After dinner, Miranda, Ed, Al, Russell and I went into their living room, and Fletcher went up to bathe.
"Now, Haydn." Ed began. "We promised an explaination, and now, you'll get one." he sighed. "After you and dad left, mom became really, really sick, and passed away. Al and I both knew we probably couldn't make it without her, so we-"
"Edward!" I cried, immediately understanding what happened. "You performed human transmutation?!" I yelled.
"Bless you." Miranda said jokingly.
I glared at her. "It's NOT a joke!" I yelled. I looked back at Edward. "At what cost?! What made you think you could bring mom back?!"
Edward looked down. "My left leg and right arm."
I looked to Al. "And you, Alphonse?!"
"My... my whole body..." He said sadly.
"You... I can't believe you, Edward!" I yelled. "You gave up eveything you had chasing an impossible fantasy?! Equivalent Exchange, Edward! Don't you realize that nothing can be equivalent to the life of a human?! Once a life is lost, you can't get it back! There is no equivalency to all the memories, the experiences, the feelings of a human being's life! You can't just throw together a few ingredients and have a living person standing there!" I screamed, tears forming in my hazel eyes.
The stress was overwhelming. The room began to spin, and then turn dark. The last thing I remember is Ed, Al and Miranda standing up in shock, Fletcher standing at the top of the stairs in his pajamas, and Russell running toward me, catching me as I fell.

I awoke to the sun shining through a window in a small, neat room with plain white walls. I looked out the window, and I could see almost all of Xenotime.
I heard a small gasp come from the doorway, and then, "Brother, she's awake!"
Fletcher yelled, and I heard the 'thump, thump, thump," of someone climbing hurriedly up the stairs. Russell appeared in the doorway, a relieved, happy look on his face.
"Morning, Sleeping Beauty." He joked. "Feeling better?"
"Yeah, thanks." I said, rubbing my head.
"Yeah, you should be glad I let you use my room for that long." He smiled.
"This is your room?" I asked. "Wait... how long was I out?!"
"About two and a half days." He said, smiling. "You sure can sleep, what with Miranda yelling at you to "Get the hell up before she made you," and, "I won't lose you, too." What was all that about, anyways?" Russell asked, sitting on the bed.
"When Miranda was young, her mother passed away, leaving her with just her father, and I recently learned that she once had siblings, too." I said sadly. "Now that we're away from home, and can't find our way back, I'm all she's got, until we go home, and we don't know how." I muttered, grabbing the Mayoke, which still hung around my neck. "This is our only way home, and I can't even control it." I looked down "I... I feel so useless, like... I let Miranda down."
I felt a hand go around my shoulders, and pull me into someone's chest. Russell rested his head on mine, and said, "You haven't let anyone down, it's not your fault."
Then, I heard something from the doorway drop to the floor. Russell and I looked and saw Miranda standing there, jaw agape, in the doorway, my now clean clothes at her feet.
She stared for a minute, then slowly turned and walked out of the room. "Al...!" She yelled.
"Oh, god." Russell said, putting his hand to his head.
I hugged him playfully. "We should mess with Ed, and make him think we're dating."
He smirked at me. "I like you." he said.
I was pretty sure he was referring to my mind, but for some reason, I blushed anyways.
As if on que, Ed burst into the doorway. "WHAT'D YOU SAY, 'YA BLONDE CREEP?!"
"THERE'S the pot calling the kettle black." Russell joked.
"Come to think of it..." I started. "There's only one person in this house who isn't blonde... and that's Miranda." I said.
Ed and Russell stared at me for a minute.
"That was really irrelevant." Russell finally said.
"Random." Ed agreed.
"Y-Yeah..." I said, blushing.
"Hey!" Ed called, his face lighting up in realization. "You know any alchemy?"
"Well... we all practiced it a bit when we were little, but I'm probably REALLY rusty, and not all that good." I said.
"Well, then..." Ed grinned. "We'll teach ya'. You AND Miranda. Al and I will teach you."
"And I'll be there to make sure no one kills anyone." Russell said, then started coughing. "COUGH COUGH *pipsqueak* COUGH COUGH"
" ... I'm gonna pretend I didn't hear that." Ed said in his quiet, mad voice. He turned back to me. "We'll start tomorrow."

And so the days flew by, and they turned into weeks, which turned into months, and Miranda and I learned more and more about Alchemy, and Russell and Ed even taught us some self defense! I learned how to compress water molecules in the air, then use alchemy to turn it to ice, and use ice attacks similar to the flame attacks of Brigadier General Roy Mustang, whom I met when he visited the Tringham's to check on Ed a while back.
Then one night, Miranda came into our room with a serious look on her face.
"Haydn." she said sternly. "You remember why we started travelling, right?" She asked.
I did. We were trying to find her sister, Kirby. In the four months that had slipped by, I had forgotten.
"We have to go soon." She said, her eyes downcast.
"But Miranda! My brothers, and Fletcher, and... Russell..." I trailed off.
"I KNOW!" She yelled. "I know... I... I want to stay with Al... but I have to find my sister." She said, tears rolling down her cheeks.
"... when do you want to leave?" I asked.
"In at least a week." She said. "I want to find out how to tell Al how I feel."
"Yeah... okay." I said. I opened the door to go tell everyone good night...
... and Fletcher was leaning against the door, his eyes wide in shock.
"Fletcher?" I asked. I bent down and hugged him.
"D... d..." He stuttered.
"What is it, Fletcher?" I asked.
"DON'T LEAVE!" He bawled. "Why?! Why do you wanna go?!" He cried.
"We... we have something we need to take care of." I said. "Can you keep it on the down-low for me? I want to find the right way to tell everyone." I whispered.
"O-Okay..." He whimpered.
"Thank you, Fletcher." I said. "Good-night."
"Night..." He said sadly.
Russell came up to me, looking a little shocked. "Wow, Fletcher looks down. What was that all about?"
"... nothing. I'll tell you later." I said, trying to walk away. "Good-"
He caught my wrist and spun me around, and I slammed into his chest. His arms went around my waist and pulled me closer. "Good night." He said.
Finally, he let go, and all I could do was stand there, awestruck in the hall, as he walked away and turned into the doorway to his room.
I heard a rustle from behind me, than an "AWWWW!"
I spun around, blushing madly. The bedroom door was still open, and Miranda, who was on her bed, had seen the whole thing.
"M-Mir-Miranda?!" I stuttered, shocked.