omg i am so sorry that the wait was really long, i was on vacation, and i didnt have time! i hope this was worth the wait, and if it isnt im sorry! im currently writng chapter 11 as of now, so im sure that will get on soon. i also have to read farenheit 451 and the lost boy, so sorry if theres delays again.

also, im reaally sorry, but reviewers responses wont be here again...im really pissed, i just typed them ALL, but then my computer froze and it didnt save, and instead of typing them all out again, im just gonna sum it up into a big "thank you very much readers for reviewing, you made me dance gleefully and say SQUEE aloud, because those were the most reviews i got and im oh so happy, and all of you rule and i would type the responses again but im afraid the computer might freeze again"

eh. sorry. i guarentee you, responses will be on the next chapter,but all you have to do for a response is leave a nice review for this chapter!thanks!


"He can tell you why when he's ready."

Miss Ross sat on the stool across from the blonde student, as she always did. Her legs crossed, and her clipboard grasped evenly in her hands, she listened attentively to him.

"I can't see how he can possibly not be ready to begin with," he groaned as he started to kick his legs nervously while he laid upon the red sofa, "He's my own brother…"

"You also have to remember, he had a lot to go through too, even if he wasn't present at the time it happened…"she trailed off slowly, hoping her last words didn't upset him. Gradually looking up from her clipboard, she sighed as he abruptly shut his eyelids and turned over on to his side. An uneasy silence settled within the small room; the only noise was the sound of a fine point pen scribbling upon parchment.

"Do you think a lot of people realize I come in here all the time?" he asked quietly, attempting to change the subject. Miss Ross paused with her writing, and pondered, not knowing how she could answer that question. He always did come in to talk to her, and she knew his entire background and life. She had never known so much about one troubled student. But he had a lot to settle, and she was always happy to help him. But at times, his stories made her feel sorry as well, and made her wonder if there was anything she could really do to help.

"It doesn't matter," she started, "The only people that should care about that are your teachers…" she finished writing out a neat pass for him to get back to his English class.

The thought of teachers made Edward sit upright, his fists began to clench. He was able to hear the mechanisms in his right hand turn and click as he tightened his hand with all his anger.

"Even damn Roy lied to me…" he said to himself, but quickly stopped, as he noticed Miss Ross' surprised expression.

"Roy…?" she asked confusingly, "You don't mean Roy Mustang, the chemistry teacher?" she leaned forward, expecting to hear more from Edward. He just continued to sit, an unusual emotion of nervousness traveled through his mind. He took a heavy sigh,

"Yes…" he leaned back into a slump against the back of the couch, "He used to be good friends with my father…so…" he didn't finish his sentence, instead, he crossed his arms against his chest heatedly, his face twisted in slight anger.

"Hmm," Maria started, "You never told me that before, any particular reason why?" she swept a low, black bang from the side of her soft face as she waited for him to respond.

"No," he quickly lied, hoping his face didn't give off the expression that he wasn't telling the truth. He never really was a good liar; it was proven for the millions of times Granny caught him messing around in the cookie jar with Al when he was younger.

"I see." To Maria it was obvious that he was keeping a fact to himself, but she didn't want to bother him or let him worry. She remembered to get back on track, "What do you mean he lied?"

All of a sudden, Edward let out a small chuckle, making Miss Ross slightly puzzled. He started, "It's a simple thing, don't you think? Just like how everyone else did. He told me he hadn't heard from him at all, and then he goes and keeps all those damn letters without telling me…" he ended with his rambling, noticing he had spoken fast within those few seconds. He glanced over to Miss Ross, who was back to writing. He always wondered what she was writing about; he didn't think there was a purpose whatsoever.

"That's because he cares about you," she smiled warmly, and glanced into Edward's shocked eyes. He continued to stare perplexed, with a twitch of anger in his brows.

"Try to imagine yourself in HIS position Edward," she answered his silent question, "He doesn't want you to worry about things like that. Even if it's an important matter such as the letters, and I doubt he was trying to keep it a secret. If he is your friend like you say, I'm pretty sure he would have eventually told you."

One of Edward's eyebrows cocked in confusion, still not understanding what she was trying to say. He could slightly make out her point, and in the back of his mind, he agreed. But either way, everyone didn't want him to know.

"And Edward," she interrupted his thoughts, "You always claim you don't want anything to do with your father. I think they are just returning the favor by simply leaving you out of it." Her voice remained calm as she slowly spoke. She secretly hoped that none of her opinions upset him.

