Okay, here's the second Ling story that I promised, I hope this one is better then the first, because if you didn't like it, well…Then I'll keep with this one, just let me know, if not I'll keep them both, so blah!

Disclaimer: I don't own FMA or Ling…Or most of the story line considering it came from the show…So, sorry for all the stuff we read before but the next will hopefully suffice with more story line from me more than the show. Until then you'll just have to suffer…Enjoy! By the way this is renewed for the many errors that it once had :3 Hope its better XD

Chapter I: Unforgettable Faces

"Again with the same damn song Aimi…You've been singing it for hours now! Could you at least pick a new one?" Edward proclaimed in his usual annoyed tone. It was true, the dark haired sixteen year old girl had been singing the same tune for a couple of days now, but it was the only song she could think of since their last departure, and ever since it's been stuck to her brain like super glue.

"Fine, what else do you want me sing? You got any better melodies I can get stuck in my head, Mr. Know-It-All? I've been trying to think of a new one since we got on the train back in Central. So, please Eddie, Enlighten me." She was sarcastic and dancing her hands around like she was twirling a wand in her hand, taunting him with just the sound of that stupid name she seem to like calling him.

"Yeah, actually I got a song for you. It's called shut the hell up and think of another song, dork or I'm not paying for your food this time and you can find someone else other than Al to pay for it. Huh? How about that?" The dark haired girl rolled her eyes and crossed her arms with before wrapping her arms around his auto mail, purposely weighing him down so he was start to stumble little by little, "Hey! Quit it!"

"Aw…But Ed, I'm so hungry…Come on…?"

"Get off me and I'll think about it." He warned more than pondered it, if you know what I mean. Aimi could only replied with a frowning face, "No, you have to say you will."

"Why should I?"

"Because it's the law!"

"No it isn't!"

"It is in my book." She retorted only making Edward sigh with defeat, and exhaustion.

Oh, how she love to spin her made up logic through the minds of simpletons like Edward. He was so easy to annoy and in fact that's what she loved most about him was that he was such an easy target. And it was never a dull moment with him. "Damn it, I'll buy you anything you want if you just get off me! Little twerp!" Ed exclaimed even more annoyed now that it was taking too long, and it was getting obvious, now that he was wailing his arms around like a mad man to get himself free from Aimi super hug. Damn it! What is she attached to my hip?

"Hey, I'm older than you strawberry shortcake!" That was the last straw.

"SHORT CAAAAAAAAKE! WHY I OUGHTA-!" Edward didn't have time to finish his sentence before Alphonse called to get both of their attentions from the bickering, "Hey, guys? Uh…Come take a look at this…" The armor brother was puzzled by what he had found, and it led Edward only to assume one thing..."What is it Al? You find another stray cat or something?"

Doubt it. Wishful thinking, but doubt it. Aimi thought consciously letting go of her companion now that the curiosity had got the best of her and Edward. The two walked up to Al who was hunched over scanning the object before grabbing whatever it was into his hands. Aimi bend down next to him to only widen her eyes and tilt her head in puzzlement, "Uh, what…I-…" She sighed not sure on what to say, until the only word she could ask was, "Why?"

"He was just lying here…"

"What is it?" Ed hovered over the two, but he couldn't quite see what it was that was so amazing. In the end, Alphonse turned to his brother with a sweat drop falling from his armor. (How is that possible?- It's magic!)

"Uh, Brother?" Al lifted the hidden… Unconscious boy?

Yes, a boy. He looked just about their age too, and he didn't seem to be Amestrian from what they could tell. Nope, not even close. Even if he was born in the country itself, he look nothing like the many people that they have seen around their trips, from town to town. Aimi could feel something different from the mysterious boy too. He was…Well, she couldn't say. Not yet anyway, but the chi surrounding him seem to be, somewhat up-lifting and almost unreadable to the untrained eye. If anything this boy seemed to intrigue her, mostly to the fact that he too was Xingese. You couldn't tell if you looked at her, but she was indeed, half Ameristran, and half Xingese. Probably apart of one of the ancient clans that her mother had told her so much about. She had a feeling Ling was apart of one of those many clans. Yes, Aimi's mother was of the Xingese people, but left her duties of her clan to marry Aimi's father who had traveled to Xingese during his journey's back before Aimi was even born. The two nationalities were of two different worlds, Xingese and Amestrian, yet the fact that she was different, gave her new family to love her more. Never did it stop the Elric Brothers from loving her as their 'sister'. No sir, it didn't.

"Ah! Al what're you doing picking up hobos off the side of the street?" Aimi was shocked. Her jaw nearly dropped at the words, "Ed, How rude! How would you know if he was a hobo? What if he's been hurt?"

"He's laying on the side of the street. Asleep, looks like a hobo to me."

He turned his head away from the glare he could already sense coming from Aimi, little did he see her raise up and place both of her hands on her hips now turned away from Al who stared at them both with even more sweat drops falling from his armor.

"You know, that's very close minded of you." She remarked only getting the blonde to glare daggers at her, but as always it would never phase the one who started this with just a single song.

"Oh please, spare me the glances Mister. You deserve it for your comment."

Between the colossal mutterings between the two children, the sudden limp stranger began to mutter words of his own with the softest tone, "F-Food…" Were the first thing from his mouth. The three heard it, but they weren't sure if it really came from him or not; so just to make sure she wasn't hearing things, Aimi leaned towards the fatigued form.

"Excuse me? Was that you?" She spoke back just above a whisper, hoping the boy wasn't hurt, or worse, dying, but again the boy just said, "Food…Need…Nutrition…"

"Food. You're hungry?" The boy's stomach growled louder than the weak groan he gave as a response. It must've been days since he had eaten from the sound of it.

