Hi everyone :D Wow it's been a really long time :D hehe Yeah I'm really really sorry about that. Life got in the way an then I had other projects and well let's just say things were diffucult for awhile, but now they're not so much. So yeah. hehe I plan on updating this more often with Natsuki every other week and this being probably every other week to a month. Hey but it's still more often than once every four months. Summer is coming up and you all remember how much I cranked out chapters last summer :D It'll be the same this summer :D hehe

Word Count: 7,046

Release Date: Wednesday, April 20th, 2011 at like 2:30 in the morning :D

Also thanks to my beta ike1440 for being so nice and letting me ramble things to him over and over. hehe :D

I do NOT own Fullmetal Alchemist. If I did I'd have too many plushies to count :D hehe

To say that the air was stifling was an understatement.

Resting her head against the window was the only thing Aria could think to do in that moment. She couldn't talk to anybody in the booth with her and she didn't feel like reading a book. She couldn't ask someone to play a game of chess with her and life seemed boring.

Things had been well awkward between her and the brothers since they left Central. They were all stuck in one cabin, which caused the three to end up with Aria trying to put as much space between the brothers and her. The situation wasn't being helped with the fact that Winry was sharing the cabin with the three alchemists.

Winry ended up sitting with Ed the whole time chatting with him. Every once in a while they'd look to Aria to determine what she was doing or if she wanted to join in their conversation, but she never did. She kept her gaze strictly out the window, as if there was a wall between her and the rest of them.

Alphonse wanted to talk to her, but whenever he tried, he felt his words get caught in his throat. The suit of armor wasn't sure what to say. How could he get the words to form and say them in ways that wouldn't make his friend angrier? Every way he could think of saying he was sorry would end up with more problems.

It worried him; he was afraid that their little group would split because of this. Something about Aria's face when she had been talking to Roy scared him. It looked like she had been willing to stay with him. And that desperately scared Alphonse, Aria couldn't leave them, she was their friend. And the suit of armor had a good feeling that the one known as Sandy wouldn't approve of them splitting the group.

The guy seemed to have an invested interest in them.

Well an invested interest in Aria, we're more like her bodyguards. Al thought, watching Aria lean against the window, her long wavy hair reaching her elbows. Her face was smushed against the window, delicate pale hands settled in her lap. The sixteen year old girl seemed oblivious to the stares of Alphonse.

The suit of armor wondered what Sandy wanted with Aria. They knew nothing of his motives, hell they knew nothing of him. Sure they knew he could do alchemy and that he had some connection to Aria's past, but the wonders of how exactly weren't answered. Al knew that Aria knew some bits of how he was connected, but the rest were all a blank wall. And at the moment he couldn't ask.

He wanted to kick himself for that. He'd hurt her, he knew that. The youngest son of Trisha had a feeling he'd only helped along something that had been forming. Something that he couldn't quite place, but he knew he should be able to; it was important. Things in their little group would hopefully return to normal if he could only figure out was wrong, what had formed.

He swore he would.

Al would fix things.

"Look we're nearly in Rush Valley!" Winry was suddenly on her feet, sliding open the train's windows. The light blonde breathed in the fresh air, leaning out so far that her torso pretty much disappeared, except for her hands that could be seen supporting her weight on the windowsill.

"Will you get back in here? You're gonna get yourself killed!" Ed shouted, coming to wrap his arms around the girl's waist and pull her back into the train's cabin, narrowly avoiding a sign. "You almost got hit by a sign!" He growled out, as she began yelling at him.

"I was going to pull myself back in!" With her hands on her hips the blonde looked ready to reach for something to hit him over the head with, preferably her famous wrench.

"Pleas guys, we've survived this long without fighting, can't we just get off this train and have a happy last day together?" Al asked, holding his hands up in surrender to show he was just trying to make a suggestion.

"Fine." The oldest son of Trisha huffed, falling back down into his seat. His gold eyes seemed to focus on the quietest member of the group who seemed a little aggravated with the open window. Aria's expression was one of disgust at the window and the dust that was hitting her in the face, a deep frown along with her furrow of her brow.

