Yo! Yeah, I'm back for Chapter Five! That can be interpreted as you wish, but I took it as a good sign that I'm capable of moving forward. I really enjoyed making Chapter Four. I'm glad that some people reviewed, and I want you to rest assured that the Reviewer's Corner is at the bottom.

I have to apologize for the large downtime in between four and five. I rushed a bit to get this one produced because after I posted four, and then ended up getting little done. I began work on a just over 1,000 word oneshot in the Rurouni Kenshin section called "Waiting" after I wrote a haiku that inspired me to write it (yes, my mind works like that). Maybe check it out when you can, eh?

So...without further ado...Chapta Five! Make sure to read the A/N, Reviewer's Corner, and Preview at the bottom.

Thanks all.

To Heal the Wounds of the Heart

Chapter 5: Outset

The sound of larks congregating drifted in with the first rays of the sun, falling across the small bed stranded in the center of the large loft above the porch. He slowly awoke to this peaceful morning, the first time he had done so in a long time.

Taking a moment to regain his bearings, he slowly stumbled out of the lone bed and stutter-stepped to the window, ruffling his long, unchecked hair.

Taken aback by the smooth serenity of the world around him, he blinked once, then smiled softly.

Edward Elric was home.

Locating the hair tie resting on the dresser by the loft's door, he carefully pulled his golden strands behind his head and tied them, glad that he no longer went to the trouble of braiding them.

Ed glanced quickly to the other side of the large room only long enough to notice that the other bed was empty. Al, always early to rise, would be downstairs when Ed descended. So the young man stood still a bit longer, let bits and pieces of the previous day's events claw their way back into his consciousness, and swung open the door. Without another thought, he confidently strode down the Rockbell house and shop corridor with his white gloves and brown coat on as always, returned to the bold Edward that every soul he had ever met admired.

"So Al, did you sleep okay?"

"Just fine, thanks Winry," the younger Elric replied to the decidedly peppy voice.

"And Ed?"

"Soundly."

"That's good to know," Lyncia chimed in, her melodic voice and bright smile lighting up the room. Winry just closed her eyes and gave a wide smile in reply.

For a moment, Al rested, letting his boots set flatly on the floor. He leaned back, his golden hair a perfect imitation of his brother's, and closed his eyes, lost in thought. Winry finished her eggs and placed a well-made meal in front of both Lyncia and Alphonse. Fresh, steaming scrambled eggs complimented some well-cooked bacon and a fresh glass of…

"Uh-oh," Al announced.

Winry was baffled. "What is it, Al?"

He silently pointed to the glass of milk staring him in the face, and then jerked his head towards the stairs, where he assumed Edward to still be.

"Don't worry," Winry beamed, "I didn't forget to give Ed juice instead."

Al nodded satisfactorily and Lyncia just giggled, although unsure of what was wrong with the milk.

The trio calmly continued with their happy meal, the atmosphere saturated with the calm aura of ones who, for the moment at least, knew no worry in the entire world. It was, in all senses of the word, pure bliss. Only momentarily would one sneak a glance at the staircase, the group already having reached a consensus that Edward was still asleep.

On the front lawn outside, a soft breeze carried across the ground, skimming the short blades of grass and causing them to form a luscious green swirl for miles.

The young man in question stood, gloved hands placed firmly on his hips, in the center of this sea of green, a grin plastered on his face. His home of once-upon-a-time, the tranquil little village of Resembool, lay before him. Letting the breeze play across his face, ripple his clothes and hair, and send a tiny chill up his limbs, he inhaled deeply, and then let out a content sigh.

"Well Den, nothing's changed, has it?"

The benevolent black dog, also unchanged except for the effects of two years' passage, sat upright at his side, imitating Edward in behavior. His tail wagged softly and he barked in approval.

"It never does," was the reply, and Den once again barked contentedly.

All the while, the peaceful breeze continued its unending journey, spreading ripples all over the fields and moving onward, ever onward.

Inside, breakfast was adjourned.

Al rubbed the back of his head and thanked Winry graciously for the meal. Flattered, the blonde girl simply blushed and grinned. Holding up a finger to signal that he would be just a moment, Al slipped up the stairs momentarily to wake his brother. Winry and Lyncia waited patiently, gazing around the room and not attempting to make conversation.

