I decided that since this one was all right, really, that I'd update to make up for the long absence. It'll be a few more days for the others, since those have a lot of reworking to do, but no worries.

The last chapter: I apologize. I intended to change 'Aru' to 'Al' before I posted it, but I forgot. I prefer to use Aru to prevent my own confusion since I often typo 'Al'. Sorry! I'll be more careful of the replacement next time!

Anyway, nothing much about this chapter, and I hope you enjoy.

The train rode on through the night. Ed had woken up a few times to snack and watch as the train stopped in different stations, people getting on and off, bustling about without much of a care in the world. It must have been incredibly late, judging by the sleeping passengers. Even Roy was sleeping, so he was careful not to disturb him. The people remaining in their compartment were few, an old woman, a young couple and a small group of people in the very back wearing clothes just like Roy.

He really hadn't meant to be nosy, but it was kind of quiet and a bit boring. The books that that lady had said he could have for the trip had disappeared, so he had nothing to take his mind off of the long trip. He'd managed to find a way, after much fighting, into the bag that held the food stuffs, and was now gnawing on the last sausage they had from that morning. He glanced up at the face resting against the window, frowning slightly. It looked so uncomfortable.

The sky outside was pretty though. He liked staring at that for now. The little lights in the sky twinkled so nicely, and the blue was like a nice blanket he could cuddle up with. He'd found it nice to sit there and watch the stars, like they had in his dream. He wanted… those things to happen now. He wasn't a little kid, no matter how he looked. He just knew he wasn't… he didn't want to be treated like one. He wanted to be treated like the other Ed…

The sausage had been gone faster than he expected, leaving him with nothing to do but to ponder. The dreams were nice. They showed many different things. He didn't remember them, or much of anything else, but he saw different sides to his caretaker than he could have ever imagined while observing him during the waking moments. What did he dream about? Did he ever have nightmares with evil monsters like he did? What was he scared of? Did he ever wear any other clothes? How'd he get his eyes just a cool color? He had soft hair too; did he do lots of stuff to it? What were his bad habits? Who was he before he met him? Ed had millions of questions to ask, but no means of asking them.

He reached up, poking at the other's cheek, curious to know what would happen. He really didn't know how to ask everything he wanted to, but that wasn't what stopped him. If he asked too much, what would happen? Would he get mad at him and throw him off the train? Would he hide it all and tell him it was nothing? He was even more curious then, but that wasn't what he was worried about.

He didn't like Roy sleeping so much. What would happen if he slept too much? He wouldn't die, right? 'Cause that's what it was, wasn't it? Going to sleep and not waking up? It made people sad, and then they buried them under bunches of dirt. He didn't want that to happen to his precious friend. "Roy! Up!"

He continued to poke until he'd gotten the attention he wanted, that pretty black eye bearing down on him. It looked kind of angry, and he really did want to hide, but he'd accomplished something. Roy wasn't going to sleep too much, not on his watch. "Up!" He beamed, giving the other's cheek another poke for good measure.

"It had better be good, Fullmteal – " Roy had seemed to realize where he went wrong and shook his head. "… what… what's wrong, Ed?"

Ed tilted his head, trying to figure out what he'd been called at first. "Fuh… huh?"

"Nothing. Did you need something?"

He really wanted to know, though… who was Fullmetal? He'd heard that name in his dreams that was like a nickname, right? Pet name, maybe? "Fuh-mel!"

The Corporal sighed heavily, patting the little blonde on the head. "Can you read?"

'Fullmetal' had been quickly forgotten at the mention of reading, eyes growing wide with excitement. Instinct told him not to be so happy over something like this; it could have been snatched away at any moment. However, he knew Roy far better than his instincts did, so he was going to trust in the man and show his appreciation at such a treat as a book. "Ed book!"

"Yes, here. I'll hold it and turn the pages for you. Sound good?"

Ed nodded again, making himself comfortable in Roy's lap while the book came to rest in front of him, eyes scanning over the page. Roy may not have treated him like that Ed, but this was his Roy… this was all his, no one else's. He didn't need that as long as he had things like this.

The moment that he had requested the page to be turned and it was denied by lack of action, he realized that it was probably best if he slept a little while too. He wasn't all that excited to go back to sleep, really, since the book was getting so good, but he couldn't force Roy to stay up with him. Besides, he was getting tired himself. Later his friend would be awake enough to give him the full attention that he needed. The sun wasn't up yet, so he could let it go for now.

The next time he opened his eyes, there was a warm, fresh-smelling bun in his face and it looked very delicious. He wiggled in his spot, stretching to the fullest before nosing the hand that had curled around him. He liked things like this… no where could he have found such a nice person to be with. Fuery was okay, but there was something about being in the man's company that gave him a real sense of life. Nothing else could grant him that treasure.

