Late at night, Pinako sat in her rocking chair, deeply in thoughts and smoking her pipe. The following years after Al's adoption had been rough. He would wake up with horrible nightmares almost every night and absolutely refused to believe that Edward was dead. It was the same struggle every time and there was nothing they could say to console him. The only one he wanted was his big brother. The only thing they could do was to remind him that Edward was not coming back, but would watch Alphonse from the sky with their mother. It broke the little boy's heart, time after time.

It had always seemed strange to her, how the boy was able to accept that his mother was dead, but not Edward. But, to think, after all this time, that Edward might not be... What if the young Alphonse had known something? Something his brain wasn't ready to understand at that time. They had just added to his confusion, not asking any questions and blindly accepting that Ed was dead and that Al was in denial.

She made her way to the phone that hung on the wall at their entrance. It was past eleven, so she hoped the Second Lieutenant was still up. Reaching into the pocket of her apron, she picked up the note with phone numbers lieutenant Hawkeye had left and called the home number.

"Riza speaking," the other end answered after just a few rings.
"Uh, this is Pinako Rockbell. I'm looking for Second Lieutenant Hawkeye?"
"Oh, yes, sorry. This is her."
There was silence. Pinako got thrown off from the conversation she had rehearsed in her mind before calling.
"Is there something I can assist you with?"
"Are you sure that it's our Edward?" she finally managed in a worn out voice. She heard a deep sigh from the woman at the other end.
"I don't know what to say," she admitted. "I don't know. I'm sure that Edward Elric is here in Central. It's Alphonse we've been unsure of."
"Well, I know who my Alphonse is, and he is Alphonse Elric, son of Van Hohenheim and brother of Edward Elric. I just don't understand why anyone would lie to the two boys."
"Me neither Mrs. Rockbell. We are looking into it, and will give you the answers if we ever find them." Another silence took over the conversation and once again Riza was the one to break it.
"Have you thought any more of what you want to do with this information?"
Pinako still didn't answer. Images of Alphonse at five years of age came to mind.

He had been in the fields picking wildflowers and stood in their kitchen with his lovely bouquet of pink, yellow and blue. She was about to find a small vase to put them in when he looked at her with his big hazel eyes and asked if they could put them on his brother's grave. Her heart sunk in her chest. It was the first time Alphonse had wanted to visit his grave. Whenever they went to the cemetery, he only spoke of his mother. He refused to accept that his brother was there too. After that he had never woken up, crying for his brother. Not a single time.

"Yes," she finally spoke. "I know what to do."

Winry Rockbell was humming as she cut up thick pieces of bread. The eggs were cooking in the frying pan, and the table had been set. She loved mornings, moving effectively between her different stations in the kitchen, cooking her small family a nice breakfast. The radio was playing tunes and the sun was on its way to unveil what she expected to be a beautiful snowy day. Stretching his arms over his head, Alphonse revealed the bottom part of his stomach as he entered the kitchen, yawning heavily. "Good morning sis," he mumbled in a groggy voice.
"Morning Al! The eggs will be ready in a few minutes. Is granny up yet?"
"Yeah, she's up," he said, leaning over her shoulder to the eggs in the pan. "This smells really good."
"The hot water is ready if you want some tea," she said and pointed to the kettle with her spatula before flipping the eggs. Pinako entered as the plates with eggs and toast were placed on the table, ready to be devoured.

"This is a nice surprise," she smiled and picked up a cup to fill it with the hot water.

"I woke really early, so I decided to make breakfast for you guys," Winry answered, sitting down at the table. She abstained from mentioning the part where she couldn't sleep because her grandmother had been acting strange last night.

Pinako returned to the table with a cup of freshly brewed tea. From the look on the old woman's face, Winry couldn't help but feel like something really was bothering her. Fortunately, Pinako didn't wait for her to say something about it.
"Alphonse, sit down, please. I need to talk to you about something."

Obediently, he sat down on a chair next to Winry, curious and a bit apprehensive.

"Is something wrong?" he asked with worried wrinkles on his face.

Pinako took a deep breath, folding her hands as she looked at her adoptive son. He had grown up so much the last year. His body was tall and strong and he had become much more confident. But, he would never stop being the sweet, kind and gentle boy he had always been. Not being able to prolong it anymore, she finally spoke.
"I got a call yesterday," she paused, looking for the right words. "It was a woman from the military in Central."

She eyed her granddaughter who was facing down. Winry hated the military after everything that happened to her parents during the Ishvalan war. Pinako herself was not overly fund. Winry's father had been her only son after all. But, this was not about that.

She continued. "Anyway, she asked me a couple of questions about... the fire."
Al suddenly looked to her in surprise, unconsciously stroking his arm where the faint scar of a second-degree burn was etched in his skin.
"Why?" he uttered with a frown.

