Hey, so I mentioned this on my profile, but in case you missed it... I'm mostly jumping ship with FFN and switching to AO3 fully. I don't want to leave things unfinished here, so I'm going to be updating anything that is currently in progress here (So this story, Beautiful Ghosts, and the Wish Granted rewrite, essentially), but aside from that, I'm not going to be starting new stories up over here. I've already posted several oneshots to AO3 that I'm just not going to bother with here. I'm so terribly sorry. There are more details on how to find me on my profile. I promise though, I'm not going to leave y'all hanging with this story.

CW: Racism and slight hints of WW2 stuff (Oh, FMA 03, we're really in it now)

My beta is currently napping with the curtains drawn and trying to fight off a migraine, so... I'm gonna be a good husband and handle this chapter all by my lonesome. Buckle up.

"I just wish I had something to wear with at least a little more color than this," Ed muttered, glancing down at his white button-up shirt as he brushed out his hair. Noah looked over at him with a smirk tugging at the corners of her mouth.

"Oh really? You still like wearing color?" she said, braiding a small piece of hair near the front of her head. "Ed always said he outgrew that when he left his world."

"Yeah, I went through a phase like that too," Ed said with a shrug. "It wasn't that I honestly didn't like color though."

"Huh?" Noah blinked at him. "Then why'd you stop?"

Ed frowned, thinking back to that time after the Promised Day. He could still remember how he had tried to put on a smiling face on the outside because there was no reason to be sad, not when he had succeeded in getting Al back, not when he had even managed to get his own arm back. But there had still been that gnawing in the back of his mind asking what he was good for now that he didn't have alchemy. He sighed and shrugged at Noah.

"Depression, mostly."

"Oh." Noah frowned. "Do you think he's...?"

"Probably."

"Oh," Noah whispered. "Is there anything I can do to help?"

Ed scrunched up his face in thought. "It depends. I'd have to know what all has been going on if I'm going to figure out what's going through his head. But I can try to help, if you'd like."

"I'd appreciate it," Noah said with a small smile. "And I can help with the color, if you'd like."

Ed's eyebrows shot up. "Really? Yeah, please, show me whatcha got."

"Wait here one minute," Noah said, her smile getting just a little wider. She then went over to her room and disappeared through the doorway, leaving him to wonder just what kind of colorful clothes she would bring him.

When she came out of the room again, she was holding a piece of fabric that was a deep red. It wasn't the same kind of gaudy, bright red he had gotten used to wearing non-stop in his teens, but there was still something appealing about the almost-wine color. It was somehow mature and elegant without the same bland feeling of going back to neutrals. Noah unfolded the fabric and held it up, revealing a shirt with laces near the top and sleeves with a bit more poof to them than Ed was used to. It was almost like the sort of shirt he would have expected to be in style more when his mom was a teenager, though he highly doubted anyone would have had a shirt like that in a color like red.

But the most shocking element of the short wasn't the color, or even the style, but the embroidered flowers all over it. There were bright, colorful flowers hand-stitched all along the collar of the shirt, running down to meet in a V-shape where the laces stopped. There were also even more flowers where the cuffs of the sleeves flared out. It looked like the sort of clothing that was only saved for special occasions because that much embroidery was enough to be a time-consuming pain.

"I was making this for Ed," Noah said, looking down at the floor, a blush slowly creeping up her neck. "But then he said this offhand thing about how he didn't like wearing color and I was worried he wouldn't like it."

"So you never even gave it to him?" Ed said, practically running over to her and grabbing the shirt. When he was looking at it up close, he could see just how well-stitched the flowers actually were, and he ran his fingers over them in awe, "But, Noah... you worked so hard on this. He would have loved it."

"You think?" Noah said, looking up at him with a small grin. Ed grinned back widely at her.

"Hell yeah! I mean, what's not to like? It's like... fancy gentleman meets pirate!"

"Actually..." Noah paused like she was debating whether she was actually going to say what she was thinking. After a minute, she sighed, going back to the same small smile she'd had before. "It's the sort of thing Roma boys wear."

Ed blinked and looked up from the shirt. "Roma?"

"My people," Noah said, her grin stretching a little wider as she closed Ed's hands over the shirt.

