I am so sorry I haven't updated for a long, long time! It's been so long I don't even know what to say, so I'll just let you read. (smiles)

Claimer of the Dis: And here I dis my claim of owning FMA. If that made any sense.

Sight
By Laine Squirrel
02/13/07

"Grr…," Edward grumbled. "This…is…so…stupid!! I refuse to take part!!!" He waved his arms around in the air and kicked his legs blindly.

"Ed…! Calm down!! You're going to do this…Whether you like it…or…not!!" Winry cried, struggling to hold him still as she tried to put a circle skirt over his pants. "Besides," she argued, "at least it's not a tight skirt! I let you borrow my full skirt for a reason, I hope you realize, since I knew you wouldn't enjoy a miniskirt! Be grateful!!" Winry had agreed to help, although she still wasn't too sure she liked the possibilities of the outcomes.

-Flashback-

Winry sat there, quite unnoticed, as Edward stomped away, Alphonse close behind. She watched silently as Roy made Edward unhappier. And then she frowned as he closed the door and said, "I just hope that nothing serious will happen to him…"

Before she had anytime to think she heard herself demand, "Nothing serious like what?"

She watched, half-interested, as Roy stiffened and slowly turned around. "W-Winry! I uh, I thought you had gone…"

Winry stared hard at Roy. Her eyes bore down into his, unforgiving. "Obviously not. If anything happens to either Ed or Al, I will hold you completely responsible!!" Tears welled up in her eyes at just the thought of either one of her best friends vanishing from her world. It had seemed like a miracle when Edward and Alphonse had just popped up at the Rockbell's door when they were said to have been on the other side of the gate; to be endangered when they just got back? Unallowable. She paused, seeing Roy's downcast look.

"I know," he said. "But—But it can't be helped! We need FullMetal's help. He hasn't been around for a long time now, so the killer won't know that he's with the military, and avoid Edward. Winry, you have to understand," Roy pleaded, seeing her disbelieving face. "Many innocent women have been killed. Other bystanders, as well. We can't let this go on...Yes, I know that it's dangerous. FullMetal will be our eighth attempt at trying to put a stop to this. And…I am prepared to take full responsibility. However, I will try to do my best to prevent any serious damage from being done, and hopefully make up for the lack of strength I had previously, with Hawkeye."

Winry wasn't sure how to respond to Roy's little speech. She stood there, thinking things over. If something were to happen to Edward, she could blame Roy. If something were to happen to Alphonse, she could blame Roy. But what good would it do to just blame Roy? It's not like she could kill him, or even just beat him up—he was Fuhrer! The outcome would be most unpleasant, chaotic, and tangled up. But she didn't want Edward or Alphonse within a quarter of a mile of danger, either. But then there was the sincerity of Roy's words, too. She glanced again at Roy's begging eyes. Please, they asked of her. Please let this proceed. And for some reason, Winry found herself trusting Roy's words, now. Roy wouldn't let anything happen to either of the Elrics, she figured. He wouldn't. He couldn't!

"…Fine…," Winry finally agreed. "I won't interfere. And I won't tell Ed about this conversation either, alright?" she informed Roy before he could even politely request that she didn't. "But again, I hope you hear me when I say this: if you let—"

"I won't," Roy promised. …let them get too hurt, if not seriously wounded. We haven't been able to gather much information on this case, he finished silently in his head. "Oh, and Winry," he started, catching Winry's attention again, "would you please pick out an outfit for Edward? You know what he'll come up with if left on his own."

Winry couldn't help but smile faintly, imagining the outcome. "I'll see what I can do," she told Roy. She walked out the door, leaving it to shut gently behind her.

-End Flashback-

"Come on, Brother! You know orders are orders," Alphonse informed him, also attempting to hold Edward still.

"I don't care right now!!" Edward screamed, trying to take off the skirt. He stopped moving, feeling a sharp pain at the side of his head. He blinked. He could see hazy figures of Winry and Alphonse standing over him. Winry was holding her hand to her opposite side, something clenched in her fist. Edward couldn't tell what it was despite his squinting, so figured it was a wrench.

