'There are something's you can never

change... no matter what you do... things

will always end up with THAT ending...

I already tried once before...

is possible to try again...?'

Chapter 24 ~ Good Bye My Friend

-Me-

I sigh in relief after my check-up finally finishes, and this time I lasted longer at the sight of a needle than how I would usually act and didn't freeze the room. Much. "As usual a fast recovery Ms. Cairo," the doctor compliments, feeling the same amount of relief as me. "Though you should start taking pills now. I know you won't be able to come in more often for you regular shots." I shivered at the reminder of how many times I had to come back only to get a needle sink itself deep into my flesh and steal my blood. I grab my coat and hat saying, "As long as I don't have come back to this crummy hospital again then fine by me! This place gives me a whole lot of bad memories." "Speaking of memories," I stop in place and look over my shoulder, "Have you had any of those visions lately?"

I ponder on this for a second then answered, "Not really. The used to come at me all the time but it's like as if they all just gone and vanished. Honestly I can barely remember some of them not that I think about it." He sighs in relief, "That's good to hear... sorry for keeping you here any longer, you can leave." I was about to exit the room till I turned around to see the four-eyed doctor sadly smiling at me. I shot him a big smile, "Hey doc! How 'bout instead of us meeting in the hospital all the time we should hang out whenever either of us have the time!" Shocked at first, he nods in agreement. Right when I was about to close the door behind my back I hear him say, "Au revoir...!" I dead stop in my tracks at turn to face the door with wide eyes.

"Did he just speak French...?" A hand suddenly touches my shoulder, causing me to jump up in the air and squeal in surprise. I look over my shoulder to see Camilla with a stunned look on her face. "Mi-Miss Camilla!?" I yelp. She giggles saying, "I never knew you could make such a cite sound Catherine. You really must do that more often." Camilla walks by my side as we head to Ed's room, seeing as how I'm the only one who's recovered the most between the two of us."How are things between you and Ed? I heard from Alphonse and that Winry girl you both had a fight a few days ago," she says, concerned about what happened to us. 'Oh yeah... she's never met Winry yet,' I thought in realization as I reassure her, "It was just a small misunderstanding Miss Camilla. This isn't the first time we've fought, it got a little out of hand than usual. We sorta made up after my operation..."

"Something tells me he likes you~" she teases and winks at me, causing me to turn red at this. That's when I remembered one important thing, 'Hold on... didn't I... confess...?'

The memory of the things I said to Ed back at the lab soon floods my mind, the blush on my face deepening even further as my words echoed in my ears. I crouched to the ground as I turn pale at what I had done, 'I only did said those things cause I thought I was gonna die! How the heck was I supposed to know I was going to be saved by the same squirt that I confessed to!? Wait- the way he looked at me back in my room...don't tell me he heard me!?' "Catherine," I stop and look over at Camilla, "where do you plan to go this time? I know you're think about leaving, you always do after every hospital trip." Now that I think about it, I have no clue what so ever for the first time, except possibly everyone I know knows my secret, and that's another thing I never planned on.

I stare down at the floor in a loss of words. I confessed in a hushed tone, "Honestly I have no clue what I'm supposed to do anymore. I had so many things planned out, but in the end all of my plans fell on the spot on the same day. I guess you can say I'm at a loss on what to do." Camilla crosses her arms as she hums to herself. "I think you should do what your hearts tells you to do," she advises me and pats my head much to my confusion. "Um... theoretically my heart is the vital organ of my body so I think that's impossible," I point out as I wave off the idea. She lightly slaps my forehead saying, "Stop thinking scientifically for once! It's no wonder Maes and Alex constantly pesters me about you and Edward." "There's nothing going on between us!"I blurt out immediately.

"Alright alright! I have somewhere to go, are you okay on your own?" she asks me worriedly as she notices how I was having a hard time standing. Its been a while since I've stood up for this long, it wasn't surprising I'd feel this weak. I nod with a raised eye brow, "Sure... their room isn't that far. I can manage." I watch her turned back as I was left alone in the hall. I was about to call out to Camilla until my legs finally gave out, collapsing to the tiled floor hard. "Stupid legs…!" I groan in frustration. All of a sudden, once again a vision appeared in my head.

::Memory::

As we ran down the hill slope, I lost my footing and accidentally tripped on my own two feet, causing me to tumble down past everyone else. "Cat!" I groan and sat up as my friends down to the bottom of the hill. I joke at their reactions, "Hah! Told you I could beat you guys!" I tried to stand up, but due to the sudden shock my body went through, my legs were paralyzed. "Stupid legs!"I groan in frustration and started force nyself to stand up. I stood up successfully for about two minutes then felt my body lean forward in_'s direction. We both blush the same shade of red as _ and _ burst out laughing at our reactions. "Oh shut it_! It's not like you don't blush around Alice!" Now it was _'s turn to turn red. "C'mon guys we have to go! Grandma is going to get mad at us for staying out too late!" Winry exclaims when she notices how dark it was getting.

When she ran off, Al runs after her yellong, "Wait for us Winry!" It was just me and Ed now. "Um..." neither of us had a clue on what to say to each other. "Hey Cat?" _ spoke up. "When will you be leaving Resembol?" Last week, dad told mom and I we'd be leaving Resembol to a 'safer' part of the country and this time it will be for good. "In about two days... Dad hasn't told us where we're going to go yet...but... but... I don't want to leave Ed..." I leaned forward and started to cry on his chest as hebheld me closer to him. "We'll see each other again! I promise! When I'm old enough I'll come and find you, no matter how long it takes!" he reassures me.

