"The next train will arrive at Central!" The guard yelled, "Please board the train for Central! That's alright, ma'am, it'll be about two minutes. Hello Mac."

"Steve."

"How's the wife goin'?" Mac said, "She pop yet?"

"Just about." The other guard smiled, "It'll be a month yet, the doctor said. Which train is next?"

"493."

"That's the one with the haunted carriage."

"What? Haunted? A carriage can't be haunted!"

"Sure can. A bunch of people said a girl went missing after going on that carriage. Around Christmas. Then, a week later, she just shows up again! In the same carriage!" Mac stared at his coworker, becoming annoyed by his amused look, "I'm telling' ya, Steve! It's haunted!"

"A carriage can't be haunted." Steve chuckled.

As luck, or fate, or even God or Truth would have it, Edward was passing through the Gate in that very carriage. Appearing as Maria did three months before, Edward landed silently and slammed his bag on the floor of the carriage. There was no one in it, however, and it looked like it hadn't been cleaned for a while. But Edward noted the plastic, the signs and graffiti along the wall and the etching on the plastic windows. "This must be a New York train…" Edward whispered to himself, and he sadly noted the smell.

The train was still in movement, and Edward took this opportunity to move around himself and oberve his surroundings. Train 493 was exactly how Maria had explained it would be back at Central when Mustang initially interviewed her; the only difference now was that while Maria was on the train, she mentioned people watching her be pulled back into the windows and through the Gate. But tonight, Edward noted that there were no people, and most of all, the train looked like it hadn't been cleaned in months. Dust was all over the seats and windows, and the garbage that was still in the corner had become a pile of white mold than anything Edward could possibly decifer, and it was that that was causing the smell. Most of the metal was foggy and had handprints all over it, and the graffiti was running off due to time and not because of another gang marking their territory. Whatever the cause, no one had seen this carriage for some time. "Now." Edward said softly, and he spun around and looked at the walls, "It should be around here somewhere…"

It took him a few moments but he found it nevertheless. On the wall just under the window of the doors was the same transmutation circle that he made the night before, with the line through it already, only as a part of the etching and not in blood. Amoung all the graffiti and markings done by teenagers and the like, the circle blended in well. In the middle of a New York train, amongst the notes of others, it was the perfect place to hide such a circle. Not only that… "So someone here knows how to make my transmutation circle…"

"Excuse me! Sir?" The train had stopped, and Edward didn't notice.

Edward turned around to see Mac standing before him, his arm on the door. The elderly guard, with his bushy mustache and gray crew cut hair grunted in amusement, "You shouldn't be in here, boy. This here's carriage is haunted."

"Haunted?" Edward echoed, and he looked down at the transmutation circle. "Yes, I suppose you guys would think that."

"Any particular place you're trying to get to?"

Edward glanced up from the circle and smiled at Mac, "Could you tell me how to get to Julliard?"

Mac, confused by Edward's murmer, said, "Sure, boy. I'll show you a map."

Mac was a nice fellow, Edward thought, as he left the station and appeared on the street. The only thing now was to follow Mac's directions to the school. The other problem, Edward realized, was the fact that he was in the middle of New York, far larger than Central could ever be, with more technology than Edward had ever seen before. Televisions everywhere, flat screens even, lights coming off the buildings, people with technology coming out of their ears and things attached to their heads, people talking through devices, the smallest phones Edward had ever seen before, and so many things telling him to buy something. It was all so very overwhelming. "And this is what they used science for." Edward whispered as he turned his body around to watch the buildings inch away from him, and he realized that he was getting a headache.

Night had already fallen upon New York and Edward had to push past people, avoiding eye contact, for he also noticed that the fashion must have changed since the 1930's. He could have thought of that-Maria's clothes were always weird. But he didn't realize how futuristic and colorful clothes could be. Granted, he had seen many weird people back home, but he had never seen a pair of pants that tight on a man before.

He soon found himself at Julliard, standing in front of the massive building that was sharply jetting out on one corner. It was impressive, Edward would give them that. It was no wonder that Maria was trying to hard to get in-the building itself showed more prominence than the Central Command building, looking already more high-tech than anything he'd seen, and even with alchemy, he was sure he'd have trouble designing such a building. They had money, that was obvious. They were a favorite school and one of the best, this was also obvious. They also had no security guards and enough windows that he could easily transmute.

So Edward approached one of the windows and clapped his hands, then placed them on the glass. It easily melted away and he was able to walk through, turn around, clap his hands, and restore the glass. "So. Alchemy is possible in this time." He mused to himself, getting into the bottom floor of the school, and he looked at a large shelf of trophies, most likely from competitions and awards given to the school. Soon, Edward thought, Maria would be a part of those trophies, doing something to bring glory to her peers, to represent the people who made her what she is, and he understood why dancing was so important. And he would tell her, once he found her.

