A/N: AHHHH!!! A small detail was brought to my attention by the wonderful BlackMercifulFaerie. Seems I didn't explain much about how long Ed and Al had been back home, so there was a huge gap between the end of the movie and the beginning of my story that needed some serious explaining. Thanks a TON, Lina…this totally made a whole chapter I couldn't have covered by myself.

Disclaimer: Not mine. Duh. But, I would happily take either of the Elric brothers anytime, because they both look awesomely cuddly and I need something to help me sleep at night.

"Everything? What're you talking about, Al? There isn't anything to know!"

Edward tried laughing off what his younger sibling had just said as if he was completely oblivious to what it could mean. It was half-true--he really wasn't entirely sure what his brother had meant when he said "everything." Just what was "everything," anyway? There was a lot to know, after all. Edward wasn't just some simple-minded idiot who could be read like a book. No, Edward Elric, Fullmetal Alchemist, was as complicated as the arrays and methods he studied.

Alphonse shot him a look that could not be mistaken. He wasn't fooled in the least. "Brother, you talk in your sleep, and not too quietly, either."

Okay, maybe he wasn't so complicated that his own brother couldn't figure him out. But when had Al heard him talking in his sleep? They hadn't been back in Amestris long. They had only spent a short time on the other side before getting back to their world.

He frowned as he remembered the young gypsy girl who had risked everything to get them home, even though she knew they couldn't take her with them…

It hadn't taken Ed and Al long to find Huskisson's bomb, though it was apparent to them that Huskisson did not make it himself. His attempt at human transmutation hadn't worked out the way he wanted it to, and thus it had cost him, though his creation had made it through just fine. Of course, it hadn't gone unaccounted for; a country by the name of the "United States of America" was supposedly working on such a thing as well, so they traveled there to find that it was indeed true, and they managed to steal the bomb and escape almost unscathed.

Needless to say, Edward had to change his automail back into a prosthetic, since it couldn't handle the abuse of the onslaught they suffered after barely escaping back to Germany, where they then hid the bomb until late one night, when Noa had roused Edward from sleep, nearly giving him a heart attack.

"Noa? Wha…what are you doing? It's nearly…well, I don't know what time it is, but I do know it's too damn early to be up! What's going on?" he complained groggily, trying to shake the sleep from his mind long enough to listen. Noa never usually bothered him at this time of night unless it was important.

"Sssh, Edward, you'll wake your brother," she whispered, gesturing over to Alphonse, who was sleeping soundly in the bed across the room. She turned back to Ed, a strange expression of mixed excitement and anxiety on her face. "I had a dream," she said simply, sitting on the edge of Ed's bed.

"A dream?" the blond asked in disbelief, trying to force his already scrambled brain to work just long enough to figure out what it was she was talking about.

She nodded mutely, before rising and walking out the bedroom door and down the stairs to the kitchen area. Ed, still unsure of what was going on, begrudgingly got out of bed and followed her, quietly shutting the bedroom door behind him so that Alphonse would go undisturbed.

It hadn't been long that Alphonse and he had been together, a mere six months to be exact, and he still felt a growing unease between them, though he could never bring himself to talk to his brother about it. Still, not much had changed. He still wanted to protect his younger sibling however possible, especially since he was not yet accustomed to the ways of the world they were currently residing in.

As he reached the kitchen, he sighed, noting that Noa was already making coffee. This meant he probably wouldn't be getting any more sleep that night. He already hadn't been sleeping well as it was. He'd be lucky if he could stay awake and on his feet.

"So, this dream," he said, sitting down at the table as Noa set a cup of coffee in front of him, "what was it about? It must be pretty important if you thought it couldn't wait until morning,"

The Roma girl nodded, sitting across the table from him and folding her hands in front of her, a serious expression crossing her face. Edward could feel his impatience growing. Usually, he was willing to listen to anything she had to say, but he was tired, which meant his already naturally-short attention span was waning quicker than usual. It was then that she said something that snapped him into full alertness more than any amount of caffeinated beverage ever could:

"I know a way for you to return home."

He had to check several times to make sure he was hearing correctly, which he was. Noa had a dream in which she saw how the uranium bomb could be used in order to close the Gate that they'd held so secret and were still figuring out how to close. In honor of his late partner and friend, Alfons Heiderich, Edward had returned to working on perfecting the model of rocket they themselves had been so proud of.

Noa had dreamt that the rocket could be used as it had before, to take both Ed and Al to the other side, back home. On their side, she could use the bomb to close the Gate. At first, Edward didn't believe her, but the more she spoke, the more he thought, and the more he thought, the more real it became to him. Even in his vast studies of physics and rocketry, nothing seemed to make more sense to him than the words the woman was speaking…and she knew nothing of science in the least.

The only thing that was missing from her theory was the alchemy part. In order for them to actually make it through the Gate, there had to be some kind of reaction on the other side. Noa said not to worry, that everything would be all right, and that it would be taken care of, though she didn't say how. He had a feeling he didn't want to know anyway, if it wasn't something she was up to discussing.

The next day, he told his brother everything of what had been discussed the night before. He wanted Al to know everything, because it concerned him just as much as it did Edward, and he wanted him to have a say in whatever was going on. The younger Elric, of course, was ecstatic.

