Hey all. Here's to Chapter Six, which I've miraculously reached. I was very pleased with the amount of reviews and hits I received for Chapter Five (although it's important to note that I have 22 total reviews, while Random got 22 reviews for his first chapter of his new fic alone), and I guess you could say it uplifted my spirits a bit and gave me new determination to continue writing. I can only hope that you all think Chapter Six is as good as you said Five was. Regardless, as usual my A/N, Reviewer's Corner, and Chapter Preview reside at the bottom.

Read and Enjoy.

To Heal the Wounds of the Heart

Chapter Six: Truth

"T-Teacher…no…" Edward was trembling. Alphonse, simply unable to move or say anything, watched the exchange between his brother and Avarice in shock. Lyncia was confused, yet smart enough to remain out of it.

"You seem surprised, alchemist," Avarice gloated in his deep, scratchy growl. "Would you like something a little less jarring?"

Edward did not reply, and so the homunculus simply tilted his head towards his partner, who nodded and turned away. The new Greed purposefully stood in the way of Ed and the other homunculus, not allowing the golden-haired alchemist to get a glimpse of what was going on behind him. Finally, after nearly a minute, he looked over his shoulder, then grinned evilly and opened his unseeing eyes wide. Stepping to the side, he revealed what Edward could not possibly believe to be the same homunculus he had just seen. The only proof was the remaining Ourobouros on the left cheek.

"Oh…my…God…"

"Something wrong?" Avarice was full of malevolent glee.

Edward put his hands behind him in an attempt to pull himself farther away from what he was witnessing, but found himself unable to move. He gazed up at Avarice and his partner with pure terror written all over his face before once again finding the ability to speak.

"…Russell?" He moaned.

Indeed, Russell Tringum was grinning back at him, his face obscured by the hideous tattoo and eyes clouded with evil.

"What…what the hell is going on here?"

Avarice did not answer.

With the face of their Teacher no longer paralyzing him, Alphonse found the ability to stand up, then slid his feet over to where his brother was and pulled him off of the floor. Edward just pointed a finger at the second homunculus, his mouth open wide. Avarice turned to go, motioning to "Russell."

"Wait!"

Al had cried out, his arms outstretched. He looked at his brother and nodded. "Come on, Ed."

"Al…I…I can't…"

"You have to. Just follow my lead."

Al stood up straight, pushing his shoulders back. With a determined look on his face, he clapped his gloved hands together, and then nodded. Ed, somehow receiving what seemed to be a telepathic communication, slammed his hands together and then planted them into the train floor. Suddenly, three blocks, each one taller than the one before it, rose up from the ground. Al darted off, running up each pillar with blazing speed, then leaping over the heads of the homunculi. He landed with a skid behind their backs, and pressed his hands to one of the train benches. His eyes slowly closed as the tattooed symbols on the gloves glowed, and then he stood up, slightly dizzy.

"Ha! What are you trying to do? You can't beat us!" Avarice yelled triumphantly.

Suddenly, the bench Al had touched came to life. It slid off of its perch on the left side of the car and rolled towards the pair of homunculi. They easily dodged it, and just as soon as it had passed them, it returned to a completely inanimate object and Alphonse regained the entirety of his soul. Regardless, it was all the distraction Edward needed. With a loud crack and a small amount of smoke, the three pillars sunk back into the floor, effectively vanishing. The second homunculus stared into the smoke, while Avarice looked blindly at the floor. Out of the cloud came Ed, launching himself at Avarice with a large gauntlet on his left hand. He had fashioned it from another one of the benches. Suddenly, Avarice looked up, gazing at Ed with blind eyes. He remained motionless for a second, then dropped and rolled to his left, swinging a thick leg. It collided head on with Edward, who did a somersault in the air and landed on his right side, skidding on his shoulder.

Without missing a beat, he leapt back up before Avarice could recover and swung the gauntlet once more. It connected with the homunculus' chest, sending him backward. Unfortunately, Al was right in his path, and as Avarice lost his balance and fell, his flailing arm caught the younger Elric and knocked his head into one of the seats.

"Al!" Ed cried out. He clapped his hands and then touched two fingers to the gauntlet, causing spikes to extend out from the knuckles. "You're gonna pay for that, you bastard!"

