Rin's vision was blurry as his eyes slowly opened. White surrounded him on all sides. he narrowed his eyes for a moment, trying to process what was going on. He was so tired...How had he even gotten here? The last place he remembered being was the….

His eyes widened in recollection although his head was still spinning. The white room...Oh God the white room! Lust! She had killed his dad, Hughes, and Havock...and was going to go after Hawkeye next. The last thing he could clearly remember was him attacking Lust…

He curled into a ball and clutched his head. He'd lost...he must have…Riza and Al...oh god, where they dead too? Or had she just captured them? She said something about candidates...

There was only one way to find out. Still only half awake, he stumbled out of the bed and out the door. The whole world was spinning as he tried to run down the hall, pushing nameless people aside. He didn't know who they were nor cared. He had to get out of here.

However, that plan was halted as something suddenly grabbed him by the shoulder. He stumbled forward, nearly tripping over his own feet. "Rin!" someone cried. His head swung around to find himself face to face with his brother blinked in confusion as his vision cleared. "Y-Yukio?" he question, "What's...Going on…"

"Rin calm down…" he said, "You're in the hospital. Everything's fine."

"Hospital…." he said blinking, "What happened? How did I get here?" His eyes widened again. "Where are Al and Riza?" he questioned, "Are they safe?!" "They're fine, Rin," he said, "So is Uncle Hughes, Dad, and are alive and well too."

"They are?"he questioned in disbelief, "But...But Lust…" Rin tired to remember what happened but it was mostly a blur. He had been so upset that he had blacked out. He had a fuzzy recollection of his Dad hugging him though...

"Lust's gone," Yukio explained, "You beat her. Everyone is fine now. They're all safe."

Rin's brow furrowed as he tried to remember. "Why can't I remember that?" he questioned.

Yukio bit his lip before speaking. "You sort of...lost it for a while there," he said, "You weren't yourself anymore."

"I wasn't?" he questioned, looking up at his brother. The worried look in his eye made him a little concerned himself. What exactly had happened?

"...No, you weren't," he said, helping his brother up, "Come on. Let's get you back to your room and I'll explain what happened." Rin nodded and the two headed back to the hospital room.

…

"Sever all the pain from memories plagued in vain, Stop the endless woes you've come to know~"

"Find your heart and soul! Break through every wall until you reach your goaaal~"

"Come on, clap your hands and fight until you're finally made wh-"

"Hello! Earth to Fullmetal!" Shura snapped as she plucked the earbuds from his ears, "Seriously, you're almost as bad as a teen from my universe!"

"HEY!" he cried snatching it back, "I was listening to that!" Shima had leant him his phone to listen to music on. While it was still annoying for Edward to figure out how to work, he had to say this device was a miniature marvel! It could not only call someone like a normal phone (though only when it had something called "service" to connect to another phone which was like a radio needing to pick up signals from a station as he had learned) but it could also take pictures like a camera, store music, games (though he had yet to try any), and best of all, store entire novels on it! Shima had told him that one could store hundreds of books on a single device, but he hadn't believed it until Konekomaru showed him with his own phone. End couldn't believe it. It had been like a dream come true! However, Shima's phone had no books stored on it, and he couldn't get any on it while in this universe, so instead he stuck to listening to the boy's music. He had to say, he was really enjoying what they called "Rock music." He really wished they had that in their universe. The closest they had was jazz or swing. He particularly wished they had this song. It really reflected him.

"Yeah, but I need a navigator that can actually hear and answer my questions, so unless you want to get lost in the middle of nowhere, I would really appreciate it if you would pay attention," she retorted.

Edward frowned and looked away, slightly embarrassed. He can't believe he actually zoned out like that. He huffed and his attention turned back to the map in his hands. "What route are we on again?" he asked.

"Sixteen," Shura responded, "We just passed an exit to route twenty."

Ed's finger found the spot on the map where they had passed and looked forward. His eyes widened slightly. "We're only a few miles from Risembool," he said aloud in slight surprise.

"That a good thing?" Shura asked.

"Yeah, it's my hometown," Ed explained.

Shura smirked. "So I guess that means we should stop there," she said.

Ed thought. It would be good to see Granny Pinako, but they really had to continue on their way. They had to get back to Central soon. Plus he doubted she would appreciate feeding another grown women and six teenagers without Winry around to help. "Eh, maybe not," he said, "We really should keep moving on…"

"No way!" Shura said with a wicked grin, "Now we're definitely visiting. I wanna see what this place is like."

