Ah, update… took me long enough, didn't it? .;;

Enjoy.

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Ed frowned as they drove back to East City. Something about the day had seemed very off to him. Roy sat next to him in the back seat of the car. He looked at Ed with interest.

"Something wrong, Fullmetal?"

"Is it just me, or did all that seem way too easy?"

"Well, we had a lot working in our favor."

"That's not what I meant."

Roy looked at Ed again. "I know what you mean, but just because something's easy doesn't make it a problem. Sometimes you just get lucky."

"But I don't think this is one of those times. Considering all the effort they put into catching me the first time, why would this time be easier for us?"

"Fullmetal, you need to quit worrying. It's not like I think this is the end of this. We're going to be watching out for anything suspicious for a while. We'll also be keeping a closer eye on the three of you."

"Three?"

"Yes, you brothers and your little friend."

"She's not my friend," Ed muttered. "She hates the military."

"Did she say why?"

"Yeah, she's from Ishbal. Apparently she only managed to get out because she didn't look like one."

Roy's eyes narrowed. "I guess her eyes saved her life."

Ed tried to see what Roy was thinking, but the Colonel's face was emotionless. Ed gave up and leaned against the window. They were almost in the city.

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Once they arrived in Roy's office, the small group began discussing the events. Five minutes into the discussion, it became painfully clear that Ed would be of no help, so he was sent to hang out with Jess.

Ed was sprawled out on the couch when Jess started messing with his hair again.

"Will you quit it?" Ed asked, sitting up rather abruptly and pulling his hair a little too hard. Jess had a very good grip on it.

"No. I'm bored, and this is the only thing in this stinking place that amuses me."

"How is my hair that amusing?"

"I've never really met anyone with light hair before, or at least not anyone with hair as light as yours. It's pretty."

"So you're messing with it because you think it's pretty?"

"Yeah. It goes well with your eyes."

Ed rolled his eyes and lay back down. Jess continued to play with his hair until the door opened, and Roy came into the room. Ed sat up and checked his hair to make sure there wasn't anything too girly in it. There was, but he didn't realize it.

"All right, Fullmetal. Here's the deal. Those two are going to return to Coruscant or wherever with the suspects that aren't from this world. The one that is will remain here for us to deal with. The three of you will go as far as Resembool with the Jedi. Lieutenants Havoc and Hawkeye will be escorting you. You will stay there until we can figure out what's going on. Understood?"

"Yeah, I got it."

"Oh, and if you want a dress, I'm sure we can find you one."

Ed blinked. "Excuse me?"

Both Roy and Jess had smug grins on their faces. Since Roy happened to outrank him, Ed turned on Jess. "What is with you?"

Jess laughed. "I think it shows your more sensitive side, wouldn't you agree, Mr. Mustang?"

Roy was clearly enjoying this opportunity to taunt his young subordinate. "Indeed it does. All we need to do is give him a teddy bear and he'll look like an angel."

"Can we give him a halo?"

"Yeah, and wings."

"Oh! I have a blue skirt that would look perfect with that!"

"What is with you people?" Ed practically shouted before storming out of the room. He barely made it into the hall before Roy grabbed his shirt by the collar and pulled him back inside.

"All jokes aside, Fullmetal, I don't want you leaving this room. Lieutenant Hawkeye will stay with you for the night, and we'll have soldiers patrolling the halls, but I want you to be alert when you're actually awake."

"Yeah, yeah, I'll be alert."

"Good. I'll be back later with a halo and some clothes that would be more fitting for your sensitive side."

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Ed could hardly believe it. Despite numerous protests on his part, they had actually dressed him up in order for him to fit his 'sensitive side,' and to disguise him in case someone was still looking for him. Ed walked moodily through the train station with the little party, shooting death glares at Jess whenever he could.

As they got on the train, Ed reached up to his head to take out one of the ribbons. Jess smacked his hand before he could. "Hey, what do you think you're doing? Don't mess with the disguise, I spent all night working on it!"

"Yeah, right!"

Riza, who was sitting just behind Ed, turned around and began fixing one of the ribbons. "Seriously, Edward, don't take these out. It may feel ridiculous, but it's surprisingly good when it comes to hiding your identity."

Ed looked to his brother for help, but Al just shrugged. "It's true."

