Disclaimer: See Chapitre 1

Translations/Notes: Tsubasa means Wings, Hitsuzen basically means inevitability, Italics are used when things aren't told in Ed's POV.

Chapitre 2: The Price of Wings

((An Unknown Place))

An older man with wisps of white in his otherwise black hair watched as a brown haired girl with green eyes sprouted wings of light and a brown haired, brown eyed boy reached out for her. The older man smiled, "The power to pass through space and time…and that which points the way are the wings…the Tsubasa! And now…that power is reborn."

The image in his large mirror reflected the girl with wings being drawn into the wall behind her that had a pair of wings carved into it as well. Suddenly the boy jumped forward and grabbed her, shouting her name, "SAKURA!" As he fell back with her the wings of light on her back shattered and burst a part. The boy looked from the fading lights of the wing fragments to the girl clutched in his arms, "She's getting colder and colder."

A woman with curly black hair stepped from the shadows behind the older man, "It didn't work, did it?"

The man leaned back in his seat, "Perhaps, but this is the beginning and when it's done I will have a power that spans universes."

The man and woman looked back to the mirror which showed the young boy with his wingless princess speaking with a priest of their world.

"The princess's wings have taken flight; the wings and the princess's heart are one. All of the princess's memories from the moment of her birth to now have vanished and her heart is nowhere to be found on this world. Without her heart she will surely di—."

The image faded and the man grinned, "It looks like they're off to see the witch."

((Modern Day Japan))

I fell on my butt in the midst of a strange crowd. Behind me was a tall man in a white fur coat with pale blonde hair and blue sleepy blue eyes holding a staff. Next to him was a boy with brown hair and eyes wearing loose fitting khaki pants and a black shirt under a green cloak and clutched in his black gloved hands was a small girl with brown hair, her eyes were closed and her skin was pale. From all that I knew about death I could tell right away she wasn't with us any more. My heart went out to him because I could tell the girl meant something to him. The last person behind me was a scowling man in black armor (I had seen this style of armor in some books back in Munich and knew it was worn by ninja). He had spiky black hair and piercing red eyes that reminded too much of Scar's; they shared the same harshness.

Standing in front of me however was a tall pale woman with ebony hair partly pulled into a bun and wearing a long black dress that showed her cleavage. She smirked at us, "So you've all arrived." It was a statement more than a question, as if she knew we were coming. At one point I would have thought that impossible but after meeting Clow I was starting to question everything I knew about "reality."

The ninja was the first to speak, "Who the hell are you?"

"Are you Yuko/The Dimension Witch," the tall blonde man behind me asked at the same time as me. The tall blonde man and the ninja looked down at me and I gritted my teeth, I hated being looked down on. I stood up and brushed my pants off; they were starting to get damp from the soggy grass.

"Please give me your names first," the pale woman said.

The ninja glared at the woman, "Me? I'm Kurogane…I mean…what is this place," he asked looking around at the tall skyscrapers around us.

"It's called Japan," the pale woman said.

"Eh? My country's called Japan too."

The woman's eyes gleamed mischievously, "Yes…a different Japan."

She then turned to the blonde haired man, "And you?"

The man bowed, "The wizard of Seresu, Fai D. Flowright."

"Great, someone else claiming to be a magician," Ed muttered.

The tall, pale woman looked down at me, "Sorry, I didn't notice you there. What's your name?"

I growled at the snide remark at my height, "Edward Elric…former state alchemist known as the Fullmetal Alchemist."

Her yellow cat-like eyes gleamed, "And do you know where you are?"

I sighed, ruffling my hair in agitation, "No. That damned Clow just said he was sending me to the future...to Yuko."

Fai, the blonde wizard, stepped forward, "This is a place where any wish can be granted if a suitable price is paid."

Yuko nodded, "That's exactly it. Thus the reason why all of you are here is because each of you has a wish."

"Wishes!" I shouted causing everyone to turn to me, "I'm going to kill that bastard! First he babbles on about magic and now he sends me to some woman who can 'grant wishes?' Has the whole world gone mad? There is no such thing as magic!" I was steamed; I thought I would be getting back to my brother not bouncing around on a wild goose chase from world to world. I felt like I was in fact further from my brother than when I had started.

Yuko smiled, "Maybe not in your world but here it, magic, does exist. Now do you have a wish or not?"

I looked up to her, my face hardened with determination. I stared right into her eyes and she didn't blink, "Yeah. I want to return to my world…to see my brother."

