yay! i finally gots it! ok, here ya all go! (sry, i'm hyper...hehe...)

"Hey you!" the voice of Dr. Marcoh called out. Rei, Bella and Ed turned there heads towards Dr. Marcoh. He held out a piece of paper to Ed.

"This is the place where the research files are hidden." He handed the paper to Edward. "Look at this if you won't regret knowing the truth." He said. "And if it's you, you will uncover the truth behind the truth" He walked off and the three of them saluted. As Armstrong raised his hand to salute, he knocked Ed and Bella over. Rei took the paper out of Ed's hand and opened it.

"What's it say?" Bella asked, looking over her shoulder.

"The National Central Library 1st Branch." Rei said. She chuckled.

"Huh? What's so funny?" Bella asked, dumbfounded.

"If you want to hide a tree, you hide it in a forest" she said. Ed and Armstrong nodded.

"I don't get it!" Bella shouted. "What in the seven hells is that supposed to mean!"

Rei gave her an annoyed look and said simply, "Let's just say we've found our way to learning more about the Philosopher's Stone." She grinned evilly.

Chapter 8: A Home with a Family Waiting

Bella yawned as they walked towards the house on top of the hill along with Rei, Ed and Armstrong holding Al. Ed spotted an old woman at the top of the hill, smiling at them. He waved, smiling back.

"Hey Granny Pinako! I'm gonna need your help again!" He said. They reached

the top of the hill and Granny smiled at them.

"This is Major Armstrong." Ed said pointing towards Armstrong as Granny shook his hand. "This is Rei, she's a state Alchemist too." He gestured towards Rei, standing next to Al. "And lastly, Bella, yet another state alchemist." Granny Pinako looked at the three of them, comparing Armstrong, Rei and Bella to Ed.

"Is it just me, or since the last time I saw you Ed…." She started "Have you gotten smaller?" Ed looked at her enraged.

"Who are you calling 'small' you half-pint hag!" He shouted

"What did you call me you runt!" she yelled back.

"You heard me, guppy geezer!"

"Chibi-chump!"

"Micro-mini Granny!" Rei rolled her eyes at their argument. Even people shorter than Ed agree he's small…. She thought. Ed and Granny Pinako's argument was interrupted when a girl's voice shouted at Ed.

"HEY ED!" The voice sounded angry. Just then, a wrench came flying through the air and collided with Ed's head, causing him to fall down. (Ouch)

"HOW MANY TIMES TO I HAVE TO TELL YOU TO CALL BEFORE YOU COME IN FOR MAINTENANCE!" the girls voice shouted again. Rei and Bella looked up and saw a skinny, blonde girl wearing a black tube top, pink pants and a red bandana on her head.

"WINRY YOU JERK!" Ed shouted as he sat up. "YOU COULD'VE KILLED ME!" Winry started laughing as she leaned towards the railing.

"Welcome back!" she shouted. Ed glared at her from below. "Looks like you brought some friends too." She said.

"AHHHHHHHHHH!" Winry shouted at Ed, staring at his missing arm.

"Oh, yeah. Sorry, it got broken." Ed said simply.

"What do you mean 'it got broken'!" she asked. "That was my master-piece! State-of-the-art automail prosthetic. GAH! Just let me see the damage so I can fix it and get you out of here!" she yelled.

"Yeah, when I said 'broken', whatI meant was 'smashed into a thousand pieces'" he said, chuckling. Winry hit him with another wrench, enraged he destroyed his automail. She looked towards Al in his crate.

"And what's this? You went and broke Al too?" she asked. "What kind of lifestyle do you two lead?" She turned to Bella and Rei. "Please tell me your friends aren't as damaged and stupid as you Ed." Bella waved around her left arm where the hand was missing.

"Lucky for you, I only got my hand destroyed and Rei fixed her automail!" she chimed.

"See Ed, why doesn't this happen to you?" Winry asked. Ed death glared her then rolled his eyes, sighing. Pinako came and examined Ed's automail leg.

"Hmmmm…… After we rebuild the arm your leg needs to be adjusted." Pinako said.

"So, you've gotten a little taller after all? Last time I saw you, you were only #$ cm tall," Winry said with a smirk on her face. Pinako gestured Bella to pull her sleeve up so she could examine her arm.

"Hmmm…… Your automail's really light. I don't know if we can get the same design as your arm, but we'll try." She said.

"So how long will you take you, a week and a half?" Ed asked. Granny grinned at him.

"Don't underestimate me. I'll have it done in 5 days."

Ed, Bella, Rei and Al had gone outside for a bit. Al and Ed were talking out in the back, while Rei and Bella were out in the front.

"Well, what now?" Bella asked as she fell backwards, hitting the ground softly. Rei was sitting next to her, staring out into the sky. "Rei? Are you even listening to me?" Bella asked.

"No, I'm tuning you out Bella." Rei said sarcastically.