"Oh god, I think he's starving!" Aimi panicked, worry befalling her delicate features as she suddenly instructed Al to carry him to the nearest place they were planning to eat, & began to order with a hurry, making sure the boy wouldn't die on them. How long had it really been since the last time this boy ate?

He didn't seem to have baggage on him, so could he have merely used their kindness to get food?

All the questions that began to rise to Aimi's head slowly dissolved away once the boy regain consciousness in the chair they had positioned him in, all the while, Aimi was the one feeding him handfuls of food to get him to wake up. After 2 minutes, the strange boy could definitely eat with his own two hands. And boy, could he eat. He had such a huge appetite by how many plates were beginning to stack their way up to the sky, metaphorically speaking.

By the time Ed and Aimi had gotten their food, all Aimi could do was eat slowly while staring in awe at the boy's amazing appetite that never ended. As she continued to study his eating habits, she also began to observe his unique get up. It was delicately sewn with pattern of her mother's homeland, and yet, Aimi was soon blushing like mad when she came to the realization that her eyes were gaping at his well sculpted abs. He looked really strong for a kid his age, almost as if he trained. Just like Ed and Al.

Could it be possible he was a part of my mother's clan? It's not improbable. Right? I mean, he looks like he's done a lot of fighting in his days…So maybe…

Aimi wanted to know more. She needed to know more to become stronger. And the only way to do that was to learn from an already trained clan member. She had her reasons. And the reasons were right in front of her. Ed, and Al. And even her sister from another mother, Winry.

Well, Aimi's story is a complicated one, but then again, who's isn't?

"Oh thank you so very much for your hospitality! You're treat, right?" The boy asked putting up his hand with a toot pick in his mouth.

"Who said we were paying?"

"Edward…" Was all Al could say to pull him back, "What? It's not our fault he couldn't make it to the food stand in time for him to pass out."

"Sorry, he's been a little cranky today. Low sugar intake." Aimi attempted to smile and play it off to the boy like it was nothing, but when she made eye contact with Ed, he growled back at her, "Shut up!"

"Make me."

The black haired boy laughed, somewhat enjoying the entertainment from the two's little argument, "Oh my-, well, I'm grateful none the less." The boy seemed sweet and kind at first glance, and Aimi was easily taken in by it when she smiled to the stranger's response. After all, he wasn't mean or crude, so what was there to be aware of?

"So, exactly where did you come from? Are you from out of town?" Edward asked, curiously and even more suspicious of the squinty eyed character, "Something like that, I came from Xing." The Country's name rose to the surface of Aimi's mind when she first heard it. She was right all along about this boy being from her mother's country and smiled secretly to herself more, until…

"Really? So that's…" It took the boys a second to the theorize where Xing was located, and when the answer hit them their eyes bulged nearly out of their sockets, "That's all the way across the desert!" They screamed in unison, "Wait, you just got into Rush Valley after coming all that way? Did you at least prepare for the trip?" Aimi asked worriedly getting the dark headed boy to give a soft chuckle at her perplexed expression.

"Well of course, but unfortunately I needed to make a pit stop on my way into the desert though…You see, I'm trying to learn the way of your people's alchemy." He replied happily, getting Edward and Alphonse to raise their head more in interest to the new guy's search for knowledge.

Even Aimi was interested in why a boy from Xing would come all the way out to Amestris by himself to learn alchemy…

"Is that right? Well then you ran into the right people to learn alchemy!" Edward replied proudly pointing to himself.

"No kidding!" The boy seemed surprised by this and looked at the three with even more amusement, "Yeah, I'm Edward Elric, and this is my brother."

"Alphonse Elric, it's a pleasure to meet you, sir." The young boy happily shook the strangers hand, before the Xingese boy turned his welcoming smile upon Aimi who was smiling back, "Well, and who is this pretty miss here accompanying you?"

His manner of addressing her was nearly flattering. She felt like she was about to blush, but smiled shyly to hide the fact that he had made her do so, and shook his hand, "Aimi, Aimi Tzu. I've been a friend of their's since they were still in diapers."

"No you haven't!" Edward cried angrily getting an image of himself wearing the diapers she mentioned. He manage to pop that bubble the moment he got the chance before hearing her start to giggle, "Well, it's a pleasure…Ms. Tzu." He was polite enough to bow as he smiled at her & released her hand, "And my name is Ling Yao, at your service."

"Ling, huh? It's a nice name."

"Why thank you! My father gave it to me."

"Well, then he was a very wise man. It's a strong name…" Ling's smile widen at the comment, but seemed to catch Aimi's attention. Something no one else would really notice, but it was in his stare…His once squinted eyes, opened just enough for her to get a glimpse of his blue tinted iris's. They were truly unique and beautiful. Nothing like she would ever see on someone…Wait, scratch that, this was the second time she had ever seen someone with unique eyes. The other two were none other than the Elric brothers themselves, with their Golden hair, and matching eyes. "Oh stop, you're going to make me blush."

"Sorry." Ling raised his hand up, "No need for apologies. So, do you guys live here in Rush Valley or are you just visitors?"

"Huh? Oh, no, we're just visiting a friend that's working here to become an auto mail engineer... Edward's girlfriend." She love to always put in the last words to keep the short blonde on his toes, making him blush madly all the while as he began another round of screaming, "Shut up Aimi! God, you and your big mouth!"

"You sure do like to make him angry." Ling tittered cupping the side of his cheek with humorous smile, still entertained by the three, "Hee, hee, no…I just love giving him a hard time. I have to, it's my job. He's like a brother to me." Ling chuckled this time, seeming more interested in the woman by the second, which Aimi was oblivious to since she never was one to pay attention to things for very long.

