I should give the other chapters names… hmmm…

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Ed paced impatiently in his room, waiting for his brother to return. He looked at the clock again. It was almost nine o'clock. Winry watched Ed for a while before speaking. "Shouldn't we go looking for him?"

"But where would we start? This is a big city," Ed replied.

"Well, Colonel Mustang thought he saw Al when we were talking about the past five years. I'm guessing that maybe he actually saw him, and wasn't just imagining it."

"Which way was he going?"

Winry thought about it for a moment and wrote some directions for Ed. "That's as much as I know. He disappeared right after that."

"Thanks, Winry," Ed said as he pulled on his coat and went for the door.

"Hey, are you going right now?"

"Yeah, I have to make sure he's all right. I'll be back soon."

"You'd better be!"

Ed waved as he ran down the hall. Winry sighed as she closed the door.

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Owwww, my head… What the heck was that? Who were those people…? Al slowly opened his eyes. Someone was standing in front of him. Al didn't move, expecting something bad to happen. Instead, the person held out a hand.

"What are you doing here, Alphonse?" The voice was oddly familiar. Al looked up. It was Roy.

Al took the hand and slowly stood up. "I'm not really sure."

"Well, come on. Winry's worried about you, and Fullmet- Edward went off looking for you. You should get back to the hotel."

"Right…" Al walked down the empty street with Roy. "Sorry."

"For what? It's not like I had a problem with coming after you. I'm more concerned about your brother." Roy paused when he saw the worried look on Al's face. "Don't worry, though. He'll turn up."

"I hope so," Al muttered.

They arrived at the hotel. Roy left Al at the front door after more reassurances. Al walked through the hotel and went straight to his room. Winry was waiting for him inside. She hugged Al and had him sit down.

"I'm glad you're okay."

"Yeah, but now Ed's the one who's missing."

"He'll be fine. You should get some rest. That bump doesn't look good."

Al nodded and pulled off his shoes. In a few minutes, he was asleep.

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Ed wandered through the streets of Central, looking for his brother. After a while, he came to a realization, but he refused to admit it. Once he ended up in a random alley, though, he decided he had to come to terms with what he had learned. He was hopelessly lost.

Ed sighed and turned back to the road he had left. As he walked down the street, Ed heard a voice calling his name. He turned around to see a woman running up to him. She caught up with him and breathed a sigh of relief.

"I'm glad I found you. Have you found Alphonse?"

Ed looked with confusion at the woman. Since she was talking so familiarly with him, he assumed she was someone he knew, but he didn't know whom. "No, I haven't."

"Well, there's not much you can do at the moment. Come on, it's getting late."

Ed watched as she walked off, not quite sure whether he should follow. After a moment, she looked back at Ed. "Come on. You shouldn't be outside at this time of night."

Ed reluctantly followed. As they went inside, Ed rubbed his shoulder. It was sore. It took him a moment to realize he had no idea who he was following around. He silently berated himself for being so foolish.

Once at the door of an apartment, the woman turned. "You don't remember me, right? I'm Riza Hawkeye."

"Ah, right."

As they entered the apartment, the phone rang. Riza closed the door and went to answer it. Ed looked around at the place. A dog began sniffing his pants. Ed looked down at it and thought of Den.

Riza hung up the phone and turned to Ed. "Your brother's fine. He's back at the hotel."

"That's good," Ed muttered, suppressing a yawn.

"Well, it's too late for you to go back now, so why don't you just spend the night here? I don't mind, although there isn't really anyplace comfortable."

Ed shrugged. "That's okay. Thanks for your help."

Riza smiled. "There's no way I could ever understand what you're going through right now. I just hope you can find a way to remember the past five years, although that might make you like Colonel Mustang less," she said with a strange smile. Then she looked at Ed with concern. "Is something wrong with your shoulder?" she asked.

Ed had been unconsciously rubbing his shoulder. He lowered his arm. "Ah, yeah, there's a small piece of automail stuck in there still. It's not too bad, though."