Ed growled at her. "I just said let's keep going! We have to get to Central, don't we?" he questioned.

"Yeah, but a little detour won't hurt," she said, "Besides, that sign says they have a gas pump!" Edward looked ahead on the road to see a sign advertising a new gas pump at the general store in Risembool. He blinked and frowned as he remembered from the last time he was there that they had gotten the pump in hopes of attracting more visitors.

He cursed under his breath. "Fine," he said, "But we're leaving by tomorrow morning."

"Fine by me," she said with a shrug. Ed sighed and leaned against the windowsill. Despite his outward appearance, he was actually a little excited to see his adoptive family member again.

…

Rin sat in the bed staring at Yukio in disbelief as he spoke. His mouth hung open slightly as he hung on every word. He couldn't believe what he was saying, but at the same time, he couldn't stop listening. Had he really done all that? Had he really lost it like that? Had he actually killed a homunculus? He'd never killed anyone but a demon and maybe a few animals before…And he had turned on Al and Riza just like that…

Rin felt slightly sick and he clutched the sheets of the bed he was sitting on.

"Rin are you alright?" Yukio questioned, noticing this.

"No…" he said, "I almost attacked my family and friends...and I can't even remember doing it! It's a little scary to be honest…"

Yukio nodded solemnly. "We were thinking about keeping the sword away from you for now," he explained, "At least until we can figure out how to keep it from breaking again…"

"What?" Rin said, "But how am I going to be able to protect myself if demons come?"

"You have your ignition gloves," he said.

"Ok, but what about them trying to steal it?" he questioned, "They did before, so they're probably sure to try again."

"Don't worry," Yukio insisted, "I'll keep it safe. The last thing you need is to be carrying it around with you right now." "Just wait a few days, ok?" Yukio pleaded, "We just want to make sure you're completely back to normal before we give it back to you. You need a break from all of this anyways. It seems like not a day has gone by without you being in a life or death situation."

Rin scratched the back of his head awkwardly. "You don't know the half of it.." he muttered, thinking back to the situation with Scar from the other day and everything he went through in Dublith.

"What was that?" Yukio said, raising an eyebrow at him.

"Nothing!" Rin chirped, smiling a little two hard.

Yukio gave him a skeptical look. He knew his brother was lying to him, but he didn't push him further. He decided he didn't want to worry himself with what trouble his brother had gotten himself into more than he already was. "Fine," he said with a sigh before pushing himself out of the seat next to the bed and getting up.

Rin blinked in surprise. "Hey, where are you going?" he questioned.

Yukio paused in walking out the door and placed a gloved hand on the door frame. "Just to go call everyone and tell them you're awake," he said, "You really worried them, you know. They want to see you as soon as they can to make sure you're alright."

Rin gave an awkward laugh. "When are they not worried about me?" he questioned.

Yukio smiled and shrugged. "Good question," he responded, "I don't think even they have the answer to that."

…

They parked the car at the base of the dirt road heading up to the country home. Shima and the others stepped out of the car looking around in confusion. "What's this place?" Shima asked, "Are we stopping for the day?"

"Seems a little earlier in the day…" Suguro said, scratching his head.

"Where are we?" Izumo said, "Are we even anywhere near Central?"

"I like it out here…" Shiemi said, looking around with a smile, "It's so quiet and peaceful…"

"It's called Risembool," Ed explained, "We're just stopping for a little while. I'm going to visit a family friend of mine."

"A family friend?" Konekomaru said.

"Wait," Shima started, "Is this your hometown?" "No way! That's awesome!" Shima said, "Mind giving us the tour?"

"Well there isn't much to see…" Ed said, shrugging.

"I'd like to see your hometown," Shiemi said, "Sure it's a bit small, but it's lovely. I'd love to see where you grew up."

Ed looked away slightly. "Well, I don't know if I can do that…" he said. Honestly it would be impossible seeing as he burnt his childhood home to the ground.

"That's alright," Konekomaru said with a shrug, "We can probably go for a nature walk otherwise."

Ed thought back to the last time he went on a nature walk and winced. "On second thought, how about I just introduce you to my family friend," he said. The teenagers exchanged looks before exchanging looks, shrugging, and following him.