"But, more to the point, we're actually traveling here from Central to get Ed's auto mail repaired and then we were thinking of heading out." It began to become clear to Aimi that maybe she shouldn't had said anything to him; not as if she had given him much information to begin with, but then again, she knew she had to stay heavy minded until she-, they could trust him. From what she could feel from him and see from his body language, he was a very nice person with a good sense of humor and very laid back.

But it seemed that he was too calm for her taste. Maybe miss paranoid needed to eat more and stop thinking. She was starting to slowly feel for ice cream as she came to think about it.

"Are you…By any chance alchemists?"

"Yeah! All three of us!" Edward replied looking to the two behind him, "Really…" Ling was amused, Aimi could secretly hear it in his voice. Was he just that surprised to see alchemists or was he wondering something deep within his mind? From what the girl could see and tell, he was. She was very good at observing her surroundings and never missed a beat when she actually paid attention to detail. It was then she suddenly felt something spiking with Chi behind her. A gust of wind below from behind her neck, causing a chill that forced her to look back behind her only to see a shadow creep away in the alley way just a couple of feet from where they were sitting. At first, she thought maybe it was a cat or a dog, but when she felt the strange pressure again, she turned her head back to the others with the thought of worry written all over her face.

Oh god…Either I'm going crazy or the Homunculi are back…No, it's not them…Even if Envy could dress up as a civilian I'd be able to sense him out of anyone here…So, what kind of chi's are these? There's…Two…Of them? Damn it…What should I do? Should I tell Ed?

"Do you mind if I ask a question?" Ling's voice suddenly brought Aimi back from her thoughts, and turned her attention to the boys, "Oh-, yeah! Sure." The foreign boy only gave a sly smile when he got the response he wanted, "Since you three are Alchemist, and know so much of you towns history…Would you happen to have any knowledge of, the philosopher stone?"

The question had everyone frozen in place. How would this guy know anything about the philosopher stone? "No." Edward was always the first to answer in these types of situations, "The philosopher stone isn't something that should be used for political gain. If you need it for your country I suggest you ask someone else to help you."

"Oh but you get me all wrong Edward Elric." With a snap of the boys fingers, another gust of wind swooped up behind Aimi, Edward, and Alphonse. The next thing they knew they were this strangers captive…It felt like a steel blade pressed against her throat by the way Aimi had gulped back her nerves, exhaling through her nose to keep herself in controll of her breathing, "What I want isn't political. What I want is…Immortality."

"You're a jerk…!" Aimi whined just before knocking her head back into a mysterious person with a mask, moving her head just in time for her split ends to be cut by the dagger. She jumped back flipping into the air and onto the ground with her hands up in defense.

Ling's eyes perked to the girl when she did that only more amused and intrigued more than anything to studying her well rounded technique. He knew what it was just by the way Aimi feet and arm length were relaxed, and the quickness of her movements were precise. Her entire stance, flawless. Xingese...

It was familiar to him off the bat, and left him smiling as this girl he knew as Aimi she began to fight the older body guard wearing a Xingese painted mask, "You're a sly one aren't you girl?" The old man asked perking Aimi's ears to hear the little smirk on the anonymous man's lips, "Sly? No…Just prepared." She replied with a giggle just before Alphonse suddenly stepped in front of her, now in his own stance, "Al?"

"Stay back Aimi, let me handle him."

"What? No way! He had a knife to my throat!"

"Please, just stay back!"

"Stay out of our fight boy!" Without a sound the man in the strange outfit advanced forward attempting to strike Al in the neck. Luckily he missed, and lucky for Alphonse, he had no body to hit, so in all honesty, maybe it was better that he fought this guy.

Considering, if the boy, Ling and his body guards were from Xing like she assumed before, she would've surely more or less been out numbered.

Speaking of Ling, Aimi could see the dark haired boy observing her with a smile and a soft chuckle, 6 feet away, "Guess he took your opponent. Is that alright?" Although the question may have sounded innocent, it only made her cock a brow at him with a light scoff, "I don't know, is it okay for a boy of your standards to act like a complete ass?"

"Whoa, what happen there? You were so sweet just a few seconds ago."

"Only because I thought you were nice, two face…" He didn't seemed to like being called a two face, but none the less Aimi didn't back down and only glared more at the boy, "How could you do that? We wanted to make sure you were alright, and you stab us in the back like that? That's so low. I should kick your butt for lying to my brothers and me like that!" Ling couldn't help but feel guilty. Not like he had no reason to in his mind, but seeing the saddened expression in the girl's blue eyes made him soften his smile into a more regrettable one, "If it makes you feel any better, I do feel a little bad deceiving you guys…I didn't mean any harm when I called for them. Truthfully, I was only trying to trick you guys into helping us…But, I can see that wasn't the case."

You know, if anyone else spewed that crap to her she wouldn't have believed it. But this boy looked back at her with such an apologetic face, she could only wonder if he was playing another trick.

In all honesty, her heart told her to believe him, but her mind fought back to stay on guard, which is what she did when she looked back to see the boys fighting skillfully against Ling's assistance…Or whatever they were to him.

"S-So-," Aimi started to cross her arms as she faced back to Ling who was observing the fight with the same contentment on his face. When she didn't finish her sentence, the boy looked to her with that common smile of his, "Yes? What is it?"

