Yay! Chapter nine done! This chapter was kind of dedicated to Ayla and Amber so you could get to know their characters and what happens to them and stuff. There will probably only be one to two more chapters like this one that are in the POV of Ayla or Amber. Mostly its Amber though. Please R&R!

DISCLAIMER: I owe practically ALL the ideas in this chapter to Amber who basically told the story and I wrote it in more detail and in my words. I also don't own FMA.

ONWARD!


Ayla paced around her room. Was Ed going to call her or not?! She sighed heavily. She jumped at her computer making a noise. She ran over to see what it was. She had gotten an email. Opening it, she scanned the page. She grinned. It was from Ed. Ayla carefully read the email before reading it three more times. She blinked. Did he just invite her to his house? She read it once more. Right there, last line. 'Crystal and a few of her friends are coming to my place on Friday. Al was wondering if you and Amber wanted to come over as well. You don't have to. I'll talk to you about it tomorrow.'

'Wow. What a boring week.' Ayla groaned and stretched. She hated riding the bus. Amber sat next to her. 'Only 2 more stops till we're homebound!' Ayla tried to cheer herself up a bit. 'Only an hour till Ed's house.' She sighed. 'Only 5 seconds till I go insane.' She groaned and closed her eyes. The bus lurched to a stop. 5 people got off. A few minutes later the bus came to another lurching stop. Ayla sighed with relief. Their stop. The two girls hopped off the bus and made a dash for their house.

Amber unlocked the door and stepped inside, Ayla close behind her. The house was small but it seemed so big with only the two girls living there. Ayla touched her sister's shoulder in a gesture of comfort before making her way up to her room.

Amber followed her up but went to her own room to get ready. Amber sighed. It had been six years since her parents died. Sunday would be exactly seven years. The anniversary of it all. The pain, the crying, the beginning of many sleepless nights. Alchemy was going to fix it all. If she could just become good enough she would be able to bring their parents back to life.

Ayla tugged on a revealing blue tank top. She slipped on a short jean skirt and some runners. She grabbed a sweater and left her room. Ayla shut her bedroom door just as Amber came out of her own room in an outfit similar to Ayla's except she wore long sleeves. Ayla shoved a key in her skirt pocket and the girls began to make their way to Ed and Al's.

Coming up the stone stairs towards the door, Ayla examined the house. It was fairly small but it was a decent size to home a family of three or four. Trees and bushes surrounded the house. Amber and Ayla made their way up the final steps. Raising a hand, Ayla knocked on the door. "Why not just ring the doorbell, bonehead?" Amber snorted.

"I'm old fashioned." Ayla replied halfheartedly.

Amber then proceeded to stick her tongue out just as Ed opened the door. Ayla flicked her sister on the forehead and turned to Ed. "Hi."

"C'mon in." Ed stepped out of the way to let the girls in.

Crystal, Kailee, Emma, and Al all sat or stood at the counter drinking Pepsi and chatting about any random thing that came to mind. Ed, Ayla, and Amber walked into the dining room where everyone was. Al greeted the girls with a smile and his brother with a nod. Ed opened the refrigerator door and offered Amber and Ayla a drink, which they both accepted eagerly. Amber was sitting some distance away from the group but was still engaged in the conversation. Al quietly excused himself from the group and walked over to amber. "Come with me."

Amber hopped off the counter farthest from the group and followed Al out of the kitchen and into the living room. The two sat down on a couch. There was a long moment of silence before Al turned to look at Amber. She was gazing at the wall. "Amber… is something wrong?"

"No…" She paused, "Not… really."

"Can't you tell me?"

She looked into his eyes. "Have you ever heard of Alchemy?"

There was a long moment of silence as Al considered how to answer the question. "I've heard of it, yes."

"Have you ever attempted anything alchemical?"

Another pause. "You could… say that, yes…"

"I had this dream… It kind of scared me… I was outside, just walking around, but I saw you… and then you disappeared and a suit of armour stood where you did… I started to walk towards you but you kept on moving further and further away. I turned around to find you and Ed with a woman… She had light brown hair that was loosely tied back. Other parts are vague but I did get cut from it." She rolled up her sleeve to reveal a scratched arm.

Al examined her arm in shock. The scratches looked like claw marks. He carefully lifted his hand and gently touched one of the scratches. Amber winced but didn't pull back. His touch was so gentle it was comforting even though her cuts hurt.

"Amber, there's something I should tell you…" Al started but trailed off.

"You can tell me, Al." Amber put her hand on his, wincing a bit at the pressure she added. She gently lifted his hand off her arm and placed it on the couch, her hand on his.

Al looked down at her hand then back into her eyes. "Promise me you wont tell a soul what I'm about to say? Not even your sister. Not even Ed. No one."

She nodded. "I promise."

"My brother and I… we're alchemists. We've been studying the art for years now. We've… attempted some things we shouldn't have and have had to deal with the consequences. We've been running after the Philosopher's Stone for a while now."

"Oh! The Philosopher's Stone from Harry Potter?" Amber beamed.

"… Who's that?"

"… Oh…" She pouted. "I was beginning to think it was real."

"Well I don't know about what you're talking about but the Stone we're after is as real as anything."

"Oh. Well anyways. You were telling me something and I interrupted. Go on."

"Um… Oh yeah. Well that was actually pretty much it." Alphonse confirmed though he knew he was leaving several points out. 'I'll tell her more later.'

"I promise I wont tell anyone." Amber gave Al a gentle smile.

Alphonse put his free hand over the hand she had over his. He smiled at her and proceeded to get up. "The others are probably wondering what we're doing"

Amber laughed. "Probably."

The pair made their way back into the kitchen to be invited by suspicious glances and some giggles from Crystal and Kailee. Ed raised an eyebrow and smirked. "Having fun, little brother?"

Al blushed. "Brother!!!"

Ayla and Amber slipped back into their house. It was 10:30pm. Ayla opened the refrigerator door and pulled out some juice. Amber yawned. Ayla turned to her little sister. "Go to bed."

Amber straightened. "I'm not tired though!"

Ayla rolled her eyes. "Sure you're not."

"I'm not!" Amber huffed before yawning again.

"Get your butt up stairs missy." Ayla teased.

"But mooooooommm!" Amber groaned sarcastically.

"Now, young lady, before I ground your butt for life!" Ayla gave her little sister a pat on the head.

Amber sighed. "Yes ma'am."

Ayla grinned and shoved her sister up the stairs. "Bed. Now."

"I already said okay!" Amber laughed.

"I know. Just making sure you weren't lying."

"I'm not lying!"

"You sure about that?"

"Positive!"

"Alright fine." Ayla sighed. "I'm going to bed too."

"Kay. Night!" Amber pushed her door open and stepped into her room. She leaned back on the door, closing it. She stood there for a few moments before sighing and changing into her pj's. Flicking off her light, she stood for a moment in the moonlit room before stumbling over to her bed. She crawled onto the bed and slipped under the cool covers. Amber yawned and closed her eyes, hoping for peaceful dreams.


And that was the end of chapter nine. Hope you all liked it. (laughs) I'm already working on chapter ten but that probably won't be done for a day or two cause dad's been on the computer lots. Thanks again for the ideas Amber! You saved me like a week of thinking! (laughs) Also, thanks for all the reviews! Glad you like the story! I'll update ASAP!