Disclaimer: I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist. I only own Aeris, Blossom, Boomer, Kiki, Mr. Mustang senior, and Aeris' mother. Andra and Laura are real people who have given me their permission to use them in my story.

Prolouge

A small girl stares at the wall thinking "Where did brother go? He should have been back by now!"

The girl's name is Aeris Lilian Mustang. Roy, her older half brother had left years ago to become a state alchemist. A month ago, after visiting home for a while, he was called back to Central suddenly. Being only around seven or so, no one would tell her what was going on.

Since no one would say anything about the matter, she figured that her best friend was going someplace dangerous. So she decided that she would ask her cat Blossom, since blossom was no ordinary cat.

Blossom was a pretty tabby cat that had been dumped on the front yard of the farm. Aeris and Roy both could understand her. That's why Blossom would know were he was; they were best friends, even if one of them wasn't human.

"Blossom, do you know where Roy is," asked the black haired girl. "Nobody tells me anything..."I know where he his. He went back to Central for an important reason which he would not share. The cat paused. Now don't cry, 'cause he'll be alright. Just wait and see, child. Blossom paused again, looking at the sky. Isn't it time for your lunch?

The girl grinned at the tabby before running off toward the house. I know Blossom, Aeris told Blossom silently. I was just curious. I wonder why Mommy and Daddy aren't really worried, at least, not about that. Right now Mommy and Daddy are worried about who will have custody of me and Kiki...

Chapter 1: Brother!

5 years later Aeris' P.O.V.

I can't remember much about that day, but all I knew was that I wasn't really worried about brother then. But now, I'm always worried.

Brother is almost a colonel now. He's hoping for a promotion soon. However, I doubt, with his attitude, that he'll get it.

Dad is sick, but we don't know what he is sick with. I hope it's nothing serious, but...we'll see. Grandma Donna is in the nursing home. She's been in and out of that place every few months. This time she's staying, which is a kind of blessing since we can't care for her anymore with dad being sick and all.

Mom has remarried to a guy name Mike. I can't stand Mike, but I have to put up with it for now. I hope that dad doesn't have a serious illness because of this factor. The main reason is that I will be dead with in two hours if I have to move in with them.

I have asked myself "Why?" so many times this last year. Why can't Mom just leave Dad, Roy and me alone? Why doesn't Mom believe me that I can open portals, thanks to Blossom's last gift to me, from anywhere? Why doesn't she listen? And why does Mike have to be a pain in the ass all the time?

I kept thinking about stuff like that all during the bus ride, and while I was walking to the house on my grandma's farm.

"Dad I'm home!" I shouted.

"Oh. How was school?" Dad replied sounding drowsy. Apparently I woke him up.

"Okay I guess... Anyway no more school for two weeks!" I threw my stuff down and ran over to my dad.

"Roy called," he added. "He asked if you would like to spend the week with him. It has been a while since you last saw him, and it is the first day of Christmas break. He even said that you could stay longer; if you wanted to."

"Really?! Could I?" I asked excited.

"Yes, I told him you could. All that's left is to call him and say "Okay, see ya in a day or two"."

"Yes!" I paused in my enthusiasim for a moment, remembering something. "But wait...won't Mom be upset?"

"She won't mind. You are old enough to make some important decisions, like which relatives you spend your vacation with. After all he is the Flame Alchemist. He should be able to look after you."

I couldn't help but shout with glee all the way to the room that my sister and I shared. I also wondered why he hadn't asked if Kiki wanted to come, too? Does he want to spend more time with me before a major mission? I couldn't guess. But what he planned for me was...strange... That's Roy, always annoying me.

"Dad I'm all packed!" I shouted from the stairs.

"Alright. First you need to say bye to your grandma. We'll drop by there first."

"'Kay!!"

While Dad went to drive the truck up, I went to say bye to the five horses nearest to the house. I would miss Stargazer, our newest foal. Stargazer likes the outfit I am wearing now, the blue tank-top with the typical pair of jeans, because she says, it has a nice color.

Leaving? Where? Miss you... the young foal transmitted.