The corridors let in enough blue light for Edward to comfortably navigate his way through the halls, though he had to be careful as not to attract attention from someone outside. Watching a man in a brown trench coat with a full duffle bag lurking through a building that is supposed to be closed is bad luck in any era or universe.

It was deathly quiet, there was no movement, though he knew that there would be a lot in the morning. A bustling school, cleaned everyday so that the floor Edward was walking upon was even shiny. Everywhere there was a portrait or a trophy or a plaque, igniting the surroundings in gold or silver light, showing Edward the way.

Getting to the office, and getting inside by transmuting the glass, wasn't hard at all. However, Edward didn't realize that Julliard tended to 800 students and got over 2,000 applicants a year, and since Edward wasn't sure if she got in or not, he had 3,000 files to shift through. And he thanked Julliard for applying alphabetical organization, because he found Maria's file after about half an hour.

Maria Heiderich - Applicant
17 years old

Steverston High School

"Seems normal." Edward whispered, and he started to copy down the address and phone number that she gave on the application. "She'll be easy to find this way."

It was until he got to the bottom of the application that he saw, in a large red stamp, the word "DENIED."

Maria lived across the way of New York, almost on the other side of where the school was located, and it took Edward two full hours to get even close to her address. All the way he was fascinated by New York but couldn't help scowling at himself by the headache that was forming. The crazies, the music, the clubs, everything was so…exciting for him, however all the stimuli around him was causing his eyes and ears to become panicked, how could anyone live in all this?. All these new ways to form and shape the elements, Edward's fingers were just itching to transmute anything and everything, especially the neon lights that he kept seeing, but he kept his hands in his pockets and followed the streets.

Maria also lived in an apartment just a couple of streets away from a club district, and Edward made sure to keep to the back alleys instead of wondering near the entrances where most of the people were. Coughing because of the smoke, Edward wondered closer to Maria's streets and stopped abruptly when he heard a familiar voice. There was laughter and a girl's voice said, "Come on, then, let's go back inside." And when Edward glanced around the corner, he saw the familiar petite body of Maria retreat back into the building.

"Maria!" Edward said, but the door closed too fast for him to get her attention. Quickly, he ran to the door and attempted to open it; it was locked. Clapping his hands together, Edward made a hole in the door and creeped in. The hallways before him were dark and daggy, smelling of smoke and other chemicals that Edward hadn't even heard of but I assure you, you have. There was loud music and talking and laughing all the way down the corridor, and Edward, closing the hole in the door quickly, turned around and started to go down the hallway. Most of the people glanced at him nervously and went back to what they were doing, which consisted of making out and smoking. "Why in God's name is Maria here…?" He whispered to himself.

The main hall room for the club was large and loud, bright with the lights that Edward had seen outside, and packed with people up to the rim of the building. The people were wearing the same clothes that they in the street, only in heels, and he often saw people wearing glowing clothes. Scrunching his nose and pressing his forefinger and this thumb across the bridge of that nose, Edward looked around the room for Maria. She wouldn't be too hard to find; she was wearing red when he caught a glance at her.

She was in the middle of the dance floor with her friends, standing in a circle, dancing. Edward stopped and seemed to have forgotten that he was in the middle of a public place. Her body hadn't changed much at all, but her clothes sure had. The dress she was wearing was, to say the least, worse than Lust's dress. She looked beautiful and he felt his cheeks heat up at how her body was moving; she hadn't lost her dancing touch. But snapping out of it, Edward yelled, "Maria!"

Jumping, the girl turned around. There she was, looking him in the eyes once again, like he had dreamed of for the past three months. Her lips were red like her dress but he watched at her cheeks became red also, and her eyes widened in shock. "…Edward…?"

"What are you wearing?" Edward scolded loudly, and the girls around Maria, who were also wearing similar dresses, snickered. Taking off his trench coat, Edward strode up to her and wrapped her in it. "What would your grandmother say if she saw that?"

"..What?" Was all Maria could muster out of her mouth.

"Maria, who is this?" One of the girls said, wearing a dress surprisingly shorter than Maria's.

"This is.." Maria whispered, and she stopped to glance up at Edward. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm here for you." Edward mumbled, "What are you doing here? We're leaving." And he grabbed Maria by the upper arm and started to lead her away. Edward was happy to see that she followed him out of the club without arguing, though, he had to admit, it was odd.

