It's a cold and lonely road
But I'm gonna hold on
'Til I see you again

**********

Going North in her car only took her so far and when it ran out of gas she decided to hide the car away in the mountains, quite literally in fact. She created her own cave, grabbed her stuff, and left the cave before sealing it. There was almost a zero percent chance any passing patrol would see her car, the other minuscule amount belonged to a random alchemist happening by and noticing the small transmutation marks. But still, it was very unlikely. 

Aiden did find the time to change her appearance and, with a few transmutations, create hydrogen peroxide, effectively bleaching her hair. She didn't care all that much about her hair in general but she knew that too much bleach would ruin it, but if she didn't want to be recognized it had to be done. So she took it in stages and the end result was... well there was a reason she hadn't gone blonde since her first year of high school. It just didn't fit her as well as her black hair did.

"God I hate my hair," she sighed, pulling it into a clip to keep it out of her face. Then she adjusted the frames on her face, annoyed that they kept slipping down but that was just how glasses were.

The clopping sound of a horse and the rickety rocking of a cart being pulled reached her ears and she absently scooted over to the edge of the road to give the horse and cart room to get by.

"Huh? Well where're you going?"

Aiden paused and looked at the man behind the horse and the people in the cart behind him. She looked around and dumbly pointed at herself. Was he talking to her?

"Yeah you, I asked where ya were headed."

She blinked in surprise. "Oh, uh, North City and then to Jobitu."

The man whistled lowly. "That's a long walk on foot."

"Yeah... but I missed the train and the next one isn't for another week. I sort of have a deadline."

"Family reunion or somethin'?"

Or something. "I guess you could call it that."

The man nodded to the back of the wagon. "Hop in," he said.

"Are you sure? I mean, I'm used to walking long distances." A lot of military training made sure of that, not to mention her own self-discipline in keeping fit.

The man smiled and nodded once more to the cart and Aiden thanked him profusely, but the man said it was no trouble and he liked helping out those in need. So she took up residence between the tail end of the cart and another woman who grinned and introduced herself as Amanda. The other five people in the cart included Harrison, an older fellow visiting his new grandson. Alex and Dwight were fraternal twins traveling with their mother Lila, and they were on their way to North City as well, coming back from a trip to the South. The last person was a little boy named Noah who didn't talk much. He was Amanda's kid but they didn't say where they were going so she didn't ask.

Hours after dusk, Aiden, Lila, Alex, and Dwight all hopped off the cart at North City's train station as the last passengers and bid the man farewell after many more shows of gratitude. Aiden's train was to leave in half an hour and she felt indebted to the man with the cart even more. Lila and her family's train wasn't due to leave until three in the afternoon the next day. From there the four split and wished one another well.

In the time she spent waiting she bought the heavy coat, boots, and winter pants she wasn't able to pack in her hurried state, along with food for her journey. Boy was she starving! She almost moaned in delight the moment she tasted the sweet honey bun. But the woman at the counter was giving her a weird look so she kept her sounds to herself. Though she did have to commend the woman for keeping such a variety of items in her store.

She made it back to the station with time enough to grab a newspaper and find an empty seat. Evidently not too many people were headed to Jobitu at such a late hour. Time ticked by and Aiden set aside the newspaper in her suitcase as she slowly fell asleep against the window of the train, the clickety-clack of the wheels soothing her nerves to such a point that she fell into a deep sleep. She was startled from her sleep by the conductor who notified her that they were ten minutes from Aslamem, a place to eat and stretch if needed.

She didn't spend too much time asleep but boy did she sleep like a baby! One thing she discovered after joining the military was that, even though most of the time she had no desire to go places, Aiden really did love riding on trains. She couldn't pinpoint what it was but she always found it relaxing. Roy, Maes, and the rest of the team found it amusing how she could be on high alert one moment, but if they put her on a train she was bound to be knocked out ten minutes later. She almost shot Jean when she caught him and Breda betting how long it would take until she fell asleep. There was nothing she could do about Riza.

Aslamem was a nice place but she didn't stop to smell the roses. She stayed on the train and read the newspaper from the night before. Jobitu was still another day away and she spent most of that time snoozing and resting up for her eventual hike through the snow.

