Okay, okay, I'm working on it. It's all right, we'll find out what important stuff happens on Thanksgiving. XD And now I don't know what else to say other than – REVIEW! I'm also very anxious to start this chapter, so I'm going to cut off this author's note early. XD

As you all know, AdventureAddict does not in any way own any part of Fullmetal Alchemist.

On wit' da show!

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Chapter Seventeen – Never Say Goodbye

Ed sat impatiently on the couch as the all too familiar smell of Robyn's cinnamon chip cookies drifted out from the kitchen. After getting Ed's arm fixed, Robyn had made a quick stop at her house to get the cinnamon chips so she could make cookies for dessert. They weren't quite as traditional as pumpkin pie, and they definitely took more time than ice cream, but at least they had a desert.

Ed looked up as Robyn trudged into the living and flopped on the couch with a sigh. A smudge of flour was on her left cheek, and her eyes were already starting to flutter closed.

"Next year I'm not even going to bother waking up for Thanksgiving," Robyn muttered sleepily seconds before the doorbell rang. Ed got up with a sigh and walked over to open the door. A woman with red hair and two little girls was standing behind it.

"Um… Hello," Ed said slowly. He hadn't even met any of Robert and Sherry's relatives before today, and now they were all going to be here.

"Hello there," the woman said kindly. "You're Edward, right?" she asked and Ed nodded. "I'm Chloe, Sherry's sister," she explained as she bent down to unbutton the girls' coats. "And these are my daughters, Stephanie and Emily."

"We're twins," one of the girls explained to Ed. He couldn't tell which one was Stephanie and which was Emily.

"Do you really have a metal arm like mommy said?" the other girl asked as their mother walked over to the closet to hang up their coats. Ed pulled off his right glove with a smile and held out the automail to the girls.

"Wow," they both breathed simultaneously and grabbed onto his fingers to pull the hand down to their height. Ed playfully rotated his pinkie in a circle, and both the girls squealed in delight.

"Whatever you're cooking smells really good," their mother commented as she walked into the kitchen. The twins let go of Ed's hand and both followed their mother like little ducklings. Ed pulled his glove back on with a slight sigh and turned to go back to sitting on the sofa again.

Robyn was now leaning up against the back of the sofa, sound asleep. Ed sat down silently next to her and then gently wiped the smudge of flour off her cheek. He felt her chest heave a sigh, and then she fell onto his shoulder. Ed's lips twitched into a smile. Maybe Thanksgiving wasn't such a bad holiday after all.

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Ed sighed and leaned against the back of his chair. They had finally managed to get the food out on the table and eat it, but now the grown-ups were busy talking. He didn't even have the slightest clue what they were talking about. Probably something they had seen on Nightline, or something else along the lines of that.

The two twins sat off to the side of the table, playing with their Barbies. (At least, that was what Ed guessed they were. He didn't know much when it came to dolls.) They were close enough to their mother that she could keep a close eye on them and know if anything happened between them. But she was too involved in the discussion about whatever they were talking about to really notice what her daughters were doing.

Ed looked down the table at Robyn's seat. Her head was resting on the table with all her hair in front of her face. None of the grown-ups seemed to care, or even notice. Robyn picked up her head slightly and her eyes met with Ed's. Her lips formed into a knowing smile, and then she mouthed, "Let's get out of here." Ed nodded and slid his chair out from the table.

The twin girls noticed Ed and Robyn going down to the basement and did what any normal six-year olds would do – followed them. After all, they didn't want to miss out on any fun. And they also knew that the trick to having fun at others people's houses usually meant going into their basement. You usually had to wait until someone else went down there, but that was typically where all the cool stuff was hidden.

Al was in his usual corner of the room, silently reading Ed's Chemistry book. But as soon as he heard the two familiar sets of feet walking down the stairs, he instantly perked and looked up.

"Hey Al, let's do something exciting," Ed said as he clomped down the stairs. Robyn sleepily nodded her head in agreement. Al smiled cheerily and shut the chemistry book.

