Part two, finally up… This may end up being a shorter story than I thought… Dang, I need to think about that…

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Once at the base, Ed was taken to a small room and told to wait there. He sat on the floor with his hands cuffed, wondering what his fate would be. Since his brother was here, there was a good chance that they would trust him, but he hadn't made the greatest first impression. He would have to be careful.

He waited for a long time before Princess Leia came in, escorted by a few men. One of them let Ed's hands loose and had him stand up.

"You know, from what I've heard, we're taking a big risk by letting you loose. Are you sure it's okay to trust you?"

"Who told you that?" Ed asked.

"Your brother, for one. Your name is also mentioned a lot in your country. So, can we trust you?"

Ed paused for a moment. "Yeah."

"Great. Come on, maybe you can help us with something."

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The Death Star got blown up, Ed and Al were reunited, and the time soon came for the Rebels to leave their current base and find another one. This happened on numerous occasions, but there was never a good chance to return Ed and Al to their home planet. Ed was beginning to get frustrated, but he chose not to comment. He realized just how hard it was for the Rebels already, and he didn't want to add to their problems.

One day, just after they had settled into a new base, Ed was chosen to accompany Luke and Han on a scouting mission. Al came along as well. Everything went well, until they were heading back to the base. Ed was the first to notice that something was wrong.

"Isn't it a little too quiet here?" he muttered as they walked through the canyons.

"What do you mean?" Luke asked.

"When we were walking out here, I could hear noises from around this area, like from whatever it is that lives around here. Now, though, it's… quiet."

"Yeah, it does seem a little quiet here," Han agreed. "I wonder what's going on…" There was a shot in the distance.

"Oh, no," Luke said.

"That can't be good," Han muttered. "Come on, let's go check it out."

They ran back to the base, where a group of rebel soldiers was fighting against a rather large amount of imperial troops. Luke was about to go help them when Ed held him back. "Wait. You can't go out there yet."

"Why not? Look, Ed, our friends are out there!"

"Yeah, and so is Vader, in case you didn't notice," Ed replied, pointing at the black speck in the distance. "We have to find another way to help them."

"Like how?"

From their hiding place in the trees, Ed surveyed the land. Then he stood up. "Leave that to me. Do you know if they're evacuating yet?" he asked, just as a ship took off.

"You know, I think that's a yes," Han replied.

"Good. That'll make this easier," Ed said as he ran off.

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As he got close, Ed transmuted a blade on his arm, just in case. He brought his hands together and placed them on the ground, just as someone was about to shoot him. He sent a wave of land at the stormtroopers, giving the Rebels a chance to retreat into the base. Ed clapped his hands together again and created a massive wall, effectively blocking the stormtroopers from chasing the retreating Rebels. Once he was sure they'd have enough time to get away, Ed ran for it, only to be stopped in his tracks by a startling sight.

Darth Vader was making his way to the entrance to the base, his lightsaber on. Ed looked around. Everyone else had made it inside. Or at least, almost everyone. Al was standing near the entrance, waiting for his brother.

Ed looked from his brother to Vader, and decided to sprint to the entrance. Vader noticed his attempts and came toward him, lightsaber in hand. Ed brought his hands together and placed them on the ground, forming a wall underneath him that he used to push himself into the air. He landed gracefully on the other side of Vader and continued sprinting.

Al ushered his brother inside, and they ran for the Millennium Falcon, where Han and Luke were waiting. Ed was running like a madman, and was twice as far into the hangar as Al was. Just then, there was an explosion. Ed was thrown into the air and landed on his side right next to the ship. Al's head landed right next to him. Ed grabbed it and looked for his brother, but Al was nowhere to be seen. Some of the dust cleared up, and Ed looked with horror at what he saw: bits of metal lying all around the floor, and an arm and leg that Ed knew belonged to his little brother.

Han came out of the ship as Ed stared at the wreckage. When he saw Ed standing there, he grabbed the alchemist by the shirt and tried pulling him inside.

"Come on, we have to go!"

"Wait! What about Al?"

"He got blown to bits, kid! Now come on!"

"NO! I have to help him!"

Han let go of Ed. "Your brother's dead, kid! There's no way he could have made it out of that!"

