"Al," Edward exclaimed as he quickened his pace, stopping just short of his younger sibling.

"Brother," Alphonse greeted as he closed the distance and pulled his older brother into a quick embrace.

After accepting it, Edward quickly pulled away and eyed Al curiously. "How did you get here so quickly?"

"Well, Brother, we- Oh, General," Alphonse quickly snapped into a salute as his focus turned to Roy as he approached them.

"No need for the salute," Roy said as he raised his hand in dismissal. Using that same hand, he reached out and offered it to the younger Elric. "Thank you for coming," he murmured when Al accepted his gesture and shook his hand.

"Of course, sir," Alphonse replied as he released his grip.

After nodding in response, Roy turned his focus to the small black-haired girl that had moved over to Alphonse's side and greeted her as well.

"It's nice to see you, General," she said as she bowed. "Although I wish it were under different circumstances."

"Right," he muttered as he returned the bow. As he straightened himself, he saw Zampano and Jerso approaching from behind the pair. But just as he was about to greet them, something latched onto the back of his jacket and propelled him backwards. Stumbling back, he managed to catch his balance just as Riza rushed past him.

A beat later Roy's arm shot out and grabbed her wrist, yanking her backwards. When she faltered, he readjusted his hold and grabbed her arm. "Hey," he yelped as she attempted to pull her arm away. "What are you-"

The sound of snapping and ripping pulled his attention away from her, forcing it onto the two men as they began to warp and change. As they finished their changes, the pair stumbled backwards, their eyes widened in a mix of shock and fear.

"What are you doing," he demanded the pair.

After clutching his chest and taking a few deep breaths, Jerso grumbled, "Sorry, General. Instincts just kicked in."

"Instincts," Roy echoed back as his eyes slowly wanted back over to Riza, who had stopped pulling against his grip. Her narrowed saffron eyes remained on the chimera pair, her lips curved upward in a wicked, triumphant grin.

When Jerso nodded and shifted, the arm Roy had a grip on raised and Riza planted her hand on his chest in an attempt to push him back. Seeing this, the chimera took a step back and raised his hands in defense.

And it was at that moment, watching this silent exchange, that Roy realized this arrangement would not work.

"So you snuck onto a freight train," Edward said back to his younger brother as Alphonse nodded his head in response.

"Yeah," Alphonse admitted. "When our guide led us through the Dashan pass, we exited on the part of the border where that new rail line is being constructed."

Mustang nodded thoughtfully. The line was being built to connect Amestris to Xing. Although it was far from complete, the part that expands the desert was, at least, completed.

"When we got there they were about to leave for Amestris to pick up more supplies, so we snuck into one of the empty train cars. After that, we got off when we crossed the eastern border and from there boarded a train bound for Central.

"If it hadn't been there, we would have had to cross the desert by foot," Alphonse explained, "And probably would have been here about two weeks from now."

"Why didn't you call," Edward asked as he leaned forward in his chair, raising his brows. "If I had known, we might have planned better."

"I did try calling, Brother," Alphonse noted. "I was going to the second we decided to hop on that train in Xing, but it was a split second decision in the end. And I didn't want to call when we crossed the border because I didn't want to wake you."

"Yeah, that makes sense," Edward responded. He was about to say more when he must have realized his brother's attention was no longer on him. Instead, Alphonse's eyes were directed toward Roy and Riza, who were seated on the room's small couch.

Seemingly noticing they were being watched, Riza tensed up and shifted closer to Roy, eyeing Alphonse warily.

After it was unanimously decided that Zampano and Jerso would stay at a hotel during the duration of their stay, Riza was less than welcoming toward Alphonse and May, opting to remain close to Roy while keeping her attention focused on them.

Alphonse attributed it to the fact that he and May had attempted to bring "potential threats" into the house. And after what had happened earlier in Central, everything "unrecognizable" was deemed a threat to Edward and, especially, Roy.

Alphonse suddenly made his way toward them, causing Riza to move even closer to Roy, her eyes now narrowed and honed in on the young blond man. Stopping a few feet in front of them, Alphonse lowered himself to the floor and sat cross-legged in front of them. "Hi," he chirped cheerily as he extended his hand toward Riza, "I'm Al."

'Al…'

Something about it was… familiar.

As she studied his features, silently repeating the word back to herself, a sudden flurry of disjointed scenes and scents flooded her mind.

The smell of explosive powder mixed with a feeling of hopelessness.

"I said, leave me! Just get out of here!"

Metal arms restraining her and holding her back.

"I won't!"

