Edward stepped out into the room where everyone was waiting. He felt a bit nervous, yet the feeling felt foreign to him, like he wasn't the one feeling it. Perhaps it was Scorpio who was nervous. It was so strange to talk about Scorpio in the third person like that, since he WAS Scorpio, but it sometimes felt like they were two different people, even though they weren't.

Ed looked around the room, and caught sight of Orion sitting at the table, holding his head in one of his hands. Ed clenched his fist and broke out in a cold sweat. He may not have had a clue as to why he hated this guy, but he still didn't like the sight of him. He was also afraid that he would go nuts again and attack him as soon as he got close to him.

Ed turned to leave the room, but Winry grabbed his sleeve and wouldn't let him go. "You can't get out of it that easily, Ed…Scorpio…whoever I'm talking to. You need to do this whether you want to or not."

Ed turned to face Winry and looked pleadingly into her eyes. Winry shook her head, and gestured toward Orion. She gently tugged on his sleeve to get him to follow her. Ed moved forward very slowly, one step at a time. He really didn't want to have to deal with this.

Finally, he was standing before Orion. Orion lifted his head and saw him. Ed's pulse rate quickened. What would he say? What COULD he say? The two stared at each other in silence for several minutes.

Orion's lips started to quiver like he was trying to say something, yet couldn't get he words out. With much effort, he finally managed to say, "I don't remember what I did to you back then, but…I'm sorry."

"I-I'm sorry too," Ed choked out. He slowly extended his hand toward Orion, and Orion grasped the shaky hand.

What felt like an electric current ran through both of them right at that moment. "What just happened?" Edward asked.

"We just broke the curse," said Orion. "We are no longer slaves to our anger and the spirit of revenge."

"We were cursed?" Ed asked in shock.

Orion looked at Edward with a how-are-you-so-stupid expression on his face. "Those that are born of the stars are very prone to falling under curses, and most of those curses are pretty hard to break."

Edward sighed and scratched the back of his head. "So…how did we fall under this curse?"

"No one can remember the situation exactly," said Orion, "But it had something to do with the fact that I did something to make you mad, and then you reacted by killing me. Since then, we've been cursed."

"Wow," said Ed, "I can't believe that I never realized that I was cursed. Do I have any other curses hanging over me?"

"I doubt it," said Orion, "Scorpio isn't stupid enough to let himself get cursed too often." Ed shivered. There was that third person speech again.

"Hey, how come most of the…uh… 'star people' I've met know so much about our kind, when me and Al know so little?"

Orion chuckled. "Most of us don't carry separate identities between our spirit and our mind like you two do. Basically, the reason that you do have separate identities is because Cancer needs a way to hide, and you, Scorpio, consider it to be a wall of protection."

"Why would I need protection?" Ed said almost indignantly.

"All the water signs are pretty vulnerable, so it's common practice for them to hide behind another identity. Pisces doesn't hide though, for some reason. That's why her psychic powers are so strong."

"Why doesn't she hide? Isn't she just as vulnerable as we are?" asked Ed. Orion nodded.

"Even more so, since you, Scorpio, protect yourself by lashing out, and Cancer protects himself by withdrawing into himself. Pisces has no protection whatsoever." He paused for a second, and then added, "You need to protect her, if you want to defeat Aries."

That surprised Ed. He hadn't expected such a huge responsibility to be laid upon him, especially since the person he was supposed to protect had always seemed to be a tower of strength to him. She had even restored them to their normal bodies. What did she need protection from?

"The fire signs can overwhelm her psychic senses to force her into submission," said Orion, as though reading his thoughts.

Ed jumped. "Are you psychic too?"

Orion laughed. "Scorpio, you ask that in every incarnation. No, I am not psychic. I'm just familiar with the questions you always ask me or the others, since you always choose to hide behind that other identity, and therefore need to constantly re-learn the same things."

Ed put his hands on his hips. Orion quickly spoke up. "I never said you were stupid for doing that. Heh, you take offense at that in every incarnation too. You apparently need to hide, being a water sign, and I honestly can't figure out why Pisces doesn't do it herself."

Ed relaxed his hands and his arms fell back to his sides. He sighed. "This dual identity of mine is getting pretty annoying, actually."

He moved to go sit down in a chair near Orion, so that he could see him without standing over him. "Now, tell me, how am I supposed to protect Pisces?"

Orion shook his head. "I'm the wrong person to ask, Scorpio. I'm not one of the signs. Why don't you go and ask Sagittarius? She's here too, and she's even a fire sign, so she could tell you a lot of useful information."

"She's not loyal to Aries, is she?"

"No, she's not loyal to Aries. She's not loyal to anybody. All she wants to do is have fun, so she'll go with whoever can promise her a good time."

