Disclaimer: I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist, Avatar the Last Airbender, or Legend of Korra

Edward

This is it. I'm going to die. Scar's hand was reaching for him. Edward could distantly hear Alphonse screaming his name. I'm sorry, Al….

Suddenly Scar's hand was gone. He'd somehow been knocked away. Scar's eyes weren't trained on Ed anymore; they were looking up, past him, towards someone else….

Edward didn't recognize this stranger. It was a girl who looked to be his age, maybe slightly older. She had an athletic build to her thin, muscled body, and Ed had to admit she was rather pretty. She had golden brown hair that cascaded a few inches past her shoulders, flowing slightly in the wind. Her hazel eyes were trained on Scar, flashing in challenge. Her body was crouched slightly in a defensive stance, and her arms were raised and hands open, ready for anything.

Ed heard Scar yell a battle cry and watched him rush the newcomer. She dodged his charge by jumping sideways and twisting in midair to keep Scar in her eyesight. The distance she jumped shouldn't have been possible, and it looked so effortless.

Amazing, how...?

He couldn't finish the thought as he watched her arms move in intricate, fluid motions. No sooner had her feet touched the ground and she was bringing her arms back up in an underhanded throwing motion. Jets of water shot towards Scar, which he dodged easily.

She's an alchemist. There was no other explanation. She'd manipulated the ground first to knock Scar away from him, and now she was controlling the water. Although admittedly, he'd never seen alchemy move water like that before, but he couldn't think of any other possibility. Besides, Mustang could handle fire in a comparable way; maybe she was using a similar technique. But Ed hadn't seen her draw any circles. Maybe she had them tattooed somewhere on her body. She was moving so fast he couldn't get a good look at her hands, which is where most alchemists drew or wore their circles.

Scar charged the stranger a second time. Again, she evaded him by jumping impossibly high, up and over his head, to land behind him. His outstretched hand grazed the wall she had been standing by, instantly destroying it. Ed saw her eyes widen as she realized what this meant. That he was aiming to kill, and he had the ability to do it with a single touch of the hand.

In response, her demeanor instantly changed. She took the offensive and jumped up in a wide sweeping kick, and from her heel erupted a wave of…

Fire.

Fire. Ed's mind raced with the impossibility, but he saw it. Right? Maybe his eyes are playing tricks….

Maybe he imagined the fire kick. But when she started punching fireballs at Scar, Ed knew what he was seeing was real. He even heard Scar yell out as he was burned, and the blow knocked his glasses from his face.

Suddenly, the fighting stopped as Mustang commanded everyone's attention with his gunshots.

"Hey. You okay?" Ed looked up to see the stranger kneeling next to him with her hand outstretched.

"Y-yeah…" He answered as he took her hand and allowed her to pull him to his feet.

He was still reeling with what he'd just witnessed. Alchemy explained her moving the ground. And yeah, maybe it could explain her throwing the water, but the fire? He'd only seen one alchemist control fire like that, and that was Colonel Mustang.

Edward watched over the girl's shoulder as Scar promptly destroyed the ground and disappeared into the sewer system.

Everything was silent for a moment, but then Hawkeye was suddenly aiming her gun at the stranger. Ed baulked. "Hey, Hawkeye, what the hell?"

The strange girl stood frozen with her hands up in a surrender gesture, but she was examining Hawkeye out of the corner of her eye. "What's wrong? I was trying to…"

Hawkeye interrupted, and she sounded very upset. "How? How did you learn flame alchemy? Who told you? Where did you learn how to do it?"

Mustang approached quickly and put a hand on Hawkeye's shoulder. "Lieutenant, put down your gun. I'm sure there's a rational explanation for this."

"Colonel, you saw it as well as I did. She…."

"I know." He responded, cutting her off. "But I don't think she's an enemy. She did save Fullmetal, after all. Lower your gun. That's an order."

The girl seemed to relax as Hawkeye finally obeyed and lowered her pistol, then she addressed the Colonel directly. "Sir, I don't know what's going on, but I can assure you, I'm not your enemy."

Ed wanted to ask what the hell was going on, but he was distracted by the sight of a half-demolished Alphonse leaning against the wall in the nearby alley. As the two officers and the girl began moving away from him, he ran over to his brother.

"Al! Al, are you okay?"

"Brother! Who was that? What did she... how...?"

"You noticed too, huh? She's got to be an alchemist, that's the only explanation."

"But it doesn't make sense, Brother. Colonel Mustang is the only alchemist that exists that can control flame like that, and even he can't create fire on a rainy day. Besides, she didn't use circles."