He stared at her blinking for a minute, his fingers tightening around the fabric as the words sank in. He had registered her darker skin, of course, but for some reason, he hadn't thought to even question what that meant in this world of different countries than what he knew. Something from her culture, something that had taken this much work... It was like she was giving him a piece of herself.

"I... Are you..." Ed frowned and bit his lip. Somehow it seemed rude to ask if she was sure when she was giving him something so personal. "It's okay if I wear this?"

"Of course," Noah said, patting his hand. There was an expression that Ed couldn't recognize in her eyes, and he wondered what she was seeing in his memories. But before he could even think to ask, she was pulling away. "Now please, just get dressed."

She turned and went off to her room, presumably to do the same and change out of her nightgown. Ed would have to actually ask Al where his double kept his pajamas later. But for the moment, all he could do was follow Noah's lead and go off to pick out some pants that would go with his new favorite shirt. He was honestly kind of jealous that he wouldn't be able to take the shirt with him whenever he ended up going back home. Then again, Noah had made the shirt for his double anyway, not him.

If his double refused to wear this shirt after all the work Noah had put into it, then Ed would use his own hands to strangle the guy. Sure, it would be a really weird experience, and sure, he would have to figure out how to cross worlds just to do it, but it would be worth it. After all, it was clear Noah had put hours upon hours of work into the shirt. It deserved to be worn and appreciated.

He ended up finding a pair of black pants to go with the shirt, tucking it in so billowed out over the top of his belt. When he went back out of his room, Noah was wearing a simple dress with a shawl of some sort tied around her waist.

"Not bad for a gadjo," she said, giving him a once-over, her lips twitching into an amused smile. She then nodded in the direction of the corner. "Don't forget the guitar."

They also had to make sure they grabbed coats, considering it was still late January. Ed almost felt bad about throwing a plain brown coat over Noah's beautiful embroidery, but it couldn't be helped. Then again, maybe she would be willing to make him a nice colorful coat to go with the shirt.

Wait, no, he was thinking like he would be sticking around. There was no way he would be able to be around long enough for Noah to embroider a coat, and even if he could, it wasn't like he could bring a coat across worlds with him anyway. He needed to not even think about things like that and just focus on getting home to Winry and the kids. Ed shook his head as Noah locked the front door and turned towards him again.

And with that, they were suddenly heading out of the apartment and Ed was actually seeing the rest of the world for the first time since the panicked time he had run through the streets in a daze. He had almost managed to forget he was in an entirely different world, and not just a weird little country where Al had some kind of secret twin. The architecture was so familiar, and yet different enough that he couldn't quite feel comfortable.

"What's the name of this city anyway?" he said, leaning towards Noah's ear so he wouldn't have to say it loudly enough for anyone else to hear. She smiled and looked towards him without turning her head.

"Stuttgart."

"Stuttgart." Ed tried the word on his tongue, the scoop of the 'u' clacking together uncomfortably with all the 't's in the word. The German accent wasn't always that different from Amestrian, but Stuttgart didn't really sound like the sorts of town names he was used to back home.

Even so, Stuttgart was still an absolutely beautiful city, and Ed found himself in love at first sight. Or maybe that was just the effect of having the first breath of fresh air he'd had in... What, a day and a half? Had he seriously stayed inside that tiny apartment that long? The sky somehow seemed so blue after spending days staring at white walls, and yet he was pretty sure he could remember the sky in Resembool being even bluer.

"Ah, someone took our usual spot," Noah said with a sigh. When Ed followed his gaze so he was looking where she was looking, he noticed a corner that seemed like any other corner, with a man playing violin as people walked past. Ed looked back to Noah and she gave him a smile and a shrug. "It can't be helped. We got a late start. Come on, let's go find a new spot."

She turned and started walking, leaving Ed to trot to keep up with her. "Uh, what exactly are we looking for?"

"Well, we don't want to be too close to someone else, because that'll make it harder for all of us to earn tips," Noah said, flicking her eyes around as they walked. "We need somewhere busy, but with enough space that we wouldn't be in the way."

