NOTE: It's post-Conqueror of Shamballa and nothing is really different from the canon plot (except for all the searching for Uranium bomb stuff, which you can ignore in this story). It's a love story! Aiming for three chapters! This is my first fic, but don't hold back! I'd love constructive criticism, comments, feedback, whatever you have to give! Please let me know about any blatant or distracting grammatical errors I may have missed!

P.S.: This was inspired by a beautiful drawing I found online which can be seen at /image/o8jc2nlbb/. Please let me know if you can identify the artist. I'm currently on a hunt, as I'd like to give them proper thanks and credit for the inspiration :-)


If Another World Existed

Chapter One: "That damn bastard"

Ed rolled out of bed. Literally.

He hit the wooden floor with such force, he had to be grateful his automail arm didn't disconnect on impact. Rubbing his right side with his flesh hand, he grudgingly glanced up. A stinging square of warmth and light poured in through his window, as though someone were relieving a never-ending pitcher of sunlight into his room. He knew the morning was a natural, regularly-occurring phenomenon, but Ed could not help but be peeved at its bright audacity. It's too early to be that bright, he thought. Even he had to roll his sleepy eyes at that logic. Still, not even his annoyance with the midmorning sun could compare to his frustration with the clock currently blaring from the desk beside his bed.

Blinking hard against the light, Edward turned away from the curtain-less window and came face-to-face with the one primarily responsible for his unpleasant waking experience. Slamming his false hand hard over the clock, the device smashed to bits beneath his fury.

His heavy-with-sleep eyes widened as he stared blankly at the clocks fragile remains. Oop, a little too hard, he thought. Al wouldn't be happy. He had just gotten Ed the damn thing.

Pushing himself to his feet, he slumped over to the bathroom door. He probably didn't have time for a shower, but he was going to take one anyone. A nice, warm one. Today was going to be a long, trying day.

Fifteen minutes later, Ed emerged from the bathroom in a haze of steam, drying his hair with flat, scratchy towel. He sighed heavily. Where had the days gone when drying his hair had consisted of a clap, the crackle of a reaction, and a wisp of steam evaporating into air? He shook his head at the nostalgic thoughts. They weren't here. They weren't now. That much he knew.

There were three meaningful thuds on his door as Al's bright voice shimmied into his room. "Brother, I hope you're up! Today's a big day!"

Ed scowled, pulling his long gold tresses into a ponytail, "Trust me, I know, Al. How much time do we have anyway?"

"Check your clock, Brother! Why do you think I got it for you?"

Ed glanced over to the shattered mess of plastic and glass and his grimace sunk lower. Yeah, Al's going to kill me when he finds out.

"But you've got another 15, so hurry up and get some food before we head off! We don't want to be late."

"Yeah, Al." Ed fingers deftly completed his long braid before he went to fish an outfit out of the closet. "Never that…"

After squirming awkwardly into his clothes, a white button up and brown vest and pants (he swore he'd never grow used to the tedious fabrics they called fashion here), he grabbed his bag from under his bed and headed for the door.

"What's cooking?" Ed asked as his nose caught wind of the breakfast-y aroma wafting about the front room.

Ed and Al's apartment was modest. Small. Simple. Just the way Ed liked it. They didn't need anything fancy. There were the two bedrooms and the large front room, which was essentially the living, dining, and kitchen quarters all-in-one. The furniture consisted of a small TV, a couch, a round table with two chairs, two bookshelves, and a handful of other spare items the brothers had picked up along their journeys. Aside from these few things, there wasn't much else to the flat. The Elric brothers didn't need much. They never did. This place had been one of the first permanent settlements they had allowed themselves in quite some time. It was their new "home," a word that still spoke awkwardly on the tip of Edward's tongue.

"Your favorite: pancakes and eggs. The plates on the table, lazy bones." Al said, pulling off an apron (Where the hell did that apron come from?) and taking the seat opposite his brother.

"Thanks," Ed smiled faintly. Where would he be without Al's cooking? Where would he be without Al?

Cooking was an indulgence for Alphonse. After those long years he'd spent as a soul bonded to a suit of armor, bare of all sense besides sight and his ability to think, Al was still relishing in his ability to truly immerse himself in sights, sounds, smells, tastes, and touch. Cooking was the perfect activity to stimulate his five senses daily. Ed thought cooking had to be some form of relief for his brother. Something that reassured him every day that his body and physical senses were still as fully functioning as he remembered. By no means did Ed think Al's body-less struggle had been easy, but he could not help but envy what his brother had gained in return: an optimistic, almost juvenile appreciation of what was mundane and so undervalued by the rest of the world. A complete euphoric elation about the simple notion of being. Equivalent exchange worked in such mysterious ways.

Ed flopped into a chair at the table and attacked his plate, going first for the eggs.

"Brother, are you excited? It's our first day!" Al practically sang at him.

"Uh." Ed thought for a moment. It might not be so bad, right? "Er, yeah I suppose so."