"Yeah that would be nice." Winry noticed Ed staring at the other female, realizing that opening the window and annoyed the girl. At first she didn't realize why the window being open would bother anyone, but quickly understood when she got dust in her face. And the wind was blowing straight into Aria's face. "Aria I'm sorry!" The tallest blonde suddenly said, reaching for the window.

"What for?" Aria asked, watching the girl fumble for the window handle. Blowing a piece of her long hair out of her face, the teenage girl decided to help the other.

"I disturbed you when I opened the window." The wind blew the two's long hair in their faces and around them. Aria placed her hands above the other girl's, noticing that Winry had more color than she did. "You don't have to help me." The pale blonde said, pulling hard at the window that now refused to shut.

"It's no problem." The Renaldie girl gave a mighty pull with her strength, watching as it willingly snapped back into place as she wished. Sometimes her alchemy was good for more than punching people's lights out. The teen smiled at their handiwork, locking the window in case it decided to open again. She'd rather not have dust and sand in her face again. It wasn't fun.

"Thank you." The slightly tanner girl smiled, happy for the friendliness from the other girl. She might not have really liked her, but the Elric brothers did and they wanted her to be happy. So even if she didn't like the dirty blonde, in fact she pretty much believed she hated her, she'd gladly try and make her happy. For their sake.

"It's not a problem." The only daughter of the Renaldie family retook her dear window seat, resting her pale face against the glass. She wasn't in the mood to deal with any of them. Her thoughts drifted, before settling on the rest of the cabin's occupants.

She hadn't expected Winry to suddenly jump up and open the window, allowing dust and sand from the train to flare up and hit her in the face. Actually at first she'd been pissed, but realized that the Rockbell girl hadn't meant to do it. She had been just trying to look outside and get some fresh air; the cabin was stuffy.

What had really bothered her had been when Ed had wrapped his arms around the light blonde's waist. It had happened directly in her face, her face growing slightly red out of irritation at seeing the Fullmetal Alchemist hug the other girl. The female alchemist had wanted to push Winry out the train window and watch her hit the tracks below, disappearing out of her life forever. The sight of the two like that, with Ed's hands on Winry in any way made her mad. Angry. Enraged.

It didn't bode well with her.

I'll admit I was jealous. She sighed, watching the group fall back into a conversation. They were talking about getting dinner once they arrived and dropped Winry's stuff off at the shop where she apprenticed and stayed. She didn't think she was going to go with them, but instead just hang around the town. Her blue green eyes watched the trio talk and laugh and joke and instantly she felt different.

She felt like they were a million miles away from her, as if she didn't belong in their little group. Winry had claimed the spot the dirty blonde had held and as she watched them, she realized that she had never really truly held a place among them. It was like she'd just been keeping a spot warm for the automail mechanic while she was away and since she was back, she was ready to boot out the female alchemist and take what was rightfully hers.

Aria sighed, blowing her long hair from her face. She had half a mind to cut it all off, disappear from the Elric brother's lives and go back to Central and live with Roy. The idea pleased her and she desperately wanted it. To be free of the two brothers and all of their issues, but her body, soul, mind, her everything was caught in their web, entangling her, forcing her to stay with them.

Something about them held her tight in and she was never sure why. Before she would have been happy to stay with the brother's, happy to call herself a part of their little group, happy to fight with them, and if she had to, to even die with them.

She wasn't sure when she had become used to the idea of dying for one or both of the Elric brother's but she had a feeling it was back in her hometown, when she'd believed the brother's to be dead and fought so hard for their revenge. They'd become her constant companion, her friend, and in many ways her family. They had made her happy, happy to be alive, happy to be with them, just simply happy with every fiber of her being.

But now she couldn't stand to stay with them. It made her angry, sad, hurt, to stay in the little cabin of a train car. She could hardly stand to sit there, watching them be with Winry. It wasn't just Winry, but the things that had been said between the dirty blonde and Alphonse. Something felt broken, broken in facts that felt unfixable.

