It's the one year anniversary! Hurray! When I started this story, I didn't think that it would become as successful as it has, and I have all of you to thank. Over 12,118 hits, 34 favs, 41 alerts, 104 reviews and one bonus chapter. Yay. Thanks to everyone who's read this, it makes me happy that people like something I do, even if I mainly just do it for the fun. I just find it really cool that this is one of the most successful Pride stories, not that there are too many others I have to compete with, since besides Attention2Detaille's awesome story Sin's Child, there isn't really any other ongoing stories that update regularly.

Well, like I said, thanks for reading this, and here's the next chapter.

Chapter 26

Selim woke up rather early, the cardboard box that held him soggy and everything around him having a rather damp feel. Pulling the shadows back into him, he crawled out and quickly stood up. The cobblestone street was wet, and the entire city seemed grey and drizzling. It wasn't the best way to start off the day, but there wasn't anything he could do about his damp clothes or hair as he started away from his nightly hiding place before someone saw him.

There weren't many people out on the streets, it was still rather early. Everyone who was out walked fast to wherever it was they needed to go, and almost everyone had an umbrella in their hand. Selim walked with his head down, trying to set out a plan for the day as he kept himself on the move. There was no doubt that Pride's mother was a worried wreak with his second disappearance, and that she would have the whole city turned upside down to find him.

He had to find the Elrics. He'd already decided that, but now he had to figure out a way to actually do it. He suppose he could ask around, but it was hard to know who to ask that wouldn't recognize him and try and turn him in. He could always fight his way away if it came down to it, but he really didn't want to use Pride's powers in public if he didn't need to.

The rain was coming down even harder now, and less and less people were wondering the streets. Selim had been out in the rain a few times during his little travel, but he hadn't liked it those times, and he wasn't liking it now. There wasn't much chance of finding someone to ask about the Elrics now, so it would probably be best to just find a place out of the rain to hide.

"Pride, do you know anyplace to hide?" he asked quietly, hoping that maybe the voice could think of something. Selim hadn't traveled around much back home, and even if he had, he needed a place without anybody else.

"There's always the tunnels underneath Central… but I doubt you want to go there," Pride suggested, but Selim shook his head. There wasn't anyway he was going to go down there, that close to the people he was trying to hide from. "Well then, I don't know," the sin said, and Selim sighed under his breath. It was getting cold, it was well into fall by now.

After nearly ten more minutes of walking he was drenched to the bone and had yet to find anyplace suitable to get out of this rain. He didn't think that he was as cold or weak as he would be in his real body, since Pride's body, well, container seemed to be stronger all around.

"Ouff- sorry mister," the black haired boy said, quickly glancing up at a tall man in a pure white suite holding an umbrella, and then back down at the ground before walking away fast. He hadn't meant to look up, hopefully the man didn't recognize him.

"Kimblee?" Selim heard Pride mumble inside his mind, a surprised tone to his voice. Selim stopped and looked back towards the man in the white suite, who wasn't walking anymore.

"You know him?" the black haired boy asked as he looked the man over. He couldn't really tell much about him. He didn't give off a scary vibe like Envy, but it wasn't friendly like Mr. Al's, or kinda trusting like Greed's. Selim knew he should leave as soon as he possibly could if this was someone Pride knew, but was stopped for just a moment by his curiosity.

"Yes, although he's never actually seen my container. I do not think he's been revealed my identity," the sin said, and Selim accidentally locked eyes with the strange man. He didn't know who Pride really was, but he could very well know who the president's son is, and he still had every reason to leave. He was staring at him now though, and smirked. A friendly, but almost cold smile.

"Well, I do believe that you are the famous, and as of last night one again missing Selim Bradley," the man, apparently named Kimblee said as he walked towards the young boy. Selim nodded hesitantly. He seemed friendly, but he had no idea what he was capable of. Pride knew him, but he didn't know how or why. If he tried to run, he could very well be caught since he had no clue what he was dealing with.

"Pride, friend or enemy?" Selim asked as he took a step back. The sin scoffed slightly in his mind, although thankfully, and a bit unsuspectedly, he answered.

"He's my ally, not my friend," he said, and Selim nodded as he stared up at the man, who now started to bend down in front of him.

"Why don't we get you home? I work for your father, and I'm sure your parents are worried sick," Kimblee said, and Selim looked him over once again. He did seem kind of nice, actually. Trustworthy, even. If it wasn't for the fact that Pride had said he was his ally, he might have tried to turn for him for help. Instead, he was once again trying to find a way to turn an unfavorable situation into his favor.

"Why are you doing this?" he asked, earning a confused look from the older man, which quickly turned into a half smile and a shrug.

"I already said, I work for your father, and it's not very good for little boys like yourself to be running away from home," he said casually. This probably wasn't the best idea in the world, but maybe he could talk himself out of this. He hadn't actually tried anything like that yet, and Kimblee seemed like a reasonable guy, actually, and if that failed, he could always just fight himself out.

"And if I told you I wasn't a normal little boy?" Selim asked. It was true, he wasn't a normal boy anymore, and he wasn't sure he'd ever be again. Even if he ever got out of Pride's body, he was… changed. He might turn back to normal physically, but he was positive he'd never be able to turn back to how he was before. If he'd only had to go through with his father strangling him, he'd still be pretty much irreversibly damaged.

"Then I'd ask what you really are. I'm not exactly a stranger to the unusual," Kimblee said, and Selim nodded. He guessed if he was Pride's ally then he would be. It wasn't really the response most normal adults would give either, most of them would probably assume that he was talking about his status as the president's son, but that didn't seem to be what Kimblee had meant.

"And you're sure he doesn't know you're a homunculus?" Selim asked inside his head, and once again felt the reaction of Pride rolling his eyes inside his mind. He'd actually had started to get used to that by now.

