Hey, everyone! I'm sorry that it's taken me so darn long to update this story! Sorry, sorry, sorry! I just couldn't seem to get enough inspiration, plus I didn't have time to get it, since my life has been so hectic lately. Sigh. Oh well, it's updated now, so I hope that you all enjoy. Let me know if the sign language talk is confusing or not. That's the way that sign language grammar really is laid out. That's why I wrote it like that. Heh.

Disclaimer: Umm…the little leprechauns that follow me everywhere I go are telling me to say that I own FullMetal Alchemist. Now, I just told two lies. First, I don't own FullMetal Alchemist, and second, I don't have little leprechauns following me all over the place. At least, I don't think I do. (Glances around nervously)

"How-you-today-question?" signed my new mistress as she stepped into the room.

"Fine-Thanks-You?" I responded back. I had to modify a lot of the signs, since many of them required two hands to do them properly, and I only had one hand, though I had two arms that I could use. Sign language is flexible like that though.

"Same-same," she signed.

I sighed and looked at her, not sure if I even wanted to say anything else. She had been very supportive in getting me a sign language instructor, as well as learning the language itself. I was actually starting to get good at it, even though I still had a lot of vocabulary to learn. It was surprising how quickly this language could be learned.

"I-find-mechanic-maybe." She signed to me. I jumped. I hadn't expected that. She'd found an auto-mail mechanic?

"You-find-mechanic-question? Where? Who?" I wanted to ask more questions, but I realized that I needed to slow down and give her time to answer the ones I had asked.

"I-find-girl-slave. I-try-buy-her. Don't-know-what-happen-yet."

So, she'd found a girl who was a mechanic, and was trying to buy her. I understood that. That made sense. I hoped that she would succeed.

"Understand-I. Good-luck."

"Thank-you. See-you-later."

"See-you-later."

I watched her leave the room, and then flopped back down onto my bed. My head was spinning. Hopefully, I'd be able to use my auto-mail again soon. That would allow me to use alchemy, which would be a great help in trying to save Amestris. I still didn't know how I planned to accomplish such a large task, but I knew that not many people were up to the job, and someone had to do it. It might as well be me.

I closed my eyes and started humming. I couldn't hear what I was humming, but I could imagine it in my head. It's strange what one can do in spite of a disability. Just randomly, I began piecing words together. Somehow, it made me feel better about what I was doing.

Rise again. We will rise again.
So put away your sorrow.
Look forward to tomorrow.
There's no need to worry, just believe.
That we will rise again.
Open our eyes again.
We'll show them they're mistaken,
That we are not forsaken.
They don't know our spirit.
We will rise again.

I rolled over onto my side, and continued babbling to myself, sometimes out loud, sometimes just randomly moving my hands, since that was just as much speech to me as talking was.

"Al, will I be able to save you when we rise again? Did I do the right thing? Did I make the right choice? How are you doing?"

As much as I tried, I couldn't get answers to any of these questions, not like there were answers to them in the first place. I clamped my eyes shut hard to force the tears that had been trying to get out to actually fall out of my eyes, and quit stinging me, and then I pushed myself up to a sitting position with my one good arm.

I looked around the room. There was nothing for me to do in here, so I figured that I might as well change my surroundings. This room just made me think too much of Al, and I needed to distract myself for a while.

I meandered around outside for awhile, just enjoying the landscape on this lady's plantation. She really enjoyed nature apparently, because there was a lot of it. It was unbelievable how many trees and shrubs she had around. My former master hadn't had a lot of trees and shrubs because they took up valuable space that could be used for producing crops.

Just then, I felt someone small run up behind me. It's strange what your other senses will do when you lose one of your normal ones. I turned around to see who it was, and gasped in surprise as I realized that it was Al!

"Al!" I yelled, "What are you doing here?"

He smiled a weak little smile at me. He still looked quite sickly, still wore tattered rags, and definitely didn't look like he had been purchased by my new mistress. He raised his hands and looked at me.

