DISCLAIMER: If I owned Himoru, then Full Metal Alchemist would be mine! Mwuhahahahhahahaha...am I the only one who has knowledge about this woman? I swear... did anyone know she gre grew up on a dairy farm on and island in Japan,so it's why she draws herself as a cow? LOOK IT UP IN THE INTERNETENCYCLOPEDIA!


a/n: (a.k.a author's note) I would like to take the time to say, I have recorded FMA! Yay! Yeah, laugh at me now because it's on a VHS tape, but I don't have cable here,and the few days I'm with my dad he won't let me watch it because it's "Too late!" 1 in the morning is not late on a school night! So, I have posted a new chapter, in celebration of this wonderful day. Er- I watched this Naruto thing, and it was sooooooo sad. All I'm saying. But Sasuke and Narutoheld fingers sorta and smiled, and they were so kawai'i 'cause they were only ittle wittle! Oh and then Naruto's seal broke and Sasuke also has a demon in him and...wait a minute. This is FMA, on with the story!


Chapter 4: An Explanation Would Bring Shame

It was an awkward silence for the two woman walking, because usually they would chat. They had known each other for only a few months, but felt very comfortable with sharing their social problems, but they also stayed very business like. The two could be set as a pair of very friendly workers. That's why it was a little weird for them to be quiet, especially since they had a lot to catch up on.

"So Riza…" Kiara trailed off, trying to think of a subject.

"That's First Lieutenant Hawkeye, Ms. Nevina" the woman with blonde hair snapped, never looking her in the eye.

"First Lieutenant!" Kiara called surprised, being in a very taken aback situation. "I- where-" but she was too cautious to say the wrong sentence. "I'm sorry" she finally muttered, staring at her feet.

If Kiara had been around Riza Hawkeye's age, or in a lower military rank, she would have treated her strict, exactly like she had planned to do when Kiara arrived. Unfortunately, Riza had a soft spot for children.

"N-Never mind what I said Kiara" Riza sighed, relaxing her shoulders. She just couldn't be formal with this girl.

Kiara prepped up considerably greater, smiling and throwing her head back. "Well then," Kiara smiled. "How have you been? What'cha been up to?" she asked friendly, awaiting the answer.

"Sadly, that's classified information" Riza responded, and Kiara understood.

"So, something's actually happening around here?" Kiara asked suspicios.

"Yes, of course. I can't fill you in, but I'm sure you've heard of the Kong case. Mustang let me in on that" Riza spoke casually, as they winded their way down the halls, searching for Kiara's new room.

"You bet. The one going to check it out is yours truly" Kiara smiled cockily, as Riza let a stunned emotion bestow across her face.

"He let you?" she asked incredulously. "He is not allowed to do that! If he gets caught- oh, I'll have a word with him…" Riza mumbled hotly, going into her own little rant.

"Go ahead and try, but you aren't stopping me. I know Liana; she's a tough one she is. You can't get no ordinary official to prance out there and ask questions. You're lucky if you get away alive, she doesn't like many people. Why, I'm not sure if she kept me alive because we were best-friends, or I know a lot of stuff that will get her in deep shit" Kiara stated, thinking of her life with Liana. "I can tell you this though, she's so smooth not even the military has caught her before"

"Not anymore, we caught her this time" said Riza.

"Yeah right!" Kiara laughed coldly. "She let herself get caught, just enough where no one would get any information, but to contact me. Unless you've known her for seventeen years, it would be hard to learn how that witch's mind works. I barely understand her as it is. Being weird has its advantages at times" she pointed out, then smiled, thinking of herself.

"I still don't understand how you still like this woman" Riza pointed out blankly.

"We shared too many years together, can't let it die. I sort of can't leave the past, and it's a bad trait" Kiara sighed, as they finally reached a hallway with doors.

"Here" Riza pulled out a key, once they were in front of a door, fourth one on the right. "Room seven has been provided for you. If you're looking for the Elric's room, they're the floor above you, number fourteen" Riza explained, the flung open the door.

"The floor above? What happens if I need to go somewhere urgent, like, in three seconds?" Kiara complained, stepping in her room.

"Run fast" Riza replied quickly, then shut the door fast.

As always, Kiara saw what she usually did. A bed, a nightstand next to it, and a couch pushed against the wall. Her luggage, she noticed, was scatter throughout the room, like someone had thrown it straight in from the door.

