Shadows fill an empty heart
As love is fading,
From all the things that we are
But are not saying.
Can we see beyond the scars
And make it to the dawn?

He couldn't control it. At least, not for long. This form that possessed his mind had weakened, and his mind was finally been let loose. He could control this form, this Homunculi, Pride, for a short time.

But what was the cost?

He knew who he was.

He just didn't know if he could survive.

He stopped running, and the form Pride gazed down at his hands, his legs, his body, covered in long red tattoos, and an arm and a leg that shouldn't belong to him. He hadn't wanted for this to happen. Alphonse had been taken into the gate, while he had to stay and watch him go.

He had made a deal with the Homunculi. A deal that brought him to this form, a form that wanted to kill, and his brother back to life.

He, Edward Elric, was stuck in Pride, and he didn't know a way out. He had thought when that he would be in this form, he could control it. But no. All he could show it was memories and constantly try to awaken. He had finally grasped one of Pride's weakest moments, and Edward had emerged, in control.

He would kill the Homunculi and Father.

"Edward," the voice of Roy woke him back up, and Edward looked up at him, a dull ache of Pride's mind wanting to reawaken pounding in his head.

Edward clenched his fist and gazed at his right arm. "This isn't my arm," he slowly said. "Nor is this leg. This body…." He sighed. "This body may look like mine, but it isn't."

Roy took a step closer. "Then where is your body?" he asked in a low voice.

Edward didn't hesitate. "Dead. The Gate took it. In exchange for Alphonse to live, I took this form and let my body be killed," he ended in a whisper. His golden eyes shown in anger as he stared up at Roy. "I shouldn't have done it. I thought I could control this form and end the Homunculi, but I was stuck inside. Unable to get out. And now," he started running again, now shouting, "I'm going to kill Father, who definitely should appear soon!"

"Uh…" Roy ran off after him. "Who is Father?"

"The person in control of the Homunculi," Edward shouted over his shoulder. "Last time I saw him… He did something so we couldn't use Alchemy. We still don't know why… the one advantage of being a Homunculi, I guess."

Roy looked around the battlefield, where many gun shots and explosions were going on. He was pretty sure they had taken care of some of the Homunculi. The only trick was to kill them repeatedly. "But if he is in control…?"

"I'm not quite sure what he can do to us," Edward shrugged as he ran. "Naturally, he could take all the Philosophers stones away from our bodies and kill us like that. No doubt he'll be mad at Envy for taking the Alchemists' straight on, but he won't kill him. Envy has been with him too long."

"But…"

"And speak of the devil," Edward muttered as he stopped running, "and he will come." He turned to gaze up the hill, where a man with stern golden eyes and light brown hair was striding down. Clad in a long white robe, the man took strong, slow strides toward Edward, a solemn expression on his face.

Edward watched the surviving Homunculi pass by him and Roy silently, and Envy stopped next to him. "It's father," he murmured, his green eyes flickering with amusement. "He'll be amazed. Come, Pride."

Edward nodded, not glancing back at Roy. He quickly followed Envy and walked up to Father and got down on his knee before him with his left hand on his chest and his right clenched into a fist on the ground. He didn't know what would happen, as he tried to stop the sweat that poured down his face.

"Envy," Father said lightly. "This is…?"

"Pride," Envy answered triumphantly.

Father's eyes flickered to the scene that the Homunculi and the Alchemist's had created. His gazed settled on Roy who had a bewildered look on his face, and then his eyes settled back on Edward. He set a hand upon his head. "This is an exact copy of Hohenheims son."

Envy crossed his arms. "It is his son."

"And his brother?"

"Alive, but not a homunculus. He has his body back," Envy sighed. "But no worries…"

"This is dangerous," Father cut in. "This form of Pride is always likely to get Edward Elric's memory back…" he looked back up at Envy. "Who killed the other Pride?" His gazed flickered to Roy, who now stood ready to react to whatever was thrown his way.

"I did," Roy answered.

Father had no emotion on his face. He looked around at the remaining Homunculi. "Where is Sloth… and Wrath?"

"They were lost in the battle," Lust answered, coming to stand next to Envy, Gluttony following after her.

"A battle… so poorly planned," Father's voice turned stern. "Why did you not tell me?"

Envy shrugged. "It just seemed like a good idea at the time. Besides, Edward Elric doesn't exist anymore."

"I'm not so sure of that," Father was once again calm. He lifted his hand from Edward's head and motioned for him to rise. Edward stared blankly into the eyes so much like his fathers, and then he was staring at blackness and found it hard to breathe. He opened his eyes and noticed that he was around forty feet away from where he had been standing.

"Father!" Envy yelled. "He is Pride, not Edward!"

