Hello again! I'm so sorry about hardly ever updating my stories. I am so totally busy right now, it is so not funny. But I swear to you that this summer I will update a lot more! I love writing but I just never ever have time anymore. Life and school suck that way.

Today I was in a Fullmetal mode so I had to change my old story and write this one instead. I know a lot more about the movie now then I did so I'm going to take a whack at this again. This will probably not be anything like the movie but I do know some of the premise.

Anyway enjoy this new story and please tell me what you think! Review! It isn't hard! (Sometimes anyway . . .)

Disclaimer: I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist. I wish to Kami-sama I did though. (Arakawa-sama you are so lucky!)

Ch. 1- A Familiar, Yet New Friend

Edward Elric's Log

I sit here in mylarge chair gazing at my work. My scientific equations are sprawled out on it as if they are a different language. If anyone else read them now they would think just that of them. This is only one of my many works that I have been piling in for two years now. The first paper of the new year is done now at least. Still I am no where close to finding the answer, even though I have that completed.

"So where will this get you Edward?" I find myself saying aloud.

A sigh escapes my mouth and I lean back in the chair looking out the sky light above me. The day is bright and the clouds scatter the dense sky. Birds fly by every once in a while as free as they can be. They could get wherever they want and not have a care in the world. The birds don't need rockets to engineer so they can fly them. I find myself wishing a lot that I could be just like them. But how could I? I would never survive as a bird because of my broken wing and leg.

Maybe I am just doomed in this fate, always trapped, always sad, and alone. I live in a dreamlike Hell from which I cannot wake up. Bad luck always finds me and grabs at me like an old unwanted friend. Darkness and death are at every corner in this world. War is brewing and the Nazis will not back down on their beliefs. I wish I could get out of here.

No matter what I do though, I can't seem to get out of this place.

The grandfather clock located in the far corner of my room chimes. I lazily look at the time. It is now 10:00. The time seems to go by so slow here. Soon though, I will have to get up and go to our new meeting. Apparently a bunch of new researchers are coming in. Just peachy, there will be more new people to bother me and slow me down. Will this awful cycle never end?

A knock suddenly sounds on my door and disturbs my thoughts. Cursed people and knocking. Why can't people ever just leave me be? I'm never going to get anything done.

"Come in." I grumble in annoyance.

The door slowly opens as if the person is afraid of me. At this thought I laugh to myself. Maybe back in my own world people would be afraid of me, but certainly not here. All I am is a twenty two year old boy trying to make sense of life. A homesick puppy, I guess you could say, wanting only to find his way back home.

To my surprise it is not the normal secretary of the facility but a young girl that I have never met before. Maybe they had hired someone else without me noticing. Not really a surprise I guess. She looks to be around seventeen or so with dark hair and mysterious grey eyes. Her hair seems to be about shoulder length and kind of flippy, her stature is skinny and . . . she looks about my height. I notice she keeps her eyes on the ground and her face is very flushed. Do they really work secretaries that hard?

"Um . . . I was supposed to come and get you Sir. The new group is arriving any second now, and the Professor wants for you to help her meet them at the main gate." Her voice has a timid and soothing tone to it.

"It's not Sir it's Edward, and thanks Miss . . ."

"Victoria Summer. It's Tori for short, Mr. Edward."

A sigh escapes me again. I shake my head almost with another laugh.

"Alright Tori, I'll be there in a second. Tell her I'm on my way ok? And the name is just Ed, please."

The crimson color in her cheeks deepens. She became very much fluttered, nods her head, and mutters as she leaves the room quickly, "Ok, M-I mean Ed."

This time I did laugh as I heard her footsteps get further away. Sometimes life does send you random little amusements her and there. Maybe this girl would brighten things up a bit. Or maybe make things ten times duller. Who could ever tell these days?

Even though I don't want to, I get up from my comfortable seat and get my things together. Why the hell did Sensei need my help? It's not like I am a very good people person like a used to be. Well I guess I have always been on someone's nerves no matter what, but that is beyond the point. Maybe they were going to be a group of trouble makers. Still though, Sensei could take on anyone she wanted to and win. There was no point in having me to get in the way.