He prepared to leap at Avarice again when he stopped dead in his tracks, and then sunk to his knees. He dropped the gauntlet and clutched his skull with both hands, crying out.

"My head!"

The second homunculus, who had done nothing since the fight had begun, stepped forward. Russell's face seemed even more out of place than before, because the eyes were glowing a hot white. It wasn't whiteness like Avarice's blindness, however…

Realization dawned upon Lyncia. "It's controlling his panic attacks…"

Avarice's head swung around, following the source of the sound. He then spoke out loud, clearly to his partner. "That's enough. We didn't come here to fight. Let's go."

He stood up and made his way back to the second homunculus, and the two of them turned to go. When his partner stopped looking at Edward, the attack stopped. He shakily got back on his feet and then called out to the two creatures.

"I didn't tell you to leave! Get the hell back here!" he yelled. The second homunculus turned around.

It turned out the brothers hadn't gotten all the shock they could handle for one day.

Fully clothed in military garb, wearing the same square spectacles as always, but missing the carefree grin and instead bearing an Ourobouros, Maes Hughes was facing a stunned Edward Elric.

Then, for the first time, he spoke. "Just give it up."

And like that, they were gone.

Lyncia slowly moved out of her seat and over to Alphonse. From her pocket she withdrew a bandage with a strange symbol on it, and placed it over the small cut now present just above his temple. She pressed it to his head, not removing her fingers from the bandage. Then it began to glow a greenish-white, a clear sign of alchemy. When she removed the bandage, dried blood was on it and Al's cut was perfectly sealed.

"That's pretty impressive," Ed whispered quietly from the other side of the car.

Lyncia muttered a soft "Thanks," and stood up. She gazed at Edward and their eyes locked. Her entrancing, kind, beautiful hazel eyes were looking into golden, world-weary, dilated orbs. She moved at a brisk pace, walking up to Edward. It took some time, but she managed to convince him to stand up, and then helped him do so. He slouched, head tilted and looking off to the side, at the ground.

"Edward…" she sighed, and then embraced him. He did not return the gesture, letting his arms hang limply at his side, but with her arms wrapped around his neck and her chin resting on his shoulder, his eyes slowly returned to their normal state. He let out a deep gust of breath, and then sagged against her.

"You know, Lyn, your kindness never ceases to amaze me," he muttered. Edward figured that sincerity was either part of her personality, or she had ulterior motives. He then disregarded it; even Edward wasn't in the mood for his own cynicism today. He waved off her questioning look, and then broke away, looking over at Alphonse.

"Ed, was the most shocking thing about that second homunculus its face…or faces?" Al asked ominously.

Edward shook his head.

"Then you can see," he continued, "where I'm going with this. Right?"

Again, Edward nodded. "Yeah," he spoke softly, "I know. Its voice."

"It only spoke once," Al concluded, "but that was all I needed."

"I know what it was," Edward finished quietly.

They spoke in unison.

"Envy."

Edward motioned for Lyncia to come over to them, and then dropped exhaustedly into a bench seat. He made room for Lyncia and then leaned back with his eyes closed, waiting. Al began to tell the rest of their story, and Ed was waiting until the time he would be asked to describe what had happened in Munich, and about the last they had seen of Envy.

Amongst the trees and hills of the countryside, framed against the backdrop of the sunset, the train continued onward, and to the outside world it seemed as though nothing had ever happened.

Once again, the doors spread out before him, ominous and unwelcoming. It was after-hours again, and therefore pitch black in the world outside. Edward sighed as he gazed at the carved wood. He was once again standing calmly outside of Mustang's office; and yet, this time, it seemed that Edward was not resentful in the least that he had to be there. Rather, it seemed as though he knew that he had an important purpose and that it had to go through Mustang.

Both Lyncia and Al had noticed, and they flanked him.

Edward did not knock. He simply reached an arm out and pushed the doors open.

Inside, Riza stood up in surprise, gun in hand. Sighting Edward, she sighed and put it back down. "Oh, Edward, Alphonse, it's only you."

"Yeah, thanks for the happy greeting," Ed mumbled rudely. His focus, apparently, was overflowing. "Mustang, I brought a report for you."

"Normally I'd be happy to hear that, Fullmetal," Mustang commented, "but judging by the look on your face, it isn't a good one."

"You could say that."

