I know, I know...I'm supposed to be working on the Sailor Moon story but these FMA plot bunnies are brutal and just wouldn't let me do anything else.

I know that the timelines are screwed up but it's just a story so everyone will have to just roll with it.

Hope you enjoy!

To Go Home

By Bashfulglowfly

Chapter One

Munich 1917

Fucking bastard!

Edward Elric spit a mouthful of blood into the sink and stared at himself in the mirror. He had just thrown his latest lover out of the small flat after the bastard hit him. He knew damned good and well that my research takes priority over anything else and he thinks he's going to 'correct my behavior' by hitting me! Don't think so!

He turned on the water and scooped up a handful of water and brought it to his mouth, sucked it in and swished it about, then spit it back into the sink. The water was still tinged red with blood.

His head jerked up at the knock on the door.

Stomping out of the bathroom and across the small living room littered with the debris from the fight, Ed unlocked then yanked open the door. "What part of 'get lost' do you not…"

It wasn't Wilhelm. It was a girl with onyx eyes and black hair in a long braid. She stared at him with wide eyes. "OH! That wasn't very nice of him to hit you!" She ducked under Ed's arm and came into the flat.

"I hit him back." Said Ed as he absently closed the door. "Who are you?"

The girl looked at him with startled eyes then she smiled and held out her hand. "I'm Liesl. Liesl Reinhardt. It's nice to meet you." She faltered. "Well, perhaps. I'm sorry. I heard the fight and then I heard you throw him out so I thought I'd come and see if you were alright."

"I'm Edward Elric." Ed smiled. "I'm fine."

Liesl tilted her head. "Not really. You have a bruise forming on your cheek and I can tell that you still have blood in your mouth."

Ed could feel the copper taste. "Excuse me." He went back into the bathroom and rinsed and spit a few more times. As he did that, he could hear rustling from the living room and he heard his icebox open and shut. He walked out of the bathroom and saw Liesl in the kitchen energetically chipping away at his ice block. She placed the ice back into the icebox then gathered the pieces of ice onto a towel she had found. She saw him standing there. "Come here." She gestured to one of the two chairs in the eating area. Bemused, Ed sat down and Liesl placed the towel against his cheek. "This will get the swelling down. It won't take care of the bruise, but hopefully people won't ask you too many questions as to what happened."

Ed stared at her. "You heard the fight." Liesl nodded. "Then you know why we were fighting. And you aren't surprised? You aren't offended or shocked that my lover is a man?" He was a bit startled at his own bluntness but something inside him wanted to see what this girl was made of.

Liesl blushed. "Your bedroom is on the same wall as mine. The walls are a bit thin."

It was Ed's turn to blush. "Sorry about that." He muttered. "But, still…"

Liesl interrupted him. "No. I'm not offended. My brother…my brother preferred men. He kept it a secret from our parents. My father would have beaten him then disowned him and I would never have been allowed to see him again. But I knew. He never told me but I saw him once and asked him. He couldn't deny it. But he never came out and said it."

"The world is…cruel…to those who are…different." Said Ed.

"Yes, it's even harder for those whose love is considered to be a sin." Tears filled Liesl's eyes. "How can love be a sin?"

Ed smiled sadly. "Who knows." He pulled the other chair close to him. "Sit down. It will be easier on your arms. In fact…" he took the towel out of her hand and held it to his own cheek. "Sit down." He repeated.

Liesl sat down. Her fingers began to twitch. Ed frowned at that. "Did the ice affect your hands?"

She smiled. "No. I just want to sketch your face. You look like…like a sinful angel."

Ed laughed. "Sinful angel." He recalled now that he'd smelled turpentine and oils for about a week now. "You must be a painter. You moved in about a week ago?"

Liesl nodded then bit her lip. "Yes. To both. I hope that I haven't bothered you with the smell."

Ed shook his head, causing his ponytail to swish across both shoulders. "No. I'm not here much during the day."

"And you aren't here much at night either. I've heard you coming up the steps very late."

"Which is why Wilhelm got pissed off at me."

"Didn't he know what you were like before he moved in?"

"Yes. But he thought it would change just because we were living together."

"Huh. Rather silly of him to think that." Liesl rested her hand on her chin and stared at him. "You have the most beautiful golden eyes I have ever seen. In fact, I've never seen golden eyes before. You must be from another world!" She giggled.

Ed almost choked. She'd never believe the truth! "Why are you living here? Why aren't you living with your parents or your brother?" Then he recalled that she'd used past tense when referring to her brother.

Tears came to her eyes but they did not fall. "My parents were killed in a train accident when I was nine, in 1908. My brother…died…a year later."

"I'm sorry. It must have been hard losing your family so quickly." So, she's eighteen. The same age as I am.