I grab my brown coat and trudge out the door and down the hallway. Following the intricate halls and stairways down and to the front door I notice something. All the doors I pass are open and no one is inside them. Every class room appears bare as if no one but I exists in this place. What is really going on here?

Upon reaching the front door I notice that the whole entire facility is out here. They all wait patiently by the gate awaiting the bus. That would be my wager. Now I really need to know what is going on here. What are Sensei and her husband up to? Can it be Einstein coming or something? If it is I really could care less. I don't trust that man.

"Mr. Edward." I hear the stern voice I know to well say from beside me.

Turning to my Sensei/Professor I have no idea what to expect. Surprisingly a rare smile appears on her face. Her lab coat hangs all loose from working in the hot building all morning and her corn rolls are tied up in the normal ponytail. Izumi really does remind me exactly of the person I knew in my world, yet she defiantly is not the same. It still is tempting to ask her questions as if I were back in my world talking to her about alchemy.

"Sensei what exactly is going on?"

"Don't call me that Edward. I'm sick of it really."

I laugh to cover up the slip I made and nod my head slowly with sarcasm.

"Anyway," Izumi continues with a roll of her eyes, "nothing really special is happening. All these people gathered by themselves. I needed you to come and greet the new helpers with me. This group is supposed to have a bunch of brilliant minds."

"So in my words these people gathered to see if these new people would help them out, right? All of them in my opinion are slackers, looking for an excuse to get off work whenever they want." I snorted.

"Not everyone can be as dedicated to their work as you are Edward. Some of them have other lives outside of here. Although I do agree they slack off a little too much."

I glare in anger at the woman because I know she is right. She always is right. The woman knows me like a book she has read over a thousand times. It's another trait exactly like the other Izumi.

"Oh look here they come." She said changing the subject quickly.

My attention swings over to the bus and watches it with suspicion as it pulls in front of me. Izumi and the others follow the bus and wait at its door as it shifts in the park gear. I stand in my spot curious as to what will come out of the bus. Sensei said it was nothing but talented students, but there had to be something else. There is this feeling in the pit of my stomach that tells me there is more to this. Maybe it is something she has nothing to do with.

The doors open and several normal looking geeks come out. All of them have excited faces. Oh man, one of them is even drooling. Maybe I'm just having an upset stomach or something. This feeling just doesn't seem right for being in my normal state. It makes me feel very uncomfortable.

As I was about to turn my back and go inside whether the Sensei wanted me to stay or not, I stop dead in my tracks. My thoughts fly out of my mind and I only focus on the person coming out of the bus. It just can't be who it looked like. There is no way on earth my luck can be like this. I had expected to meet more people that I knew in my old world, like Izumi, but not this person.

"Alphonse?" I find myself saying in a loud surprised voice.

The tall blonde boy runs around looking for someone to talk to. He must be about twenty or so by the looks. His hair is cut short just like Al had it when we were little. One distinctive feature (besides his tall height) is his bright blue eyes that seem almost as blue as the clear ocean. He wears distinctive German clothes and has a big smile on his face that seems as if he always looks that way.

"Alphonse?" I say a little louder.

His face perks up in curiosity and he spots me. Quickly he runs over to me with a now quizzical look. I can't believe this is happening now. Does he recognize me? No of course not. He couldn't, after all we have never met. But what about the other counter part of myself that died when the zeppelin hit it? Was that his brother?

"Hello there! I am Alphonse Heiderich. Do I know you from somewhere?" the boy said as he finally reached his destination not one foot from me.

The familiar voice rings hollow in my ears. Butterflies appear in my stomach, and I feel almost as if I need to cry. I know it isn't my real brother but I still feel as if he is. For some reason I can't move and I can't speak. It is as if I had been frozen in time and then stuck in an ice cap. Or maybe I have been paralyzed and my voice has been taken away. Even my prosthetic arm and leg won't move.

"Sir? Have we met before? I feel as if I know you from somewhere. Could you shed some light on that subject for me?"

I find myself for the first time in a long while, at a loss for words.