Looking out over the vast desert land, Edward Elric tried to remember how he had gotten here. Sure, he remembered how he'd gotten to the desert, but he was finding it harder and harder to recollect exactly what had made him start this journey in the first place. After all, what had he been thinking leaving home like that with nothing but the clothes on his back and his little brother by his side?

If he had bothered to ask Alphonse, he might have received the answer he was looking for. When the two Elric boys burned their home to the ground and left Rizembool seemingly forever, they had a very distinct purpose: to find the Philosopher's Stone and renew their bodies to normal, and if they were feeling brave enough, perhaps bring their mother back from the dead.

Of course, they had been more than encouraged by the words of, at that time, the one known as Lieutenant Colonel Roy Mustang. He seemed to have more than enough faith that they would find exactly what they were looking for, but everyone else had their doubts, that is, everyone else who actually knew what was going on.

So many times, they had been told that there was nothing out there for them to find, that the Philosopher's Stone was just a myth. They had heard the stories. They knew that every alchemist who had ever searched for the secret of the Stone had either given up or had been driven insane. There was more than enough evidence to suggest that the Elrics would fail, but still they soldiered forth, determined to succeed.

I left home when I was seventeen

I just grew tired of falling down

And I'm sure I was told

The allure of the road

Would be all I found

They had been so sure of themselves when they had first started out, so positive that they would reach their true goal. Ed tried not to scoff as he remembered their childish naïveté, thinking that they had known all the answers. They had been so young and yet so resolute that they were sure they knew everything they had to know to find or create a real Philosopher's Stone.

It was funny, thinking back. They had learned so much over these past few years, and yet it really only raised more questions in both of their minds. All those answers that they thought they had, had all at once become difficulties in their search.

Alphonse finally looked up from staring down at his feet and realized that there was still a miles-long stretch of desert to go before they even got close to the town that they could see in the distance. It never ended. The path just seemed to go on and on, almost as long and infinite as the beautiful blue sky above them. Normally, he would have taken the time to stop and silently muse about such a beautiful scene, but he was far too burdened to even consider it at a time like this.

And all the answers that I started with

Turned out questions in the end

So the years roll on by

And just like the sky

The road never ends

So many times, Winry and Pinako had asked the boys when they thought they might return to Rizembool. After all, wasn't that really the only appropriate thing to do? There, in that little town, they had people who loved and cared about them. Why on earth would they waste all their time being dogs for the military if they could have just as fulfilling a life in the same little place where they had always grown up?

"You two worry me!" Winry would shout at Ed whenever she spoke to him. "I feel like I'm never going to see you again, and you never even let me know what's going on! What if something bad happened to you or Alphonse, Edward? I wouldn't be able to get to you! I wouldn't even know! Please, can't you come back soon?"

Ed would always just sigh deeply and reply, "Winry, we can't come home until we've found what we're looking for. As long as there's a possibility of finding a Philosopher's Stone, we're going to keep going. I know it isn't easy, but what else can we do? I promised Al I would get his body back for him, and that's exactly what I'm going to do. Until then, we soldier on."

The small State Alchemist considered this as he marched on through the hot sun, and he couldn't help but feel a small twinge of anger that Al couldn't sense this heat and torment. But then a new resolution was built up within him as he realized that someday, Alphonse would feel warmth and frost again. Someday he'd be able to eat and smell and touch again. And until they located a Philosopher's Stone, they'd continue down these long roads that the gods handed them.

And the people who love me still ask me

When are you coming back to town

And I answer quite frankly

When they stop building roads

And all God needs is gravity to hold me down