Sunkissed Lavender - Oh you and everyone else. How will it end, let's find out shall we?

miroku-has-darkness - He knows that, he just really really doesn't want to believe that. He is Alphonse after all, he lives in a happy world filled with unicorns and rainbows. No I'm kidding about that part, but he really doesn't want to admit it. One of them has to hold onto sanity, and even then it's very hard for the little guy.

Mean Fangirl - I know! I think- No, I know I would have died. Not only am I a girl, but I just couldn't do it. I'd commit suicide I'm sure.

PrincessZidet - Yes, cranky Edward. He'll get...uncracky eventually? Maybe? Oh you'll see!

Harryswoman - Oh don't worry. He'll snap out of it sooner or later. I hate what I've turned Ed into also, it's awful! He's just really emotional right now because of everything going on. He's given up hope and if you need to picture Ed an emotion wreck, just think back to episode 8 after Barry the Chopper tried to kill him.

Renneh - Yes death to them all! I mean...no that's bad...

Aevium - I wondered where you went! Nice to hear from you again and hurray for summer! I've been on vacation almost a week starting tomorrow. Or today depending on how you look at it. Anyway, yes Ed is a jerk right now! I mean, he's lost all hope and is just one big emotional mess. Like I told Harryswoman, jsut picture him after Barry the Chopper tried to kill him. He's a wreck. Poor poor Edo.

soupcan - Hehe, isn't it awful? Emotion breakdowns for them all...they are both wrecks at this point for just those reasons. It's so awful! Then again, I would be the same way I'm sure. If I found out my brother had been killing people and then didn't seem to feel bad about it? Then if I was Ed and I found out Al was disappointed in me and everything. Even though he kind of already knew that one... Anyway! Here's some more!

Chapter seventeen - Disownment
"Wake up you bastards!" was the wake up call Edward received the next morning. He groaned as he rolled out of bed sleepily and headed out of the barrack. His brother was nearby, but Edward ignored him. Jean Havoc was nearby, so Alphonse wouldn't be that lonely. He could tell Alphonse was upset from the night before, but he'd just apologize later like he'd planned.

They were served their rations for the morning and Edward ate slowly, finding it hard to swallow. Probably from all the yelling he'd done the day before. No doubt Alphonse's throat would be sore also, but Edward wasn't about to ask about it. He ate alone that morning to give Alphonse his space, thinking it was for the best.

Havoc knew something was wrong, but didn't ask to avoid argument. When Edward was done, he set his bowl aside and got up to line up and wait for instructions. That, however, didn't exactly happen as a man came over and said, "EH-5582?"

"That's me," Edward said looking at the new comer. The man looked familiar, but Edward couldn't remember from where. "Is something wrong?"

"Nothing is wrong. One of the doctors is demanding you go to him right away for a check up," he explained as he motioned Edward to follow. Edward made no effort to ask any questions as he nodded and went along with it.

As he passed by Alphonse and Havoc, Alphonse stood up and watched him go. "Brother, be careful," he spoke softly and weakly; timid in a way. Edward made no eye contact and pretended not to hear Alphonse. He ignored his younger brother as he followed the man and headed to the medical portion of the camp.

From there, he was told to wait until the doctor was ready. Edward just shrugged and stood there looking around. There were lots of people all over the area, some of them sick and others just injured. Then there were the SS men here and there that were just watching over everything.

"Edward," a voice said from behind. Edward felt himself grow a little tense as he turned around to see the one man he had wished he'd never see again.

"Doctor," Edward greeted as pleasant as he could, giving a weak smile; a glint of mischief in his eyes.

"Long time no see. Please follow me," Tucker said as he started walking into a medical tent. Edward followed as instructed. The tent hadn't changed since the last time Edward had been inside, though he did notice a few blood spots here and there. "So you've been well from what I understand."

"Yeah," Edward said shrugging as he took a seat. It looked like the same one he'd sat in the first time, but he found it wasn't. It was a little rougher, which meant it was probably fairly new; the old one had probably worn out. "What do you need me for?"