"Heh, so she's just looked for adventure, huh?" Edward chuckled. "I suppose that shooting me in the back with her arrow was her idea of a good time."

"Well, hey, she doesn't get to do that every day," Orion joked. Ed gave him a playful punch. Orion looked directly into Ed's eyes, and said, "You know, this is the first time that the two of us have been so social. I really like this."

Ed smiled and stood up. "Maybe we could catch up later; though I can't really I'd be that interesting to talk to, since I don't remember my past. I'm going to go talk with Sagittarius before she leaves."

"I would like that," said Orion. "It's nice to be able to sit down and talk with Scorpio for once. I'd never dared to hope that that would ever happen."

Ed chuckled, and then went in search of Sagittarius. He found her sitting in the living room, tending to her bowstring. She must've gotten a little over-excited when she shot Ed, and damaged her bow.

Ed stepped into the room and light-heartedly said, "You're not planning on shooting me again, are you?"

She looked up in surprise. She hadn't heard him come into the room. After seeing who it was, she let out a huge laugh. "Hey, I might if I feel like it."

Edward chuckled and sat down across from her. "Listen, Sagittarius, I need to asked you something. Are you…"

"Why should I tell you?" she interrupted. Edward was a little taken aback, but he just brushed her behavior aside. Fire signs often come across to water signs as being rude, so Ed was trying to keep that in mind as he talked to her.

"It's to help someone…well, actually, to help a lot of people," Edward answered.

Sagittarius huffed. "What's in it for me?"

Hmmm, Edward thought, so that was the way she worked? Okay, he could handle that. "I'll be your opponent in the game of your choice if you give me the information I need."

She smiled and set down her bow. "Very well, Scorpio, I'll accept that. What do you want to know?"

"Well, before I ask you what I want to ask, I first need to ask whether or not you're loyal to Aries."

Sagittarius threw her head back and laughed. "That old hag? I'm surprised that any of the signs are still loyal to her. I'm not loyal to anyone; I just do as I please."

Edward rubbed his forehead while he muttered, "That's good, I guess." Then, putting his hand in his lap and looking into her eyes, he said, "I need to know how to protect Pisces from Aries, and…you know, other fire signs."

Sagittarius chuckled. "Duh, you should already know what needs to be done in that case, Scorpio. Water and fire don't mix. A fire sign can't focus on attacking Pisces if you're there, since you're a fighter by nature. Just convert to your watery form and attack, that's all there is to it."

"Really? That's all I have to do to protect Pisces?"

Sagittarius gave the boy a you're-so-stupid look and said, "That's all there is to protecting Pisces from Aries, but you could still have trouble from the earth signs."

"How so?"

"Well, you know how slow you water signs are right now? Earth signs are even slower. If one of them in their elemental form mixes with you in your elemental form, you'll be incredibly slow and vulnerable. Water signs don't function well as a puddle of mud."

Edward thought about that for a moment before speaking. "Yeah, I guess you're right. That would pose a problem. What about the air signs? Are they a threat too?"

Sagittarius threw back her head and laughed again. "Man, are you dumb. Of course they're a threat!"

Ed clenched his fist and then released it. No, Scorpio, don't lash out, he thought to himself. I need to just hear her out. "How are they a threat?"

"Air signs can perform all the feats that normal air does. If they were to blow a freezing wind on your water signs, you'd freeze into a solid block of ice, and they'd have you captured."

"Wow," Ed mused, "I didn't realize that they could pose such a threat. We need a fire sign to take along." He eyed Sagittarius with a mischievous grin on his face.

"What, you want ME to follow you on your little quest?"

"Why not? It would be an adventure, after all."

She rocked her head back and forth a couple times. "Well, I guess that you've got me pretty much figured out. I'll go along with you as long as it's still fun. If it gets boring, I'm out of there."

"I don't think it'll get boring," Ed chuckled nervously, thinking about all the possibly bad things that would probably happen.

Just then, Winry walked into the room. She had her head down, looking at the floor. "Um, Ed, could I see you a minute?" she asked nervously.

Edward stood up and walked towards her. "Sure, where would you like to talk?"

"Let's go outside," she said.

The two stepped outside. It was still nighttime, and the stars still shone brightly. Ed and Winry stared up at them for a few moments before saying anything. Edward smiled when he saw the constellation of Orion. He was actually starting to like that guy.

"So, what did you want to talk to me about?" asked Ed.

Winry blushed. "Oh…it's…it's not really important…it's just that…well, you'll be leaving soon…and…well…I, uh, really liked that kiss you gave me earlier…and, uh…"

"Say no more," said Ed. He lifted her chin to look into her eyes, and the he pressed his lips to hers. The troubles of the world could wait a few minutes more.