He stood in front of the grave, gazing sadly at it. Den brought him out of his trance by barking. He followed the dog's gaze.

It had been sunny, but now dark clouds massed over grave-yard. The wind kicked up, wailing strongly. Lightning crackled around the center of the cloud mass. It acted as a door, opening up a white hole in the angry black clouds. Out of the hole drifted a girl.

Her long black pony-tails were pulled upwards. He pale skin was complimented by the white dress and the flowers wrapped around her. But blood was smeared around her mouth and down the front of her dress. As her feet touched the ground, the clouds vanished, the wind died, and she slumped to the ground, like a puppet with it's strings cut.

He was unsure of what to do. He was helpless with only one arm, and the blood on her front didn't seem like anything good. It only screamed that he should run away. Yet Den was already trotting up to the collapsed girl. He nosed her from, whimpering. A low moan made him come forward. She was in pain, and he wasn't about to leave her like that, no matter how dangerous she may be.

He put his hand on her shoulder. "Hey. Wake up. Are you alright?" he asked softly.

"Do I look okay?" she mumbled in reply, opening her eyes a crack. But as her eyes lit on him, they shot open. He could see that they were different colors, one scarlet, one ice blue. But she looked terrified of him. "Where am I?" she panted.

Before he could answer, she turned her head and coughed harshly. He could hear splatters and see bright red dots on the ground. "You're sick, aren't you?" he asked, panicking slightly.

"There's the understatement of the millennium. I'm not supposed to live out the next fourteen years. I'm dying." she said softly, looking back up at him. "But after that… I'm not scared any more. Nothing could possibly be worse."

"What?"

"You've seen it, haven't you?" she asked, reaching up one hand to touch where his arm connected. "You know what I'm talking about, don't you Edward?"

She knew his name! And she'd seen the Gate. "How do you know me?" he asked softly.

The girl coughed again, a small jet of red flying onto her dress. "I'm sorry… I shouldn't be here…" she smiled sadly.

"Wh-what's your name?"

"A… Annabeth Zatsune… pleased to make your acquaintance." she smiled before coughing again.

"Well, you're sick, and you need help!" he said firmly.

"There's no help for me. I'm already doomed, Edward. I was when I was born."

"Huh? What're you talking about?"

"I'm not growing correctly. My body… My internal organs are growing far too slowly. I'm not getting what a fourteen-year-old body needs. Don't waste your time on me."

He leaned in close. "I'm not. Leaving. You." he said slowly and through gritted teeth. He hauled her up to her feet. "You are coming with me whether you like it or not. I can't just leave you here."

Annabeth wobbled slightly before righting herself. "Okay. I guess I'm feeling better now. It comes and goes in spells." she said, smiling sadly. But her eyes were that of a hunted animal. The ones that knew death was right behind them and could take all the time in the world.

He led her to Winry's. He knew everyone would panic at the sight of Annabeth, so he was prepared. He was right about the panic.

"Edward! Edward, who is this?" yelled Winry.

"Dead." he heard her mutter behind him.

"This is Annabeth. You know that storm that was over in like, thirty seconds? I saw her come out of the middle of it." he said, ignoring Annabeth's pessimistic comment.

"I really shouldn't be here. I'm only going to end up interfering! Just let me go." she said.

"You're coughing up blood and covered in the stuff! You aren't going anywhere alone!" he yelled angrily, whirling around. He instantly regretted it.

For a moment, her eyes were scared, but then they faded through hurt, to bleak understanding. "Okay. I'll stay." she said softly.

"Hey, I'm—"

The wrench hit him in the head before he could finish speaking. Winry clomped past to Annabeth. "Don't you listen to him! He doesn't know what he's saying!"

"Yes, he does." Her statement shocked them both. "He sees himself protecting a weak, sick girl. I understand. It's been going on my entire life. I was never healthy. People baby me and say I should relax, take it easy. But I'm strong. I've proven myself time and time again, but no one listens. I'm predisposed to be the weak girl. Hey…" she smiled, looking up. "It hurts, you know."

"You mean like your feet?" he groaned, cursing himself for not noticing she was bare-foot.

"It doesn't hurt. Not as much now as it did the first time." she said, looking down at the bloody toes poking out beneath her not-so-white dress. "I once had to run almost a mile over sharp, pointy rocks bare-foot. That was nothing. You should have seen me then! I just couldn't stop crying!"

He got up, still cursing himself for his stupidity. He followed the girls inside.

At supper-time, Annabeth excused herself from eating. He supposed she wasn't feeling well, so he followed her out. "Are you okay?" he called as he followed her.

"Oh? Uh-huh, yeah, fine." she waved him off, scanning the ground. Finding what she was looking for, she picked something up.

"What're you doing?"

"I'm unable to eat meat. I live off of flowers, grass, berries and roots. I prefer flowers. Didn't you notice where my chains went?"

"Uh… No?"

"It's okay! Not many people like me. If you don't, or you think I'm crazy, that's alright, you're no different!" she said optimistically.

"Well, given time, I may get to like you. I don't know." he said, sitting next to her as she sat down. "So," he started, "how did you know us all?"

"Well… that's hard to answer… Where I come from… We're much more advanced. And we know your story. Other people's stories as well. At first I was confused, because I thought I'd been turned into pixels or blots of ink!" she laughed.

"Pixels?..."

"Tiny, tiny little squares of color. Microscopic. But put together right, they make all sorts of shapes, like people, transmutation circles, and lockets." she said, getting up and twirling around. She started singing slowly and sadly, a smile plastered on her face. She stopped singing and twirling abruptly. "One of my favorite songs. I always sing it when I feel down, despite what it's about."

"That is?..."

"Suicide. 'If only you had the ears that I have, then I would sing you a song from the bottom of my heart, but would you, hear me? If only you had the heart I have, then I would flood you with all of the love I have, but would you, feel me?'" she said, plopping down next to him. "But it's a more… appropriate song than Climax by DJ S3rl. It's also one of my favorites, but it's a song a lot of parents think their kid is being raped when they listen to it. I don't see how, it sounds nothing like that at all. No, just a girl screaming."

"Yeah, I already don't like it."

"A lot better than Crazy Ass Bitch. All that song is is swearing. I think I taught my baby sister forty cuss words just by listening to it!" she giggled.

"Yeah, you're weird." he sighed.

"To be expected. I have no friends, so all I have are my fantasies and my songs. I sing myself to sleep at night and play with my imaginary friends at school. Try growing up always sick, and a slight cold hospitalizing you. Half my life has been wasted in and out of it. I almost welcome Death."

"'If only you had the ears that I have.' What the heck does that mean?" he asked her.

"The song is about a girl. She likes this guy, but he doesn't like her. And after an accident he has, he goes to the hospital and finally learns to like her when she gives him blood. But by that time, it's too late. She's gone. I guess I always like it because I have always wanted a guy to like me, but no one does. I'm just…" she trailed off.

"I'm just dead." she finished, sitting up. "I always have been, always will be. Dead."