Declaimer: Blast… now I've gone and depressed myself. This FF will basically be nothing if another movie comes out. AND I don't own it.

Sixth Bit.

"Are you comfortable, Winry?"

Winry nodded to the doctor hovering over her as she sat reclined on a hard operating table, designed for brain surgery. This was it…. Pretty soon she would fall into unconsciousness; a nurse had already given her anesthesia, and it was getting harder to focus her eyes.

"Just a few more minutes and we should be able to start the procedure. You wont fall completely into unconsciousness because we need to keep you awake in order to work on your brain. Don't worry though, you won't feel a thing."

Winry swallowed. She didn't like the sound of being awake while they operated on her head.

She had enough attention to notice the doctor moving away from her vision to sit on a chair behind her.

She closed her eyes it would be over soon.

"Winry, dear, you need to keep your eyes open so we know you haven't fallen asleep. If you fall asleep it could cause some problems for the doctor."

"What kind of problems?'

"If you're asleep, your heart will pump differently, and it will change the blood flow to your brain. It will be harder not to sever any major blood veins."

Note to self… don't ask anymore questions.

A few minutes passed and she still wasn't feeling anything, she was expecting at least a prick of some sort, "has he started?"

Molly was next to her, "Yes… now relax, it makes it easier."

Winry took a few deep breaths, and blinked as her eyes blurred again. It was getting harder to keep them open. She just needed to close them for a little.

"He's working on relieving the pressure of the clot now, only a little longer."

Just a little longer. Her eyes closed, she forced them open and they blurred.

"Doctor I think—"

Those were the last words Winy heard before she slipped away.

It was bright, brighter than she thought unconsciousness should be. Everything around her was a pale glowing yellow, the kind of light that soaked into you like sunlight.

It went on as far as she could see. There was no end to this bright world. Winry turned around and gasped. A solid stone gate loomed up before her, looking so out of place within the golden glow. She was almost frightened of it, it wasn't the sort of pleasant thing you expected in death.

Death?

She wasn't dead; she had just been sitting in the operation chair, everything had been going fine! Panic washed over like a quick breeze, followed only by sadness. Could she really find Ed if she was dead? Could she really pass through this ominous gate in order to get to him? Was he really on the other side?

Ethereal tears streamed down her cheeks. What if there was nothing passed those doors but her own death?

In front of the doors she watched entranced as a translucent figure shimmered into existence. It was a girl, about her age, with short blond hair.

The girl ran to the gates and pounded on them, "No!" She screamed.

What was going on?

The girl sagged down with sobs, and fell to her knees mumbling to herself, "Why?" She whispered, than louder, "Why, why, why?"

Winry walked up to her timidly.

The girl must have sensed her because her head shot up and she looked right at Winry. Confusion was only a fleeting emotion as shock took over both of them.

Winry stood completely still. It was her… it looked just like her! The hair was different… but everything else… everything was exactly the same. This was the body of the woman she had traveled into.

Winry Miller's eyes grew with fiery, "You! You're the one that has killed me!" She stood up, pointing an excusing finger into Winry's chest.

"What?" She backed away, still trying to figure out what was going on.

"I fell ill because of you!"

Winry shook her head, "I don't know what you're talking about!"

Winry Miller screamed, and clutched her heart, "What is happening?" She spoke in agony.

"I don't know." Winry looked down and at her own ghostly hands, "I think we're dying at the same time…" something bizarre was starting to make sense.

Miller's brow furrowed "At the same time? What do you mean?"

Winry looked up to the gates, were they opening? "I think we're just two worlds crossing paths."

Miller shook her head in confusion, "Why?"

Winry sighed, "Because I want to be in your world…"

She looked taken aback, "Why?" She asked again.

"Because someone I love his there…"

The gate creaked open and they both starred into the black wall of eyes with horror.

Winry looked to her double frantically, "I'm sorry." She was desperate though, and she wasn't going to let this opportunity slip past her. She grabbed Miller's arm and swung her away from the gate. She turned around and jumped headlong into the sea of eyes.

As the soulless spirits enveloped her, she saw the gate closing behind her and Miller running and reaching them too late. I'm sorry… She whispered to herself as she closed her eyes and embraced the pain of death.

Winry Miller opened her eyes to the sound of faint beeping. She turned her aching head over to see a small window. Ow.

What happened?

A rounding smiling face popped into her vision.

"You made it." Molly spoke so overflowing with happiness the words hardly seemed to express what she really wanted to say.

"Where?"

Worry etched over the woman's face, "here in the hospital. You gave us a little scare during the surgery though, your heart stopped for a moment, but the doctor was able to give it a jump start again with a little shock, and he finished without any more problems."

Surgery?

Ed and Al had stumbled tiredly in the next town over, having been unable to sleep on the train that night. They had been stumbling around for a while now without actually getting anywhere. They had managed to ask a few people if they had seen anyone who looked like Noah, but no one could give them any answers.

Currently they were sitting on a bench in the middle of town, trying to assess their situation.

Ed wasn't doing much assessing though, considering he was slumped over in sleep, and Al wasn't about to bother him.

He stirred himself awake. His strange senses were twitching, "Hmm…"

"Hmmm?" Al questioned.

Ed's eyes narrowed, trying to pinpoint his feelings, "Something happened."

