed, agitation in his voice.  He recognized the sound.  



"Touch that door again."  She mocked.



Edward scoffed and began again.



"I have a high-powered generator out here with both negative and posative cables

attached to this metal door.  A human hand touching it would be bad enough, but with

as much metal as you have in your body, I doubt you could possibly survive.  Further

more, if your metalic sibling were to be standing... say, on the metal stairs, then I

wouldn't doubt if that blood seal of his might just burn right off."



The threat was a heavy one.  Edward huffed, teeth gritted in surpressed rage.  He

dropped his hands to his sides in clenched fists.  



"So that's your game... well, what is it that you want from us?  That is, now that you

have us in your little cage?"



The woman on the other side of the door stood with three other companions.  Gluttony's

stomach whined and his stood sad-faced sucking on his finger, drool hanging from the

corner of his mouth.  Envy stood confindently on the left side of the tall, dark

woman.  He brushed a hand through his long, tendriled hair, glad to be occupying his

"cute-self" again.  Directly behind Lust a quiet woman in a black dress stood smiling

modestly behind them all.  A large, heavy metal grate leaned against the earthen mound

which covered the dome-ceiling underground room.  Lust leaned back, turning her

attention to Sloth.  She held a gloved, sharp-fingered hand up to her mouth and

whispered.  



"If they try to blow a hole out else-where, we cover it with the grate and electrify

it.  Then you know what to do."



"I'm waiting for an answer!" Edward screamed, jerking his head, causing his braided

hair to fall from his shoulder to hang straight down his back.  



"I want the book."  Came the simple reply.



"What book?  There are hundreds down here!  Take your pick!" the defiant youth

protested.



"I want the list.  I want the book of names.  You've been down there long enough.  You

know what I mean."  The diabolical sin smiled her thin-lipped smile to an un-seeing

audience.



Edward stumbled backward, almost falling into Al.  The young boy placed his large

hands over his brother's shoulders and squeezed slightly.

"They don't mean..."



"Yes Al.  I'm afraid they do."



"What are we going to do?"  



"Go to the middle of the room.  I want you to hoist me up.  I'm going to break through

this egg shell!"  Ed whispered with conviction.  



"Okay.  You'll get your book.  Let me get it out of the crate.  It's been packed

away."  Ed lied to buy time for his brother and himself.



Al trotted heavily to the middle of the room.  Edward followed.



"Al, hand me that cro-bar.  We need to open this crate."  Edward spoke loudly, hoping

to make the woman outside believe his story.



Confused, the armor looked around for the tool.



"Don't really hand me the cro-bar.  Give me a lift!" Ed whispered frantically.  Metal

and leather hands hoisted the petite man up, standing him firmly on his shoulders.  

"I can just reach it..." Ed said, placing his finger tips on the ceiling.  He clapped

his hands and touched the mildewy cement, forming an opening and creating a short

hanging stone ladder.  Edward scrambled up the exit only to be stopped as a metal

fence was dropped over his head.  It almost hit him and he let go of the ladder,

dropping out of instinct.  He almost fell, but his red coat caught on the rough

natural materials in the hole.



"I knew you would do that."  Lust smirked down at him from below.  Sloth walked slowly

to the opening, standing on the grate and leaning over.  Eyes closed respectfully, she

extended her arms, limbs becoming as water.  The cold liquid rushed through the new

entrance, past the grid of metal rebarb.  The force hit Ed, drenching him and dropping

him 6 feet to Al's waiting arms.  



"I've got you, brother!"  The catch had not been a soft one and Ed coughed and

cringed, trying to catch his breath in his empty lungs.



A shoveling sound over head and to their right could be heard muffled.  Ed and Al

huddled together, out of the direct path of the water.  A pipe was shoved through and

shortly, the water ceased.  The water began again, slowly at first, and then a harsh

rush through the newly placed pipe.



"Oh, I'm electrifying this grate too.  Soon the water level will rise and if you don't

drown, you'll float helplessly into the electric fence.  I'd say you have less than an

hour to turn the book over to us."  



