I'm ALIIIIIIIVEEEE!!!! Yes, believe it or not, I still exist somewhere on this blue sphere called Earth. I haven't figured out how to teleport to other dimensions yet, so I'm still here for the time being, hehe. Astral Projection is about as far as I've gotten...though that in and of itself is pretty good, hehe, but you don't get to stay wherever you go, which kinda sucks. ;) Sorry that this chapter is so short compared with the others that have been recently, but hey, I updated! Be happy! Hehe. Hopefully I've finally gotten over my writer's slump and will be updating my fics again. Really, really, really hope, hehe.

Disclaimer: Let's see, as a test of whether I've gotten over my writer's slump, I should see if I can come up with a creative disclaimer. If I can, I've passed the test and have gotten over it. Blah blah bloggidy blah. In Googish, that means, "I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist." Now grab your hatchets and join me while we go hunt Googs. ((Gotta hunt them with hatchets for some reason. They get too mad to get caught if you use anything else. Thankfully you don't have to actually hit them with the hatchet. As soon as they see it in your hand, they fall down on their knees, begging for mercy. Googs are so easy to catch when you have the right equipment.)) How's that? Did I get my writerly writingness back?

"Ow! Hey, stop pushing!" Winry grimaced as she looked over at the body that currently housed both little Ed and little Al. She wasn't totally sure which one had said that, but it didn't seem to really matter all that much anyway. They were obviously having a hard time adapting to sharing a body between them, and the sooner things were restored to normal, the better. Things would be restored to normal, right? Winry shook her head and mentally chastised herself for worrying. Of course things would go back to the way they were. The boys were experiencing some sort of time loop somehow, and if they were to grow up, which they had already done, things would have to return to the way they were.

"Try to be nice to each other, you two," Winry scolded gently.

"But he's pushing me!" said one of the boys, Winry was still unsure of which one.

"That's because there isn't enough space in that body for the two of you to be comfortable," said Winry, patiently, "He can't help it."

"Then why can't I have my body back?"

"Which body?" said Winry, trying to keep up, "The little body you left?"

"No!" said the boy, "The robot one."

Okay, that answered the question of who she was talking to at least. She moistened her lips and took a slow breath, trying to figure out exactly how to answer that question in a way a child could understand.

"Um…remember those bad people I told you about?" Al/Ed nodded. "They…They stole your body."

"THEY STOLE MY BODY?" Ed yelled.

Winry pressed her hands to her ears until Ed was done shouting. Apparently his mother hadn't trained the childish screeching out of him yet. Then again, he WAS only five, but it didn't make the habit any less annoying, especially since being in an adult body at present, he had an adult voice.

"Yes..." Winry said cautiously in an attempt to stave off further outbursts, "And…they've got Granny too."

"WHA-" Ed began to shout again, but this time Winry was faster than him and was able to slap her hand over his mouth.

"Hush! We're going to get her and your body back, but we need a plan, and to make a plan, we need to get somewhere safe."

"Okay," said Al/Ed resignedly, so much so that Winry was once again unsure of who she was talking to, but once again, it didn't really matter.

"Al, something's going on here, and I don't like it."

"I realize that, Brother," Al turned to face his older brother, who still had the appearance of a five-year-old, "But what can we do about it in these bodies? We're kind of helpless, don't you think? Besides, we know how everything turns out, so why worry? We're going to survive whatever's going on."

"Are we?" said Ed, more as a statement than a question.

Al regarded his brother a little more closely. "What are you getting at, Brother?"

Ed sighed and shook his head, and then proceeded to place his hands on his hips. "We know how things will turn out in the here and now, our past, because we've already lived it…but…well…when Envy suddenly showed up…"

Al's eyes widened as the truth suddenly dawned on him. "Our past is assured, but our future is not."

Ed nodded silently and turned away from Al to stare out the window. A couple children were off playing in the distance, no doubt hoping that he and Al would see them and come and join the fun, but the boys had more pressing issues on their minds at present, past, whatever it was.

"Brother?" Al interrupted the silence and caused Ed to turn back to face him and lift and eyebrow in response. "Do you think…is it possible to change history?"

