People cannot gain anything without sacrificing something. You must present something of equal value to gain something. That is the principle of equivalent trade in alchemy. We believed that was the truth of the world when we were young." -Alphonse Elric

Alchemy: the science of transmuting matter from one form to another. Edward and Alphonse Elric thought they'd learned enough to bring their mother back from death, but the laws of nature demand a heavy price. Edward, with an arm and a leg of metal, and his little brother Alphonse, whose soul is now encased in a living suit of armor, begin a journey to restore their bodies by finding the legendary Philosopher's Stone, which holds unlimited power. But they're not alone.

Intro: That was more than six years ago that one night when Ed and Al tried to bring back their mother. Now in search of the coveted Philosopher's Stone, Ed(15) and Al(14) have to pass many problems that stand in the way of them finding the stone. Along their journey, the two young brothers come across Serena, an injured girl that they help. Now traveling along with them, the three uncover secrets that may have been best left unknown, and Ed and Serena develop a relationship that may tests Ed's ability to love, forgive and forget, and come to cope with the un-fairity of this world.

(A/N: Hey everyone! I'm back! I know it's been quite a while...well after those midterms I was pretty much put out for writing anything. I just started writing stuff this month. It's been a while and I think I've forgotten much of my stories sotry lines, but as I'm re-reading and primping I'm begining to remember and get the guiest of things. So bare with me. Many things will be edited and changed. I'll alert you to that. But other than that...on with the next chapter!)

Thischapter summary: Well Ed and Al are in Central. And aftera nasty nightmare, Ed's a bit shaken up. Our boy finds himself in the Central library trying to gain access to files related to our girl Serena Kagin...and the things he discovers are quitesurprising indeed. (A/N: Like I said, because I haven't wroteup on this story in so long, I've been trying to piece together my storyline, so as tomuch of Serena's secrets...I promise I'll have more info on her next chapter. Ta ta and enjoy!

Military Secrets: Cover-ups, News Articles, Scandals and Lies

The next day Ed packed him and Al up and got on the first train back in central. Only there could he do any real research! He had already searched through every news article in this city's library. But the thought occurred to him. If what happened to Serena had to do with alchemy, then there was a chance that whatever happened was being covered up by the state. She seemed to have a deep distrust with the State. Most people around her did, but something told Ed that it wasn't because of higher taxes. No, it was something more close to home. Something that might have ruined her life and something that big would only be in Central.

Al doesn't talk much when they ride the train. He likes looking out the window. Which is fine by Ed, who hadn't slept at all that night, and was now happily in a great dream.

Ed's Dream

Ed is walking down the rode, much taller. He's about 17, 18. He sees his brother sitting on a picnic blanket under the tree on their front yard. He is normal, a human again. Their house is behind him, white and bright in the sun. There is laundry out drying, flapping in the wind. Winry waves hello from her house. Her parents stand behind her, smiling and waving at him. Ed waves back. Suddenly he is jumped on and hit's the ground. A big dog slops a wet kiss on his face.

Ed laughs. "Hey boy!" He rubs his head with his use-to-be automail.

As he stands up, he sees a puppy standing beside the big dog. He stands in the street a little off from his house, smiling. A girl from out of nowhere begins running at him. He sees his mom come out of the house with a picnic basket, smiling and shaking her head at her son and his girlfriend. The girl catches Ed in a big hug. He swings her around, and they land with each other in a tender welcome home kiss.

When the girl pulls back she says, "I missed you Ed. How was the university?"

Ed smiled, and took her arm, leading her to the blanket. "All A's so far Serena!"

"I'm so proud of you Edward." His mother goes to take him into a tender hug, but that's when the sky goes black.

Serena screams. He suddenly sees her being pulled underground. He grabs for her hand, but she slips out of his grip. Without his automail, his arm isn't strong enough. The ground closes up, and he's there crying on his knees. He looks around. The sky is a swirl of black and red twisted clouds. His mother and brother lay dead on the picnic blanket. He sees their house up in flames. Winry is screaming off in the distance. Both her parents are in a puddle of blood on the ground, shot dead. The whole place starts spinning as Ed tries to stand. He grabs his head, trying to will it all away. It keeps spinning, and spinning, and spinning..."Ed!"…and spinning…"Ed!"…and spin.."ED!"

