Truth revealed

by Lucifer swift

This story original belong to fallen crest Summary:- Some of the cast of FMAB were brought to a room to show the whole secret of the anestrus, the war of Ishwal And many more. But in exchange of the knowledge, they have to feel the suffer and pain of all the event, their past and future, to unravel the mystery which never has been revealed to the world.

6. Chapter 6 (Road to hope)

Disclaimer: I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood.

Bold- What happens in the episodes

"Episode Title"

Narrative

Regular talking

---

Episode 6: Road of Hope

"Alchemy is the science of understanding, decomposing, and reconstructing matter. However, it is not an all-powerful art. It is impossible to create something out of nothing. If one wishes to obtain something, something of equal value must be paid. This is the law of equivalent exchange, the basis of alchemy. Alchemists have a taboo, and it is human transmutation. It is that which no one must commit."

The opening song began once again.

"Road of Hope"

When the title disappeared, a train station was shown with train whistles and bells going off. A train window was shown being knocked on, causing Edward, who was on the other side of the window to look up. Hughes was shown standing outside the window. "Yo." Hughes said with a wave.

"It's amazing you could find him with how big the trains are. He could have

been anyway on it." Kain said.

"Isn't it that Fullmetal is just so small?" Mustang asked.

Ed twitched and had to bite his tongue for a moment to keep from yelling and ranting that he wasn't short. "Damn it, Colonel! Just once, ignore the chance at the jab, would you?"

"That's all I get?" Mustang asked, a bit disappointed.

"You weren't creative enough this time to get anything else." Edward muttered, hoping that his lack of reaction would get Mustang to stop with the teasing as he said it himself earlier that he did it because he liked Ed's reactions.

"Aw, is little Eddie finally growing up?" Havoc teased.

'I'll kill you all.' Edward thought angrily.

"Lieutenant Colonel." Edward said.

"The folks at the Eastern Command Center were a little too busy to make it down here today so I came to see you off instead." Hughes explained.

"It's not like they really ever came to see me off before." Edward said.

"That's because you usually leave without a word or we say goodbye to you at the office before you leave." Havoc pointed out.

Ed shrugged. "I don't like goodbyes."

"Why?" Karin asked curiously. "It feels like you're saying we won't see each other ever again. Saying goodbye just sounds like the last parting words of those who are going to die." Edward explained. "Or, they never want to see you again, so they just up and leave. I hate goodbyes. They just make it sound like the end. Why say it when I'll always come back?"

Al looked at his brother in surprise. He knew about the first part, but that second part he didn't know. It sounded like he was referring to how dad just left them when they were kids. Maybe his brother was hurting from that more than he let on. He was like Al and just wanted his parents back, but he hid it under all his anger for dad.

"I'm not sure if that is sad or sweet." Maria said.

"Then why do you never write or call home?" Armstrong asked, recalling the conversation he had with Pinako.

"Because it is just turning back. When I leave, I never turn back because I'll crumble down and want to go back home. I can't give up. Besides, even if I did want to call or write, I have no idea of what to say." Edward said.

"How about, 'I'm still alive.'" Darius suggested sarcastically.

Edward shot him a glare.

"You spend all this time researching and fighting. I can't imagine how many times you almost died. I'm sure all your friends want to know that you are still alive." Darius added.

"Why worry them needlessly by telling them what I am doing? It's to be expected since I'm a Dog of the Military." Edward retorted.

"And you, Al? Why don't you call or write?" Dr. Young asked curiously.

Al shrugged. "Same as, Brother. I'll break and just want to quit and go home. It's easier to just focus on our goal. If we think too much about home or the past, we'll just run home."

"They really are still just children." Dr. Young said. "But those eyes aren't." Maria said. Whenever she saw Ed's eyes, they were fill of determination, stubbornness, fear, and horror that just didn't belong in eyes of one so young.

"Great," Edward said, turning his head to side to reveal a displeased expression. "But would you mind telling me," The scene pulled back to reveal a sparkling Armstrong sitting on the bench Ed was standing next to. "What the major is doing here?"

"For protection." Hughes replied.

"If you want to give the kid protection, you should have given the job to someone stronger." General Armstrong scoffed.

"Do they not get along?" Ed asked Al.

"I still don't know the answer to these questions, Brother." Al replied.

"What would happen if Scar came after you again? You're in no shape for a fight now, Ed." Ed gripped his red coat tightly where his automail part was.

"Defenseless." Avery said, causing Ed to glare at him.

Riza grimaced as she looked at the Ed on the screen who was missing an arm. At his best, he was strong and powerful, looking ready to take on the world. But now, he was missing a limb, which made him look so much smaller and vulnerable. And just thinking that made her feel horrible. Vulnerable was never a word one used when thinking about or describing Edward.

"The major's here to help." Hughes shrugged and smiled. "Just try to grin and bear it."

"Why is it so difficult for you to accept help?" Broody asked, sighing.

"Because Fullmetal is an idiot and feels guilty whenever someone gets hurt trying to help him." Mustang replied for the boy, causing Ed to turn his glare to him.

"But if they are helping you willingly, it means they know the risks, but they don't let that stop them because they care enough to want to help you and see you succeed." Luke pointed out.

Havoc shrugged. "Chief is too stubborn to see it that way."

"Hey, I am sitting right here." Edward snapped.

"Good, listen carefully to what we are saying." Mustang said.

Ed sighed in an agitated manner.

"Children shouldn't be so stubborn." Armstrong said.

Edward turned to him angrily. "Hey, shut up! I'm no child." He calmed down and sighed as the major turned to look at him. "Anyway, are you sure Al made it on board?"

"Of course." Armstrong said and the screen changed to a train cart full of sheep with Al in a crate surrounded by them. It went back to a sparkling Armstrong. "I thought he would get lonesome all by himself."

"Idiot." General Armstrong scoffed.

"My brother isn't some kind of farm animal." Edward yelled at the major.

The bell in the train station rang to say the train was leaving.

"Oh, it's time." Hughes said and the train whistle blew. Hughes saluted to the two. "Okay, you boys have a safe trip. Stop in and give me a shout the next time you make it to Central."

Ed and Armstrong were shown saluting to Hughes.

"What? You'll salute to him, but not me?" Mustang asked.

"No, because you are a jerk." Ed growled. "Not going to waste my time saluting you."

Mustang sighed. "Well, seeing as how you can't even salute with your proper hand…" "Damn it! You know my right arm was gone." Edward snarled.

The train pulled out of the station and Hughes was shown, still saluting as it left.

A setting sun was shown next as the train moved along the tracks. Inside the train, Armstrong was reading a book while Ed slept next to him.

"Do you ever do anything besides sleep?" Avery asked.

"Brother is always sleeping. He tends to sleep about ten to thirteen hours a day, unless we have serious research to do." Al said.

"That is way too much sleep. Even a teenager only needs about nine hours a night." Armstrong said, frowning. "You should be more active during the day, waking up at an early time."

"I can't help it if I'm always tired." Edward muttered as a yawn took over his body. "Think it's about time for a nap."

"You fall asleep and I'll punch you." Mustang growled.

Ed growled. "Why can't I sleep?"

"We are in the middle of watching something." Mustang said, motioning to the screen.

"Yes, something I already lived through." Edward retorted, lying on his back on the ground. "And now I'm tired. Good night." And with that, Edward closed his eyes and instantly fell asleep.

Brody chuckled. "Good night? It's only three in the afternoon."

"That damn brat." Mustang growled, getting up to go through his threat.

Al threw his hands up in a please-wait motion. "Colonel, please don't wake him. Brother gets a lot of nightmares as you saw earlier so he doesn't sleep well at night. He sleeps best in the afternoon or early evening because he isn't subjected to nightmares then. So can you please allow him this nap?"

Sighing, Mustang let go of his anger. If Al was pleading like this, it must really be that bad. He sat back down. "Does he get them every night?"

"No, but when he does have them, they are usual bad and he can't get back to sleep after I wake him." Al said.

"It is strange that he sleeps so much." Izumi mused. "When I was training you boys, didn't I get you on a sleep schedule that required you to wake at dawn?"

'Dawn? Way too early!' A few soldiers thought. Even they weren't required to get up that early unless they were on duty.

"Yes, and we continued to follow that schedule when we left, Teacher, but Brother just sleeps a lot now." Al replied.

"Been too slack." Izumi grumbled.

It was the next day when the train was stopped in a small village. Edward was yawning and stretching his arm above his head when Armstrong suddenly stood up and slammed his chest into Ed's head so he could look out the window at the man who just passed the train.

Edward twitched slightly in his sleep from Armstrong slamming his chest into his head, but it was ignored and he rolled onto his side. His hand found his way under his shirt to rest on his stomach.

"Dr. Marcoh!" Armstrong yelled at Marcoh as he walked away. Armstrong and Ed were shown looking out the window as Marcoh stopped and looked back over his shoulder. "Dr. Marcoh, that is you, isn't it?" A look of horror passed over Marcoh's face. "It's me, Alex Louis Armstrong, from Central!" Marcoh took off running down the platform to get away.