Too suddenly there was another sharp pain in his head. He knew it couldn't of had been Winry, since she hadn't moved. Edward's vision blacked out again, and he felt himself fall to the side, holding his head in between his hands. There was a roaring sound in his ears and something piercing his head every second.

Winry brought the fist clutching her wrench up to lean the side of her forehead on, closing her eyes for a second. She opened her eyes as she started speaking to see Edward lying on the couch, holding his head, barely moving. "Really, Ed—Ed? Ed!!"

Alphonse was already rushing towards Edward. Winry joined him. Edward didn't scream; merely whimpered and whined, almost like a puppy, holding his head the entire time. He felt hot; he was burning inside. So hot he could barely get any air in; choking, gasping, and trying to get oxygen to his lungs. Winry and Alphonse knelt next to him, trying to help him, and calling his name. Their hands fretted over and around him, but thy stayed like that, unsure of where to put them and what they could do. But that was precisely the problem: there wasn't anything that they could do, and they watched helplessly as Edward fell limp, like a doll a child had played with too much and had broken.

"E…Edward?" Winry asked hesitantly. She placed her hand gently on top of Edward's hands on the top of his head. "Edward, are you alright?"

Slowly his head lifted, just the tiniest bit, barely noticeable. It stayed like that for a second before suddenly jolting straight up, knocking Winry's hand away, crying, "Mom? Mom, where are you? It's too dark; I can't see anything!" He waved his arms in front f him, searching. His eyes were open and looking around, but he kept blinking. He looked down when Winry caught one of his hands. "Mom? Is that you? Why can't I see you? Why can't I see my hand? Mom, why can't I see anything?" Edward looked like he was about to cry.

Winry and Alphonse shared a nervous glance between each other. What was wrong with Edward? They snapped back to attention as Edward cried, "Wah…I'm scared! I don't wanna be all alone…" Edward was holding tightly onto Winry's hand, tugging gently.

"Uhm, Brother," Alphonse started.

Edward's head whipped around to face the direction he had heard Alphonse's voice. "Who was that? Who's there?"

Alphonse was shocked. Edward didn't recognize is voice? It was pretty obvious Edward didn't have his sight, but he didn't recognize Alphonse's voice? His little brother? Alphonse looked disbelievingly from Edward to Winry and back to Edward again. What was going on?

Edward had appeared to calm down a little, and his head was now tilted slightly to the side. "Uhm…hello?"

Alphonse didn't know what to say. Luckily, Winry did. "Hi, Ed. It's Winry. Winry and Al."

"You're Winry? I guess you do kind of sound like her…," Edward stated. "Except…You sound a little bit more…grown-up," Edward finally decided after a bit of thinking, wrinkling his nose a little as he said "grown-up." Then he giggled, like a small child that had just been shown something he found incredibly funny and amusing that no one else could understand. "Not like the Winry I know." He nodded, as if in confirmation with himself.

Winry started to ask what that was supposed to mean, but Alphonse cut in. "And...is that all you have to say about Al?"

Edward blinked, then grinned. "Al? My little brother? Oh, yeah, he is just so cute. It's really adorable to watch him go wherever I go. But shh," he whispered. "It's a secret."

Alphonse stayed knelt next to Edward, a blank expression on his face as he pondered over Edward's last statement. It would appear that Brother's intelligence has been reduced…Quite a bit. Is that how Brother thinks of me? Cute? Alphonse wondered.

Winry sighed. "Ed…Al's right here in front of you. He has been the whole entire time."

Edward gasped, almost like it was pretend—and it most likely was, for the next second he was smiling again. "Heh. Guess the secret's out. I suppose when Al spoke earlier it did kind of sound like him. But older-sounding, too."

"That's how you think of me, Brother?.!" Alphonse finally burst out.

"Eh heh, well…yeah. But hey, what can I say? Hey, that rhymed," he noted unnecessarily. "Oh well. So then! Moving on, this darkness…? Is anyone gonna turn the lights on or should I?"

Winry glanced at Alphonse. He nodded. "Edward," Winry said, turning back to face him, "the lights are already on." At Edward's confused expression, she added in a smaller voice, "You're blind, Ed."

