Chapter Twenty-Possible solutions

Edward marched himself outside. He'd changed into some olive green shorts and a white t-shirt. Stretching his arms over his head he stared off in the distance.

"Alright, so if this is all in my head and based off of what I know then if I haven't been somewhere, then obviously I'll have no memory of it." Some times his theories sounded better in his head rather then saying them out loud. "So since I never went in that direction towards the mountains, there shouldn't be anything over there and it might be a way out."

He smiled to himself, proud at this new possibility he'd come up with. Now that he had stated his plan to no one else other then himself, he took off running behind the house towards the one mountain range he'd only seen from a distance. He got so far out before he realized that he wasn't getting anywhere. Turning back, he saw he was getting further away from the house however the mountains were still just as far as they were when he started. Now exhausted he stopped in his tracks and leaned forward on his knees, breathing hard. "How...how am I...suppose to...get out of here?"
Once he caught his breath, he grudgingly stalked back to the house.

"I wonder if I can get a message to Al. Maybe he can help me with this." Normally the older Elric was against asking his 'little' brother for help. It went against his older sibling dignity. But the thought of his younger brother brought something else to light. He remembered Pride attacked Al before he grabbed him. He wondered if he had done so to bother the former State alchemist. Of course why would the stupid homunculus need a reason. Pure evil never did. He wondered if Alphonse was okay. He was sure that May was probably climbing the walls worrying about him. The thought made him laugh as he wiped the sweat from his forehead. That was when something else occurred to him. Something that brought a devious smile to his face. As he opened the back door, he could hear Winry and his mom unpacking the groceries. Winry noticed the grin on his face and smiled back at him.

"Is every thing alright, Ed?" She walked over and hugged him around the neck.

"Yeah, I think so." He let out a satisfying huff. Winry leaned in closer and sniffed him.

"Have you been running around outside?"

"Just wanted some exercise."

"Well you certainly finished off the stew. I hope you saved room for dinner though. It's gonna be amazing." His mom smiled back at him.

"One of my favorites," Ed asked with a hint of sarcasm in his tone.

"Of course." She smiled and he just shook his head.

"I guess I should go get cleaned up." He rubbed the back of his neck and headed upstairs to the bathroom. The bottom stair creaked behind him and he turned to see Winry following him. "Did you need something, Winry?" She had an odd look in her eye as she moved up the stairwell to him. Taking him by the hand, she guided him up to the one bedroom. Catching on quickly,he knew where this was headed and he had a pretty good idea where this little distraction came from. Winry closed the door to the bedroom.

"I know you've been having a rough couple of days and I wanted to help get your mind on something else for awhile." He stepped back, taking a seat on the bed.

"Winry, I'm sorry I've been kind of distant. But I really have to focus on figuring this all out." His wife pouted back at him.

"You're trying to leave, I know that's ultimately what you want." He shook his head sadly, knowing that she was right and it would in the end hurt her.

"Winry you know I never want to hurt you." She nodded quietly and left the room without another word. Ed brought his hand to his face, rubbing his eyes. This whole thing was really starting to wear him out. Annoyed, he left the room and headed into the bathroom.

oOoOo

Alphonse knocked lightly on General Mustang's office door. The Flame alchemist rose to his feet and couldn't help but smile, glad the see the younger Elric doing so well.

"Glad to see you on your feet, Alphonse." The younger man timidly scratched the back of his head and brought his gaze to the floor.

"I was just wondering if I can help with anything else." Roy took his seat again and let out a sigh.

"Well I wish you could, however there hasn't been anything since the night you and Ed were attacked."

"Have you gotten a chance to talk to Brother yet?"

"I haven't been able to get a hold of him. He left the hospital before you woke up and has been MIA since then."

"I'm worried about him. I don't know how he would be able to fight against Pride. I really need to find him."

"So what are you saying, Al? Do you think Ed is Pride?"

"If May or I could get close enough to him, one of us would be able to tell." Mustang ran a hand through his dark hair and leaned back in his seat. He was silent for several seconds before coming to a conclusion.

"We have to find Edward as soon as possible."

oOoOo

The hot water felt good on Ed's back. He leaned against the far wall, returning to his thoughts. The situation with Winry had made him realize how much he really missed her but instead of being frustrated about it, he pushed it aside. He was finding it more and more difficult to remember things from his real life the longer he was here. Closing his eyes, he tried to think back to several years ago. Right after the Promise Day. He and Al were both still in the hospital, Al for malnutrition and himself for just a couple of small scratches. At the time he really didn't see why he needed to be there for so long. But as long as he was stuck there, he figured he would keep Alphonse company. Every day May would visit them, bringing Al different types of food each day. Ed had nagged her the first couple of times she showed up about teaching him Alkehestry. Finally the young girl gave in and started to show both of them the science of her people.