Ed withdrew a folded sheet of paper from his brown jacket and handed it to Mustang, silently taking a seat in front of his desk. Al found a quiet corner of the room to wait in while Lyncia stood off to the side, near Captain Hawkeye. Roy sat in silence for several minutes, his single eye continuously roaming over every word, sentence and paragraph. He studied it thoroughly many times, and finally, set it down and stared at Edward.

"And you're sure about all this?"

"Positive," Ed replied unwaveringly.

"I was under the impression that the homunculus Envy died on the other side of the Gate."

"To be honest, so was I," Ed lamented, scratching his head. He looked at Mustang, who appeared thoroughly confused, and finished his thought. "When we managed to open the Gate the last time, Envy was in a serpent form. He was used as a literal Ourobouros, and it was through him that we opened the Gate. I thought he died when...when Dad died." Edward's voice faltered.

"Are you sure it was him?" Mustang interrogated.

Al interrupted. "We're not really sure. That's the real answer." After this, he once again resolved himself to silence.

Roy had not heard enough. "Ed?"

"Well...I'm not sure that it's Envy just as we left him, just as we last saw him. I think it's like a second coming of him. He definitely retained his shape-changing abilities, but he's gained some others too, and his Ourobouros tattoo has changed in location. Something...happened to him. It's like he was...combined with another homunculus." That was the only conclusion Ed could reach.

"And his partner, the one you listed here as 'Greed' is described," Mustang glanced at the paper, "But you yourself killed Greed."

"It's a new one. I don't know who he was created from or who created him, but I'm certain he called himself the new Greed. He's referred to as Avarice, though."

Roy cocked an eyebrow at Ed, and then returned his gaze to the report. After a few more moments of silence, he stood up.

"And you, Lyncia?"

For the first time since they had arrived in the room, the Catholicon Alchemist moved. She came off of the wall she had been leaning against and proceeded towards the back of the room, finishing right where Ed was standing. Mustang was looking expectantly at her. Lyncia returned his gaze before shaking her head.

"I've got nothing else to report. Whenever we came into contact with the homunculi, Ed and Al took care of everything."

"Alright then," he mentioned, before turning back, "Ed."

The fact that Mustang had not called him "Fullmetal" immediately caught Edward's attention.

"Yeah?"

"I've got a few things to sort out, so you and Al are free to go and get some rest. Lyncia, I'm recommending that you go with them, for several reasons. Do I need to explain them to you?" Roy seemed quite impatient.

Realizing this, Lyncia gave the best possible answer. "No sir."

"You can all leave then."

The trio then departed, quickly filing out. Edward stopped for a moment, slowly closing the wooden door, to look at the moonlight streaming in through the two windows behind Mustang's desk, giving the only light in the room. Without another word he fully closed the door and departed with his brother and their companion, headed for the same inn they had last stayed at in Central. He looked at the ground the entire trip, staring at his feet as they placed themselves one after the other and forged a path and saying nothing.

Edward Elric had a lot to think about.

The Red Ruby Inn had, in fact, very little red inside it at all. Edward, Alphonse, and Lyncia entered through the revolving front door, a small bell ringing annoyingly with each time the door so much as creaked. The brothers had stayed here during their last visit to Central. The lobby was a small, homely section of the first floor that encompassed everything from the door to the bar and across to the fireplace. The lighting was dim, something one might find in an old-time pub that used only candles. Freshly waxed and swept hardwood made up the floor, and the trio followed it on a direct path to the spiral staircase. Edward led the way up, his gloved hand clenching the iron rail consistently, never releasing. The dark, warm atmosphere of the first floor was replaced by the bright, blunt appearance of the second. It was a single strip of floor, leading left and right, surrounded by bland walls and few windows. Compared to the lighting downstairs, the illumination was blinding. Alphonse followed quietly behind the shuffling feet and hunched shoulders of his brother, with Lyncia doing all she could to keep up behind them. Ed came to an abrupt stop, forcing Al to nearly slam into him. Narrowly avoiding it, the younger Elric looked to his brother, who swiftly yanked two iron keys attached to plastic rings out of his jacket. Slamming one into the door he was standing in front of, which read 13, Ed cranked it and swung the door open. He nonchalantly tossed the other key in Lyncia's general direction without even looking, pointing to the adjacent door, labeled 15.

