Disclaimer: As much as I want to and no matter how many times I pray and wish, I do not nor have I ever owned Full Metal Alchemist, but I can dream.

It's Not Too Bad

Part One

The boy looked out of the train's window; to any onlooker he would have looked like your average 16 year old boy, all-be-it carrying a bag of scrap metal, but average none the less. Not many who haven't had direct contact with the boy would know that he is the 'Hero' that most people are talking about these days, that he was thee 'Edward Elric: Hero of Amestris'. He didn't mind though, he was finally and truly happy, he had fulfilled his promise to his brother, and he could now FINALY relax...well...almost.

There were three things that still plagued the young alchemist's mind, his leg, his arm, and her. After he had restored Al to his (malnourished) body, he had passed out...he awoke several hours later in a hospital bed with an unfamiliar feeling, his left leg, it was...ITCHY. He had heard of this before, when people with prosthetic and automail limbs still claimed that they could feel, something. As his hand instinctively moved to the irritated area his eyes shot open, as he sat bolt upright, he stared at the place where his hand should be touching metal...but he saw SKIN...flesh, bone and skin, as he gazed at his 'new' leg he could see that he would have to work hard and long to get his left leg into the shape that his right was. "At least that will give me something to do now" he contemplated.

The train juddered slightly along the tracks, he winced and rubbed his left leg, "Dam thing is still too sensitive" he said to himself, thinking back on the physical therapy he had just had, "I even missed my own birthday laying in that goddam bed" he thought as he slapped his palm to his forehead, "If Al weren't there I would have gone nuts". The nurses and doctors wouldn't let him even make a phone call due to his lack of identity. Mustang, Hawkeye and the others were moved to another hospital as they were in a less serious condition, physically they were shaken battered and bruised, but fine for the most part, Hawkeye and Mustang were both in comas following the battle with Father and the Homunculi, as soon as Mustang woke up and found that all his subordinates were ok, paying extra attention to what the Doctors had said about Riza, with a sigh of relief he confirmed Ed's identity and the hospital let him go when his leg was strong enough.

The train juddered a second time, knocking him off balance. He put his arm out to catch himself and was greeted with the leather of the seat slapping his cheek, as he lay on the leather covered bench he stared over at the bag opposite him on the other bench in the compartment. He had spent a great deal of time thinking about what had transpired a few weeks ago, about being in front of 'The Gate of Truth' once more, only this time with an Armoured Alphonse to his right looking over at the body of himself, there had been a bright light as the two collided and Ed found himself looking at the armour that was being lifted through the, now open, gate as he sat on the floor with only his real arm and leg for support.

Exactly what happened after Al had regained his body was a very elusive matter, but from what he could assess, as he and Al (equipped with flesh and bone once again) passed back through the gate, the metal automail port had been removed from his left thigh and he had been given his leg back. Pushing himself up off the bench, he now wore a look of aggravation on his face, he had come to terms with the fact that his leg was 'reinstated', but it had been a huge annoyance to him that he didn't get his arm back as well, he knew that it was gone not because of the Human Transmutation all those years ago but due to the separate alchemic incident of affixing Al's soul to the armour, but that still didn't help his solemn mood.

"NEXT STOP, RESEMBOOL" Ed heard the train conductor shout as he passed through the hallway of the carriages. He stood grabbing the bag with his now shattered automail arm inside it; he had gone back to the scene of 'The Last Stand' before getting on the train and picked up every piece of automail-looking metal he could find. Adjusting his weight to compensate for his under developed leg, he stood as the train came to a halt at the platform; Ed exited the locomotive and made his way to the front of the station. His left leg still ached, but he had been through worse before and to him, "This is nothing compared to what Winry will do to me when she sees the state of me" Ed smiled before all the blood drained from his face "Screw that what's gunna happen to me when she sees my arm in a bag, looking like it exploded from the inside out? I REALLY should have called her." He thought as he made his way out of the main town area toward the road that lead to HER and his "Impending doom" as Ed thought when the yellow house now seemed to loom over him.


A/N: This is my first FanFic of any type, so be gentle with me. But I welcome all forms of criticism, good, bad or otherwise, to me it's all constructive.

This will probably only be about two parts long, maybe three if I feel that it is a bit long for two chapters. The next chapter will be dealing with the EdWin stuff; I just wanted to set up the base of the story first,