"Brother, please!'

"No Al, I'm not going back."

"But – "

"No."

"Well, why the heck not?"

"I don't have a home to return to."

"…Winry wouldn't have wanted you to stay away."

"Winry's dead, nothing can change that, no matter how much we wish it wasn't true."

"…"

"I have to go, but I'll call again later."

"See ya Al…"

~:~

As soon as Tamaki walked into the room, they knew something was wrong. He was smiling like always, but his eyes were blank. Haruhi was the first to notice.

"Um…sempai?" Haruhi tilted her head. "Is something wrong?"

'And here we go…' The blond internally sighed. "Haruhiiii! You're worried about your father! What a loving daughter I have!" he squealed.

The brunette rolled her eyes. "Okay, sorry I asked."

The next to bring it up was Honey. "Are you all right, Tama-chan?"

"I'm perfectly fine!" he grinned. 'Please tell me this isn't going to be an ongoing thing…'

One hour later

After being asked by the twins, Mori, Kyoya, and Nekozawa, of all people, Tamaki wanted to tear his hair out.

"I told you, I'm fine!" the blond growled through gritted teeth.

"Fullmetal!" A black haired man in a blue military uniform walked in.

"No way!" Tamaki yelled. "Not today! I am not dealing with this crap today!"

The stranger smirked. "You've got nowhere to run this time, Fullmetal."

The rest of the Host Club could only stare in shock as their king's eyes glinted dangerously. "You seem to have forgotten who you're dealing with, Colonel." With that, he smashed a nearby window and jumped out of it.

Everyone was silent – save the Colonel who was swearing loudly. "

"What…just happened?"

~:~

"I thought I'd find you here, Tamaki-sempai."

The secondyear student looked up from his ramen."Oh, Haruhi!" You should try this ramen, it's really good! Sir! Can you get another bowl for my friend here?"

A steaming bowl of miso ramen was placed on the counter.

Haruhi took a seat next to him. "What was that, sempai?" she asked, cutting right to the chase.

Tamaki stared into his bowl, smile melting away. "That….was just…I…" He sighed. "That was an old boss from back home."

"You worked in France?"

"Heh, not France. Amestris."

"Amestris?"

He grinned. "I'll try to explain later. For now, try the ramen! I swear, you'll love it!"

~:~

"'To gain something, you must first give up something of equal value. That is the first law of alchemy: equivalent exchange."

"What does alchemy have to do with your old boss?" Haruhi's brow furrowed. "And what're you doing in my bathroom?"

"One second…ah, there we go!" Tamaki finally came out, his eyes were a molten gold instead of the usual violet. "Now where was I?"

"S-sempai, your eyes!"

He blinked. "Oh, right. Sorry, something got in my contacts and I had to take them out. Should've warned you…I was talking about the past, right? …Augh! I hate talking about the past!" The blond flailed a bit, covering his face with his hands.

"Sempai?" The brunette asked hesitantly.

"Sorry." Suoh sighed. "You like stories right?"

She shrugged. "I guess."

"Good, 'cuz this'll be long." He took a deep breath. "Once there were two brothers named Elric. The elder was Edward and the younger was Alphonse. They lived in a town called Resembool in the country of Amestris…"

Tamaki continued, weaving the tale of the two brothers and their quest to restore their bodies. The people were brought to life. Colonel Roy Mustang and his team. Winry Rockbell and Granny Pinako. The Briggs soldiers. The Homunculi. The Xingese travellers. Everyone they met on they're travels. Every single one of them described in great detail.

"Everything soon came to an end. The country was at peace. Ed had finished his research and was returning to Resembool, but his ending wasn't meant to be a happy one…" His eyes, which had burned with emotion during his tale, seemed to dim. Two years after the Promised Day, Winry was killed in a railroad accident. She had been on her way home from Rush Valley.

"Ed couldn't stand it; just when life had finally given him a break, fate had screwed him over!" The blond's eyes shone – with anger or sadness, Haruhi couldn't tell. "He did the only thing he could think of; he ran. But there was no where he could run. Everything just reminded him of her. Finally, he left; left Amestris, left the entire side of the Gate. Truth was generous, he restored Ed's body completely and allowed a way for him to both travel between and communicate between realms, but, as always, there was a price.

"Edward was de-aged and sent to a world much more technologically advanced than his, but alchemically stupid. He was found by a French woman and a Japanese man. Together, they decided to raise him, but the man's mother broke the couple in two. That left the poor woman to raise him practically on her own…Eventually, Edward grew up again, but not even a year had passed in Amestris. The sun had lightened his hair and colored contacts hid his golden eyes. He had all of his memories from before…and all the pain that went with it.

"Sometimes I wonder if it would've been better to have forgotten it all…" Tamaki sighed, dropping all pretenses.

"No, sempai!" Haruhi's eyes shone with determination. "Winry… I think that would've hurt her!"

Tama - …Edward blinked, then grinned. "Thanks, Haruhi," he said, ruffling her hair, "I needed that."

The brunette's face heated. "S-sure."

"And sorry about the whole 'daddy' thing. It's pretty weird, huh?"

"I guess."

"Ah, well…" Ed got up and stretched. "I guess I gotta go…oh." He glanced at his underclassman. "I hate formalities, so when I've got my contacts in, just call me Tamaki – no sempai, got it?" After receiving a nod he continued, "But when the contacts are out, call me Ed. All right?" Another nod. "Good." The Amestrian grinned, "See ya, Haruhi!" He walked out the door.

Shouts of "YOU DIRTY PERVERT! WHAT WERE YOU DOING TO MY DAUGHTER?!" quickly followed.