A/N: It's quite a solemn day isn't it... well here it is, numero 2: 3rd October 2017...it's only been just over an year, yet it fells like a lifetime.

For my brother, the nii-san I never had.

Because it all works out at the end, but there are so many things which could have been; because they deserve things to go right for once, even if it is all in our own imaginings.

Alphonse wouldn't let the armour slip from his grip - Rose's shouts would not deter him. His surroundings of Lior's sights and people became insignificant as he concentrated his energy solely on hanging on.

After two long years worth of weary days and restless nights filled with study and research and the screaming absence of his brother, he was desperate enough to follow any lead presented to him - no matter how flimsy or uncharted the basis of it was.

It wasn't like the Philosopher's stone...few people had heard about the Gate, never mind actually experienced it. Alphonse hardly even knew what it was that he himself was looking for. All he knew was that Ed was alive, be it in this world or another, so no, he would not let go.

And that was the last time Alphonse Elric was seen...

...in that world.

Later he would speculate how he had managed to bypass the portal of Truth, or more accurately, why he had been spared by it.

Shutting his eyes against the blinding yet warm light which whitened the edges of his vision before consuming it all, he tightened his grip on the armour even further.

Then there was a moment in which all senses ceased: the metal beneath his arms was gone, as was the brush of his long hair on his neck. The soft and warmth of the red coat (from which Ed's scent had long disappeared) was for an instant not a comforting weight on his shoulders. The breath in his lungs painfully missing.

Every last sensation of living, having a human body was simply not there anymore. It was like being in the armour again. It terrified Alphonse.

And as it came, it was gone again, so swift that there wasn't even time enough for a shocked gasp. He had landed beside the armour he had been clutching on to. Not even a second ago, he had been going up. This only served to confuse his disorientated mind more. But even in this state, he could not bring himself to think that this was crazy and reckless - the truth was that he was tired. Under the youthful determination of his still childish face, his mind was older, weary of years of searching. As he had travelled after the death of Teacher, he had shadowed his and his brother's previous journey for a different quest, each new place arousing yet another set of his lost memories.

And now it had brought him to the place where their journey had ended. Where they had been separated. Lior. And he was glad to leave it: the flash of disjointed memories ( - a great ballroom - a transmutation circle - homunculus shapeshifter - fighting - blood - Brother? - Brother! - no...not dead - no Brother Brother - ) was too much for him to handle. Beneath that smiling, innocent mask he showed Rose and Mr Armstrong, he was panicking, crying. His brother was...d-dead? No...all this time he had been sure, that somewhere Ed was still living. But now, his whole world came crashing down on him.

He slowly became aware of voices as the white faded, but couldn't understand what was being said. Feeling the lack of the sun which had been warming his skin just a moment ago told him that he was not in Lior. No, the whiteness - he had passed through the gate. The armour bodies which he had been fighting off were now lifeless all around him, towering is a heap so he was sufficiently hidden from view.

The only problem was that he too could not see where he was and what was happening. The gun shots were not promising. He managed to stifle a cry of surprise when someone dived into the pool of armour causing the whole pile to jolt. He flinched slightly - that must have caused the poor person more than a few bruises...he was probably trying to shelter himself from the gunshots. Just as he went to hide himself from the stranger who was crawling through, a flash of long blond hair made him freeze in hope and disbelief.

Eyes wide as the face slowly turned to him, also freezing in bewilderment. They both stared at each other, immobile with disbelief, shock, amazement, confusion and hope among other things.

Alphonse ventured first with a timid "Brother?". Edward, after a slow blink as if to confirm his eyes weren't deceiving him, returned an equally shaky "Al?" and the spell was broken.

"Brother!"

Al was hugging Ed with all his strength, somehow in his excitement bringing the both in a standing position.

"Brother! Oh brother, I'm so glad to see you, it's been too long, are you okay!" Al exclaimed happily.

Ed managed a raspy "I can't breath!" causing Al to let him go. He blinked slowly once more at the person standing in front of him. It was Al. His Al. And in his own body...he had succeeded? It really was Al - his voice, his eyes, his smile...but he was all grown up, his little brother! His hair were long now and his face more matured from when he had last seen him...six years ago on the night of the transmutation. But he was short! Since when had Al been shorter than him?! But that didn't matter right now.

"Al."

"...but you've changed. You're taller now!"

Ok, so it did matter now.

"What, you thought I'd still be a runt when I'm eighteen years old!" he shouted in typical Ed fashion. It felt right: he hadn't been like this since he had come into this world. He had been subdued and sombre - no one in this world (except his father Hohenheim) knew that under the mature and solemn Ed there was his infamous, short temper - it simply didn't exist in this world, until now. Speaking of which, now they were both being shot at.

They ducked simultaneously with Al's dry remark: "They don't seem too happy. You haven't changed brother. Still causing trouble."

"Save the lecture!" was Ed's retort, but the warmth held in his supposedly sharp words made them affectionate if anything. "Let's get out of here."

They both trusted each other explicitly - it didn't mater that he had literally just been reunited with him a second ago. So when Al nodded his affirmative with a "Right!" and "Hold on tight!" Ed followed his instruction and grabbed on to the same armour (ironically the same shape as Al's armour had been) that Al had secured himself onto.

He did, however, give a cry of surprise and shock when the armour sprang to life and started running out of the room, but skidding to a stop outside.

"Now what!" Al cried, looking left and right in confusion.

"Just Go!" Ed cried out, almost hysterically - too much was happening...it was like a dream, but too vivid to be so.

"Which way!?"

"Anywhere!"

"I don't know where I'm going!" Al shouted over the commotion, equally hysteric.

"It's better than getting shot!"

They both sat on the river bank, side by side, trying to recover their breaths, while looking out to the illuminated buildings on the other side of the water.

"I've dreamed of this place. It's pretty. Are we really in the gate?"

"No, we're on the other side of it. But forget that. I want to hear about your life, Al. That is really you, right. You've grown so much I can hardly recognise you. How did you get that armour to move?"

"Alchemy of course. Back in Lior, I was controlling the suits of armour by transferring a portion of my soul into them."

"A portion of your soul!?"

"Oh, don't worry, brother, I'm fine. It just comes naturally to me."

"I wonder why" Ed muttered sarcastically under his breath, somewhat bitterly. "Al...so what, this armour has a part of your soul in it?" Ed stood to inspect the said object, starting when it actually replied with his brother's voice:

"Yep - I can control the armour even more finely by how much of my soul I allow to flow between it and my body."

Edward looked from his brother to the armour and back to his brother with a mixture of concern, reverence and amazement.

"You know at first, when I got my body back, I couldn't remember anything - the last time I remembered seeing you was the day we tried to bring Mom back, and then I woke up in central and a girl named Rose was taking me home. But as scared and lonely as I was, I knew that one day I would see you and we'd be together again. And now, all that time alone was worth it, because I found you at last."

With his speech finished, Al threw himself at his brother, locking him in a tight embrace.

"Alphonse - you are something else entirely." Ed's eyes were soft as he held his brother tenderly.

"And this time I'm not letting go - I won't let go, so don't you dare try to send me back brother!"

A chuckle escaped Edward's lips as he broke the hug, but slung an arm around Alphonse's shoulders. "Understood, little brother. I guess you are stuck with me in this world, then."

"I wouldn't have it any other way."

"Something good happen?" Heiderich asked, studying the happy smirk on Edward's face.

"Yes, actually." He said, stepping aside so that his roommate could see the figure standing behind him.

"My little brother has come home."

~fin