Al stared at Edward. Instead of shocked, though, he was puzzled. Had he heard wrong? No. Then when Edward said "died," he must have meant something to do with an accident with alchemy and not actual death, right? Al and Ed had experienced their fair share of "deaths," ranging from being eaten by Gluttony to becoming trapped within the Gate. Edward watched quietly as Al collected himself, wondering if his next explanation would suffice without contextual details.

"Ok, this requires at least a brief explanation, please…?" Al requested, though still cautious of Edward's reluctance to revisit what must have been unpleasant.

"I… well… I sort of got stabbed through the heart by Envy," Edward blurted out, hoping that way it would somehow seem less serious. Al gaped at him. A physical wound that was fatal?!

"But… But then, how did you survive?!" Al asked, his curiosity overpowering his attempted composure. He didn't even notice that his voice had become far too loud for that early in the morning.

"I… you… well Alphonse, that is, saved me." Edward grimaced, feeling the pain and guilt of that day's events.

Al swallowed. Bringing someone back from the dead? Hadn't they decided that it wasn't possible? "Did he use a philosopher's stone?" Al guessed, since that was the only "logical" explanation. "Did he use it, knowing what it was made from?" Al and Ed had made a promise not to use the souls of other humans to get their bodies back, but he could imagine that if Ed were killed right in front of him, he might be desperate enough to break that promise. He really admired his older brother all the more for keeping their promise, even though it had seemed like both Al's soul and body were trapped in the Gate forever without a huge payment. Ed's strength and determination had been remarkable.

Nevertheless, merely a philosopher's stone and Alphonse's desperation shouldn't have been able to bring someone back to life once they had physically died, unless… unless Edward and Alphonse had discovered something Ed and Al hadn't.

"Yes, Alphonse used a philosopher's stone," Edward replied. "But the stone had been linked, so to speak, with his armor. By using it up, his soul was lost to the Gate."

Al gasped softly. "That's… I'm sorry."

Edward looked up in alarm. "Oh, no, he was able to come back! Don't worry. I mean, it wasn't easy by any means…" Al looked as confused as ever, but somewhat relieved. For a second he'd been afraid that the Gate had taken Alphonse permanently, something that in both worlds had definitely been a possible outcome.

"But… how could you have been brought back?" Al asked, perplexed. "Even with the power of a philosopher's stone, how could something like that be equivalent exchange? Human transmutation doesn't bring a person back, we of all people know that."

Edward stared at Al, who had trailed off due to sorrowful memories but was waiting for an answer.

"What all do they know…?" Edward thought to himself. "Did they never discover it, or is this world different again somehow?"

Out loud he asked a question - one that he knew could have a painful answer.

"Did you ever meet the homunculus 'Sloth'?" His voice had been softer than intended, and Al sensed a sudden change in the atmosphere but couldn't understand the reason.

"Yes…" he replied. "Sloth was defeated on the Promised Day. Why?"

"Then, what did she look like?" Edward cautiously observed his reaction.

"She…?" Al's eyebrows knit together with confusion. "Sloth was definitely not a 'she.' He was extremely powerful, not to mention huge – larger than Major Armstrong even. But his real power lay in his speed. Apparently, he was a very difficult foe to defeat in the end."

After Al was finished, Edward remained silent, staring distantly at the wood-patterns in the floor. Eventually he took a deep breath. "I see… I have one more question, if you'd answer it please." Edward's grim and apprehensive tone made Al very nervous. These questions so far had seemed fairly harmless compared to some of the other topics they'd discussed, so why was Edward suddenly so disturbed by this?! Not to mention, he still hadn't really explained how he'd been "resurrected" or how Alphonse was able to return from the Gate afterwards. Nevertheless, Al nodded, preparing for the eminent question, and Edward continued. "Al, did you ever discover how the homunculi were created?"

"Yes…" Al began slowly. Once again, this didn't seem like that dangerous of a question, but Edward was bracing himself for something. "Are… are you ok?"

"I think so, but I need to know if it's the same in this world. I'd assumed that it was, since we both encountered similar homunculi, but now I'm not so sure it is…"

Al swallowed nervously. "Alright. I'll give a shortened answer though. Homunculi in this world were created by Father or, rather, from a part of Father. He extracted them from his own body – from his own philosopher's stone – and gave them form." Al glanced at Edward's clenched fists. Part of his face was hidden behind his golden bangs, making his expression difficult to read. "Edward… what is going on? What was different about homunculi in your world?"