"Well, um…" She felt stupid. She felt like she couldn't talk, so she scooted closer to the boy hesitantly watching as he watched her back, which made her smile softly too as she leaned into him, "It's about the philosopher stone…" The words only made Ling lean his head closer to the girl's mouth, "I'm listening…"

"What would a boy like you…Want with immortality…I don't sense any evil coming from you. And from what I'm sensing...You're just not a bad person at all…"

"And how would you know that?" Aimi being smart as she was, already knew Ling had the answer to that, "Just like you already knew I could read chi." She laughed softly getting the boy to do the same as they both checked on their companions.

Edward had just pulled off the mask off his opponent, relieving none other than a woman with black hair and matching eyes trying to fight back after her profile had been blown, literally by Ed's auto mail hand.

Aimi could only nodded impressed, "Mm. Your friend's good." The compliment only made Ling chuckle as he laced his fingers with one another, "Oh, her name's Lan Fan. One of my personal and highly skilled body guards who help protect the Yao clan of my country."

"The Yao Clan…Why does that sound familiar..?" Ling could only chuckle at the girl's silly look she gave him before he began to have questions of his own, "So, Aimi…Are you from Xing…?" Aimi ceased her sudden pondering and looked back to the squinty eyed boy with a blink of her own eyes; he had this thoughtful look in his eyes one that already gave Aimi the hint that he knew all along, just by the give away outfit, her hair and eyes. It was unmistakable that she didn't fit into the picture of someone living in a place like rush alley, "Yeah, Half! My mother was of Xingese descent…But she came to Amestris with hopes in finding new skills to hone and found my father instead."

"Oh! Well, congratulations to her. That's a very rare find… A mixed Xingese. Your father is very lucky; so, what clan was your mother?" Aimi turned herself to him as she secretly pulled out two small knives from her long puffy sleeves, and itched her head slyly, "You know…I don't recall…It's been so long since someone's asked me…"

"Oh, well that's too bad, I was hoping to see what skills a half breed like you could show me."

"Maybe we should find out." She gritted her teeth at his devious smirk, and clenched them to only mimic his smile, "Do you really want to play this game? Sir?" She asked out respect of his title, and he chuckled proudly before removing a small tooth pick from his mouth. He jumped on the table, only to avoid the girl's first attack with the small knives in her hand.

Then, Ling ran towards her to grab her open hands that she left out for him to get, and let the motion of his body twirl her into the air. She came back down in a fast spin, and tried to high kick him on the way down, but it was too well thought out to pass by him.

She wasn't surprised by that and smiled at him before she twisted her body into a slow back flip, just to dart at the boy this time, using all the Chi she could muster to use the next move.

The whole time, Ling was into the fighting, but was becoming really impressed by the girl's techniques. Her movements reminded him of many different animals, like a type of martial arts he had yet put a name to in his head. She had the swiftness of the ape; the way they could move from tree to tree by their limbs. She could strike quick too, she had the speed of a cheetah, even the way she left her fingers spread out like claws were that of the way an animal would attack.

And it was flawless work.

Aimi's fighting moves were all just so fast, direct, and had a graceful touch to the way she moved, unlike his own fighting styles. It could've been mistaken for a dance if there was less life on the line, but to them, it was like poetry in motion. To him, Ling was becoming even deeper intrigued with the girl he fought.

As he fought to block and move with each attack, and avoided another one of her long sharpened daggers she decided to take out of nowhere, he took his opportunity to lift Aimi's hand with the blade in it over their heads, and twisted himself up in the air to trap her in a chest hold, "Ah…So the tables have turned."

With her own blade to her throat.

Aimi gulped back to the feel of the blade, and made no sudden movements to escape. She could hear Edward calling out to her to hang on; but it wouldn't have made a difference. At this rate, she could've been a goner. She would've been if it were the real enemy. What if he was? She couldn't even think straight right now…She thought she was really going to die.

She gulped again and closed her eyes when she felt him lean into her back to whisper into her ear, "I'm not going to kill you…" She sighed softly but opened her eyes and smiled nervously at him while he pulled away with a laugh and handed Aimi her daggers back….All of them.

She grabbed them quickly sheathe each one around her bosom, or in her leggings, which left Ling wondering if she had any other hidden daggers… Knowing this would happen, Aimi just patted his face with a big grin, "I wasn't expecting that from you."

With that they both began to walk back to the restaurant while the others were still fighting their battles. It was funny, because Edward was still tying to make his way over to Aimi, which if anything she was fine, yet the question was he?

"Aimi!" He screamed once only to be thrown off by the masked woman when she threw him to the ground. Too bad for him, because Aimi couldn't hear a thing. She was too busy enjoying the sights of the fight and listening to Ling and his journey over the desert to really mind the match that was going on. Of course, she also knew they would be just fine fighting those two, they were smart after all, "So, how long have you known them for?"

"Many years…Since we were kids, I guess, at one point I lived in Xing, but it was back when I was think…Six? Then my parents wanted to come here. Well, my dad felt homesick so we came back to Amestris."

"Sounds like you've done a lot of traveling in you time…"

"I have, but it's been fun. You know…There's just so much of the world to see."

"There is... How many places have you been to?"

The conversation must've gone on for a while, because by the time the fighting had stop the prince and the young girl had ordered two desserts. They wee laughing and giggling about small talk, and the boys… Actually, Edward was pissed. At least at Aimi for standing by and not doing anything, "WHAT THE HELL AIMI! YA COULD'A STEPPED IN ATANY TIME YOU WANTED!"

"It wasn't my challenge…You told me to stay out of it, and then the prince challenged me…We just finished our fight sooner…Since I lost…" She kind of grumbled thinking about it, but looked back at Ling with a point of her finger, squinting her eyes at him, "But, I will get my revenge on you good sir."

"Is that so, well then, just tell me the time and place."

"You got it."