The ninja Kurogane had been silent for awhile but now he finally spoke, "I want to go back to my home world as well! I want my princess to release me from this damned curse."

'Curse,' I thought, 'is there no escaping this madness?'

"I do not want to return to my world," Fai said. I blinked at his request, why wouldn't someone want to return to their home world? What was he running from?

Yuko stroked her chin, "That is a tall order for the three of you." Her eyes drifted to the boy and girl behind me. I looked over my shoulder and realized the boy hadn't said anything since my arrival. I concluded that he must have arrived before us but it caused me to wonder more things like what was he doing here? Did he have a wish too? After a moment my question was answered, "No, perhaps for all of you. Even if you offered the most precious things you own…none of you have enough to pay."

I clenched my fists, my eyes narrowing, 'So this was all for nothing. What the hell!'

Yuko continued, "However…if you all paid together you may just be able to afford it."

My eyes widened in hope, "All four our your wishes are the same," the woman said, her eyes moving back to the boy behind me, "You want to go to many world's in order to restore the memory of this child," she said motioning to the girl he still clutched in his arms.

'So that's his wish,' I thought. 'It's like the problem I had with Al only in reverse…I lost Al's body and this boy lost the girl's soul. I wonder how it happened,' I thought.'

I was pulled from my thoughts as Yuko continued, "You two want to return to your own worlds," she said to me and the ninja. "And you want to go to different worlds to avoid returning to your own," she said to Fai. We all nodded and Yuko frowned, "You have different reasons but the method is the same: travel to different dimensions…that is what you need. Each of you individually can not make that wish happen, however if the four of you combine payment for one wish…then you can afford it."

My eyes drifted to meet each of the other three's. I wondered if we could really agree on this. My eyes then moved to meet the woman's own yellow ones and then I couldn't help but look away, 'I'm really starting to hate this whole equivalent exchange shit,' I thought; barely registering the fact that the woman was requesting Kurogane's share of the price. 'Was it too much to ask to be sent directly home? I'm drifting further from Al. Hell, I don't even know if he's alive. No I have to believe he's alive,' I thought, my head snapping up as I saw a strange black pattern fly through the air and hover next to Yuko. It joined a floated sword and I realized that she had now received payment from both Kurogane and Fai.

She smiled at me, "Well alchemist?"

I sighed, resigning to my fate, "Equivalent exchange right?"

Her smile broadened, "You are indeed an alchemist. So you know that to obtain…"

"…something of equal value must be lost. Yeah, yeah I know. I also know that Clow is one more bastard added to the list of people I need to punch in the face."

"I thought I sensed his aura on you. It seems the creep took a liking to you," she stepped forward and grabbed my face delicately with her long, narrow hand, "I can see why too. Your eyes hold a very interesting tale little Edward."

I pulled away from her, partly because of the little remark but also because she was creepy, "Don't tell me you want to hear my story as well."

Yuko shook her head, "No. I can read all about your exploits later." I decided not to ask what she meant by that; it made my story sound as if it could be found in a book, "What I want," she continued, "is to see the reason you have that look in your eyes. I have a hunch that you've seen….it."

I hated thinking about it and the number of times I had seen the grotesque thing that for some reason so many alchemists sought. The images of it flashed before me and I had to close my eyes to try and block them out, "Why do you want to know about it."

"Because Edward that is your price," she paused for effect and waited until I opened my eyes, "Your price is the memories of the gate and what it holds."

I couldn't look away this time. I thought about what loosing those memories would mean. I thought about what I would loose…and then I thought about what I could gain…what I would gain, "I will do anything to see Al again."

"Excellent."

Yuko placed a hand on my forehead and before I could even wonder what she was planning to do a jolt, of what felt like electricity, shot through me. I pitched forward and stared hard at the grass as images flashed and then faded before my eyes. I closed them shut and when I opened them I noticed the alchemic array etched on the inside of my automail hand. I remembered how Clow had put it there and I suddenly wondered if he had known my price…if he had actually given me a gift in that single drawing. I remembered what that circle meant and the sound of a clap echoed in my mind…but I couldn't remember why the clap was so important. My fists balled up and I realized that something was missing…it was my price, I knew that much, but that was about it.

I looked up and saw a black and gold orb was now floating amongst the sword and the pattern I had noted earlier as the payment of Kurogane and Fai. Now my own payment had joined theirs and I realized that part of me wanted it back. I reached for it in much the same way I had reached for my brother all those years ago as he was taken into…something. 'Dammit,' I thought.

