Well, my review count is building slower than it used to, though I half expected that since I haven't been updating very often as of late, so I might as well not be mean in holding chapters back when it's MY fault I haven't been updating, hehe. I see that some of my old readers are starting to come back though, which is awesome. Thank you! :)

Anyway, here's the next chapter, so I hope you enjoy it. Once again, there are a few typos. Hopefully they'll stop being so prevalent by the time I write the next chapter, but we'll see. It's National Novel Writing Month, so in order to write as much as my goal is, I sort of have to rush. ;)

Disclaimer: Oh what a tangled web we weave when Ed gets his auto-mail stuck in my hair. Darn you, Ed! Use the brush next time, dur! And no, I don't own him. I refuse to claim ownership of someone who doesn't have the sense to use a brush on tangly hair. :P

Edward slowly pushed himself up. He didn't feel dizzy anymore. That was a surprise. A quick glance around revealed that his vision was no longer blurry either. Did that little vial of potion really do as he was told it would do, or was all this just one big hallucination? He'd never hallucinated like this before, not even when he was sick. Or at least, he didn't think he had. A hallucination could convince him it was new too.

He decided to try standing, and so he put one foot in front of the other and pushed himself up to a standing position. Still no dizziness, still no fatigue, still no blurry vision, and no other signs of sickness. It was gone, really and truly gone! He'd never in his life seen sickness get over that fast. This could all be part of a very convincing hallucination, but he was going to enjoy it while it lasted.

Now, where exactly was he, and where should he go? He scratched his chin and looked around at his surroundings. Grass, trees, lake. All things one would expect to find in the countryside, but that lake looked a little familiar. He took a few steps toward it. Something told him that was his lake, but how could it be? He'd been nowhere near his hometown just a moment ago.

Then again, if this was a hallucination, it made perfect sense. He sighed, somewhat disappointed since that would mean he'd wake up sick, unless the sickness was part of the hallucination too. At least he'd be able to see Al again when he woke up though.

He leaned over the water of the lake and scratched at something that was stuck between his teeth. The water rippled welcomingly beneath him as it reflected the vivid blue sky above him. He sighed and looked up at the sky himself, just in case the lake happened to be lying to him. One never knew what they could trust these days.

But the sky turned out to be just as vividly blue as the lake had shown, if not even bluer. That was certainly not Central City's skyline. Central barely even had a sky they could call blue, let alone a vivid one. That settled it for Ed; he wasn't in Central anymore. But that begged the question of where he was, so he stood up and took another look around. All he could see were the same things he saw before.

This was puzzling, and a bit annoying. Edward scratched his head and looked around a third time for some clue as to where he was or where he should go, when he finally saw a little footpath that had been worn into the ground heading away from the lake. Something about that was trying to click in his mind, but he shrugged it off. All lakes near human habitation had little footpaths, didn't they?

He got on the path and walked for a few minutes, constantly straining his eyes for any sign of familiarity. Maybe he would have to ask the first person he met where he was. That surely wasn't too weird of a question. Travelers got lost sometimes.

But the next moment convinced him he wouldn't need to ask that question after all. He had come to a complete stop and stared at a house some distance away, afraid to approach it, lest weird things happen.

The sign clearly read Rockbell Auto-mail. That meant that he had to be in Reisenburgh, but he had no memory of how he had gotten here. It was insane. If he went in there, would he get Winry yelling at him for coming without warning her and without bringing Al along? Probably, but she'd be even angrier if she found out he had been through town and hadn't said a word to her while he was there. It was probably for the best that he pay a visit.

He took a deep breath for courage and sauntered up to the front door. He raised his fist and paused in front of the door, took another deep breath and reminded himself to be courageous, and then he did three tiny knocks.

The next moment, he was mentally chastising himself for knocking so quietly. No one would be able to hear those knocks over the making of auto-mail, and he didn't think he'd be able to force himself to get enough courage to knock again, and…

The door opened, and a young man a little older than him stepped out and said, "Can I help you?"

All Edward could do was stand and stare, though he felt embarrassed by this action and knew his cheeks were probably turning red, but he couldn't move. Stupid unresponsive body, always freezing up on him at the most inopportune moments.

A moment later a young woman came to the door with a baby in her arms. "Who is it, honey?" she asked as she got to the door. She took one look at Edward and her eyebrows raised slightly. "Dear me, but you look an awful lot like a younger version of Hohenheim. Are you related?"

Confusion seemed to linger in his eyes and he had to batter them to get it out, but he finally managed a hesitant, "…Yes."

Finally the man and woman smiled at him, and the woman said, "Really? Are you here on a visit?"