"Friend of yours?" Edward asked. "He's from Central, a talented State Alchemist." Armstrong replied. "He was researching into possible medical applications of alchemy, but after the Ishvalan Civil War, he went missing. Just disappeared."

"Why did you leave?" Mustang asked.

Marcoh sighed. "Edward has already said he decoded my notes. When we get to that part, you will understand just why I left."

"What? You're going to keep secrets too?" Broody asked annoyed.

"The Elrics have been keeping this a secret from us since we arrived here." Armstrong said, frowning.

Marcoh looked at Al. "How much do you know so far?"

"So far, we only decoded your notes, but Brother believes there is more that we don't know yet." Al told him. "But since we're stuck here, we can't do any more research on the matter."

"Can someone fill us in?" General Armstrong demanded.

"Soon, very soon, you will have your answers, but when you have them, you may wish you never knew." Marcoh replied.

Havoc groaned. "Again, with the riddles."

Ed pushed off the window and ran around the major. "Let's go, Major."

Armstrong watched him run off, confused. "A guy like this doctor might know some useful things about bio-alchemy."

Ed, Armstrong, and Al, being carried by Armstrong, stood in the village talking to one of the villagers. A portrait of Marcoh was shown.

"Excuse me, but do you know who this person is by any chance?" Armstrong asked. Edward stared at the picture. "Wow, Major, you can really draw."

Armstrong sparkled. "The art of drawing likeness has been passed down among the Armstrong's for generations."

"That man looks like Dr. Mauro," The villager replied.

Armstrong and Ed both turned their attention back to the man.

"Mauro?" The former asked.

Another villager joined the group as the first said, "All of our town's doctors were drafted to help on the battlefield during the civil war. Then Dr. Mauro came here. He's really been a lifesaver."

Another group of villagers were shown in another part of the village.

"He'll see any patient and he never give up on anybody. We're lucky he's here." One of them said.

The scene changed to two females standing in a horse stable. "You see this big bright flash of light, and then you're cured just like that."

Ed and Armstrong were shown staring at her before they glanced at each other.

Edward was shown standing at the top of some stairs in front of a door with Armstrong climbing up them after him. "This is it." Ed said and knocked on the door. He grabbed the door handle and pulled the door

open. "Hello…!" A gun was pointed in his face, surprising him.

"A gun? Really?" Mustang sighed. "Such a troublesome subordinate I have."

"Wasn't that Dr. Marcoh's fault for pointing a gun at Brother?" Al asked since his brother was too busy sleeping to argue with his boss.

"If it was anyone else, yes, it would have been. But, considering its Fullmetal and trouble just loves to find him, we'll just blame it on him." Mustang said. Al chuckled nervously. Good thing his brother was still sleeping. Speaking of his brother, Al glanced at him to see him still sleeping on his side with his mouth opened a bit. Sighing, Al noticed that his brother was sleeping with his stomach out again. Honestly, was he ever going to kick that habit?

Ed jumped to the side to avoid the bullet that was shot at him. "Alright, tell me what you two are doing here?" Marcoh demanded.

"Have you come to take me back?"

"Why did you attempt to shoot my brother?" Al asked since he didn't get to at the first meeting.

"You didn't even know he was a State Alchemist at that time." Dr. Marcoh chuckled a bit nervously. "Well, we'll say it was nerves and fear about the unknown, Alphonse."

Armstrong held a hand up. "Please, Doctor, calm down."

Edward was shown staring at the doctor with a disgruntled look while Armstrong just tried to calm the man.

The gun in Marcoh's hands shook. "I don't ever want to go back. Anything but that."

"That's not it." Armstrong replied. "Please listen."

Marcoh was shown, frowning. "So, you're here to silence me then."

Armstrong was shown next. "No, nothing like that."

"I won't be tricked by you." Marcoh said.

"That is some serious trust issues." Havoc said.

"Why did you fear they were there to kill you?" Mustang asked.

"Does it have to do with that?" Al asked. Marcoh nodded. "It does."

"Again, what are you talking about?" Breda demanded.

"It's not yet time." Marcoh said, causing many people to groan from frustration.

A frustrated look passed over Armstrong's face and he threw the crate with Al in it onto Marcoh.

Myers sweat dropped. "Don't you think that was a bit much?"

"Well, he probably should have put the gun down." Armstrong said.

"But you didn't have to throw me!" Al shouted. "I was just the innocent bystander."

"You and Major Elric really are brothers. I see it now." Myers said.

Al blinked. "Major? Wow, don't hear that one often. It's a bit strange actually."

"Sorry, should I call him something else?" Myers asked.

Al shrugged his metal shoulders. "Call him whatever you're most comfortable with. It's just strange to hear people actually use his rank."

"So, brat?" Darius suggested.

"Loud mouthed punk?" Heinkel asked.

"Pipsqueak?" Brody gave.

Al sighed. "Something that he won't kill you over when he wakes up."

"I'll ask you one more time, please calm down!" Armstrong shouted.

Edward leaned into the house with a look of fear and shock. "Alphonse!" He shouted. Shelves full of medicine bottles were shown as birds whistled in the background.

Ed, Armstrong, and Marcoh were shown sitting at a table with Al sitting next to it.

"So, you changed your name and decided to live in hiding way out here in the countryside. If the rumours I heard can be believed, when you disappeared, you took top-secret materials with you." Armstrong said.

"I couldn't handle it anymore." Marcoh said. "Order or no order, to have to dirty my hands researching that thing…was too much."

Edward was shown staring at the doctor. "What thing is that?" He asked.

"It took so many lives. During the Civil War, so many innocents died because of it."

Al looked up, surprised. Now he understood what that fully meant. At the time, he just thought it was used by someone in war, but if humans really were the main ingredient to the Philosopher's Stone, then they had to have been made somehow. Just who was being used to make them? The Ishvalans or people from their own country? Where did these stones come from?

Marcoh bowed his head. As he continued, Armstrong was shown. "I could spend my whole life trying and still never atone for the things I've done." Al was shown this time. "But I had to do something, so I came here to be a doctor to save lives, instead of taking them."

"Doctor," Armstrong said as everyone was shown around the table.

"What exactly was it you were ordered to do research on? What thing?" Marcoh opened his eyes and raised his head. "The Philosopher's Stone."

Edward looked up in shock and Al gasped in surprise while Armstrong's eyes narrowed.

"Now, that is a surprise, but it makes sense. That is the only thing Fullmetal researches, and if he was looking at your research, it is obvious that was it."

Mustang told the doctor, frowning darkly. "So, the question remains, what do you know and what did the boys find out that has you all being secretive and calling it a dark secret of alchemy."

"Please, Colonel, you will know soon enough." Al pleading, wishing he was a bit brash like his brother to just stop this.

Mustang slammed a hand on the coffee table. "Enough! I am tired of being in the dark about this." He shouted.

A groan was heard throughout the room as Mustang finished and Edward sat up, yawning. "What are you yelling about?"

"Perfect timing, Fullmetal. Maybe you would care to inform us of what is so dark about the Philosopher's Stone." Mustang suggested, though it sounded more like an order.

Edward blinked tiredly at him. "The stone?" He yawned again. "That's too dark for someone who has just woken up, don't you think?"

"No, I do not think because I do not know what you are hiding about it."

Mustang growled. "It keeps being brought up, and I am tired of not knowing.

This is just like we were talking about earlier. How can we help each other if you constantly keep things to yourself?"

Edward bowed his head, hands clenching into fists on his laps. It had nothing to do with trust or anything like that; it was just so difficult to say. The thing he has been searching for the last three years was made of something like that. It used all those human lives. How could he say he wasted three years of his life searching for something that he could–would–never use? He just couldn't use humans like that. The moment he discovered the truth, he knew this truth. The Philosopher's Stone was the devil works and he would never be able to bring himself to use it. He was giving up on it.

"Fullmetal, I order you to tell me." Mustang snapped.

The State Alchemist scowled. Of course, of the three people in the room who knew the truth, only he was in the military and could be ordered around like this. "Damn it, Colonel." He growled, slamming his automail fist onto the ground. His flesh hand came up to cover his face. Why did his damn superior have to be so curious and demanding? What was wrong with waiting a little while to find out the truth? He didn't want to say it. "I refuse that order." He said, even surprising himself with what came out of his mouth.

"What?" Mustang growled.

"I don't want to say it when it will be revealed soon. I just can't admit that all of this has been a waste." Edward said.

"A waste?" Riza echoed, frowning.

Edward shook his head. "Forget it." And he refused to say any more after that.

"The top-secret materials I took were my research documents and the stone itself." Marcoh said.

"You have a stone?" Mustang said shocked.

"You mean you still, have it?" Ed asked shocked and urgently to a shocked Marcoh. "It's here?"

Marcoh reached into his suit jacket and pulled out a tiny jar with a red liquid inside of it. He began to uncork it as Ed asked, "How can that be the stone? It's a liquid."

Marcoh poured the liquid over the table, surprising his guests. It fell to the tabletop to form a gelatine. "'The Sage's Stone,' 'The Grand Elixir,'

'The Celestial Stone,' 'The Red Tincture,' 'The Fifth Element'…."

