So we are back, hey Lia? Who's fault was it for the extra long update? Mmmm I dunno maybe you! My editor! Gah! Nah guys... she wasn't online so we will excuse her.

Okay so the truth starts to unfold... grin Enjoy it everyone

Chapter Two: Who am I?

"Al?"

He could hear the voice clearly through his head, but there was just black, complete black. Where was he? No, who was he? What was he doing? Who could he hear? What sound was ringing through his head and deafening him?

"Where are we?"

He didn't have to hear the voice a second time to know who exactly was calling to him. Yet the feeling was strange… why wasn't he hearing this through his ears…? This almost seemed to be ringing through his…

"Al!"

The force of his call was enough for his head to ring with pain. He suddenly realised… something had happened when he had jumped through the Gate. What did he do? The sudden guilt ran through him. Had he gotten himself and Edward lost in this place of darkness for good?

"Ed…?"

It was him; he was here, inside his head? Was he dreaming? What was happening?

"Yeah, Al… now what the hell did you do and where are we…?"

All stirred from his darkened sleep, yet the dizziness in his head was confusing enough to fall right back down into sleep's depths. His eyes began to open slowly, he could see the blue sky above, or what seemed to be the blue sky as it was now spinning uncontrollably.

"Edward?" He called out automatically, now he could use his mouth, it was the automatic way his body tried to communicate. No response. He closed his eyes and brought his hand up to his forehead with a sigh of frustration… where the hell was he? Why the hell were his senses so damn high? He felt like his head was going to spin off at the new found sensation of touch, sight and smell, and whatever else was happening.

"Edward?"

This time it wasn't his voice…

He opened his eyes and tried to look up, catching the sight of a woman before shielding his eyes from the sun behind her head. The sun in his eyes felt like it was the end of his sight. Pain seared right through him from the mere catch of it. This time he placed a hand over his eyes to get a better look at the young lady standing there with a horrified expression on her familiar… face. She had dropped the fruit basket she was holding, and he had almost jumped back with fright.

"Winry?" He asked suddenly. He scuttled back clumsily and tried to stand to his feet. God, why did she look so beautiful? So vibrant? So colourful… He could smell her all the way from where he was standing. He could almost hear her heart pounding with speed inside her chest if he listened hard enough.

"Who the hell are you?" The sudden shock on her face turned to one of extreme anger, and she pointed a finger at the confused man with discretion. "How do you know my name?" Al could only stand there with equal confusion. What? How could he not know her name… he had been friends with her since… gah… he didn't even know.

"Winry… it's me…?" He didn't understand, he didn't know where he was and he didn't know what Winry was doing here, but it was a start anyway. At least there was some kind of familiar face around him. If he had nothing to cling to he may have had a mental breakdown.

"Why do you look like Al?" She screamed again. "Only an 18 year old version of him?"

"Well I am only seventeen but thanks for the compliment." The blush started to creep up on his face before he shook his head with determination. Wait... Winry knew how old he was! Howcome she had confused his age? He stared at her blankly. "I mean that's because I am Al!" She took a step back, shaking her head furiously.

"Don't tell me on your training you finally got your memories back and paid some equivalent trade in which you ended looking like you are my own son! Your hair is the same colour as mine! You have bright blue eyes!" She screamed with infuriation.

That's when the poor boy became pale. He suddenly noticed the light colour of the girl's blonde hair, he noticed the slight difference in her features… this girl was not Winry… it was some girl from Amestris. She was talking about alchemy. The boy wrapped an arm around his stomach as if he was going to be sick and took a few steps back. Alchemy… what was that again? That stupid concept of turning lead to gold? What. The. Hell… was going on?

"No, you are not Winry!" He yelled angrily, trying not to fall onto the grass. He wouldn't be deceived by anyone. He was alone, in a strange world. He was going to vomit in a few seconds.

"I am too!" She yelled with frustration. The boy's eyes widened and he turned to look at her with shock, his head almost snapping with the sudden movement. So far she had mentioned another Al… and her name was Winry… was this really what Edward said it was to be? Were their worlds really parallel to one another? He, however, shook his head again. She wasn't the Winry he knew! He had to get out of here and fast, And where the hell was that Gate he jumped through? How could it open again? Where had it gone? Why had it just dumped him here in the middle of no-where and left like that!

"Fine then you are not Al!" She yelled back childishly. Was she trying to fight? "Al doesn't look like that, and he isn't that old, tell me your real name!" She then fell silent. "And why did you say Edward's name…? Do you know him?" The sudden panic in her eyes was obvious and it caused the world to become dizzy again. He couldn't take the smell anymore, the strong smell, he couldn't take the noise, his eyes were having trouble taking in the new sight and he cracked.

So she knew Edward…? Or was he someone… else… He lost focus and then fell down onto the soft grass.

"I can see what you see Al. You better not make that girl upset!"

"What?" The man could now see some sort of light forming around him, and before he knew it Edward was standing in front of him with a smile.

"You have reached my world…" He let out a sort of depressed laugh. "So that means if you hadn't of interfered I would be there right now instead of…" He looked around frantically and sighed.

"Where are you? Is this just a dream or are you in my dreams?" Al asked suddenly.

"I haven't figured things out yet… but I know that something happened when we went through the Gate together."

His answer didn't need a second backup. "The world… these senses… Winry!" He remembered quickly. "You never told me there was a parallel Winry! Do you know her…?"

Edward turned away with a blush. "In Germany… my senses were dulled… that's why I wouldn't eat as much, I couldn't feel as much… nothing felt real, nothing felt whole. I had to go through that change, now you have to get used to what 'normal senses' are." He replied. He was avoiding the Winry topic clearly, and it told Al everything, so did that blush on Edward's face.

