A/n: So, here I am again…after a couple of years. *dodges projectiles*

I read and reread the chapters countless of times and decided to do a rewrite so I can finally be able to continue where I left off.

So, if the website notifies you of an update to Mom and Dad and you get disappointed because I only posted rewrites, please don't be too mad and please still read the rewrites because I may have changed a thing or two from the original post. Thank you for your understanding.

Mom and Dad: Prologue: Overlapping Circles

The lights in the office were turned off and the room was bathed in darkness. Two figures moved about, sliding the furniture around and creating a vacant space right in the middle of the room. The expensive Ishvalan carpet, gifted by some locals in the Kadesh district, was rolled up and placed on Feury's desk alongside radio equipment and various antenna.

"Al, hurry!" Ed hissed as he glanced at the door nervously. "I have a feeling that they'll be back soobwr than we expected!"

Alphonse swiped a hand across his sweaty forehead, smearing it with chalk residue. "Shh, Brother. I'm concentrating!"

The older Elric brother was almost bounding on his feet with excitement as he leaned over Al's work. This was one of their most elaborate pranks -and, if executed perfectly, would be the most epic one…ever.

And the fact that Roy Mustang is the victim just tickled Edward pink.

The two brothers -well mostly Edward, really- planned this when they received word that the Colonel Bastard got promoted to Lieutenant General Bastard and that he would soon be leaving for Ishval along with his team to oversee the rehabilitation efforts in the desert country.

Edward and Alphonse, themselves, planned to go on separate journeys: Edward to the West and Alphonse to the East to learn Alkahestry from Mei Chang. They wanted to travel the world and gain knowledge that can't be learnt by just sitting in a library and reading books.

Knowing that it would probably be years before they see their former superiors once again, they thought out a wonderful parting gift. One that they won't ever forget.

Ed's head snapped up when footsteps could be heard from the hallway outside. "Al! They're here!"

Startled, Al pressed a little too firmly on a spot near one of the many triangles in the array and his chalk broke in half. "Brother! Draw another circle to balance the reaction so we don't get caught in it." He gave Ed the other broken half of the chalk. "We don't have time to get out now."

Ed reluctantly accepted the chalk. It had been years since he last drew alchemic circles. He was about ten or eleven years old when he didn't have a need for circles anymore. To say he's rusty would be a gross understatement.

But he could already hear voices from outside.

'Fuck it,' he thought and promptly got to work.

"Your grandfather is such a cunning man, Captain," the raven-haired man remarked, removing his standard military hat.

Meetings with the Fuhrer, formal or not, required any and all officers to present themselves in full military uniform. Bradley didn't mind as long as they were in uniform but Grumman is another story. He required his visitors to step on the rug by the door, stomp on it for a couple of times to get rid of the dust before walking ten steps toward his desk to salute to him. Only then will he acknowledge you.

"Sir?" the blond Captain turned to him, confused. After the meeting, the Fuhrer requested to speak to Mustang alone and Riza had absolutely no idea what her superior was talking about.

He swept a hand through his hair to mess it up before elaborating, "He is thinking of changing some laws and wanted my opinion on them."

She silently hoped it was not the dress code. "Are they, at least, good changes, sir?" She knew her grandfather and wouldn't put it past him to make some childish decisions.

They stepped in front of the door to their office and Roy reached for the handle. "Well, he wants to abolish the-"

His sentence was cut off when he turned the handle and a blinding light flooded their vision. There was no mistaking that it was from the activation of an alchemic array. He turned to Riza but the light was so intense he could only see the blue-white light.

Questions rang in his mind. Why was there an alchemic array in the office? Is it an assassination attempt? Even though it's late in the afternoon and most of the staff had gone home for the day, the Central Command still isn't a place that's easy to break into. So, it had to be someone who had access to the building.

Most importantly, who were the two figures he saw before his world turned black?

A/n: Yeah, not much difference with the first post. But I wanted to achieve that continuity that I've been wanting with all my other stories. I'm already typing up the next chapter, so the wait won'tbe too long.