"What?"

His senses weren't all that clear on that matter, but they certainly knew how to demand a direction, "I have to go back…"

"Where?"

"Rome."

Al didn't like the sound of that, "What are you talking about? We just got here!"

Ed's whole face seemed to be folding in with concentration, "I know. But I have to go back." He stood up.

Al jumped up to follow him, "Now?"

Ed gave a short nod.

"But…"

Ed turned to Al and managed a smile, "You stay here, look for Noah. You'll find her."

Al looked down. He had never done anything like this without Ed before.

"Don't worry. You love her… you'll be able to find her. She needs you, not me." Ed almost laughed, "She's just gotten us mixed up."

Al smiled hopefully.

"Come back when you find her." He turned back towards the train station and his senses flared again. He didn't need someone to fight… he just needed something to find.

Alone… he could do this. He had done it for nearly three years while Ed had been in this world without him. Then he had been driven by the need to find his brother, now he was driven by something almost as strong.

Al sized up the street in front of him. He had already gone to a few people walking the streets, but none of them could put a face to his description of Noah. He needed to question someone that would actually be paying attention to the people in the streets.

He turned to a small bakery out on the street; walked up to the man, and nodded a greeting "Excuse me. I'm looking for someone, she might have come this way."

The man snorted, "Unless she bought bread, I wouldn't remember her."

Maybe she had, "She's about this tall," Al lifted a hand about level with his own head, "Long dark brown hair. Dark skin… brown eyes…" his voice tapered off as it didn't seem like his description was ringing any bells.

The man shook his head, "You might want to ask the people at the train station, she might have staid the night and gotten on a train this morning."

Al nodded and thanked the man for his suggestion.

Back at the train station Al felt his hope ebbing away. If Noah had gone on to the next town, she would have just staid in the train. It seemed pointless to get off in some small village on the way.

He walked up to the ticket booth, "excuse me?"

The woman on the other side of the glass looked distracted by something else, she hadn't seen him come up.

"Excuse me?" Al asked louder.

The woman looked up and smiled, "City please?"

Al shook his head, "No, I don't want a ticket. I'm looking for someone who might have come into this town." He went over Noah's description again.

The woman wrinkled her brow in thought; "I might have seen her earlier with a tall man. Was she traveling with someone else?" the woman sounded overly cheery for the situation.

Al swallowed, "Maybe…"

"Well I can't pull up the records, but I can tell you that they staid here shortly and left late last night."

Al brightened, "Which way?"

"I believe the man bought two tickets to Cairo Egypt."

Al blanched.

"They're going to have to make a few stops on the way, and make a transfer," She looked to a schedule on the wall, "They'll have a two day delay in Spain while they wait for a boat to Morocco."

"Would I be able to make it to Spain before the end of their delay?"

The woman nodded happily, "Sure thing. So do you want a ticket to Spain or Egypt?"

"Spain." He would have to see what happened after that. Al only hoped he was going in the right direction, and hoped more that he had enough money to get him there.

Winry opened her eyes to a white ceiling and a strange chemical smell. Everything hurt, and her eyes were the worst. It was like she had never used them before. What worried her more was that she couldn't actually remember using them before.

A man jumped to her side and grasped her hand a moment later. The feeling was shocking after… after what?

"Winry… honey, are you feeling better?" he asked slowly and kindly.

Better than what? "Where am I?"

"In a hospital. Do you remember passing out?"

The question he should be asking, was if she remembered anything at all. She shook her head.

"That's okay… the doctor said you might not remember a few things. He said sometimes this happens to people if their have low blood pressure."

Low blood pressure? No… that wasn't her problem, "I'm sorry… but who are you?" at least she knew her name; he had called her Winry, hadn't he?

The mans eyes shook with tears and he squeezed her hand a little, "Honey, it's me, Edward."

Edward… she frowned. She at least knew she had memories she was forgetting, that had to count as something, didn't it? She knew what things were… she silently named a few of the things around the room to make sure. She knew she had mother and a father; she just couldn't put a face or name to them. She knew she was supposed to know the man in front of her, but she couldn't remember anything about him. Worse still… she didn't know herself.

It was an odd sort of panic that started to seep into her. It came slowly, like an idea of worry, as if her body was trying to figure out if this was all really bad. She knew it wasn't good, but she couldn't bring herself to say it was bad.

After the extended silence, Edward decided to start talking, "Don't worry, you'll be able to remember everything soon, this is probably just a side effect of fainting so much. I'll bring you home and take care of you, and you won't have to worry about anything but getting better."

Winry smiled, even without memory she knew this man was all she had. She would just have to trust him.

It was late by the time Ed got back to the Inn in Rome. His mind was reeling about whatever it was he was feeling. It was different from the other times; not quite as strong as before, not quite as enticing. It was just there… like a dull pain in the back of his mind, and it wasn't going away. He had to sleep though, or at least try to, he couldn't remember the last time he had had a good nights sleep.

There was a small piece of paper that drifted across the floor as he opened the door to his room. He picked it up and read the words in a trance.

You're fired.

He sighed, he should have figured. At least he had enough money for a few more nights in the Inn, probably enough time to get another job.

He collapsed into bed; he would have to deal with the feeling tomorrow… if it didn't fade away during the night.

A/N Okay... now that was fun.