"I wanted to talk to you about your metal limbs," Tucker said, motioning to Edward's arm and leg. Edward frowned, but said nothing. "I have been searching for a place that sells it or can even make something similar. However, there are no places near Germany or London that can." Edward raised an eyebrow in curiosity. "I've been doing research on you also, Edward Elric. I know all about you and where you've been. Turns out there is no place that has limbs like those at all."

"That's because they're mine," Edward said rubbing his right arm with his left. "A friend made them for me, but she travels a lot. It's not hard to believe you wouldn't be able to find her--"

"That's not what these say," Tucker said, holding out a small pile of loose papers. Edward frowned; they looked familiar. The edge of the top right-hand corner was cut off. It reminded him of Alfons; he use to do that so he could separate his journal papers from his other papers. Journals had the top right corner cut, lists for work were cut in the top left corner, and so on.

Edward had no idea where Tucker was going with this though. "I don't even know what those are," he said, shaking his head, which only made Tucker smile more. He took the first page and started to read.

"'…Edward was telling his stories again. The ones about that other world, where alchemy is more important than science itself. Alchemy is counted as a science, but the way Edward talks about it, it's more of a magic. I often times wonder if things would be different in that world or even if it's easier…' Blah blah blah; moving on ahead…" Tucker said, flipping a few pages.

"'…Edward's dad is a great man. I've only met him once or twice, but from the way Edward talks about him, he knew both science and alchemy. He built Edward some fake limbs out of wood, but Edward keeps complaining they aren't as good as his "auto-mail" ones. He says that "auto-mail" is like the wooden limbs, only they're made of a tough metal. They sound very scientific, but it's almost impossible to believe.'"

He set the pages down and smiled. "Even after the SS men burned down your house, they found these pages scattered all over. Your neighbor, what's her name? Gracia? She was especially a lot of help. She had most of these pages, and after some persuasion, just handed them over."

"You sick bastard!" Edward shouted as he went to throw a punch towards Tucker, but he shifted and missed. Edward hit against the desk, though not hard or painful.

"Now Edward, that's not fair. I was going to offer you an 'equivalent exchange.' Your information, for mine," Tucker said smugly. Edward glared at the older man, but had no idea what to do. He was plotting something, so Edward would have to be good and humor him to find out what it was.

"Your brother is sick, Edward. I read his records. No one has said anything because Himmler had orders. However, if I requested him to be…gassed or something, for example, and explained a good enough reason, it'll happen."

"You wouldn't!" Edward snapped. "You're a sick bastard… That's all you are…"

"Maybe I am, but I sleep easy at night, don't I?"

Edward went to attack again, but Tucker stopped him by holding up his finger. "Now, now, Edward. Remember: one word and your little brother's life is over."

Edward made a fist, but did nothing more. "Fine. What do you want to know?"

"I want to know what that 'auto-mail' is. Where did you get it? Why do you have such fascination with telling stories about another world with such detail, I might add, that they almost seem real?"

"Why does it matter to you? You're just some doctor serving time in Auschwitz until they have no further need for you and they kill you, too," Edward spoke smugly and truthfully to where the doctor narrowed his eyes.

"It matters to me, Edward, because I want to live. Like you, I want to go about living here, I want to get out and be able to see my wife again. I want to live outside of this prison. I want to be a normal human being, but most of all, I want to be known. I don't want to be just another person that lives to die. I want to be someone."

Edward frowned at that, but his features softened a bit. Tucker was beginning to sound a lot like Alphons. "I've been watching the people here, Edward, and I can't help but think to myself, 'These people have no real lives. What have they done that makes them worth remembering? Were they just born to be here and die?' I like to think so," Tucker said with a sickening smile.

"Then I thought what if I die? What will people do to me? Get rid of my body, and then what? If a person comes across my belongings, will they say, 'That just belonged to a man named Tucker?' I don't want it that way. Even by me being a doctor here, I'll never be as credited as that Mengele guy."

Tucker frowned and said, "So I have to do something great to beat him. I have to do something that will improve the world for the better. That's when I started thinking about your fake limbs. They're some kind of technology that no one in 'this world' has ever seen before. If I could figure out how it worked, then I could recreate it in a larger amount and sell it to people who bought it at a high enough price. Then, and only then, would I be able to live with myself," he said. Edward just stared at the doctor. This Tucker was just as crazy and mad as the first one had been.

