First of all, Aevium has been amazing for helping me with beta-ing this chapter, and hopefully she'll want to continue beta this story until the end. I'm really grateful to her, because it takes a lot of time and the story becomes so much better.
Secondly, to everyone who have reviewed and are reviewing this again and again. This story wouldn't have been what it is without you. Whenever you've been gripped of what you've read and share suggestions and your opinions, it really helps improving the story too.
Thank you so much!
Chapter 17: Within Nostalgia
--
The forest was dark and quiet, except for the sound of grasshoppers playing their peaceful melodies and a soft wind pulling the treetops. Below the crowns of the trees it was rather snug where the three boys were sheltered from any unwanted attention.
It was late in the evening when Al finally fell into a light but soothing sleep on his side next to the fire, using his big brother's thigh as a pillow. Careful not to wake him, Edward shrugged off his long, brown coat and draped it over him so he would keep himself warm. His little brother snuggled closer with a small smile on his lips, sleepily clutching the end of the coat up to his nose.
All three of them were exhausted after all the dreadful events they had recently been through. A lot of it was still bothering him, but Edward couldn't let it interfere with the happiness he felt. He rested back on his palms, smiling softly down at his little brother. Al was right. This really felt like a dream, even if it wasn't. Finally being with Al again was the best thing that could ever happen to him. It was surprising that he hadn't woken up yet. Since he hadn't, it had to be real. If it had been a dream, it would just have been another nightmare, and he wouldn't have had both of them with him... In his nightmares, one of them always disappeared.
Edward shuddered. He wouldn't let that happen in real life. He just had to believe that it was a way to go around the Balance - that it could be possible for them both to live in the same world. Why couldn't it be possible anyway? It could. So far, so good, wasn't it? All he missed was a theory that proved his father wrong. Damn it, that bastard couldn't always be right about everything?!
For a long moment his mind spun around in circles about the Balance, the Gate and the things he had seen inside it. What he could remember of it. If he only had had some scotch...
On his other side, Alfons shifted on the ground, dragging Edward out of his deep thoughts. He opened his eyes slowly, gazing up both tired and perplexed to figure out where he was.
"You awake?" Edward silently asked.
Alfons fixed his eyes at him, rolling over on his stomach and rubbed his eyes with his sleeve as his memories and aching came crashing back to him. "Yeah..." he sighed. "How long have I been sleeping?"
"Only a couple of hours," Edward said, feeding the fire with some more wood. "You should sleep some more. We'll have a long walk ahead of us tomorrow."
Alfons nodded. "I hope you know the way," he said with a small smile, making sure his voice stayed at a low volume to avoid waking up the sleeping little brother.
Edward chuckled softly to himself. "I know more or less. First of all we need to get to the nearest city and get some train tickets."
That didn't sound so bad. "What city is the one closest from here?" Alfons asked.
"I believe it is Hugel. But it's a small town, so there wouldn't be any trains leaving from there. Though it's a couple of hours east for Dublith. Dublith was the city Al and I had our alchemy training with our teacher."
Alfons was glad this place wasn't all that unfamiliar to Edward, and that he at least had a plan this time. "How do we get train tickets then?"
"I have some money," Edward said. "I made sure to take something out of my funding account before we ran away. All we have to do is to get to Dublith."
Alfons stared amazed at him. "You've really thought this through at least."
"Shut up, stupid," Edward gnarled and gave him an annoyed push. "Don't act so surprised. What do you take me for?"
Alfons grinned sheepishly. He should've known Edward wouldn't let a simple thing as money stand in the way from getting where they wanted. And they had to have something for a start when they went to start their new life.
"By the way, I warmed some cans of soup on the fire," Edward said. "You're probably hungry. We already had some."
Alfons was quite hungry and accepted the can gladly. "Thanks," he said, sipping carefully. The hot liquid burned down his throat, but it felt good.
"How are you feeling?" Edward asked after a while of comfortable silence.
"I'm okay," Alfons replied quietly. Surprisingly he was. It barely even hurt anymore.
Edward just nodded, not looking like he really believed him.
"How about you?"
"I'm fine," Edward answered. He paused a little before he continued again. "You know... I haven't really thanked you yet. You saved my life... and Al's too." He smiled softly and looked at him. "Thank you." His eyes turned solemn. "We wouldn't have made it without you."