Marcoh said while the other three all looked at the Philosopher's Stone. Edward was leaning forward, poking it. "Just as the Philosopher's Stone is called by many names, so it can take on many forms. It is not necessarily a stone."

The tiny jar was shown with the red liquid back inside it. "This is an incomplete product however. There is no way to know when it will reach its limit and become unusable." Marcoh said as his face appeared on the screen.

"Finished or not, it demonstrated plenty of power during the Ishvalan Civil War, right?" Edward said, causing Marcoh to look up in surprise before Cornello appeared on the screen using his ring. "It's just liked the stone that false priest had in Liore. It was incomplete but it still

amplified his powers considerably." Edward smirked. "If imitations

stones this powerful can be produced, who's to say a complete product

can't be created." He slammed his hand on the table as he stood up.

"Please Dr. Marcoh, I need access to your research materials."

"How demanding." General Armstrong said, smirking.

Marcoh turned to Armstrong. "Major, who exactly is this boy?"

"Wait, you revealed this all to two kids without even knowing who they are?"

Mustang asked, frowning. "That's dangerous. What if they were the enemy?"

"Since they were with the major, I figured they were trustworthy." Marcoh said.

"And what if the major betrayed you?" Havoc asked.

"I met Major Armstrong in the war; I know he is a good person." Marcoh said.

Ed frowned. "And yet you pointed a gun at us."

Marcoh smiled. "Never hurts to be a little careful."

Armstrong turned to the doctor. "This boy is a State Alchemist, Doctor."

Marcoh gasped in surprise. "What?" The scene snapped to Ed, who was staring at the doctor, determined. "But he's only a child."

"I know that is a small village you were in, but I'm still surprised you haven't heard of him before." Mustang said. "We don't get much news there and not many people leave the village which is why it is such a great place to hide." Marcoh explained.

"I see, so that is why you were never found." Mustang mused.

Marcoh sighed and pinched his nose. A scene of smoking buildings in Ishval was shown with gunshots going off in the distance. "After the war, there were many State Alchemists who turned in their certifications, because they refused to serve as human weapons anymore." The scene went back to Marcoh, who was still pinching his nose. "And now a child…"

"You think I don't know what I signed up for?" Edward shouted.

"I think you know, but you truly do not understand the horrors and pain of what you signed up for." Izumi said, frowning.

"That is how it is for any soldier. They know what they are signing up for, but knowing and experiencing it are two different things." Mustang agreed.

Izumi glared at him. "You're the one who offered this to him."

Mustang frowned. "Would you rather I had left him in that miserable state? I simply offered him the chance to find a way to get back to normal."

"Could you two please stop arguing about this?" Edward asked, glaring at them both. "It happened three years ago. It is done and over with. I'm a State Alchemist of my own choice."

"Why do they keep arguing about this?" Havoc asked quietly.

Al leaned towards him so Ed, Izumi, and Mustang wouldn't hear him. "It's because Colonel and Teacher care for Brother a lot. They both want what is best for us, so it leads them to argue with each other about how to go about it."

"That makes sense." Brody said, glancing at the three in question. "I hope they get over it so we don't have to constantly hear this argument."

"Don't worry. Brother will get really fed up with it too and get them to stop somehow. Though, I can't say he'll come out of it in one piece. His only saving grace is that we don't have alchemy here." Al told them.

"We're never going to get anywhere if people keep arguing like this." Kain said, sighing.

Marcoh glanced up surprised. Edward was shown, gripping his red jacket where his automail port was. "I know what I'm doing, but I don't have any choice. If this is a mistake, then it is a mistake I have to make. There is no other way." Ed's sharp, determined gold eyes were shown, then Marcoh's fearful ones were shown.

"With such raw determination, I can't see how you would ever break with calling home once in a while." General Armstrong commented.

"And it's because he says things like that, that people forget he is only fifteen." Riza said with a sigh.

Mustang smirked. "Fullmetal just loves to contradict himself in that aspect. He acts so determined, but at the same time, he acts childish. He keeps going back and forth in a conversation that it just gets hard to keep track of."

"Okay." Edward said, turning around to glare at him. "Tell me now. Which do you want and I'll be that one? Do you want the fifteen-year-old me or the me that is older than my actual age?"

"How about–" The Colonel started but was cut off by two females whacking him in the head. "Izumi! Lieutenant?!"

Riza glared at her superior. "Don't change for the Colonel, Edward."

"Yeah, Chief, your contradictory self is amusing." Havoc said.

Ed stared blankly at them before turning back to the screen. What strange people.

A white basin was shown.

"I see." Marcoh said. "So, you've committed the taboo."

"Damn it, Fullmetal. How many people are you going to tell? What happened to secrecy?" Mustang grumbled.

"He lives in a little town in the middle of nowhere!" Ed protested. "And he's hiding from the military! Who is he going to tell?"

"That's not the point." Mustang said with a sigh. "The point is, too many people are being let in on this secret. The more people that know, the more dangerous it is."

The doctor looked down at Al in the crate while Ed and Armstrong watched him. He put his hands on the crate and leaned over a bit to look at Al. "Amazing. The ability to transmute a specific person's soul like this." Ed was shown staring at the doctor. "Maybe one as talented as you would be able to produce a complete Philosopher's Stone."

Edward smiled. "So…?"

"But I can't show you, my research." Marcoh continued.

Edward leaned forward angrily. "Why not?"

Marcoh stood up. "You must not seek after the stone."

"Not even if it's to get our bodies back?" Edward asked.

"Never." Marcoh looked away while Ed glared at him. "This is the devil's research. If you chase the stone," Ed's teeth clenched angrily.

"You will go through hell!"

Edward jumped to his feet. He threw his arm out to the side. "I've already been through hell!"

"No doubt about that after what we saw." Brody said, frowning.

"What did you see?" Marcoh asked. "Their human transmutation and this gate thing and some guy called Truth." Liran replied.

Marcoh frowned, confused. "A gate? Truth?"

Sighing, Edward went about explaining it properly. Since only he and Izumi (Al doesn't count since he doesn't have his memories) saw it, only they could truly explain what it was.

"That sounds terrible." Marcoh said when he was finished.

"I called it hell for a reason." Edward replied darkly.

"Please," Marcoh said as the outside of the house was shown. "Please

just leave."

Ed and Armstrong, carrying Al, walked down the steps outside the house. Edward stopped halfway down and glanced back up before continuing back down. Marcoh was shown sitting on his bed as a train whistle blew.

"I've already been through hell!" Edward's voice echoed to Marcoh. Sighing, Marcoh opened his eyes.

The trained station was shown where the group was waiting for their train.

"Are you sure about this, Ed?" Armstrong asked. Edward looked up, confused. "Even an incomplete a Philosopher's Stone could be useful. You could've taken it from the doctor by force."

"What was the point of asking that?" Brosh asked confused.

"He was testing Ed's morals." Hughes told him, smirking.

Ed twitched. "What is with people doing that to me?"

"You're just such an interesting specimen." Hughes said, laughing. "How so?" Ed asked confused.

Hughes shrugged. "Well, you're a fifteen-year-old State Alchemist."

"You can do alchemy by just clapping." Mustang added.

"You have two automail limbs." Havoc said.

"Your brother is a soul trapped in a suit of Armor." Skylak said.

"You have a short complex." Brody said.

Edward twitched angrily.

"You have a supreme intelligence." Armstrong contributed.

"Even though your life is already so hard, you still do all you can to help other people to save them from a difficult life." Riza added, smiling at the boy. Holding up his hands to get them to stop, Edward sighed. "I got it. I'm strange and you want to examine the interesting specimen."

"You dislike milk." Al provided.

"Okay, you are a traitor, Al." Edward growled, punching his brother's Armor.

"I was just pointing it out." Al replied, chuckling at his brother.

Ed's eyes narrowed. "No, you just think it is fun to betray me."

If Al could have, he would have smirked at his brother.

Edward closed his eyes. "Yeah, I wanted it so badly I could almost taste it." He opened his eyes and looked at Al. "But still…"

"But still," Al continued. "We don't want it so badly that we'd being willing to deprive this town of their only doctor to get it."

"You two are amazing." Maria said.

Ed blinked. "How so?"

The Second Lieutenant smiled. "You've been searching for years, and when Finally, you get close to it, your care for other people override your own selfishness for the stone."

"Wouldn't most people do that?" Al asked confused.

Miles shook his head, amazed at how naïve these two still were. "No. Most people would find their needs more important and not care about other people before themselves. It is human need to be selfish."

"Being selfish just brings more pain to yourself and all those around you."

Edward said, remembering the scared and pained look Winry wore after their human transmutation and how she cried when they burned down their house.

"We gained plenty just by finding out that the Philosopher's Stone can be made." Edward finished and looked back at Armstrong. "Now we'll just have to look for some other way to do it."

"Do you even have an idea of where to begin to do such a thing?" Mustang

asked.

"At the time, no." Edward replied. "I was just going to take it by day. First, I

get my arm back. And then, I would work on it from there."

