~Four years later~

~Alex's P.O.V~

It's been four years since I was found by Hughes. I got my state certification when I was only 12. I now go by the name 'The Elemental Alchemist'. Colonel Mustang called me into his office, said he had a 'mission' for me. I wonder what it is. While I was walking to Mustangs office I started to remember the first time I came here. How everything looked so big and that I had no family here. Except Hughes and Gracia, they were like parents to me. I then arrived in front of Mustangs door. I knocked on the door and heard him say "Come in". I did what I was told and went in.

When I went in, I saw a blonde boy that looks about my age sitting down next to a suit of armor. The blonde boy looks at me strangely but I ignored it. "Oh Elemental, your here" Mustang says. "Yeah that's why you called me isn't it. Anyway what do you need Mustang" I said sighing. "I need you to join Fullmetal here on his journey" he said calmly. "WHAT?!" me and blondie say at the same time. "Colonel I work better alone and you know that" I protested, trying to convince him. "Me too, me and Al are doing just fine on our own" the blondie said. "Says the kid who is always getting into trouble and isn't finding any research" Mustang said with a smirk. I looked at blondie and he looked really angry and shouted "THAT'S BECAUSE YOU NEVER GIVE US TIME TO LOOK!". "Anyway it doesn't matter what you both say, you two are working together and that's final" he said in an irritated tone. There was silence in the room until the blondie spoke up. "Fine, I'm Edward Elric but I go by Ed" he said. "And I'm his younger brother Alphonse but you can call me Al" said the suit of armor. "Really, your younger" I told Al. "But you're so tall" I said looking up at him. Then I saw Ed trying to ignore my comment and held out his hand. "Pleasure, I'm Alex" I said in an irritated tone crossing my arms and not taking his hand. He got a little bit angry until he realized what my name was. "Try to be nice Alex" Mustang said laughing a little at my reaction. "Wait so your first name is Alexandra right?" he said. I looked at him shocked. 'How did he know?!' I thought. "Shut up, call me Alex" I said getting mad. 'I hate my first name, it's too damn long' I thought.

"Hey Roy, oh Alex you're here too" Hughes said as he burst through the doors. "Yeah, hey Hugh-" I began to say until he ran towards me and swung me around into a big hug like I was a kid again. "How's my favorite oldest daughter" he said hugging me tighter. "How many kids you got" I said joking. He let go of me and we both laughed. "Oh, hi Edward, Alphonse, it's been a while" Hughes said turning towards them. 'They know each other?!' "I've been notified that you guys don't have a place to stay, which means you're gonna have to come with us" he told them with a smile. I couldn't help but smile as well. 'That Hughes, he always cheers me up' I thought. Anyway, after that we took the brothers back to Hughes's house. When we got home, since I live with Mr. Hughes, Elicia greeted us at the door. "Daddy, big sister your home!" Elicia said as she hugged us. "Oh you're so cute!" Hughes said as he picked up Elicia and started to rub his face against hers. "Daddy that tickles" Elicia laughed. "Who are they?" she asked looking at Ed and Al. "I'm Ed and this is my brother Al" Ed said. I looked at Elicia and she was thinking. "Hmmm…big brother" she pointed to Al "Little brother" Elicia continued as she pointed at Ed. I looked at Ed and he looked pissed off. He was about to grab Elicia until I noticed Al was holding him back. I laughed out loud as Hughes handed me Elicia and I carried Elicia inside.

We went inside and the first thing I smelled was Gracias delicious cooking. Luckily when we got there she had just finished. I sat down next to Ed at the dinner table. We were both eating like it's been years since we had actual food. I guess Hughes saw us and said "Wow you two, slow down or you'll choke, I swear you guys can be related" he said jokingly. "Oh shut up" I told him with my mouth full of food. I looked at Ed and he froze for a second and then acted like nothing happened. 'What's up with him lately, I swear ever since I met him he's been acting really weird. I'll just ask him later'. My thoughts were interrupted when Hughes asked Al why he still had his suit of armor on. Now that he's mentioned it I haven't seen him take the armor off all day. "Oh um well, this is part of Al's training so he has to leave his armor on all the time" Ed said quickly. 'Now I know there hiding something but what?' After we all finished eating, I was a little tired. I told everyone 'goodnight' and headed into my room. I was laying on my bed until sleep consumed me.

