So, this one day I dressed like Ed and stole his pants and went down to the random claiming cooperation to try and claim Fullmetal Alchemist, the anime series.

Maybe it's because I'm a girl, maybe it's because I have brown hair, or maybe it's because I'm two inch's taller than Ed…but for some reason no one was willing to fall for me being Edward Elric.

What a bummer.

Held

By Gomp

I turned towards Izumi, "Get the fuck out of here!" and Wrath jumped.

But, the clever little bugger decided to suddenly be cunning. When he jumped, he did not jump at me. Oh no, he jumped at Izumi. Shit.

He jumped at Izumi and threw her right into the wall that was beside the door. I did not hesitate as I ran towards the two and jumped on top of Wrath. Wrath went flying to the floor. I did my best to pin him down as I looked up to see if Izumi was alright.

Izumi sat on the floor with a hand over her mouth. Blood fell from between her fingers. She was coughing up blood again. Well, talk about perfect timing.

"Get the hell out of here!"

Izumi looked at me with wide eyes. Her coughs weren't too serious. As she spoke I saw the blood that stained her teeth. "No."

"You're not helping me. I need the damn tranquilizer and cuffs. God damn it, just go!"

Wrath's auto-mail hand had somehow loosened its way from my grip. In an instant my right cheek met metal. And, oh man, it hurt like hell.

I growled as I grabbed his auto-mail hand with my own, slamming his hand towards the ground. I took a quick glance up just in time to see the door of the room close. I was tempted to jump for joy; Izumi had finally listened to me and left. But, I didn't get the opportunity to celebrate for long. Wrath began to have a fit of laughter as he struggled against my tight hold.

"Oh no, I'm not letting you go."

Wrath's laughter became increasing louder the more he struggled. Our auto-mail limbs clanked loudly together as he kept moving around. I pushed more on his body in hopes I could keep him contained, but much to my surprise, Wrath suddenly used his auto-mail knee and kneed me right in the gut. There was a moment of confusion, and in that moment, Wrath threw me right off of him. Nice one.

I quickly got to my feet while holding my stomach. I only felt a dull ache. Wrath had run to one of the corners of the room as he bared his teeth at me. "Edward's finally willing to play!"

I was tempted to roll my eyes. How corny of a line. "Wrath, I am not here to play games with you."

Wrath smirked as his eyes went from side to side. "Yes, yes. But…" His eyes stopped their rapid movements and looked directly at me. "Don't you want the truth?"

That stopped me. The truth? "What are you talking about?"

Wrath bounced right at me. He was a fast lil' bugger. I lost some of my footing as Wrath grabbed my shirt and began to pull at it. The only reason I didn't fall over was because I backed into a wall.

His words were spoken quickly. "The truth, truth, truth, TRUTH!"

"What the hell is the truth?"

My ignorance seemed to amuse Wrath. He suddenly began giggling as his hands twisted tightly into my white shirt. I had a feeling that he was just trying to screw around with me to buy himself time. Last thing I needed was to be tricked by an insane wacko.

I grabbed Wraths hands with my human hand and punched him across the face with my steel one.

Hey, as I looked at it I did promise Izumi I wouldn't hurt him, but how the hell do you hurt a homunculus? So hitting was very much allowed.

At first I thought it was blood pouring from the boy's mouth, but I then realized it was just more of the Red Water. Wrath spat some of the water onto the floor before he looked back at me. His eyes opened wide as he grinned. Drips of the Red Water fell down his chin in thick streams.

Wrath's voice was quiet, but obviously he seemed entertained. "The universal truth."

My fist that had been pulled far back, ready to strike again, faltered.

…The universal…truth? What the hell was this boy talking about?

I fell back against the cement floor. A gasp left my lips as Wrath's knee was pressed on my injured shoulder. Wrath moved his body down and straddled my waste as his hands held my wrists. His face was only a few inch's away from mine. His breath smelled worse than a garbage-can stuffed with last week's dinner. "You are free. Free, free, free! But, you just can't stay away, can you?" Wrath actually licked my cheek. I could feel the slim of the Red Water as it dripped onto my skin. His eyes shined brightly from enjoyment. "Does the gate not like you?"

We rolled around a few times till I was finally on top. I felt a strange sensation coming from the area Wrath had licked me. I was tempted to stay on top of Wrath, but the sensation I felt was making me a little light headed. I pushed myself off and away from him. I quickly wiped away the saliva off my cheek with the back of my metallic hand. When I looked at the back of my hand, I found it smeared with the bright red color of the water. Red Water was highly toxic. I quickly rubbed the back of my hand onto my pants.

Wrath's expression seemed outright crazy. I knew any second that Izumi would be flying through the doors, but I was growing impatient.

"I know the truth."

I stood up as calmly as possible. "Wrath, will you shut up already about the damn truth. You most likely know nothing."

Wrath pushed himself into a standing position also. He was only a few feet away from me. I looked at the location he was at and the ground below him. He was probably a half foot away from the array. I didn't want to ruin the array, so if I could lure him a few more steps away I could easily wrap cement around his feet with alchemy.

