Mr. Tucker showed Dani and Tiffany around his study and told them that he'd be in his office doing research for his assessment. Elise overheard the conversation as she came back from consoling Nina. She felt nauseous hearing Tucker act so normal. He wasn't a normal man. He was sick. He was a murderer. He was everything she was trying to protect her brother from. The only reason Alphonse and Nina were okay was because they didn't know the truth about him.

The trio spent a half an hour pretending to study alchemy to avoid Tucker's suspicion. Dani could only understand the basics of these alchemy books and felt surprised that Elise was able to decipher these books so easily. Tiffany looked almost just as lost as Dani was.

"How the flip is one supposed able to understand a word of what these books are saying?" Dani quietly questioned.

Elise shrugged and responded, "It mostly just takes knowledge on math and science."

That explained a lot. Dani was barely passing math class and had a B in science. She liked science, but math was horrible. How could Elise survive such an awful class?

"That reminds me," Tiffany began, "What do you guys want to be when you grow up?"

Dani perked up and whispered, "Since I've always loved baking, I want to become a pastry chef."

"Bake me something when you get in! I wanna open a coffee shop when I get older." Tiffany cheered quietly.

Elise averted her gaze downward and said, "I really don't know what I want to be…"

"That's okay. You're only 12." Tiffany reassured her.

"Yeah, you've got plenty of time." Dani smiled.

The group continued their little act until that heinous man came in for some reason. Elise was ready for his suspicion.

"I don't mean to interrupt, but I was making dinner and wanted to ask if you wanted to stay for dinner." Mr. Tucker said thankfully.

Elise faked a grin and said, "Yeah! That would be really nice of you, sir."

"Alright, I'll go tell Alphonse and Nina." The older man replied.

Elise hated calling him "sir" more than anything. She hated showing that man respect. He didn't deserve any respect. Shou Tucker deserved nothing more than the same torture he showed the people he turned into chimeras. But she had to bite her tongue lest she ruin the whole plan. Elise continued to walk down the hall until she heard a familiar song in the room she used to share with her brother.

Don't cry for the past now brother mine

Neither you nor I are free from blame

Nothing can erase the things we did

For the path we took was the same.

Elise finally heard Alphonse's verse. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. Alphonse knew it was a bad idea and she pressured him. How was he to blame? She couldn't stand hearing him say he had blame in this. Why?

How could I expect to call you wrong?

How could you be blamed for what we've done

Both of us were fools in our desires

As we flew too close to the sun.

Elise's eyes were welling with tears at this point. Alphonse didn't hate her. It had been a question that had been festering inside for so long, and now she had the answer she had been hoping to get. Of course, if he did, she wouldn't have blamed him. After all, she was the reason he didn't have a body. Alphonse was always a kind soul.

Beautiful mother soft and sweet

Once you were gone, we were not complete.

Back through the years, we reached for you.

Alas, 'twas not meant to be.

It was just as beautiful as it was painful. The truth of Al's feelings. The truth about how he really felt. Elise wanted to hug her brother and never let go. Alas, she couldn't…

My dreams made me blind and mute.

I long to return to that time.

I followed without a word.

My brother, the fault is mine.

No, it wasn't! It wasn't! It couldn't be. How could any of this have been Al's fault? Elise wanted to kick Alphonse for daring to say such a thing. Instead, she stood near the door silently sobbing.

So where do we go from here?

And how to forget and forgive?

What's gone is forever lost.

Now all we can do is live.

Elise ran away to the bathroom so no one would see her crying her eyes out. She couldn't allow anyone to connect her with Edward Elric. What she didn't see was Alphonse who saw her running to the bathroom.

…

Dinner was prepared and the group sat down to eat with Tucker, his daughter, and his guest.

"Thanks a lot for having us, sir." Dani said with a smile.

The man chuckled and said, "Oh, it's no issue. Thanks to Alphonse and his brother, I'm used to having guests."

"Whatever happened to Al's brother?" Tiffany played dumb for a bit.

"Alphonse's brother, Edward, vanished about two months before the three of you arrived." Tucker sadly explained.

Elise rolled her eyes at Tucker annoyed at his fake pity.

"What was he like, Alphonse?" Dani asked wanting to hear his thoughts.

"Just call me Al," He chuckled before continuing, "He's a bit rough around the edges when you first meet him. But once you've known him for a while, you'll find that he's always there when push comes to shove."

Elise tried to focus on her dinner so she wouldn't cry again only for Al to add…

"He's also a great big brother whether he admits it or not."

The worst part was she couldn't just leave…

"Uh oh, why is Miss Elise crying?" Nina asked.

"It just reminds me of my family before they all died in an accident," Elise quickly answered, "Sole survivor stuff."

"I'm sorry to hear that. I know how you feel." Alphonse somberly said.

"You do?" Tiffany asked continuing to play dumb.

Alphonse nodded before explaining, "Our dad left when we were young, Mom succumbed to illness, and brother lost his limbs due to an accident."

"May I ask a question?" Dani asked.

Al looked up at Dani and she continued,

"How are you and your brother still sane after all of that?"

Alphonse shook his head and said, "Sometimes, I wonder that too…"

Dinner continued to go by without a hitch. Nina asked her daddy if the girls could play with her for a bit. Tucker asked them if they were okay with it which the girls all agreed. More time spying on Tucker and gaining information was always something they were down for. But before they could start, Alphonse asked if he could speak to Elise for a bit. Elise was nervous about the idea of being alone, but the fact that it was Alphonse was comforting her as she walked into his room. As they sat down, he asked her a rather puzzling question…

"What's been going on with you…"

Her comfort was quickly replaced by horror with one word…

"Brother?"

A/N

Been gone for a week due to school. Hopefully I can do better when it comes to the whole writing thing.

Elise messed up somewhere, hehe. Gonna be kinda hard to explain that one.

See you all in the next chapter.