Me: Yes, yet ANOTHER Fullmetal Alchemist fanfiction…

Ed: You sure do seem to be doing a lot of these lately…

Me: Yeah, I know, I must be going through a Fullmetal craze or something…and I think I'll never get over it… (-sweatdrops-)

Ed: Well, do you own FMA?

Me: No, I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist…why?

Ed: I was just wondering.

Me: …Okay. On with the new story!

Bring Me Back

Chapter 1

"Mom, do I have to go to school here?"

"Yes Edward…it'll just be for one year while I try to sort things out to get a new job, okay honey?"

"All right Mom…"

"That's a good lad…now here's some money for lunch."

Ed sighed, then took the ten Trisha handed him with a smile.

"Okay Mom, I'll see you when school's out. I'll walk."

"Are you sure? I mean, I can pick you up after school…how about that?" Trisha asked worriedly.

"I'll be fine Mom…I can handle myself if anything happens. Love you!"

"All right, Edward. I'll see you after school, and I love you too." She said, leaning over the cup holder in the middle of the seat to kiss his forehead.

"Bye." Ed said, allowing her to peck his brow before smiling and opening his car door. He climbed out, his long blond braid flying behind him as the wind caught it. He leaned back into the car, grabbing the backpack that was on the floorboard before giving one last wave to Trisha before closing the car door with a gloved hand.

He waved as she drove off, his red over jacket flying behind him in the heavy wind. He sighed, slipping the backpack straps on his back, then turned to look at the hell that had been placed before him on what he thought to be a silver platter.

As others passed him, they looked him up and down, and then scowled and walked away as quick as they could.

"Well, looks like the rumors traveled faster than we did…" Ed muttered. He walked forward gloomily with his combat boot-clad feet, then up one step, then another until he was at the top.

"Great…yet another multi-level school…" He grumbled as he walked in through the front doors. As he walked, people looked at him and quickly walked away.

"I can tell this is NOT going to be a fun final year…"

He looked around, seeing what looked to be a teacher.

"Excuse me, where can I find the office? I'm new here…" He asked as politely as he could.

"Right down the hall, first door on your left." The woman said with a smile.

"Thank you." Ed said, then turned and walked into the room that she had directed him into, sighing in relief when he noticed that it was the office. He walked up to the secretary at the front desk and cleared his through, and she looked up at him, taking in his outfit, then looked him square in his amber eyes. "Excuse me…"

"What can I help you with, dear?" She asked, smiling.

"I need a schedule for Edward Elric…that's me." Ed said.

"Just a moment, dear." She stated, then reached over into a folder and pulled out a sheet of paper, handing it to him. "There you go."

"Thank you." Ed said, then looked down at it. "Um…where can I find room B13?"

"You want to go up to the second level, it's the seventh room on your left. The stairs to the second floor are a little bit to your right once you walk out of here. There are three floors, A, B, and C. All the rooms, starting on the right side, are even numbers, and all rooms on the left are odd numbers." The secretary explained.

"All right…thank you so much." Ed said, then walked out of the office door again and followed the secretary's instructions up the stairs. He walked to the room she had told him to, dodging all the other students that were either going to opposite direction, weren't paying attention, or were going too fast…he didn't know which.

He walked into the room, sighing when he saw it was a full house. He walked up to the desk in front where a young woman was seated, turning the page on her book.

"Excuse me…" Ed said as he walked over to the desk.

"Yes?" The teacher asked, looking up as she put a bookmark in the book before closing it.

"I'm Edward Elric…I'm new here." Ed said, holding out his schedule for her to check.

"Oh, yes, I heard we were getting another student. I'm Ms. Psiren, by the way." She said as she looked down at the schedule, then handed it back to him. "Well, you came to the right place…just go over there and take a seat behind Roy…"

"Um…who's that?" Ed asked.

"Oh, I'm sorry, dear. He's the one with the black and red flame design hoodie on." She said, pointing to one of the students on the other side of the room.

"All right, thank you." Ed said, then put the paper in his pocket before walking over to the empty desk where he had been told to sit, everyone shrinking away from him as he passed.