I took a step forward, he didn't budge. I took another one; he just looked at me like I was dinner. Well, my plan to move him didn't seem to be working. Great. I took one more step leaving only about a foot between us. Wrath simply looked up at me with a crooked smile. I sighed.

"Come now Wrath, do you really want to have to fight me?"

Wrath suddenly straightened himself. He was a few inches shorter than me, but it was obvious the kid was still growing. His hair fell over his eyes as Red Water dripped to the floor from his mouth. He gave me a toothy smile. "Edward." He looked at me. "It's what I live for!" He leapt.

Our steel fists compacted loudly together. My human hand went straight for his neck. His human hand went to my hair. He yanked roughly at my golden locks while I tightened my grip around his neck. Wrath took a step forward and I took a step back. I felt the rough surface of the wall behind me hit my back. Shit. It was not good to be backed into a wall.

Our metal fists began to arm wrestle one another. Both steel limbs pushed roughly at each other seeing whose would give first.

My hand around Wrath's neck didn't seem to even faze him. He simply yanked as hard as he could at my blond hair over and over again. Damn, having long hair wasn't always the best thing.

I head butted Wrath and pushed him away from me. I ran forward and jumped causing both of us to fall to the floor in a tangle of limbs. I grabbed Wrath's shoulders and pushed them to the ground.

"Once Izumi gets here I am going to stuff enough drugs into you that you will never wake up! Damn annoying bastard!"

Wrath shook his head back and forth as he struggled against me. Quietly I could hear him saying "No, no-."

Wraths metal hand shot up and punched me right into my injured shoulder. Of course the searing pain went to my head. A blinked away a moment of blindness and found myself pushed away from Wrath. I took a few breaths in an attempt to help getting my head on straight. My damn shoulder was becoming a bloody pain in my ass.

I used the wall to help get me up. A few feet away from me Wrath stood himself.

We just stood there for a few moments, taking in deep breaths.

Wrath was getting on my last nerves. I planned to give Izumi an earful about this morning's events. I didn't care if she was once my Master. See, the key word there was once.

"Edward." Wrath's voice came out deep and rugged. It sounded different compared to his other psycho light tones he had used before. He sounded pissed and almost as annoyed as myself. "It's only a matter of time till the end."

I instantly realized that Wrath was telling me something. He wasn't being crazy and disturbing. He was simply speaking the honest truth in a pissed off manner. I really wanted to question him more, but I didn't get the opportunity to.

Wrath jumped at me once more and this time there was no way I could have stopped him.

I yelped when I felt his teeth sink into my skin. His teeth were so chipped and pointy that it didn't take much effort for him to cause me to bleed. He bit me right on the junction of my neck with my left shoulder. What the hell was this kid? A bloody vampire?

I threw Wrath away from me. I grabbed my neck feeling blood running freely from my new fresh wound. I blinked a few times…and then I realized my vision was beginning to go.

My words were hoarse. "It's the damn Red Water; you put some into my blood stream." I fell back, right onto my butt, as my world began to spin uncontrollably. I slurred. "You bastard." My breathing suddenly began to weaken. I wasn't exactly sure what to do. The world kept spinning faster and faster.

I laid onto my back and stared at the ceiling. My vision was beginning to spot. Wrath suddenly entered my line of vision, he looked down at me. I watched him beginning to kneel beside me when my vision suddenly blanked out.

I then heard a scream before I went totally oblivious to the world.

Smoke… I smelt…smoke…

My eyes slowly opened. I wasn't sure what to expect to find. Was I still with Wrath? Was I dead? Was I even truly waking?

Granny peered down at me; she didn't look at all pleased. Her eyes narrowed at me while she smoked her pipe. The smoke of her pipe entered my nostrils. Argh, well, that was the smoke I smelled.

"Well, look who's finally waking up."

I tried to sit up but automatically began to groan when I felt the pain coming from my neck and left shoulder. I ran my human hand over the area I had been bitten and found it bandaged up. I looked down at myself and found myself topless with sheets bunched at the waste.

My eyes opened wide at realization. I was topless and Granny was looking at me. I didn't care if she saw my bare chest; I cared because she was seeing all the wounds that covered my body. I could feel a blush quickly spread across my face. Granny smirked at my obvious discomfort. "You really have been busy, haven't you?" Humor had been woven into her voice.

My body was a mass of bruises and bandages. It seemed that someone had the pleasure of changing my bandages that covered my shoulder. I eyed Granny and she gave a small shrug. "It wasn't me. You are going to need those stitches removed soon."

I was tempted to ask who changed the bandages then, but decided against it. I looked around the small room for my shirt but couldn't find it. "It's in the wash." Sometimes Granny could read me like a book.

I sighed as I looked at the old woman. "What happened?"

She took a big puff from her pipe. "I have been waiting for you to ask me that. When they had come to the basement with the cuffs and drugs, they found Izumi's child knelt beside you and you were bleeding. Izumi's child has been taken care of, Izumi finished the transmutation. "

"Who's they?"

"Why your brother and Izumi of course."

"My brother!"

Granny nodded. She stood from the seat she had been sitting in. "Alphonse is the one who transmuted the Red Water from your system. He's becoming quite the Alchemist."

