Time Frame: Frankly, I am not sure where this would fall into the series. I haven't not finished watching all of it yet.

Name explination: If you look very closely in the upper-right hand corner of the pictures of Ed and Al in front of a human transmutation circle, you will see the words "white follows the grey," thus the name of this fanfic.


"Sir, I have a letter for you," a hotel worker called out as Ed walked through the lobby. The young blond turned to look at the man. He thought that it was a little odd that he would know someone who had only just checked into the hotel by name and looks.

"You are the Full Metal Alchemist, right?" The worker asked, noting Ed's confusion. "Someone came in with an envelope, said that the Full Metal Alchemist was staying here, and gave me a description. You match the description and…"

"Yeah, that's me." Ed cut him off and strode over to the desk. He pulled the small white envelope out of the worker's hand and examined it for a moment before shoving it in his pocket. He didn't need to ask who it was from, the front of it carried a familiar transmutation circle on it, the same one that rested on the back of Colonel Mustang's gloves. For the moment, he didn't question why someone would put a circle that could turn air flammable where anyone could activate it. He simply assumed that Colonel Mustang had not thought that far into the future or was hoping that something happened to the letter so that he could put it on Ed's record.

By the time he reached the room where he and Al were staying at, room 103, he had almost forgotten about the letter, it probably only held another description of a pointless mission that Ed would threaten to ignore. The room was somewhat shabby, but the bet was comfortable and the covers were warm enough that Ed was willing to overlook the threadbare carpet. Al was sitting on the bed closest to the door, his heavy metal frame causing the bed to sag in the middle.

"What's in your pocket?" Al asked, spotting the edge of the envelope.

"Oh yeah, almost forgot about it." Ed pulled it out and opened it up. His eyes scanned over it once and he froze. "No way!" he muttered in disbelief. He read it again, slower this time, and then a third time.

"What is it?" Al asked again.

Ed looked down at the end of the note. In the margin, hand written by Roy, was "You may not tell anyone, not even Al."

Following the instructions, Ed threw the letter in the trash and activated the transmutation circle on the envelope. Soon, there was nothing left but ash. Ed sighed an looked at Al. He offered a weak smile, but that did little to sooth his younger brother's fears.

"Hey, Al, my automail is getting a little dirty on the inside, and I think that I might have grown a little, how about we go and visit Winry?"


The soft rocking of the rain began to put Ed to sleep. Hehad not slept well for the past week, Al noted, ever since he got that letter. Three times he had woken up in the middle of the night, once he had been screaming. Whenever Al questioned his brother, Ed would clam up so much that Al felt guilty for asking.

"Are you ok, brother?" Al asked when Ed woke up.

"Yeah, I'm fine, just getting a little sleep." Ed sat up and cleaned a little bit of drool off of his face. He then yawned and stretched out as much as he could in the cramped quarters.

"I told you that you drool in your sleep." Al laughed.

"I do not!" Ed shouted back. "I just…errr! Hey, are we here already?" Ed stood up just in time for the conductor to put the breaks on. He promptly fell into Al's lap.

"Yep! We're here!" Al helped his brother to his feet and stepped out of the small booth.

They gathered their small amount of luggage and disembarked. The station was crowded with many people going to different locations, but Ed seemed not to notice any of them, even when one of them called him short. His eyes were darting around, searching for something, but Al did not know what.

"Hey, can you wait here for a minute, there is something that I need to get." Without saying anything else, Ed darted away from Al.

He reappeared some time later with a box under his arm. It was long and wide but was no more than two inches tall.

"Does that have anything to do with the letter?" Al asked, instantly regretting it.

"Sort of, I'll explain soon, I just want to talk to Winry first ok?" Ed shifted uncomfortably at the mention of the letter, but tried to hide it. Inside, he was busting to tell Al about the letter. He needed to talk to someone about it, he needed someone to perhaps comfort him, he wasn't sure.

"Alright. Lets get going then!"

Together, they walked to Winry and Pinako's house in silence, there was simply nothing to be said. A few times, Ed tried to start up a conversation, but he could never think of any thing to say. There were too many things on his mind, too many things that he could not even talk about.

They reached the house by sunset. The son set behind the house, the yellow and red clouds making it appear that the house was burning. Ed cringed at the thought. If Al noticed anything, he didn't show it. Other than the dramatic effect from the setting sun, the house was much like how they remembered it from their last visit.

Winry was the first to spot them walking up the road. She ran out of the house and stood on the front porch.

"You better not be back because you broke your arm already!" She screamed at Ed and waved a wrench threateningly.

"No! The arm is fine!" Ed raised his right arm and pulled up his sleeve to prove it to her.

"Good!" She squawked, lowering the wrench. Assured that there was no more work for her, she ran up and greeted her two childhood friends. Al was extremely excited to see her again, but she noticed that Ed was somewhat distant.

"Ed, are you alright?" She asked, placing her hand on Ed's metallic shoulder, snapping him out of a trance.

"Oh, nothing!" Ed answered, leaving Winry very confused. "Actually, can I talk to you alone for a bit, you and Pinoko."

"Yeah, sure, lets just get you and Al settled in first." Winry took one of the small bags that they were carrying and led them into the house. The greetings with Pinoko were short and Ed soon found himself in a room with her and Winry.

"What is going on?" Winry asked as soon as the door closed. "You have been nothing but doom and gloom, Al is worried sick and so am I! Please, just tell me what has you so worked up." Tears began to well up in her eye and she grabbed his hand, ignoring the feel of hard metal under the soft glove.

"Can Al stay here for a while." He asked, biting his lip and ignoring the question. "I have a long mission up next, and I cant bring him along."

"Certainly," Winry said, taken aback. She had not expected him to tell her everything, but she had expected that he would at least let her have some clue. "Is something wrong, what is the mission about?"

"I cant tell you, I cant tell Al! Hell, I'm not even allowed to tell you why I cant tell you!" Ed signed and collapsed into a chair after the sudden outburst. "I don't know anything either, not even how long I will be gone. It might be more than a year, I just want to make sure that Al is well taken care of."

"How is Al taking it?" Pinoko asked, reminding them that she was still in the room.

"He doesn't know yet." Ed admitted. "I don't even know how I can tell him. This will be the first time that we have been apart since we burned the house, did you know that?"

"And you were rarely apart before that either," Winry reminded him. She brushed his hair out of his eyes and forced him to look at her. "You'll get through this, you always do. And as soon as the mission is over, you can pick right up where you left off. You can even find that stupid stone and replace your beautiful shiny metal limbs with soft, gushy flesh."

"Thanks Winry. I'll tell him tomorrow. I just have to pick something up before I tell him." Ed smiled some, thinking of the small box that was sitting under his bed at that very moment.

"Is it what you called about?"

"Yeah."


It may be a lot to ask of some people, but I have one request for anyone who chooses to review. All I ask is that you be truthful. I don't think that i should have to plead like this, but so many people have told me that this is a horrible site where no one helps They just give you a pat on the back and say "great job" even if your story is not fit to line the bottom of a birdcage. I want to prove them wrong! Please, help me out by making me a better writer, that is my only goal and you are my only method to achieving it.

Be truthful, tell me if something needs to be changed.

One quick note on factual errors: I have a dial up connection so I can't download episodes. I dont want to look up things on the internet for fear of spoilers (which my friend make useless by telling me about Hughe's fate). Therefore, I see the episodes one time and that is it. I also dont know whathappens untilCartoon Network airs the episode.I applogize if I have made a mistake, please tell me, but also, please be understanding.

Thank you very much for reading the first chapter to "White Follows the Grey."