Chapter Three: Home Sweet Home
As Ed walked over a hill, he saw his old house in the distance. He stopped to stare at it. 'It's... our house... But we burned it down...' Ed heard laugher and noticed a boy coming out of the house. The boy stopped when he noticed Ed.
"B-Brother...?"
"Al..." Ed whispered in surprise.
"But, how...? You... You were going to go to the store for mom... Did you forget something?"
"Wha...?" Ed muttered before remembering that Mustang had told him this was another dimension. "Oh... No. I didn't forget anything. Actually... You're not gonna believe this, Al, but... I'm not from this dimension."
"What do you mean, brother?"
"Well... I was chasing this guy and he used some type of alchemy on a wall and jumped through. I followed and found myself here - in an alternate reality."
"But, how do you know this isn't your dimension?"
"Al... In my dimension, our mother died," Ed told him and looked away.
"Oh..." Al said as he widened his eyes in shock. After a moment, he said, "So... I guess you'd like to see mom again."
A nightmarish image flashed through Ed's mind as he thought of the last time he tried to see his mother again. Al didn't seem to notice anything, as he grabbed his alternate brother's hand.
"Mom! Guess who's here!" Al called as he came into the house.
"Hm?" she wondered as she turned to look. "Ed? Did you forget something?" Ed could only stare at her, dumbfounded.
"No, he didn't forget anything," Al answered for him.
"Hmm... Something's different about you, Ed..." his mother said as she studied him.
"M-Mom... It's really you..." Ed said with tears in his eyes as he went to hug her.
"Of course it's me... Who else would it be?"
"Uh..." Al said as he tried to think of the words to explain. "He's... Not from here."
Edward snorted. "He can't be me," he said, gesturing toward Ed. "If he were, we would be the same height."
"What?! Who are you calling short?!" Ed yelled.
"Well... He is a couple inches taller than you..." Al said as he studied his two brothers.
"Wait..." Edward said, noticing something. "That chain... Does that mean you're a state alchemist?"
Ed nodded, taking out his pocket watch to show himself.
"You better not let Winry see that. After what the state did to her parents... she won't stay in the same building with a State Alchemist," Al said.
"Huh? But, Winry helps take care of me..." Ed said.
"Take care of you?"
"Yeah... Whenever I mess up my arm, I go to her for repairs," Ed said, lifting up his sleeve to show his metal arm.
The Elrics widen their eyes. "Automail... When did that happen?" Al asked.
Ed hesitated. "...In an alchemy experiment that went wrong."
"I guess that could explain it... That metal might be what's weighing you down," Edward pondered.
"I am not short!" Ed yelled.
Al snickered a little before saying, "Well, Winry may have done that in your dimension, brother, but this is our Winry..."
"I guess you're right, Al... I wonder what else is different."
--End Chapter--
My original Chapter Notes:
Hmm... I ran out of ideas. Heh... Anyone else have any? I did think of another interesting idea for a fanfic, though: Ed wakes up in a hospital to find out that it's about a hundred years in the future and he's in Tokyo, Japan.