"I-not-slave-new-anymore. Master-make-me-go-to-market. I-come-here-see-you." Wow. Apparently he'd been practicing too. I was quite impressed, but I didn't need to tell him so, because my face clearly showed it.

"I-very-happy-see-you-Al. You-alright-me-happy. Master-notice-if-you-gone-long-will."

"Yes. I-know," he signed back. "I-get-back-before-he-know. How-life-here?"

I looked down at the ground for a moment. I felt guilty. Poor Al had to live in that dump of a place with a cruel master, and I got treated like a human being. Should I tell Al that? Yeah, he probably would feel better knowing that I was being treated well.

"Life-here-good. Mistress-treat-us-all-well. She-hire-teacher-for-learn-sign. She-try-find-mechanic. Maybe-she-find."

Al nodded his understanding, and his smile grew wider. At least he wouldn't have to worry about the quality of my existence. I just wished that he could be here, living with me as well.

"I-miss-you-Al. I-love-you."

"I-love-you-Brother," he signed back. Before we were even aware of it, we were both hugging each other and crying on each other's shoulders. Time seemed to stand still for that moment, and I definitely did not want this point in time to pass. I wanted to stay with Al forever, but life doesn't work that way. Al had to get back to the plantation before his master noticed that he'd been gone too long.

I felt some footsteps come up to the two of us. I looked up to see my mistress walking up to me, smiling. "Is-this-little-brother-your-question?" I nodded. She smiled and walked up to him, looking into his face. "Your master doesn't know that you're here, does he?"

Al shook his head. My mistress sort of snorted in response. Heh, I guess that she held a bit of distain for my former master as well as we did. "Well, you need to get back there before he discovers that you're gone. Would you like a ride home?"

Al got a surprised expression on his face, and looked between my mistress and myself for a few moments, before finally nodding that yes, he'd like that. My mistress then gestured for us to follow her, so we all went and piled into her carriage, and rode off.

I was dreading seeing that horrible place again, but I figured that it was worth the ride to be with Al as long as I could. I turned to face him. "Al-I'm-sorry."

"For-what?"

"Because-I-not-succeed-get-you-bought-by-mistress-my."

He waved his hand at me in a dismissive manner. I didn't even need to know sign language to know that he meant "Don't worry about it". I waited to see if he would say anything else. He must've caught onto that, because he then signed, "You-do-what-you-have-to. I-trust-you. Don't-worry-about-me."

I smiled and mouthed the word, "Thanks" out loud. It had been awhile since I'd spoken, since I only did so a few times a day now, so it felt a little bit weird to suddenly speak again. It felt right for the moment though. That moment had called for an auditory confirmation.

It seemed like barely any time had passed before we were finally near enough to the plantation where Al lived to drop him off, since we didn't want his master to see him with us. The consequences might be severe if that occurred. Al reluctantly stepped down out of the carriage, holding onto my hand for leverage. He gave my hand a gentle squeeze before he let go, and then turned around and flashed an "I love you" sign at me, which I readily returned.

My mistress slapped the reigns to get the horses moving again, and I leaned back into my seat and sighed. I was so happy to know that Al was alive and well…well, as well as could be expected since he was so sickly, and that he held no hard feelings against me. But I was so sad to see him go. I wanted more than anything else to be near him.

I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned to face my mistress who was staring intently at me. "I admire the love and devotion you brothers share with each other," she said out loud. She couldn't very well sign, since she was holding the reigns, but I had become a little bit better at reading lips recently, so it wasn't as hard as it used to be, though I still preferred sign language when I got the chance to use it.

"You two have such a bond. I pity the man who tries to break that bond." I gave a little laugh in response. Yes, she understood the situation alright. When I finally rose to power, I certainly wasn't going to let my former master and Al's current master slip away without paying for his sins. I almost pitied him too. I know my rage.

I didn't respond to her right then. I had too much on my mind. So, I just stifled a yawn, leaned back into my seat, and after a bit of effort to calm my racing mind, I finally fell asleep.

Hope you liked that chapter. Please review, so that RR-Major-Ed-Pride can give you an update!