"Awake? Good then, you can eat. We'll be there soon."

Soon? He was getting a bit restless for being on this train for so long. At least before, there were times that they could go outside or at least get a change of rooms. He took the bun being offered to him, biting into it while peering at the window. The light seemed to be a bit dim, the sky not so bright a blue.

"Ed, look." Just as he was about to ask if he could see outside, he was picked up so he could see out of the window better.

Long stretches of land went on with no signs of life, ranging from a dull orange to a bright green, the occasional red building, a few metal towers and then some homes, but nothing that really made it all that remarkable, compared to the city of Central, with all of its lights and bustling people. That was… until the fluffy white things caught his eye and he just had to know. He pressed his nose against the glass, watching the flock go by with a bit of disappointment. "Roy! What that?"

"Sheep. Fluffy sheep."

Ed turned his eyes back to the window, mouth wide as another small group went by. "Sheeps nice?"

"I would expect they are. They're usually calm…"

"So Ed pet sheeps?"

Roy hadn't spent a whole lot of time on the country side; so really, he had no idea if they could even find sheep on the way to Winry's. Still, he supposed they had plenty of time to look while they were there. "Yes, we'll find some sheep for you to pet."

Ed was elated. He had never remembered seeing a sheep before, but he got to see one and pet it too? Just a few weeks ago he'd been wishing for a way to be happy and a week ago he was believing that it couldn't get any better than it had. He'd never asked for so much in his life, but he was being handed it all. Was it reward for being so patient with old Master? Or maybe it was too good to be true… No. He told himself he wouldn't think like that. Roy deserved all the respect he could give him. Lumping him in the same bowl with that old guy was not respecting him. "Sheeps like pet? Ed make sheeps happy?"

He barely knew a thing about horses, how was he supposed to know what sheep liked? "Yes, I'm sure they will be happy to be pet."

Ed tilted his head, pulling away from the window. "Up!"

"What?" The order was hardly appreciated, not for the fact that it was an order, but for the fact that he didn't fully understand what Ed wanted. He'd put him up to the window…

"Hug!"

That was generally what he wanted… The kitten rested against his chest, arm wrapped around his neck while he dragged himself as high as he wanted to be. A moment or two later, Ed found a good 'seat' height and seemed satisfied with it for then.

Ed hadn't really wanted a hug. Hugs were nice, but he thought if it worked for sheep, it'd work for him too, right? So he had taken his spot, reaching up when he was sure that Roy had a good hold on him and pet that soft hair that he wanted to bury his face in and go to sleep. "Ed makes happy?"

Mustang wasn't sure whether to be insulted, or find the humor in it at Ed's attempts to turn back what he'd said and actually try it out. Indignation at being petted wasn't going to make Ed happy, but laughing at him wasn't going to make it better. "Y… yeah, Ed. You do." Everyone would have done the same thing. Anyone with a conscience, anyway.

The kitten snuggled against him happily, resting his cheek against the rough cloth he'd come to dislike. It was so big and stupid! How could anyone see his friend's face through all that hair and that big ugly patch thingy? That was one difference that he didn't like between the two Roys. That was… until something else caught his attention and his face became glued to the window, watching with marvel as new creatures went past their window, ignoring the stinging that went through his nose from the face plant into the glass barrier. "Oh! Roy! What those?"

The former General chuckled, scratching Ed's ears. "Curious kitten, aren't you? Those would be cows and a few horses. You know that milk you like so much? It comes from a cow."

Milk… came from cows? How'd they get milk from them? Did cows have cold insides, cause the milk he drank was always cold, even the ones directly from the milk man that Fuery brought. So what did the fluffy sheeps and those tall horses make for people? "Ed pets cows too?"

As far as Roy knew, Ed hated cows, and therefore milk, but for what reason, he didn't know. Either that little memory hadn't come back yet, or this wasn't really the Ed he'd missed for several years. Either way, he wasn't in the cynical mood to dash the little one's hopes. "We'll see. We can do everything that you want to do when you can walk on your own."

"Wawk?"

"Walk. Remember? We're getting you new limbs, if you want them. A new leg, so you'll have two."

Ed nodded slowly. If he could walk, he could do so much more… he could go places on his own, even surprise Roy. As great as it was being carried around… it was beginning to sound better and better every time the subject was brought up. "Ed pets cows and sheeps! Nice cows?"

"Nice cows."

"Mm." Ed was determined to see those cows and sheep. That just meant he'd have to get the new limbs, which he'd do even if the petting of cows and sheep wasn't on the line.