"Yup, definitely not going to be a good year…"

As Ed walked past the guy that Ms. Psiren has called 'Roy', he looked up at Ed with a smile on his face, then continued to talk to the boy in front of him, who was turned around in his seat, talking happily away. The boy directly on the other side of the aisle from Roy laughed when he heard what they were talking about, and quickly turned towards join the conversation.

Ed sighed as he sat down, everyone except for Roy noticing who he was and moved their desk as far away from him as possible without Ms. Psiren noticing. He set his backpack down on the desk, letting his head fall to rest on it.

A minute later, an annoying bell rang and Ms. Psiren sighed, putting the bookmark back into her book as she stood.

"Well, kids, welcome back for your last year here at Fullmetal Central High. I'll be your History teacher, and since students like to slack off on the first day, I'll just explain how things go in my classroom, then you can go about your business for the rest of the period."

A small ring of cheers came from the class, everyone except for Ed and the group of three boys who had been talking before class.

"QUIET!"

The cheers stopped instantly.

"Good. Rule number one, I do not like to be messed with. Rule number two, this is my class and what I say goes, no exceptions or objections. Rule number three, I don't like to have to talk over people. And last but not least, rule number four, don't piss me off. Now…carry on." She said, then sat back down and picked up her book.

Every other group of students cheered, then they stood and switched desks around, everybody moving away from Ed as fast as they could. The trio of boys watched as Ed was left alone in his corner of the room, but Ed just ignored them. He was used to it, though it usually happened on the fourth or fifth day after he went to a new school…

Ed sat alone at the desk, sighing before he started to dig in his backpack to realize that he's left his book at home.

"Aww man…"

He zipped up his backpack, laying his head back down on it as he just sat there for around thirty minutes until…

"Hey! You!"

Ed looked up and around to see who had said that.

"Over here!"

Ed's head turned to look at the group of three boys that were sitting a small ways in front of him.

"You mean…me?" Ed asked, pointing into his chest with his right index finger.

"Yeah, you. Come here." One of them said kindly, gesturing for him to go over to their small group. Ed was a bit hesitant, thinking it was going to be a prank, but he stood and walked over anyway.

"Yes?" He asked.

"What's your name?" One of them asked.

"Edward Elric." He stated.

"Well, I'm Maes Hughes, though most call me Hughes. Pleasure to meetcha!" The one who had called him over said with a small wave.

"I'm Challan Morgan Rinamino…most call me Morgan." He said with a nod in Ed's direction.

"And I'm Roy Mustang. Most call me Mustang. It's a pleasure to meet you Edward." The third boy, the one with the hoodie, said with a smile.

"Hey." Ed said.

"Go ahead, pull up a seat." Mustang said. Ed smiled and gave a mental sigh of relief.

"Maybe it won't be so bad here." Ed thought as he grabbed his desk and pulled it over.

"So Ed, where you from?" Hughes asked once Ed had moved the desk and set his books on the floor.

"Huh? Oh, I'm from a small town called Ileki near the mountains…it's about a hundred miles north from Risembool…"

"That far? Just to come all the way Central? What for?"

"Well…my Mom's been looking for a job, and this was the best place to go so…we're here."

"Well, you'll fit right in with us." Morgan said with a smile.

"Why does everyone shrink away from you, though?" Mustang blurted out.

"Rumors…" Ed grumbled.

"What rumors?"

"Uh, it's kinda a long story…" Ed said.

"We've got time."

"Could…could it wait a bit?"

Mustang looked to Hughes, and he nodded, Mustang's face getting a defeated look on it.

"All right." Mustang said with a shrug, the look disappearing.

"Where's Kararu?" Hughes asked.

"She has a different class this period." Morgan shrugged.

"Oh…"

Ed was about to ask who Kararu was when a bell rang.

"Well, that's first period. Boring, eh?" Mustang said as he stood, grabbing his backpack.

"Pretty much." Ed said as he picked up his as well, slipping it on over his coat.

"Hey Ed…why do you wear gloves?" Morgan asked curiously.

"I'd…rather not say…" Ed muttered, looking away.

"You're choice, you're business." He said with a shrug. Ed smiled.

