Kagome wiped the stray tear that slid down her cheek and pulled herself into a sitting position. Her injured arm had been neatly wrapped. The room she was stationed in was plain. White walls, plain, dark brown carpet, a table that rested in the middle of the room, a desk in the corner of the room and a large window out looking Central. Her mind wondered back to her dream. He had told her he loved her, but she knew that he still loved Kikyo. He always would. She couldn't compete with her, after all they were past lovers torn apart by Naraku.

She desperately wanted to be more than friends with Inuyasha. She didn't want him to feed her lies the way he did because she was Kikyo's reincarnation. She yearned for her love to be returned, not for it to be one sided. She sighed. She recalled every time she saw Inuyasha and Kikyo together. When she saw him with her, she got a sinking feeling in her stomach and her heart shattered into pieces. She felt as if the world had collapsed. But only then did she realize that he was er whole world, and she was completely in love with every aspect of him.

She didn't want to love Inuyasha anymore. She wanted her fragile heart to be free from him iron grasp. He had been the love of her life, and she just wasn't his. Inuyasha taught her that love can be an amazing and beautiful thing. But he also taught her that love would keep her up at midnight crying softly to herself, wondering how much more pain someone can endure. She kept telling herself that he never loved her at all because is was a far less terrifying a prospect than all the possibility that you did, perhaps he had at one point, and for no particular reason, he stopped.

The door to the room she was in suddenly slammed open, ripping the priestess from her thoughts. In barged in Alphonse Elric, dressed in his usual armor. "Yo!" she grinned at him, lifting a hand in a small wave.

"Kagome!" he suddenly wailed upon seeing her. "Are you okay!? Brother told me what happened and Hawkeye wouldn't let me in to see you!" Alphonse reached out and pulled Kagome into his armored body. Her head smacked against the metal, but she ignored the the throbbing that began in her head. She smiled as he continued crying and telling her how worried he was. she pressed her ear to the cool metal. Usual she'd hear the rustle of clothing, and sometimes, a heartbeat.

"Alphonse you'll smother her to death if you don't release her." A feminine voice said from the doorway. Instantly she was pushed back onto the bed and Alphonse was apologizing. Kagome did her best to reassure him that it was okay and she'll be fine. After Alphonse managed to pull himself together, the blonde woman approached her bedside. "I'm Riza Hawkeye."

"Kagome Higurashi, a friend of Alphonse's." she smiled and shook the woman's hand. For a moment she thought it was her who saved her, but remembered that it had been a male with golden eyes that saved her.

"We've heard a lot about you from Alphonse. Ever since he met you, that was all he could talk about." She glanced at the suddenly silent suit of armor.

"Oh where is the boy who saved me? I wanted to thank him."

"Brother is reporting to Colonel Mustang. Don't worry, he'll come. Last night when he came to HQ, your arm was covered in blood and he was very worried. In fact, he insisted on bandaging your wound, to make sure you would be okay." Alphonse explained to her.

"Oh. I see." Her hand rested on the bandaged arm and a small smile found its way onto her face. "How sweet." Kagome pulled the bed sheets back and stood on her feet. "I am starving!"

"Come on. Let's go get something to eat. Alphonse you let your brother know where we went." The boy saluted Riza as she shut the door behind her.

"Hey Ms Hawkeye-" "Riza is fine." "Riza then, u-um... I don't know how to ask this without sounding crazy, but how come Alphonse doesn't have a heartbeat?"

The woman nearly faltered in her steps. How could she possibly know that Alphonse didn't have a body? Or maybe she doesn't know. "That is something you'll have to ask Alphonse himself."

Kagome nodded. "Alright." She made a mental note to ask Alphonse about that when she got a chance. Several moments later, Kagome was sitting across Riza enjoy a nice meal. Around her sat soldiers all dressed in the same blue uniform. As she bit into the soft bread, a man with glasses slid in beside her.

"Yo Hawkeye!" he greeted with a large grin.

"Hughs." she nodded. "Roy is looking for you. Who's your friend?"

Kagome quickly swallowed the chunk of bread she had in her mouth and offered the man a smile of her own. "Kagome Higurashi."

"Maes Hughs!" the two of them shook hands. In the matter of seconds, Hughs had whipped out a photo of his adorable daughter and began gushing about her to the priestess he just met. Riza sighed as she stood up and left the two of them alone. She had heard enough about Major Hughs beloved daughter.