"You should really learn to plan ahead." Breda said, frowning.

Ed raised a brow. "How do you plan ahead for something like this?"

"I don't know. Alchemy is not my area of specialization." Breda retorted.

A train whistled again and Ed and Armstrong were shown standing on the platform as the train arrived. "What about you, Major? How do you feel about not reporting back to Central on Dr. Marcoh's location?"

"I met a simple small-town doctor today. I can't see any real reason to report that." Armstrong replied without looking at the boy.

Ed turned away from the major and gave an evil smirk.

"There's that evil look again." Avery said, laughing.

"So, tell me, Fullmetal, how much do you keep from the military that you should be reporting?" Mustang asked casually.

Ed smirked. "I'm not telling you anything, Colonel. Those are my secrets." He said arrogantly before the smirk slipped off and he sighed. "Why do you even ask that? You know every single thing I do before I even report back to you so you know there are no secrets. I still don't get how you do that."

"And you never will." Mustang replied, smirking.

"We'll see about that." Edward grumbled.

"Wait." Marcoh's voice sounded, surprising the smirk off Ed's face. The doctor was shown with his hands on his knees, breathing heavily.

"Dr. Marcoh." Edward said as the train came to a stop.

Marcoh held out a note. "This is where my materials are." Edward took the paper from him. "If you're certain you won't regret learning the truth in the end, then start looking here. Look closely. Maybe you'll find the truth hidden within the truth. But," He turned away with a smile.

"I've said too much already."

"The truth within in the truth?" Izumi asked.

Ed frowned. "Even we don't know the full truth. So, only Dr. Marcoh knows the most. Do you care to tell us?" He asked, looking at the doctor with a grin.

"If we are keeping the secret of the stone until it comes up, then I will also keep my secrets." Marcoh replied, smiling.

Sighing, Ed shrugged. "I figured as much." He turned to Mustang. "There, now we are both in the same boat of not knowing."

"You still know more than me." Mustang pointed out.

"And you always know where I've been and what I've done before I even report to you. So, we're even." Edward retorted. Mustang shrugged. "Fair enough."

Marcoh walked away, waving to them without turning back around. "I hope the day will come when you are able to restore your bodies." Armstrong saluted to him while Ed back to his back.

"Huh, so you do have manners." Havoc said.

Ed growled. "Only to those that deserve it."

"I get the boy in the military and I get nothing." Mustang grumbled.

"Are you still harping about that?" General Armstrong asked, smirking at the man.

Mustang frowned. "Why shouldn't I be? He is a disrespectful punk!"

"Must be part harpy on his mother side." Edward mumbled, causing General Armstrong to smirk again. What a witty brat.

The Colonel growled. "Careful, Fullmetal. I can still court martial you when we get out of here."

Ed snorted. "Like you'll even remember this conversation by the time we leave."

The countryside was shown passing by as Al asked, "Brother, what does the note say?"

The note was shown in Ed's hands. "National Central Library, First Branch."

"I get it. Like hiding a tree in a forest." Armstrong said. "Finding one book in that giant library will be difficult indeed."

Ed smirked. "Finally, another clue about the stone."

"See? It all worked out. I didn't even need to plan my next move. Dr. Marcoh did that for me." Edward said.

"Stop relying on other people." Brody said.

Ed smirked. "I don't rely on anyone. They just come to me with what I need."

He frowned. "Hopefully it won't get you into any trouble, Doctor. I tend to bring trouble with me wherever I go."

"Now that he's mentioned it," Luke said. "He has gotten into some type of trouble in every episode we've seen so far."

"So, what type of trouble will you get into this time?" Mustang asked.

Ed blinked and thought back to this trip with Armstrong. Did he get into any mishap? "None! This was a clean and easy trip. No problems whatsoever."

"Really?" Mustang said in disbelief.

"I'm not that bad that I am always in some type of danger." Edward growled.

Dr. Marcoh opened the door to his house and went inside. He closed it and sighed.

"I've been looking for you, Marcoh." Lust's voice said and her silhouette was seen behind Marcoh.

"Ah, shit. Sorry." Edward grumbled, hanging his head.

"And there is the trouble. I don't know how you brought it to him, but you did." Mustang said, sighing.

"Maybe they're stalking Chief." Havoc suggested.

Ed blinked. "Havoc, that isn't funny." Havoc shrugged. "Wasn't trying to be. Do you remember? They said they can't let you die. And the best way to make sure you don't…."

"Is to follow him." Armstrong finished, frowning. "Which means we did lead them directly to Dr. Marcoh."

The youngest State Alchemist groaned. "I am really sorry, Dr. Marcoh."

"Do not worry about it, Edward. They did not harm me." Marcoh replied reassuringly. "I was just under house arrest in the village."

"That's good." Edward sighed in relief. At least he didn't cause too much misery for the doctor.

Marcoh's eyes shot open in fear and a light was turned on to reveal Lust, who smirked. The scene changed to the Rockbell's house with Den outside barking.

Winry was shown to be working in her workshop when Pinako called, "Winry! Winry! Our best customer is here!"

"Best customer?" Avery asked.

While Ed chuckled nervously, Al sighed. "Brother messes up his automail a lot."

"That is not surprising with how reckless he is." General Armstrong said.

"Perhaps I should beat the recklessness out of him." Izumi suggested, causing sweat to pour down Ed's face and neck. Damn these two women.

Ed shook his head. "I'm okay! Really, Teacher, no need for more violence today."

"So, she can beat you up tomorrow?" Al asked.

Scowling, Ed kicked his brother. "No."

"Hey!" Al shouted. "You just said no more violence."

"When do I follow rules?" Ed asked.

"You said it!" Al retorted.

"Just goes to show, we can't trust Fullmetal even with what he says." Walkers chuckled.

Winry looked up from her work. "Huh?"

Back outside, Ed and Armstrong finished walking up the path to the house, stopping in front of Pinako. "Yo, Granny!"

"We're home." Al called.

"Oh dear, what have you done now?" Pinako asked.

"A lot has happened." Edward replied. "Can you fix us up?"

Armstrong put Al's crate down, causing Den to claw up it and stick his tongue out at Al, while the Major shook hands with Pinako.

"This is Major Alex Louis Armstrong." Edward introduced.

"I'm Pinako Rockbell." Pinako told him before stepping back. "I know I haven't seen you for a while, Ed, but you've gone and grown smaller."

Mustang and some other soldiers laughed, causing Ed's face to turn red with anger.

"Is it time for another one of your arguments with Pinako?" Riza asked, one of the few not laughing at the boy.

"Yes." Al said, chuckling. "They can be quite amusing at times."

"Al," Ed whined. "Why are you such a traitor to your older brother?"

"I'm not betraying you. I just find amusement in this." Al said.

Ed grumbled. "And that is the level of betrayal for us."

"Levels?" Al asked confused. "Since when did we have levels?"

"Since we got here since you keep revealing stuff." Ed grumbled.

Al blinked, silencing a chuckle so his brother didn't hit him. "Oh, well, could you tell me these levels so I don't betray you again?"

"You shouldn't need to know the levels." Edward mumbled to himself, causing Al to stifle another laugh. His brother was so strange sometimes.

"Well, alright." Al said.

Edward twitched angrily as a dark aura spread over the two. "Granny, you've got it wrong. You're supposed to say 'how big you've grown lately, Ed.'"

"Why would I say something so clearly untrue?" Pinako asked.

"I'm still taller than you, you minimum hag!" Edward shouted before a wrench was shown flying through the air and whacking Edward in the head with the end result being him falling to the ground, while Pinako watched unmoved.

Edward shouted in shock and grabbed his head. "She's a demon." He mumbled, rubbing his aching head.

"She has remarkable aim." Armstrong commented.

"You're going to encourage her too?" Edward asked annoyed.

Izumi, on the other hand, hmphed. "I trained you better than that, Edward. Why didn't you dodge?"

"She'd just get mad." Edward grumbled.

"Really? I thought it was because you were a masochist when it involves Winry." Al commented causing severe laughter throughout the room.

Edward, forgetting his aching head, looked at his brother in absolute shock and dismay. "Wh-what?! Who the hell has corrupted my sweet, innocent baby brother?"

Attempting to stifle his laughter, but failing, Havoc barely managed to get out, "I think you did, Chief," before he collapsed into another fit of laughter.

Edward blinked at the Lieutenant before turning back to his brother. "One, I am not a masochist!" He shouted. "And two, you have just betrayed me again, Al. That is strike two!"

"There are strikes now?" Al asked, even more confused than he was earlier.

"Yes, you get three and you're out!" Edward shouted.

Al blinked. "What does that mean?"

A smirk crossed over Ed's face, a very evil looking smirk.

"You know what? I don't want to know, Brother." Al said worriedly.

Armstrong was staring up at Winry, who was standing on the balcony. "Edward, I thought I told you to call first when you're heading back here for maintenance."

"I don't know why she still tries after three years. You never call her beforehand." Al said.

Edward sat up angrily. "Winry, are you trying to kill me?" He screamed, which just caused the girl to laugh.

