Well hi, kids! Welcome to my First Ever FullMetal Alchemist Fan Fiction That I've Posted On This Site! The setting is going to take a little background info because it mixes elements from the anime, the movie, and the manga, as well as my own personal interpretation, so, bear with me. Or skip ahead to the good part. I'll never know.

I was caught up with the manga and the new series, FMA: Brotherhood (which, if you've never heard of, YOU ABSOLUTELY HAVE TO CHECK OUT because it's sooo much better than the original, both in plot and in technical execution) before I finished the original anime or saw the movie. Because of the vast differences between the anime and the manga, the whole end of the series and the movie felt to me like one big fan fiction that didn't really make a whole lot of sense. I kept going, "But… but… that's not how that works at ALL!"

I did, however, really like the idea of Ed and Hohenheim together in Germany. Maybe because I've felt all along that Amestris was basically supposed to BE Germany? All the blondies running around, and its relative position to Xing/China and Drachma/Russia… I don't know. So I sort of took Ed from around where he is in Brotherhood (or like chapter… I don't know, 90-ish of the manga?) in how he's feeling about his father and plopped him at the end of the original series. It takes place before the movie, technically, so I guess it could be seen as the segue there from the end of the anime? There's a space of, what, about two years we don't hear about?

So we're in pre-Nazi Germany with Brotherhood Ed and Hohenheim, and I'm sort of taking a lot of artistic liberties with the rest of the setting. But, you know what? You'll figure all that out as you go along, and I really despise long-winded A/N intros, so.

Damn.

Oh, also. My Ed has a pretty dirty mouth, apparently, so… watch out for that, I guess. It's more in-character in the manga… it seems they censored him somewhat for the anime. At least the English dub.

ALRIGHT JESUS ENOUGH OF THIS. Read the blip-blarbing story.

Gosh.

Chapter 1: Awkward Turtle

Edward Elric had his hands shoved in the pockets of his long brown overcoat as he gazed around the narrow Munich street, looking like a teenager on the brink of death by boredom. There was a biggish man in front of a door to his right, jiggling a set of keys in the lock. "Damn it," he muttered. "I can never remember which stupid—ah, there we go."

The door swung open. Ed pretended not to notice.

"This is my place," said Hohenheim. "It's not much. Times what they are, and all."

Ed lolled his head to turn disinterested eyes on the man he was supposed to call his father.

Hohenheim coughed. "Um. Come on in."

He disappeared inside, and after a moment, Ed followed him.

"Living room, dining room, kitchen, part-time study," said Hohenheim, gesturing around a single square room equipped with a television, a kitchen set, a table and two chairs, and piles and piles of books. Ed didn't conceal a condescending sneer at the understanding that this man had one room functioning for all his household necessities. "That door's a bathroom. I get about eight minutes of hot water in a morning, so we'll have to be conservative."

He opened a narrow door that led to a narrower, very steep staircase. Ed peered up with some trepidation.

"You can have the loft," said Hohenheim.

"Sloppy seconds, I guess," said Ed.

His father hesitated. "It's much bigger than my room," he said, "and I've been renting it out, so it's fully furnished. There's even a desk and some books up there…"

Ed considered this. He moved around his father to ascend the staircase, which made an awful creaking sound. "Yeesh, got termites or something?"

Despite himself, Ed was pleasantly surprised by the state of the loft. It was full of windows and very bright. A large round rug covered most of the weathered hardwood floor, the bed was neatly made, and a broad desk with a lamp was wedged in the corner beside a tall bookcase overflowing with literature. It was by no means a large room, and when he considered that the alternative would be even smaller, and less private, since it was directly off of the kitchen/study/dining/living room, he had to admit he was probably getting the better end of the deal.

Hohenheim poked his head into the room. "I wouldn't mind trading, if that's what you want," he said. "I just thought—"

"Nah, don't bother," said Ed. "I'll make do."

Hohenheim lingered in the stairwell, as if he expected Ed to follow, but the boy had found the bookcase and was studying some of the titles.

"Well… that's about it for the tour," said Hohenheim. Ed made no sign that he was listening. "I'm going to get started on dinner. I'm afraid there isn't much… uh, you like potatoes?"

"Long as they're edible."