I was still stuck on the fact that Alphonse had been down in the basement. "Who let him down there? Did Izumi bring him?"

Granny sighed as she walked towards the door. "I believe he followed. Edward, your brother is old enough to take care of himself."

I lifted an eyebrow. "He's fourteen, that's not old at all."

Granny's hand stopped as it grabbed the knob of the door. She looked at me with something close to amusement. "Not old enough? If I recall correctly you weren't old yourself when-"

I groaned. "Ok, ok, I know." I looked away from Granny's face. "I just don't want to see something happen to him, that's all."

The door opened and clicked close.

I sat in the room. It had been an hour since Granny left and no one else had come in to check on me. I sat alone with my thoughts. My thoughts mainly revolved around Al.

I broke the silence of the room with my muttered words. "How the hell can I protect him if I'm not even around?"

I was stuck in the military for a year. I had lost so many years without Al and was now forced to lose one more. I didn't see an ounce of fairness in the situation.

After a little while longer of not one person checking up on me, I became slightly confused. Ok, I wasn't an attention hound and didn't expect people to bid to my every need when injured, but usually when I was with my family at least one would stick around to see if I was still kicking.

I threw my legs off the side of the bed and sat up. I automatically regretted it.

I held my head as the world began to spin. "Come on! I thought Granny said Al removed the water." I forced myself to stand up, but my wobbly knees refused to hold the weight of my body. I gave up and just allowed my body to fall back onto the bed. "What shit."

"You and your foul language."

My head snapped to the door. Winry stood there with her arms crossed.

"Well, it is shit. What do you want?"

"Sometimes, Edward, I'm tempted to wash your mouth out with soap." Winry walked into the room, closing the door behind her.

I sighed as I pushed myself up onto my elbows. "Ok mother." I stuck my tongue out at her. Winry simply rolled her eyes.

Winry walked around the bed and stood right in front of me. Her arms remained crossed as her eyes scanned my form. She frowned.

I looked at her expecting her to say something, but she didn't. The room suddenly felt uncomfortable. I sat up in a sitting position before I spoke. "Did you want something?"

"An explanation might work."

I lifted an eyebrow. "Well, if you first gave me a question, then maybe I could offer you an explanation."

I could see a bunch of emotions swirl in Winry's eyes. Disappointment, disbelief, sadness. The most predominate though was rage. Winry's wrath was never a good thing. "What happened to you?"

Figures. I ran my hand through my bangs as I sat up. My human hand ran over the bandages that covered my shoulder. "Just stuff."

Her slap didn't really hurt much. Trust me; I have been hit a lot harder. Her small hand didn't really faze me. But, the emotion that was in the slap sure as hell lashed out at my ego. I looked up at Winry slightly startled.

"Edward, when are you going to get it through your thick scull that you have people who worry about you? Why didn't you tell us that you were so hurt!"

My voice remained calm, no use in raising it. "I'm alive aren't I? If I called and told you every time I got hurt, then I would just end up worrying you guys to death."

What I said didn't seem to fit right with Winry. "How often does this happen?"

I couldn't help it, I smirked. This was part of the reason I didn't like telling Winry stuff. Heck, why I didn't tell people everything about my life period. It was because my life was just that damn scary. "Winry, just drop it."

Winry suddenly turned and flopped back onto the bed. She laid there with her eyes closed. "Sometimes I really hate you."

"Well, that's comforting."

Winry smacked my human arm gently. "What happened to your shoulder?"

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

One of her eyes popped open. "You don't say."

We fell silent for a few minutes. Winry laid on the bed while I sat there looking down at her. Her golden hair was spread out around her while her pale features went relaxed. She took in a few deep breaths before she finally spoke. "Izumi's child is really sick."

For some reason I didn't find that at all surprising. The Red Water theoretically had become a part of Wrath when it entered his system. I guess I could see why Wrath might fall ill if the Red Water was taken from him. I mean, it didn't make sense since he wasn't human, but I could see it. I nodded to show my understanding.

"Edward, you should really thank your brother for saving you. Izumi told us how deadly Red Water could be."

"I'll thank him."

I laid down on the bed next to Winry. We just laid there for awhile, not really saying anything. My eyes drifted closed. The bed was comfortable, I was tempted to sleep. I mean, come on, I hadn't had much sleep from the night before; I had a right to be tired. Winry poked me I suppose to inform me she was still there. Her words were quiet, almost a whisper. "Ed, how long do you plan to stay?"

"I don't know, got to wait till I can question Wrath."

"So, you think for a few days?"

My eyes crept open slightly. "Maybe, depends how long it takes. I doubt Roy will care for how long I'm gone for. The only person who might really care is Klose."

The bed suddenly shifted. Winry was looking right down at me. "Who's Klose?"

I blinked a few times. "Roy's secretary."

"And why would she care?" Winry's voice held a tone of accusation.

I looked at Winry confused for a second until it dawned on me. A laugh bubbled up in my throat. "Why do you care?"

Winry growled at me. Wow, she actually had a rather good growl. "I'm not jealous if that's what you're implying!"

