Mustang shook Alphonse gently to wake him. They had ridden straight from Resembol to Central without stopping and it was early morning when they finally arrived. Al stirred with a groan and yawned. Mustang hid a smile as he stood. "Sleep well?" He inquired as they made their way off the train onto the platform. Alphonse shrugged slightly.

"…I was dreaming of my brother. He had gotten caught in the rain and he… well, it was only a dream," Alphonse muttered. Mustang eyed him appraisingly, but said nothing. They walked through the bustling morning traffic of people on their way to work. Stepping out of the train station and into the street, Mustang hailed a car parked a little further down the road. The black vehicle rolled up slowly. When the driver stepped out, Alphonse immediately recognized him as Colonel Armstrong. The colonel stood well above the average person, and his bulky body and bald head were easy to pick out of a crowd. Alphonse couldn't help but grin when he saw him. "Colonel! It's good to see you, sir!" The colonel immediately ran over to give Al a hug.

"Alphonse Elric! It's wonderful to see you as well! It has been too long, come, I will treat you to a special viewing of my beautifully sculptured body, inherited through the Armstrong family for generations—Al laughed and somehow managed to wriggle his way out of the colonel's clutches.

"Thanks colonel, but maybe another time. You see, I'm actually here on business." Alphonse looked up at Roy for confirmation and the fuhrer nodded.

"Yes, Alphonse will be very busy. Starting today he will be studying for the alchemy exam next month."

Armstrong smiled down at him fondly. "It seems only natural for another Elric to join our ranks," he commented. A heavy silence suddenly permeated the air and Mustang smoothly changed the subject by opening the door to the backseat and motioning for Al to get in. Before he could so, however, an arm with a gun in its hand reached out of the car and pointed its barrel in Roy's face.

"Ah, Fuhrer, forgive me for not mentioning…" Armstrong began, but he couldn't finish his sentence. From out of the back seat of the car exited Riza Mustang, a former subordinate of the fuhrer who had only agreed to marry him once he had obtained the top position in the military. Her reasoning was that because he was fuhrer he no longer needed her as a subordinate to propel him to the top, but as a wife-- to keep him in line. Mustang blinked as the gun rested between his eyes. The blonde beauty was dressed in a tan leather jacket with brown corduroy pants and a loose fitting shirt. Her eyes narrowed when she saw Roy's relaxed expression.

"You left Central without telling me and caused the entire headquarters to plunge into chaos. I didn't know if something had happened to you. I should shoot you right now to teach you to act more appropriately," she seethed.

"Didn't you get my note?" Mustang asked, tucking his gloved hands into his pockets.

"You mean this?" Riza asked, holding up a scrap piece of paper in front of her. On it was a scribbled doodle of Hayate, her dog, and chicken scratch that read, "Gone out. Be back soon." Without waiting for any of Roy's excuses, she balled up the piece of paper, threw it into the air, and fired her gun several times in its general direction. Shreds of the paper fell around them only to be swept away by the wind.

"Ah, I see," Roy mused. Riza made a sound of annoyance before tucking her gun into the holster at her hip. "Get in the car," she ordered, pointing to the back seat.

"You heard the woman, Al," Roy said cheerily. Riza gave her husband one last death glare before they all piled into the military vehicle. Roy sat in the back with Riza, offering Alphonse the front seat. The two of them talked in hushed whispers while Armstrong rambled to Al about all of the things going on in Central. Al wasn't really listening though. His thoughts were focused on how his title of state alchemist would open up more opportunities for him to find his brother. This time, he would not fail.

***

When Winry woke up, it was to sunshine falling across her face. Blinking in the blinding light, she rolled out of bed with a moan and looked over at the clock. 10:57. She did a double take and cursed under her breath, stripping quickly out of her nightgown before yanking on a t-shirt and her favorite cargo pants. Winry then sprinted down the hall to Al's room where Edward had slept. She threw open the door without knocking only to find it empty. Her heart sank and she cursed herself for oversleeping. What, did she expect Edward to wait around for her while she slept that day away? Even so, she couldn't help but feel a little angry that he hadn't bothered to say goodbye. With a sigh she turned to go downstairs. Much to her surprise, it wasn't her grandmother who was sitting at the table.