Sure Ed and her weren't fighting, but things with him were weird. He looked at her weirdly, as if there was something different about her. The dirty blonde hadn't changed, she had grew three feet, her hair hadn't turned purple, her eyes weren't red now, there was nothing different about her. So why did he look at her as if she wasn't the same Aria?

It bugged and scared her all at once. The female alchemist didn't look at the Fullmetal Alchemist any different that she had before. Nothing had happened between them. She still thought of him as Edward. Edward Elric who got on her nerves, who made her want to knock down walls, destroy public property, who could make her scream in terror when he was in danger from some stunt, who could make her smile and feel whole again just by smiling at her.

What? Aria asked herself, stopping her train of thought, furrowing her eyebrows. When had he begun making such an impact on her life? When had been able to make her feel so safe with just a smile? It's not true; he cannot make me feel so happy with just a smile. There's no way. Suddenly an idea popped into her mind.

"Hey Shorty!" She called him for the first time in days. The other three occupants of the train cabin snapped their heads in her direction, shocked. She hadn't spoken to them without first being asked a question or spoken to since before they'd left Central. Hell, she wouldn't even answer Alphonse's attempts to speak to her at all.

"I am not short!" The short alchemist glared, suddenly happy to hear her talk, even if it was just to call him Shorty. He enjoyed hearing her voice, it made him believe things were going to be okay again in their little group and that's all he wanted.

"Smile." The dirty blonde commanded. Her head tilted to the side as if in thought. She hoped he'd agree to her request. Something within her ached to see the smile and her mind demanded that she see if it was really true. Could his smile really have such an impact on her heart?

"Why?" Edward asked, tilting his head in the same direction she was. He couldn't understand why she suddenly wanted him to smile, when they hadn't talked really in days. He alchemist had attempted, but she'd pushed him aside and continued on in her own little world.

"Just do it." Flipping a piece of hair from her face, the sixteen year old dirty blonde once again imagined cutting it, chopping it to her shoulders, making the bangs go so short she never had to deal with them again. Maybe that would free her from something she suddenly felt trapped in.

"Fine." The golden blonde sighed, deciding to give into the pushy girl's demands. Who knew, this could be her own little way of fixing things. And if it made her happy, he would gladly go along with it. Making Aria happy was a good thing in his book, especially because when she smiled at him, it always made funny little flips in his stomach.

Aria watched the blonde's tan face, deciding that it would do nothing to her if he smiled. She'd just return the smile and it would be done and over with. She probably would just turn around and ignore their whole little debate and what had just happened, the dirty blonde figured.

But then he smiled; a large grin lighting up his tan face.

Aria's heart flared, her stomach flopping wildly with the smile and before she could help it, she was smiling as well. Well that was a fail, an epic fail. The teenager shook her head afterwards, trying to dispel the illusion he'd placed over her. Somehow his smile had brightened up her day, making her downtrodden mood skyrocket.

"-ant me to smile anyway? Earth to Aria." Ed was waving his tan hand in her face, his finger only a few inches from her face. He'd gotten ready to poke her nose.

"What the hell are you doing?" Reaching up, the Renaldie girl smacked his hand away, growling at the fact that she'd been so distracted.

"I asked why you wanted me to smile anyway." The oldest Elric sighed, watching the teenage female alchemist frown. Something about her frown made him unhappy and he wanted to make her happy.

"I just wanted to test something." Turning back to the window, Aria watched the desert roll by, the town of Rush Valley getting closer with each passing second. Her thoughts were turned toward getting to Xing and then coming back and staying with Roy.

"Test what?" Cocking his head to the side, the blonde poked his friend in the arm, trying to get her attention. He didn't like her staring out the window as if the world was on her shoulders.

"None of your business."

Al watched the two go back and forth, the feeling in the cabin changing. The two seemed to be fixing things in their own little way, even if it was strange. His brother looked more annoyed by the second and Aria seemed to be enjoying the little exchange

"It is! You're using me as a guinea pig!" The Fullmetal Alchemist glared at his dirty blonde friend, poking her arm again, causing the girl to turn and glare at him, her attention completely on him.