Less than a minute later, Alphonse once again returned downstairs. "He's not up there."

"Well that's strange," Winry muttered sarcastically.

Al didn't pick up the sarcasm. "Not really. You know how Brother does things on an impulse…"

Disregarding it, Winry shook her head and then took a few steps towards the front door. Before she reached it, it swung open, and Edward and his black companion strode in.

"Oh, Ed," Winry said, causing him to freeze.

Edward hesitated for a moment. Then, smiling, he replied.

"Morning, Winry."

She blushed and said nothing.

Lyncia also greeted him, and he smiled equally at her. She was dressed in a maroon-colored blouse with thin shoulder straps that were matched by extremely tight white pants that stopped short of her ankles. Her beautiful brown hair, usually left hanging unchecked, was today tied into a ponytail, even though, as usual, two long groups of strands hung on either side of her equally beautiful face. In a way, it almost perfectly mimicked how Winry always wore her hair. Her smile, as well as her radiant eyes reflecting the sun's light coming in through the window, caught him off-guard once more, so he quickly turned around to hide his face.

"Oh, and good morning, Al."

The younger Elric was happily surprised.

"Thanks, Brother. You too."

Winry leaned over and whispered to Alphonse. "Who replaced our sulky, troubled Edward?"

Al laughed.

"What's so funny, Al?" Ed questioned him.

"Nothing, Brother. Oh, but I did want to let you know that I'm going to head down to the train station in a bit, just to do something. I'll be back in twenty minutes at the most."

"Sure, no problem," Edward replied. It didn't seem that he cared much.

In a matter of minutes, Alphonse was dressed and ready to go. He said his goodbyes to both of the girls, and Edward smacked him on the back with a grin, and as simply as that, he was off, treading down the dirt path from Winry's house to Resembool's station.

The gentle breeze had since vanished from the area, and all was disturbingly quiet again. Ed sat outside once more, reclining on the step of the porch. It was surprisingly hot for a spring day. He rested with his coat off and sitting beside him, his blonde ponytail streaming over his shoulder, and his hands resting behind his head, propping it up as he lay. Winry was attending to something, or so he assumed, because he had not seen her since Alphonse returned two hours previously. He told Edward that he had simply contacted someone back in Central to update them on the brothers' situation, although he had not said who, and Edward hadn't cared to ask.

The sun continued to shine down on him, and he didn't move, choosing instead to bask in it and enjoy the peace. When he heard the front door swing open behind him, his first thought was that the peace would soon be interrupted.

There was the small clicking of heels on the wooden deck, a sound unfamiliar to Ed, and then a pair of slender legs, covered in white, slid down beside his head, causing him to turn swiftly.

"No, it's okay. Don't get up."

"Oh, Lyncia," he said softly as she sat down beside him.

"How's it going?" she questioned sweetly.

"Good enough. It feels pretty good out here, wouldn't you say?"

"Sure does."

There was silence for a moment, as Edward pondered the best way to ask her a question that had been lingering on his mind for quite some time. Finally, figuring what he thought would be most suitable, he propped his head up on an elbow and turned in her direction, fumbling for words. He wasn't embarrassed, it just wasn't a question most people would ask out of nowhere. Regardless, he proceeded.

"Say, Lyn-…"

He began, but he never finished.

Suddenly, his eyes widened considerably, and his pupils dilated. His hands clenched and unclenched uncontrollably, and he rolled over onto his other side.

"AAAAAHHHHH!"

Lyncia was shocked, confused, and terror-stricken, all at the same time. "Ed? Edward!"

Ed continued to suffer convulsions, making erratic, rapid movements as he shook his head, as if it was being intruded.

"No!"

Visions were passing through his head at an alarming rate. He saw himself lying there as he was now, rolling and yelling, with gleaming metal in place of his right arm and left leg. He saw Al, returned to that cursed suit of armor. He saw the moment when they had been separated, and the horrifying past, the memories of their mother and what had happened to her. But those visions of the auto-mail continued to haunt his mind. He had his human arms and legs back, he was positive. Yet the cold touch of the steel, the unfeeling-ness of the limbs, it all seemed just as real. Edward was losing it. He continued to scream and beg for it to stop.

