Finally! Thanks for waiting for the third chapter, everybody! Enjoy! (P.S. "Bowen's Bow Inn" is pronounced Bow-in (boh, not bow) Bow In).

I opened my eyes and yawned. My arms had been around Ed's body, but they weren't touching any spots that shouldn't be touched. I hugged Ed and snuggled into him.

"Thank you," I whispered.

When he didn't respond, I looked at his face. His eyes were closed. Again.

"Grr!" I glanced at Al, who was still in his spot, his hand on Shadow's head. "Didn't you go to sleep?"

"No." Al rubbed Shadow's head.

"But you haven't slept for almost two days," I said. "Shouldn't you be tired?"

A yawn escaped Ed's mouth. He opened his eyes and stretched, taking his arm from around my body.

"Good morning, Edward," I greeted him. Funny thing was, I wanted to kiss him good morning, but that would be quite awkward.

Ed rubbed his eye. "Morning." He yawned again.

I took my arms away from him and started giggling.

"What? What's so funny?" Ed asked.

"Nothing," I said, stopping.

"We will be arriving in Central Station in twenty minutes," a voice over the P.A. system said.

Ed took out his pocket watch and look at the time. "It'll be about twelve thirty when we get there." He sighed.

"Wanna play 'rock-paper-scissors'?" I asked, feeling bored out of my mind.

"Yeah!" Al said, throwing his arms in the air.

"Whatever," said Ed, crossing his arms. "It's not like I've got anything better to do."

In the next fifteen minutes, everyone was having fun, and I beat both boys thirty-three out of thirty-four times. The only time I got beat was by Al.

"Only five more minutes," Ed said, taking another look at his watch.

"Yay!" I cheered. "I can't wait to see Central." I jumped out of my seat and looked out of the window. There was a city in the direction that we were going. It didn't look that far away. "Is that it?"

Ed looked out the window. "Yep; that's it."

I sat back down. "I really like it with you guys. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't be going to Central City."

"I'm glad you like it with us," Ed said, grinning. "Are you sure you don't just like me?"

I blushed. "No! I like Al, too! Just not the same way."

Shadow yipped and jumped onto my lap, licking my fingers.

"Aw, Shadow," I said. "It seems that you've taken a liking to Al as I have Ed."

Al reached over to my pup and rubbed his head. "He's really sweet."

I smiled. "You don't have to tell me. Like I said, I've had him for two years; I'd be the one to know."

"He's all right," Ed said, "for a mutt."

"He is not a mutt!" I growled at him. "Shadow is a pure-bred Kai dog."

"Why would anyone name a pure-bred dog 'Shadow'?" Ed asked.

"I once heard of a pure-bred golden retriever named 'Max'," Al said.

"Al! You're supposed to be on my side!" Ed shouted.

"Oh. I was?"

I sighed and patted Shadow, while the train started slowing down.

"We have arrived in Central Station," the same annoying voice said over the P.A. system.

The train stopped completely, and we all stood up and stretched, except for Al.

Why isn't he…never mind, I thought.

We exited the train, then walked through the station until we exited that, too. We kept walking until we were standing in front of a building. It was one story on both left and right sides, but two stories in the middle, and the building had a green flag, decorated with a silver lion, draped over the middle section.

"Wow…" I said, caught in awe.

Ed started walking up the steps leading to the door. "It kinda gets old after you see it a lot, Jessi."

I grinned and followed him, Shadow and Al on my tail.

A man exited the building and began walking toward us. He was wearing a blue outfit, almost military-ish, and had black hair and slightly pale skin.

Ed stopped and waited for the man to reach him on the steps. I, afraid, hid behind Ed, even though, because he was so close to my own height, he didn't hide me.

Al stood next to his brother, and Shadow stood next to Ed, too.

The man smiled. "So, Ed, it seems that you've got a little girlfriend with you."

"She is not my girlfriend!" Ed yelled.

"I am not his girlfriend!" I screeched, jumping out from behind Ed.

"Then who are you?" the man asked, grinning.

I crossed my arms. "Jessi Tripe, a friend of Ed's." Looking at him crossly, I asked, "Can I ask who you are?"

"Colonel Roy Mustang," the man said.

"Oh! So you're the 'Mustang' that Ed was talking about!" I grinned and shook Roy's hand. "I'm so sorry!"

He rolled his gray eyes, then looked back at me. "You seem a little familiar—"

"So do you!" I chirped. I covered my mouth and blushed. "I'm sorry."