Edward quickly shifted his gaze from the ground to Al. A new type of conflict was raging inside him. For the first time, he really didn't want to tell Al something. Sure, other information had been painful and complicated for Al, but this… the homunculi in his world were different, and perhaps Al shouldn't have his belief in equivalent exchange called into question.

Edward shook his head, trying to clear his mind. He had to tell. It had to do with the Gate, didn't it? For all he knew, this could be an important piece to the puzzle they were trying so desperately to solve.

"Ok, I'll tell you," Edward finally said. "In my world, homunculi weren't made by a single creator. Dante was their leader, and made at least one but not all of them. The main difference, aside from some of the homunculi in our world being very different from yours, is that every homunculus in our world was created as a result of human transmutation."

Al sat back on the couch and took all this information in. "What do you mean… how did human transmutation help create them?" he asked quietly. Part of him didn't want to hear the answer.

Edward took another deep breath. "Human transmutation produced a misshapen and frightening creature that resembled the person an alchemist tried to bring back. Is that the same in this world?"

Al nodded slowly, "Yes, but that thing soon died and really didn't look much like her except for basic body size. The one we 'created' was never our mother, and even contained my disembodied soul during the brief time it was alive."

Edward's eyes widened a bit. That meant Al had died with it…? Though with the Gate involved, it couldn't be that simple. Besides, there were other matters at hand. "See, that's where things are different," Edward responded "In my world, those creature were homunculi. Once supplied with philosopher's stones by Dante, they took on a human appearance. And that appearance was of whoever they were meant to be when brought to life." Edward paused. Al had grown pale. Instead of simply taking the information in, he was now being engulfed by it. Edward was essentially telling him that, in another world, people had been brought back to life. At least part of them had…

"So that means that…" Al gasped and shot up from the sofa. "Then mom… you and the other me…" Al shook his head quickly, trying to banish these horrible new images. Edward nodded bleakly, staring up at Al, sadness deep within his amber eyes. Al saw the story of the other world unfolding, and somehow it was much more tragic than his own. If, as Edward had implied, the homunculi were all evil and under control of this 'Dante,' then that would mean… "Did you have to-" Al stopped himself, noticing that his voice had risen. No, he didn't need to ask that. He had to remain calm. Slowly he sat back down. "Were they… were they actually the same people…?" he whispered. "Or did they just look the same?"

Edward scowled. "I don't think we'll ever be sure," he replied softly. "But Sloth… the one that looked like mom… in her very last moments, she seemed so much like her." His voice broke. Back then, he hadn't been able to think about it much. He'd had to move on to the next battle. But since then, he'd wondered if that homunculus really had been an incarnation of his mother.

The silence that hung in the air was almost palpable.

"Oh my god, what is wrong with me?!" Winry cried out in her head as she slumped over on her bed, squeezing the life out of a pillow. "How did I not notice it wasn't him?! And even if it had been him, the way I acted… I'm so hopeless!" She'd long ago admitted to herself that she was in love with Ed, but now her emotions were running wild. She hadn't slept at all, and the morning light was already peeking shyly through her window. Everything kept playing back in her head, mercilessly repeating and repeating. She'd been so overjoyed initially, deluding herself into thinking that Ed really loved her. But then, suddenly, everything collapsed around her. It wasn't Ed who loved her, it was Edward, who was also Ed but from another world and who had accidentally and inexplicably been transported here, or his soul had, into Ed's body which he then controlled, thinking it was a dream.

"DAMMIT!" she shrieked into the pillow. She rarely used profanities, but this was a special occasion.

"Nothing makes sense," she thought. "And here I am, selfishly thinking about my embarrassment while Ed… Ed…" She blinked back tears. It was surprising she still had any left. She'd held everything in and put up a strong façade around Al and Edward, but inside she was a wreck. Once in the privacy of her own bedroom, she'd lost it, taking it out on one of her pillows, which now lay in a tattered heap on the floor. It was a good thing she'd then decided to put her wrench away, or she might have torn the whole room apart with it. Once the violent outburst was over, the tears began. They were a mixture of embarrassment, shame, guilt, anger, sadness, and frantic worry. Ed was gone. But no, she refused to accept that. Ed and Al had been through worse, right? He wouldn't let himself die that easily.

It was then that another selfish idea flitted across her mind, but this one was more captivating than the others.

"If he… when he gets back, I should tell him. He probably knows now already," her face caught fire as she remembered how much he might have witnessed. "But I'm going to tell him clearly. In order to keep moving forward."