"Maybe it won't be so bad here after all…"

As the four walked down the hall, a girl ran up to Morgan, pulling him into a tight hug.

"Hey! How've you been this morning?" Morgan asked, pulling away from the girl to look down into her crimson gaze, a smile lit on her face.

"I'm fine, except my first teacher is a real jerk…" The girl replied, reaching a hand up to push black and red strands of hair behind her ear.

"Give me their name and we'll go kick their butts for you." Morgan said, dead serious.

"Oh no, I can kick their butts by myself, thanks though. What do you have next period?"

"Um…English, you?"

"Same. Cool, I guess Shikou and I'll see you next period, but I have to go to my locker first."

"All right. Bye 'Raru, see you in a few minutes." Morgan said, waving as the girl nodded and ran off.

"Where'd you find such a hot girl Morgan?" Ed asked, watching until the girl ran around the corner and out of sight.

"Um, Edward…that's my sister." Morgan confirmed with a slight smirk.

"Oh." Ed said, slightly embarrassed, then thought for a moment. "Is she single?"

"As far as I know." Morgan shrugged.

"Nice!"

"Edward?" Hughes asked.

"Yes?" Ed replied, turning to him.

"…If you decide to go for it, don't hurt her. She's been hurt too many times in her life already." Hughes said.

Ed gave him a questioning look, and was about to ask why, but Mustang cut him off.

"Kararu smiled." He said slowly, sounding shocked.

Morgan nodded. "Yeah, she did."

"I haven't seen her smile in a long time…not since then." Mustang said, his eyes still betraying his shock.

"Well…Shikou worked with her over the summer." Morgan explained.

"Of course, only Shikou would be able to do that." Hughes said as he nodded.

"Yup…Shikou can work wonders with 'Raru."

"You guys all really care for her, don't you?" Ed asked as they headed for their next class.

"Very much so." All three said in unison.

"Ever since…that…happened." Mustang muttered as they walked into the classroom.

"Since wha-" Ed started to ask, but was cut short for the second time in five minutes by an adult that was walking over toward him.

"I assume your Edward Elric?" He asked.

"Yes." Ed nodded, staring up at the man before him while the other three went and got four seats in the far corner of the room.

"Well, I'm Mr. Ataka. Just take an empty seat by Maes." Mr. Ataka said, motioning to Hughes.

Ed nodded, walking over to sit in the empty desk next to Hughes. The bell rang and Morgan looked around, worried.

"Kararu's not here…" He whispered to the other three as the teacher stood. Mustang and Hughes both got expressions that mirrored Morgan's and it looked like they were about to have a quick whispered conversation about it until the teacher spoke. Cursing, the three turned back around in their seats to face him, scowls darkening their faces.

"I'm Mr. Ataka, and I'll be your English teacher for you final year. Just a few warnings. One, don't slack off. Two, don't 'forget' your homework. Three, don't piss me off or try to give me any lame excuses. Four, don't be late to me-" He said, but was interrupted when the door flung open and two girls stumbled in. "-class…"

Ed looked at the two as they picked themselves up off the floor, recognizing one to be Morgan's sister, but the other…he didn't recognize at all.

"Well, well, well, Miss Stone, Miss Rinamino, so glad you could join us." Mr. Ataka said as he looked at the two straightened themselves up.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Ataka…" Morgan's sister gasped out.

"Mr. Ataka, it was my fault, I'm so sorry!" The other girl said, picking her spilled books up from the floor.

"Well, actually Miss Stone, it's both of your faults."

"But sir, I-" Morgan's sister started.

"You will speak when spoken to." Mr. Ataka snapped.

"Yes sir…" Morgan's sister said, her eyes downcast to the floor.

"This is bad…" Hughes whispered, seeing Kararu.

"This isn't what she needs…" Mustang whispered back.

"I told you only speak when spoken to!" Mr. Ataka growled.

"Sir, I'm sorry…I didn't mean to be late! I got lost and-"

"You will shut up and listen to me, is that clear?" Mr. Ataka yelled. Morgan's sister shrank back with a gulp as she nodded until she bumped into the other girl. Mr. Ataka advanced on the two, some of the class watching in complete horror, others in joyful delight. "Both of you have just earned yourselves a weeks worth of detentions. Miss Rinamino will be staying an extra week after that."