~Ed's P.O.V~

After Alex told us 'goodnight' I couldn't help but stare at her. "Hey if you try anything with her or hurt her you'll answer to me" Hughes said in a scary tone. I turned around to face him only to see him with a gun in his hand. 'It's like he's another person or something' I thought. "The thought never crossed my mind" I told him with my hands raised as I was freaked out. "She's been through a lot, so just be gentle with her" he sighed as he put his gun down. I looked at him curiously. "What do you mean by that" I asked him. "Well something happened to her 4 years ago and it's been hard for her" he said. "Like what?" I said. At that point, Mrs. Gracia came back from putting Elicia to sleep. "I think you'll have to find out yourself Edward, it's her choice if she wants you to know or not" she told me with a kind smile. I nodded. Soon after that, Hughes led Al and I to the room we'd be staying tonight. As he left, me and Al started to talk. "Brother do you think-" Al started to say until I cut him off since I already know what he was going to say. "I don't know Al, a lot could happen in four years and Hughes did call her 'daughter' so I doubt it's her. Besides, we don't know if our Alex is even alive" I said saying the last part quietly while shaking my fists. Al gasped. "Brother don't say that!" he protested. "Even if she was the Alex we knew, how come she doesn't remember us" I said angrily. "Well maybe something happened when we last saw her" he said. "Maybe Al, maybe…WAIT!" I shouted out startling Al a little. "'The truth' should have taken something from her but she looks completely fine, it would be great if nothing happened to her but that wouldn't make sense" I said. After what I said Al and I were silent for a while until I broke it. "Either way we have to be careful since we're not sure if she's our sister" I said making sure Al understands. He nods. And with that I fell asleep.

~Ed's dream P.O.V~

I was running in a dark place. I didn't know where I was. Then I heard a voice. "Isn't this what you wanted foolish alchemist, the truth?" it said. "You lost your mother and when you tried to bring her back, what did you get? Oh that's right, in return you put your younger brother into a suit of armor and lost your younger twin sister" it yelled as it laughed. "No this…this isn't what I wanted!" I screamed out. "Well it's what you got isn't it" the mysterious voice said. Then it laughed again. "Look what you did you ruined your siblings LIVES!" it said. "NO!" I yelled into the darkness. Then I saw images of my past…

"Big brother, I got hurt" 5 year old Alex said crying.

"Al, I wanna read that book" Alex pouted, trying to get the book from Al. "But I got it first" Al said putting the book behind his back. "Eddie!" she yelled.

"Big brother, Big sister mom said it's dinner time" 4 year old Al shouted.

"Good job Ed, you finally got Al and Alex to go to bed, I'm so proud of you" mom said in a quiet voice while ruffling my hair. We were in the same room Al and Alex were sleeping in and cuddling each other.

"You're the best big brother ever" Al said. "Yeah, we love you Eddie" Alex said next.

~End of dream~

Then I woke up with a gasp. "It was just a dream" I whispered to myself as I sighed in relief. When I pulled myself together I realized that Al wasn't in the room so I figured he's with the others. I then smelt breakfast. I got dressed as fast as I could then walked out of the room to the dinner table. When I got there I saw Alex setting the table. I stood there looking at her not knowing what to say. "Are you gonna help me or are you gonna just stand there and watch?" she said laughing a little. "Oh uh sorry" I said trying to apologize. "Hey Ed why have you been acting really weird lately" she asked me. "I'm not acting weird" I said casually. "Come on Ed, whether you like it or not I'm your partner now so I'm gonna find out eventually" Alex said crossing her arms. "Well I just wanted to ask you…" I started to say until realized what I was about to ask her. "Ask me what?" she said. "I wanted to ask you why you call your dad by his first name." I said with a hint of curiosity in my smile hoping, she would buy it. "My dad? Oh you mean Hughes? Well to tell you the truth he's not really my dad, he just says that because they've become like my real family to me" she said. "Oh, then where are your real parents" I asked her. She giggled at my comment. "That's the thing I lost my memory so I didn't know who my family or friends were" she said with a sad smile. "When I was 11 years old, 4 years ago, I was wondering around Central until I bumped into Hughes. After that he took me in and Mustang taught me alchemy and that's why I'm here" she said calmly sitting down on a chair putting her hands behind her head. "Oh, sorry I asked" I said looking down. "Don't worry Ed, you were bound to find out sooner or later" she said with a smile. Now I know she's my sister, I can feel it. Plus Alex would always hide her true feelings behind a smile. She's is in so much pain, and I did this to her. It's all my fault. After that Gracia came in with the food. I was so hungry. After everyone came to the table, we all ate.

'Isn't this what you wanted foolish alchemist, the truth?'