"Damn him, this one opened!" Kiara fumed, running over to the slightly ajar suitcase. "Tee-hee!" she squealed as she looked down opon her night clothes of which both had a frog theme- a long pair of pants, and a tee-shirt.

For the next hour, Kiara sifted through her stuff, putting things in the closet and under the bed. She had brought her own bed cover set (that consumed two of the seven suitcases) of a light lavender color, with blue blended in it. Her pillow cases were a baby blue, as she hastily slip them over the dirty looking ones.

"Do you think they'd let me paint Mr. Yuki?" she asked her plant on the window pane.

Kiara wasn't exactly sure how long she had Mr. Yuki, but he had always been her little plant. He used to be a beautiful plant with luscious green leaves, stunning rose colored blossoms in a silver pot full of rich soil. Sadly, Kiara had knocked over the pot, and when she replanted Mr. Yuki he had to deal with regular dry dirt from an old parking lot. And, he had gotten on in years (Yes, plants can live that long. I still have my plant from the fourth grade) and was now just a short little plant with petite green leaves who had stopped blossoming two years ago. Still, he was Mr. Yuki, and Kiara could always talk to him. Plus, he always agreed with her, and when she was angry with him, he wouldn't talk back…go figure.

"If they let me paint, I'd go maroon" she thought happily, jumping on her bed. "Of course, I'd do a little shopping and get me a better bed spread. Maybe a crimson one…" she figured, imagining it all in her mind. "So then, it would be a bit dark, because I don't want a light crappy maroon. Obviously, we'll have to get more lights, maybe those kind that you stick in the ceiling, whatever they're called. Oh, and a desk! I want a desk for when I write! Oh yeah, and we could have spinning chairs! Everyone loves spinning chairs!" she shouted happily, kind of losing herself. "And the lights would no doubt be able to dim, yes, dim lights are the only way. Hell, while we're at it, a ceiling fan wouldn't be to bad; it's always to damn hot in the summer. Yet, it's spring right now so it's a nice temperature; we won't worry about that yet. Yes, I think that's a fine idea, don't you?" she questioned, and surprisingly got an answer.

"Talking to yourself Nevina?" someone, asked amused.

She hadn't realized that the door was cracked, and that now, standing in the doorway was Ed and Al.

"No, talking to my plant" she turned to Mr. Yuki and smiled. "Mr. Yuki, meet Edward and Alphonse Elric. Edward and Alphonse Elric, meet Mr. Yuki, my beautiful plant. Well, he used to be prettier" she introduced them, standing up and stroking one of Mr. Yuki's leaves.

"That's…scary" Ed replied, looking a little freaked out.

"He's beautiful on the inside you racist!" she cried angrily, trying her best to hug Mr. Yuki without messing him up. "We don't like Edward" she hissed in the plant's middle, being very quiet so they couldn't hear. "He's very bad…yes I'm sorry Mr. Yuki, I understand" she spoke normally, so they could hear. "No one can be pretty AND smart. Only me," she whispered quietly again so only the plant could hear.

"Umm…that's great how you can socialize with physically anything…" Al spoke up, having trouble finding the right words. "But we're here to tell you that we'll be going out soon. Probably in a few days to look for someone" said Al, only he didn't tell her why or where.

"You mean Liana Kong, who's really going to be interviewed by me. That idiot of a Colonel didn't tell you, did he?" Kiara replied, never taking her eyes of her gorgeous plant.

"Listen here!" Ed cried frustrated. "I'm the State Alchemist, not you, got that? I will do this, not you! And besides, it's your fault we're getting so off track from what we are suppose to be doing!" he fumed, but Kiara was barely listening.

She only heard the last part, and it intrigued her. "What were you two doing before?" she asked curiously.

Al looked like he was about to answer, but Ed cut him short. "None of your business if we can help it. But, just so you know, if we have to go somewhere, you're going to have to come with us" he explained, sounding like she had no choice.

"What if I don't want to go on some wild goose chase with you?" she snapped.

"Then we'll force you to!" barked Ed, rising himself on the tip of his toes. "We are your guardians, you listen to what we have to say!"

"WELL YOU KNOW WHAT!" Kiara asked rhetorically, shouting and looking very red. "WAFFLES, THAT'S WHAT!"

