Chapter 5

"Boys! Time to get up!"

Ed cracked one eye open and winced at the sunlight streaming in the window. Giving a little groan, he rolled over and pulled the blankets over his head. He didn't want to get up. He didn't even want to move; he was so tired and cloudy-headed.

"Your breakfast is getting cold!"

Ed heard Al roll over and make a little sound that sounded like 'umph.' Apparently, his brother didn't want to get up, either.

"Boys!"

He put his pillow over his head, trying to block out the very insistent voice that was trying to get them out of their oh-so-comfortable beds. He peeked at Al and saw that he had done the same thing. Nope, neither one of them would be moving any time soon.

Someone was knocking at the door. "Boys? It's time to get up, now." The door opened, and he heard whoever it was come close and sit down on the edge of his bed. In the next moment, he felt someone rubbing his back, just as his mother used to do when she wanted him to wake up and have a good start to the day. "Come on, my little man. Time to get up and get ready for the day, sweetheart."

That did it. He was fully awake, and he remembered that he and Al were with a woman who claimed she was their mother. He sat up and looked at her, and he realized that she looked more like Trisha than ever.

She smiled and smoothed his mussed hair. "Good morning, love. Sleep well?"

"Uhh…yeah," he said, feeling a little weird. "I slept fine, thanks."

She gave him another smile and moved to Al's bed, where she also gave his back a little rub to wake him up. Once she was satisfied that they were both awake, she told them that breakfast was ready and that they should come down once they were dressed and ready to eat. She left, and Ed and Al turned to each other.

"Do you feel all right?" Ed asked his brother.

"Tired, but beyond that, I'm fine," Al told him, fighting off a yawn. "You?"

"Tired," Ed admitted. "Still tired. I don't get it."

Without saying anything else, they took turns in the bathroom across the hall, washed up, and dressed, with Ed still braiding his hair on the way down the stairs. As they reached the kitchen, the aroma of pancakes reached their noses and made their mouths water.

"Hope you're hungry," she said, placing a stack of pancakes on the table. "There's plenty. You two go ahead and start, I have to finish getting ready for work."

The boys sat down and stared at the pancakes. They were…fat. Very fat.

"What kind of pancakes are these, brother? They're huge," Alphonse said, as he picked one up with his fork. "And heavy!"

"It looks like there's something in them," Ed said, taking one for himself. Cautiously, he took a bite, and he smiled. "Oh, there's apples in it! Oh, this is good!"

That was all Alphonse needed to dig in. He loved apples when they had been cooked! Also, she had put in a bit of cinnamon! Oh, his tongue had died and gone to Heaven!

Ed polished off two pancakes while Al stuffed himself on three, and by the time they were sitting back in their chairs, she was back, dressed in a nice suit for work.

"Well, you two were certainly hungry!" she said, smiling. "Did you like them? They're from a new recipe."

"They were great," Ed said, giving her a little smile to let her know that they really were. She returned it and sat down and had some breakfast herself, but only after she had poured a glass of milk for Al and a glass of juice for Ed.

"I remembered," she said, referring to the milk. "But I really wish you would drink it, Edward. It helps you grow, and you want to be nice and tall, don't you?"

Ed blinked. "Uh, yeah," he said, shooting Al a look that said Don't you say a thing!

Once breakfast was finished, they cleaned up, and she jotted a few things down on a pad of paper. Ed could see that it was a telephone number and the name of her boss.

"If you two should need anything during the day, just call this number and ask for Mr. Holden. Our telephone is in the hallway over there. Once he picks up, ask for me," she said, jotting something else down. "Instructions for Mr. Hawkins' and your lunch, and I'll see you both tonight. Mr. Hawkins will be here in half an hour, all right?" So saying, she gave both of them a kiss on top of the head and left, turning once to wave goodbye as they watched from the window.

"Half an hour until that teacher comes," Ed said, sounding very satisfied. "Just enough time to snoop a bit. Come on, Al."

"What are we snooping for?" Al asked as they headed up the stairs.

"Anything to help us find out who this woman really is," Ed told him as they started opening doors. Two led to their room and the bathroom, and another opened on a very normal linen closet. The last led to her room.

It was a nice, feminine room: Just the sort of room a kid could expect a mom to have. Bed, dresser, end tables, and a rug. There was also a hanging bookshelf that was full of nice, normal books. On top of the dresser sat a dish of potpurri and an arrangement of dried flowers. Nothing too suspicious in that.

"Start opening drawers," Ed said, heading to the dresser. "Look under the bed. Look everywhere you can. There has to be something here!"

They rifled through the drawers, feeling a little odd at going through a strange woman's things. Whenever they found clothing, they were very careful not to leave it messy, but even after they had checked all of the drawers and under the bed, they could find nothing. When they examined the books, they found that they were nothing more than copies of their mother's favorite novels. There was nothing to be found, and nothing to say that she wasn't really their mother. In fact, all evidence they had found pointed to the contrary. There was even a pictureof them when they had been younger. How could she have that, if she were not who she claimed to be?

