A/N: iiiiiiiiiiii'm back! yeah, i'm sure no one cares. *cough* ANYWAY! i'm leaving tomorrow morning on a trip to the great land of Okie for like 2 weeks, so i wont be uploading for a while cuz theres no computer there for me. sorry! i'll try to upload as fast as i can when i get back. see, i always try to be fast! the first time, elaine didn't give me the notebook! and now theres this. *sigh*

Elaine: srry about the notebook...)XD

Me: 'Tis fine, 'tis fine.

Zadie: You guys are weird...

Um, here's for the reviewers!

Kallypso: yeah, i still can't find the right word for elaine.. she's... she's... this is hard XD.

The Eve-Blue Alchemist: yeah, don't you love ur entrance? u were a pretty good writer! lol, "picture of hapiness"? ur so u... X3

Silver Wolf 551: BLESS YOU! u r now one of my favorite people! ur one of the only people that review TAT! but ur awesome, so.. yeah! :D

ON WITH THE CHAPPY (oh, and same thing, elaine wrote most of the chapter, along with my slight changes) (one more thing! the 'manga/book' mentioned in here is completely non-existent. to anyone who's read Hayate no Gotoku, Nagi[main character] made up this manga. it sounds really really cheesy, and it is. personally, i didnt wanna put that name in there but i couldnt think of anything better! DX anway, it's not mine!)

(Elaine's POV)

I awoke the next day with sunlight streaming throughout the open windows. I smiled as it gently warmed my exposed face.

Sitting up with a smile, I stretched as I remembered the strange events of yesterday. My mind lingered on the odd pair and the smile faded.

Who were those guys...?

I figured Ed would be up now, so I decided to go talk to him about it.

I started to tip-toe around the room I shared with Alice. Quickly, I realized that it wasn't necessary. Alice was a deep sleeper. I giggled at how innocent she looked sleeping. And at the fact that she wouldn't budge while she slept.

Ed was still sleeping on a couch in the living room when I arrived. Strangely, he slept with his mouth open and stomach exposed. As a result, drool was now forming a puddle under his right cheek.

"Who knew?" I said quietly. "Even beans drool and can sleep irregularly."

Ed's eyes shot open. Even though he just woke up, not a hint of grogginess were in his eyes. Mostly just anger. You could imagine my surprise.

"Wow," I said in awe. "I think you've trained your mind to automatically react to any reference in height, even in a state of sub-consciousness. What a big brain in such a small bean!"

He exploded on me, but I wasn't really listening. I just smiled at him. You know that feeling you get when you're teasing your younger sibling and you realize you really do love them? That's kind of how I felt with Ed. It only took 2 days of him to get me to love him like the little brother I never had.

Maybe because I was older than him, by about a year. But maybe because I just wanted family. Even Alice felt like a little sister. She acted way younger anyway.

While I was lost in thought, Ed had finished his rant and was now looking at me in confusion. He was probably wondering why I was smiling so warmly at him... Oh, well, let his little mind wander.

"So, are you ready for breakfast?" I asked him.

"Do you know how to cook?" he asked.

I laughed, but there was no humor in it. "When you're the only one in the house with arms, you need to learn to cook if you want to eat," I said dryly.

Before he could ask what I was talking about, Alice came in yawning.

"*YAAAAWN* What's all the commotion so early in the morning?" she said sleepily.

"Great! You're up!" I said happily. "Just in time to help me make breakfast!"

"What?" she replied as grabbed her wrist and dragged her into the kitchen.

In the kitchen, she put her head lower, as if to hide from me.

Hmm, I thought, she doesn't seem quite social.

"So, what should we make?" I offered cheerfully.

"I don't know," she mumbled. "Whatever you want is fine."

And I guess she's not that talkative either. It'll be my mission to open her up and get her to break her shell! The triumphant smile on my face must have freaked her out as she was now hiding more. I sighed inwardly. My mission had just begun and yet I was already failing.

"Well, we should get started. How about omelets?" I asked. She simply nodded.

We each helped to prepare the breakfast. I kept trying to think of ways to get her to open up when I remembered something.

"Oh, I need to pick the latest volume of End of the Century Legend: Magical Destroy." (- AGH! XD)

"Y-you read that?" she asked timidly.

