A/N- Not a whole lot happened in one day... Just lucky we have Monday off because it's Labor Day. High School is such a bother...

Disclaimer- I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist or any of it's characters.

Chapter 2- Split

By the time Winry, Izumi, and 'Ed' reached the house, a few raindrops were beginning to hit the ground. Winry was practically dying from a panic attack. Could this possibly be the Edward Elric she'd known for so many years? It looked so much like him... The hair, the eyes, the face, the clothes, all of it related to her childhood friend. Yet, this couldn't be him. His automail was missing, replaced by flesh. How was this Ed?

Her question didn't need to be answered. Somehow, she knew it was him. She was sure of it.

'Ed' had stayed quiet for almost the entire walk home. After his short conversation with Winry about where he was, and who he was, the only other thing he'd bothered to say was that she was pretty, and this was probably out of respect so she wouldn't leave him behind. Whoever this was, he was a lost soul in need of some serious help.

Izumi still wasn't convinced this was her former student. Sure, he resembled Ed in such a way that it was almost impossible to resemble him more, but something was up. Edward's first question wouldn't have been about where he was, but rather, where his younger brother was. Where was the Edward Elric Izumi knew? Had he really dissapeared, never to pop up again? Was he dead? Did anyone know?

The door opened with a slight creek as Winry poked her head through the door to see if anyone was waiting in the living room. When she was absolutely sure that no one inhabited that area, she led 'Edward' through the door, motioning for him to sit down on the couch while she got him a glass of water. He looked dehydraited, and he probably was.

"You have a nice house." 'Ed' said, staring around the room with utmost curiosity.

"Thank you," Winry replied, handing him a small glass of water with a few ice cubes in it. He looked at it with caution, then looked up at Winry with his golden eyes. "Is something the matter?" 'Ed' shook his head, and downed the substance with a single gulp, and handed the glass back to the blonde female standing next to him, watching his every move. "I kind of figured you'd be thirsty. Don't you know where you came from?" He put his head down, and closed his eyes.

"I can't remember. I'm not sure how I got here, but thanks for showing me some hospitality." Now Winry was starting to question her previous thoughts. The Ed she knew was never this kind, especially not to her. So who was this guy that he could look so much like Ed, yet have such a different personality? Did Edward have a twin brother she didn't know about?

"It's no problem, really. Would you like to meet the rest of the family?" Winry hoped that Izumi didn't have a problem with being referred to as 'family.' Especially when Izumi probably had her own family waiting for her somewhere. At first, she recieved only a questionable look, but then 'Ed' nodded at her. His expression still hadn't changed much from when they'd found him laying down by the creek. It was pretty plain. And his eyes... There was something wrong with his eyes, too.

Izumi was already halfway up the stairs when Winry turned away from 'Ed.' In the meantime, she decided she'd go put the glass back into the kitchen.

When Winry returned to the living room, 'Ed' was still sitting on the couch, examining the soft feeling of it. Maybe he was some kind of alien from another planet where they didn't have different pieces of furniture to sit on. Then, without warning, Rose's son came bounding down the stairs, happiness apparently in his attitude. He must have been excited to meet someone new. Rose ran down behind him, probably to calm him down. Izumi was next, and behind her, stood Al.

Rose's eyes got a little larger when she saw who was sitting on the couch, but after what she'd been told by Izumi upstairs just a minute before, she knew she had to pretend as though they had never met before. She held out her hand, and 'Ed' shook it without worry. Her son was still bouncing up and down. Izumi was still giving the person on the couch a cold stare.

Many would think a person who hadn't seen someone for so long wouldn't recognize this certain someone right away. But Al knew.

It was strange, really, the transformation that took place in the Rockbell living room that day. Al knew it was his brother sitting in front of him, and he wondered if Ed knew it was him staring back, his younger brother he'd supposedly been working to bring back the body of. And what was weird, was that he did in fact realize this. Winry gasped as the eyes of 'Ed' mysteriously changed back to those familiar ones she'd known for most of her life, and he lunged forward, pulling his younger brother into a strong embrace that was quickly returned.

"He finally get some sense knocked into him?" Izumi asked, now confused. Was this Ed, or wasn't it?

Edward pulled his head up, as Al plopped down on the couch next to him, not bothering to ask any questions pertaining to where he'd been for all of these years. Al wasn't stupid. He knew that Ed probably wouldn't want to answer them so soon. Maybe he'd been through a lot? Who could know?

"Uh... Winry?" Winry went into shock, as did the rest of the room. Since when did he know who she was?

"Yes, Ed?" Izumi gave her a cold stare, almost as though questioning her ability to read a certain person's intentions without asking them any questions about the subject. Winry would have returned it, but she had to keep her attention on the confused looking Edward Elric sitting on her couch.

"How did I get here?" Here we go again...

---

"Well now that all of that's answered, we have a few questions to ask you." Izumi's voice cut through the chattering that was emitted from the other five people around her. These were some important things they needed to know from Ed, and if they didn't ask now, they might not get to in the future. You never could know what Ed was planning to do with himself. Ed looked at his sensei, a small bit of worry building up within him. "What happened to your automail?"

