AN: Hello out there! I know I don't usually write for FMA, but I haven't exactly "wrote" in a really long time. I hope you find this up to par. And of course, my recent unhealthy obsession is FMA.

Half Past Midnight
Chapter One: The Truth is the Lie

I took a hold of the faraway sound
And it rang in my ear
I could hear no more
But I could still see
And you were tranquil before me.

"There it is, Al!"

"I see it brother!"

A feeling of pure excitement and thrill engulfed the two siblings like never before, washing them in a joy that felt so unbelievable that it was almost impossible to know if it was real at all. The sensation was completely new, like the light at the end of a tunnel in a distant dream. No, this could never be real, they both thought, it's too good to be true.

How was it to reach a goal that seemed so far in the future, so unattainable that it was worth laughing at? How was it that somehow, at some point, you would be able to reach this goal in the first place?

Unfeasible.

Unexplainable.

Unpredictable.

Alphonse could almost laugh as they finally spotted the unmistakable white light that burned through their vision. He thought he could be dreaming, but that wouldn't be possible at all. The last time he dreamt was over five years ago. His armored body could not fall asleep. No, he hadn't fallen asleep in so long…

"You have come yet again, Edward Elric."

Suddenly, it was as if reality snapped him back to focus on the matter at hand. There, sitting ominously before them, was Truth. His legs were crossed while smiling a mysterious smile and managing to send a chill throughout the Door's existence.

And the Truth, one could say, was only the beginning. He was there to mock them, to torture their own truths out of their unwilling minds. He was there to be an obstacle, yet more than that. An enemy? Only a fool would oppose Truth. Only if a fool were brave enough, only if a human was strong enough to go against him would anyone stand with even a sliver of hope.

"Have you come to receive what you desire?" The rippling yearning of Truth itself devoured the nonexistent sound. And then, suddenly, Edward was scared. An irrational fear had built up in his chest like none other before. It was as if he was looking at a light that would soon flicker out, but it terrified him.

"If you can call a body, an arm, and a leg a desire," he said with a shaky, but confident voice, "Then you'd be right." Truth grinned dangerously as Ed added, "You're wrong though. It's more of a demand."

"A demand? What is your equivalent exchange? Whose soul shall I take? Yours or your brother's? Or will I be taking a limb or an organ?" Truth's bright and ominous light only seemed to take over the Gate. "I would be more than willing to take all of the above as the toll price, foolish human."

Edward took a deep breath. He had to calm himself. He knew what he had to ask, what he had to do. In fact, he was almost not afraid at all, but that was just it: he was almost not afraid.

Almost.

"I'll give you more than an equivalent exchange," he said with all the bravery he could muster as he felt his younger brother's gaze bore into his back. He felt uneasy. He had never told anyone, not even Al, how he really planned to set things straight. Ed knew deep in the back of his mind that this was the only sure way of getting at least one body back. "You can have my soul, along with everything that comes with it."

Alphonse trembled, his empty hands shaking, "Brother, no!"

His older brother ignored his plea, and continued on. "Your equivalent exchange is to return my brother's body to him along with attaching his soul to it." Smirking, he lifted his confident eyes onto the white figure before him. "Is that enough of a toll price?"

No, Al thought to himself, cowering in his own fear of losing his only brother, No! NO! I will not lose brother!

They were all they had, right? They were all the family left and they always stuck together, never separated unless necessary, never breaking promises and telling each other everything. They had the other's back, kept them safe and sound as best as they could if no one else was capable of doing so. So then why was this happening in the first place? Nothing seemed to make sense anymore, like a swirling whirlpool of dark colors were merging together to form one big, fat, lie.

"This is your last chance Truth."

Ed's voice rang out in the distance like he was about to disappear…

"Colonel Bastard's waiting for someone to come back as a military dog."

A rumbling white floor…

"What will it be?"

Al tried to move his body, he really tried, but in the end it was all futile. His arm was frozen in place, reaching out to touch his brother's shoulder. He hadn't even realized he had reached out at all, until it was past too late. And then the faint rumbling of their blank surroundings grew heavy, penetrating through skeletal defenses, and bringing a sense of ominous foreboding to taunt them. But Edward wasn't afraid anymore. He knew what was about to happen and it was time he accepted the truth.

What a paradoxical word, the Fullmetal Alchemist thought to himself, the truth the world is searching for is not as sadistic as this one.

A ringing, but softly mysterious laughter echoed throughout the surroundings, enveloping what seemed to be in reality, until Truth himself began to dissipate. The infamous Gate appeared before the two, one standing before it bravely, donning a crimson cloak, and the other clad in cold metal, awaiting what he feared the most.

The Gate, to both brothers, resembled the darkness of the Earth, a symbol of their miserable failure that they had spent years to erase. It was black, shocking in terrible pretense, and stood before them closed. Oddly enough, a golden glow sparked to life on its edges, a confounding light in an obvious night. The younger and the elder did not yet understand the occurrence, but it was clear to both that one of them would soon walk through the black to never return again.

The radiance only seemed to burn brighter as the Gate opened just a crack, refusing to open wider. At first, this confused the alchemist, turning to his protesting little brother, and his heart wrenching at the sight. The inside wasn't as he had remembered it last. It was a gold, welcoming color, like the honeysuckle blooms on a spring afternoon. Last he had seen the interior it had been dark with writhing, creeping shadows forcing him in.

Edward Elric didn't get a chance to notice that he too had begun to fade away.

Alphonse's right, empty arm was outstretched to his brother, whose right arm was crumbling gently into an abyss in return. The automail was becoming shimmering speckles of reflected light, floating upwards and eventually disappearing. At the same time, his own right arm was gradually returning to normal, forming into a pale, but skin clad limb.

"Brother!" Al shouted frantically as he was frozen in place still, and he realized that Truth hadn't wanted him to move at all, that he was meant to be able to do virtually nothing as he watched his precious brother disintegrate before his eyes. "You can't!"

"Ed! Don't let it take you!"

But all he could do was watch in horror.

His body parts were returning to the way they used to be: human. He should be elated, excited, happy, but he was the exact opposite of that fleeting emotion. The boy watched Edward's content smile that was still etched on his face, his shining and golden eyes that only glimmered with ecstasy as they saw the sight before them.

Edward knew that this instant was the happiest he would ever feel in life, even if they were his final moments. And as his limbs disappeared, his brothers returned. He kept his end of the promise, even if he will never be able to see the full result. Ed was content. He was at peace. He was finally proud of himself.

And when the last of his body was faded from existence, only his upper body and left arm remained, but slowly dissolving as well; he reached out his only arm left and touched his flesh fingers to the trembling human fingers of his only brother.

It was only a whisper, a raspy and barely audible one, but the voice rang clearly through as Alphonse's face suddenly began to return in the form of a young boy.

"Goodbye Al," the whisper said.

Only Edward's eyes were left and there were tears of joy in them as he finally saw the face he wanted to see again for so many years, and then he was gone.

For the first time in so many years, Alphonse Elric wished he was a metal suit of armor, because even then, maybe it would hurt a little less and he wouldn't have to feel the tears run down his cheeks. And he was so desperately reaching for the last of his family.