Fury, rage, and flames.

"I won't let another person I care about be killed!"

Metal arms release her and she's running. There's blood. Roy's blood.

"Not if there's anything I can do to protect them!"

Roy is safe. They're taking him.

She's breathless, but relieved. "Thank you, Al…" She says to the man made of metal.

Al was… The man made of metal. Where his flesh became steel and steel became flesh. Just like her dreams.

And just like it had said.

This was the catalyst.

Instead of batting his hand away or glaring like Roy had expected her to, he was surprised to see that she too extended her hand and took Alphonse's, silently turning it and looking at it. After a few moments of observation, she promptly dropped it and watched him with a newfound curiosity.

Smiling, Alphonse started talking about nothing in particular, simply making a one-sided conversation to make one. And the entire time she sat and listened, as if absorbed in what he had to say. Finally, Alphonse moved his hands up to his head and, using his two pointer fingers, simulated ears. Wiggling them, he asked, "May I see?"

And again, to Roy's surprise, she complied, removing the cap she had earlier been so adamantly keeping on her head. Silver ears slowly stood from remaining flattened on her skull, raising to attention and angling toward the young man.

Accepting the gesture, Alphonse slowly got up from the floor and cautiously moved over to the armrest nearest her and seated himself on the edge of it. Moving as slowly as he could, he began to examine the one closest to him, silently taking notes in his mind.

Raising his brows, Roy finally murmured, "How did you do that?"

"Do what," Alphonse asked quietly as he kept his attention focused on Riza, whose attention was focused on Roy.

"She… Didn't have an issue letting you examine her," Roy noted. "She isn't necessarily thrilled about it most of the time."

Alphonse shrugged his shoulders up and down. "I guess it's because I'm just being careful and speaking softly to her."

"Why the exam now, though," Edward asked as he took a step toward them.

"Well, to be honest," Alphonse admitted while he kept his eyes on Riza, "I really want to look at General Mustang's face. And I doubt I will be able to without proving to her that I mean no harm." Looking up finally at Roy, he added, "I think I can fix the scarring on your face with a bit of alkehestry. But to do so, I have to reopen the wounds and remove the scar tissue."

Roy nodded. "It isn't a pressing matter, but it's something you can certainly look at."

"Of course, General," Alphonse replied as he moved to peer into Riza's ear. After a few moments he murmured, "Oh…"

A sense of alarm rising in him, Roy immediately asked, "What? What's wrong?"

Keeping his focus on his task, Alphonse shook his head slightly and said, "Nothing's wrong. It's just that her anatomy has completely changed here. Meaning that when you want to use her blood to 'reprogram' her cells, it's going to hurt." Looking up at Roy, then toward Edward, he added, "You'll have to do it in bits and pieces because you're going to reform the anatomy of her head and spine. Doing it all at once will probably be too painful and she could go into shock."

"Oh," Roy muttered in reply as he watched the young man return to his work. After a few moments, curiosity got the better of him and, shifting to get a better view, he too lifted his two pointer fingers up to resemble ears.

Riza gazed at him out of her peripheral vision and narrowed her eyes for a moment. Then, seemingly making a decision, she leaned away from Alphonse and toward Roy. Slowly and cautiously, he reached up and lightly touched one.

It fluttered the instant his fingers swept against it, but quickly regained its position. He could see her watching him intently now, almost curious. So when he reached up again, she melted into his touch and sighed contently, closing her eyes as she did so.

Relaxing slightly, Roy too sighed, though this moment was cut short. Riza suddenly grimaced and quickly pulled away. Grabbing the hat she had placed in her lap, she firmly planted it on her head and held it there.

Pulling away as well, Roy eyed her with concern. And when her eyes wandered back to catch his, he saw her face twist with embarrassment and shame. Sighing, he muttered, "It's okay…"

Without looking back at him, she pulled her legs up on the couch and leaned against him, holding the cap down as tightly as she could.

Allowing his eyes to wander up to Alphonse, he silently signaled to him that they for done for the night. Taking note of this, the younger Elric nodded and moved away. Leaning back into her after the response and watching as her saffron eyes darted around anxiously, Roy murmured again, "It's okay…"

Al wandered around the transmutation circle for what seemed like hours after everyone had retired for the night; measuring, calculating, devising, recalling and piecing together knowledge he had collected over the years. For a little less than a month he and Edward had collaborated and exchanged notes, changing and revising their hypotheses again and again until it became this: flawless.