"What do you m..." It seemed that Edward finally noticed he no longer had automail. What had happened to it? He couldn't even remember how he'd ended up at Winry's in the first place. He knew how Al was back, but how was he here, existing in the world of alchemy? "I didn't even... I mean, I don't... I... I..." All at once, a steady pain rushed to the elder Elric's head.

"That's okay Ed. You can tell us later." Winry looked at Izumi angrily. She could see the pain in Ed's eyes, knowing he'd be questioned for days upon days until his brain either blew up, or deflated. One or the other.

"Yeah, I would rather." Ed's attention moved from Winry to his younger brother, who was stirring beside him. "Hey Al, how old are you?" Al looked at Ed, beginning to wonder about his lack of judgement.

"Fifteen."

"I thought you'd be twenty by now..." That question would go unanswered for a while. Then again, it didn't matter. All Edward cared was that his brother had his body back, and he did. Al stood up, and Ed watched him make his way across the room over to where the kitchen door sat.

Another strange occurance. The second Al left the room, it seemed that Ed went back to his unknowing self. His pupils became small once more, and he looked like he was either extremely drugged, trying to find his way through a city he'd never been to before and couldn't recognize, or like there was no happiness contained within him. Proabably the later of the two.

"Ed? Edward?" Izumi demanded his attention as he staired blankly into the corner. He wouldn't even look at her. That is, until Al made another entrance into the room. "Ed?" His head turned imediately to his teacher. "That is strange."

---

Later that night, after everyone else had gone to bed, Winry and Izumi sat up, discussing their current circumstances. Mostly, it was about Ed, but some of it was about Alphonse and his reaction to the situation as well. He'd handled it very well.

"You do notice, his attention averts to the corners of the room when his younger brother isn't in the room." Izumi was looking directly into Winry's eyes.

"Yes. What could have happened to him while he was on the other... The other side?"

"I don't know, but whatever did happen, it wasn't a good thing. They took something from him." Winry's pupils were imediately a lot smaller than they'd been just a mere few seconds before.

"What... What is it?"

"I'm not sure, but I have guesses. I don't even know if my guess would be that accurate."

"It could be. What is it?"

"But I..." Izumi was contemplaiting her idea further, as Winry could clearly tell from staring at her with curiosity. "It's impossible for my idea to be correct, even if it is relatively similar to what has actually happened to Edward." Winry leaned in closer. "I've seen these things happen before, with Wrath..." Winry remembered Wrath, the hyper energetic little cutie. "Where someone can be normal sometimes, but not always."

"So what are you saying?"

"I'm saying a homunculi is trying to take over his body. I'm saying that in exchange for a safe passage across the gate, they took his soul.

---

Upstairs, it was relatively quiet in every room except for Ed and Al's. They were having a fun time, trying to get to know each other all over again, Ed having to explain about his experiences in Munich, and Al telling him everything he could pertaining to what had been happening in Amestris. Al's story wasn't anything big, but Edward had to admit it. He was happy to hear his younger brother had never given up on him. After all, he'd never given up on his younger brother.

"So, what's Dad like?" Ed grimaced at this question. He'd hated his father when he'd arrived in Munich, and his thoughts on the subject hadn't changed a whole lot over the time he'd been there. "Is he nice?" Yes, and no...

"Well, yeah, but..." Alphonse was looking at Ed in adoration. He hadn't seen or heard from his father for so long, it was nice just to hear that he was doing okay. Edward saw this, and decided not to make his father out to be too much of a jerk... yet. "Yes. He took me in the moment I needed help, treated me like his son... He taught me German and introduced me to some nice people over there. One of them reminded me a lot of you. And wouldn't you be suprised if I told you his name was also Alphonse?" Al Heidrich had been one of Ed's better friends.

"Was he like a brother to you?"

This question came as a shock to poor Ed. He didn't know exactly how he should answer it, because he didn't know how his younger brother would react if he told him that Al Heidrich had been like a replacement... At least until he could see the real Al again.

"Only somewhat. He had a brother already. Besides Al, no one could ever replace you." Edward reached over and pulled his sibling into another strong embrace.

"That's good to know, brother." Al hugged him back, and the two fell asleep together, dreaming of the good old days.

---

Still in the kitchen having a heated discussion, Winry and Izumi sat, looking sternly at one another. Winry had her new reasons to worry about Edward, and Izumi didn't seem as though she knew to well how to deal with him either.

"So do we tell Al?"

"No. We can't. Just make sure they stay in the same room as each other for most of the time. Don't give Al reasons to leave, but give him as many reasons as you can to stay and accompany Ed in just about everything he does. We need to make sure they stay near to each other, or I fear that Ed could become a full sin soon. Trust me, we don't want that."

Winry nodded in affirmation. It surely was turning out to be a questionable day.

A/N- Super long chapter because I had nothing better to do, and I already have reviews. Yay! Keep them coming, guys! Thank you!