"Do they do this often?" Winry asked, her hand over her mouth, so she could whisper to Al without the other two cabin's occupants hearing. The girl was leaning towards the large suit of armor, trying to keep as far as possible from the two squabbling teens.

"Yeah, it's their way of flirting." Al whispered, watching his brother get in Aria's face. He could have smiled if he could have, but sadly the headpiece of his body couldn't do so. In his large metal hands, he twirled around the charm bracelet he'd given the female alchemist, wondering when she would reaccept it.

"You'd think they would go on a date and eat dinner together, not fight." The automail mechanic said, realizing that Ed was happy. Even while fighting with the other girl, there was a happy glint to his eye, a slight smile on his face.

"Yeah, but you know Ed; he never does anything the normal way." Shaking his head, the youngest son of Trisha realized his words were true. His brother was just strange.

"That's a geek for you." Winry agreed, watching the confrontation, smiling as she did so.

"Well you are the size of a guinea pig." Aria smirked, watching Ed's face go bright red in anger. His mouth opened and closed a couple of times from anger. She wasn't sure what he was going to do; she'd really offended his pride to shut him up.

"Well at least I don't look like one." The golden blonde finally said, with a look that said he was quite proud of his comeback. For some odd reason with the look on Ed's face, Aria felt like smiling. She was starting to feel better, happier.

"Thanks for the compliment." The Renaldie teen smiled, gleefully. There hadn't been an obvious retort to the Elric's comment, but she'd finally found one that worked. The look on his face was a good enough pleasure to know her idea had worked. Edward Elric was stumped.

"How am I giving you a compliment by saying you look like a guinea pig?" The golden blonde was so confused. He had no idea what in the hell she meant and her smug look made him annoyed. Smugness was emitted from her every pore and he wanted to know what was so damn funny, especially when he smirked.

"Do you think guinea pigs are cute?" The question was serious and her blue green eyes met his golden eyes. There was something she was waiting for and it only confused the male alchemist more.

"I guess so." As soon as the words were out of his lips, the alchemist knew what he'd done, his cheeks tinted pink.

He'd called Aria cute.

"So thanks again for the compliment." Showing off a large smirk, she turned back towards the window, a few of the signs from Rush Valley being able to be read from the train.

Ed sat flabbergasted for a minute, both shocked and annoyed that she'd gotten one over on him. But then that wasn't a new thing, yet the alchemist really hated letting her win one of their little arguments. He hated seeing that smug look that would make its way onto her face. She was hell to deal with for hours afterward; simply knowing she had won was enough to make her cocky.

Then an idea popped into his head causing Edward to smirk.

"Actually I think guinea pigs are cute, but they're also annoying with their squeaks, they're normally fat too and that makes them cute, plus they like to pee everywhere, and they shed…" Ed began, thinking of another few things the tiny little animals were known for.

Suddenly a nearby bag was thrown at him.

"I get the point, now shut it!" The dirty blonde growled, sitting back down into her seat, her arms crossed over her chest with her lips pouting. Long dirty blonde hair hung in her face and the girl tried blowing it out of her eyes angrily.

"Alright I'll admit you're one of the non-peeing cuter guinea pigs." Ed chuckled, enjoying the way the Renaldie girl was pouting. He hadn't seen her so lively in a while and it brought hope back to his chest.

"Don't make me hurt you." Aria growled, sinking lower in her seat.

Edward thought that just maybe things could return to the way they were.

The town of Rush Valley was bustling like always.

And of course like normal Ed and Al were swarmed by automail mechanics wishing to examine Ed's arm and leg. Some were even trying to take it apart and find an excuse for Ed to come to them for repairs and such. They all flustered over Al and his wondrous completely automail body. Eventually Ed's temper got the best of him and he flipped out on the people, causing them all to leave the group of teens alone like they wanted.

"You have such a temper Ed." Winry said, as she guided them towards the shop she apprenticed at.

It had been decided that the group would stay one night at the shop and then Ed, Al, and Aria would head out the next morning on the first train to the edges of the country and then travel by camel across the desert and when they finally got to Xing, they'd catch a ride to the capital. It was going to be a long trip, but they'd already agreed to it, making sure to map it out every bit of the way.