Jobitu was almost like the town she grew up in. Bustling, but not too crowded came to mind. There were people about but given that it was still early morning, the streets weren't too crowded. And from what she could see, the city was a close-knit community, if the bunch of children laughing and playing about was any indication.

A quick check-in with Maes told her what the newspaper already had; that she'd been reported as missing. Though from what he could gather from her network, only the military knew she was wanted for desertion, questioning in the disappearance of Major Katy Erwin, and negligence of duty for not having actually reported her alchemist as missing. Technically they couldn't get her for the last one as she had turned in the paperwork, it just hadn't been filed.

From there she had a quick talk on the phone with Jean. He was still getting used to using his wheelchair to get around, but according to his mom he was taking it like a champ. Aiden did her best to cheer him up but there was only so much she could do over the phone. He didn't ask where she was and she didn't so much as hint at the cold weather. Though she did ask how his cousin Mario was doing in his stay across the desert. He said that Mario was making good with the people there and they may be able to set up a deal between their businesses.

In short, Maria Ross was doing just fine for herself in Xing.

"Anyway, uh," he said as he tried to end their conversation, "thanks for saving Hughes."

She hung up. Whoever the hell clued him in could fucking deal with it because she was not going to. They opened that can of worms, now they could lie in it. Fuck that shit, she was out.

Without further distraction, she went to find a local map of the area or at the very least a place that sold Northern maps. The town she was looking for, Asbec, was almost directly North. On a summer day the distance would take close to three hours but given that it hadn't officially become winter yet and there was a good five inches of snow on the ground, Aiden estimated her walk to take up to but not exceeding six hours. Including breaks of course. She had grown up in a state that got a lot of snow so hiking in the powdery white stuff wasn't all that new to her.

Still... She cast a glance at the large clock at the center of the train station. She had better get a move on if she wanted to get there by three. So she took a deep breath, rolled her shoulders to sort out any kinks, and began her walk into the white wilderness.

An hour outside Jobitu she transmuted her suitcase from its regular rectangle appearance to a more leathery and flexible bag that she could sling over her shoulder like she would any other backpack. By the third hour she was panting and stopped under a tree to rest. She could clearly remember why she hated trekking in the snow.

"But the voyage is halfway done!" Aiden cheered weakly to herself, throwing a fist pump into the air. She sat under the tree drawing this and that into the snow until she could feel her legs once more and resumed her pace. "Although I'll just let you know," she said to the stick she'd broken from the tree, "I hate the glare the snow makes when the sun is out. I can't even wear sunglasses because you can't wear those over regular glasses and it fucking sucks."

The woman continued her rambling for another hour before she abruptly stopped and threw the stick away from herself. "This is why I'm not supposed to be alone."

The snow continued on for as far as her eyes could see, aside from the very obvious mountains surrounding her, but even they were covered in white. As Aiden stepped over the top of the hill she'd been climbing she smiled as a small village came into view not too far away. Finally, her body screamed. She took another step forward only to realize there wasn't anything to step on.

In a gut-wrenching moment she fell and her heart leapt into her throat. Then she noticed how she was screaming. Aiden plowed into the slope that had been below her and continued rolling, yelping as she landed on rocks and small branches sticking out. As her world was blinded in white she gripped tightly onto the glasses she'd managed to grab before she started rolling. Then she was airborne and falling once more and for a moment, Aiden thought about how she was going to lose her lunch. How original.

Suddenly she wasn't falling anymore and whatever - whoever - caught her grunted under the abrupt increase of weight. Her mind was whirling and confused and her body was shaking not because of the cold, but because of the shock and trauma she was beginning to feel after her ordeal. When her mind finally stopped spinning she opened her eyes to look at her savior. 

"Oh hey Scar." Evidently that was the wrong thing to say as he promptly dropped her. That final hit to her body sent her into overdrive and she turned over and heaved up her lunch, arms and legs still shaking. "Fuck you too then," she coughed, spitting in the snow to rid herself of the terrible taste.

The Ishvalan frowned at her and tried to place where he'd seen her before. The woman did look familiar but there was something off about her appearance. He eyed the trace amounts of black at the roots of her hair. If she naturally had dark hair it would be confusing if he barely knew her, he reasoned to himself. With the image of black hair on the woman and her familiar voice, his memory became clear.

"You're that soldier from the East. That friend of the Flame Alchemist," he said.

