Hey guys. Well, I'm feeling MUCH better. I finished this next part and it took me FOREVER. Man! I had quite a writter's block. It took me 2 days to write these 5 pages. Rrrrrr! Well, I did write this while watching TV. Guess that explains why it was so hard for me to focus. Well, now that I'm getting better, I probably won't update as often. I'm striking out today for the first time in 4 days. I'm going stir crazy in this house! But I am determaned to finish what I started so expect an update once a week.

Hughes was not the only one who noticed Roy's mood and Riza confronted him back at the office.

"Sir. I know something's wrong and don't you tell me that everything is fine. Somethings on your mind and it looks like its eating you alive." Roy kept his eyes on his paperwork trying to avoid the subject. He was getting annoyed by her and Hughes's prying. Riza was also getting angry and annoyed at her superior for ignoring the severity of the situation. "What happened? One minute you were fine and the next, your own alchemy backfires and nearly burns you to a crisp."

"It didn't backfire."

"Well then what happened?"

"... I lost control of it" Riza was silent for a moment and Roy kept his eyes down on his papers. Of course, Fullmetal picked the perfect time to barge in with all the lack of manners and grace the hotheaded teenager was capable of.

"Jeez, what's with the glum mood?" An instant later he smelled something burning and noticed the singes and burns on the Colonel. "Woah, what happened to you Mustang?" He said with a chuckle, oblivious to the irked and annoyed body language of the Colonel or perhaps enjoying the aggravation. The phone rang.

"WHAT!" It was the hospital. "Oh, ok. I'm on my way." Riza nodded in understanding and followed her boss out the door.

"Hey! Where are you going! I came here to talk to you!" Fullmetal fumed, running after them. He kept asking questions. Where they were going. What they were doing. Both of them just ignored him. Edward rolled his eyes in aggravation. He stuck his tongue out when the Colonel wasn't looking and made faces behind his back when they continued to ignore him. He eventually gave up on talking with Hawkeye or Mustang and followed in silence instead to wherever they were going. The military hospital? What could be going on in there that's so important? In his curiosity he forgot all about what he had wanted to complain about to Mustang.

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Hughes had already arrived. Sage was looking much better. She was alert and sitting up on her own, her strength returned. In her improved condition he was able to get a better look at her. She had the look of someone who spent a lot of her time outside despite being so fair skin that she was almost perpetually pale. Her hair had been combed and revealed airy, feathered brown hair that seemed to have a life of its own. The wispy strands rolled and flowed over her shoulders and down her back about four to five inches. She had a strong build but at the same time she looked so... fragile, not in appearance but in her very nature. He couldn't shake the sense that her image might shatter or fade into nothing. Her eyes were such a brilliant shade of green, they practically glowed and her gaze was so intense that it could put Hawkeye's best glare to shame. Yet those eyes were so soft, so understanding. But behind her expressions and in passive gazes, they were so...sad.

She seemed very talkative today but most of what she said was very cryptic and strange. She did mention something about a 'man with a symbol on his hand"

"Hi Lt. Colonel Hughes!" Ed yelled and waved when he saw the man. Hughes acknowledged him briefly with a cheery 'oh, hello Ed'.

"Mustang! We need to talk. NOW."

Maes Hughes was a person who was not easily shaken but what Roy had told him was deeply disturbing. The idea that Roy Mustang, the famous Flame Alchemist, had lost control of his own alchemy was shocking in itself but this was not his main concern at the moment. What Colonel Mustang was implying was terrifying; a human being created from alchemy.

Human transmutation. Hughes and Roy both agreed that it was highly improbable and that Roy had probably just imagined it. After all, had he not nearly been incinerated by his own alchemy? Heat exhaustion has a tendency to mess with people's heads. Hughes had a point and it was not like Roy to jump to conclusions. Hughes had noticed how his friend was not himself today. Their little talk did take a load off his mind but he still was not satisfied. How had she not been burned to a crisp though? Hughes thought this was an interesting point too. Perhaps he had not actually hit her. Hughes had managed to get a little useful information out of her. She apparently had no family to speak of, no money, only the clothes on her back and was obviously not from around here. Everything else was pretty cryptic. Something about being from another world on the other side of the vale. They checked the hallway and made sure no one had been listening. Riza was sitting in a chair outside of the girl's room and Edward could be heard talking loudly from inside. There was still the matter of what to do with her. She seemed like a polite and charming young woman. Hughes had been won over the instant she asked if he had any children and then insisted on seeing pictures of his beautiful daughter.

