"Yes, that was me," Aileen said, staring off into the sky. "I narrowly escaped, and when I did, Roy caught me."

"Funny, he never mentioned that to me."

"He probably wouldn't have. He only let me go because I was younger and looked so harmless."

"Wait…you aren't fifteen then?" Ed questioned, lowering his auto-mail arm.

"No. I am actually as ageless as Envy, but slightly younger than him. I was created by someone who I do not wish to name, and I despise them for it."

"Back to the subject I asked you about. Why exactly were you there? Other than looking for the Philosopher's Stone, that is?"

"Lust sent me. I had just met up with her and was a bit lost. She told me that finding information on it would help me figure out my past and what I had to do to become a true human. Once I found out about its secrets, however, I took back ever wanting to become human. I wished to stay ageless, no matter how much Lust didn't."

"Touching. Didn't you jump?"

Aileen's eyes fell upon Ed's. "Indeed I did. One week in bed for every story I jumped—sixteen to be exact."

"But…why?"

"Because I didn't know what was going on! I was attacked! I didn't know much of anything at that time, and Lust and Envy showed me what to do! They showed me the true meaning of being a homunculus, even if I am one that can't really talk. And—"

"As much as I'd love to hear the story of your life, I've heard enough of that kind of thing from Hughes." Ed suddenly sprang forward, landing a rather solid blow on Aileen's sword. She pushed all her weight into it, driving Ed back a few feet, but seemingly not enough.

Relentlessly, Ed drove Aileen to the edge of the tower, cornering her just as Envy arrived.

"Aileen!" Envy yelled, running toward the two.

"Too late," Ed muttered as he hit Aileen one last time, pushing her off completely. Envy stopped moving, shocked.

Aileen seemed to fall slowly, almost as if she wasn't falling at all. But before she descended too far, she took Envy's sword and hurled it back at the tower. Ed, looking away at Envy, was struck by the blade, and fell forward on his knees.

Closing her eyes, Aileen splashed into the lake surrounding the castle. She floated down into the depths, all the while smiling.

Back on the tower, Envy was fuming.

"Ed, you…you…" Envy wasn't able to finish his sentence. Taking a hold of the sword's handle, he roughly ripped it from Ed's shoulder, causing the blonde to cry out in pain, blood running from the wound down his black shirt.

"You're lucky, Fullmetal runt," Envy hissed, turning to head back down the stairs.

"You sent the cookies, didn't you? The shrimp ones?"

Envy faced the other. "Yup. Took you long enough to realize it."

Ed grimaced in pain. "Well, it's usually Roy calling me shrimp, not you."

Shaking a finger at Ed, Envy smiled deviously. "You should've known it from what I called you."

"Yeah. Thanks a lot for that."

Envy's smile turned into laughter, which echoed off the walls in the stairwell as he disappeared.

"I…I'm actually kinda sorry, Aileen…but you were a homunculus and all…and…" Ed's vision swam with colors. Too much blood was being lost, he decided, but he quickly fell into a state of unconsciousness, leaving him on the broken tower alone.

"What…what is it?"

"I don't know…"

"Is it a girl?"

"With silver hair?"

"You never know. We have a lot of strange things going on out here…"

"Yeah, like those owls flying by in the daytime…"

"Pull it out."

"Why?"

"I said so."

"Why don't you pull it out?"

"You're closer."

Two men pulled a silver-haired girl from the icy river, unsure of where she had come from or why.

With no questions asked (except the ones above), they decided to take her to their village.

Four years later

Gazing up at the sunny sky, Ai seemed to remember something. It wasn't much, but it was something.

Memory lost, she woke up in the village of Tatiato and was welcomed, though it took quite a while for her to learn the language. She was an able-bodied person who seemed quite adept at any type of work and never seemed to complain. She was given the name Ai because that's the only part of her name that she could remember.

"Mother, what's that castle?" she asked her foster mother.

"None of us know for sure. That's where all the owls come from." Never a straight answer. Ai was determined to find out its secret some day, no matter what it took.

One of her foster-sisters, Fay, had called her over to the forest where they were picking the plants that were used as spices for foods. Picking up a basket, she hurried over and plucked several sprigs of what the village called rosemary and put it in her basket. Surveying the trees, she saw a strange plant.

It was growing at eye-level and was a dark green. Ai tugged on it and it did not move. Instead, a person emerged from behind the tree. He had dark green hair and had a strange tattoo on his leg that looked surprisingly like Ai's. Her eyes widened and she dropped the basked, its contents spilling on the ground.

"Miss me, Ai?"

owari

:hits head on laptop: I'm on a trip, currently, to the mountains for skiing. I said I wouldn't update, but you all leave me no choice. I will, just because it's been bugging me and I have to finish Vernal Equinox. Broke a thousand words with this chapter, even if most IS right here in my A/N…anyways, I need your reviews since skiing up here is…time consuming and…

ok. that's just an excuse for me to get you to review. It's just that I only have like, five reviews. I know one-shot stories that have hundreds of reviews! I know I shouldn't be complaining, but I just feel kinda sad that no one takes the time to read and review.

Cheers.