Lyncia was at a loss. She put a hand on his back comfortingly, but it did little. Finally, she withdrew, and waited for nearly two minutes until he slowly went from violent convulsions to shaking to shivering, and from screaming to yelling to whispering.

At last, it came to a stop, and Ed lay on his back, staring at the unchangingly clear and blue sky, eyes still wide and dilated. His fingers twitched, and he was unable to speak. Lyncia, almost more shaken than he, crawled over on all fours until she was resting beside his unmoving form.

"Edward?"

"What…what the hell was that?" he whispered.

"What happened?" Lyncia echoed.

"I…I'm…okay," he sobbed out, his voice high-pitched and shaky. "I…don't know what that was …"

Unsure of what had happened or what to say, Lyncia simply sat on her knees and brought his head into her lap, cradling it silently for a few moments. After his breathing returned to normal, she bent over him, holding her streaming chestnut hair out of her face.

"Lyn…I kind of like that. From now on, Edward, just call me Lyn, okay?"

His eyes slowly returned to normal size, and then rhythmically closed. Ed simply gave an exhausted nod.

Above the pair, the loft window slowly closed. And in the distance, an almost unnoticeable shimmer in the air signaled the departure of some unseen and unheard force.

"You did WHAT!"

Alphonse shuddered slightly and sighed exasperatedly at the start of Edward's barrage.

"I contacted the General."

"Al, what were you thinking! I can understand wanting to inform someone in the military of our status, but why the hell does it have to be Mustang?"

"I'm sorry, Brother. Regardless, he told me that we need to board the earliest train possible and return to Central quickly with Lyncia. He wants to discuss our report in detail."

"OUR report, Al?" Ed began again, "I don't think so."

"Okay, my report."

"What exactly did you tell him?"

"Nothing, Brother."

Ed, as usual, was prepared to protest, but he was cut short at that moment as the front door of the house swung open. He and Al had been lying on the apex of a grassy hill near Winry's house as they always used to do during their conversation. The nostalgia threatened to overwhelm Edward at times, but he managed to keep it at the far corner of his mind. He and Al postponed what they had been saying to glimpse over at the house. Winry, Den, and Lyncia all exited. A slight breeze returned to glide through their hair, sending soothing streaks of blonde and chestnut brown sailing, twirling, and whipping in the wind, held down only by their attachment to the aforementioned heads. Ed watched as Lyncia descended the steps, while Winry ran a hand slowly through her hair and shook her head, then looked directly at Ed. Sensing an underlying message, the golden-haired young man folded his arms and rolled over, once again scanning the endless sky with his brother.

"Hey Al…" he began, in the soft tone that always caught a listener's attention.

"Yeah?" Alphonse replied, knowing where Edward would lead the conversation. That tone always represented one of two things: Ed was hurting, reminiscing, or both.

"Do you remember when we were kids, when we'd lie out here and stare up at the sky, talking and thinking that nothing could ever go wrong?"

"Of course I do."

"Phew, were we wrong."

Reminiscing and hurting. Alphonse giggled inwardly at his impeccable accuracy.

"It's okay, Brother. We made it back," Al ventured, with a hint of finality in his voice. Ed frowned. It looked like there was something that he wanted to say, but before he could the sound of a small explosion, possibly more like an amplified sound of something dense hitting something denser, sounded in the direction of the house.

Both Edward and Alphonse's heads snapped upward and stared over in the direction of the noise.

Winry and Lyncia were both lying on the ground, leaning back, their hands propping them up, as if they had been thrown aside. At their feet, to their horror, lay a small crater about nine feet in diameter and quite shallow. Thankfully, Den had returned to the house's interior during the brothers' conversation. The ground looked more like it had taken a swift, quick impact rather than a large collision.

Edward, an expert at staying alive, immediately knew what to do. He pushed Al with enough force to get him moving down the hill, and then rolled to the side with amazing quickness. Right then, another crater of the same proportions exploded where he had just been. Moments after it happened, Ed saw a small flash of red leap to the left and keep moving in that direction, back towards the girls. Realization dawned on him.

"Watch out!" he yelled at the girls, but it was too late. There was only one thing he could do. He prayed that his timing would be right. Rising to one knee, he clapped his hands together with a force that made them sting, and then slammed them into the ground. A shock wave rumbled through the ground, and on its heels the ever-familiar trail of blue sparks followed. They snaked through the ground until converging on a spot two yards away from Winry and Lyncia, then shot up in a pillar of earth. Whatever had been moving was right over the exact same spot when it happened, and it was successfully catapulted into the air.