Ed started. Al was right. It was raining. Mustang's ignition gloves didn't work when they're wet, and he can't use flame alchemy without a source of fire. That girl hadn't had any source for her fire, it had just… appeared. And he hadn't seen any circles, nor had she clapped her hands like he did when performing alchemy.

"Something else is going on, Al. And we need to find out what."

Al hummed in agreement.

Ed examined Al's armored body, assessing the damage quickly. "...I'll need to get a new arm before I can fix you..."

"Don't worry about me, Brother. Go with the Colonel, find out what you can. I'll meet back up with you later. Major Armstrong can carry me back to our hotel."

Armstrong had just approached and was kneeling beside them, so he had heard the end of Al's sentence. "Don't worry, Edward Elric, I'll take care of your brother."

"Thanks, Major. I'll see what I can learn, Al."

Ed stood and turned to see Mustang standing beside a car talking to Hawkeye. He hurried over to join them and caught the last part of Mustang's reassurances to his Lieutenant.

"… I swear to you, I have not shared any information about flame alchemy, with anyone, I swear it..."

"It couldn't have been alchemy." Ed declared as he drew near. They both looked over at him. "There was no ignition source…"

"Doesn't mean it wasn't alchemy." Hawkeye snapped. "There had to be a source. We just didn't see it. There's no other explanation." She looked down at the ground, her voice breaking with despair. "My father's research… I thought it was all destroyed… I vowed there would be no more flame alchemists…"

"Hawkeye." Mustang shook her shoulder gently. "We'll get to the bottom of it. But this is not the place to discuss this. Let's get back to the office. Fullmetal, I assume you'd like to come, as well? Get in the car." He gestured to the door, then walked around to let himself in on the other side.

Ed opened the door and climbed in obediently. For some reason he was shocked to see the strange girl sitting opposite him, but then realized his surprise was stupid. Of course they had put her in the car. Duh. Hawkeye climbed into the driver's seat, and soon they were on their way to Eastern Command.

The silence in the car was tense. Ed fidgeted uncomfortably, trying hard not to stare at the girl. He stole a quick look at her anyway. She was staring out the window, gazing at the passing buildings. She had a distant look in her eyes, almost like she wasn't really seeing what she was looking at. Like she was deep in thought. He was itching to ask her how she'd done it. All of it. But Hawkeye was obviously very upset about it, and he didn't want to risk making her even more angry by bringing it up. He looked away and stared out the window, too.

The awkward silence lasted the entire way to Command. Upon parking the car, Hawkeye led the way to the office. She seemed to have no desire to walk where the brunette girl would be in her line of sight, since she walked quickly and didn't look back once. The girl followed, keeping a respectful distance from Hawkeye, with Mustang close behind and Ed walking beside him.

None of them said a word until they reached the office. Hawkeye held the door open as the others entered, then followed as they all crossed the room into Mustang's inner office. The Colonel gestured to the couches, and Edward and the girl each took one and sat across from each other. Hawkeye closed the door, then moved to stand behind Ed's couch. Mustang sat at his desk and turned his calculating gaze to the stranger. Her hazel eyes met his black ones, her expression unreadable.

Finally, Mustang broke the silence. "You said your name is Ayana, right?"

The girl nodded. Ed hadn't heard her say her name earlier; it sounded foreign. He wondered if she was from another country. He had picked up a slight accent when she'd spoken to him earlier….

Mustang continued, bringing Ed's thoughts to a halt. "Do you mind telling me what happened back there?"

"It's simple, really." Ayana replied slowly. "I was walking through town and heard some explosions. Decided to check it out and found that scarred man about to murder this boy…"

Ed tensed at being referred to as a 'boy' but didn't interrupt. At least she hadn't called him small, or puny, short, pipsqueak….

"…I did what I could to stop him, and then you all showed up."

Mustang smirked in an unamused way. "That didn't really answer my question. Are you an alchemist?"

Understanding flashed across Ayana's face. "Oh, you mean the water and the fire?"

Ed's heart started beating faster. For some reason he had been expecting her to try to hide it, to guard the existence of her talents from them. He was excited to hear that she wasn't going to hide anything at all.

"No... I'm not an alchemist. Where I'm from, we call it bending."

Ed, Mustang and Hawkeye all stared at her. Ed wasn't really sure what to think about that, and apparently neither did either of the officers. Bending…? What the hell did that even mean?

Finally, Mustang prompted "What do you mean by, 'bending'?"