She took a deep breath, her attitude becoming more motivated. Ed wouldn't give up because of something like this, so neither would she. Sitting up straight, she began to go over the facts in her head, piecing together all that she remembered. There was no way she'd sit this one out just because she wasn't an alchemist.

"Alright, there's something important here, I can feel it," Edward announced. "Our Gate has behaved so differently from yours, and it even has some connection with our souls I think."

"What do you mean?" Al questioned.

"Well, when I died, I was transported to the Gate somehow even though it was never opened. Er, well, only my soul was transported to the Gate. I remember standing disoriented in that yellow world, until Alphonse appeared there and then I woke up alive again."

"Why… why would you be taken to the Gate when you died? Is it because you're an alchemist… or something else?"

Edward frowned. For a while now he had wondered about this, but never scrutinized it too closely because of the tumult of events it dredged up. Besides, he had been trying desperately not to think about his world and alchemy while trapped in Germany, since that only made him feel homesick.

"I don't know, but for some reason I feel that it's really important…"

"Ok," Al continued gathering the information and piecing it together. "We'll take it into consideration, because even a strong feeling or suspicion can be really important when it comes to Gate-related issues. Then, you mentioned that Alphonse was taken by the Gate after reviving you? How did you get him back? You never finished explaining before…"

"Oh. Well, I… I gave my whole self up to the Gate, but for some reason I was transported to the world Alphonse and I have been living in…" Edward hesitated, seeing Al's face become sad and almost angry. In fact, Al was angry. His other self had given everything to revive his older brother, but then Edward still sacrificed himself and left Alphonse alone. The same thing could have happened to Al and Ed, but Ed had understood the despair of being left alone. While they were theoretically the same people, the paths each pair of brothers had chosen, or perhaps been forced to take, really were very different.

"You can keep going," Al said quietly, noticing that Edward had stopped talking.

"Um, sure…" Edward said hesitantly. "Let's see… I'd been to the other world before, but my whole body ended up there my second time rather than just my soul. Meanwhile, Alphonse returned from the Gate in his ten-year-old body. Somehow it didn't change like yours did. He also had no memories of anything that happened since the night we tried to bring mom back, which was also the night he lost his body in the first place."

"That's… really?!" Al asked, surprised that Alphonse's body had somehow remained unchanged within the Gate. Edward nodded. "But… well, it's not only that. For us, many things about the Gate have remained mysterious, but your entire being passing through it to another world?! How could that ever be explained by equivalent exchange?"

"That's just it," Edward replied with a clouded expression. "By the time all of this was over, it was made clear that equivalent exchange is far from absolute."

Al frowned. "We definitely see equivalent exchange differently now, after what we've been through and learned, but it's still something that dictates most of our world."

"Yeah, that's what we'd thought too… but in our world, there were a lot of unexplained phenomena that we took for granted," Edward countered, looking back on all of the things that had seemed normal but in retrospect couldn't have been equivalent processes. "The alchemy that some people could perform just didn't make sense, and that's even when no philosopher's stones were involved."

"What exactly do you mean? It wasn't equivalent?"

"Well, kind of," Edward replied. "The theory we've established is that the law of conservation of mass isn't enough. Taking sand and transmuting it into rock, for example, couldn't just happen. There needs to be some sort of spark and force acting on it to compress the sand. In other words, you have to put effort into getting something that theoretically is the exact same material, just in a different form. When using alchemy, however, that has always seemed to provide said energy. We could transmute something into something else without additional effort other than drawing a proper transmutation circle. While sometimes you could reason that possessing knowledge of transmutation is sufficient, there were definitely instances when we produced something that was more than we should have been able to. In order for this to make sense, we concluded that alchemy itself must have provided some sort of extra force. But where did the energy needed for that process come from? Though it hasn't been proven, it seems that the source of alchemic energy in my original world actually came from the life force of the world on the other side of the Gate."

"Wait, what?!" Al exclaimed, scooting towards Edward, to the very edge of the couch so he was barely sitting on it anymore. "The life force? Did using alchemy kill people, or use their lives and souls like a philosopher's stone does?"

Edward leaned back a bit, caught off-guard by Al's vehement reaction. "Not exactly," Edward replied. "The energy came from human death." Edward froze, a new idea emerging. "Al, I have a theory." The younger boy nodded, displaying an expression that was both serious and overflowing with curiosity and anticipation as he listened even more intently. "Alright. The death of a human in the 'Germany world' - let's call it that for now - somehow fueled alchemy in my original world. Therefore, somehow energy passed through the Gate. Earlier, we were talking about how the Gate has to do with souls, right?"

