wow, a whole two months? BAH i say! i hope you enjoy this chapter! I PUT MY HEART AND SOUL INTO IT! also, please review : )

"My Bomber; My Peacemaker"

"That's Not Likely a Good Situation to be in!"

After the children left with the soldier, I never saw them again. I guess in my head I had hoped they were alive somewhere but my hopes vanished quickly when Solf told me 'no one will be spared.' the soldier who didn't bother to learn my name came back and took them somewhere. My heart aches just trying to imagine what happened to them; because I'm an adult, I banished the possibility they might be alive somewhere.

"Does it hurt to walk?"

I heard a faint whisper-like question in front of me; a man with broad shoulders was walking there. Leading me to his 'favorite place' in Ishbal.

"No. Not anymore, thanks." I had tripped over a rock earlier that day while I tried to run away from those doctors.

The ones who didn't know when to stop poking me with needles.

I should never have followed him. I should have just stayed with those kids…but dammit all if my stupid heart wasn't screaming 'STAY WITH HIM!'. What if a soldier came and took him somewhere? I'd never see him again!

So I did. Was it a bad idea? Or was I just listening to my pitiful emotions?

A grown man finally acknowledged me and somewhat respected me…what was I supposed to do?

I had a strange attraction to this man.

This creepy, handsome, honest…man.

Or was he a monster? I could never really tell. Most of the soldiers around him called him a monster in human skin.

He looked back at me with his piercing amber eyes and told me to take his hand…

He tugged on my tiny palms; it was warm and sweaty, but I didn't really care. He pulled me inside a dark building where there was dust everywhere. Only one window in the far corner of the room gave it some light.

He pulled me up many stairs, each room less dirty than the last.

I can remember what happened next clearly:

He extended his hand to me…and helped me to the roof. The sunlight blinding me as I was lifted upward, although I was getting sick of Ishbal, its sky was beautiful, especially with him standing in the foreground. The wind was blowing lightly so wisps of his hair were dancing around his face- mine not so eloquently.

He reached his hand out and brushed the hair from my face, gently, running his palm down my cheek and under my chin.

He looked at me, leaned his head closer to mine…and then…

And then…

"That's not likely a good situation to be in! ! !"

Winry…? What is she doing here?

Oh yea, I'm in my room again…my false, kind image of him is shattered completely as I hear Winry yelling in the next room. Then I faintly remembered why it was he was taking me there…the part where he leaned in closer was a lie…the truth is…he saw a group of people in front of his 'favorite' spot. We were at least 6 stories high…

He took me up there so I could watch him perform his alchemy to its fullest. He was a great alchemist. But he was also a terrifying one; I could see the terror reflected in the eyes of the Ishbalans he was murdering.

No. It wasn't murder to him, was it? I feel sick.

I think I'll see what the fuss is about.

Just as she was about to exit the small, dark room, Winry stomped in their spacious room and threw herself on her neatly made bed. A knock could be heard at the wooden door across the room- it was Alphonse calling for Winry.

'Something must have happened…' Christina thought to herself.

Alphonse walked in the room with his one hand on his hip…laughing a little bit.

"I never get to be angry when you and brother are around!'

"But then…"

A clock ticking…1:45...it was winter in the Resembool home.

A little girl sat at the bedside of a small boy with a high fever. After placing a cold washcloth on his hot face, she left the room with her small bowl of water. Rubbing her eyes as she opened the door, she saw a big, dark figure in the hallway. It was…Alphonse, right?

"Al…You can't sleep?" she asked him from a distance.

He looked up at her, almost surprised to see her. Although Winry couldn't tell from just looking…he seemed like a doll.

"Yeah…Somehow or the other, it seems that this body is unable to sleep."

"Are you cold?" she smiled warmly as she reached for the jacket that was draped casually around her shoulders.

"No…This body feels nothing." he said bluntly.

Young Winry lowered her head and frowned. Alphonse looked out to the dark sky through the window, "The nights are long just like this, huh?"

"Before this, I would have been talking with Brother over Alchemy, or our future, during the night. Once we got tired of talking, we would go to sleep and have sweet dreams…One night seemed so short then…Now one night is so…so awfully long. I'm thinking of unnecessary things all the time…!"

Alphonse held his helmet between his knees, while Winry could do nothing else but look at him. Not even thinking of a single thing to say.

But what could she say? There was nothing in the power of words to help him at that moment. Even now, as a successful automail engineer she was stuck helping one brother while the other sits back and watches. Even if she helped one stand again, how could she help the other dream again?

"If I see Al is suffering like that, no matter what I won't feel good! Hey, can you return back to your original body? Hey?"