Edward sat dumbstruck, stunned by her words. She was partially right, even though he didn't want to admit it aloud. He sat back, still thinking about the conversation he had with Winry those few nights ago.

He said both of you were writing…Granny and I thought…

His brow aggressively frowned at that sentence as it rang rapidly in his mind, "Damn it, you're wrong. He's not telling me something, and it's not about that bastard, it's about HIM." He mumbled to himself, forgetting about the fact another person was present with him. All of a sudden, a shrill ringing of the phone interrupted his words; he slightly jumped as Miss Ross grabbed the phone and answered politely.

Edward began to pack his things into his bag, along with his English workbook and other supplies. He glanced into the front pocket of his bag; it was awkward not to see that cursed watch there anymore.

"Alright, he's on his way, thank you," Maria gently hung up as she noticed Edward rise on his feet, knowing that he was terribly late for his class.

"Well Edward," she also stood, flipping through some papers on her clipboard, "If you want, I'm free during Advisory on Thursday, if you want to talk again." She looked down at Edward, as he slowly nodded.

They made their way to the heavy doors at the end of the office. Edward's face still expressed sorrow; Maria frowned as she reached for the doorknob.

"Don't worry Ed," she said quietly, "Everything's going to be all right."

A small smile started to grow on his jaw as he heard those words,

"Yeah… thanks Mom…" Edward abruptly paused. His golden eyes widened as he inhaled through his nostrils sharply.

Maria quietly gasped, her hand coming up to her mouth in a reflex to quiet herself. She noticed Edward's shocked expression; he hadn't blinked once yet, and his breathing pattern was immensely increasing.

She was surprised herself; this was something she was new too. She didn't know how to respond, so she simply placed her hand on his right shoulder, "It's okay, don't let it bother you, you're not the only one that's said that to a teacher before…" she tried to sound calm, but his eyes remained the same. His shoulder felt cold.

Before she knew it, he was out in the hall, his bag flying by his side as he ran. She looked outside the door, and noticed him wipe his eyes as secretly as he could.

She watched him turn swiftly, and heard him run quickly up the side stairs. Maria still stood in the doorway, a mournful expression in her dark eyes.

She wasn't too sure, and it could have been her imagination, but she could have sworn Edward had looked somewhat taller as he ran.


Izumi stood in front of the glass window, observing the streets outside. Rain was pouring rapidly upon the town; citizens attempted to run down the streets with newspapers and plastic bags over their heads. Fierce winds unfortunately decided to make the weather more miserable, by turning some weak umbrellas inside out. Every time a speeding car drove by, a large puddle of rainwater splashed upon the sidewalk, making the area seriously muddy.

She sighed, and turned around, letting her sore back lean against the cold glass. She looked over to her two students that were separated on far sides of the dim room. Alphonse and Edward had not spoken to each other during their session. It had been like that for a while, but with each day, the emotions seemed to worsen. She had noticed Al in particular while he was practicing; his expression portrayed anxiety, and he seemed almost scared to talk to his brother. He wasn't doing as well as he always did. However, during meditation, he was deep in concentration, as if he was focusing on one thing immensely.

Edward had remained the same throughout the hours. He was oddly catching up very quickly, which was surprising because of all the missed classes due to the past detentions. He had a blank stare, and he didn't speak once. Izumi was confused with him, for last week, he seemed very angry. It was obvious that they were in some sort of argument, but it seemed much more serious when she noticed Edward's angry scowls and foul language. But today, he was unusually quiet, and he refused to meditate. Normally, if her students didn't listen, Izumi would discipline them with more painful training, but she let him off easily.

They were fully dressed back in there clothes sitting in different corners, both doing homework and whatnot. Izumi had also noticed that they were both wearing more black. She didn't appreciate the warm clothing Al had become comfortable to wearing either. Edward at times had bothered not even to let his hair in a braid; it just hung low in a ponytail at the nape of his neck.

"I wonder if the rain will ever stop," she finally broke the silence with a simple statement. Just then a crack of lightning flashed through the sky; booming thunder followed it quickly after. The boys obviously wanted to drive home, but she refused to let them out in the weather. At times, she thought she was too cautious with them.

Noticing that they both didn't respond in any way, she sighed and rubbed her temples; she slowly walked in to her office on the other side of the room without a word, hoping that maybe she could nap for a while.

