I woke up the next morning bright and early. According to the clock that was sitting on the bedside table, it was six in the morning.

So… I survived the night without getting raped or murdered. Success.

I got up and went into the bathroom to take care of my business. I looked in the mirror and saw my hideous bed-head. I combed through my hair with my fingers trying to get it orderly without much success. I shrugged. I already looked weird, I guess.

I wonder what happened to those boys that helped me. I went out of my room to theirs and knocked on the door carefully. Al was the one who opened the door.

"Oh, hi Kira!" he greeted warmly. Yep, he was still my favorite.

"Your brother's not up?" I asked curiously. Wouldn't it make sense for the two of them to be up together?

"No, he likes sleeping a lot."

"I guess that's understandable."

Suddenly, my stomach growled loudly.

"Do you want to go get something to eat?" Al asked me.

"Oh, no. I don't have any money and-"

"I'll pay for you."

"I couldn't ask you to do that."

"I don't mind. Just let me write Brother a note." Al scribbled a few words on a piece of stationary paper that he found in the room and laid it on the desk. Then he grabbed his jacket and said, "Let's go."

We ate at a café. While we ate I had an internal debate with myself.

Should I tell him about my needing help now?

No! It's too soon! You don't even know if he would help you or if he would just take advantage of that!

But he seems like a nice guy, I'm sure he would help.

No! Everybody can seem like a nice guy, but usually those are the rapists and murderers!

Fine… then should I ask about his past?

If you must…

I realized how unhealthy it was for me to argue with myself like that.

"So, Al," I began trying to ease into the subject. "That man that you talked about earlier, the one that helped you and your brother… want to explain a little?"

Al looked a little uncomfortable as he answered, "The guy's name was Maes Hughes. He was a really nice man, but sometimes bad things happen to good men." I nodded encouragement to continue with his story.

"He was murdered," Al said after some time. "We found the killer, but that couldn't bring him back."

I gave Al a minute to his thoughts then asked, "You said that he helped you."

A small light returned to Al's eyes as he told me about how Hughes had helped him.

"My brother and I had just come to Central and we had no place to stay. We were just going to stay in a hotel room, but Hughes came in to Mustang's office and all but dragged us to his house." Al chuckled to himself at the memory. "He didn't wait for us to agree."

A name stuck out to me that I could almost remember, but not quite. Mustang. I knew, of course, that he wasn't talking about the horse, but I couldn't place the name. I wondered briefly about if things were going to be like this for the rest of my life, but right now I needed to find out information from Al.

"So, what was he like at his house?" I asked.

"He was still nice. He introduced us to his wife Gracia and his daughter Elicia. He loved them both so much. He was a really good man." Al thought for a moment, then said, "If you want, some time we can introduce you to Gracia and Elicia. They're both really nice, too."

"That sounds like a good idea. I'd like to meet them." I paused for a moment then said, "You said something earlier about a man named Mustang. Who is he?"

"Colonel Mustang was Brother's boss before Ed quit the military. He's the Flame Alchemist. We didn't realize it at the time, but Mustang was always looking out for us. Good thing, too, because we were just a couple of kids who thought that we couldn't be defeated." Al chuckled. "That's how all teenagers think, I guess."

"Wait, you said you were a couple of kids. How old were you two?"

"Brother was twelve when he got into the military."

"The military lets children join?"

"Not normally, no, but Brother had a special talent. He could perform alchemy without a transmutation circle. He was the only one for a long time, but eventually I was able to do it, too. I was never part of the military, though. Brother wouldn't let me."

"Why not?"

"We were looking for something, and in order to find it we needed to have access to resources that only the military had, so he joined. He wouldn't let me, though, because we only needed one and he didn't want us to get separated."

I was about to ask what they were looking for, but realized that if he didn't offer it up willingly then I shouldn't ask about it.

"Let me ask about you, then," Al said. "I know your name, but that's all I know. Why were you out on the streets yesterday?"

I thought carefully before answering. I decided to just tell him the truth because he's trusted me with his information, maybe I can trust him with mine now.

"I don't remember anything. I woke up in a house, but I don't know if it was mine or not. I was on the floor and didn't remember anything. I didn't even know if that was my house, so I left in case it was actually the house of some serial killer or something."

Al nodded. "Is there anything else?"

"I don't even think Kira is my name, but it's simpler to just say, 'My name's Kira!' than, 'I don't remember my name!'"

"So I'm assuming that you want to get back your memories?"

I nodded and he said, "I can relate to that." Before I could ask him to elaborate he said, "Brother and I will help you. Assuming you want our help."

I nodded and thanked him.

Soon after that we decided it would be best to get back to the hotel room before Ed started worrying. According to Al, he couldn't be trusted alone for too long.