"Yes." Liesl abruptly stood up. "Are you hungry?"

Ed blinked "Ahh. Yes."

Liesl smiled. "Good! Have supper with me! I was able to pick up some decent vegetables and bread at the market. I was even able to get some meat!" There had been a shortage of everything since the War had started three years before. Meat was a rarity.

"What sort of meat?"

Liesl gave a wry smile. "I didn't ask and the butcher did not tell."

Ed laughed and tossed the no longer ice filled towel into the sink. "As long as it didn't used to be human, we'll probably be okay."

Liesl wrinkled her nose. "Now that's just gross!" She led the way out into the hall and waited as Ed locked the door behind him.

They walked a few feet down and she opened her own door, motioning Ed to go in first. The layout was identical to his own flat, just reversed. The major difference between his flat and her was the fact her's was MUCH neater despite all of the paintings stacked against the walls. Liesl walked into the kitchen and pulled items out of the icebox. "Make yourself comfortable. You can look at my paintings if you want." She began the task of making supper. "It's strange isn't it? We're at war and food is difficult to get yet I don't have a problem getting painting supplies."

"The world is strange, most of the time." Ed began looking around the room. On the easel was the beginning of a painting of the Viktualienmarkt. As he wandered around the small room, he noticed a leather portfolio on the mantle above the fireplace. He moved closer to look.

His heart stopped. His fingers shook as he picked up the portfolio. It contained a single photograph. A young girl that was obviously Liesl and a man in a military uniform. The uniform and the hairstyle were different but the face and that damned half-smile were the same.

Liesl's brother was Roy Mustang. Or, Roy's counterpart in this world. He's dead. Here, in this world. He's dead. When did he die? 1909? By now, Ed had figured out that the time between both worlds were roughly parallel to each other. Wait, that was after the end of the Isvalian War! Roy almost committed suicide back then, Hughes told me! Could her brother's death led Roy to almost do the same?

"His name was Richard." The quiet voice came from behind him.

Ed turned, still holding the portfolio in his hand. He looked at Liesl. She was certainly shorter than Roy. Her face was softer and rounder, but her dark eyes had that same sparkle of life. It had been a long time but he could see Roy in her features. So, this is what Roy would look like if he was a girl. He managed not to smile. "What?"

Liesl laid her fingers gently on the photograph. "His name was Richard. He was a beautiful person. Many said that he was the devil in disguise because he had a sharp tongue and a sarcastic wit but he loved me."

"How did he die?"

Liesl turned away, wrapping her arms around herself. "He met a man. They became lovers. Then that man took some important papers that Richard was in charge of and gave them to…someone…I never learned exactly who. He was caught. But somehow he managed to blame Richard for it. He said that Richard seduced him and forced him. The military wanted to keep things quiet so for the sake of 'honor' they left Richard in a room with a gun that had a single bullet in it."

Ed winced. He was sort of familiar with that sort of "honor." The Amestrian military did the same sort of thing. If his counterpart here committed suicide, or was forced to commit suicide, no wonder that Roy almost killed himself.

"Ed, may I ask you a personal question?"

"Sure. What?"

Liesl bit her lip. "It is wartime…how have you managed not to get conscripted?"

Ed smiled. "Two reasons. I'm not a German citizen and I'm crippled. One leg is shorter than the other." He didn't see any reason to tell her about his automail. She wouldn't understand.

"Oh. I'm sorry!"

"Don't be. I manage pretty well."

Liesl smiled at him and went back to finishing the meal. Ed sat down at the small table and watched. It brought back good memories of his mother. When the food was done, Liesl placed it before him and the pair began to eat.

"Liesl, may I ask you a personal question?"

"You answered mine. I can do no less than to answer yours."

"Why aren't you living with family? You're eighteen. The same age I am. I'm guessing that your family was well off but, you're a girl. You shouldn't be on your own like this."

Liesl smiled sadly. "We were well off. Probably still are. I don't know. After Richard died, I was sent to live with an Aunt. She was absolutely mortified about Richard. His…suicide and his preferences. So, she never let me forget it. I put up with it for as long as I could and I left Frankfurt last year. I've been here since."

"It must have been hard on you."

Liesl shrugged. "A bit. But I think that I've been true to myself. I've gone hungry…but then who hasn't during this time. But I have never sold myself, my honor or my dignity to put food in my mouth."

Ed smiled. "You're better than me. Before I came here, I did things that I shouldn't have…and I paid for it." Liesl reached out a hand and placed over his gloved automail hand. He patted her hand with his real one. "But, I have survived. I will not die until I have acomplished what I have set out to do."

Liesl was curious. "What's that?"

"To go home."