"I hate those damn gear heads swarming me like I'm a piece of meat. It's annoying." The sun beat down on his hair and Ed wanted to go inside quickly. He was hot and irritable, to be able to relax while eating all of his favorites.

"I have to admit it's not the most fun situation." Al agreed, wishing he could feel the heat on his skin. It was one of his greatest desires; to feel the sun on his skin once again. His glowing eyes noticed that both his older brother and Aria were sweating, their hair, especially the female alchemist's, was sticking to their skin.

"Well we are in Rush Valley, automail capital of the world!" The pale blonde threw her hands up in the air, gazing at some of the nearby displays of automail, gawking over it. The three teens followed after her, since she was the one in charge of where they were staying that night.

"How in the hell are you not hot?" Ed asked, using his right arm to wipe some of the sweat from his brow. He really wished she'd hurry along and let them into the nice air condition rooms they were staying in.

"She's used to living here. If you lived here, the heat wouldn't bother you nearly as much." Aria told him, raking a hand through her long hair, attempting to untangle the knots, but she realized that they weren't coming out without a fight. And at the moment she wasn't willing to fight her hair, deciding to let it hang every which way in a drenched sweaty mess. "I thought you would know that idiot."

"Well excuse me Miss. I know everything." Ed snorted, noticing that the female alchemist looked ready to punch someone's lights out, but he didn't mind taking that chance. The oldest son of Trisha Elric actually liked arguing with her.

"I do know everything, don't forget it." She felt like sticking her tongue out at him and in a show of immaturity, she did. The Fullmetal Alchemist rolled his eyes at her, continuing after his childhood friend and brother.

Alphonse and Winry were ahead of them by quite a distance, mingling though the crowds. Edward noticed that his brother looked happy to be with the mechanic and he slowed down his steps to allow them some time together; he wanted his brother to be happy.

Aria kept walking, her mind a million miles away. The female didn't know what do, she kinda felt awkward with the fact that she was more of a third wheel in the group. She hardly noticed that Ed had slowed down and was trying to give his brother time with the girl he liked. That was until her hand was grabbed and she was jerked backwards.

"What the hell?" Turning, she raised her free right hand, ready to punch the person who had grabbed her hand, until she saw it was Edward.

"Relax." The golden blonde smiled at her, easing her into a state of calm. "We should hang back a bit and let them have their time together." They were not stopped in the middle of the street; Ed's automail hand grasping her own pale hand firmly but gently.

"I want to hurry them along and get them back to Winry's, so I can eat, take a shower, and go to bed." The teen started walking towards the other two members of their little group, but was pulled back again. Glaring at the male alchemist she tried to wretch her hand out of his, but he held tight.

"I'll make you a deal." He had a feeling that there was no way she was going to listen unless he made it worth her while.

"It better be worth it." Aria's eyes strayed to Ed's golden eyes and to their intertwined hands, wondering why the tan alchemist refused to let them drop. Her face went a tad red at the fact, annoyed and embarrassed. This was weird, she had a boyfriend, she shouldn't hold hands with another guy.

"I'll pay for dinner if you leave them alone, no matter how much of a bill you ring up." Lifting an eyebrow, Edward hoped she'd take the offer.

"Bribing me with food huh?" Putting her free hand on her hip the girl thought it over. She would get free food as much as she wanted out of the deal and being with Edward wasn't so bad. "Anything I want?" Her own eyebrow lifted in question.

"Yes anything and as much as you want." Rolling his eyes, the male alchemist turned and began walking in the opposite direction of Alphonse and Winry, pulling Aria along after him towards the direction of the business and restaurant direction.

"I never officially agreed." The dirty blonde mumbled, weaving after the golden blonde in front of her. The crowds seemed to suddenly begin coming out, people wandering the streets looking for dinner, seeing friends, and just going about their business. The night life had begun.

"You never disagreed." He tugged her hand again, wishing he could feel her skin on his own, instead of her feeling his cool metal automail. Hearing her curse behind him brought a grin to his face and he silently chuckled.