"Wait! You two are all buddy-buddy now! Aimi, he just tried to kill us!"

"And it was just a test…He told me so himself."

"And you believed him! You idiot!"

"Shut up Ed! God, you're so mean! I've been talking to him for the last hour, and he seems perfectly fine to me…He-,…Just does jerky things. Like you!" In unison they both let out a, 'hey,' to get the girl giggling uncontrollably and take one last bite out of her ice cream, "Hey, where'd you get those?"

"I bought them."

"With what money!"

"The change in my pocket…." She shifted her eyes in guilt to get Edward to leave his mouth a gape, "I THOUGHT YOU DIDN'T HAVE ANY MONEY!" He was fuming.

"I lied." She looked up at him with no remorse and sucked the melted whip cream residue off her finger, moaning in delight to make Edward blush like mad, even Ling's nose bled a little from it, "Well, that's the last time I listen to you."

"You know I love you!" She batted her eyes at him, getting him to just walk away from the crazy girl he wish he didn't know sometimes…Nah, that would've been a lie…But she did get on his nerves…A lot! "Yeah, yeah…Shut up and let's get out of here already."

"You're not going anywhere!"

"Huh?" All of the kids looked up to the owners of all the stores that had been recently destroyed from all the fighting. Edward's face was even more in shock when he heard one of the owners say he had to pay for it, "What? No! It was squinty eyes over there!" He pointed to Ling who was already in the mist of departing ways in a hurry already, "Sorry I no speak-y English! Got go, bye-bye!"

"Bye-bye!" Being a little clueless, and happy to make a new friend, Aimi waved her good byes hoping to see him again, all the while still not noticing the two brothers that were taking their time trying to stop a crowd from demolishing them, and her, "Can you help me out here…AIMI!"

"Huh? Oh! Hee-hee, Sorry! Yeah, we should run…? Because…Ling kind of said he had made his own tab…"

"SO HE LIED TO YOU!"

"Look, I'm sorry! I didn't know! Honest!" She faked cried to him hoping he would ease off but instead he growled and waved a fist at her in a fit of calming his rage, "I'M GONNA KILL THAT GUY!" He announced wailing his arms dangerously in the air.

"Oh you guys…" Al just hunched over shaking his head in denial. He was hoping this wasn't really happening right now, but it didn't take long for the villagers to scream out in their own bitter rage, "Get them!"

"Oh crap!" Being the Alchemists' known around these parts, they were literally screwed until they could fix the mess; unfortunately they had no time for that, all they could do was run for their lives, hoping not to get pummeled before they could get back to where Winry was suppose to be staying, "This is all your fault Aimi!"

"What! Mine? But why!" She was panting hard already from running pretty fast, but it wasn't helping that her asthma catching up to her, "Because you let that bastard get away!"

"As you recall they ran off on their own!" She tried to clear that up before coughing up a lung. She attempted to breath in, but she only wheezed, and slowed down her pace. It was really a bad time to be having an attack at the moment, but from the looks of what Ed was seeing, it was becoming the inevitable. "Shit…" Edward cursed to himself just in time to catch her up and throw her over his shoulder all while they continued to jump up over the rubbles of buildings; or at least until it was clear to run straight for home, "Let me guess smart one, you left your inhaler at Garfield's?"

"Shut-…Up…" She was all she could strain.

"Come on Aimi please, don't talk, just keep remembering to breath." The younger brother spoke calmly getting the girl to sigh knowingly and did as she was told. Well, she tried…But it only sounded like it was getting worse by the minute, "This one's bad…I can hear it."

"Yeah, isn't this great? And right in the middle of trying to avoid get killed too, this is just my luck…"

"Brother!"

"I know, I know, let's go…!"

By the time the close was clear, the three amigos were able to get back to Mr. Garfield's auto shop just in time to get Aimi's inhaler.

Yet, what they weren't expecting when they got there was a familiar face to be drinking tea with Mr. Garfield himself… "Hello there…!" Ling happily chirped to the three with a cheerful smile on his face. There wasn't a moment the boy wasn't smiling and it crept Edward out on how much he did smiled, "WHAT THE HELL-, HOW DID YA FIND US!"

"It's a secret!"

"Hmph, a secret my ass, I'll deal with you in a minute…Mr. Garfield, could you give us hand? It's kind of urgent this time."

Ling didn't realize what was going on until he had noticed the small girl wheezing over his shoulder, seeing she was nearly pale and her eyes were shut tight from being unable to breath, which caused Ling to raise his brows in worry.

The feminine man next to him was already out of his seat and following the Elrics into the back room to assist the poor girl Aimi, "Oh, poor little thing…She had it rough today didn't she?"

"Heh, no, nothing like that, just a small attack." It was then the first worry came to the dark haired boy's mind, "Was it…From that crowd?" He really hoped not…

"No it wasn't from them you idiot…But it could've been if you hadn't an off! And, you should've paid that money you owe them!" Edward had grabbed the inhale off the coffee table and handed it to Aimi. She softly breathed it in, and gladly let the medicine take its effect. She could feel herself breath again, and even the cramp in her chest disappeared after a couple seconds which was the best pat of it. It was after that cramp vanished that the girl features really relaxed.

Everyone was beginning to feel more relieved when Aimi closed her eyes in softly, and breathed in without wheezing as much…It was still there but it was a lot more silent than before and to them, that was always a good sign, "Better?" The blonde asked with a concerned tone that made Aimi smile at him in confirmation and nodded when she fell back against the couch with a big sigh, more or less in exhaustion as well, "Good. So, then you know the rules…Don't strain-,"

"Myself. Yes, I get it Ed. Thank you…" She knew he meant well, and gave him a smile to make sure he wouldn't worry. Edward couldn't help it, and smiled back too as he ruffled the top of the girl's head in approval, "You're welcome. I'm gonna go get you some water, so stay put, and remember not hurt yourself." He teased her just one last time before standing up getting Aimi to shoo him off.

