Ed and Al had been in the library almost every minute of every day for the past few weeks. They were staying at General Hughes house with Charlotte, though it seemed like Charlotte was the only guest. Charlotte had gotten to know Hughes and his family well, though. Which was something she enjoyed. She liked playing with Elicia. Gracia was really nice and taught her how to cook really well. And Maes was funny, when he wasn't shoving a picture in her face, but that wasn't very often because his family was usually close by.

Around dinner time the boys would usually return, with no leads. Ed was more and more frustrated by the day, but always started laughing, eventually. Then they'd all go to bed, so it became pretty uneventful for Charlotte after she had been there a week, once she had met everyone.

After almost a month and a half, Charlotte got fed up with not being able to sleep, and went for a walk around the house. She stepped into the hallway and kept walking until she came to the living room, where she saw a large figure sitting on the couch, looking through the window.

"Alphonse?" Charlotte wondered. He jumped and turned his head towards her.

"You're still up? It's almost midnight." He said.

"I have troubles sleeping at night. I completely forgot you can't sleep in that body, or else I would have come to talk to you sooner..."

"What do you mean, you forgot?"

"I'm from another world where you're pretty much famous, remember?"

"Oh … right," He sighed and turned back to the window, "Do you have a family? Like a good one?"

"Well, I guess. I don't have any siblings but my parents are still together."

"Oh," Alphonse said, he seemed to be daydreaming, trying to picture a completely different world than his own, "Do you have a cat?"

Charlotte giggled and nodded, "Yeah, I have a little tuxedo cat." Charlotte sauntered over to the couch and sat down beside Al. They sat for a while, no noises were heard, until Charlotte decided to ask Al something, "Why are you helping me? I mean, it's gotta be hard."

"Well, yeah, it is, but big brother really thinks we might find another way to get our bodies back. Even if we don't, we've still helped someone get back home."

"Oh, well, thanks for the help anyway."

"No problem, all we're really doing right now is reading and taking notes."

"You're lucky you only have to do that once in a while. Where I live, I have to do that almost everyday. And so does every other kid in my country."

"I don't really mind it. I learn some interesting things from it about alchemy."

"Heh. I probably wouldn't understand any of it."

"Maybe if you knew some things about alchemy, you would."

"Yeah, but I have no idea on how to do alchemy."

"Well, I could teach you a few things."

"That would be fun."

"Okay then, I'll teach you sometime tomorrow."

"Alright," Charlotte nodded excitedly, "Well, I'm gonna try and get to sleep. Good night."

"Good night, Charlotte."

…...

The next day Al came back to the Hughes household before Ed, he obviously felt bad about it, but he wasn't a man to go back on his word, and he might not have gotten many other chances.

He taught Charlotte the basics of alchemy, then taught her how to draw a transmutation circle properly, while Elicia watched, fascinated, but clueless. Al prompted Charlotte to transmute something. She thought of something to make and went straight to it. A doll slowly grew from the ground, when she was done, Charlotte picked it up and turned to Elicia. Elicia's face became ecstatic and she took the doll, then hugged it. Without her notice, a few stitches broke, but it still held together.

"That was great, Charlotte!" Al said, exciteably, "Should we try again?" Charlotte nodded, eager to perfect her alchemy. Bit by bit, they pieced together an entire dollhouse for Elicia. Anything that could break, could also be easily fixed, especially by an alchemist. By the time Ed returned, the three were sitting in the backyard, playing together, and Gracia called them into the house for dinner.

They all cleaned their plates (except Al, who had no plate), Ed and Charlotte said their thanks to Gracia for the meal and she went to put Elicia to bed.

"So how's the research for the stone going?" Hughes asked as he leaned back in his chair, hands behind his head.

"Nowhere. We haven't found anything." Ed told him, a little aggravated.

"I should say. I heard you two haven't been researching anything to do with the stone in the past few weeks."

"Where did you hear that!" Ed wondered loudly.

"Quiet! Or else Elicia won't be able to sleep! She's at her cutest when she is well rested!" Hughes proclaimed, "Anyway, that's not important. What is important is what you're researching... Come on. What is it?"

Ed and Al didn't seem too eager to say anything, so it decided to fly out of Charlotte's mouth. "They're searching for a way to get me home and a different way to get their bodies back!" Charlotte didn't mean to say it, she covered her mought as soon as she finished, but she couldn't resist Hughes. "I'm not really from here, not even from this world."

"Charlotte!"

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to tell him!"

Hughes' eyebrows rose in question, "What do you mean?"

"Nevermind. She just day dreams a lot. She's come up with some pretty interesting ideas. Trust me." Edward tried to cover up for her. Hughes didn't seem to buy it, but didn't want to press them on the subject.

"It's true! I bet you wouldn't be able to believe some of it was possible!"

He sighed, "Alright, then," He stood up and walked to the stairs, but stopped before he said, "Anything is possible." Then he continued upstairs to his daughter's room. Once his footsteps were heard on the floor above them, Ed turned to Charlotte with a death look.

"I'm sorry, Ed, it just came out. They're such nice people. And I know we can trust them."

"How do you know for sure? Under the right circumstances, he might say something."

"I can't say how I know." Charlotte looked away guiltily, knowing Hughes' fate.

