Flash. Flash. Flash.

Darkness. Echoes.

The wanted.

The people.

The good.

The evil.

It was rather silent, yet piercingly loud. Nothing bothered him, and yet everything did. He was alone and he was surrounded.

But he knew it was supposed to feel this way. He was gaining back something he had sacrificed for Al. Gaining control over another's Gate. It was a strange sensation. He could feel several years of transmutations going off inside his body. He could feel the soul binding of his younger brother happening within his own soul, even though it wasn't bound to him anymore.

He was scared. If this didn't work, the rebound would hit him and everything else wouldn't matter anymore. He would leave Al and everyone else alone. If this transmutation failed, he'd be losing his life.

"How did you get back here?"

He remained silent.

"This isn't your gate. Why are you here?"

"He's here to make an agreement with me."

"Very well. What deal are you willing to pay for?" There was a signature grin. "Do you want your brother's body back yet?"

"No." Eli stepped forward. "The deal is mine. I give him control."

"Of?"

"My gate. It's mine, correct? I can do whatever I want with it." Eli called, touching it. "I give him control."

"And the toll?"

"I'll remain here. I'll be taken. He gets my gate, and I remain here with you."

The grin grew and it turned towards him, "Are you willing?"

He glanced at the wandering alchemist. He turned and looked at the gate. "I agree."

"I wonder, little Elric..."

Blackness covered his sight and pain struck through his head. The same pain as so long ago.

"...On which side will you end up?..."

Ed snapped his eyes open, drawing in a quick breath. It wasn't exactly a nightmare, but it had still startled him nevertheless. He glanced around, finding nothing unusual. Everything was as he had left it before drifting off to sleep. Sarah and Aarisa were still sitting on the opposite bench of the corner where they sat. Sarah had drifted off to sleep at some point, followed by Aarisa. Both girls didn't seem to have gotten enough sleep last night.

"Brother?" He heard Al's quiet voice call.

He sat up, shaking his head. "What are we doing, Al?"

"Helping people."

"How is this helping you get your body back, or stop whatever war Eli keeps talking about?"

"War?"

He shook his head again. He didn't really know. This wasn't helping anything. They were looking after two girls that didn't even trust them. How could this possibly be helping any cause?

"We're almost there."

"That was quick."

"Well, we did opt for the shortest route." Al commented, "We got to Ishval faster, but we'll have to travel to the capital on foot."

"That'll take a few days." He huffed.

"It still looks stormy out."

Ed stood, "Wake girls up in a few minutes."

"Where are you going?"

"Am I not allowed to go to the bathroom after more than twenty hours on a train?"

He was sure Al would have grinned if he could.

The place was rather crowded, vendors and sellers lined the streets, hoping to sell their wares. There was hardly a place to step seven strides before running into an Ishvalan with something to sell. There were several just waiting to catch an unsuspecting tourist at the train station. The brothers brushed past them, the girls in tow. There would be only a small amount of time before the place was swamped, and they get separated. With this much foot traffic, it was going to take longer than a single day to get to the central area, and locate the state alchemist. The elder brother sighed, and leaned back to have the frail girl grab onto his coat, which she did so, thankfully, without question. Al and Aarisa led the way, Al's size creating just enough space for the rest of them to slip through. Not to mention that everyone aside them had parted in leeway of the giant suit of armor.

They got a few stares, partly because of the giant suit of armor that was his brother, and partly from the mismatch of non-Ishvalan people.

"Brother, we need to stick together!" He heard Al's voice call out barely.

"Yeah, we need to know where to go in case we don't."

"How about the Lucidity hotel! It's a mile north from here!" Aarisa joined in, pointing in the direction.

"Sounds good. At this rate, it'll be sundown by the time we get there." Ed commented with a harsh voice. He didn't want to be out in the open when the clouds finally decided to drop the condensing rain. But there was nothing to stop the surrounding people from keeping them from their destination.

So it didn't seem to him that there was a chance they weren't going to be separated. With the amount of people, the chance of not getting separated was at a low percentage.

Just great.

Edward glanced around. The sky was was growing darker, and yet the people around him stayed on the streets. It didn't seem to bother them that they sky looked ready to dump a thousand gallons of rain on them.

"Al?"

That's when he noticed that he couldn't see the shining armor next to him.

Well, that was quick.

The worst part of it, was that Ed couldn't find the armor in the sea of bodies. Even after jumping to see through the crowd.

"Well, we're on our own, Sarah." Frankly, he was glad that she hadn't been pulled away and had stayed attached to his coat. "Lucidity Hotel... Right?"

The sky did not look promising.

"Brother, the sky doesn't look too good. Let's hurry."

Aarisa turned her head from the vendor she was paying for the leather gloves held in her hands. Her current ones were pretty trashed, but that came with her training. The younger Elric brother was turning his head back and forth.

"Brother?!"

"We lost him to the crowd about seven minutes ago. Sarah's with them." She called, replacing her practice gloves with her new gloves.

"So we've just been wondering around for seven minutes?!"

