Hello, everyone! I'm ketren, and this is my first FMA fanfic. Please be gentle!

Let's get the business out of the way first, and then we'll begin!

Title: Pure Alchemy

IMPORTANT/Please Read: This story takes place at the end of the original anime, before the movie. However, I've changed some things:

(1) While Al has been restored to his body, he never lost his memory and he's his real age (which happens to be fifteen in this story).

(2) Roy didn't quit his job in the military.

(3) The Gate doesn't lead to Germany and our world.

Summary: AU. Gen. After sacrificing himself to get Al's body back, Ed finds himself imprisoned somewhere deep inside the realm of the Gate of Truth. The world in there may be strange, but Ed decides that he can deal with it as long as Al is safe…at least, until Ed is suddenly thrown back into Amestris in the midst of the same chaos that was once trapped inside the Gate. It may be nice to be back, but the Elrics and their military friends will have to clean up the mess—before it gets to them first.

Rating: This story is rated T mostly because of language. But let's face it, Ed has to let loose a few curses every now and then, because sometimes "oh, darn" doesn't really cut it.

Disclaimer (once and for all): Hiromu Arakawa, Square Enix, Viz Media, and a host of other companies have the rights to Fullmetal Alchemist. I am not making a profit off of this fanfiction.

And on with the show!

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.:One:.

The Great (if Unintentional) Escape

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Edward Elric was dying for what felt like the millionth time.

His entire body felt as though it was on fire, and every slight movement he made sent a shock of pain through him. The worst pain came from his torso, though—which probably had a lot to do with the fact that the Beast had slid its horn somewhere between Ed's ribs.

In retrospect, the entire incident was completely his fault; he hadn't really been paying attention to the territory and had strayed onto the Beast's turf. After that, it had been only a matter of time before the creature came to get rid of him in the only way it knew how. Caught by surprise, Ed had been unable to borrow alchemy, as he usually did, to chase the Beast away. And his automail arm had been no match for the creature's incredibly powerful horn.

He was having difficulty breathing now, and what little breath he had left was wasted cursing his own stupidity. Thing's pretty fast for being so big…Ed thought tiredly as colors swirled across his vision, though the colors may have had more to do with the changing atmosphere than anything else.

Ed's limbs—both flesh and metal—steadily grew limp; his head grew heavy and lolled back. The Beast was shifting, and a ripple of pain shot through him once more as it moved its head. Gradually, the horn slipped from his chest and he slid to his knees, finding barely enough strength to prop himself up.

"Shit," he murmured, blood leaking from his mouth, "not again." The fire in his chest grew stronger, and more painful, and it was spreading. He slumped over, eyes closing of their own accord, and the last of his breath leaked from his lips. As his heart stopped, the world grew dark and warm and wet, and he lay on the ground, motionless, until the familiar buzzing feeling brought him to life again.

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Roy glanced at the door across from his desk for what felt like the millionth time. Al is due in sometime today, he thought to himself, staring at the knob as if expecting the boy—who looked so much like his brother now—to walk in as a result of that thought.

One year had passed since Ed and Al had journeyed to Lior to take on the sins. It had been one year since Al had ended up in the middle of Lior, in his body again for the first time in years, nearly unable to support himself without Rose's help. It had been one year since he had called Roy at East Headquarters, sobbing so hard that Roy could practically hear the phone rattle.

It had been one year since Fullmetal had disappeared.

Roy had been unable to believe it for the longest time. Fullmetal? Gone? It didn't seem as though that were even possible. Fullmetal, with his flashing golden eyes and hair, his cocky attitude, his cheeky grin. Fullmetal, with his stubborn pride, his devotion to Al that bordered on insanity, his knack for getting himself and his brother into all sorts of situations, and his knack for getting them out. Fullmetal, with his sensitivity to height comments, his fierce independence…gone? Not Ed.

And the strangest thing was that life went on. They were rewarded, all of them, for their "bravery, determination, and willpower." He had been promoted within a month to Brigadier General, Hawkeye to Captain, Havoc and Breda to First Lieutenants. He was surrounded by the same subordinates, Hawkeye still threatened to shoot him if he didn't finish paperwork, and they all fought over whose turn it was to make the coffee. Yet there was an absence, a gap, among his subordinates, and everyone could feel it. Ed was missing.

But gone? He couldn't be.

Al didn't seem to think so either. Within a week of his brother's disappearance, Al was in Roy's office begging to be allowed to somehow "borrow" Ed's right to research in the military library. Roy had been idly surprised at how willing the boy was to jump back into alchemy after what had happened, and how willing he was to be hurt again and to risk everything in an attempt to save his brother.

Of course, Roy had approved. Al had practically lived in the library back when Ed was around, and no one had ever stopped him then. Besides, the brass had turned a blind eye; after all, Al and Ed had exposed Bradley for a traitor—which was all the public knew about him—and many people in the country were still mourning the loss of the so-called "People's Alchemist." Keeping Al from such a "noble cause" was career suicide, not to mention that Roy didn't think he could have turned Al down after seeing the determined look on his face.

