Disclaimer - I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist

ALSO - I would like to apologize for any grammatical/spelling errors. I'm having to type this on my home computer which has suckish spell-check and no grammar check AT ALL so . . . Yeah, sorry! I don't really read over my typed work very often . . .

. . .

Calais, France

1923

"Ugh," Ed complained as he stretched his arms out. "Fourteen and a half hours jam packed into a car with 7 other men; all old. Not the way I planned on spending my Saturday . . ."

"I know!" Noah agreed. "We left at nine and now it's nearly midnight! Where are we going to find an inn at this late hour?"

Al yawned. "At lease we found a ride all the way out here."

Ed nodded. "Yeah . . . And just think, tomorrow we'll be in London, finally getting some answers."

Al smiled, excited. "I just know we'll find a way home, Brother! I can't wait to see Amestris again . . ."

"Yeah," Ed agreed. "And just imagine the look on everyone's faces once we're there!"

While the Elric brothers discussed their plans for the future, Noah let a sad smile creep across her face. She felt around in her pocket and was relieved to find that the small paper was still there.

Just in case.

. . .

Resembool, Amestris

1917

(Earth Year: 1923)

"Winry!" Pinako called from downstairs. "Mail's here!"

Winry lifted her head off of her desk. She had fallen asleep tinkering with some old parts, trying to figure out what they were. She decided to abandon the effort and go collect her mail.

When she reached the bottom of the stairs, Pinako handed her a single envelope.

"You can go back to sulking in your room now, if you wish," her grandmother said smartly.

"Thanks for the permission," Winry retorted. She turned around and walked back up.

When she got to her room, she looked at the address on the letter

Central, Amestris

Miss Winry Rockbell

Resembool, Amestris

Rockbell Automail

The return address was from Central?

"Who do I know in Central?" Winry asked herself. "Who would write me anyway . . .?"

She ripped open the envelope and two pieces of paper fell into her lap. She picked up the top one;

Winry,

We found this at the house of Shou Tucker, along with some other things. Forensics just released it from evidence, so I figured it should finally be sent to you. Sorry it's seven years late!

Maria Ross

Winry flipped to the next piece of paper, her curiosity growing.

She gasped, so shocked that she actually let both papers float on to the floor below her feet.

For it was on the second sheet of paper that she saw it-the familiar, sloppy, handwriting. It had been smudged over; written by a lefty.

Ed.

With a shaking hand, she reached down and picked it up. She sat on down on her bed.

She remembered being 11-years-old and very cross with Ed and Al for not writing her. The only mail she had ever gotten regarding the Elrics was a letter from Mustang's office, telling Pinako that Edward has passed his alchemy exam and wouldn't be returning home any time soon.

But the whole time-he had written her after all, and the idiot just forgot to send it?

Dear Winry,

Sorry I haven't written you or Aunt Pinako yet. Al and I have been really busy, but I know that's not a very good excuse. I passed the State Alchemy Exam, though! That's pretty cool, huh? I'm the youngest person ever to do it. Oh, and something you'll be interested in-Al and I helped deliver a baby (sort of). They named her Elysia Hughes. Honestly, I think that babies are just too damn small, but it's pretty cool how life is brought into the world, huh? It also reminded me why I'm here. I have to get Al his body back . . . I owe it to him, it's my fault he's like this. And I promise Winry, I WILL get it back for him, even if it means sacrificing my own life. I'm so afraid he hates me . . . But I'll fix it! He'll be normal again, and soon! We're both pretty homesick, but Mr. Tucker and his little daughter, Nina, are being really nice to us. Hopefully we'll be back for Christmas . . . Can't miss out on your Granny's Stew, right? Oh, and I almost forgot! I know you don't know much about alchemy, but I recently discovered I can transmute (use alchemy) without a transmutation circle (I really hope you remember what that is without me having to tell you)! The only other person I've ever met who can do this is out teacher . . . And I've never been able to do it before! Maybe it's got something to do with the night we tried to bring our mom back . . .

I really miss you Winry. Al does too. Maybe come to visit soon, okay?

Ed

PS - The automail works great! I can't even tell you how many times it's saved my ass already!

Winry clutched the paper tightly in her hands and slowly let her gaze drift to the parts on her desk.

The automail works great!

Looking at the pieces, she suddenly remembered. Those were some pieces of Ed's original automail that she had saved.

Tears began to form in her eyes. That damn Ed! That idiotic, stubborn, self-absorbed, impossible, whiney, annoying, over-protective, caring, loveable, kind, concerned, alchemic genius, JERK!

