Disclaimer - I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist

A/N - Sorry it's been so long since an update (nearly a week!) I've just been kinda busy with exams at school, but that's not a very god excuse. I'll try to be more on top of this!

. . .

London, England

1926

Ed was awaken suddenly by the sound of groaning and thrashing blankets.

"Ugh, Al I really hope you're not dreaming about what I think you're dreaming about," Ed mumbled into his pillow, his eyes still shut. "Because not only is that gross, but it's also a terrible reason to wake me up."

"No, I'm sorry!" Al yelled in his sleep.

"Ew."

"Please! Brother, I didn't mean it!" Al exclaimed. "I'm sorry!"

Ed's eyes shot open.

"Sorry! Sorry!"

He jumped out of his bed and ran to his brother's. He began shaking his little brother's shoulders. "Al! Wake up!"

Al continued to kick his legs around; his sheet were balled up at the end of his bed. He had sweat dripping down his forehead.

"Al! It's just a dream, wake up!" Ed continued to shake him around.

Noah and Lisa came running in without knocking.

"What's going on?" Lisa demanded.

"Al's having a nightmare," Ed explained. "He used to get them a lot when we were younger, and it's always been hard to wake him up. I remember once, when we were really little, our father had to dunk him in a tub of cold water."

"Hopefully we won't have to resort to that," Lisa said, rushing over to help Ed. Noah followed close behind. After a few minutes, Ed sighed; defeated. "I guess I have no other choice."

Without warning, the elder Elric reached under his brother's mattress, and flipped it over in one quick motion.

Al hit the hard wood floors with a loud thump!

"Ow . . ." he mumbled.

Plan = effective.

"Sorry, Al," Ed apologized. "You weren't waking up."

Al stood up and fixed his bed and sheets. "No; thank you, Brother."

The four of them were silent.

From a few rooms away, you could hear a baby's cry from the nursery.

"Oh, shoot!" Lisa muttered under her breath as she ran from the room to get Lewis before his screams woke Amanda, too.

When she was gone, Ed and Al looked at Noah.

"Supper won't be ready for another half hour, if you're still tired," she told them.

"Okay," Ed said. "Thanks, Noah."

She turned around and walked away. But before she left, she paused in the doorframe. "What was it about? When he had to be thrown in cold water."

Ed raised his eyebrows, a little thrown off by the question. "Something about being stuck alone in a fire, I think."

Noah nodded once, then walked out; closing the door behind her.

. . .

Resembool, Amestris

1902

Older Brother - 3, Younger Brother - 2

Trisha felt a small tug on her skirt. She looked down to see the big golden eyes of her eldest son staring up at her.

"What are you doing out of bed, Ed?" she asked as she bent down to his height.

"Mommy! Al keeps yelling in his sleep I think something's wrong with him," Ed told her. He looked scared.

Trisha looked up at her husband. They had been standing in the kitchen, talking about things that Ed was too young to understand.

She stood up, pulled her son into her arms, and followed her husband into the room her children shared.

Hohenheim picked up his younger son and shook him gently. "Alphonse, wake up."

"He's still sleeping," Trisha said in a worried tone as she watched tears trek down Al's struggling face.

"Mommy, is Al okay?" Ed asked.

Trisha smiled at him. "Of course he is, Little Man. He's just having a bad dream."

"Fill the tub with ice water," Hohenheim instructed. "I don't want to do it this way . . . But I doubt he'll wake up if we don't."

Trisha nodded and brought Edward with her into the bathroom. She placed him down on the floor and hurried to start pumping water.

Ed watched as his mother filled the tub. When it was full, he stuck his pudgy baby-finger in and drew it out immediately. "Brr!"Trisha stroked his hair from his face. "Yes, it's cold. It has to be."

Hohenheim entered then, holding a thrashing Alphonse in his arms. He walked over to the rub, and dunked his son quickly under the water, then pulled him back out.

Al gasped for air, his eyes shot open. He began to cry out of fear. And he was cold.

Ed hid behind his mother's leg as she pulled Al's soaked pajamas off and wrapped him in blankets.

Eventually, Al's crying and screaming became more faint, and eventually ended all together with a final hiccup.

"All better?" Trisha asked.

Al nodded. "I had a bad dream."