"…I uh, I see. And Mom? Where is she?" Edward inquired. He had gone expressionless.

"Mom's dead, Brother. She has been for more than five years," Alphonse told him quietly. It had been awhile since Trisha Elric had been mentioned. She was still part of the empty space in their hearts. Alphonse clenched his hand against his knee and set his eyes downcast. Winry was too caught up trying to calm Edward's reaction down that she did not notice.

"What?.! Mom's dead? No! I just saw her yesterday! She's still alive! Mom! Mom, where are you? Mom!! It isn't funny anymore! Please come out! ...Please?" he whimpered. Winry watched sadly. By then she had figured out that Edward's memories had been erased back to the time when Trisha had still been alive. Edward wasn't taking things well, for sure. Both he and Alphonse had been attached to their mother, and when she had died they hadn't taken it well. It was like they were repeating the same thing over again.

It was then that Winry noticed from her peripheral vision the quiet state of Alphonse's silence. She turned her head just as he stood up straight, head still cast down, hands clenched tightly. "Stop it, Brother," he whispered quietly to Edward. Edward didn't hear him, still calling out for their mother. "Stop it, Brother!" Alphonse repeated, yelling loudly. Edward froze. "You think you're the only one that misses her?.!" Alphonse cried. "Because you're not!" He turned around and fled, slamming the door behind him.

"Al!" Winry called after him. She started to get up to follow when she felt something warm wrap around her wrist closest to Edward. She turned back and looked down at her right wrist, which Edward was holding onto with his own right hand.

"Don't."

"Ed, what are you talking about, 'don't'?.! Your little brother just ran off, incase you didn't realize! He could get hurt!!" Winry started to wrench her arm away, or try to, at least, but Edward held on tightly.

"Don't, I said. Don't worry about it. Let me finish, will you?" Edward requested a bit impatiently when Winry made a sound of protest. She quieted. "Thank you. As I was saying, don't worry about it. I'll get him. You wait here." Edward started to get up and walk forwards, the direction which he had heard the door slam when Alphonse ran off.

"But Edward, how? You can't see anything!" Winry reminded, following him.

"So?"

"So"—Winry caught Edward as he bumped into the table—"how are you gonna find Al if you can't even see where you're going?.!"

Edward stopped long enough to turn around and smirk before turning back around again and proceeding forwards a little less cautiously than he probably should have been. "I'll find him, you watch and see. Winry," he finally sighed after a while of searching along the wall, "will you please just bring me to the door? Time is being wasted."

"Yeah, well, what do you think you'll be doing when you get outside and have no idea where you are or even what anything or anyone looks like?.!" Winry demanded, outraged at Edward's insanity. "I swear, the two of you truly are brothers! You both don't think things all the way through, and you both don't realize what you're doing half the time—no! More than just half the time!"

"Wow—harsh," Edward winced, chuckling a bit. "I always thought Al to be the rational thinker between us. Now, will you please show me the location of the door?"

"Fine, but only if that means I'm coming with," she agreed, and led him to the door, which actually had only been a teensy bit more to the left.

Edward opened the door as small as possible, slipped out, and held the door shut as Winry pushed on it, trying to open it.

"Ed!! Ed, you little liar! Open the door, now!! Ed!!" Winry screamed, furious.

"Sorry, Winry," Edward said, brushing off the 'little' insult. He alchemized the door shut so Winry could not open it (easily, anyways) and continued with, "but Al and I need to have a little brotherly talk. Don't worry, I'll be fine!" he called cheerfully. "Besides," he muttered under his breath as he ran off, "it's not like I ever gave my consent to you coming along anyways."

Not like Winry could hear him over her pounding and yelling.

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So it was a little bit harder than he thought it would be.

…Okay, let's just say that things hadn't gone quite as he had planned since he had merrily left Winry trying to kick the door down. He had stumbled over many pebbles and other such small objects and had run into so many people that he had begun to ask every one in which direction the closest river was.

After falling so much that he felt sore and bruised all over, it was a relief to Edward when he finally heard what he had been hoping to hear for some time now: the sound of running water. He stepped forward softly, listening closely. He could hear Alphonse talking. As he listened to what his little brother was saying, it sounded like Alphonse was having a conversation with himself.