"So… you're saying that when a person dies in the Germany world, their soul is released and somehow interacts with the Gate to fuel alchemy in your original world?!" Al caught on quickly.

"Yeah… but it's just a theory."

"But that does make some sense," Al slowly stood up from the couch, deep in thought, and began pacing in front of Edward, who was still sitting in one of the chairs. "Philosopher's stones work in a similar way. While not all of their existence and use is understood, they enable us to harness the energy of human souls to enhance alchemy! So it really is a possibility that souls… that the use of human souls could be the reason why alchemy in your world could negate equivalent exchange."

"But then why does your world not have this… 'flaw'? Equivalent exchange here is stable and fairly absolute, right?"

"That could be because of Truth," Al pondered. "Its role is to regulate equivalent exchange. So, in our world, that balance is maintained through the Gate of Truth. Even if sometimes it doesn't make sense right away, there is always an explanation as to why it's equivalent."

"But if there really are two different Gates, and ours doesn't have a Truth…"

"Exactly," Al continued. "Maybe the lack of equivalent exchange in your world is because you don't have Truth there to enforce it."

"That could be… but it's still so unclear how the Gate works, and why it connects the two worlds then."

"Yeah… it's strange that even people can pass through it." Al looked frustrated, but his eyes were still excited. While he would never "enjoy" a situation in which his brother's life was in danger, solving this puzzle itself was thrilling. He craved more and more information. "Speaking of which, on a quick tangent, how did Alphonse end up in Germany exactly?"

"Oh, that's right, again I never finished. Alphonse was able to travel between the worlds during the final time we used the Gate. That is, before all of this," Edward gestured vaguely around the room. "For certain reasons, the Gate was opened between our original world and Germany, and eventually we… we were able to seal it." Edward said the last part deep in thought. "I… I still can't remember that!" he blurted out. "I still can't remember how we sealed the Gate back then!"

Al stared at him, his golden eyes gleaming with an idea. "You mentioned before that Truth made it sound like you'd met him before, right?"

"Yes… but I'd assumed that was because he'd met Ed, who technically is me."

"Ok, that could be it, but what if you actually had met Truth before your most recent encounter?"

"… are you saying that could explain why I can't remember sealing the Gate?" Edward asked. He hadn't thought of that.

"Think about it. Maybe you actually lost that memory as a payment of some sort."

"But why then? I'd never met him before when passing through the Gate between worlds, so why…" Then everything clicked. "How could we have sealed the Gate from Germany without alchemy…?" Edward asked mostly himself. It was all coming together. There were two different gates. One had Truth in it, the other didn't but had something to do with souls and death? And both now seemed to be involved in their current predicament. The Gate had been wide open, connecting the two worlds. Edward remembered standing with Alphonse, preparing to close it somehow but not really having a plan. On the Germany side of the Gate, alchemy for the most part wouldn't work. How were they ever able to do it?

Al answered Edward's somewhat-rhetorical question. "What if you sealed it by somehow accessing alchemy from the Gate of Truth…"

"All three worlds have been thrown out of balance, but I cannot simply correct this predicament. No, a payment of some sort would be necessary. Not even I can overcome equivalent exchange."

.

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Ok, I'm really sorry if these chapters are boring or still confusing, I PROMISE that I will start to limit the explanation stuff, or at least weave it into more exciting plot development. I've stopped wanting to even write all the sitting and discussing (which are necessary for the plot of course, but still tedious), so I can imagine that you're all bored of reading it. Thus I shall bring Winry back in, because the boys have had enough time to exchange information! And if my current outline of the next chapter holds, I have a little surprise hehe but nothing that big I guess… though it will be one of the things in which I deviate from canon technically, but really am just extending canon with my own interpretation…

But anyway, I may or may not bring back a little fluff in the chapters to come! Do you want that or no? It's still not set in philosopher's stone. (yes, yes i did)

Responses to Reviews: (I apologize if they are bad... it is very late in the morning but I still haven't slept teehee don't worry I didn't write the fic in this state, just the responses!)

