--
Five years have passed since the night the Elric brothers' vanished without a trace, Trisha and Hoenheim Elric spent every waking moment searching for them. They had everyone in the town of Risembool searching; they even went as far as taking it to Central. But, after a while, people started saying that the chance of them finding the boys alive at this point was staggeringly unlikely. Another month passed and soon, they too started believing it.
It wasn't long afterwards that they had another son, this one they named Liem. They lived happily for several years, their son grew up never knowing he had two older brothers, his parents kept that from him because they had grown to feel that what happened in the past should not effect the future.
--
"Liem dear, come in for dinner!" Trisha called. A young boy with short brown hair and golden eyes turned his head, he then turned back to his friend and said,
"Looks like I gotta go in now."
"Ok Liem, see you tomorrow." A young girl smiled.
"See you too Winry!" Liem got up and ran off up the path towards his home. He opened the door and went inside, he walked into the kitchen to find his mother setting the table and his father sitting at the table reading a newspaper.
"Mom, Dad, when's dinner?"
"Could you set the cups out dear." Trisha asked.
"Yes mother." Liem walked over to one of the cupboards and took out some cups, Hoenheim looked up from his paper and asked,
"So Liem, tomorrow is your fifteenth birthday, who would you like to invite to your birthday party?"
"Hmmm," Liem thought for a quick moment then smiled, "The Rockbells!"
"Just them?" Trisha asked turning.
"Yeah."
"Well, all right then."
"I figured, after what happened, it would be nice." Liem smiled.
--
The next day it was raining, not a downpour, just a light spring shower. Thunder could be heard a few miles off and lighting would occasionally light up the pale gray sky. Liem gazed intently out the kitchen window, watching the rain drops slide down the glass, he was waiting for Winry and Granny Pinako to arrive. Liem then spun around and walked into the living room, there he found his mom and dad sitting in separate chairs, Hoenheim was reading a book on alchemy and Trisha was mending a pillowcase.
"Can I walk over to Winrys'?" he asked.
"You should learn to be patient Liem." Hoenheim said looking up from his book.
"I know father, I just want to make sure they remembered."
"I'm sure they did honey." Trisha smiled.
"I know mother, I just want to make sure." Liem persisted.
"All right, just make sure to take an umbrella and a jacket." Trisha sighed, Liem smiled and nodded. Hoenheim looked over at his wife when the front door closed and the sound of footsteps faded,
"Trisha…"
"He'll be back soon, then we all can open presents." She replied.
"Yes…" he nodded returning to his book.
--
An hour later Liem returned with Winry and Pinako, it seemed there had been some trouble down near the river and they had gone to help. It had been cleared up so they made their way back with Liem. The two Rockbells where soaking wet when they arrived, Pinako was escorted into the kitchen while Liem escorted Winry over to the small fireplace.
"I'm sure we've got something for you to change into Winry." Liem said.
"Are you sure?" Winry asked, "I thought it was only you and you're a boy."
"Yeah well, it's better then nothing," Liem smiled, "Besides, I think you'll look nice in anything."
"Really? Thank you!" Winry laughed, the two left the living room and made for the kitchen, there Winry was at least able to dry her hair off. Later on the gifts were opened and everybody had cake, the adults sat in the living room talking while Liem and Winry played around the house. The two where upstairs playing hide and seek, Winry had found what appeared to be a closet at first but turned out to be a stair case leading to a third floor. When Liem came to find her, he found her standing at the base of the stairs gazing up the landing.
"Hey, what's up there?" she asked.
"I…don't know, I was told this door was locked." Liem muttered, "Lets check it out." He made his way up the stairs, Winry followed close behind. The climbed all the way to the top, there they found it was just an attic, with several boxes lying around. There were also two cribs, Liem had never seen them before so he walked over and took a peek inside, there was nothing in them.
"Hey Liem, take a look at these boxes." Winry said, she'd been examining some of the smaller boxes sitting near the wall. Liem walked over and opened one of the boxes, inside was baby clothes.
"That's funny, I don't remember any of this stuff." Then something caught his eye, "What's this?" Liem dug through the clothes till he pulled out a small photo album.
"It's a photo album." Winry whispered. Liem opened it to the first page, there was a photo of his father and mother, but, his father was holding a little boy and his mother was holding a small baby boy.
"Who are they?" Winry asked pointing to the two babies.
"I…don't know…" Liem muttered, he flipped through the album some more, he found more photos of the two boys and his parents. There was something wrong with this picture, Liem had never seen these two before and yet…there they were with his parents.
"Liem! Winry! Come down, we've got some great news!" came Trisha Elrics' voice from the first floor. Liem turned back to the first page of the album and took out the photo; he stuck it in his pocket and put everything away. The two ran down stairs closing the door to the attic as they went.
"You called?" Liem said as they walked into the living room.
"Yes," Hoenheim said, "It would seem that we have one more present for you Liem."
"What is it?"
"Here." His father handed him a book; Liem took it and looked down at the title, "Alchemy?"
"Yes, your father is going to start teaching you. We both think you are old enough and we think you'll enjoy learning about it."
"Thank you." He said.
"What's the matter Liem? You seem disappointed?" Pinako asked. Liem looked down at the floor for a moment; he then put his hand in his pocket and pulled out the photo. Holding it out he asked,
"Mother, father, who are they?"
Pinako stood up quickly and said,
"Winry, I think it's time for use to head home, it's getting late." She started ushering Winry towards the door.
"But, I want to know too." Winry protested.
"Come dear, it's getting late and we don't want to over stay our visit." Pinako lead her out the door.
Both Trisha and Hoenheim where looking at their son, he had a very determined look on his face. They then looked down at the photo in his hand, and Trisha answered,
"Liem…honey…"
"I want to know mom." He persisted.
"Liem," Hoenheim said, "They're your older brothers."
"W…what?"
-To Be Continued-