Alfons nipped at his soup, trying to shrug it off. He didn't like to talk too much about the past. Especially since they had almost died... He just wanted to live on now and breathe out as long as he could.
Edward beamed softly at him as he didn't give any real vocal reply. "I'm terrible in the water element."
Alfons still wanted to cry just by the thought of that. The feel of the heavy automail, pulling them down and how the water pressed them down from above. He shuddered a little. "I couldn't just let you drown now, could I?" he finally tried jokingly.
"Really," Edward said softly.
Alfons shook his head. "You did such a stupid thing in there!" he blurted, and Edward was slightly taken aback before he carefully punched Alfons' arm for suddenly speaking so loud that he might wake Al.
"Sorry," Alfons muttered, lowering his voice. "But... sealing us off inside that wall? What were you thinking, Edward? What were you planning on doing? What did you do?" He wanted to know. It had freaked him the hell out. And it still did...
Edward gazed silently into the fire. "I..." He didn't exactly know what to say. Alfons was right, after all. He usually was anyway. "I was... not thinking straight. I wanted you to escape. At the same time... I wanted to... I wanted to hurt those people who did that to Al. But in the end I simply wanted stop them from coming further after us."
"Why..." Alfons inhaled shakily. "Why do you have blood on your shirt? It isn't yours," he added knowingly.
Edward lowered his head. He hadn't forgotten and he never would. His white shirt was stained with thin crimson spots. Like a child had splashed around with a paintbrush. He refused to meet Alfons' eyes and silently told the story. "I blocked the way in there with a transmutation, and one of the guys got caught into it. He almost got crushed. I couldn't kill him, so I undid the transmutation. Then Schiller caught me."
Alfons listened in horror. Still he was relieved that Edward had chosen to be honest with him, which he hadn't always been lately.
"The rest of the guys went off to help the wounded guy," Edward continued. "One of them lingered to wait for Schiller. He ordered him to kill me, but he didn't. Instead, Schiller killed his own man."
Alfons frowned. "He... He what?"
"He killed the other German, and then he told me to leave." Edward's eyes were dark, before he gazed down at his sleeping sibling. "I think... somehow Schiller cared about Al," he said slowly. "In a twisted way. He did terrible things to him, but still he wasn't proud of it. Al's good heart had an influence on him."
Alfons remembered how Al had mentioned Schiller earlier – more like a friend than an enemy.
Edward continued silently. "Schiller wanted me to go back to be with Al, to take care of him. But still... I could never forgive him for what he did to Al."
Al looked almost completely peaceful, still sleeping motionless on his thigh. Edward let his flesh fingers gently brush through his bronze bangs. "After that Schiller shot himself, right in front of me. I tried to stop him, but he kicked me off. You could say... he did it because of me. He killed one of his own to save me, and because of that he was probably already dead if the rest of them had found out."
Alfons was shocked. Schiller had killed himself? That was awful... Nevertheless, Alfons could think of a different explanation of why Schiller had shot himself. He could easily have made up an excuse for his people, after all. He could've said that it was Edward who had shot the other man.
Maybe Schiller had killed himself because he was already badly wounded and couldn't stand more of that pain? The pain Alfons had inflicted on him. He had shot him. He would never forget that. He didn't deserve to forget it, after all. No one should inflict pain like that on another person. Alfons lowered his head. "I'm sorry. It wasn't your fault that he did it."
Edward stared down in Al's hair, and Alfons just knew that he was blaming himself. Most people wouldn't have handled a thing like this the way Edward did. Most people would've freaked out or gone insane or both, but Edward had seen death for more occasions than people could count on their fingers. "Edward," he tried again, and the older blond looked up at him. "It wasn't your fault that he killed himself," he repeated, continuing sharply. "But don't scare me like that ever again! Hell, I thought we would never get away from there." Intense blue eyes met dark gold.
"I know," Edward whispered.
"I don't know what I would do if you had disappeared..." Alfons blurted out with a heavy lump in his throat. Suddenly all the secret, inner, emotional words ran straight out of him, even if he didn't really want them to. "I would've... Probably I would've followed you to your death if I had to. Without you I'd be all alone in this world." He had tried to avoid them, because he knew Edward didn't need to hear it. Maybe he didn't want to hear it. It didn't actually do things any better, by putting it that way. Not to mention how selfish it sounded. But he hadn't any way of stopping the words from streaming out of him either and he had kind of wanted to tell him anyway. "If I had to," he continued solemnly, "I would die for you."