"What the hell! WOULD YOU QUIT BEING SO FREAKING WEIR-" but Ed had tried to lunge at her, so Al had quickly grabbed of hold of him, wrapping his hand right around his mouth.

"Looks like this will be fun!" Kiara laughed crazy, tossing her head in the air. "Elric, you just met your match. A weird person. Laugh now, but we can be real hell" she warned, then dropped to the floor.

They watched interested and confused at the same time as she whipped out a piece of chalk, and began to draw a transmutation circle.

"Nothing can be taken from this world, unless we give something back" Kiara muttered to herself, drawing a formula. "It's a fair trade. You give something to God, and he gives you something different. Of course, this can't apply to everything" she mumbled, frantically working. "Scientists have been working on this magical wonder for years, giving it the name 'alchemy.' At first it was just transforming regular metals to gold for wealth, but eventually they realized, wouldn't it apply to other mass?" she questioned, still talking too quickly for either Ed or Al to keep up. "This theory was correct of course, and the little diddling with gold has evolved into some people's way of life. The circle, is the base of everything when you perform alchemy. Without it, it most surely could not be performed correctly, which could lead in a horrible cause. But, if you draw the right formula on top of it," -she paused, grabbed a pencil, a notebook, and a useless chain off of her nightstand- "and convert the right objects," –Kiara laid them of top of the circle- "it can entertain you for hours." she finally said audibly, as the circle began to glow.

Kiara smiled happily as her supplies that had once been in her hand had now transformed into a puppy marionette doll. "And, there are the people who learn the right transmutation circles that can change the ordinary into extraordinary" she laughed happily, while playing with the strings.

She made him run and wag his tail with the many strings attached, and soon began engaged in it.

"Wow, you made a child's toy with the laws of alchemy, I'm in awe" Ed finally spoke sarcastically, rolling his eyes.

"Why learn alchemy unless you want to have fun?" Kiara questioned, then paused. "Yet, there are exceptions…" she wandered off into thought, and then something hit her. "Wait, how old are you guys?" she questioned, snapping her head up.

"I'm sixteen, and brother is seventeen. He's the older one," Alphonse replied, still standing in the doorway, whereas Ed had begun to fiddle with Kiara's marionette.

"Ha! I'm eighteen!" Kiara cried happily.

"And yet you're shorter than me!" Ed cried, seeming a little too happy about it. "I told you Al! Somewhere out there, somewhere!" said Ed triumphantly, and Al looked like he rolled his eyes.

"Nothing is funny about my height" Kiara muttered hotly. "Besides, you got boots on, not fair" she murmured again, going a bit red with anger. Still, Ed couldn't hear her, and began to fiddle with her marionette again.

"Don't you have parents?" she immediately regretted saying that after seeing the look on their faces.

Still, Ed sucked it up and answered. "Mom's dead, dad's a bastard" he spoke simply.

"Brother!" Al called angrily, looking at him.

"Well, if you call a man who left his family and didn't even return for his wife's funeral a saint, go ahead!" Ed shouted, looking much angrier than she had seen him before.

"I'm sorry," said Kiara instantly, hoping the two brothers wouldn't get in an argument.

"Don't be. What's your story?" Ed asked, turning the tables on her.

"Putting in lightly, my mom's dead, and I've been searching for my father. He ran away from me after an incident, but I've had to put off his search for awhile" Kiara sighed, standing up and walking back over to her bed.

Ed and Al had only been here to inform her about Liana, but as they moved further and further away from that subject, they all began to learn more about each. This was good, because the first hour Kiara had met them they didn't tell her anything, and she felt that if they were going to be together for three weeks they should know a little background to each.

"What do you mean your dad ran away?" Al asked, finally stepping into her room and sitting down on the couch.

"Well, I used to be a State Alchemist" Kiara told them, but had a feeling they already knew. "I kind of became one to perform something, which ended up working out. But in return, in made my father fear me" she explained, and watched the two brothers go bug-eyed for a moment. "He wasn't suppose to see…that day," she said shamefully, turning away from them. She regained her strength, as the Elric brothers sat in silence, not ushering her to hurry. "But," she gulped and took a breath, and paused again. "He did. So he ran away. Then the stupid military took my precious watch away from me, and sent me to an assigned home. Then my friend Liana Kong, you know the girl got in deep shit or something happened, needs to see me, and so she brought back here. And this is barely adding detail" Kiara sighed, finally able to look back at them. "What about you?" she asked, watching as Ed discarded the marionette and joined Al on the couch.