That sprouted an idea in Winry's head.

If there was one thing she knew about the Elrics, it was that they weren't just her friends, or her best friends, they were her family. And so what if the odds were against them? They could still come home to her-she knew it. There must be a way, somehow.

A memory played in her head. She and Ed were 7, Al was 6. She had found an injured rabbit in the garden and helped Trisha nurse it back to health. Now it was time to set it free. She was crying. Ed and Al both came up behind her and put an arm on her shoulder.

"Our mom always says that when you love something, you should let it go," Ed told her.

"Yeah," Al agreed. "And if it loves you too, it'll always come back in the end."

Winry made her decision right then and there; she would see the Elrics again. Even if it wasn't until she died and they met at the place where the dead go.

She grabbed a pen and a piece of paper and began to write. If Ed could do it, so could she.

Dear Edward and Alphonse,

. . .

The English Channel

1923

Alphonse sat down on the floor of their ferry. He looked a little green.

"Hey, Al . . . are you okay?" his older brother asked.

Al looked up at him and gave a shaky laugh. "Amestris is landlocked . . . This is nothing like Teacher's boat!"

Ed chuckled. "Don't worry, Little Brother, only four more hours!"

Al groaned.

Noah patted his back, a look of pity on her face.

. . .

When they finally did reach England, poor Alphonse ran right off the ferryboat and onto the dock. As soon as his legs hit the wood, though, he fell down on his face.

"Careful!" Noah called as Ed laughed behind her. "You're legs are going to be a little wobbly from being on the water for so long."

"Gee, thanks for the heads up," Al replied sarcastically. His head was still spinning from the sea sickness and the nose-dive.

Ed held out his hand and pulled his younger brother to his feet. "Anyone know what time it is?"

"Four thirty," Al told him, pointing to a clock hanging from a store window across from them. "Where are we, brother?"

"Dover," Ed replied. "If we hurry we might be able to catch a ride to Hughes's friend's house in London . . . And tomorrow we can start researching."

"We've got a little money left, Brother," Al said. "Why don't we just take a taxi?"

Edward nodded at his brother's plan. "Alright . . . Hey, Noah, why don't you go get us one? I've gotta talk to Al . . ."

He handed her the money in his pocket in case the driver asked for pay upfront. She nodded and ran off.

"What do you want to talk about, Brother?" Al asked.

"We need to think of something to say to these people, Al. Hughes told us they're willing to let us do research at their home, but they're going to want some extra information. So, what do we tell them?"

Al thought for a moment, then replied, "what if, we wait until we've seen the people? If they're the doubles of people we knew and trusted in Amestris, then we tell them the truth. If not, we'll just think something up after looking at what we find. That way our stories will definitely fit. Just like always, right, Brother?"

Ed thought that over. "Alright . . ."

. . .

"This is as far as the road goes," the driver told them. "But if you follow this old walking path, it'll lead you right up to the Stanley estate. Big farm, you can't miss it."

"Thank you for the ride," Al told the driver. He, Ed, and Noah got out of the car and started walking up the hill.

. . .

About twenty minutes later, they reached the top and caught sight of a big, blue, house. The lights were on inside, and smoke was coming out from the chimney.

Panting from the long, upward, walk, Ed reached out and knocked on the door.

A woman answered a second later. Standing behind her was a man; assumingly her husband.

Ed and Al's jaws dropped a considerable amount of inches.

The woman, with long, blonde, hair and tough brown eyes was unmistakably Riza Hawkeye. The man, who was tall with black hair falling in his face was identical to Roy Mustang, other than his eyes, which we blue (and there were two of them).

"Can we help you?" the woman asked.

"Officer Hughes sent us," Noah told her. "He said we could stay with you."

Ed and Al were still gaping at them.

The woman smiled. "Of course! You must be Edward and Alphonse, yes? And Noah? I'm Lisa and this is my husband, Roy."

Ed and Al's mouths dropped further towards the ground.

"Come in," Roy welcomed them. "You must be freezing out there!"

The two brothers attempted to compose themselves as they stepped into the Stanley's home.

Lisa and Roy led them to a sitting room with two matching couches.

"Please, sit," Roy said.

"I'll go make some tea," Lisa offered.

Ed, Al, and Noah sat next to each other on the longer sofa, while Roy reserved seats for himself and his wife on the shorter one.

"So," Roy began. "Hughes tells me you're quite the scientist, Edward."

Ed nodded modestly. "I'm alright, I suppose."

Roy shrugged. He carried the same cocky manner as the other Roy-the one with the eye patch and bossy persona (at least that's what Ed thought). "I've also heard you're a brilliant story teller."

