Prologue:

Alphonse slumped in his seat as he threw a tired look over to his brother, who was resting against his shoulder, deep in slumber. It had been two hours since they had left the train station from Munich and was now en route to Stuttgart, a neighbouring city interconnected with the previous one in the country of Germany.

The gate had taken a few months to destroy. With the handicap of no alchemy, they had to resort to dismantling and explosives to obliterate the metal to ashes and dust. To obtain such items had taken even longer than it was to blow the damn thing sky high. Alphonse was not particularly proud of what they had to do but knew there was no other choice. Leaving just a trace was dangerous enough and they had to manually move pieces of it towards the ocean with help of only two trucks- that was graciously offered by Fritz Lang and this world's version of Maes Hughes (who had a change of heart after the downfall of the Thule society)- to make sure no one ever got the idea recreating a gate by seeing its remains.

The funeral for Alfons Heiderich was held in the middle of the cleanup. Ed had suffered between having Al back at the cost of losing one of his best friends in the process. It was hard to get him to sleep without the presence of Al being there and even then nightmares haunted Ed back to alert wakefulness. The younger brother couldn't say he emphasised exactly but he could sympathize with the older boy. If he was in Ed's position where he had lived with his brother counterpart for so long, he would be more than upset too.

Although it was a dream come true to have Ed back, he couldn't stop the guilt. He had been without the golden-haired male so long that he didn't stop to think of the people he was leaving behind. Winry, Granny, Rose, Armstrong, Mustang and his team, and countless other people he had met in his second chance of growing up and the one in the armour.

The other thing he felt so guilty about was that the death of his other self. Sure, it was not his fault that Alfonse was shot but crossing over into this world felt like replacing him. Alphonse had theorized that if his counterpart had not been dead before the crossing, the world would have been imbalanced with both on this side and one would eventually die anyway. It seemed logical but he took guilty acceptance that it wasn't entirely his fault- not that he was going to voice his concerns anyway. Ed was kicking the bucket as it already was that there was no need to add to the depression building on the young man's mind.

This world, however strangely similar but plainly not the same, was almost surreal. Like the people were playing a role and they stuck to their characters perfectly. It was heart-wrenching to see the faces of people you knew but don't quite match up with the memories and personalities of the 'real' versions. He missed the people back home and was afraid of people finding out the truth. There had been a few attempts to kidnap the brothers- by supporters and ex-members- and make them pay for what they had done- ones that the police and nicely hidden blades and automail did quick work on to stop.

Even now, Al carried a knife and a lighter in case someone attacked them. Alphonse disproved of such things to carry on his person but decided to give in to his brothers pleading request. The young man was hysterical over the first attempt that could have turned into Al losing sight in one eye if Ed hadn't jumped in and knocked the three bastards out with his automail. The paranoia was understandable, especially when they were left so vulnerable against the unforgiving evils of this world.

Ever since he had crossed over to this side of the gate, the feeling of doom had gotten worse. Like a storm was coming and whatever they could do to try and prevent this unforeseen disaster, it would come to pass and wreak havoc on Germany. It became too much that Alphonse had pushed forward their leave to try and relocate the uranium bomb that Huskisson guy accidentally transported over and most likely blabbed about its makings. The stupid idiot.

From experience, Al knew the human race was not ready for that type of technological advancements using elements that could be weaponized. Both sides of the gate had equally demonstrated their ever-growing capacity for war and it scared the teen how far some people would go to achieve domination. Some people just don't know when to quit.

A sigh escaped the wary teen's lips as he adjusted the position of his arm that was slung around Edward's neck. Al knew he would have to wake his brother in a few short minutes as they were approaching the station. He was almost afraid to. The action would mean they would be moving again. They would have to face the world once more and the burdens would be weighing down upon them once more.

Taking a calming breath to calm his nerves- although possibly nothing could ever really prepare him for what was to come- the young teen shook his brother with a frown. "Brother, it's time to wake up!" His cheery voice made the golden-haired adult moan, mumbling incoherent things under his breath. Despite the situation, Al laughed at the other male's childish antics. Somethings just never change.

With his face cast downwards, the younger missed the smirk Ed was wearing. Oh, how he loved to hear his Alphonse laugh. The sound was so angelic and innocent that it made his heart flutter and caused his chest to ache all at the same time.

What had he done to deserve someone as gentle and loving as Al, he did not know … but that doesn't mean he was going waste the opportunity. Like hell.

Author's note:

Hello. I have waited for ages and had many attempts to start this fic. There are some amazing ones that involve the Elric brother's and Germany and I, unfortunately, lack the talent to compete. However, I have been wanting to do this for a while now and before I know it the words just came out.

This has not been BETA-ed but has been waiting in my google docs for a few months now, so I thought it was about time I did something with it. If anyone would like to lend me a hand in the BETA-ing or Co-writing department, I would be grateful. This takes place after Fullmetal Alchemist the Movie: Conqueror of Shamballa.

Thanks for reading and see you next chapter!

-Anomalous123