…

Pinako was walking out onto the porch with her cup of coffee in hand. It was a beautiful day, might as well go out and enjoy it. Besides, she needed to let Den out anyways. However, when she opened the door, she had not expected to see Ed walking up the path with a small group of people in tow. They were quite strange looking. Most of them looked like they were in some kind of school uniform...except for one woman who was wearing next to nothing. She raised an eyebrow at that. She might have been a little more judgmental if she didn't know she probably would have worn something like that at some point in her wild youthful years had it been available. Though still she wondered what Ed was doing with some strange older women and five teenagers.

"Hey! Granny Pinako!" Ed called, "How's it going?"

"Same as always here, though I would really appreciate an explanation as to why you have a gaggle of strangers following behind you. I can only imagine the story behind the kind of trouble you got yourself into this time," she responded as they got closer.

Ed pouted. "I'm not in trouble!" he insisted.

"Are you sure? You only seem to bother stopping by when you've dug yourself into a hole you can't get out of," she retorted, raising an eyebrow.

"I do not!" he responded childishly, making the other teen exchange surprised glances.

"Oh really?" Pinako responded with a disbelieving look, "Because the last time I remember you coming over it was to fix up your arm after you had busted it again." Edward scratched the back of his head guiltily. "And the last time you called it was because you had landed yourself in the hospital and needed Winry's help again," Pinako continued, "And I distinctly remember getting a call from my granddaughter about how when you visited her in Rush Valley she had to patch you up twice in the same day. Honestly Ed, I don't know why but I'm still surprised that someone so small can get into so much trouble..."

Ed growled, gritting his teeth as the teens chuckled. "I'M NOT A BEAN SPROUT MIDGET!" he shouted before turning on the others, "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU LAUGHING AT, HUH?!"

They immediately became quiet, and jumped a little at the loudness of his voice. Shima held his hands up in surrender. "Laughing? Who's laughing?" he said.

Shura shook her head as she continued to chuckle. "Ok, I like this lady," she said stepping forward and leaning down shake hands with the old woman, "Hey, It's nice to meet you. The name's Shura."

"Pinako Rockbell," the old woman responded, "I like your scarf by the way, but I am curious as to why you are following this boy around."

"Thanks!" the exorcist responded, "Don't worry, he's not in any trouble. He's helping my class and me get to Central."

Pinako raised an eyebrow. "You're a teacher?" she questioned.

"Yup, these are my students," she said. She then backed up, allowing the students to step forward.

"Yo, nice to meet ya. I'm Shima, and this is my pal Konekomaru," the pink haired boy said, stepping forward and slinging an arm around his friend.

The boy laughed nervously. "Konekomaru Miwa," he said with a slight bow, "Pleasure to meet you, ma'am."

Then the next boy stepped forward. Pinako noted the peircings and two toned hair. She had expected him to act similarly to the pink haired one, but he was surprisingly polite. "Hello, Ms. Rockbell," he said taking her hand and shaking it while bowing his head, "It's nice to meet you. I'm Ryuji Suguro."

Pinako smiled as she shook hands with him. "Likewise," she responded. The next was a purple haired girl who didn't step forward, but introduced herself politely enough.

Last was a young blonde girl who shuffled forward. Her hands were clasped together as she bowed to the small grandma. "It's nice to meet you! My name is Shiemi Moriyama," she said before standing up straight again, "Your home is very lovely!"

Pinako once again smiled at her. "Well thank you, I'm flattered," she said before turning back to the rest of them, "I suppose you all are here because you need a place to stay for now, right? Well come on." With that the old woman turned and went inside the house gesturing for them to follow behind her.

They all looked around as they entered through the door into the living room. "Nice place you got here," Shima said, "It's really cozy. Not like the dorms."

Pinako shrugged. "Better to be comfortable than fancy," she said, "By the way, if you're planning to stay over, I hope you brought sleeping bags, because I doubt we have enough beds for you all." "Also, I hope none of you are allergic to dogs," she added as she heard thumping down the stairs.

Den barked and ran up to the unfamiliar faced to investigate them. Ed smiled as the rest looked surprised. "Hey, Den!" he said, leaning down to pet the dog's head, "How've you been?"

"Dude, what's up with it's leg?" Shima asked, "Is that some kind of prosthetic?"