"Oh, just get out of here…" He left with a laugh, but noticed Ling about to walk in when he grabbed the Xingese by the collar, and literally dragged him out of the room, "Al? Would you like to follow me? Please?"

"U-Um, sure, do you think you'd be okay by yourself Aimi?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine." Suddenly there was a loud crash in the other room, that left Garfield and Al looking out at the door, "I should go check on them…" The armored boy shook his head while making Aimi giggle as he left, and with the two brothers not coming back, Mr. Garfield leaned in to the girl with an offer, "I don't think he's going to be back with that water any time soon."

"I know…" Aimi sighed disappointedly, "How about I make you some tea, huh?"

"That'd be nice. I don't want to have to put you out though."

"Oh honey it's just tea, no big-y! I'll be back in a jiff!"

"Okay thank you." Now, Aimi was alone. She sighed with a nuzzle of the pillow under her head, trying to breath softly as she closed her eyes. She felt so exhausted, and weak that she sometimes wished she didn't have the asthma attacks. As least not as much; it constantly slowed her down, and for that, she felt like a burden very now and again. If she screwed up just once it could get the boys in a lot of trouble…She could even be risking their lives! Damn it, I got to stop thinking like that! I won't let it slow me down…I won't! She repeatedly told herself that until she started to drift off, and after that, everything was just a blur to her.

Owe! Hey don't hit me…I thought we were friends…" Ling whined when he got a whack in the head from Edward's broken auto mail, "Who you callin' a friend! Your little body guards gave us a really hard time! And you fought Aimi with her condition, what the hell's wrong with you!"

"Now, now, let's not get too hasty…" Ling just laughed tying to calm the fiery blonde, "Let it go, I'll give them a good talking-to later if you'd like. The girl is called Lan Fan, and the old man is Fu, they're family has served mine for many generations so please, accept their regards." Edward didn't seem to buy it and only seemed curious, "Boy, for someone that shakes others for food, you must have a considerable status to have two attendants."

"Well, I am the emperor's son." They froze for a second, "The son…you mean…" Then they put the puzzle together, "You're a prince?" The boy busted up in laughter, only to have Ling give them both a blank look as they stifled their giggles, "Okay…Not the reaction I was expecting."

"We're Sorry. That was just so unexpected!" Al laughed, but then Ed spoke up, "Imagine the guy on the side of the road and freeloaded a meal from us was prince of a nation-," Suddenly a dagger was thrown at the blonde boy's head to stop his fits of laughter, "Ah! What was that!" Al and Ed looked to the window in a panic to see the ninja woman growling at them with a glare, "You do not disrespect Master Ling!"

"Uh…S-Sorry. I just thought it was funny-," Again Ed and Al began to titter but ceased when another knife went flying at his head getting the blonde to scream out even louder; Lan Fan was pretty good for missing the top of his head but surely cut a few strands of his hair to get the boy to quiet down, "Okay I'll stop."

"Will you guys keep it down, Aimi's trying to sleep." Garfield hushed them, and walked into the back room with a plate of tea in hand, " Oh right, sorry." With that, Ling chuckled lightly at the two and continued on with his story, "Well, my job as a prince isn't all that significant. The emperor has many sons…." He began to explain on about how Xing has up to fifty different clans, and how the daughter of each clan is to be wed to the emperor in line, and bare his children, "The current emperor has nineteen daughters…And twenty-four sons. I am the twelfth among them."

"Wow, forty three children!" Ed was amazed, "So, is there any competition to be his successor?"

"Indeed that is the issue we are facing in our county today. My father is in fairly poor health, and everyone is going all-out to try to kiss up to him while they still can in order to gain the throne." Ling could only smile with a chuckle, only knowing he was doing the same, "And I am no exception."

"So, you're going to use the methods of immortality to entice him?" Ed was nothing but imitated by this, and waited for the boy's answer hoping that it wasn't the case, but he was wrong, "You are correct! Now come on, tell me some of your information on the philosopher stone." Ed only threw his nose up in the air at the boy who smiled at him, "No way! The stone is not a tool for you to get ahead." When the rejection hit the prince's ears, he then wrapped his arms around Edward and squeezed him into a nuzzling embrace, "Awe, well then I'll just have to tag along until you tell me!"

"No, don't tag along!" Edward smacked him a couple of times with his auto mail until suddenly a certain friend of his hand retuned from getting more parts for the shop, "I'm back!" She called out, getting Ed to stop what he was doing and looked to the blonde girl who was staring at the broken auto mail he held in his hand, "Edward! WHAT THE HELL!"

"IT WASN'T ME!" It turned into an all out brawl when Winry started to beat the blonde boy to a pulp and left him barely attached to his soul when she was through with him.

Watching as nails and screws flew right by his head, Ling laughed a little at the scene and looked across the fiasco to notice a familiar face watching the same fight from the frame of the back room.

Aimi

She was smiling as she leaned against the door, with a fuzzy blue blanket wrapped around her shoulders. Ling could only assume that they had awakened the sleeping girl with all the commotion, and felt a tinge of guilt bottling up inside him; then again, maybe he didn't feel bad. Maybe he was glad that he got to see her again. He had found her to be a pretty decent person, and above all interesting.