::End of Memory::

-Camilla-

As I step out of the hospital doors, stop as I put some of my hair behind my ear as the wind picks pl and brushes up against my body. I look up at the sky and sigh, "Today makes 15 years, 4 months, 12 weeks, 3 days, 6 hours, 20 minutes and 30 seconds since I lost my daughter... I guess it's about time I stop counting band stop the clock now that I know who she is..."

Cat: How the...?
Me: She's smart like that.
Cat: I doubt anyone can keep up with that! I remember how many years I've been gone from a place, but that's just awesome!
Me: This is the power of not owning a watch . You (the readers) should try it out!
Cat: That's a tough challenge...

::FlashBack::

I sat in my usual spot under the shade of the tree in my backyard garden, content at the peace and quiet. "Hello Prissy," I gaze up at the tree only to be blinded by the suns light, catching a glimpse of a golden haired boy smiling down at me.

::End of FlashBack::

I was pulled out of my thoughts when I felt a shiver run down my spine, like as if someone had been staring at me this whole entire time I've been out. "Strange..." I shrug off the feeling and went straight to where I was headed.

-Normal-

In the distance, a man stood on top of a tree as he kept his eyes glued on Camilla. His golden eyes gleaming in the light as the leaves blew by. "Sorry Prissy... Just wait a little longer..." he mutters as he hold up whag seems like a philosopher's stone in hand. It sparks a red color that instantly dims down, and when it did Camilla suddenly collapses on her knees at the sudden shock that went through her body. "I can't have you remembering I was here... Not until things have cooled down..." He lifts his head up to see Jealousy, gazing right at him with dark blue eyes before disappearing from sight when a flock of birds flew in the way of his line of vision.

||In Ed's hospital room||

-Back to Me-

I open the doors casually and was about to ask Ed regarding the train tickets t-till- "Catherine Cairo! I am so glad to see you are well!" Armstrong suddenly pops into my view and pulls me straight into a bone crushing hug with tears coming out of his eyes. "After hearing everything from Edward and Alphonse, I almost rushed straight to your room!" I glared at the two with daggers in my eyes as they both turn away with sweat rolling down their bodies nervously. "I might have to go back to the hospital... if you would stop... crushing me!" I breathe as I struggled to wiggle out of his tight iron grip around me. This man seriously needs to learn about personal space! "My apologies," I almost took in too much air after Armstrong finally dropped me to the ground.

I always knew Armstrong would be the death of me, and to know how hard he hugs you if he's crying at the same gives me a clear idea of what's going to happen to me in the near future. His muscles aren't to be taken lightly. "Did you buy the tickets already?" I ask after finally catching my breathe. They were all shocked at first but nod when they remembered the truth about me. It was hard to accept, but now that they know I know almost EVERYTHING that's going to happen it'll take a while for them to get used to us. Especially for me. "No not yet, why," Winry asks me in confusion. "Good, I want you to forget about those tickets and buy different ones instead," I tell them, earning a look of disbelief from everyone as I marched up to the map.

"Hm... I guess it's just about time," I mutter as I put my hands on my hips. "Hold it! Why do you want us to get different!?" Ed demands still confused at what's going on. I twirl around with a smirk on my face saying, "We're gonna meet MY teacher first. Don't worry, I'll pay for all expenses for out little trip to New Heissgart as well as our trip towards Rush Valley." There was a moment of silence in the room. "YOUR TEACHER!?" they exclaim simultaneously in shock. I had to cover my ears at the sudden screams till they calmed down to let me explain. This was the first time for them to ever hear that I had a teacher, I only mentioned I was self taught. Guess this is what happens when you let a crucial piece of information slip my mind.

"You both aren't the only one suffering from a losing streak! So it's obvious I'd also want to meet up with my teacher as well to refresh a little bit on my skills," I say in an 'as-a-matter-of-fact' tone and acted like it was an obvious thing for me to do. "You never told us you had a teacher! You told us-" I interrupted Al, "That was when we first met. Only about a few weeks after we split up did I get a teacher. It wasn't my idea, but she insisted to train me for a while if I want to last long in the military." Hughes sighs in relief at this, "I think it was a good idea... especially after those missions you had to go through for a year." "Missions? What kind?" Alice asks me in confusion.

I gaze down at the ground in shame, images an screams of those dark days flash in my mind ones at a time, then comes the terrified look of a child staring at me appears at the end. I sat there frozen as my vision is soon clouded by fire and blood. Hughes realizes at what he's done and immediately tries to take it back, "Ah! Um just forget I said anything!" "Its fine Hughes," I reassure him after coming back to reality, "there's still a few things these guys still don't know about me so I think I can finally it out. Just not here."

++Later++

I explain to everyone why I really wanted to meet up with Dante not long afterwards, and not to mention a few things to point out about the town before we make our way their. "You really think your teacher will know who the author of that book is?" Al asks as he takes the book and flips through the contents until he reaches to the last page where the signature N.F. is. I nod and answer, "I have a clear idea who it is... but I need to hear it from her first." "That would make sense seeing how Dante is... you know..." Alice grimaces at the memory of the other Dante we both hate with all our hearts. This Dante is nicer, a whole lot better than the other. "You'll be surprise at the sort of people that live there," I sweat drop and remember every single familiar face that lives there.

"Didn't you say you already know the secrets of the book? Isn't that enough?" Brosch questions me. Ross sighs and eyes her partner, "Finding the author is another way of getting more information. Not all the time the book would contain all the information you need, especially since the author is an alchemist who tried to keep whatever's inside a secret." Alice teases Brosh a bit, "And she just figured it out on the first try..." This struck him hard, forcing him to sulk in place with tears pouring down his eyes. Alice and I start laughing uncontrollably, others followed as well. "So Catherine," my head snaps up when Winry spoke up, "Did you really knew who I was...? On the day I first found you...?" I flinch at this and stared down at my lap, all eyes on my as everyone waited for a reply.