"If it is, how is it moving like that?" Izumo questioned, "It acts just like a normal leg!" Ed stopped as he realized he never explained automail to them.

Pinako crooked an eyebrow. "Isn't it obvious? It's automail," she said, "I know its unusual to see automail for animals, but it's still the same mechanisms."

The teens looked at her curiously. "Automail?" Konekomaru asked, "What's automail?"

Pinako blinked in surprise. She hadn't been expecting that. "You're kidding me, right?" she said, "Do you honestly have no clue what automail is?" They all shook their heads 'no.' Pinako frowned. "What, were you raised under a rock?" she muttered.

"Hey!" Bon started, but he was cut off by Ed placing a hand in front of him. "They don't have automail where they're from," he explained, "They aren't exactly from Amestris, that's why I'm playing tour guide for them."

Pinako nodded in understanding. "Well automail is a form of prosthetic that connects to the nerves of the owner to allow them to use it like a normal limb," she explained, "They can't feel anything with it, but it allows them to regain mobility and the independence that someone with a normal prosthetic may not be able to have."

"That's awesome!" Shima said, "Wish we had that where we're from. I know it would make a lot of people very happy."

"Your dog is pretty lucky then," Bon said, examining the dog's leg, " I can only imagine how expensive the leg must have been with that kind of technology."

"Actually it didn't cost us much," she said with a shrug, "My granddaughter and I actually built that model."

The teens gawked in surprise and Shura raised an eyebrow. "Really, you guys made that?" Konekomaru asked, "Do you build automail for a living?"

Pinako crossed her arms and smiled. "Yup. And my granddaughter is continuing in the trade," she said, "She's quite a prodigy herself and has recently got an apprenticeship in Rush Valley."

Bon's eyes narrowed at that as realization dawned on him. "Wait a minute," he said, "You said she had to patch him up in Rush Valley… and he came here before when his arm was busted...does that mean Ed has automail too?" The other teens looked surprised by this realization and Ed frowned and looked away.

"Really?!" Shima cried, "No way!"

"Is that why he always wears gloves?" Konekomaru whispered, "I couldn't even tell he had prothstetics!"

"Well I guess it proves how good automail is…" Izumo observed.

"Edward, are you ok?" Shiemi asked, worry clear in her eyes, "What happened to you?"

"Yeah, I'd like to know too," Shima piped up,"I'm sure there's some crazy story behind it."

Ed backed up slightly, trying to think of a way to avoid telling them. Thankfully he didn't have to, as Shura stepped in. "It doesn't matter why he has it, because it's none of your business!" She said, "If he wanted you to know, he would have told you already, got it?"

The teens were quiet after that, feeling slightly bad, Bon especially. He should have thought before he spoke and just asked Ed in private. "Sorry to press you," Shima said, "But could we at least see what it looks like?"

Ed blinked at him before rolling his eyes and rolling up his pant leg and shirtsleeve. The teens gasped slightly as they saw it. "You happy now?" Ed snapped, not liking being gawked at.

"Woah…" Shima said, "An arm and a leg...that's pretty badass, man."

Ed blinked in surprise before chuckling and rolling it back up again. "You know, it's funny," he said, "Rin had that exact same reaction." He then turned to Pinako. "So do you mind if we start setting up here?" he asked.

"That's fine," Pinako said, before biting her lip and bringing a hand to her chin, "But I'm afraid you can't use the guest room."

Ed blinked in surprise. "Why not?" he asked.

Pinako stared at him a moment before sighing. "Edward…" she started, "He's back." Edward's eyes widened in shock as the information sank in while everyone else looked on in confusion. No…that couldn't be. After all these years he decided to come back now? After almost a decade? Ed's fists shook.

"Where is he?" he demanded.

"Down by the cemetery," she said. Ed nodded before running out the door, a look of fury on his face.

"Ed?" Konekomaru called, "Ed, where are you going?"

"What was that about?" Bon asked.

Pinako sighed. "You'll have to forgive him for his behavior in the near future," she said, already knowing how sour it would be, "His father has always been a touchy subject for him. I can only imagine how he will act, seeing him after all this time."

The teens turned to her in surprise. "His father?" they questioned together.

UGGGH...This one was not my best, but I tried. I hope you guys still enjoy it. Sorry I didn't have this done sooner. Still hope you guys have a good day.