Ok, so this one's out early.

As a thank you, you should all review! Huh, huh?

Do what you want, of course, everybody. I'm just happy to have readers! Enjoy!

We had taken a train to a place called Central. People here didn't seem to push much creativity into city names here, but I was quite fine with that; I knew exactly where we were because of that name, which was actually comforting. For a while now, I'd only known I was in Amestris. We stepped onto the platform and headed for an exit.

"Let's go check out headquarters first." Ed was saying as I looked around excitedly, "Lt. Colonel Hughes should be at the Military Council department, right?" Winry nodded.

"Who's Lt. Colonel Hughes?" I asked Winry, whom I had become quite friendly with during the trip here.

"He's a very nice man Ed, Al and I got to know the last time we were here." Winry explained, smiling at some memory.

"It'll be nice to meet someone like that." I said, smiling.

"Oh, you should come with me when I go to visit his family!" Winry continued, "His wife is just as kind and his daughter Elicia is the sweetest little girl." Then she turned to look at Ed and Al, who were whispering to each other.

"What're you two talking so softly about?" She asked curiously.

"Men's talk." Ed said, looking grumpy. Winry growled slightly.

"It's always like that when I ask." She said huffily. I giggled at her look.

"Hey!" A voice said. We turned around to see Mr. Fuu, "Where is the Young Master? I thought he was with you the whole time."

The four of us looked around for Ling, who had been very quiet since we got off the train. Maybe that's because he was missing again. Mr. Fuu and Ran Fan dramatically fell to the ground, probably not looking forward to searching for him again. I could see what he meant. Regardless, the rest of us continued on.

"He'll be okay." I said to Winry, who looked nervous.

"Jaeda how you could you just leave your brother?!"

"He's not my brother, Winry."

"Oh yeah, I forgot."

We all laughed and headed towards this huge military complex. When we arrived, the three of them seemed to recognize a lady with blonde hair clipped at the back of her head and wearing a military uniform. This lady and my new friend stood there complimenting each other while I stood awkwardly besides them.

"And who's this?" The lady eventually said in my general direction.

"Oh!" I said, caught off guard, "I'm Jaeda Chou. It's nice to meet you ma'am." I said because I didn't know what else to call her. She chuckled quietly and held out her hand.

"You don't have to call me ma'am Jaeda; you aren't in the military." I shook her hand, "Just call me Riza." I smiled at her.

"Jaeda's from Xing!" Winry added, sounding as if she couldn't keep the information in any longer.

"My, that's quite a ways. What brings you to Amestris?" Riza asked me. I was saved from having to make up an answer by a car door slamming shut behind me.

"Hey Full Metal." A handsome man also in a military uniform addressed Ed. I was confused by the name (but soon learned it was Ed's military codename) and wouldn't have known whom he was talking to if not for Ed's hilarious face. Al said hello and called the man a Colonel, which sounded very important and impressive.

"What's up with Ed?" I asked Al while the Colonel flirted shamelessly with Winry and Ed grumbled audibly, a hand on his forehead.

"Oh, him and Colonel Mustang have the tendency to butt heads." Al said, laughing.

"I can see that." I said, laughing slightly as the two of them appeared to be sizing each other up.

~*~

We had checked into a nice hotel soon after meeting up with miss Riza and Colonel Mustang. I guess the guy we'd been going to visit wasn't in Central anymore, so, not having much else to do right away, we were just hanging out in the hotel.

Ed had holed himself up in his and Al's room next door to "work", warning us "silly girls" not to bother him, which I found suspicious for a teenaged boy to say. And Al was out scouring the street for a newspaper. So it was just Winry and I in our room.

"I've never met anyone from outside Amestris, you know." Winry was telling me from her bed. I was sitting cross-legged on mine, rocking back and forth experimentally.

"Xing really isn't so great." I said, bouncing a little and giggling, "I'm kind of surprised there aren't more of us over here."

"What's so good about Amestris?" Winry asked, chuckling a little at me.

"The beds, for example." I said, falling onto my back and sinking into the comforter, "They're soft and I don't have to share it with my whole family." I scooted so I could see Winry's face.

"Does your family know you're here, Jaeda?" She asked me, sounding a little more serious. I averted my eyes but decided I could trust this girl... with some information.

"No. They don't." I said, looking back to her, "But I won't be missed. I don't know if I really miss they either..." I trailed off. Winry looked at me with sad eyes.

"I'm sure they miss you, Jaeda. You should miss them too." She told me, now staring down into her lap. I was quiet, thinking.

"Winry." I started carefully, "Does your family know you're here?"

"No." She confessed, "They aren't... really around anymore." I saw the tears before I heard her sob. I was over in a flash, giving her a hug she readily accepted.

"If your parents are still alive," She said after a minute, "You should love them. You should miss them. Because not everyone has their parents anymore." I swallowed harshly, feeling guilty.

"I do, Winry. Every day." And I meant it. Because they were never the source of my problems, my parents. They were always good to me, their only daughter. I knew I was breaking their hearts when I ran away, but I had to. I had to.

Winry and I had calmed ourselves down by the time we heard commotion next door in Ed and Al's room. Winry got up to poke her head out the door into the hall and I followed.

"What is it, Al?" She asked.

"Yeah," I added, "You guys sure are loud."

"Jaeda!" Al exclaimed.

"Winry..." Ed whispered. Winry and I exchanged looks. Something was wrong.

"Sorry!" Ed said in passing, sounding strangled, "We'll explain everything after we confirm it."

I tried to grab one of them, to slow them down enough to ask some questions. Al put a hand on my shoulder and looked down at me.

"You stay here. It may not be safe for you." He told me. And then they were gone, leaving Winry and I alone in the hall.

"What happened?!" Winry screamed down the empty hall, looking frustrated and hurt, "They always do this..." She sounded a little choked.

"They'll be okay." I tried to reassure her, and myself, "They're tough."