"I'll be home by the end of the week. Then you and I can play all we want to, 'kay?" I told her as I wrapped my arms around her neck.

The little black foal, with a star shaped blotch on her forehead, nickered sadly before trotting off to her mother.

Alright time to go to Central... I told myself as we headed down the driveway.

mean while at Central... Normal P.O.V.

In his office, Roy Mustang paced back and forth. Worried about Aeris not wanting to be near him because he was a "Dog of the military".

"Sir. Don't worry," Hawkeye told her superior. "If she didn't want to be near you she wouldn't have said she was coming."

"Ah, Hawkeye. I know, but...she was kinda upset when I mentioned becoming a state alchemist..." Mustang said running his hands through his hair.

"Ughh...Roy, if she was only upset that you were leaving. Besides she was only two then. She probably doesn't even remember that year."

"You're right, Riza..." he agreed with a sigh.

"Now stop worrying, and get some rest. While you can..." Hawkeye laughed quietly to herself as she said this.

Hawkeye smiled as she left. He was being absurd; his sister loved him more than anything. Hawkeye had never seen a sister so fond of her brother. The two had first met almost two years ago. The girl was always smiling when Roy was around. And now, the female officer always thought of Aeris as a sister.

Shortly after Hawkeye left, a short, blonde boy entered with a six-foot armor.

"Hello Mustang..." said the blonde.

Roy looked at the two with a serious face.

"Hello Edward." Mustang greeted with a bland tone. "So, you know that you two are an exception when it comes to the exams, right?"

"Yeah, I think you told us this already." Edward replied with impatience.

"And you're sure you want to take them?"

"Yeah, I also think we metioned that, too."

"Look if you-"

Interrupting them was a knock on the door. A tall man came through with a short, black-haired girl with blue eyes.

"Brother!"

Roy stood and walked over to her.

"Edward, Alphonse, this is my little sister, Aeris. Aeris, these are the Elric brothers." Mustang said, motioning with his hand.

"H..Hello..." Aeris stammered with a slight blush.

"Hello, nice to meet you." the brothers said in unison.

"Well I thought you might want to see her right away, so I brought her here as soon as I could." said the tall man who escorted Aeris there.

"Thank you, Hughes." Mustang said.

With that the Hughes left to go back to other duties.

"So how is Dad faring?" Mustang asked.

"He's his same old crazy self." Aeris replied with a soft giggle.

Mustang chuckled before speaking again.

"And Grandma?"

"She's doing better."

"I heard that you had even more foals born on the farm this year. I bet you've been having fun."

"Yeah. They're so cute! On the other hand, they've been a pain..."

"Uh...Do you want us to leave asked the armor.

"Oh! I'm sorry. It's just Aeris and I don't get to see each other much anymore... You don't have to leave. Aeris do you mind waiting outside for a until we're done?"

"No, I don't mind at all, brother."

As Aeris walked out Ed couldn't help but think how pretty she was. Her skin seemed almost white, her eyes the clearest blue, her long black hair pulled back in a ponytail by a blue ribbon... He quickly snapped back to reality when he felt two pairs of eyes on him.

"Brother are you okay?"

"Yes I'm fine." the blonde muttered.

"Hmmm..." Mustang mused. "Now, about the exams..."

outside Mustang's office

It's so strange, there was a metal smell coming off of Ed... Curse Blossom for giving me her little "gift"! Aeris thought in a rush.

Aeris quickly banished that thought about her dead cat. She smiled at the thought of Blossom. Without warning the door opened, and the Elric brothers walked out. She waved at the two brothers as they walked down the hall. Alphonse waved back, but Edward walked faster.

He didn't wave. Aeris thought sadly as she quickly walked back to Mustang's office. Once inside, alone, she hugged her brother. She had missed him for so long. She was surprised how easily the tears came. When she began cry, Mustang walked her to a seat and had her sit down.

"Why are you crying?" asked Mustang gently.

"It's just...everything going...on lately at home, besides the...fact that I haven't...seen you in two years." She said looking down at the floor. She didn't like to cry; Mike had told her she was weak before, and she didn't want that to be true. "Roy, what happened to them?" she asked slowly.

