Welcome back, everyone! I'll try to keep my author notes down to a minimum from now on, since I seem to be getting a bit long-winded lately. Sorry about that.

Disclaimer: I do not own FullMetal Alchemist. Ed wouldn't let me own him anyway. He's just that way.

I was again at the park, meditating. Sure, it would be nice if I got the chance to talk to Ed, but I was mainly doing this to calm down. This morning had been rough.

I had succeeded at several transmutations since the night of my first one, each one growing progressively more complex. However, with only a week left and my transmutations still being so simple, I kind of flipped out early this morning and took it out on Ed. The poor guy, it wasn't his fault. My nerves were just on edge, and he was an easy target.

"Katie," Ed's voice suddenly appeared, "Listen, I'm sorry about earlier."

(You have nothing to be sorry about, Ed, I'm the one who should be sorry, and I am. I shouldn't have taken my frustration out on you,) I said.

"Well, I still have to apologize, because you were right, I needed to find a faster way for you to learn," said Edward.

(Did you find a faster way?) I asked.

"Possibly," said Edward, "I've been talking with the keeper of the Gate again, and he says that there might be a way."

(What way would that be?) I asked.

"Do you believe in reincarnation?" asked Edward.

(I don't know,) I said, (I've studied many different beliefs and philosophies, and I don't really know what I believe; but I'm open-minded.)

"That's good," said Edward, "Because the keeper of the Gate said that those who display a strong psychic ability on this side of the Gate have a good chance of having been an alchemist if they ever lived on the other side of the Gate during one of their previous incarnations."

(So are you saying that I already know alchemy?) I asked.

"There's a good chance you might," said Edward, "But to find out, you would have to connect with your past life."

(So?) I asked.

"So, we have no idea what you went through in your past life, and it could be traumatic, for all we know," said Edward.

(How bad could it have been?) I asked, (I'm not a paranoid freak now, am I?)

"Of course not," said Edward, "But your conscious memories were wiped clean as soon as you reincarnated. All the traumatic experiences you may or may not have gone through are buried in your subconscious."

(So is there some exercise we can do to get me in touch with that part of myself?) I asked.

"Yes," he said, "But we have to take it slowly, since we have no idea what you'll encounter. Chances are good that your most immediate previous incarnation was during my time, and you know how hectic that time was."

(That was indeed a hectic time,) I said, (But how do we find out if my previous life was traumatic?)

"Put yourself in as deep a trance as possible," he said, "Just say whatever comes to mind, and I'll remind you of what you said after you come out of it if you forget."

(I don't need someone to put me in the trance?) I asked.

"You're perfectly capable of doing it yourself," said Edward, "It would be better if you practiced doing it yourself, so that you aren't dependant on anyone."

(Okay, I'll give it a try,) I said, (Wake me up if I start panicking.)

I put myself deeper, and deeper, and deeper into a trance. Images slowly began to fade in. I was in a huge room. A lot of bright light was around me, but I couldn't make it out, the images were too hazy. I felt the presence of many other souls, unable to move on. People were standing around me, and two of them were fighting. One of them plunged something through the other's heart, causing them to fall over…dead. I screamed. I didn't want to see this anymore. This was too horrific of a memory.

Suddenly, I felt Edward shaking me awake. I was so relieved that I cried for several minutes before I finally got my bearings and could talk with Edward again.

(You were right, Edward, my previous life was traumatic,) I said.

"Care to talk about it?" said Edward.

I told him everything I saw. He wanted more information, but I couldn't give him any, because the whole thing had been hazy.

"You said that you felt the presence of many other souls?" Edward asked.

(Yes,) I said.

"Then you were probably part of the Philosopher's Stone," said Edward, "And you were seeing me duke it out with Envy."

(But if I was part of the Philosopher's Stone, I would've been dead, wouldn't I? How could I have watched you?) I asked.

"Well, you were and you weren't," said Edward, "You're not dead until you're a completely disembodied spirit, but you were attached to the pure substance that makes up the Philosopher's Stone, so you weren't really dead."

(But if I was part of the Philosopher's Stone, then I probably wasn't an alchemist,) I said.

"There were some great alchemists who went into the Philosopher's Stone," said Edward, "So don't pass judgment on yourself based on that."

(So then, how can I find out who I was?) I asked.

"You will have to keep doing this until you make the connection," said Edward, "But since you obviously had a hard life, you need to take it in small doses."

