Part 3

With Yakumo:

Yakumo was lying in a room on a soft white bed when she started to come to. Yakumo could barely keep her eyes open but she still looked around. She had never been here before and she started to wonder what happened after she passed out. Yakumo tried to move but she was still too weak. Yakumo sighed and then she heard something that sounded like yelling. Even thought the door was shut, she could hear them perfectly.

"I still don't understand why you want to take care of that thing." One voice yelled.

"Because Grandma she's hurt and needs help. And I'm not about to turn my back on her." The other voice yelled.

Yakumo reconnected this voice to the person she last heard right before she passed out. She continued to listen to them.

"And what if she attacks us after you help her."

"Well then I'm just going to have to take that chance huh?"

Then Yakumo heard footsteps coming upstairs and walk up to her door. The door opened and a young girl walked in. She had long blond hair and blue eyes. The girl looked at Yakumo and saw that she was awake.

The girl closed the door and walked over, "Good to see you awake. How are you feeling?"

Yakumo groaned and answered, "Very tired…and still sore."

"You should probably get some more sleep. You were pretty badly hurt. I had to remove a piece of a bullet from your left shoulder." The girl said smiling slightly.

Yakumo nodded weakly and said, "Yeah you're probably right but first can you tell me where I am?"

"You're in Resembool." The girl explained.

"Resembool?" Yakumo asked quietly.

The girl nodded and said, "I'm Winry Rockbell by the way. What's your name?"

"I'm Yakumo."

"Yakumo? Well Yakumo I'd better go so you can get some more sleep. We can talk more when you awake up again." Winry said heading for the door.

Yakumo smiled slightly and said, "Oh and Winry."

Winry looked back and Yakumo sighed, "Tell your grandma that I'm not going to hurt you guys."

Winry laughed nervously and said, "Oh you heard that. Ok I'll tell her."

With that Winry left and Yakumo sighed once more before falling asleep again. Winry went downstairs and went to the phone. She picked it up and dialed a number. The phone started to ring and she hoped someone would answer.

Back at Ed's Apartment:

"There is no sign of Yakumo anywhere in the city." Said Al as he and Sora walked in.

"That means the spell sent her somewhere else. But I don't get why she ran." Hotaku said with a sigh.

"Maybe she was afraid." Ed said.

Hotaku looked at him and asked, "What do you mean?"

"Think about it. Mist did something to her and it changed her. Maybe she thought that something would happen if you guys saw her like that." Al said sitting down.

"Right but we won't know until we find her. Darn it. If Mustang's troop didn't shoot her maybe we could have caught her." Ed said.

"So where do we—" Hotaku started but was cut off when the phone started to ring.

Ed sighed, stood up, and went over to the phone.

He picked it up and asked, "Hello?"

Someone answered him because he said, "Oh hey Winry. What's the matter?"

They watched him as he looked confused, "Yeah I know that name but how do you?"

The answer come and Ed looked surprised, "What? Are you serious?"

"No no that's great news Winry. Yeah we'll be on the train soon so we should get there by tomorrow. Alright and Thanks Winry." Ed said before he hung up the phone.

He turned to them and said, "Guys I know where Yakumo is."

Hotaku looked surprised and asked, "What? Where?"

"She's in Resembool with Winry."

"Where's Resembool?" Sora asked.

"It's only a train ride away from Central." Al explained.

"Yeah and if we get on the train now then we should be there by tomorrow." Ed explained.

"Then what are we waiting for?" Hotaku asked standing up.

They all went out of the apartment and went to catch the train to Resembool.

Back with Yakumo:

Yakumo woke up again feeling a lot better than before. Yakumo even had the strength to sit up and look around. She saw light coming in through a window and knew that it was morning. She sighed and pulled down the sleeve on her left shoulder. She saw that the wound she had gotten was bandaged up. She pulled the sleeve back up and then her stomach growled. She was pretty hungry but wasn't sure if she had the strength to stand up yet.

Then the door came and Winry walked in. Winry had a tray in her hands and she closed the door.

"Good you are awake. Here I brought you some food. I figured you'd be hungry." Winry said setting the tray in front of Yakumo.

Yakumo couldn't help but smile, "Thanks Winry."

Yakumo ate and felt a little better. After Winry said she needed to check the wound so Yakumo let do her job. As Winry was unwrapping the bandages, Yakumo had a questioned in her mind.

"Ummm Winry…I hope you don't mind me asking but…why did you help me?" Yakumo asked carefully.

