Ed, Al, and Kerria decided that in the future, it would be safer if they traveled either with all of them together, or in a pair; even if it was just for a trip to the market. Something about this murderer seemed odd, and they weren't going to risk their lives to find out what it was. In the meantime, the more Kerria visited Central Headquarters, the more she took a liking for alchemy and the military. She remembered what Al had said about Ed using his military position to get information, and she thought that maybe she could do the same. Maybe she could somehow figure out exactly where she came from. When she told Al about her idea to join the military, he was shocked.

"What? Why would you want to do that?" he asked.

"Well…I know this may sound weird…but I think they might have some information…on my past…"

"Your past?"

"Yes," Kerria looked at the ground. "I think…that where I came from must have something to do with alchemy, otherwise I wouldn't be able to use it, right?"

"Hm…that could be true." Al pondered. "Ed and I had to learn alchemy ourselves from our dad's notes…but you could use it right away?" Kerria nodded.

"A few weeks after I was found on the streets…I found out by accident that I could use alchemy."

"Hm…that is strange."

"So," Kerria started, uncertainty in her voice. "Could you…teach me?"

"What?" Al questioned.

"Could you…teach me how to use alchemy better…so I can become a state alchemist? I promise I'll work really hard!"

"But…Brother is much better at alchemy than I am. Why would you ask me?" Al asked. Kerria opened her mouth to say something, but then just stared at the floor silently. Would it be mean to say that she felt more comfortable around Al than she did around Ed? Al smiled and sighed slightly. "Okay…I can try and teach you. But really the best way to learn is through books."

"Eh? They have books on Alchemy?" Kerria was surprised; she enjoyed reading more than almost anything. Why hadn't she thought of that before? Al gave her directions to the Central library, and suggested that she take him and Kashi along to help her pick out some good books. Kerria nodded enthusiastically. "That sounds perfect! Thank you so much!" She grinned, giving Al a big hug. Al blushed and smiled in return.

"Well…this is it. Central library." Kashi stated as she, Al and Kerria approached the huge building. Again, Kerria was amazed by how large all of the buildings seemed to be in Central. She stared up at the library in awe. "Ha ha…you don't get out much, huh?" Kashi laughed. Kerria gave her a nervous smile. The inside was even more enormous than the outside; the whole place was filled with a maze of bookshelves, and it was at least two stories high. Kerria had no idea where to even start looking! She was suddenly very glad that Al and Kashi had come with her. They were able to lead her straight to the right place, and Kashi immediately began to stack books in a pile for Kerria to check out. "You'll need this one…and this one too…oh this one's perfect…this one is useful too!" she said as she threw more and more books onto the pile. Al and Kerria stared at her in shock; how did she expect them to carry all those books home? By the time she was finished, the pile had reached over fifty books.

"Um…maybe we should narrow this down to about…ten." Al suggested, and they all started going through the books carefully, hoping that they wouldn't get in trouble for taking almost all the books off the shelves. They all jumped when they heard voices coming from the next aisle over.

"Maybe it's over here." One of the voices said.

"Brother…we've been here for hours…we'll never find it in this huge place." a second, younger voice whined. Kerria, Al, and Kashi quickly scrambled to hide all the books, and failed horribly. It just wasn't possible to make that many books disappear. They all turned just in time to see the owners of the voices turn the corner and stand at the end of the aisle, staring at them. Al gasped, as he recognized them immediately. One was tall, and his sharp, silver eyes stared at them from beneath his blonde hair; his slim build gave him a very mature appearance. The other behind him was much shorter, not to mention younger. He had the same blonde hair and silver eyes as his older brother, but his small size and tendency to look downward gave him an air of uncertainty.

"Fletcher! Russell!" Al exclaimed, relaxing from his tense position. Kerria and Kashi also relaxed, and stared at Al questioningly.

"Al?" Fletcher said from behind his brother.

"Woah…it really is him isn't it?" Russell commented. "He sure has…changed." Al gave a nervous laugh. He had almost forgotten that the last time he saw the Tringham brothers, he was still nothing but a soul incased in a suit of armor.

"I'll explain all of that later." he assured them.

"So, is your brother still a tiny pipsqueak?" Russell smirked. Fletcher tugged on his brother's shirt and told him not to make such mean comments.

"Actually, we're about the same height now." Al said with a nervous smile.

"Alphonse? You know them?" Kerria asked. Al hurriedly apologized and introduced the Tringham brothers to Kerria and Kashi. He also explained that Kerria was learning alchemy.

"Ah…an alchemist in training, huh?" Russell asked, turning to Kerria.

"Yes," Kerria replied. "Al is teaching me…and we were going to check out some books but," she pointed to the huge stack behind her. "Thanks to someone, we kind of got a little too much." she said, then looked over at Kashi.