Winry turns to Alice for answers. "And you, did you know as well?" her voice was shaky from the anger building up inside her. Alice couldn't face the mechanic at turned away. I lift up my hand and apologized, "Yeah... Sorry I lied to you... all of you. But the only thing I ever truly lied about is how I lost my arm. I know it's too late for apologizes, but I want you to know that it was to keep you all safe." I didn't know how else I could apologize to them. If you think about, there's no way any one could forgive a person that easily if they've known who you are from the start. I wouldn't either! Winry bites her lip and turns a heel, making me watch her back. "You guys are all the same... hiding secrets from me..." Alice and I tense at this.

The next thing that happened we didn't expect at all. "You both never learn!" Winry yells as she slams her large wrench on Alice's head, only making her dizzy, and then almost knocks the lights out of me when I was next. Alice tries to stop her head from spinning (remember she's a mannequin) while I tried to recover from the immense pain. "You two are just like Ed and Al! You and your stupid secret, what about how others would feel!? It would've been better if you told us before finding it out in the worst case possible!" We shield ourselves from Winry's wrath and prepared for another attack, instead, we found ourselves in another awkward hug. For me at least. "You're not mad...?" asks a dumbstruck Alice. Winry pulled away to reveal the tears rolling down her cheeks.

"I already let out all of my anger on these two idiots," she jabs her thumb in the direction of the two brothers. "Besides, you both aren't the only ones with dark secrets. I have my share of that when it comes to these two." "Aren't you guys at least a bit shocked?" I ask. "We didn't believe it at first," Ross spoke up, "but I've seen strange things and heard enough to know you guys are telling the truth." Brosch admits bashfully, "In all honesty your taste of clothing is too weird for something normal girls would wear." I mentally imagined two arrows pointing down on us; one saying pirate-looking clothes, and the other saying Victorian clothing but with a shorter skirt instead. We sulked in place as everyone bursts out laughing at our reactions.

Armstrong proud-fully compliments, "To have survived an unknown world is absolutely extraordinary for your age Catherine Cairo. Not many can pull it off the way you have for this long." I scratch my cheek bashfully, "It wasn't that easy..." "So where are we headed then?" Ed spoke up. I chuckle at their curiosity, "You'll see for yourself later. The place we're heading to is a little far off from where you guys are initially supposed to go, we'll only be there for at least a day. I don't want to get in the way of your destiny."

-Alice-

"So what exactly do you know about us?" Al asks us causing Cat and I to flinch in surprise and look at the group with similar petrified looks. Cat scratches the back of her head smiling nervously, "Well with some of you not much..." I finish, "Not many of you played much of an important role till the end as far as I remember." Truthfully, only Ed and Al were the most important characters in the series. The rest were simply supporting characters that helped the brothers in the final battle against father, or had not much of an appearance till the end credits that teared me up. Cat doesn't really know about the credits. She's heard about the new Elric family photo, but I didn't have the heart to tell her how many kids Ed and Winry have.

I'm just glad Mei and Al never really got together! "What about me!?" Brosh scoots over and points to himself with a glimmer of hope in his eyes. Cat and I look at one another unsure then blurt out at the same time, "You didn't do much." I think that struck his pride by how blunt we were about it. It's the sad truth of the poor man. "Ross over here did a lot," Cat blurts out then covers her mouth the moment she lets it slip. "Me-Me?" Ross points to herself as her face lit up at the sudden information. Brosh on the other hand- "Why do you guys have to be so mean!?" Let's just say he was taking it really hard. "By the way," we stopped what we were doing to see Ed lift up a drawing. "We met these guys some time ago. You probably know that, but you think you can let us in a bit about these guys?"

Cat faces him seriously, "Alright, but I can only give you bits an' pieces about who they are. I don't want anything to happen while I discuss this with you guys." I quickly took this chance to check out the door and then the window in case the big mustache is in sight, neither of us want Wrath walking in on us while we're discussing about the homunculi. Especially, since he is one. I then gesture Winry, Brosh and Ross out the door, "Sorry Guys, but we can't let you in on this. Just go on ahead and buy our tickets. Here's the place we want to go." I hand a piece of paper over to Winry. She pouts at this, "Aw c'mon!" It took me a while to persuade her to leave, when she did I immediately shut the door behind the mechanic's back. "What do you want to know?" questions Cat as she makes her way to Ed's bedside. The first picture was- of course, Envy.

"Oh... it had to be that guy..." Cat complains as she glares at the picture with a disgusted look in her eyes. "Isn't that pine tree head?" I add, peeking over her shoulder. "Pine tree head...?" Al sweat drops. Cat takes the picture, and held it up for everyone, "Envy, one of the most disturbing and gender confusing creature I've ever seen. I can only say this about that bastard- he loves to look down on us humans." I had to hold back my laughter at the way she explained who Envy, the cockiest homunculi next to Greed, was to them was hilarious. Next was Lust.

"With the little things I can tell you is that the leads you have for now will point you in the direction you need to go. For now, the only thing I can tell you about the lab is that explosives were implanted just in case anyone were to ever infiltrate the building they can bury it's secrets altogether. The workers there disappeared days before it's destruction."

-Normal-

Just as Havoc was finished signing Mustangs' paper work, he sneezes all of a sudden, causing himself to accidentally scribble on the last piece of paper and scatter the rest all over the floor. He sniffs and says in a proud manner, "Maybe some hot chick is out there talking about me this time instead of the Colonel."

Cat: Sorry Havoc, but once again that's a no. ^_^;
Me: Good thing he didn't hear that insult... not like there hasn't been a day where he hasn't cried about not having a girlfriend.
Cat: He did remember!?
Me: That ONE doesn't count...