Buccaneer glared at the screen where the teenager stood.

"How are you so smart?" Falman asked.

"What was that?" Edward asked.

Falman shrugged. "I just figured if that happens all the time, you should have severe brain damage."

"Brother just has a hard head." Al said.

"It can't be that–" Havoc started, but cut himself off when Buccaneer's arm landed on Ed's head, sending the boy spiralling to the ground with blood trailing down his face.

"DAMN IT!" He screamed, clutching his head. "What was that for?"

Havoc snickered. "I stand corrected. His head is hard."

"It's not fair." Buccaneer grumbled.

Edward blinked at the soldier, absolutely confused. "What's not?" The soldier just ignored him, grumbling to himself. "What's not fair?" He demanded, but was just ignored and left to deal with his aching head and confusion about the whole situation on his own.

Winry's eyes opened and she smiled. "Welcome back."

Edward, still sitting on the ground, just muttered angrily, "Yeah."

"Really, Chief? That's it? A pretty girl like that is smiling at you and that's all you say?" Havoc said annoyed. He would give anything to get a smile like that from a pretty girl.

Ed glared at him. "She just whacked me in the head with a wrench. Who would be happy after that?"

"Well, if it was by a pretty girl…." Havoc said.

Rolling his eyes, Ed scoffed. "You're an idiot."

Ed's automail arm was shown to be in pieces on a table. "Oh no!" Winry cried. She was shown, trembling in angry, with pieces of the arm in her hands. Behind her, Edward sat on the couch, contently drinking from a mug in a smug manner.

"Yeah, sorry. It's a little smashed up." Edward said.

"Is that your revenge for the wrench?" Kain asked amused.

"Of course." Edward said, nodding.

"What a friendship you two have." Brody said sarcastically.

"Hey, she is a demon! You won't believe all the extra fees she's charges me with for my automail. Rush fees. Transportation fees. I swear she takes some sort of evil pleasure in charging me all that money." Edward grumbled.

"It's not like you can't afford it." Hughes pointed out.

"I need that money for living expenses." Edward mumbled. He flashed an innocent smile at Hughes. "If I start to go hungry because of all my expenses going towards automail, will you save me, Hughes?"

"Go mooch off someone else, you brat." Hughes teased.

Edward sighed. "Why is everyone so cruel to children?"

"Only to you, Fullmetal." Mustang corrected.

Ed frowned. "Guess I'll have to put that survival training to the test someday then."

"A little smashed up?" Winry asked. "A little. Ed, do you see what you've done to my beautiful creation. I slaved over this."

"So, she really doesn't know it was Scar?" Riza asked.

"Nope, and she never will. Though, I have to wonder what she imagined about how it happened though." Edward mused.

Edward lowered his mug and grinned. "It's basically the same. It's just in smaller pieces."

Winry slammed her fist into Ed's face.

"She really loves hitting you." Avery laughed. Edward groaned, clutching his cheek. "I don't see it being all that funny."

Winry looked down at the scared Al, while Ed twitched in the background. "Don't tell me, you a little smashed up too, Al?" She asked. "What kind of trouble have you two been getting yourself into?" Al twitched and Winry slammed her foot into his helmet to send him twitching next to his brother.

"She is one violent girl." Darius laughed.

"Again, I don't see it being funny." Edward muttered. Al nodded, agreeing with his brother.

"It your guys' fault for not telling her anything and worrying her." Izumi pointed out. Ed shrugged. "She'd just be scared if I told her a crazy man with a deep hatred of State Alchemists came after me and almost killed me before I was saved. Do you go around telling all your friends and family not in the military about how you almost died recently?"

"Fair enough." Mustang said.

"You idiots." Winry said as Armstrong and Pinako stared at the twitching boys. "All you ever do is worry me."

"Alright." Pinako said she tapped her pipe on her ashtray. "I see." Den was shown eating out of his food dish. "In order to get this information, you need, you want to go to Central as soon as possible? Am I right?"

"Yeah." Ed said. "This is kind of a rush order."

Pinako was shown looking at Ed's leg to see if they were the same size.

"It's not just the arm, your leg needs adjusting too."

Winry leaned in next to Ed, smirking, causing Ed to glance up blankly.

"Guess your growth not completely stunted after all."

"Oh, shut up!" Edward said angrily.

Pinako tapped Ed's metal knee with her pipe. "Leg aside, we'll have to build the arm from scratch."

"Is there any chance you can have it done in a week?" Edward asked.

Pinako stood up and put her pipe to her lips. "Give us some credit, Ed."

She blew the smoke out of her mouth. "Three days." A spare leg was shoved onto Ed's leg port. "But you'll have to make do with this spare for now."

"Mm-hmm." Ed said and stood up, stumbling a bit. "It's a little difficult to walk on a leg I'm not used to."

"So that now makes you completely defenceless." Heinkel said, frowning. The word defenceless felt strange rolling off his tongue when it was being used to describe Edward. From what he had seen so far, the boy didn't seem to be the defenceless type. He and his brother were so strong and determined. It was strange to see them in pieces.

"Defenseless?" Ed asked insulted.

"I resent that." "Resent it all you want, what he said is true." Mustang retorted with a frown. How could Edward ever be so weak? In mental and physical terms, he wasn't weak. He was weak in the sense that he couldn't protect himself with an arm missing and a leg he wasn't used to. If he could barely walk properly on that leg, then how was he supposed to escape danger?

"We'll be finished before you get used to it." Pinako said as Winry stood up with Ed's leg over her shoulder.

"Three days, huh?" Winry said as Ed looked at her with a frown.

"Between machining, assembly, connecting, and finishing, that's three all-nighters."

"I'm sorry for all the trouble." Edward said.

"He apologized?" Havoc said shocked.

"Stupid annoying soldiers." Edward grumbled.

Winry turned to him with a smile. "Well, you want to get to Central as soon as possible, right? Then I'll work my butt off for you." She said as the scene changed to Armstrong cutting wood with his fists. "But you better believe, you're going to pay a fortune in rush order fees."

"She is a demon in disguise." Edward groaned.

"There, there, Brother. It will all be better if you just took better care of your automail." Al said in a somewhat condescending tone, at least that is what it sounded like to Edward.

"You make it sound like I never do my maintenance." Edward grumbled.

"You do slack on it sometimes." Al replied.

"Yeah, sometimes, not all the time." Edward retorted.

A sparkling and shirtless Armstrong continued to punch more wood as Al was shown sitting on the ground with chickens around him.

When he was finished, Armstrong entered the house with some wood under one of his arms. "The wood you requested." He said.

"Oh, thank you." Pinako said without looking up from her work.

Armstrong looked over his shoulder and out the door. "I haven't seen Edward anywhere around the house in a while."

"Really?" Mustang put two fingers to his forehead. "The point of sending

Major Armstrong was for him to be your guard, and you go and wander off already?"

"I'm in Resembool! Nothing happens there!" Ed muttered.

"Don't assume things." General Armstrong growled. "Scar could have followed you there or another enemy that wants revenge against you."

"Okay, but no one knew I was heading to Resembool." Edward pointed out.

"And here I thought I trained you to be more alert to danger." Izumi said, sighing.

"Yeah," Pinako said as a picture of Den, carrying flowers in his mouth, and Edward was shown walking down a path as a soft song began to play in the background. "He said he was going off to visit his mother's grave."

Two of the villagers glanced up from their work and grinned upon seeing Ed. They stood up straight and waved at the boy to which Ed waved back.

"Major," Pinako said as she screwed in a screw in Ed's leg. "What kind of lives are the boys leading these days?"

"Hmm?" Armstrong replied.

"They have yet to send us so much as a single letter." Pinako said.

"Ed and Al are well-known for their alchemy, even in a high-profile place like Central. Sometimes that gets them into trouble. They seem to have a knack for finding it. But don't worry, they're all right. The Elric brothers are strong boys." Armstrong said.

The screen changed to Ed who was stopped in front of the two villagers.

The adult patted the boy on the head, talking as he did.

"Strong, huh?" Pinako asked. Edward yelled at the villager as the boy with them laughed. "Yes, I think you could call them that." Armstrong was holding a picture of the boys and Winry as kids with Pinako and Trisha standing behind them.

"Aw, what a cute picture." Hughes said.

"And like always, Fullmetal is frowning and glaring." Mustang chuckled.

"Don't you have any other facial expressions?

"Ed scowled. "Oh, shut up, Colonel."

"Apparently you don't." Mustang said, grinning, while Edward groaned for falling into that trap.

"I'm curious, Madam Pinako. You speak of the Elrics as though they were your grandsons." Armstrong said.

"Of course. I've been watching over them since they were born." Pinako replied.

"And she means that literally." Edward said, smiling faintly.

"How so?" Karin asked curiously.

"She was our midwife." Edward explained.

Edward was shown walking away from the two villagers, waving to them as they waved to him.

"I'm a friend of the family, you see. The boy's father is an old drinking pal of mine." Pinako said as the bouquet of flowers was shown resting on Trisha's grave. "One day he up and left the village, abandoning his wife and sons." Ed and Den were shown standing in front of the grave. "I don't even know whether he's alive now or not." The wind blew around Edward. He gasped and looked over his shoulder towards the hills.