The tension in the room was getting more and more unbearable. Christina walked slowly towards Winry's side of the room with her hands gently raised in a patting motion to her.

"Hey…You guys? Is everything ok?" she said slowly as she glanced back and forth at the two of them. Then she thought for a moment, Edward has automail, right? Then does Alphonse have it too?

"What exactly does Winry mean by 'original body'? Do you have automail under there too, Alphonse?"

The tall boy looked at his friend who was crying with her head clutched into her pillow, she looked back at him.

"Should I explain?" Alphonse said.

"It's up to you Al…"

Christina quickly raised her hands and flushed brightly, "Hey, hey! You don't have to NOW! Ed said he would 'tell me everything' when he was ready! I don't want to force you!"

Alphonse turned to her, "'Tell you everything?'"

"Yea. About…how he got his automail, and the real reason Alphonse wears his armor…" she brought her finger to her lip and thought for a moment…"You know…at first I thought it was because you were ugly under there or something…then I thought Edward was a prince! And you was his personal guard! But then…those are too ridiculous to be true aren't they?" She finished with a grand 'hands on the hips' pose.

"Eheheh…" How embarrassing…but not really, the whole 'hobby' thing was Ed's idea after all. Ridiculous things, anything, was Ed's forte.

She began to think about all the ridiculous things she'd seen and experienced. They were all so out there that there was no way it could be real. Like alchemy. It was like something out of a dream. A big, ridiculous, Alice in wonderland dream! With talking flowers, giant monsters, a wicked villain and everything…only she couldn't wake up. It was real. You couldn't just wake up and be home where everything is normal…normal with no magic or alchemy or whatever they call it. Alchemy? Really? That's ancient…why don't they call it science like everyone else? Oh. That's because they aren't normal.

If alchemy was something so dangerous that it could destroy entire races, why on earth would anyone continue to practice it? Did they enjoy the thrill as much as He did?

"When we first met, Edward told me that it was a hobby. That's a lie, isn't it?"

"Yeah."

"I knew it. So what's the truth?"

"I really shouldn't be saying this without brother…"

"Then just tell me the gist." folding her arms as she finished, she shot him a smirk.

He gave an audible breath as he opened and closed the palm of his hand, nervously. He then looked at Christina just one more time, as if waiting for her approval to continue with what he was about to say. He took off his helmet with his one hand and prepared for the worst reactions: yelling, screaming 'monster', freak…something horrible would happen, he was sure of it!

"My brother and I lost our mother when we were young…we loved her so much, we used alchemy in an attempt to bring her back from the dead. We tried to play god and now we pay the price for it. Brother lost his left leg, and I lost my entire body, He gave his right arm to save my soul and affix it to this suit of armor."

"…Huh?"

"It's difficult to explain…Sorry."

Poor Christina looked so confused Winry couldn't help but try to comfort her.

"Yea, it's pretty confusing. I think only an alchemist could figure that stuff out…it all sounds like a foreign language to me."

"Try me."

"Whaaaa?"

"Tell me how you can give your arm for a whole soul! An arm doesn't equal a person does it?"

He began "Well…"

"Ah forget it. Ed can explain when he gets here. Speaking of which…where did he go?"

She wasn't in the mood to be kept up all night with such confusing thoughts- thoughts like alchemy and what have you…After Alphonse became more relaxed the two of them explained that Edward had been taken by Major Armstrong to Resembool. Winry grudgingly replied that Armstrong had broken her precious automail on purpose, just so he had an excuse to take him out of central.

"And I took my time with that one! Everything was perfect- the bearings, cylinders, yadayada…" as she went on and on, Alphonse wondered aloud if it could be because of Scar…the serial killer, right?

'I was told he was Ishbalan. Wasn't he killing state alchemists because of what happened in Ishbal? Good thing Solf is still in prison. If he got the chance to kill another Ishbalan…If he were to be in danger of being killed…My thoughts are all running together again…I better stop thinking such unnecessary things. He's in there and I'm out here. Right…he'll always be safe as long as he's in prison.'

Poor Alphonse had managed to change the subject quickly before Winry could ask about this 'Scar' person-

"So, Winry have you designed any new automail lately?"

"Well as a matter of fact I have! I just finished the base model of a new one! But this time instead of -0.001 carbon fiber I've added 0.002 carbon fiber! The model will be a bit lighter though, but it'll be super tough and-"

He didn't know what he had gotten himself into; Winry and her automail. Her eyes lit up like sparklers on new years when she even saw a glimmer of metal. Christina was the same way, except with children. They both got into a tizzy whenever it came to their favorite subjects. You could say Alphonse and Edward were the same way too except with cats and books…but their's were a little bit more extreme than the average persons. Once Winry was in her working mode you couldn't stop her.