Shadow started sniffing Roy's boot. He sat down and barked.

Roy crouched down to Shadow's level, an emotionless expression on his face. "Dog?"

"Yeah, my dog Shadow." I put my hands on my hips. "Do you not like dogs?"

"Actually, he—" Al started to say, but he was cut off by:

"I love dogs!" Roy yelled, picking Shadow up under the fore-arms.

Poor Shadow! He didn't utter a sound, as he was being shaken by Roy.

"You can say something bad about them, and they won't quit or ask you for a paycheck!" Roy was saying, laughing as he spun around.

I looked behind him and saw that a blonde woman was walking out of the building. She had the same blue outfit that Roy had, and the same black boots. She walked down the steps and stopped when she was behind Roy, then tapped him on the back.

"Colonel, may I ask what you're doing?" she asked.

Roy turned around to the woman and pointed to Al, Ed and me. "The Elric Brothers are here, and they've got a girl with them." He showed her my dog. "And she's got a dog! I was just playing with it."

The woman crossed her arms. "The dog doesn't look like you were 'just playing' with it." She took Shadow from Roy and gave him to me. "I'm sorry if the Colonel is being a nuisance to you."

I took him gratefully and started to stroke his head. Shadow started to whine. "Thank you. May I ask who you are?"

The woman saluted. "First Lieutenant Riza Hawkeye."

For some reason, I was starting to feel alone. I turned around to look at Ed and Al. Ed had his arms crossed and had all his weight shifted onto his right leg. He was obviously bored. Al looked as if he had been listening to what Roy, Riza and I had been saying.

I turned back to Roy and Riza. Riza had ended her salute and Roy had been waiting for me to turn around.

"May I ask you who you are?" Riza asked.

I grinned. "Jessi Tripe, friend of Edward and Alphonse Elric."

"What are you doing with them, anyway?" Roy asked.

"Getting bored of traveling by myself, is all." I walked behind Ed and put my arms around him, resting my cheek on his shoulder. 'The boys are pretty interesting." I looked back at Ed. "Why are we here again?"

"The Colonel has a mission to assign me," Ed said, continuing up the steps.

Roy raised his arm and blocked Ed from going any farther. "Actually, Ed, now that I see you have a new companion, I have decided to give you a break."

"WHAT?" Ed yelled. "We just got back from a break!"

"You two are just so use to traveling, unlike your young friend," Roy stated.

That was true; I had stayed in the town where Ed and Al had found me for a couple of months.

"I'm not that young; only thirteen," I said to the Colonel. I took a good look at him. "I'd say you're about twenty-eight."

That statement wiped the smirk off Roy's face. He turned to Ed. "If you will come with me, I can make reservations for you at a hotel nearby, free of charge."

Ed shrugged and started walking up the stairs again, Roy behind him.

Riza looked at Al and me. "You two just stay around this area, all right? They won't be out for the next half hour." And with that, she turned and hurried up the steps, leaving Shadow, Al and me by ourselves.

"So, what do you want to do, Al?" I asked.

"I don't know." He sat on the steps and Shadow leaped from my arms to his.

I sat down next to Al. "I have a question," I said. "Does the reason that Ed has automail linked to the reason that you wear that suit?"

Al looked to the ground before answering. "When Brother and I were younger, our mom died. Our father had left long before—" I gasped at that and wondered why I hadn't asked about their father before—"so we didn't have anyone to look after us as Mother had done so wonderfully. When she died, Brother wanted to bring her back."

I waited a few moments before I asked, "How did you bring her back?"

He looked up at me from the ground. "That just it, Jessi. We didn't."

"Oh, I'm sorry." I have Al another hug. "Then what did you try to bring her back with?"

"Alchemy," Al said. "The forbidden human alchemy. Brother originally lost his left leg, and I lost my body. Brother sacrificed his right arm to transmute my soul into this suit of armor."

I could feel my mouth opening wide. Closing it, I asked, "So…there's actually no one in that armor?"

"Right," Al said, nodding. He flipped open his helmet, and I peered in. No face of any kind could be seen.

Seeing that sight made tears come to my eyes. I feel into Al again, making Shadow leap out of Al's arms.

"Al, it must be terrible, not being able to touch or feel anything," I sobbed.

He didn't respond, but flipped his helmet back down.

I cried for a few more minutes, Shadow licking my hand, Al stroking my hair, until a person came out of the building and headed down to us.

I wiped my eyes and looked at the person over Al's shoulder. He had black hair, like Roy, and the same blue outfit and black boots, but he wore glasses.

