It was dark when Edward Elric regained consciousness. A piercing wind whipped through his clothing, drawing away heat and leaving him shivering. It smelled of rain and compost. Pulling his coat tighter around his small frame, he rolled onto his stomach and pushed himself up. He could barely see the outline of a stone big enough to shelter him. The boy crawled over and curled up behind it. It was no warmer behind the stone—the wind was the kind that ripped over the land from every direction, cruelly and mercilessly stealing heat from bodies wrapped in tattered clothing. Ed leaned his head back on the stone and looked up at unfamiliar stars.

Al, please let this have worked.

With that prayer dominating his thoughts, Ed stood up to find a warmer place to sleep.

--

When the sun peaked over the horizon and chased the wind away, Ed crawled out from under the bush he had squeezed into the night before. Blinking against the light, he looked around—and promptly wished he hadn't. He was in the middle of a graveyard. The stone he had taken refuge behind the night before had been a tombstone.

How fitting that someone who tried to bring another back to life would have their new beginning in a place where others rested for the last time.

It was a lazy morning—Ed was content with just sitting, watching his surroundings.. He had nowhere to be, nowhere to go, and nothing to do except sleep and try not to think. Ed knew that if he started to think, he would start to worry about what was happening in Amestris in his absence, whether Al was really back, and where he was. As the sun rose higher in the sky, Ed decided that it was probably time to find out where he was, and get out of the cemetery. Ed stood up and brushed twigs and dead leaves off his pants. Stretching as high as he could reach, he looked through his fingers at the sky. The morning sun glinted off his automail. That's right. He hadn't bargained for his limbs, just Al. Hopefully he could find a good mechanic in this place

"Are you a Ferrous Molkenbloder?"

Ed jumped, turning quickly to face the voice that had spoken. "What?"

"I said, 'are you a Ferrous Molkenbloder?'" The speaker blinked up at him with the biggest eyes, blondest hair, and whitest skin he had ever seen. It barely registered in his mind that she was shorter than he was. Ed was still trying to figure out what she had asked.

"What's that?"

"Oh. You must not be one, then. You'd know if you were."

"If I was what?"

"A Ferrous Molkenbloder."

"Which is…?"

"A lizard made of metal. They take refuge in marshes and bogs and attach themselves to people's ankles so if they step in a deep spot they drown. Then they eat them." It was said so matter-of-factly that Ed could almost believe her.

"Do I look like a lizard to you?"

"No, but I thought it a fitting question, seeing as you're made of metal, too. And you're short. If you're not a Ferrous Molkenbloder, what are you? How'd you become all metally?"

"Don't call me short. And mind your own business."

Suddenly a pair of huge eyes were only a few inches away from his own. "Oh, I'm not very good at doing that." The girl grinned in a way that caused shivers to run up and down Ed's back. It was rather creepy.

Leaning away slightly, Ed tried to escape in the nicest way he could. "Well, I'd better be going…"

"Why? You just got here." She looked at him with eyes that seemed to grow even larger. "I hate it when new friends just go away. And you seemed like an interesting one, too."

"Well, I'm sorry, but I really need to be going—," Ed said as he turned away from her. Then his stomach let out a tremendous growl.

"Are you hungry? My mother and I are going to be sharing a picnic soon. If you'd like to eat with us, I'm sure she wouldn't mind."

Ed looked at here warily. The creepiness of earlier seemed to be gone, but he was still unsure whether he could trust her. Maybe she was just weird. That had to be it. Besides, he was reminded as his stomach made its opinion known, the last thing he had eaten had been in Amestris.

"Alright, I guess I could stay for a picnic," he said.

"Really? That's wonderful! I was looking at your face just now and I didn't think you would, but you are, and it's going to be wonderful! I packed a really great lunch today!" She seemed so excited it made Ed wonder if she had any friends at all, let alone new ones for her mother to meet.

"Well, then, let's get going," he said and began to walk. Until he felt a small tug on his arm. He looked over his shoulder at the girl. "What?"

"Where are you going?"

"To where your mother is so we can eat."

" Mother's right here."

"Where?" Ed looked around. There was nobody else in sight. And there was no way she could see someone he couldn't—he was taller than she was, for crying out loud!