"What's wrong?" Hughes asked.

"Nothing was wrong. I was just looking at something." Ed replied sadly, glancing at his brother.

"You went back there?" Al asked surprised. Edward usually avoided going back to their old home whenever they had to head back to Resembool. It held too many bad memories for them.

Ed nodded. "Yeah, why do you think I was so late in coming back?"

"I don't know." Al said. "You were taking a long time at Mom's grave? However long you stay there depends on your mood."

A picture of Ed, Al, and their parents were shown with the father's face being covered by another picture. "Come to think of it, Madam, where are young Winry's parents?"

Pinako was shown, pausing in her work. "Gone, Major. They both died in the civil war."

Armstrong was shown, face shadowed with a frown covering it.

Winry was shown working on a design for automail in her workshop. "My son and his wife were surgeons. They went to the battlefield to do what they could. There were never enough doctors for all the injured soldiers." Pinako's voice said.

The Rockbells? Scar frowned as he recalled the name that he saw on the sign outside the house earlier. He knew that the Winry girl looked familiar. He just couldn't believe that there was such a connection between the daughter of the doctors he killed and the State Alchemist he tried to kill. With how close the three teenagers were, he would obviously be facing some very severe hatred if it was revealed what he did. Those doctors' death was a mistake on his part, but it was a mistake that he had to live with. He never meant to kill them, but he had freaked out after just waking up and suddenly seeing his brother's arm on his body.

Armstrong was shown, looking down. "It was…a terrible war."

"Yes it was indeed." Pinako replied as she went back to her work. She paused again though. "Oh, it looks like it's about time for me to get supper started." She hopped off her stool and began to walk away.

"You look like you could eat a lot, but don't worry, there's plenty." Armstrong held up a hand to stop her. "Oh, no, please don't trouble yourself on my account." Pinako went over to another table where her pipe was.

"Food always tastes better with guests anyway. We also have an empty patient's cot and some spare bedding if you like." She picked up her pipe before the scene changed to Al, still sitting outside with a bird sitting on his hand. "The boys don't have anywhere else to stay but here. Adding one more guest won't be any more inconvenience to us."

"Nowhere else to stay?" Mustang asked confused. "What about your house? I've been in it. It's a nice house."

Ed and Al glanced at each other. The burning down of their house was a private matter, but it seems it must come up. Now that they thought about it, Armstrong did mention it to Ed when he returned to the house that night. And it seems, it was going to come up.

Armstrong blinked. "What about the house they grew up in?"

Armstrong felt tears well up in his eyes once more. It was such a tragic, but beautiful story he heard in his visit to Resembool. These boys had such a hard life, and they weren't even adults yet. It made him want to do whatever he could to help and protect these boys. If he could lift some of the stress and hardness of life from their young shoulders, he would gladly do whatever he could .

Pinako blew smoke out of her mouth. Ed was shown standing in front of a pile of ashes that used to be his home. "It's gone now. The brothers don't have any home to return to." Ed's face was shadowed by his bangs as he stared at the remains of his house. "The day they left, after Ed had gotten his state certification, they burned down their own house."

"You did what?" Maria said shocked, covering her mouth in shock. She could never imagine burning down the house she grew up in. It was filled with so many memories. Burning it down would be like destroying all those memories and walking away from it all.

"So, you would go that far, Edward, Alphonse?" Izumi said sadly, though she was not surprised. These boys did say they couldn't turn back, no matter what. It was horrible that they felt the need to burn down their house just to do that. Edward bowed his head, bangs hiding the pained look that crossed his face.

Their childhood house held dark memories, but also some of the happiest memories he ever had. He and Al would both agree. Making the decision to burn their house down was one of the hardest decisions they ever had to make.

"Why did you do it?" Hughes asked, frowning sadly. "Your childhood home, though filled with dark memories, was also filled with happy memories. That was the last place filled with the memories and warmth of your mother."

"We didn't want anything tying us back to Resembool." Al said when it was obvious his brother didn't want talk about this. "It was already hard enough leaving. To have our home there, it would just be an anchor constantly

pulling at us to come back home."

"How much did you leave in the house?" Sheska asked sadly. She could not imagine how difficult it was for these boys to burn down their own home.

When she looks at her mother having to live in a hospital and all the possessions of hers that Sheska kept, she just knew she would never be able to get rid of any of it.

"Everything." Edward whispered. "All the pictures, clothes, toys, books, it was all left in the house. Nothing was saved."

"That's not completely true. We did save the important books." Al corrected.

"That's so sad." Hawkeye said with a frown. Her father was an estranged man and cared so much about his Flame Alchemy and its secret that he tattooed it onto her back. Their relationship was not the best it could have been, but he was still her father and she would keep his secret, only giving it to one person.

Ed glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. "What's so sad about it? It was our decision. We were the ones to do it. No one else had a say. It was solely us."

"But you shouldn't have had to." Luke pointed, for once not feeling up to joking. "It's not that bad. So, we don't have a home anymore. Big deal." Edward scoffed.

"Then why did you go back?" Havoc retorted, which caused Edward to falter.

"He's got you there." Mustang commented with a smirk.

Edward scowled at his superior.

"For someone who doesn't want to be tied to the past, you shouldn't be visiting your old home. It will just remind you of the painful and happy memories that you had in that house. Won't that just cause conflicting emotions in you?" Mustang continued with a slight frown.

"I just needed to look at it again. I don't usually go there when I head back to Resembool, but it caught my attention that day." Ed snapped before rubbing

his face. "We aren't discussing this. We burned the house down so we wouldn't have the house filled with the lingering presence of our mother and all those happy, simpler times pulling us back. End of story. Moving on."

"Impatient much?" Izumi chuckled.

Ed frowned, crossing his arms stubbornly. "I'm just tired of having so many personal things revealed."

"You know there will be a lot more revealed probably." Havoc pointed out.

"You should just get used to it."

"Well, if you guys didn't have to comment on it all." Ed grumbled.

"Sorry, Chief." Havoc said, smiling a bit sadly. "But your past is much darker than any of us realized. Even though some of us were informed of a bit of it, we really had no idea of how bad it was until we saw it."

"We can't help but talk about it since it helps us better understand it. None of us have ever had to see or deal with something like this before." Kain added apologetically.

Ed's shoulders sagged a bit and he sighed. "Don't worry, Brother. At least you don't have to go through it alone." Al said.

Ed chuckled a bit. "Yeah, at least I have you by my side as all our dark secrets and past are revealed."

"My guess is they did it because with no house to come home to, there could be no turning back." Pinako continued as Ed's face was zoomed in on. Den whined, which caused Ed to blink back to reality and look down at him. He smiled. "Yeah, you're right." The setting sun was shown.

"We should head back." The Rockbell house was shown. Edward opened the door, saying,

"I'm back." Just as he said this, Armstrong was shown with tears spilling down his face. "Oh, Edward Elric." The major grabbed the boy in a hug, causing Winry to laugh in an unsure manner, Al to stare blankly, and Pinako just took it as normal as she smoked her pipe.

"You guys could have helped." Edward grumbled to his brother.

"What did you want me to do? I was missing the whole right side of my body." Al protested.

"Gyaah!" Edward shouted from being trapped in a death hug.

"What a yielding love to try to bring your mother back to life. What a tremendous sacrifice to give up your arm in order to transmute your brother's disembodied soul. What determination to burn down your own house to make sure there was no retreat. Come, Edward." Armstrong pulled his shirt off. "Allow me to offer you this comforting embrace."

"Idiot brother." General Armstrong said, sighing. Why did he have to constantly strip and hug people? It was just destroying their family name as making them out to be wimpy babies who got emotional over every little thing.

"Though he is right in what he says, it is a sad, but beautiful tale." Maria said thoughtfully, causing Ed to frown at her. She waved her hands in front of him. "Not that I'm saying that I'm glad it happened. I'm just saying that it would make a good story someday after all this is fixed."

"Is that so?" Edward said, unsure of how to really respond to that.

"Yes, it would make a nice tragic tale." Brosh agreed, eyes shut and hand resting on his chin thoughtfully.

"It's not just the soldiers in the east that are strange." Edward mumbled to his little brother, who just chuckled at his brother.

"Could all these hugs from Major Armstrong be considered harassment?" Havoc asked, chewing on his cigarette.

"Stay back!" Edward shouted as Den was shown looking at the group. "Don't rub your chest on me."

"Definitely." Breda, Luke, Avery, Broody, and Rufus said blandly.

"Can I file a harassment suit against him then?" Edward asked hopefully.

"No." Mustang said. "He's your comrade and we all have to endure it."

Edward mumbled under his breathe about how it was unfair as he didn't see anyone else being subjected to bone crushing hugs or forced to see the major strip in their hospital rooms like he had to. Maybe it was just because Mustang wanted to crush all his hope. Yeah, that was it. It was all Mustang.

A rooster was heard crowing in the morning as the outside of the Rockbell house was shown.