They found themselves out on the street in front of the club the next moment, it had become colder and Edward was glad he gave her his coat. The people around them glanced at them suspiciously and he thought he heard a couple of the men cheer him on for something that was inappropriate, but ignoring them, he pulled Maria around the back of the alley where he first saw her. Placing her so that she was against the wall, Edward turned around and clapped his hands, erecting a wall that separated them from the rest of the world, and conveniently drowned out the sounds of New York. Finished, he turned around and said, "Of all places to find you! You were in there? How could you be so irresponsible! I've been in my fair share of pubs back home, but that building was ridiculous. Don't you know you could get hurt in there?"

Edward had his hands on his hips and was leaning towards her threateningly, eyes narrowed, like a mother of some sort. Maria in turn had her arms folded and was leaning against the wall, looking down at the ground instead of at him. Her lips were tight and her cheeks were pink, out of embarrassment of being scolded than actual affection.

"Well?" Edward insisted.

"Where were you?" Maria asked, and Edward had a feeling she was talking about something other than the club.

"What?"

"For the past three months." Maria said softly, but her voice became stronger in the next moment, "Where have you been?"

"I've been in Rosembool!" Edward countered, "Trying to get here!"

"So it took you a week to get me home and it took you three months to come back?" Maria said sharply.

"Now listen! I didn't mean to send you home! If it had been up to me, you would have gotten here just today!"

"And what have you been doing for those three months, Edward! Going home to relax?"

"Now that's just the opposite!"

Maria glared at him and turned away, intending to leave the alley, but Edward's wall was in the way. Huffing loudly, but she didn't turn away, she only stomped her foot.

"Listen." Edward said softly, "You have to understand. Moving from my world into this one can be tricky. I need God's permission before I do it, and sometimes I have to pay a fee…The fact that I'm still using my real limbs is astounding." He stared at her, and her shoulders were still stiff. He sighed, "I've been trying to get back here…The entire time, I was trying."

Maria didn't turn around to speak to him, she only stared at the wall, "Could you put the wall down?"

Edward watched as her arms sank, and he quietly said, "Sure." Before approaching her. He clapped his hands and reached around her, entrapping her in between her arms, and laid his hands on the wall. The thing went down like water and after a moment of frozen silence between the two, in which Edward would hope she'd turn around and face him, she didn't, and he let his arms drop. He said softly, "Do you mind if we get some food? I'm starving…Crossing worlds takes a lot of energy."

"Sure." Maria whispered, "Follow me."

Edward walked along side her silently, his bag thrown over his shoulder and his hand stuffed in his pocked, leaned back, watching the lights of the city. Maria was wrapped up in his coat, walking slowly. "Hey." Edward said, "Come on. Lighten up. I got here eventually, didn't I?"

"I didn't expect you to come at all." Maria said, "I hoped you didn't." She glanced up at the McDonald's they were in front of and started to head to the door.

Edward stopped walking and glared at her, "You hoped that wouldn't? What was the whole point of me coming then! You could have let me know back at Central that you never wanted to see me again! I could have saved three months of my life!"

Maria turned around, her hands on her hips now, and she said, "You came back for me! That means grandma was right!"

"Wha-?" Edward said, "Grandma? You mean Noah? What did she say?"

Maria stared at him, "You mean she didn't tell you?"

"I never let her tell me her fortunes, if that's what you mean."

Maria, who had been pushing a rock with her shoe glanced up sharply, "You mean…You don't know that you and I…?"

"You and I what?"

"We should get some food." Maria said, and she turned around to head into McDonald's.

"Hey! Wait!" Edward yelled, "You and I what?"

But Maria never answered, and instead convinced him to find something on the menu to order instead of worrying about 'Noah's crazy predictions.' And though, while sitting down at a table and opening up the wrapper, Edward could still sense that something was on her mind. But like every other time this happened, he would find out soon enough. For now, he just wanted something in his stomach.

"Well. This isn't food."

"What are you talking about? It's just fast food."

"What does fast food mean? Does it mean they've dipped it in acid?"

"Oil." Maria corrected.

"How can you live off this stuff?" Edward whined, and he pressed his head against the cold top of the table, his stomach already disagreeing with him.

"So what do you think of New York?" Maria started, "Do you like it?"

"Not really. I have a headache, and now a stomach ache from it." He said softly, "I'm not sure I'll live through this trip."

"Trip? You plan to go back?"

Edward lifted his head, "Of course. My home is in Rosembool. It took a couple of years for me to admit it, but it'll always be my home. My roots. My future. Like how New York is to you."

"You'll leave again."

"I can come back any time."

"I can't be the only reason why you came." Maria insisted, "There was another reason."

"There is." Edward confirmed, and he ignored his stomach long enough to lean back on his chair and cross a leg over the other, watching Maria, "While passing through the Gate, God told me a new word. He said…equilibrium."

