1. Day 1&2

I was stupid.

I didn't think it through. I didn't think that I could possibly die –and I haven't even arrived at my actual destination yet! Only an hour ago I had left Furuba, to make sure Minbou knew where I was heading.

"Are you sure? You don't want anyone to know where you're going?" Shigure asked, thoroughly concerned.

"Yeah, it'll be easier this way. I hate goodbyes. If worse comes to worst, than tell them where I am. But any time other than that…" I trailed off, letting him fill in the blanks on his own.

"I hope we see you soon."

I nodded.

"See ya." With the final word of parting, I snapped my wings open and pictured Minbou. I was pulled out of one world and into another quickly, and without much delay.

Once I had landed, I felt slightly queasy, as per usual. Min doesn't get the travelling sickness quite as often as I did, and I envied her for that; it's hard to move quickly when your stomach is doing backflips.

From there, I didn't actually get to talk to Min. Turns out, I arrived in the middle of the night, and although a human with wings had just landed in her room, she continued to sleep peacefully.

"Yo," I said softly, so as not to wake her but to hope that my voice reached her in her dreams. "I'll be gone for a while. Put the puzzle together. If you can't figure it out, and worse comes to worst, talk to Shigure. He'll help."

I went about placing clues in the most unlikely places, places she'll be sure to look. Tucked into the mirror frame, in the book she was currently reading, etc. I even went so far as to turn on the computer and type up an e-mail to send to our shared account. If she thinks it through, she'll probably check all the places that I placed clues. And hopefully, if I need any help, she'll figure it out in time.

A strategist's strongest point is to think things through and predict the future. Not to mention that Min is sort of psychic. I had no doubt in my mind for her.

"Let's go play tag." I whispered, and then ran into the middle of the woods behind Min's house (the same one she had come from when she first arrived in Furuba). I was certain I didn't disturb anyone as I switched dimensions.

The pain ripped through my shoulder. The black arms were pulling me, the gate children clinging on tight. I didn't predict far enough into the future to remember the gate.

They wanted my arm. My right one. That would cause some difficulties once I got to Amestris, but I'm sure I could get suited up with some Auto-mail. Deftly, I twisted so that the grip the gate children had on my arm ripped it right off.

I screamed.

It felt like my arm was still there, just completely numb. Of course, my brain was still sending signals to the missing limb, so that was why it felt like it was still there.

This was the price I had to pay to get to where Ed and Al are.

The hands lifted me once again, pulling me farther into the gate. Images flashed before my eyes, and remembering what Ed had said about the gate holding the Truth, I attempted to remember as many images as possible.

The saddest part was that over half the pictures I saw were about death. One was about life; it was a small child, barely older than five.

My left hand hovered over the gap where my arm was once connected to the rest of me. It hurt like hell, and now I knew exactly what Ed had felt. But he was younger, more delicate, and still growing. I, being 16, probably wouldn't get any taller.

I painfully pulled off my coat. I had been smart enough to wear jeans, and common clothes –a black t-shirt, as well as a brown, thigh-length coat with buttons instead of a zipper.

Carefully, I placed the coat over my right shoulder, so that I wouldn't have to look at the wound, and so no one would scream at my pitiful form.

I swayed, feeling light-headed from lack of blood. I was just grateful the gate didn't take any more than one limb, or else I wouldn't be able to do anything. Like on Earth, my blindness had disappeared. I suspected that each world I travel to, I would have some sort of natural disability. Last time, I got cut on my eyes and was rendered blind. This time, the gate, something unique only to this dimension, pulled away my most useful arm.

Still, I couldn't help myself from laughing at my new discovery. This could come in handy; if I ever lost my voice or hearing, I had learned sign-language from Hannah. I could prepare for these kind of misgivings before they happen.

Voices snapped me out of my stupor, and I wiped the stupid grin I had off my face. They sounded familiar, and were getting closer. Closing my eyes, I could figure out they were in their late teens at most –they had both passed puberty.