Aiden nodded and slipped on her glasses, his figure becoming much clearer and less headache-inducing. "Well spotted." She tried to stand up but her body, more accurately her legs, weren't cooperating and she fell to the ground. Her appendages had yet to stop quaking. "Please tell me that that village I saw was Asbec."

Scar glanced between the worn-out and obviously shaken woman and the place he and his... acquaintances had been staying. Aiden took his silence as reluctance to speak and she continued. "I have a message of sorts for Alphonse."

He was surprised by the admission. Not because she was telling the truth but because she knew the armored boy was with him. As far as he knew the Elric brothers had been classified as missing. There was no possible way this soldier could've known they were traveling as a group unless Major Miles had sent along the news. If Major Miles trusted her then perhaps he should express the same courtesy. To an extent.

"Follow me." Scar turned around and picked up the sticks he'd dropped in favor of catching the falling woman.

Aiden waved her hand. "Yeah, yeah..." she panted. "Just give me a second to make sure I'm still in one piece because I think I left my lungs back up on the cliff. And my heart. Maybe a kidney."

Then she heaved herself up on wobbly legs and followed the Ishvalan to the town. As her body became less shaky she began to feel every bruise she earned on her express trip down that cliffside. It was a miracle she hadn't broken anything. The two entered the village and Aiden immediately began feeling out of place as people turned to stare at them before resuming what they had been doing.

A blonde girl that was clearly not Ishvalan walked up to them. "Hey!" she said addressing Scar. "Who's that with you?"

"Hello to you too Winry," Aiden said blandly.

The teenager's eyes slid over and narrowed at the blonde woman. She didn't know her, did she? The woman apparently knew her. They stood in silence as Winry tried to place her when her eyes widened. "Miss Wilson? What're you doing here?"

"It's a long story. I'd rather we all convene so I don't have to tell the story more than once."

Winry nodded and went to lead her away when she paused and turned around. "You may want to take care of that wound on your head before you get frostbite." She pointed to her right temple and Aiden lifted her own hand and was surprised to see a small streak of blood come away.

"I do not remember that happening."

"That's not surprising. C'mon, we have someone to help with that." Aiden laughed and nodded. "Out of curiosity, how did that happen?"

"I fell off a cliff. Twice. They were small cliffs so I didn't break anything, though I'm sure I now have an impressive amount of bruises."

"I'll bet!"

Scar watched as the two females walked off without him. He sighed and followed, delivering sticks to those who needed them. The chimeras joined him and the group joined under the roof of a house on the Western edge of town. Alphonse was the last among them to join, the little Xingese girl and her pet skipping in right behind him.

"M-Miss Wilson?" he asked, spotting the blonde at the center with ease.

Aiden's eyebrows shot into the sky. "How'd you know it was me?"

There wasn't a chance to answer because Winry coughed lightly. "You said you had something for Al?"

"Ah, yes. The homunculi now know I can transmute without using circles so now I'm on the run."

"What?" Al said, alarmed. "How'd that happen?"

"An instance of rage in which I couldn't control myself and attacked Envy."

The man to the far left with the disfigured face gasped. "You attacked Envy?"

She feigned confusion and tilted her head, raising an eyebrow as she did. "Yes... Doctor Marcoh?" she guessed. He nodded and she continued. "Well after that I sort of abandoned all my shit and hauled ass up here so now the public thinks I'm missing. Hence the bleaching of the hair and the glasses."

One of the chimeras spoke up, "Why come to us? I think there are better options than this place."

"Three reasons. One, if I went near anyone else they'd be in danger and I don't want that to happen. Two, we're in an Ishvalan refugee camp in the middle of bumfuck nowhere - no offense Scar - in the North. Three, I figured I'd be of some use to you guys instead of in Central under Father's thumb, as I'm sure you've thought of something for the nationwide transmutation circle."

At the mention of Father and the transmutation circle, Alphonse suddenly seemed closed off. She dismissed it as self-consciousness. Father did look just like his the one who had abandoned them at a young age so it had to hit close to home. "How did you find us?"

The rest of the room tensed as the question they hadn't bothered to think came to mind. How did she find them? 

Aiden slumped inwardly. So he wasn't restless because she mentioned Father, he was uneasy because he was doubting her. She raised shifted under the hostility she was beginning to feel. "I knew where you were."

