Chapter Two

Waking up to the sound of her sister whining, Sarah rolled over in her bed, grumbling. She could hear the argument between her two younger siblings down in the kitchen. As much as she would have liked to sleep a bit longer, Sarah knew if she didn't do something, the fight wouldn't stop. Throwing the blankets off of herself, she trudged downstairs to interfere with the argument.

"What the heck is going on down here!", she yelled, still in her pyjamas.

"I was just going to cook some breakfast for her, and she started whining. She want's you to do it.", Zander replied, quite rudley.

"You always burn what you make.", Zowy whined.

"Oh for crying out loud.(sigh) Fine, I'll make breakfast. Just stop fighting you two.", Sarah, shook her head.

"Well she started it.", the boy snapped.

"Did not!", Zowy squeeled.

"Zander Kayshati! That's enough. Both of you, just sit down and wait!"

Planting her hands on her hips, Sarah glared angrily at them. Zowy sat down at the table. She knew Sarah was upset, and didn't want to make it worse. Zander crossed his arms and sulked. He hated being told what to do. Especially by his older sister.

"You're not mom. So don't order me around like you own me!", he yelled. His brown eye's stating a silent challenge.

"Big brother, that wasn't nice."

"Hmph.", ignorring his little sister's words completely.

Sarah was speechless. Watching her brother walk away, it hurt her to hear those words. She knew she wasn't their mother. She knew it was hard for all of them, but there was nothing she could do about it. And yet it seemed as though she was always pounding on him, for the things that went wrong. Guilt threatened to bring her to tears, but she banished it from her mind for the time being. They would all just have to gritt their teeth and bear whatever came their way.

Sitting in his room, the fourteen year old boy sulked over the previous event. He wanted so much for his parents to just come home and stay. They had even missed his last birthday because of their continuous travelling. "Stupid Sarah. Why does she have to hound me all the time?", he sat thinking to himself. He hated having to be protected by a girl, even if she was his older sister. Deciding not to wonder on the subject any longer, he picked up a book that he had been reading, and dove into the pages, clearing his mind of everything.

After cooking her sister breakfast, Sarah proceeded to her own room. She gathered some clean cloths and headed for the shower. Still thinking of the harsh words that came from her brothers lips. She did her best, but it seemed as though it was never enough. Letting the warm water run down from her head to her toes, she stood eyes closed, as the heat soothed her mind. When she had finished, Sarah had to go out for a while and finish her shopping from the day before. Zowy watched as she put her shoes on.

"Do you have to leave now? You promised to show me your alchemy sister.", the little girl gave a sad face.

"I'll be back soon. You be good okay.", she said, giving her sister a hug, "Keep an eye on Zander for me. I'm counting on you."

"Okay.", Zowy's face brightened at the thought of being trusted with something important, and Sarah winked at her in assurance.

Standing up again, she hollared up the stairs.

"Zander! I'm leaving now. So don't be too hard to put up with!"

When no answer came, she sighed. Patting her sister on the head, she walked out the door, and headed down the street.

--Back at Central HQ--

The boys were ready to leave. Ed was still somewhat aggitated from the Colonel's delay on the meeting. Hands in his pockets, he entertained himself by kicking a rock down the street as they walked. Al simply followed after him, thinking about their current mission at hand. The Colonel hadn't ordered them to stop looking for the Philosopher's Stone completely, and it wasn't out of their minds. But with the task at hand, they would have to set aside looking for it, just for a while.

"The Colonel didn't give much detail as to where we should look for information.", Al said, breaking the silence.

"Probably just want's to make it harder for us. Damn, he sure knows how piss me off."

"But he didn't say anything bad to you brother."

"He never has to. That stupid grin on his face says it for him Al.", Ed answered.

"So where should we go first?", Al asked, attempting to change the topic.

Ed thought for a minute. Stopping in his tracks, he remembered the girl with silvery blue hair. Turning to his brother, he made his suggestion.

"Why not look for that girl? No circles is suspicious as is. Maybe she can tell us something about this mess,"

"You think? She didn't seem like she would do much, other than defend herself. And she was awfully pretty."

"Well like you said Al. It couldn't hurt to ask. And you think every girl is pretty.", he laughed.

Since neither of them knew where she lived, the boys began to ask people about her. After several tries with no luck, they were beginning to think otherwise on finding and questioning the girl. It was around noon, when the two of them finally decided to take a break. They had stopped at a food vender, so Ed could get something to eat. Al stood close by, watching as all sort's of people that passed by them. Out of how many they had asked, not one of them knew the girl they were looking for. And it didn't seem like anyone knew much about their mysterious killer on the loose eigther. While Ed was taking his time selecting what he wanted, a small noise brought Al to attention.

