The Ties That Bind
Chapter One:
The Brother That Once Was

"Edward, are you ready?" Hohenheim asked as he knelt in front of his son, who was standing in the center of a complex transmutation circle. It hadn't taken Hohenheim and Edward long to figure out a way to use alchemy in England, even though it wasn't supposed to work on Earth. By drawing upon their own life energy, they were able to open the Gate that exists within those born on the Amestresian side of it.

"You never told me why you're doing this for me. I want to know." Hohenheim smiled a bit.

"Because you deserve to be home with your brother."

"You're trying to make up for what you did to me, Alphonse, and Mom, aren't you?"

"I guess I am, a bit. But I know that nothing I do will ever earn your forgiveness, so all I can do is send you home to be with your family." Edward nodded.

"Thanks." Hohenheim used a nearby knife to make a cut across both of his hands. The use of their blood was the only way to get the circles to work correctly. He placed his bloody palms on the circle, and it activated, glowing with a bright blue-gold light. "Goodbye... Dad."

--

"Hey, Al? Where are you?" Winry called from the front porch of her house. Alphonse had been living there for the past six months since he had been returned to his ten-year-old body... missing the last five years of his memories. Edward hadn't been found since then, either, which led most to believe he was dead, but there were a few who still held hope for the FullMetal Alchemist's return.

"I'm over here!" Alphonse yelled, running from the side of the house toward the front, an alchemy book in his hand. He stopped short of the porch, however, and smiled brightly at Winry.

"It's nearly time for lunch. Why don't you come in and wash up?" She asked him in an older sister tone. Since there was now a five-year gap between their ages, the two couldn't be best friends anymore. Instead, Winry became like the older sister Al never had, and she finally had the little silbing she wished she had.

"I want to show you something I found in Brother's notebook." He said excitedly. Winry saw that the book he held was his brother's old alchemic notebook. Rose had found it when she had found Alphonse in the Underground City, and had given it to the younger brother.

"Alright, what is it?" Winry asked, leaning on the railing to get a better look at Alphonse, who was now drawing a transmutation circle on the dirt in front of him. He brought out a piece of paper from a pocket, and placed it inside the circle after folding it twice. He was about to activate the circle when it started glowing. Alphonse moved away from it in surprise, and watched it carefully. "What's going on?"

"I don't know..." Then, out of the ground on top of Al's transmutation circle, the Gate formed. Alphonse stared wide-eyed at it, knowing exactly what it was, but Winry screamed and ran inside the house, completely terrified. Alphonse could do nothing more than sit there as the doors started opening slowly. A hand emerged from them, but it was a mechanical right hand. Soon following it was the rest of a body, constantly fighting against long black arms that tried to pull him back into the Gates. The boy managed to pull himself out of the Gate and out of the reach of the arms. The doors immediately swung shut behind him and disintegrated into the air. The boy, however, fell to his knees, staring at Alphonse.

Golden eyes locked onto golden eyes as they both smiled.

"Ed!"

"Al!" Alphonse stood up and ran to his brother, who smiled tiredly. "Guess the old man did something right after all." And with that, Edward fell unconscious.

"WINRY!" Alphonse yelled. "BROTHER'S HOME!"

--

"Hey, Al, do you want some breakfast?" Winry asked as she poked her head inside the small room they had brought 'Edward' yesterday. Alphonse was sitting in a chair against the wall with the door in it, and 'Edward' lay on the small bed opposite that wall, right underneath the window. The badly made other-world poor excuse for automail had been disconnected from him and lay on Winry's workbench in her room, and she hadn't started working on a new set for him.

"I'm fine." Winry scowled at him.

"No, you're not. Why don't you come downstairs and eat a little. He's not going anywhere right now, and I think you could use a few minutes rest."

"I'm not going anywhere, Winry. Not until I find out what happened and why my memories have returned." Al said quietly, his gaze not wavering from the face he wished dearly was his truly his brother's. Yesterday, after seeing the Gate, Alphonse realized that his memories had returned, and felt a bit overwhelmed by them at first.

"I'll bring you something up, then, alright? Will you at least eat a little?" He turned and looked at her with a smile.

"Okay, Winry." She smiled a little before shutting the door and heading downstairs to fix Alphonse a plate of breakfast. Al turned his gaze back to the boy laying in the bed across from him, and all was silent for another minute, until the boy started stirring.

He opened his eyes slowly, and looked around, confused, until he spotted Alphonse sitting nearby.

"...Al?" He asked hopefully, pushing himself into an upright position with his one arm. "Is that really you?"

"Yeah." A wave of relief spread over the boy and he smiled a bit.

"I thought it was a dream."

"What happened to you?" 'Edward' noticed how his brother hadn't moved from his seat, and was addressing him like he was someone he'd never met before.

"After you brought me back using the Stone, I sacrificed myself to get you back. I ended up on the other side of the Gate, in a country called England, with our father. He said that our alchemy didn't work over there, but I found a way to make it work. By using a bit of our soul and our blood, we could use alchemy. So, he decided to send me home and here I am." He said quickly, wanting to know why Alphonse was so cold to him. "But what about you? My sacrifice worked, but what's happened to you in the last six months?" Alphonse stood slowly, and walked over to his 'brother' carefully.

"You remember everything that's happened to us, right?" He asked, staying a few feet away from the elder.

"Of course I do! Alphonse, what's wrong with you?" 'Edward' pleaded. This 'new' Alphonse was annoying him and creeping him out at the same time. He had never known his brother to be so cold and distant.

"Look down." He instructed. 'Edward' looked at him, puzzled.

"Wha...?"

"Look down." Alphonse cut off the question. Edward slowly lowered his gaze until he was staring at his bare chest.

"...No..."

There, in blood red, was the mark of the Ouroboros, the mark of a Homunculus, directly over his heart. And over that, in sharp black, was drawn a bloodseal, the same one Edward had drawn on the armor that had housed Alphonse's soul.

To Be Continued
If anyone wants to find out what happens next, review!

I have completed this, and I'll update this next Saturday, the 26th of April, if anyone likes it. (Thank you O-mirage-O for the idea!) This story is ten chapters plus an eleventh/epilouge chapter at the end.

Be kind, feed the plot kitties! Review!

Shadow Kat-Lyn