Hello dears. Don't you just love me and cliffhangers? You know you do. Besides, I have confirmed the ending (even though my partner has no idea what's going to happen.) Well, she has a little bit of an idea, but not much. She knows what'll happen, but not who its going to happen to. Every chapter, starting now, I will be giving you one word hints on the ending. I'm planning on having this end sometime around chapter 33 or 34. I feel like 14 chapters will give me a good amount of space, as well as extra if need be. I'm also thinking about doing an epilogue, but I'm not sure yet.

Ready for your clue? It is... White.

Pretty... Mysterious, huh? As well as vague. As we go on they'll start to make sense.

"Al, start talking. Now." I pull on my shirt as I walk into the living room, a towel in hand. Brother had turned and walked out of the bathroom, refusing to talk to me about anything until I explained what those marks were. "What happened to you?"

"I told you. When they were rehabilitating me, it got pretty brutal." I rub my head with the towel, wincing as the cotton fabric of the shirt press against my still aching back. "What more is there to explain?"

"Some of them look fresh!"

"Well, I was being chased..." I sit on the couch, avoiding his gaze. There's no way I can look at him right now. "I got into a few fights along the way..."

"A few fights? I've gotten into a 'few fights' and never came out looking like that!"

"What do you want me to say, Edward?" I'm on my feet now, my anger rising. It's always like this. I do something and he questions it, but when I question him, he ignores me. "I betrayed you! I betrayed the army! I even betrayed some of the people in Xing, but it was to save you guys!"

"What happened in Xing, Al? What aren't you telling me!"

My hands curl into fists and I grit my teeth. There I go, speaking before thinking. "They caught me, just after I got into Xing..."

"And?"

"And... They had me make Stones, okay?" I toss the towel on the couch, pacing around the room. I run my hands over my face, preparing for his yells, his lecture, and inevitably, his disappointment.

"You did what...?"

"I made Stones. They made me use villages... If I didn't, they threatened... They..."

"What did they say they were gonna do, Al?"

"They said they were going to take you, May... Even Winry, and... Do the same thing they did to me..." Tears are welling up in my eyes; a salty mixture of pain, anger, and disappointment. The pain of the memories; before and after the accident, being in a metal body, having to hide my love, betraying him and everyone else... The pain of being pushed passed my limits. The anger of them threatening me with something so cruel, anger at myself for not fighting harder... Disappointment in myself for everything.

I've always been weaker than Brother. I've never been as good as him in alchemy, or figuring things out... The only place I really excelled was fighting. My armor could withstand almost any blow, so I wasn't really doing anything. All I did was hit and kick until my enemy went down.

"Al... Why didn't you tell me sooner?"

"I didn't want you to worry." I stare at him, my tears dropping off my chin and dotting my black t-shirt. I knew if I told him anything other than the basics... He would get angry at not only me and the Sins, but at himself. He would blame himself for not stopping me... "I didn't want you to blame yourself..."

He steps forward and takes my hands, wiping my tears with his other, normal hand. "You know you can tell me anything, right?"

"Yeah..."

"No more secrets?"

"I promise."

"Then I have to tell you something." He guides me to the couch and sits me down, sitting next to me. "It's... Important."

"Just tell me, Brother..."

"It has to do with Mustang."

As soon as I hear his name, a flare of jealousy erupts in me. "What about Mustang?"

"After you left... He tried to get me to apologize. He said that he would do anything..." He fumbles around in his jacket pocket for a moment and presents me with a silver pocketwatch. "It took some arm bending, but he gave it back..."

"He took your license?"

"No. He took yours." He hands me the watch, pressing my fingers over it. "I hope its your watch. I couldn't get it open..."

"Because I sealed it with alchemy." I run my thumb over the cover and smile as I see the inscription.

"You can't make a rainbow without a little rain..." He leans against my arm, his hand sliding over my mine. "It's beautiful, Al."

"You're the one that said it." I press my lips to the top of his head, closing the pocketwatch and setting it on a table, wrapping my arms around him.

"Did I really?"

"One night, after you had woken from a nightmare, you kept saying it over and over..."

"I'm pretty wise when I wanna be..."

"Yes, yes you are." I smile, my fingers trailing along his forearms. I turn to my back is against the arm of the couch and he settle on top of me, his head resting on my chest, my legs on either side of his waist. I breath in the honey scent of his hair, my eyes closing.

"Al?"

"Yeah?"

"If you could do anything in your life, what would it be and why?"

"I don't know... What would you do?" I'm about to ask again, but a soft snore fills the air. He fell asleep without hearing my answer. I kiss his forehead, my mind circling back to his question, an answer entering my mind as I snuggle down on the couch, resting my head on the arm. "Stay like this forever..."