Chapter 1: A Hopeful Feeling

It was cold tonight. Odd, considering it was still Summer time. He didn't understand the weather here, it took such a turn at the most random of times. Right now, he was laying awake, underneath the stars. His brother curled up beside him, sleeping softly like always. He glanced to the man, who was now reaching his twentieth birthday. He, twenty-one. Four years… four years since they had arrived to this planet.

Edward Elric sighed lightly, and reached a hand up in the air, his fingers outstretched, as if trying to grab the full moon that stood out against the dark sky, outlined with thousands of tiny stars. He wondered if, somewhere, she was looking at the moon too, her hand outstretched also. It would be amusing if she was…

Ever since they had parted all those years ago, she was the only thing he thought about on a regular basis, and he was constantly questioning if she was okay, how she was doing. Of course, these answers would never be known, because he was gone from there now and there was no way for him to return. As much as he hoped it was possible.

Another sigh escaped his pale lips, and his golden eyes closed for a moment or two, forcing himself to relax and forget about all of that. What was in the past was in the past, and he knew that he couldn't change it. Ed just wished he hadn't been so stupid… if it wasn't for him they wouldn't be in such mess.

"You can't keep blaming yourself, brother," A voice beside him whispered, and Ed opened his eyes to glance at his brother, Alphonse Elric, who was looking at him through half-lidded eyes. Al always worried about his brother, ever since they had been reunited, he hadn't been the same as before. Ed just smiled and ruffled the man's hair lightly. Al just gave him an annoyed look and lazily swatted his hand away in a playful manner. "You shouldn't blame yourself… it's not right… it's not good for you," He said with a soft smile.

Ed looked away from his brother and up at the sky, sitting himself up and resting his palms to the ground. "I know Al…" He said in a soft tone, eyes glazing over as he reminisced about what had happened six years ago. He had been away for two years before he was reunited with his brother. So much had happened in their life time, so much pain, anger, stress… there was little joy, and when that joy came, it had been ripped away before any of them had a chance to enjoy it.

Death… so much death, and suffering. But it was worth it, wasn't it? To live? Here? Ed had his doubts… he missed Amestris, and he knew Al missed it to. It was their home, and now… they had none. They had nothing but each other, and that was the way it was going to stay for a very long time, or do Ed thought as he sat himself up, hugging his knees to his chest and looking solemnly at the ground.

Watching his brother for a moment, Al blinked thoughtfully, before he closed his eyes and rolled over again, trying to get back to sleep. He worried about him… he really did.

It was a few hours later Al's eyes opened, only to find his brother asleep beside him, finally, which made Al breath out a sigh of relief, before he fell tense. There was a certain uneasiness in the air that he had breathed, which caused him to stiffen, golden eyes darting around the forest area; where they slept.

What was this feeling? It felt exactly how he felt when he had passed through the gate with his brother, and closed it up, causing them to be sealed here forever. He felt compelled to go to the place in which the gate was, once again and that frightened him. But, mind you, they were only a few miles away from where it sat, in Munich, Germany, the year being Nineteen Seventy-Two.

"Brother," Al spoke in a hushed, slightly urgent tone as he looked to his brother and rose a hand to nudge the man from his sleep. The blond twitched as he was slowly awakened, and grunted in protest, raising his arm to bat away the younger's hand, which recoiled when Al knew he had done his job. "Brother," Al said again, waiting until his brother sat up and faced his before he continued. "We need to go back to Munich," He said, his face held the serious, furrowed browed expression, whilst his only living relative cocked his eyebrow at him, eyes full of question. "Why?" He asked, hoping there was a pretty good reason for Al to wake him up after he hand FINALLY fallen asleep. And because they had just come from Munich to go to Luxembourg.

Al paused for a moment, not sure why, but he had the strangest feeling he had to keep the real reason for his request. "There's something I forgot to do," He said simply, which made Ed roll his eyes as if Al's forgetfulness was typical, which it was. Al just smiled nervously, watching as his brother stood up and stretched out his arms, yawning softly. "Okay then, let's get going," He sighed, reaching down to grab the bag he had used for a pillow and throwing it over his shoulder, setting off for Munich. Al scrambled up and grabbed his own bag, rushing off after his brother with a slight grin on his face.

The journey took two and a half hours on foot, in which the Elric brothers stayed silent the entire time, mostly because they were rather tired from lack of sleep. It was approximately three o'clock in the morning by the time they arrived, and the streets were completely deserted, which was good for them really, because had it been sunny, people would have seen them returning.

"Well, we're here," Ed said, looking around the empty streets with a blank expression before he cocked his head in Al's directions, a distracted and slightly uneasy look on his face. "Where was it you wanted to go?" he questioned, a little curious about his brother's expression, but he kept quiet about it.