Ed breathed a sigh of relief and shakily returned to his feet. Al approached him and then joined him at his side. He quickly noticed that Ed had regained his composure and, more importantly, his flare.

"You did it, Brother!"

Ed grinned and pointed at himself with his thumb triumphantly. "Of course I did, Al. What did you expect?"

There was no answer needed, and none given. Ed simply widened his smile and it spread to Al.

Then the two of them turned to see what it was Ed had just tossed. When it returned to the ground, to Lyncia's horror, a new kind of realization dawned on both her and Edwards' faces. He stood in slack-jawed shock while the beautiful girl used her hands to pull herself back as far as she could from what every soul there now had their eyes fixed on.

Standing before them was a man, whose height Ed quickly approximated at a little over six feet. He had an extremely thick and muscular build, in a way that reminded him slightly of Sieg, but even more of Armstrong. His arms were held at a 30 degree angle to his torso due to their size and obvious weight. His chest and abdomen were similarly padded and thickened by muscle, and covered with a tight red muscle shirt that didn't quite reach the waistline of his pants, which were made of a polyester mixture and colored sleek black. They were appropriately sized, but even then, they failed to hide the bulges that represented his muscle mass. The man looked like a walking weapon, based on apparent strength alone. His face, however, was his most important feature. In matching with the rest of his body, it was planted on a large head, and represented by a large nose. A wide mouth, bended upward in a twisted smile, adorned the lower half. He had small ears, and on top of his head, an average-length mop of black hair with sandy blonde streaks on the top was featured. Finally, Edward locked eyes with him, and was taken aback. Amid the scars and creased lines that circled around the man's face, signifying that he had seen both plenty of battles and plenty of hard times, were two small holes, barely open. They were almost slits. Glaring out from beneath the heavy lids were two eyes, bloodshot, that radiated hatred. Because they were barely open, it was hard to get a real glimpse, but Ed saw all that he needed to see. His irises, just like his pupils, although containing a tint of crimson, were pure, clouded white.

He was blind.

"Al, he can't see," Ed whispered to his brother, making sure to keep their guest from hearing.

"That's not what's important here," Al replied in an equal whisper. He answered Edward's baffled look with a finger that pointed over Ed's shoulder and toward the man's waist.

Ed recoiled in shock. It was there, on the left side of his abdomen, left uncovered by shirt and pants, staring at them.

The serpent that eats its own tail.

"The…the Ourobouros," Edward gasped weakly.

It was then that the homunculus let out a low-pitched laugh, and Edward got a gauge of his voice. It was low, a deep, rumbling growl that sounded like it emanated from the very bottom of a scratched throat. It was loud, and intimidating, but it also sounded pained, like speaking was hard.

"I shouldn't be surprised that you know what that is."

"Who the hell are you?" Ed shouted, as polite as ever.

"What, you can't tell?" It spat out the rest. "I'm the new Greed. But I really much prefer to be called Avarice."

Alphonse's mouth went dry, and Edward's eyes once again dilated in terror.

"You're lying," he managed to throw out.

"You think so?" Avarice smiled, and it was a piercing, repulsing, almost crooked grin that stopped both brothers on a dime. "You're going to learn just how wrong you are."

There was a shimmer in the air behind the girls, almost unnoticeable, and in a split second, Edward was staring at his arm in horror.

It was metal again.

Just as fast as it had come, it was gone, and Edward recovered. But the split-second distraction was all Avarice needed, and he launched himself at Edward with a speed that was unnatural for a bulk such as his. Still shaken, Ed slowly brought his hands together and then touched them to the ground. As the transmutation began, however, the alchemist realized there was no time for it to be completed. The red blur was approaching him too quickly. He continued and closed his eyes, preparing for impact. Two feet away, Avarice shifted direction and darted to Ed's left, out of sight.

Edward sighed exasperatedly and finished the transmutation, making a metal shield with razor sharp edges by taking minerals from the dirt and carbon from the grass. He picked it up and glanced towards the girls, and then in Al's direction.

And then a rock-solid force slammed into him from behind, slamming him face-first to the ground. A crater just like the others appeared beneath his body.