Ed's legs gave out and he fell to the floor. "No… there's no way… You're lying. He can't be dead. He can't be."

"Look, I'm sorry, kid, but that's how it goes."

Luke came down at this point in time. "Han, what are you doing? We have to get out of here!"

Han took another look at Ed and nodded. "Yeah, I know." He grabbed Ed's arm and pulled the alchemist to his feet. "Come on, we have to get out of here."

Ed tried to break free. "No, he has to be alive."

"Ed! There's no way that seal could have survived that explosion!" Han shouted. When he saw the horrified expression on Ed's face, he softened a little. "I'm sorry, but we can't stay here any longer."

Han practically had to drag Ed into the ship. As the entrance closed and the ship began to take off, Luke could hear the alchemist crying out, "ALPHONSE!"

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Once they were away from the Imperial ships, Luke turned his attention to the helmet on the ground, and the forlorn figure sitting next to it. Ed's head was buried in his arms, and he was shaking. Luke kneeled in front of him and put a hand on Ed's arm.

"Hey."

Ed was quiet. Luke decided to try again.

"Hey, Ed."

Ed still didn't speak. Luke tried for another minute before giving up. As he went to the cockpit, he heard a heart-wrenching sob. He looked back at Ed for a moment before going into the cockpit.

Han was trying to fix something when Luke came in. He stopped for a moment and let Chewie take over. "How's he doing?"

"Not so good. You know, maybe you shouldn't have been so harsh."

"What? What did you expect me to say? 'Come on, kid, your brother can catch up with us later!' How well do you think that would have worked?"

"I don't know, but you didn't have to shout it out for everyone to hear!"

"Well, sorry, but I didn't know what to do! How was I supposed to know he'd take it so hard?"

"Did you pay attention to them at all before now? They were almost always together! How would you feel if Chewie died?"

Chewie growled and continued working. Han looked at Luke with shock. "All right, I made a mistake. It's too late to do anything about it now, though."

"You could apologize."

Han paused for a moment before leaving the cockpit. Luke sat down and looked through the windows. "Oh, man, Ed's not going to be happy for a long time now."

Chewie growled again as he finished up. Just then, a message came through. It was someone from the Rebel fleet.

"Did you guys make it out all right?" asked a crackly voice. Luke and Chewie exchanged glances. Luke took a minute to respond.

"No, not all of us. We lost Al."

"What, that droid?"

"He's not a droid, and yeah, that armor got blown to bits when the Empire set off some kind of explosion."

"What about everyone else? You fiv- four were the only ones left down there."

"We barely made it out, but we're fine now. Ed's taking it pretty hard, though."

"That's understandable. Anyway, we'll meet up at the rendezvous point. Be careful."

"You too."

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Back at the remnants of the rebel base, someone was picking up the fragments of armor, under Darth Vader's instruction. He paused when he came to a fragment with blood on it. It was a seal of some sort, and the piece of metal moved slightly on its own. He heard a small voice.

"Bro…ther…"

"Lord Vader! You were right. He is here." The soldier held the piece of armor out for Darth Vader, who took it and observed it.

"So the soul is still connected. Good. We can use this when the Fullmetal Alchemist is captured."

The voice got louder and slightly more panicked. "What are you going to do with him?"

"It's none of your concern. You should be grateful that I'm letting you live. Perhaps your brother will return to fix you."

"Leave him alone!"

"You're in no position to give out orders. Take the rest of the armor to the ship. I will keep this piece with me."

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Han stood on the opposite side of the room from Ed for a while, not knowing what to say. After a moment, he walked up to the small alchemist and sat down next to him.

"Sorry, kid."

Other than a couple of sobs, Ed was quiet. Han picked up the helmet and looked at it.

"I really am. If I had known about that explosion beforehand, I wouldn't have let your brother go after you."

Ed was still quiet. Han gently set the helmet down and stood up.

"Hey, it'll be okay."

"Shut up."

Han had been walking away, but now he stopped and looked back. Ed had picked his head up a little, and Han could see his eyes now. They were narrowed and tearstained.

