heya ppl! here's part uno of chappie juu-yon! (readers: WTH!) sorry, sorry...probably shouldn't mix Spanish (uno means one) and Japanese (juu-yon means fourteen) ! sorry, im bored...neways, this is ONLY PART ONE! there is going to be more!...though, dunno when that'll happen...

6/26/06: if u've just started reading this, then ignore what comes after this.

readers: if you read this chapter before June 26, 2006, there is more added to the end! Kirea-sama didn't want to make this in three parts, but it had to be split to make sense! thank you for reading!

Quick Summary and Update: In the battle with 48 and 66, Rei's leg gave out. She passed out, and didn't wake up, even when they were taken to the hospital. Ed and Bella were sharing a hospital room, but she was kept separate for unknown reasons. Fullmetal and Devil's Angel had a bit of an argument, but made up and now are back to normal (well, basically). A week has gone by since they were checked in, and Rei has yet to wake up. Worried about her, Ed and Bella asked a doctor to do an x-ray on her leg. What came back, though, was worse than they imagined…

Bella and Ed waited outside Rei's hospital room. They had been at the clinic for almost a week, and still Rei hadn't woken up. Ed was sitting on a chair, twitching occasionally, while Bella paced impatiently.

"Argh! When's she gonna wake up, damnit!" Bella asked for the millionth time. Ed was as worried as she was, but had somehow managed to contain his impatience. As if on cue, the door opened, and the doctor who had been taking care of Rei looked out.

"She's awake," the doc said, then frowned. "I don't agree with it, but she insists you come in. She has something to tell you."

"Finally!" Bella and Ed shouted, and raced into the room, unprepared for what they would soon see.

Rei was sitting in the bed, her face unnaturally pale, even compared to her usual white complexion. Her dull automail arm lay motionless in her lap, and her flesh arm hung limp, lifeless, covered with bandages. A cast covered what had no bandages, from above her elbow to her hand. Her breathing was shallow, but stronger than before.

"Angel!" Bella was totally shocked. Her friend looked terrible; her usually neatly braided hair was in a messy high ponytail, much like Bella's, and her eyes were duller than usual.

"Hey, Bella, Ed," she said weakly. She started coughing harshly, and tried to raise her automail arm, but it barely twitched. The doctor lifted her arm for her, and handed her some medicine. Rei nodded her thanks, and the coughing fit slowly subsided. Taking a deep breath, she asked, "So…how are you two?"

Bella didn't answer, still getting over her surprise. Angel-chan…she thought sadly. You were always so fast, faster than our enemies…so how'd you get so hurt?

"A few gashes and some failing automail," Ed replied instead, forcing his voice to be nonchalant. "Not that bad."

Bella snapped out of her shock abruptly, returning to her normal blunt self. "Angel, you sure you shouldn't be resting? Not to be rude or nothing, but you look like you've been through all seven hells and back."

Rei smiled weakly. "Do I really look that bad?" she asked. Seeing their looks, she added, "Never mind. There's…" she took another deep breath, attempting to keep her voice from frightening her already shocked friends. "There's something I need to tell you. Something," she continued quieter, almost to herself, "you should have known from the start." She coughed again, and a bit of blood came out of her mouth. When the doctor tried to help, she shook her head.

"Are you sure you don't want me to tell them?" the doctor asked, her eyes looking worried. "You should be resting; you're not even out of intensive care yet."

Rei shook her head again, a bit of her usual bright determination returning to her dead eyes. "I need to tell them. You can go; you must have others you need to check up on." There was obvious dismissal in her voice; how the silent Rei that Bella and Ed knew had learned it, they didn't know, but…it seemed right, in an odd way.

The doctor nodded and left, casting one last glance back at her patient. Bella came forward, sitting on the only chair. Ed sat on the end of the bed, not wanting to crowd Rei, but unwilling to stay to far away from her. Bella and Ed had a new look in their eyes, as if they were afraid to move, fearing the ice angel they once knew would shatter in her current broken state.

Bella was still worried, her eyes caring. "Are you sure you want to tell us? I mean, you can always tell us later!"