"I never said anything about jealousy, but since you brought it up…"

She suddenly sat up in the bed. Her voice became serious. "I was just curious of who she was and why she would care. If she's Roy's secretary, I just don't get why it would matter to her."

I felt a blush suddenly bloom. How many times could I blush in one day? "I'm not totally antisocial or anything. Klose and I are friends."

"Oh, so the big brave Edward Elric actually has friends?"

"Well, yea."

Winry was a girl, right? Well, I hoped. Ok, so she was a girl. Anyways, didn't girls understand about the romance crap? I was in desperate need of some guidance. And Winry suddenly looked like the perfect candidate.

I sat up next to Winry. I took a deep breath. "Winry, can I ask you something?"

Winry looked at me startled for a moment. She then nodded. I cleared my throat before I spoke. "Well, I need help with something. See, Klose and I, well…"

"Ew, you two didn't… you know?"

My eyes rounded at the implication. "Winry! Ew, no." It was sad that when sex was implied two adults would go ew. "Well we didn't do that. But we did other stuff."

Winry's mood suddenly shifted. I could feel it in the air. It was an almost depressing mood. "I see."

"Sorry, I'm not trying to make you uncomfortable. I just, well. I need help. I'm not sure-"

"-Ed, I'm not sure I'm the best person to ask. You are probably better off speaking to Izumi or Granny about this."

I frowned. "Oh." I wanted to ask Winry how I should act when I saw Klose again. I had turned Klose down and in her letter she said we could start over, but I needed some guidance on how to be normal around her from now on.

"Winry!" It was Granny's voice that suddenly yelled into the room, it sounded urgent. Both Winry and I looked towards the door. Winry suddenly stood. I went to stand myself but the world began to spin around again. Great, just bloody great.

Winry turned. "Ed, just stay here."

"No, I'm coming." I forced myself to stand. The world kept spinning round and round and I was about to fall back over, but a strong reassuring hand grabbed onto my metal arm. "Well if you're coming, let's go."

Winry guided me out of the room and down the hallway. The more I walked the better intact my brain slowly became. We headed towards the room I had originally placed Wrath in.

The door was open. We both walked in together.

It was filled with panic.

Izumi sat at the bottom of the bed, rubbing Wrath's feet. "The fever is rising; we have to get it down!"

Granny stood near the front of the bed. "We need some cold water, we have to try and cool him off."

Sig stood in the corner of the room, silent as always. His eyes were wide open with fear.

Wrath laid on the bed, his face was pale. His breathing was harsh as he took in deep breaths. His expression reflected nothing but suffering. Shit.

Winry's hand fell away from my arm as she quickly walked into the room. I leaned against the wall to help support myself.

Winry walked up to Granny. "Granny, what can I do?"

"Water child, bring some cold water and a wash cloth.'

Winry ran right past me and out of the room.

I stared at the bed unsure what to think. I wanted to tell Izumi 'He cant die.', but that would be rather naïve of me. Without the Red Water, didn't that mean he could?

I cleared my throat. "How bad is it?"

It was almost as if no one had noticed me before. All eyes turned to me. Granny spoke. "We need to lower the fever." That meant it was bad.

"We need to call the local doctor, Sig, call him!"

I could see all the fear in Izumi's eyes. She was being downright tortured. It made me feel sick. But, I had to intervene.

"You can't do that."

Izumi glared at me. "Don't tell me what I can and cannot do."

My old Master was really frustrating me, that was for sure. "Izumi, think logically for a moment. He's not human! You cannot call a doctor."

"If he wasn't human, he wouldn't be sick! Call the damn doctor!"

If he wasn't human…he wouldn't be sick.

Why was Wrath having a fever anyways?

I didn't say anything. I simply stood there and kept quiet as I observed.

He couldn't tell.

He was a professional and he saw no difference. I did not understand.

"Some toxins are in his system, I believe that is what is making him sick. I was able to lower his temperature, but you must keep an eye on him. Make sure he drinks plenty of fluids to help ride him of the unwanted substances-" The doctor rambled on. Izumi nodded her head to everything the man was saying.

Wrath laid on the bed. His skin had gained some color, his breathing was better.

I didn't get it. Not one bit. What made homunculus so different from us? The doctor had given Wrath a pretty thorough physical. He didn't even make one comment on any differences in Wrath's being.

Then again, what had I been expecting? Of course Wrath's anatomy was similar to that of a human. It's not like he was going to lack organs, or have a third testicle, or something.

Then what the hell made homunculus so different? I just didn't get it.

I uncrossed my arms and left the room. I walked down the hallway and was planning to head towards the front door so I could go for a short walk, but I noticed Alphonse sitting in the living room. He was alone.

"What do you think you're doing?"

Al's eyes flicked from his book to my face. "I've been pretty much sentenced to sit on this couch all day. I'm not supposed to leave."

I lifted an eyebrow. "Why on earth are you sentenced to the couch?"

"Considering everything that has happened, everyone wants me in one spot where they know where I am."

I frowned. "Well, that's kind of jerkish of them."