The sounds of the turbulent water were too loud for either one to hear whether the

group had left or not.  The continuing flow of water led them to believe they were all

still out there.



"Brother!  What will we do?"  Al shouted above the torrent.

Ed sputtered and spat, struggling to keep his head above water with the weight of his

arm and leg.  "We're too low to make drainage holes at the base.  The water wouldn't

run out."



"And we can't make holes in the top because those bad guys would see them and pour

water down those too!" Al panicked.  



The water level kept rising and soon it had Full Metal standing on his toes to keep

breathing.



"I always knew being short was going to get me killed!"  He complained sarcasticly.

The water level had risen well above Edwards head and Al had to hold him up.  This

wouldn't last very long, he knew.  The empty armor had filled with water, leaving him

anchored to the floor and much too heavy to move.  Plus the swirling, foaming waters

kept sweeping his legs out from under him.  It was much too difficult to maintain his

own footing and to keep Ed above water.



"Brother, I know you wont like this, but I think you are going to have to take off

your arm and leg.  They are just too heavy for you!"



"What?  That will leave me helpless!  I wont be able to perform alchemy!  I wont do

it.  Not now.  I have to be able to transmute.  Don't worry, Al!  I'll think of

something.  I'll think of something to do.  I'll save you from this!"



"Just take your arm and leg off!  Brother!  For me!"  Alphonse cried.  The water was

rising and Ed was having to lunge upward to get his breath.  Al could see there was no

changing the stuborn state alchemist's mind.  Even if there was something he could do,

Al could see that Ed was too panicked to think clearly enough to come up with an idea,

let alone pull it off.



"Brother!  Forgive me!" the soul ensconsed within the metal shell cried out

desperately as he grabbed his human sibling.  Ed's eyes went wide with surprise,

pupils receeding and becoming dull with fear.  Both boys screamed with agony, one

physical, one emotional, as the battle-ready 14 year old wrapped his right arm around

Ed's fleshy torso and gripped the automail with his left, yanking it hard, severing it

from Ed's body.  Al threw the piece of rubbish to the side and dunking his brother

under water for a moment, he pulled the metal leg from the socket.  Edward screamed

again, crying!  He almost swallowed a mouth-full of water, but luckily had the

presence of mind not to inhale.  He hadn't the time to prepare himself for that kind

of pain, so he hadn't the time to harden his heart against it.  Al cried too.  He

cried for causing his brother such pain.  He cried for taking the initiative against

his older brother.  He cried about the situation that he had been put in which made

such a sacrifice necessary.  Ed almost passed out, but Al shook him into wakefulness.



"Brother!  You have to stay awake!"  Ed's head lolled a little and Al left him to bob

there for a moment.  He ducked down, ripping the lid from a crate violently.  The

bouyant wood floated to the surface immediately.  Al placed his brother on the

make-shift raft.  Ed sputtered and coughed, laying flat on his stomach and holding on

as best as he could with one arm.



As water moved higher up on Al's iron body, Ed was able to smile for a moment.



"Thanks."



Al nodded in response.  He was afraid now.  More afraid for himself then he had been

before.  Now that the immediate danger was pushed aside for his brother at the time

being, he was able to worry about himself.  He knew if the water disolved the blood

seal his soul would have no tie to this world and he would be taken back to that

black, screaming gate.  He shuddered a little, trying to remain calm.

The flow of water stopped a short distance from the ceiling.



"Are you ready to give us the book?" Lust's evil voice floated eerily into the black,

water-filled oubliette.  "If you say no, we'll just leave you in there.  I'm sure

Lieutenant Colonel Mustang will find you in the morning, after you've drowned to

death."  Her seductive voice turned harsh and bitter.  "And remember!  You can't get

out!  Both exits are electrified!" She taunted with anger, having not heard a

response.



"Brother!  Ed!  Let's just hand over the book!"  Al tried to say, but he was completly

submerged and Al could not hear him at all.



"Both exits are electrified?" Ed muttered under his breath as he floated on the crate

top.  He thought about the door.  With his one arm, he paddled silently to the door at

the top of the stairs.  "If both doors are electrified, then we would be toast by now

since this door is completely under water!" he whispered to himself.  He started to

clap his hands together until he realized he was without.  He pushed off from the wall

and skimmed across the water to where Al was.



