Here it is! One of my favorite chapters in this story! I updated very quickly, I know. I've decided that I don't care so much about the reviews anymore. It's fun to write! I believe this is going to be a major chapter in the story. Some questions might be answered. Some more may come. Who knows until you read! So, for today, I'll keep things short here. Thanks to those that are reviewing, and I hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: How many times must I tell you people that I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist?

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"What a day," Roy sighed as he stepped off the train. "I'm never trusting you to get the train tickets again. How long until the next train to Central?"

Hughes scanned over the paper hanging on the station wall for a train to Central. Three hours until next departure. Roy wouldn't be happy about that. They had been fighting so long in Ishbal, and now that there was a brief pause in the fighting, they were given the rare opportunity for a short trip home. It was just their luck that they'd gotten on the wrong train and wound up in some little town…Resembool, was it called?

"Three hours," Hughes said. "Guess we have some time to kill. Not like there's anyone waiting for us at home anyway."

"Time to kill? What could possibly be interesting here?"

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"There's nothing to do!" Ed whined. School was over, and Edward had ditched Alphonse when he saw Kayt sitting all by herself on a hill.

"I thought you said you had to talk to Al about something," Kayt said poking a frog with her bare toe. The frog didn't move.

"I don't feel like talking to him right now! He's a liar!"

"What'd he do?" Kayt asked trying and failing to get the frog to move.

"He told a lie to all the kids at school so they'd pick on me instead of him!"

"What lie?"

Ed's eyes glazed over slightly, and Kayt lost his attention. Obviously, it wasn't something he didn't want to talk about.

"We need something to do," Kayt said agreeing with Ed's earlier statement.

"Yeah," Ed answered. Kayt wasn't sure whether he was aware that he had even spoken or not.

"What do you usually do?"

"Play with Al and Winry."

They both sighed and looked out over the town. Men were working in the fields. Women were gardening or hanging clothes on the line. Children were playing in the lake despite the chill of the beginning of autumn. A trail of smoke from a departing train rose over the red trees. Everything was perfectly normal. And perfectly boring.

"Think you could knock over those barrels with that rock?" Kayt asked indicating a few feet to their right. Three barrels were lined up next to a barn at the bottom of the hill, and a large boulder was at the top.

"That rock won't roll," Ed said. "It's not round, and it's probably stuck in the ground pretty far. Besides, even if it could roll, it's too big. How do you expect me to roll that?"

"You know alchemy, don't you?" Kayt asked with an evil grin. The very same evil grin she had had when planning against Winry.

"Yeah, but I've never transmuted anything that big before!"

"It's not like you're changing it into something else. You're just making it round. You can't do that?"

"I don't know. I've never tried."

"And you're not even going to try? Hmph, and you call yourself an alchemist."

"I am an alchemist!"

"Then prove it!"

Edward marched right over to the rock and pulled a piece of chalk from his pocket. Finding the flattest spot he could, he started drawing a transmutation circle. Kayt didn't understand the drawing at all, but she watched with genuine interest. Ed finished and stepped back to admire the circle.

"Now what?" Kayt asked.

"Just watch."

Ed placed his hands on the rock. There was a quick flash of blue light, and Kayt had to shield her eyes. When she looked back, the transmutation was complete. It wasn't perfect, far from it, but it did look like it could roll now. In fact, it was already starting to roll.

"Wow!" Kayt exclaimed. "You really can do alchemy!"

"Of course I ca-"

Edward's sentence was cut short when the rock nearly rolled over him. He jumped out of its way and watched it roll down the hill. Its imperfect shape, however, caused it to roll off to one side, and they could only watch as it missed the barrels completely and plowed into the barn, taking out a giant chunk of the wall.

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"I told you we wouldn't find anything interesting here, Maes," Roy said to his friend as they walked down the quiet streets of Resembool.

"Looks like something interesting going on over there," Hughes said pointing to where a large group of people had gathered.

The two made their way to the crowd and tried to push their way to the front. Roy was thankful he hadn't yet taken off his military uniform as people moved aside for him. Once at the front, he was horrified at what he saw. A young girl, no more than four, was being held in the arms of a crying man. He couldn't tell if she was dead, but she had a terrible gash on the side of her head, and she certainly wasn't conscious. Hughes went over to check her condition while Roy surveyed the scene. There was wood thrown everywhere. He followed the scraps to a barn that was missing part of its wall. A large boulder was just inside the wall. The girl must have been in the barn when the boulder rolled into it.

"What happened?" Roy asked the crowd to see if someone could challenge the scenario his mind had come up with. Hughes was trying to talk to the man, probably the girl's father, and it looked like he had confirmed that the girl was dead.

"I saw what happened," a young black-haired boy said. "And it was definitely not an accident if that's what you're thinking!"

This confused Roy. It sure looked like a freak accident to him. "What do you mean? What happened?"

"Edward did it!"

"Who is Edward? Can you explain?"

"He used alchemy to make the rock on top of that hill round, and then he pushed it into the barn. He didn't think anyone was watching, but I was! I saw it all!"

