Innocence Of A Homunculus

Chapter One

"Oh come on Al, will you give it a rest already?" Moaned the older yet smaller Elric.

The two brothers have had nothing much to do, since they really only answered to Mustang who seemed to have taken a leave of absence after the unfortunate death of his close friend, Maes.

"But I just think it would do him a lot of good to see that its not just him who was affected by the accident." This was spoken from within the large metal armor, always a voice of reason.

"Look, if he wants to go be by himself then good riddance, I'm taking a vacation from him anyway. I can't stand him sometimes!" Edward had begun to get a little annoyed. But despite his attitude, he gave a sigh. "I guess it won't hurt to go say hello…"

And so the boys were off, walking through the streets of Eastern. Little did they know, someone was following. Stalking almost, a female figure roaming over the rooftops above them.

Light, lavender color eyes would gaze downward at the pair, singling one out from the other. "It must be…" Her voice sounding hopeful as she skipped from one rooftop to the next.

Down below, the younger brother paused. "Brother, did you hear something just know?"

"Nope, not a thing. Now c'mon Al let's get this over with before I change my mind." He said, put looked around in case there could be something.

"I guess, I just imagined it?" Echoed the voice within the armor.

"Edward…Alphonse…" There was a different voice, a familiar female tone of a one Riza Hawkeye. "What are you boys doing?" Always keeping her self official.

They both turned, watching as the Lieutenant approached. "We were about to visit Mustang actually." Edward would be the first to speak.

"I think the Colonel would prefer to be in his own company for the time being." Her voice sounding saddened, she felt almost lost without him around. "Though I will give him your regards, I'm on my way to see him also."

Alphonse would then chime in. "Then can we go with you?"

She just shook her head reluctantly. "In his current state, the Colonel becomes self destructive. He finds peace with being alone during these times."

"Oh?" The short one would cross his arms. "Then why are you going then?" Speaking as though he was trying to hint to something going on between the two officials.

"Hm." She narrowed her eyes slightly. "Edward, I'll have you know that any idiotic rumor you may have heard is untrue, and my visitation is strictly business." Now with that settled, she left the boys to their own.

"Is it me or does she always seem so uptight all the time?" Edward muttered.

"I think there is more to her then what most people probably see." Again the voice of reason spoke his mind.

Shaking his head, Edward now turned around and started back in the direction they came, followed by his younger but much larger metal brother who inquired, "So what do we do now then?"

"To be honest Al, I can really go for something to eat before Winry gets here."

"That's right, she did say she was coming for a visit." He went quiet for a second, wondering why he could have nearly forgotten such a thing. "Well, you can go brother."

"Huh? Something wrong?" Ed looked up at him.

"No, I'm fine. I was just thinking that I might go back to the headquarters for a while…probably the library. You can go meet Winry, and I'll just meet you both later ok?" Though he had no facial expression, it was easily felt that something had been bothering the younger Elric. But pushing the subject any further would only upset him, so Edward just left it alone.

"Ok Al. I'll see you later on then." A little disappointed that his younger brother might be keeping something from him. "We'll all go out, and do something together like we used to. How about that? Maybe talk and stuff."

But by this time, Alphonse had already turned around and began on his own way to the Eastern HQ.

- - -

Later on into the afternoon, Edward would be found approaching the Eastern train station. Looking up at the large clock that decorated the wall.

"About fifteen minutes…give or take if the train is going to run late or not." He made a face.

Not far from his location, there were large crates ready to be loaded onto the shipment trains. But behind them, a certain homunculus would glare from around the wooden box.

"Edward…" It spoke, though quietly as to not be heard. It wasn't a familiar name, but the one it belonged to was very familiar. Though lately she found her mind blank, not able to remember much of anything at all. "…Edward?"

This time, it caught his attention. Arching a brow as he turned his head. "What?" Seeing he was standing next to the loading deck which was nothing but crates. He shrugged it off.

Finding that encounter a little too close, she decided it was time to be off. Though not paying attention to her surroundings, managed to bump into one of the shipments causing it to topple over and cause a sort of domino effect. "Oops…" An innocent response. She looked up, raising her hand as a metal chain came from her palm and wrapped itself around a support pillar. Now pulling herself up and into the safety of the above rafters.

The accident may have caught the attention of everyone else in the station, but it was a young alchemist who caught sight of the thing fleeing the situation. "A homunculus?" He gave a quick look around and took off running after where ever she was heading.

Unknowing that she was being followed, came to a stop just about a block away from the station. Standing on the edge of a rooftop, she looked down into a thin alley way just beside the building. As she jumped down, around the corner was the miniature full metal wonder. "I was right, you are a homunculus!"

Landing onto one foot lightly and then the other, the homunculus stood there quietly. Was he correct? Surely she appeared the same as the others, if not that then her superhuman ability is what gave it away.

They both stood just a few feet away from each other. A blank expression showed no sign of emotion as he stared at her trying to figure out just what exactly was going on. She had the same eyes, a lavender color that each of them had. A pale complexion, also a similar trait. And like all the others she wore nothing but black. It was a simple dress that went down to her ankles with a long slit up to each thigh. The dress was more like a tube, but with a black lacey décor that went around the top. All of it was brought together with a shiny pair of black stiletto like heels. But there was something different…unlike the others who all had black hair, she was different with a silvery white color. Long hair that fell to the middle of her back.

"Your name is Edward…isn't it?" A clam voice, sounding almost sweet.

"And whats that to you? After the philosopher's stone too right?" Defensive as usual, its what he came to expect from their kind.

It was almost as if she didn't care about this supposed stone. "Don't you remember me?"