A sleeping Edward was shown, waking up as he heard the sounds of machines at work. He leaned out his bedroom door and, upon noticing the sounds coming from Winry's workshop, heading towards it to see Winry working at her table.

"Look at you, working hard so early in the morning." Edward said, smirking.

"Been up all night." Winry said.

It was night time when Winry was shown still working hard on Ed's arm.

"You're still at it. Busy as a bee. At this rate, you must be almost done." Edward said.

"One more all night." Winry replied.

"Oh."

The next time Winry's workshop was shown was during the day. Edward peaked over her shoulder at various angles before Winry got annoyed and dropped him out of her workshop.

"Get out." She said, slamming the door shut behind him.

"Why do you have to bother her?" Hughes asked amused.

"I was bored. I hate sitting around." Edward muttered.

"Learn some patient, Edward." Izumi said.

Edward cocked his head to the side. "Teacher, you tried to teach me that when I was training under you. You know I'm not as impatient as I was then."

"Oh, mercy, he was worse than he is now?" Mustang asked horrified.

"I'm not that bad." Edward mumbled.

Izumi nodded. "Oh, he was. Perhaps it comes from being too smart for his age."

"I know that." Havoc mumbled. "If we don't understand something when he explains it once, he gets so annoyed with us and just glares at us as he explains it over and over again until we all understand it."

"I hate repetition." Ed said when he got a few looks from the soldiers.

The sky was shown with birds flying around it, chirping to each other.

Edward was shown lying on the ground with Den and Al on either side of him.

"They said it would take three days, right?" Al asked. "So give them three days."

"Yeah, I know, I know." Edward replied. "It's just when I think of a clue to the stone sitting in Central Library somewhere," He started to fidget on the ground and threw his limbs around.

"I get so impatient."

"At least he can admit that he is impatient." Rufus said, grinning.

"An impatient brat. It would be nice if he would admit that part." Buccaneer said.

Ed twitched. "I think you have something against me, Buccaneer. And to think, we only met today."

He settled down and stared at the sky with Den barking next to him before he heard the footsteps racing towards him. He looked to his side to see it was Winry with his new arm.

Grinning, Winry said, "Here you go! It's all-ready!" She held the arm up with a smile.

"At long last!" Ed cheered.

"Are you cheering for the pain?" Al asked amused.

His brother's question caused Ed to deflate. "I forgot about the pain factor."

A grimacing Edward appeared on the screen.

"Ready?" Pinako asked.

Edward shut his eyes and relaxed his body. "Uh, yeah." Pinako was shown at Ed's leg, getting ready to connect the nerves. "On one."

"Oh, great." Edward muttered and mentally prepared him for the sharp, painful jolts that would travel through his body in a moment.

Winry was shown at Ed's arm, doing the same thing. "Two." She said as the screen pulled back to show Ed on the couch with Winry and Pinako at his metal limbs.

"Three!" They said together and they connected the nerves together.

Edward, clenching his teeth, had his head tilted back as the connection took place.

Just like the Edward in the show, Edward had his teeth clenched as he felt sharp needles piercing his body for a few moments.

Soon the pain ended, and Ed turned his head down, eyes closed.

"Stupid automail." Edward grumbled, rubbing his shoulder. It was just lucky for him that he was used to that kind of pain .

"That's the worst part every time when the nerves have to connect like that." Edward said before Pinako was shown working on his leg.

"Once we have the Philosopher's Stone, I can kiss that pain goodbye."

"Our biggest source of income. I'll be sad to see you go." Pinako said as she connected the nerves again.

"Ah, shit," Edward grabbed his leg.

"Forgot she did that."

"Did what? Her job?" Mustang asked. "She didn't warn me that time." Edward grumbled.

Edward shouted in shock. "Hold still." Winry ordered, still working on the arm.

"Easy for her to say!" Ed grumbled. "She's not the one with pain coursing through her body."

"Is it really that painful?" Falman asked with a frown.

Ed groaned.

Al grimaced himself. "Let's just say that the first few times Brother got his automail reattached he passed out and slept for a few hours afterwards before he was well enough to move around."

Kain shuddered. "I would never want to get automail. It sounds horrible."

Dr. Marcoh chuckled a bit. "That boy looks so strong, but the moment you take away his automail, he is just another small child in this big world."

Mustang smirked. "It's so hard to think of Fullmetal like that." He looked down at Ed who was smiling at his brother who was asking him about something. "Then again, I was the first one to meet him after his limbs were ripped off and saw truly how small and helpless, he can be. It is not a look I ever want to see again. It doesn't fit him."

"But it makes you want to help and protect him and his brother." Hughes said, smiling a bit. "They are both so bright and ready to take on the world. Doesn't that just make you want to see where they will go?"

"Yes, we'll open the path for those boys and see just what they can do." Riza said.

"They are the next generation of this country after all. It is our duty to make sure the next generation will be better than ours."

"Do you want me to do this right or not?" She pulled her lever, causing Ed to shout again.

"Damn it," Edward grumbled, moving his hand back to his arm.

"Seems fun." Havoc said sarcastically.

"It's just so lovely. The smell of the oil, the hum of the bearings, the rugged, yet amazing beautiful form created through anatomical engineering…" Winry said as if she was in love. "Ah, how wonderful you are, my automail."

"She likes automail that much?" Kain said shocked.

"Which is why she is crazy." Edward said.

"Crazy gearhead." Edward said.

"You're lost without me, alchemy freak." Winry retorted.

Edward was now standing up with his automail completed.

"All right," Pinako said. "We're done."

Edward had his automail leg on the wall, above his head, as he stretched it out.

"What the hell?" Havoc said. "You are way too damn flexible."

"Especially for a boy." Luke added, grinning.

"What's wrong with being flexible?" Edward asked.

"It's not natural." Havoc and Luke shouted at the boy.

"But it certainly fits for his fighting style." Breda somewhat defended the boy as he recalled all the spars, he saw Ed have with soldiers in the military training rooms. His flexibility and short stature were fitted perfectly for his fighting style. Or perhaps his style of fighting was created specially because of his characteristics.

Edward then stretched his automail arm.

"Well?" Pinako asked.

Edward glanced over at her, Winry, and Armstrong. He started to roll his arm. "Yeah, feels good."

"I increased the percentage of chrome this time so it should be less prone to rusting." Winry closed her eyes and raised a finger. "The trade-off is that it's not quite as strong, so don't try anything crazy…"

The sound of door being slammed opened cut her off. Her eyes snapped open and she spun around to look at Ed, who was running out the door.

"Hey, listen up!" She shouted.

"You really should listen to her. It's best to know about all your weapons and tools in case something were to ever go wrong in a fight." Riza reprimanded.

"Al, it's your turn!" Edward shouted.

Ed was kneeling in front of his brother, getting all the parts of his Armor set up.

"You can fix him right here?" Armstrong asked as Ed stood up.

"Yep," Edward replied as he put his hands on Al's helmet. "You have to know the trick to it though." Al's helmet was removed to show the blood seal inside. "Major, you see that seal on the inside of his back. That's the medium between Al's soul and the Armor, so I have to be sure not to ruin it."

Edward clapped his hands and put them on the ground, and soon Al appeared in one piece in front of the two. "There you go. You're good as new." Edward said. "You ready to try it out?"

"Yeah." Al said before Pinako was shown blowing smoke out of her mouth. She watched as Ed ducked under his brother's leg, threw his hands on the ground, and went to kick his brother while upside down, but Al dodged. Edward flipped back to avoid his brother's attack, then jumped off the ground to punch Al, then sent a kick at him before pushing off his brother to dodge a punch. "It'll be quiet around here without those boys."

Al continued to throw punches at Ed, who punched them to the side.

"Well, Brother?" Al asked.

"It's time to head to Central and find Dr. Marcoh's documents." Edward said as he continued to punch Al's fists away. "We leave first thing tomorrow morning!"

"So, it is time for the truth to be revealed very soon." Dr. Marcoh said, sighing.

"Well, the first truth at least." Edward replied.

Dr. Marcoh nodded, wearing a determined look. "Well, it is time that people learn the truth of what is going on. It has to stop."

The sky turned to night-time before Edward was shown to be sleeping on the couch with his hand pushing up his shirt. "Sleeping with his tummy out again." Al said. "What am I going to do with him?"

"I think it's cute." Karin cooed. A red twinge filled Ed's cheeks and he ducked his head, causing his brother to chuckle at him.

"Does he sleep like that often?" Hughes asked, trying to hide an amused chuckle from Ed since he knew the boy would get mad at him.

"Ever since we were kids." Al said, sighing. "Can't help it. It's a sleep habit." Edward mumbled

Pinako appeared behind Alphonse. "It's like you're the older one, huh, Al." She said as Al stood up and looked at her.

"What's that mean?" Edward asked offended.

"That you are quite childish at times." Mustang offered, earning himself another glare.

Izumi smirked. "They both are. We can't just say Ed is the only childish one.

You've seen these two fights, right?"

"She makes a very good point." Havoc agreed, nodding his head in a completely serious manner.