"I think it would be wise to let them tell you in their own time." Mustang advised.

"I know, but it seemed like they lost something dear to them... And I want to help..." she added.

Roy looked down at the floor and thought for a moment. He sighed before looking up again. When he did, he looked his sibling in the eye. "Aeris I know you want to help them, but right now they need to straighten things out inside themselves first. Alright?" he said sternly.

She nodded and looked away. "Oh, Andra and Laura told me to tell you they said "Hi!"." Aeris said softly while brooding over something. Roy had to smile. Though he had only met her two friends once, he knew they had crushes on him.

What bothered him, though, was the way Aeris looked. Her eyes were unfocused like she was staring off into the distance, and she was awful quiet. That's something that doesn't happen often, and he had been around her since she was very small. He had heard from their father that the silent spells were occuring more and more often lately.

When the normally bright, smiling girl noticed the worried vibes coming off of her brother, she turned and smiled at him. "I was just thinking brother, so don't have a heartattack on me." she said trying to calm him. She couldn't tell him her secret, what she knew was bound to happen sooner or later, what she knew the doctor would say. The doctor would say that their father was seriously ill, and that he would die.

-outside HQ Edward's P.O.V.

That girl, who is she? I thought. Why do I have this feeling about her?

"Ed, are you okay?" Al asked me.

"Yeah." I muttered.

"Okay." Alphonse didn't sound convinced, though.

I sighed, then I started to think about her again. The girl was cute, even if she was Mustang's sister, and she wasn't taller than me.

"Brother, what are you thinking of now?" Al softly asked.

"Why?" I frowned.

"Well, your face is...red."

"Um...I-I was just thinking about...um..." I anwsered, blushing more.

"Oh...You were thinking about a girl...hmm?"

"No! No I wasn't!!"

"Then why did your face turn even redder?"

"Just stop, alright!"

"Okay..." Al said, then chuckled.

How come I can't stop thinking about that girl, Aeris? And her eyes, I haven't seen a clearer blue. They were so clear that I thought she had crystals in her eyes.

"Al, did you see her eyes?" I asked.

"Yeah, they were blue." Al replied.

"You didn't notice that they were almost clear?"

"Ed, they were just the normal color of blue eyes."

I sighed. Now he thinks I'm crazy...

"Nevermind." I said at last. I wasn't about to agrue all day.

I heard, suddenly, a soft voice in my head. Please watch out for her... She will need a close friend in the near future. The voice slowly faded, leaving me puzzled. Hughes was waiting outside in front of H.Q.

"Hey, how have you been doing? I'm supposed to take you Mr.Tuckers' house." he said while walking to a car parked just a little ways down the street. "You're supposed to stay there 'til the exams are over with."

"Um...Hughes, did you see Aeris' eyes?" I asked hoping he would say something that would prove that I wasn't crazy.

"Yeah they were blue. Just ordinary blue. Although Roy says they are a very clear blue, almost crystal like. Hawkeye has also said that. Some have said that her eyes are black, or green. She is a mystery..." Hughes replied. I sighed in relief. I wasn't crazy. "Why do you ask?"

"Well, Al and I were just talking about her eyes. He said they were just blue, and I said that they were a clear blue."

"Well you have sharp eyes don't you?"

No one talked for awhile after that. Then I thought of something. "Hughes, when is she leaving?" I asked quickly.

"I think in a week, but at the most two weeks." Hughes replied without an amusing tone.

She was a mysterious girl, that's for sure. And she had to leave in a two weeks. I had that much time to find out more about her. Which I knew was going to be difficult. One because I was already shy around her, and two because she may not feel comfortable talking about herself.

"Why can't I stop thinking about her?" I whispered, not meaning for that to slip out.

"Is that why you're so quiet?" asked Hughes from up front.

I didn't reply. I was lost in my own little world. Then Alphonse tapped my shoulder. I looked up and I realized we were there. We had finally arrived at Mr. Tuckers' house.