Hey again Faithful readers! So, again, big shout out and brownie to you guys who reviewed! And now I'd like to address a couple of things in this author's note, if that's okay.

OceanDream Alchemist: I did intend for the prolouge to be a little bit sad, because it kinda gives you a glimpse of why EJ is the way she is today.

King of Heartless '09: Yes, Dante is a man in this story because this is following the second anime series, and Dante from the 2003 anime isn't a part of that universe.

An Echo In Time: Ed is definetely (spelling, IDK? Help me out here) busted when EJ figures him out, and as posted above, this follows FMA:B.

Disclaimer: see previous chapter


Chapter 7

"What are you thinking about so hard, Brother?" Alphonse questioned from his spot on the floor. Edward had been staring silently at the ceiling for almost an hour now, so Al could only wonder what was going through his older brother's mind.

"It's nothing; I'm just having flashbacks. Especially that little Sara girl, you know?" Edward stated.

"Oh . . . yeah." It took Alphonse a while to understand what Ed was saying. Sara was only five years old, according to EJ, and Nina had been about that age too, before. . . .

Something heavy landed on Ed's stomach, making him panic before it let out a small "Mew?" The thing was a tortoiseshell kitten, which was now licking his face with unbridled enthusiasm.

"Kisses, you stop that!" A little boy that was obviously Sara's brother stormed into the room, and attempted to pry the kitten off of Ed, but the darn feline had hooked its claws into his shirt, still licking his cheek.

"I warned you we had cats, didn't I?" EJ walked by the spare bedroom carrying both Sara and another girl with the same black hair, except in two pigtails.

"They're pretty friendly cats." Alphonse commented, stroking a medium white cat behind the ears. EJ laughed.

"Not normally around strangers; you guys are lucky."

"If by lucky you mean-OW!" Ed cried, as Kisses managed to dig her claws into his skin. The oldest girl sighed and put down the littler ones.

"Thomas, you're going about this all wrong; when you want Kisses to let go, you gotta scratch under her chin so she'll relax." EJ said, and then proceeded to do so. The claws retracted, and Edward rubbed the sore spot on his chest, giving EJ a look that she wasn't paying attention to.

"Which one's this?" Alphonse pointed to the white cat that had curled around his shoulder. EJ giggled, sat on the floor, and had the two little girls sit on her lap.

"That's Turk; she's a sweetheart."

"She's also Kisses' mama." Thomas said, now holding the kitten in such a way that his arm was getting slobbered on.

~~~EJ~~~

I smiled at my little cousin's antics, when I noticed the dejected look on Ed's face.

"What's wrong, Ed? You've got this weird look on your face." I questioned, making the blonde boy jump a little in surprise. He waved off my question and went back to his conversation with Thomas. He may have made me think that nothing was wrong, but why was my Blessed subconscious telling me otherwise?

"EJ, sweetie? Can you come and help me with something downstairs?" My grandmother poked her head into the room where I was still talking to Ed.

Lemme rephrase that: I was technically arguing with Ed. He'd gotten me started on something so ridiculous that I can't even remember what it was about now.

Anyway, the two of us whipped our heads around to focus on my grandma, who has a face similar to my mom's. Looking past the grey streaks, you'd think she was my mom; I knew Edward was thinking along those lines, just from reading his expression.

My scowl melted and my natural angelic (stop laughing; it's not funny) smile returned. I nodded and followed my grandma downstairs, but not before throwing Ed the "I've-got-my-eyes-on-you" look. He just looked at me funny.

"Seems like you two are getting along well." Grandma told me a little while later. I stood at the kitchen counter slicing strawberries. I'd promised my little cousins my famous strawberry cheesecake pancakes that I'd make every time the train came around as a promise that I wasn't going to leave again willingly.

"I guess; we haven't tried to kill each other just yet, so I guess that's a good thing. I think he's hiding something from me though; something bad." I responded, not realizing that I'd voiced my thoughts out loud.

"Do you get that from your ESP, or just by his actions?" Grandma joked. I smiled at her; she and I have had this running joke for years that I can read minds.

"The more important question is why he and his brother are here in the first place. People don't come to Amadeus unless they want something." Grandpa said from behind his newspaper. Or they're hiding something, I thought, reminding myself that DJ had been doing just that for a while now. I stopped mid-slice.

"What's wrong, honey?" Grandpa set his newspaper down, and looked at me with concern. Usually when I stop right in the middle of something, it means I'm not feeling good, and you should either a)get me to the nearest restroom, or b) clear a 50 foot radius.

"I'm just thinking, that's all. I mean, Ed's not evil, but he's uneasy about something…" My voice trailed off and I resumed slicing.

"Tell you what kiddo: I'll talk to him while you're cleaning up the school tomorrow. How's that sound? Maybe I can figure out what makes this boy tick." Grandpa slipped his strong arm around my slim shoulders and squeezed them.

"Just don't terrorize him too badly, okay?" I replied. Grandpa laughed and planted a kiss on my temple.

~~~~Elrics~~~~

After EJ had gone downstairs, Ed managed to calm himself down. Now that his mind was clear, the only thing he could wonder was why the two of them had been fighting in the first place.

"So what do we do now, Brother?" Alphonse wondered, shaking Edward back into this reality.

"Well, we figure out if EJ really does know alchemy, and once that happens, we figure out the best way to convince her grandfather to help us out. Let's focus on that before we get too far ahead of ourselves, okay?"

"Sure thing, Brother. All though I have to wonder…"

"What's up, Al?" Edward looked at his younger brother curiously. Alphonse had a smirk in his voice.

"Do you think she's cute?" Edward's face flared red.

"I DO NOT! She's a stubborn brat with an attitude. And besides, it looks to me like she's got a thing going with that DJ guy, anyways." Alphonse shook his head at his brother's denial.


B/N: And now it's getting interesting! Hope you guys enjoyed, and remember our friend the blue hyperlink to review this story. It makes my day when you guys either review, or add me or the story to your alert/favorites!

~Sady Mordan

P.S. If there's anything you guys think I need to fix, don't hesitate to let me know. Because you guys are awesome like that, right? ;)