"Al!  Al!  Can you hear me?  You've got to get to the door!"  He whispered harshly.  

Ed swished his arm frantically in the water trying to get Al's attention but he was

too far above him.  With all of the resolve he could muster, he gritted his teeth with

determination, gulped in a chest-full of the rank, old air, and rolled off of the

floating, wooden platform.  He didn't have much control in the water.  He only had two

limbs and he floated miraculously well.  But right now he didn't need to float.  He

needed to sink.  He broke the water's surface again and exhaled, dropping slowly in

the water.  He patted Al's heavy metal chest.  His dark eyes lit slowly as he raised

his head.  In the all encompasing blackness of the dirty, thick water, Al's red eyes

shown slightly over his brother's face.  Franticly, Ed motioned Al toward the door.  

Heavy and weighted with water, the behemoth clutched his brother protectively to his

body and walked with painful slowness to the stairs.  He couldn't ask his brother what

they were going to do.  He just had to trust him.  



Ed's lungs felt like they would colapse in on themselves but he focused on moving

forward, and didn't let a little thing like oxygen deprevation obscure his goal.  Atop

the stairs Ed motioned to the door, then clenched a fist and motioned again.  

Confused, but trusting, Al swung a lumbering fist to the metal door.  He was not

electricuted and suddenly it made sense.  His motions were too slow to knock down the

door, and he was afraid the sins would hear him any way.  He scratched a transmutation

circle into the door with his spiked elbows and placed his hands on the door.  A flash

of blue and white light erupted on the other side of the door and soon a flood of

water drained onto the ground.  Ed and Al fell out.  Ed coughed and gasped, choking

for air.  In the end, the frigid water and the pain and the long time with out fresh

air took it's toll and he passed out.  Al's blood seal had faded a great deal.  He was

struggling to keep his hold on this body, but the final wave of water when they

tumbled through the door had done much damage.  He fell limp beside his brother.  He

used every bit of his will to keep himself tethered to this world.  Water flowed from

within him and the book floated out along with it all.



Rageful, Lust looked to the happenings at the bottom of the mound.  They had only one

generator, and could only electrify one door at a time.  At any rate, if they had

allowed the electricity to touch the water, Sloth would have been electricuted too,

and that would have put a damper on their plans completly.



With a leap to rival any wild cat, she landed before the boys.  Her eyes flashed with

anger, ready to kill them before she noticed the book laying at her feet.  She picked

it up, pages driping wet.  She huffed a chuckle of disbelief, then another and another

until she was laughing, head thrown back and mouth agape.  Envy moved beside her,

taking the book from her hands.  He wore a wide grin on his face.  



"I can't believe it's our's!  That was so easy!" he chuckled.  He flipped through the

pages to the front.  His expression passed from extreme joy, to moderate amusement, to

quiet disbelief and into the relm of horrific confusion.  He stood there looking at

the pages with his mouth hanging open.  Lust grinned at him.



"What's the matter?" she cooed sarcasticly.  She pulled the book from his lanky finger

and opened it herself.  Her cool grin snapped quickly to utter shock, eyes wide,

unsure what to do.  The other two moved in to take a peak.  Gluttony turned his eyes

down and started to walk away, still sucking on his finger.  Sloth turned her eyes

down too, but looked no more upset or shocked than her expression showed when first

she showed up that night.



Lust clenched her teeth.  This was hardest on her as she gripped the book with the

drenched pages.  All of the ink was smeared and mostly gone.  The list had been

completely destroyed.  Her bottom lip trimbled as she continued to stare in disbelief.

Envy placed a hand on her shoulder before turning to leave.  She threw an icey,

hateful glare toward the Elric's before leaving, knowing that it was completely her

own fault that she had lost the book.  



"I hope they die out here tonight." She muttered, knowing that wasn't so.  She needed

them.  Out of every alchemist currently practicing, they were the closest to her goal.



~*-*~



A few hours passed and Winry finally found her way to the under ground library that

the boys had told her about.



