Author's Note: (Disclaimer: You know the drill; I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist in any way, shape or form).

Somewhere in the back of my mind I knew that Amestris is supposed to be or could be interpreted as a parallel to the fascist Germany of the twentieth century, but I didn't think too much of it. Then I did some actual research (to prevent me from continually plowing blindly through this story with no regards to the actual dynamics of the original series) and found out (it is said) that the various countries (Creta, Drachma, Xing, Aerugo, etc.) bordering Amestris share a number of similarities with countries surrounding Germany and that certain events that occur throughout the Manga mimic various battles and treaties involved in the world wars.

I don't know why, but I was suddenly very excited about this. I hope that you are too =]

Sincerely,

AL

It had been done, and nothing had changed. Alphonse was in a state of disbelief, still dumfounded by what had occurred. He was fascinated, almost, unable to fathom the insignificance of the event. They'd finally accomplished what they'd been working toward for nearly a year and despite all of the effort and sacrifice, the world remained the same.

Al sat down on an empty crate, particles of dust hovering in the air around him. "After all of that," he sighed and glanced up at the sky light shedding warm rays of sun down upon him, "and everything is the same. The birds, the dust, the cars…the only difference is the absence of one man."

The younger Elric brother studied the empty warehouse for some small alteration-something that would forever be affected by the lack of his brother. Again, he found nothing-even the transmutation circle, crudely drawn in fading chalk, had been absorbed during the transmutation without leaving a single speck of calcium carbonate behind.

"It was always okay as long as we were together, wasn't it brother? But everything is different now." The remaining stub of chalk quivered slightly in his palm and he closed his fingers around it, thinking of his dying wife. Al lurched forward and rested his elbows on his knees with a sigh, their quasi-argument still playing vividly through his mind.

"Brother…continuous travel through the gate is dangerous-you can do it without consequence but the boys and I can't-I don't care about what happens to my body, but who knows what they might have to sacrifice?"

Ed looked up from where he was sitting, his golden eyes fixated on his little brother. "Yeah," he said quietly, bowing his head once more, "I know… but we can't keep doing this Al; it's got to be one world or the other."

"I wonder," the elder Elric began, "what she's given to the truth…"

"Brother, I know this is hard for you…but it's been almost two years…have you considered the possibility that-"

"That she didn't make it through? Yeah, I have." Edward pushed off of the chair and onto his feet, his fists clenched tightly by his sides, "but I'm not giving up until we know for certain-and neither are you."

"Of course not, but we aren't kids anymore!" Al's passive voice became unusually loud and both brothers were startled by this sudden spark of urgency. "When we were young it was always okay as long as we were together but things have changed-it's not just you and me anymore." Al explained, growing calmer.

"Al…you only mentioned the boys…"

They both knew why.

"Sophia's dying, Edward. She can barely get out of bed let alone make a journey to a foreign world."

Edward opened his mouth but Al cut in with the shake of his head, "I know…I'm sorry too."

"Al?"

"Yeah?"

"I can go through the gate without consequence." Ed grinned, quoting his younger brother. Alphonse raised his eyebrows, uneasy about where he was going with that statement. "And you're right, neither of us has any clue what happened to Skyla, where she could be-let me go through."

"Huh? You mean go back?"

Ed nodded, "like a scout-to see what has happened, what our next course of action should be."

"This is our world-this is where we live now, that's what you said to me when we first came here, remember? Have you become so broken that you're willing to risk it all to go to a place that doesn't belong to us anymore? Or is this about Winry and what happened-"

"Don't." Ed shook his head, "this is about my daughter. Like you said, this is bigger than us now-forget us, we aren't even in the picture. It's about our children and their future…and no one ever gets left behind."

They stood facing one another, a deep silence in between. "Al…" Ed's quivering voice was barely above a whisper, "you're my brother…I wouldn't be able to do anything without you and under no circumstances would I ever leave you behind. This is our chance to set things right, I'm not saying that we need to make Hugh or Marcoh leave just please, help me bring her back."

Al nodded with a weary sigh, "Alright…I think I know where we can go…"

"Good luck, brother," Al said out loud to the desolated warehouse, "we'll be waiting for you."