Ed kept turning his head all around, trying to somehow absorb the brand new city while also keeping a lookout for the sort of corner Noah was looking for. He had no idea if he would be able to spot it with the brand new city, brand new world, brand new everything, but he wanted to at least try.

As they walked, he caught sight of a man who spat in the direction of Ed's feet. There was a word to accompany it, but it was unfamiliar and Ed was sure it had to mean something rude, judging by the way the man yelled it. He frowned and leaned towards Noah as they walked.

"What's that mean?" he hissed at her.

"It's their word for Roma. So I suppose, to him, it means the same thing as 'rotten dirty thieves,'" Noah said with a long sigh. She then frowned and looked over at Ed. "I'm sorry. I should have warned you that wearing Roma clothes means being treated like... Roma."

Ed frowned. Different world, same old shit.

They kept walking, with Noah seeming to be more intent on putting space between them and the man than finding a place to play. Ed watched Noah as they walked, took note of the way her lips pressed together and how she threw her shoulders back. It was such a familiar move that he wondered if she had picked it up from his double at some point. When the world doesn't want anything to do with you, just pick yourself up, give the world the finger, and keep going anyway. Sometimes it was the only thing that could be done.

He was so focused on the thought that he didn't notice the potential for disaster until he was literally bumping into her. He managed to only stumble back a step, but she fell to the ground with a yelp. A yelp so familiar that Ed froze in place.

On the ground in front of him was a very familiar blond, her hair cut shorter than he was used to, but still unmistakably familiar. Ed sucked in a breath and glanced over at Noah, who seemed just as frozen as him.

"L-Let me help you," Ed stammered, holding a hand out to Winry. Or, Winry's double, he reminded himself.

It suddenly struck him how absolutely heartbreaking it would be to live in a world with echoes of familiar faces. Funny, considering that he had been talking exclusively to the doubles of people he'd known ever since he'd shown up. But, well, he had never been particularly close with Rosé, so getting along with Noah was easy enough. Al was admittedly a little more heartbreaking, but at least he knew Ed was from another world, and at least they knew each other. At least he'd never needed to pretend to be strangers with Al.

Which was what he was suddenly going to have to do with Winry's double.

"Thank yo—" she started, taking his hand and climbing to her feet. But once she was standing, she froze and frowned at him, the expression Ed was used to seeing when she was trying to solve a problem. "Don't I know you?"

Ed felt his heart pause for a second. But that was impossible! She couldn't just have some sort of weird feeling about knowing him just because her double knew him, right? Then again, he would have normally said that abilities like Noah's were also impossible, and yet in this world—

"Wait, I know!" Winry said, snapping her fingers. Ed winced as he had to remind himself not Winry. "You're the weird man from the other day! You were talking gibberish, and then you..."

She trailed off, touching a couple of fingers to her mouth with a frown. Ed felt a blush creep up his neck.

"S-Sorry," he stammered, reaching a hand up to rub at his neck. "I swear, I'm not normally the type of guy who goes around talking gibberish and kissing random women in the street."

She frowned and crossed her arms, frowning at him. "Then why exactly did you do it that time?"

"Uh..." Ed frowned and blinked. "I... Heart attack. I thought... I thought you were my wife."

"Wait, really?" she said, her arms dropping as she looked over Ed's shoulder. "Wow. You must have really been out of it to mistake us for one another. Hi, I'm Winnie."

Ed blinked and turned in the direction Winnie's hand was facing, only to find himself looking in the face of a petrified Noah. He suddenly realized how it must look to her, him talking to the double of the woman he'd married while wearing the face of the man she loved. And his heart dropped down to his feet. Here his double had specifically thanked him for taking care of Noah, and then he was doing the total opposite. He reached out and grabbed her hand, pulling her to his side.

"This is Noah," he said with a grin. Noah shook Winnie's hand, but shot him a confused frown as she did. "And I'm Edward."

"And you're okay now?" Winnie said, turning to shake his hand as well. Ed gave her a weak chuckle and a shrug.

"More or less."

She pressed her lips together in that tight line that he knew always meant Winry didn't entirely believe him. It was odd to be able to read someone who was a stranger so completely and thoroughly. Well, technically the Al in this world was a stranger too, wasn't he? He somehow didn't feel like a stranger.

