"I'm so hungry," Edward complained as he and Alphonse walked down the road. It was almost noon and they had been walking since morning along this deserted desert road. His stomach rumbled its complaint.

"Um, Ed?" Alphonse said, looking at something ahead of them.

"Don't worry," Ed said, talking to his stomach, "I'll get you something to eat, I promise."

"Ed?" Al said, tapping his brother lightly before pointing ahead of them.

"What?" he followed the finger to a form on the side of the road and Ed's eyes went wide. It was a body.

It was a girl. She had long black hair with blue highlights that was lying on the ground beneath her slim body. She was wearing a royal blue halter top that only covered her somewhat large chest and baggy black pants. She had a really good physique too, Ed noticed. He knelt next to her and brushed some strands of hair out of her face, getting a better look at her. She was alive, but very dehydrated.

"We need to get her out of this sun," Ed said, forgetting his hunger as he lifted her off the ground bridal-style. He thanked God that he had gotten taller over the past couple of years because it made her easier to carry. Her body was limp in his arms and he started walking, not waiting for a response from Alphonse.

His brother followed silently.

Her eyes squeezed tight and slowly opened, revealing sapphire orbs. She sat up slowly, putting a hand to her head.

"You're awake," Ed said from the side of her bed, "I'm glad. You've been sleeping for over a day." The girl stared at him, confused. "I was beginning to think you wouldn't wake up at all."

"Where am I?" she asked in a smooth melodic voice.

"You're at an inn," Ed explained, "My brother and I found you on the side of the road and brought you here. My name's Edward Elric, but you can call me Ed. What's your name?"

She looked at him in surprise, but regained her composure. "Where I come from, people do not have names," she explained, "But I am called 0:0:0 at the Academy." authors note-said like zero zero zero

He stared at her, dumbfounded, not knowing how to reply to that. But he somehow managed to regain his composure under her intense gaze. "Then why don't I give you a name," he said brightly.

"You mean that I can have a name?"

"Yea, sure. Why the hell not!" Ed went into deep thought, mumbling to himself. 0:0:0 watched him with an unwavering gaze. "I got it! It's perfect. And you won't even have to think about it when people talk to you because it's similar to your number."

"What is it?" she asked, stopping his ramblings.

Ed sweat-dropped and blushed a little before continuing. "Sorry 'bout that. I'm gonna call you Zero, as in the word, and Ze for short." He was beaming, quite proud of himself for giving her a name.

"Zero…" she rolled the word over her tongue as if she had never heard it before. Then she smiled, a smile that brightened her entire face and pleased Ed.

"You should do that more often," he said calmly and she looked at him, confused, "Smile, I mean. It really suits ya Ze."

She brightened again and smiled even bigger. But Ed's stomach decided to butt in and rumbled loudly, sending Zero laughing at Ed, which of course made him blush slightly. "It looks like you're hungry, Ed," Zero laughed, "Lets go get something to eat."

She was tall, Ed noticed. Almost as tall as his 6', but not quite. They walked out of the room and went downstairs to the dining room. Zero surveyed the area quickly, calculating moods and personality types in seconds. But something at the bar caught her eye. It was a suit of armor, and a large one at that. And Ed was heading right for it. Zero followed, curious.

"Oh, so you're awake?" a boy's voice exited the armor, surprising her slightly. "My name's Alphonse. I'm Ed's younger brother." He extended a friendly hand, though neither he nor Ed expected her to take it from the stunned look on her face. Alphonse lowered his head slightly and started dropping his hand.

But she caught it in a strong grasp, surprising him. He looked up to see her smiling at him sweetly. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Alphonse," she said lightly as her elegant, yet strong fingers released him so that she could take a seat between him and Ed. The brothers looked at each other before turning around to face front.

"What can I get y'all on this fine day?" the waitress asked sweetly. She was a short round woman in her mid thirties.

Zero stared at the woman. "I get to choose what I want to eat?" she asked, "You don't just give me something?"

The woman stared at her curiously, not knowing how to respond. Ed stepped in to save her. "My friend here's from outta town," he said, putting his arm on Zero's shoulder, "She'll have the special, and I'll have the same."

The waitress smiled and went back to the kitchen. Ed sighed in relief as he removed his hand from her shoulder and smiled at her. "I'm sure you'll like the food here, Ze. It's great."

Zero's face suddenly went blank. She then closed her eyes, eyebrow twitching slightly. She was grinding her teeth, trying to hold something back. Ed moved his gaze from her to a man that had appeared behind her. He had one hand on her stomach and the other on her inner thigh. He was obviously drunk.

"Hey sweetie," he said while he started rubbing her bare stomach. Ed felt his blood start to boil. "Why don't you and me go somewhere and have a little fun, eh?"

"I'm no prostitute," she stated coldly, trying to remain calm, "Now get your hands off me, before you get hurt."

"Aw, come on baby," he managed to say before hiccupping.

"I said no."

"I'll be sure to make it worth your while, baby," he whispered none too softly and started massaging his way up her leg. Ed was ready to punch the guy's lights out by now, but never got the chance to.

Zero snapped at his last gesture and the man was sent careening to the opposite side of the room. Zero was now standing, trying to slow her breathing down from the incredible anger she was feeling. "Fucking pervert," she muttered under her breath. "How dare he touch me like that."

He got up slowly and glared at Zero. "You fucking bitch!" he yelled, "How dare you hi-"

He froze when he saw the look in her eyes. It was so icy and cold that he started to shake. "Leave," she commanded. He turned and nearly fell running out of the inn. Zero sighed before turning around and sitting on her stool again. Ed stared at her, dumbfounded and somewhat scared of her fierceness. But he also found himself strangely attracted to her because of this fact.

She noticed him staring at her and looked over at him. "What? I don't like perverted men who think that just because I dress this way makes me some sort of whore for hire," she stated matter-of-factly.

He smiled at her. "I agree completely," he replied, "And I think every guy in this town is gonna think twice before going up to a beautiful girl again."

Zero blushed a little, not knowing what to say. She'd never been called beautiful before and didn't know how to respond to the compliment. But the arrival of the food saved her from her response because Ed was immediately scarfing it down, causing both Al and Zero to sweat-drop.

As she ate, Zero became lost in her thoughts. These are nice guys. They treat me like a normal human being. But I'm not. And I don't want them getting hurt because of my being what I am.

Alphonse noticed her demeanor, but said nothing, as though he knew she would probably leave if he asked.