"Okay," he said happily, but then suddenly froze. Ed and Robyn looked at each other in surprise, and then turned around to look behind them. The two girls, Stephanie and Emily, were standing at the top of the stairs with their mouths hanging open.

"Wow! Cool!" they said and then ran down the stairs into Al's open lap. "Is he a robot?" one asked excitedly.

"Robot?" Al repeated faintly, but Robyn had woken up from the shock of the two girls, and she quickly ran with the idea.

"Yeah, he's robot," Robyn told them quickly and then added in a hushed voice, "But we have to keep him secret from the grown-ups because then they won't let him play with us."

"Oooh," both the girls said perceptively.

"Will he play with us?" one asked, and Robyn looked up at Al.

"Sure," Al said agreeably, even though he still didn't like the use of the term "Robot."

"I like to play hide and seek!" one of the girls told Al happily.

"I do too!" the other one added. Robyn sighed and sat down on the sofa. If it was true that a kitten died every time someone called Al a robot, then they had just killed about three kittens. Maybe two.

"Do you guys like hiding or seeking better?" Al asked them kindly.

"HIDING!" they both shouted simultaneously.

"Okay then, you better go find a good hiding place, because I'm I pretty good seeker," Al told them. The girls happily ran off as Al put his hands over his eyes and started counting to fifty.

"I did say exciting," Ed mumbled under his breath as the two girls found his red coat lying on the floor and both crept underneath it with a giggle. Robyn laughed slightly and then leaned back against the sofa and closed her eyes. If this kept up, she would never get a chance to sleep today.

"Ready or not, here I come!" Al announced and then pulled both his hands off his eyes. He noticed the giggling red coat immediately, but instead he wandered around the room in bewilderment.

"I wonder where they went?" Al said loudly, and Ed snickered slightly. "Those two are really good hiders. I'll never find them," Al sighed as he slowly walked over to Ed's coat. "Look! Someone left their coat on the floor!" Al said in mock surprise. "I should pick that up. We don't want somebody to trip on it!" He bent down and picked up the coat, uncovering the two girls, who then jumped out at him with a laugh.

"I'm glad you found us," One of the girls told Al, "I was getting squished!"

"You were squishing me more!" the other girl said indignantly.

"If you guys hid in different places you wouldn't get so squished," Al suggested, but both the girls quickly shook their heads and hugged the other.

"But I don't want to go anywhere without Emily!"

"And I wouldn't want to go anywhere without Stef!"

Al looked down at the two as old memories of him and Ed almost exactly the same words crept across his thoughts. He then looked down at the coat clutched in his hands and then looked back up in surprise.

"Brother? What is this?" he asked, looking at a small lump in the material. When he pushed it with his finger, it moved in the same direction. It almost seemed like something had been sewn into the fabric.

"Brother?!" One of the girls cried out, still holding her sister tightly.

"He's a robot too!" the other cried out.

"I knew it!"

"What is it, Al?" Ed asked as he stood up and walked over to the other side of the room, ignoring the playful shrieks from the twins. Even the exhausted Robyn got up and curiously walked over. Al held the coat out towards them and showed them the strange lump in the cloth. Robyn curiously grabbed the coat and flipped the cloth over a few times. Both sides looked like whole pieces of fabric.

"Hold this for a sec," she said, holding the coat out to Ed. Ed curiously took it and looked over it a few times as Robyn ran back upstairs. The twin girls were sitting in another corner of the basement, completely forgotten by the teenagers as they played with their Barbies again.

Robyn quickly came back downstairs, but now holding a pair of scissors in one hand. After Ed handed the jacket back to her, she carefully examined the hem nearby the lump. She then painstakingly cut a few stitches and peered between the layers of cloth.

"It looks like paper or something," she told them, and then she carefully reached her hand in and grabbed onto the mysterious lump and pulled it out firmly. It was paper, like she said, but it was a rather thick envelope with the name "Edward Elric" hastily scrawled on the front.