-Back to Me-

"I'll run a search on and see if there's any priors with an Ouraborus tattoo," Hughes offers as he scans the notes Ed wrote down for them. Armstrong picks up the other and says, "Very good and while you do that, I'll continue looking into the research team that worked with Doctor Marcoh in ishval." Alice and I looked at one another nervously when we heard this. "I'll tell you about the other one you encountered later Ed... But I want to warn you both about one thing and that's-" I couldn't finished when a sudden shiver ran down my spine, and I only get this feeling whenever something bad is coming. A knock was heard behind our backs not long after, then it opens up to reveal none other than the king himself paying us a little visit. "Sorry to interrupt..."

I quickly turn to see thee Furher Bradley standing right behind me with that fake smile plastered on his face. I was wondering when I'd see that stupid smug face of his, probably at least 2 years since I last saw this guy in person. Armstrong and Hughes immediately salute the man's presence as Ed, Al, and Alice froze in place with a poker face on. I was the only one who dared to flash a short glare at Bradley before pretending to be shocked like everyone else. "F-Furher Bradley! Your excellency!" Armstrong greets still trying to recompose himself. Bradley raises his hand to calm down the group and reassures them, "Calm down men this is just an informal visit." "Yes sir! But may I ask what the occasion is sir?" Hughes asks nervously, both men bowing in his presence.

"This young man. Heard your injured. I thought a nice melon to cheer you up," he says and hands over a basket with a melon inside. "I guess... Uh THANK YOU SIR!" Ed yelled, still weirded out by the events. "I understand you've been checking in on some of the senior staff, is this true major Armstrong?" the one eyed man questions causing Armstrong to panic a little. "Uh yes sir... how did you know I was-" Armstrong started but was interrupted by Bradley. The Furher spots the two of us standing the farthest in the room. "Miss Cairo, I heard you were injured as well. Fast recovery as usual?" I was taken a back at his question. "How did you-?" "You both should know nothing gets past me, Major, Mercury," he tells us both.

Bradley starts to eye Alice up and down her body, causing her to wrap her arms around her body as she felt conscious about her self appearance in the Furhers eyes. "Another friend of yours?" I bit my lip as I felt the itching need to grab my sword and slash at him. Not once have I ever like this man, and I won't start now, no matter if he's my superior and the so-called head of this damned country. "You two," he glances back to Ed then to me, "Fullmetal and Mercury Alchemist... tell me what you know about the philosopher's stone." It was as if a dark aura was surrounding him. It was terrifying. On screen this kind of demeanor didn't have an affect on be, in person it is the most scariest thing in comparison to all the psycho paths I've come across with in the past.

"And I hope for your sakes you don't know too much..." Ed and I glare at him for a few seconds till he, out of no where, bursts to laughing. "I'm only kidding! There's no need to be uptight!" he says, placing a hand on Ed's shoulder. "Huh!?" Ed sat there dumbstruck. "I know that there has been some suspicious activity withing the military lately... and I believe it's necessary for something to be done about it." He glanced to the table that held all the drawings Ed drew and they were previously discussing of, picking one of them up. "Oh! Uh that's just-" Armstrong was too late to stop him. I almost wanted to shut him up when he informed them, "A list of the research team assigned with the philosopher's stone... every person listed in this document has been missing."

"Hm!?" Armstrong said in shock. Ed shots me a quick surprised look as it was the almost the exact same information I told them earlier. Bradly continues, "They all vanished a few days before the fifth lab collapsed. It seems the enemy is always one step ahead of us. Even with my mass network, I have no way to know how far in our ranks they've infiltrated. The most we know about them is that they know a lot about us." "In that case. this is proving to be more dangerous than we thought..." Hughes muttered. 'You don't know how right you are..." I thought sadly as I turned away with a pained look in my eyes. No one can see it coming except for me and Alice, one life will die at the cost of finding the truth once we leave Central.

Bradley placed the paper down and turned to face them saying, "Major Armstrong, Lt. Colonel Hughes, Elric brothers, Cairo, and mystery girl... you've all proven yourselves to be men of worthy character. Form this point forward, I'm giving you the direct order to forget this matter an all it concerns. At this time, suspicion is our strongest line of offense. Our only form of defense is discretion. Do not trust anyone; keep this to yourselves at all cost. However, when I deem is the time to confront the enemy, I expect you to join me in the effort." "Sir!" Armstrong and Hughes cry out as they salute simultaneously.

He suddenly glances at me, "Catherine... You are just as brilliant as yours father was... If only he could see you now in person." 'My father!?' I exclaim at the back of my mind as I correct him, "I'm sorry sir if you don't remember this but... I'm an orphan. I lived on my own for a while before I joined the military." He opens his mouth to say something to me when shouts were heard outside the hallway, "Where is he!? Has Furher Bradley been through here!?" "Got to go... damn bodyguards think their my shadow..." he complains and walks over to the window, opens it, and jumps out casually. "You see, I've snuck away to get a few minutes of privacy. Well, farewell for now." Everyone ran to the window, all with shocked faces, except for me as I stood in place, trying to comprehend the Fuhrers' words earlier.

'My father... so the fuhrer knows who he is!? I can't ask him, not yet. I don't know if that bastard is playing with my head just like the rest, but I have to keep that in mind in case.'

