I'm sooooooooooooo sorry for taking so long. I've been uber busy, and this is probably really bad and not worth the wait, but voila!

Disclaimer: I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist or King of Bandits Jing.

"Brother… where are we going?" Al asked, trying to keep up with his brother. Ed didn't miss a step.

"I'm going to talk to that old lady who said she knew Jing," he answered distractedly.

"Why?"

"It seems like to much of a coincidence that she might know someone named Jing. I mean, it's not that common of a name. Also, she seemed to be second-guessing herself. I want to know what she knows about him," he answered back, shrugging.

"Why are you interested in him?" Al inquired, walking sideways so he could watch his brother.

"Well, Central will want to know anything they can about some new vigilante wandering the streets," he lied. Al glared playfully at his brother, who had closed his eyes thoughtfully.

"That's not why. You couldn't care less about Central and what they want," he said, leaving the ending open so Ed could finish it. Ed's eyes flashed open in a blur of gold as he glared ahead.

"If he's looking for the Philosopher's Stone… I want to know all I can about him," Ed growled, his voice hard and determined. Al nodded and left the matter drop. The two of them made a beeline over to the old lady.

"Um, excuse me, Mrs.," the old lady turned around, her face drowned in disappointment.

"I can't believe that young man lied to me, that man wasn't checking me out… or winking at me… he was having a seizure…" she cried, but she wasn't disappointed because the man almost died, no, it was because she had been rejected.

"Um… I'm sorry miss, but if you'd like, my young, available brother and I would like to buy you dinner…" Al slowly suggested. Ed gawked at his brother, and the lady did as well.

"Well, aren't you a bunch of sweethearts… I'd love that!"

And the next thing Ed knew, he was on a date with a 90-something year-old hussy.

"…and when I was 50, Herald started to…" Ed dismissed her and turned to Al.

"You HAD to ask her out… didn't you? You cat-loving… younger brother!" he hissed, unable to call his brother anything slightly offensive. Behind his metal, Al's soul grinned evilly.

"Well, you wanted information from a depressed old lady. I'm sure you'd rather get it from a hormonal old lady than a suicidal old lady? Think of it as getting information from Granny Pinako," Ed shuddered.

"I never wanted the image of a hormonal Granny Pinako…"

"Now, I know you handsome young boys didn't ask me out on a date. You wanted to know something, didn't you?" The two boys turned to the old lady and noticed a new, more educated glint in her eyes. Ed swallowed and exchanged glances with his brother, a look that clearly said 'yeah-but-you-weren't-supposed-to-know'.

"Y-yeah…" Al stuttered, his stutter showing that if he had cheeks, he would have been blushing.

"Well, then, cut to the chase! I may be old, but I'm not daft! I know what a young man wants!" she looked at Ed and Al, then quickly coughed out a small 'ahem'. "What he wants from an old women. You want to know about that young boy, don't you?"

Ed swallowed and picked at his napkin, "yeah. You were saying something about knowing him, and I was just wondering where exactly you knew him from?"

"I didn't know him… personally, it was my granddaughter, Rose. She lives at Blue Hawaii, as a cop, with her father. Where is that food at?" the old woman turned around and snapped regally for a waiter.

"So she knew him?" Ed asked, growing impatient with the lady.

"One week, when her father went into a coma, a young boy showed up. He was young, handsome, and had one set of eyes on gold, and one on my granddaughter."

"One set of eyes?" Al piped in, speaking for both Ed and Al.

The lady laughed. "Oh yes, he had a pal. A bird as far as I can recall. Now, I never got the full details, Rose would never tell me. But, I do know that when there was a fight, and fighting be the only way out of it, the two would fuse into a most dreadful monster." She waved her fingers as though trying to scare kindergartners into making up their beds and saying their p's & q's.

Ed and Al exchanged looks and channeled the same thought. "How old is Rose?"

The lady laughed and winked at them, "Oh, she's a ripe 21." Ed sighed and leaned back in his chair. 21?! That's too young for delusions.

"What was her father in a coma for?" Al asked. Their 'date' sighed.

"Greed." The two exchanged looks and suddenly the old woman became serious. "He may indeed be a thief, and probably a young one at that, but he knows better than most men my age how to stay away from temptation. While the cat may eat the canary, the albatross can stay away from the fish. Waiter! I want my tea!" Ed slammed his hand on the table, lifting it to reveal a wad of money underneath.

"Eat your heart out, and thank you. I would love to stay and accompany you, but we must be leaving." The lady sniffed and looked at the money.

"Just like you young men, you take what you want and leave. But at least you pay!" she laughed and looked at the brothers. "Thank you, it's hard to find polite men these days." Ed nodded his hand and left, Al following dutifully.

"Brother?" Al asked, slightly tapping his shoulder. Ed stopped to give Al a grin.

"An albatross and a fish, huh? I think she hit fairly close to home." Al looked at him, gasping.

"You don't think?"

"Oh, I do. I think it's time to play the cat to find out albatross."


Sorry it was short, but i hope you like it! I'll try to update quicker than last time (which means... you might still have to wait awhile) Izza sowee!!! ToT