End Dream

Al is shaking his brother. "Ed! Wake up brother!"

"WHA…" Ed, startled, grabs the seat and sits up, looking around the train and realizes it was just a dream. "Oh, Al. I'm sorry."

"Were you having a nightmare?"

"Yeah, something like that."

The day before…

She leaded over the edge of the top of the building, her wings flapping a little in the wind. She watched the boy walking away, somewhat sad. His blonde hair shined, even in the dark. Just like his. She thought back to that one day that seemed so far in the past.

Flashback

"No! John, don't you let someone from the state in here!"

"Honey, it's O.K." John opened the door, rain began to blow in. "Come in Colonel."

"I guess you know why I'm here." He said, shaking off the rain on his coat.

"Yes. Please, let me take your jacket."

A little girl about six sat looking between the railing upstairs. She looked at the man who had just walked him. Her grandmother looked at her, then made a hand signal to shoo. Her grandfather looked at her and mouthed that it was ok.

"Angel wings, can you come down here and say hi to our guest."

Little Serena smiled at her nickname being said and happily skipped down the stairs. She skipped into the room, her dress dragging on the floor. Her grandfather led the man to the couch. Her grandfather sat in his chair. She came over and hopped onto his lap. He petted her head like he always did, and smiled at her.

"This man wants to ask you some questions Angel wings."

"O.K." The little girl smiled at the man.

The man had a mustache, golden eyes and blonde short hair. She giggled as he fumbled for his pen in his pocket and a picture from his pocket fell out. The little girl dropped down from her grandfather's lap and picked the picture up. She smiled at him, and looked at the picture.

"Two boys." She said.

He smiled. "Yes, they are my sons. That one is Ed." He pointed to the blonde boy. "He should be about your age now. And this is my youngest son Al."

She stared at the boy with blonde hair and blushed. Her grandfather laughed.

"She's only six and already interested in boys."

The man laughed too. "Would you like to keep that picture? I have a double."

She smiled at him and nodded her head.

"Maybe you'll meet them someday. When you do, could you tell them that I always keep their picture close to my heart?"

"Yay!" She smiled and gave him a hug.

End Flashback

Though the picture was now creased and crushed, it was still in good condition. She flipped over the back and re-read his scribble over and over. She knew by heart now what it said:

Ed and Al with their mom,

The three people I hold dear to my heart.

She flipped it back over to the picture, and then watched Ed turn the corner.

"I promise. He'll get the message."

Back to present day…

Being back in Central felt…weird. After Ed and Al burned their house, they figured that they wouldn't have anything to go back to. But in a way, they were wrong. This was like their home. They still had Winry that they could visit. And she was the only family left.

Walking down the road, Ed thought back to the first time he went into Central with his mother and father. Al was still a baby and was in his mother's arms. That day they had been so happy, walking together and laughing and smiling. That had been the same day he was ever in the Central library. He remembered saying to him dad that there were a lot of books here. His father had laughed and told him yes, more than he could imagine.

"Al, I'm gonna go head over to the library."

"O.K. brother. I'll bring the luggage over to the Inn."

Because Ed was now a legal state alchemist, he gained access to most files that are withheld from the general public. But even he can't get access to files based on his alchemist ranking in the government.

"What do you mean I can't see the files! I'M A STATE ALCHEMIST FROM CHRIST SAKES!"

"I'm sorry sir. These are only for the eyes of the Cornels, Loltenents and Generals. You just don't rank high enough. But you might want to try the Alchemist Central Archives. You at least get access to those."

So Ed took a trip down to the Central's library basement.

…4 hours later…

"NOT ONE FREAKIN THING! NOT ONE SHRED OF EVIDENCE!" Ed slammed down hard on the table with the archive machine placed on it. The machine jumped a little.