Edward scowled a little. "Stop that, you scare me sometimes," he muttered.
Alfons smiled meekly and shook his head again. "It's exactly what you thought regarding your brother the day you brought him back to life... wasn't it? You told me once, it was the only thing you could think of doing."
"That was different," Edward said.
Alfons shook his head. "It's not. I really understand all that now." He looked away from him again. "You scare me too sometimes, just so you know."
"Heh, I guess. I never want to hear you scream like you did when we were up there in the plane again, by the way. That was really frightening."
Alfons felt his face heat up a little. "It was a frightening situation. And what you did... you were amazing, transmuting the whole plane like that. If you hadn't done that, I wouldn't have been able to save you from drowning in the first place."
"Thank you... I guess," Edward said.
Alfons let his gaze fall on the sleeping bronze-haired boy where he lied snuggled up with his head in Edward's lap. He smiled a small smile by the sight of him like that. He had the same face as Edward had when he was sleeping. "How is it going with you and him?" he asked.
"Good, I think," Edward said with a soft smile. "I've... Al and I have talked some. It felt good talking to him again."
Alfons understood. "I'm glad. I'm glad you're still this close to him. After all that time you were apart."
Edward nodded, thoughtfully poking the glowing fire with a twig. "Probably because... it's always been just the two of us. Even though he might not remember everything, we've been our only family for almost half of our lifetime."
The younger boy shifted a little and tucked Edward's coat more carefully around himself. He stilled again, seeming to be still sleeping quite evenly.
"Are you going to..." Alfons faltered. "You know... tell him about us?"
For a long time, Edward didn't seem to have heard the question, just gazing absent-mindedly into the fire. But Alfons knew he had heard him, so he didn't repeat the question.
"Yeah," Edward finally replied. "But not yet... He has experienced a lot lately. I want to wait until he's safe."
Alfons nodded. "I understand." Silently he wanted Edward to just get it over with and tell him immediately, so he didn't have to watch out what he was doing towards Edward while Al was looking. He wanted to touch him. Kiss him. But as it was now he had to keep himself restrained from doing that.
He shook off his small selfish thoughts.
Edward reached out and touched his hand. "Don't worry. We'll start our new life soon."
Alfons smiled and sat up as Edward gently tugged his sleeve. Then they were kissing softly, with the younger Elric-brother sleeping quietly beside them.
--
As the first streams of pale sunlight found its way through the trees, Alfons shifted uncomfortably on the ground and was dragged out of his light slumber. He had his blanket pulled all the way up to his nose because of the chilly morning air. The fire had worn itself out during the night, but there were still some warm, glowing pieces of wood left where the fire had been. Close beside him, a long-haired blond was lying sleeping on his back, and his little brother still slept using him as a pillow. However, Edward had moved his little brother's head to rest on his chest instead of his thigh during the night, so he could lie down properly. His hands rested protectively around the smaller form's shoulders, and Alfons smiled of the sight. They looked kind of cute and he could've easily lied there and just watched the brothers sleep for a long moment. But they probably had to get up now. It was still a cold morning, so the best way to get warm was to start walking since they couldn't light another fire in case the military was still looking for them.
Gently he caressed Edward's face lightly with his knuckles, brushing some wild golden locks away from his features. Edward stirred and inhaled deeply in a long yawn.
"Time to get up," Alfons said softly.
Edward opened his eyes slowly and fixed his gaze at him, sighing deeply as he suddenly realized why they were out here in a forest and not in a warm bed. "Yeah, I'm up," he muttered, looking down at the youngest bronze-haired little brother, still sleeping serenely on his chest.
Edward shook him gently by his shoulder. "Al," he said. "Time to wake up."
Al shifted, pulling the coat tighter around himself and curled up closer to him. "Nii-san... I don't want to," he mumbled silently, still half in slumber.
Edward smiled and rose himself up on his elbows. "Come on. Soon you'll be sleeping in a warm bed."
Al sat up slowly with a yawn and rubbed his eyes.