"No, not unless he was told while you've been in control… which isn't too unlikely, if they wished to have him partake in finding me," Pride explained, and Selim nodded again. That did make sense, so either it was that, or Kimblee was just a strange guy. The man cocked an eyebrow slightly at him, and Selim realized he'd been silent and nodding for no apparent reason what so ever. Whoops.

"Well, Mr. Kimblee," Selim started. Kimblee looked a bit surprised at how he'd been addressed by name, but quickly smiled afterwards non the less. "all you need to know is that I'm well capable of taking care of myself. Your assistance shall not be needed," he said, surprised at how easily that had all came. He wasn't even trying to talk like Pride at first, it had just sort of came out. It was probably the right thing to do, since the man stood back up, no longer squat down to reach his height.

"Is that so?" he said, looking down the street before turning on his heels to face him again. "Even if you're telling me the truth, which I'm sure you are, I'm under orders from your Father to bring you back to him as soon as possible," the tall man said, and Selim set a frown on his face. He hadn't planned to try the Pride angle, but it seemed like it was the only choice now.

"Wrath's orders do not outrank mine. I'm telling you to leave me be, and you will," Selim said, but Kimblee just shook his head, a smile on his face. It wasn't like the smile he had before, reassuring and almost trusting. No, this one was more like the one Envy had given him. It wasn't the smile of someone mentally sane, and Selim suddenly could tell how someone like this could be on their side.

"It's not Bradley's orders I'm under. You're not about to tell me that you outrank your Father, are you, Pride?" the tall man said as he stepped towards him. Selim stepped back with each advanced forward. So he would have to fight? That wasn't what he'd wanted, but thankfully there wasn't anybody outside now, the rain coming down like crazy. He wished he could be out of it, instead of fighting for his life in it.

"I'm not Pride," he said quietly, unsure if the man in front of him could hear him over the sound of the raindrops pounding the ground and roofs and his stark white umbrella. He'd already started letting the shadows pool out around him, solid black against the cobblestone street. No eyes. No teeth. He didn't want to use those.

"No, I suppose you're not," the young man said, putting his umbrella down to the side, before frowning at he looked up towards the unforgiving sky, a streak of lightning quickly lighting up a section of the sky before disappearing again. Selim was just glad it wasn't pitch black, or else he'd be completely defenseless. "I'd just gotten this suite clean too, and you've gone and made me get it all wet," Kimblee said, before lowering his gaze back towards the small boy.

Without warning, the man started towards him, leaving Selim just enough time to swing his arm upwards, the shadows mimicking him. He'd been practicing since his fight with Greed. It was still very odd and a bit haphazard, but it was no where near as sloppy and frantic as he had been before.

Before Selim could think the man slapped the soaked ground, the street under Selim exploding without him having any chance to move. All he could do was pull the shadows up around him protectively as he was flung into the air.

That… had really hurt. Slowly he pushed himself up into a standing position, now eyeing Kimblee much, much more wearily then he had before. It wasn't nearly as bad as if he'd had his real body, he wasn't even bleeding, and he guessed he should be thankful for at least that. He could feel Pride's arrogance and pleasure at the situation spark up again.

"Oh, I didn't mention? Kimblee is a state alchemist specialized in explosions," the voice in his head said smugly, but Selim didn't have the time to respond, the man once again running towards him. This time Selim sent his shadows forward to him, trying to tie him up like he'd done with Greed. Kimblee managed to dodge to the left, once again transmuting the ground around the boy into a bomb, Selim only barely managing to get out of it's immediate way. He was still knocked off his feet, but it was a bit better then last time.

Instead of waiting for Kimblee to blow him up for a third time, Selim sent out the shadowed hands towards him, trying to hold him down. He had to get out of here soon, people had to of heard those explosions. Even with the rain, they'd send somebody.

Once again, the black haired man was able to effectively dodge his attack, and Selim had to frantically run out of the way of several assaults. There had to be a way to beat him. Something that would give him enough time to run away to someplace a bit more safe. Selim glanced down towards the holes in the street where there was only dirt left from all the explosive attacks, and smiled just slightly. Had no idea if it would work, but he'd gotten lucky with his plan against Greed, maybe this would turn out alright too.

Selim waited until Kimblee had gotten close to one of the holes, before sending a huge solid black spike towards him. He managed to jump out of the way just as he had all the other times, but this time Selim didn't pull the shadow back. He let it dig deep underneath the ground.

Okay, it was now or never. He had no real idea if it was in the right place to work, but it was worth a try. Flinging his arm upward, he could almost feel the shadows working their way up through the ground as fast as they could, bursting forth in an explosion of stones and dirt… right under Kimblee's feet.

Without waiting for any sort of sign or signal from the man in the pure white suite, Selim turned tail and ran as fast as he could down the street, turning at every corner he could find in order to lower the chances of Kimblee managing to find him.

When he finally stopped he was heaving, covered in mud and so very wet and cold. Leaning against a brick wall, he tired to catch his breath. Lightning crashed above his head, and he felt like crying. He didn't though. After everything he'd been though, it felt almost like he couldn't anymore. He just wanted to get out of this rain.

Pushing himself off of the wall, the black haired boy sullenly started down the random street he was on. Looking up at the sky, he felt like he could almost drown on the air, and sighed to himself.

The clouds couldn't rain forever. He'd get out of it once it finally decides to stopped.

And done. I hope this was a suitable one year anniversary chapter. Another random cameo, well, it wasn't too much of a cameo. I hoped this worked better then Riza had last chapter. I've got a plan again too (has the end, I just need to figure out everything with how to get there. Almost all the parts are in place, but need to fill in a few holes)

Well, as always, I hoped you like this, and please review.