"I'm pretty sure it's around here somewhere…" The older one was saying.

"We're lost! I told you we shouldn't have gone so far out!" The younger shouted. I opened my eyes once the voices sounded like they were close enough.

Wincing from my coat rubbing the wound, I walked through bushes and between trees of the forest until I found them.

"Any possibility of getting to civilization within the next half hour?" I asked, startling both blondes. They spun around to face me, arms up as if preparing for a fight.

I raised my left hand, motioning to them that I was empty-handed. (although, they couldn't see if I even had a right arm, so they probably thought I had a gun or something).

"Whoa there, a little jumpy?"

Slowly, they put down their defences. And then I recognized them.

Ed and Al stood before me, both in old German-type clothing.

"Oh no…" I whispered to myself. Was I too late? Had all the action passed, like how I ended up at the end of the anime in Furuba? I was sort of expecting the man I was searching for to be in Amestris, not Germany.

"Is something wrong, miss?" Oh crap, I drifted off again.

"No, no, I'm fine. Well, I kind of really have to find civilization before I fall dead, so…" I replied.

"I found the town! Bro, Munich was right in front of us the whole time!" Al called through the bushes. I hadn't even noticed he had left.

"Food! People! Clean bandages!" I cried, heading for the bushes. Ed followed, despite being a little suspicious at the last thing I called out. Who would be grateful for clean bandages?

"Miss, are you hurt?" He asked as we arrived at the gates to the town.

"Stop calling me Miss, it makes me feel old! And besides, I bet I'm younger than you!" I said, still pondering whether I should let them know that I'm missing an arm. "Uh, you've been here before, right?" I asked, playing out that I don't know them. "Could you show me to the nearest hospital?"

"Uh…" Ed hesitated, still suspicious.

"Of course! Follow me!" Al again was ahead of us. I matched my pace with the younger brother, brooding.

Ed looked about 19. So his brother would be…15? Maybe 16? I couldn't remember. I don't even know what year it was –is—either.

In the doctor's office, after showing the nurse I was missing an arm, I was immediately put into an emergency room. Al forced his crabby brother to stay, for some reason, but I guess he was worried about me. They did whisk me away pretty fast.

In the emergency room, they treated me first, putting me on pain killers and bandaging my arm before asking any questions. I played the missing memory card, just like Min and I did when we came back from Fruits Basket.

After a while, the room was empty. If I needed help, I would just have to ring a little bell and a nurse would come running, etc. I fell asleep and awoke disoriented. Once I gained ground, remembering why I was here, I asked a nurse if the two blonde brothers were still in the waiting room.

"They are, dear." She told me. "They keep asking what's wrong with you; do you want to let them in?" I nodded, and soon Ed and Al were at my bedside.

"Okay, start explaining." Ed demanded. "Why were you in the forest?"

"I got lost." I replied casually, and without hesitation.

Ed got a little angrier. "What happened to your arm?"

"It got torn off."

"Where do you live?"

"Canada."

"Do I know you?"

"You do now." (Truth be told, I was a little thrown off by the last question).

Ed almost popped a vein, being so mad at my quick snappish answers. I leaned back onto a multitude of fluffy feather pillows, and muttered to myself. "Once I get out of here, I'm going to have to find a place to stay…" I perked up, and dug my hand into my jeans pocket (they didn't make me change my jeans, just my shirt, because they had to only bandage my arm). Finding it empty, I slouched down. "I'm also gonna have to get some money, then start the search…I only got one week before Min comes, so I gotta make sure the danger's all clear…"

Ed and Al just looked at me as I counted off each point with my finger.

I hung my head, saying, "Gah, I've got a lot to do in one week…Maybe could just sleep here in the hospital…Ah, but my arm…" I thought of how Ed had the metal arm in both worlds, as well as his leg. "Oy, you," I said, looking to the aforementioned teen. "D'you know where I could get some sort of prosthetic for free?"