"How?" he pressed.

If there was one thing Aiden was good at it was deflecting. It'd become almost second-nature to her when people first began asking after her origins. Another thing she picked up from being in the military was using her skill to steer the conversation in the direction she wanted. That particular move had been learned by observing Roy in his speeches.

So instead of fumbling for an answer as to how she knew they were in a Northern village called Asbec where no known allies knew they were, she explained herself in an offshoot manner. She lied by omission and implying. How did she know where they were? It certainly wasn't because her friend/daughter from another universe just happened to write down this year of their history specifically for no purpose whatsoever.

"Alphonse, I am a Lieutenant Colonel in a corrupt military. If I didn't have a network of people around to keep track of those I wanted then I wouldn't have gotten very far in my career."

"How can we be sure that you're not Envy?"

She tilted her head thoughtfully. He had a fair point, she hadn't said or done anything to prove she was herself. So without much thought to her words she opened her mouth and spoke. "Back when you and Ed were still researching the Philosopher's Stone, Ed was asleep and I was going on a food run. I asked you to help pick up the books he threw and you replied with-"

"'Yes mom'," they said together.

Winry's breath hitched as she stared at the military woman next to her. She hadn't thought that Alphonse would find a mother figure in anyone aside from Trisha, especially not after she passed away. Then she smiled to herself. It was nice that Al had found someone to look up to that wasn't his hooligan of a brother, absentee father, and late mother. 

Aiden was the first to break their locked gaze and turned to the rest of the room. "So? What have we got?"

After Yoki and Winry left to continue their chores, they spent the remainder of the day laying out their plan for her. It all began with Zampano calling Envy in saying that he knew where Scar and Marcoh were. From there the plans became more and more complex as they fleshed out details even she hadn't known. Aiden was almost surprised by how much they had come up within so little time. The best part was that the plans were flexible even on their time crunch.

They all had an assigned part in their trap for Envy, so Aiden opted to stay behind and help out around the village on the off chance Envy broke free from their trap. If that were to happen then he would undoubtedly attack the Ishvalans without mercy. By that time she would have to hold him off until the others caught up. Yoki was still hesitant to believe her, much less be near her. So in his natural, patronizing way, he volunteered to keep an eye on Aiden while everyone else was away gathering kindling.

At this, the woman rolled her eyes and fixed a glare on the once-Lieutenant. "I still have half a mind to turn you in for the shit you pulled in Youswell. Don't think I don't know who you are ex-Lieutenant Yoki."

The man gulped and scampered off. The moment he was out of sight Aiden snorted and shot a wink at Al who sighed and shook his head at her antics. She was just as bad as his brother. Their childish moments was one of the reasons they got along so well. He shuddered to think of the things they could and would come up with together.

The next morning came quickly and the team was up helping with this and that. Winry took to helping with clothing while Scar went to find wood. Yoki was helping entertain the children with Aiden, though not by his choice. Al and Mei Chang however...

"You aren't listening! I told you! Alkahestry is all about reading the Dragon's Pulse!"

"And I told you, I have no idea what that even means!"

"Clear your mind and think with your senses. Like this! See it's easy!"

"You're just pointing!"

"No, I'm focusing!"

"Can't you explain it scientifically?"

Aiden laughed lightly and shook her head at the two inside the house as she tossed a child up and down, the little girl whooping and giggling. "The alchemists in this land don't work off of the Dragon's Pulse, Mei," she called in helpfully. "We use the energy released from the movements of tectonic plates." Her explanation fell on deaf ears as Alphonse and Mei continued arguing. They couldn't say she didn't try.

"They're rambunctious, huh," one of the Ishvalan men smiled. 

Scar was thoroughly unamused at the loud voices. "Yeah, no kidding. Sorry to impose on you."

"You're not imposing, you're actually helping us out," he said. Aiden followed their line of sight to where Winry was hanging up a shirt on a clothesline. Movement caught her attention and she watched with a grin as two young boys tackled Yoki and pulled out what little hair he had, resulting in a large scream that most everyone ignored. "You guys are actually a welcome distraction for our kids."

Doctor Marcoh and Jerso, the toad chimera, walked up to them. "We're gonna head out to find some firewood. Would you mind letting Zampano know for me?"