Suddenly, from the house, burst a teenage boy carrying two plush toys. One plush toy was black with a blue jewel in its forehead and the other was white with a red jewel in the center, "Eh? There are more of you," the boy exclaimed.

I rubbed my head, I had a killer headache at the moment but I realized something important was about to happen so I knew I better pay attention.

Yuko took the white one from the boy, "The name of this young one is Mokona Modoki. Mokona will lead you through the worlds."

The black one, still held by the boy, smiled and waved at us. Kurogane held out a hand, "Hey you got an extra. Give it to me. I'll go home with that."

"No. That's how we keep in contact. The only power this one has is to stay in communication with Mokona," Yuko explained.

Kurogane scoffed and stepped back while Yuko continued on, "Mokona will take you to different dimensions but there is no way to control which dimension and for that reason, only fate will decide when your wishes will be granted." She paused, her eyes drifting over each of us, "However there is no coincidence in the world. Whatthere is hitsuzen and what brought you together…was also hitsuzen."

I glanced at the others before another throb of pain pulsed through my head, "Hitsuzen my ass. There is no such thing as destiny…a person sets their own course by their own decisions," I groaned.

Yuko glanced at me but didn't bother with a reply. Instead she turned to the brown haired boy who was still silent as always, "Syaoran," so that was his name, "your price is your relationship with Sakura. Even if the child's memories are completely restored…your relationship with her will never be the same again. The one memory that will never return will be her memory of you. That is my price. Will you pay it?"

A silence fell over us as we all looked to the boy in a new light. At least I did, I could really sympathize with his problem. He clutched the girl tightly and even before he spoke I knew what his answer would be, "Let's go. I will not let Sakura die!"

Yuko nodded, "Travel between worlds is more difficult that you imagine. There are a wide variety of worlds. Look around you and you can tell just by each others clothes that you come from different worlds."

I looked at the others and noted their attire for the second time; Yuko was right. I wondered for a moment what the worlds the others came from were like. Were they wrought with war like mine? What were their different governments like? Did they have alchemists?

"People you know. People you've met on your world…they've developed under completely different conditions on other worlds. You may meet different versions of the same person time after time on different worlds."

I had already experienced this little problem. It was a bit disheartening to see someone with Winry or Al or even the bastard Colonel's face. Every time I would have to tell myself that it wasn't MY Al or Winry. I sighed as I realized I would have to go through that on each world.

"And just because that person is nice to you on one world doesn't mean you will find an ally on the next. You'll find worlds where you can't communicate…where even common sense doesn't work. Scientific development, standard of living, laws…all change with the world."

I too knew about this factor. My mind drifted to the zeppelins that had flown over London that fateful night. I remembered as it crashed toward me. The science of that earth still amazed me…they were developing rockets to the moon for goodness sake!

"There are worlds full of criminals, worlds of liars, worlds locked in constant war…and you must live through them all. It will be a journey in which you won't know where you are or how close you are to collecting all of the fractured pieces of memory."

The last bit I knew was directed to the boy known as Syaoran. However I was starting to wonder if we had all somehow been dragged into helping him collect the memories of his girl…friend.

"That said…are you still determined to see it through."

I glanced at Syaoran and his eyes hardened in determination, "Yes."

Yuko's smile broadened, "Sincerity and determination. No matter what a person wants to attempt those are needed and it seems that you are well provided with both. And so," she held out Mokona and the thing glowed. Then white wings sprouted from its back and a golden design of light (that once again reminded me of an alchemic array) appeared under it, "…you may go."

The round white thing known as Mokona opened its mouth wide and started to suck in air. I could feel it pulling against me and I didn't resist; mostly because I was in shock. Light enveloped me and the others and soon Mokona had pulled us in to its maw and everything was black.

Yuko watched as Mokona disappeared in a flash of light much like the others. She looked up the sky as the rain clouds started to disappear, "I wish…you four the best of fortune on your journey!"

To Be Continued

AN: This was slightly shorter than the last chapter but I still think just as good. For those of you who worry Ed can't do alchemy that's not true...he just lost his memories of the gate so he's stuck doing alchemy the old fashioned way...using a transmutation circle. However, as explained, Clow foresaw this and carved a circle on Ed's automail so he can do essentially the same thing. I hope you all aren't too angry at meand will REVIEW anyway!