"I hope I didn't miss them.  It is awfully late."  She rounded the last bend before

coming to a mostly empty lot with a mound covering the storm-shelter-like building,

housing the saved tomes of the destroyed library.  The full moon's light was bright,

but still obscuring enough to make her stop and blink a few times when she saw the

darkened forms lying on the ground.  She started to walk closer, but as realization

began slowly sinking in her tred became a jog before turning into a full sprint.



"Ed! Al!  Wake up!"  She screamed frantically, trying to rouse the boys.  She noticed

they were drenched and had to bite back a lump in her throat when she saw the broken

wires hanging from Ed's empty sockets.  "What happened to you?"  she whispered

shakily.  



"Winry."  Came the weak and quiet voice of Alphonse Elric.  He sounded so distant,

like he was a tiny version of himself in the back of his armor. "Winry.  Make sure

Brother is alright."  



"Al, what happened here?"  She asked, placing a trembling hand on her friend's cold

surface.  Al could not feel her.  He couldn't feel her shaking.  He couldnt' feel her

wamrth.  He never could.  But he used to be able to at least tell that he was being

touched.  But right now, he could hardly even hear her.  His soul felt like he was

caught in a tornado hight in the air, flying like a kite from a lether strap attached

to reality.  It was all blackness around him except for a little bit of light a long

way down.  That little bit of light housed Winry's face and he clung to that image as

hard as he could.



"I don't know how long I can hang on to my body.  Make sure brother is okay."

Winry turned reluctantly from him and grabbed Ed by the shoulders.  She shook him

hard, much harder than she should have, but in doing so she could see water coming

from his nose.  She brought both hands to her mouth, gasping.  She tilted his head

back and began pumping below his ribs with her hands.  Before she was able to

administer breathing for him, he spit dirty water from his mouth.  She pushed him over

on his side while he coughed and gasped for air.  His skin was freezing, which was

probably a good thing.  Since he was so cold, his body needed less oxygen, so he was

able to survive longer without any.



"Brother..."  Al managed quietly and comfortingly.



Shaking his head he managed to sit up with Winry's help.  He glimpsed at the

stationary suit.



"Al? Al?  Al?!  what's wrong?  Why aren't you moving??"  Ed panicked.



"My seal is weak..." he weezed.  He struggled harder from within.  He pulled himself

back.  He still had a tie to this world.  He was still here.  His seal was not gone

and he needed no transmutation to bring him back.  He pulled with all of his might.

Edward used his left hand and threw Al's head from his body.  The seal was indeed

weak.  It was still complete, but it was faded horribly.  The alchemist pivoted his

head franticly.  With no other option he took his left index finger into his mouth,

tearing flesh from the tip.  Blood gathered there and then began to form full beads of

crimson that dotted together and ran slowly, thickly down his hand.  He placed the tip

of his torn digit to the circle, tracing it with care and precision, squinting at the

stinging sensation of contact on his now raw flesh.  Winry had stumbled back, amazed

by what she was seeing.  Certainly there never was a bond as strong as was shared

between these two.



Al could feel the tempust die down a little.  He still had to pull himself in, but

with a firmer hold, he found it much easier.  He pulled and struggled until that light

to the outside world filled his sight.  When done, Ed sat back, grabbing Al's head and

holding it in his lap.  The decapitated body twitched slightly before pushing its

hands underneath it and pushing up.  Sitting cross-legged on the muddy ground, he

reached slowly for his head.  Ed leaned forward and stopped him, placing it back on

his body like a crown.



"That was exciting, huh!" Ed smild weakly.  Al nodded, smiling within also.  They

couldn't help it.  They fell into each other, embracing each other, knowing that their

lives were very dangerous and if they didn't have anything else, they still had each

other.  They knew they had to cherish that.  The two remembered themselves and turned

to Winry, who had come and essentially saved them.



"How did you know to look for us?"  Ed smiled.  Winry was dumb-struck for a moment,

trying to remember why she had come out here in the first place.  Rememberance lit her

face and she stood up.