That was their signal. Zampano had gone out to find Envy and lead him up to the grove of trees on the hilltop to the East. Every fifteen minutes after they were to leave to catch up and help gather firewood with their friends. Al and Mei went first, having set up their Alkahestry tricks a few days ago, giving the weather plenty of time to snow over the traps and hide them from view. 

It wasn't long before a few children approached her and began playing. Aiden used all the tricks she knew to keep them entertained until she was thoroughly exhausted. Hide and seek, tic tac toe, kick the can, you name it, she played it. The children were still going at it, pleading for more. If there was one thing she could do, it was take care of one or two children at the same time. Three was her limit but four? She needed a break.

"Excuse me, miss Wilson?" one of the younger kids asked. He couldn't have been more than six. "We overheard you saying some things to the Xing girl and the armor guy, and we were wondering why you were talking about alchemy-"

"And if you could show us some please!" a little girl continued, looking rather eager.

Aiden was caught off guard by the request and rubbed the back of her neck, glancing around. Winry was still working on laundry and Yoki had disappeared somewhere so they weren't going to be of any help. Normally she would oblige but these were Ishvalan children. Their religion viewed alchemy as blasphemy and any creation was seen as unnatural, a sin against their god Ishvala. Having met Truth, she certainly didn't want to piss off some god that may or may not be real and she didn't want to anger the children's parents.

"I don't think that's such a good idea," Aiden hedged.

"Why not?" the girl pouted.

She bit her lip and sighed. "Why don't we go find your guys' parents, okay? We'll ask them."

The children instantly brightened and nodded. "They're usually over here!"

Two of the four grabbed her hands and led her to the center of town. Three sets of parents met her, one going to each parent while one child, the little girl staying next to her as they watched the three boys drag their parents over.

"Hello," one of the women smiled. "Thank you for looking after our kids for a while. The winter has been a little colder than usual."

"You had a question for us?" a man said.

Aiden shifted her weight and fixed her glasses. "Uh, yes. They wanted to know if I could show them some alchemy." Five of the six adults stilled. "I know how you view it so I wanted to tell you because I'm not the best person to... explain things."

"Yes, I see," the same man nodded. Then he leaned down with a smile and spoke to the kids. "Why don't you four go play for a moment."

The children looked among themselves with curious expressions before shrugging and taking off, two sets of parents following. A breeze blew through the town and she sighed and ran her hands over her arms in an attempt to warm herself from the sudden chill she felt. "Sorry about that but... I didn't feel it was my place to say anything."

"You're an alchemist?"

She nodded. "Yes, but I'll save you the trouble of asking if I'm a State Alchemist. I'm not."

The woman looked her over. "But you were a soldier." At Aiden's questioning gaze she said, "I can see it in the way you hold yourself."

Before anyone could say more an elderly voice gained their attention. "You... I know you." The three adults turned to the elder man and younger woman by his side. The older man was leaning heavily on a walking stick as he limped in their direction and the woman kept by his side, a bandage over what should have been her left arm.

"Sir?" she answered on instinct.

The elder ignored her. "You've changed your hair... but you are her."

"Who?"

The young woman smiled brightly. "You're the one that saved us and showed us out of the battlefield!" Aiden's heart stalled as she took in the two. Suddenly she was back in Ishval, and she was all alone. 

A bomb went off far to her left and she ducked for cover not knowing which side it came from. The night concealed her blue uniform but the black trenchcoat cloaked her in the shadows much better than the standard white did against the pale sand in the day. She'd left her sniper's rifle with Kain in his radio station, opting for the standard given to every soldier in boot camp.

Fires lit up torched bodies and kept burning when they weren't immediately reduced to ash. Gunshots and explosions rang out and she snuck around a corner into a building, breathing in smoke and coughing as shallowly as possible in an effort to conceal her position. She stepped lightly over a fallen chair and broken glass. Just as she was about to exit a small cough gained her attention and she whipped around, gun raised.

A fallen table was sitting in the far corner and she slowly made her way over. In a quick movement she kicked the table aside and came face to face with an older man crouched over a young girl who couldn't have been more than eleven years old. In her moment of hesitation the older man sloppily attacked, using a cane to try and knock her out or at the very least gain some distance. In an instant she caught the cane and the man stumbled to the ground, breathing heavily. The child scrambled over and stood in front of him, arms wide.

