"Humankind cannot gain anything without first giving something in return. To obtain, something of equal value must be lost. That is Alchemy's First Law of Equivalent Exchange.."

Elric Alphonse.

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Chapter One,

Bittersweet memories:

It was snowing. In one of the far outposts of Amestris, a man in military suit was sitting all alone. Once, there had been a fire lit but it had gone out hours ago. The man in blue froze, chilled into his very bones. It seemed as if he was waiting for something. Something coming to get him. And indeed, further down the road Ed spotted two other soldiers walking. But they weren't walking against this man, they we're walking from him. Scared, Ed looked at the lone soldier, he was crying. He stumbled through the snow, trying to catch up with the others.

"Hey wait!" Ed called, trying to grab the back on one of them. He felt his hand pass right trough it, as if he was a ghost. He ran in front of them, trying to grasp whom it was.

"It's not Hawkeye the colonel is waiting for," One of them said.

"Then who is it?" The first one just continued to walk; apparently they both knew the answer. And as soon as they had mentioned 'colonel', Ed also knew whom they meant. He tried to look back, but the storm building up was too intense. He couldn't see the lone soldier anymore.

"Mustang!" he called. With no answer he tried to stumble back through the snow, but it was swirling around him. He didn't see anything.

"MUSTANG!" he yelled, reaching out his hand…

1923, London

Edward Elric POV

"Mustang!" Ed was still screaming when waking up. Alphonse was bent over his bed, looking extremely concerned. Ed fumbled blindly in the dark.

"I can't see, it's dark. Mustang where did you go? You're going to freeze to death" Ed's hands reached Alphonse, pulling his friend into a tight embrace.

"Edward, are you okay?" Alphonse patted him on the back. Ed realized something was wrong. He traced the lines in Alphonse's face. This wasn't Mustang's features. The storm, did he get something damaged? He felt the chest of the one he was holding breath hard, like every breath was a struggle. The person coughed softly, trying not to disturb Ed.

"Alphonse" he grasped, letting his friend go "I'm sorry, I thought for a moment-"

"That you we're back together with this Mustang?" Alphonse finished his sentence. Ed scratched his head, nodding in the dark. Ed heard Alphonse stumble back into his room.

"I was worried someone was attacking you, and you we're just having a nightmare" he heard Alphonse hit the door, "ouch. Good night, Ed" Ed mumbled Good night and crept into the warm bed again.

He had dreamt of the colonel again. It was always the same kind of dream, Ed chasing him and Mustang just disappearing. Ed reached out for the nightstand, tracing his fingers over the surface to reach for the watch.

The watch was his only item reminding him of his old life in Amestris. Carefully he opened it, fingers tracing the marks '30 Oct 10'.

'Al', he thought, wondering if his brother was living happily on the other side of the gate. Last time they had seen each other was when Ed had offered his life in order to restore Al's. For a split second, he saw the soul-bound armor Al inhabited. He had tried to reach out his hand, tried catching him and reassuring everything was going to be okay. Like any big brother would do when trouble occurred.

Continuing to let his fingers wander over the watch, he found the other mark. The mark made in haste by someone desperate. The single word 'full metal'. He knew Mustang had done this before Ed went to rescue his brother, but he regretted that he hadn't noticed it before half a year ago, afraid to regain bittersweet memories, Ed hadn't dared to open the watch until that moment. Half a year too late. There was no way they ever could be together. No more chance for Ed to ask Mustang what this meant.