Chapter 1: Central City Once More

Edward Elric, now at the age of eighteen back in his original home of Rizenbul, with his brother Alphonse, age seventeen. Both of their bodies had been returned to normal, except Ed kept the auto mail right arm, since it allowed him to use quick alchemy. The two of them lived in Winry's home, well, it was actually there 'aunt' Pinako's home, but either way it was a house for them to stay at.

He was still the young prophetical alchemist, but, he didn't go on missions any more, it was just him, his brother, Winry, and Pinako now. They had finally realized they couldn't even bring their mother back with the philosopher's stone, so they gave up on that idea now. It wasn't that they no longer wanted their mother; it was the fact that, there were no other myths they can chase to bring her back. Ed and Al had a hard time getting their own bodies back, reviving someone seemed to be a whole new story now.

Stopping beside them, Winry smiles. "I'm so happy that …both of you are back to…well, sort of back to normal." She says at the end knowing Edward kept the auto mail arm.

Ed waves his hand a little. "You say that almost every day Winry, and we say this every day, 'We're happy too.'" He replies happily. "After all, we still haven't gotten one of our goals done yet…."

"Edward, no! You can't keep chasing after your mother like this!" Her voice showed how worried she was as she yelled at him. "Please! You just recently had your bodies restored." Winry suddenly felt a little weak at the knees. She couldn't stand it. Why would Ed want to continue to pursue that goal when the first time they tried it, it was an absolute failure? Some things should not be tried again when you fail at first. This was one of those things.

Human Transmutation is a forbidden art. And it has yet to be perfected, but still, Edward and Alphonse do research on it in their spare time when Winry and Pinako aren't around. Even though they've reached an age where they wouldn't need to be around their parents, they want her back still. The feeling is that she was taken from them. Taken from their lives when they still needed her. To bring someone back from the dead, without them becoming a homunculus, a failed human transmutation, you need to give something of equal value. You'd just lose another life in other words.

"I'm sorry, Winry…but…you don't understand." He whispers gently and looks up at her from the couch he and Al were sitting in.

"What! What don't I understand Edward!" She questions sorrowfully. "You could end up getting both of yourselves killed by trying again!" Winry continued to yell at him, and he just let her do so, excepting every word that came out of her mouth. He knew she meant well.

"Maybe…I'll do it by myself this time around. I'll off my right arm…" he replies softly to her. Trying to show that he has a pretty good plan. Yet, he still had no clue if it'd work or if it'd get him sent across the gate again.

"Ed!" His brother shouts almost out of nowhere. "I wont…I wont let you do it alone!" He says to him somewhat proudly. Al didn't want to lose his brother just after regaining his own body.

Edward stands up and looks at the coffee table. "Well then…" he puts his hands at his hips and brings his head up, his face almost covered by his smile, his sudden laughter catching Alphonse and Winry by surprise. "I suppose we'll be heading to Central's Library again, eh Al?" He grins looking at his younger brother.

He nods almost instantly remembering a promise Ed made to him.

Winry was completely confused. The Library? Was she missing out on some kind of private joke? She knew Central was the capital, but…. something wasn't right about how quickly they both came to an agreement on it. It was almost like they had been planning it for a really long time.

Alphonse gets to his feet and stands behind his brother. He was only an inch…or three taller, and he was the younger one. Rubbing his head he sighs. He couldn't point out that he was taller then him. A grin crossed his face and he looked excited. "Do you really mean it brother? Do you! We're really going to Central?" He asks cheerfully and runs upstairs to his run.

They still acted like kids. Probably because every place they went it ended up being some kind of hidden adventure. Edward nods and closes his eyes, with that same eager smile on his face whenever he was happy. "We're goin' to Central all right Al." He said to him proudly and grabbed his black jacket off a rack. It was a new one so it fit him. Ed recently had grown three inches. He was gaining up on his younger brother height wise. So he boasted about whenever he was around both Winry and Pinako. But, now wasn't the time.