Edward didn't know what to say in response to that. He was so confused. If only someone would just pop up and tell him exactly what was going on around him, he would appreciate it.

As if in answer to his unasked question, the baby started crying, and the mother started rocking it back and forth, saying, "It's okay. It's okay, Winry."

At this, Edward's eyes opened wide and he wasn't sure if he'd ever be able to blink again. That little baby was Winry? Then why was he so old in comparison to her? He looked at the people who had greeted him, and something in his head finally clicked. These were Winry's parents. He hadn't seen them since he was a small child, as they had died in the Ishbalan war. Had it really happened? Had he really traveled through time?

Then a voice he recognized instantly broke through the awkward silence surrounding the little group as Pinako said, "Everyone either come in or stay out. I don't like to make auto-mail with the bugs. A wrench is a terrible flyswatter." Edward grimaced at her remark. Something told him she had actually tried to kill a fly with a wrench. He was a little scared to ask the result. Now he understood better where Winry got it from.

Everyone chuckled, except for Ed, who was still grimacing, and Winry, who didn't know what to make of all these crazy people doing crazy things and would someone just please get her bottle already! The two parents turned to head back inside, when the mother turned her head, noticed that someone wasn't following properly, and said, "Come on in. We welcome visitors. We could have some tea."

He wasn't completely sure if going into this strangely familiarly unfamiliar house was imposing on these people, but he decided to just go in anyway. It would help him to understand better what was going on if he took the time to talk to some people, and he knew these people, even though they didn't know him.

It wasn't long before he and everyone else found comfortable seats, but it was only a moment later that Mrs. Rockbell stood back up and started toward the kitchen to prepare the tea. Edward shook his head. This woman was working herself too hard. He stood up.

"Uh, I'll take the baby for you while you prepare the tea… if you want." He caught himself scratching the back of his head. Why was he so nervous? He was awkward though, even he could see that. He was too old in a place where he was supposed to be very young. It was all very disorienting.

"Why, thank you… what's your name?" asked Mrs. Rockbell.

"Uh… Edward!" His shoulders jerked up to a tense, alert position, and then relaxed again when he realized he hadn't thought that response through and he began to feel stupid about it. He probably shouldn't be telling people his name, because who knew what trouble that could cause if he had really traveled through time, but what was done was done."

Mrs. Rockbell handed baby Winry to him and said, "Thank you, Edward." She then turned to go back into the kitchen, and Edward, staring at the baby in his arms in awe, slowly made his way back to the living room and ever so carefully sat down in his seat.

A jolt ran through his spine as something clicked in his mind, and he turned to Mr. Rockbell. "H-How old is Winry, anyway?"

"A couple months," he responded with a chuckle. "Why, are you writing a report on her?"

Edward snorted at him. He just couldn't help it. He had no need to write reports on babies, even if the baby was going to grow up to be an evil lady with a wrench. What really concerned him was that Winry was a couple months older than him, so where would that place him in this time?

He looked back up at Mr. Rockbell and asked, "What's the date today, anyway?"

The man looked over at a calendar and said, "It's the second."

Edward looked over at the calendar too, and his face turned white. "The second of February?"

"Yeah, why? Are you-"

"No, I'm not," said Edward, before Mr. Rockbell could make the same joke twice. In fact, he was worrying. If Winry was this tiny, then that would mean the year had to be 1899, and if it was the second of February, then he would be born… tomorrow. He never realized he could be so terrified of something so ordinary. But it generally wasn't ordinary to be in the vicinity during the time of one's own birth.

Being here in this time meant that he would be able to see his mother again, and he would go through with doing that no matter how weird it got, but he might want to steer clear of the birth. She had had complications during his birth, and he didn't want to get in the way. She'd said some sort of alchemy doctor had been passing through at the time and had managed to save her life. That was something he certainly didn't want to screw up.

By and by, Mrs. Rockbell came in with a teapot and a tray of teacups and sugar and set it down on the coffee table. Edward waited for everyone else to help themselves, and then he shifted Winry so that she wasn't in his way and prepared his tea. Mrs. Rockbell noticed this and said, "Oh, you don't have to keep holding her if you don't want to."

Edward smiled and tipped his teacup into his mouth before answering. "No, it's fine. I like her company." Little did the Rockbells know just how true that was. He flashed baby Winry a knowing grin and she gurgled back, but something in those blue eyes of hers knew something was up with him, as though she recognized him from somewhere but couldn't remember where.

It seemed the Rockbells noticed this too, because Mr. Rockbell said, "How do you do that? She's not normally this comfortable around strangers."

"I was about to ask the same thing," said Mrs. Rockbell.

