Mustang was reviewing some notes when Ed kicked the door down.

"Ed? Al? Back so soon?" he asked.

Before Al could apologize for the rude entrance, Ed marched up to Mustang.

"Cut the chit-chat," he snapped, banging his fist on Mustang's desk. "What were you hiding? Why didn't you tell us you knew her?"

"Knew who?"

"Kirina! She's was with you during the Eastern Rebellion, wasn't she?"

Mustang's eyes widened. "How did you---?"

Ed pointed his finger at Mustang. "Aha! So you did know her! Tell us everything."

Mustang frowned and shook his head calmly. "I can't tell you."

"Why the hell not!"

"Because I made a promise to Dr. Marcoh that I would never tell anyone about Kirina."

"Dr. Marcoh knew her?" Ed asked, calming down a bit.

"Did you get all that steam out of you? If so, good. I don't have to worry about you trashing this place."

"It does make sense when you think about it," Al said. "For Kirina to be so adept in crystal alchemy, she would have to have been taught by a State Alchemist."

"But it doesn't explain why Kirina's tears are red," Ed said.

"Kirina's tears are different," Mustang explained. "Have you ever seen her use alchemy?"

"Yeah. She doesn't use chalk for transmutation circles, only her saliva or blood."

"That's because the alchemic reaction is contained solely in her bodily fluids. Sweat, saliva, blood, tears, all of it is potentially dangerous if used in her alchemy."

"So that's why she didn't want Ed touching her tears," Al said.

"Bodily fluids? Even---?"

Mustang hit Ed with a book. "Don't be vulgar." Nodding, he continued. "I remember that a while back, when she was only a kid, one of her tears fell on the ground. The ground was said to have sharp quartz beneath it. Boy, did I realize how true that was."

Ed frowned. "She's human, right?"

Mustang looked surprise. "Of course she's human. Why?"

"In Risembool, Kirina got hurt and we realized her spine was made entirely of metal."

"I've never seen that. It must've happened sometime after she left."

"She left?" Al asked.

Mustang noticed. "Dr. Marcoh made me promise to care for her. However, Kirina wouldn't have that. When she was nine, she disappeared, looking for Dr. Marcoh. I hadn't seen her for years and it didn't occur to me that the Kirina who had recently become a State Alchemist was the same Kirina that Dr. Marcoh left in my care."

"Who else knew about her besides you and Dr. Marcoh?" Ed asked.

"Major Armstrong and probably Fuhrer Bradley."

"Good. That's all the info we need."

Ed and Al left.

"Kirina? Yes, I remember her," Armstrong said. "She was such a kind and noble child."

Ed rolled his eyes. Please don't let him get spazzy. "What else? Anything weird about her at all?"

Armstrong shook his head, but frowned slightly. "There was one thing."

"What?"

"When she was five, I think, she made an elixir from sulfur and red phosphorous. She told us she had made that red phosphorous all by herself using her blood and for a child who hardly knew alchemy, the elixir that she made was perfect."

"She had been studying alchemy most of her life, then?" Al asked.

Armstrong nodded. "Yes. I knew her when she was five, but she had been at our camp since Dr. Marcoh found her at age four."

"Found her?" Ed asked with surprise. "What's that mean?"

"Dr. Marcoh found her in a ditch, bloody and near death. Over time, he and Kirina became like father and daughter. She was like a ray of sunshine to all of us in the camp. After witnessing all sorts of death and destruction, it was nice to come home to a bright, happy child who would entertain us all."

"What happened to her after the war?"

Armstrong shook his head. "That I can't be certain of. I only know that she disappeared shortly after Dr. Marcoh deserted."

"So I guess she went looking for him then."

Armstrong nodded. "They were very close. It was almost like they were family."

"Thanks, Major."

Ed and Al left and walked down the hall.

"I guess our next stop is Dr. Marcoh's place," Ed said.

Hawkeye noticed them in the hall.

"Edward, you have a phone call for you," she said. "It's from Winry in Risembool."

Ed took the phone. "Yeah?"

"Edward, she's gone," Winry's strained voice said on the other line.

"What!" Ed exclaimed, the color draining from his face. "What do you mean she's gone? Is she---?"

"No. She suddenly disappeared this morning. I checked to see if she was in her room, but no one was there. Only an empty bed and an open window." Winry started sobbing.

"Okay, okay. Calm down, Winry. We'll go back to Risembool as soon as possible."

"I'm really sorry, Ed."

"It's okay. Bye."

Ed hung up.

"Brother?" Al asked. "What happened?"

Ed remained quiet for a long time.

"Brother?"

Closing his eyes with a sigh, Ed responded, "Kirina disappeared."

This is getting bad (or is it getting good? I guess it depends on your perspective).

Anyway, I'm working on two other fanfictions .One is called Motherland. It's a DNAngel one involving love and vengeance and that sort of thing. The other one is called I Will and it's an Inuyasha one about Sesshomaru's first love or something like that. I'm going to end up publishing both anyway (since they're both to-be-continued types), but which one would you like to read first? E-mail me your choice.