Alphonse came back down, dressed in some of his newer clothing. He smiles at his brother and says, "Heads up brother!" He tosses a pocket watch at him. When Ed catches it he opens it gently and reads the date on the inside. He sighs a little and closes it, hooking it onto his pants at both ends, and sticking the watch part into his pocket. "Your going to help me become a state alchemist, right Ed?" The excitement in his voice brought another smile to Ed's face. Seeing him nod Al runs down the rest of the steps and to the door.

"To Central Al, we're going back." Ed whispers to himself.

Winry's eyes shook a little and slowly became a little glazy from tears that began to swell up. She smiles at Ed, though he could tell it was a fake smile and that she really wanted them to stay at this house away from anything that could possibly harm them in any way shape or form.

"Al, you go ahead…" he says patting his brother on the back watching him walk out the door. He closes it behind Alphonse and turns to looks at Winry. Ed was just about the same height as her now, so, Al was taller then the both of them. "Winry… I'm sorry about leaving already, I know you were looking forward to us staying here again.." his voice faded off a little. "But, we just have to do something, it's like a priority." He finishes trying to explain it to her the best way he could.

She nods and her face scrunched up a little. The tears were just waiting to pour out of her and she could feel herself ready to burst. "E-Ed…. I don't want you to go…you or Al. That's why I greet you every morning. To make sure neither of you ran away again." Her lip quivered a little as she spoke. She bit down on it gently not being able to speak any more.

Ed pats her shoulder with his auto mail hand and smiles. "It's not like we wont come back Win. I promise if we're going to be on a long trip, we'll come back and stay here a couple days. Get some rest, we'll call you from Central City." His hand fell off her shoulder and clinked a little. He turns and begins to walk towards the door.

Winry ran up to him and grabbed his hand, turning him around. She hugged him tightly and cried onto his shoulder. Her tears soaking into his jacket a little. "You better come back Ed. If …if you don't I'll find you!" she sounded a little muffled with her face in his arm. Her fist hit his shoulder a few times as she became frustrated. "I'll bring my wrench and I'll hit you so many times…" she cries and pulls away from him. "They'll change your name you know that!" Winry shouts almost laughing a little.

"Oh yeah?" Ed laughs a little as well. "To what?"

"You'll be.." she thinks for a moment then grins a little. "You'll be the Full Metal Idiot!"

He laughs with her, she smiles happily. "So, you're expecting everyone to say 'Hagaren No Baka?'" he asks and opens the door. "You better not have anyone call me that Winry…" he laughs and walks out, closing the door carefully behind him.

She rubs her eyes trying to take away her tears. Falling back, she sits in a chair, staring at the door. "That stupid fool…" Winry says, she was slightly happy.

To be able to talk to Ed again, one on one, made him leaving a little easier to tolerate. The things the three of them used to do when they were younger brought back some good memories. Back when they didn't know much about Alchemy, everything was okay, no troubles at all. Hoehenhiem Elric. Ed and Al's father was who they blamed for Trisha's death. Ed had just met him recently after crossing over to return Al to his former body. Everything had eventually fallen back into place to restore their lives. They were able to discover a way back to this time. Their home.

They reached the train station in twenty minutes by walking. The conductor let them on quickly when he saw Ed and his state alchemist pocket watch. So they got their seats in the middle most part of the train and sat across from each other quietly, gazing out the window. In the distance they could see Pinako's home. Ed thought he saw Winry waving a wrench, almost like she knew they were on this specific train. Alphonse went to sleep in minutes after staring out the window for about ten minutes.

Ed, on the other hand, stayed awake and thought about his, well, his friends I suppose you can say, in Central. Lt. Havoc. Col. Mustang and second Lt. Hawkeye. Major Ross. The only one he had ever really gotten along with was Lt. Colonel Maes Hughes, but he was killed in an accident without Ed and Al knowing. They later found out it was none other then Envy and Sloth that had killed him. His mind was on so much at the moment he thought it would explode. But, when it didn't he relaxed in his seat and closes his eyes listening to the train running across the tracks.