"I tried to keep Edward alive, but now his body is already dead," Father growled at him. "All that is left is a soulless body incapable of doing the things that Edward Elric could have done."

Edward had clearly not seen the punch that Father had laid on him. He struggled to get up as he took gulps of air. Roy was by his side, along with the State Alchemist's standing behind them, ready to attack.

Edward stood up, pushing away any help. He knew that his brother was standing behind him, but he didn't want to look at him. He didn't want to bring his brother into this.

"You're right," he said slowly. "I am Pride."

Envy grinned evilly at him.

"But," Edward spoke again. "My body may be Pride. My mind is Edward's." He sighed, and continued talking. "My original body may be dead now, but my mind isn't. It's still here. I'm going to defeat each and everyone of you so that we can never have Homunculi again."

"That's going to be a bit difficult," Father lightly replied. He started walking towards him. "As I was the one who created the Homunculi."

"Colonel," Edward murmured. "Take out the Homunculus. Father is mine."

"Wait, Ed!" Roy called after Edward who had started running to meet Father head on. "You can't take him by yourself!"

"I'm a Homunculi!" Edward shouted back at him angrily. "I can do this!"

"Brother!" Roy turned and saw Alphonse stumble after Edward, looking grief stricken.

"Wow!" Roy caught Alphonse by the shoulder. "Al, let's see…"
"He can't!" Alphonse yelled at him. "He needs my help!" He turned back and stared after is brother, who was now attacking Father. "He can't take him by himself," he whispered.

"He might not be able to," Roy sighed, "but we can at least follow his wishes. Now… would you help me on taking out the palm tree?"

"You mean Envy?" Alphonse asked.

"Envy, palm tree, same thing," Roy muttered. "Now. Come."

Meanwhile, Edward was busy taking out Father, who he couldn't lay a hand on. He lifted a hand to block the blow that Father had thrown to the right and lifted his left hand and was able to grab hold of Father's arm and flipped him over, snapping his arm in the process. He landed straight on his back and Edward had retrieved a cleaver, now aiming for his head. He brought it straight down on his head, which Father reached up and grasped the cleavers edge with both of his hands, stopping it from coming down.

Edward gritted his teeth as he tried to push the cleaver down.

"Why do you try to kill me?" Father said coolly up to him, not seeming to have any trouble keeping the cleaver away from him.

"Heh, I thought you would've known that," Edward spat down on him. "Creating Homunculi…"

"… to make this world better," Father finished for him. "The Homunculi is only a small part in the plan."

"Then what is your plan!?" Edward yelled.

"Our plan," Father whispered, "is not for you to know."

Edward gave a dry laugh. "You don't exactly have a plan, do you? You just want to destroy this world."

"Not necessarily," sighed Father. "And put the cleaver away if you want to live."

"Never!" Edward yelled.

"I create Homunculi," Father lightly said, "so I know your weakness."

Edward watched in awe at Father's outstanding speed as he knocked his cleaver away. He jumped up and now had his palm on Edward's head, letting loose excruciating pain in Edward's mind. Edward clenched his hands to his head, yelling.

"Let loose the Homunculi in you," Father said, "and erase the mind of the boy Edward Elric."

"I… won't," Edward gasped out. He had fallen to his knees in pain, not knowing how to stop it.

Father lifted his hand from his head, creating a wave of distortion that flowed through Edward, who fell over to his side. He slowly felt the pain slip away and he found that he had been closing his eyes from the pain. He opened them slowly and let everything come into focus.

"Awaken, Pride," Father said.

"I…" Edward started out, "am not, and will never again, be Pride!" he ended in a yell. He jumped up and immediately fell down again. He looked angrily up at Father and jerked in surprise to his feet. "Hohenheim," he gasped. Sure enough, the one person identical to Father, Hohenheim, was standing not ten feet away from them.

Hohenheim walked up to them slowly, taking his hands out of his pockets. "What's going on here?" he asked in a dull voice, as if he already knew the answer. He stopped and squinted at Father. "I see. You have started your revolt."

"And this time," Father replied calmly, "You can't stop us."

"You forget who I am," Hohenheim sighed. He put his hands close to each other, looking now at Envy who stood beside Father, a disgusted look on his face. Lust and Gluttony both followed after him. They had taken out many Alchemists', but they had been getting nowhere.

"Join us, Hohenheim," Father said. He took a step closer. "Just like you did so many years ago."

"I regret those years," whispered Hohenheim, "and I will do anything to try to stop them." He clapped his hands and kneeled, placing his hands on the ground. "I will end this, once and for all."

"No…" Father said, getting angry now. "I can stop your Alchemy, Hohenheim."

"But you can't stop the gate from coming," Hohenheim whispered. "The gate is now… inevitable."

"Father can call off the gate all he wants!" Envy spat out, coming out in front of Father. "He's…" He stopped and looked at Father, who had a bewildered look on his face. "Father…?"