"ED!" Winry cried out. Lyncia was still in the grip of an icy fear, but even she managed a horrified look at the unmoving form of Edward.

He lay there silently for a few moments, not responding.

After an excruciating time amounting to almost a minute, the golden-haired alchemist managed to push himself up onto all fours and take a knee. On his back, a large fist-sized red mark appeared. It was cloudy, indicating that the injury was below the skin.

Finally, Edward stood up and looked around. Summoning all his strength, he stabilized himself and brought the shield up to his chest. It was just large enough to cover his entire upper body, from neck to waist.

"Dammit…" he hissed, more to himself than anything else. "How…can you see me?"

Suddenly, he bent over, his entire upper body convulsing. The shield fell to the ground, and soon after, was covered by the blood that was cascading from Edward's mouth. He continued to cough up blood until the fit stopped, and then dizzily took a step forward before beginning to collapse.

As he was falling to the ground, he saw Winry get up, concern plastered all over her pretty face. He saw Al bolt to his feet and clap his tattooed gloves together, blonde ponytail flying as he made a mad dash in Ed's direction. He saw Lyncia, petrified by fear, gazing at him with eyes that were still amazingly soft and clear, even in her state. And he felt another block-sized fist ram into him again, felt more blood leaving his body through way of his mouth, and then distantly felt the solid earth meeting his face. Blackness enveloped him.

Then he saw nothing and felt nothing.

Edward woke up in an unfamiliar setting. The sun drifted in not from in front of him, but from both sides, and the bed he was in seemed bigger than the one he had been using. The single alarm bell ringing in his head concerned a hard object he hit with his knee every time he rolled to his right. After the fifth time bumping into it, he finally opened his eyes and tried to sit up, succeeding in simply leaning his head forward.

When he saw what he was bumping into, his eyes went wide and exhaustion left his body. He quickly leapt from the bed.

"WINRY!"

The pretty, blonde-haired girl in question sat up slowly, rubbing her eyes. Glancing sheepishly in his direction, she grumbled.

"What is it Ed?"

"What are you doing, Winry?" Ed practically shouted, searching for his shirt and coat, which he quickly noticed had been removed.

It took Winry a while to truly wake up and find her surroundings before her eyes also went wide and a large blush spread across her face.

"Ed, it's not what you think!" she yelled, frantically waving her arms exceedingly fast and giving him a horrified look, "When you passed out, I brought you in here to inspect your wounds, and I had to take off your shirt to do that! And then, while I was waiting for you to wake up, I fell asleep!"

At this, Edward also blushed furiously.

He remained rooted to the spot, and in a state of thorough confusion, trying to sort through the events that had occurred before his blackout. As he was losing his grip on consciousness, he saw Alphonse transmute a large amount of grass and soil into two human-shaped moulds. That was all he had seen, but based on his knowledge of Al's ability to transfer little parts of his soul into inanimate objects, he reached a logical conclusion that he had used the moulds to restrain the homunculus. Edward couldn't even fathom what had happened after that.

Winry saw the look adorning his face and mistook it, not realizing how deep in thought he was.

"Ed…I was just worried…that's all…" she began, tears beginning to well up in her azure eyes. Edward hated when she got like this, and did his best to comfort her. Whether she was truly hurt or seeking his attention he didn't know, but he was smart enough to realize when to cut it off before it grew.

"Thanks, Winry," he said honestly, his face softening to allow a smile. "I appreciate it."

Her face brightened and she smiled, wiping away the tears. As quick as that, her cheery demeanor returned, and she grabbed Ed's arm, leading him to where his clothes where hanging, and then dragged him out into the hall.

"Good! It's time for dinner, then."

"Dinner?"

"Dinner, silly. It was only noon when you passed out."

Ed grinned and tried to feign a happiness that he didn't have. His mind was too far wrapped around the day's previous occurrences. His panic attack, the causes behind it, and the appearance of the new Greed, were all things he was straining to make sense of, and Edward's brilliant mind was nearly over-processing the facts, streaming through them. Regardless, he joined dinner and talked cheerily with both Winry and Lyncia, who seemed fine. But Alphonse, seated across the table from Edward, knew his brother better than anyone ever would.

And he knew what Edward was thinking.