"In case you need to talk about something, these two rooms are connected. Later." His monotonic line finished, Edward disappeared into Room 13, dragging Alphonse behind him.

"Al, we need to talk," he said, falling onto the first of the room's two beds. The comforter was a mixture of purple and blue, but aside from that, the sheets and pillows were completely white. Although the matress was stiff, the sheets were soft enough to make up for it.

The room they were in was identical to their last one. There was a single large window on the far side, by Al's bed, restrained by two long, flowing white curtains. The walls were somewhere between dirty white and a light beige, and against the front one, opposite the beds, rested a single wooden desk that had been stained a dark brown. A tall lamp rested on its left side, and aside from a phone next to the lamp, the desk's surface was empty. Ten feet from the desk there was a large cabinet of the same color. It was open and obviously empty. A tiny closet stood aside Ed's bed, and next to the cabinet there was an ugly gray door with an iron handle. It let through to Room 15.

"Yeah...I know," Al mumbled.

"There's no way that thing could have been Envy." Ed's voice was drawn to an angry whisper.

"It might not have been him exactly as we last saw him, but you do have to admit that he had the same ability and the same voice," Alphonse pointed out.

"Yeah," Ed continued, "but that doesn't explain the mind thing and the location of the Ourobouros."

Al pondered this for a moment. "Yeah, you're right," he replied flatly.

"And Avarice...there's something about him." Edward couldn't stop himself now.

"What do you mean?"

"How can someone be blind and still know exactly where to move and where to look? There's something going on."

Once again, Al thought it over. "I don't know, Ed, but there's nothing we can do about it."

"...Yeah...you're right. But Al, there's one more thing I wanted to ask you."

"What?"

Ed spat it out before he could stop himself.

"Lyncia...do you think she's telling the truth?"

"Huh?"

"I think there's something she's hiding, Al."

The conversation broke off for a few moments. Edward stared resolutely forward, as if peering into Alphonse's skull. Al simply looked at the ground, both thinking and avoiding eye contact. After a moment, Ed looked away. Al traced his eyes to the door that separated rooms 13 and 15 and then sighed.

"I can't agree on this one. I don't know what you're talking about, Ed."

"Well..." Ed paused, like he was searching for the right words, "The way she acts...the way she treats me..." He paused again.

"Yeah?" Al coaxed him on.

"It's almost like...she knows me," he finished slowly, "And I gotta admit...something about her seems really familiar."

His brother looked at him quizzically.

"But I just can't put my finger on what."

Alphonse said nothing. The two brothers sat for a moment in complete silence, glancing at the various things around the room. They were searching for the best ways to share their other thoughts; both knew that they had a lot to talk about. The day was waning; in fact, the hour hand on the clock hanging on their room's wall was pointing at the six. It would be getting dark soon, and the following morning they would all have to leave the comfy inn to receive orders from Mustang. And then, just like that, they'd be off again, wandering, condemned to a life of near-vagrancy until Ed chose to stop the cycle. Al knew, though, that this was the only life that Edward could only ever be satisfied with.

Regardless, he spoke out softly. "And Winry? What about her?"

"What about her, Al?" Ed's voice was as cold as ice and as sharp as steel.

"She's not safe any more, Ed." Al, too, was taking a turn for the more serious.

"...I know."

"Then what should we do?" he pressed.

"I can't say," was Ed's stoic reply.

"Do you have any ideas?"

"I can't think of any," Edward replied again. He was obviously avoiding the questions.

"And how do you think she feels after everything that happened?"

Ed's eyes opened wide.

"I...don't know," he whispered. Al had turned the tables on him. He wasn't the timid little brother any more. He was pressing Ed harder and harder each time, just hoping to get a response out of him. These were questions Edward was hoping he wouldn't ever have to answer again.

"Then tell me, Ed...how do you feel?"

Silence.

"I can't say."

"Why?"

"Because I just can't...be honest with my thoughts...or true to my feelings..."

Al smiled softly. He got off his bed and stood up, and then walked slowly over to his brother, boots clicking on the thinly carpeted floor with each step. He put an arm around Edward's shoulder, reassuring him, and then grinned.

"Everything will be alright, Brother."

Ed's face warmed from a scowl to a smile to a grin, until he was beaming.

"You're right, Al. Everything will be just fine."

