beginning of chapter 3

"Man, I'm so full I could burst!" stated Ed as he laid back on the floor.

"Me, too!" said Stephanie. "I couldn't eat another bite if I had to! She added as she laughed.

"Well, then I guess it's a good thing none of us has to." Mustang said.

"Guess so" said Stephanie.

"Say, Stephanie. Why are you wearing sunglasses? We're inside, you shouldn't need them in here" Al said as he laughed.

"Yes, I do need them in here. I need them everywhere." Stephanie said as she stopped smiling. "I'm blind."

"What!" asked Al.

"No way!" added Ed.

"No, she isn't lying boys. She is blind." said Mustang.

"Oh…I'm so sorry. I didn't' mean to-" Al said.

"It's okay Alphonse, you didn't know. I'm glad you didn't. It was cool that you didn't know. You guys didn't treat me handicapped or nothing…it felt great. I normally always need special help. I need Mr. Havoc help me back to the room, not just cause I had to much to carry. I had to have a guide to get me from the stairs to this room when I first got here." She turned towards Mustang. "When I got here, we had to walk to my room, and then back here…so many times a day. I couldn't do it, so mustang has given me a bed next door. I hate being blind. That's why it feels so great knowing that you guys couldn't of guessed if Al hadn't said anything." She smiled. "But now that you know, I don't want you guys to treat me any differently. I liked the way you guys acted before you found out. So, let's continue that way, huh?"

Al and Ed both smiled. "Of course we will. I'm sorry for bringing it up." said Al.

"Thanks," said Stephanie as she smiled again.

"Well. Even though Mustang here has told you about us, we'll introduce us to you ijn person," said Ed, "My name is Edward Elric. Nice to meet you, Stephanie."

"It okay if I call you Ed for short?" asked Stephanie.

"Yeah. That's what they all call me anyway. Knock yourself out." said Ed.

"No thanks," Stephanie said as she laughed. "I like to be conscious when I meet someone. Well, my name is Stephanie."

"And I'm Alphonse. You can call me Al for short." said Al.

"I will. Well, I'm getting tired. Probably from being so full. I'm gonna go to bed." said Stephanie as she got up from the table. "I'll see you guys in the morning.

"You need any help, Steph?" asked Mustang.

Stephanie turned around and smiled. "No thanks," she said, "I can make it myself. It's only next door."

"Well, actually, whether you want them there or not, Ed and Al have to come with you," mustang said, "It's part of their duty." Mustang got up. "Here, I'll show you where she is staying."

Edward and Alphonse got up from the table and followed Stephanie and Lt. Mustang out to the room across the hall. As soon as they opened the door, someone popped out at them. Stephanie fell back into the hallway. Alphonse rushed down to Stephanie's side and helped her up as the shadowy figure emerged from the room. Ed and Lt. Mustang straightened up, preparing for battle.

"Whoa, whoa. Settle down, you crazy battle hungry people," Havoc stepped out of the room carrying a basket full of dirty clothes. Behind him, Riza Hawkeye popped out. "What's going on out here?" she asked with a puzzled look on her face.

"Well, I walk out with laundry, and they want to attack me!" said Havoc.

"Well, you did just pop of out the door, Jean," said Hawkeye, before she spotted Mustang. After seeing him, she straightened up, and saluted him. "Lt. Mustang. We were gathering Stephanie's needing launder items and dropping off a plate of tea, sir."

"Okay. Relax. You guys scared us," Mustang said with a sigh. "Well, if there are no more surprises, we'll show you guys the room." Mustang walked forward and turned on the light that Riza had just turned off. As soon as he did, Ed's eyes just about popped out of his head and Alphonse gasped. "Gosh, this is huge!"

They looked around at the huge room. There were chandeliers, a balcony and even a flight of stairs leading to another area.

"Well, don't get used to it," said Mustang. "You guys gotta leave in about two or three days. You can't stay here for long, because people might catch her trail. Okay, well, up those stairs is Stephanie's bed, you guys will sleep down here, so you can hear anything at the windows or door. Your beds are over there in the corner."