"Oh yeah!  I wanted to know if you had any of the missing pieces.  I'm all done except

for those."  Winry stated.  Ed chuckled low in his throat.  Al did not understand what

could be amusing about that, unless, of course, it was the unlikliness of it all.

Suddenly, Al remembered something too and began feeling around in the muck.



"What are you doing?" Ed asked, still sitting, and still missing two limbs.



"The book!  Those people took it from me while we were laying there and then they

dropped it again.  I guess it wasnt what they thought it was!" Al said.



"What people?  Who did this to you?"  The blonde young lady stood, towering over the

crippled boy.  The powerful alchemist seemed much less ominous, much less intemidating

like this.  It almost made her want to cry.



"Don't worry about it." Ed looked into the opening of the dark hole at the level of

water just below the entrence and lamenting his lost appendages.  "They aren't people

you can catch.  They have to be destroyed ... and we don't have the power to do that

yet."  Ed sneared, droplets of water ran down his back, playing Plinko with the tiny

blonde hairs on his skin.



"I found it!" Al exclaimed, sounding like a cheerful child again.  He brushed the

sloppy mud from the cover, shaking it a little, letting it drip for a moment before

opening it.  "oh." he said, sounding down and disheartened again.



"What is it?"  Al handed the little book over to his brother, who was laying on his

side now, supporting his upper body a little bit with his good arm.  He flipped

carefully through the soaked pages, trying not to rip them.



"Can we use alchemy to fix it?" The big child asked innocently.

"Most of the ink was washed completely away.  It wouldn't work.  It's not even still

on the pages."  Edward slapped the book away from himself with a grunt.  "All of that

trouble for nothing."



"Well, at least they didn't get it.  That's the important thing." the younger Elric

comforted.  



"I guess you're right."  Ed scowled lazily off into the night as he conceeded his

brother's point.  He glanced again at the dark water.  "I wont be able to get my arm

and leg tonight.  We'll have to wait until we can get the military to drain the whole

place."



"All that work for nothing."  It was now Al's turn to complain.


"Yeah.  That was a lot of long days and nights sitting down there in the cold.  Now

all of the books have been destroyed."  As if to accentuate his point, a tattered

piece of paper floated into and out of the light near the door.  "Al, you're gonna

have to type up my report tonight."  He said flatly.



"You still want to type up a report even after all you've been through tonight?"  

Winry was shocked.  It just seemed kind of... uncharacteristic.



"This wasn't a military job," Ed began as Al picked him up to start the walk back to

the hotel, "it was an excuse."



"What?" She was surprised.  She didn't understand.



"There was no military interest here."  Al continued for his brother.  "Mustang gave

us this job so we could look through all of these alchemy books.  He was giving us

exclusive rights to clues and leads before anyone else had the opportunity to find

them.  The reports gave Lieutenant Colonol Mustang something to turn in to the Furer

so we could continue our personal quest, while appearing as if Ed were on assignment."

"So, how did those 'people' know about the books?" Winry dared to ask.



"I don't know.  I think there's something fishy at Central.  And as much as I hate to

say it, I don't think it's Mustang." Ed said, bobbing helplessly in his brother's

strong grasp.



~*-*~

"Everything was completely destroyed" Ed said, complaining, but masking it as light

conversation as Winry finished reattaching his leg.



"Are they mad at you?" The girl asked, not even looking from her work.

"They saw the reports.  There was nothing we could do.  Roy admitted that he was at

fault because he did not post guards there while we worked." Al sat at the table,

turning over the little machine Winry had put together in his hands, inspecting it

absently.



"He's taking responsability.  It wasn't his fault, though, and he knows it.  He didn't

post guards so we could work in peace.  Even if there were guards, they would have

been killed."  Ed rested his cheek on his left hand, flexing and rotating his right.



"Well, that'll do it!"  She said, whiping her forehead, leaving  a trail of grease on

her alabaster-white skin.  Edward chuckled.  Winry turned her head confused, causing

Al to laugh also.  Her brows dropped in annoyance.  "I'm going to go take a bath." she

grumbled.



She gathered her toiletries and placed a hand on the door-knob.  Before exiting to go

to the bathroom down the hall, she stopped.