"Meow"

"Oh no, I can't let brother know I brought him with me.", looking for a place to hide for a moment.

Al hurried over to a corner, and brought out the little furball from his amour. The kitten blinked at him, and purred when Al scratched behind it's ear. Thinking of what he was going to do about the cat, Al looked over to his brother, who was now heading back in his direction with a huge tacco in his hands. Al panicked once again. He couldn't let Ed see the cat with him. Looking down, his panicking got worse, when he saw the kitten was gone. Looking around, he spotted the orange ball of fluff walking away. "Oh no!". Getting up to chase after it, and leaving Ed to wonder what the heck was going on, Al didn't even see the person the cat was heading towards. Stopping directly at her feet, the kitten rubbed it's head against the girl's leg. She stopped to see what it was, and she knelt down to pat it.

"Hey there cutey, you lost?", she smiled, and picked up the little orange furball, "I wonder where you came from?"

"Meow", the kitten looked at her.

She stood with the cat in her arms, stroking it's soft fur, Al had finally caught up with the kitten. He slowed to a stop, directly in front of the girl as she looked up to see him. He was quite surprised, when he realized who it was holding the orange cat in front of him. It was the girl he and Ed had been looking for.

"Oh, hello. Is this little one your's?", she said, as her soft greyish eyes blinked.

"Oh no. I found him the other day. My brother and I are trying to find someone to take care of him.", came Al's response, after a few second's of staring.

"I see. He's awfully cute.", the kitten batted at a strand of her bluish hair.

The girl smiled at the cat, then looked back at Al. While the two exchanged glances for a moment, Edward had finally found his brother, and was ready to start yelling. That is untill he saw who Al was with. Running up to stand beside his brother, Ed took note of the girl. It was the same one they had seen the day before.

"I see you found her. And why the hell didn't you say something before running off like that Al!"

"I was just trying to...", Al stopped, and remembered he was trying to hide the cat from his brother.

"Um, excuse me? You were looking for me?", the girl intereupted them.

The brothers stopped their little staring contest, and turned their attention back to the girl. She was looking at them with curiousity written all over her face. Wondering to herself, what sort of trouble she had goten into, just by going out to get groceries. Not to mention the oddness of a guy in a suit of armour, chasing after a little kitten.

"Well, yeah. We were.", came Ed's reply, after a few seconds.

"You're the girl from the fight yesterday. Right out front of Central Headquarters."

"Oh, you guys saw that did you?", she wondered what they were getting at.

"Yeah. We wanted to ask you a few questions."

"Who are you guys anyway?", that question had been bugging her the minute she bumped into Al.

"I'm Alphonse, Elric. And this is my older brother..."

"Edward, Elric.", finishing Al's introduction, and pointing to himself grinning.

"You work for the military? Alchemist's right?"

"Thats' right.", Al answered her.

"What exactly do you guys want from me? I'm no state alchemist."

"No, but you performed your alchemy yesterday without a transmutation circle.", Ed replied to her question.

"We were wondering if you might know something, about the recent serial killings."

She stopped to think. These two were asking her about something she knew very little about. She was too busy to bother with stuff like that. But how would they know that right? Trying to recall anything possible to help them, her mind was blank.

"Sorry. Can't say I've heard much about all of that.", she answered them.

"Meow."

Remembering the little orange ball of fluff in her arms, she smiled daown at the kitten. Al became tense, and looked away, trying to find anything to stare at besides his brother's face. Ed's raised an eyebrow, as he finally noticed the cat in the girl's arms.

"Al. Did you bring him with us?", glaring at his younger brother.

"Brother, he needs a home! I thought we might try to find him one while we were looking." Al flared in his defence.

"Al!"

"Ed you are so cruel!"

As the two of them began to bicker about the little feline, the girl simply watched them. She started to giggle, then fell into a full hearted laugh soon after. The boy's looked at her as if she had grown leaves out of her ears or something.

"What's so funny!", Ed barked at her, annoyed by her laughter.

"You guys! You're fighting over a little kitten. If it's such a hassle, then I'll take him home with me.", she smiled, trying to hold back the few giggles still lingering.

"You will?", Al sounded happy to hear it.

"Sure. My little sister loves cat's. And I've been looking for a pet for a while, to teach her a little responsibility.", she replied.

"Well, thats a load of our shoulders.", Ed sighed, scratching the back of his head.

"Sure, it's no problem at all."

"Could you tell us your name?", Al asked.

"It's Sarah. Sarah Kayshati.", she smiled, and patted her new kitten.