"Hey Ed- What the... what's going on? Did I miss something?" Winry asks as she steps back into the room. "Not really... just a tornado passing by..." Ed exaggerates. "Something you shouldn't have seen..." Alice adds even further to that. "I don't think there's anything I can do about that but... I got the train tickets you ask for," Winry says and walks up to me to hand over the tickers. "Thanks, just in time," I state. Armstrong questions me in amusement, "You both sure are on the move, aren't you? And to think you've recovered so quickly from your surgery as Edward over here is still taking some time." "Yeah well two days of sick people and hospital are good for me thanks," Ed states sarcastically. "I second that," I agreed.

"Where are you headed off this time?" Hughes asked, glancing at the tickes in Winry's hand. "New Optain. These two were supposed to head off to Dublith," I shrug, "but like I said, I also need to meet with my teacher." "What's in Dublith?" Winry asks. "Well... with the way things are, Al and I decided to go visit out old teacher," Ed states proudly and pats his brother's back, who starts to shake out of fear. "I think I'm too scared brother!" Al exclaims as both brothers held hands in fear. "Don't chicken out! I'm scared too okay!? Ed whines. I sigh at their whining, "That's why I chose now is the time to go New Heissgart... to save your sorry butts for now until we get back on track." I suddenly found myself encased in a bone crushing huge with a blonde shrimp.

"You're our savior!"
"Don't hug me just because I'm saving you from your death for a day! You both have to meet with her eventually! Now let me go!"

Al and Alice starts to laugh at this, "You should see your face now Cat! You and Ed's face and waaaay to close to each other!" We both blush and pull away once we realize this, earning more teases from the latter. "What exactly does that person teach...?" Winry sweat drops at us. "It appears you have quite a lengthy journey ahead of you," Armstrong said with a finger to his chin. On no. "How far is it?" Winry asks even further. Armstrong pulls out a map as he searches for it. "New Heissgart right about here..." Alice points out. Then Al points out to where Dublith is, "Right here, all the way down there." I instantly spot that one place and so did Winry, I could tell by the sudden sparkles that were in her eyes as she squealed in joy. "What...?" Ed groans as he rubs his ears in pain.

"That!" she points to a place on the map. "The holy land of auto-mail engineering! Rush valley!" I back away a bit at the sudden appearance of sparkles and roses surround Winry. Alice starts to chant, "We have to go! We have to go!" Great, I forgot now that Alice is also kind of a mechanic she too has the love for automail just as much as Winry. "Take me! Take me!" Winry begs to Ed. "Whatever... I don't have to take you..." Ed grits his teeth in irritation. "Somebody has to pay for my travel fare!" she souts. I sweat drop and point out, "Didn't I just say I'd be paying all travel expenses...!?" "Yeah! Why does it have to be me!?" he whines. "C'mon brother, what's the big deal? It's on the way once we leave New Hiessgart," Al states. Alice hugs Al from behind, saying, "See! Even Al thinks it's a good idea!" Ed glances at me with a pleading look.

I can either save him from this, or just let him suffer, either way there's no saving the boy from the wrath of Winry's undying love for anything related to automail. I wave it off, "Let it go Ed... You and I both know Winry loves automail too much. With Alice in the picture, it'll take twice as much for them to beg their hearts out for your approval Ed." Ed groans as he finally caved in to their demands, "Fine! Only if Al, Alice and Cat want to." "Yay! I've got to call and tell Grandma!" Winry cheers, running to the door.

||Outside the Room||

I watch as Hughes shuts the door behind his back. "So what is it you wanted to talk about?" Hughes questions as he crosses his arms. "It's nothing serious it's just..." my voice trails the more I think about what I was going to do. I had to call him out here for that one purpose, to tell him about what will happen when Ed and Al leave for Dublith to meet with Izumi. I know I'm not suppose to say anything that will happen in the future, it's just that... now that they know about who I really am this is the least I can do for him after keeping my secret from them. "Listen Hughes... I have something to tell you and you're not gonna like it..." I kept looking up every now again, founding it harder and harder to look at him straight in the eye the more I get to THAT.

He raises an eyebrow and pushes on, "Alright I'm listening." I gulp nervously, sweat rolling down my cheek and I prepared for the worst. "Once we leave you'll-!" "Lieutenant Colonel Hughes?" we turn around to see a military muscular woman (not as bad as Armstrong) saluting us with a straight expression. The one thing that caught my attention was what she was wearing as a uniform, instead of blue, it was black. "I'm sorry to interrupt you sir but my commanding officer requested for your presence at her office," she informs him. I didn't trust this lady, not only is she another unfamiliar character, but she also wears the very uniform of the people that follow Jealousy's command. I highly doubt that she even knows she's working for a homunculi by the looks of it.

Unless she is a bit smart enough to notice how I look exactly like their commanding officer, or just as blind as the other people who have seen us together. "Hold on a moment," he turns to face me for my permission. "It's alright we can talk about it next time," I flash a fake smile as I raise a hand up. With a small nod, I watch as the two walk down the hall towards what maybe possibly Hughes' doom if he really is indeed meeting up with Jealousy. "You were going to tell him... weren't you?" I jump as I twist around in shock only to calm down once I realize it was just Alice. She walks over to me with a look of confusion, "Why would you tell him THAT?"

"It's the least I could have done for him... he kept our secret even after finding us out," I confess as I turn my gaze back in the direction where the man walked off. I felt a sudden pair of arms wrap around my neck.

"It's a great idea Cat! But next time let me in on if you're going to tell someone! I want to save their life too ya know!"
"I wasn't planning to save him from death, more like a fair warning for his inevitable future with death. That way he can spend a little more time with his family while he still can. I don't want to see another person suffer because of me being powerless to do something to avoid their fate... All I can do is do what I can to make everyone happy before another leaves this life."

