Thank you so much, you faithful reviewers, you? (Dances happy little dance) Sakura-chan, you're a really good hitter, even when I throw a curveball. Tell me though, were you trying to end the time traveling already, or did you have something else planned? Oh well, this is my chapter now, and I managed to hit that curveball pretty well, I think. I'm not half done with the time travel bit! Hehehe...hope you all enjoy.

Disclaimer: Neither one of us owns FullMetal Alchemist. Snore...(slight caffiene buzz, though the coffee's wearing out this time)...zzzzzzzz...what? Yeah, I'm awake, what did you say? Uhhh...we don't own FMA...what? I already said that? Oh. zzzzzzzzzz...

Ed found himself standing before a gigantic door. He knew that door. This was the Gate. He'd been here before. But what was he doing here now?

He watched as the gigantic doors swung open. Surprisingly enough, he didn't feel anything trying to pull him in. He just stood there, watching. As incredible as it sounded, he seemed to be able to look through and see all the way to the other side. What he saw on the other side though made him jump. It was himself, staring back at him. What was going on?

The person on the other side of the Gate jumped, and said, "Who are you?"

"I'm, uh, I'm...Edward," said Edward. "Who are you?" He was pretty sure he knew the answer, but still wanted to hear it with his own ears.

"Uh, I'm Edward too," said the other boy. Edward sighed and scratched his head, then realized that he was still in this young body. He looked again at the other figure before him, who looked much more mature, and yet acted more frightened, like a child. Ed started to realize what had just happened.

"We switched bodies, didn't we?" he said. The other Edward didn't appear to know what he was talking about, but he nodded his head anyway. The older Edward sighed. "So how do we get back to our original bodies?" he said out loud, kind of annoyed, not expecting an answer.

"I don't know!" screamed the younger Edward, as if he was going to cry, though he obviously couldn't, since he was in an android body. The older Edward placed his hand down by his side and looked up to see the younger Edward.

"I wouldn't worry so much about it if I were you. We are really the same person, though from different times. I'm you as an older person, hence that means that I was you at one time. I know that that may not make sense to you right now. It barely makes sense to me, but that also means that we somehow manage to switch back. So relax, everything will work out, somehow. I just don't know how yet."

The younger Edward just nodded. Younger Ed still seemed to be a bit afraid, though older Ed tried to console him a bit. "Please, don't worry, somehow this will work out, I promise you." That was weird; it felt like he was talking to himself. Well, he was, technically, it was just a very much younger version of himself.

Older Ed reached out his hand in the direction of younger Ed. He felt a strong current of energy run through it that almost pulled him into the Gate. He quickly jerked his hand back, and looked up at the younger version of himself.

"Listen," he said, "I think that I was pulled into this body because there is something that I very much need to do. Perhaps once I fulfill that mission, maybe we'll switch back."

"Equivalent trade..." mused the younger Ed.

The older Ed popped open his eyes and looked up at him. "What?"

"Equivalent trade..." repeated the younger Ed. "I had just been wishing that I could know something about my future. Both of our wants must've made us switch places."

Older Ed gasped. He'd forgotten all about that desire to know the future when he was little. "Perhaps..." said older Ed. "Perhaps, once we fulfill our missions, we'll be returned to our respective bodies. Equivalent trade, like you said."

Just then, the massive doors slammed shut, and older Ed felt himself being pulled backwards, back into the blackness he had been in just before he had found himself in front of the Gate. Back to where he had been.

"Brother! Ed! Are you alright?" Ed opened his eyes to find three small children standing over him with concerned expressions on their faces. Al, Winry, and Miranda were still looking over him, very concerned.

He cautiously sat up and rubbed his head. "I'm fine, guys. I just...spaced out a little."

"Should I go get Mom?" asked Al.

"No!" Ed said, putting out his hand before he was able to think. "Uh...on second thought," he sputtered out, after thinking for a moment, "I think I'll go and see her myself. You guys continue playing. I'm fine." Al gave Ed a worried glance, but then went back to playing with Winry and Miranda.

Ed stood up and walked back towards the house. He was going to have to tell his mother what was going on. That was why he was here. How was she going to take it? How would she accept it? Would he have to tell her why he had to come back in time in order to talk to her? He'd cross that bridge when he came to it.