"But sir, I can't, I have to-"

"I don't care what you have to do! You will serve the detentions!"

"Sir, I have to go-"

"I DON'T CARE!"

The next thing Ed knew, Morgan was standing in the front of the class between the two girls and Mr. Ataka.

"Leave her alone, Mr. Ataka." Morgan growled.

"Well, Mr. Rinamino. Go back to your seat. I'll deal with your behavior later."

"Sir, I will not back down."

"Challan Morgan Rinamino, go back to your seat!"

"No."

While this exchange was going on, Ed and Mustang got up and ran over to the two girls, and Hughes went to stand next to Morgan.

"Come on." Ed whispered to the other girl. She gulped, nodding as he pulled her gently to her feet.

"Kararu, here." Mustang said gently, holding a hand out to Morgan's sister. "Please trust me? Like you did before?" She looked at his face, then at his outstretched hand and grabbed it, letting him pull her gently to her feet. "There." He whispered, smiling.

She didn't smile back, only pulled him close to her in a hug. He hugged her back, then gently led her out of the room.

"If you walk out that door, you fail this class!" Mr. Ataka yelled.

"Go ahead." Morgan growled, then followed Mustang and his sister out of the room.

"If I had a choice between failing and having Kararu mentally stable, and passing and having her get sick again, I'm definitely going to choose the former." Hughes growled, walking over to Ed and the other girl. "Ed, Shikou, let's go."

Shikou nodded. "All right…thanks Hughes."

"Thanks come later, after we know that Kararu's okay." Hughes said. She nodded again, then motioned for Ed to come with the two out of the room. He followed with one last glare at Mr. Ataka before walking out the door.

"They would have gone that way." Hughes said, pointing in the direction that led to the school courtyard.

"Okay." Ed said, then the three made their way down the hall.

"Um…thanks for, uh, helping back there…" Shikou muttered to Ed.

"It wasn't a problem." Ed replied with a shrug.

"I'm Shikou Stone." She said, holding out her hand to him as they walked.

"Edward Elric." Ed took her hand and shook it.

"Pleasure."

"Likewise…though not under these conditions, I'm afraid…"

"Ditto."

The three now walked in silence until a yell from down the hall caught their attention.

"Kararu, please wait!"

They watched as Kararu ran around the corner towards them with tears in her eyes as she ran. She looked around, and the next think Ed knew, she was crying her eyes out into his chest as she hugged him tightly to her.

Mustang and Morgan ran around the corner to see Ed staring down at her in shock as she hugged him. Ed looked to them with pleading eyes.

'Ed, hug her back, tell her it's okay.' Mustang mouthed to him. Ed nodded, not thinking that what he was about to do would help her any.

He slowly put his arms around her, whispering, "Shh, it's okay. There's no need to cry. Shh, everything'll be okay." He decided to follow his instincts as he gently rubbed her back and pulled her closer to him as she still sobbed into his chest. "Shh…shh, Kararu, it's okay."

Slowly she stopped sobbing, yet still cried and hugged him to her.

"My gosh…he calmed her down when even Morgan couldn't…" Mustang muttered as he watched the proceedings with shocked wide eyes.

"Are you going to be okay now?" Ed whispered. She nodded, then looked up at him, her eyes wide.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" Kararu said, then tried to pull away from him.

"No, it's quite all right. Go ahead and cry if you need to." Ed said softly as he continued to hug her.

She nodded, staying in his arms. Ed looked down at her, seeing her looking safe and content right where she was. A few minutes later, she looked up at him, whispering, "Thank you…"

"It wasn't a problem." Ed said, allowing her to move out of his arms if she wanted, but she didn't move.

"I'm Kararu Rinamino." She said clearly, Shikou, Morgan, Hughes and Mustang looking at her in shock.

"Kararu never gave her name to anyone before…" Hughes whispered.

"I'm Edward Elric. Just call me Ed." Ed said with a smile. "It's nice to meet you."

"Same here." Kararu said, then looked up at him, her face lit with a smile.

