A/N: Here's chapter 3! I'm glad ev'ryone likes the story so far! It makes me happy that i make readers like my stories. i feel so special! o anywayz, enough of my chatter, here's chapt. 3! Happy reading!

Chapter 3: Back To The Way Things Were

Ed and Al woke up bright and early to check up on their mom. They crept quietly down the empty house to see their mother sleeping peacefully. They giggled as they snuck up on her. They watched as she continued to sleep, preparing to wake her up. Ed held up one, then two, and then three fingers. When the two boys nodded they said with a small shout, "It's morning!" Trisha jumped up from her bed, and the brothers laughed and cheered. She gave a smile.

"Boys, you know that wasn't very nice to wake up your mom." Trisha said with a light scold, laughing.

"We're sorry!" they said in unison and the three laughed together. The two boys grabbed their mother by the hand, leading her outside.

"There's so much you've missed mom! So much you should see!" Ed cried happily.

"Yeah! Brother and I told you we got ourselves an alchemy teacher, and now our alchemy is 100 time better than it was before!" Al squealed in delight. Trisha giggled as her boys led her under a shady tree.

"But boys, don't you want to have breakfast first? You know what they say." Trisha said.

"We know we know!" they replied and repeated, "Alchemists as talented as we are shouldn't perform on an empty stomach!" and Trisha smiled.

"Why don't you boys get yourselves ready while I go and make us something to eat." Trisha said, got up, dusted herself off, and went into the house.

"This is great brother! Wait until mom sees our alchemy! She'll be thrilled!" Al cried as he drew out his transmutation circle.

"Haha. Yeah! She'll be amazed at what we can do!" Ed replied with a laugh. As the two prepared for their outstanding alchemy, Trisha was inside making breakfast. She hummed a little tune as she made the scrambled eggs and pancakes. 'The boys will love this. It's their favorite.' she thought to herself. (A/N: I don't really know if it's their favorite, but i definately know it's mine! lol) As the food was ready, she brought it out on a big tray and asked for their help with the drinks. They rushed over and grabbed three cups filled with orange juice. They set it down outside, and ate happily. When their stomachs were full, they laughed as their mother scolded them for bad table manners.

"But we're outside!" they complained happily as they wiped off the food that was left on their face. Trisha giggled.

"All right. Time to see how far you've come in your alchemy." she finally said as Al and Ed's eyes lit up.

"Me first me first!" Al cried and then complained when Ed placed his hands on his transmutation circle first. The circle lit up, and in an instant a toy horse was made out of the ground (A/N: It looks like the one that Al showed Sig) .

"No fair brother! I called first!" Al pouted and Ed stuck his tongue out.

"Now now Ed, that's not nice. Apologize to your brother." Trisha said and Ed grumbled, "Sorry.."

"My turn my turn!" Al laughed happily as he slapped his hands on his transmutation circle. It lit up and in an instant a replica of a cat could be seen. Trisha clapped her hands together happily.

"Well done boys! I'm so proud of you! The detail of your cat Alphonse is magnifenct. And the features on your toy horse Edward is absolutely wondrous! You've really come a long way!" Trisha exclaimed. Ed and Al's faces lit up with joy at their mother's approval of their alchemy.

"Brother, we should one day introduce her to teacher! She's the one that made this possible!" Al cried.

"That won't be possible Al...she'll have questions for us. Remember what Auntie said when we met her?" Ed replied and Al sulked. Trisha didn't like it when they talked about their human transmutation, and tried to change the conversation.

"I know. When things settle down we'll go visit her." Trisha said.

"But mom when we met her that was when you were...dead." Al said quietly.

"Yes, I am aware of that. Still, this teacher of yours sounds very skilled and I would love to meet her someday. After all, I have her to thank for your improvement in your alchemy." Trisha replied in a sweet voice.

"C'mon Al, let's stop worrying and show mom what else we can do!" Ed finally said as he stood up. Al nodded happily and they began to show more of what hey had learned. As they finally showed everything they had known for alchemy, they showed her their martial arts skills.

"Teacher also told us that 'To train the mind you have to train the body'. So sometimes we would spar to see how good we were!" Ed explained as he dodged Al's punches.

"Yeah! Mom watch as I kick Ed's butt!" Al cried as he sent out a kick. Ed dodged that and rushed up to Al, a punch ready to be fired.

"Be careful boys! I don't want you to go overboard just for me!" Trisha called.

"We will!" Al reassured her when he dodged Ed's punch and flipped his brother on his back.

"Edward are you all right!" Trisha asked in alarm.

"Don't worry mom! I'm okay!" Ed called as he got up quickly to give Al a low kick that made him trip.

"Oof! You're gonna get it now Brother! My ultimate cat-style technique!" Al cried. He gave Trisha a smile. "I made it up mom watch as I beat Ed!" he added and Al looked like he had a kitty's mouth (one cute little fang stuck out) and he charged at Ed. He 'scratched' (more like he lightly punched Ed) continuously, and when Ed knocked him back Al backflipped and landed on his feet.

"Cat-style technique! It's great actually 'cause cats always land on their feet." Al cried triumphantly. Trisha giggled.

"You and your cat stuff!" Ed cried and charged. Al prepared to guard, but saw Winry waving, and Den barking as they ran up to them.

"Hi Winry!" Al called and rushed off to them. Ed punched at that moment and he fell flat on his face.

"Gah! Al!" Ed said through a huff.

"S-sorry Brother!" Al apologized and Winry laughed as Al helped Ed up. Trisha walked over to the three kids.

"Hi there Ed, Al. I was just checkin up and all. So how are you today?" Winry asked as Den wagged his tail.

"We're all right Winry thanks for asking. How're you?" Ed asked.