Edward shook his head as he looked down to the ground in disgust. "Tucker…even I don't know how to work the auto-mail. My friend made it for me and she isn't with me anymore. That's why I have to live off the auto-mail I have now. That's why I can't just give it to you; if I gave it to you, I'd have no more limbs and they'd kill me for it. They'd throw me away and Al would have no one."

Tucker was silent for a while before nodded and calmly sat down. "I see. Well then Edward, I guess there's nothing I can do to change your mind," he said; and even though Edward thought he was winning this verbal argument, the smile on Tucker's lips told him otherwise.

"Your brother is suffering from a very rare lung disease; one not many doctors have seen before. It's a lung disease, almost like a cancer. It can spread, but luckily for Alphonse, hasn't yet. His case right now is a very small one and won't cause him much pain, but as time goes on, it just might make it harder and harder for him to breathe -- until he suffocates."

Edward frowned as he watched the ground. Alphonse had never had an illness before. He told Edward that back in Amestris, he'd gone to several doctors to examine his body and it was good as new. Why would he have a problem now?

"You think this will change anything?" Edward said quietly after a while. "He's my little brother, and as such, I will fight for him until I die. Which, at this rate, might not be longer than a week. I'm a stubborn man, always have been, so I won't go down without a fight. So what if Al has some kind of rare disease? If it's not killing him now, then I don't have to worry about it. We'll see a doctor when we get out of here, but for now, it's nothing. Good day, doctor," Edward said finally as he headed towards the opening in the tent without another word.

Tucker was still smiling, a plot beginning to form in his mind about what Edward had said. He'd find a way to get that auto-mail. He'd just have to do it quietly…

Edward left the medical tents and headed back to the barrack for his daily assignment. He wanted to talk to Alphonse, but by the time he got there, Alphonse and Havoc were both gone. He sighed out of disappointment, but decided to talk to him later. There was a SS man waiting for him, but he wasn't quite sure what to do since the assignments had already been given out.

In the end, they decided that he could just run all day, which wasn't hard for him anymore. He'd done enough running in the past to keep up with anyone in the camp. They would let him stop for breaks once in a while to eat or what not. They still had orders to keep him alive after all.

The day was boring for Edward, but the sun began to set in no time and the barrack men started coming back. He waited by the rations table, where the SS men were serving. Since he'd eaten an hour before, he didn't bother to get some for himself now. He just waited for any sign of Alphonse or Havoc. He eventually found them, but found it hard to do anything about it.

He'd gone over his apology speech in his mind all day, trying to think of a way to say sorry to his brother for the day before. He finally found just the right words to say, but now he was kind of regretting it. Edward had never been one to like saying he was wrong about things; even now he found it difficult.

Havoc and Alphonse were talking together; Havoc looked like he was telling a dramatic story and Alphonse was laughing along. Edward frowned, though, as he watched the scene; he knew Alphonse's laugh and that was nothing more than a pity laugh. He took in a deep breath and started to walk over. Half way there, Alphonse saw him and looked down almost nervously.

Havoc smiled and waved to Edward once he was closer. "Hey, Edward! Long time no see; how was your day? What did the crazy doctor have to say?"

Edward shrugged and tried to act cool about it, but the truth was he was just as nervous as Alphonse. "Well, you know, just another stupid check up. He'll probably do one on everyone," he spoke quietly. Alphonse recognized the tone and gave Edward a worried look.

"Oh, that's boring," Havoc said, rolling his eyes. "I thought it was something juicy."

"Sorry it was nothing good, then," Edward said, licking his chapped lips. When he was nervous, it was a way to make him feel relieved, if even a little bit. "Do you think I could speak to Al alone for a little bit?"

"Hm? Oh sure, no problem," Havoc said shrugging and walking off to eat his ration with some other men. Alphonse was just watching the ground, trying finding something to say to his older brother.

"How was your day?" Edward asked as casually as he could.

"Fine. How was yours?" Alphonse asked a little rushed.

"Tucker told me you have some kind of breathing problem?" Edward asked, giving a 'do you want to explain?' look to Alphonse. Alphonse sighed and nodded, but didn't say anything. "Al, what's going on?"

