Life has a way of making you humble
Day after day it's bringing you to your knees
All's okay, then everything crumbles
And all that you perceive is blowing away


 Edward Elric stared out the window at the seemingly cheerful world around him. It was midsummer; he had Alphonse back. Admittedly, they were stuck in this strange alternate universe, but a strange place with Al was better than a strange place without. However, there were other things to think about. They had just barely gotten out of Germany; Hitler was out of jail (and in power! How had that happened?), the damn inflation was getting even worse, and to top it all off, now that he could function on his own in this world, Al seemed determined to stray. He would always return at night, true, but it was usually ten or eleven before Ed caught his little brother sneaking home, always with some excuse or other.
'Just helping Fletcher out with his studies.'
'Didn't realize what time it was. Sorry.'
'Traffic was bad.'
It had been nearly a month, now, Ed realized, since Alphonse had even offered an explanation for his daily roving.

But while I'm tearing at the seams
I'll apologize to anything
I'm sorry....


 And, as usual, with thoughts of one Al came thoughts of the other. The Elric ground his teeth, glaring his frustration at the happily chirping finch that just happened to land on the windowsill. Damn thing was mocking him, mocking Alfons. The man had died nearly a decade ago, now, and still thoughts of him cropped up with depressing regularity. Sights of Al would call to mind a similar mannerism of the deceased scientist, and send Ed into what his younger brother called "one of his moods" for days.

All's black and white when you're just a baby
You get some hair on your chin
You think you know everything
Years go by then everything's "maybe"
And all that you believe
Drowns in a sea of gray

Edward thought laughingly of his childhood, when he thought alchemy was a mystical science that could fix all the world's problems. Not too differently than this world did, he mused, though the science was far more improbable here. Not impossible, as Thule had shown, but improbable.
Perhaps Al wasn't drifting away; maybe he was moving on. The elder Elric was still adrift, working part-time as a professor's assistant at the University, still without any motivation or idea of where he wanted to go, who he wanted to be. The idea was, quite frankly, frightening.

But while I'm tearing at the seams
I'll apologize to anything
I'm sorry I'm selfish
I'm sorry I behave this way
I'm sorry, couldn't help it
I'm sorry that you lost your faith in me
We lost our faith in thee

The door swung open: Al returning (in daylight for once) with a bag of groceries hanging on one arm. As usual, he wore formal clothes (what was with this place and all its formality?) in at least semi-good condition. It cost too much to buy new clothes now, so the pants may or may not have been a centimeter or two too short, but all in all the younger Elric gave off an aura of respectability and honor.
"Brother? Are you all right?" Ed forced a smile to his face, standing from the desk he was supposed to be working at.
"Yeah, Al. Just fine." He paused, hesitating. "Ah... Al... Do you ever... regret coming after me?

But while I'm tearing at the seams
I'll apologize to anything
I'm sorry I'm selfish
I'm sorry I behave this way
I'm sorry, couldn't help it

The smile on his little brother's face was just as forced as Edward's own.
"Of course not..." Bronze eyes averted, finding something very interesting on the blank wall. In the cramped apartment, it was barely two steps to cross the room and wrap an arm around the taller (how that had happened, Ed never knew) man.
 "I'm sorry..."

I'm sorry that you lost your faith
I'm sorry that it rains
I'm sorry I ever came
I'm sorry, I'm sorry