Rei shook her head. "No…you deserve to know now. You see," she took a deep breath before beginning her tale, "when I was 7, my real leg gave out. I was traveling alone, as I had for a while, so it was pure luck that a stranger nearby saw. They saw how I couldn't stand, and took me to the hospital. The doctors did an x-ray; they said my bone had snapped. They weren't sure why, but there was a hole in my bone, just above the ankle. They took a sample, put a cast on my leg, and told me to come back in a week, believing I would still be there because they thought I lived there. I traveled around, but eventually came back because I had nothing to do. When I did come back, the lab results were there. I was told…" she started coughing, and more blood came up, more than before. Bella grabbed the glass the doctor had given Rei before and helped her drink some. When the coughing had stopped, Rei continued, but her voice was rougher than before from all her coughing.

"They said…I had cancer. It had eaten a hole in my leg bone, which is why it snapped. They removed the tumor, and, after two years of constant watch, I was announced cancer-free. In the 6 years since, they said that I haven't had a relapse, so the military was never told. But…" her voice failed her, and she shut her eyes.

"It came back, didn't it?" Ed asked softly, staring at her. There was no more fear in his eyes; only caring understanding. She nodded.

Bella gasped. "So that's why you fell when we were fighting Scar, that first time!"

Rei nodded again, leaning back tiredly on the raised bed.

"So how long 'till your leg's healed?" Bella asked, attempting to be quieter so the angel wouldn't get to tired.

"Actually…" Rei smiled wryly. "Just a few more days."

Bella was confused. "But…doesn't it take a long time for bones to heal?"

"Yeah, usually. But…well, I don't quite get it, but the doctor who first told me I had cancer said that, when I'm asleep, my body uses alchemy, or something a lot like it to heal itself. Either its alchemy, he said, or some 'special cell', he called it," she shuddered. "He wanted to take me to a lab and test it, but I ran away. Really…" a tired but evil grin appeared on her face, oddly out of place with her shut eyes, "I was hardly there for the two years they watched me; they contacted a few other hospitals to check up on me."

Ed blinked, processing yet more new information. "So, either your body can use alchemy on its own, or you've got a special cell that heals you?"

Rei nodded. "Sounds funny, right?"

Bella grinned, acting normal for the others' sakes. "Nah. That's cool! You can instantly heal yourself! How is that 'funny'? It's awesome!" She ranted on for a while, eventually getting Ed to laugh. Surprisingly, a small smile appeared on Rei's face as she sat up straight.

"She's right," Ed sighed, after the hyperactive alchemist had calmed down. "Wish I could do that…but, if you can heal so quick, why can't you move your arms?" This fact had bothered him since they entered, and he decided now was the time to ask.

Rei winced, a pained expression appearing on her face. "Well…," she sighed, and looked at her left arm. "When the cancer came back, some was in my arm too. When I fell, the bone couldn't take the strain and cracked a bit, but the doctor hasn't been able to get it realigned right. She told me not to move it, because the more it's moved, the harder it will be to fix. And there's a missing bolt and wire in my arm; I'm lucky it lasted this long. Even if I can fix my arm, it severely stretches the rest of the metal."

"Then it's a good thing I called Winry!" Ed exclaimed. "She can fix your arm too," he sighed. He glared at his automail arm, which was in a sling, as if that would fix it.

"You missing a bolt?" Rei didn't look surprised; merely amused that Ed hadn't already noticed the lack of one very important part.

"Dunno," Ed shrugged. "Feels like it's dislocated."

Rei nodded. "It's a bolt."

Bella just watched. "But…you were hurt really bad, Rei, even without your leg…" she seemed unable to get over the fact that Rei even had been hurt.

Rei turned to her, saying, "I've been hurt much worse before," with total seriousness. A distant memory darkened her eyes, but Bella didn't notice it.

"Still…" Bella's sad, caring eyes were looking at her hands, almost as if embarrassed that she was relatively unhurt, while the ice angel was literally stuck in bed.

Rei sighed. "Bella, I'll be fine in a few days." Her voice sounded truly annoyed with the repeated topic. "Believe me, its not that bad! Other than my leg, actually, I'm fine!" As if to contradict herself, she started coughing, red beads of blood spattering the blanket.

"Yeah right. Why can't you stop coughing, then?" Bella helped her with the medicine, scolding her stubborn friend.

Rei hesitated, and Ed looked worried. "I…" her voice was significantly quieter.

"It's from when you tried the human transmutation, isn't it?" Ed asked, his voice also quiet. When she looked surprised, he added, "My teacher had the same thing."