"You guys do a lot of dangerous things.  I think it would be a good idea if I went

with you to your next stop.  You know, in case you need repairs or anything."  She

lowered her eyes.  She desperately wanted to be close to them... close to him.  She

had been so frightened.  She couldn't stand it if something went wrong.  She couldn't

continue living if she lost them... lost him.



"Yeah.  Maybe you're right..." Ed smiled from the chair.  He was reclining and looked

very comfortable and casual.



Winry beamed a genuine smile.  She pulled the door open and started out.

"Hey, Winry!"  Ed stopped her with his voice.  She paused and looked around the door

at him with an inquiring look about her face.  "Do you know what day it is today?"

Her eyes drifted upward, searching for the answer.  "Um... no.  I don't guess I do.  

Why?"



"Oh, no reason.  Enjoy your bath."  Ed grinned knowingly.  Confused and mildly

annoyed, she closed the door behind her.  Her foot steps were heard receding down the

hall.



"Okay Al.  Let's go."  Ed stood up and grabbed his red coat from the back of the chair

he was in.  The little room was bathed in a warm, bright light, exuding a completly

different feeling from yesterday's encounter.  The bare wood floors were bright and

warm.  the wooden furnature was dully sanded, but somehow inviting.  Ed pulled his

suitcase from under the green upholstered sofa.



"Go?  And leave Winry?  I thought we were taking her with us." Al held a finger to his

mouth in uncertainty.



"We can't take her with us.  If that dark woman grew so bold as to deal with us like

that, then I wouldn't doubt that Winry might become a target if only to get to us."  

The short man seemed much taller and more grown-up with logic like that.  "I can't

risk her life just because we all want to be near each other."  Ed's smile had

vanished and his brother bent to his will.  The young boy-in-armor walked quietly out

the door and down the hall the opposite direction of the bathroom.  Ed stayed behind

for a moment before following.



~*-*~



"Now that you guys aren't working on that stupid project any more, how about you buy

me lunch?"  Winry smiled as she walked through the door.  She looked around, fully

dressed, but still towel-drying her hair.  "Edward?  Alphonse?"  The room was quiet.  

She walked past the table toward the bedroom but stopped.  She turned her attention to

the surface, seeing a box there she hadn't noticed before.  The wood was dark and

polished with a reddened tint to it.  Underneath was a piece of paper with writing on

it.  She picked it up and something small and metalic fell from it onto the box.  She

didn't pay it any attention for the time being.  She read it aloud under her breath.



"Well, Happy Birthday, Winry.

This is your gift.  I thought you would have fun putting it together, but I placed it

in the box.  I didn't want to give away the surprise.  You'll find the key right here.

I'm sorry we can't take you with us and I'm sorry I led you to believe we would.  

Things are getting more dangerous right now and I can't take the chance of losing you.

Please understand.  Don't worry about us.  We'll be fine.

Mustang has paid for the room through tomorrow so you will have a place to stay.  

After that, please go back to Risembool.  Stay safe, and have a happy birthday.

Sincerely,
Edward Elric"



She didn't know whether to be happy or sad.  Tears streamed down her face.  Soon her

lip began to tremble, and before long she was a crying heap on the floor.  She wasn't

sure whether she was crying for happiness or sadness.  Perhaps it was both.  She

composed herself long enough to find the little key and insert it into the back of the

box.  She turned the key with a clicking sound, winding the spring within.  Nothing

happened.  She ran her hands over the smooth, shiney surface of the simple wooden box

before opening the top.  



A music box.



She smiled weakly as she watched the little figurine twirl to the music.  Upon closer

inspection she saw it was made up to look a little like herself, with blonde hair and

a frilly black skirt under a white tank top.  The figure was pirouetting, but it was

clear to see a tiny wrench in her upreached hand.  She chuckled.  It was a pathetic

sound - the mixture of sobbing and laughing.  When the music stopped she wound it up

and played it again.  She repeated this until the room had become dark and she looked

longingly at the door, longingly after Edward - the Full Metal Alchemist; the boy of

her heart.


~*-*~
-- The End.