It's all so peaceful.
It's extremely rural, huh? There's nothing here.
It's been four years.
Has it been that long?
You haven't been back home once?
You can't come home to a place where you've got no family waiting for you.
Major, you've heard about our general situation, right?
Mm-hmm.
Well, this is a surprise.
Winry!
Winry! We have honored guests!
Man cannot obtain anything without first sacrificing something.
In order to obtain anything, something of equal value is required.
That is alchemy's Law of Equivalent Exchange.
At the time, we believed that to be the true way of the world.
Ready, steady, can't hold me back,
Ready, steady give me good luck,
Ready, steady, never look back,
Let's get started, ready, steady, go!
The landscape blows on by me, as I roll my way forward,
and even if things get desperate, I won't lose sight of the goal now!
You can take those unreliable maps and just burn them up!
I'm going to take those hidden truths, and snatch them in the palm of my hand!
Delirious, (speedily), I've broken through this far,
my heart beating so loud and hard, it feels like it's about to burst!
Your voice echoes as you call out to me,
but I just don't have the time to stop where I am!
Ready, steady, 90-'
Please, trust me!
"House of the Waiting Family"
How have you been, Den?
Grandma Pinako...
It's been a long time. I need your services again.
Oh, my...
You've really done quite a number on yourselves this time, huh?
Well, a lot has happened.
And yet you've gotten so small...
"Objects of comparison"
Who are you calling small, you Minimum Hag?!
Now you've said it, you pipsqueak!
Shut up, you bean sprout hag!
--Micro-pipsqueak! --Flea-sized hag!
Edward Elric!
How can you speak that way to your elder?!
L, Armstrong, will remedy this!
Who are you? You don't get the joke, huh?
Alex Louis Armstrong.
Pinako Rockbell.
Brother!
Why, you-- Winry! Are you trying to kill me?!
What about you?! What the heck did you get so messed up for?!
Good grief! What were you doing to wreck my very best Automail,
that I put my heart and soul into making?!
Yeah, well it came apart so easily...
Al's busted up beyond recognition, too!
You guys were up to something dangerous, weren't you?!
Well, you see...
He)', Pipsqueak,
you've grown a little taller, haven't you?
You didn't have to say "pipsqueak"!
Which means, your leg needs to be adjusted as well.
We'll have to build a new arm from scratch...
Can you manage all that in a week or so?
We're in a hurry.
You denigrate me. I'll have it done in three days.
Sorry about that, Granny!
But what are you in such a rush for?
We'd like to get back to Central as soon as possible.
We're looking for something important there.
It's not anything dangerous, I trust.
No...
It's not anything like that!
Cripes, you guys never make anything but trouble for me...
Winry may complain, but she's still always there for us, huh?
Yeah...
It may just be a spare,
but there sure is something different about how Granny makes them.
You know something,
things haven't changed around here, have they?
Nope.
Armstrong-san, was it?
What kind of lives are those boys living every day?
As rural as we are here, we don't get much information about the city,
and those boys haven't sent me one letter.
I worry about them.
The Elric brothers-particularly the Fullmetal Alchemist--
are well known around Central.
As a result, they do sometimes get drawn into trouble.
But they are all right. Those brothers are strong.
Strong, huh?
Help my brother...!
Just bear with us.
This pain is nothing...
We've got to get back to Central quickly
and find that material on the Philosopher's Stone.
That's true, but why don't you take it easy for now?
Once we go back there, things are going to be hard, after all.
Maybe so, but it still bothers me to just sit around doing nothing.
Brother...
Go pay a visit to Mom's grave.
Visit her grave, huh?
We're leaving as soon as your Automail is fixed, right? So now's the time.
I'll stay here.
You're right. I guess I'll be back in a bit.
I'm finished splitting the firewood, Pinako-dono.
Thanks a bunch. You can take it easy for as long as you're here too, you know.
No, as a soldier, my daily training is essential.
By the way, I haven't seen Edward around.
He said he was going to visit his mother's grave.
I told him that going out on his own was dangerous.
It's all right.
He has a first-rate escort along with him.
Oh? Ed! Are you back?
Yeah! It's been a while.
Four or five years, isn't it? And yet you're still so stunted, huh?
Don't call me stunted!
Say, are you still working as a State-whatever-it's-called?
Sure am.
Take care of yourself. You're so stunted, and all.
Stop saying I'm stunted!
What's the matter? You're just spacing off.
Mm-mm... Winry, that girl over there...
Oh, you mean Nellie.
When we were kids, we used to play a lot together, huh?
Hide-and-seek, and going down to the river...
Something the matter?
Mm-mm...
I just couldn't remember her face...
Sure. She's changed quite a bit after all, huh?
I guess so...
Al...
Let's... bring Mom back.
Ready to go back, Den?
Is that one of those watches?
Hm? Yeah. It has some workings that boost your power when transmuting-
How cool!
The loving workmanship, the edging...
this is truly the work of a craftsman!
How do you set it? Do you wind it by hand?
Or is it self-winding? Or could it possibly be--
Beats me. I've never worried about it.
Please! Let me examine it!
You've gotta be kidding! If I let you have it,
I know you're going to take it apart to the very last screw!
That's okay, right? After I analyze it,
I'll put it back together the way it was! Okay?
No way. Get someone else's.
Well now, I think I'll go chop a year's worth of wood...
Bleh! Geez, you guys are stingy.
Al...
Granny says my arm should be finished tomorrow.
Once that's done, the first thing I'll do is fix you.