"You have no idea what we've been through. Our lives have been hell, but we've always had each other, and a promise that kept us going. Now that Al's gone, there's no point in that promise, so what am I supposed to do now?" Ed's voice was shaky but strong. Han could hear anger in his words, anger that bordered on rage and despair.

"You know what? I don't know what you can do now. I never thought something like that would happen. Sorry kid, but I don't know what to tell you."

Ed hid his head again. "There's nothing to say. Al's the only person I had left in my family. Now he's gone and there's really nothing left for me. Everything we worked for, everything in the past five years, is completely worthless now."

Han took a nearby blanket and put it around Ed's shoulders before returning to the cockpit. He fell back on one of the chairs with a sigh. Luke sat up and looked at him expectantly.

"Well, he can still talk, at least. He looked tired, too. I think he'll end up falling asleep soon."

"What did he say?"

"He said something about a promise, but I don't know what he's talking about. He also mentioned not having anyone else in his family, so that's gotta make it even harder on him."

"Wait, didn't he mention his dad a while back?"

"Yeah, but from the way he was talking about him, I doubt they're very close."

Luke looked back toward the room where Ed was sitting. "Then he really doesn't have anything." He stood up and went to check on Ed. Han was right. Ed had fallen asleep, but his face was still covered in tears. Luke gently moved him into a more comfortable position and left him alone.

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When Ed woke up, he had a headache. He placed his hand on his forehead and looked around. He was lying on a bed in a white room. For a moment, he wondered how he had ended up here, but then he remembered. Tears came to his eyes as that incident flashed before his eyes.

He heard a door open, and Leia walked up to him. Ed sat up.

"Hey, are you all right?"

"No."

Leia sat down at the foot of the bed. "Of course you wouldn't be. I'm sorry. We should have brought him with us, but he really wanted to stay and wait for you."

"He was always too softhearted."

It was quiet in the room for a while. Ed wrapped his arms around his knees. "It's definitely not easier the second time."

"Second time?"

"I lost Al about four years ago, when his body was taken away. That time I was able to retrieve his soul, but now… I don't even have that. He's gone. For good."

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Ed didn't speak for a few days after that. He barely ate anything, and after a week of this, Luke decided that something needed to be done.

He came into Ed's room while Ed was staring out of the small window. After a while, Ed noticed Luke's presence and turned to face him.

"Are you trying to starve yourself to death?" Luke asked, his voice harsher than he meant for it to be.

"No, I'm not. I've been thinking about something."

"About Al?"

Ed nodded. "Yeah. For some reason, I don't think he could have been killed."

Luke sighed. "Ed…"

"Yeah, I know what you're thinking, but I have reasoning for this. Back then, when it happened, I could see that even though it was broken, most of the parts were pretty big, big enough to have a seal on it. Considering where it was on the armor, I don't think it could have been destroyed that easily. From what I could see, it looked fairly intact."

"So, what, your brother's just stuck on some piece of metal somewhere? I don't think that's much better. Besides, what if the Empire finds him and-"

"They won't. He's helpless in that state, and even if he weren't, attaching a soul to a suit of armor isn't something you see every day. Actually, other than Al, I only know of three people who've had their souls bonded to armor. It's very hard to do."

"What's your point?"

"My point is that Al's current form is a product of alchemy. From a soldier's point of view, it's very handy. You have no need to eat or sleep, and you can't feel pain. The only way you can die is if someone destroys the seal, or through something known as the rejection effect."

"Rejection effect?"

"Yeah, if a body and soul don't match, there's no guarantee that the soul will continue to be attached to the body. But of course, I doubt they know that, so it's like a form of immortality."

Luke's eyes lit up as he realized what Ed meant. "Of course. If the Empire had an immortal army, it would be almost impossible to stop them."

"Exactly. Of course, they don't know all the details, which is what could save Al."

"Assuming he's still alive."

"He is. I can feel it."

"You can?"

"Yeah. I don't really know how, but…"

Luke smiled and tousled Ed's hair. "Maybe it's because of the Force. Come on, let's go get some lunch."

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Oh, and if you're wondering why they only learned about the fight when gunshots went off, it's because they forgot a comlink or something. I don't know what exactly, but they forget something. I didn't write it in because I was lazy, and since it's not that important…