Winry looked at her for a second and asked, "What do you mean?"

"Well look at me. It's clear I'm not human but you still want to help." Yakumo said confused.

Winry caught the confusion in her voice and smiled, "To me it doesn't matter if you're human or not. I helped you because I wanted to. And besides I've seen my fair share of weird."

"What do you mean?" Yakumo asked.

"Well being friends with Ed and Al is not that easy." Winry explained.

"What? Do you mean Edward Elric and his brother Al?" Yakumo asked.

Winry nodded and said, "Yeah I'm the reason Ed has an arm and a leg."

"Yeah he told us about that. It's too bad about what happen to them." Yakumo said sadly.

"So they told you huh?" Winry said as she rewrapped the wound.

Yakumo nodded and said, "Yeah they told us."

"There done. The wound looks like it's healing well. It should be healed soon." Winry explained.

"Thanks again Winry." Yakumo said.

"No problem." Winry said with a smile.

Winry told her that she had other things to do so she left. Yakumo didn't mind because she had a lot to think about. She was starting to wonder if her brother was even worried about. She won't be surprised if he wasn't. She was pretty sure her friends were except Ed and Al who barely knew her. But it was her brother that she was wondering about. Yakumo curled up into a ball and started to think.

On the Train:

"Ed are we there yet?" Hotaku asked.

Ed groaned and said, "No but we should be there soon. So just hold on for a little bit longer."

"Hey Ed did Winry tell you if Yakumo was ok or not?" Riku asked.

Ed jumped slightly and answered, "Darn it. I forget to ask her but she didn't tell me."

"I hope she's alright." Kairi said.

Hotaku looked out the window, "You and me both Kairi."

Two more hours passed before the train came to a stop.

"We're here." Ed said standing up.

Everyone got up and left the train. Ed and Al started to lead them through Resembool.

"Winry's house isn't too far away from here. We should get there soon." Al explained.

"Good." Hotaku said.

Ed looked at Hotaku and said, "You know you seem really worried about your sister."

"Well yeah Ed. I mean the last time I saw her, she had blood running down her arm so yeah I'm worried." Hotaku snapped.

"Calm down. I know you're worried. I mean I would be too if anything happened to Al. Your sister is probably trying to figure all this out so she's going to need you there." Ed said looking away.

Hotaku looked at Ed a little confused but then he smiled, "Yeah I'll make sure of that Ed."

Ed smiled also glad that Hotaku caught his point. Soon a house appeared a little bit head.

"There it is." Al said.

They picked up the pace a little bit and soon they got there. A dog was lying on the porch and looked up at them. The dog started to bark and ran over to them. Ed and Al greeted the dog and went to the door. But before they could knock, the door came open and Winry was standing there. Upstairs Yakumo heard the dog barking and stood up. She went to the window and looked around.

She quietly gasped when she saw her brother and her friends standing at the door. She watched as Winry let them inside. Yakumo went and sat back down on the bed.

"How did they know where I was?" Yakumo asked and then it came to her, "Winry!"

Yakumo sighed and shook her head. Downstairs everyone came inside and Winry closed the door.

"I guess you're Winry. I'm Hotaku Yakumo older brother. Is Yakumo ok?" Hotaku said.

Winry smiled, "Don't worry you sister is doing fine. The bullet wound she got is almost healed and she has most of her strength back."

"Well that's good to hear." Kairi said.

"Where is she Winry?" Al asked.

"She's upstairs in one of the rooms." Winry walked over to the stairs and shouted, "Hey Yakumo! Your brother and friends are here!"

Yakumo heard Winry's calls but didn't move. There was still too much to think about and to figure out.

"Huh? She must have fallen asleep." She heard Winry say.

"It's ok Winry. We'll just have to wait for her come down." Sora said.

Yakumo sighed again and laid back on the bed. She started to think again and sighed once again. Then her fox ear twitched and Yakumo looked around. The darkness appeared in the room and then Mist appeared.

"Oh I do not need this right now. What do you want Mist?" Yakumo said getting up quickly.

Mist laughed and looked at the door, "Well it looks like your brother is here….but I wonder how he will act when he sees you?"

Yakumo looked away and said, "Shut Up."

Mist laughed again and asked, "Is that all you can say?"

Mist waved her hand sending a huge gust of wind at Yakumo. Yakumo tried to brace herself but she was thrown against the wall. Seconds later another attack came and it rammed her right through the wall. Yakumo landed with a thud and sat up. Mist attacked again and Yakumo dodged. Mist did this a few more times pushing Yakumo back. Then a Heartless hit her in the back causing her to fall forwards.