Trisha nodded. "I know, Baby."

"There was a fire and I couldn't find you!" Al told her. Tears formed in his eyes again. "It was scary, Mommy!"

His mother pulled him into her chest. "Shh . . . It's okay. It's over now right? Mommy's here, Daddy's here, Ed's here . . ."

Ed nodded. "Yeah. It's okay! Bad dreams aren't real anyways."

. . .

London, England

1926

Older Brother - 21, Younger Brother - 19

Eighteen years later, and so much had changed. Now they knew; sometimes, bad dreams were real. And this time, Mommy wasn't there.

Ed sighed and sat on the edge of his brother's bed. "So, what were you dreaming about, then?"

Al squirmed uncomfortably next to him. "N-nothing."

"It didn't seem like nothing," Ed told him.

Al looked down.

"Earlier today, you started to tell me something," Edward said. "Did it have something to do with that? Tell me, Al."

His brother sighed. "I wanted to tell you that I've been having nightmares - but not just normal nightmares, memories. Replaying in my head."

"For how long?" Ed asked, trying to hide his concern. The truth was, he still got nightmares like that sometimes, too.

"A few weeks," Al admitted. "But that's not all. These nightmares . . . They all lead me to the same conclusion."

"Which is?" Ed pressed.

Al took a deep breath. "Brother, do you remember how teacher told us she created Wrath?"

"She said that homunculi were created when people tired to revive the dead," Ed said.

Al nodded. "And Brother, on that day five years ago . . . You were dead. Envy killed you-"

"Al, where are you going with this?" Ed asked.

"And you said that homunculi could call on the gate, just as you did. Brother, you need to tell me . . . Did I fail at bringing you back?" Al shut his eyes tight and braced himself for the answer.

For a moment, there was silence. Then -

Ed began to laugh hysterically. He doubled over, clutching his ribs. "Are you serious?"

Al's eyebrows furrowed. "Hey! You're laughing at me!"

"You . . . Think . . . I'm . . . a homunculus?" Ed asked between gasps of air. "That's hilarious!"

"Brother, I'm serious!" Al insisted.

Ed took a deep breath and stopped laughing. "Al, if I'm a homunculus, then explain why I could still do alchemy the day I went back to Amestris."

"But Wrath could do alchemy," Al pointed out. "I've already considered that."

"Fine, then explain my automail," Ed said, holding out his right arm for his brother to see.

"Wrath had automail, too," Al said.

"My eyes aren't purple."

"Neither were Wrath or Sloth's at first, and Envy could change his eye color. Gluttony didn't even have irises."

"I don't have a tattoo."

"What if it's hidden? Gluttony's was on his tongue. Wrath, the bottom of his foot. Sloth under her shirt. Pride's was on his eyeball!"

"Would you like me to strip?" Ed snapped.

Al cringed. "That's okay."

Ed shook his head. "You've really given this a lot of thought, huh?"

Al nodded.

"And you're genuinely concerned?"

Al nodded again.

Ed sighed and stood up. He slowly rolled up his under-shirt, revealing a large, pink scar on his chest, over his heart. Even though the wound was several years old, the marks still looked newly healed. Looking at it made Al's stomach turn. "Explain that, then. This is the scar from when Envy stabbed me. If I were a homunculi, I wouldn't still have this mark."

Al sighed in relief. "I was afraid . . . I was afraid I had done to you what we did to Mom."

Ed smiled sadly. "No, Al."

"But that still doesn't explain why you could open the gate . . ." Al said.

"I've been thinking about that, Al," Ed told his brother. "And I think . . . I think I might have figured it out."

Al's eyes grew wide. "Tell me!"

"Boys, supper!" Lisa called from the kitchen.

"I'll tell you later, Ed promised.

"But, Ed -"

"We don't have time now! Let's just go eat."

"But . . ."

"EDWARD! ALPHONSE! YOUR SHEPHERD'S PIE IS GETTING COLD!" Lisa shouted. "IF YOU MAKE ME THROW AWAY FOOD YOU'LL BE CLEANING UP AFTER EVERYONE ELSE!"

Ed and Al jumped up and ran down the stairs.

"Impatient dictator-housewife . . ." Ed mumbled to himself.

. . .

