And now I'm officially done breaking it up into chapters. So go read Forsaken Memories. It's the sequel.

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Outside of the little house, all hell had broken loose. All the residents of the town were running around in a panic, some trying to put out the fires Scar had started on some of the buildings, and some just not thinking clearly and getting in the way.

Al was trying to make his way to the house where he had seen the masked man run inside only moments before. Before he could reach the house, though, there was a sort of explosion from the inside. The entire second floor was blown away, and the rest collapsed on itself.

At this, everyone except for Al, Scar, and Mei Chan ran into the woods. Al's legs gave out as he looked at the pile of rubble in front of him. He could see a hand sticking out of the pile, but it was a right hand. It couldn't be Ed.

Scar walked through the scraps of wood and stone and began clearing it off of the person in the mess. Once he had cleared a decent amount of it off, he paused.

"Alphonse, come here," he said in a low voice. Al managed to stand up and walked over to Scar. He started at what he saw on the ground. There, facedown on the ground, unconscious and bleeding, was Ed, his arm reattached.

"Brother!" Al cried, moving to pull Ed out of the rubble.

"Wait. Leave him there."

"Why?"

"If you move him, it'll only make things worse," Al heard Mei Chan say from behind him. Al watched in a sort of daze as she used rentanjutsu on Ed's wounds. After a moment, Ed stirred.

He picked his head up off the ground and looked at the people in front of him. Then he saw his arm. Ed opened his mouth to speak, but before he got any words out, someone else spoke behind him.

"So you managed to finally destroy this place. I was beginning to wonder if anyone would."

Al looked back to see the old man standing there. He looked happy.

"Why are you here?" Al asked.

"Oh, this is where I had to make my home for many years. As for why I ended up here in the first place, it's the same for me as it is for you." The man looked around. "You should leave now. Some of the others are bound to return soon, and I doubt they'll be happy to see you."

Scar agreed with this and pulled Ed to his feet. They began walking down the road toward the town.

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Al walked next to his brother on the way back; a ways behind Scar and Mei Chan. Apparently Al had done something to hurt her feelings, because she hadn't said a word to him after realizing who he was.

"So how did you get your arm back, brother?"

"I don't know, I remember Tessa doing something with a transmutation circle, and some masked guy, but after that, the next thing I remember is looking up and seeing you right there."

"You're sure you don't remember anything else?"

"No, I…" Ed stopped walking. Al stopped too, and after a minute, Scar and Mei Chan stopped as well.

"What is it?"

"I just figured it out."

"Figured what out?"

"A way to get out of the military for good, without having to run away."

"Huh?"

"Al, come on, we're going back."

"What? Why?"

"I'll explain it to you on the way. Just come on." Ed had turned around and was walking quickly back to the village. Al stood for a minute, not quite sure what to do, but then he followed his brother.

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After a while, Ed slowed down enough so that Al didn't have to put so much effort into keeping up with him.

"Brother? What's your plan?" Al asked.

"That guy. He can make you forget anything, right?"

"Yeah, so?"

"Well, what if he can make us forget just enough so that we don't need to be watched by the military?"

"What do you mean?"

"Like, if we forget everything we learned at the doors, and also everything about the homunculi, and that Father guy."

Al paused. "That could work, but…"

"I know, it would mean forgetting about everyone we met, like Mustang and Hawkeye, and Hughes… but at least we would be free. And maybe…"

"Maybe what?"

"Maybe we'd be able to remember everything later. Then we could work against the homunculi without them realizing that we know about them."

"But what if we can't remember it later?"

"Then it'll be like it was when we were kids."

"I don't know, brother."

"Look, it wouldn't be getting rid of our past entirely, just the parts after we messed up. Besides, I hate having to do everything with the knowledge that Winry might get hurt because of our actions."

Ed was quiet for a while, giving Al a chance to think it through. Ed hoped greatly that Al would agree, especially since it would mean not having Scar as their enemy ever again.

"Hey, brother? If he's good enough to only remove a few memories, he can probably undo it, right?"

"Maybe, but I don't know for sure."

"Well, if he can, then I'm okay with doing it. If he can't though… I don't want to lose everything we've learned since…"

"I know. Me neither."

The old man was sitting in the middle of the town with his eyes closed. He opened one eye as the brothers approached.

"You want to forget something, right?" he asked, and stood up.

"How did you…?"

"My specialty is getting rid of unwanted memories. I can also make sure you remember them, too."

"Really?"

"Yes. Here, let's go inside."

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Once inside, the man handed Ed a small medallion.

"Is there someone you trust enough to return this to you when the time comes?"

"What is it?" Ed asked.

"This will contain your memories, and once it is returned to you, you'll remember everything."

Ed sat quietly, trying to think of someone. "Well, maybe the Colonel, but we'd have to find a way to get it to him without making anyone suspicious."

"What about Lieutenant Havoc, brother? He could probably get it to the Colonel."

"Yeah, he could. Nobody would suspect him either because he can't really do anything against the military."

The man smiled. "All right. I'll deliver this to this Havoc person. Just tell me where to go."