Riza shrugged and disappeared for a moment. When she returned, she had a bundle in her arms. She gave it to Ed. "Here, this should be good for the night. Let me know if you need anything."

"Yeah, thanks," Ed replied as Riza went into her bedroom. Ed laid the blankets out in a corner of the room and turned off the light. Soon he was fast asleep.

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Riza woke up in the middle of the night. She stood up and walked to the bathroom, glancing at Ed on her way. He was on his side, facing the wall. As Riza headed back to bed, she looked at Ed again. The blanket had shifted in the night. She reached down to adjust it.

Black Hayate had approached Ed and was now settling down by Ed's face. Riza sighed as the small dog closed his eyes.

"Are you going to sleep there now?" she asked her dog. Black Hayate looked back up at Riza and yawned. She smiled. "Just try not to bother him, okay?"

As she made her way back to her room, Riza heard Ed's voice. "Is there really any advantage to getting my memories back?"

Riza stopped and turned back to Ed. "What do you mean?"

"Assuming I really do get to remember. I don't know anything about who I was back then. Was I really a good person?"

"Is that what you're worried about?" Riza leaned against the wall. "You do have a reputation, and for the most part, it's a good one. You helped a lot of people. And before you go on and wonder about your reasoning behind helping people, I want you to know that I've never thought of you as selfish. You frequently went out of your way to help people you didn't know. Both of you did." Riza stood straight. "Your brother even saved my life once. He could have run away, he could have ensured his own personal safety by leaving me behind, but he didn't."

"Have I ever killed anyone?"

"No, not that I know of, and I'm sure I would have found out if you had. You're not that kind of person. Why are you so concerned about this?"

"I had a dream. I don't remember what it was about, but it made me feel like I've hurt someone."

"That could be, but if you have, then you have to live with it. If you refuse to regain your past, then you'll only be running away." Riza walked away. "Anyway, don't worry about it right now. If you're really unsure of whether you want to remember, then don't let yourself remember just yet. Give yourself time to decide. We won't hold any grudge against you if you decide against it."

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Ed woke up to the sound of someone knocking on the door. He sat up wearily as Riza walked through the room and checked to see who was knocking. She looked back at Ed.

"It's Colonel Mustang."

Ed stood up as Riza opened the door. Roy walked in and looked at him. "Oh, so you're still here. Good."

"What's up?" Ed asked, stifling a yawn.

"Someone's going to be looking for you. You shouldn't stay in Central."

"What do you mean?"

"Yesterday, your brother got a call from someone claiming to be holding someone hostage. He demanded that Alphonse come to them at an abandoned military building on the other side of town. Your brother panicked, and went over there, but he didn't realize it was a trap until he arrived." Roy paused. "The people who had called didn't have anyone hostage. They were just trying to get him to answer some questions."

"What kind of questions?"

"About why the three of you are in Central. They don't know that you've been in contact with us, and it's better that they don't find out."

"Why's that?"

"If they find that there's a way for you two to regain your memories, then they'll be sure that you take that step and become a part of their plans again." Roy looked straight into Ed's eyes for a moment. "The whole reason you lost your memories in the first place was to avoid being watched by the military. If you give anything away to the enemy, not only will you be in the same situation you were in before regaining your bodies, but the two of us will be questioned, and your situation will most likely worsen."

"But then, where should I go?" Ed asked.

"I know of a place you can stay for a while. We'll bring your brother there too. After a few weeks, I'll be able to get off of work for a while, and use that time to get the two of you out of Central. By then, Winry will have gone back to Rush Valley."

"But where will we go? For some reason I doubt that returning to Resembool would be possible."

"No, it won't be. My plan is to send you north. You met some people up there last winter, and after contacting them about the current situation, they said they'd be willing to hide you up there, on the condition that you do some work for them."

"What kind of work?"

"Mostly alchemy. She said it depends on what you're good at now."

"What about Winry? Does she know about all this?"

"Yes, she does. I talked to her about it this morning. She's going to say you two left without giving her much information. That way they won't put much suspicion on her."

Ed looked at the two adults. Both of them looked dead serious. "So I have to go into hiding now?"