Resembool, Amestris

1920

(Earth Year - 1926)

Winry was at the end of a very long line at the hardware store. All she needed was a few parts, but it appeared she would be there for a very long time. The clerk was an old man who clearly didn't know what he was doing.

She stood their tapping her foot impatiently when something outside the window caught her eye.

Her head snapped around just in time to see a man with long green hair and strange black clothes walk by the window. He reminded Winry somewhat of a palm tree.

An image flashed in her head. A very badly drawn picture done by Ed when he was hospitalized in Central. It bore some resemblance to this man. And something Rose had said about a homunculus who could shape shift . . .

Envy!

Winry abandoned her place in line and ran outside the store. "Hey! Wait!"

She ran over to Envy and grabbed his shoulder.

He swerved with a murderous look in his eye. When he saw who it was that had stopped him, his face changed from anger to confusion. "You?"

"Your name is 'Envy' right?" Winry asked.

"You're the Pipsqueak's girlfriend!" Envy exclaimed, ignoring the question.

Winry blushed violently. "I am not his girlfriend!"

"Okay, and I'm a human being," Envy agreed sarcastically. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some underground business to attend to."

Winry gasped. "Wait! You're wanted by the military! What if I just report that I saw you?"

"Shall I erase her memory of this meeting?"

It was then that Winry realized Envy wasn't alone. There were two others with him; a man thin man with short black hair, purple eyes, and a fat stomach. The woman had long curly black hair and purple eyes as well. She was tall, skinny, and very beautiful. It was she who had spoken.

"Erase me memories?" Winry asked.

Envy nodded. "One of Lust's special skills. This Lust, anyway. The other one's Gluttony, and he, like the Gluttony before him, has the power of being a fat-ass cannibal/goat."

"Well?" Lust asked. Her voice was silky and seductive.

"Or may I eat the pretty girl?" Gluttony asked. "She'd make a lovely lunch."

"No," Envy told them. "We want the military tracking us, remember?"

Gluttony sighed. "I'm never allowed any fun . . ."

"Least you're smarter than the last Gluttony," Envy muttered to himself, trying to stay optimistic. He began to walk away, with Lust and Gluttony following.

"Wait!" Winry cried. "You haven't explained anything!"

. . .

London, England

1926

The dinner table was silent. After seeing the spectacle with Al; Ed, Noah, and Lisa all felt a little awkward about starting up a conversation, as did Alphonse. Roy could sense the tension in the room, and made the wise decision to not ask. Lewis of course couldn't talk yet.

So, that left it up to Amanda to start the talking. Because if there was one thing that she hated above all else, it was silence.

But what would she say? She was only two-and-a-half, after all. Conversations had always been started for her.

"Is Shepherd's pie made from real shepherds?"

"No, Mandy," Roy told his daughter. That was it.

Her plan had failed, she needed a new approach.

She decided to ask the one question that had always entered her head when Edward's arms were exposed, she had just never mustered up the courage.

But the family meal was at stake, damn it! She'd do what she had to do. "Eddie?"

"What's up, Mandy?" Ed asked with a mouthful of pie.

"How come your arms don't match?" she asked. "One's shorter and metal."

"Amanda Margret Stanley!" Lisa began to cold. "It's very disrespectful to ask people personal questions like th-"

Ed silenced her by holding up his hand. "It's okay, Lisa. I think Amanda's old enough to know."

"I don't!" Al protested. "Ed, she's two!"

Ed rolled his eyes. "Obviously I'm only gonna tell her the cool parts."

Amanda scooted her chair closer to Edward's. "Tell me! Tell me!"

Ed laughed and pulled her onto his lap. "Alright, alright. Well, when Al and I were younger, we were in an accident. There was an . . . explosion of sorts at our house, and I lost my arm and leg."

Amanda's eyes widened. "You can lose those? I thought they were attached!"

Al snorted. Lisa slapped the back of his head.

"Well, they are," Ed explained. "But you know the man who lives next to Wendy, with a peg leg?"

Amanda nodded. "It got blown up in the war."

Ed nodded. "Yeah, like that. So my friend, Winry, built me this new arm and leg, so I could still walk and do work."

"Ohh," Amanda said, as if she had finally understood something that she never could before. "That was nice of her."

Ed nodded. "Very nice of her."

