I know, a couple chapters back I said I wouldnt post the new ones until I got 10 more reveiws. Oh well... heh...

Disclamer: I, in no way, own the fullmetal. Though I wouldn't want to right now, considering the state he's in from seeing Ruri...

General point of view...

Ruri awoke in the morning, smiling at the soft comfort that surounded her throughout the night. Shiro's head was lolling off to the side, and he was snoring lightly. Giggling silently, she reached up and tickled his chin.

"GAH! Get it off!" He awoke suddenly, eyes wide, hands snatching her own from his neck. "Huh?"

"Hah! It still works!'

"That's not very nice, considering I kept you warm!" He smirked.

"Yes, I'm sorry. Thank you." She smiled at the memory of her first time waking him up, but nothing worked except tickling him under his chin. A memory of waking Ed up by calling him short flashed passed, too. She frowed slightly.

"Something wrong?"

"No." She wrapped an arm around his shoulders and hoisted herself to a sitting position on his lap. A small tint of red crept up onto Shiro's face. (By the way, "Shiro" means "Pain"... or something...)

She leapt off his lap and twirled around, smiling wide and saying, "I slept great! Now I have to go wake Ed and Al up, or we're going to be late!"

"WHAT! You mean you've been traveling with those two boys! You could've been hurt! They could've done something to you!..." He went on muttering as Ruri walked to the Elrics' bedroom door.

Knock knock... "Guys? Come on... I'm gonna come in!" She pushed on the door while trying to twist the handle, but to no avail.

"Did they lock you out or something?" Shiro crossed his arms.

"Ed most likely, Al wouldn't do this." Her shoulders drooped.

"Watch and learn, little girl." He smirked and stood as Ruri was complaining about not being "little". Tracing the hinges and knob on the door, they slowly iced over and froze. (Like, -20 degrees or something, okay?) "Hah! Too easy!" With a final push, the metal restraints shattered like glass, and he caught the door before it his the ground... Or rather, before it hit Edward.

Ruri was laughing as she walked in, but her laugh was caught in her throat, which had now become more like sandpaper. The sight before her made it look like someon had died. The repungent odor of blood and bile filled the room, and Ed was on the ground, sleeping.

Al, of course, was still asleep. Ed's face was tearstained from the night before. Blood left a dried river down his cheek, and his skin was pale like wax. Hair was matted, dampened from the heavy rain the night before. He was curled into a little ball, knees tucked in his arms around his chest. Ruri knew he had a metal are, and that Al's suit was empty, Roy told her. But she didn't know that he also had a metal leg.

"...Ed... Edward?" Ruri bent on shaking knees, placing a hand on his head. "Oh... he has a fever! Crap, Edward, what happened?" A single tear ran down her cheek, falling and blending with his.

"Ugh..." Ed's eyelids lifted slowly, feeling a cool hand against his skin. "Agh! Get off!" He swatted her hand away, making her cringe. "God, stupid girl." He stood and she stood with him. She continued to stare. "What the hell do you want, wench?"

"That is no way to speak to her," Shiro cut in. "Can't you see she's concerned!" Ed tossed a careless glance her way, and saw more tears boiling around her eyes, threatining to fall any moment. She blinked quickly, and they tumbled down her cheeks.

"Pft... Like I would care." But even as he said it, a knot of guilt started to twist in his gut.

"You... You have a fever... But if stay... We'll miss the train."

"Fine then, let's get going."

"Whoah, slow down. You have blood on your face," Shiro pointed out.

"Fine then. I'll take a shower, then we can get going."

So Ed showered, Al woke up, and Ruri changed. All Shiro had to do was murmur a distinct prayer, and his clothes instantly changed. On the train toward Crimson City (where the university is) Shiro and Ruri got a seperate compartment from Ed and Al. (Shiro "hid" his wings, so he wouldn't draw attention)

In the Elrics' compartment...

"What's wrong, brother? You look like you hardly got any sleep last night."