"Hey! It's not my fault!" Kashi protested. "They just all looked good and I got carried away!"

"That still makes it your fault." Kerria pointed out. Russell laughed and offered to help them sort though all the books, to which they thankfully agreed.

By the time they finally finished sorting, it was almost dinner time.

"Well gang, it's been fun but I have to get going." Kashi stated.

"Eh? Already?" Kerria asked sadly.

"Yeah…Fuhrer Mustang gave me a whole bunch of paperwork to do. But I'll see you guys tomorrow!" she waved goodbye and ran off. To thank Russell and Fletcher for helping out, Kerria invited them to come back home with her and Al for dinner. They all thought it was a good idea and started to head towards the house.

"Geez…these books are so heavy." Kerria mumbled to herself as they walked. Even though they had managed to reduce the pile to only 10 books, it was still too much for her to carry by herself. Al noticed Kerria struggling with the stack of books in her arms and quickly offered to help carry some.

"Ah…but...I can…" Kerria started to protest, but when she saw the look of concern on Al's face, she couldn't help but give in. "O-okay." she said, handing him a few books from the stack. Al smiled and they continued to walk.

When they reached the house, a very worried (and hungry) Ed came to greet them.

"Where have you guys been?" He asked. "I didn't think it would take you that long to…" he stopped as he noticed Russell and Fletcher were also there. "Hey…it's you guys. Long time no see!"

"Yeah! It's good to see you guys again!" Fletcher grinned.

"Heh…I guess you really did grow some." Russell smirked. "You actually got to be about the same size as I am. Imagine that."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ed growled.

"Ah…um…I'll go make dinner." Kerria laughed nervously. Al nodded and followed her into the kitchen to help

During dinner, the subject of Kerria's alchemy training somehow came up in conversation. To Kerria's delight, everyone seemed to think it was a good idea. Russell, Fletcher, and even Ed agreed to help Al in teaching her. Kerria thanked them for the offer and decided to start studying the books they got from the library right after dinner; she was too excited to wait until the next day. As soon as dinner was over and Russell and Fletcher had left, Kerria immediately took the books up to her room and began studying. To her surprise, she was actually able to understand what she was reading. She had always known how to perform alchemy; she taught herself using the few things she had learned while watching other alchemists. Now, all of that was starting to make sense. She excitedly read more and more until she had completely lost track of time.

Al looked up from the dishes he was washing and looked over at Ed, who was reluctantly drying the dishes that had already been washed. "Brother, it's really late. Do you think she's still up there working?" he asked in a slightly worried tone.

"Probably." Ed answered. "She was so excited, I bet she'll be up all night." Al smiled to himself, remembering how excited he and Ed were when they first learned alchemy. When the dishes were finished, Al went upstairs and crept towards Kerria's room to check on her. He knocked softly on her closed door, and when there was no answer, he slowly pushed the door open a crack and peeked inside. Kerria was still seated at her desk, but she had fallen asleep there with her head resting on the desk in the middle of studying. Al stifled a giggle and walked over to her. He glanced at the table, which was covered with the books from the library, notes Kerria had written, and a few pieces of scrap paper on which she had been practicing drawing transmutation circles. Al quietly sifted through some of the notes, and was very impressed with them. Kerria had somehow managed to learn in a few hours what he and Ed learned in a week. Of course, Ed and Al were very young when they first learned alchemy, but Al was still amazed. He began to wonder just where Kerria had come from. Kerria stirred slightly in her sleep and mumbled something about equivalent exchange, causing Al to suppress another laugh. He walked over to her bed and pulled off the top blanket, then lightly covered Kerria with it and left the room, closing the door behind him. As he walked back down the stairs, he vowed to himself that he would do anything he could to find out Kerria's true identity.

In another, unknown part of town, a few indistinct figures gathered to discuss the matters at hand. Each one of them wore a cloak, so it was impossible to tell exactly who…or what they were.

"So…it has been confirmed then? She is here?" One of the figures whispered.

"Yes, and she is learning…alchemy." Another replied with a slight grin.

"Alchemy? How interesting." another commented.

"Yes. That should help us out quite a bit, shouldn't it?"

"It will. Keep an eye on her, and report back to me." The first figure, who was apparently the leader, commanded. The others bowed in obedience and left silently. "Soon…our plan will take place soon." The leader of the group grinned to himself.

A/N: Phew! I somehow managed to write another chapter. The plot is starting to thicken a bit. I'm having a bit of trouble coming up with ways to put my ideas on paper at the moment...I also have a lot of school stuff going on too. So I'm sorry if there's a lot of time between chapters but I'll try my best!