Edward sighed, angry and frustrated, but he set that aside and said; "I think I might've found something today. Our research might not go to waste." Charlotte looked at him hopefully, he stood up, "I'm going to bed. I want an early start tomorrow. Good night."

"Good night!" Charlotte and Al chimed in together.

Later in the night, Charlotte lie in bed. She thought about what happened after dinner. She felt bad for telling Hughes, but she knew he'd take it to the grave if he had to. The fact forced her to remember what would happen to him, but as she thought about it, she thought maybe he wouldn't die so soon because Charlotte had been there and changed the course of the 'storyline'. And that gave her a pass to a good night sleep.

…...

A few days later, Ed and Al came home early, Ed walked up to Charlotte with a folder under his arm. He smiled, "I think we found a way to get you home." Charlotte's eyes widened and she started jumping around in excitement.

"Oh, my gosh! I'm going home! I wonder what happened while I was gone. I wonder how much my mom missed me. I think school started already, I wonder where everyone thinks I went. I wonder how my kitty is doing. What about my cousins? I hope nobody did anything to room. Or my laptop..." She continued ranting until she remembered the boys and Elicia were still there.

"Y- You're leaving?" Elicia asked, tearing up a bit. Charlotte felt bad and knelt down next to the little girl.

"Yeah, I'm leaving. I want to stay but I have family and friends that miss me, okay? Just remember that I really liked playing with you and I'll miss you. But I'm not leaving right now, I'll leave tonight. Then we can play a bit more. Is that okay with you?"

Elicia sniffled, but nodded, then went to grab her dolls for them to play with.

Elicia didn't leave Charlotte's side for the rest of the day. She made sure they spent the last of Charlotte's time in Amestris together. She very reluctantly went with her parents to go to bed, after yelling and screaming that she didn't want to sleep because then she would wake up and Charlotte would be gone. She never wanted to sleep again. Charlotte felt bad for leaving the child on such short notice. So while the boys set up the special circle in the backyard, she transmuted a few different little things for the girl.

"Charlotte!" Al called her over to their alchemy-cleared area where a bunch of lines came together to form a very intricate circle.

"Uh … we need to put your blood in the center to tell it what world you need to go to, because if there's two, then there's gotta be a lot more." Ed explained to her as he drew a knife out of his pocket. Charlotte nodded, a little fearful, but if it would get her home...

He cut the tip of her just a little, she barely felt it, but blood rose to the surface immediately. She bent over the center of the circle and let a few drops fall to the ground, then squeezed her finger to stop the blood. Ed and Al knelt on the ground to transmute, Charlotte stood there, waved good-bye to them, silently thanking them, then closed her eyes while they 'worked their magic'.

…...

Charlotte heard breathing behind her, but didn't open her eyes. She was laying in very soft, thick grass. She took a while, but remembered all that had happened and immediately opened her eyes and sat up.

It was still a little dark, but the sun was slowly rising. She couldn't make out her surroundings too well yet, but would be able to soon. She looked around, trying to figure out what was breathing next to her. She had to look closely, but realized it was Edward! She gasped, wondering what had gone wrong, and whether they were even in her home world. She gently shook his shoulder, an attempt to wake him up.

"Elicia! … I want to sleep more... go play with your dolls..." He grumbled and rolled over in the grass.

"Ed, I'm not Elicia. Now get up."

"Al? What's wrong? Why are you trying to wake me up so early?" He seemed determined to continue his slumber.

"I'm not Al! It's Charlotte! And I have no idea where we are!"

He turned onto his back and rubbed his eyes groggily, "Charlotte? But we sent you back to your world... didn't we?"

"I don't know! Get up! I don't know where Al is!"

"Al?" He sat up, his head almost colliding with Charlotte's.

"Maybe his body couldn't make the trip, alchemy doesn't work here..."

"Hey! I think I see something over there!" He stood up and ran away from her, Charlotte lifted herself up and followed, stopping beside him. His mouth was gaping, and his eyes were wide in disbelief. Charlotte peered into the dark grass and realized what the lump there was.

Alphonse Elric lied in the grass, in his original body, sleeping happily. Charlotte dropped down beside him and woke him up as well.

"Charlotte?" He asked, sleepily.

"Yeah, it's me... But look at your hands."

"My hands..." He raised them in front of his face and wiggled his fingers. It took him a minute, but he realized what he was seeing, "My hands! I- I'm not a suit of armour anymore!" He yelled in excitement and hugged Charlotte, as tears welled up in his eyes, "I- I'm actually crying! I can eat now! And sleep! Big brother!" Al looked up at his brother, who was still looking at him, amazed. "Hey, Ed. Is your automail gone?" Ed came out of his trance when Al said his name. He pulled up his right sleeve to reveal flesh. Then sat in the grass with his brother and Charlotte, pulled off his boot to see his toes once again.

He looked up at Al, mouth still open and mind still shocked. Al lunged at him, hugging him to death, "Big brother, I'm so happy! This is the best day ever!" They let go of each other, and the three sat in the grass with smiles on their faces. The was higher, and it was easier to see. Neither of the boys recognized the place at all, and turned to Charlotte.

"I think …. I think this is the soccer field down the street from my house..."