The sun was shining through the window of the Elric Brothers. It seemed to be about 7:00 a.m. according to Ed's watch. He sat up and stretched. "Good morning, Brother." Al said from his corner. "Morning, Al" he answered as he got up and started to get dressed. "Do you think we should wake up Ash?" Al asked. Ed started to think. Every time he tried to wake up Winry too early she'd throw a wrench at him. That thought gave him a headache. He shook his head. "Let's go outside and get some exercise. We can wait for her to wake up." Ed and Al left the room and walked out of the cabin.

"I see you two are finally up." said a voice from behind. Ed and Al turned around to see Ashton. She had her hair up in a pony tail. She had a red strapped shirt, it revealed some of her stomach and she wore black shorts. She was panting. "It took you two forever to wake." She said. Ed never said anything. He just kept staring. Ashton seemed to have noticed. She crossed her arms. Her movement seemed to have broken what ever trance Ed was in. "S sorry" he apologized. He cursed his hormones. "How long have you been up?" Al asked, trying to cover up Ed's staring. "About 5:30, and I went for my morning run. Are we going to begin lessons today?" "Yeah, give me a few minutes to stretch." Ed answered.

It was finally time to begin. Ed and Ashton stood under the oak tree. They stood a few yards across from each other. "To train your mind to its full potential you have to train the body." Ed said. Al sat on the ground. "True words, Brother." He said to himself. "You mean fight?" Ashton questioned. Ed nodded. "It's not really fighting. It's more like training. Look, right now all you have to do is dodge. Okay?" Ashton nodded. "Ready, set, go!" Ed threw a punch at her. Ashton ran to the right. He threw another punch, she blocked it. The force of his punch caused her to slide back. She let go of his arm and ran behind him. He gave her a kick and she jumped up. Ed looked around to find her. He heard a whistle from above and found her on a tree branch. She swung from it and kicked him to the ground.

"Ah! I said to dodge!" he yelled. She crossed her arms. "Well, what good is that? Sometimes you have to fight back." She said. He stood up. He smirked, "Well said." He replied. She grinned at him. "When did you learn to fight?" he asked. "When I was a little girl. Now are you gonna keep talking or are we going to continue?" she said. "Ha, I like your style. Well show me what ya got." He said. She nodded. She threw a punch, but he dodged. She jumped and did a flip over his head, as she did she kicked his head to the ground. He lost his balance and fell. "Where did you learn that?" he asked. "Practice." She simply replied. Al stood up. "Brother, I think it's time for breakfast." He said. He didn't eat, of course he didn't need to with him being a walking and talking armor suit, but he looked after his older brother. "Yeah, breakfast sounds nice." Edward replied. Everyone heard his stomach growl.

Ashton made breakfast, waffles, eggs, sausage, and toast. As she set everything on the table, she asked Ed if he wanted some milk. "No thanks. I don't like milk very much." He replied. Ashton sat down. "Oh really? Well no wonder you're so short." She said. Ed choked on his food. "WHO ARE YOU CALLING SHORT! I'M NOT SHORT, I'M FULL GROWN!" He shouted. Ashton took a bite. "If you say so." She said. The rest of breakfast was quite.

"I have to go to the village again today." Ashton said as she cleared the table. Ed leaned back to his chair. "Why? Didn't you just go?" he asked. "Yes, but since you have a big appetite I have to restock." She answered. "We'll come with you." Al said. She shook her head. "No need." She replied. She sat down with a notepad and a pen to make a list. Ed leaned towards her and gave her a goofy smile. "But we want to, you don't expect us to stay here all summer, do you?" he stated. Ashton was about to bust out laughing. "No, hehe all right." She said.

They arrived at the village. It was bigger than Ed remembered. There were bakeries, boutiques, floral shops, and many buildings. Every one started to stare at the trio. Ashton felt their eyes following her. She slowed down and started to walk beside Ed. "Why are they staring?" she whispered. Ed looked at her, silently answered her. Even though he really didn't say anything she understood. Not everyone sees someone walking in a suit of armor. But Ashton didn't understand,it never bothered her that Al was the way he is. "They probably get this all the time." She thought. How could they just not feel them staring, unless they didn't care. Ashton respected them for this. They came to a halt. Ashton wiped the thought of everyone's eyes on her away. "Alright." She started to say, "I'll be in here. You two can take a look around if ya want." With that she stepped into the market and left Ed and Al outside.

For a few seconds they stood there. Al looked at Ed. "What should we do, Brother?" he asked. Ed shrugged. He turned around and walked toward a trinket cart. He looked around at the rings, necklaces, bracelets, and all sorts of jewelry. He found a bracelet with a charm that had a transmutation circle. It caught his eye for some reason. He took out his pocket watch. The circle had the same design as his watch. Ed picked it up and tried to pay the man for it, but he shook his head and said "I don't remember having this one, go ahead and take it." The man gave him a box to put it in.