"Open it," Robyn said excitedly, holding the envelope out to Ed. He cautiously took the envelope from her and then slowly slid his finger under the flap and then across. Al and Robyn both leaned excitedly forward as Ed pulled out a rather large vial filled with blue liquid, a small vial filled with red liquid and a piece of folded lined paper. Ed handed the two vials to Al and then unfolded the paper.

These will take you and Al back home. First you have to spread the blue liquid evenly over Al, and then you should drink the red liquid. That's it. I'm warning you, don't try anything fancy or it could end up bad. Hell, don't even try anything simple. Just testing it for poisons could set off some other kind of poison in it. I know it's safe. Trust me.

-Edward Elric

Ed stared at the paper in amazement as Robyn finished reading the note over his shoulder. He knew that it was his handwriting, but it could have easily been the work of a forger. Could he actually believe that this was a letter from himself back when he had memory?

"Bloody hell," Robyn muttered softly as she finished reading the note. "How do we know if it's real or not?"

"I don't, I-" Ed said, but then suddenly stopped. Robyn looked at him expectantly and he continued, "No. I do know it's real. Putting it inside my coat is just the sort of thing I would do. And it says "I'm warning you" too," Ed continued. "I didn't give myself any orders because I knew I would disobey any orders even if I thought they were from me."

"Wow," Robyn said slowly. "You know, everything up until now has been a little weird, but this is just…" she looked over at Ed. "So you really think it will work?" she asked, and after a moment of silence, Ed nodded. "So you're going to go?" she asked in a soft voice.

"Yeah," Ed murmured thoughtfully. He looked back up at her to see that Robyn actually looked like she was about to cry. "Please Robyn," Ed said softly, "Please don't cry. We-" Ed stopped the sentence in the middle as he tried to think. What could he possibly say that would be both true and comforting to Robyn? It didn't seem like there was anything.

"I never taught you how to make cinnamon chip cookies, Al," Robyn choked out, and Al cocked his head. "I was going to teach you how to make them in exchange for the alchemy lessons, remember?" Robyn stubbornly sniffled without letting a single tear spill and then continued, "I'll go get the recipe for you. As a little something to remember me by." Robyn turned and quickly went up the stairs. Ed indecisively looked between her and Al, and then ran up after her, the note still clutched in his hand.

Robyn walked into the living room, and seeing all the adults sitting and talking there, she went through to the kitchen instead of out the front door. Ed barely caught her wrist before she slipped out the back door in the kitchen. Robyn turned around and looked at him in surprise.

"What about me?" Ed demanded, and after seeing Robyn's hurt and confused face, he quickly softened his voice and explained, "Al gets something to remember you by, but what about me? The last time I switched between these worlds I lost all my memory, and-" Ed paused for a minute and took a deep breath to calm himself, and then continued, "I don't want to forget you, Robyn," he said slowly. "And if I do lose all my memory, I want to be sure I'll have something to try and help me remember."

Robyn silently looked at him, and then walked back in the kitchen with a sigh. Ed watched as she carefully rummaged around in one of the drawers and after pulling something out, sat down on the floor. Ed cautiously walked up and sat down in front of her.

"Give me your left hand, Ed," Robyn murmured softly. Ed cautiously pulled off the glove on his left hand and held it out to Robyn, but then suddenly jerked away when he saw what she had pulled out of the drawer. A knife.

"I won't hurt you, Ed," Robyn assured him softly. "Please, just trust me." Ed sighed and then slowly held out his hand to her again. Robyn firmly grasped his wrist and then quickly pricked his pointer finger with the knife. Ed quickly sucked in breath through his teeth as Robyn pricked her own finger with the same knife. She then quickly reached over hand grabbed his finger again, and pushed her pointer finger firmly against his. Ed could feel the warm blood sliding between their fingers.

"Now you'll always have a piece of me with you no matter what," Robyn said slowly. She took her eyes off their fingers and locked her eyes with Ed's. They stared at each other for a minute, and then Robyn got up silently and walked out the door. Ed quickly pulled himself off the floor, ran some water over the bloody knife and then followed after her.