Al closed the book he was reading. It was another alchemy book. I swear, Izumi's house was littered with the illegal texts. "How's he doing?"

I sighed as I plopped next to Al on the couch. "He will be fine." I looked up and closed my eyes. The ceiling fan blew a nice gust of air constantly at me. It helped keep me cool.

"That's good I suppose."

I murmured, "Yea, I guess it is."

Silence fell between us for a few minutes. I heard Al pick up his book and return to his reading. I was still extremely tired and was ready to doze, but Al's book was suddenly slammed closed. It caused me to look towards him.

"Brother, can we go somewhere?"

I lifted an eyebrow. "You want to leave? Where do you want to go?"

Al shrugged. "My butt really hurts and I'm growing extremely bored. Please?"

I forced my tired body to stand. "Sure, I guess so."

"So, you saved my life."

"I didn't save your life. There wasn't enough Red Water in your system to kill you."

I glanced at Al. He might have been right, I didn't know. I wasn't exactly aware of how much Red Water Wrath had put into me during the time of things. "Well, you still removed it." I scratched my head. "Thanks."

Al offered me a small smile.

It was late in the afternoon. Our feet shuffled along the graveled road of the buzzing downtown of Dublis. There weren't too many people out. Mainly merchants littered the sidewalks while trying to get the few passers to buy their goods.

Al and I pushed through the merchants, simply walking straight ahead. We really didn't have a place to go, no where we needed to be. We were just out enjoying the outside world.

My mind wandered to many different thoughts. Some about the mystery of Enzo, others about the war. As I watched the daily life of Dublis I kept wondering if life would always be that way. What if Xing won this war? What would these people's lives be like?

I felt a tug on my shirt. "Ed, what are you thinking about?"

My eyes turned to Al. "A lot of things." I sighed. "Just a lot of dumb stuff."

Al frowned. "I doubt it's dumb."

I suppose he was right. It wasn't dumb, it was very important things. But things I couldn't change. "I don't know Al, life is just getting confusing."

"When is it not confusing?"

He had a good point. I couldn't think of a reply to that one.

Al continued on. "Every time I see you, you never seem happy."

My jaw fell. "What the hell are you talking about? Every time I see you I feel ecstatic, you are what makes me happy." Al was everything I lived for. Pretty much he was the sunshine of my existence.

Al shook his head. We both took a step off the curve leaving the market place behind; we were heading into empty streets.

"I mean, you don't seem happy in general. Is the military really that bad?" I was tempted to laugh at him. I wanted to giggle out 'Yes, the military was that bad', but for some reason I couldn't find the words to say it. There were a couple things I actually did like about the military, believe it or not. The military had its moments of laughs and smiles.

"The military takes me away from you and considering everything that's going down in the military…"

"No one talks to me about the war which is brewing. Everyone acts like I'm ignorant to it."

The war was not an easy thing to discuss, especially to a boy of 14. I looked down at Al and saw the disappointment in his features. "Al, you have to understand-"

"They want to protect me. I'm always being protected."

He was being protected because we all saw him as a child. He was a child. I went to make a comment, but Al suddenly stopped and turned towards me. "Don't say it Ed, I know what you want to tell me. I am a child, a kid. I'm constantly reminded that I am too young, it's getting annoying."

"Al…"

Al shook his head. "Things are different now and I am doing my best to accept that fact, I'm just trying to say I hate it when you can know everything that's go on, but everyone tries to hide things from me. Things used to be equal between us; I just wish they still were."

Everything my brother was asking for was everything he deserved. I frowned as I realized life had to be so unfair to Al. I had known from the first day we had been reunited that life couldn't have been easy for Al, but hearing him state it made the realization of things more apparent.

I placed a hand on his shoulder. "After the Rizenpool attacks, and after I was sent to the military, Xing began to-" It would take me almost an hour to explain everything in full detail to him about the war.

I was willing to give Al everything he deserved, and so much more.

It was around dinner time when Al and I returned. The house was fairly silent when we first entered.

I looked in the kitchen, there was no one. I looked in the living room, nope, none either. I took an educated guess to where they all were and I found one of them

Izumi sat in a chair by Wrath's bed. She was silent as she gazed at her son. I leaned against the door frame as I watched her.

Izumi and I in the past two days had done nothing but argue. Our opinions on Wrath were defiantly on two different levels. There had been too many disagreements between us. Wrath was her son and I was his enemy. Nope, didn't seem like there was any good in the situation.

I sighed and was about to turn and leave, but Izumi's voice stopped me

"He still hasn't woken up."

My voice was quiet as I responded. "He's had a rough day."

I could see the dark circles under her eyes as she offered me a quick glance. Suddenly Izumi seemed much older. "But, he is alive. Edward, he's alive."

I walked into the room and up to the bed. Wrath laid there sound asleep. He looked so human all of the sudden. He had been washed; his hair wasn't fully dry yet. His lips were parted as he slept soundly.

"Does he still have a fever?"

Izumi nodded. "It's gone down, but he still has one."

"I still have to question him, you can't stop me."

Izumi wanted to protect Wrath, she had every right to. But, no matter what, I had to talk to Wrath about that Sanctuary. And, by any means necessary, I planned to get my answers.