"Hey, Al!" he called.

Al turned and gasped. "Lieutenant Colonel Hughes! Hi!"

Hughes finished walking down the steps and stood over us. He squatted down next to me and took my chin in his hand. "Who's this pretty girl? A girlfriend of Ed's?"

Now, this Hughes-guy looked nicer than Mustang, so I wouldn't be as hard on Hughes.

"I'm not his girlfriend," I said, smiling.

"Who are you, then?" Hughes asked, letting go of my chin?

"Just a friend of Ed and Al's, Jessi Tripe. This is my dog, Shadow," I said, patting Shadow's head. "What about you?"

"Lieutenant Colonel Maes Hughes." He extended his hand and I shook it. "Nice to meet you, Jessi."

"Same here, Lieutenant Colonel," I said.

Hughes turned to Al. "What are you and Ed doing here today?"

"Actually, Colonel Mustang was going to give Brother an assignment," Al said, "but instead, now we're having a hotel reserved."

Grinning, Hughes turned to me. "So, Jessi, how did you meet the Elrics?"

"I didn't know what alchemy is, they showed me, blah blah blah…" I hugged Al. "And now we're best friends!"

Al hugged me back. "Yep. That's basically what happened."

Ed walked out of the building. He instantly spotted Hughes. "Hughes! How are ya?"

"Fine. You?" the man asked.

I sat still on the ground as the brothers and Hughes caught up with each other; obviously, they hadn't seen each other in a while.

Finally, Hughes bid the brothers farewell. He winked at me. "Don't do anything dirty with Ed, okay?"

I blushed. "I won't! I promise!"

Hughes left, walking down the street.

"So, Brother, where are we staying?" Al asked Ed.

"At the Bowen's Bow Inn." Ed crossed his arms. "Well, that's a ridiculous name for a hotel." He started walking down the steps. Al, Shadow and I following suit, and down the street, opposite the direction in which Hughes had went.

We had to turn onto a street and walk a few more blocks before we reached it.

The building was three stories tall, and on each story was a bunch of windows.

The boys and I walked into the hotel, checked ourselves in, and went dup the elevator to check out our rooms.

"Mustang got us two rooms," Ed said. "He thought that Jessi might need her privacy tonight." He flashed me a grin.

I rolled my eyes. "I was fine with you the first night, at Sally's, remember?" I gasped with a sudden thought. "You didn't do anything to me, did you, Edward?"

"Why would I do anything to you?" Ed asked, smirking.

We "play-argued" for a few more minutes until Al got tired of us and took the key from his brother, opening the door.

"Anyway," said Ed, "the two rooms are connected by a door."

We entered the room and looked around. There was a bed, a couch, a coffee table in front of the couch and a freezer box for food.

"This is pretty nice!" I said, flopping down onto the couch. I laid down. "And it's all free…"

Ed grinned. "This one's our room. Wanna check out yours?"

I nodded and stood, following the boys and Shadow out of a door on the left.

My room looked exactly like Ed and Al's, so we didn't look around much.

I went and jumped onto the bed. "Thank you so much, for everything!"

Al sat next to me and put his arm around me. "We've got to be thankful that you came into our lives."

"Why?" I asked, puzzled.

Ed, instead, answered my question. "You've put an animal into our lives—" Shadow yipped, as if on cue—"you got us a place to stay a couple of days ago; you've even gotten us a free hotel room!"

I grinned, but knew it was true.

Continuing, Ed said, "But most of all, you're in our lives." He crossed the room from his position next to the freezer box to the bed, and kissed me on the cheek. Ed pulled away, a smile on his face, and pulled me off of the bed. "Do you want to tour Central?"

"Yeah," I said quietly, still blushing. "I'd like that."

For the next few hours, the boys and I toured the city. It was pretty amazing, all of the buildings…

I thought I saw Will once, when we stopped at an ice cream parlor for ice cream. I only shook my head at the sight, but I still wasn't sure.

Later that night, I sat on my bed, wearing a new pair of pajamas that Ed bought me, and stroking Shadow's head.

"What do you think of Ed, boy?" I asked.

Shadow smiled another on of his dog-smiles and barked happily.

"I like him, too." I glanced at the door leading to Ed and Al's room. "He's smart, funny, cute…" My voice trailed off. "But the best part is, he makes me feel good about myself."

I laid down and soon drifted off to sleep.

Read and Review! Oh, and can Homunculi fall in love? Just wondering... heh heh heh...