Amanda but her lip for a moment, as if she were thinking hard. She pointed to the small scar on Ed's forehead, above his right eye. "Is that from the explosion too?"

Ed shook his head. "No, this is from a different time I got hurt."

"Did your mommy kiss it better?" Amanda asked. "It's a big boo-boo."

Ed smiled sadly. "No, Mandy. By the time I got this boo-boo my mommy wasn't here anymore."

Amanda looked sad. "Al told me your mommy was in heaven . . . I'm sorry, Eddie."

"Hey, it's okay!" Ed told her, trying to sound upbeat.

"Yeah!" Al agreed. He was much better at the optimism thing than his brother. "Besides, we still have our memories."

"If you don't mind me asking," Lisa said cautiously. "Would you tell us more about her? I'd love to hear about the woman who raised you boys . . ."

Al smiled. "She was . . . Warm. She only ever saw the good in epople, no matter how bad they were. She devoted all her time to Ed and me . . ."

"She was a great mom," Ed agreed. "She always knew how to handle every problem we threw her way. Whenever we argued, she knew exactly how to makes us forgive each other. If we were ever injured or sad, she'd take care of us."

"What did she look like?" Roy asked. "I'm trying to picture this . . ."

Ed grinned. "A lot like Al, actually. But with darker hair and a woman's face and body, obviously."

"So then you must look like your father, Ed," Lisa inferred. "What was he like? Sorry for asking so many questions . . . It's just that we don't know much about where you boys came from."

"It's fine," Al told her. "And as for our dad . . . Well, quite honestly, I didn't really know him. He left when Ed and I were really little. He had his own reasons, he was really just trying to protect us."

Ed's hands clenched under the table. "Even thought he and I patched things up, I still can't help but resent him for everything he put us through as kids."

"I suppose that's understandable," Roy agreed. "My father died when I was young, and I always resented him for leaving my crippled mother alone with five kids. Some things just can't be helped."

For a moment, there was silence.

"Alright, boys," Lisa told them, her voice going back to it's normal strict tone. "I want you up early tomorrow so your chores will be done before nine. We're all going to visit Wendy after breakfast. So go up to bed now, so you can finish catching up on sleep."

Ed and Al nodded without complaint-for in truth, they both were rather tired. They cleaned off their plates in the kitchen and headed up stairs.

. . .

"Alright, Brother," Al said when they were safe in the confinement of their room. "You have to tell me now! How do we get home? You said you knew."

Ed nodded. "Well, I at least have a theory. Do you remember what Teacher taught us? About how we're just tiny parts of a whole?"

Al nodded. "Of course! One is all, and all is one."

Ed nodded. "Good, and when you connect all the tiny pieces, you end up with the universe. Nothing can exist without the balance of everything else."

"Okay . . ." Al still didn't really get where is brother was going.

"And do you remember what she told the little girl when her cat died?" Ed asked.

Al shook his head. "Ah, no . . ."

"She said something about how when people die, their souls live on in other hearts. There's a flow, and it involves everything in the world," Ed said. "And I was thinking . . . That's a lot like what Envy said, about inner gates leaving traces in other people."

Al gasped. "That makes sense! So inner gates and souls are the same thing . . ."

"And another thing Teacher taught us," Ed continued. "About transmutation circles. 'The circle represents the circulation of power, and by drawing it, that power can be evoked.' And how do you channel this power?"

Al grinned. "Well that's easy; you draw an array on top of the circle."

And what Envy said, about connecting all the inner gates. What if he was talking about a transmutation circle in which the array is the people we're connecting?" Ed asked. "For example, we could connect Mustang to Winry because he killed her parents, and Winry to Gracia Hughes because they're friends. You see?"

Al nodded slowly. "I think so . . . But what would we use to signify each person?" Al asked.

"We could just write their names," Ed suggested. "Hmm . . ."

He opened his side table drawer and pulled out a pencil and paper. Along the edges of the circle he wrote the names of everyone significant to him and his brother that was in Amestris; dead or alive. When he was done, he drew lines connecting the names of people who knew and were somehow connected to each other. Once he was finished, he held it out for Al to see.