"Pretty good thanks. I was hoping that you guys could go swimming with me and Den at the river. It's pretty wide if you know what I mean." Winry suggested.

"Can we mom?" "Yeah can we?" the two asked.

"I don't know..." Trisha started.

"Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeease?" they begged and tugged on her apron.

"Okay, okay. You can go. Just don't get too wet. I'll go get you towels." Trisha laughed and went inside. The three waited, and when Ed and Al were free to go they raced off.

"Don't be late for dinner!" she called and Ed and Al waved goodbye as they went to the river. Trisha walked inside the empty house, and started to look at a photo. It was of Winry, Ed, Al, and Den when he was still a puppy. The next was of Ed and Al with her, and the final one was Ed, Al, Winry, Den, herself, and Pinako. Her eyes narrowed when she saw that 'hag' in the photo. 'I'll get my chance at you, you witch. For telling my boys that I'm a doll. I am nothing of the sort. It's your fault, all your fault.' she thought to herself and gripped the frame. She put it down carefully, not to actually throw it, and walked into the kitchen. She decided to make Edward's favorite, stew. She chuckled when the memory of Ed denying milk popped into her head, and how she had told him once that milk was in stew. His puzzled expression made her laugh. She sighed, tears began to fall at the memories that started to flood through her mind. Why was she crying? What was the purpose? They were tears of joy...they had to be, right?

"CANNON BALLL!" Ed cried as he jumped into the river, splashing both Winry and Al. Den doggie paddled over as he wagged his tail, making many ripples in the water. The three were amazed at how mesmerizing the ripples were, almost losing track of time. The three laughed as they played, it was just like old times for them. When they dried off, it was getting late as the sun began to set.

"Ed, Al..." Winry began and they looked at her with unconcerned looks. "Are you guys...happy now? With your mom back and all?" she asked them.

"Yeah. We're really happy that she's back. Now we can go back to the way things were." Ed said with a smile, but Winry began to shake, holding back tears.

"I'm glad...you're happy but...now you won't ever be able to come over to visit granny and me...and that's not happy for me. It's...it's sad and painful because I can't ever do what you did, have that happiness back. I'm so happy for you because you're happy, but at the same time..I'm sad..I'm sorry but, things are going to be even more different, more difficult for me since you're not allowed to come visit us. Grandma hasn't been herself lately. She's been concentrating on work and all, I rarely have time to spend with her. So, throughout most of the day I have nothing to do. Then I think about visiting you guys, but then I'd be visiting too much since I know you want to catch up with you mom..." Winry said.

"Oh..Winry. I'm sure mom will forgive auntie soon, and then we'll come over lots to play with you." Al said comfortingly.

"Thanks guys..but another thing that I want to ask..." Winry started and the brothers stared at her.

"I've been..thinking of what grandma said to your mom that night..about being a homunculous..do you think that's true? You know more about alchemy then I do, but grandma said that human transmutation needs more than just drops of blood." Winry asked.

"Of course not." Ed said sharply. He wouldn't let that thought even come into his mind. It wasn't true, it never would be. Sometimes he wished they would stop asking about that.

"Winry, mom's not a homunculous. Why don't you stop thinking about that. Mom is just, mom. There's nothing to it." Al said calmly.

"R-right...I'm sorry I asked you that. Come on, it's getting late the sun's setting. We'd better go." Winry said as she wiped away her tears.

"If it makes you feel better, we can ask mom about visiting you again Winry. I'm sure she'll say yes." Al suggested and Winry's eyes lit up.

"That would be great! If it's not too much trouble that is.." Winry said happily and Den's tail wagged.

"Trouble? Nah it won't be any." Ed said. When they came to a fork in the road, Winry and Den went left while Ed and Al went right. They waved until everyone was out of sight.

"Brother, why do you think everyone thinks mom is a homunculous?" Al asked.

"Because they're jealous." Ed said without thinking.

"Brother! Jealous! Winry! Never! How could you say something like that!" Al asked, surprised.

"What? Oh! No I'm sorry Al I meant...probably because everyone is still curious about how we did it that's all! Come on, I think I see mom!" Ed said and quickly rushed to the house. In the front door was Trisha, she held up a light that filckered on and off. She smiled when the two ran up to her, and they smiled as they entered, ready for dinner. Everything was exactly as it was before. Before that terrible night, everything was great. Now, things were still great. As Ed and Al sat down, they said grace and began to see what would be their dinner tonight. Al's face showed happiness, and Ed's face lit up with glee. This was definately what he had remembered, what he had always had. This was like any other day, the greatest of his and his brother's life. Everything was back to the way it was.

"OH BOY! STEW! MY FAVORITE THANKS MOM!" :-D

"Brother! You know better than to slurp your stew! Tsk tsk!" >:-I

"Now now Al, be nice. Ed, please don't slurp your stew it makes such a terrible noise." :-) -sweatdrop-

"Sssluuurrppp...Whassat? Oh! Right! Haha, sorry mom, Al. It's just that I loooooove stew!" :-D

"Brooother..." >:-I -sweatdrop x2-

A/N: Well, there ya have it ;) chapter 3! I hope u liked my ending too emiieroxs smiles happily, filled with pride at her ending for this chapter and if u don't find the humor in it, THEN PERISH! lol jk jk i would never 0:-) i'mma lil angel! haha! well, enough of my chatterin. chapter 4 will be coming soon! or, hopefully haha i'm workin on lots of stories right now, kinda overwhelmin! but i promise i'll update as soon as i can! summerz almost gone T-T anywayz...thanks for readin and plz R&R! R&R >:-O lol jk jk. but it would be nice if u did, u'd make me :-) . well, laterz -Em