"Well," Winnie said with a sigh as she looked him over. "Try not to keep having heart attacks that make you kiss strange women. I'm sure your wife doesn't need the worry."

Ed's mind flicked to the thought of Winry and how much she would have been fussing over him after a heart attack if she were there. Was his double getting all her fretting energy instead?

"Yeah, I make her worry enough without doing more," Ed muttered with a wry smirk. Winnie chuckled and turned to look at Noah.

"Sounds like you've got a handful of a husband. You're a stronger woman than me." She then straightened and brushed at her clothes. "Well, I have to get going, so I'll let you two get back to what you were doing, but it was nice to... Well, nice to know you aren't a creep, honestly."

Ed couldn't help but let out a bark of a laugh at that, and then goodbyes were passed around, and then she was gone. Which left him and Noah to go back to the search for a spot to perform like before. Except Ed could tell that Noah was clearly distracted from the task, mostly focusing on staring at the ground in front of her instead of looking around like she had been doing before.

"My memories weren't that bad while I was holding your hand, were they?"

"What?" Noah snapped her head up. "No, you were mostly thinking of Winry. I'm used to that. They aren't bad or anything. You just have... Different memories, that's all."

Ed raised an eyebrow at her. "So then what're you thinking so hard about?"

There was a long moment of silence as Noah stared at the ground and walked. He was just about to figure that she didn't want to answer him when she finally spoke up.

"Ed, do you believe in soulmates?"

Ed frowned and kicked at a pebble on the ground. "What, like... Two people destined to be together, until the universe finds a way to pull them together or something? Nah."

"But you're married! Don't you believe in true love?"

"Of course," he said, his frown deepening. "But soulmates and true love aren't the same things. Soulmates are like... destiny. True love is work. The whole concept of soulmates is ridiculous."

"What?" Noah stopped walking then, looking at him like he had just revealed some sort of dark secret about himself. He sighed and paused.

"Okay, look, the entire concept of soulmates is flawed," Ed said, jamming his hands in his pockets as he turned to face her. "'Mates,' it sounds like... I dunno, like you're matching socks. Like there's some other person in the world who's exactly like you, like somehow you're incomplete and... worthless without them, and then... I guess you are worthwhile when you're with them? It doesn't make sense."

"That's not what—"

"Okay, well, there's the other analogies people like to use for soulmates. Like puzzle pieces. Still kind of useless unless they're together. Still something where it's expected that you'll just... Already be perfect for one another and all you have to do is find each other, and that's not what love is. Love is more like... Like a cast-iron skillet."

Noah blinked at him, her voice flat. "What."

"Like a cast iron skillet," Ed said, nodding as he repeated himself. "Like, you have to put a certain amount of care into them. You've got to season them properly and you can't wash them the same way as the other dishes. But after years and years of using a cast-iron skillet, it starts building up this special flavor and it's like... magic. There'll be no other pan in the world that can cook food like that one, no other pan so perfectly catered to you, and it's all because of the work and care you put into it."

"So... you're saying people should try and change someone to fit them perfectly?" Noah said, raising an eyebrow at Ed.

"No," he groaned. "The other person isn't the skillet, the relationship is the skillet. You're both people using the pan!"

"At the... same time? I don't understand. How is this related to soulmates?"

"I'm just saying." Ed sighed and pinched at the bridge of his nose. "Love isn't something that just... exists out there and it's just a matter of going through every single person possible until you find someone you love. It's... Something you make. It's work."

"So you don't think Winry is your soulmate?"

"I don't know if I would say she isn't my soulmate," he said, licking his lips, and Noah winced.

Suddenly it made sense to Ed why she was asking about soulmates and true love. She was still thinking about the encounter with Winnie, worrying that he would just immediately run off with her. Or maybe even worrying about his double, off spending time with Winry in another world. Or maybe she was just scared that because he had married Winry, that meant she was the only person in the world any Ed would ever love.

"I just mean that I have a different definition of soulmate than everyone else," he said, running his hand through his bangs with a sigh. "I don't think there was some grand plan or destiny leading Winry and me together, and I don't think she's the only person I could ever love."

"Well, how would you define a soulmate then?"