"She had some questions about you... and Edward."

Al finched when hearing that name. It hadn't been spoken out loud for a long time, but he frequently visited the gravesite. The only thing he could think of doing was repeating himself. "Why?"

"Oh, Al." Pinako could not stand to look at the boy's pained expression, knowing how much he missed his brother. "I don't know how to tell you this without getting your hopes up..."

"He is alive, isn't he?" Al exclaimed, slamming his palms into the table, making the silverware rattle.

"What?" Winry gasped and looked at her grandmother.

Pinako shook her head. "I don't know. Apparently, a young man in Central is claiming to be Edward," she answered. "It's difficult to know for sure, but the military officials think he's telling the truth."

"I know he is! I knew he wasn't dead. I knew it!" Al shut up off his chair. "How could you tell me he was dead for all these years? How could we bury my brother? Now you're telling me that you didn't even know for sure?"

Al realized he was shouting. He had never even raised his voice at Granny Pinako before, but he was so angry. Angry that someone dared to say that all his time grieving the loss of his family could have been spent looking for the brother he was told he had lost.

"Alphonse, please sit down," Pinako said in a calm voice. "I know you are upset. We all are. Apparently, he thinks you are dead too. The military official I've been talking to tells me they are looking into it."

Even though he was still mad, he couldn't push her away. He knew she would never lie to him on purpose. Instead, he took a deep breath to calm himself down and sat down like he was told.

"W-what happens next?" Al finally mustered with forced composure.

"I guess it's up to you. They haven't told him that you are alive yet, so if you want to stay dead, you can."

"Granny, that's horrible!" Winry looked shocked. Pinako raised her shoulders, not leaving Al out of her sight. Al stared right back with fire in his eyes.

"I want to go to Central."

Alphonse packed his suitcase. Their train was leaving in three hours, but he couldn't wait. Granny had called the woman that had contacted her from Central but was told she was out on a mission. Pinako had left a message, saying that the Rockbells would arrive in Central the next morning. Then they booked three tickets for the afternoon train.

How could all of this have happened? Was there a mix-up at the hospital and whose ashes had been buried next to their mom? Not to mention, how had he always known that Ed was alive? He must have seen or overheard something at the hospital. The only thing he could remember about the time between the fire and moving in with the Rockbell's, was the feeling of guilt. It wasn't much of a memory, but he remembered just feeling so overwhelmingly guilty. At some point he had started to accept that he was wrong about Ed having survived.

He knew that people didn't think it was possible for him to remember his older brother at all, being so young when he had lost him. But, Al knew that to be untrue. He remembered every single detail about his big brother. From his messy blonde hair and golden eyes to his temper and protectiveness. He remembered Ed letting him sleep in his bed if he had a bad dream, and that he told him stories before bed whenever their mother was weary. His smell, his colorful language, and his touch. Alphonse Elric remembered every single thing about his deceased older brother. Especially well did he remember the pained look on his brother's face when the flames surrounded him. Now someone was saying that the one detail people actually believed to be true, was the lie.

In a bookshelf in his room, there was a wooden box he had made at school several years ago. He carefully retrieved it and placed it on his desk. Opening it up, he felt something heavy in his chest, like he always did when watching the container's content. Inside lay two silver pocket watches. One more damaged than the other. It was the only thing they could retrieve from the ashes of their old home. Reaching inside, he picked up the nicer of the two watches and opened it up.

'Alphonse Elric Hoenheim, 08.07.00'

He gave it a faint smile and put it back down and grabbed the watch that had sustained the most damage. It was burnt and a bit hard to get open from all the dents, but he knew how to, after years of practice. Tears threatened to take over his smile, but he wiped them away so he could see the inscription clearly.

'Edward Elric Hoenheim, 10.11.99'

The fight of the emotions was won by the tears, but he refused to lose his smile as he held the pocket watch tightly and close to his heart.

'I always knew that we'd be together again.'

"Edward?" Several yells sang through the streets of the suburban neighborhood. The two dark-haired men throttled around in the snow, knocking on doors, looking through gardens and tool sheds. They had met up with First Lieutenant Hawkeye and Second Lieutenant Havoc two times the last three hours, but still, there was no news. For the third time, Mustang saw Riza's car driving down the block to give the hourly check-up, noticing that the car was driving faster than the previous times. It stopped abruptly in front of them, as they walked out of a driveway.
"Any ne..."
"Get in the car! I'll explain on the way," Riza interrupted. The men wasted no time, Hughes getting in the back and Roy in the front.
"What's going on?" Maes asked as he was finally able to sit up from the force pulling him down when Riza stepped on the gas pedal.
"A horse farmer living at the edge of the woods just found a young boy behind one of his fencings. An ambulance is on its way. After dropping Havoc off, I turned around to pick up the two of you."
"Do you know anything about the state he was in?" Roy asked, holding onto the glove department to brace himself from her speeding.
"Unconscious. That's all they told me over the radio."

