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The cheers that greeted her as she stepped into Mustang's office later that evening nearly blasted her back out of the room. Riza had to fire off several shots to calm everyone down, while Mustang smirked over a small mountain of paperwork piled on his desk. Ed stepped forward, intending to take the watch from Mustang, only to have it tossed at her from behind several folders. She growled, catchng it as it flew past her head, and fastened it to her waist.

"Do you have to do that every time, Bastard?"

"No."

"Then why do you?"

"Because you react like this."

"Shove it."

"See."

Ed glared at him, and he stared back, before she shrugged and slumped down on the couch. Everyone in the office sat down and they chatted for a good four hours before Mustang yelled at them to get out and go home. As she plodded along, delaying the return to the little house she had aquired recently, Ed thought about the night she had returned, having lied about it to Mustang only brought it furthur into her thoughts, especially after he had tossed the watch at her, just like the first time.

Ed wandered the streets, his hands deep in his pockets as he walked his normal route. He kicked a couple of rocks, and flinched when one broke a window. He silently cursed his new found strength, and gritted his teeth against the gnawing hunger. Mahret had decided that he was "too much trouble" for a fledgling and walked out, leaving him to deal with the constant thirst and guilty feelings they caused. Casually, he pulled a small pouch out of his pocket and popped open the seal in the straw-like end. He knew he needed to drink, but he didn't want to kill for it. So he had broken into a blood-bank, grabbing about 50 packs before the sirens had chased him away. The cool liquid ran down his throat in a great gush, taking with it the sharp pains of hunger and the roaring of the beast within him. He sighed and tossed the empty blood bag into a nearby trash can.

A few hours later he came to a river walk, where a small crater left a dent in the shoreline. He smiled softly, flashing pearly fangs, and slid down the bank towards the spot. Stopping on the edge he looked down at it. He felt the need to step into it, if only for a second, or even to lie down and stare at the stars from it's little space. He put on foot onto the charred soil at the bottom, his leg tingling for some reason. Chalking it up to the new blood in his veins, he stepped all the way in, and a bright light enveloped him before he had time to cry out in surprise.

A bright flash of light, and all that was left of the vampire Edward was a patch of black cloth, floating down to rest at the bottom.

He felt like he was weightless, images flickering through his mind as he floated there helpless against the current of thoughts.

"So nice to see you again Edward Elric." A disembodied voice echoed all around him.

"Oh great. Don't tell me I'm in the Gate again."

"Fine we won't tell you."

"Since when did you get a sense of humor? Either way. What do you want?"

"We just figured you might want to go home, Fullmetal. Although it should really be the Fullblood alchemist now."

"Oh har har. I didn't ask for that you know."

"We know."

"Of course you did."

"Would you like to go home? To Winry, teacher... Alphonse?"

"Shove it you great buffoon. Just set me back down in Risembol, or leave me alone."

"You'll have to pay a price."

"Yes I know equivalent exchange. What did you have in mind?"

"We had an idea. But we're not going to tell you. You'll...feel it soon enough. And we have another offer. We would give you back the sun, to be able to walk in daylight again, for the rigth price of course."

"Yeah, yeah, sure. Do what you want, just get me back!"

"As you wish Fullblood."

"Shove it."

He screamed in pain, watching helplessly as hs right arm was torn away. More changes occured, but he dared not look, and instead closed his eyes, thinking of Al. Thinking of home.

Ed awoke with a gasp, lying in a grassy feild with a bleeding stump for an arm, again. He scowled and flinched when he felt something warm on his face. But when he touched his fingers to the spot, there was nothing there. Slowly he opened his eyes, looking right into the most beautiful sunrise he had ever seen. He sat there for what felt like forever, ignoring the slow bleeding from his arm, and only looking away when his stomach growled. "Time to eat..." He murmured and looked down, intent on searching his pockets. instead he saw something completely different.

His cries echoed across the feild, waking bird and deer alike. "A GIRL!!!!!!!! DAMMIT!"