"A soulmate is..." Ed frowned and thought for a minute. "A soulmate is... Home."

"...think about what I've felt like the times you've called me. And then compare that to your memories of me, and see if they feel different."

Al couldn't stop thinking about Ed's words, playing them over and over through his mind on repeat even as the caravan set out into the desert. He hated feeling obsessive like that, thinking so much over just a couple of sentences Ed had said in passing. But he still couldn't shake off the feeling that something was... wrong. Of course, something was wrong, his brother had a heart attack. Things certainly weren't right. But something was wrong in a different way. Ed sounded frantic, worried in a way Al hadn't seen in years. He couldn't just pretend he didn't notice that.

Also, his accent had gotten weird ever since the heart attack, but apparently, no one was talking about that. Al wasn't sure why exactly a heart attack would make someone talk differently. Or at least, not in that way. He would have understood if Ed had started slurring his words together more, or if he had trouble shaping his mouth properly. He knew that sort of thing could happen with heart attacks. But it was almost entirely the opposite. It was like Ed's words had gotten more clipped, leaning more towards guttural sounds in the back of his throat than Al was used to.

"...compare that to your memories of me..."

Al shook his head. He was letting everything get to him too much. It was because he was worried and running on hardly any sleep and excessive amounts of adrenaline. He was doing that "Al thing" Ed always criticized him for and he was reading way too much into insignificant details. Everything was fine. Winry had practically told him as much and basically twisted his arm into saying that he would trust her to have it under control, and she was right. She was right. She was the one who was Ed's wife, after all. She spent every single day with him, so if she said he was fine, then it had to be fine. And she had more medical knowledge than Al, so the smart thing to do would just be to trust her, of course.

But Al still couldn't shake Ed's words out of his head.

"Are you okay?"

Al got jerked out of his thoughts by the gentle hand pressed against his arm. When he glanced over to his side, Mei was looking at him with a worried frown. He did his best to give her a smile back, but he knew it was weak. It didn't matter, since she wouldn't believe him no matter how much he smiled, anyway.

"I'm..." He started and trailed off. Not fine. But not different from how he was feeling just a few hours ago, either. "I'm just worried. But I'm okay."

"I'm sure Winry's taking good care of him," Mei said, giving him a soft smile of her own and leaning over to kiss his cheek.

"I know, I know. It's just... He said all these weird things. It's not like him."

Mei hummed, pressing her lips together in a line. Al always found himself appreciating her in moments like this, where she wouldn't brush it off or say he was wrong or making a big deal out of nothing. She always just trusted his judgment whenever she knew that he knew more about something than she did.

"Why don't you take the first resting shift and take some time to meditate?" she said with a nod towards the cart. "Maybe some quiet will help you figure it out."

Al smiled at her, his shoulders relaxing. This was exactly why he loved being around her. She not only understood his problems, but she also always had sensible ideas on how he could deal with things. He leaned forward and kissed her nose.

"That's a great idea, Mei, thank you."

So Al ended up excusing himself from the people who were riding, crawling into the back of the wagon he and Mei were going to share for the journey. There were definitely benefits to getting together with a princess, since the entire cart was covered in soft pillows and blankets made with colorful fabrics. Al swore he was just going to meditate, so he could actually keep his brain conscious and thinking, but with the comfortable pillows and gentle swaying of the wagon, he still ended up asleep within minutes, unable to resist.

When he dreamed, he dreamed in that hazy way where he knew it was a dream, and yet he was still stuck as a helpless observer. He was wearing clothes he couldn't entirely recognize and talking with a dark-skinned girl who seemed familiar somehow, but he still couldn't quite place her. And then he realized that Ed was there, but he looked... different than usual, somehow. He had an automail arm spread out on the table in front of him, his white button-up shirt pushed up to his elbows. Something about him looked different, but Al couldn't quite place why. He was just... Ed.

And yet Al still felt uneasy, like something was ever so slightly off.

But then Ed said something with a laugh, his bangs flying around his face as he turned his head and caught Al's eye. And when Al caught his eye, he was suddenly reassured. This was his brother. Those were the exact same eyes he had always known. He could practically feel everything that tied the two of them together just by his eyes.