"I don't get it," Ed said as they headed back downstairs. "I mean, we know she's not our mother. There's no way she can be. But she still manages to play the part perfectly, and she even has all of the right things, like the books she liked and she even has the same style of clothes as Mom. She says she's our mother, but she's not our mother!"

"Are you all right, brother?" Al asked after getting a good look at Ed's face. He was near some kind of breaking point.

"I'm just...freaked out, I guess. She shouldn't be so...perfect, but she is. It's like Mom came back after all, even after that failed transmutation."

Ed sank down on the bottom step, lost in thought, and Al joined him. They didn't notice the passage of time until someone knocked on the door. Feeling a little nervous (not knowing what this teacher would be like), Ed opened the door.

"Good morning, Edward," the man standing there said. "Good to see you. And Al, how are you?"

"Fine, thanks," Al said automatically. "Are you Mr. Hawkins?"

Mr. Hawkins gave a blink of surprise, but he covered it quickly. "Well, of course I am. Your mother was right about your being confused. She said it was a bad dream? Well, don't worry, I have yet to see a nightmare come true." He entered the hallway and hung up his coat, giving the boys a smile. "Did you do your homework?"

"Oh, yes, we did," Ed said, remembering what it was they had done the night before. "It's in the dining room."

"Well, let's go take a look at it," Mr. Hawkins said, leading the way. Not knowing what else they could do, the boys followed.

What came next was an alchemy lesson of the likes that they had not had since they had studied with Izumi. He asked them questions; what had they done, why had they done it that way, could they describe the transmutation process and what had taken place in the alchemical reaction, and, if they had to, would they be able to use the same process in another situation or with different materials?

By half-past eleven, both boys felt as if their brains had become wrung sponges. They couldn't think anymore if they tried.

"Well, that's all for right now," Mr. Hawkins said, giving the boys a wink. "Time to get lunch ready for the three of us."

It was clear Mr. Hawkins had done this before. He went right to where the woman had left the instructions for their lunch, read the note, and then carried it into the kitchen. With brisk efficiency, he stoked the oven, located the covered dish that had been set out for them, and set everything ready.

"Do you always eat with us?" Al asked, surprised that Mr. Hawkins knew everything so exactly.

"It's my pay," Mr. Hawkins said, giving a little smile. "I won't take payment, since you're the sons of a friend, but your mother wished to do something for me in exchange for my teaching, so we devised this. I love homecooked meals, but I'm a confirmed bachelor, so I didn't often get such meals until I started teaching you. This makes us both happy, your mother and I."

Neither boy commented on that. When asked, they set the table and poured drinks while Mr. Hawkins made sure the food was heating up. Once it was hot, they sat down to eat. It was some kind of stew, and it was good. It tasted exactly like the stew their mother had made, which didn't do anything for Ed's peace of mind. In fact, he felt even edgier. She was so perfectly their mother, but they both knew she couldn't be.

After lunch was over and they had cleaned up, Mr. Hawkins took them for a walk outside town, all the while lecturing how nature was connected to alchemy, and how one could be used to influence the other. Mr. Hawkins was in the middle of describing how a leaf unfurling could be likened to a very slow reaction when a train sounded its whistle. Ed looked and saw it passing over the tracks leading into town, just on the hill above them. He was about to turn his attention away when it turned and he was able to see into one of the windows. He grabbed Al's arm and gave a jerk of his head to point which way to look. Al looked, and he felt a smile starting. While Mr. Hawkins continued his lecture about how a leaf transmuted itself in the fall, Al leaned over to whisper to Ed.

"It looks like one wasn't enough. Major Armstrong and Colonel Mustang had to come. This should be interesting."

Ed smiled, agreeing with his brother.

Sloth:

After I had left the house, I waited until I got out of sight before changing into Mr. Hawkins. They had to have someone with them, and I wasn't able to find a teacher who would be willing to go along with my little charade. Certainly whomever I tried to hire would report me to the authorities as a mad woman who played games with her sons' minds! No, that wasn't acceptable. So, I became a teacher and went back to the house. Was I worried they would try to call the bank to talk to me? No, they would have no reason to, so I didn't need to worry. Mr. Holden had never even met me, except when I opened an account at the bank. Thanks to certain friends, I had plenty of money and did not need to worry about finances.

I greeted the boys warmly after they opened the door, and I could tell that they had been up to something. I'd have to find out what, but it could wait. We had our indoor lesson before lunch (a lunch that included a little sleeping powder), and after lunch we headed outside. I was in the middle of lecturing about leaves and how they changed when the train went by. What I saw made me clench my teeth.

Major Armstrong and Colonel Mustang were on that train in civilian clothes. They had come to take my boys from me.

Oh, that was not going to happen.

Seeing that the sleeping powder was taking effect, I asked the boys if they were all right. When they both admitted to being very tired all of a sudden, I suggested we go back to the house and having them lay down to rest. We could always finish our lesson the next day, I said. They agreed to this, and I led them back home, taking them upstairs and putting them in their beds. As I closed their bedroom door, I smiled. Major Armstrong and Colonel Mustang would definitely have a hard time finding my boys when they were asleep in bed!