"Well, Winry, it's been fun."

Edward stood on the platform of Resembool's train station, shoulders squared, hands in pockets and brown coat billowing in the wind. Al stood with his red coat draped over his arm, and it was thus prevented from blowing. The two of them made quite an epic scene, standing there next to each other with sincere smiles plastered on their faces. Ed grinned in Winry's direction, and she looked at the ground, blushing.

"When will you two be back?"

"Hopefully soon," Al did his best to sound optimistic; he and Ed both knew, however, that they most likely would not be back any time soon, after the events that had occurred three days previously.

Winry was smarter than that. "Ed?"

"Yeah," he managed, averting his eyes just enough for her to pick up the signal that the conversation was just as good as dead.

"Well…I'll be here," she replied. She embraced Lyncia, who in turn thanked her for her hospitality. The train's horn sounded, and Al, along with their beautiful companion, said his last goodbye and embarked with the Catholicon Alchemist. Ed remained behind, and the pair managed to avoid making eye contact. However, Winry had seen Ed's episode and his small time with Lyncia, and Ed knew that they might not see Winry again for some time. Ed, out of a sense of duty more than anything else, realized that it was better to leave with no bad feelings between them, and Winry truly did not want to see her friend go. They silently hugged for a moment, and Ed clenched her tightly in his arms. Her thin, wiry arms slipped around his neck and allowed her fingers to trace down to the base of his collar softly, creating a tingling sensation in Edward. Winry then clenched just as tightly. Then they both let go, and he smiled as he backpedaled to the train door and got on.

As they settled into their seats, Ed and Al on one bench and Lyncia on the one opposite that faced it, Alphonse turned to his brother.

"I know you wanted her to come with us," he subtly mentioned to Ed. The older Elric shook his head.

"Al, you know that nothing but bad would happen. It's just safer for her to stay here."

"…I know…"

"Don't worry about it," Ed said with finality. Regardless of what he told his brother, even he could not keep from being worried.

There was silence for a moment. The train began to move slowly, and Alphonse waved to Winry as they pulled out of the station. Edward sat with a stoic face, deep in thought. He observed Lyncia, who gazed absentmindedly out of the window. She had chosen to go for comfort over style on this day, and wore a plain white shirt that did all it could to tighten around her impressive figure. The shirt complimented the navy short shorts that went as far down as the middle of her thighs well. Her silky hair was left unchecked, but she had a tie just in case it needed to be pulled back. Edward was unable to ignore those same smooth, pale thighs that extended out from the tiny pant legs, one on top of the other as she crossed her legs. Before allowing his thoughts to wander further, he shook himself out of the temporary stupor and sat farther up.

"So, Lyn…" he began. Lyncia, although she had authorized and coined it herself, blushed slightly at the use of such an intimate nickname.

"Yes?" she finally replied, staring Ed in the face. Her hazel eyes caught his gaze and held it, reflecting the light of the sun.

"That was definitely the homunculus that attacked you?"

She brushed her hair from her face and stretched, catching Ed off guard. "That was definitely him."

"I thought so," he answered, and she repressed a laugh at his attempts to stay all-business.

They rode in silence for over an hour, Ed and Al remaining by each other but saying nothing, and Lyncia and Ed exchanging furtive glances. It was a boring scene.

The sound of a compartment door sliding open behind them surprised Edward. He hadn't expected anyone else to be on the train, and they had seen no one. Regardless, he didn't pay any attention to the newcomers. Footsteps approached their current location. Although Edward paid them no mind, Lyncia grew increasingly nervous, and at the moment the footsteps stopped, Alphonse looked over his shoulder and then shouted, quickly jumping to his feet.

"Al, what is it?" Ed questioned. He got no answer.

As he turned his head, whatever it was he expected to find was definitely not what he found.

Merely five feet away, the homunculus Avarice stood gazing at him. Ed also leapt to his feet in pure shock, and instinctively brought his hands together. Avarice held up his hand to stop the alchemist's movements.

"Relax, alchemist," he growled, "I'm not here to fight you. I'm sure you're still reeling from what I did to you last time."

Ed's hand immediately shot to the bruise-like wound on his chest, which still hurt immensely. The homunculus had him there.