The two brothers met each other's eyes, and the setting sun's pretty rays slithered in through the room's only window, and Central slowly calmed from a storm to a gust of wind as the people retired for the night, and it seemed that everything was right again, at least for the moment...

And on the other side of the 13-15 connecting door, soft footsteps retreated.

From his bed, where he still rested, Alphonse glanced at the clock. Its hands read 9:15. The sun was long gone, and although the moon had risen to take its place, it was only a crescent, and on this night the moon seemed farther away. The curtains were drawn tightly shut, not allowing any of the moon's light to make its way in. The single source of illumination present was the tall lamp on the left side of the desk where Ed was seated. Al's eyes flitted lazily as he flirted with sleep, but Ed was locked awake in concentration. He was leaned forward in the chair, hunched all the way over the desk, scribbling away furiously with his left hand. His tongue stuck out the side of his mouth, a testament to his hard work. As he put the finishing touches on his work, Al rolled over onto his side and closed his eyes. It had been a long day.

Edward retrieved a small envelope from its place on the desk's far side. Folding his finished piece into thirds, he slipped it into the envelope quietly and scribbled a few more things on the cover. With a look at Alphonse, and convinced that he was asleep, he strolled to the other side of the room, glanced over his shoulder once more, and then departed, closing the door behind him. Alphonse, who remained awake, bore a know-it-all grin. He rolled over and pulled the bedsheets up tightly around his neck, and then quietly fell asleep.

When Edward silently returned to the room about five minutes later, the envelope was gone.

Ed was wide awake and fully dressed. His long, golden hair was tied up as usual. He looked refreshed, like he had been awake for some time yet still gotten enough sleep, as he stood by his bed clothed in his usual attire. Al was still sleeping, and it was Ed's assumption that he would not be awake for at least another hour; he did not have to look at the clock to know that it was sometime around 6:00 a.m.

His mind was surprisingly blank, which irked him, considering the constant swirl of confusing circumstances surrounding him. He straightened his brown coat and took a step forward. Along with the sound of his boot meeting the floor came another. He heard soft scuffling sounds coming from the connecting door. His curiosity triggered, he shuffled up to the door and turned the lock, slowly pulling it open. Lyncia had left her door open, and so Ed was granted entrance. He took a look around before stepping in.

The room was empty, except for the ruffled bedsheets and a suitcase laying open on top of them. Something was sticking out, just barely, from under the bed. The scuffling sounds were coming from the bathroom. In a flash, a revelation came to Ed, and he knew what was going on. But before he could leave the room and save himself from an embarrassing situation, there were footsteps, and Lyncia emerged from the bathroom, clad in only a towel that just managed to cover from her collarbone to the middle of her thighs.

Then she spotted Edward.

"Eek!"

In a quick movement, the Catholicon Alchemist ducked back into the bathroom, blushing profusely.

"Ed! It's too early! What are you doing?" she cried out in a strained voice that sounded oddly unlike her, and even more oddly like someone else.

"I'm sorry...Lyn," he replied, with a solemn emphasis on the last word, "I didn't know. I'll talk to you later."

Before she could say anything, he had left the room. Lyncia frowned, and then tiptoed slowly over to her bed, the whole time covering both her body and her head. She kneeled and withdrew something from under the bed, and then slinked back into the bathroom. Then she heard Ed and Al's connecting door slam shut.

The whole time she continued to blush, but it was for different reasons. Most importantly, it was because she knew that Ed had seen everything he needed to see, and that it wouldn't be long before he put two and two together and figured it out.

On the other side of the door, Edward's face was contorted in anger and thoughtfulness. What he had just seen was baffling. That hadn't been Lynica, or, at least, it looked nothing like her. Because she was covering herself, he couldn't possibly assume who she might have looked like. But something about her was different. He moved over to where Alphonse was asleep, his feet moving quicker and quicker with each step. Without much hesitation, he shook his brother awake and beckoned for him to follow out into the hallway. After Al had woken completely and gotten dressed, he did what his brother said without a word. When they finally reached the hallway, he spoke.

"Brother, what is it?"

"Al...I think I know." Ed was having trouble forming sentences.

"Know what?" Al's voice reflected the confusion in his face.

"What Lyn...is hiding."

"What?"

"I saw it, Al...I'm not sure, but I saw it, and I think I know..."