"You better not complain when I empty your wallet." Aria said; the cold automail feeling good on her overheated skin. She allowed him to pull her along into a restaurant, the bell over the door ringing loudly, announcing to all that two more customers had entered the establishment.

"Don't worry I have more than enough money to pay for your weight in food." Ed grinned, waiting for the greeter to seat them.

"Hello how are you today?" Her eyes scanned them, her lips pressing together tightly when she took in their appearance. She didn't look too pleased to allow them in, as if they weren't good enough to enter.

"We're fine and hungry." The Fullmetal Alchemist rolled his eyes, looking at Aria from the corner of them, realizing she was doing the same. They both watched her nose scrunch up in disgust.

"Of course, right this way." Clearly the woman wasn't happy, but she led them to a table a few feet away from all the rest of the tables. Clearly she really was offended by their smell. "You waiter shall be with you in a minute." The woman hurried away from them quickly, glaring at them as she went.

As soon as she was out of sight and earshot, both blondes began giggling hysterically, which eventually elevated to full blown laughter. Ed had let go of Aria's hand and now he was using his automail hand to bang down on the table, his other hand holding his gut. Aria had her right hand over her mouth attempting to stifle her laughter, with her left hand holding up her chin.

"She acts like we're going to make everyone else leave with our stink." The dirty blonde female smiled after finally quieting her laughter. The girl didn't think she stunk.

"I don't know about you, but I won't." Edward looked at the female across from him; her hair was matted, her clothes were covered in dust, and she looked tired, hot, and sweaty. He had a feeling that he didn't look any better, considering he was just as hot as she was.

"If anyone stinks it's you." She was smiling as she said this and Ed grinned, happy that he could spend this time with her. He'd been afraid that whatever was going on with her, whatever she wasn't telling them, whatever had happened between Al and her would impact their relationship. That their little group would always be fractured, but the more he got her to smile, he realized that things could be fixed if he tried hard enough.

"If I stink then we both do." Aria looked over her friend, noticing how exhausted he looked, how so much of his hair had escaped his customary braid, dust covering his clothes, and he looked ready to fall over.

"Hi, I'm your waiter and I'll be serving you." The male server also seemed to be scrunching his nose up, but he seemed to have more manners than the greeter. He smiled at them and took their orders of food and drinks without a tone that suggested that they should get out.

"I really love how much food we ordered." The Renaldie girl giggled; the waiter's eyes had gone big when they kept listing things off the menu. She only giggled harder when she realized that she wasn't paying for any of it.

"You're just trying to make me spend all my money." Huffing, Edward blew a piece of his bangs out of his face. He really didn't mind, but he found it rather funny that she was attempting to make him broke.

"You said you had more than enough to pay for my weight in food." She reminded him, taking a large gulp of her ice tea. The tea hit the spot, seeming to help cool down her body.

"I didn't think you were actually going to try and test that." Finishing his own tea in one sing, he hoped their waiter would bring more soon. He felt like he was dehydrated and needed all the liquid he could get.

"You should know by now Elric that I test everything." Tracing her right index finger along the grooves in the table, she smiled lightly, before taking another swig of her drink. Something about this dinner felt nice, like things were normal to her.

"True, I still don't know why you eat so much." Tilting his head, he leaned it on his flesh hand, watching the girl in front of him. She seemed to be debating something in her mind, wondering if it was worth telling him.

"I metabolize things faster than I should." She said, there was no harm in telling Ed anything. Aria knew she'd have to get rid of all her alchemy secrets soon. She'd promised to help the Elric brothers and then after Xing, Aria was determined to go back to Central, cut the two brothers from her life and then enjoy what she had.

And then suddenly Aria was put back into reality.

The whole night and any time Ed had spoken to her, Aria had been not really been in reality. She'd been in a world where nothing had changed between their small group. Sure Alphonse and her hadn't talked, but they were gonna get over that. Things were going to be okay. She'd fallen back into her habits with the boys; Ed and her had had their regular conversations, the ones where she'd blush, the ones where they teased and bantered back and forth.