"I just came to impart a few things to you," the new Greed rumbled out, continuing, "The least of which is that when you return to Central, your leader will have a story and an assignment for you. For your health and for the lives of those around you, I'm warning you not to listen to him and not to pursue us."

"Us?" Ed questioned, raising an eyebrow expectantly.

"Yes, us. That is yet another thing I wanted to mention to you."

Ed interrupted. "No offense, but I've got a serious decision to make here, and the last thing I need is you barging in and giving me more to think about. You got that?"

Avarice gave no answer. Instead, he stepped to the side, revealing a thin, reclusive figure behind him. The brothers' eyes skipped the usual full-body inspection and shot immediately to the newcomer's face.

"No…" Alphonse collapsed to the ground behind Edward, but Ed hardly noticed. His mouth open wide in terror, and his eyes wrenched open wider than he could have believed possible, his pupils dilated to small dots and he began to find himself losing his balance. The world seemed to swim around him.

"I bet you're more willing to listen to us now, yes?"

"Shut up! What the hell do you know!" Ed tried to scream, but from his perch on the floor, it came out weakly.

"This is my partner," Avarice announced, disregarding the brothers' reactions. They were unable to listen. The person standing in front of them was a complete stranger, one-hundred percent foreign, and totally unknown to them. Not only had they never seen this person, but under normal circumstances they couldn't have cared a single bit less about them.

But the face that was staring at them, although it seemed slightly distorted and was invaded by an Ourobouros tatoo that stood out on the left cheek, was one that they had known as far back as they cared to remember.

Teacher.

A/N: My longest chapter yet? Most likely, but I'm too worn-out to check. I've been hard at work at this newest installment for quite some time. It's gone through the wringer, and I hope that all of you who have waited so patiently for so long between this chapter and the last find something rewarding in it and enjoy. Just a few notes I'd like to make. Firstly, to any who scan sentences for any mistake and are intense perfectionists, a few things about the shield: the reason he was able to make it is that, simply, there ARE minerals in soil, that carbon IS existent in anything that has life, and that carbon IS one of the supreme components in determining something's hardness. Second, about the panic attack. More will come to light about it in future chapters, but for now I can only say that it is linked to Ed's coming-and-going fears that have him "thinking" his arm and leg have returned to automail. Third, about Avarice. In the interest of not being repetitive, I chose to name him that because Avarice was the original name of the sin that Greed represents and I didn't feel like replacing the Greed we all know. Fourth, not to spoil anything, but it is a fact that after Al returns to his human body his alchemical ability is the ability to transmute parts of his soul into inanimate objects. I've seen another fic written with that included, and I'd just like to inform all I did not pirate the idea, it is a fact from the movie. Check Wikipedia for insurance XD. If I missed anything else, leave a complaint in your review or in a PM to me, and I'll either edit it or edit my author's notes. Thanks all.

Reviewer's Corner (RC):

XHer Ink StainX: Thanks for the review. Rest assured, I will continue, and I appreciate that you appreciate characters being kept IC, because that's something I'm very keen on as well.

Suki dah Turtle: EdWin or EdOC? Well, obviously, I won't reveal that yet. But keep reading anyway. XD

Merodi-chan: Thank you very much. I believe I actually said this in a PM to you, but I'll state it again. Ed technically wouldn't be a homunculus, even if he died and was brought back, because, as you noticed, the transmutation that revived him was successful. Homunculi are created from failed human transmutations. Also, homunculi are never the same as the person that was supposed to be revived. So if a homunculus WAS created, it wouldn't be Edward, but a soulless version of him.

Silverlode: Thanks.

Megan: Then review more often! XD Regardless, thank you for your support.

angry-kitty: I'm glad you like it. I do apologize for my ambiguity, because I hate it myself, but if there ends up being a pairing, it hasn't happened yet, and you'll need to read and see if it does in the future.

FruitsBasketFreak44: My apologies for the cliffhanger, had to be done. As for the kiss…there's no kiss if there's no romance, and once again, there is no romance…yet. Keep reading though.

Preview:

Chapter 6 – Truth

After the multiple encounters with Avarice and the frightening encounter with his "partner," it's a wonder that the brothers, especially Edward, are still standing. They continue on, however, and after receiving a briefing from Mustang, get a small amount of time off. It's during that pivotal time that Edward is faced with some true problems that need true answers.

Thanks all!

LL