"It…I…" she sighed, unable to meet his eyes. "Its not exactly like hers…you see…well…" she sighed again, unsure of how to say it. "When I tried the human transmutation, my arm and leg weren't enough for the Gate…I'm missing part of my lungs, and a few other organs, but I've adapted…sorta…" the uncertain addition did nothing to help her friends.

Bella sighed, slightly annoyed. "And you didn't tell us earlier, why?"

"…I didn't want you worried…that I'd start coughing during a fight or something…" her reply was weak, and she knew it.

"Well, lemme think…" Bella said sarcastically, pretending to look thoughtful. "When your friend is out cold for one whole week," she stressed the words, looking pointedly at Rei, "and you don't know why or even if she'll ever wake up, don't ya think we'll start worrying?"

"I guess……I'm sorry…I…I should…have told you……I'm sorry…" her voice faded, and the others could tell she was getting worn out.

Ed and Bella both sighed. "Stop apologizing already!" Bella yelled, and was about to hit Rei, but remembered her friend's condition.

"And it's not your fault!" Ed finished, both of them settling for glaring at the angel.

Rei sweatdropped at her friends' synchronized replies. Jeez…they keep finishing each other's sentences…creepy…

The three alchemists talked for a while longer, well, Ed and Bella fought, and Rei listened, before the nurse forced the other two back to their rooms.

"See ya tomorrow!" Bella waved her hand cheerfully back to Rei, and was rewarded with a small wave in response.

"See ya," Ed didn't bother to wave, but this didn't bother Rei. She knew they would both be back as soon as possible tomorrow, and maybe sooner, if Bella had a choice…

At this thought, Rei sighed. She's so childish…she smiled inwardly. So…happy, and open. Yet she hides her past, just like the rest of us…and she can still act like nothing's wrong. …I envy her… the young alchemist sighed again, this time sadder. I envy her…because she's been hurt…but still is willing to give the world a chance…a chance to heal the wound it caused…

Outside, Ed and Bella didn't go back to their room right away. Looking at the closed door, Bella frowned; the first negative emotion Ed had ever seen her show.

"She's hiding something…" Bella looked thoughtful, and then started to walk back to their room. "She didn't tell us everything."

"Wh-what?" Ed was surprised that Bella would even say that. "Why didn't she! And how did you know?"

Bella ignored his first question, but looked him in the eye as she answered the second. "Her eyes. They weren't focused on the present, looking more like she was looking at the past…or the future. And besides…" Bella faced forward, a smile on her face. "Me 'n Angel-chan are alike: we don't tell all."

Ed looked at the thief in awe, still surprised. "Wow…" he blinked.

A nurse walked up to them, urging them to return to their room. Blushing at Ed's awe, Bella ran ahead, slowly followed by her still-confused friend.

"Hm?" Ed looked down one of the halls branching off of the one they were in. "Oh! Al…"

"What?" Bella turned around, following Ed's eyes. "Heya Al! Whatcha doing in that corner?"

The armor didn't respond, looking straight ahead.

"…Ah," Ed sighed.

"Heeeey?" Bella asked. Taking a deep breath, she shouted, "AL!"

The armor turned, looking startled. "Bro…ther. Bella," he acknowledged.

"Don't stay over there!" Bella said.

"Why don't you come over to our room?" Ed asked his brother.

There was silence, but Al didn't answer.

"Hm?" Bella blinked, confused.

"No, never mind," Al stood. "I'll be going now."

"?" Ed looked as confused as Bella had.

"Ok!" Bella grinned, totally clueless. "We'll go ahead; c'mon Blondie!" She ran down the hall.

Ed glanced once more at his brother before following the hyperactive alchemist, leaving the armor to think.

"What would you do if your personality and memory were artificially created by your brother?"

Al looked in the mirror, leaning his hand on the wall next to it.

"Accept it. You'll feel better, right?"

Al could feel himself shaking, and his hand jerked, cracking the mirror. He looked down, lost in thought.

hehe, Bella 'n Edo-chan are so alike...maybe it will be a EdxBella fic!

neways...no notes from the authoress right now, sorry! plz review, and read Kirea-sama's other story, "Heishi Tenshi, Book I: Lost in Magic", now redone and re...re...ah, w/e...

again, thx for reading!