Yet another post-series pre-movie wrath fic from me. Oh well, I can only write where my inspiration and patience take me. This one should have a happier ending though, well maybe.

Disclaimer: I don't own Wrath or the world of FMA. I do own my original character.

"Here, I got one for you." I turned from the circles I was drawing in the dirt to see the speaker. A girl a couple years older than me was holding an apple in each hand. Her right arm was extended offering the apple in that hand to me.

"Don't want it." I replied returning my eyes to ground.

"Yes you do." She countered. "You haven't eaten in at least a day."

"Don't want it." I repeated even though my stomach was starting to ache.

"Come on," she urged, "I took it especially for you. You have to eat." I looked at her again. Her right arm was out and waiting. Of course it was the right- right arms are for giving away. You lose them if you're not careful. I didn't want to take from hers. "If you don't take it," she threatened, "then I'll just throw it to you and it will land on the ground and get dirty. But you're hungry so you'll eat it eventually. Just take it now."

I stared at her trying to figure out if what she said made sense or not. I gave up and took the apple. I used my right hand, the automail one, to take it. I took a bite, the apple tasted good, nice and crisp. I resisted the urge to wolf it down; instead I ate it slowly savoring it.

She had started her apple too, eating slowly bite by bite. "See I told you you wanted it," she said in between bites. She finished before me, walked over and inspected my dirt circles. "Are you an alchemist?" she asked. "Those kind of look like alchemy circles."

"Nope," I told her. I hadn't really meant for them to be alchemy circles, I was just drawing them in dirt because I was bored. But I didn't bother to tell her that, it wasn't her business.

"I'm Jessica," she said suddenly.

She gave me her name so she wanted to know mine: equivalent exchange. "I'm Wrath," I told her.

She wrinkled her nose, "Wrath's a funny name."

I didn't reply I went back to my apple. Once I finished a resumed drawing in the dirt. I didn't want to make alchemy circles so I tried to draw a tree instead. She didn't go. She hung around watching me draw. Finally I got tired of waiting. "What do you want?" I asked her.

She had some expression on her face. It looked kind of like surprise but not really, I don't understand enough about emotions to know what it was. "Nothing," she said.

That couldn't be true. "You got me an apple- you want something from me, equivalent exchange."

She blinked, "I got you an apple because you looked hungry. I don't want nothing from you."

"Nothings free," I told her, shocked she was older than me and didn't know this, "Everything has a price, you give and get equally, and you only do something because you want something." She was giving me a funny look. I waited. She had to want something. There had to be something I could give her, I had to balance things- if you don't balance on your own then something will be taken from you in payment.

At last she answered me, "I guess, I guess all I really wanted was some company. I've been by myself for awhile now and I'm lonely. All I really want is for you to let me stay by you for awhile."

It was a funny exchange, an apple for letting her stay near but I still don't really get what equals what. If being nearby was what she said she wanted then I was happy to give it to her. I moved on from my attempted tree and started trying to draw a dog. She joined me sitting by the dirt using her fingers to draw starting to form a house. That was how we passed the afternoon, making pictures in the dirt separately but together.

AN: I wanted to try to write a character that had a skewered view on the world. Post series Wrath fit the bill. I will admit that I usually run from any story with an original character but Wrath was just too alone so I needed to create someone for him to interact with. I actually have an idea where I want this to go so there will be more chapters coming.