Chapter 2

I turned to Yuki. "Oh my God. Todo... I have a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore..."

She laughed, tossing back her red-and-black-streaked hair. We looked exactly alike, we both had electric silver eyes, the same full lips and high cheekbones. The only difference between us was our hair. Our natural hair color was black, but we had each customized it, so Yuki's was dyed with red streaks while mine was dyed with electric blue streaks. Everyone always told us we looked deep in thought, like we were calculating the answers to the world.

Yuki looked back at me again. "For the time being, let's just get used to living here."

I saw Ed and Al again, walking down the street toward us. When Ed stopped in front of me, I took a step back. "Uh... Can I help you?"

Ed leaned foward to continue staring me down. Finally, he spoke. "I got a letter from Mustang. He says you're the princesses and heirs to the throne here." He bowed respectfully. "The king and queen died four years ago in an automobile accident." Ed held out a gloved hand. "Princesses of a country don't deserve to live in that old place I saw you comin' out of, do they? Common, lemme show ya to the palace."

I felt like I was dreaming. Mom and Dad? Princess...? I was in a daze as I absentmindedly let Ed pull me along down numerous streets.

Finally, he stopped and and announced, "Everyone! The princesses have finally returned to their place of birth and true home!"

Throngs of people immediately flocked around us, heads turned, people asked for autographs, people snapped our picture. I finally managed to claw my way out of all the people and stumbled toward the palace door. I flung the door open and gasped as I took in the marvelous wonders that lay inside. Yuki stumbled in a minute after me and slammed the door shut behind her, taking in a shaky breath when she saw everything. A vast family portrait mosaic covered one entire wall. I climbed the huge golden spiral staircase that led to the second floor, where I found three vast rooms and five smaller ones for servants. The last two rooms of the tremendous three I assumed to belong to Yuki and I. I walked into the very last room of the three, which was somehow calling me to it, drawing me into it. I saw a delicate-looking silver tiara embedded with different kinds of jewels I was sure I'd never seen in my life resting on a sky-blue pillow on top of a dresser. I slowly lifted the tiara, stood in front of a mirror and lowered it onto my head. It fit my head perfectly.

Suddenly, everything came back to me. I remembered a tiny tiara being placed on my head as a baby. I used to not remember at all what my mother and father looked like. Now, I saw my mother's face, her dark ringlets, beautiful dark eyes, a delicate golden tiara atop her head. My handsome father, with his blond, straight, shaggy hair, and electric silver eyes that resembled lightning. Suddenly, I snapped back to reality, seeing myself with the tiara on in the mirror again.

Be strong. I turned my head to look around the rest of my room. Woah, baby. There were all different kinds of beautifully crafted bows and matching sheaths of arrows. My hands ached to get hold of one. I slowly reached out my hand and touched a beautiful silver recurve bow. I bit my lip, grabbed it and slung it over my left shoulder, then pulled out the matching sheath of arrows and slung it over my right shoulder. Ah. Heaven. I ran outside, onto the enormous manicured lawn. There were already archery targets set up. I smiled and notched an arrow, drew back the bowstring, closed my right eye and aimed for the middle target. I let the arrow fly, and it whizzed through the air at light speed toward the target. Time slowed down, and I smiled so big I was sure my face would split. I called this, the pure joy archery brought me, the Archery High. The arrow connected with exactly the center of the target. Suddenly, I heard an all-too-familiar voice from behind me.

"Very good."

I turned around to find Ed with a slight grin on his face.

I gasped, holding my hand to my racing heart. "Don't sneak up on me like that!"

Ed laughed lightly. "Sorry. I'm a dog of the military. I catch criminals. I had to learn to be stealthy." He walked closer to me. "Anyway..." He folded his arms across his chest, using the automail one to point a finger at me. "You're pretty good with archery there."

I lowered the bow and squinted at Ed. "Yeah? What of it?"

"Well, Mustang says we could use that in the military."