He admits that the design of the array was on his thoughts constantly. But who could blame him after hearing the way Edward's demeanor changed over the phone as time went on. He couldn't help but plan, organize, draw together all of the knowledge he had in order to pull together the concept that bound this circle together.

It was only drawn to reclaim her soul. If they even attempted to return her body to normal, there wouldn't be enough to give and the reaction would surely rebound. At least, however, Edward's concept of using genetic particles from her blood was possible. They would work on aesthetics later.

This had to work.

Leaning all of his weight into the wall and still holding the phone's receiver in one hand, Alphonse raised his other hand to cover his eyes. After taking a deep, heavy breath, he began to exhale when he felt a pressure on his shoulder.

"Alphonse," May asked quietly, "What's wrong?"

Without moving to look at her, keeping his face concealed, Alphonse murmured, "That was Brother… I'm really sorry, May. I know we just got here, but I have to go back. Something… Something happened…"

"Alphonse," the small black-haired woman said with more authority. When he pulled his hand away from his eyes and looked down at her, she said, "Alphonse, what happened?"

It had even been incredibly difficult for Edward to explain and tell him. He honestly didn't know where to begin…

After thinking for a few moments, he took a breath and said, "You remember when I told you about that little girl, Nina, right?" When May quickly nodded her head in reply, he slowly advanced, "Well… A few weeks ago Mustang's men were attacked and taken and…" He paused for a moment as he attempted to draw everything back. "And… They did that to… Well, you remember Captain Hawkeye, right?"

May's hand went from his shoulder to cover her mouth as her eyes widened in horror.

Unfazed now by any reaction, Alphonse continued, "Not as severely, according to Brother. But he said that she said she was… forgetting. And then," he nervously ran his fingers through his golden hair. Was it just him or was it getting warmer in there? Were the walls this close before?

Keep it together, Alphonse, he scolded himself internally. You can't crack now. They need you.

"And then… Someone took her. They don't know where she is and Mustang's a complete wreck and Edward is trying to keep him together and-" He realized he was babbling incoherently now, spilling out everything as the gravity of the situation hit him.

It happened to someone else they cared about. And they weren't even close to figuring out how to fix it; the fact Zampano and Jerso were still with the same bodies they were with five years ago was evident of that.

It happened to someone they cared about… And they were still powerless.

His heart was pounding in his chest. He felt as if his windpipe was being tied shut; he couldn't breathe!

He never had the opportunity to truly grieve Nina properly. Being locked in a suit of armor prevented him from doing so. His soul had hurt and ached, but there was no breathlessness, no chest pains, no tears. The first time he had thought about it after he had regained his body, he cried. But it had been nearly a year after the fact at that time.

It was something Edward never liked to discuss, and he felt that reopening the wounds there would have been too hard. So his period of grief was short and suppressed.

But now… Now the wounds were fresh, and the old ones were reopened.

He was so far away and they needed him…

The sound of something heavy being slammed shut tore Alphonse from his thoughts. Snapping his head up and toward the noise, he saw that May had migrated to the bed, the suitcase they brought on top of it. "May…"

Her smile was sad and sincere. "We'd better hurry, Alphonse. They need us there."

He shook his head. "I can't ask you to leave, May. It isn't fair to you. You've been wanting so badly to get here and now that you are-"

As he was rambling to her, the petite black-haired girl crossed the room in a matter of seconds and reached up, taking his face in her hands and stopping him abruptly. Her eyes narrowed for a moment, and then widened as they scanned his face. "Alphonse," she said, her voice serious, "This is about family. Master Fujimoto and his lessons can wait. I'll come back next year and start again."

"May-"

"You won't change my mind, Alphonse," she said as she released his face and began to gather their items again, depositing them into the suitcase. "You should know by now how bullheaded I am."

He blinked once, twice, then made his way over to her, her arms full of clothes. Wrapping his arms around her and burying his face into her hair, he murmured, "Thank you…"

Reaching down into his pocket, Alphonse produced an organic chalk as he crouched down and fixed a smudge on the outer circle's edge. Staring down at the symbols below him, he silently went over them and identified them in his mind: Soul, spirit binding, blood, life…

Exhaling slowly, he sat back on his heels and glanced around the rest of the array.

"Hey, Al," Edward muttered the instant Al picked up the line.

"Brother," Al murmured into the phone, "What's-"

"We found her, Al," he interrupted dispassionately.

"That's great," Al exclaimed. "I should be there in a few weeks and-"

"It's not 'great,'" Edward snapped. Seemingly realizing his quick outburst, the next time he spoke, his words were more controlled, though the pain was still evident in his tone. "It's not… 'great,' Alphonse. She was right about forgetting… She didn't even recognize Mustang and ended up ripping open the side of his face.

