Alphonse opened the hotel door quietly to not wake Edward; no doubt that he was still asleep. To his surprise, Edward was sitting up in bed with his head in his hands. When Alphonse's armor groaned, Edward jerked upright.

"Where were you last night?" Edward asked but obviously felt dizzy from the sudden alertness. As Alphonse paused to answer, Edward rubbed his eyes to stop the vision from spinning.

Finally he answered, "I was looking for the woman called Sara but happened to you last night? You weren't keeping yourself awake worrying about me, were you?" Alphonse shut the door behind him.

"No, it's alright but remember the talk we had? About leaving notes? Don't forget that, Al." Edward pulled out the tie in his braid and began to fix his hair.

"Sorry," Alphonse slumped.

"Was your search prosperous?" Edward mumbled behind the tie in his mouth.

"No, I didn't find anything. Not even a clue."

"You didn't hear anything either?" Edward glanced up at his brother; the tie still in his mouth. He didn't know why he asked that question.

"Uh, no, why?"

"Nothing," Edward murmured.

"Brother," Alphonse sounded concerned, "you look really tired, did something keep you awake?"

Edward wrapped the tie about the bottom of his braid without a response. Did he really want to admit to seeing ghosts last night? Was it really necessary to tell his little brother about this? He didn't see any good reason.

Edward shrugged, "Sort of, but don't worry about it, it's not important." Suddenly, a whiff of warm bread tickled Edward's nose from the bakery and his eyes squinted with delight, "I'm star-r-r-r-rving!"

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

"So, this old man who owns a farm," Jacob began after some small talk at the Sweet Shack that morning over pancakes with Ed and Al, "he had this disease, ring worm. It makes these little spotted circles in your skin."

"Uh-huh," This didn't keep Edward from shoving flap jacks in big bites into his mouth.

"Anyway, he was on his death bed with this disease and that's when she showed up. She came and sat beside him, healed him and left. Now, he walks about his business on his little farm like there's no tomorrow. Nice man, he is, some of the Alley kids call him Gramps, it's cute."

"Alley kids?" Alphonse inquired.

"Yep, every populated city here has them, kids that have no home but don't want to stay cooped up in an orphanage. They run all over the place really, day and night. The Alley kids stay true to their name too; the alleys and back streets are their playground." Jacob answered with a casual smile.

Edward stared at his fourth plate of stacked pancakes; deliberating the capacity of his stomach.

"Holy crap, Ed, what are you?" Jacob chuckled, "I've never seen anyone who could finish the Shack's famous large pancakes. Heck, I can only get through one, maybe one and a half if I'm hungry but you've eaten six already."

Edward sniffed with displeasure as he glared at his pancakes. He'd been asked a lot of dumb questions but that one Jacob threw at him made his teeth grind angrily. What was he? Hungry, what was wrong with that?

Edward glared at Jacob, "Next story?"

"Brother," Alphonse began with shame of Edward's rudeness.

"Whoa, what?" Jacob's eyes bulged, "You two are brothers?"

"Yes," Edward stated flatly, "moving on. Who else did Sara help?"

"Ah," Jacob stuck out his tongue in disgust, "don't call her Sara, that's not her name and I don't like it."

"Well what is her name then?" Alphonse asked since Edward was chewing.

Jacob looked out the window they sat next to into the street with a gentle, gratified smile. Then he adjusted his head to a slight profile to the brothers and his smile stretched mischievously, "it depends on what you want to call her, she has many names."

Edward glared blankly, that phrase wasn't causing any effect on him but Alphonse leaned in a little. "Really?"

Jacob dropped the sly act and chuckled casually, "Yeah, of course. You already know one of her names," he shook his head with a fading smile.

Edward lifted an eyebrow on behalf of himself and Alphonse.

Jacob looked incredulous, "Come on, think really hard about yesterday with the cops…" Jacob ushered and rolled his wrists in a gesture to stir their memory.

Alphonse clicked immediately. "The Ishbalan!"

Edward rolled his eyes and began on the second pancake on the plate.

"They call her Ishbala?" Alphonse asked.

"Well, he did," Jacob shrugged, "we don't that guy's name so we call him Ish. You don't know how many jokes there are about his nickname." Jacob chuckled behind his hand.

"You tolerate him around here?" Edward asked around the half chewed bite in his cheek.

"Yeah," Jacob shrugged again, "we don't mind. He swore he was the only one and we agreed he could stay here as long as he doesn't bring any trouble. I think Ish has been doing well so far." He nodded with a contemplative expression.

"He must have a story then," Edward swallowed, "if he's got it in his head that she's Ishbala."

"That's exactly what I think," Jacob's smile was so wide, his jaw dropped. Then it disappeared as fast as it came, he sniffed and itched his nose with a finger, "but we don't know that story because she doesn't want to tell anyone."