Ed sat down on a bench, Al followed. It was silent until Al asked his brother, "So, what do you think of Ash?" Ed replied, "She's nice, she seems outgoing, and tough. Yet I wonder if she really does want to become a state alchemist." Al was about to say something but he was interrupted by several gun shots that came from the market. Ed and Al jumped up automatically and raced inside.

Meanwhile with Ashton. She looked around at all of the bodies in fear. And then she lloked at the killer, he had a woman in his arms with the gun pointed at her head. "Look," Ashton started to say, "Put the gun down, don't hurt her. You won't get hurt." She was trying to calm him down, without hurting him. And even if she tried, she knew the woman would get killed. "Shutup!" The man yelled. "Please let her go. I promise you, you won't get hurt." Ashton calmly replied. The woman wimpered. "Don't move." the man said. "Ash!" came Ed's voice as he ran in. Ashton swirved around to see him, then she heard the gun click. She turned back. "No! Don't!" she yelled, but she was too late. The gun sounded and the woman fell.

Right then Ed clapped his hands threw them to the ground. Suddenly bars came up from the ground, and knocked the gun from his hands. The man was trapped. "Ash!" Al yelled as he ran to her. She fell to her knees. Tears flowing from her eyes.

The walk home was silent. Ashton quit sobbing after awhile,but tears were still running from her eyes. She was walking between Ed and Al. By the time they got home it was night. Ashton silently made dinner and the boys waited.

After dinner, Ashton went to her room and changed. Then she went outside. She stayed there for what seemed like hours. Ed and Al decided to go to bed. But Ed couldn't sleep. He tossed and turned. He finally decided to check on Ashton.

He closed the door behind him and searched outside for her. He found her by the lake. Her legs curled to her chest and her head rested on her knees. Her long flowing hair shined in the moon light andit reached the ground. He sighed and sat next to her. It was silent for the first few seconds but Ed broke it. "Do you like to look at the stars too?" he asked. He found that she wasn't looking at the sky, but at the lake. The water was still and served as a mirror. For the reflection of the sky was in the lake.He sighed again. "You know, sometimes you have to look up, instead of down. It shows the real things." he said.Ashton shift her head. She was facing him. Looking through his eyes. He felt as if she was digging through his soul for answers that he couldn't give. "I don't get it, Ed." she started to say, "I should have just acted right then, and maybe she would still be with her children. The officer told me about her." She started to sob. Ed could see the stars in her eyes. He turned away, not wanting to see her. "You did what you could, sometimes it won't turn out great." He said. "You just want to see that there is good in everyone." he continued, "I wish I could tell that there is." Ashton then started to sob harder. She wouldn't stop.

Ed didn't want to her her cry. Maybe because the fact that he didn't, or couldn't. He didn't know. He put his flesh arm around her and tried to comfort her.All of a sudden Ashton stopped. It was a chilly night, but feeling Ed's warm hand on her back was comforting, very comforting. Ed was nice, tough, smart, strong, and understanding. She liked him. He was being a dear friend. She didn't have many in her life, except for her butler James and her bird, Horis and her dog, Chester. "What are you thinking?" Ed asked. He had been looking at her ever since her tears stopped. Knowing she was in deep thought. She turned to him and smiled. "Oh, I was just thinking about when I was little. I had a dog and a parrot. Chester and Horis. They were my only friends. Except my butler, James. One day I couldn't find my pets and James came and comforted me and said they must have ran away. Ever since then James had always been there for me. At night I would wake up and hear sounds but James always comforted me." she said. Ed turned toward the lake. "It must have been lonely." he said. She shook her head. Then silence came between them.

"You know, I really don't want to be a state alchemist. I, just want to help people without becoming a stupid dog of the military!" she said. "I don't like it much." Ed replied with a sigh. "Then why are you?" she asked quickly. "I have my reasons." he replied. Ashton nodded her head. "Yeah, alright. I understand. You don't have to tell me." "So do you know why you have problems using alchemy?" Ed asked. "I dunno. I can't even make a simple ring of flowers. I would get so close but only the ring will appear but no flowers." she said. Ed thought for awhile. "Maybe your not strong enough, maybe your power needs amplifying." he said, digging in his pocket. "What's that?"she asked as she eyed the box. "It's just a simple amplifire." he said in a chuckle. Her eyes lit up like the moon and stars when she saw the bracelet. She picked it up and looked atthe charm. She raised her eyebrow. "This is the transmutation circle on the state alchemist's pocket watch." she said. He nodded. "Try it out." he said. Ashton put it on and pulled some grass from the ground and piled it up. She put her hands on the ground. A ring of lilac flowers appeared. She giggled like a child. "Awsome, Thanks Ed! This is really cool." she exclaimed. "Well, tommorow we're gonna start helping you with it, so let's get some sleep." he said. They both stood, Ashton shook his hand. And they returned to the cabin.