"Everything has a beginning," Hohenheim whispered, "and everything has an end."

The gate appeared behind Hohenheim, creating a dark shadow over him.

"At what cost," Father gasped, "did you bring that gate?"

Hohenheim stood up straight and put his hands in his pockets. "Myself," he whispered.

Father laughed bitterly. "You weren't meant to live on your own anyways. It's only proper the puppet dies with the puppeteer."

Hohenheim gazed at Edward, who now possessed the bewildered look. It's not proper for a son to die with their father, though. He sighed and heard the large screeches of the door opening. "It's time."

"My body may die," Father said, "but I will return."

Envy growled at him and looked out the long black hands coming out. He jumped away from them. "You just can't give up like that!"

"The gate has called you," Hohenheim said, "And you can't escape."

Lust slashed at the hands with her nails. "We aren't going anywhere!" she screeched, but more hands came after her and wrapped them tightly around her arms. She screamed as she was pulled in, soon followed by Gluttony who was pulled through right after her. Envy struggled against the black arms wrapping around him.

"Father!" he yelled. "You bastard! Hohenheim!" He glared at Hohenheim as he was pulled passed him. "I WON'T DIE!" he transformed himself into the form of a giant serpent. He whirled his head around and watched the fading forms of the people outside the gate. "I'm not done yet!" he yelled. He slowly disappeared into the yellow abyss of the door, screaming the word bastard over and over again.

"Your plan is finished," Hohenheim said calmly to Father.

Father let himself be taken by the black hands. "I may be gone," he said, "but no matter what, I will return." He turned and glared at Edward. "Somehow." He faded away after Envy.

Hohenheim sighed, his shoulders sagging. He turned and looked at Edward. "Hello, son."

Edward didn't know how to react, but felt his eyes fill up and felt the cool tear flow down his cheek. "You bastard," he whispered.

Hohenheim smiled sadly at Edward. "It's time for us to go."

Edward gritted his teeth and looked back at the people standing a few feet behind him. Roy, Riza, Armstrong, Breda, Havoc… Alphonse. Winry. He smiled lightly at them, and felt more tears pour down his face. "I'm ready," he said. He turned back to Hohenheim. "I'm ready," he repeated strongly.

Alphonse shook his head. "No!" he took a few steps foreword, the tears apparent on his face. "You can't do this! Edward!" He looked up at Hohenheim. "Father? Why!?"

Hohenheim smiled lightly at his son. "I'll be watching you, Alphonse." He disappeared into the gate, walking in himself.

Edward watched the black hands grasp his arm and legs. He turned back to Alphonse. "Live for me, Al, Winry. Just live for me. I'll always be with you," he finished, his gaze flickering over to Winry.

"But…!" Alphonse yelled.

Edward looked at Winry and stared into her tearing blue eyes, his silent words never going to be spoken to her. She shook her head and covered her face with her hands, her shoulders shaking. He gazed at the Colonel and gave a small salute with his free arm, and Roy stood up straight and saluted him back, as all the Alchemists and soldiers saluted him back.

Edward turned back to the gate and sighed. His tears fell freely now as felt himself was being pulled into the gate. He closed his eyes and smiled. Live for me.

Alphonse collapsed on the ground and watched his brother disappear into the gate and the large doors closed, the fading memory of Edward sticking in his mind. He clenched the grass tightly and ripped it from the ground angrily. "Edward, you idiot," he whispered as he gave fully into tears. Winry walked up to Alphonse and hugged him tightly against her shoulder. She stared at where the gate had left. She shook her head and hugged Alphonse tighter, her shoulders now shaking from her stifling sobs. Edward's last words ran repeatedly through her mind. Live for me.

Now that we're here,
Now that we've come this far,
Just hold on.
There is nothing to fear,
For I am right beside you.
For all my life,
I am yours.

Just live for me.

We won't just live for you, Edward.

I'll always be with you.

Yes, and we'll wait for you.

Now that we're here,
Now that we've come this far,
Just hold on.
There is nothing to fear,
For I am right beside you.
For all my life,
I am yours.

Lyrics are not mine, as the two verses came from the song "What About Now" by Daughtry. If it was more Ed/Winry focused, then I would use the full song.

I like how this ended; I don't know if I'm going to do an epilogue… vote?

I'm very sorry if anybody was a fan of the Homunculi. They had to go… And I'm really sorry if you didn't like how I ended it :( But remember, if an epilogue is written, you can always hope on what it will contain what you wanted.

I had no clue how to write this out when I began it but I like how it did, so I really hope all of you enjoyed it. And I really don't know where the manga is going in its storyline... so it's a total fanfiction xD

Don't forget to review, and thank you for reviewing!!