Even if I want to save Hughes, what good will it do? So far very little has changed, and that change is the appearance of people who were never suppose to exist in the first place, events slightly altered in a way but still continued the same perspective flow. If I disrupt it even further who knows what will happen. I groan in frustration, "If only that time paradox thing didn't exist the only ones who'll die are the homunculi... Anyway you can let go now, it's weird for someone younger than me to be taller is enough..." Being 7 feet tall, any human being who passes by would think she's an adult comforting a child (me). "I have to go for a sec... can you make sure no one follows me?" Alice says all of a sudden. "Huh? You going somewhere?" I ask her.

She shakes her head and smiles, "It'll only be a minute! I just want to prepare myself before we leave!" I don't know what she want to do but it's her decision, and I have to respect it. With one nod of approval she immediately turns her back on me and runs down the hall. "And you complain that I run off too much when I'm upset... Geez Alice..."

-Alice-

I sat by myself outside on one of the hospital benches, holding Cat's gun in hand and gaze off in a random direction as depression started to sweep over me again. I can still remember that day, the day I failed to fully protect Al from Barry the Chopper, failed to properly use the gun and end up being nothing but the useless doll I am. 'Who was I kidding? It took Cat three years to get used to all the turmoil of this place! Me...? All I ever do is cower away in fear...' I thought as I broght the gun close to my chest. I can't cry anymore. It's slightly a good thing if I want to avoid worrying everyone, but times like this makes me wish actually feelings things like a normal human being. 'This must how Al feels every single day of his life since he lost his body... I'm sorry I never trully understood you...'

::Memory::

I whimper as I hugged my knee's in tears, the loud shouts echoed up in my parents bedroom all the way to my dad's study, scared to come out of my hiding spot once their fight is over only to encounter both of my parent's false faces they put up around me. "Cat..." I stare up at my dad's collection of gun's. I've always hated them, one of these days I know one of those things will disappear from the walls and cabinets and when that day comes, I'll be too late to try and stop it. Two days since Cat told me about my dad and broke all ties with me, the fights began to increase by the day every single time I come home from school by myself. Cat hasn't talked to me since and refuses to even go near me. "Why don't you just get out of our lives!?" I flinch at the sudden loud sound of breaking glass as the volume of their voices increased by the minute the longer their fight went on.

'I cover my ears chanting to myself quietly, "Everything will be fine... just think of the good memories not the bad... Nothing can harm me... stay positive...' I heard one final crash before I heard a sudden sound of footsteps from outsite, running down the stairs along with the sound of thumping with it. I jump up my feet and ran towards the doors. I threw it open to see my mom at the bottom of the stairs with a large suitcase inhand, tired and ready to run out the room when she saw me watching. "Alice... I can't take it anymore! Let's leave your dad now!" she exclaims as she rushes up to where I am and grabs onto my shoulders. I shook my head in tears saying, "I can't mom... I'm scared..." "Where do you think you're going!?" We both look up to see dad at the top of the staircase, trying to catch his breathe as he marches down the stairs with a crazed look in his eyes.

"You think you can leave me? You're daughter!?" he raises his voice ever higher at the last part. Mom stood straight and shoves dad away in tears. "Cat told me everything! I always knew seeing how all our money disappeared whenever you run off and come back drunk... but to think even another person- a child! Could see it... it's made me realize... what a mistake it was to marry the likes of you!" I felt my world shatter on the spot.

::End of Memory::

I don't remember much after that, the next thing I can remember was dad on the group in tears and begging for me not to go as well and saw the front door wide open. "Alice?" I jump at the sudden voice- Al's voice. "Alphonse! I didn't know you were coming out here! Hehehe!" I laugh nervously, hiding the gun behind my back and shot up on my feet. "Cat told me that you needed time to think... but I just wanted to thank you for saving me," he says bashfully with a tint of anime pink on his cheeks. "Than me? Oh you mean from that night! I didn't really do much actually-" I wave my hands up in the air and accidentally revealed the gun to him. "Isn't that the gun you used?" Al asks me. I collapse to the ground as I lost my grip on the weapon, hugging myself as I looked away from him in shame.

++Later++

"I see... so that's why you're out here along," Al say, understanding what's going on right now. Embarrassing as it may be, I had to talk to him a little bit about my feelings right now. He's that easy to talk to! I sigh, "I want to do something for once... Being a mechanic is okay an' all, but if I want to help Cat I need to be more useful rather than just being a mechanic. But it seems holding a gun doesn't help..." Al ponders on this for a few moments before declaring, "I know! I can teach you how to use alchemy!" "Eh!?" I yell taken a back at this declaration. "You and Cat crossed the gate to get here right? Maybe it's possible for you to learn as well!" Me? Learning alchemy? That's been my greatest day ever since Cat and I first saw Al perform alchemy on the old fashioned radio.

I was about to accept his offer than I had second thoughts, 'What if I can't learn alchemy?' I have many weaknesses and they are polar opposite of Cat's strengths; science and anything else science related. "I can't Al... I'd love to but there's now way I can learn alchemy... but thanks though," I smile weakily up at him. I may be tall but Al is at least 2 inches taller.

"Say... Al?"
"Yeah Alice?"
"Why did you... you know... help me find your brother? I thought you'd be mad at me when we bumped into each other..."
"Well I was at first after we found out, but like I said you saved me and I really wanted to thank you for it. Then it got me thinking... maybe you guys aren't to blame after all. If I were in your shoes I'd do the same thing as well."

This made me lose it. I wrap my arms around his huge body and rested my forehead on the metal plate, too relieved to care how he reacted to my sudden actions. I was so scared this whole time he hated me I didn't even notice my 'saving' him had effected him so much to finally believe us. If I could cry, my tears would never stop.