Al woke up with a gasp, sitting up with a tangle of blankets clinging to him.

It was such a simple dream, and yet something about it unnerved him. He couldn't place why, though, and that maybe unnerved him even more. It was just... so ordinary, sitting and talking with Ed like that. It was so ordinary that it felt weird that it was a dream in the first place. And yet something about it left something unsettled in Al, like there was something he was missing.

"...think about what I've felt like the times you've called me. And then compare that to your memories of me, and see if they feel different."

Al took a deep breath and closed his eyes as he remembered what Ed had told him before. It wasn't as if he had any other leads, as if he knew what exactly was leaving him feeling so nervous and worried. Maybe Ed's suggestion would actually help, somehow. So he did his best to tap into the part of him that knew things rather than felt them, thinking back to the times he had called Ed in the past two days.

First there had been the time he had called Ed to tell him the news. That memory was pretty much just familiar, even though Al could pick up all kinds of undercurrents of emotions. He wished he could say that he had been unaware of all those feelings underneath the surface when the call had happened in the first place, but of course he'd been aware. He just hadn't wanted to give any attention to all those other feelings because he had wanted so badly to stay in his happy little bubble. The realization of that made Al cringe. If he'd been willing to stay on the call a little bit longer, if he'd insisted on talking things out with Ed until the tension had eased, would he have avoided Ed having a heart attack? The guilt tore at Al, so he tried his best to brush it off and move on to the next memory.

He remembered feeling like he had only just managed to pull away from the celebrations and collapse in bed when he had someone waking him up and saying he had a phone call. And then it had felt like the floor had dropped out from underneath him when he found out it was none other than Winry and his brother calling him.

He replayed the memory in his own mind, remembering the feel of the phone gripped until his knuckles were white, and as he thought back over it, he tried to tap into the feeling of Ed within the memory. It was difficult, doing it from a memory, not to mention a memory where he had only Ed's voice as any sort of input. He desperately wished that there was any other information to go on. Even just a visual cue here or there would help Al so much, especially since he was nowhere near as practiced as tapping into this sort of thing as Mei.

But even with the limitations, Al could tell that something was... off. He couldn't say exactly why, but he knew something was wrong, somehow. Something about Ed didn't feel quite like... Ed. Well, no, that wasn't exactly right. he still felt like Ed, of course he did. But Al couldn't quite sense the same tension of connection between the two of them that he had felt in the dream. He frowned and thought deeper on the memory, trying to focus even more on Ed. Maybe it was just his worry coloring the memory. Maybe he was misinterpreting things.

"Al, I think I'm from a parallel universe."

He frowned at the memory of Ed's words. No, that had just been Ed being weird because he'd just had a serious medical emergency. He did that, just talking gibberish when he was stressed and forgetting he was leaving people out on half the conversation that was happening inside his own mind. There was just more to it that Al hadn't heard yet, but once they actually showed up, Ed would get a chance to explain and things would actually make sense.

But still, a parallel universe...

A thought suddenly occurred to Al, and he slowly switched his thoughts over from playing over the memory of the terrifying phone call and instead switching to the dream he'd had just a little bit earlier. He focused his thoughts on the Ed in the dream, remembering how his eyes had sparkled and he'd felt that brief moment of connection between the two of them.

When he focused on that memory, it wasn't Ed who suddenly felt out of place and weird, but everything else. Somehow it felt like the entire room, world around them was wrong somehow. Even he himself somehow felt off. But when he focused on Ed, something about Ed felt... right. Al frowned and thought back to the phone call with Ed again, putting the two memories side by side and comparing their energy in his mind.

The two memories were almost like perfect opposites of one another. In one, Ed felt weird while everything around him felt normal and right, and in the other, Ed had this very normal very right energy hanging off him, but something about everything else felt like it was somehow out of sync with Ed.

Like a yin yang. Two halves of the same whole.

Al gasped, his eyes suddenly flying open as the thought occurred to him. The two memories had the same energy as a yin yang, a spot of one color in a field of another, like two pieces that were ever so slightly out of alignment from where they needed to be, and yet not out of alignment at all because they were whole and complete with one another in themselves.

Al went racing out of the wagon and went over to Mei, his heart pounding.