"The souls count as the points, so by using this transmutation circle, in theory, we should be able to connect everyone's inner gates and pull ourselves through. I think that's how the homunculi do it . . . They pull on their own souls from when they were human and that's what pulls them through."

"Brother, this is genius!" Al exclaimed. "By coursing energy thought our friends in this way, we might be able to open the gate without a sacrifice!"

Ed scratched his head. "Really, it wasn't all that hard. I just had to remember whatever it was that I had done subconsciously at the hospital . . . And a lot of it was scattered around in Dad's notes."

"We'll need to put blood on it," Al said. "Just incase. It was your blood that opened the gate the first time, right? And Dad's the second? And even though this is a totally different method, the same principles could apply. Without the blood of an alchemist, we might be killed while we're traveling through."

Ed nodded. "Right, and we'll want to try this somewhere out of sight . . ."

"Behind the barn?" Al suggested. "You can't see back there from the bottom of the hill."

"Okay," Ed agreed. "But only if we're absolutely certain that this will work . . ."

"It will!" Al assured him. He pulled down his sheets and lay down, pulling them over him. "We'll tell the others tomorrow . . . We're going home."

. . .

"Noah, are you sure about this?" Lisa asked. It was the next morning at breakfast, after everyone had done their morning chores.

Noah smiled and nodded. "Oh yes. Ed and Al were always so much closer to Wendy than I was, and Lewis and Amanda really shouldn't be at the hospital, it's no place for little kids."

"I wanna go see Wendy, too!" Amanda complained.

Ed smiled sympathetically and ruffled her black mop. "Hey, Wendy will be out of the hospital real soon, and then you can go visit her whenever you want."

Mandy pouted and crossed her arms over her chest.

Al tilted his head as he watched her.

"Sometimes I forget she's only two," he said quietly to his brother.

Ed nodded in agreement. "She's well beyond her years. That's for sure."

. . .

Ed, Al, Roy, and Lisa quietly entered Wendy's room, in case she was sleeping.

She wasn't.

"You guys came!" she shouted excitedly. "I was getting so bored!"

Ed chuckled. "Calm down or you'll reopen your wounds."

She stuck her tongue out at him. "You try being stuck in a hospital for so long."

He rolled his eyes. "I have; many times. It's no fun."

He and Al walked over to the wooden bench under the window and sat down; both of them expressionless.

Wendy watched them curiously. Something seemed off.

"Amanda, Noah and Lewis send their love," Lisa told her as she took a seat next to her husband in one of the chairs facing Wendy's bed.

"Where are they?" Wendy asked. She tried not to grimace when she spoke. She hid it well, but she was actually in a severe amount of pain.

"Noah thought it best to stay home with the kids," Lisa explained. "Hospitals really are no place for children . . ."

"I supposed," Wendy agreed.

They were all silent for a few minutes. No one could think of something to say.

They spent the next half hour making awkward small chat, mostly between Roy, Lisa, and Wendy, but eventually that stopped too.

Wendy decided to talk with them separately. It'd be easier that way. Ed and Al first . . .

"Roy, Lisa, would you mind giving us a moment?" Wendy asked. "There's something the boys and I need to discuss."

"Not at all," Lisa said, rising to her feet. She and Roy walked out of the room and shut the door behind them.

When they were gone, Wendy turned to the Elrics. "Alright, spill. What's going on?"

Ed looked confused. "What do you mean?"

"I can tell by the way you two keep looking down and avoiding eye contact. And you've been here a whole 30 minutes and have barely said a word. Normally, when people are nervous they tend to play with their hands, and Al hasn't put his down since you walked in. You're hiding something from me. Spill it."

"She's good," Al said to his brother.

Wendy smiled smugly. "Well, as Edward always told me, 'om te leren, moet meen eerst kijken, voelen, luisteren, proven en ruiken.'"

"What's it mean?" Al asked.

"I think it's just saying that before you learn something you have to look, feel, listen, smell, and taste. Use your senses and your instincts, I guess. Observe. It's just something his mother would tell him."

"Worte de Weisheit*," Ed complimented. "Edward was a smart guy."

"So?" Wendy asked. "Tell me then! What is it?"

Ed and Al looked at each other. Al nodded.

"Okay," Ed agreed. "But don't tell the others, alright? We want to surprise them."

"I promise!" Wendy exclaimed impatiently. "Now cut to the chase!"