"Right. Well." Hohenheim paused. Ed was leafing through a thick volume. "We can find you some clothes, tomorrow."

No response.

"Well. Um, make yourself at home. I'll be downstairs, if you uh… if you need anything."

After what felt to Ed like an eternity, the old man left the room. He peeked up to see if he was really gone, and then he shelved the book and flopped onto the bed. Comfortable enough, he had to admit. Finally free of the nagging, over-compensating parent figure, Ed had some time to himself to think. He stared at the slanting ceiling. The apartment felt constricting. There was a whole world out there, and beyond that, another world. His world.

Al's world.

Even with alchemy, it would be difficult to re-open the gate. Now he had to find a way without it. How could he do that? How could he even begin? Without alchemy, this world's science had to be based on principles completely different from anything he'd ever known to be true.

It hurt too much to think right now. Ed shut his eyes. He had been on his feet since the night before, and he desperately needed a rest. Anyway, it was easier to sleep.

A gentle hand shook him awake. He opened his eyes to the figure of Hohenheim looming over his bed.

"Gah! What do you want?" Ed shrank back as if he feared Hohenheim carried an electrical charge.

"Sorry," said Hohenheim. "I knocked, but you were out cold. I just wanted to see if you were hungry."

"Yeah, yeah, I'm coming," said Ed, shooing his father away.

"Alright, it's on the table whenever you're ready."

Ed purposefully delayed himself a full five minutes before heading downstairs. The living space smelled… well, like food. It wasn't a bad smell, but there was no trace of any kind of seasoning—only meat and the watery scent of vegetables. Ed resisted wrinkling his nose as he sat down. There was a single fat sausage alongside a heap of red potatoes on his plate.

"Sorry it isn't much," said Hohenheim. "I'm afraid my cooking skills are rather limited, and I'm on my last of everything. We can stop at the market tomorrow. What do you like to eat?"

Ed shrugged.

They started eating and continued for awhile without any further attempt at conversation. Although Ed was reasonably hungry, he made an effort to do no more than pick at the bland meal.

Hohenheim had finished in about ten minutes, at which point he broke the silence. "Are you familiar with the phrase, There's an elephant in the room?"

Ed looked up. "What is that, some kind of code?"

"It means there's an uncomfortable topic we're avoiding," said Hohenheim. He took a deep breath. "I think we need to talk."

Ed grew suddenly closed. He went back to his potatoes. "Bout what?" he muttered.

"You know about what. There's something you want to ask me."

"Nothing springs to mind."

Hohenheim studied his son, who was pushing his food around with his fork. "You want to know why I left."

Ed felt a wave of cold rush over him. In response, he shrugged one shoulder up and down.

Hohenheim sighed. "I wish I had a good reason to give you," he said, taking Ed's silence as a signal to continue, "but, in all honesty, there isn't one. You know what I am. The thought of watching my family grow old around me while I stayed like this was terrifying to me. I had a moment of weakness."

"A thirteen-year moment of weakness," said Ed.

"I know. All I can say is that I'm sorry."

The table was silent for several minutes. Neither touched his food.

"The thing that really kills me," said Ed in a quiet voice, "is that you didn't come back. We wrote you so many times, but—"

"I never got your letters," said Hohenheim, and Ed raised his head slightly. "I was moving around, and I never told anyone where I went. It wasn't until I returned to Brynna for the second time, and a friend there had received several letters from you, that I had any idea you were trying to contact me."

"And then you went back to Resembool?"

"I wrote to you," he said. "And to Pinako. She responded, saying you had gone. Training to be alchemists. And that Trisha…" He stopped himself, unable to say it. "Well, how could I face you, after that?"

Ed glared at the table. "Is that supposed to make me feel better?" he murmured. "You've got to be kidding me. After all that… the truth is, you're just a big fucking coward?"

Hohenheim had nothing to say. After a moment, Ed got up from the table, leaving his half-eaten dinner on the plate, and went upstairs. Hohenheim put a hand to his head.

"Yeah," he said to himself. "I guess I am."

P.S. "Brynna" is not an FMA-canon city. Actually, if you know what it IS from, then you are my hero and props to you. (It's not really that cryptic; it just means we have another common interest.)