"Edward, this is not easy for me." I could hear it in her voice. She spoke to me as a friend, not as her once disciple. She wanted me to see her view on things. I wanted to understand, desperately I did. But…

My fist tightened. "You really screwed me this morning. You are too soft with your feelings towards him." I had wanted to say that all day. I wasn't really angry with Izumi, just annoyed.

Izumi's eyes never left her child. Her lips turned downward before she spoke. "Edward, he's my son. I've lost him so many times. I just don-"

Where the words came from, I did not know. The only thing I knew was as I spoke I saw the fake image of my mother in my head. The creature I had once created. "He is not your son!"

I instantly realized I did not mean what I said. Honestly, I did think that somewhere in the creature that laid on the bed Izumi's child was still alive within. I mean, I wouldn't have brought the boy all the way from Ishbal if I didn't.

Silence fell across the room. I felt a chill in the air. I took in a few deep breaths trying to think of something else to say. Was I to apologize? Was I to sympathize?

"Izumi, I'm sorr-"

"He died that day, so long ago. But every time I look at this child's face I convince myself otherwise. When he called out to me this morning, I couldn't help it. He called me Mommy…"

I wanted to tell Izumi that he had called my own mother Mommy, but I didn't have the heart to say it.

"…Edward, he was once my child. I don't know how to be strong, I don't know how to let go." Her hand clasped her sons. Her fingers entwining with his. "No matter what, I don't know how to stop loving him. Even if he is a homunculus."

My throat suddenly closed. In my mind I saw that image of the homunculus of my mother. I had been able to block the motherly emotions I felt for her. I had convinced myself that she wasn't real; she was a monster I had created. I had refused to love her like Izumi did with Wrath. With that realization, it suddenly made me feel totally heartless.

Was I wrong or right in the fact that I killed my homunculus mother?

It was a question I refused to answer.

Izumi loved her son so much. She loved him so fucking much I was actually jealous. To her it simply didn't matter if Wrath was dead or alive. She had so much faith in him deep down inside. She still loved him.

Izumi licked her lips before she spoke. "I will leave the premises when you question him. You brought him back to me; I must give you my trust."

I didn't find any words to say. I just left. My feet fell heavily towards the ground as I headed towards my room and shut the door. I quickly threw off my cloths and fell to the bed in a careless heap. I threw the blankets over my head and shut my eyes tight.

I just wanted to sleep.

I thought I heard something distantly in the house, but I was too tired to really care. It was in the middle of the night. The room was black minus the dim light that seeped in from the small open window. The summer air blew and caused the drapes to flutter lightly.

I blinked a few times in confusion as I heard some more noise.

I grabbed the pillow and threw it over my head. Come on, I wanted my sleep!

The noise remained for awhile, but disintegrated as I fell back into a dreamful state. It could have been five minutes to an hour when I was suddenly jerked awake.

A hand over my mouth muffled my started yelp. Two sea blue eyes peered into my own.

"Ed, wake up."

I grabbed Winry's hand and removed it. "What the hell Winry!"

Winry placed a finger to her lips. "I need you to come with me."

Winry's voice was calm, actually all of her movements seemed extremely relaxed, but her eyes betrayed her. I saw something in her eyes that desperately pleaded to me. A denial, a panic, a fear.

I pushed myself out of the bed. The cold night air felt nice against my bare chest. My blue cotton boxers were the only thing I wore. Winry wore a white tank top with yellow flannel pants. Our bare feet pattered along the wooden panel floor. She led me out of my room and down the hallway.

For a moment worry consumed me as we approached Wrath's room. But, much to my surprise, we walked right past it. I glanced in the open door and found Izumi asleep in the same chair I had last left her in. Her head was on the bed, her hand still entwined with Wrath's.

A light was on in the living room. The noise I had heard previously still buzzed throughout the midnight air. In the living room, the noise was at its loudest.

My words were whispered loudly. "Winry, what time is it? Why the hell are you listening to the radio at this hour?"

We stopped in front of the radio. "I couldn't sleep; I usually wake up and just listen to music while I read."

I grumbled under my breath. "Then why did you wake me up?"

Winry said she listened to music, but as I listened to the radio I became aware that what was on was not music, but the news. I rubbed my eyes a few times and yawned. My brain was still in tried mode, but the more I concentrated the more aware I became to what the newscaster was saying.

"-they entered along the border of Dracmha. It has not been confirmed if relations are between the Dracmha and the Xing people. Xing Alchemists and creatures beyond comprehension swept through various cities, leaving nothing but a path of destruction.- "

My eyes flew open as I took in a sharp intake of breath. This was a joke, it had to be. Maybe I was still asleep? Yea, that was it. I was asleep. Right.

"-The death toll has not been confirmed yet, but ladies and gentlemen we are looking into hundreds, possible thousands. Amestris soldiers have been able to stop this sudden raid and pushed the regiment back, but, it leaves us all in wonderment of if this can happen again. It's been confirmed that a total of seven towns have been totally demolished, three more suffering grave damages. Rumor has it that the raid was held only by five Alchemists. Two animal-like creatures are also said to have participated, according to witnesses. I have the names of the towns which are totally destroyed. Katcurt, Hanville, Sorando, Euswell-"

Euswell had been the place that I did my very first mission for the military. I was to investigate the Euswell Mines. It was where I first met a girl named Lyla. A girl who later would lose her body to Dante. It was a place that now lay in total ruins.

