He sighed. He hated all of this. He hated that no one but Al understood him, though he loved his friend deeply. He hated that he always had to do things to please his father, the ruler of the sea. But, nothing was worse than getting chewed out by your father's right hand man.

"Edward Elric!" Fuery yelled. "Why did you swim off like that? Your father was really looking forward to that performance and you ruined it! You're making a mockery of the show business! You're putting my name to shame! You're being as selfish as a shellfish!" Ed rolled his large golden eyes at the crab. "I promised myself I would never ever sing again…" he mumbled, hugging his black and white tail to his chest. Fuery frowned and sighed. "Edward…I know you miss her, but it's been six years. You have a beautiful voice. Why can't you just sing this one time?" Ed growled and got right up into the black haired crabs face. "JUST SHUT UP!" he yelled. Fuery flinched. Ed backed away before turning around. "I will never sing for that man. I hate him!"

Al frowned and hugged Ed. "Ed, are you going to be okay?" he asked, staring at the prince. The older nodded. "Yeah, I'll be fine." He smiled. "Come on! Let's go see Havoc!" Ed suggested, taking the flounder's hand. Al smiled. "Okay!"

Havoc was a seagull that told Ed and Al everything they wanted to know. It was sad that the three had to keep their close friendship a secret. If Ed's father, King Hohenheim, found out that Ed was on the surface again it would be his head. So they all hung out in secrecy at the lighthouse. That was where Havoc lived.

Havoc was whistling, staring at the ocean through the telescope Ed had given him. Unknowingly to him, he was looking through the opposite end which made everything farther away. He blinked and smiled, seeing two blonde heads popping out of the water. "YO! SEAFOLK OFF THE PORT BOW! ED! AL! HOW YOU DOIN' KIDS?"

Ed and Al looked at each other and giggled. They were floating right in front of Havoc, but the seagull was yelling as if they were miles away. Ed put a pale hand on Havoc's tan and feathered one. He moved the telescope from his eye and smiled. Havoc stared and shook his head. "Boy! What a swimmer!"

The prince rolled his eyes playfully and smiled. "Havoc, listen! I found some more stuff and I think you'll like it!" he announced. Al put a red bag on the patch of land. Those two were always interested in human stuff, Ed more than Al. Havoc was their expert. He was the only one that they could come to.

Havoc pulled out a shining object with three sharp ends. To Ed it looked similar to his father's triton.

"What's that, Havoc?" Al asked, holding his chin in his hands. Havoc smiled. "It's a dinglehopper! Humans use these little babies…to straighten their hair out." He put the dinglehopper in his hair and twisted it around the dark blonde strands. "Just give it a twist here and a yank there and…" He pulled the object out of his hair, making it poof out. "Voila! You've got hair that makes you as pretty as an angel fish!"

Ed's hand went to his own long hair. Havoc smiled and handed him the shinny thing. "Here! Try it," he encouraged. Ed smiled sheepishly and took it. He took a hold of the ribbon, taking the braid out. He ran the dinglehopper through his hair and smiled. "Wow. This feels great!"

Havoc was going through the bag again. Ed handed the dinglehopper to Al. "Wow, Ed! It made your hair so shinning and straight!" The prince blushed and ran his hand through the hair that was now free of tangles. "Really?" he asked, twirling a blonde lock on his index finger. Just as Al started to nod, Havoc gasped and pulled out another object. It was curved and not shinny like the last. It was small at one end and gradually got bigger.

"I haven't seen one of these in years! This is wonderful!" Ed stared at the excited bird. "What is it?" Havoc crouched down in front of them. "It's a banded, bulbous snarfblat!" he said cheerfully, holding it out in front of their faces. Ed and Al turned to each other. "Ohhhh…" They turned back to Havoc. "Back when I was your age I used to listen to these little beauties all the time all over the world! They make wonderful music!"

Ed's happy face sank. He lowered into the water slightly and unconsciously touched the huge scar that connected his right arm to him body. Al noticed and frowned, both of them ignoring Havoc's happy rant about his days as an adventurer.

Ed sighed and looked up. His eyes grew wide. He grabbed Havoc's hand and pointed towards a large dot in the distance. "Havoc! What is that?"

"AH! It's this great, Riza?" a young man of twenty-one asked as he leaned over the rail of the ship. "The salty sea air! The wind blowing in your face!" His husky, Black Hayate, barked in agreement, standing next to his happy master. "This is the life!"

The blonde women who was Riza was hunched over the railing. She groaned and stood up. "Oh yes, Roy…It's delightful…" She gasped and got sick again. Roy just laughed at her. Once she gathered herself she went to Eric's side. "Well, happy birthday, Roy," she congratulated.

"Yeah, Roy! Happy birthday!" Roy's smile grew wider. "Why if it isn't Maes Hughes!" he exclaimed, hugging his friend, who in turn hugged him back. "I'm so happy you made it!" Maes smirked, pulling away. "Like I'm going to miss my best friend coming of age!" Roy chucked and rolled his onyx eyes. "Maes, even though I'm twenty-one now, I'm not drinking," he explained. His friend pouted, but smiled. "That's good. I don't want to someday find you drunk out of your mind while you lay in a gutter!" he admitted. Roy blinked and crossed him arms. "What a lovely picture, Maes." "I know. I know. I try."

Ed and Al stared. Ed was in awe, staring at Roy. "Wow…I've never seen a human this close before." He started to think. "It's weird…we look so much alike. The only difference is that we fins and they have feet. How people so similar to us be as bad as everyone says?" he asked, the question mostly to himself. Al merely shrugged, staring at all the dancing. Ed sighed happily, just looking at Roy as he talked to his friend. The prince of the sea had to admit, this human was very handsome.

Maes shook his head, looking at Roy's birthday present from the crew, which happened to be a statue of him. "Honestly…it scares the hell out of me," he muttered under his breath. Roy nodded slowly. "It creeps me out…I wish it would just disappear and I could go home."

The two laughed at that, not noticing the wind pick up. They were brought out of there laughing fit when they saw a flash. Lightening had hit one of the sails and had set it on fire. Roy and Maes set off to different parts of the ship to help the crew.

Ed and Al gasped, diving back into the water. They stared, horrified as the ship burned. Al turned and gulped, seeing Fuery. "Edward! If your father knew about this he would-!" He stopped in midsentence, staring at the ship, just like Ed. "…he….would…." He had nothing to say. He was speechless. It was a pity though that no one on land nor in the sea knew that this event would change everything they knew.