Ayana rubbed the back of her neck with her hand. "Well... I guess the easiest way to describe it is, I can control the elements. Manipulate them. Bend them. So, I was bending the water and fire to attack that man, and to defend myself and him." She said, pointing at Ed.

It sounded unbelievable, but the more Edward thought about it, the more it fit. The water throwing made sense now. Even the insanely high jumps, assuming she could also control air. But the fire... there was still something missing there. There was still no ignition source.

Mustang seemed to come to the same conclusion because his next question was exactly what Ed had been about to ask. "What about the fire? Manipulating an element is one thing, but creating it out of thin air…" He trailed off expectantly.

"I use my body's energy to create the fire." She stated simply.

Mustang stared. He was obviously not expecting that answer.

"Prove it." Hawkeye demanded quietly. Her voice was low and dangerous, and her hand was hovering near her holster. Ed looked up at her in surprise. Why was this such a big deal to her?

Ayana said nothing, but instead raised her left hand and opened it with her palm up. As they watched, a small fire erupted there. The flames danced above her skin without burning it. Mustang's eyes flashed in surprise; he didn't even try to hide it. Hawkeye gaped, like she hadn't expected Ayana to actually be able to prove anything. Ed's mind was racing, putting the pieces together.

"Earlier.. you said elements. Plural. I saw you throw water, too. Is that it?" He finally managed to ask.

Ayana smiled at him. She raised her hand and turned her palm to face away from her. The flame morphed into a small circle, chasing itself in a vertical ring above the table between them.

"Fire." She glanced around the room briefly. "Water." Keeping her left hand steady, her right moved in waving, smooth motions, her fingers loose and relaxed. Impossibly, the glass of water on Mustang's desk emptied itself, and the liquid followed the movements of her hand to form a horizontal ring around the fire. "Earth." Another wave of her hand brought mud and dirt up from the floor, forming a circle at a diagonal across the other spinning elements. "Air." She breathed a quick breath, like blowing out a candle, creating a nearly indistinguishable vortex of air which took up position in the opposite diagonal, completing the shape. She sustained it for a moment, letting everyone in the room have a good look, before letting the air and fire dissipate and returning the water and dirt to their previous locations.

Ed's mind was blown. He couldn't fathom what he'd just witnessed. How was something like that possible? It was amazing! But… how?

In the shocked silence following her display, Ayana addressed Mustang. "Colonel, I've answered your questions, now I think it's only fair that you answer some of mine."

Mustang shook himself out of his reverie and cocked an eyebrow at her. He folded his hands together and leaned his elbows on the desk, resting his chin on his fingers. His expression was guarded again. "Oh? You must not be familiar with how the military works. I get to ask the questions here, not you."

She was silent as a puzzled look crossed her face. She looked disappointed, but apparently she didn't want to challenge the Colonel because she didn't respond.

Hawkeye had visibly relaxed because her hand was no longer poised to draw her pistol. She'd assumed her professional stance and took a step sideways to position herself against the wall by the door. Ed was relieved she was more at ease. While that demonstration of 'bending' was amazing and informative, he still had questions for this girl, and he couldn't ask them if Hawkeye got angry and shot her.

Mustang seemed to come to some sort of a decision. He kept his expression guarded as he talked. "Ayana, the abilities you've demonstrated are… unique. I've never seen or heard of anything like it. I'm curious how you've come to acquire such talents…" Ed saw her eyes narrow slightly. "…but I can understand why you might not want to share. You should know, though, such abilities could be viewed by some in the military as a valuable… asset. I wouldn't go around flaunting them if I were you. Additionally, you've now made yourself a target of Scar." He paused, considering his next words. "I'm going to assign a guard to you. They'll serve as protection from Scar until we can get that situation under control."

Ed saw right through Mustang. The guard wasn't for protection; this girl had already proven she could protect herself. The Colonel didn't trust this stranger, but he was too intrigued to just let her go or kick her out of the city. No… the guard wasn't for protection; it was so Mustang could keep an eye on her.

Ayana had been about to protest but paused. She sat for a minute considering, and eventually bowed her head in acceptance.

"Yes, sir. But please… If I could ask just one question." She looked up, and Ed could see a bit of desperation in her eyes.

Mustang hesitated, but eventually sighed and waved his hand for her to continue.

"Please, sir. Does the phrase 'spirit realm' mean anything to you?"

Mustang kept his face blank. "I'm sorry, but no, it doesn't." Ayana's expression fell in disappointment. Mustang met Ed's gaze. "You're both dismissed."