"Nothing Ed, I'm just--"

"You did it again," Edward almost snapped; almost, but not quite.

"Did what again?" Alphonse asked with a little frown.

"You called me Ed. Al, you always call me 'brother.' I like that; why would you just change it all of a sudden--?"

"Because I don't think of you as my brother anymore," Alphonse said quickly, looking back to Edward. His eyes were narrowed, but not in a dangerous sort of way; more of a disappointing and sad way. Edward could've sworn he saw tears in Alphonse's eyes. "My brother wouldn't kill people; he wouldn't do that. He just wouldn't…" he said, trailing off.

"I had to do it to protect you Al… If I didn't, they would have--"

"Killed me? They would have killed me, right, Ed? Did you ever stop to think about where we are? We're in a death camp, Edward -- a death camp," Alphonse said, shaking his head. He wouldn't let the tears fall, but they came close. "You know what people do at a death camp? They die…we die."

"We're not going to die, Al. Not here," Edward said, shaking his head as he watched his little brother. "I want to watch you die somewhere else, anywhere else. Not here; not in a gas chamber."

"Like those innocent people? Like those men, woman, and children?" Alphonse asked bitterly. "What makes me so much better than them?"

"I never said you were better than them. I'm just saying that I don't want you to die here. Mom wouldn't want you to die this way."

"Don't try to bring mom into this Ed," Alphonse said, narrowing his eyes again. "She wouldn't want you killing innocent people and you're still doing that. What if it was mom in that gas chamber?

That made Edward snap. He glared at Alphonse as he shook his head. "Don't even say things like that. She was our mother, and I loved her very much. I would never put her in one of those death machines; I would never even think of it like you do."

"Can you blame me? Those women you killed, they were someone's mothers. Those children had families; they had brothers too. I'm sure some of them still have older brothers living in the camp. They'll never see each other again. You did that, Edward," Alphonse said, shaking his head.

"That's not true!" Edward snapped at his brother, giving him a stern look. "If I didn't do it, someone else would have. I would rather see someone else die then the only family I have left!" he said, shaking his head rapidly. "And I thought you of all people would understand that."

"Well I don't, okay!" Alphonse shouted back; this time the tears fell. A few men were watching and mocking the two, but neither of the boys paid much attention. "I don't understand how my brother can go from being a kind hearted person to a murderer. If you can explain, then please do, because until I hear a good enough reason for it, I'm going to assume the worst. I won't have a murderer for a brother," Alphonse said in a serious tone.

Edward watched Alphonse, but said nothing more as the SS men started to herd everyone into the barrack for the night. He sighed and shook his head knowing too well that Alphonse was right; but he couldn't just give up. If Alphonse got hurt, Edward would never forgive himself.

He was sluggish as he went into the barrack and over to the bed. Alphonse was already in bed trying to sleep. Havoc was far off in the corner trying to asleep as well. Most of the barrack was doing the same, which told Edward they probably had a long day.

Edward went over to the bed and hesitated before crawling into it. Alphonse rolled over, his back to Edward, as he tried to ignore him. He was tired and unhappy, so for now they'd ignore each other and in the morning all would be forgotten; or so Edward hoped.

"Good night, Al," Edward said softly as he watched his brother. He sighed and rolled over on his own so both boys had their backs to each other. "Good night… Brother…" Edward said quietly before drifting off to sleep.

Well there we go! Another chapter leading up into the ending of the story. It makes me sad that it's ending because I'll miss you all of you! Your all awesome and are great for inspiration. I enjoyed this fic SO much! I didn't want it to end but it has to somewhere. I hate fanfics that just drag on too long (like my first few XP). Anyway, I really badly want to write another fic, but I don't know what. I have ideas for some Bleach stuff, but don't want to write those... I would LOVE to do another FMA because it's my undying obsession, but I have no original ideas...
If anyone has a plot in mind they don't mind me using, tell me and maybe I'll consider it? Gah, that's lame. Nevermind.
Well, I'm off to write the next chapter! Two left to go!

One final note: My editor is the total best! I love you Mel! 3

RxR

- Kori