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Edward was busy chatting away with the girl known as Sage. She was a few years older then him, obviously an adult but young enough that she still had some of her girlishness. They were having quite a good laugh together but then she stopped laughing all of a sudden and her smile turned into a stern frown. Her eyes were creepy. He didn't like how she was looking at him. Suddenly she reached out and grabbed his metal arm.

"What happened?" she asks with both wonder and concern, staring intently at the limb.

"Hey! How did you know about that!" He jerked his hand away. She hung her head and sat back on her heals. Her hair hid her eyes.

"It must have been painful." Her voice was so full of pain and sadness. "Did the same thing happen to your leg?"

Ed was starting to feel incredibly uncomfortable.

"Brother? There you are!"

"Al!" Ed jumped up, instantly back in his cheery mood. "Where did you come from!"

"Havoc said you followed Mustang and Lt. Hawkeye over here."

"Hey Edward," Sage asked, once again in a cheery, chipper mood. "this must be your brother." She closed her eyes in concentration for a moment. "Alphonse is it?"

"How do you know his name, I never told you!" Ed snapped. Sage rolled her eyes and ignored him, visibly fascinated with Al and his armor.

Hughes entered the room moments later to find Ed and Sage in a brawl, with Sage obviously winning. She was pulling his face, laughing as Ed kicked and yelled. Al was laughing too.

"Ok kids. Break it up."

"She started it!" Ed yelled. Sage smirked and looked up at Al who was standing beside her. He seemed reserved. An interesting contrast to Edward. Laughing, she gave Al a pad on his metal arm.

"You may look like your brother but you sure don't act like him." Hughes and Ed shared a simultaneous 'huh?' Al was quiet however. "What?"

Ed crossed his arms and snorted. "How would you know what Al looks like?" Sage smiled, focusing her attention on Al.

"What's not to see? Blond hair, brownish eyes, around 13 or 14 years old, hollow as a tin can." She patted Al on the shoulder for good measure, the hollow sound making her point.

"Ok! Time time go Al!"

"What's going on in here!" Shouted Roy as Ed was struggling to shove Al out of the doorway. Sage suddenly jumped back, stepping on the edge of her cloak in her panic. Hughes caught her as she scrambled to regain her footing.

"What the hell was that for?" Yelled Ed.

"Ed, get out!" Roy snapped. Lt. Hawkeye burst into the room upon hearing the commotion. Hughes held the struggling Sage. She looked like she had seen a ghost. Her intense stare was fixated on Roy. Riza forcefully shoved Edward and Al out the door, slamming it shut behind the dog pile. After a moment Sage seemed to calm down a bit. Hughes let her go and she leaned against the wall dusting herself off.

"Sorry about that. You reminded me of someone, that's all." She was back to normal but her face was still pale. Riza watched her carefully. The relaxed posture, that slight grin, that passive expression... "Figures. Fate can be so cruel." Sage sighed and shrugged her shoulders.

"What are you talking about Sage?" Hughes asked.

"Its nothing." She smiled, as if to clear any doubts and close the subject.

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"Sir," Riza whispered to Roy as they were leaving. "Does she remind you of someone?"

"No, not really."

"Oh." Riza left it at that and did not press the matter further.

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Lt. Hawkeye and Colonel Mustang left as Ed managed clawed his way out from underneath Al, muttering and cursing to himself about his undignified expulsion. He climbed up on one knee to push himself up...

WHACK!

"Oops!" Sage blushed sheepishly.

"Oh hi Edward. You still here?" Hughes chimed in his usual cheery manner.

"Ooow..." Ed moaned

"You and Al should come to dinner with us. I'm sure Gracia won't mind and I know Elysia's just dying to see her big brother."

"Ugh, I think my nose is bleeding."

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"Ah! Fresh air at last!" Sage was in an especially joyous mood. She was a free woman...sort of. But at least she was out of the hospital. One night was more than enough for her. Her whole body felt like it was surging with energy. She felt almost... electric. Everything was so sharp, so crisp. She could see farther, hear louder. Every sense was multiplied. There was something else too. She was still connected, still possessed the etheral senses that were exclusive to her astral form. When she meditated or went into an alternate consciousness she achieved a state of elevated awareness. When she was new to it, she felt a kind of high when she reached this level of hyperawareness that comes when you are completely relaxed and at peace. Her heightened physical senses combined with the high of hyperawareness was simple intoxicating!