'We need to get there faster," he said, gasping for breath as he grabbed her shoulder. She looked over at him with wide eyes. "Something is wrong with my brother."

"I know you're worried," she said with a frown. "But we can't exactly make the caravan go faster just... Because you want it to. It's already amazing we're going this fast, thanks to Ling deciding to tag along."

"Please, just..." Al closed his eyes and tried to take in a deep breath. "Try and see if you can focus on Ed's energy and pick up if anything is wrong."

"I'm not the one who was bound to him in the Gate," Mei said, reaching out and touching Al's shoulder. "You're probably the best one for sensing his energy at this kind of distance. What did you pick up?"

"I don't..." Al frowned. "I don't know if... He might not just be talking weird because he had a heart attack. He might... He might actually be..."

He looked away from Mei, his frown getting even deeper as he looked at the sand. He somehow couldn't bring himself to even say what he was thinking. Maybe, just maybe, this Ed actually was from another world. But what did that mean for his brother? Was the last conversation he'd ever had with his brother been that awkward phone call admitting he wasn't going to move back to Resembool?

Al had gotten so scared when he'd heard Ed had a heart attack. Even though they had been through so much danger together, he had always figured that was past them now. And getting the news that Ed had a heart attack was like getting a violent wake-up call that you could still lose him. Losing someone didn't have to mean violence. After all, it wasn't like their mother had been running around the country as a state alchemist.

But he had never considered in all his worry of realizing he could lose Ed that maybe he already had. What if this Ed he had talked to really was from another world? What if his brother would never be able to get home?

"Is Ed okay?"

The sudden voice behind him nearly made Al jump out of his skin. When he turned around, there was Ling with a concerned frown on his face, Lan Fan hovering at his shoulder (as always).

Ling was theoretically supposed to be hanging around the entire group of guards that had been brought along for him, preferably in the wagon, since no one really expected the emperor to be walking through the desert like anyone else. Ling, however, seemed absolutely determined to slip away at any chance he got.

"Shouldn't you be in your—"

"Is. Ed. Okay?"

"I don't know!" Al snapped, running a hand through his hair. "Winry said over and over how he was fine, but... Something is... off. I don't know. It's like he's... He's not..."

Ling's frown only tightened slightly, but Al knew that he was dead serious. There was something about Ling in an emergency where he stopped just being their goofball friend Ling and suddenly had the air of emperor. When he spoke, it was measured and even.

"Take my camel. You can make it there faster if you run without the caravan."

"Are you sure?"

"Of course. We'll meet you there." Ling almost sounded like his usual cheery self again, but his smile still had a grim touch to it. "He needs you."

Al was polite, but not so polite to ask if Ling was sure more than once. He knew better than to look a gift camel in the mouth. Especially the emperor's personal camel, which was sure to be the fastest in the caravan.

All the better. Al needed to see his brother.

Now.

Being able to play guitar when he had never played guitar before was an odd experience, to say the least. Talking was beginning to come more and more easily to him as Ed practiced how to tap into the part of his brain that actually knew German. But the guitar was entirely different problem, because he had to make sure to somehow keep a laser focus, even though he kept being distracted by the songs, the sound of the guitar, and wondering when his double had gotten the time to practice the guitar. When Ed thought far back in his memories, he could vaguely remember his mom had once kept a guitar in the closet, and perhaps that was where his double learned the skill. But how had he kept up with his practicing while doing the whole state alchemist thing? Surely he hadn't been able to—

His fingers slipped against the strings as he thought, and Ed shook his head and tried to clear his mind of the thoughts. He had to focus. Somehow.

Noah was absolutely wonderful accompaniment, dancing to the music with a handkerchief spread on the ground beside her. Something about the way she danced was so genuine and full of life that he wondered how so many people could pass by without paying attention to her. There was the occasional coin tossed their way, and an odd smile here and there. But there were also the people who would pause to scowl or mutter under their breath, and Ed hated that they made a chill run up his spine.

The city was beautiful and peaceful on the surface, but it was as if there was an invisible current of tension running underneath everything and threatening to snap any second.