An alchemist? What man would use alchemy to do something so strange? Was he trying to kill the girl? "Who is Edward?"

"Him!" The boy pointed over to the edge of the crowd to a small boy that was watching the scene but trying to stay hidden. Him? He must not be looking in the right direction. He was about to ask again, but before he had a chance, everyone moved away from the boy leaving him completely exposed. He looked extremely frightened.

"Him?" Hughes whispered in Roy's ear indicating toward the boy. "Or am I looking in the wrong spot?"

"That's who I thought he was pointing at too," Roy whispered back. "But that can't be right, can it?"

"Don't try and deny it, Ed, cause I saw you!" the black-haired boy yelled at the blond. At that moment, the blond one tried to run. Roy quickly reached out and grabbed his arm. He met the boy's golden eyes. He couldn't remember a time he had seen that much fear in a person's eyes except maybe his recent dealings in Ishbal.

"Maes," Roy said to Hughes while keeping a firm grip on Edward's arm, "you take care of the situation here. I need to find this boy's parents. Can someone take me to this boy's home?"

"I will," a man said. "It's not too far from here."

The man led the way up the path while Roy tried to keep his hold on the struggling boy. The boy didn't say anything against himself or in his defense, but the magnitude of his struggling was a sure give-away that he had been involved. He was struggling so hard that Roy almost had to pick him up and carry him the rest of the way.

"It's that one right there," the man said pointing to the two-story house.

Roy gave the man a quick bow as thanks and walked up to the door. He knocked twice and waited until he heard footsteps. The door opened, and he was face to face with a beautiful woman. He could only imagine what she must be thinking seeing a man dressed in a military uniform at her door holding her struggling son.

"Are you this boy's mother, ma'am?" Roy asked.

"Yes, I am. Has he done something?" the woman asked looking extremely worried.

"I'm afraid there was a bit of an…incidence, ma'am."

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Once Roy had finished explaining the situation, Trisha was speechless. Alphonse had come in to investigate what was happening and was now crying into Trisha's dress. Edward stayed silent as he had been during the explanation. He neither added nor corrected anything.

"Thank you for letting me know, Major Mustang," Trisha said quietly after regaining her voice, "but what are you going to do?"

"These kind of situations aren't very easy to handle, ma'am," Roy said. "We'll take him with us to Central, and I'd imagine he'll be placed in a detention center. I can't say for sure, of course, because something like this isn't a very common occurrence, but that would be my guess."

"It was an accident!" Ed finally said. "And it wasn't even my idea in the first place!"

Trisha drew a quick breath. Roy looked to her for an explanation but found none.

"Why didn't you tell us that sooner?" Roy asked. "Who's idea was it?"

"Kayt's!"

"Major Mustang, may I speak with you privately?" Trisha asked indicating toward the kitchen door.

"Of course."

Ed stayed on the couch as the two left the room. Al tried to follow, but Trisha wouldn't let him so instead, he pressed his ear to the door. Ed could hear a low mumble of their voices but couldn't make out any words. He didn't know if Al was faring any better but didn't feel like asking him. The conversation seemed to last forever before Al finally spoke.

"Brother…what's Wentworth?"

"I don't know," Ed answered annoyed. The name Wentworth did sound familiar, and Ed knew he knew what it was, but he really didn't feel like trying to think of it at the moment. "Why?"

"That man said something about making you go to a place called Wentworth."

"What?"

"And Mom just agreed to it."

Wentworth. Wentworth. Where had he heard the name before? It was a building in Central, of that he was sure, but what kind of building was it? Wait…hadn't Winry's parents mentioned it once before a couple of years ago when that strange man had come to town? It hit him all of the sudden like a ton of bricks. He did know what Wentworth was.

"Al, are you sure they said Wentworth? Absolutely positive?"

"Uh-huh. I'm positive that's what I heard."

Wentworth was a mental hospital.

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And that's how Edward found himself sitting on a train with two strange men that he didn't know. He had only been able to say a quick good-bye to Winry, Al, and his mother, and he hadn't been allowed to even go near Kayt's house. He had tried to escape in the crowd of the train station, but these men were no fools. They had been expecting it, and he had only succeeded in making them mad.

They kept their eyes on him for the entire trip and even took turns sleeping. Edward kept his eyes toward the window, but even then, he could see their reflections. It was going to be a long trip but not long enough for the destination.

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Yay! I finished! Uh, so yeah…there're a few things I have to say so you don't get confused. Okay, so maybe it wouldn't confuse you if I didn't say it, but I should still say it. I was originally going to write two chapters of Ed at the mental hospital, but I decided that since I labeled this story parental! RoyxEd, I need to start working my way toward that which means getting back to the present. Instead, I'll add the time at Wentworth as an extra at the end of the story, and the next chapter will have the start of the mission to Maldin. Alright? Good. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it!

Equivalent Exchange: I write, you review. At this point, you people are breaking some serious laws of alchemy.