"Here." She pointed, and Ed followed her gaze. She was pointing at a tombstone. "Mother's right here," she repeated, looking up into his eyes and he could read a sadness in them that seemed to prove she wasn't pulling his leg.

"Oh. I see," he said. So. Her mother was dead. Well, it was at least one thing they had in common, and people had become friends over a lot less. "Alright. Let's eat with your mother." The girl smiled at him, her smile almost as big as her eyes.

"Thank you."

"No problem. I'll just wait here."

She looked at him. "Why?"

"Well, you have to go get the food, right? And it'll give me time to get acquainted with your mother." Ed thought it was logical—or at least as logical as he thought she'd understand.

To his surprise, the girl's big eyes narrowed slightly. "Are you a muggle?"

"Is that another lizard? Because I thought we'd gone through this already."

"No…it's not a lizard...," she stared at him, eyes contemplative this time. Ed stared back. "Well, I guess I'll go get the food, then," she said, suddenly cheerful, and gave him a last look before scampering off.

Ed watched her go, wondering why, if she knew she was going to have a picnic, she had left the food at home in the first place. He turned to look at the tombstone. With the girl gone, the graveyard seemed more creepy than when he had first seen it that morning. At least it wasn't cloudy. And foggy. That would be even creepier.

Ed turned to the girl's mother's grave, and, taking a deep breath, said, "Well, I guess it's just you and me. I'm Edward Elric, also known as the Fullmetal Alchemist, and I've just been thrown from Amestris to this place, and I have no idea where I am or if Al is okay, or if Winry is going to be alright, and I've just met your daughter, who is very nice but just a little creepy. I think I'm still in shock about what's happening and I can't believe I haven't freaked out yet. Yeah, that's about it."

The tombstone didn't respond.

Feeling a little silly for talking to a rock, Ed looked down at his hands. They were filthy from sleeping in the dirt. Along with his sleeves, coat, hair, face, pants, and any patch of skin or cloth that was on the outermost layer. Swearing, he pulled of his red coat and wiped his hands. Ed shifted his weight from foot to foot, and had just started wondering how long he was going to have to wait when the girl came back.

"I've got the food!" she shouted, plunking the massive basket down in front of him with less than a little ceremony. "My goodness, I don't know how muggles manage it! I almost died dragging that thing up here!"

There was that word again. "What's a muggle?"

"Nothing."

With full knowledge that what ever a muggle was, it wasn't 'nothing,' Ed decided that maybe it didn't matter all that much—especially when he saw a smoked turkey leg poking out from the cloth-covered basket. Lunch was finished off in about ten minutes flat, with Ed polishing off the last of the quiche as the girl began to pick up the dirty silverware.

Leaning back, his stomach pleasantly full, Ed stared at the sky. Small poofy clouds floated lazily across the bright blue sky, and the sun warmed his closed eyelids. It would have been a perfect day, if he hadn't been in a foreign world with no idea how he was going to survive. He heard the girl flop down on the ground beside him and opened his eyes slightly and found her looking at him with her huge eyes. It kind of reminded him of being in a zoo, except he was the animal under scrutiny instead of a zebra or a tiger or something. He closed his eyes again, and tried to ignore the feeling of being looked at. It was hard. Finally, Ed couldn't take it anymore. Sitting up in exasperation, and turning to look at her, he said, "What?!"

"I was wondering why you were sleeping on dead people."

Ed blinked.

"But you're right. It is very comfortable." She looked up from the ground and smiled. "After all, cemeteries are places of rest." The girl closed her eyes and sighed. "It makes you just want to stay here forever and ever and ever."

"Do you normally say such disturbing things?" Ed asked.

"They're the only things worth saying."

Not wanting to think about the logic of that statement, as well as feeling mildly freaked out, Ed stood up and made his way to a spot with no dead people underneath. The girl followed him.

"Where are you going?"

"To a spot with no dead people underneath."

"Oh. Why?"

"Because I don't like sleeping with dead people."

"Why?"

"Because it's creepy."

"Why?"

"Because."

"Why does everyone always answer my questions with that word?"

"Because you always ask why."

"Why?"

"How should I know, you're the one that asks the questions."