"Next stop, Risembool station. Passengers please have your luggage ready. We'll be arriving at the station in approximately thirty minutes. I repeat…"

Ed reached up to cover his ears, looking around for the source of the voice. He hadn't been the only one to hear it, he realized, since Roy was moving him aside and started packing away the things that they'd had used over the course of the trip. Two other people in the car had proceeded to gather their things as well, leaving him to believe that someone had been speaking to them all, some disembodied voice that was kind of scary to think about.

"Are you excited, Ed? We're almost there."

Ed nodded quickly, smiling while his master was busy. He was, but something in his stomach told him that there was something he didn't want to face there…

The station this time was far less busy than he remembered the ones they'd gone through to get there. There were a few people helping those with big bags and the elderly get off the train. The people here were kind, smiling and talking politely to each other, like old friends. While those in Central wore constant sour expressions, the employees at this station tipped their hats and gave genuine smiles, welcoming them to the town.

He let Roy do all the returns. He found himself burying his face in Roy's coat, whining at the loud noises from the trains and the strange people trying to say hi. He did, perk up, however, at the sound of someone offering to help them. Ed only had one arm and one leg, and he did his best to hold on, but that didn't mean that Roy could carry everything else. He frowned… he'd be doing that too, when this was over with.

"Thank you."

"Of course! Rockbell residence, again?"

"It's good to be remembered… yes, that's where we're going."

So Roy was here before? For what? He didn't dare try and get his attention this time though. He'd interrupted conversations before and the consequences weren't pretty. He didn't want to make either one of them mad at him for his curiosity.

The man offering them help left for a moment, making him wonder where he'd gone. Their stuff was still there, outside of the building, and the situation hadn't changed where Roy could carry it by himself. He was tempted to tell Roy to put him down and take their things (as long as he could latch onto his leg, because he'd never let anyone leave him behind again, if he could help it), when the sound of heavy clunking steps met his sensitive ears.

What Ed thought to be a wooden car pulled up in front of the station, along the dirt road with two of the tall beasts he'd seen not far from the cows. Horses was what Roy called them, right? They were scary, so much bigger than he was and no doubt had an incredible amount of power to be able to pull that wooden car behind them, but they were very pretty and, again, the overwhelming desire to pet them came upon him. Ed was caught between reaching out and cowering in Roy's jacket when the man regarded them again.

Without asking, he was brought closer, Ed blinking up into a long mane of black surrounded by brown fur, shining in the sun's light. "I think that he'd like it if you pet him. He likes to be praised for doing a good job," the old man urged, watching Ed's fight with himself to do it. He didn't know what to say about the kid's appearance, but the last run-in with the man holding the kid was military business, so this was something he definitely wanted to stay out of.

"Ed… pet?"

"Yes, you can pet him, Ed," replied the dark-haired man.

Ed didn't need anymore invitation than that to pet the horse, hand running over the mane, down the creature's neck and back up again. He squirmed in Roy's grasp, big smile on his face as the horse stood patiently, letting him touch it as much as he wanted. Roy's free hand joined his, giving the beast a few pats. "We'll go visit them, if it's all right with the good sir. How's that?"

Ed glanced shyly over at the man, afraid to regard him, but knowing he had to, if he wanted to see the horse he'd made friends with again. "Can… can Ed…?"

"Of course."

Ed grinned over at him, while their things were loaded, but clung tighter to Roy. The man had a false smile. He could tell. There was something wrong with him, wasn't there? Why was there a bit of repressed hostility in the air?

He liked the wooden car a lot better than the metal ones back in Central. The wooden one was bumpy, but it was a lot slower, and it gave him time to watch the pretty pastures go by. He didn't know a whole lot about the fields, but he knew that they were pretty and looked nice to play in. Maybe he'd be able to get Roy out there to play with him when he could walk on his own. And the river was gorgeous. The twinkling waters made him wish that it wouldn't be so wet, with the teasing glints…

"Can you stop for a moment?"

Ed glanced over at his friend, brow knit together. This wasn't their stop, obviously. The man hadn't intended to stop, or Roy wouldn't have asked. He didn't question when he was picked up and his favorite person hopped down from the wooden car, approaching something big on the river banks.

The closer they got, the more it made him wonder what it could have possibly been to get Roy's attention like that. He hadn't even noticed it and if he hadn't, his one-eyed companion couldn't have possibly seen it… It was starting to form a person, a big person with gray clothes on… clothes that looked very heavy. "Al!"

Al… that name had come up before.

The tall person stopped kicking at the air, turning towards the sound of the voice. "Colonel? Brother?!"

"Brother!"

It was just like that time… the monster, the one that he'd seen, the one that was supposed to be Mom… A twisted face, a hand extended towards him, pain racing through his missing leg…

What have I done…? Al… what did I drag us into?

Ed let out a cry, the glowing red eyes assaulting his vision, the only thing he could see, the permanent fixation on the back of his lids… those red lights that posed as eyes.