"Really? You'll bring it to him?"

"Yes. I owe you two a lot. Why don't you write a note to go with it while I set things up? And actually, could one of you help me?"

Ed let Al handle the note while he helped the man move stuff around. Finally, he was ready. He had Ed lie down on the floor next to his brother.

"Close your eyes now, and relax. It's going to take a while. What day do you want to go back to?"

"The day we tried to bring back our mother." Ed gave the date, too, just in case that's what the man meant.

"All right. You're going to fall asleep, and when you wake up, you won't remember anything from that day forward."

Ed breathed deeply to calm himself down. This was it. He was going to get out of the military. All he had to do was relax.

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Ed slowly opened his eyes. The sun was shining in his face, so he closed them again. Oh, jeez, it's bright out. How long have I been asleep? And why is the sun in my face? The curtains were closed last night… Ed opened his eyes again, just enough to see where he was. Wait, this isn't my room. This isn't even my house. It's not Winry's house either, or teacher's house, or the house of any of my friends. Where am I?

Ed rolled onto his back and stared at the ceiling. The sun wasn't in his eyes anymore, but it was still bright. He heard a noise from his right side. Someone was there, a man with black hair and eyes, and a military uniform. He smiled at Ed.

"Oh, so you're finally awake, Fullmetal."

Fullmetal? Why is this guy calling me that? And why am I talking to someone from the military? Ed sat up.

"Who are you?" he asked.

"Eh? What do you mean?"

"I mean I have no idea who you are. And where am I? And… how the hell did my hair grow like a foot overnight?"

"What are you talking about, Edward?"

"And how do you know my name?" Ed was slightly panicked now.

"You're kidding, right?" the man asked.

"No, I'm not kidding. What the heck is going on?"

The man looked closely at Ed. "You don't remember?"

"Remember what?"

"I've known you for five years, Edward. I'm Roy Mustang, the Flame Alchemist."

"Wait, have you been spying on us?"

"What? No! Don't you remember? I came after you tried to bring back your mother…"

"How do you know about that?"

"Because, you tried to bring her back, failed miserably, and spent the next five years trying to find a way to regain the bodies you lost."

Ed stared blankly at Roy. "No way…"

Roy got somewhat irritated with Ed at that point. He grabbed Ed's arm and pulled him out of the bed and in front of a mirror.

"You're sixteen now, get it?"

Ed stared at the mirror. He definitely looked sixteen, but he was still having a hard time believing it. Five years had passed? And bringing back their mother hadn't worked?

"Where's Al, then?"

"He's in another room nearby. Apparently he doesn't remember anything either."

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Envy walked past where the Elric brothers were sitting with Mustang. They definitely didn't act like they remembered anything, but he decided to test it.

That evening, when the brothers were alone, Envy walked into the room disguised as Hughes. He waved at the two and came up to Ed.

"How's it going, Ed?"

"Um, sorry, do I know you?" Ed asked, his face a perfect picture of confusion.

"Uh, no, you don't. Never mind."

Envy walked out of the room before Ed could quite figure out what had happened. "Damn, those brats really don't remember anything."

"They're useless as human sacrifices too, now that they don't remember arriving at the doors," Envy heard someone say. He turned around to see Wrath standing there.

"So what should we do with them?" Envy asked.

"I'd say send them back to Resembool. They're not a threat to us anymore, and we can't just kill them without arousing suspicion. Besides, they might remember later on."

Envy shrugged. "Works for me."

The boys were sent home the next day.

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Roy woke up absurdly early on his day off. He slowly got dressed, and made some breakfast. As he finished, there was a knock at the door. He opened the door to see who it was. It was Riza.

"I'm glad you're awake. I wanted to tell you something."

"What's that?"

"Go visit lieuten- go visit Havoc. He wants to give you something."

"Huh?"

"He told me to tell you that. I have to go to work now."

Roy watched in confusion as Riza walked off. Then he decided to clean up and head to the hospital.

Once there, Roy saw that Havoc's door was open. Havoc looked over at Roy.

"Jeez, finally. How are things going?"

"Eh, not bad. You've heard about the Elric brothers, right?"

"Yeah, they lost their memory, right? Speaking of which, I have something for you."

"So I've heard."

"Is that the only reason you came? Some friend you are. Here." Havoc handed Roy an envelope. "Some old guy came in a while ago and handed this to me. He rambled for a while, too."

Roy took the envelope and opened it. Inside were a note and a medallion of some sort. He stuck the medallion in his pocket and looked at the note.

Dear Colonel,

When you read this, my brother and I probably won't remember you. I'm sorry for that, but we had to do this. At least now we can move around freely without endangering Winry.

There is a key to us remembering, though. Hopefully you'll get a medallion with this note. If you give it back to us, we'll be ourselves again. How we were when we last saw you.

Sincerely,

Alphonse Elric

Roy reread the note several times before handing it to Havoc.

"Man, I guess they're smarter than you are, huh?"

"Shut up," Roy snapped, yanking the note back. "I guess I'll be visiting Resembool the next time I have a vacation."