"Oh. So that's it." She seemed to think this a novel idea. The girl was looking at Ed like he held the answers to the universe. Undaunted by the odd look he was giving her, she asked him another question. "Do you have a place to stay for the night?"

Ed grimaced. "No. I'll probably just stay outside again tonight."

The girl nodded. "If you find a hollow tree, make sure you look for Weeping Warthound Whomps. They're nasty."

"What are those?"

"They're a type of wasp that's almost as big as your head and attaches itself to your hand so you get stuck in a tree and can't escape. Then they eat you." She was very serious, Ed almost believed her. Almost.

"Okay, I'll watch out for those. Anything else I should know about?"

"It's going to rain tonight."

Ed glanced up at the blue sky. "Right. Well, I'll be off then."

"Good bye."

Ed walked away as quickly as he could and still feel a little polite. He needed to find a place to spend the night, and he couldn't see any trees around except the ones in the graveyard. There was no way he was going to spend another night sleeping with dead people. Gradually making his way around tombstones and small shrubs, Ed managed to get out of the graveyard. He climbed up to a higher spot and looked around. There was a little patch of trees to his right. Turning to face the cemetery again, he shielded his eyes against the lowering sun. When his eyes got used to the light, he almost fell off the little mound he was standing on.

There was no cemetery. It was gone. No, not gone. It was as though it had never been there to begin with. It it's place was a brownish green patch of grass that looked as though it had been undisturbed for ages. There was no girl. No tombstone with her mother's name on it. No picnic basket. Nothing.

Ed's eyes grew wide. He turned and ran.

--

It rained that night. Typical. The best place Ed had found to take shelter was a small patch of trees. He bundled tighter into his tattered coat and cursed. The wind was no more forgiving than it had been the night before. It whipped between the trees and attacked the bare patches of skin left by the holes in his clothing. Finally deciding that if he wasn't going to be able to sleep, he might as well stay warmer by moving, Ed got up and started to walk. He didn't know how long he walked, or how far, but he did know that when he finally saw the light he was soaked to the bone, shivering, and colder than he had ever been in his life. He lowered his pride and knocked on the door. The door creaked open, and Ed decided he was cursed.

"Oh, it's you from earlier!" the girl with the big eyes and pale hair said excitedly. "When you left, I was wondering if you would be alright and if I would ever see you again, and I watched you for ages, and then you started to run, and I thought maybe you were being chased by a Black Knee-skinning Beetle, and then you would die when I didn't even know your name, but you're alright and you're here, and your knees seem to be intact, so you must come in and have a cup of tea."

Standing dripping in the rain, Ed looked blankly at the girl from earlier until she grabbed his hand and pulled him inside her house. Exhaustion overtook him, and Ed barely registered her shocked face as he slumped against the wall.

"Oh dear, oh dear. Maybe the Beetles got you after all. You'll have to stay here, of course. We have the only known remedy for their stings. Here, let me take your coat and come sit by the fire. Wow, you're certainly heavy. It must be the metal arm. Let me take your boots. Oh, you have a metal leg, too? Have you heard the joke about the metal leg named Horatio? Or was it a crystal leg named Archibald? I don't remember. I'll go get some tea. Be careful, it's hot. Oh, I should ask before I forget again. What's your name?"

"Ed. Ed Elric." He swallowed his tea and looked up at her from his seat by the fireplace. "What's yours?"

The girl blinked at him, her big eyes reflecting the flames. "Didn't I tell you already? I'm Luna. Luna Lovegood."

Utterly exhausted, Ed gave the girl named Luna his tea cup, leaned his head back, and promptly fell asleep.

Well, that's it. I have never written anything except essays before, so this was a bit of a stretch for me. But I really wanted to do this, so I did it, and here it is!! Yay!!

This kind of works as a one-shot, I think. If I feel like it/get enough people to tell me to do it then I'll probably make it longer. With more of a plot. Yeah. I kind of have a few ideas running around in my head. But it takes SO MUCH work to write a story! Kudos to you people that can actually do that!

I noticed I used a lot of dialogue. If it gets confusing, please tell me. I don't want people to be confused. It just felt kinda stupid writing 'he said', 'she said' all the time.

So, yeah. If you like it, say so, if you don't like it, say so (but nicely, please, and tell me why so I can improve).

Thanks for reading!

churu