"They've failed me, every last one of them," grumbled Dante, storming about the ballroom. "They couldn't handle this simple task. Bring me one tiny little stone. But that was just too much to ask." She stopped and sighed. "All of the homunculi are gone now, except for you."

Wrath stood from kneeling. The child wrinkled his nose. "But Dante, what about-"

"The new girl, yes. The two of you are the only ones I haven't disposed of yet. That is, until you fail me as well."

"No, Dante, I promise! We'll find you a Philosopher's Stone before you know it!"

Dante studied the little boy as his eyes begged.

"Very well. I suppose you can try."

Wrath beamed. "So, where is she?"

Dante frowned. "Yes. PYRO!" she called.

Only moments later, I heard Lady Dante summon me, so I snapped my book shut and rushed to Wrath's side in the ballroom.

I was the youngest of the homunculi there USED to be. I've been around for about a year now, but it took me a while to grow like the rest of us.

A homunculus is a human-like creature (once they grow, that is) that is born when an alchemist is stupid enough to try to transmute someone; bring them back from the dead. I was supposed to be some little girl…

Noel Hawthorne, that was it.

"Pyro, we're goin' on a mission!" piped Wrath next to me.

I frowned, waiting for Lady Dante's response. She stared at me, her face stone.

"I'm sure that you already understand?" she inquired me. "And you will not be failing me, will you?"

"I will find your Philosopher's Stone yet, Lady Dante. I promise you that." I assured her, standing tall.

She didn't smile. "Am I crazy? I'm sending two children on a mission that several adults failed. Get going."

Wrath and I bowed and left. Dante stared at her hand and muttered, "I'm running out of time…"

Lady Dante took care of all the homunculi. She fed us the Philosopher's Stones so that we could grow, leaving none for herself. I'd never known why she needs them so much, but I would never question her. She'd been so good to us. I just assumed that the stones were really for us.

"Pyro, Dante told me to-" Wrath started.

"Don't you have any respect? You could at least call her 'Lady,' or 'Miss.'" I scolded.

"Yeah? Well, she put ME in charge of you. So maybe YOU should call me Mr. Wrath!" he snickered.

I shook my head. "I'm never letting you be in charge of me, Squirt. Not even by Miss Dante's rules."

Wrath rolled his eyes. "So, where are we goin'?"

I came to a halt. Wrath finally turned and stared at me.

"I don't know…Wow…" I mumbled. "I haven't been outside this forest since Miss Dante first brought me here, but I of course don't remember that."

We thought in silence.

"Wrath, you've been out there before; do you know where Obaval is?" I asked curiously.

"Uhh, I think so."

We had our destination.

***

I stared out the window of the train as we headed for Obaval. By and by passed several towns, some mountains, a forest or two. It was all so new, so unfamiliar…and yet, so familiar. But I knew I could never have seen this before. As more things passed, more people passed, I began to feel almost frustrated; it was as if I had to see these things now, or I could never see them again…

No…I'd seen them through Noel's eyes, never mine.

"Wrath…have you ever wished you could be the person you were meant to be in your transmutation?" I mumbled.

"You mean, be human?" Wrath scoffed. "No way. Humans are weak losers."

"Wrath!" I jumped. "Maybe you forgot that Lady Dante herself is a human!"

"No, I didn't mean her!" he insisted. I huffed and returned my attention to the world.

"But they can do so much…so much that we can't," I sighed. "They can eat, more than just disgusting red rocks. They grow up, and they can have children. Most of my interest, they can become alchemists. No amount of hard work and time will give us that."

"Yeah, but they die," pointed out Wrath. "They get sick. And, if you cut off their heads just one time, that's it. They die. It won't just grow back like ours will. Come on, you know that we have it way better than them."

I frowned. "But, Wrath…what's so great about living forever?"

We fell silent.

***

"Well, we're here," yawned Wrath, taking a step into town. I exited the train and gazed up at all the gigantic buildings. It was the most amazing sight yet.