"Yeah, why?"

"Well, I do too," she smiled softly.

"It's good isn't it? I like Karen the most!" I answered cheerfully.

She smiled a real genuine smile. I was so pleased. "I like Hanon, actually. But Karen's nice."

We went on like this for a while until we finished cooking. I was certainly glad how well my mission was going.

Ed, of course, devoured his breakfast. Al was quietly writing this down in a notebook of "things to eat when I get my body back". It was cute to watch him.

Alice smiled at me form across the table. Ed looked at her strangely, as if he'd never seen that face on her before.

After breakfast, we all started talking about what we were going to do next.

"Don't you think we should call Mustang?" I asked.

Ed gave me a sly smile. "Well, you are on vacation. I was thinking you could come with us and give Mustang a nice surprise when we get back."

I laughed. "You have a devious little mind, Edward Elric."

"Thank yo- Did you say 'little'?" he questioned.

"Get over it. I'll stay," I told them. "We should probably go by train to Liore."

"Good idea," Al said. "We need tickets."

"I'll go get them," Alice piped up. "I-if that's okay with you guys."

"Sure," Ed said. "Four tickets to Liore then."

"Okay. Oh, Elaine. While I'm out, I'll see if I can pick up End of the Century Legend: Magical Destroy for you," she said with a smile. (- GAH XD)

I smiled back and answered, "That would be great. Thank you, Alice."

"Your welcome. I'll be leaving then." She got up and walked out the door.

"So, what do we do now?" Ed asked.

"You're going to do the dishes."

(Alice's POV)

I felt a lot better than usual. It was nice to have someone to talk to. I'd been feeling pretty alone lately.

It was actually a pretty nice day. Breezy, just how I liked it. My hair fell around my face a bit, framing it with dark lustrous curls.

Now, where's the train station? I asked myself. This was a new town to me. I'd never been out much at my hometown either.

Fortunately, I spotted it. I walked up to the booth.

"Um, excuse me, sir?" I asked softly. I hated talking to strangers.

The man at the booth turned around and smiled at me. "What can I do for you, little lady?" he asked kindly.

"I need 4 tickets to Liore."

"Liore, huh? For today?" he asked.

"No, tomorrow. As early as possible, please."

The man picked up what looked to be a schedule. "How does 7:30 sound?"

"That's perfect, thank you," I said happily. "How much?"

"Let's see... 120 sens."

I paid him and placed the tickets in my pocket.

As I walked away, I noticed two men clad in black coats keeping pace a good ten feet behind me. Though I knew I was being paranoid, I increased my speed bit. So did the men.

Nearly sure that they were following me, I turned left at the next street. So did the men.

On the verge of panic, I kept my brisk pace while frantically searching for a way out. I took deep breaths and tried remembering the drills me and Aimee would conduct when this happened. But she wasn't here anymore. I was alone.

I was so preoccupied with my thoughts that I hadn't noticed when the men were joined by another two and began closing the gap between us.

I also didn't notice I'd taken a wrong turn until I came face to face with a brick wall.

As I turned to leave, I found my path blocked by the four men.

"Wh-what do you want with me?" I called out shakily.

"Oh, you'll find out soon enough, Alice," a voice whispered in my ear.

By then, I could feel a cool blade at my neck and a strong arm around my waist.

"Tie her hands!" my captor commanded. Apparently, he knew about me. I hadn't. I completely forgot about alchemy until my hands were already tied.

While one of the men bound my wrists with a strong rope, he put his mouth next to my ear and whispered.

"So this is the beautiful, Alice Gold. The rumored 'Wind Alchemist'."

He caressed my cheek with the tip of his index finger. I instinctively flinched at his touch.

"Aw, she doesn't like me," he said in mock despair. "Well, you'll just have to deal with it, missy."

With my hands bound, my captor's hand moved from my cheek to my neck.

Pressure point.

Before I had time to scream, I was out.

A/N: eh? eh? lol, thanks for reading! PLZ PLZ PLZ PLZ PLZ PLZ PLZ PLZ PLZ PLZ PLZ PLZ REVIEW! theres a dark abyss in my soul! i kno, i kno, i look prety pathetic, but then again, i am... TAT. see u in a LONG while XD