Al gave a half-frown. "Come on brother! This is what we've been waiting for! Why we moved to America! We're in!"—Al's hand were dramatically flailing in the air by now.—"All expenses paid for and everything! You're the one who says that even if we stop everything else we've been doing, the one thing we can't let go of is our pursuit of knowledge!"

Ed mouthed the last part of his brother's speech. Not just because the words had supposedly originated in his mouth (they had), but also because he'd gotten so used to hearing Al throw them in his face over the last couple days, whenever his reluctance showed. Al gave him a stern look, to which Ed could not help but let out a rare unbridled laugh. Al always reminded him of Mom when he made that face.

His chuckle finally beginning to ebb, he said, "Hate to admit it, but you're right, Al." And Al was. It was the best option for the brothers right now. Really, what else did they have planned at this point?

And more importantly, his little brother wanted it, so Ed had to agree, no matter how reluctant.

A round-eyed expression confessed Al genuine surprise at brother's unusually outright admission. He nodded eagerly and flashed Ed a golden smile before taking another sip from his coffee mug.

Once Ed finished his food, they grabbed their things and headed out, descending several flights of stairs until they emerged onto the busy square. The sun hung high in the sky, enveloping the earth with comfortable warmth and radiant light. Ed took a deep pull of the musty city air through hungry nostrils. The air was sated with a balminess that implied summer was not quite ready to wither into autumn. The city's voice was a cacophony of sound. From the people standing around and chatting at storefronts, to the rumble of feet and wheels on cobble, to the birds chirping from high on their perches, each sound fought fierce to be heard. Taking in the scenes on the street, Ed nodded respectfully at what he saw before him and fell in step with Al.

It was pretty nice in the big city, with its proud establishments, tireless people, and multitude of smells, sights, and sounds. Ed had been many places since he and Al first began travelling all those years ago, but there was really only one city to which he could liken this place.

"Central." Al said, beaming. "Doesn't this place remind you of Central?"

Ed nodded and chuckled at the comment made by his brother, who had obviously been drinking in the city as well. "Yeah, it's almost freakish."

"Maybe it's Central's counterpart… on this side," Al suggested, waving to a smiling woman who trimmed rose petals under the awning of her flower shop.

Ed was thankful Al voiced the idea before he had. He and Al knew there were two parallel worlds, segregated by the Gate of Truth. They knew the world they lived in now consisted of people who had the same bodies as people back in their home world, but who ultimately did not have the same mind and soul. However, it had never before really occurred to the Elric brothers that locations from back home might have counterparts on this side of the gate as well. Though there was no way they could prove it, all things considered, Ed did not think it was an unreasonable supposition. Certainly not when this damn American city filled him with that same sense of busy progress and regal superiority he always felt back in Central City. Damn, nostalgia.

"There are people on this side with faces like people from ours, so I suppose why shouldn't cities have counterparts as well?" Ed shrugged. "Even if it's not exactly the same."

This city may have resembled Central more than the cities they'd visited back in Europe, but it certainly wasn't a complete twin. Not the way Alfons Heiderich had been his brother's spitting image (save for their eye color). For one, this place certainly did not have the same military presence as Central, but then again, Ed had heard of other places on this side of the Gate that slightly reminded him of places from their world as well. He'd heard of a city in Italy that was built on water, reminding him vaguely of Aquroya. From descriptions he'd read, he could tell it wasn't exact, but it probably was similar enough. He wondered if a thief lived there who resembled Clara.

Funny we'd end up in Central's twin, he thought. "It must be fate," Ed said in his best dreamy, singsong voice.

Al sniggered, picking up on Ed's not-so-subtle sarcasm. "Could be brother. After two years of travelling and setting nowhere, we cross the Atlantic and end up in a city just like Central… It just might be..."

Ed sighed irritably and rolled his eyes. Fate, smate. Ed did not have patience for such illogical, unscientific concepts as fate. He knew his brother probably didn't care too much for them either, but ever the optimist, Al was more sympathetic toward such ideas. Al could give them mild consideration, where Ed could not—although even he had to admit it was weird: them settling in Central's counterpart after all these years.

It had taken Ed a while to adjust to the decision, but he had to confess, it felt good to finally put a pause on the travelling for a while. Noah and the others would always joke that Ed and Al were lost to wanderlust just like them. But Ed knew he and Al were not without a home by choice, nor were not content to stay that way—drifting from one place to another in a foreign land. Ed and Al were on a mission. They were going to find a way to get back to their world. Their home.

That was their plan, at least.

After two years of travelling, chasing myths, and studying with experts in various fields of science, they decided to allow their expenditure to come to a cadence. At least for a while. With the war going on, they decided it'd probably be best to get the heck out of Europe and settle down for some time. After all, they were together (the best thing either brother could have asked for) and they wouldn't actually be sitting still. They'd be learning. They'd still be chasing knowledge, but in a way they had never before given much thought (at least, Ed hadn't): University, which was, at the moment, where the two brothers were headed.