"You and your brother, yes."

"For how long?"

"Not too long, just long enough for them to think that you coming to Central was just a coincidence. After a while, you'll just show up in Resembool saying you're done traveling."

"But what if they don't believe that?"

"It depends on how good of an actor you are. If you can make them believe that you've just been traveling, then you'll be fine."

"But what if I can't?"

"Then just say you've been looking for a way to regain your memory, but you haven't found anything."

"But what about what you said the other night?"

"Just because you know about it doesn't mean you know what it is, so you're fine."

Ed had several more questions, but he decided not to ask them. "So, where is this place you were talking about?" he finally asked.

Roy looked at Ed. "Come with me," he said, walking out the door. Ed said goodbye to Riza before following Roy out of the apartment building.

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Somewhere in Central stood a large house. Two cars were parked in the front. One of the cars had just arrived. Ed looked at the house with confusion as he followed Roy to the door.

"Who lives here?" he asked Roy.

"You remember meeting Major Armstrong, don't you? This is where he lives."

"So we have to stay with him for the next few weeks?" Ed asked, less than thrilled at this new knowledge.

"Yes, but you won't be seeing much of him. You'll be staying in a hidden room in there. It's small, but it's decent, and nobody will be able to find you."

Ed groaned. Roy ignored him as he knocked on the door. Ed heard footsteps on the other side and found himself looking straight at a blonde moustache. Ed took a step back.

"He's here," Roy said.

Armstrong looked at Ed, who had moved several feet away and was avoiding eye contact at all costs. "Is something wrong?"

"No, he's just nervous," Roy said in a low voice. "After all, he's only eleven in his mind, and he barely knows you."

"Of course. I'll try to be careful with him."

As they walked through the house, Roy spoke to Armstrong again. "Don't treat him like a child, though. He's trying his best to act his age, even though he's missed five years of growth in his mind."

Armstrong looked back at the small alchemist. "Then there's really nothing from those years left?"

"No."

They stopped walking. Roy turned to Ed with a cautious smile on his face. "I'm going to head back now. I'll see you in a few weeks."

Ed nodded. "See you."

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The weeks slowly passed by, and a day came when Ed and Al were lying in their small hidden room. The light bulb had burned out only minutes earlier, but neither of the two had the energy to do anything about it. Instead, they lay in the dark, each lost in their own thoughts.

"Al."

"What?"

"Are you nervous?"

"About going to the north? Yeah, especially since I don't remember the people we're going to be with. What about you?"

"Well, I've been thinking about that some, and I realized something else too."

"What?"

"What if they don't expect to see us like this? Back in Resembool, the more recent pictures of us had you wearing really big armor, and I had automail. I just don't think we fit the picture now."

"The Colonel probably mentioned that when he talked to them."

"Yeah, but still…"

The door opened, flooding light into the little room. Ed sat up and squinted at the person in the doorway.

"Why is the light off?" Roy asked, looking around at the room.

"It went out," Ed said in a bored tone.

"Well, get ready. We're going to leave now."

Ed and Al grabbed their things and followed Roy to a car. As they drove, Ed realized they were getting further and further away from the city. He looked at Roy in confusion.

"Where are we going?"

"To a train station outside of Central. That way you can avoid meeting military personnel who recognize you."

"Oh. How far is it?"

"Not too far."

Ed put his arm against the door and rested his chin on his hand. He stared out the window in boredom. Finally, they arrived at the station, and Roy bid farewell to the two boys. He handed them some papers through the train window.

"Get off at that station and switch trains. From there you'll get off at this station, where someone will meet you."

"Who?"

"Someone you've met before. He'll recognize you."

"Does he work for the military?"

"Yes, at the border. It's important that you meet up with him, because if you just go up there on your own, you'll be mistaken for spies again."

"Spies?" Ed repeated curiously as the train began to move. "Wait, again? You mean it's happened before?"

Roy shrugged as the train picked up speed. He waved at the two boys before walking off.

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I like bold, italicized, and underlined font. It's fun. Wheeeeeeeeeeeee.