Guest: Thank you as usual :D

Harryswoman: I went to a 9-story anime store *still fangirling* it was freakin amazing! And ooh, I have also read the manga and watched both! Yay FMA nerds haha xD

Neusuada: Yay, I'm glad you've watched the first one too! Idk how some of you are even reading this fic without the first one haha. But yeah, there were too many plot holes in the first anime (which I am now using to my advantage in this fic, but still). I really like both, but I must say that brotherhood is my favorite of the two, though the 2003 anime holds a special place in my heart. x]

FlamingFlyingFoxOfDoom: Ok, I'm sorry for the confusion. As I confirm in this chapter, in the 2003 anime homunculi were created as a product of human transmutation. The creepy body things actually eventually become the homunculi (rather than in brotherhood where they just die). Edward, however, is not a homunculus. It's not really explained well, but somehow Alphonse (in the canon anime, though I'm still not so clear about how this worked) was able to pull Edward's soul back out of the Gate before it was too late. By giving himself up, Alphonse saved and essentially resurrected Edward. As for the rest of your questions, those will come in due time ;]

Bleach4Soul: *blush* thank you so much!

erico637: I do apologize for that... T_T but like I said, some fluff can be added soon. But as you pointed out, not with the proper Edwin pairs hehe

S J Smith: I'm really sorry about all the talking. I don't know what I was thinking. I was getting even getting bored writing it, so it must have been awful to read. I promise I will try to do better. This is just the boring period where explanation has happened so that the actual movement of the plot that takes place later will make sense.

Steel-chibi: *blush* thank you thank you! But haha, being more familiar with Brotherhood is fine, I was just worried about you all being able to understand stuff, because most of the cross-dimensional things come from the 2003 anime and CoS movie. Haha, and I like your theorizing, though that's not quite what I had in mind... but hey, there's still time for adaptations. It shall indeed be interesting... x]

Scaehime: Thank you again for your amazing review(s)! I'm so glad that you like it, and if you have any more questions feel free to PM me again (though I don't check that often -.-)

Ashes2Ashes: Ah, interesting. The first series is indeed not as good as brotherhood, or at least that is the consensus of a lot of the fandom, but the 2003 anime in my opinion is actually quite good. It's just hard to compare it, because brotherhood is SO good haha. Um, I don't quite have time for a plot summary in this response, but I can PM you later if you want (it's no trouble, just that I'm trying to publish this so I can sleep... it's 8am whoops) And haha, you kind of predicted the homunculus part, though I was thinking that it would be much stronger a reaction of course if they'd actually met her, but alas not in this fic. Thank you for your review! :D

Vivian: THANK YOU! And I know, both of the two animes are amazing in their own way, and I wish fans could just get along and not bash them. I don't really know how many chapters this story will have honestly, because it depends how long I make them and how much fluff I end up adding (which will depend on feedback I get from all of you), but it's going to be quite a few more I think. :D AND YOU THOUGHT IT MADE SENSE! THANK YOU KIND SOUL! But really, thank you so much! :DD

Sparky: Oh I see, that makes sense. But I am sorry that there has been so much explanation and dialogue. I will remedy that in the coming chapters, I promise! There's not much at all left to explain before plot progression and action of sorts can ensue! :D

Illusion/a Mysterious Illusion: HI! Thank you especially for your update encouragement, and I'm sorry it took so long T_T! :D and it's funny, for some reason I thought you'd had another account or something, but that was my tired brain at like 3 in the morning when I sent that PM haha. BUT DON'T DIE?! YOU'RE OK? YES? ;A;

elysenjazz: I'm sorry about your brain T_T (haha that sounds like an insult, but it's not) I hope the confusion in the coming chapters isn't as much, because after this one I am going to make an effort to limit the idle talking and actualy have progress be made other than exchange of information! Thank you for your review :)

happie2bme: Thank you so much! I too remembered so many of the differences and thought about them too often and thus this fic was born xD but it's really fun to weave them together this way, because in theory this all could be true (ok well not all but most of it) because the 2003 anime left so many loopholes, making it much easier to extend that anime's universe without going against anything canon. :D THank you!

AnimeNinja2400: I hope my later chapters didn't scare you away, but thank you so much for your reviews and welcome! It was really fun to read the progression as you read through the chapters xD

Thank you all so much for your reviews, and I am sorry again that I'm not faster at updating. Despite the low quality, it takes a long long time to write and then edit each chapter, especially since I don't have a definite plot for certain parts (though I have an overarching one of course). Thank you so much for your patience. And as I've said, the coming chapters should get more exciting! Thank you thank you thank you! :D

~ Night Rain