"What's wrong with Fullmetal?" cried Roy as he came running upon the scene. He had heard Ed's screams and Riza's shots, and had grown a bit concerned, wondering what was going on. Ed must've REALLY ticked her off.

"I don't exactly KNOW what's going on," said Al. "He said something to Lieutenant Hawkeye here, and it made her mad, so she fired a few shots in his general direction, and it scared him so bad that he passed out."

Roy thought about this for a moment. "That's strange for him to get so scared like that. That's very un-Ed-like."

Al scratched his head. "Um...well...not exactly," he said.

"What's that supposed to mean?" General Mustang asked.

"Um..." Al responded, not sure if he should explain it, not even sure if he COULD explain it. "Well...this is Ed...but it's not...OUR Ed. In a way he is...but...in a way he's not."

That definitely didn't seem to make much sense, so Roy asked for clarification. Al wasn't sure if he could give any, but he decided that he would just blow it full force on him, and just see what would happen. "Well..." started Al, "For some reason, the Ed of the present and the Ed of the past switched places. So, this is a very young version of my brother. That's why he said what he did to Lieutenant Hawkeye here. To him, it was a compliment, but she thought he was making a pass at her. So yeah, she kind of flipped out, and uh..." Al caught an electric glare coming from Riza, and decided to avoid explaining any further details.

General Mustang just chuckled and looked back at Al. "So, are you telling me that your brother has traveled through time?" said General Mustang. "Wouldn't that mess up the time/space continuum?"

Al rubbed his forehead, trying to think hard. Time travel sure did hurt the brain. "Uh...well...yes, and no," said Al. "You see...it's already happened...in a way...it's just that now...we've finally completed the loop. Brother has been talking about his experiences as the younger version for years...though I never took him seriously...and how that he's finally reached the part of the loop where he's the older version...well...uh..." he was really confused and couldn't get his words together.

Roy understood of course. It was a really hard subject to explain, even to comprehend. "Don't burden yourself too much with explanations, Alphonse," said Roy, putting up a hand. "I know that this is a difficult subject to try and discuss. Heck, if it were coming from anyone else, I wouldn't have believed the story, but your brother has surprised me so many times that nothing fazes me anymore." Al gave a nervous chuckle, and continued to rub his head.

Just then, Ed woke up. "Am I still here?" he asked.

"Yes, Fullmetal, you're still here," said Roy.

"What's...Fullmetal?" asked Ed. Roy smacked his head. He'd forgotten about the time travel bit.

"We'll explain it to you in a bit," said Al, turning to him. Ed looked around nervously.

"That mean lady isn't still here, is she?"

Riza blushed and put her gun back in its holster. "I'm sorry, Edward, I won't fire at you again. I thought that you were being rude. It was my mistake, I apologize."

Roy was about to reprimand her for calling a higher officer by his first name, but since this Edward was really the one from the past, he decided to let it go. Besides, even the Ed from the present didn't really like being called by his rank. He accepted being called by his name or his military name, and that was it. No ranks. Absolutely none. Maybe he just felt awkward about being a child that was above adults. Or maybe he just hated the military.

Yeah, that was probably it. He probably hated the military. No matter though, he was a very useful alchemist to have around, or at least, had been. He had helped them to straighten out several big issues that no one else could've done, because everyone else had too much common sense to even try. Some things could only be accomplished by someone who was both an idiot and a genius at the same time, and well, Ed was both.

Roy extended his hand towards Ed to help him up, "Come on...Ed..." he said, trying to remember not to call him by his military name, since he didn't respond to it, "Let's go into the house, and we'll explain things to you."

Ed took Roy's hand and stood up. He made his way to the house with the rest of the people, keeping a careful watch on Hawkeye, and making sure to always know where her gun was. Yep, he was going to need a lot of explanation. A lot of explanation indeed.

Okay, did you like that? I hope so. Please review, and I'm sure that Sakura-chan will be happy to update soon. (We update sooner when we get more reviews...or at least I do. I think she does too.) Longer reviews help to make up for lack of reviews sometimes too. Long reviews rule! W00t! (Yes, I know, I say "W00t!" a lot. It's a computer geek word that I learned from my brother a long time ago. I don't know why I say it. Heh. I just like to, hehehe.)

Please review, okay? Thanks! (smiles happily, anticipating reviews)