I shut my brain off from the radio as I took a large step back away from it. It was like the radio suddenly had a big sign saying 'Death' over it. It felt like a sin to even be near it.

Hundreds, maybe even thousands of innocent people died that night.

I didn't want to believe it.

Winry grabbed my metal shoulder. "How could they do this!" Her voice wasn't quiet anymore, I could hear nothing but misery.

I wasn't totally thinking right myself. I wasn't sure how to react. I mean, really, a lot of people had just died. I was sound asleep while people were being slaughtered. What was worse was they were slaughtered by five Alchemists.

…it was disgusting.

"Ed, they easily entered into Amestris. Where was the military during all of this! Where were they?"

I know Winry didn't really mean to, but her tone held accusation. I was in the military and where was I? Why hadn't I been there to help? It made my stomach turn.

"Winry I…"

I couldn't think of anything to say. I was an Alchemist, I was a military official. I could have stopped that raid. Even if I couldn't, I could have at least done something.

So many people were now dead and much more were dying in the Great Desert.

The war was suddenly hitting home. Reality of everything was truly sinking in.

Her voice was almost heartbreaking to hear. "We won't win this, will we?"

I gave an 'ouf' sound as Winry wrapped her arms around me and buried her face in my metal shoulder. She didn't seem like she was crying, but I had a feeling she wanted to. I wasn't really a person who liked to hug, but considering it was Winry, I could always make an exception. Winry was my best friend next to my brother. My arms wrapped around Winry's form.

I wanted to comfort her somehow. I wanted to say something warm, something reassuring. But if I did it would all be lies. I never wanted to lie to her. I didn't want to hide anything from her. I was willing to be honest, even if honesty sucked ass. "I don't know."

I knew for a fact that we wouldn't win if the military wouldn't allow Alchemists to use alchemy. We needed alchemy in the war. I didn't care if that meant I would go to the front. It was obvious Xing wasn't playing nice anymore and my home land was the toy Xing was playing with. My family were potential victims at the hands of Amestris's enemy.

My future suddenly seemed perfectly clear. For awhile now I had been dancing between Enzo's case and now the mystery of Wrath. I had been avoiding the most important thing that was going on. I had been using everything as an excuse from the truth.

As I stood in the room holding Winry I decided something.

It was time I entered this war. It was time I did something. It was time to use fire with fire. All I had to do was get the Parliament to agree with me.

I was going to fight, even to the bitter end.

Han-chan Omake time!

I looked at her expecting her to say something, but she didn't. The room suddenly felt uncomfortable. I sat up in a sitting position before I spoke. "Did you want something?"

"An explanation might work."

I lifted an eyebrow. "Well, if you first gave me a question, then maybe I could offer you an explanation."

I could see a bunch of emotions swirl in Winry's eyes. Disappointment, disbelief, sadness. The most predominate though was rage. Winry's wrath was never a good thing. "What happened to you?"

Figures. I ran my hand through my bangs as I sat up. My human hand ran over the bandages that covered my shoulder. "Just stuff."

Her slap didn't really hurt much. Trust me; I have been hit a lot harder. Her small hand didn't really faze me. But, the emotion that was in the slap sure as hell lashed out at my ego. I looked up at Winry slightly startled.

"Edward, when are you going to get it through your thick scull that you have people who worry about you? Why didn't you tell us that you were so hurt!"

My voice remained calm, no use in raising it. "I'm alive aren't I? If I called and told you every time I got hurt, then I would just end up worrying you guys to death."

What I said didn't seem to fit right with Winry. "How often does this happen?"

I couldn't help it, I smirked. "Do you really want to know?"

Winry, started by my tone of voice, nodded slowly. "I want to know."

"Well, you see Roy and I have been going at it for some time now and recently he has gotten on this S&M kick and so he is always whipping me and biting me and occasionally he likes to use a little flame, even if it is just for the candles... See the circle burns? That's where he ground…"

Ed looked over and started laughing, Winry's nose was bleeding heavily and she was passed out.

With a chuckle Ed muttered "She DID say she wanted to know how I got these…"

Omake 2:

Han: Yawn wake up because family is too loud in the morning at 7 in the friggin morning Idiots it's only 7 and its summer….

Han gets up and goes all of 10 feet to where her laptop is and checks email and the status of her d/ls

Han: Wahhhh! All of Tsubasa Chronicle is donee! W00t! Proceeds to watch all of the TC she dled

Han: I have 30 more minutes till mom gets home… she'll prolly slave me…

Ooh, email from Gomp… NOOOOOOOOOo NOT A CHAPTERRR! I AM STILL 123 PAGES BEHIND! NOOOOOOOOOO. Oh well…..