And once Christina saw a newborn or a toddler she just HAD to stop and talk to the mother for an hour or two; no matter how long Martel kept tapping her foot, begging her to finish so they could move on. Ah yes, when she would go on daily 'soldier' watch with Martel, there were plenty of children in Dublith to get her distracted. She once told Martel it was her dream to have a family and children…it will always be that way.

She confessed: It's a weird dream for someone my age, isn't it?

No, she replied, you're only in your early 20's. it isn't that weird.

24 is your mid-20's isn't it? Almost…well, close enough.

'I guess it's too late to ask what your dream was, Martel…'

As she felt her eyes tighten up and start to burn, Ling walked into the room to ask if everything was alright. She would have answered but her voice would have cracked; the pain was still there even though she thought she had put that day behind her. They were like, no, they WERE her family. So, no she wasn't all right. But she could leave it alone for now…and cry about it later when she was alone like always.

Alphonse and Winry nodded and left both of their conversation and Christina in the room. Why was she always being left alone? If she were alone for a second more who knows how long it would be before she would stop crying…Getting up and fixing her hair over her eyes, so she didn't look so pitiful, and shut the door behind her as she walked to the next room, 501.

When she got into Ed and Al's room, the poor, little coffee table was cluttered with bowls, dirty napkins and crumbs. It was like at least fifty people had ransacked the hotel menu and left their garbage on the table in plain site- not even bothering to make an attempt at cleaning up around them. For a prince, it was pretty obvious he had no 'manners' when it came to cleaning up around him, but Lan Fan had no excuse!

For a lady she could have at least cleaned her area! That little crumb inching its way to the floor is just bugging the hell out of-

No! she thought, 'I mustn't think of such a thing! Once clean mode has been activated there won't be turning back! I'll have this whole hotel clean by morning!'

Just as Christina was about to lose it, a hot chicken leg made its way to the front of her face. Ling was waving it in front of her.

"Why…?"

"You look sad. Food always makes me happy…so why not you too? There's plenty, don't worry." He gave her a silly grin…generous words coming from someone who didn't even pay from his own pockets.

"I'm trying to watch my…oh well, why not." she sighed heavily and took the calorie filled bastard. This is not something to eat late at night! It'll go straight to the butt! It ALWAYS does! She thought to herself, glaring at the leg.

'I shouldn't have this. But damn if it doesn't look good…oh…'

She couldn't resist the temptation. She took a bite into hot, juicy goodness. Every good flavor in the world was in this one chicken leg- and all of it was exploding at once. It'd been awhile since she had chicken like this…the last time was with…was with…

With…

Ling stopped eating and looked forward to the other side of the table, "Miss?"

'It's hot again, my face, why? I thought I was saving that for later.' a blasphemous tear had squirmed its way to the outside world. She quickly destroyed it but not before Alphonse could notice it and point it out for everyone else in the room.

"Miss Madeline, are you ok?" Alphonse said, still continuing to call her by her last name. It was a bid saddening since she called him 'Alphonse' all the time. Perhaps it was because she was older?

He was always such a good boy-He could tell when something was wrong, not like his brother who was oblivious to everything around him.

"I was just reminded of something I lost." she smiled as she glanced at the chicken- reminded of the time Greed actually tried to cook, for 'fun' mind you, and ended up burning it.

Calmly, slowly, she took another small bite of the leg, now wishing it had a burnt taste to it.

"Better get your fill before Brother comes back and sees this mess, haha."

She couldn't help but feel sorry for Alphonse. Even though he didn't seem to wallow in his own self pity 24/7, she couldn't help thinking what if she couldn't eat? Or sleep? Feel? Taste? Dream? How does Alphonse feel when he sees others eating food, or sleeping? Even feeling the rain, or complaining how tired they are and can't wait to get to bed. How does he feel when he overhears two people talking about their dreams the night before? Watching people eat and comparing the different taste of food while you, yourself couldn't try any. It's enough to make her cry. But she wouldn't be able to cry, if she had no body…she answered him privately.

'You know, I think I will. Here's to you, Alphonse.'

for those of you who know what happens next...with Scar, you know, i'm not sure how to do it...I'm not sure if i want to add some side stories, and then go straight to briggs...OR go straight to briggs and save the side stories for after the end. i definatly want more kimbley...So i'll be doing a Kimblee side story next. And since i'm feeling especially naughty I'll make it an NC-17 ; ) Look forward to that lol and My Knight My Princess. new chapter coming soon! Review please! tell me your thoughts, complaints, anything! i can take critisicm...and spelling mistakes.