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Ed sighed, kicking another stone across the sidewalk, before noticing something odd. 'Hey Lil? You haven't talked in a while...?' 'And?' 'I was wonderin...OH! So you did enjoy yourself? Good for you! Bout time you had some fun...Although, what am I thinking?' 'Yeah yeah, I'm just a figment of your imagination, though that isn't saying much. Your imagination is shorter than you are.' 'WHO'RE YOU CALLIN SO SHORT SHE COULD RIDE A FLEA TO WORK?!?!' 'You. Oh and if you haven't noticed, I'm a wee bit hungry. And by "a wee bit", I mean A LOT!' 'Then why aren't my eyes turning red???' 'Cause I'm keeping them from doing it, stupid. I only let them so that you would have to feed to keep them normal. But with your whole test thingy and the time it took, I decided to keep quiet and wait. We wouldn't want anyone discovering our little secret would we?' 'Wow...that's kinda well..nice, Lil.' 'Don't thank me, and don't call me Lil. Oh, by the way, we've got company.' 'Wha...?'

Ed turned slowly, keeping it inconspicuous as she pretended to look at a street sign. Sure enough, in the shadow of an alley nearby, someone stood, watching her, his face covered by a hood and scarf. Undaunted, Ed sniffed, catching a slight breeze that wafted by and promptly wrinkled her nose in disgust. Roy Mustang was following her? Why? 'Because he knows he didn't get the whole truth from you? I don't know, just get rid of him, I'm hungry!' 'Ok ok, going!'

She turned a corner, away from her new house and then proceded to find the nearest alley she could and dissappeared into it. She searched frantically for a bin or something she could hid behind and heard Lilith groan in frusturation. 'Here, let me! I know how to do it!' 'But...' 'Do you want him to get you?' 'Well, no...But I can't let you out unless you're going to eat!' 'I promise I won't hurt a hair on his pretty little head!' '...Fine, but only until he leaves!' 'Deal.'

Ed concentraited, feeling rather than seeing Lilith slip from her bonds and fill her mind. In seconds the place Ed had just stood was filled with nothing but shadow. Ed couldn't help herself. 'Wow...that's cool.' 'You bet.' She tensed when Roy walked at a fast pace past the alley, and then turned and looked back into it. He stepped inside, his dark eyes flickering to and fro, looking twice directly at Ed, and then he raised his fingers snapping. A bolt of fire erupted from his fingers, flashing past Ed and grazing her arm. She didn't even realize she was hissing until the pounding of blood in her ears died away. Lilith was enraged, yelling at roy, and preparing to leap at him.

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The alley was quiet, nothing there but shadows and air, but he still felt like something was there, wheather visible or not, there was someone in the alley. He considered this for a moment and stood still, listening hard. There! Someone was breathing, the passage of air so low that he had to strain to hear it at all. Imediatly his fingers went into postition and he snapped, watching as the alchemic flame lept forward lighting the darkness. He stumbled backwards when Ed appeared from nowhere, holding her grazed arm and hissing in a dangerous way. She looked up, and Roy froze. Her eyes...they weren't the normal liquid gold he so adored, but instead they were a burning crimson, like freshly spilled blood. Time seemed to stop as Roy's thoughts spun out of control.

'Edward comes back from the gate, a girl...the hourly walks every other day...bodies showing up in Central drained of blood...the frequent glimmer of crimson near her pupils before those walks...the far away look in her eyes when she read the paper...the kidnapping...and the significant lack of killings during the SA exams...' Everything flowed together, like a ten piece puzzed put together by a twenty year old man. He nearly cried out in surprise, and took another step back as time came rushing back to greet him. Ed was yelling something indecipherable, like something in a different language, something he didn't recognize. Then she shifted her postition, no longer holding her arm, which he realized was now fully healed, and dropped into a crouch. His eyes opened wide in terror, his legs locked into place as she prepared to spring. Then something odd happened. Just as her muscles had tightened for the jump, Ed grabbed her own arm and bit down, clenching her eyes shut at the same time. Dimly he heard her mutter something. and stepped closer, trying to hear what it was.

'Run...Run away you stupid moron...I SAID RUN!' She finally yelled, her eyes opening fully, her teeth, unusually sharp he noted, still locked onto her arm. He looked once into her eyes, one crimson, the other a firely gold, and ran, never stopping to look back. Behind him he could hear crashes, and curses as Ed battled with something, slamming herself against the walls of the alley in an effort to keep from running after him.

His house lay directly ahead of him and he pelted for it, sweat running in rivers down his face. At the door he paused, listening intently. In the distance a loud roar split the quiet night air like a gunshot. Roy shivered and stepped inside, quickly closing and locking the door behind him. He sagged against it, trembling and breathing heavier than he had in years. 'Damn Fullmetal...What have you gotten yourself into?' He thought as he dragged himself into bed.

M.P.O.: you like? no like? tell meh! please! new chapter up either tomorrow or the day after. promise!