Ed and Al glanced at each other. Al nodded.

"Well, you see, sir . . ." Edward started. "The thing is . . . Those aren't stories. And once your wife returns I'd like to prove it to you."

Roy raised an eyebrow. "You're telling me that you and your brother are from another dimension where alchemy continued to advance to the point where it's more important than Newton's laws?"

"That's the guy with the apple, right, Brother?" Al whispered. Ed nodded.

Lisa reentered the room, holding a tray of teach cups which she passed out.

"Sit, Dear," Roy told his wife in the kind of voice you use when speaking to a tall tale-telling child. "The Elrics are going to show us proof that their stories are true!"

"Oh, my!" Lisa replied in the same tone. She sat next to her husband.

Ed grumbled. He hated being treated like a kid almost as much as he hated being called "short".

He set his tea cup on the coffee table and stood up. He ducked his head so they wouldn't be able to see his cocky grin. "What did Hughes tell you about our stories?"

"Well, about how you were an alchemist," Lisa said.

"And you helped people, kind of like a hero," Roy added.

"You worked for the military . . ." Lisa continued.

Roy thought a moment, then snapped when he had an idea (something that Ed and Al automatically cringed to). "And you had a mechanical arm and leg!"

Ed nodded, and lifted his head so they could see his face. "Stuff like that doesn't exist in this world though, right?"

Roy nodded. "Of course not! Not with modern science anyway . . ."

He let his jacket slide off his shoulders, revealing the automail that Winry had given him a few weeks prior when he went back to Amestris.

Roy and Lisa's eyes grew wide in shock.

To further prove his point, Edward unbuttoned the top of his shirt, revealing the place where his automail and flesh came together.

"It's pretty handy," Ed mused, outstretching his fake arm and flexing his fingers. "It's really hard to break . . . And hurts a lot more than flesh when you get hit with it. Helps with fighting, you know?"

"I-impossible!" Lisa stuttered. "Hughes said they were stories . . . Just stories!"

Al shook his head sadly. "Unfortunately not. In our world, there are two people who look and sound just like you. Roy Mustang and Riza Hawkeye. We knew someone named Hughes as well, but he was murdered a few years ago."

"There was another Edward in this world," Ed added. "He didn't live very far from here. He was killed by a zeppelin bombing in 1921, during the war."

Liza gasped. "That's how Edward Matthews died! N- . . . now that I think about it, you look a lot like him. But your hair is longer, and his eyes were blue, not gold."

Roy gripped his head in his hands. "This is unbelievable . . ."

"We need to figure out a way home," Al said. "That's why we came. The other Edward was living with our real father, Hohenheim, who was here as well. We need to see everything they were working on."

. . .

The next morning, Alphonse awoke to a pain in his stomach. He sat up, turning a pale greenish color and looked at his brother's bed (which was positioned parallel to his).

"Brother?" Al asked groggily. He grabbed his stomach. "I feel the same way I did on the boat . . . Is it normal for a relapse of sea sickness?"

"No," Ed replied, sounding terrible. "I feel it too. It must have been that sea food we ate before getting on the ferry yesterday . . . I told you that stuff was under-cooked!"

"Ugh," Al groaned. "I think I'm gonna vomit!"

"Me too . . ."

Al lay back down on his bed. The movement made his stomach flip over. "What do we do? The last time I was this sick, I had either Mom or Aunt Pinako-Well . . . Mom or Winry to take care of me! I don't know how to make myself better!"

"No dairy products for one," Ed told his younger brother. "Or chocolate . . . Or acidy fruits. But right now I'd rather just not eat at all, I feel so sick."

"Mhmm," Al agreed, nodding his head slightly. His eyes were shut tight because the pain in his stomach was growing, and appeared to be spreading to his head.

"Al, I can't get up," Ed said.

"I can't either."

"Well now what?" Ed asked, getting a little angry and instantaneously regretting it. Anger doesn't help an upset stomach.

Luckily for the helpless Elrics, there was a knock on the door then.

"Come in!" the brother chorused.

Lisa entered then. When she saw the green tint on the boys' faces, she grimaced. "Oh, no . . . You didn't eat anything from that port in Calais, did you?"

They nodded.

She flinched. "Roy and I ate their once . . . Worst food poisons I've ever seen . . ."

The brothers groaned in unison.

"Let me go get you boys each a bucked, you're going to need it." She left the room.

"Well this is flipping perfect!" Ed said sarcastically "How the hell are we supposed to get anything done now?"