On her way out she ran into Alphonse and his brother Edward. "Hawkeye have you see-"

"She's over there with Major Hughs." She stepped around the two boys and headed to Mustangs office. Alphonse took the lead and headed for the table where Kagome and Hughs were sitting. Kagome glanced up and caught the sight of the armored boy. Kagome smiled at him as he and a blonde boy sat across from them.

"Kagome this is my brother Edward."

Kagome looked at Edward. Her brown eyes clashed with his intense golden gaze. Pain flashed across her face for the briefest of seconds. Those golden eyes reminded her so much of Inuyasha. This hadn't gone unnoticed by Edward.

Kagome smiled at Edward, reminding herself this was not the Feudal Era and Inuyasha was not here. "I'm Kagome. I wanted to thank you for saving me!"

"N-no problem." He blushed and looked away from her.

"About that..." Alphonse looked at the priestess sitting across from him. "Why were you out on the streets so late? If you had been indoors, something like that couldn't have happened."

Kagome's smile fell as she let out a sigh. "You caught me. I haven't had a place to stay since I arrived here. I've been crashing on an old worn down couch in an alleyway."

"Why didn't you tell me!"

Kagome didn't answer, her gaze had fallen to the table. She refused to look up and meet the eyes of any of them.

Edward cleared his throat. "Mustang won't mind if she stays with us. I mean we're hardly ever here anyways." Edward grinned at Kagome.

"That's a great idea brother!" Alphonse agreed. "She could help Colonel with his paperwork or do other small things around headquarters."

Edward stood up and grabbed her wrist, dragging her out the doors of the mess hall. Alphonse trailed behind them.

"Where are we going?" Kagome asked as Edward dragged her through the halls of Central Headquarters.

"You're going to need some new clothes right?" Alphonse answered. "You've been wearing the same outfit since we met."

"You don't have to do that." Kagome complained.

"Shut up and get in the car." Edward said. As he held the door open for her, she caught the sight of a metal beneath the glove he wore.

Kagome complained, but climbed in the backseat of the car, followed by Edward and then Alphonse. The rest of the afternoon was spent with the Elric brothers buying the things Kagome would need.

After they returned, the boys led her to the room they were staying in. Edward handed her a bag and showed her to the bathroom where Kagome took a much needed shower. She let out a blissful sigh as the hot water met her skin.

She didn't know how long she was in there, but when she got out Edward was sprawled across his bed, a book covering his face and Alphonse was no where to be seen. The room was littered with books, each one had a strange symbol on the front.

"Alchemy?" she questioned as she picked one off the floor.

"Have you never heard of Alchemy?" Edward's voice made her jump and the book fell to the floor.

"N-no."

Edward sat up and crossed his legs and began explaining what Alchemy was. Kagome seated herself at the desk and listened to him speak. As he finished speaking, Alphonse entered the room.

"Human kind cannot gain anything without first giving something in exchange. To obtain something with equal value must be lost. That is Alchemy's first law of equivalent exchange." he said.

"I see..." Kagome mumbled. "Hey Edward."

"What?"

"Why do you have a metal arm?" she asked. Edward visibly stiffened. "Y-you don't have to tell me if you don't want to! I just happened to notice the metal when we were getting in the car. I'm also a little curious as to why Alphonse doens't have a heartbeat... or an aura for that matter. Yet he's talking and walking like a normal human being."

The two of them had grown quite.

"We stepped on god's territory and now we're paying for it." Edward whispered.

"Edward lost an arm and a leg. And I," Alphonse took the helmet off his armour. "I lost my whole body."

"I'm sorry... I didn't know. I shouldn't have pried."

"You would have found out sooner or later." Edward ruffled her hair. "Anyway I'll be back later. I've got to talk to Mustang." He left the room.

"Our father left us a long time ago and later our mother died. We tried to bring her back using Human Transmutation, forbidden alchemy. Edward lost his arm and I lost my body. He bound my soul to a suit of armour at the cost of his leg." Alphonse explained to her.

"That makes all my problems seem minor." Kagome said softly.

"What's an Aura?" Alphonse asked her. "You mentioned it earlier."

"It's the flow of life energy around one's body. Everyone has one, but not everyone can sense them. Your Aura is faint. It's there but at the same time it isn't. It's probably because your soul is one with that armour."

The door swung open, interrupting Kagome and Alphonse's converstation. In the doorway stood Edward and another man with black hair.

"Brother? What's wrong?"

"King Bradley wants an audience with Kagome."