"And now she's smiling at him! What has the world come to?" Hughes asked, turning his back on the two, blushing furiously.

"Aww, are you jealous of Edward, Hughes?" Morgan asked with a sly grin.

"No!" Hughes answered quickly.

"Right, Hughes, right. I just better not catch you two arguing over my sister, got it?"

"Fine."

XxXxXxXxXxXx

After the incident with Kararu and Ed, the group walked to the office, and were able to get a schedule change for Kararu so that she was in all the same classes as her brother and his friends, and strangely enough, Ed had the same schedule as well. Shikou also got hers changed, because it seemed that she, Ed and Morgan were the only people that were capable of calming Kararu down if anything happened.

The next two periods that morning happened without any problems, except that Kararu kept wanting to sit close to Ed…a reason that neither Ed, nor her brother could find out.

At lunch, they all walked outside to eat their lunch, Kararu still deciding to sit next to Ed. They got into a conversation very easily, Mustang, Hughes, Morgan and Shikou watching in shock as the new guy, the guy that Kararu had just met, was able to get her name out of her, as well as get her to sit by her, somehow got her to willingly speak to him!

"What is the world coming to?" Mustang asked, throwing his hands up into the air.

"I don't know. Go ask the aliens…they'd know!" Morgan said, not able to eat his sausage link he was so shocked.

"Come on guys, let's go throw our trash away." Hughes said, then he, Mustang and Morgan stood and walked off, Hughes calling, "We'll be back in a minute!"

"'Kay!" Ed yelled after them, then turned when Kararu stood. "Where are you going?"

"Bathroom." She said with a small, shy grin, then started to walk off.

"I'll go with you." Shikou said, standing. Ed nodded after them, finding himself sitting alone at the picnic table. A minute later, someone sat beside him and he looked, forcing himself not to gasp.

"I know him…wait…no I don't…but I do…" Ed thought as he looked the boy beside him up and down.

"Um…you were sitting with Mustang and the others, right?" The boy asked, his dark amber eyes staring at Ed.

"Yeah, I was." Ed said.

"Where did they go?" The boy asked, tilting his head in question, his long dirty blond ponytail slipping out from behind his head to fall on his shoulder.

"To throw their trash away." Ed answered with a shrug.

"Are you new here? I've never seen you before."

Ed nodded.

"I'm Al." He said, extending his hand to Ed.

"Ed." Ed took Al's hand and shook it.

"So…where'd you come from?"

XxXxXxXxXxXx

"So, uh…Al, right?" Ed asked.

"Yeah, that's right." Al said with a smile.

"Have I…met you before? You look so familiar…yet I can't seem to place you anywhere…and I feel like I've known you my entire life, though I know that's not possible…"

"No, I don't think we have…though I have the same feeling…" Al muttered, looking thoughtful. Someone walked up and they both turned their heads from their conversation to see Morgan, Mustang and Hughes walking back, Morgan first.

"Oh, Edward, I see you've met Alphonse." Morgan grinned, then shrugged. "I still think proper introductions are in order. Alphonse, this is Edward Elric. Edward, this is Alphonse Elric."

Ed stared at Morgan, then looked at Al, both of their eyes going wide. Ed then realized where he'd seen Al before and why they looked so alike. Both boys looked at each other muttering at the exact same time with the exact same expression, "No WAY…"

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Me: Chapter one!

Ed: Did everyone enjoy it?

Me: I hope they did!

Ed: Hey, which characters do you own?

Me: I own Kararu Rinamino and Challan Morgan Rinamino, and Silvermoon15 owns Shikou Stone, I'm just borrowing…why do you ask?

Ed: Oh, no reason.

Me: You sure do seem to ask a lot of questions like that...

Ed: I do?

Me: Nevermind...

Ed: Okay...

Me: Well, I hope you all enjoyed it! Please review!

Ed: And stay tuned for next chapter! It's going to be a hoot!

Me: Tell me about it!

Ed: How can I? You're going to be the one writing it!

Me: Oh…uh…eheh…my bad?

Ed: Yeah, your bad.

Me: Yup…anyways, see you all next chapter!