"God, you're pushy . . ." Ed complained. He took a deep breath. "Al and I think we found a way back to our own world; our home."

Wendy's smile faded.

"Really?" she asked, her voice changing slightly. "That's . . . great."

"What's the matter, Wendy?" Al asked. "Isn't this a good thing? You sound depressed."

"No, n it's not that, it's just . . ." Wendy sighed. "There's something I need to tell you."

She sounded serious.

"What is it?" Ed asked.

Wendy smiled weakly. "I don't think I'm going to step outside this place ever again."

"Aw, come on," Ed told her. "Sure, it seems like that now, but it'll be better eventually."

Wendy shook her head. "Not from the accident . . . I'm sick, guys. And apparently I have been for a while."

"Sick?" Al repeated. "Sick how?"

Wendy rubbed away the tears in her eye. "They say I have cancer."

"Cancer?" Ed and Al asked at the same time. The difference was, Ed was asking in disbelief, while Alphonse truly didn't know what it meant. They didn't have that disease in Amestris.

"Cancer is a severe illness in which no one survives," Ed explained bitterly to his brother. "I've never heard of a cancer patient who lived for very long. People used to think it was caused by trauma, but not many doctors still follow that theory."

"You're gonna die?" Al asked. Tears formed in the corners of his eyes. "No! You can't!"

Wendy smiled sadly. "No, don't worry about me. You found a way home, right? Think about that! Dying really isn't all that sad, I mean at least I know I've got people waiting for me on the other side."

Ed looked down to hide his face. He thought of the conversation he and Al had had at supper the night before. "Tell us about him. About Edward. We don't know much . . ."

Wendy sighed contently. "Where do I begin? Well, I'd say he's a lot like you, Ed. He didn't like to talk about his feelings and was very over-protective of his family and friends. He was like you too, Al; very sweet and kind-hearted. His mother grew fatally ill when we were small children. She tried to ignore it, but unfortunately, succumbed to the sickness when Edward was only eight. He went to live with Patricia after that, but he seemed . . . Different. Older, somehow. We still continued to hang out and be friends as we grew up, and eventually confessed our feelings for each other. We were to be married in August of the year he died, but never got the chance.

"I honestly don't think I'm so bothered by his passing anymore. It hurt a lot at first, and I still miss him more than you can imagine but . . . I think it's better this way. I had to watch him grow up; and that was hard. Together, we watched as our childhood innocence faded away and we became adults. Growing up is sad . . . I wouldn't want to see him grow old, too. This way I'll always remember him the way I'd like to . . . It's almost kind of happy."

She pulled on the chain around her neck until it broke loose. One the end of it was a heart-shaped locket. Wendy forced it open, revealing a small, folded piece of paper and a back-and-white photograph of Edward Matthews; smiling. She held it out for the brothers to see.

"What's that?" Al asked, pointing to the paper.

Wendy smiled and carefully unfolded it. "Hohenheim gave this to me at Edward's funeral. He said he had been instructed by my fiancé to give it to me if something were ever to happen to him."

"What does it say?" Al asked, leaning forward to get a closer look.

"The last words his mother ever told him. 'Tot we elkaar weer ontmoeten, voorbij deze plaats, mijn liefde. 'Until we meet again, beyond this place, my love.' He always liked that because it wasn't exactly a goodbye, more like an 'until next time'."

"Mijn liefde," Al repeated slowly. "That's sweet."

Wendy nodded, grasping the locket in her hands. "He was sweet . . . 'Wendy, mijn liefde,' he would always say. 'Someday we'll go to America, where the war isn't so bad. We won't have to worry about bombs, we'll be far, far away from Germany. And once it's over, we'll see Egypt, China, Australia even!' He wanted to see the world . . ."

"Would you like us to send Roy and Lisa in?" Ed asked, his voice level. He still wouldn't raise his head, though.

Wendy nodded. "Uh . . . Yeah. I should probably tell them, too."

Ed and Al rose from their seats and left the room. Roy and Lisa went in.

Al slumped his back against the wall in the hall way. "Poor, Wendy."

Ed slammed his fist against the doorframe. "This always happens! They always leave!"

. . .

*Worte de Weisheit - Words of Wisdom (German)