IMPORTANT NOTE! TO ANY WHO HAVE READ PREVIOUS CHAPTERS, THIS STORY IS UNDERGOING A REVAMP! IF YOU HAVE READ PREVIOUSLY, MAKE SURE TO GO BACK AND EITHER RE-READ OR SKIM THE NEW CHAPTERS. ARIGATOU FOR YOUR PATIENCE!! ALSO, ANY CHAPTER THAT IS REVAMPED WILL SAY SO. ARIGATOU!

REVAMPED!!!!!!!!!

Carrying On, Living Life

A/N: Title is subject to change. Pairings: Ed/Win, Al/OC, Roy/Riza. What happens when Ed, Al, and Lily, Alphonse's wife, return to Amestris after eight years? What will the people the Elrics know react to the changes that happened to them due to the horrors of World War II and Auschwitz?

Prologue:

Edward and Alphonse Elric were shuffled along with the other prisoners toward the building every enslaved person on the encampment feared. The gas chambers. Both brothers were different than they had been eight years before, living in a state of half-ignorance at the true cruelty of the human race. They had been here, in Auschwitz, for a year. They didn't know if it was a miracle or a tragedy that they had been able to survive so long. Now it was ending. The Elric brothers were going to die. Even as they thought of their pasts, they were being marched to their death. They remembered sadness and desperation and love and sorrow and fear and happiness and much pain. Suddenly, they heard a familiar voice. One they hadn't heard in a year.

"Alphonse?" the voice asked fearfully. Al turned around to meet familiar emerald eyes.

"Lily?" Al asked incredulously. Anyone that would have cared to look upon the two could see that they cared for each other deeply. The love that they shared seemed to radiate from their being. Despite this, Al had a heart-broken look on his face. The last thing he wanted was for Lily to die. He had been worrying every second for the past 365 days that she was dead and that he was left alone in the world. The only comfort he could take was that he could be there with her; maybe being able to console her in their last moments on this earth. The two refrained from the strong desire to embrace and merely entwining their fingers together.

"I'm scared, Alphonse." Lily whispered quietly, barely able to be heard above the panicking of the other prisoners and the shouts of the Nazi guards. Her voice was fearful, yet it was still just as strong and independent it had always been.

"I know, Lily. I'm scared too." he whispered to her, squeezing her hand gently.

"Careful." Edward warned in a whisper, eyeing the Nazi guards. All three trembled with fear along with the other prisoners as they were pushed into the chambers. The Nazis forced them to strip their clothing and searched them for valuables for the last time. When they were done, they pushed them into the chambers that were reminiscent of showers. It was the most terrifying place that they had ever been in. The simple innocence of the room, the resemblance to a public bathroom, made the terror even more real. Alphonse pulled Lily close to him, holding her against him as he buried his face into her neck. He stroked what little amount of hair had grown back after the Nazis had shaved them, hoping that he was able to give her at least some comfort. He made sure that her eyes were blinded from the horror of what was about to happen.

The three were given little time to think. As soon as the door was shut, the noxious gas leaked into the room and the final thing any of them saw was darkness.

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Edward awoke in an alley of a city. It was dark, night he supposed, and rain drizzled softly from the black sky. It appeared to be late, due to the darkness and the almost complete emptiness of the city. For a long time he stayed where he was, lying on the ground, trying to rationalize what had happened. Slowly, he looked around, seeing that Alphonse and Lily were lying on the ground beside each other. Both were fully clothed and their hair looked just as it had a year ago, before the Nazis had captured them.

He tried to remember what had happened. The last thing he remembered... the gas chambers. But... how were they here? Where was here? And how were they wearing normal clothes and had normal length hair? Had it all been a dream? No... That was impossible. Something that terrible, that horrific couldn't have been a dream. It just couldn't have only been in his head.

Edward heard a group of people rushing down the street, past the alley. They weren't speaking German. They weren't in Germany? Then where the hell were they? The Elrics hadn't left Germany for years! Ed struggled to his feet, feeling incredibly weak. It was as if someone had drained him of days and days of energy or like he hadn't slept in days. Before doing anything else, he checked his brother and sister-in-law for any injuries. They only suffered from the same things that he did: starvation, overwork, abuse, malnutrition. The same as any prisoner in a Konzentrationslager. He walked wearily to where the alley opened up into the street and almost fainted in shock.

What Edward was staring at, was Central. They made it. Somehow, someway, after eight long years... They were home. Somehow, they had returned to Amestris without even trying to.

A/N: Well, I just want to thank everyone for reading and would like some feedback about the changes that were made. While I was re-reading over everything I realized that I wasn't completely happy with how it has turned out. Not to mention how many grammatical mistakes I made. Thanks for your lovely reviews! To any new readers, please review! Critism is welcome, but please make it CONSTRUCTIVE!!!!!!!! Arigatou!!!!!!!

xoxoxoxoxo Gerbil-san