-Back to Me-

Morning came and I knew today was the day we would set out on our journey again. It was also the day Hughes will die, something no matter what I am unable to stop from happening. As we prepared ourselves for our trip to New Optain, I couldn't help but feel nervous to leave Central and leave everything as they are. "You coming Cat?" Ed asks me. I realized that I was dazing off and snapped out of it immediately. "Y-Yeah!" I was about to follow till something odd came over me.

-Normal-

Cat froze in place until she went back to normal and stayed in place, confusing the four. "You guys go on ahead... I forgot I have something important to do... I'll catch up to you on the next train," she tells then in a dull tone as she tilts her hat to avoid any of then looking at her face. "Are you sure?" Winry asks a little scared at the sudden change of attitude from the girl. Cat simply nods and turns to walk away from the group. "I wonder what's wrong..." Al mutters. Ed sighs and shrugs, "Well she said to go on ahead so let's go!" On the inside, Ed was just as worried as everyone else. He's never seen her act like ever, this was a first for him and it bothered him to the bone. Alice was the only one shaking in fear behind their backs.

'That feeling... her voice... it reminds me so much of Jealousy!' she thought in fear as she stumbles a bit on her feet.

++Later That Night++

That night, Hughes was attacked by Lust after finding out the truth. It was going just as it was meant to be. Right when the spears were supposed to slice at him on the shoulder, a flash of blue flames appeared and, in contact, froze the black slender spears in a think case of ice. Cat pushes Hughes aside, much to the man's surprise, and uses her automail arm to break the ice. Lust screams in pain only for a second as a large spear of ice suddenly appears and pierces the homunculus in between her eyes. Hughes gaps in shock as Cat stood in place with her hand sparking from her recent transmutation. "We have to get out of here! C'mon!" Cat quickly grabs Hughes by the hand before he could say anything and drags him away from the scene.

It took Lust a few moments to recover. Envym in the form of Lt. Ross, helps pull the ice out of the womans' head. "What happened!? I thought that brat went off with pipsqueak to New Optain!?" Envy exclaims in his normal voice. The large hole closes up in red sparks in a matter of seconds. She sits up licking the blood on her lips and says in amusement, "Interesting... I don't remember that girls' eyes with such a wonderful dark look..."

::Outside::

As the two ran off, Hughes stops and forcibly pulls his hand back. "Hold it Cat! Something's not right here," he says, the memory of cat's brutality still replaying in his mind. Cat would never resort to that kind of violence, homunculus or not, she hated the sight of blood and doesn't have the heart to kill someone just like that. "You left with the others to New Optain this morning. Why are you even here? And... when did you get a new sword?" Secretly, he slips a dagger down into his hand as his eyes were glued to her sword. Her previous sword was simple, no special designs at all. This one had red lines running down the blade, a red stone glowing, the handle was black, and the metal of the blade was no longer straight and had jagged edges.

The scabbard hanging from her waist was curvy when it should be straight. The girl sighs and turns to face Hughes, taking her hat off to let him fully see her face. And when she did, Hughes immediately drops the dagger in shock. "So that's whats going on here... Okay if you're going to protect me, we need to get in contact with Roy Mustang. Can you help me?" the man asks the girl, earning a simple silent nod in return. The girl diverted him to a different direction towards a telephone booth that wasn't that far a head. Hughes runs up to it and dials only for him to hear only ringing the next few minutes. As Hughes constantly tries to call his friend, 'Cat' stood in front of the booth in preparation for the homunculus' arrival to kill the man. "C'mon roy pick up...!" he prays as he continues to wait.

"Lt. Colonel! a familiar voice cries out. He pulls away from the phone to see Ross running towards them. She stops to catch her breath. Both stare at her in shock. 'Cat' re-adjusts and her face hardens at the woman's strange appearance. "I heard screams inside the building...! Are wither of you hurt...?" Ross pants as she stands up straight. In one swift movement, a blade of water slices Ross across the torso vertically, causing the upper half to fall off. "You're not Lieutenant Ross... she has a mole on the right side at the corner of her eye," the girl corrects and aims her blade at the corpse. 'Ross' starts to giggle then laugh hysterically as he rises back up, the other half disintegrates to dust. Her lower half regenerates.

"Aw... I'm sorry," the fake mocks and slides a finger on the spot, the mole now on her face. "I'm surprised to finally see the shrimp's girlfriend in person at a time like this. What's wrong? Got tired of hanging around that pipsqueak?"

"Never thought I'd actually meet you again, Envy. Still copy-catting the faces of people who have everything you don't?"

Envy snaps on the spot. "You bitch!" he takes out a grenade from his pocket, bites off the pin, and tosses it. 'Cat' transmutes an ice barrier in a nick of time when it was inches from her face. It explodes in front of the thick wall of ice, creating a perfect smoke screen for them to get away. As they ran towards the deeper part of the city, 'Cat' would glance over her shoulder every now and then to check if anyone was following them. "How were you able to transmute all that water!?" Hughes yells in disbelief. "It rained about two days ago! Most of the water didn't evaporate properly and the air still felt dense!" After a few more minutes of running, they found another phone booth, the one Hughes is fated to die in. Seeing this, Cat steps in front of Hughes to stop him from going any further.

"What are you doing!?"
"We can't go here... we can try somewhere else..."
"This isn't the time! I need to call Roy before it's too late!"

"If you call him there you'll die!" that caused Hughes to freeze. "What do you mean...?" he asks nervously. 'Cat' lowers her head and tells him, "Today you are suppose to die... in that very booth by the same guy chasing us... I won't be able to stop him no matter what I will do...! And I don't want that! Not again...!" He was taken a back to see tears streaming down her cheeks. "Listen I-" he was interrupted when a sudden gun bullet hits him arm, grazing him by just a bit. 'Cat' grits her teeth and draws her sword, reluctantly ordering Hughes, "Go now! Make the call! I'll deal with this guy!" Hughes nods and runs off to the phone booth. She turns back to the dark road just in time when a sword clashed with her own.