"So?"

"Well it's the same as Equivalent Exchange, but also different." Edward mused, "While Equivalent Exchange focuses on giving what you're receiving, Equilibrium implies that nothing is given or taken, but that everything is kept in balance."

"He probably meant about you coming to New York. That it was making our worlds imbalanced."

"If that was the case, he wouldn't have let me cross." Edward said, "No. There's something else about our worlds. Something much bigger than you and me."

Maria got up from where she was sitting, and she smiled, which caused alarm in Edward but he smiled back, and she said, "Where are you staying?"

"I'm not sure. I brought some camping stuff. In case I needed too…"

"You'll have to travel for hours to find a forest around here." Maria said, "You can stay with my family. You'll get to meet my mother."

"Noah's daughter." Edward said. The illegitimate child of Noah and Alfons. If Maria looked the way she did, crossed between the two, Edward could only imagine how much Maria's mother looked like the two of them.

"Come on, then." Maria said.

Maria's apartment, only a couple of streets away from the McDonald's that they were just at, was not impressive in the least. First, Edward and Maria had to climb three stories to get to her floor because of her elevator being broken-which it had been for nearly three years now. The walls of the hallways alone were a dark sea green with stains in the corners from people smoking too much, despite the NO SMOKING signs on almost every door. When Maria got to her own door, Apartment 12, he noticed that the twelve was tipped to the right and broken at the screw. She opened the door and let him in, and her apartment was nearly as bad as the hallways. The walls were a dingy blue color and were stained in the same way the hallways were, the couches, overstuffed over the years, were brown, lined with yellow thread through them, and none of the furniture matched. The kitchen was bare, with hardly any appliances or food, particularly fruit, for that matter. Edward had seen bad conditions before, this wasn't as nearly as bad as what he'd seen during his years in the military, but still, he expected something a bit more clean cut.

Maria walked straight to her room and he followed obediently, refusing to place his bag on the floor.

Her room didn't show the walls, there was instead semi-transparent fabric covering them to make it look like a tent more than an actual room. It smelled sweeter, smelled just like Maria, and when she turned the lights on, it wasn't a single light on the top of the ceiling, but a bunch of golden Christmas lights behind the fabric. She had a desk and a shelf, covered in pink and orange things, and a bed in the corner, covered in blankets and stuffed animals, unmade, just like her bed in Central. The carpet, normally a pale grey color through the apartment, was instead covered by a large rug. It didn't even look like the room was part of the apartment.

"Where's your mother?" Edward asked.

"She's working."

Maria opened her window and sat down on the bed, patting it to invite him. He sat down across from her, "Working this late? It's nearly three in the morning. What does she do?"

"She's…" Maria started softly, and she got up to got to her closet and pull out some extra blankets, "She's a dancer too."

"Wow." Edward mumbled, looking out into the night sky, only, like Armstrong once said during Edward's first adventures with him, the city never really could give the night sky justice. Edward supposed, it was the same here as well. "You dancers are sure dedicated."

Maria nodded and handed Edward the pile of blankets. She told him that he would sleep on her floor, mainly because her mother was due to be back around six in the morning, and Maria didn't want to have her be surprised.

So overall, Edward had to admit that his reunion with Maria was a disappointment. He watched her slowly fall asleep on her bed, which was purple, and she slept like a doe. Her hand swung over the side and for a while Edward watched as the tips of her fingers twitched along with the dream she was having. And Edward had to wonder. Why Equilibrium? What was that thing, that think that God had in mind for him? And what had Noah told Maria three months ago? Maria was more of an enigma than anything in his life, he had come to that conclusion during their dance. But he feared he would never actually figure her out. This girl beside him, breathing softly, in her own little world, with no worries other than dancing. If only she had fed him something other than McDonald's.

But he couldn't hold that against her. Getting up to his knees, Edward looked down at Maria. During this reunion, her face was hard and worried and creased, like she had aged in her worry. Even up to the last minute of conversation with him, she had looked like she was keeping a deep secret from Edward. However, at the moment, her face was relaxed, the color in her cheeks was not induced but natural, and when Edward pushed some of her hair behind her ears and kissed her cheek, those rosy red lips turned upwards into a smile, and she reached out to stroke his cheek before letting her hand go limp once more. Sighing, Edward retreated back to the floor, made himself a cocoon out of the blankets like Maria had once explained, and drifted off into a deep sleep.

I feel in general this is going too slow, so I'm going to speed it up a bit in the next couple of chapters. I'm so used to reading authors like Hugo who take forever in doing anything. lol Anyway, thanks for reading and reviewing. :3