"Well, what do ya wanna do?" Bella asked again. Rei shrugged and looked out towards the sky again. Bella rolled her eyes and got up. She walked around the back when she heard Al shout her name.

"What's up Al?" She asked as she walked towards him, not seeing Ed in sight. Al paused for a moment, as though he was thinking something over.

"Can I ask you something?" he asked.

"Uh…. sure." Bella said, confused.

"Well, when we were battling Scar, when you got your hand shattered, I saw…." He stopped.

"Saw what?" Bella asked, unsure of what he was going to say next.

"You're eyes….. They turned dark red. Red like the Ishbalan. Just like Scars'" He said. Bella stared at him disbelief.

"You- you saw-" she stuttered. Al nodded as she sighed.

"Ugh……. I don't know how much longer I can keep this lie up." She said.

"So you really are Ishbal?" Al asked. Bella nodded shamefully.

"There's probably a bunch of questions I should answer now, huh?" she asked.

"Yeah, if you're Ishbal, then why are you in the military? Isn't that dangerous?" Al asked.

"Well, I'm in the military for the same reason you and Ed are. The Philosopher's Stone." She said, falling backwards onto the ground. "I couldn't get much about it with the ruined cities of Ishbala, and Rush Valley was a dead end too. So I took the risk of joining the military."

"But you could get yourself killed if the military knew about it." Al said; a hint of concern in his voice for his friend.

"That's why I'm trusting you to keep this from Ed and Rei. Who knows what'll happen if they find out. Promise you won't tell Ed about me being Ishbal?" she asked. Al looked away from her for a second, thinking it over.

"I promise, but sooner or later they have to find out. Promise me that'll you'll tell them when you need to. You can't keep living a lie forever." Al said. (Me: Ah, so wise Al. Bella should be more like you.) Bella smiled cheerfully at him.

"Ok! I promise." She said.

Five Days Later

"Ok, ready?" Granny said. Ed groaned. He was sitting in a chair and Granny and Winry were about to reattach his new automail. Bella was sitting on the ground patiently to get her automail fixed next and, staring up at Ed. She wasn't wearing her normal clothes, but a white, short-sleeve shirt and a pair of shorts.

"ok, One, two, three!" They attached Ed's automail and he yelled out I pain.

"uh…….. I always hate the moment the nerves get connected." Ed said sighing.

"Don't be such a baby." Winry said as she pulled out a wrench and fixed up the prosthetics. Once she was done, he got up and tried it out.

"How is it?" she asked.

"Feels good!" Ed replied. Winry spoke up to tell him how to take care of his automail, but he was already racing outside to fix Al up. She rolled her eyes and looked down at Bella.

"OK, your turn." She said.

"YES! I hate using my right hand!" Bella said cheerfully. Winry grabbed the automail hand and motioned Bella to raise her arm.

"Now, since I couldn't get the same design as your automail, the hand is different and probably heavier, but it's stronger since your mechanic made it so light, that's why it broke easily." She said. Attaching the hand. Bella winced as the pain shot through her arm. Winry noticed something on her automail.

"Hey, what's this?" she pointed to a button on her arm and reached her hand towards it.

"AGH! NO! DON'T TOUCH THAT!" Bella shouted, but Winry did and blades shot out of her arm, almost hitting Winry.

"AGH! Damn piece of crap! It takes forever to get those damn weapons back in!" Bella said, struggling to put the many blades back into her arm. Winry grew excited. Uh oh……. I have a feeling this isn't gonna turn out good…….. Bella thought.

Few Minutes Later

Ed and Al had come back in from sparing. They noticed Rei sitting on the couch, somewhat bored.

"Heya Angel!" Ed said cheerfully. He looked around to see two people missing. "UH, where's Winry and Bella?" he asked.

"Winry found weapons in Bella's automail and wanted to examine it. She's been doing it since you went outside." She smirked as Bella came rushing out of the room.

"Bella! Just let me take a closer look! I must know how your mechanic did it!" Winry shouted, following her.

"AH ED! SAVE ME FROM YOUR CRAZY MECHANIC!" Bella shouted. "What did I ever do to deserve this!"

"Everything" Ed said, laughing. She shot him a death glare before getting "attacked" by Winry again.

The Next Day

"Thanks for everything Granny" Ed said.

"Yeah, thanks Granny Pinako!" Bella said cheerfully. She looked around. "Does anyone know where Winry is?" she asked as Ed turned to leave.

"She did so many all-nighters that she's still sleeping." Granny replied. "Should I wake her?"

"No. She needs the rest." Rei said.

"Plus, she'll bug me to no end about treating my automail right." Ed complained. The five of them started walking down the road, but stopped when they heard someone shout.

"ED! AL! REI! BELLA!" shouted Winry's voice. They turned around to see her on the porch, waving at them sleepily. Bella and Al gave her a big wave while Ed and Rei did small waves.

yay! ...now i just have ta kill Kira 'n get her to give me chp. 8...:plots Kira's downfall with an evil grin: hehehe...