hey again! zago here with another blah update. sorry if i haven't updated in a while. i would have an excuse, but all i can come up with is some crap about pink hippos.

hope you guys are enjoying the story so far, i'm having ablast writing it. just for reference: there's no real way to pronounce Aka's name. it's a japenese word, but you don't have to pronounce it the way it sounds.

disclaimer: i don't own FMA. so don't sue my ass.

-----A New Disquise-----

Recap: Your dad got shot by some assassins. (who's asses were royally punished) and one of them tried to kill you by striking you with lightning, which your body (for reasons unknown) absorbed. We left off where you got saved from gunshot by none other than Al.

Start- You turned to the suit of armor and were about to answer when you heard a him gasp as he pointed at you.

"You-you're a...girl!" he stammered. Your hand shot up to your head.

Oh crap you thought. The lightning had burned your clothes a bit, but it had also knocked off your bandanna in the process. Now your dark brown hair fell around your head, getting wetter and wetter by the minute. Looking around, you saw the tattered remains on the ground and quickly re-tied it around your head.

The armor-guy was still staring at you funny. It was beginning to annoy you. You hated it when people stared, and boys seemed to do it a lot.

"What's your deal? Am I just that more interesting than the bleeding creep over there?" You snapped at him. He looked surprised and muttered a small apology. He actually sounded like he meant it. You felt a little bad and relaxed a bit.

Wow you thought Guess I'm a little tense, but who wouldn't be? Your mind churned with sadness as you thought of Hojo. You shook your head and pushed it away. There would be time for that later. Right now...you looked up to see that the armor-guy was still looking at the ground.

"It's no big deal." You told him. "Thanks for the save, if you hadn't jumped in front of me, that last shot would have wasted me." you said with a chuckle. Maybe I shouldn't be laughing.. you thought. Al looked at you and shrugged his armor.

"I'm just glad I could help. By the way, my name's Alphonse, Al for short. What's yours?" he asked.

"Akari, but everyone calls me Aka." you told him.

"Aka? As in red? Why do they call you red?" he asked. You started. You hadn't expected that one.

Remembering your father's advice in a situation like this, you said, "Oh nothing really, it's just that I love the color red. And strawberries." Al nodded, he seemed to buy it.

"So, Aka-can you tell me exactly what happened...?" he trailed off, looking behind him. You followed his gaze to see the assassin jerk who'd tried to shoot you. He was moaning in pain and clutching his leg.

Renewed anger flared inside of you as you strode over to him. You didn't notice that Al followed close behind. Reaching the assassin, you grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and lifted him off the ground until you could see his face.

"I won't ask again nicely, who sent you to kill Hojo Maron?" you demanded.

"Argh-I'm telling you! I don't have-argh-a clue! We got this job in a letter that was delivered-argh-around a week ago from some messenger!" he said, face still contorted in pain.

"What did the friggin messenger look like?" You asked him as 'politely' as you could.

"Uh..I don't know! He was just a kid! Some little...brat...with brown hair!" p You growled angrily. "That doesn't give me much to follow, now does it? Give me something else." You spat.

"Uh-wait! Now I remember! He had gray eyes! Yeah, uh-gray eyes!" You stared at him through your sunglasses for a moment before releasing him. He slumped to the ground, moaning in pain. p You turned around and nearly jumped out of your skin when you realized that Al had been right behind you the whole time. Looking up, you saw that the rain was beginning to slow down. p "That man was murdered?" asked Al. Numbly, you nodded. "But why-"

"AL!" a voice interrupted Al. Looking around, you saw a boy with a red cloak and a blond braid running towards you two.

"Jeez Al, I've been looking all-what the heck?" he said, stopping short. You watched as his golden eyes traveled from the assassins, you and your Hojo's dead body.

"Al..." He said in a soft voice. p "These men murdered that man brother." Al told him, "I think that erm- i he's /i his son." You glanced at him, confused. Then it clicked. Al was telling the guy that you were a boy!

You shot Al a questioning glance, but he kept his eyes on the boy. At least, you thought so, you couldn't really tell.

Might as well go along... you thought. Deepening your voice you said to the boy,

"Hey. I'm er-Akaro. (deal with it) Yeah, the guy who...he's my dad." The blonde boy just looked at you.

"Really? I'm...sorry. I'm Edward Elric, but you can just call me Ed." he told you. Then, turning to Al he said, "Look Al, I got us tickets. The train doesn't get here for about two more hours though, so we'll have to hang here for a while."

"Oh, I bet Roy'll love that!" Al answered.

You turned to him sharply. "Who's Roy?" you asked.

"Huh? Oh, he's a Colonel from Central." answered Al. Something clicked in the back of your brain. You remembered you dad talking about a guy named Roy when you had asked him about being a State Alchemist.

Wordlessly, you turned around and walked to your father's body, digging in his left pocket and pulling out a letter. It was in a simple white envelope with the word 'Roy' written on the front in your father's handwriting. There was also a strange stamp on the letter, but you ignored it and put it in your pants pocket to avoid getting it wet. You turned around to see that the boys were watching with interest.

"What did you take from him?" asked Ed.

"A letter he asked me to deliver." you said in your new voice. "He said it needed to go to a guy named Roy. You talked about him, does that mean you know how to get to him?"

Ed and Al exchanged a surprised look. "Are you sure it's the same Roy? Our's is...well..." said Al, trailing off.

"My father was a state alchemist who said that he did odd-jobs here and there for a guy named Roy from Central. So unless there's more than one Roy from Central, I need to know how to find him." you told him stiffly.

Ed stared. "Your dad was a state alchemist?" he asked. "How come I didn't hear about him?" You were about to explain about your dad being a minor alchemist when...