We wandered about, but when I saw a big, open space of gravel, right in the middle of Obaval, I stopped. Somehow, I felt my body grow sweaty. Weak. I knew this place. I knew this place! Thoughts from nowhere flooded my mind. The building that used to be here was…

"Pyro, watch it!" Wrath suddenly snapped. I saw him gaping at my hand. Tiny drops of lava were falling from my fingertips. I yelped and stomped out the small puddle, which steamed and evaporated beneath my foot. I exhaled.

"What happened?" bleated Wrath.

"I…I…" He grabbed my hand and led me away from there, on down the bustling sidewalk.

"We shouldn't have come here," I told him.

"You wanted to!" he groaned back.

"We have to leave. I've gotta get out of here…"

"Just tell me what happened back there, Pyro!"

My head was swirling. I could barely see. I could barely hear.

"Don't call me that."

"What?"

"My name is Noel!"

I fell.

***

"Pyro! Wake up. Man…" I heard Wrath call out to me. My eyes peeled open. I wasn't familiar with the room, but I was very familiar with his nose in my face. He told me that I had fainted, so he brought me to a hotel.

"A hotel?" I chuckled, thinking about how stupid we must have looked as he brought me in here.

"You…told me to call you Noel?" Wrath questioned after a brief silence. I sat up.

"I…did. But that wasn't me, it-"

"Noel's the girl that you were supposed to be," said Wrath, cutting off my rambling. "Maybe you…kinda were her for a second there. But why?"

"Don't be stupid, Wrath. I'm not Noel. I never will be her." I grunted.

"That's not what Dante said."

"Lady Dante," my brain filled in, but he had piqued my curiosity. "And what did she say?"

"She told me that the Philosopher's Stone can turn us into humans. Maybe that's why she sent us out to find one."

I bugged my eyes out. "Maybe…! We can be humans, Wrath! Can you imagine it?"

"I told you, I don't wanna be human. Humans suck, mostly."

I ignored him. I thought of Noel. Oh, how I envied her…

***

I left Wrath to do whatever and went to explore the city. "This is where Noel lived," I muttered in awe. "She was so lucky."

I passed by the open lot we had seen before. "Noel lived right there…That's where the apartment was."

"Excuse me, Miss-" I felt a tap on my shoulder, followed by a gentle boy's voice. I jumped. Next to me stood two boys; one with short, brown hair, and one standing behind him, with a long, blonde ponytail. Suddenly, they gaped at me.

"Noel?!" the brunette bleated. "Is that really you? N-Noel Hawthorne?!"

"Geez, it IS her!" chimed in the blonde. I stared between the two unfamiliar boys.

"It…is you, right?" the brunette repeated sheepishly.

"Who are you?" I asked.

"Well, it's me, Alphonse Elric! You…remember?" the brunette told me.

"And I'm his older brother, Edward."

"So…you ARE Noel, aren't you?"

I hesitated. I knew I recognized these boys. They were very good friends with the real Noel. I knew I'd figure it out sooner or later, so I played along for now.

"Y-yeah! Alphonse, Edward! I missed you guys!" I cried, hugging them both tightly, starting what I knew would be a chain of lies.

"I can't believe it, Noel!" gasped Al. "I almost didn't recognize you! Your hair got really dark!" They chuckled.

I tried to giggle a bit. "Yeah, well…"

"So, how have you been?" asked Al.

"Uh, good! Good…you guys?' I stammered.

"You okay?" Ed was frowning.

"Huh? NO, I mean, yeah, I-I just-"

"Well, then, come on! Show us around a bit! This city's so huge. Al and I got lost looking for you." cheered Ed.

I blinked. "You guys were looking for me?" I repeated.

"We really missed you, Noel. We decided it was time to get back in touch." said Al with a warm smile.

I knew that smile. Noel knew that smile.

"Well, um, I can't right now, I-I gotta go…"

Why in the hell did I suddenly whirl on my heel and run?! I couldn't even look back at them. I couldn't find out if they were chasing after me. Knowing I'd see them again, I decided to hide at the hotel room for a while. Hopefully they wouldn't look there.

Wrath was still out. I plunked down on my bed and contemplated.

"Elric…Elric…Alphonse, Edward…El-riiic…" I croaked to myself slowly. "I have to go back farther, deeper into Noel's past. She…didn't always live in Obaval, but a…small town."