"And Mustang… God… When I found him he was about to shoot her in the head because he was convinced she was gone…" When Al gasped in response, Edward languidly continued on. "I stopped him, though. Because… Because she deserves a second chance, you know?"

Al felt his heart sink. Despite his brother's attempt at sounding confident, his tone was far from reassuring. It seems that even he is second guessing himself and his actions. "Just… Hold on, Brother," Alphonse pleaded quietly. "We'll be there in a few weeks. Just, please, hold on."

Alphonse slowly rose to his feet and gave the circle another look over. Everything looked perfect, flawless, just like he had decided before.

It fit perfectly for what the General was willing to sacrifice…

Today was the first time he had heard about what General Mustang was offering to Truth to pull her soul back. As much as he wanted to disagree, he knew that there wasn't anything else. Still, it was unnerving the way the Captain had reacted to it, claiming that it wouldn't work.

The concept behind it was perfect, though. And that's what worried him. Would it be too much, too little? It was impossible to tell without standing in front of Truth itself. With the way the Captain had acted, it almost seemed as if the payment was too little. How could it be, though? If the General gave up what he said he would, surely that would be enough to reclaim her soul. His memories and thoughts and everything associated with her for herself.

They were missing something… Something crucial…

"So that's what you're planning, hm," Truth chirped as it watched Riza's soul vanish from the Gate. Its mouth curling upward into a smile, It quipped, "Well then, good luck…"

Throwing back the covers on his side of the bed, Alphonse waved Xiao Mei away from his pillow and crawled beneath them, pulling them up to his chest before rolling over to peer into May's eyes.

She responded by raising her brows, her eyes darting back and forth as she searched his face.

"What is it," he asked.

"It's just…" She trailed off, uncertainty filling her eyes.

Al scooted closer to her and raised his brows. "'Just what,' May?" Smiling lightly, he said, "You know you can tell me anything."

"I know," she said with a small smile, though it quickly faded. "I just… Well, aren't you nervous? I mean, they're putting so much faith in you, Alphonse. They believe in you and I believe in you… But isn't the pressure overwhelming? Aren't you afraid to fail?"

Alphonse thought about it for a moment and then rolled over onto his back, peering up at the ceiling above. Absently counting and recounting the tiles above him, he murmured, "When I think about it, it really is overwhelming. There are multiple lives in the balance, and now some of the pressure has been passed onto me. The thought of failing has crossed my mind numerous times.

"Still, I've grown so much over the years. I've learned so much now… And now that I've the knowledge, I intend to use it. So I guess you can say I'm overwhelmed and nervous and afraid of failure, but you could also say that I'm determined and confident." Rolling over again to look at May, he smiled lightly. "I'm confident now in my abilities, and that, with the knowledge I've gained, I can really do this.

"Of course, I still want to double, triple, and maybe even quadruple check everything we've done so far… Just to be safe."

Leaning in and resting her forehead against his, May smiled. "And that's precisely why I fell in love with you, Alphonse Elric. You're so-"

They both jumped when they heard a loud thump. Glancing at each other before looking back toward the door, Alphonse was the one to speak up. "Hello," he called.

Straining to listen, Alphonse heard nothing. Frowning, he pushed the covers back and swung his legs over the side of the bed. When he called out once more, he was answered by a loud thud. Getting to his feet, he made his way over to the door and opened it.

Leaning heavily against the doorframe was a very disheveled Riza Hawkeye.

"Riza," Alphonse exclaimed in surprise. "What are you-"

"A-Alp-phonse," she stammered as she doubled over, wrapping her arms around herself. "He-help m-m-me…"

A/N: Alright. So I officially have 4-5 chapters left in the story. Right now I'm stuck on the ending. I have two different endings in mind, with one way having 4 chapters and the other having 5. I should have it all worked out by the next chapter or so, but just wanted to give you guys a heads up with where I'm at. Sometime soon I'm hoping to complete Dandelions because it would tie in wonderfully with the next chapter…

Right now I liken the situation to two locomotives on the same track (Roy is in one and Riza is in the other), but heading toward each other… Going 75km/hr… And their brakes are out. So, we will see how it goes!

Anyways, thanks for the reviews, favorites, and follows! See you next chapter!

P.S. To the guest that said Al saves a kitten for every chapter… Can I add zeroes to that seeing that there are only 4-5 left? Alphonse is very motivated to save the kitties.