"They aren't normal Edward, I could almost hear that girl's heart beating like crazy as soon as your name rolled off her tongue, and maybe she was freaking out or something." Al scratched his head. He took the chance to look around… this yellow light… he was definitely within the Gate. He looked up to see Edward blushing again and something clicked in his mind. Something very important clicked in his mind.

"Hang on a second… is this your auto-mail mechanic…?" Al asked curiously, observing the man's current love struck face. He raised his eyebrow with a smirk. There was always light within darkness… since the two were one.

"Gah! Figure it out yourself!"

"You know... now that I think about it… you used to blush when my friend Winry was around you… hmmm suspicious." Al rubbed his chin in thought only to be whacked over the head by his blushing friend.

"I have told you that she is just my auto-mail technician!" Edward screamed with frustration.

"Sure, sure…" Al once again returned serious. Ed was once again glancing around, no doubt trying to figure out why they were seeing each other in Al's dreams.

"I'll figure it out… you just wake up… explain everything to her. I want her to know I am okay."

It was easier to wake than he thought. The sudden warm hand on his head stirred him from his sleep and before he had time to open his eyes a wet washer was placed on his head. He opened his eyes, waiting for them to focus on the girl. She glanced down at him with genuine worry and pressed the washer to his head again.

"Winry…?" He muttered, shutting his eyes after he caught a glimpse of her shimmering hair. Just that colour of her hair was enough to blind him with this kind of sight. How could any of them deal with these senses… it made him wonder what it felt like to touch a person, to kiss them… would it be enough to send a lover insane? He didn't doubt it.

"I am looking after you, because you are going to tell me just what the hell is going on around here." She looked serious and determined; she was going to get her own way, and to tell you the truth he didn't really care. Yet there was no way he could form a story in his mind with the world spinning like this, that smell of hers again creeping into his nose. If he wasn't careful he could fall insanely in love with her, any woman, with this kind of sense creeping into him. So he still wasn't used to it? To stop the dizziness all he could do was merely shut his eyes. He sat up with a groan. He could tell her one thing. Something Edward wanted her to know.

"I am confused, just as you are. But I will tell you one thing, Ed's okay…"

Of course there was no stop at this question. He suddenly heard her let out a squeal of excitement and before he knew it she had grabbed onto his hand tightly. It completely froze him to the spot, the soft touch of a woman upon his skin... He was soon snapped out of his strong daze however… So many questions followed in the space of one second that he thought his brain was going to malfunction from an information overload. So he sighed.

"Okay. CALM. DOWN!" He said in-between breaths for air. "If you ask me a question I will try my best to answer, but don't ask another one until I do! Got it?" His eyes were wide open now, gazing at her seriously. But he was too focused on the beating of her heart that made him want to wrap his arms around her. She looked like his best friend…

"Where is he…?" She was trying to suppress herself, and he was at least grateful for her attempt. He could have some time to think now, while trying to ignore everything else going through his head.

"Right now, we aren't sure… but we were in Germany." She seemed confused at this so he sighed. "Apparently when he tried to revive his brother, he was thrown into another world, he has been trying to get back ever since. I jumped through the Gate with him… it was his last chance… but I ended up here and Ed well… he is in my dreams…?" He looked around the room with a smile. Was this Ed's childhood home?

"What?" She shrieked. Al jumped back, thinking she was angry at him. However, she raised the wrench Ed had told him about so many times and he instinctively moved back against the wall… he had heard how dangerous that thing was! "So he was doing something dangerous all along, wait till I get my hands on him!"

Al looked up at her with slight fear as she ran around the room mumbling incoherent things about Ed. "He was right, you are a complete psycho… nothing like women should act…!"

"What are you talking about? A girl can act however she wants!" The wrench was flung at the man's head by her raging anger, and due to the pain he was sitting there in a daze for quite some time.

"No, women are supposed to be polite and dainty!" He yelled once he had recovered. "You are acting like a savage."

"I don't know what freaking place you came from, but let me tell you in Amestris the women are equal! If not higher than a male! I have seen those places past here who treat women like they aren't important. HAHAHAHA looks like they haven't seen the truth yet."

Okay she was scary… he wanted to get out of here. "Right… all they are good for is cooking, cleaning, and giving birth if you ask me. They talk too much!"

"Excuse me?" Her mouth was wide open in shock and he laughed.

"Joking, joking… god, no wonder Ed is scared of you. Not cute, not sexy... he was right." Al looked away with a sigh. He hoped Ed was seeing this show like he had told him he could. He would be getting some enjoyment that's for sure.

"He is scared of me…?" Her arm suddenly fell down to her sides limply… she dropped the wrench, and like the sudden sound of it hitting the ground, he flinched. Her eyes had become incredibly sad, he also flinched at this. "See… two years ago I might have liked the idea of that… but after not seeing him for two years…" She looked away and bit down on her lip. "He left me here… he left Al."

"Were you two… together or something?" He asked boldly, unable to hold the question in any longer. Her eyes glanced sidewards angrily before she sighed and picked her wrench up miserably. "Sorry… it's just he always blushed when he talked about you... I just gathered…"

"No we aren't." Al stared at her curiously as she headed towards the door. She made it sound like it was a bad thing. "I will cook for you tonight if you tell me something more about Edward…"

Dinner sounded good. Information sounded good. He was going to find out about Edward's old life. He was going to find out everything about this alchemy…

He stood up from the bed, the dizziness slowly fading, and was soon out of the room, joining Winry in the kitchen.

"You can help." She said bluntly when he appeared in front of her.

"Sure." He saw no problem with that.

That night… he dreamt of Edward.

Saturn Stars and Lialiakicks out!