AND HERE'S THE NEXT CHAPTER! Sorry for not writing in quite a while, I've been exetremely lazy. Also, the current winner of the poll (still open) is Fawn, so we'll call the reader that for now :P But again, thanks for everyone's support :)

Ed eventually gave up on chasing me and Al, deciding that he would rather save his energy for survivng the sweltering heat. We walked in silence, each of us swimming in our own thoughts. A while later, as my eyes scan the horizon, I see little rectangles pop up.

"Huh..?" I murmur, squinting my eyes.

"What is it?" Ed asks, glancing over at me. I purse my lips as I try to identify what the rectangles were before a rush of excitment causes me to grin and point towards them.

"Civilization!" I exclaim, relieved and overjoyed. The two brothers follow my finger and they both gasp.

"People!" Al cries, running towards it.

"Water! Food! We're saved, Al!" Ed says breathlessly, racing after Al. I stand there a few moments, watching them run off side by side. My smile faltered. There's no me in that word, we. I'm just a tag along, a girl desperate to repay the debts she knows she could never repay. A girl who could freeze from back pain at any moment, leaving herself but more importantly the brothers vulnerable. A girl who's face is deformed with an ugly scar, all beauty gone. I look down at the sand, my fists clenched.

"Damnit..." I mutter, closing my eyes.

"Hey, what's wrong?" A voice interrupts my thoughts. My head jolts up and I find myself staring into the ruby eyes of Alphonse Elric.

"Nothing," I say, shrugging it off. "I thought you ran off towards the town."

"I did, but then I realized you weren't with us, so I came back."

"Oh..."

A few moments of heavy silence hung between us. My gaze was cast to the side now, unwilling to meet his. I tried to count the grains in the sand, knowing fully that it was impossible.

"Brother says you're always looking down," Al finally says.

"Huh? What do you mean?" I mutter, still refusing to meet his gaze.

"You never look up. You just always keep your eyes to the ground in front of you. Like it will lead you somewhere."

When I didn't respond, he sighed and sat down in front of me. "It worries us. Especially Ed..."

I finally look into Al's eyes. "He's so afraid for you... I know he acts all tough and scary sometimes, but deep inside, he's in pain, he's terrified. He doesn't want to lose you. He's already lost me..." he gestures to himself. My eyes are wide and my jaw is clenched as I fight tears.

"He always feels terrible for what he did to you, when mother died. He tells me how he's a monster because he hurt you. He would never be able to take it back, just like..." He falls silent, looking down at his metal hands.

A single tear falls down my cheek as I close my eyes. "But he was right. I'm not a part of your family. I never had the right to barge in..." I murmur.

"Fawn..." Al murmurs, looking at me.

"YOU GUYS SHOULD'VE LEFT ME TO DIE!" I yell before my knees buckle and fall into the sand. "Ed is wrong to worry for me. You are wrong to worry for me. I can take care of myself. You guys didn't have a choice when you found me. You knew I would die and you didn't want that on your mind... Just leave me... You're better off without me anyways..." I bury my face in my hands as I sob. Al reaches out to me and pulls me against him, allowing me to cry into his hollow chest for a bit.

"We weren't forced, silly," he said after a minute or two. "We chose to save you because, well, we felt something when we laid eyes on you. Both of us. Almost as if... we were destined to meet eachother."

I sniff and look up at Al's face. "But-"

"You gave us something to live for. Your happiness, encouragement, bravery... You helped us through everything after mother died. You saved me from those bullies," He chuckled, his eyes shining. "I swear, Fawn, we will never abandon you. We'll always be with you, by your side, no matter what."

I gaze up at him, a light blush on my cheeks.

"Thank you, Al..." I say softly, wrapping my arms around him and closing my eyes.

"I was only speaking the truth," he laughs, ruffling my hair. After a few moments, I stand.

"Come on, you dummy. I bet Ed's wondering where the hell we went," I smile.

"Right," Al nods, a twinkle in his eye. I help him stand before we walk back towards the town. I glance over at Al, walking by my side, and feel that strange fluttering sensation again. He's grown, no longer the helpless little kid I saved... And even though he may not be human now, he certainly contained more humanity than any of us combined. I look forward again, feeling content.

As we reached the town, Ed popped up out of nowhere.

"WHERE HAVE YOU GUYS BEEN?! YOU COMPLETELY ABANDONED ME, YOU BASTARDS!" He says, face red in anger.

"Sorry, we lost something," Al chirped, winking at me. I put a hand to my mouth and chuckled. Ed's gaze switches between us before he pales. He suddenly leapt onto Al, whacking him on the head with his suitcase.

"WHAT DID YOU AND FAWN DO?! I SWEAR IF YOU LAYED ONE PERVERTED FINGER ON HER I WILL KILL YOU!" He howled.

"Brother, stop it!" Al exclaimed, laughing.

"We didn't do anything," I laughed also. Ed freezes and glares at me.

"Anything? What does that mean?" he hissed.

"Oh, you know, anything..." I teased, smirking. Al falls back as Ed jumps off of him, rolling around in a laughing fit.

"Why, you..." he growled.

"What brother? Are you jealous?" Al chokes out between laughs. Ed's face turns dark red again.

"No, of course not. I could care less what you two did. Whatever," he folds his arms and points his chin up. It would've been more convinving if his face wasn't so red.

Once Al and I recovered, we walked to the entrance of the town.

"I hope they have something to drink..." Ed mumurs, looking around. He zeroes in on a fountain straight ahead.

"Water!" he gasps, flinging his suitcase at me and rushing over to it. I yelp and rub my head before picking it up.

"IDIOT!" I yell after him, annoyed.

"Come on, Fawn," Al sqeals, running after Ed. I watch them for a moment, then look to the clear and endless sky. Instead of feeling upset, I actually felt happy. I grinned and waved my free hand.

"Wait up!" I call as I run until I reach their side. Ed's eyes flick over to me, and I meet them, my own sparkling. A flash of suprise disturbs his golden pools, then goes to a calm and happy shine. He reaches out his hand and pats my head.

"You're finally looking up... You're almost as tall as me now," he mumurs, smiling.