"It's about time you got up. I hope you got all your beauty rest in," Edward teased. Winry couldn't hold back the grin the bubbled up from inside her.

"A girl like me doesn't need any beauty rest, it just comes naturally," she retorted as she began to rummage through the fridge.

"That's not how things look to me," Edward teased. She glared at him over her shoulder and he snickered familiarly. Winry sat down across from him to eat her brunch. He had nothing in front of him, but chose to watch her in silence. Once she was finished she got up to clean her dishes. While she washed them, she asked,

"When are you leaving?"

"My train leaves in an hour." She nodded.

"Well, be careful. I know that you don't have auto mail anymore, but that doesn't mean I can't help you. Call if you need anything," Winry instructed.

"I will," Edward promised in a way that suggested he was only telling her what she wanted to hear.

"I'm serious, Ed!" Winry exclaimed, finally turning to face him. Edward frowned slightly and sighed. "Edward, I don't want to lose you or Al ever again. When you find him you both need to come home." Edward shook his head in disagreement.

"Winry, we have to correct our mistakes. We can't just allow the gate to stay opened—

"You've spent your whole life trying to fix every problem you've ever made! Why can't you just let someone else take care of it for once? Things happen—bad things, but that doesn't mean we should shoulder all the blame!" Winry said passionately. The blonde alchemist shook his head once again and Winry glared at the floor. "Why can't you ever just be happy with what you have, Ed? Am I… am I not good enough for you?" She asked, biting her lip to keep from saying more.

"Winry…" Ed began warily.

"No, don't tell me," she interrupted, afraid of the answer. Without saying another word, she turned and went quietly back up the stairs. Ed watched her go.

After he heard her door shut, he pulled out a piece of paper and a pen. For the next half hour he wrote furiously, crossing out sentences and scratching out words. He went through several sheets before he finally got it right. He placed his letter on the edge of the table before grabbing what little he had and walked out the door. Winry saw him leave from her bedroom window. She trained her eyes on his back, but as was his custom, he never looked back.

Later that day when she went downstairs for dinner, her grandmother handed her the letter that Edward had addressed to her. Winry read it carefully, her eyes widening as she read more and more. Without eating her dinner she jumped up from the table and ran back to her room. "What is it? What did he say?" Granny Pinako yelled after her.

"I'm going to Central!" Was Winry's reply.

***

Alphonse stayed with Colonel Armstrong. Mustang said that he wished he could let Al stay with him, but Riza told Roy that he had enough to help him procrastinate without Alphonse being there. She wouldn't allow the fuhrer to shirk his duties any more than he already had. Alphonse was perfectly okay with yielding to her authority. He didn't want to be around when she gave Mustang a real lecture. Armstrong joked that the country would run smoothly—as long as Riza was around. Al agreed wholeheartedly.

When Alphonse arrived at the massive Armstrong estate he was provided a room large enough to fit three bedrooms. However, he was only taken to his room after Colonel Armstrong had given him a grand tour of the house, an endeavor that took well over an hour. By the time they had finished walking around and Al had listened to the colonel repeat the entire Armstrong history, the young alchemist was more than ready for to curl up and fall asleep. He set his suitcase just inside the door and jumped into the king sized bed without taking off any of his clothes. He did, however, kick off his shoes. Al closed his eyes…

…he woke up to a cold breeze. Furrowing his eyebrows, Alphonse rolled over and pulled the sheets more tightly around him, but the wind only blew harder. Al opened his eyes groggily and saw that the window had come open in the night. With a groan, he sat himself up, but then he caught sight of a figure sitting in the corner and instantly became wide awake. Bolting out of bed, Al backed into the corner, putting his hands up in a fighting stance. "Who are you?" He demanded. Alphonse was unable to see clearly who the person was. They were sitting in the shadows just out of the moonlight's reach. Lethargically, the figure got up and stepped forward. Alphonse tensed, but did a double take as the person stepped into the light.

"I'm hurt, Alphonse. Don't you know yourself?" Al saw his smiling face reflected back at him just before the boy had his hands around his throat. Alphonse didn't have time to scream, but that didn't mean he didn't struggle. The perfect replica remained calm, unfazed no matter how hard he kicked and clawed. Al was losing air quickly and found that his vision was becoming blurred.

"H-help!" Al croaked. His own twisted grin was the last thing he saw before he lost consciousness.