"Tell me, Ed." The confusion turned to worry, as Alphonse tried to make sense of his brother's ramblings.

"Lyncia Asuna...the Catholicon Alchemist...she's...I think she's..." Ed's voice was drawn to a whisper. He paused for a second, and then stood up, as if he was shaking off whatever had gripped him. Then, with a smile, he grabbed the door handle and said, "You know what, Al? Don't worry about it. I'll tell you later."

Al nodded softly, although he was convinced that the matter wasn't settled. Nevertheless, he allowed his brother to lead him back into their room, and the door shut quietly behind them. Ed fell back onto his bed and laughed out loud. Because he knew his brother so well, Al was able to deduce that it was Ed's way of clearing something from his mind. He didn't comment, and instead drew the shades back, allowing the first rays of the rising sun to stream in. They were both certain that a long day would be ahead of them.

With a clang and a wave, the man departed down the small, winding dirt road, holding his leather bag in tight so that it wouldn't flap and its valuable contents wouldn't be spilled. She waited until he had jogged down the hill and out of sight, on to his next destination, before she quietly shut the door of her house behind her. A navy dress billowed in the wind as she moved slowly toward it, farther and farther from the house, until she reached the place where the man had left the valuable item.

Pulling the flap of the mailbox down, she withdrew the single item in it and returned it to its closed position. She took one look at it, and her eyes went wide. Clutching the item tightly to her chest, she did an about face and dashed inside frantically, careful not to trip on her gorgeous navy dress. She made it in record time, and the door slammed behind her.

The young woman sat down at the large table in the center of her dining room and tore the envelope apart, but not before glancing at what was printed on it in unmistakable writing.

To Mrs. Winry Rockbell.

Smiling, she unfolded the letter within and spread it out on the table in front of her, taking in every word. It was written in the nearly illegible southpaw scrawl that only one person could have managed.

Winry,

Sorry we left as quickly as we did. We had to talk to Mustang about some

important things, though, and on the way back to Central even more happened.

I can't make sense of a lot of things going on right now, but Al and I both agree

that you would be safest if you stayed with us, and we want you to be safe. I

need you to catch the first train to Central you can. We'll be waiting for you

at the station. It was good to see you again.

Ed

She could see that the end of the third sentence had been altered. An I had been scratched out hastily and changed to a we, changing it from "...and I want you to be safe" to "...and we want you to be safe." Her eyes traced over the last sentence multiple times, before they were filled with tears. She folded the letter up once more and left it sitting on the table. Winry withdrew into her room, returning thirty minutes later with a small bag and a suitcase. She delicately picked up the letter and slipped it into one of the suitcase's side pockets.

Winry stepped out of her house and took a left on the dirt path, headed for the train station.

"Oh, Ed..."

The young man in question had just received a letter himself. The man from the inn's reception desk had brought it up, knocking loudly on the door and quickly handing it to Ed without so much as a word before he swiftly returned downstairs.

Now, Edward sat at the desk once more, with Alphonse leaning over his shoulder. They were both staring at the piece of paper in front of them. Ed read it over twice, then handed it to Al and stood up. He stretched lazily, then smiled and sat down on Al's bed. He waited for his brother to finish with it, and then leaned back.

"Well then, Al, it looks like we get a day off."

"I guess so. But I wonder why the General would grant us that."

"Who knows. Let's not question our good fortune. I guess Mustang has something else he needs to do today."

Al nodded. "Okay, so what do you think we should do?"

"Well, I was actually thinking..." Ed grinned, "that we should take a stroll around Central and just hang out for a while."

"I guess that sounds fine to me," Al replied.

"Great! Let's go then!"

"Sure thing," Alphonse finished, "I'll go get Lyncia."

Edward's face darkened.

"...You do that, Al."

Despite his uncertainty, Ed was not willing to give up on his theory. His brother knocked on the connecting door as he stood up and left the room without a word.

The weather was quite unlike what the brothers had expected. As soon as they stepped outside, Ed immediately regretted wearing his coat, and Al his, but Edward was too stubborn to take it off and Alphonse figured that conditions would change eventually. It was unbelievably hot out. The sun was beaming down cruelly, and aside from a few shady spots, nothing was safe from its burning wrath. The air was unusually dry as well. There were no clouds in sight. Aside from the heat, it made for a beautiful day. Lyncia stood next to Al, dressed in a white tank-top and a burgundy skirt that stopped just where the towel had, at the center of her thighs. Glancing down, Ed noticed a very odd dark spot on the inside of her right leg, but said nothing. Her hair was let down, hanging loosely. She had obviously wanted to look good when going out.