"I'm just not feeling well is all. And something's not right."

A urged his older brother to go on.

He sighed. "Well, you know how she can summon things from a world we didn't know existed?"

"She? Oh, you mean Ruri? Yeah, I know." Al shifted in his seat to look at his brother directly.

"Well, that doesn't exactly go with the rules of alchemy. I'm wondering, if she's not exactly an alchemist, but something she doesn't want to reveal just yet..." He let the statement hang in the air.

In the compartment over...

"What's wrong, Ruri?"

"I... I don't know why Ed would act like that to me..."

Shiro crossed his arms. "Keh. It's more than that. Open your mind at let me see why you truly worry."

Ruri bowed her head and sis as she was told as Shiro placed a hand on her hair. She heard him grunt as her emotions flooded into him, her thoughts revealing themselves. Memrories flashed past. Though she hid a lot of her internal goings-on from him, most of it was open for access. And "Most of it" was a whole lot.

Pain, anger, regret, sadness, happiness, joy, envy, shame, hope, delight, guilt, excitment, angst, loss, fustration, annoyance, indifference... and love. Shiro was calm when the emotions flowed into him lke a river. Calm for every one... All of them but one. Three guesses which

Ruri had had her mind searched many times before, and she was well-prepared. But it had been at the very least three months since the last time. And she couldn't guard her mind as well. To make it worse, the mamory she was trying to hide from him was the strongest that he did not already know of, and pushing strong memories into the shadows was hard when someone was probing you.

A memory in the hotel flashed past. The hotel in Central, the big one, right after Ruri had gotten her briefing. Ed was on the floor. Ruri's head was on his chest, and his arms were resting on the small of her back. But to add insult to ingury, not only did the memory float past the barrier, but emotion did as well. And the emotion that Shiro received was not a pleasing one.

He cringed and drew back so quick, memories were still trying to flow from Ruri's mind, convinced that Shiro was still there trying to comfort her.

But now, he was trying to do just the opposite. His eyes snapped open and his back went rigid as what she felt entered him.

That was happiness.

His face flushed red with anger and envy as he tried to remain calm. He failed. "WHAT WERE YOU THINKING! WHAT WERE YOU DOING, ON TOP OF HIM LIKE THAT! RURI, I WAS CREATED TO PROTECT YOU, AND YOU GO AND KISS SOME GUY YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW!" He was standing over her now. She kept her head down in shame. But thankfully, the door was closed.

But someone heard her.

The door swung open with a loud clack! from the force. "Stop yelling at her like that." Ed'svoice was hoarse, like he hadn't used it in a decade. "You say you're her protecter, but look at what your doing.

Shiro paused in shock at what the teenager had said. Ruri lifted her head slightly, tears running down her neck, soaking the black shirt she now wore. He fell to his knees, looking up at her. In a weak voice, he wishpered, "I'm sorry... I'm so sorry..."

Later, after they got off the train...

Ruri, Al, Ed, and Shiro were walking through the streets of Crimson City. It was about 7:30 am. Stopping at a map, Al traced the route to the University they would be attending. "This way," he said, pointing east. The foursome walked on, when Ruri noticed something.

"Uh, sorry Shiro, but I don't think you will be coming with us," she smiled, "And there is no way I'm leaving you alone."

He nodded in sad dissapointment, but understood all the same. Ruri stepped forward and hugged him tightly. "Good bye, Shiro. I will see you soon."

"Good bye, Ruri Sato."

With a bright flash and a small gust, Shiro returned to his place in the demonic world. Ruri was left hugging the cool morning air.

"Come on, Ruri. We don't want to miss our little appointment, do we?" Ed called back. He was already 15 yards ahead.

Ruri looked down and hurried to catch up.

Aaww, so sad... Bye bye, Shiro! but he will come back soon. and this time, to make up for it, I'm not posting till i get 13 reviews! Mwahahaha!

Ruri out!