"Don't hurt my pappa!" The girl trembled in front of her, red eyes full of fear.

Aiden was a woman of morals. If a person attacked she defended, so when a child defended her father she stayed her hand. She kneeled on the ground quickly, one hand raised but the other still gripping the rifle, "Alright kid, alright."

Moments passed in tense silence broken only by the sounds of war happening just outside the door. The woman looked on in concern as the man coughed weakly, the little girl switching between watching her and watching him. Aiden gritted her teeth. Children in the middle of a battlefield...

"You two need to go." The two looked up in shock. Aiden stood, ignoring the squeak of surprise from the girl and grabbed the man, handing him the cane. "Head North toward Resembool and when you're there go straight West. You should be able to bypass the next implement of troops."

Telling them was risky, given that she didn't know if the two were part of some plan, but she was willing to take the risk. Besides, the Fuhrer was in the South, so even if they managed to sneak into Central it'd all be for naught.

"Get out of here, go!"

The two quickly left the building, sticking to the walls to hide. The child paused and looked back, "What's your name?"

"Aiden Wilson, now go!"

"We're still so thankful that you found us," the woman, teenager, finished.

She blinked in surprise and nodded. "S-sure." Her brows furrowed as a thought came to mind. "Hang on, how did you know it was me?"

"We heard your name from one of the others staying here. After that there was talk of another Amestrian joining them so we sought you out. The blonde hair did throw us off, but I memorized your face so one day if we met again I could say thank you!"

"And you made it all the way up here?"

"Not at first... We did manage to sneak past the patrol but we were caught up in another area. And that's where..." the teen trailed off and looked to where her left arm had once been. "It's okay though!" she said, seeing the pained look on Aiden's face. "Not all Amestrian's would've done what you did."

"I'm not Amestrian. And anyway, the Rockbell doctor's did. They helped whoever came through their door, no matter who they were. The only thing they cared about was taking care of their patients." Though she'd never met the doctors personally, she did come close. When Roy had been shot, she and Maes almost dragged him to the nearest medical specialist before seeing that the bullet had hit his watch. 

The elder blinked in surprise. "If you do not share the blood of Amestrian's, then who?"

"America, I'm American. I had an accent when I first arrived but I've spent so much time here... I think if I tried I could replicate it."

"Do it!" the teen dared, grinning.

Aiden smiled and focused on the Midwestern twang she grew up with rather than her now natural, refined Amestrian accent. "I think this was how it sounded. Tweedle-dee, tweedle-dum, lippy-tappy-too-tah," she said stretching some vowels and shortening others. The girl laughed. 

"Well... I guess you're not as bad as the other dogs of the military," the father from before admitted.

Aiden chose to keep silent about how one of her best friends was the Flame Alchemist. A large boom followed by red lightning sounded, drawing her attention from the Ishvalans and to the grove of trees she knew her party was.

"What was that?"

"That's where the doctor and the others were headed!"

"What's going on here?"

"What is it?"

The questions buzzed through the air and Aiden took off in the direction of Winry. She found her staring where the alchemic light had vanished, Yoki just behind her on the ground beneath two boys. Without a word she picked them up and urged them to find their parents. Other children followed them. Then she made her way to the edge of the village, Winry and Yoki taking up presence behind her. A few Ishvalans joined them and they waited for any sign of their party.

They weren't waiting too long when Yoki cried out, "Hey look, here they come!"

Zampano and Al carried a total of three arrangements of wood while Jerso carried Marcoh on his back. Mei Chang skipped in the lead, Shao Mei sitting on her shoulder, while Scar brought up the rear with Alphonse. With the reassurance that the group was okay, the Ishvalan people went back to their tasks while Aiden, Winry, and Yoki took off to meet them.

"Doctor Marcoh!" Winry shouted in alarm. "Are you okay? What happened?" The doctor chuckled at her concern.

"What's that?"

Aiden's eyes were drawn to the small green creature held in Scar's hand only by its tail. She wasn't exactly sure what to call Envy.

"We'll explain when we get in town," Scar said.

Winry wanted to object but seemed to think better of it and nodded. They gathered inside the village against the wall where they couldn't easily be overheard by eavesdroppers, Doctor Marcoh explaining what had gone on in their absence.

