Chapter 3

Both brothers had no idea what to do. This woman said she was their mother, acted as if nothing was wrong, and she had fixed them breakfast as if she had done this every day of her life! Even at that moment, she was serving up more ham and even buttering some toast for them! Ed was certain that he was going to lose his mind, and Al looked too shocked to even think.

"Eat up, you two, and don't worry about your nightmares. You'll feel better once you wake up a little more," she said, depositing the toast on their plates.

Ed stared at the food on his plate. All of it looked delicious, but for the first time in his life, he wasn't starving or ready to tuck in. In fact, he felt a little bit queasy. He tried again. "How can you explain both of us having the same nightmare?" he demanded. "That's not normal for two people!"

The woman looked thoughtful. "Well, I've heard of twins sharing thoughts before. Who's to say that two brothers as close as you two are can't share thoughts as well? And dreams are similar to thoughts, aren't they?"

Ed didn't have an answer for this. For lack of something to do with nervous hands, he picked up his cocoa and took a gulp. It was good and sweet, just how he liked it. Just the way his mother had always made it for him. Too scared by that thought to even think about it, he gave himself a mental shake and set the cup aside.

The woman looked from one brother to the other, concerned over their lack of appetite. Just then, she heard the sound of a stomach growling.

Alphonse gave an apologetic wince. "Sorry."

"That's all right. You must be hungry. Go ahead and eat, now," she said, filling a plate for herself and beginning to eat. She saw Alphonse look at his brother, Ed's responding shrug, and then both brothers dug into the meal. Ed even had seconds of ham on toast. Still feeling unsettled, they helped her to clean up the kitchen, and when she sent them outside for some air, they went without a protest.

"I don't get it," Alphonse said as they went into the back garden. "I mean, she looks somewhat like Mom, talks like Mom, and acts like Mom, but we both know that Mom is dead."

Ed nodded. "I know. It's like we've woken up in another world where she isn't dead at all. And where are we now? What is this place? This isn't our house in Resembool. We burned it, so it can't be home. Where are we?"

Neither brother could tell. It was a plain, white stone house with a low wall around it, and it was just like any other house nearby. They could see that they were on the outskirts of a town, but beyond that, they couldn't tell where they were. They could be days away from any Command.

Alphonse sat down next to his brother. "Do you think it was all a dream?"

Ed shook his head. "No. I don't think it was. It couldn't have been." He pulled up the sleeve of his coat and looked at a scar on his arm. "I got this a few months ago, remember? If it had been a dream, I wouldn't have this now. It was real."

"Then why are we here? Why is she here?" Alphonse wanted to know. "None of this is making sense."

Ed shrugged. "I don't know. We can leave now—she isn't watching us—but will leaving solve this mystery? Will it help us figure out who she is and how we ended up with her? I think we should know all we can know about her, but is it safe to stay to find out?"

"We haven't been hurt," Alphonse pointed out. "And we haven't been locked up or anything. I say we stay until later. If it gets dangerous, we can always go."

Ed nodded. Solemnly, the brothers shook hands, as if agreeing to see the whole thing through.

Space

Sloth:

I was overjoyed as I watched my boys agree with one another to stay. (I had been watching from a window.) If they weren't going to try to run away that day, then I didn't need to worry. I had plenty of time to get them used to me and wear down their resistance to their new situation. Once they accepted it, they would be much happier.

I was ready when they came inside. Ed was the first to speak.

"This isn't Resembool," he said, as if stating the obvious for a very slow child. "Where are we, and why are we here?"

I stared at him, pretending to be astonished. "You don't remember moving here?" I asked. "I was offered a job as a secretary here, so we came."

Al stared at me. "Mom never needed to work. Our father left plenty of money for her."

"He didn't leave as much as I thought, dear," I said, patting his shoulder. "That was why we came. We still go to Resembool, though, for a few weeks during the summer for a vacation."

Both of them stared at me.

"What do we usually do while you're at work?" Al asked, looking very confused.

"You have lessons. A teacher comes to the house and he teaches you. He's an old friend of your father's, and when he heard about your talent in alchemy, he volunteered to teach you. Don't you remember Mr. Hawkins?"

Both of them shook their heads.

"Well, maybe you'll remember him tomorrow, since tomorrow is Monday. He'll be here in the morning."

Again, both of them stared at me. I had a feeling that I would be getting that a lot from them until they grew used to the routine I had planned for them.

"How long have we been here?" Ed asked, still looking confused.

"About two years now," I said, smiling.

"What's the town called?" Al wanted to know.

"Celandon."

They blinked. Obviously, they hadn't expected me to be as forthcoming as I was (they still expected me to be a kidnapper) and they were surprised to get straight answers from me. I saw Al yawn, and I fought down a feeling of relief: the sleeping powder was beginning to work. The sleepier they were, the less thinking they would do, and the less thinking they did, the better.

Ed was in the middle of a question of how far Celandon was from HQ when he yawned as well. Al had sunk into a chair, and Ed allowed me to maneuver him into one as well.

"What's wrong with you two?" I asked, concerned. I looked them both over, checked for fever, and took their pulses. All unnecessary, since I knew what was wrong, but I did it anyway. I took Ed's hand in my right and Al's in my left and took them both back upstairs, where I quickly put them back to bed. "You must not have gotten all the sleep you needed last night. You two go ahead and rest, and I'll be along later to check on you."

By the time I reached the door, Al was already asleep, and I could see Edward fighting to keep his thoughts in order. He battled sleep for a moment, but he quickly lost and allowed his eyes to close. I smiled. My boys were safely asleep, and I was truly happy. They were not going to leave me any time soon.

Space

Ed woke up some time later, feeling as if his head weren't working quite right. He could remember all that their mother's look-alike had told them, and something still didn't make sense. If all she said were true, then why couldn't they remember coming to this town? Why did he have trouble remembering anything about their few years there? Why did he remember being a State Alchemist? Nothing was making any sense.

Stiffly, he got out of bed and pulled his coat on (she'd helped him out of it when they'd gone back to bed) and stretched, enjoying the feel of his blood flowing again. He felt a little more awake and a little more capable of dealing with this woman and her strangeness. Seeing Al was still asleep, he headed downstairs, looking for the woman, and he found her in the kitchen, making tea.

"Hello there, little man," she said, pouring tea for them both. "I thought I heard one of you get up. Do you feel better?"

"Yes," Ed said, sitting down at the table. "How long have I been asleep?"

"Only a few hours," she said. "I decided to make some tea. Perhaps it will wake you up."

Ed sipped at the tea, thinking. He wondered if she would let them go away from the house and into the town. If Central had spread word of their kidnapping in an effort to find them, then perhaps someone would recognize them and contact the military. That way, they would have the safety net of the army behind them while they tried to figure out who this woman was.

Al wandered in then, looking a little pale and tired. The woman also poured a cup of tea for him, and he took it, nodding his thanks. They were just finishing their tea when she spoke.

"I'm going to need some spices in order to make supper tonight, and the greengrocer here is open for a few hours on Sunday in the afternoon. Could you two run down there for me?"

"We'd be happy to," Ed answered.