It was worth noting, however, that the usual happy gleam in her eyes was missing. The Fullmetal Alchemist did not fail to note it.

Edward didn't have much of a plan for what they would do while they were out, but he did suggest that they head to the markets first, and the other two consented. They had made it there in ten minutes, and Ed had taken his time in picking out several fruits that he deemed good snacks, including apples, mangos, and the occasional pear. He then compiled them all in a woven basket he had obtained from the fruit stand's owner and paid for them. Due to the large amount he had gotten, it turned out to cost nearly all he had brought.

The rest of the day went by uneventfully. They stopped to have lunch near midday, and then spent a few hours strolling down Central's main street. After a few more unimportant activities that lasted quite a while, the time had reached 4:30. Ed glanced at his pocketwatch and notified his partners that it was best for them to head back now.

They turned onto another street and found that their inn was only a block away. As they walked, Lyncia spoke out.

"So, Ed..."

Thoroughly surprised, he looked straight ahead and continued walking. "What is it, Lyn?"

"Well," she began, unaffected by his display of coldness, "Al told me all the stories...about what happened to you guys...and about all the people that you knew and met."

"And?" Edward was not amused.

"I hope it's okay for me to wonder...who it was that you missed the most while you were in the other world," she finished.

Ed stopped dead in his tracks. That had caught him completely off guard.

"Who?" he questioned stiffly.

"Yeah, who?"

He glanced at his brother, and then sighed. "That would have to be Al, obviously."

Al smiled, but Lyncia was unsatisfied.

"Okay, and after him?"

Ed's face fell. He resumed walking, his eyes glued to the ground the entire time. His companions followed behind him, observing his behavior.

"Can't you think of anyone?" Lyncia pressed.

"Well..." Edward began, but his voice trailed off. Both Al and Lyncia knew immediately who, even though Ed never answered the question. Lyncia's face fell into a frown, and she began walking slower. Something about Ed's silent answer had hit her hard.

"Mind me asking why you're so disappointed, or why it even matters?" Ed stated bluntly.

"It doesn't matter. I was just curious," she answered definitively.

Suddenly, the inn was upon them. Al opened the door and held it for Ed and Lyncia, and they filed in. There wasn't a soul in the lobby, save the receptionist. Even the barkeeper, it seemed, was out. They slowly ascended the stairs, almost wearily, in fact.

Nobody said a word.

Ed and Al entered their room without speaking to Lyncia, and she proceeded to her door and did the same. The brothers didn't do much that night. In fact, it wasn't until after the sun had set that Edward spoke his first words to Alphonse since they had returned, and they were important words that Ed had contemplated several times.

"Al...I think I've got it."

"Got what, Brother?"

"You know what I was talking to you about earlier?"

Al knew.

"Yeah," he answered.

"Well...about Lyncia...I think that she's..." Ed paused, looking for words, "I think that she's...somebody else. Somebody we knew from...from before. She's hiding her identity."

"Brother, that's crazy," Al replied, almost smiling.

"Is it, Al? Just look at the way she treats me. She acts close to me, like only someone from before could. And when I didn't answer the question on the street...just look at how she reacted. It's like she was almost expecting it to be someone else."

"I still think that's just a little out there," Al stated, but it came out slowly, because he was in the middle of a yawn. He looked quite tired.

"Wait, Al. First I want to make sure."

"Ed, I think you're being just a bit paranoid, like always."

Edward grinned. "Well that's fine, Al. You just go to sleep, then."

That's exactly what Al decided to do. He yawned, rolled over on the bed, and closed his eyes. Ed turned off the desk lamp, and Al was asleep in a moment. The elder Elric smiled softly at his sleeping brother and then turned.

I know it was a long day, Al. And I know this seems crazy. I just want to be sure.

Slowly, Ed approached the connecting door on their side of the room and gripped the handle. He dearly hoped that he was wrong. With a swift pull, he yanked it open.

It turned out that Ed was quite wrong.