Hesitating, the youngest Elric took in a small breath before he spoke in a sort of whisper, but one that Ed was able to catch. "The place… in which the gate is kept,"

Ed froze visibly, his eyes widened a little. "And why would you want to go there?" He asked, following a shame-faced Al; who had his head hung as he shuffled forward. "I have a strange feeling about it, I want to check it out again," Replied Al. Stopping in his tracks, Ed paused for a moment to look upon his brother, before he continued forward. "Al, you know we can't go back," He said sternly, a little annoyed his brother had brought up such a thing, especially since he tried to forget it. "I know," Came a simply reply from the boy, who kept his face hidden by his bangs of sandy hair. "I just… want to look… one more time before we go to Luxembourg,", Ed smiled sadly at his brother, putting his free hand in his pocket and following him to where he wanted to go.

After a short while (and a little bit of 'handy work' to get in to the place undetected) Ed and Al stood in the factory and gazed up at the ceiling, where the faint burn marks from the rockets still resided. It had been a while since they had been here, too afraid to come back when they first arrived together. It brought bad memories back, and so each time they found themselves in Munich, they avoided it like the plague.

"We… we don't belong here," Al spoke, looking to the remains of the chalk transmutation, that had been dusted away by footsteps from the people who still worked here in the factory, underneath the university. "I know… I know we don't Al…" Ed sighed in agreement with each other, hanging his head and kneeling down, his gloved hands grazed over the markings. "But… there is no way for us to go back… you know that," He continued and Al nodded his head, clenching his fists and looking back up. Never in the four years of him being here had he had such an urge to cry, maybe returning here was a bad idea…

It was then something caught his eye, on the ceiling. It was purple and glowing… and reminded Al somewhat of the glow that had come from the circle he had made back in Amestris to connect here. He blinked his eyes, shaking his head in an attempt to shrug off what he thought was an illusion. He wanted to see something like that… but it was impossible now so there was no point. But the glow ceased to remove itself from his vision, instead slowly beginning to grow in size.

Something was up.

"B-Brother?" Al asked in a shaky voice, reaching a hand to point to the increasing mark of purple. "What is that?", Ed immediately looked up, as if hoping it was something interesting. And it was. His eyes widened a little and he stood, gazing to where his brother pointed. What was that thing? "I-I don't know Al," He replied truthfully, taking a step closer and narrowing his eyes at the offending object, that was now growing in to a nice, big circle, decorated with lines and swirls that resembled… a transmutation circle.

"Could it be…?" Al trailed off and looked at his brother, who was staring at the huge thing in horror. "No, there's no way… is there?" He answered his own question, looking up.

Ed moved suddenly, which caused Al to snap his neck in the direction to what his brother was doing. Ed looked around the room frantically, trying to find something. "Brother? What is it?" Al asked, beginning to follow his brother around the room. "Four years ago… when the gate opened and you came here… before that something happened, something which shouldn't have," Ed said, opening up draws and rummaging through them. "When I first stumbled upon this, I cut my face on some broken glass, and I accidentally wiped some on the transmutation circle, which caused it to glow," He continued, throwing bits of paper around to find the thing he needed.

"Maybe… maybe if we complete the circle again, then maybe we can go… back, back home," He chocked out the last part as he found what he was looking for, and held it in the air in triumph. A simple stick of white chalk. Al just watched his brother in surprise. It had been a while since he had seen him so enthused about something. He stood a little further from his brother, just watching as the twenty-one year old began to sketch over the fading circle of chalk.

Once Ed was done, he sat back to admire his work, setting down the chalk and rolling up the sleeve of his left arm, looking down at the flesh before he bit his thumb tightly, hissing a little as his teeth broke the skin, and a trickle of crimson blood cascaded down the pad, which he held to the white markings hesitantly, his hand shaking a little from the nerves.

Both boys tensed a little as they waited, watching as a splash of blood crashed to the ground, and they waited to see that familiar blue glow.

Nothing.

Ed cursed to himself and sat back again, closing his eyes and tilted his head back. Damn it, he had been so sure, so hopeful that this would work. "Damn it!" He shouted out, smacking his fist to the ground angrily, shaking from frustration. Alphonse just looked at his brother, sadly, pitiful, biting his lip a little bit as his own hopes had been crushed by the absence of what they really wanted. He looked away and sighed, heartbroken.

But then, something caused him to look back again. The circle began to glow, that electric blue colour that he had wished to see so badly. "Brother!" He almost shouted, rushing over to the circle and looking down in disbelief. "Brother look! It's working!" The sound of his voice made Ed open his eyes slowly, disbelievingly, but they widened and he almost comically fell backwards, instead scrambling up and staring with his brother. "N-no way!" He said, glancing at Al, who glanced back and grinned.

As the shine intensified, Ed grabbed Al's arm and pulled him forward so both stood in the circle, eyes closing from the glare of the light and a rushing feeling began to pull them.

And then, everything went black.

Authors Note:

Phew, quite an intense first chapter if I do say so myself! More to come though so keep an eye out. If you're a little confused, this should explain everything pretty simply, but if it doesn't answer your questions just ask, I'll do my best to answer.

This story is based on the Anime, four years after Ed and Al wind up in our world, so everyone is much older. It is an idea I came up with for a role-play I did with a friend.

I couldn't for the live of me remember what the factory/university was called, so if you know that please let me know so I can add it in! Also I do not own Ed or Al or any of the other characters mentioned in the story, expect for a few. Enjoy, and don't forget to rate or review!