A/N: While I'm working on revamping this fic a bit, trying to figure out a way to finish it before I lose motivation again, here is a little interlude I hope y'all will enjoy!

Ellie peeked around the flap of the tent, careful to not be spotted. She was hoping to catch a glimpse of the Pretty Lady everyone had been whispering about. As she watched, a group of children ran up the path from the direction of the city, knocking three times on every tent's wooden posts.Her momma had had her memorise the signals. One knock meant hide, two meant flee, three meant visitor, and four meant military raid.

She wasn't old enough yet to join the lookout, but once she finally turned 8 she'd be out there protecting the slums along with the other kids.

Once one of the other children got to her and her mother's tent, she recognized him as Tommy, Old Mana's grandson. Old Mana helped people when they were feeling bad, so Tommy was well known and well liked in association. She'd just learned that word, and liked to use it in every way she could, because it made her sound super duper smart.

Tommy noticed her peeking out of her tent, and smiled at her. She felt her face heat up, because Tommy was 9 and very handsome, especially when he smiled.

"Ellie! That pretty lady is back! Come on, she promised she'd teach all the kids some alchemy tricks and give us candy! I saw the bag and it's giant!"

Her momma had always told her not to accept candy from strangers, but the Pretty Lady wasn't a stranger, was she? She was nice, Stefan said so (and he was very smart), and Kara's mommy had said the Pretty Lady had fixed that pot Kara had broken a month ago.

People who were nice and fixed other people's stuff couldn't be dangerous like the strangers momma had warned her about. Ellie peeked back into the tent, looking at where her momma was still sleeping in their bed. She wouldn't mind if Ellie left for a little while, would she?

"Do you think sh-she would fix the bowl I broke l-last week?" Momma was so angry when she dropped the bowl, because it was the only one they had.

Tommy nodded, grinning wider and grabbing Ellie's wrist, dragging her from behind the tent flap.

"Of course she would, I bet she'll even make a whole new one for you! Come on, let's go ask her!"

Ellie blushed harder because Tommy was holding her wrist! She followed behind, letting him drag her to a clear patch of ground where lots of people were already standing around someone.

Tommy dragged her through the crowd of kids and adults, and she squeaked apologies to those she accidentally bumped into. They finally broke through the crowd, and she got a good look at the Pretty Lady everyone had been talking about for the last few weeks.

Ellie was confused. When Ellie had imagined the Pretty Lady, she imagined her with big blue eyes and pretty long hair in curls, wearing a pretty pink dress like the one she had seen some of the ladies in the city wear.This lady was taller than any other lady she'd seen, and she was wearing pants, an orange shirt, and no shoes. Her eyes were narrow, but wider than how the Han family's eyes looked, but they were a weird green color which reminded Ellie of new leaves.

Overall, she looked like a lot of other ladies Ellie had seen. Why had she been called the Pretty Lady? She looked scary, even, with her blank face that almost looked like a frown.

Then, Tommy had finally dragged her up front to the lady. Ellie now felt unsure, kind of regretting wanting to meet this scary lady.

"Hey, Lady!" He exclaimed, looking up at her. The lady looked down, surprise flashing across her face. "Can you make my friend a bowl? She broke her only one, and she can't afford to buy a new one."

All at once, Ellie wanted to both cringe away from the sad look the lady was sending her and disappear and smack Tommy for saying those things out loud.

She settled on looking down at her feet, holding back tears. Her momma had always told her that she mustn't be ashamed of not having many things, because what she did have was her dignity and her family, even if it only consisted of her and her momma, now.

A gentle hand touched her shoulder and, startled, Ellie looked up into pretty green eyes.

She understood why they called her the Pretty Lady, now.

She crouched in the dirt in front of Ellie, and smiled crookedly at her, as if she didn't have much to smile about and hadn't made the expression in a long time.

"Don't cry, kid. How big do you want the bowl to be?" Her voice was scratchy, like how momma's was. Ellie wondered if she had problems with her breathing as well.

"Umm, about this big?" Ellie motioned with her hands to a bit bigger than how big the broken bowl was, because she remembered her momma being grumpy about how small it was.

The lady turned a bit in the dirt, and with quick movements drew a circle with a few triangles and symbols she didn't understand in it, then touched it and made it light up.

She stared in awe as the blue light went away, and in the middle of the circle sat a perfectly shaped bowl. The lady smiled up at her and the other kids that had gathered around her, and gently picked up the bowl. She handed it to Ellie, and Tommy helped her hold it up.

"Th-thank you! I-I can't give you anything in exchange, how can I repay your kindness?"

The lady laughed and ruffled her hair, then stood up and dug her hand into the bag next to her, then dropped a handful of prettily wrapped candies into the new bowl Ellie held.

"You can eat those delicious candies, and share them with your friends and family. I don't need payment from those that have no means to pay me, I came here to help."

"Please! I want to help any way I can, ma'am! Let me help you."

The lady smiled down at her and Tommy, shaking her head.

"In that case, kiddo, you can help me hand out all this candy I brought. And please, call me Gaia. I'm too young to be called ma'am."

Miss Gaia was so nice, so Ellie decided then and there that she would find a way to repay her for her kindness. She was only a month away from turning eight, meaning that she would be a big girl very soon. She'd find a way to repay Miss Gaia then.

Ellie beamed up at her, settling down to her right, new bowl in her lap and candy bag in reach as all the other kids crowded around them.

The Pretty Lady didn't look like how she'd imagined, but she was definitely as nice as everyone said she was.

A/N: As a little prompt for reviews, would you answer these questions please?

Do you mind if I kind of muddy the waters of alchemy a bit? I think the main reason why I lost motivation for this fic is because I was taking it too seriously, and when I couldn't figure something out, I got frustrated.

I want to make this fun for everyone, so could you give me an idea of what you want to see? Any points of view, types of alchemy, or events you'd want Gaia to be involved in?

Thanks, and thank you for anyone that may be sticking with this fic!