Later that day, I went to the principal of the local high school, and asked him if I could borrow some chemicals from the chemistry lab for a very important science experiment.

"On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is it?" he asked.

"Eleven," I said.

"But eleven isn't even a choice," said the principle.

"I know, but this is a lot more important than the average important request," I said.

"Well, what would you need?" he asked. I pulled out my list of materials and handed it to him.

"I already have most of the things on the list," I said, "But some things just can't be found anywhere else."

He read the list aloud, "Calcium, Phosphorus, Potassium, Sulfur, Sodium, Chlorine, Magnesium, Iodine, Iron, Chromium, Cobalt, Copper, Fluorine, Manganese, Molybdenum, Selenium, Tin, Vanadium, Zinc, Silica, Boron, and Germanium. You sure have some strange things on this list. What kind of experiment are you doing, anyway?"

"It's a secret," I said, "I'm not allowed to tell, but I'm not going to blow anyone's head off, if that's what you want to know. I know what I'm doing." At least, I hope I do, I thought.

"I'm not really supposed to lend out the chemicals," said the principal.

"Please, you have no idea just how important this is!" I said.

He must've seen something in my eyes, because he then said that it went against his better judgment, but he'd let me borrow the chemicals I needed. He said that he couldn't say why, but something was telling him that this was extremely important, and that I needed those chemicals immediately. I suspected that Edward was whispering in his ear.

Anyway, he dropped the chemicals off at my house later that day at a time when, thankfully, my parents weren't around. I didn't like keeping this from them, but if I told them what I was going to do, they would either get their hopes up, or they would try to discourage me. I didn't consider either option favorable. It would be better to have them find out when it had already been done.

I decided to try once again to get in touch with my past life. I put myself in a deep trance until images started to appear again. The images were still hazy, but I was able to make out the form of Edward, judging from last time. I appeared to be chasing him, trying to hurt him, but he kept dodging me. I didn't like this, so I came back out of the trance. I apparently knew Edward in my last lifetime, but it must not have been a pleasant relationship, or I wouldn't be trying to hurt him.

When Edward came to visit me that night, I told him what I'd seen and how I'd tried to hurt him. Tears were coming to my eyes, as these memories were quite painful. What kind of horrible person was I?

Edward tried to console me. "It doesn't matter who you were in your past, because you're not that person anymore. You're merely trying to dig for some information that that person knew."

"But do you know who I was yet, judging by that?" I asked.

"I've been attacked by several alchemists, and I wouldn't have any idea which one you were." He paused for a second, and then said, "I just hope that we can get along better in this life."

"I hope so too," I said, "I really care about you, Edward."

"I really care about you too, Katie," said Edward.

Tears started to come to my eyes when he said that, but I blinked them back. I'd been emotional enough today.

"Once I figure out who I am, how hard will it be to get my alchemy knowledge?" I asked.

"That should be fairly easy," said Edward, "Once you know who you are."

"I'm going to try again then," I said. I went deep down into my trance, and watched as the images unfolded before me. After a moment, I screamed and awake with a start. I was shivering.

"What did you see?" asked Edward.

"I saw…" I said, shivering, "…A man explode from the inside."

Edward gasped. "You mean you saw…" I nodded. I could feel him slowly step away from me.

"Th-Then that means…" said Edward, "That you're…Scar."

I'm sorry, but this author note is unavoidable. I have several people reading this that aren't familiar with FullMetal Alchemist, so writing to them individually to explain everything that's going on isn't practical. (Yes, believe it or not, some people do read fan fiction without knowing the characters well. It's a good way to get to know the characters.)

Scar is a man from a country called Ishbal (hope that's spelled right, my fansub had bad subtitles) which is a lot like the countries in the Middle East. The military in Ed's country attacked and annihilated Ishbal for no apparent reason, with the State Alchemists doing the greatest damage. Now, even though alchemy is forbidden by the Ishbalan god, Ishbala, Scar had set out to destroy all state alchemists by using alchemy to destroy them. (He places his hand on their head and uses an alchemical reaction which causes them to explode from the inside.)

Even though Edward was never involved in that war, Scar still keeps trying to kill him for being a State Alchemist. Strangely enough though, Scar has a soft spot in his heart for Ed's younger brother, Alphonse. Scar had actually seen his own older brother die, so that drives him even more to kill Edward, being an older brother AND a State Alchemist.

Anyway, I hope that you all enjoyed this chapter. Please review!