"Woah," Yoki said. "I can't believe you guys would keep me in the dark about this. That's what you get for picking a fight with us, grotesque tadpole." He leaned over and began flicking Envy on the head.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Aiden cautioned mildly.

Zampano seemed to be the only one to hear her. "He can't do much."

"He has teeth."

As soon as the words left her mouth Yoki let out a wail, flailing an arm with Envy biting down on a finger. He pranced around trying to rid himself of the homunculus and tripped face down.

Shao Mei squeaked in question. "Mister Yoki?" Mei translated.

He looked over at the group. "Help. Get it off me."

Their eyes were drawn to the green creature at the back of Yoki's neck. "Ha ha!" he laughed. "I've hijacked this idiot's body!"

Yoki let out another screech as he stood up against his will. "Stop it! Somebody help me! I can't control my body!"

"That's right! You can't!" Yoki began to make several different movements that almost made Aiden's straight face break from amusement. "Now if you want him to live you'll do as I tell you. It's up to me whether this one lives or dies!"

"Fine, do what you want," Jerso said.

"Yeah, it's not like he's our friend," Zampano added, waving them off. Envy and Yoki gasped in shock.

Mei sniffled, "Poor Mister Yoki, we barely knew you. You're so brave to sacrifice yourself like this."

Al waved a handkerchief at them. "We'll never forget you!"

Yoki screamed in alarm and dashed over to Scar. "Please Mister Scar, you're my friend, you won't stand back and let this thing kill me, right?" He stared at him for a moment before turning away. "How could you turn your back on me!" he raged.

Aiden sighed and shook her head in regret. "Poor Yoki. Spurned, neglected! But that doesn't matter now. Long live the revolution!"

"W-why aren't any of you trying to save this guy!" Envy demanded. "Doesn't anyone care about him?"

Doctor Marcoh glared at the green being. "You're wasting your time Envy. We've accepted the measures we'll have to take to defeat you. We'll destroy both you and this man if you don't surrender."

"Damn it..."

Envy let go of Yoki and Al grabbed him. "It came off," he assured.

"It came off?" Yoki repeated before dashing away.

"Nice acting doctor," Jerso said.

Marcoh collapsed in a heap. "I'm not used to bluffing like that. Goodness I was so nervous."

"Damn all of you! You bastards aren't my friends anymore! It's over! I'm ending our friendship - you're dead to me!" Yoki cried.

Alphonse looked over. "Oh come on, we were acquaintances but never friends."

Aiden's and Mei's eyebrows rose in shock at the response, the older of the two quickly wandered off to find something to put Envy in. She found a jar and punched a hole in the top so the homunculus could breathe. From there she left the questioning to the others, choosing to keep a distance from the wretched thing. If she went near him she wouldn't be held responsible for her actions.

Later that night Aiden was called in to consult. She stood in the farthest corner away from Envy who had told them Ed had gone missing.

"Why didn't you say brother was missing?" Al asked.

"I thought you knew," she admitted truthfully. "It was in the papers for a while and so was I." She still had it in her bag.

Envy glared at her from his jar. "I'm not surprised you made your way to one of the Elric's," he said. "Your boyfriend's been put under watch since you disappeared. Many of his actions are being questioned by the higher-ups. Who knows, maybe they'll accuse him of murder, just like he killed Maria Ross."

There wasn't anything he was saying that she hadn't already known or guessed. Aiden smiled sweetly at the caged homunculus. "You know Envy, instead of acting like the intolerable shit goblin I know you are, I'd focus on my own survival before threatening someone else's."

She turned back to the conversation that had paused in time to hear Aiden's response. As far as she knew, Marcoh and Scar were heading off on their own journey and Al was to head to Liore. Everyone else was going to follow Alphonse and there they would meet Hohenheim, who would tell Al what he was and his past as a Xerxes citizen.

Later that night when everyone else had fallen asleep, sans Alphonse, Aiden tossed and turned on her bedroll. Her mind hadn't strayed from the two Ishvalans that'd found her earlier. She sighed and sat up, knowing it would be a futile effort trying to fall asleep. So without making a sound she grabbed her spare blanket and draped it over the slightly shivering forms of Winry, Mei Chang, and Shao Mei who had been sharing a bedroll. The added warmth took hold almost immediately and they stopped shivering.