"Uh, I'm not sure about free, but my father used to make a whole bunch. I've sort of taken up his business, after…" He trailed off, most likely not wanting to mention the war of the worlds, and Hoenheim's death.

"He died?" I asked, making sure they didn't suspect me of knowing about the war.

"Yeah…we were both pretty upset about it. It was a year ago, though, so we've managed to get by." Al answered for his brother. That also explains the time difference thing. I was still a little iffy about their ages, because I never went through the trouble to calculate them. But at least I could be certain that I missed all the action.

Honestly, I was a little glad I wasn't stuck in the middle of the bloodbath.

"Okay, let's go!" I said cheerily, hopping off the bed and covering my right shoulder with my bloody brown coat. I was missing the right sleeve for it now…I sighed, looking at it.

"Here," Al took the brown coat away, replacing it with the legendary red one.

I looked at it. "It seems familiar," I said softly, just enough for both boys to hear.

Setting the thought process.

We walked out of the hospital with no problems, and began to head down the street. I then remembered that I still didn't 'know' them as of this moment, in this world. "Say, I still don't know your names."

"I'm Alphonse, you can call me Al. This is Ed, my older brother."

"Short for Edward, I presume."

"Correct!" Al smiled. I returned it, and then looked back down at the ground. Ed had asked, 'do I know you?' My guess is that he had seen me in the gate, while he was switching worlds for the last time. But for now, I'll just leave it. I decided to drop small hints that I know more than I let on. Like saying things that the brothers have heard or said themselves in the past.

It's a start, at any rate.

"Here we are." Ed announced proudly. We were in front of an auto-mechanic's shop. Through the window, parts for the metal limbs were placed in boxes on the shelves, and legs and arms stuck up from boxes lining the floor.

We went into the back of the shop, which was actually set up like a doctor's office. No doubt Ed and Al had gotten much better in attaching and building the auto-mail-like prosthetics, and I admit, I trusted them.

Ed shifted from foot to foot, seemingly uncomfortable with what he was about to say. "Y-you're going to have to take off your shirt for the procedure…This is our co-worker's day off, do you want to wait until tomorrow before we get started?"

He visually deflated when I said I'd wait, and all he did was measure my left arm before saying that I could have the free room upstairs, the first on the left. I thanked the boys, then went to explore the town.

I was being followed.

Tensing, I quickly lost myself in a crowd. I thanked my short height, and ducked behind and weaved through people, until I felt the presence weaken and fade. Finally, I loosened up as I came to the front of the crowd; they had been gathering around a performance.

Clutching the red coat to keep it on my arm, I listened to the drum beats for a minute.

I ended up leaving the crowd once again, only to be pulled by my arm into an alley-way and pinned up against a wall by some ugly, drunken man.

I wish I had gotten Yuki to teach me martial arts, or some form of fighting before I went off. I remembered the few moves I knew, which happened to consist of two; a fist to the nose to break it, and a kick where it hurts.

I raised my left hand poised to snap my fingers. Just before I did, however, I noticed a blonde person in the entrance of the alley, panting.

I snapped my fingers, distracting and startling him for a moment. The look on my face had convinced him that it would do something dangerous, and so when the clicking sound came, he loosened his grip on my working shoulder.

"As if something would happen." I grinned to the man as I punched him in the stomach. Ed, the person who had arrived earlier, hit him over the head with his right arm, knocking him out. "At least, not in this world," I said to myself as I thanked Ed, and we headed back to his place.

"You're supposed to be careful in the streets alone. Not everyone is nice, you should know."

"Everyone's nice where I come from." I mumbled, heading up to my room for some serious brooding.

Flying through a gate, loosing an arm, almost getting raped and beating the crap out of the rapist with my new friend…all in a day's work.

I closed my eyes with a smile, expecting good things tomorrow. My arm…