Miss Dante had told me only about Obaval. Noel tried to tell me more. It was like she, herself, could speak to me. She, herself, was my conscience. Like…we had a stronger connection than any other homunculi.

I lay back, letting out a long breath. "Tell me what I need to do, Noel," I groaned at the ceiling. I was soaked with sweat. All these memories…all her memories worked me up. I drifted. My eyes fluttered and closed.

And then, I felt it. It was her. Her smile. Her voice. Noel had finally reached me.

"How…" I gasped. She looked not much younger than I was. She still had her apple-colored hair.

"Pyro." she uttered, almost sternly. I flinched. She was so beautiful.

"How!" I cried again. "And…why?!"

"Because I need you. I want you to live."

"You mean…become human?"

"Yes. I want you to finish my story. Alphonse loves you right now, you know."

"He…does?"

"And I loved him! I just want him to know that…"

"But…I don't love him…"

"But you could pretend you're me, and tell him that you do love him!"

"What, no…I won't pretend that I love someone!"

"But…I…I need you…I need your help…" Noel disappeared, frowning solemnly, her round, green eyes still begging me. And then, suddenly…

"HEY!!" SLAP! My eyes flew open. Wrath was glaring, shaking me. Past his face, I could see…fire. It engulfed the room. Did I do that?!

Within about two seconds, he had grabbed me up, jumped out the window, and landed, two flights down. He set me on my feet, growling still.

"What the hell happened?" I demanded. He pointed up at the hotel.

"Look! You set the building on fire!" he shouted. I glanced and froze. Now, the entire hotel was in flames. We dashed out of the empty alleyway he had pounced down into and crossed the street out front, pushing through a crowd we had expected to be there anyway.

"Geez, what in the hell is wrong with you?!" snapped Wrath, but I kept staring. "This is exactly why Dante put me in charge of you! 'Cause you can't control your powers!"

As soon as I heard sirens, rapidly growing louder, I realized that the fire would soon be taken care of and that this was no longer my concern. So, I casually strolled away as Wrath followed, screaming at me endlessly.

"Wrath, shut up," I grunted. "Not in the mood."

"Why, what happened?" he grumbled, folding his arms.

"I think…I met Noel."

"What? No, you didn't! She's dead!"

"Right, but somehow…we've connected. Her soul…and my mind. She told me what she wanted me to do. And I'm not so sure that I wanna be a human anymore.

"Hey, Noel!" called a voice that I knew belonged to Alphonse. Wrath and I turned to see him and Edward. "Did you see that fire back there? At the hotel?"

"Apparently, they still haven't found out how it started. They know what room it came from, but no one was in it." added Ed.

"We don't know anything about how it started, do we, Noel?" Wrath nudged me. We turned and began to leave, shrugging.

"What, wait! Noel!" Al pleaded. He and Ed tailed us, hovering over my shoulders. "What's the matter? You just suddenly ran off earlier, and now you're doing it again!"

"Take the hint, would ya? She's not interested." Wrath snarled over his shoulder.

"Hey, no one's talking to you, kid," huffed Ed. Wrath smirked to himself. I had tuned out of the conversation long ago.

Ed and Wrath argued, but I could tell Al was still studying me. I tried to speed up. So did everyone else.

"Noel, what's wrong…?" Al muttered, as if he almost didn't want me to hear. I stopped. Growled. Dashed. Wrath followed, sticking his tongue out at Ed.

"Ed, why is she like this?" Al stammered, watching us sadly.

"Don't worry Al. People change." Ed assured him. "We'll see her again."

Wrath and I slowed down again. We didn't say a word, just ventured through the city.

But then, it came to me. Alphonse Elric! Edward! Wa…Winry Rock…Rockbell! Pin..ako, Pinako! And…Den…We all lived in…

"Resembool!"

I could see her now. Noel was proud, grinning at me. Her memories were finally becoming a part of me. Perhaps she wasn't using me, after all. Maybe she wanted me to share her life, to feel what she felt as a human and what she wanted to feel. We would live, and we'd do the things we never could without each other. We would be one girl. A human, a homunculus. All one, together.

I still wondered how…

But we were connected.