Al reported back to Roy diligently, stopping by whenever he had the chance (How unlike Ed, Roy would muse to himself), although rarely brought news and often just came to say hello. Perhaps he dropped by more out of habit than anything else. At any rate, there was apparently very little known about the Gate in the world of alchemical theory. Roy himself had only heard about it from the Elric brothers. From what little he understood, most of the information that Al had discovered regarding the Gate was more in the realm of myth than of actual science.

Roy had stopped hoping for good news whenever Al walked through the door. He wasn't one to give up quickly, but even Al's smiles were becoming few and far in between these days…

By this time, Roy had quite forgotten his paperwork. Some things never changed. Using his one good eye to peek back at the door, which was of course still closed, he hummed to himself and swiveled around in his chair. He looked out the window, where it was raining—wasn't it always?—and watched people run for cover in the streets below.

And he waited.

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Something was poking him in the head. Ed's first instinct was to ignore it, because Al liked to wake him up at the freaking crack of dawn, but his fuzzy thoughts began to move at full speed. And then—

He sat up suddenly, his automail knife flashing at the Beast before him. For a moment, he froze as his brain caught up with his eyes, and he lowered his arm. This wasn't the same creature. Of course. The horned Beast, which was all fur, muscles, claws, and one really sharp horn, was nothing like the tiny thing that sat in front of Ed. Grinning.

Ed brushed his hand over his bare chest, feeling nothing to suggest that a horn had just nearly sliced his body in two. Dropping his arm, he glanced down at the creature. "Hey," he said warily.

"Warm," it responded almost immediately, stretching its black arms up to Ed's shoulders and pulling itself up to rest over his heart. It felt oily and slick against his skin, and Ed wished for the thousandth time that he hadn't removed his shirt before doing the alchemy for Al. If he'd known that it would mean spending eternity shirtless, he might have reconsidered his attire.

The creature had settled down, still grinning up at him toothily, and Ed heaved a sigh. He was back at the entrance to the Gate. This was where he ended up every time he died, every time the Gate brought him back to life.

The Gatekeepers—Ed's term for all of the little, black, watchful monsters that guarded the inside of the gate—were swarming around where Ed assumed the Gate itself was. He had never been close enough to tell for sure that it was there; the mass of Keepers was too dense. Each Keeper would fight viciously for space closer to the door. There was no way to tell for certain why, but they had probably observed the outside world for centuries, each fighting for a brief second at the door's entrance and rarely ever venturing far from the Gate. Something about their habits made Ed think that they were more curious than anything else.

A few times, Ed had tried to pass through the throng and find the Gate itself, but the Keepers had swarmed around him, boxing him in total darkness and pushing at him from all directions in their own attempts to reach the exit. Each time, Ed had become so turned around that he eventually found himself back where he started, bruised and out of breath.

Ed had not seen his own world since he had entered the Gate, however long ago that might have been.

Not that he was complaining, exactly. The Keepers' insatiable curiosity was probably what had saved his life in the first place.

After sacrificing himself—his mind, his body, his heart, his soul, everything, whatever he had left—in order to bring his brother back, Ed had found himself, startlingly whole, inside the Gate, being watched by what looked like thousands of eyes in the darkness. Following an initial panic attack, he had slowly realized that the Keepers weren't trying to kill him. In fact, they seemed rather infatuated. Trying to make use of their limited knowledge and vocabulary—which was apparently restricted to monosyllables—he had garnered the information that, not only were they the judges of equivalent exchange, but they were so curious about his world that they had taken him whole, regardless of equivalency.

Which meant, to Ed's immense annoyance, that equivalent exchange was not equivalent but subjective. All of the problems that he and Al had dealt with, thinking them "fair" and a result of a system of science, were the result of these creatures, whose curiosity had caused so much chaos…

Ed shook a little, and the Keeper on his chest felt it. "Cold?" it asked.

"No," Ed corrected absently, "Angry."

"Oh."

He saw, out of the corner of his eye, other Keepers near the back of the Gate looking at him interestedly, which usually meant that he was about to be covered in the searching, inquisitive creatures. The only way to prevent it, and to get the Keeper off of his chest, was to leave. He started walking away, and the little black creature that looked so much like a puppet shifted to stare at the Gate, which was becoming farther away. After a few moments, it hopped off, running toward the doors without as much as a backward glance.

Ed moved on.

Underfoot, the ground shifted from solid stone to soft grass; the air around him was full of wispy mist that floated about him slowly, clutching at his skin with finger-like tendrils. He heard thunder, or something like it, to his left, and the sky in that direction gradually became grey and cloudy. Ed headed right, walking quickly away from the storm until the world became dark and he could hardly see. The ground slowly changed once more, becoming hard and solid, and blue sparks in the air lit up like lightning bugs to light the way for him.

He had become used to this, these changes in the Gate. He had realized long ago that the world about him was composed of some sort of alchemy, though he had no idea how it worked despite having passed half an eternity here. The Beasts were made of alchemy as well, he thought; it had gotten to the point where Ed could sense when they were coming because he could feel the concentration of the alchemy in the air. It had been difficult at first. Edward was the type of person who liked to be in control of his surroundings, and this new world had confused him countless times. But given all the time in the world, a human could adapt to anything.