"I know this place like the back of my hand. I've been here way too many times to see the doc." She thanked the vendor and rejoined the armor. "They'll be fine if they keep heading north. You can't miss the hotel."

"Are you sure?"

"That he'll make it before the rain hits, no. Make there before night falls, yeah." She shrugged. "But I don't think you want your armor wet. Am I right?"

"No... I don't like getting wet." He admitted.

She grinned. "I wouldn't think so. Walking around in wet armor doesn't sound like a good time."

"It's not."

"Why are you in that armor all the time?"

"Alchemy training... For patience."

"Geez! I don't think I'd be able to keep that armor on all the time. I'd wanna take it off all the time." She added. "Glad my training isn't like that."

"Where did you learn alchemy?" Al followed her lead, as she expected.

She slowed and stopped. Aarisa clenched her fists, closed her eyes, and drew a breath. Then relaxed, and said, "Some one who left. But he's coming back."

"You're all by yourself right now?"

"A couple of years. I just train. If I get better, he'll come back."

"Who?"

Aarisa began her stride once again. The sky was darkening again and thunder rolled absently in the distance. Best be getting to the hotel soon. She didn't reply to the younger brother clad in a suit of metal armor.

Aarisa heard the heavy footsteps of the metal chasing after her through the crowded streets.

Ed had to fight the urge to bust someone's face at the sound of another person asking if he would buy a strip of cloth. It didn't help that three of them had tried to grab Sarah from him in attempt to sell to her.

"I bet Al and the giant girl are fairing better than this." He commented.

The frail girl remained quiet, her hand still clutched to his coat. She was still playing it safe around the Fullmetal Alchemist. Not that he could blame her. Her only refuge had wondered off with a large suit of armor, and were probably at or near the hotel by now.

It still didn't help that the sky was growing darker and darker with each passing moment.

The hand that clutched his coat tightened, balling more fabric into it. He didn't have to turn around to know why it did. Rain and the change in atmospheric pressure undoubtedly hurt against automail. He knew that all too well.

"Let me know if you start hurting." He murmured, not expecting a reply, and knowing he wouldn't.

They continued forward, heading north. Ed worked them through the lest populated area to avoid having Sarah bumped and possibly knocked over for a seventh time. The crowd had slightly dissipated, thankfully, but not enough to make that much of a difference. People and vendors still lined the streets, and just about the same still stared at them as they weaved through the crowd.

And to make it worse, the clouds gave up swelling with rain and had begun to drip it's contents.

Ed only stared forward, catching glimpses of falling drops. His feet slowed, and the hand gripping his coat fell. The rain didn't show signs of stopping anytime soon.

"...Humans..."

He turned, staring Sarah down with a half confused look on his face.

"Cannot gain something without sacrificing something in return."

Sarah lifted her head to look Ed directly in the eyes, her clouded ones sending a wicked shiver down his spine.

"To obtain, something of equal value must be lost..."

The rain fell harder around them, soaking their clothes.

For someone who feared alchemists, she knew plenty. And she was right, forcing Ed to give a half chuckle in realization. If he was going to get her to trust him, he had to trust her as well. Equal trust, something he could understand.

It was indeed the simple law of Equivalent Exchange.

Ed shrugged the shoulders of his coat off. The fabric wasn't soaked completely yet, still giving a varying degree of warmth, if the new shiver that ran down his back gave any explanation. He took a step toward the girl who tried to hide the spasming shivers, and dropped his coat over her shoulders. Yanking on the hood, he pulled it over her head. Without breaking movement, Ed leaned down and grabbed her automail hand with his right hand.

"I can barely see the sign... We gotta get outta this rain," He stated, pulling her along carefully, "Let's keep going."

"Hah! You guys got stuck in the rain!" Aarisa's voice was the first thing Ed heard when he entered the lobby to the hotel.

She was sitting comfortably dry in a large chair with a smirk plastered to her face.

"Me an' Al got here right before the rain got heavy." She admitted, motioning to the armor itself.

"Yeah, yeah, keep bragging."

"You need to get dry, Brother."

"We'll worry about that once we get a room and some dry beds."

"About that..." Aarisa cut in, absently wringing out Sarah's strands, letting the water drip to the floor. "There wasn't a room that had two beds, so we had to get two different rooms."

"But they're right next to each other!" Al added quickly.

"You guys sound like I'm going to be mad." He called out, pulling at the tie holding his braids together. "Why?"

"Because the colonel said you have to room with her." Al input, "I called him... To let him know we made it."

Ed paused and raised an eyebrow. He drew in a breath and exhaled. Behind him, Sarah shifted, her boots squeaking.

"Let's just get out of these wet clothes. They at least have showers, right?"

"Of course! This place is awesome!" Aarisa shouted, before holding out a key for the elder Elric brother. "Here."

Ed took the key in grasp.

Thunder rolled outside.

O.o

Heya guys.

'Nother chapter and hopefully you guys like it. *shrug*

Thanks for all the support.

Reviews are awesomely epic, but absolutely positively never required.

See ya soon.

o.O