"Haven't we been over this already?"

Al shrugged. "Probably, but I'm wondering again."

The edge of Ed's mouth twitched a bit as he tried to contemplate an answer. "Even if it were, the repercussions of doing so would be severe…and you know very well that Mom wouldn't approve."

"Yeah, I know," Al sighed resignedly, "She's a strong believer in fate."

Ed put his hands behind his back and once again turned to face the window. The children were still out there, running and laughing like they hadn't a care in the world. "I've never really liked the idea of fate, personally. I don't like the thought that I might not be in control of my own destiny."

Al cleared his throat, which caused Ed to turn to look at him briefly, but Al just waved him off, so Ed turned back to his window. "What do you think, Al? Can the positions of the planets and stars and the lines on your palm really set in stone who you're going to be? What about all those innocent children who don't survive their first year of life? What about children like…Nina? Was fate playing a cruel trick on them? Were they just born to die?"

Al couldn't speak. He and his brother got into these philosophical mood periodically, so he was used to it, but this time, he had no words to say, so he just remained silent and allowed Ed to continue.

"And what about Mom? She never did anything wrong, and what reward does she get? Abandonment by her husband and an early grave. If fast is this evil, why do we even bother trying to live?"

Al finally found his voice. "But fate can be a good thing too…for some people."

"So it's all based on the luck of the draw," Ed sneered, "So what do we do, draw straws before we're born and pray that we don't get the short one? How is that justice to heap all the misfortunes onto the innocent?"

Both boys paused for a bit, wallowing in their thoughts. The children's laughter outside was beginning to get to Ed, so he grabbed a chair to use as a stool and closed the window, and then proceeded to pace back and forth once he was through with that.

"So…" said Al, once again breaking the monotonous silence, "What if fate didn't exist? What would happen then?"

"Everything that happened in life would be the direct result of our own actions. Innocent children would not accidentally lose their lives, it would be their own fault. It would also mean that Mom deliberately chose…or will choose…to die at the time she did. It would mean instant payback for all that we did."

"That sounds like what would more likely be the cause of some life scenarios," said Al.

"Yes, but the concept of fate is more believable for others, like if they were born into a hectic life, for instance, how can it be their fault?"

"I thought you didn't like the idea of fate, Brother."

"I don't," said Ed, "I'm just playing Devil's advocate."

Al smiled a tiny smile for a brief second, and then let go of it once again, since the current topic of discussion was too serious for a genuine smile anyway. "What if…" Al ventured, "What if…both were happening at once?"

"Both?"

"Yeah…you know, destiny and choice going hand in hand…It'd be like being dealt a hand of cards, and then you get to decide what to do with them."

Ed chuckled slightly and turned to look at Al. "You know, Al, that actually kind of makes sense. Some people would get good hands in life, while others get bad ones, but the hand you're dealt in life doesn't really determine your destiny…it's how good you are a playing the game that counts."

"So I guess that all of us Elrics have been dealt difficult hands, haven't we?" said Al.

"I guess," said Ed, "But we're pretty good card players for the most part."

Al laughed for the first time in awhile. "Oh, you are not, Brother, you always cheat!"

Ed stared to chuckle, when the grin was suddenly wiped from his face. He stood there motionlessly for a moment, and then slowly the grin came back into place, only taking on a very mischievous look this time. "Al…you're a genius!"

Al was taken aback at Ed's sudden mood swing. "I-I'm a genius? Why, what did I think of?"

The mischievous grin didn't waver a bit. "Al, go and fetch all the books on the bottom shelf of Dad's study and meet me out at the old shed."

"Heh, okay, but why?" asked Al.

Once again with the mischievous grin. "We're gonna cheat."

Anyway, leave me some reviews if you will, particularly if you wanna join me in hunting for some Googs. ((I have yet to find out what the little critters are useful for once you catch them, but they're fun to catch.)) Also, make sure to tell SakuraSagura to update soon. She's worse than me about waiting for months to update something, so if you want another chapter soon, you'll have to really encourage her strongly to do so. I suppose you could threaten her with a Goog, but I'm not sure if that's very threatening, hehe.