There was no need to sleep here, no need to eat or drink, no sense of time or direction, and he couldn't die. It was the most ironic, painful form of immortality anyone possibly could have been granted. The boredom was eating him alive.

The only thing that kept him going was the thought that he might eventually find a way out. He spent the majority of his time walking around the world in the Gate, but he had never come to any sort of end or boundary. He had attempted to get out of the doors, but the Keepers were too strong and too many for him to overcome.

And he was learning, too.

Flooding was no reason to panic. He didn't need to breathe. The only danger was that quick movements might alert the Angler or other water-Beasts.

Fires, earthquakes, windstorms, and other natural disasters were frightening but avoidable.

Time and gravity both played tricks on him at times.

Death meant nothing. All he had to do was wait out the pain and he would wake up back at the Gate as though he had never been touched.

Storms were to be avoided at all costs, unless he was in the mood for a rather painful death.

But he wasn't prepared for everything. He was still often caught by surprise; the alchemy around him would erupt into fire or a sudden earthquake, the air would change to some sort of gel or plasma, or, worst of all, he would find himself somehow trapped, unable to move or to do anything at all except wait for something to come and kill him. Life, if you could call it that, was interesting on this side of the Gate.

The blue sparks had multiplied, lining up as though creating a path for the boy who had once been known as the Fullmetal Alchemist. He walked slowly through the darkness, in no particular hurry. It was the worst when things quieted, as they had now. It was times like this that he began thinking about the past, and when his chest began to ache with a hunger to see a familiar place, time, or person.

It was times like this that he began to think about Al.

He worried that his brother hadn't made it. The Keepers weren't above taking Ed's body just for the hell of it, he knew. They would feel no remorse over not granting his wish once he was inside of the Gate. Had they at least given Al his soul and his armor back, if not his body? Had they done anything to help him at all? And if they had given him life again, how was he? What was he doing, and was he alright? What had happened to the people he had known back in Amestris—to Winry and Pinako—to Mustang and Hawkeye and Havoc? How had Breda, Fuery, and Falman fared? He even wondered what had happened to Sensei and to Major Armstrong.

Not like he'd ever be able to answer any of his questions. This world was apparently infinite, and as far as Ed knew, there was no escape. The only thing he could take comfort in was that at least he had given Al a chance.

The lights danced around his ankles, and Ed began to feel the familiar shift of alchemy that signaled something different, a new atmosphere. The darkness became thicker, and darker, and then—

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—he was standing and blinking in the sudden sunlight. That was much faster than usual, he thought to himself dispassionately. He shielded his eyes with his flesh hand, waiting patiently for them to adjust.

Ed squinted. This was a strange place—strange in that it was different from anything he had seen since he had been pulled into the Gate. It looked very much like a city.

And there were people.

Ed blinked, mind racing. There were people. In the Gate.

Slowly, he became aware of an ache in his chest, a sudden hollowness as though something had been removed from his very being. Keeping an eye on the people who bustled past him—ordinary people! As if this were an ordinary city!—he rolled his thoughts around carefully to figure out what was wrong, what was different. And it struck him in a rush that nearly took his breath away.

He couldn't feel alchemy. Nothing.

There was no alchemy here. Which meant—?

Setting off with a sudden burst of energy, he ran down the street, glancing left and right in search of—what, some explanation? He didn't understand.

It was all so normal. It was all he remembered from his world. Little things, like a stained glass window, pigeons crying from phone lines, empty boxes in a trash can, kittens in an alleyway—kittens for Al—laughter and yelling, explosions of color and flowers, the smell of spices and shouts from street vendors selling glittering necklaces, a young couple holding hands, fresh cotton candy, maps and the sound of water…there were old men playing cards on a table in an outdoor café, windows with pots of herbs, the smell of fresh bread and cigarette smoke. Everything was here. Everything.

He stumbled to the end of the street, which was sectioned off by a fence. There was water on the other side.

Water.

He was on the edge of a lake, and there were boats, boats with people with smiles, questions, and clicking cameras.

Tourists.

I know where this is, he thought. I know where I am.

It took a moment to gather his thoughts, for it to really hit him. When it finally did, he sank to his knees, grasping the fence for support.

Aquaroya. I'm in Aquaroya. I'm home.

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A/N: This is probably one of the most bizarre stories I have ever written. The randomness is probably because most of the story is part-dream, part-rabid plot bunny, and partially inspired by Miyazaki movies. Just don't try to rationalize it too much. :)

I don't know why, but when I first started the series, I was under the impression that there was this vastly cool world beyond the Gate with all sorts of creatures besides the little black Gatekeepers, and that one day all would be revealed…but it wasn't. It was just Germany. No offense, Germans. It's just that you're not exactly in an alternate universe. Anyway, I'm fixing that, for me.

If you can, please drop me a review! Let me know what you liked, what you didn't like, what could use improving. Even just one word would make me insanely happy.

Thank you for reading!

~ket

Next Chapter: Horrible Beasts and Other Fun Developments