"Come on Edo! I'll race you!" Still sore about the whole door incidence, Ed eagerly accepted the challenge. Sage bounded down the street like a deer, cloak trailing behind her. She jumped and leapt lightly and nimbly from benches, curbs, and stone walls, swung around light poles and ran atop low walls and barriers like a cat. She floated from perch to perch like a leaf in the wind and her steps were light as a feather. She felt so alive! The wind, the rustle of the trees, the sound of her sandals on the road and sidewalk, the smell of the earth, the feeling of her cloak flapping in the wind behind her. There was so much energy, she could sense it so strongly she could almost taste it! Touch it! She felt so connected to everything! The race was as amazing for Hughes and Al to watch as it was fun for Ed and Sage. Hughes was impressed by the young woman's show of dexterity; how she leapt and bounded in her free spirited way. Ed thought he had the race won. His competitor was nowhere in sight. Running down the sidewalk, Ed was just about to reach the finish line when out of nowhere, Sage jumped down in front of him and sprung forward to touch the gate first. Ed tripped over his own feet in supprise.

"Arr! Damit! Where did you come from!" he yelled and beat his metal fist against the ground. Sage laughed in delight. Hughes and Al had seen her running the top of an ivy covered garden wall along the roadside before hopping lightly to a low-hanging tree branch for the supprise victory. They were amused by Ed's little tantrum. He was cursing and complaining. Sage just laughed even harder. She did however elbow him for good measure when he implied she was a cheat. She hated sore losers.

Sage had gone straight to the kitchen and tried to help out Mrs. Hughes. After Gracia had run her out, Maes had introduced her to Elysia.

"She's so cute!"

"Oh dear..." Ed moaned. Elysia greeted her with perfect manners, even referring to her as "pretty lady".

"Oh! And so sweat! Just like a proper young lady! You have to be one of the most polite young girls I've ever met!" Maes looked like he was about to cry. Sage kneeled down to her level and properly introduced herself in return. Elysia giggled and shook her hand politely.

"Daddy, can Sage come and play?"

"Sure sweetie. You guys go have fun while I finish up some work. Mommy will have dinner ready in about an hour."

Sometime later, Gracia had come looking for her guests. She found them all playing dress up in the designated playroom. Elysia was a princess wearing a handmade paper crown. Sage had taken her cloak off and tied the sleeves around her neck making an oversized cape that billowed on the floor around her. Sage had also taken her shoes off and sat behind Elysia in her foreign looking clothes (a cream colored, indian/south east Asian style shirt with brown stitching and a pair of similar style brown paints that end four inches above her ankles) braiding her hair into pigtails. Ed sat quietly in a jester's hat with a sulking expression while Al played the role of the valiant knight with his makeshift sword and plushy 'noble steed'. Gracia covered her mouth to hide her chuckle. Maes thought it was the cutest thing he had ever seen and had taken plenty of keepsake pictures, much to the frustration of Ed who was worried that such pictures would end up in the wrong hands.

Dinner was... nice. Sage didn't quite know what to make of it. These people, the Hughes, had opened up their home to her in a way no one had ever done for her. Everyone was so warm, so open. She felt... welcome, wanted. It was a strange feeling for her. She had been alone for so long she had forgotten what it felt like. For a little while at least, she forgot about everything wrong, everything bad that had happened to her. At dinner everyone had had a good laugh at Ed's lack of table manners. Sage had an equally ferocious appetite but she managed to be polite about it. Spagetti had never tasted so wonderful. In this world, even her sense of taste was elevated. It was easy to see why Ed has such a passion for eating but she was still wondering where he put it all.

Later everyone sat outside looking at the stars and telling stories around a candle lantren. Ed snuck outside with Sage and Elysia to escape clean-up duty. He said he didn't care for 'kid's bedtime stories' but by the time Gracia and Maes had finished cleaning all three faces were glued to Sage as she acted out some miraculous tale from her 'faraway' land. Sage felt so at home. She had to keep reminding herself that she had just met these people. It was hard though. The way they treated her made her feel as if she had always known them. She felt so safe here. That night Sage slept soundly for the first time in many years.