Mm-hmm...
Brother, did I ever have any friends?
Huh? What's this, all of a sudden?
My memory is all hazy. I can't remember the faces of any of my friends.
Well, you know, your memory is something where,
one after another, things pile up.
It's only natural that things from the past will fade.
I wonder...
Listen, Al...
There's something... I've been meaning to say to you for a long time...
...but I've been too scared... and I haven't been able to say it.
What?
It's just...
Tell me.
Nah... never mind.
Brother!
Young men!
Look at this beautiful night sky!
The brilliance of the whole sky!
It is a blessing from Heaven not visible from the city.
This is a nice place, this village of Resembool.
To make up for not having anything, it has many things that the city does not have.
Long ago, we used to gaze at the stars like this a lot, huh?
Mm-hmm...
And now, the moment you've been waiting for, docking time!
It's the moment when the nerves connect that gets me each time.
Don't complain. You want to hurry and go to Central, don't you?
Well, sure. I'd like to get my original body back soon,
and say goodbye to this pain.
That's too bad. We make a killing on you.
She's right. You needn't force yourselves to go back to the way you were.
The smell of oil, the creak of the artificial muscles,
the hum of the bearings... isn't an Automail wonderful?!
Lousy machine otaku.
What was that, you transmutation otaku?!
Okay, here goes. One...
...two...
...three!
You two, move aside! We're going to lay Ed down there.
I had no idea the pain is so great when you attach them.
Even a grown man will scream out.
It's no small matter.
How's that? I tried to make the weight of the steel 80% less than before.
We can't have it be so heavy that you don't grow any taller, right?
Look, you...
Don't go talking about people's heights when they're in such pain.
If you've still got that much pluck, you'll be fine.
Is it all working okay?
Yeah.
Since it's less heavy, it's strength has dropped as well,
so make sure you don't do anything reckless.
You can always replace Automail, but you only have one life.
Right.
I'm feeling a little lightheaded after working through the night.
Thanks, Winry.
The charge for the rush job won't be cheap!
Al!
Are you okay now, Brother?
Yep! Perfect!
That's terrific!
I'll fix you up right away.
These are all the fragments of the armor?
Mm-hmm, the major and the others were careful to pick them all up.
You'll be repaired right away?
You do have to know the hang of it.
There's a seal in there, see?
That serves as the intermediary between Al's soul and the armor.
It was a close one, huh? If I had been gouged just a little bit deeper...
No matter what else happens, that part has to be safeguarded.
That's the critical area that keeps Al tethered, after all.
It looks like it was drawn with blood.
Yeah, that's my blood. I drew it pretty frantically.
What?!
What amazing brotherly love! Such an incredible bond...!
Could you stand back? You're in my way here.
Here goes!
This feels great!
Brother, thanks!
All right! So, should we do the usual?
The usual?
Yeah.
Our Sensei always told us that in order to train the mind,
you must first train the body. Al and I always spar with each other.
However, I've never ever beaten him once.
In that case, I will assist you!
Thanks anyway.
All right, here goes!
Hey, don't get crazy and break it again!
Good grief...
They're all absorbed in themselves. What a couple of children...
Next up is me...!
Custom-made articles sure are magnificent!
What polished form! What curious workmanship!
It must be incredible on the inside, too! I'd sure like to see it!
I'd sure like to take it apart! I'd sure like to put it back together!
Ed...?
Hee hee...!
Why, you...!
You're too soft! You'll never go any farther like this!
Brother...!
Damn it...!
This is...
What's the matter? Is that all you've got?
We got him!
We got him, all right!
Winry?
What's the matter?
I'm sorry. I had a look...
--Look, you...! --I'm sorry.
I'm so sorry.
For the love of...
I haven't even shown it to Al.
I'm sorry.
It's so sissy of me...
...having to carry my admonition toward myself
and my resolve around with me in this fashion...
Ed...
Even so, we don't have any parents, or a house to come home to.
All we can do is move forward.
Why?! How come?! You have a home, don't you?!
You have Grandma, and me, don't you?!
That's crazy. What are you crying for?
You brothers won't cry yourselves, so I'm crying for you.
Where could Ed and the others have gone?
Hey, they'll be back here in no time. Just wait for them like we always do.
This was the entrance... and the living room...
On cold days, we'd put wood in the fireplace...
Brother always skipped cutting the wood.
Whenever we were late getting home,
Mom would flash a lamp from the second story window.
It was bright, and no matter where we were playing, once we saw that,
we would hurry home.
Come to mention it, that's right.
You two do have a home, don't you?
A home, with a warm family waiting for you.
Brother...!
Over there...!
Boys, come on by and eat with us once in a while.
Sure. We will, before long.
Granny, thank you.
Thank you for looking after us.
Come back soon!
Right!
Grandma...
I took a look inside Ed's watch.
He engraved... the day they burned down their house and left... inside.
You squeeze your right hand, as if to reassure yourself.
Go on, take those annoying rules and dash them away!
If it comes down to having to rest your wounded feet,
you've got to keep moving forward, if only just a step!
We've pushed our way through the twisting winds,
gotten beyond the cold sky,
but yet we still continue to wander on.
We always find ourselves crying out.
Just continuing to believe is not the answer.
We must bare our weaknesses and wounds,
and continue to struggle, or nothing will ever turn out!
Break on through to the other side of the door!
To the other side of the door!
Fullmetal Alchemist...
Episode 18: "Marcoh's Notes."
The first branch of Central Library...
From the burned-out ashes, a handful of truth rises.