Chapter 3: Never Forget

EDWARD ELRIC


"Winry is going to be mad at you Brother."

I growled out and said, "Well I couldn't help the fact my arm got tore apart by a chimera."

True, I could have been more carefull but the damn thing was trying to kill me... At least it didn't do too bad of damage...

I had to put it in a sling though... She's going to be pissed...

As we approached the Rockbell house when I saw someone new sweeping the front porch.

It was a young man nearly 6 feet tall with long dark brown hair pulled back in a long braid and dark blue eyes. His right arm was made completely out of automail. Even the shoulder was made up of the shiny metal.

Winry walked out of her workshop and said to the stranger, "Okay Seto, we can run the final diagnostic on your arm today and then you will be no longer be in remission."

The man stopped sweeping and said, "Thanks Winry..."

I yelled from atop the hill, "Hey Winry! We're back!"

She looked over at me and Al with a smile and saw my automail arm was in a sling. And soon enough a wrench came flying through the air and hit me in the head sending me to the ground.

She yelled at me anrgerly, "HOW DARE YOU BREAK MY PRESIOUS AUTOMAIL, EDWARD ELRIC! DO YOU KNOW HOW HARD I WORKED ON THAT?!"

I yelled back while rubbing my head, "OW! I DIDN'T MEAN TO BREAK IT WINRY!"

Al sighed and said, "Oh brother, you shouldn't yell at her or she will never fix your arm."

We walked up closer to the house and the young man looked at us with curiosity as we walked up.

Winry smiled and said, "Ed and Al, I'd like you to meet our new tenant, Seto Kaiba. He's been here about two months, working for us to pay for his automail."

He walked over, waved his hand, and said, "Hello, pleasure to meet you."

Winry looked at him and said while waving towards us, "Seto this is Edward and Alphose Elric. The two family friends I told you about."

I put out my hand and said, "Nice to meet you Seto."

He extended his automail arm and shook mine. He smirked and said, "Please just call me Kaiba. Most everyone does."

Al stepped forward and said, "It's very nice to meet you Mr. Kaiba. I'm Al, Ed's younger brother."

He looked at me and said with a brow raised, "So the shrimp is the older brother?"

I yelled, "WHO YOU CALLIN' SO SMALL THEY NEED A MICROSCOPE TO SEE YOU JERK?!"

Kaiba back up and said with a slight glare, "I didn't say that."

I crossed my arms and grumbled, "I'm freakin' State Alchemist and people still confuse me for a freakin' kid."

Kaiba looked down at the mention of me being an alchemist. He just walked away without saying a word with a sad look on his face. He walked down the path until he was out completely of sight.

"Seto come back!" Winry yelled slighty chasing after him but he was already out of hearing range.

I looked at her withconfusion and asked, "Does he do that often?"

Winry sighed and said, "Only if you mention alchemy. One day he just didn't leave his room and no one mentioned anything, he just sat in there looking at his locket and crying out a name... Someone called Mokuba... When I asked who that was, he said it was someone importaint him.."

I looked up at Winry and asked quietly, "How did he lose his arm?"

She shrugged and said, "He said, it was too traumatic for him to talk about, so I never asked."

I nodded and said with a sigh, "Well, that confirms it."

Al looked at me and said, "He did it. Didn't he?"

I nodded and said, "We are all in the same boat and he's having a hard time dealing with it... Like I did..."

Winry raised a brow and said, "Ed what do you mean...?"

"He's a sinner like us Winry..." I said quietly as her eyes widen with the relization of what he did...

"He commited the taboo..." Al whispered out.

I looked at Winry and said, "We'll go talk to him. When we get back I'll have you look at my arm."

She nodded and said quietly, "Alright Ed."

With that we began walking down the path he ran down, to see a fellow sinner.


We found him sitting under a tree looking into a old locket that hung around his neck.

Tears streamed down his face as he said, "Mokuba...What did I do wrong?!"

"You didn't." I said as we stepped up.

He head jerked around and he looked at Me and Al with a look of pain and loss plaster to his face.

I looked at him and asked quietly, "Who did you lose Kaiba?"

He remained silent, still looking at us dead on.

"Maybe I should rephase that."

I paused and said, "Who did you try to bring back?"

His head jerked up, his eyes widen, and he asked, "How did..."

Al responed quietly, "We did it too Kaiba... We know what happends when you break the taboo... You saw the Truth..."

I looked at him and then asked, "So who was it? Who did you love enough to try to bring back with Human Transmutation?"

He took off his locket and tossed it to me with out looking up. I opened it up and inside was a picture of a younger version of Kaiba and a litte boy with long black hair playing chess. They looked really happy in that picture.

He whispered out between the tears, "My little brother... I tried to bring him back and failed... He died twice because of me..."

I looked at him as we sat down and said, "We know how it feels..."

I gave him the locket back and said, "We tried to bring back our Mother after she died. I loss my leg and Al..."

Al took off his helmet and showed it to Kaiba. He looked inside seeing no one was inside, and seen the seal drawn in blood.

Kaiba said softly, "He lost his entire body..."

I nodded and said, "I gave up my arm to seal his soul to the armor and ever since we been looking for a way to get our bodies back. This was our equivilant exchange for our sin... This was the price for our arrogance to play God..."

He sighed and said, "Humankind cannot gain anything without first giving something in return. To obtain, something of equal value must be lost. That is Alchemy's first law of Equivalent Exchange. Why didn't I think of that when I tried it?"

I smiled sadly and said quietly, "You wanted to see him so bad, you didn't think of the consequences. Same as us... We just wanted to see our Mother smile... One last time..."

He looked down and said, "I just want to go home now... Not Amestris, Xing, or Creta. But my actual home."

I looked at him and asked, "The Gate spat you out here, but you don't belong in this world right?"

He nodded in agreement and said, "My home is far more advanced... Although, it's not as peacefull as this..."

"Well since you know alchemy and you need help getting home. Why don't you join me in the State Alchemist? They're holding the test in 2 weeks." I said with a slight smile.

He looked back down and said, "I learned a lot from that one creepy guy but it doesn't feel right doing alchemy after..."

I nodded and said, "Truth's a real bastard and messes with your head. It still gives me nightmares from time to time, but if we work together on this will kick his smug ass and get our bodies back and get you home."

He gave a small laugh and said, "I'll give it a shot but I'm still pretty new to it."

I smirked and said, "You know the stuff you learned from that bastard, allows you to trasnmute without a circle."

Kaiba nodded and clapped his hands together. He pressed them to the ground and sparks flew up. A small statue of a dragon appeared in a shiny blue metal.

I jumped up and said, "Good. Now let's get back before Winry throws another wrench at my head."

He pulled up a lock of his hair showing a small scar and said, "At least your not alone. She did it to me too, after I helped with the fire wood and lost a few springs in my joints."

Al shook his head and said, "Winry has it out for anyone who breaks her automail."

I gave a nervous laugh and said, "Well then, we should probably get moving then."