Edward shrugged. "Maybe I just remind her of someone." He tickled Winry's nose and she chuckled, which spread and made Edward chuckle too. Winry was a really cute baby. It was surprising he had never realized that in all the years he'd known her. Though there weren't many baby pictures left of her in the time he came from.

Mr. Rockbell simply shook his head in amusement, while Mrs. Rockbell sipped her tea in silence while focusing all her attention on Edward like he was going to sprout another head or something. Both the Rockbells seemed to like him well enough, so he couldn't quite figure out what her problem was. But she wasn't being negative either, so he probably wouldn't need to worry.

After they had all finished drinking their tea, Mrs. Rockbell gathered up the dishes and made to go wash them, when Edward offered to do it for her instead. She turned and sent a playful glare in his direction. "If you want to do the dishes, then give me my baby back. I'm starting to miss her!"

Edward held Winry out in front of him, who gave him a baby's version of a raspberry, and both he and Mrs. Rockbell chuckled. "I'm not sure what that means in Winryese," said Edward, "but I suppose I can make the assumption that she wants to see Mommy again." He held the baby out to Mrs. Rockbell, who took her and switched burdens with Edward.

They walked into the kitchen together, and Edward washed the dishes while Mrs. Rockbell told him where everything went after it was washed.

"Thank you, Edward, dear," said Mrs. Rockbell, giving him yet another smile and then looking at her baby, who was looking at Edward. The little thing wouldn't take her eyes off of him, so Edward gave her a little wave. She flapped one of her chubby arms like she was trying to wave back, and both Edward and Mrs. Rockbell laughed.

Mrs. Rockbell then turned to face Edward. "Have you secured a place to stay during your visit here?"

Edward shook his head and shrugged. "I guess… I wasn't thinking that far ahead?"

The woman shook her head in what seemed to be a sort of frustrated pity. "Dear, the inn is most often full here. It's not wise to come here without plans for lodging, especially in the winter."

There was nothing Edward could do about the situation, so he just stood there, looking stupid. This day had been rather warm for a winter's day, but he knew that more chills would be soon to follow, and he really didn't have anywhere to go. He could probably talk his parents into letting him stay with them, but that might spook them too much at seeing their son is a time traveler, or it could mess something up.

A hand extended toward Edward and took him by the shoulder. "You're welcome to stay with us. You've already shown us that you're more than courteous, so I feel safe in letting you stay here."

"Th-Thanks," said Edward, and then out of reflex, he reached into his pocket as he said, "How much should I pay you?"

Mrs. Rockbell insisted that he was their guest, and therefore could stay free of charge. It was a good thing too, as what Edward had instinctively pulled out of his pocket was his state alchemist pocket watch, and that thing would be useless for a few years. There was not yet a bank account for a state alchemist named Edward Elric because he hadn't even been born yet, even though he was strangely standing right there.

Still, he wanted to protest being given charity without compensation. "I should at least give you something. Equivalent exchange and all that, right?"

The woman smirked and said, "Why, are you an alchemist?" Edward nodded, and then it dawned on her face why Edward was acting the way he was. "I get it. You think you're not allowed to get something if you don't give something in return." She laughed and shook her finger at him. "I know your type."

"Very well," she said, "I'll give you a few chores to do around the house, and then we can call it even. Deal?"

"Deal," said Edward.

Mrs. Rockbell smiled and handed the gurgling baby back to him. "Okay then, here's your first chore. Go change Winry and put her to bed. All her baby things are in her room. And she might need a few lullabies before she falls asleep, so I hope you're up to singing."

Edward could feel a blush coming on, and when he looked up at Mrs. Rockbell, she chuckled at him, so he tried to chuckle back, but it was a rather self-conscious chuckle. Winry was only a baby. It wasn't like he was singing to adults, and it wasn't like he was trying to serenade Winry. She was a baby in this time, and he needed to remember that.

Without waiting for further instructions, he carried Winry up the stairs and went into her room. Holding Winry out in front of him so the two could look eye to eye, he said, "Now look, I've got to change you. Don't you go holding a grudge against me for seeing you naked and hit me with a wrench as soon as you're able to hold one up. Got it?" The baby gurgled again, so Edward just smiled and put her on the changing table. This journey he had started on was really weird, but thus far he had found it rewarding.

Meanwhile, two people stood at the foot of the stairs, looking up to the top. Mrs. Rockbell turned to her husband and said, "He carried Winry right up to her room before I could tell him where it was." She paused as the two took a few minutes to let that sink in before she spoke up again.

"How does he know our house?"

Dun dun dun... Now even I don't know where this story is going anymore since all I had previously written were these three chapters, and so I have to get to work on the next one. If anyone has any ideas, feel free to suggest. Otherwise, I hope to see you back soon when I upload the next chapter! :)