Ed gave up and folded his arms. "Fine. You just managed to kill off the last of my pride, but I guess it's worth it to you."

Ed heard a noise behind him. He sat up and looked at Riza, who was concentrating intensely on polishing her gun. He sat down again. He could have sworn she had been laughing.

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Winry was waiting for Ed at the train station. Her reaction to Ed's new look was about what he had expected. She took one look at him and covered her face. Ed could hear the sounds of muffled laughter.

"Oh, great, you too?" Ed asked.

Winry finally calmed down. "Sorry. I didn't know that you'd come looking like that."

"Yeah, well, neither did I."

Winry looked at the two Lieutenants accompanying Ed. She paused when she saw Riza. As they walked to the Rockbell home, Ed could tell the two were not going to be paying attention to him any time soon. When Jess got included in the girl talk, Ed reached a hand up to the ribbons. This time, Havoc stopped him.

"Nice try, but we're not there yet."

Ed put his hand down. "Oh, come on. We're two feet away."

"It doesn't matter. Listen, when we get there, you three need to stay inside. We have to take care of the deal with those prisoners, so I'll be watching you on my own. I'd appreciate it if you could make my life somewhat easier."

"What, did you miss out on another possible date because of this?"

Havoc didn't reply. Ed looked back and saw that the Second Lieutenant had tears in his eyes, and he assumed that the answer was yes.

As soon as he was inside, Ed reached once again for the ribbons. This time nobody stopped him, and Ed pulled them all out within moments. Pinako greeted the visitors with a smile. "So I guess you'll be staying here for a while?"

"That's right," Havoc replied. "I'm Lieutenant Jean Havoc. It's nice to meet you, Mrs. Rockbell."

As introductions were made, Ed meandered over to the board that held pictures from his childhood. His gaze wandered over them before resting on one that he vaguely remembered being taken. It was one of him and his brother. Their mother stood behind them, a smile on her face. Havoc wandered over to where Ed was standing and looked at the same picture.

"So that's what Al really looks like, huh?"

Ed nodded.

"I take it that's your mom with you there?"

"Yep."

"Is your dad in any of these pictures?"

Ed pointed to the one photo that had his father in it. Havoc looked at it, looked back at Ed, and looked at the picture again. "Yeah, I can see the resemblance."

Ed lost interest in the pictures and brought his suitcase to his room. After a while, he got bored and pulled out a ball he and Al and Winry had played with frequently in their childhood. He took it and began bouncing it against the ceiling. Before he knew it, he had begun humming a song they would sing when playing. They had stopped singing it around the time when Winry lost her parents, because they felt they were too old for the whole singing thing. Ed still remembered singing it for Obi-Wan.

"You know, you shouldn't be throwing that inside," Ed heard a familiar voice say from the doorway. Ed looked over and saw Obi-Wan standing with his arms crossed and a small smile on his face.

Ed turned back to the ball and tossed it into the air again. "Yeah, well, I can't go outside, so I guess you'll just have to deal with it." Before he could catch the ball, Obi-Wan used the force to bring it over to him. Ed sat up. "Hey!"

"I'm surprised you managed to keep this in such good shape," Obi-Wan said, walking over to the bed and sitting down next to Ed.

Ed took the ball and looked at it. "Yeah, I had to fix it a few times. Wait, aren't you supposed to be somewhere else?"

"I was told to stay here."

Ed sighed and fell back on the bed, the ball still in his arms. "Is my life really that important?"

"It would seem so."

Ed stared at the ceiling for a while. "I hate this."

"Hate what?"

"I never wanted my name to be famous, and yet everyone in the country seems to know who I am. And look where it's gotten me. I hate it. I just want to fix things, but it's starting to seem I'll never get a chance to."

"This will be over soon. I promise."

Ed stared at the ceiling, his eyes glazed over. After a while, he spoke again. "You never asked about what happened."

"I didn't need to."

"Eh?"

"You spoke about it on your own."

Ah, crap, I did… Ed thought.

Obi-Wan continued. "But I'd like to know the whole story," he said gently.

Ed held the ball in the air, studying it carefully as he thought about how to begin. Then he spoke, his voice quieter than usual. "I guess we did what we did because we were desperate. Funny, that seems to be the theme of our lives now."

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Yeah, it's short, but at least I got something up, eh?