"Ummm, Lt. Mustang, "Al whispered, "is it good for Stephanie to be up those stairs?"

"Well, Al, all you guys gotta worry about is her falling. Which you shouldn't even worry there. We've taken all the precautions. Here, I'll show you," Mustang said as he walked up the stairs. He motioned for Al and Ed to follow him. They started to walk up the stairs when Stephanie said "I wanna go up now, too." She linked arms with Al, who looked at her arm and blushed on the inside and they all walked up the stairs. When they got up there, Al and Ed both gasped at what they saw. There was another whole room! At the wall at the very edge, there was a bed with a nightstand, a closet on another wall, a bathroom behind a door next to the closet and a kitchen on the other side.

"This is huge too! Wow!" said an excited Alphonse, as he rushed over to look at everything.

"Not only that, but she can't fall down the stairs, there's a safety gate and there are sensors when you get too close. Watch" Mustang said as he walked close to the stairs. A sharp alarm went off.

"You don't really think I'm gonna fall, do you?" asked Stephanie.

"No, but we need to take precautions." said Mustang.

"I guess you are right. I'm glad you care." said Stephanie. She started reaching into the air. "Al, where are you?"

Just then, Alphonse stopped what he was doing and ran back to them. "What do you need, Stephanie?"

"Come with me over to my bed. I need to talk to you." she said as she linked arms with him again and he guided her over to the bed.

"They are getting pretty close," said Lt. Mustang, "a little too close…"

"What?" asked Ed.

"Oh, nothing. Well, I'm going back downstairs. See you guys' later." said Lt. Mustang.

"I need to talk to you, I'll come with." said Ed.

"We'll see you later," called Stephanie as Mustang and Ed walked down the stairs.

Back on the bed, Stephanie and Al were sitting down, talking.

"Hey Al. why are you so cold? I mean, I know you are wearing a suit of armor, but normally you can feel body heat through it…I don't understand…are you…empty?" asked Stephanie.

"No. I mean, yeah, but I have a soul so…." replied Al.

"How did you become like this?" asked Stephanie.

"It's a long story…but I guess I can tell you. When we were little…" Al started. Over the next hour Alphonse told Stephanie the start of the adventure to where they are today. Al couldn't tell if she was listening, because he didn't know if it was interesting or not, but she hoped she was. By the end of the story all Stephanie said was "Wow."

"What's so …wow?" asked Al.

"You've been through so much more than I have these past years, and all I do is complain…I feel so terrible. Like I'm a bad person." Stephanie said as she started to cry.

Al reached for her and put his hand on her shoulder. "It's okay. Being blind has gotta be tough, we all know it is. You have a right to complain."

"Stephanie's face looked up towards Al and she said " you really think so?"

Al looked at her and said "I know so."

After that Stephanie leaned forward and hugged Al, even though he was cold. She started to cry again, so much that she started to fall asleep.

"Well, I should be heading down," Al said.

"No, I don't want you to. Stay up here with me!" said Stephanie and she started to cry again. Al sighed and leaned up close to her again. He whispered to her, "I'll stay as long as you want me to."

Stephanie leaned up towards Al and kissed his head armor. "Thanks Al," she started to say, "But if you want to go own, you can. In fact you probably should, or Mustang will get mad."

"I don't really want to, but If you want me too, I will." said Alphonse as he gave her a hug and started to walk down the stairs. On his way down, he heard Stephanie call "I really like you, Al." he turned around and called back "I like you, too." and finished walking down the stairs. When he got down stairs, Ed was waiting at the door. He walked in and crawled into bed.

"Man…I'm so tired. I'll see you in the morning Al. If the alarm goes off, will you check on her?" asked Ed.

"Yes. I will. Goodnight brother." Said Al, but Ed was already asleep. Alphonse crawled into the super size bed they had for him and he laid down. For the first time in weeks, he fell asleep and had a dream.

End of Chapter 3