Edward looked up from his writing; his tired fingers were sore, his eyelids yearned to close, and stifled yawns managed to escape his lips. He lazily tossed his ballpoint pen aside; to him, he considered it as an insult to Shakespeare. He hated writing essays about that man, and just having a mere thought about that poet made him think to much, and he already had to much on his mind. He could hardly focus. When he thought of those difficult words, his plays rang through Edward's mind. And then he thought of Winry, which then trailed off to that cursed Russell. When he thought of those two people, his emotions were mixed. He wasn't too sure if he should feel relaxed, or heated with annoyance. But either way, English made his mind wander, thus giving him a headache. He hated it with a passion, along with other things.

But hatred shouldn't matter today, he thought, as he looked over to his brother across the room. Those past weeks were full of peril, unusual stares, and angry silence. At times, Edward wasn't able to believe that he treated his only family that way.

That's not your only family you know.

Edward sighed angrily. He got up to his feet, and his mind halted. He attempted to move forward, but his mind ceased to think, and it was as if he couldn't remember how to take two easy steps.

"Hi Al," Edward wasn't too sure if he was trying to whisper. He had reached his destination in front of his confused brother, who meekly stared above.

Alphonse didn't answer, but he continued to stare through those silver eyes, in bewilderment, yet somehow, he seemed relieved. When Edward noticed his expression, it reminded him of Roy writing at his desk, "Do you think I'm a good teacher? Am I doing a good job?"

"Ed, I noticed a while back," Alphonse's voice rang through the silence, "Your bottle in the cupboard, it fell over one day when I went to get a band aid…" he silently gulped, "It sounded half empty when it hit the ground you know."

Edward muffled a laugh, "Now why do you say half empty when you can say half full?" He wasn't so sure if he should say anything else, or continue to wonder.

Alphonse sat back against the wall comfortably, placing his hands behind his head, "I don't know."

Edward didn't know it would start off this way; he didn't even think Alphonse would speak to him. He didn't even think that he would have the courage to say

"I'm sorry," Alphonse's voice broke the still air as he sat upright. He stared into Edward's eyes, sternly, forgivingly.

Edward stood above him shockingly and blinked, "What are you talking about, I'm the one that should be sorry…!"

"No, I should have told you,"

"I don't care about that, you had the right not to tell me…"

"What do you mean?"

"And I treated you so horribly…"

"No you didn't, you were just upset,"

"Dammit Al, if you hated our father as much as I do, I probably would have done the same thing, ok!" Edward choked on his last word, his chest move up and down uneasily.

Alphonse looked down, hoping his confusion was not noticeable. Alphonse rarely had time to focus himself on things, even though he literally did have time during the day, he seemed to portray his emotions more with actions than words. He wondered if he even ever took the time to merely think of simple words. But his mind ran through some thoughts, when he noticed his brother. Edward was scared, and alone. Even though he had family, he was alone. He had gone through much more then Alphonse ever would have. Alphonse often wondered what the heat felt like, or what the smoke smelled of, or as much as he hated to wonder, what their mother looked like when she took her final breath. But he did know, that she smiled, because of Edward. And yet, was it really Edward she was smiling for, or their father…? No she loved us, Al thought, and we loved her.

He really didn't know the story behind that watch, he wasn't too sure if Edward knew about it either. Al never even held that watch in his palms. But he used to watch Edward grasp it at times, but it was always in his right hand; never his left. And Alphonse knew why, his brother refused to feel it upon his real skin.

It was as if Alphonse couldn't feel anything, for he didn't see anything that night. Is he happy that he wasn't there or is it the other way around? He didn't know, and he thought he would never know.

"Do you want to know my list for today?" Edward's voice startled Al's rushing thoughts. He turned over and noticed his brother was now seated next to him, and was glancing over to Al with concern. He had a softgrin on his jaw. His emotions were still changing pretty rapidly, which was surprising, considering that he had been taking his medication.

Alphonse couldn't help but manage to smile also, "You're supposed to keep it to yourself during meditation like Sensei said."

Edward ignored his brother's statement, and began to count off of his fingers,

"You and Winry, picking vegetables for Mom's stew, down by the fruit trees and garden, right now, and because I miss doing all those things," he finally stopped on his fifth finger, and took a long sigh.

Alphonse laughed warmly, "Mine was pretty much the same thing too," his grin shone brighter. It felt good to smile, he thought, he almost forgot what it felt like.

"Hey I just realized something," Alphonse started, "The teachers in school always tell you 'who, what, where, when, why, and HOW,'" he emphasized on his last word, "How come we don't have to do the 'how' on our list?"

Edward smiled, "Because it doesn't begin with a w, that's why."

A final crack of lightning pierced through the dark sky; the sound of thunder grew faint.


Please review! again sorry about the responses! and the delay! and if it wasnt worth the wait! and other things...ugh.