"I know I shouldn't be mad at Brother, but I just couldn't help it! I mean, even if he doesn't know that Mom's dead, he isn't the only one that misses her…Grr…I should go apologize to Brother; that was a little harsh on my part…" Alphonse started to get up when he noticed Edward standing there out of the corner of his eye. He leapt up, crying, "Br-Brother!…You didn't…didn't hear all that I said, did you?"

Edward heard himself say, "Well, I dunno. What did your monologue start with?" as thoughts whizzed through his head, staying just long enough for him to see them and read them, but not grasp them and understand them. His memory had been erased back to when Trisha was still alive? Which means…Mom really is…

"Al," Edward said, interrupting Alphonse's poor attempt at coming up with something to say.

"…so don't worry about—Huh? Yes, Brother?" Alphonse asked, his hands freezing in position from waving them about pathetically.

"Mom…She's really dead, isn't she?" Edward asked.

"…Yeah."

Edward walked forwards a couple of steps. He stopped when Alphonse instinctively told him to stop walking or he'd walk into the river, the younger brother forgetting that he was mad at the older. Edward sat down. He felt another presence next to him and a weight sat down there with a sigh. The two Elric brothers sat in silence. People chattering could be heard farther up and the peaceful sound of the water running along in the river could be heard in front of the two boys.

"Hey…Al?" Edward finally asked quietly.

"Yeah?"

"I want to ask you something, and I want you to answer me honestly, okay?" Edward knew this was probably going to hurt Alphonse to answer, but he knew his younger brother would answer honestly, because that was just how he was. Edward most likely hadn't even needed to of have asked in the first place, but he just wanted to hear to be sure.

"Of course I will. I always do," Alphonse told him, knowing something was up. "What is it?"

"Well…There's…There's something wrong with me, isn't there?" Edward braced himself for the answer, gut feeling telling him that he already knew what it was going to be.

"It depends on which term you're saying that there's something wrong with you. Technically, no, there's nothing wrong with you. But your memory has been erased back to when we were little, when—when Mom was still alive. Well, I suppose it was more of taken away than erased, but it's all not really mattering at this point," Alphonse sighed. "So, yeah, I suppose there is something wrong with you," he decided, contradicting his own words.

"Wait, what do you mean, 'taken away'? Please, Al, tell me everything," Edward asked, trying to make sense of what appeared to be a mess.

And so Alphonse explained everything that he could as best as he could. He told Edward abut the Gate, about Envy, about the story behind Envy, and everything else that Edward had forgotten. By the time Alphonse finally got it all out, Edward had learned a lot.

"Wow," Edward said once Alphonse was finished. "And you're saying I forgot all that?"

"Yeah. Oh, yeah," Alphonse said, blinking as he remembered something, "I forgot to tell you that you got a mission from the Fuhrer—"

"—that you're about to be late getting to!" a new voice interrupted. A recognizable voice. Verrry recognizable.

Edward jumped up, turning around as he did so. "W-Winry! We were just—Aah!" he managed to get out before he went flying from the force of Winry slamming her wrench into his face.

"Do you know how worried I was about you two?.! You can't just run off like that!! What am I going to do if I lose you guys too?.!" Winry screamed, still beating the two idiot Elric brothers up. "Huh?.!"

"Winry, we're sorry! We were just about to head back now! We're sorry!!" Alphonse pleaded, trying to escape Winry's Scary Wrench of Doom. Winry had had quite an influence on majority of the two boys' actions since their childhoods.

Abruptly Winry put her wrench down and turned around. "Let's go. You're gonna be late for your mission, Ed."

Alphonse put his hand on his brother's shoulder and led him after Winry. "Winry…You're not mad, are you?" he asked timidly.

Winry looked down. "No…"

"So," Edward said happily, cheerful that Winry wasn't mad, "what's my mission?"

Well then, I do hope you enjoyed! I do think that I've actually made this confusing, so if it does make you confused, please tell me, 'cause there's no other way for me to find out. (nods)

I hope to hear from everyone who read this! (grins)

Laine Squirrel