According to Noah, they managed to do decently enough for a day that had a late start, but she still wanted to get home and get dinner cooking before Al got off work. And considering that Ed still hadn't had lunch, he was more than inclined to agree with the plan. He didn't like that it seemed to take him longer to get hungry and less food to get full in his double's body. As far as he knew, they theoretically had pretty similar bodies, aside from the automail and differing old wounds. Really, with the extra automail limb still attached, Ed would have expected to be hungry more often, not less. Which made him a little suspicious that perhaps his double wasn't actually getting as much nutrition as he needed. What worried him even more was that it didn't even seem like just a self-sacrifice thing, because Al and Noah seemed to have similarly skinny frames coupled with lacking appetites. It seemed like everyone was malnourished, and Ed wasn't entirely sure what to do about it.

Then again, it wasn't as if anyone expected him to do anything about it. They just expected him to find a way to get home and send their Ed back to them. This wasn't his world. These weren't his problems.

Noah ended up opting for a potato soup for dinner, which Ed was beginning to suspect was a pattern. When he thought about it, he wasn't sure that he'd had a meal yet in that world that didn't have some form of potatoes involved. Still, he wasn't one to complain as long as he got any food at all, so he settled down at the table, messed with the automail, and chatted with Noah while she cooked. There was something almost... comforting and familiar to the routine, like it was just another night working on an order that was running behind. Minus the two whirlwinds of chaos running under tables and around chairs, of course.

Better not to think about it. The more he thought about Teddy and Zaza, the more he would get paralyzed with grief. The best thing he could do would be to put all his energy into actually figuring out a way to get home. Keep moving forward. Although...

Ed glanced down at the automail as he thought. He was hardly doing anything to actually try and figure out a way home. He was mostly just working on something that would theoretically make the other guy's life better. Al had suspected that maybe the two of them would naturally switch back after a certain amount of time, but he'd now been there a couple of days and they hadn't switched back. Perhaps it was time to start making more intentional plans. But what was he supposed to do as a non-alchemist in a country with no alchemy?

Somehow, he had managed to become even more common, something he hadn't even thought was possible after he lost his alchemy.

He was snapped out of his thoughts by the sound of the key in the front door, and then a loud slam. Or at least, a slam as far as Al was concerned. As in, closing the door loudly enough that other people could hear the door being closed. which meant something with Al was very, wrong. Ed frowned and got up from the table to go over to the coat rack near the front door.

Al's face was practically purple as he hung up his coat, muttering under his breath the entire time. Ed frowned and reached out to put his left hand on Al's shoulder, making the younger Elric jump nearly a foot in the air with a stricken expression on his face.

"What's wrong, Al?"

The two of them stared at each other for a long minute, and Ed saw so many expressions flit across Al's face that he was tempted to remind him that Elric telepathy still existed no matter what world and which Elrics were involved. Even if Ed didn't know why exactly Al had gotten upset, he could tell exactly all the feelings that were associated with it.

First there was surprise, maybe because he hadn't thought another Ed would notice his mood, or maybe because his double tended to give Al more space. Then there was a look of Al clearly thinking he couldn't talk about whatever was on his mind, but then a following realization that he wouldn't be able to pull off a lie. Then there was some sort of loneliness, probably missing his brother who would understand the whole thing way better. And then something in Al broke, and the tears started sliding down his cheeks even as he looked at Ed.

"Hey, hey," Ed whispered with a frown. He closed the space between them in a couple of steps and pulled Al against him in a tight hug. "What's going on?"

He could feel Al's fingers curl into fists in the fabric of his shirt and a long, quiet moment passed before a response was finally mumbled.

"They're going to start making weapons at the factory."

**Gadjo: Non-Romani

*looks at how much time has passed since the last update* Let me explain! *pauses to think* No, there is too much. Let me sum up.

Long, long story short... Uh, life sucks, and has been kicking my butt for a while? But also I started working on a secret project for the Big Bang event this year and getting stuff ready for those deadlines was all I could do for a while, and then I accidentally started Former Alchemist's Guide, not realizing it would end up turning into a 30k fic that I needed to get out in time for my anniversary in the first week of May.

Long, long story even shorter... I'm back now, and updates should be coming regularly again. Hopefully, this was a fun chapter despite the ridiculous wait, heh!