Yakumo rolled out of the way of another attack and got kicked in the gut by Mist. Yakumo slowly got up as Mist walked towards her.

Mist pulled out an arrow, "You're done for Yakumo."

Mist charged at Yakumo and Yakumo can't get out of the way.

"LEAVE HER ALONE!" Hotaku yelled as he knocked Mist away.

"Brother?" Yakumo said quietly.

Hotaku smiled at her and turned back to Mist standing in front of Yakumo. Mist rubbed her jaw and stood up.

"Well Hotaku I didn't think you would come to save that thing." Mist said with a smile.

Hotaku smiled right back and said, "Why won't I?"

Mist looked surprised as did Yakumo.

Hotaku smiled, "I don't care what my sister looks like Mist. As long as she still has her heart than she's still my little sister. And I made a promise to protect my little sister."

Mist didn't like that answer and charged again. Yakumo quickly got up and helped Hotaku push Mist back. Hotaku's weapon changed into a lance and Yakumo went for her Fire Sword. That's when Yakumo saw that she didn't have it anymore.

(Author's Note: Hotaku's weapon is special because it can change into any weapon that he has been trained to use. Just thought I'd let you know.)

Yakumo growled lightly and looked at her claws. She thought maybe she could use these instead of her sword. Yakumo charged and slashed Mist right in the chest. Mist stumbled back in pain and Yakumo smiled. The smile faded when she looked at her claw. Instead of Mist's blood being red, it was pure black.

"Black Blood?" Yakumo asked.

"Yeah that's it. I'm almost there." Mist said smiling.

Yakumo gasped and said, "You're turning into a Heartless."

Mist nodded and said, "And the transformation is almost complete. Think about this Yakumo. If I'm this strong then think of how strong I'll be as a Heartless."

"You're not going to get that chance." Yakumo said charging again.

Mist disappeared before the attack hit and Yakumo looked around. Then they heard a scream from the house.

"Darn it!" Ed shouted as he rushed towards it.

"Winry!" Al shouted following Ed.

They all followed expect Hotaku. Hotaku stayed outside and Yakumo knew what to do. They got inside to see Mist had a hold on Winry with one arm and an arrow in the other hand. Mist held the arrow close to Winry's throat. Yakumo noticed that Ed looked really mad.

"You let her go!" Ed shouted but didn't make a move.

"No and if any of you move then she dies. Now put away your weapons." Mist said glaring at them.

Yakumo nodded at them and the Keyblades disappeared. She was hoping her brother would hurry as Ed made is arm sword disappear too.

"There our weapons are gone. Now let go of Winry." Yakumo said.

Mist smiled and said, "Yeah don't think so."

Mist started to back away and Yakumo hoped her brother would do it soon. Suddenly an arrow went right through Mist neck. Mist released her hold on Winry and fell to the ground. Winry went over to them and Ed made sure she was alright.

Yakumo sighed and said, "Nice shot Brother."

Hotaku jumped in from the window and sighed, "That was not an easy shot."

Ed glared, "You called that one pretty darn close didn't you?"

Yakumo sighed and Winry reasoned with Ed saying that they had no choice. Ed still didn't like it but he seemed to calm down a little. Then they heard movement and looked to see Mist starting to get up. She was covered with black blood and looked like she was barely holding on. Then she glared at them before disappearing into the darkness.

They let her go thinking that won't be the last time they saw her. The black blood that was on the floor disappeared as soon as Mist did. A little later, after Ed had to fix the giant hole in the wall, they were outside helping Yakumo train with her new form. Yakumo found out that she had increased speed, strength, and agility. They also found out that their magic was boosted thanks to the pocket watches that King Mickey gave them.

They would have to make sure to get Hotaku one also. It had been two hours since Mist disappeared and the gate hadn't appeared.

"Maybe that means we can leave when we want to." Riku said standing up.

"Do you have to go?" Al asked.

"We get that question a lot. And the answer is always yes." Sora said as he called for the Gummi Ship.

"But we'll come back. Most likely when we find a way to fix Yakumo." Kairi said.

"Can Yakumo even leave in that form?" Ed asked bored.

"Well we'll just have to see won't we Ed." Yakumo said smiling.

They said good bye and went from to meet up with the Gummi Ship. To Yakumo's relief she was allowed inside the ship. Once everyone was inside, the ship closed the door and took off for another world.

The End of 1st Visit