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Robyn walked at a brisk pace around the house as she felt warm tears sliding down her face. She had always known that Ed would have to leave sooner or later, but it still hurt all the same. First her mother had left, then Luke, then Kari, and now Ed and Al. Who could she possibly depend on next? She didn't even know how she would survive without the Elrics next door.

She felt a cough force its way past her lips, and she unconsciously held her hand up to cover her mouth, spreading blood all over her upper lip. He couldn't go, he just couldn't, she thought as she wiped at the tear falling down her cheek, spreading even more blood. But she didn't care. She didn't even know where to pick up her life again now. She had grown too attached to Ed and Al.

"Dammit Robyn," she muttered under her breath with another cough. It sure was cold out for Thanksgiving. "Didn't you know that anyone who gets attached to the Elrics ends up getting hurt?"

Yes, she realized. She had known it the whole time. But she just kept pushing the thought to the back of her mind because she didn't want to think about it. She had just wanted the easy choice, and of course, making friends with the pretty blond boy next door seemed like the easy choice.

She coughed again. She should have brought a coat. A sleeveless dress outside in snow was definitely not warm enough. Al would be worried about her, she thought with a bitter laugh. Would he still be worried about what happened to her years from now when their lives were back to normal? Would he possibly remember her when he had his body back?

But would Ed remember her? After all, that was who she really wanted to remember her. After all, Ed had so many girls that swooned at the sight of him, so many different girls competing for his attention. She could easily list off a bunch of minor characters that Ed and Al had been friends with on their journey.

But she was different, wasn't she? She wasn't a minor character, was she? They'd taught alchemy to her, and she and Ed could easily spend a whole gym class running and talking. They were a trio, a threesome. But she-

She stopped suddenly as a sudden coughing fit came over her. She felt like she could barely breathe, as if her lungs were shriving up into tiny pink raisins. She could feel her feet stumbling beneath her, but her eyes had closed so she wasn't quite sure where she was going, but she just kept going, going, going…

A sudden pain hit her in the side, and she could hear a voice cry out her name, but that all quickly disappeared.

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"ROBYN!" Ed cried out in alarm as he watched her stumble out into the street. It seemed like she had lost all control of her body when that coughing fit had hit her. Why couldn't she have worn a coat?

He watched in horror as a car plowed down the dark street and knocked her small body to the ground. He was barely aware of the driver getting out of the car and kneeling next to her as he ran through the powdery snow to her side. The family had heard it from the living room and all of them were rushing out into the cold to try and help.

"Just call an ambulance!" Ed yelled at them. One of them took out his cell phone, but Ed was too worried about Robyn to care. He kept running and sliding through the snow, his eyes locked on her. She seemed so far away.

Suddenly, Ed felt his knees give out beneath him and he collapsed onto the sidewalk. He was so close he could almost reach out and touch her, but he didn't have any control over his body now. He'd finally had a traumatic enough experience to get all his memory back.

Ed distantly felt his body fall and start twitching violently as every single memory he had forgotten came flooding back into his brain. His exam to become a State Alchemist, getting his automail limbs, watching Al vanish before his very eyes while his own leg disappeared, his mother's smile…

No. He tried to swat them all away like annoying flies. He could sort through all his memories later. Right now all that mattered was Robyn. He had to help her, somehow.

But the memories wouldn't listen. He felt his body continue to shake uncontrollably, the snow beneath him cold and wet. Someone was bending over him, worried about him.

"Help… Robyn…" Ed croaked out. How could he let this happen? Robyn… He needed to help Robyn… Quickly…

But she was so far away…

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No, it's not over yet! Believe it or not, this is not even the end of part two! But yes, I'm sorry to all of you for doing that and ending it there, and I hate to say it, but I'm actually excited about the next chapter. All the secrets of the universe will be revealed! O.O Well actually, just the secrets of this story… I will post quickly! Hopefully we can finish part one soon! That is, if I don't keep getting distracted… (Glares at homework) I blame you!