Re: Chapter 20

To: Gomp

Yea, I will have it to you by 5… Yea…

6pm after being put in "time out" for 3 hours and being dragged everywhere under the sun all day

Han: Noooo the dead lineeeee

Han rushes to finish the editing and gets it in to Gomp's mail box with a plea of forgiveness by 7:15pm. 2:15 minutes late…..

Han summarily passes out and dies from lack of reader appreciation

Moral of the story readers: All delays are my fault. Period.

Authors note:

Whoa, took me awhile with this one! I admit this is not my favorite chapter, but I had to write it for plotline sakes! My next chapter has been started and I'm praying I can get it finished before I leave to college. This weekend I'm going on a trip, and then the following weekend I'll be back at college, and the following weekend after that I'll be in New York! Argh, life is obviously being busy! College this year is going to be rough considering my classes I'll be taking, but no worries, I will finish this fic if my life depends on it! And, surprisingly, we are actually nearing the end. You might be like 'wtf, no way', but sadly, yes way. As I'm working on the next chapter I keep thinking 'I cant believe how soon this fic will be over, only few more chapters to go!'. Now, I'm talking like 5-10 chaps left, not like 1 or 2.

I must thank Egypt for her criticizing, and Kwala also for her help. And as always, must thank the wonderful Han-chan for her editing.

Questions you may have…

1. Ok, so Wrath is a Homunculus, why can he get sick?

Ed gives a very good theory to why Wrath might be sick. Considering Wrath losing Red Water, there is potential. But, I wont fully give my answer to this away till a few chapters from now >3

2. So like, does Winry…you know… with Ed?

Does Winry like Ed? Hmm, well, that is a mighty good question to ask! The many possibilities.

3. Wait! Now Ed wants to join the war effort? Man this guy is bipolar!

Actually, the very last scene was written with the memory of 9/11 (I wont get into this too deeply since I know this is a sore subject for some). Talking to many people after the tragic event of that day, I remember many saying they wanted to fight the war against terrorism. So, I do think this outcome of Edwards emotional standpoint is a very possible one. Death in large amounts, I believe, affects almost everyone. How we react is all different, but sometimes I think we react in a way we least expect.

4. Gomp, is Ed actually going to head out to the Great Desert?

Oh my friends, what a good question! Now that is something we will actually have to wait and see.

Han-Chan- You ROCK!

DaisyAnimeluvr- I'm so happy you like the fic! I always like new comers! Thank you for the compliments and thank you for the review!

Aprilnikulangot- I'm glad you liked the fic! I have worked very hard on this baby. I hope you were able to finish it and really enjoy. Thank you for the compliments and the review!

Infinitesimi- I am happy you like the direction I am taking Wrath in. I had recently read another fic that dealt with Wrath being 'normal'. When I read it I got so bored. For awhile I had planned to make Wrath a lil'…odd, but after reading that fic it helped fire up my muse. I am really happy you like the way I captured Ed. I know he's not exactly the way portrayed in the series, but I am trying to make him as human as possible so you feel comfortable with the character. Also, like I constantly remind, Ed is older now and more mature. I would hope he wouldn't be exactly the same way he was in the series 8P. Well, thank you for the lovely comments and the review!

Katratzi- Izumi is one of my favorite characters also! Actually, when I first saw the series I had a fight with myself if I liked Izumi or Armstrong more. I was never a big fan with Ed until I began writing this fic and was forced to pay more attention to him when watching the series. Izumi kicks ass! Thanks for the review!

Angry-kitty- Ahh! You changed your name! But, I like the new one. Angry-kitty is kewl! I know this chapter isn't my best one, but soon the chapters will be getting real fun and exciting as everything begins to come together. I cant wait XD! Thanks for the review!

Kuro Roze- You know what's funny, I thought Wrath was a girl too! Wrath has a very feminine look (so does Envy). Well, Held is back on the road! I know this chapter took awhile to get out, but here it is! The next one I'm hoping to get out in a week. It's already half way done. Well, thanks for the review!

Lelann- Thank you for the comment on the interactions between Ed and Izumi. I did have a hard time writing them, but I'm glad you were pleased. They did get Wrath underway, just hopefully he will be good later on. We will see. Thanks for the review!

Gozilla- Yup, nice and long XD I'm sorry this chapter was delayed, next one should be a lot sooner! Thanks for the review!

Kwala-Yup, Winry has her connections in the military. It's Ed's fault for introducing her to half these people XD! Al is a genius, you cant take that away from him. Al will have his time in the spot light, its coming soon. Ed and Winry being a couple, foreshadowing? Well, we know how I never give spoilers! You want a hot or cold thing for you…well, you're in the middle XD! You got some guesses, and some off ones. It's all a wait and seeee. Yes, you are an awesome person by the way! I enjoy our emails. Thanks for the review!

DogEarFetish- Wrath totally rocks! You are going to enjoy him. There are a few secrets about the kid which will rock your socks off! And yes, Wrath does look like Envy. Thanks for the review!

Anon-Yes, Held is back. Thanks for your compliments on Izumi, I love writing her. And the whole nutsy Wrath thing is meant to be puzzling. There is a reason to Wraths craziness, its not just randomness. Well, thank you for the review!