When Aimi suddenly noticed the prince's stare, Ling's face lit up his face with big smile one that got her to do the same as she quietly waved to him. Of course he waved back, but then pondered if he should say hi to her properly; unfortunately before he could do so, "Master Ling…" His guide Fu had called for his presence. He froze not sure on what to say until Aimi had disappeared into the back apparently uninterested in the fight that was still pursuing, Maybe next time.

He didn't waste anytime in following his guardian to the roof of the shop, all of them admiring the sun set that hugged around the city, "My lord, there is no reason to be bowing your head to someone so beneath you."

Ling only laid his jaw into his hand that was perched up on his knee, enjoying the soft breeze that cooled the summer air; it was nice, "If bowing my head is it takes, then it's a small price to pay, right? The fate of fifty-thousand Yao Clan members are riding on this." Ling opened his eyes to the sun with a smirk, knowing that the thee Alchemist below, were just the people he needed to find. That was for sure, "So we can't be so fussy on appearances."

"So where are you planning on breaking your auto mail this time Ed?"

"Why do you assume I'm always going to break it?"

"Because you do." Aimi added, "THANK YOU! At least someone agrees with me!" The dark haired girl grin to her friend with a thumbs up before she got a bonk on the head from Edward, "Owe…You twat."

"Who you calling a twat!" He bonked her on the head a couple more times, "Owe…Winry your boyfriend's picking on me!"

"He's not my boyfriend, and Edward stop hitting Aimi like that."

"Fine…Baby." Alphonse just laughed off the awkwardness between the two children, and scratched Aimi's head to mellow her out, "Actually, we were thinking about heading out to Central." He mentioned.

"Really! Can I come! I want to go see how Mr. Hughes and Gracia are doing!" Winry exclaimed excitedly jumping up and down to the hope that they would say yes, "Yeah, why not?" Aimi agreed just as excited, and then Ling popped in from the window, "I can't wait to go to Central, too!" Which made Edward pop like a balloon, "I told you you're not coming with us!"

It was late in the evening when the town had fallen silent in to slumber. The night creatures sang their peaceful noises under the bright lit moon, all the while letting the day animals sleep in their protective surroundings. In the shop known as Garfield's, the people slept soundly, some snoring louder than others…Like Edward who was drooling on his pillow while Aimi watched him from the floor, rolling he eyes as she turned to view the ceiling. She was pouting from earlier when Edward told Ling and his body guards they had to sleep outside. It was utter disrespect on the blonde's behalf, but then again, it wasn't a surprises to Aimi, she knew this was going to happen, but tried all that she could to prevent it. Even when they were already kicked out, she continued to plead to him.

Please Ed! Please? I'll keep them in the back room! They can sleep on the floor!

No! They can get frost bite for all I care after today's events!

She slumped back with a frustrated sigh and glared at her brother while she stuck out her tongue at him. She then made a few funny faces at him to get Alphonse to laugh at her, "You know Aimi, one of these days he's going to catch you doing that."

"Ah, let him. I don't care."

"You still upset that he wouldn't let them stay?" She didn't say anything but shrugged her shoulders at him just before replying, "No…"

"Don't be Aimi. It's a nice night out, and they can handle themselves. They did cross the desert after all, what's one night in a safe city going to do them?" She shook he head knowing he was right, but she just shrugged her shoulders again and gave the amour a gloomy sigh, "I guess wanted to learn more about them that's all."

"You want to learn more about your heritage don't you?" She blushed a little and smiled down at her pillow with a look that was written all over her face, "Mm-hmm."

Don't you mean about Ling?" Alphonse joked giving the girl a tease before she threw her pillow at him, "You be quiet Al. Don't start on something you're brother will end up using against me."

"Oh yeah, I forgot about that. You know you two argue more than him and I do. If anything I wonder if you both are related."

"That's just mean. But you're right…" Aimi began to stare off at her hands and slowly fiddled with the tip of her nails, "We do fight a lot, huh?"

"I wouldn't call it fighting, I think that's just your guys' way of saying you care about one another."

"Yeah." She smiled at that, and when the room went silent, a small ticking came at the window near Alphonse. When they looked, it was Ling pointing down at the lock of the window with a pout-y face, "It's him." Al gave a odd 'hmm' before Aimi suddenly stared the glimpse of the prince down, "What should we do?"

"Open it."

"What?"

"Open it." Aimi wasn't afraid of Ed, and happily opened the window for Ling. When she did, the xingese prince just smiled at her, chuckling, "Hi!"

"Hi!"

"You sleeping?"

"No. Just talking with Al."

"Oh, well…Can I come in?"

"Sure!"

"Aimi!" Al screamed in a whisper trying to make sure not to wake the sleep beast, but the girl just hushed him gently and assisted in helping the prince through the window. When he was through his two assistance came in too, following Aimi into the back room. Alphonse followed as well to make sure they wouldn't make too much noise, all the while all he could wonder was how he got into this mess, "What're you doing? Brother's going to find out if they don't leave before he wakes up!"

"So let him. I'll take the blame, it's okay." She sweetly smiled at Al just before she went to find them all blankets in the back closet, "You know, if it was up to me you guys would be staying."

"I see. So you like us, yes?"

"More or less." She joked getting the boy to paste another smile on his face, "Hmm, you sure are sweet. But are you sure this won't be a problem for you?"

"Yeah, I know Ed can be scary sometimes, but he does mean well. Besides he won't hurt me." She lit a few candles around the room, and blew out the match after she was down and then grabbed her own blanket and plopped down on the floor in a crisscross style in front of the three Xingese people before her, "So, can I ask a question, sir?"

