Disclaimer: All characters belong to their respective owners. The plot, however, belongs to me.

A/N: This story will eventually become yaoi, although the pairing is not fully decidedand any suggestions for it is welcome and would be greatly appreciated. This is also my first story, period. Since it is, I would love if you, the readers, would give any suggestions for where you would like the story to go, although I already have the main points already planned out.

Also, I currently do not have a beta reader and would love if anyone would offer to go over the new chapters even if it's just for small suggestions. :)

Homecoming: Prologue

By: Chiyomomo

The window curtains ruffled and swayed under the invisible breeze that pushed through the still air in the small, but cluttered, bedroom. It pressed and prodded until it reached a young man fast asleep on an uncomfortable bed. It ruffled his long unbound locks against his forehead and licked at his cheeks as if it were a forgotten lover. The only other occupant of the room, a smaller boy with features nearly identical to the first, stirred gently at the cold draft but remained asleep, lost in a fantasy of a soon to be forgotten world.

"Edward…" The voice was feminine and soft as it flitted in his ears and danced into his consciousness.

Edward, as the voice so lovingly called out, stirred at the noise before he slowly opened his golden eyes to the dark room. He gradually lifted his tired form into a sitting position before he squinted with his unaccustomed eyes into the darkness of the disorderly room. Parting his lips in confusion, he slowly swung his legs, one very much unlike the other, onto the edge of the bed and lifted himself to a standing position. Sluggishly, he made his way to the open window, his body swaying with exhaustion and fatigue.

"Edward…" This time it was undeniable, he heard it and he was certain it wasn't a lingering apparition of a hallucination or dream. He gripped the rotting wood of the windowsill with firm and steady hands and gazed outside into the open air, his eyes narrowed in confusion and distrust.

Softly, as not wanting to awaken his sleeping brother, he spoke out into the darkness. "Is anyone there? Show yourself."

Although not unexpected, he was still dissatisfied when no one answered his halfhearted calls. Feeling like a child and a fool, he turned back to fall back to slumber.

Unexpectedly, a soft chuckle caused Edward to twist back around to stare back at the window.

Sitting daintily on the windowsill, a small woman who Edward assumed could only be a few years older than himself. She wore a simple white dress that pooled at her ankles to reveal a pair of unadorned slippers. Her oval faced was famed was framed by long strands of the darkest shade of black that reached to her knees. But besides her long hair, he could find nothing extremely remarkable about her person but then again, he wasn't sure of what he was expecting to find.

"It's not very smart to leave your window open; someone might think it an invitation and get the urge to come in." The intruder brought a dainty hand to cover her mouth as another chuckle escaped her rosy lips.

Edward stiffened at her words before he narrowed his eyes in wary distrust. Clearly, she couldn't be that much of a threat. Her body was too slim, too fragile to put Edward in any type of danger. Still, he had seen many women who were too strong for their body, his sensei in particular, and were he still in a world were alchemy was possible, he might have felt the need to be more cautious.

"You know, it's really stupid to jump in someone's window and wake them up and make them cranky. Especially if that person is me. "He nearly growled out and took a threatening step forward. Regardless of the lack of threat she posed, there was something extremely unnerving about the visitor and wasn't too fond of being unsettled.

She raised her hands in mock surrender before a radiant smile encompassed her face as she jumped down from the ledge and landed on the tips of her toes, as graceful as a prima ballerina at the height of her career. Slowly, like a child approaching a scared animal, she sauntered forward until she was directly in front of the suspicious young man. Raising an eyebrow as if in question, she lowered her left hand and grabbed his soft one into her own. Edward gave no acknowledgment to her gesture besides a slight twitch of his lip.

Edward watched in morbid fascination as her head was thrown back as if she was in pain, her eyes glazing over until her iris were entirely white, and felt his hand tremble in hers. Unsure of what to do, he waited a few moments until she let out a sad whimper and dropped his hand.

"Your past, it hurts so much. And yet, you have nothing to show for it. If given the chance, would you wish to continue using the devils magic?"

As she spoke, she seemed to age in front of his eyes. Her body, once healthy and supple, seemed to decay and wither. The long black hair twisted into itself, reappearing seconds later a gross and dull gray. Soon, she was no longer the vibrant woman she was just moments before, but a wilted and shriveled hag.

Edward gave out a surprised gasp and stepped back unintentionally, as if his instincts overrode his body and began to move on its own accord.

"What are you?"

She laughed, or at least that's what Edward thought she did. Instead of the dulcet and saccharine, if not mocking, laughter of before it came out as a raspy groan that spilled out of her dry lips.

"Does it truly matter? Right now, you should be more worried about the question at hand. Do you wish to gain your alchemy back? There are ways, it is not lost forever."

Edward immediately forgot about the scene that lay out before him and he felt his heart push its way up to into his throat. He could feel his entire body move in beat to the drum, as if it were pounding to remind him he was not dead, and this was not a dream. Inside, his mind was crying out, begging, pleading with Edward conscience to answer in the affirmative. His only love, besides his little brother who still slept soundly only a few feet away from the pair, had been so far out of his reach and maybe now, no matter how small the chance, he would be able to go back and grasp it once more.

Only his bowed head and shaking shoulders showed the turmoil the decision was causing him. Abruptly, he ceased trembling and stared into the old hags face, determination and a will of fire so easily seen burning and twisting inside his golden eyes.

"I'd do almost anything to get it back. I'm almost nothing without it."

"Remember those words. You will become a very important player in the events that follow."

Before he could hear the last of her words, Edward's body began to felt heavy and he swayed on his feet, unable to control his body. Before he could stop himself he found himself plummeting onto the hard wooden floor, his eyes rolling in the back of his head. The last image he saw before sleep over took his consciousness was the old hag smiling serenely at his broken form.