It was Al's idea. Ed was hesitant at first, but he eventually gave in, admitting that attending University would be better than settling down and doing nothing. Edward was a sucker for knowledge, although he had always preferred independent study with some light collaborative effort (meaning him, Al, and their books) to any institutional educational system. After all, it was through independent study that the two brothers had become the alchemical prodigies they were. They'd been. Ed didn't know what to expect. But Al, persistent as he was, did the research and found a University he claimed would be perfect for the two brothers' learning endeavors. Before Ed knew it, the two had been accepted into the school and were moving to America into an apartment several blocks down from the school. Ed hoped he wouldn't regret it.

Obviously a mind reader, Alphonse turned his head slightly to Ed as they walked and said, "Brother, it's going to be amazing. Just wait and see."

"I hope so."

"Just keep a positive attitude, okay?"

"Whatever you say, Mom."

The two brothers paused in their walk as they came to the immense stone archway leading into the University. Al had signed up both the brothers for classes, so Ed had yet to see the place, and he could barely stand to look at it now. The entire place seemed to have an unnatural shine to it as though Ed stared at it through a sheer pane of glass. A broad path down the center of a neatly manicured lawn led into the campus. Tall, white Neoclassical buildings stood dignified and formidable. Young men and women were scattered about the place in their best casual suits and pretty sundresses. Ed tried to not be offended by the haughtiness of the place.

Holding up a piece of paper, Al began guiding himself and Ed to the building that housed their first class of the day. Ed glanced around as they strode, taking in his surrounding.

So, this is what college campuses are like. Geez, I can feel the pretention radiating off of these jerks. Ed suppressed the thought as he passed a girl staring quizzically at a map, looking quite lost. Positive, Edward, gotta be positive.

Almost walking into Al, Ed came to an abrupt halt behind his stopped brother.

"Here we are!" Al announced enthusiastically, as though he were guiding a group of tourists. Several people glanced their way before carrying on. "Shermin Hall."

Ed glanced up at the immaculate stone façade of the building. It could have been a town hall or a mini-Pantheon with its tall and prestigious columns, triangle pediment, immense stairs, and other fancy white ornamentation. It looked rather like a piece of chalk that had been carved to prim perfection.

"It looks like a Shermin," Ed mumbled.

Al laughed and turned to face his brother, "It's meant to hold a hell of a lot of people. This is gonna be one of those big classes I told you about."

"Geez, that sounds wonderful," Ed said, letting his shoulders fall. He craned his head a little as he tried to peek into the large opening that led into the structure.

"Ed."

"Huh?" Ed turned to look into his brother's sympathetic gold eyes. Alphonse's eyes could see things in Ed even he didn't know were there.

"Try not to be short with anyone pl—OW!"

Ed returned fist to his side, satisfied with the shoulder blow. He growled, but he was sure Al hadn't heard it beneath his hearty chuckling.

Ed's reaction to comments about his height had drastically improved since his youth (he no longer tried to break down feet and reassemble them on the owner's heads), but he still didn't let anyone get away with them. Part of the reason for Ed's improved reaction was because he'd grown quite a bit since his days as the shortest State Alchemist in Amestris, though he was still several inches shorter than his younger brother and most average-sized men. The other reason came from what Al called maturity. Another concept for which Ed held little regard.

"Guess we should head in, huh?" Ed supposed, noticing the lazy stream of students rising the stairs and flowing into the building.

Rubbing his shoulder once more, Al nodded. "Yeah"

Together, they ascended the stairs leading into the building.

A split second before placing his foot on the last stair, Ed heard a bark. Absently, he glanced over his shoulder, out toward the green lawn that stretched out in front of the building. From his vantage point at the top of the stairs, but he could make out a small black and white dog with a Frisbee in its mouth, running gaily over to a tall blonde girl in an impossibly white dress. Behind her, standing regal and upright was a boy, a young man really, with dark hair and a textbook tucked in his arm. He appeared to be waiting on the girl as she played with her dog.

As Ed started to refocus his attention ahead of him, the boyfriend's head turned. Dark met light as their eyes suddenly met. In an instant, everything surrounding the boy faded to black. In disbelief, Ed jammed his eyes shut for a half-second before thrusting them open again. He felt a fluttering in his chest. A churning in his stomach. It was…

But it can't be...

Ed did not have the best vision from a distance, but he'd know that proud mug anywhere.

Mustang.

"Ed, come on," called an obviously unaware Al from inside the doorway of the building.

And just like that the trance was lifted. Ed snapped around, heading for the opening.

Just as his foot crossed over the threshold of the entrance, he chanced another glance over his shoulder. The boy was still facing in his direction from what Ed could tell, but his expression was indiscernible from so far away.

Ed whipped forward, unable to suppress the grin that crept across his face.

"Mustang," he breathed heavily. "That damn bastard."

Ed instantly thought back to earlier, when he hoped he wouldn't regret Al persuading him to go to University.

And then, suddenly, he realized he wouldn't.

To be continued.