Disclaimer: I do not own FMA or any of its associated characters

Change of Heart

The eyes are the windows to the soul but pain is the window to the heart.

The little homunculus peered in through the open window sadly. "This…could have been my…"

"You," said Aru, softly, as he spotted Wrath beside the house.

Wrath was taken aback, but soon regained his focus and prepared himself to carry out the instructions Envy had given him.

Envy had been watching the sleeping boy for a while now. Would this little venture actually achieve anything, or would it simply be a waste of time? It didn't matter, if he could keep his anger in check, it would certainly be fun even if it did amount to nothing. Besides, he needed something to pass the time.

His eyes were closed, but Edo was far from asleep. How could he possibly expect to sleep with a vicious sin nearby? The homunculi had kept him from his sleep many times, and that was just from the knowledge that they were out there. Now one was right here. He would have to find a way out soon, he had reluctantly agreed to allow Envy to accompany him – not that refusing would have actually made much of a difference, under the assumption that it would be a trying experience, but he would still be able to find a way to get out of it soon enough. Unfortunately, what had seemed so attainable at the time was actually proving quite difficult.

"You're not asleep, are you?" whispered Envy, sprawled out on the window seat.

Edo tried to stay as still as possible. The less he had to interact with Envy the better. He was, after all, very relieved that the sin had been happy to merely make himself at home on that window seat and had hardly moved from said spot since they arrived at the inn. He didn't know, nor did he want to know, what beings that don't require sleep did to occupy themselves during the hours of darkness, so as long as Envy stayed put, at least one small part of his mind was put to rest.

"O chibi-san?"

Struggling to maintain his composure, Edo gritted his teeth and clenched his fists. This was no time for an outburst. Things were not going the way he would have wanted them to, but they could definitely be worse. And it wouldn't take much to make them that much worse. No, he was not close to an outburst at all. Not at all.

"Chibi-"

"Who's a tiny seed too small for even a sparrow to eat?" yelled Edo, jumping out of bed.

Envy smirked. He knew very well that Edo was awake. "Well you are, of course, but…oh never mind."

After taking a moment to recover from the comment, Edo found himself curious as to what Envy had to say. The shape-shifting homunculus was probably only toying with him, but then again maybe that was just what Envy wanted him to think, in order to toy with him even more. It was too confusing, but whether it was indeed just Envy's intension or not, that 'oh never mind' was too alluring to ignore. "No, what is it?" Edo asked.

"Well…" said Envy slowly, looking upwards.

Would every conversation be like this?

"Fine – forget it!" Edo shouted, crawling back under the covers. He had wanted to sound strong, but was soon after close to shaking having realised that making Envy angry would by no means be worth the consequences. As completely beyond frustrating as it was, he hoped that Envy would just enjoy having made him mad enough to shout in the first place, and not take it any further. He heard a snigger, and was about to count his blessings, when the curiosity of what Envy was going to say found its way back into his thoughts. This concentration was soon broken however as the door was suddenly kicked in. "Sensei?"

"Edo! Aru's…" Izumi stopped mid-sentence upon catching sight of the armoured boy sitting by the window. "You're h-here?" she stammered, partly relieved, although she was also plagued by the feeling that something was amiss.

"What happened, Sensei?" Edo asked her, trying to disguise the sense of disgust that had just come over him.

Izumi simply stared for a while at Aru, before turning towards Edo and reclaiming her train of thought. "When I got back from town Aru had disappeared, but I see he's here with you…"

"Well I just couldn't leave Nii-san all on his own," Aru smiled.

"AND JUST WHY DIDN'T YOU LEAVE A NOTE OR ANYTHING TO SAY WHERE YOU WERE GOING?" Izumi boomed, racing across the room and upper-cutting the younger Elric.

"I'm sorry," he whimpered, landing in a heap on the floor.

She left without turning back, and slammed the door shut behind her. She was outraged that Aru would do such a thing, but could also sense that something was definitely wrong. Now was not the time to say anything anyway, if the brothers needed her help afterwards they would know where to find her.

"You bastard!" Edo yelled, between tears. Envy had returned to his normal form and could not see what all the fuss was about. "Don't you ever take my brother's form, damn it!" Edo collapsed into a little clump, covering his face.

Envy wasn't really paying attention. "My my," he smirked, "that sensei of yours is pretty tough for a human."

"Aru…I have to find Aru!" said Edo, slowly managing to hoist himself up.

"What's the big deal, o chibi-san?" Envy asked. "Your little brother's probably out picking berries and here you are sobbing like a baby."

Edo glared up at the sin, his golden eyes full of anger and pain. "Picking berries in the middle of the night? Someone's taken him!"

Envy retuned, unfazed, to his position by the window. "We're already looking for someone," he said, gazing into the sky. "There's no point in getting all worked up now when you have no clue as to where he even is. We'll see what we can do in the morning – so just go to sleep and stop whining."

Scrunching his hand into a fist, Edo lay back down. Envy was right, there really wasn't much he could do for the time being, and maybe Aru was alright after all…either way, all he could do was try to get some sleep. This would prove quite a feat, however, as now not only did he have his little brother to worry about, but the question as to why Envy was being so reasonable about the whole thing as well was playing on his mind. He then began to wonder how a thought like that could compete with the concern he had for Aru. 'Forget about Envy,' he thought to himself, 'you have more important things to worry about.' But then again, did that mean that Envy was no longer the threat he used to be?

A/N: Heheh, sorry this took so crazily long -slams head into keyboard bowing in apology- I've been far far away in a land I don't like to call (but do anyway) the Gold Coast. On an even more sombre note, due to internet-rical difficulties, I'm not going to bother continuing this story unless people actually like it and I get about 10 reviews. So if you do like it, please review, otherwise, thank you for reading anyway. Luv ya all! ;)