With Al's excitement fueling him, Edward automatically started on a simple rocket model to seat two, since the younger of the two had no formal flight training, and it would take up too much time to try and teach him. That, and it would be easier just to do it in one shot. That way, he would feel better knowing his brother was safe with him.

It didn't take long before the rocket was designed and completed. According to Noa, it was just in time, because just six months later, a year to the day since what Edward referred to as the "Shamballa incident." As the brothers prepared to leave, all the elder could think about was how they were leaving Noa behind. It had taken a little while, but he was really starting to think of the place as his home.

"This is not home for you, Edward," Noa said softly, holding both of his hands in hers. "Your home is back on the other side of the Gate."

"But you…" Ed began, feeling the guilt increasing tenfold with each passing second.

"My place is here," she interrupted. "I've already been offered a place to stay…with Gracia and Officer Hughes. It won't be so bad, you know. I think we're actually going to get along nicely." She smiled, though he could see in her eyes that she was sad. Those feelings started to manifest in physical form as tears began to well up in her eyes.

Edward smiled softly. "Aw, don't start crying on my account, Noa. Just think, you'll have less mess to clean up after!"

Noa smiled slightly, bringing a hand to Ed's face. "I love you, Edward Elric," she whispered, dropping her hand to her side.

For a moment, the blond alchemist was stunned. He didn't know quite what to say. He tried to form some kind of words in his throat but he was cut off by a single slender finger to his lips.

She shook her head slowly, smiling at him wistfully. "You needn't say anything, Edward. I know of your thoughts of another…the man with the dark hair and deep scars, like your own…"

Ed bowed his head and looked over to make sure his brother hadn't heard anything of their conversation. Indeed, the younger Elric was busy doing last-minute checks to make sure everything was in order. In the small time that they'd been working on the rocket, Al had learned a lot about them, with as much fervor and curiosity as Edward had when he began.

He glanced back to Noa and nodded. It was actually his first acceptance of what he himself had already privately confirmed a while back, when he first started having the dreams of his former commanding officer. Still, it felt good to actually admit it to another person, even if that person had no idea who he was talking about.

She nodded, motioning towards the rocket. "Better get moving. Don't worry, I remember how to do everything as it was done before. I saw it while you were sleeping, remember? So I can take care of everything from here."

Edward nodded, remembering vaguely the time she had "borrowed" his knowledge of alchemy while he slept, unbeknownst to him at the time. She had done the same thing with his knowledge of rocketry, though he had specifically told her to do so this time.

Before he could really wrap his mind around it, he and Alphonse had said their goodbyes, climbing into the rocket and taking off. As they spun through the Gate at unimaginable speed, he wasn't entirely certain of his own calculations as a fear crept into the back of his mind. What if he had been wrong about the entire thing? What if the laws of physics simply did not work in the Gate? What if they had both been wrong, and instead of making it into the other side, they were to be tossed to the dark creatures of the Gate, to be dismembered as their souls remained trapped inside the Gate? Or worse, what if they were destined to be thrown through the swirling mass of blinding colors forever? Edward was certain the rocket wouldn't last that long, for the entire thing was shaking so badly that he imagined it to be much like the ground when the zeppelins had flown over London the first time he had passed through the Gate to the other side. The roaring was much like the explosions as well, and they were almost enough to drown out his brother's whimpers, but he heard them clear enough from where he was sitting.

He wanted more than anything to reach back and comfort Al, to tell him that no matter what, they were together, and that was all that counted, but before he knew it, they were "landing" in a field not far from what appeared to be Central. Why they had landed outside of Central was completely beyond Edward's comprehension, but before they knew it, they were surrounded by military forces and dropped right in front of a very enthused-yet-confused Lieutenant Riza Hawkeye, who looked as if she didn't know whether to jump for joy or whip out her gun to shoot at their feet. Edward feverishly hoped for the former.

It wasn't much longer than that when they were both taken back into the military, since technically, Alphonse was still a state alchemist, and Edward really hadn't died, so it only stood to reason that they both be kept. Besides, they were both so skilled at what they did that it would have been foolish to let either or them get away.

Which eventually led Edward to see him again, where he uttered the words he never should have said. The words he wished vainly he could take back…

"Brother!" Alphonse said for what seemed like the thousandth time.

Ed shook his head, his brother's calls finally reaching his ears and pulling him out of his musings. Al shook his head sorrowfully at his brother. Surely he was beginning to lose his mind. Maybe it was just one too many trips through the Gate, and in exchange, his brother was becoming a dim-witted, half-brained moron doomed to lose concentration for the rest of his life.

The older, amber-eyed alchemist sighed, ruffling his younger sibling's hair. "You know what, Al? It's nothing to worry about. I just get to thinking about things and I get so wrapped up in it that I forget myself, that's all. I'll try to be more mindful from now on, okay?" He walked over and picked out the book he'd been trying to read before and resumed lying on his bed as he'd been previously.

Alphonse sighed. His brother would have to come out and say it sooner or later. He just hoped that he would do something about his feelings before they started to affect other things as well. He turned and walked back out the door, deciding to take a walk to clear his own mind.

Edward watched as his younger brother walked out of the room. When he was certain he was out of earshot, he sighed audibly. That was far too close. He knew he couldn't hide it forever. Sooner or later, someone was going to find out, and it was sure to end badly.