But that couldn't happen. It all had to end. She was going back to Central after she told Ed and Al everything and had helped them with their research. She was going back to Roy; they were going to live together. She wasn't going to stay with the boys, Aria had made a promise to the boys and then made another one to Roy and she already made her choice, to be with Roy. The teenage girl would fulfill her promise to the Elric brothers and then also fulfill her promise to Roy.

Aria found that she almost wanted to break her promise to Roy, simply because of the moments she had with Edward. But she couldn't do that and what did a few moments with Ed mean? They didn't happen very often and though Ed made her happy, Roy made her happier. She wanted to stay with Roy, she preferred Roy over Edward.

Or at least that's what she told herself.

"Aria! Aria! Aria!" Suddenly she was broken from her inner thoughts, by the male across from her shaking her shoulder and saying her name over and over.

It scared him that suddenly she seemed to go comatose. No matter what Ed would do she wouldn't answer him. Her eyes had stayed locked on his face, wide and full of emotion. The Fullmetal Alchemist could tell what raced in her eyes, indecision, shock, sadness, and hurt, but he couldn't understand why. Had he said something that had offended her? No matter he said her body wouldn't respond or move, he'd shook her, but her muscles stayed locked rigidly in place.

And then her body had seemed to shake and shudder, her blue green eyes shut briefly, opening and closing a few times in confusion as if she'd just awoke. He'd been happy to see her okay and the golden blonde haired teen was tempted to go around the table and hug her, to make sure she was okay, because there was something really weighing on her. Something that he had a feeling that she wasn't going to tell him, even if he got down on his hands and knees and begged.

"Are you okay?" Furrowing his brow, the oldest Elric brother had his flesh hand atop her left one, stroking the flesh there. He hadn't really realized he'd been doing it, but he gave it a squeeze to hopefully show the girl that he was there for her if she needed him.

"Fine." Aria snapped, pulling back her hand and holding it to her chest. She didn't want to be touched by Ed or anyone. Actually what she wanted was to get into a shower and allow the hot water to cascade down her back, washing away the grime, dirt, and sweat from the road and then allow herself to collapse into bed and sleep for a long amount of hours.

"Are you sure?" Slowly he withdrew his hand from the table where it had hit the wooden surface when she'd pulled her hand back, frowning. Whatever was suddenly bothering her was serious; it wasn't something that was simple.

"Yes." She snapped again, wishing the food would come so she could eat and leave. The idea of just getting up and leaving was starting to sound better and better to her as she sat there with Edward's questioning golden gaze stuck on her. Can't he look at something else? Why is he staring at me anyway? Let him look at something else. Her mind wondered, her hands knotting themselves in her lap where they were placed after she'd pulled them from Ed's own warm flesh hand.

"You're really worrying me." His golden eyes pierced her, holding her in place, forcing her blue green eyes to stare into his own. Edward wanted to figure out what was going on with her, more than ever. He wanted to know why he suddenly was so angry, so annoyed when only a few minutes before they'd been laughing and joking together as friends.

"Don't." Her voice was harsh, angry, the type of voice that isn't yelling, but really is just as bad, because it portrays what the person is really feeling, that they want to yell, but just don't because they're in a public place. And even if it's used in a private, it's just as effective, if not more so, because it shows how serious the person really truly is.

Edward Elric was so shocked that when his dinner partner and friend got up, he didn't even stop her. He knew it was futile to go after Aria, she was quick on her feet and he had a feeling that when he caught up to her, things would be said, things that would make everything worse. They'd fight and he had a feeling it would get physical; something he no longer ever wished. To spar with the girl was fine, but this would become what had happened in Carasole, Aria's hometown, something bloody and filled with hatred; that was the last thing he wanted or needed.

"Here is your order Sir." The waiter chose just the right moment to plop down the small mountain of food that had been ordered. "I take it the young lady is angry with you?" The guy asked, handing Ed another drink.

"Disgusted is more like it." And Ed knew Aria was disgusted or at the very least he believed so. Whatever he had done had really set her off, whatever was bothering her had made her foul and grumpy to all.

