Disclaimer: I don't own Hagane no Renkinjutsushi or anything/anybody associated with the series; This includes the wonderful, wonderful characters of Ling and Ran Fan, who only appear in the manga.

Warning: IF you have not read up to the current chapter of Hagane no Renkinjutsushi (Fullmetal Alchemist), there is a chance that you may be spoiled by reading this short piece of fiction. You have been warned.

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The words he had written held so much meaning for her; so much, in fact, that it had brought her to tears.

Ran Fan sat up in the bed she had been occupying for the past few weeks. The bandages were still tight, the house was still dusty, and the air was still much too hot; however, as she cast her gaze upon the strip of cloth that remained smoothed upon her lap, she could think of nothing more than the soul who had written those words.

Young Master ...

Ran Fan felt like crying again. Young Master ... her mind spun with the recently-occuring events. After Al had told her what happened with him, Ran Fan had decided, with a newfound determination, that she would still serve him so long as he still remained living .. even if his body was being used by a monster.

Well ...

Ran Fan shook her head to clear herself of those horrendous thoughts. No. She couldn't honestly convince herself that he was truly overtaken by a monster. Al was telling the truth about 'Greed,' she was sure ... she had found over the short time she had known him that Al was a terrible liar. Even though she knew that what he was saying was true, however, she had never had any contact with this homunculus. If he was so willing to accept him, then he couldn't be all too bad.

... Or could he?

With a sigh, Ran Fan tried to tear her gaze away from the words written upon the strip of cloth that lay smoothed out upon her lap, but found that she was unable to; the words, by this time, had been engraved into her mind as something nearly impossible to forget ... however, she found that she couldn't stop reading those few words. So she kept reading, reading, reading, over, and over, and over until she felt she could try to look away once more, resulting in one more failed try.

"I have found the Philosopher's Stone." Ran Fan read the words once more, written in quick, messy Xingian characters. The neutral line of her mouth curved downwards into a frown; a frown with the purpose of keeping the tears inside of her that she refused to let out.

She had never questioned him before ... but now, the circumstances were different.

"I have found the Philosopher's Stone."

"But at what cost, Young Master?" She asked aloud, the only answer she received being that of the tick tock of the old grandfather clock. Ran Fan placed a hand on the bandages that once covered her shoulder, allowing herself to close her eyes and bow her head ever-so-slightly to remember the feel of his gentle, careful hands skillfully binding her bleeding shoulder with the jacket she was so unworthy of keeping with her. Not a sound was emitted from her as she remained in this state for the next several moments.

The only sound heard was the ticking of the clock, counting down the time she wasted waiting for a replacement of something she had willingly lost for him.