"Rrrr, you are so stupid!" May hollered angrily at Edward. He stuck his tongue out in response.

"I can't help it if it's nothing like alchemy and I can't wrap my brain around it."

"Brother, you don't have to be so rude." Ed let out a huff of frustration as he looked over the 'transmutation' circle in front of him. It was completely different from what he was used to.

"So it's more about focus then a different array each time?"

"I've already explained that to you like three times. It has to do with feeling the chi of every living being! Meaning you have to be sensitive to the things around you, meaning you can't use blunt force!" She was obviously becoming frustrated with all his questions.

"Hey stop yelling at me like I'm stupid. I know how to hold back and be sensitive."

"Like a sledge hammer." Alphonse waved his hand back and forth trying to get their attention.

"Guys please stop yelling at each other. I really want the two of you to get along. Please. Do it for me?" May hopped over to his bed, causing him to lean back as much as possible.

"Oh sure thing Alphonse. Whatever will make you happy and help you get back your strength. Even if it means being nice to your brother." The last part she grit her teeth and glared over at Edward. He made another obnoxious face at her.

"And quit being so immature, Ed. For crying out loud you're older."

"It's not my fault she's being so mean to me. I'm just trying to learn this stuff and it's not as easy as she's making it sound."

"Well maybe if you tried to learn how to focus more and not waste so much time asking questions." The Xingese girl was getting on the older Elric's last nerve.

"Alright, Missy," He clenched his jaw and narrowed his gaze at her. "If you think I'm stuck in this bed because I have to be you're so wrong." Alphonse was fed up with both of them by this point. He had tried to be nice about it but they had pushed him too far.

"BOTH OF YOU STOP IT!" The anger in his voice got both of them to pause more in shock that he was yelling then anything else. He was breathing hard now from all the effort he had to put into yelling at them. "Now from this point, I don't want to hear either one of you being mean. You need to get along. May if you care about me, you're gonna have to get used to Ed cause he's my only family." Edward smirked as he leaned back, crossing his arms in front of his chest. "And Brother, I really like May so you need to be nice to her too. Understand?" They both nodded reluctantly avoiding looking at each other. "Good, now I've gotta go to the bathroom."

"You need any help, Al," Edward offered.

"Naw, I can make it over there." He took his time but managed to walk over to the bathroom using a set of crutches. Once the door was closed, Ed glared back at the girl sitting on the other bed.

"Just because I've gotta be nice to you, doesn't mean I have to like you. You got that, girlie?" She turned away from him, sticking her nose in the air.

"Shao Mei, attack." The small panda leaped from the one bed over to Ed's and attempted to bite him. May laughed at the chaos that ensued. Hearing the commotion, Al poked his head out and both of them paused, smiling back at him.

"Everything okay out here?"

"We're fine," they explained in unison.

Looking back at the whole thing, Edward had a pretty good idea why he never learned much Alkehestry.

'She was just a horrible teacher.' But it wasn't like he'd gotten far on his own either. If he could just figure out the chi thing though, he might be able to get back to reality. Once he toweled off and got dressed, he headed back downstairs. The smell of dinner waft through the air and he could hear his stomach groan in response.

"Edward, you're just in time. Dinner is about ready." As he walked over to take a seat next to Winry, there was a sudden ache in his left leg that quickly became unbearable and he found himself grabbing onto one of the kitchen chairs for support.

"Ed, are you okay?" Before he could respond, his nerves twitched angrily, sending the pain up to his hip.

"Grrr, it really hurts." Winry placed the baby in the high chair before going over to get a better look at his automail. "I think...it's the timing, W...Winry." She glanced up at him, wondering how he would even know about that.

"But you didn't do anything to cause that. I've never heard of the synchronization slipping for no reason." When she said that it finally dawned on him and he couldn't help but smile at the thought. This pain meant Pride was still having issues with his automail. And this pain felt an awful lot like when Winry messed with the nerve connection. But despite the enjoyment of knowing the homunculus was having a hard time with it, he had to deal with the pain as well. Somehow he managed to accept that as he clung to the table.