"Heh, you don't have to call me sir, you can call me Ling if you'd like." The boy hunched over leaning his cheek into his open palm as he admired the young girl before him, watching as she shyly pulled back from calling him so formally, "Oh right…Sorry, I guess since I never met a prince before. It's pretty cool since it's a part of my cultural background. Although, I have to admit I never knew it was such a complicated outline for our people." The boy frowned confused, "What'd you mean?"

"Well, you don't get to marry who ever you want?"

"No, unfortunately the women we choose have to be a clan member."

"Oh. I have another question."

"Yes?" She sure is full of questions all of a sudden, he thought amusingly, "Well you know how to fight in our people's style?"

"Well of course."

"Could…Could you show me?"

"What!" The man and woman on both sides of him exclaimed in shock, but Aimi wasn't finished, "My mom…" She stopped herself. She wanted to make sue she didn't say too much about herself that would cause any problems. If he clan was one of those nuisance, she could've been killed without even doing anything.

"She was one person that knew that techniques, no one else in Amestris I met knows it. She had to show me it in order for me to protect myself from...Well, from anyone. The only other training I have is with those the boys, and I feel like I'm still not good enough at what I can really do." The girl paused a stared into his eyes, pleading inside as she continued, "You know about my asthma, and I can't focus very much on my movements while I'm making sure I'm still breathing. It's-, not as easy as it looks. Trust me, after ten years of it, I wish I could control it. You don't have to train me out of pity, but since you're a prince, I know you train under the circumstances that you could be executed at any time. Which is a plus in my learning book. It's something new from a man that's good at what he lives for and by. Staying alive."

"Hmm. That is true. And your mother, she must've been a very strong woman to be able to train you, considering how good you already are. Although, it would be impossible to learn my techniques without getting killed yourself on accident." He could see her face had turned just as serious as his, showing him that she was very aware of the consequences, which also meant that she had been under those conditions a few times herself; and it showed in her eyes that she was unafraid of death as many would be by hearing how cool his words were.

That was enough to tell him that she was worth training after all, and so, with a cheeky grin, he squinted his eyes to the girl, "If you say so, I have to admit it's not going to be easy…Do you think you'll be able to keep up?"

"Like I said, the only thing that holds me back is my asthma. Just tell me when and where, and I'll waiting." She leaned in with a game face, which got the boy to do the same, until they pulled back with competitive smirks on their face. If there was anything that Ling and Aimi like was good competition, and considering the out come, they seemed to feel that off of one another, "Alright! I accept your challenge."

"Are you serious?" The one known as Fu wanted to make sure he heard his lord correctly, "Yes. I am. I want to see what she can do…A half Xingese descent has got to be something worth seeing."

"You act like I'm a unknown species Ling ,jeez." Aimi laughed. She couldn't believe this guy, and how intrigued he was just by her being mix. What if she was whole would it have mattered?

"But my lord, what if she's part of our Clan's enemy?"

"She's not." He merely said without looking to them.

"She's isn't?" Fu asked.

"No…I don't believe so. She's too cute to be an enemy."

Everyone fell over in embarrassment, "You shouldn't base me off of just that." Aimi had to add for her own sake, feeling a sweat drop on the side of her face.

"Yeah, you don't know what she can be like when she's angry." Alphonse also added in, getting Aimi to rubbed the back of her head as a big grin took her face, "Hee hee! Guilty!"

"Even so, if she was the enemy, wouldn't she have attempted to kill us by now? And, she would've had these two attack us on the spot, but that didn't occur either did it?" Ling added his own peace of mind, and looked to his attendants for approval. They groaned at first but agreed none the less but just looked away in disapproval afterwards. Although since the prince always had the last say so, and he smiled politely and shook Aimi's hand to the idea, "It's a deal. We start tomorrow when we go to Central. Okay?"

"Sure!"

"Oh, and make sure to be on your toes…"

"I'm always on my toes…" The girl retorted putting her hands to her hips, "Oh?"

"Yeah." Just then Alphonse shook his head, "Hold on, did you just invite Ling to go to Central after Ed just said no?"

"Yes."

"You are so rebellious!" He exclaimed, "Because Ed's no fun! He's just paranoid because of the-," Al literally swung himself over everyone to get to Aimi's mouth slapped his hands over it to muffle her next words, "Shh! Aimi…"

"What's wrong?" The prince was off about the armored boy acted but, none the less he took the excuse that Al presented him with, and decided to deal with the suspicion later. It was then they started to hear a certain blonde monster enter the room, "Hey Aimi, could you and Al keep it…DOWN! What the hell is he doing here!"

"Uh-oh maybe it's time we go!" The prince laugh with a goofiness as he jumped out of the window just in time before Edward could catch him, "Thanks for the stay Aimi."

Oh crap… Right when that flew out of his mouth, Edward's eyes twitched over at his sister with a dark shadow covering his face, and an eerie smile to go with it "Aimi…?" Was all he could make out through his clench as he looked back at the girl who was grinning innocently with her hands behind her head, "Um…I can explain…"

"THE HELL YOU CAN!"

"Owe…Edward!" She hated those beatings he'd give her for doing something he specifically told her not to do. But as much she could think about, she liked disobeying. Not only was it fun, he had learned a little more about her heritage, she made new friends, and also new instructor…Who would've thought huh? And all the while she ignored all of Ed's ranting, she continued to paint a small smile across her lips.

Chapter II :Halfway

Sorry guys for the all the errors. I was hoping I only had a few, but apparently it was ALL messed up! Hopefully this chapter 1 was easier to read lol. Oh, and for the major updates so far? Greed's story coming out soon, so is the third part of Missing Keeps my other Greed-Ling story going on. Starrk's won't be out for a little longer, but anyone want to throw me some ideas of what you want to happen a little, I'm all open for opinions! Until then guys, it was fun while it lasted :3