"And there is the fact that he follows his brother willingly into his reckless endeavours." Riza added.

It was Al's turn to hang his head in a dejected manner. "I understand your pain now, Brother. I won't turn my back on you anymore." He muttered.

A grin took over Ed's offense and he patted his brother's shoulder. "Thank you, Al. We must work together to protect ourselves from these evil adults."

"What? Are we your enemies now?" Mustang asked amused.

"Anyone older than me is my enemy." Edward retorted, smirking at his friends. [1]

"That's a lot of enemies." Brody chuckled.

Al sighed. Just like his brother to make that declaration.

Mustang pressed his thumb and index finger to his forehead. "No wonder he never asks for help."

"He can be a handful. Someone has to look after him." Al said as Winry approached the two with a blanket draped over her arm.

Edward grinned at his brother, who tilted his head at his brother in return. Yes, they had to look after each other. They were all they had when they were out there in the real world, running into all that trouble.

"How old are the two of you now?" Pinako asked as Winry covered Ed with the blanket. "I'm fourteen and Brother's fifteen." Al replied. Winry sat down next to Ed's head, looking down at him fondly. "To think that someone as young and as small as he is could be used as a 'human weapon.' It's almost funny." She smiled.

"Until you see him on the battlefield." Havoc interjected, shuddering.

"What's that mean?" Fuery asked confused since he's never been on a mission with Edward.

Breda smirked. "He's probably the most destructive State Alchemist ever."

"Considering what we were shown from the Ishvalan war with the State Alchemists," Edward snapped. "I don't want to hear that I am the destructive one."

"Well, that's a good point." Alexander said, recalling watching the hell that the State Alchemists created. It was frightening to watch just how dangerous they were.

Dr. Marcoh felt guilt and horror squeeze his heart. What was shown probably wasn't as bad as it truly was. Those people were killed by State Alchemists, but he was the one to steal their souls to make them into a Philosopher's Stone, putting them in an endless, torturous hell until the stone was used up and they could be set free to go on to the next life. Nothing could top the hell he put all those innocent people in.

An angry frown crossed Scar's lips. What was shown to them wasn't even half of it. It was so much worse than that. They had given up the fight after seeing what the State Alchemists could do. They knew they couldn't win, so they were fleeing to show they had given up, but those alchemists refused to stop. It was claimed to be an extermination of his people. But they had given up, but they just refused to stop. They continued to kill them, even after they quit resisting. They had lost everything because of those damn State Alchemists. It was a pure destructive genocide.

"Especially watching him sleep."

"Thank," Al said. "Both of you."

Winry looked at Al in surprise. "What's this? Why so formal?"

"Granny, Winry, I'm so grateful to you for always welcoming us like we're really family." Ed's face was shown. "He won't ever say it, but I know Brother feels the same way."

"So there is a family waiting for you." Hughes said, smiling at the boys. "So you do have a place to return to."

Ed scratched the back of his head. "I guess that is one way to look at it."

"Aw, you don't have to be so shy about admitting it." Hughes teased.

The golden-haired alchemist shot him a glare. "Who's shy?" He growled.

"Al…" Winry whispered.

Hughes smirked. "She'll make a good wife for you some day, Ed."

"W-What?" Ed shouted with a full-on blush. "We're just friends! Sheesh, Hughes, so annoying."

Havoc snickered. "Someone's shy."

"I don't love her!" Edward hissed, turned away from them to hide his blush.

Winry was his best friend from childhood and his automail mechanic.

Nothing more! Damn these soldiers. They didn't know anything.

Al chuckled at his brother. At one point he too was in love with Winry, but he noticed that she was beginning to fall for his brother, who would never admit his true feelings. Yes, he knew they loved each other, and since he decided his brother deserved some happiness in life, he would step aside and try to forget his feelings for the dangerous mechanic.

"Don't you worry, dear. We know he feels that way too. He doesn't have to say it." Pinako replied.

"Granny, Winry…" Al said as Armstrong was shown standing in the hallway, wiping tears away with a handkerchief. "Thank you."

"Eavesdropping, Major?" Edward said, smirking devilishly. "Have you no shame?"

"It was such a beautiful scene. I couldn't help but listen in." Armstrong cried which made his sister roll her eyes at him.

The scene faded away to Edward pulling his gloves on the next morning.

"Thank you again for everything, Granny." He said as Al kneeled behind him playing with Den and Armstrong stood to the side.

"Sure." Pinako said as Al stood up.

"Hey, where's Winry?" Al asked.

"Resting." Pinako said. "She stayed up three nights in a row. Want me to wake her?"

Edward walked passed his brother, waving his hand. "Oh, that's okay.

She'd just nag me. Make sure to do your maintenance, or whatever." He said as Al and Armstrong followed him down the path.

"It doesn't matter how much she nags you; you still don't do it." Al muttered.

"I do it like once a month." Edward retorted.

Kei sighed. "With you, you probably should do it once a week."

"Argh," Ed grumbled. "I have no time for such things."

"Spending a few hours isn't going to set you back. What will set you back is having to go back to Resembool all the time to get your limbs fixed." Mustang said.

Al shrugged. "I think those visits are good. It means Brother has to take a break and relax a bit. He tends to overwork himself sometimes."

"I do not." Edward said.

"Do too." Al replied.

"Hold on a second, boys." Pinako called, causing the three to pause and look at Pinako. "You should come back once in a while and have dinner with us."

"Mm-hmm." Al replied, chuckling.

Edward gave a mocking smirk. "Heh, you want us to come all this way into the mountains just for some dinner?"

"It would be a nice break." Riza said.

"And it's a beautiful place. I wouldn't mind seeing it." Maria added. "Though, I suppose growing up there, you boys have gotten bored of the view."

Al shook his head. "Never. It is really beautiful when the sun it setting or rising. I love watching it."

"Yeah," Ed agreed quietly.

Pinako smirked. "Heh, heh."

A soft tune began to play as the backs of the three alchemists were shown and Winry was shown standing on the balcony. "Edward, Alphonse,"

She said, looking tired and a mess, but still smiling a little as she waved to them. "Come back soon, kay?"

Edward turned around, rubbing the back of his head before raising his hand as he started down the path again. "Yeah." He said.

Al waved in farewell before turning back to follow his brother and the Major.

"So next would be Central, as long as you didn't make any detours." Mustang said. "You seem to have a knack for finding them."

"I finally got a big lead on the stone and you think I'm going to make a detour?" Edward asked, a bit offended. "I thought you knew me better than that, Colonel. It's straight to Central from here!"

Avery blinked. "Hey, look, the screen is back on."

"What?" Ed asked confused, turning back to see the screen. "I thought it was over."

The Rockbell house was shown once more as Winry yawned. She was shown walking down the stairs, rubbing her eye. "I just about slept through the entire day." She stopped in front of a table to clean up. "Whenever Ed comes over, it's like a tornado hit this place." When she picked up one of the pieces a bolt was shown with a tag on it. Winry picked it up, staring at it. She scratched her head with an uh-oh look on. "Whoopsie."

"Whoopsie? What does whoopsie mean?" Edward asked with his eyes narrowed into slits.

"Well, if I had to guess, I believe that was to be a part of your arm." Dr. Young told him.

Ed's eye twitched. "And would this part happen to be vital?"

Dr. Young shrugged. "Possibly, but your friend's design is different than what I am used to, so we'll just have to wait and see if your arm breaks or not."

"Don't say that so nonchalantly!" Edward shouted, raising his automail arm.

"That's the arm I have now! I'd rather it didn't break while we were here."

"Well, don't do anything reckless while we're here and you'll be fine." Kei told him, grinning at his misfortune.

Ed hissed. "Do you realize who is in this room? Reckless, I don't have to be as I'll get killed by these people and they'll break my arm."

"We're not going to touch your arm, Fullmetal, especially if it will just malfunction. You're enough of a pain as it is without you breaking on us."

Mustang replied, smirking.

Gold eyes glared daggers at the man. "I am not a damn toy!"

"Really?" Hughes asked. "You hug me again and call me cute and cuddly and I'll break your arms." Edward snarled at the man.

Hughes pouted. "But you let Al hug you."

"He's, my family." Ed argued.

"Then what am I?" Hughes asked.

Ed rolled his eyes. "Obviously a demented, sadistic family man who takes extreme pleasure in annoying and torturing his comrades."

"I do not." Hughes said childishly.

"What a cruel boy you are, Fullmetal." Luke said, grinning.

Havoc laughed. "Not that he isn't right."

"As much fun as this is, let's move on." Mustang said impatiently.

Ed raised a brow. "Wow, and here I thought you were a patient man. What's so urgent?"

"I want to know about this stone already." Mustang snapped.

The kid raised his hands. "Alright, alright, no need to get so angry. You'll hear soon enough…probably." He said, eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "I guess it should be next, but since we're not in control of these episodes, anything can be shown.

"Which is why we are moving on now." Mustang said.

"Though I would much rather avoid it." Ed mumbled to himself.

---

A/N: [1] Anyone who can tell me who said that and from which anime (actually, I believe it is only in the manga),

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