Ruri walked slowly, kicking the small pebble in the grass. Sighing, she plopped down on the hill. It had been such a long time since she had seen Ed. Her hand was rough with all the practice she had been doing. Now that her auto mail arm was replaced with cheap metal, it was easily dented and looked worn and old as a result.

The girl let her head rest on a tuft of soft clover, eyes wide, staring at the heavily clouded sun before her. The sky was gray, the clouds even darker, and the scent of rain was in the air.

Ruri blinked as a small raindrop fell on her temple. Another dropped on the hand in front of her face. She sighed. Life had been a little harder knowing she wasn't human, knowing that things would never be the same.

Knowing that she might never be able to see the one person she needed so much...

Groaning, she sat again, unable to ignore the feeling welling within her. It was almost eight o' clock, and in two hours or so, she would be asleep. Which meant she would have the dream again.

It was the same dream, she remembered, as the one she had at school, sleeping in the same dorm as Courtney, levels above him. The lake, the ice...

And Ed.

Footsteps plodded quietly up the hill behind where Ruri thought almost every night. She started to hum a quiet tune. Shiro, someone whom she could apparently still summon, sat next to her and joined in her soft chorus.

They both knew the song she created almost a week before being taken away. Shiro sang the first verse.

Falling tears from angels above,

Pain runs red in hatred's deep wells,

Come save me from this burning hell.

Please, help me...

Raining now, cold sin all over

Barren trees in Black October

Failing Flame in shadow's cover,

Please help me... (Author's note: this song is fully copyrighted (along with this story) and the Author (me) expects to have it only reused by others with written consent. Thank you!)

Ruri stared strait ahead and held the last, mourning note. Her voice was soft and hoarse, crippled from disuse. Her sister and friend from school, Caitlin, was by far a better singer. But Ruri's hand and eye, well into practice, could still create a masterpiece with charcoal and paper.

Shiro looked at his friend. She was close enough to be a sister, even if he was a little jealous of how big her wings had expanded over time; he had always wanted a pair like that since his wings were but two or three feathers on bony lumps.

He offered his hand to Ruri after standing. The rain fell softly as he took it, but hardly used his arm for getting up. Shiro frowned and asked, "What's wrong? Do you have a fever?" He placed his pale hand on her forehead. It was cold.

Ruri moved her head to the left only a few inches, but he got the subtle movement and removed his hand. She looked up into Shiro's eyes. "Shiro..." The words were hardly audible, but the white-clothed "boy" thought he understood the meaning of her tone, and wrapped his arms around Ruri.

The tears started boiling around her eyes now, reminding him of the last time, so long ago, that he had held his master in his arms while she cried in the rain. But something was different now...

Something cold was surrounding them, keeping Shiro out of Ruri's mind. He tried again and again to read it, but to no avail.

"Please..." he heard her whisper. "No..." What was making her so upset? For the fifth time, he tried to break the barrier protecting her thoughts. The force he got in return was so harsh that his hands were actually moved from her head and he took a sharp breath.

"Stop! I..." Ruri's shoulders shook. Shiro stroked her hair, guilty for trying to break her privacy. "I miss him, Shiro!" she cried.

He was stunned. It had been so long! How could she still miss the little brat?

Ruri slipped out of his arms, running toward the house. His hands were sill suspended in mid air.

And suddenly, one thought crossed his mind:

He would never, for as long as he lived, let the Elric boy touch Ruri again.

Ruri shut the door to her room quietly. With a bread and cheese in one hand and a small glass of water in another, she sat on the quilt covering her mat. Thinking the last few minutes over again in her head, she slowly chewed her small meal. It was as tasteless as the water in the other hand. Then again, everything had been since that day.

Why had Shiro seemed so mad back on the clover hill? Why had she been so harsh?

Would her plan to go back really work?