"Okay," Alphonse accepted optimistically, "what other stories has she told you?"

"Well, let's see," Jacob stared at the ceiling, "you want to hear my favorite one?"

"Sure."

"Just tell us." Edward grumbled.

"Okay," Jacob's smile went solemn and he leaned in close to them over the table. "A crazy blizzard blew in here weeks ago; everyone was advised to stay indoors-it was that serious. Within an hour, there was already about a foot of snow and she was stuck outside with the alley kids trying to stay warm.

"Meanwhile, this grump of an old man went outside to return home from work. The snowfall was so thick, he got lost in this city that he's lived in his whole life. Somehow, they met in the backstreet behind this really cheap hotel. She told him to stay with her and cuddle up with them until the worst blew over but the grump refused with an insult as he walked on.

"Despite his insult, after she covered the childen with her cloak, she followed him. So she went out after this old man without her warm cloak; just regular clothing. She found him face-planted in the snow and she dragged him behind a large trashcan to blunt the wind. She stayed with him for two hours; keeping themselves warm but he was unconscious through the whole thing.

"But when he did wake, she took him to his house and stayed at his place. She talked to him about so many things that after she left, he became the nicest man you could ever meet." Jacob let out a sigh, "I only know one of the things she said to him."

"What was it?" Alphonse asked quietly.

"A heart that receives no blood, dies." Jacob's smile returned but was weak in the deep emotion of the subject. "It's like a parable," he continued, "unless you stop and really think about it, it doesn't make sense."

Edward stared at his empty plate; pondering. A simple phase which stated a clear fact: no blood, no heart; how could that mean anything else other than that? He became a little frustrated, "What does it mean to you?"

Jacob's smile strengthened and he chuckled, "I didn't get it either but all I had to do was ask her. She said, 'The heart is you, the blood is the things of this world you can't live without.'"

"I see," Alphonse quietly exclaimed, "that makes a lot more sense now."

Jacob nodded, "I know, that's exactly how I felt after she put it in a perspective I could understand."

Edward looked down at his plate again. Of course, you'd die if you didn't eat food and drink water. He thought with a grimace.

"Are there more?" Alphonse seemed to be on the edge of his seat.

"Of course," Jacob's sly smile formed again, "but if you want to hear more, I'll just have to tour your journey."

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

"I lost my arm in an accident. I felt useless to my family and I only saw myself as a burden until she came to our door." The man's eyes became tearful. "She asked to stay for a while and through that whole time she commanded me to do things a man with two arms could do easily. That woman wouldn't take no for an answer. Just to prove my doubt in my abilities wrong, she would put one arm behind her back and do it herself right in front of me. After a few days, I began to feel competitive about how she was doing my old jobs with one arm and being this fragile woman of all things! She pushed me up back on my feet before I knew it!"

"I was really sick," the little girl fiddled with her hands in her lap, "and I remember being in bed a lot. Then this woman came in and told me to get out of bed. She was really nice about it. Then she healed the snake bite on the back of my knee with white sparks!"

"I almost lost my brother when this murderer shot him," the boy about Edward's age began to cry, "we weren't doing anything but taking care of a stray dog and when my brother got in his way, he shot him near the heart. He was going to bleed to death and there was nothing I could do. Then she came out from the shadows, she was crying too. Then she whispered in my brother's ear, 'You can't leave yet,' then she put her hands-" he choked and swallowed, "-on his chest were his blood was running out on the sidewalk. After that, I only remember a bright white light and my brother sitting up with a clean shirt and tears in his eyes. I don't know where she went but when we turned to thank her, she was gone. But because of her, my brother is still alive. He works with Father in the shop right now!"

Edward walked along Alphonse and Jacob in silence; that last story struck home. He couldn't help but think about how much their stories were alike.

"Brother," Alphonse broke the silence again, "didn't you say that Mustang told you to write everything down?"

Edward cursed under his breath, "Yes but I have a good memory, I can write this later."

"NO!" Jacob jumped in front of the two; startling them. "I mean, uh, please, don't."

Silence.

"You know what I mean, right? Why I don't want you to write anything down, you understand?"

"No." Alphonse said.

Jacob took a deep breath, "It's for her safety, Al, Ed. If you write everything you've experienced here, you'll put her in a lot of danger! She's already running enough as it is! Don't do it!" His eyes were glossy and his voice was strained with urgency. "Think of all the people you've listened to today, if you report everything, she'll be captured and the humans in the future that will need her…" he paused as his voice began to choke, "it's almost murder if you take her away. I wouldn't be talking to you if she didn't exist," he looked Edward and Alphonse in the eyes as a tear fell, "think about that. A heart that recieves no blood, dies."