Aiden looked over at Al and smiled as he glanced up from the book she'd given him and silently waved. She stepped outside and took a deep breath, her stomach twisting in knots. Her walk led her to the edge of town where she sat on a bundle of logs and stared out at the white expanse before her.

"What are you doing out so late at night?"

In a practiced movement Aiden unsheathed the knife up her sleeve and turned to throw it at the male when his voice registered and she lowered her arm. Scar was standing at the edge of the village as well. She sighed and resheathed the knife.

"I couldn't sleep."

Her thoughts returned to the two they'd been set on. She hadn't known if they'd made it out and she almost forgot about them until they'd come forward. They were the first she'd let go and they weren't the last. There weren't many, but there were Ishvalans still alive because she let them go. The last one she let go had been an Ishvalan monk, or at least she thought so. He looked like one. At the very least he was a warrior. He also looked a lot like...

Aiden's blood ran cold. The last Ishvalan man she'd let run from the battlefield had been none other than Scar. The Ishvalan who once had a vendetta against State Alchemists and went on a murder spree. The man who had attacked Ed and Al once, Roy twice, and by association attacked her as well. She almost barked out a laugh at how inconceivable the odds were but her she was in too much shock to do anything other than stare blankly ahead.

When she caught up with herself, "I'm sorry," was all Aiden could say. She wasn't just apologizing for Scar's misfortunes, but her involvement in the Ishvalan War in general. How many lives she took and the things she couldn't do to stop it from happening.

Scar didn't need to ask what she was talking about. "I heard about what you did for those two. It must have been hard going against your orders."

"It wasn't," she replied sharply. "And they weren't the only ones I let go nor was I the only one who let your people go. I was just one of the few who didn't get caught." A vision of a younger Alex Armstrong flashed in her mind. He'd tried to let people go but Kimblee caught him. He never reported Armstrong, just gave him a warning.

"They weren't?"

"No."

They sat in silence until Aiden deemed it too cold and walked back to the house, leaving Scar to his thoughts. The next morning they left Asbec.

"How have you been feeling Al?" Winry asked.

"Good. I haven't lost consciousness at all lately."

"That's good. Carrying you is a real pain," Jerso joked.

"Yeah, so keep on keeping it together big guy," Zampano laughed.

Al joined in with his own nervous laughter. "Ha ha... Sorry about that."

At the front of their procession Scar was carrying Envy, Mei skipping alongside him. "Mei."

"Yes?"

"What route did you take to get into this country?"

"I snuck in through the Youswell coal mine."

"Youswell hmm?" They stopped at a fork in the road and he turned to the Xingese girl, Envy in hand. "Take this thing and go back to your country."

Mei's jaw dropped in shock and Yoki said, "Now wait just a minute!"

Scar carried on as if hadn't heard them. "It's not exactly the immortality your emperor wants, but it is the remnant of a homunculus that wouldn't die no matter how many times we tried to kill it. Perhaps it is enough to save your clan."

"But if I left now..." she tried.

"Yeah!" Jerso nodded. "Why now? After we finally deciphered the research notes and realized that Alkahestry is the key to saving Amestris?"

At her conflicted expression Scar sighed and gave a gentle look to the small girl. "It's all right Mei. You don't have to be involved with the affairs of another country. Remember why you came here in the first place. If your clan loses the power struggle... Are you prepared to explain that you couldn't help them because you got caught up in the problems of another country?" He pointed down the road that joined their own. "Head East from here and you will run into Youswell." Mei looked up at the Ishvalan man. "Go. We, the people of this country, will somehow take care of its problems on our own."

Mei gave a sad smile and bowed, her panda doing the same. "Thank you!" she declared. "For everything!"

"Mei," Alphonse said, "even though I still don't understand Alkahestry, I'm really grateful for all you did to try and teach me." The girl sniffled as Al patted her head. "Take care."

Mei grabbed the jar from Scar and took off down the road leading to Youswell. At a far distance she paused and looked back and waved. "Thank you everybody! Thank you!"

**********

A big chapter to start off the new year! I hope you guys had fun! Now, how many of you saw Scar being the one Aiden let go in chapter 2 coming? No one said it aloud, that's for sure.