As soon as the door opened, he saw all that he needed to see to prove that. Long, shiny, streaming, chestnut brown hair lay cast aside on the bed. A wig. A white towel lay next to it. It had been used to wipe a large quantity of makeup that was the same pale color of Lyncia's skin. Eye-pieces, hazel-colored, were resting on a small stand next to the bed. The person standing next to the bed was not who Ed expected it to be.

But it was not Lyncia Asuna, either.

The person standing next to the bed had skin, hair and eyes of a different color. They were all colors Ed knew. And the person those colors belonged to was one that Ed, smart as he was, had failed in all accounts to suspect. They locked eyes, and she took a step back as if she had just been hit, and then she began to cry.

"You...I knew it was someone from before the Gate...but you?" he gasped out. Edward was baffled. "Why? What...?"

"Ed...I'm sorry..." she sobbed out, tears streaming down her face.

And when he heard her voice, there was no more doubt left in Edward's mind.

A/N: Phew, it sure has been a while, eh? Well, I worked on the first half of this chapter some time ago, and then set it aside and took a small break that turned into a bigger break. But starting Thursday, I put some quality work into it, brainstormed and forced myself to work through today, when I finally got it finished. It's just over 6,000 words, so I definitely put some work into it. I hope the cliffhanger wasn't too killer. Uh...just a few notes. If you're all wondering about the "connecting doors" idea: if you've ever been to a hotel with a large group of people (an extended family, for example) you might have gotten two separate rooms that were connected by a doorframe, and in that doorframe there were actually two doors, one for each room, and when they were both opened you could go from room to room. If that's familiar to you, then good. If not, I hope you can understand where I'm coming from. Also, about the colored eye-pieces: I figured that there were no colored contacts in 1912, like we have today, but on the flip side, I figured in the world of Alchemy, somebody would come up with something. If it's a bit of a stretch, it's all for the sake of the story.

One last thing: I hope all of you are thoroughly shocked about Lyncia, because if so, it means I've done my job, and you didn't suspect a thing. If you did suspect something then...damn! XD Well, anyway, that's the killer cliffie, but I know all who were a little irked about an OC and her possibility to turn into a Mary-Sue will be ecstatic that it turns out to be someone we all know from the series. Make sure you review with your reactions, thoughts, guesses, etc...

As a final note, I couldn't get it done this time because of my eagerness to get this chapter out, but from now on (Ch. 7 onwards), merodi-chan will be pre-reading and editing for me. Much appreciation for that.

Reviews: Well, as I said, I was very pleased at the amount of reviews. Even though it was only seven, it doubled my totals from previous chapters. So my thanks go out to all that review, and my wrath falls upon those who didn't. OO

Silverlode - Err...thanks!

FruitsBasketFreak44 - Muchas gracias, and I will write much more.

Megan - Well, thanks for reviewing at least once, and it makes me happy to know you love it. I'm sorry I didn't keep my promise about updating that Sunday, but at least I got it done, eh?

angry-kitty - Sorry, can't tell you which one he'll choose. All will come in due time. It seems there are more EdxWin fans out there than one would be led to believe. I guess the only real haters are the fangirls?

Mara Earth - Holy crap? That's it? Nothing else? Oh well. XD

Dreamtheader - Well, thanks for being a silent reader no longer. I don't know how the hell I'd only gotten 19 (22, now), but I guess that's just how it goes. I really appreciate the compliments. Update granted!

Merodi-chan - You know I appreciate your reviews the most, so graci for that. Thanks for not predicting, because you'd probably hit it head on and spoil the story:P Hopefully you're finally out of school, so we can get that system working in time for the seventh chapter.

romance rocker - Appreciate the comments. Ah, we must hold a celebration in your honor! You were the first one to detect something about Lyncia! Hail! Like I vaguely inform everyone, the EdWin pair hasn't been dropped (no worries) because any pairings will come much later in the storyline. To be honest, I'm not placing too much emphasis on Roy or Risa (at least at this point), which makes it hard to put any kind of emphasis on their relationship.

Preview

Chapter 7 - Familiarity

The truth comes out; and who better to make it such than Ed? He has discovered Lyncia's secret, as well as her identity, but it will rock his already unstable world. How will he handle it, and, more importantly, what will this person do now that they have reunited with the young man they disguised themself just to get near? Emotions fly once again, and Winry returns to Central under the orders of Edward's letter.

See ya soon!

LL