What? Another chapter so soon? Yeah, I've got a bit of inspiration for this story, finally, so I figured that I might as well write while it's there. If I'm lucky, the inspiration might even last long enough for me to finish the story, who knows? We'll see, hehe.

Disclaimer: I still disclaim. No need to say anything witty to get across the point that I don't own FMA, right?

"Are you sure there's nothing wrong?" Al asked the doctor for the fifth time in a row.

"Like I said before," the doctor said patiently, "There is nothing physically wrong with your brother. I don't know what's going on. Physically, he's in perfect health. It's been a long time since I've seen someone as healthy as he is. If something's wrong with him, it's not a physical problem."

"Then what could it be?" Al asked.

The doctor sighed and picked up his bag as he turned to leave, then turned back to Al and said, "It could be a spiritual problem. Look into that."

Al said nothing as he watched the doctor leave the room and close the door behind him. A spiritual problem? What would cause that?

"I told you I was fine," said Ed as he lay back down in his bed and tried to go to sleep.

"You are NOT FINE, now quit putting on that tough stunt," said Al, "Or I'll sic Winry on you." He had thought that the mention of Winry might cheer Ed up, but it only made him frown.

"How is Winry lately, anyway?" said Ed.

Al came to the sudden realization that Ed hadn't seen or heard from Winry since he had come back. Winry didn't even know that Ed was alive, for that matter.

"Oh…well…" Al hesitated, "She was fine the last time I saw her, but I could tell that she never stopped thinking about you."

Ed snuggled his hands up underneath his chin as he tried to get more comfortable in his bed. "She never stopped thinking about me, huh?"

Al shook his head. "Although, I'm sad to say, that she doesn't even know that you're alive yet."

Ed finally managed to turn over onto his back and look up at Al. "Well, maybe I should give her a call then. If I don't talk to her before I end up dying again, she's surely going to kill me."

They both chuckled at this little joke, and then Al said, "So, then, when did you want to call her?"

"Well…right now would be fine."

"Right now? But it's so late!"

"But I don't know how long I'm going to live," said Ed.

Al nodded that he understood, and then he picked up the phone and dialed Winry's number. The phone rang for a long time, which was understandable, considering how late it was, but finally the other end picked up and a sleepy voice said, "Hello?"

"Hi, Winry, yeah," said Al, "I'm sorry that I'm calling so late, it's just that-"

"Al?" her voice brightened up at the mention of his name, "It's been a while since I've heard from you. How are you doing?"

"Oh, uh, I'm fine," Al stammered, "But, uh," he tried to begin his explanation.

"Look, Al," Winry interrupted. Al heard some rustling of papers on her end of the line, and then she continued, "In the newspaper there are all these headlines about that experiment you were doing, you know? For some reason, they keep mentioning the FullMetal Alchemist in the story, like he's alive or something. Why is that?"

Al chuckled nervously. "Uh, well, yeah, that's because, strangely enough…he is."

"He IS?" Winry shouted, "And you never told me? How could you-"

Al interrupted her quickly, "It's not that, Winry! It's just that…It's just that, well, you might not believe this but…He just came back to life a few days ago."

Winry scoffed. "Yeah, and you expect me to believe that."

"Well, would you like to talk to Brother himself and ask him?" asked Al, "He's right here in this room."

"HE'S THERE?" she shouted, "PLEASE LET ME TALK TO HIM!"

Al quickly handed the phone over to Ed, wished him good luck, and then sat down on the other side of the room to listen to Ed's side of the conversation. Ed picked up the phone, and said into it, "Winry…uh, no, I mean…no, I…yeah, I…I know, it's just that…I…yes, I know." Al silently chuckled to himself. Good ol' Winry was at it again.

After a while, Ed was finally able to spew the whole story out for Winry. It took her a while to get used to it and accept it, but she was grateful that Ed had called her during the time that he had. "If you get another chance while you're still alive," said Winry, "Please call me, will you?"

"I'll try," said Ed. They both said their goodbyes, and then Ed finally hung up the phone. Ed breathed a sigh of relief. "Well, that's over with." Al chuckled. Yes, they enjoyed talking with Winry, but she was kind of emotional at times, which made it a bit difficult to talk to her at times.

"I'm going to sleep now," said Ed who proceeded to lie back down on his bed and fall asleep almost instantly. Al nodded, and then left the room to find Colonel Mustang.

"So, Ed has something spiritually wrong with him?" Roy asked, not quite understanding, but trying to be open-minded.

"I think so," said Al, "Brother's not that good of an actor. He keeps trying to pass it off like it was nothing, but anything that makes him cry is something really big."

"I should say," said Colonel Mustang, "Could it have something to do with that stone that he's wearing?"

"The stone?" asked Al.

"Yeah, well, that stone gave him back his life, right? Logically, by the laws of Equivalent Exchange, it ought to take something too."

"What could it possibly take? Brother didn't have anything to give, did he?"

Both men went silent for a moment as they thought, then Roy finally spoke up and said, "Your brother had his soul."

"His SOUL?" Al shouted, "You don't mean that-" he stopped in mid-sentence. Suddenly everything made sense. If all those bizarre things that had been happening to Ed had to do with his soul, then…

"We've got to get that stone off of him somehow, if it's taking a part of his soul!"

"Yeah, but how?" said Colonel Mustang. "I suspect that it takes a piece of his soul every time something happens to him that it needs to regenerate him for. Considering how reckless your brother naturally is, he'll keep going until there's nothing left of him."

"And then he'll cease to exist," Al finished. Both men cast their eyes down to the ground. This was worse than Ed dying. At least he still existed in death. This would be…an eternal death, one which he could NEVER come back from.

"The only way I can see to save him," said Colonel Mustang, "Is to destroy that stone. But if we destroy that stone, Ed will die too."

Al tried to fight back tears to no avail. "Brother, why do you always do these things without thinking?"

Roy put a hand on Al's shoulder. "He was just trying to help us out. It's not your fault. Don't place the blame on your own shoulders."

Al continued to cry for a few minutes without saying a word. Roy kept his hand continuously on Al's shoulder, trying to console him. Finally, when Al was able to regain control of himself, he said, "If the only way to save Brother is to…kill him…" he hesitated, "Then I suppose it would be best to be at the hands of someone that he knows and loves."

He shakily reached into his belt and pulled out a knife. His hand was visibly shaking, and the tears were running down his face full force. "I'll destroy that stone so that he can move on and continue to exist," said Al, "I need to do this quickly, while I still have my courage."

Roy said nothing, but watched as Al shakily stood up and quickly made his way out of the room. Roy sighed and shook his head. "I only wish that I had your courage, Al."

Ooh, a cliffy! (Darn, now you guys are getting me to use THAT stupid word! First it's "chappie", not it's "cliffy". What's with you guys, making me use these words? Hehe.) Leave me some reviews, and I just might update sooner. Just no flames, okay? All flamers will have to compete in a battle with Roy Mustang. I'm betting on Roy, he's the best flamer there is! (Okay, bad pun, heh.)

I might not be able to update for a few days, because of the library's odd hours during the next few days, but we'll see I guess. Hope to see you all soon!