"A lot of stuff happened" Al whispered, looking down at his hands. "So now we're here. Brother is the State Alchemist, not me. He's got an auto-mail left leg and right foot. And that's barely going into detail" Al stated, looking over to Ed.

"Really?" she asked, automatically slipping on her shoe. "I've got an auto-mail right foot," she said as she slip off her sock.

"Really?" Ed asked some-what interested, examining it.

"Yeppers, but it ain't exactly my pride and joy. Was an alchemy accident that umm…well, I needn't go into detail" Kiara stutter a bit, and while saying this sitting upright on her bed and holding her foot up.

"Did you just say, yeppers?" Al asked, sounding confused.

"Something wrong?" she asked innocently.

"Nothing" he answered quickly. He tried to say the next sentence to where only Ed could hear, but she overheard him anyway. "Just sounds like something a kid would say. Are you sure she's eighteen?" he whispered lightly, sounding a bit rude.

"I got lots of wrong words! Like poopsicles, shwaness, meka leka hi, meka hiny hiny ho, and fhqwhgads," she smiled.

"Fa-who-do-gags?" Al asked incredulously.

"Fa-who-goo-gads" Kiara pronounced. "I'm not exactly sure what they mean, but it's a great word. It's a noun, but that's all I know," she smiled oddly.

"I wouldn't ask where she got it from Al" Ed spoke quickly, and Al hushed up.

Kiara noticed that Ed's auto-mail was covered up. The long jacket and white glove covered his arm, and his pants covered his legs. Sure, you couldn't see hers' either, but that was because she had to wear shoes!

"Take off your glove Ed," Kiara stated simply, and he did so.

She hopped off the bed and, standing up, examined it in the palm of her own hand. It looked complex, much like her foot, and it intrigued her. In curiosity, she lifted up his sleeves further and further to look until he pulled his hand away. Kiara looked Ed in the face, to see him hiding behind his hair in a shameful manner.

"You've got nice auto-mail there Ed," she smiled, ignoring his actions. "Never seen it like that. Who do you go to?" she asked again, then threw herself back on the bed.

"Pinako and Winry Rockbell in Rizenbool, best you can find anywhere, no one else like them" Al answered for him, and Ed smiled.

"You got that right," Ed added, pushing his sleeves back down.

"Rizenbool? Bit far away eh? And it's quite the small town, I don't know any auto-mailests there" she questioned.

"We don't exactly go there regularly, just if we need to" Ed stated, and leaned back on the couch.

There was a silence after that, but it was peaceful. Each of them were thinking their own thoughts, and actually enjoying Kiara, or in Kiara's case Ed, for the first time. Kiara eventually got around to staring at Al's huge suit of armor and felt sympathetic. She recalled when they walked down the streets and people stare wide-eyed at him like he was some sort of giant killing machine.

"I hate to sound rude," Kiara paused, knowing she had wanted to ask this all along. "But, Alphonse, why are you- your body?" she asked straight to the point.

"Things happened" Ed stated. "And he's sort of stuck with this body…for now."

A long silence stood between the three as they thought over what each had just said. "A lot wasn't said" Kiara pointed out.

"A lot doesn't want to be said," said Ed blankly, as his face became covered by his lose bangs that fell from his braid.

"Still," she took a moment to roll over on her stomach, and lifted her legs in the air. "There's one more question. What are you two so obviously searching for?"

"That will be unraveled with time, that we can't stop. But for now, you don't need to know the truth" Al answered, leaving Kiara a little puzzled.

Sensing the conversation was over; both of them stood up and began to walk toward the door. They left the door slightly opened, and Kiara sighed heavily.

"I will find out about their past, and they in return will find mine. The one that haunts me forever, the one I keep so secret no one knows. Two aimless strangers might get hurt," she realized, and moaned. "Please God, hate me, not them. They aren't that bad, don't make them pay for my actions"

It had to be somewhere around evening, because the window straight above Kiara's headboard kept fading into a deeper red, and a bit of darkness was beginning to surround the Earth. Although it was much to early for bed, she curled up in her blankets, and eventually dozed off into a slumber.