AN: OK, I know this chapter is, like, super short, and super late, and a few of the characters are, well, out of character, and the writing for just about all of it is horrible, but hey, I've been having HORRIBLE writer's block lately, so... yeah |D

Chapter 2

"Ah, there you are, Fullmetal. I was beginning to wonder if you would show up at all."

Ed sighed as he walked into the office of Fuhrer Roy Mustang, swishing is tail slightly behind his red jacket. He wished the Fuhrer would shut up, but he just continued talking.

"Of course, I did consider the fact that I couldn't see you, I mean, with you being all short and all. I mean, you've hardly grown two inches since you were sixteen-"

"WHO'RE YOU CALLING SO SMALL YOU NEED A MICROSCOPE TO SEE HIM?" Ed cried, cutting him off.

"Brother, please try to calm down…" Alphonse said to his brother with a sigh and a shake of his head.

"Please, Sir, give the boy a break. Enough with the teasing already." They all turned to see Riza Hawkeye, or more recently, Riza Mustang, step into the room carrying a pile of paperwork. Roy just smiled and chuckled to himself.

"Alright, alright, I'll stop for now." He said, smiling at her. Then he turned to Ed and Al. "So, anyways, back to bus-"

"Wait, I have one thing to say, first." Ed said, cutting off Roy once again. The Fuhrer raised an eyebrow, but stayed silent and let the small blond boy continue. His dark eyes widened in surprise as Edward pulled back the hood of his coat, revealing the dark gold cat ears on the top of his head, replacing his normal human ones. His eyes widened even further as the striped gold tail poked its way from under the red coat.

Both Riza and the Fuhrer were speechless. After a long pause, Roy finally said something.

"Tell me everything."

So, after both Edward and Alphonse told Riza and Roy Mustang (the two had recently gotten married) the entire story, there was yet another stunned silence.

It was Roy who broke the silence. "Of course, you had to turn him into a cat. You couldn't just settle with making him taller?" A small smirk lit up his face at the look on Ed's furious face. Alphonse even had to hold him back, so he didn't strangle the Fuhrer to death. The small blond cat boy was hissing and kicking angrily, struggling to free himself of his brother's grip.

"LET ME GO AL!" Edward cried, still struggling to free himself. But his younger brother did not release him, just clung tighter.

"Brother! Calm down!" He cried. This wasn't the first time his brother had gotten this mad and he had to hold him back. He knew the young State Alchemist would soon tire himself out, and he could then let go. And, of course, eventually Edward did and Alphonse let go of him, flinching at the cold golden-eyed glare he was getting from his panting older brother. Edward then turned to Mustang, ears back and eyes narrowed.

"I'm. Not. SHORT!" He spat. "I'm still growing!" The raven-haired Fuhrer chuckled, which only accomplished making the chimera even more irritated, his golden-striped tail twitching even more than it already was. Actually, now it was whipping back and forth, far beyond twitching.

"Ah, still growing? Isn't nineteen years a little late?" He laughed out loud as Ed turned from furious to fuming. It was easy to imagine steam coming from his ears. Edward was such an easy target when it came to teasing; no matter what Riza told him, he would most likely never leave the poor boy alone.

Edward took a deep breath and turned away from Roy, ears twitching slightly. "Whatever…" He grumbled, trying to keep his temper this time. "Attempting" would be a better word for it, actually. But the young chimera was successful, and continued speaking. "Anyway, onto more important matters," He continued. "How in the world am I going to turn back to normal?" His arms were crossed, tail waving and ears twitching. Alphonse could help but chuckle a little. His older brother looked the spitting image of an irritated cat. He silenced himself at an icy glare from Edward, and made sure to stay silent. His brother wasn't very pleasant to be around when he was angry, as seen before. And that wasn't even half of the fury his brother could conjure up. Yes, it could get worse. Much, much worse.

Roy thought about it for a few moments. "Well…" He said, deep in thought. "I could give you a few months off to give you time to research…"

So, the two brothers had taken the time off, and spent months studying, until Edward was sure he had gotten everything write. All the equations were perfect, the circle, everything. He made sure to try his best not to repeat what happened last time…

Now the two brothers sat, one in the circle and the other along the side. "Ready, Al?" Edward asked his younger brother, who gave him a worried glance. What was his brother going to give in equivalent exchange? He hoped it wouldn't be his other arm, or his other leg. He really hoped it wouldn't… "Al, don't be scared. It'll work; I promise."

Alphonse looked at Edward, his eyes full of worry. "Yeah…" He muttered. "But that's what you said… what you said last… last time…" He looked up to see his brother flinch away at the mention of the day they attempted to bring their mother back, the day he had lost his arm and leg, the day Alphonse's soul had been trapped in a suite of armor, for all those years. And then, when he was finally released from his metal prison, he was left with no memories of those years traveling with his brother, and had awoken to learn that he had disappeared. Gone. Alphonse shivered at the thought of those years…

Edward smiled kindly. "Don't worry; I know what I'm doing this time." And with that, he clapped his hands together and began reaching them down towards the ground, leaving Alphonse with no choice but to do the same. Lights surrounded the two of them, and Ed smiled. Everything is going perfectly. That was his last thought before everything when black.

He blinked open his eyes to find himself in an empty white space. He stood and found himself in front of a large black gate. The Gate.

"Ohhhh Alch-eh-mist..!" Sang a voice behind him, and he spun around. No… He thought desperately to himself as his eyes widened. This can't be happening…! Not again! He had turned to find himself facing the dark outline of a humanoid figure smirking at him. It was none other than Truth. Of course, how stupid he had been, thinking he wouldn't end up here again. He shouldn't be surprised. But he was, and he wasn't sure exactly what he had intended to give in equivalent exchange anymore. "Foolish enough to come knocking on The Gate again now, are we?"

"What do you want, Truth?" Edward spat at the figure, glaring at it. His mind was quickly attempting to think of something, anything, he could use in equivalent exchange.

Truth chuckled. "Ah, I think the question is, what do YOU want, fool." Truth chuckled at the confused look on Edward's face. "You're the one who came knocking on The Gate, are you not?"

But the thing was, suddenly Edward couldn't remember what it was he had wanted anymore. Shoot! He thought to himself. What was it? That devious Truth… What did he do to make me forget?

"Don't know now, do we?" Edward's eyes widened and his gaze snapped up to Truth. "That won't do, now will it? Ah, well, pity, it looks like time is up, and you still haven't given payment for opening The Gate. Yes, a pity indeed." This caused Edward to take another step back, eyes still wide. This could not be happening. Not again!

"B-but… I have nothing else to give you! And I just opened The Gate; I didn't get any information or anything!" He stuttered and Truth chuckled.

"Oh, so you want to have someone else pay for you, oh, foolish, selfish, arrogant alchemist?" Truth chuckled again, and waited for what he meant to sink in. It only took a moment.

"Alphonse!" Edward whispered to himself. Then The Gate opened again, and tiny black hands reached out to grab Edward, dragging him back through The Gate. "No!" He cried. "Stop! No! Alphonse!" He was still crying out and thrashing about in attempt to shove the tiny black hands off of him as The Gate slowly began to close.

Well, there's the end of chapter 2 ^.^' I know, I know, it's horrible... but plz review anyways! 8D Ideas would help a ton! x3 And I promise Artemis and Holly will appear in the next chapter, I swear! |D