"I suggest flowers and chocolates Sir and if you're really feeling sorry then a heartfelt note apologizing for whatever you did." The waiter suggested, watching the door that was still swinging back and forth from the angry dirty blonde rushing through it.

"How do you know I did anything?" The oldest son of Trisha wondered if this was how Aria had felt when Al had accused her of doing something for Winry to not like her. If it was then he completely understood her point; it was horrible and he bet coming from someone you cared about was much much worse.

"Girl's don't get that mad for no reason." The man shrugged his shoulders, as if casting the matter off. "If you need anything else don't be afraid to ask." And then the waiter was heading back in the direction of the kitchen.

Edward watched him go, feeling like he should take the guy's advice.

That and that he should really just get the check, because he didn't feel hungry anymore.

"I really need to learn to understand girls." He said under his breath, staring at the food covered table. All of it looked good and he knew Aria would have loved it, but he really didn't want to take one bite. "Fuck." The word slipped out and he banged his head against his automail hand, feeling very much like the idiot Aria always called him.

He had to figure out what was wrong with them.

"Why does everything always start looking up and then fall to pieces?"

Roy sat in his office enjoying the breeze from the open windows. A large stack of unfinished paperwork lay on his desk with a much smaller finished pile resting beside it. Yet the Flame Alchemist just couldn't bring himself to continue his paperwork when it was such a nice day outside. It was a crime to have to stay indoors working on such beautiful days he thought, wishing he was able to sneak out and enjoy the good weather.

"Mustang Sir!" Hawkeye came in, eyeing his posture – he had his feet resting on his desk, one crossed over the other, while he leaned back in his chair, his hands behind his head – and the stack of unfinished paperwork disdainfully. She looked ready to pull her gun on him, but it seemed there were more important matters at hand.

"Yes Hawkeye?" Mustang asked, smirking at her glaring eyes. If she was going to shoot him, he'd long since learned that it would be in the first ten seconds upon entering the room; he was in the clear from any bodily harm.

"Aria Renaldie is on the phone; she says it's urgent." The blonde gun master said, her eyes narrowing at the growing smirk on her commanding officer's face. He would use any excuse to get out of his paperwork.

"Alright thank you Hawkeye, I will get right on this urgent call." Inside the commander was all too happy to talk to his girlfriend in favor of ignoring his dreadful paperwork, picking up phone. Riza shook her head, wondering how the dark haired fire lover had ever gotten this far in the military with his poor work ethic and childish ways.

"It's line three, Sir." And with that the gun wielding officer left the room, but not before sending one more dirty look over her shoulder at Mustang, sending him a silent message that she would get him later for his lack of work. He shrugged his shoulders; at least his punishment would come later rather than sooner.

Putting the phone up to his ear, the Flame Alchemist asked, "So anything new to report Aria?" He was at least trying to make it sound official; he wasn't supposed to use the military's phones for private use.

"No, we just stopped in Rush Valley to drop Winry off and then we're heading to Xing tomorrow morning." Roy smiled, her report was done, so now they could talk about them. He'd missed talking to her.

"When should I expect you back, I want to have our apartment clean." The black haired man smiled at the thought. Who would have ever thought that Roy Mustang, the Flame Alchemist would play house?

"Never." Her voice came through seriously, as if they were talking about life or death.

"What?" Roy could hardly believe his ears. What in the hell was going on?

"I'm not coming back to Central." Aria said, her voice steady and clean through the phone.

"Why the hell not?" Mustang growled into the phone, his tone angry. What was going on? Only a few days before she'd promised to come and stay with him in Central. What had changed her mind?

"There's someone else."

There was a clicked then the dial tone, showing she had hung up.

Roy slammed the phone down so hard it shattered.

Roy had lost to Edward after all.

haha Finally updated! haha But at least I don't wait like a year and a half to update! I know people who do! MUHAHAHA! So yeah you all think you know what's going on, but only me does! hehe

If anyone would like to draw Aria or any scene from this go ahead, but please jsut show it to me. I will love ya forever :D hehe

Also thank you so very much for the reviews and favorites and alerts for this story. It really means a lot to me. You don't even know :D

Well until next time!

-j.d.y.