It only took them a couple of minutes before they parked outside the large farmhouse. It didn't seem like the ambulance had arrived yet.
"Over there," Hawkeye said and pointed to a tall fence about 100 meters behind the main house. They all ran over the country yard. Roy saw a tall man with broad shoulders and a beard and guessed it must be the farmer. Crouched down beside him he saw Havoc. He had taken off his jacket and seemed to hold something in his arms.
"Edward!" Roy shouted and picked up the pace. Havoc looked up and gave them a wave. Now Roy could see that Havoc had wrapped Edward up in his jacket, and was holding him close to his chest to keep him warm.

Roy kneeled beside Havoc and Ed, panting heavily.
"How is he?" he finally gathered enough composure to ask.
"He's very cold, boss." Roy lifted the collar of the jacket away to see Ed's face. He looked sickly pale.
"His heart rate is down, and his breathing is weak. I think it's safe to say that he has a moderate or severe case of hypothermia." Havoc explained.
"Shit," Roy whispered under his breath. "How long since you called the ambulance?"
"They're probably close. It's almost ten minutes ago." Hawkeye explained. Roy hadn't even realized that they had caught up. Maes was talking to the farmer, taking notes in a pad he always left in his pocket.

"Can you take over? My ass is freezing," Havoc asked, and gently laid Ed in Roy's arms before he could refuse.

Everything was in slow motion. It felt like he was underwater. All the sounds were echoing, and any attempt of moving felt restrained, but Ed kept swimming. Far above him, he could see the shimmering light from the surface. He tried to reach his arm out for the sun rays to grab a hold on him and drag him towards the surface. No matter how hard he struggled to move up, the distance seemed to grow further.

'So tired...'

There was no point, was there? His battle to keep going never seemed to lead him anywhere. The sun was always just a little too far away.

'I should just close my eyes and let the current take me. I can't do this anymore.'

But then, one of the ray's took a hold of his arm. Careful and steady, it led him through the blackness of the water and pulled him safely to the shore.

Mustang?

"I'm right here buddy."

Slowly, Ed opened his eyes. Mustang was holding his mangled hand. Ed wanted so bad to tell him to not let go. The soothing feel of being held and protected... Ed could not remember the last time someone had held him like that.
"Stay awake, okay?"

'You know you don't deserve this.'
Shut up.

'You can't live up to their expectations.'
Shut up!

'You're going to hurt them like you've hurt everyone who has ever loved you.'
Please, stop.

'Even your father didn't want you, and he was still alive."

"SHUT UP!"

"Edward!" Roy held him tighter as Ed started to weakly fight away Roy's arms.

"Just... Shut up! Please... I can't take it." Ed could hardly hear his own voice. It was so weak. Why did he feel so hot?

Ed started thugging at the tied up sleeve of his sweater with his left hand, trying to undress. He felt like he was burning up and he could hardly breathe. His sweater was quickly pulled back down over his head. Voices speaking incoherently. Ed wasn't able to resist as he got lifted off the ground. With the little strength he had left in his body, he squirmed in the tight grip.

"Let me go..." he wimpered. "I don't wanna..."
"Stop... fighting." A voice struggled.
"M'sorry," Ed whispered. "Please, don't... hurt me. M'sorry. I'll be good, m'sorry..."
"He's not making any sense," Roy exclaimed with a horrified look on his face.
"It's the hypothermia." Havoc said. "The guys from the medics are just across the yard now."
"No, no medicine... So so sorry."
"They need to hurry up!" Roy growled.
"It's going to be okay," Roy whispered to Ed. "You're safe. No one is going to harm you."
"S-sorry." Ed's voice was so hores that Roy hardly could make any sense of his words.

Hawkeye approached them and placed a reassuring hand on the side of Ed's cold face.
"Alphonse is coming to see you," she said with a smile. Roy stared at her, surprised by the sudden revelation.
"Wha..?" the bundle squeaked. Hazy eyes looked up to her.
"Yes. He is alive and well and on his way to see you."
"A-Al?"
"Al," she confirmed with a small nod. "He is very excited to see you again."

All of a sudden, the world started turning again. The water cleared and his body was rushed through the water with fast strokes. Could this be real? Could this happen to someone like him? Was it really...?

"Al," he whispered and his body went limp.

Thank you for reading! This was a long one... I really hope you are satisfied with how thing's are going. I've rewritten this chapter several times.

Please leave a review! Stay awesome!