Ed was about to give up when he read something at the bottom.

Kagin family under investigation…page 6.

Yes, this is what I was looking for! Ed smiled to himself and turned the dial to page six. Skimming down to the passage, he read out loud:

The Kagin family had been visited today by local Central officers. Witness stated seeing the officers go in with guns, adding to much panic and pandemonium going on within the house. Many heard screams and yelling, but no shots were fired and the officers left the scene a few minutes later. The Central two floor townhouse is owned by a John and Martha Kagin. The Kagin's son, John Jr. was a professor and registered alchemist. Married to Sarah August, the two worked together in the Central government labs, studying and researching many hush-hush projects. The two scientists went missing soon after their daughter Serena passed away after only surviving a couple of hours after birth.

At the end of the paragraph was a notation that had been handwritten in: Book 10- Kagin Case.

WHAT? But I just met Serena! How is this possible? She sure as hell looked pretty alive to me!

Book 10…book 10. Ed walked through the many rows of shelves of binders in the basement, searching for book ten. For a freaking library, it sure is poorly organized. Finally Ed found the correct shelf…problem, the book was at the top. Damn, why does God hate me so?

Serena sat on the top edge of the building across from a townhouse. She held her wing. It still hurt from her wounds from the dessert. She watched through the opened window an old woman working on her needle work, admiring the beautiful sunny day, awaiting the arrival of her husband. A short while later the girl watched a man walk up the path and stand on the stoop. He picked up the paper on the welcome mat.

"Grandpa…" Serena whispered to herself.

The man felt that he was being watched. He looked up at the building across the street from his house, but saw nothing at the top.

"Angel wings…" He said softly, shaking his head, and went inside.

After much struggle, climbing, and many binders toppling over crushing him, Ed got the binder. flipping through all the pages, Ed was surprised by some of the notations. He noticed that many things were kept from the general public…many military mistakes. Apparently, the military had Serena's parents working on human mutation, cloning, and other experiments based on animals and humans, some even combining the two. Not too much detail was given, but there was enough stated to figure out that all of this had to be kept quiet. One slip of the tongue and someone could et shot. It did state something very interesting about the raid at the Kagin's house:

The Kagin house was penetrated at 9:01 pm on December 13th. Armed officers went into the home. The house was searched, reaching yet the same conclusion as the last raid…nothing. John and Martha Kagin were questioned excessively. When raiding the upstairs rooms, the left bedroom from the stairs revealed a room full of little girl's belongings- toys, books, clothes, etc. When questioned, The Kagin's claimed to have bought the items for their grandchild before she had been born. Since her death, they have said to have had Mrs. Kagin's niece's daughter come to visit. The officers soon left the house at around 9:30 pm. John Jr. and Sarah Kagin's private lab has yet to be found, nor their notes and private experiments. AW210 was not found.

AW210? What could that possibly be? Ed spent the rest of the afternoon reading the book but came up with very little more. The book stated that the home was continuously searched over the course of the year after the supposed death of Serena Kagin, but nothing incriminating or suspicious was ever found. Ed had to squint to read the notation at the bottom of the handwritten paragraph. ELRIC! My father was assigned this job? Ed stared in shock. I have a feeling that it isn't just a coincidence that I ran into that girl at all.

Ed didn't fill in Al with what he learned at the library with too much detail. He didn't want Al to know to much, though he himself didn't know why he didn't explain everything he found out. Later meeting for lunch, Ed finally opened the envelope that had his next assignment in it. It was just basic routine check-ups at fellow alchemist houses, making sure nothing was going on under the military's nose.

After saying bye to Al who stayed back in the room, Ed went to some of the houses to cross off the names on the lists. He wrote up small reports. Then an idea popped into his head. He decided since he was so close to the Kagin's home he might as well pop in to say hello.

(A/N: Well that's all I got in this brain right now. My new chapter, A Hidden Secret No More, has much more about Serena, I promise you. Give me like another week to fix it up. Please review.