"Well if it isn't the little girl that's been stuck in my head! What a surprise to see you'd inhabit such a body!" Jealousy says with a wild smile on her face. Something was off about her, like as if all the madness inside her had poured out without control. "I'm just as surprised... are you are!" 'Cat' roars and pushes against the homunculus at a greater force. Jealousy stumbles on her feet then quickly recovers and jumps at 'Cat', her eyes glowing a blood red color. Her eyes also glows, but unlike the light blue color from before, dark blue instead. Their blades clashed, a force so strong it send nearby objects flying. Each hit had sent sparks each time their blades hit one another.

"That body doesn't belong to you! You think you can just take over it and use the catalyst like it's your own?" Jealousy questions. 'Cat' grits her teeth and knocks Jealousy off her feet. "It may not be my own... but just this once I'll stop anyone else precious to me from dying again! I was helpless to do nothing before, this time I'll make sure his family won't suffer ever again! Just like I did when I failed to save Edwa-" She stops at the sudden gun sound. Time slowed down around them. Envy, now in the form of Gracia, holds his gun up in the air with smoke already coming out of the tip. Both girls eyes drifted to the lip body of Hughes at the telephone booth, his blood already spreading across the floor.

"HUGHES!"

Jealousy finds her feet suddenly frozen as 'Cat' runs towards Hughes, the ice quickly rising up until the homunculus was trapped in a case of ice. Envy was about to move until a large wave slams against his body and carries him away from the scene. "Hughes! Talk to me!" she says worriedly as she slids to the man's side. She ignored the blood that got on her and rips the bottom of her shirt off, using it as a cloth to help stop the bleeding. "You aren't going to die... not this time!" tears streamed down her face. No matter how much she tried to stop it, blood continued to spurt out of his chest. "It's fine...! There's nothing else you can do for me anymore... Just make sure Cat doesn't know about this once she wakes up..." this shocks the girl.

Right when she was about to ask, he lets out one final breath and lays limp against the booth. The girl bits her lip and wails, "HUGHES!" She leans against the body and cries loudly throughout the silent night as the phone hangs there, sending in everything that's going on to whoever was one the other side. It wasn't Roy Mustang anymore as the line was suddenly cut off on his end, instead, someone else was hearing in a far distance away. A man with golden hair stood there with the telephone against his ear, tears of his own coming out of his golden eyes. "You know you can't do anything... nothing can change and you know that just as much... I'm sorry..." He hangs up and walks away, transmuting his personally made phone to explode as the wire connected to the telephone wires shrivels up.

||New Optain||

Cat arrived an hour after the others to the town. Ed was the only one there at the station waiting for her, the rest probably looking for an inn to stay in for a while. There was no trace of blood on her except her shirt slightly torn at the bottom. As the blonde get's off, Ed walks up to her saying, "Didn't think you'd be done that fast in Central. I thought you would be about a few hours late." Cat doesn't answer. Instead, she suddenly runs up to him and hugs him, burying her chest so he wouldn't have to see the tears streaming down her face. He felt it thought, his shirt already starting to go damp. "What's wrong?" he asks her, hugging the girl back. "I don't know Ed... one moment I was about to following you guys then the next I found myself alone in the train... I can't remember what happened... but I feel like I wasn't able to save someone..." she cries harder in his chest.

Ed didn't question her any further. Knowing how she knows events that are meant to happen to them in the future, all he could guess was back in central she had tried to do something on her own again to prevent it but failed.

To Be Continued

Finally my hand can move again! I never thought an IV tube could hurt so much once it's pulled out... the whole time I thought a needle was stuck inside when it was just plastic! I was freaking out over nothing! Anyway sorry for the long wait, but as I said in my latest one-shot (Feelings of a homunculus) I was in the hospital again, but this time my case was worse than my last stay, and updates will be delayed for a bit. I'll try to update Winds of Hope as fast as I can cause right now I only have 700 something words on it right now and I don't know how fast I can do it while still at the hospital.

Cat: That was the most depressing scene we had to do so far...
Ali: Tell me about it! I balled all over watching it from behind the scenes! Even the cameraman was crying!
Me: All and all I think this chapter was pretty good. I wonder how many will react...
Cat: So many mysteries after this! I bet many of you are already confused as to what happened. Like, was that me or not?
Ali: I can't believe you made me make the fake blood! TT^TT That was so disgusting to make!
Cat: You did say you wanted to be useful for once...
Ali: Not like that!
Me: Okay I'll leave the rest to you guys... and Jealousy!
Cat&Ali: EH!?
Je: Have a problem with me?
Cat: N-No! 'Course not! (What ever god is out there... save me from this hell!)
Ali: We would never have a problem when you're around! ^^;
Cat&Je: *groans* AveryScarlet does not own FMA! All rights go to Hiro Mashima/potatoes!
Cat: Potatoes!?
Je: What? That's whats written in my script.
Cat: Impossible- *looks* Oh right...
Ali: Pffft! I think it's that new girl in the other section that did it...
Cat: Yo airhead! Stay on your own side! Geez... Look it's M-A-S-H-I-M-A not mash potatoes.
Je: Ah... I see...
Ali: Guys I think you're talkimg about thebwrong other but... A-Anyway! AveryScarlet only owns me, Cat, Jealousy-
Je: Nobody owns me!
Cat: *tackles* Did you already forget how this goes!?
Ali: -Camilla and many more to come! Please R *ducks* &R! Guys stop! We just rebuilt the studio! Enough alchemy!