Alfons stood up and picked up the backpack, stretching his aching back. He wasn't used to be sleeping on the ground after all. He stuffed the blanket he had had over him during the night into the backpack and lifted it to his shoulder. Looking up, he got a glimpse of a pale blue sky above them behind the treetops. At least the weather would seem to hold for now. After a couple of minutes they were heading off, just a short moment after a blue alchemy light soothed over the ground to hide the tracks of a camp.
The forest seemed endless. Edward was in the lead, followed by Al, and Alfons walked behind. He felt slightly paranoid, always looking behind himself to see if they were being followed, even if they were miles into the deep woods already. There was really a minuscule chance that the military would find them out here. Especially since the chance of surviving a plane crash into the sea was terribly low in the first place. If they were lucky, the military probably believed all three of them were at the bottom of the ocean. However, he felt a little bad for Mustang and Riza and the others. They would probably grieve over them.
Still, it had been the military that had shot them down, and the thought of that bothered him. It meant that the one in command didn't care if they were dead or alive. Who would give an order like that? They knew Alphonse had been with them, and he was innocent. Still they had risked to kill him to stop Edward and Alfons. He doubted that it was Mustang who had given the order, and he had an idea of who it could be.
He lifted his gaze and looked at Edward's back as they walked and decided to ask Edward about it. He must have thought about it as well. "Edward," he said.
Edward didn't turn, just continued walking in the same speed. "Yeah."
"I've been thinking..." Alfons said slowly.
"About what?"
"About why the military would shoot us down, even if they knew Alphonse was with us."
Edward stopped, and so did Al. The younger brother turned around, staring at him with wide eyes. Then he turned sharply to his brother. "What?"
Alfons clamped his teeth shut, as he realized. Al didn't know that the military had tried to kill them. He hadn't thought of that until now. Why hadn't Edward told him? He seemed almost a little too overprotecting of what he had told Al so far. Al was a state alchemist too. It would probably be the right thing to do to put every card on the table. Alfons didn't want Al to be left out on information, even if it wasn't really his decision to make. Because of that he didn't show any regret that he had said it. "That's what happened," he continued, "and you know that has to mean that they might kill us if they find us."
Edward turned slowly, looking down in the mud. He looked uncomfortable. When he spoke, he sounded repentant. "You two are in danger because of me. That's how it is," he said in a low voice.
Alfons frowned. "Edward... That's not true. You're not in any worse trouble than I am. We're both convicts. What bothers me is that they didn't hesitate to kill us, even if..." He stopped, and looked apologetically at Alphonse Elric. "Even if we had an innocent person with us."
"I know," Edward said. "But technically you weren't committed to the military as much as I was. You didn't have a definite rank."
Alphonse looked carefully from his older brother to Alfons, and back to his brother again. "What happened, Nii-san?" he asked, his eyebrows knitting. "You haven't told me how we landed on that beach in the first place."
Edward smiled softly at him. "I'm sorry. I was too happy to finally have you with me again, I guess. I didn't think it was that important."
Al sighed. "Of course you didn't, stupid big brother."
Alfons shook his head. "I'll go find some water. I'll be back soon." He decided to give them some time alone. Even if they had probably talked some, they couldn't possibly make up for all the time they had lost on barely one night. Bringing the backpack with him, he followed a small path towards the small river.
Edward crossed his arms, still smiling softly at his brother. "Alright, let's take a walk. He'll find us later."
Al nodded. "Okay."
While they followed another path, the forest was waking up and the sun stood already high on the blue sky.
"We were both hired by the military," Edward said. "To build a flying machine. I did it so I could find you."
"A flying machine?" Al said in awe.
"You probably woke up in the remains of it," Edward said. "Alfons and I stole it to come and find you because the military would rather waste time observing and possibly go to war. They tried to convince me that you were dead... that bastard."
"Who?" Al asked apprehensively.
"Kiehle."
Al recognized the name immediately. "Oh. I don't like him much." When he had been located at the military base in Lior, Kiehle had prevented him from helping the wounded soldiers of the first attack. On the surface it looked like the man had wanted to protect him, but Al had rather the impression of that the man had wanted to keep him from reporting information to Colonel Mustang. He told his brother about his suspicions and Edward agreed.
"Indeed," Edward muttered. "From the start he's been a disturbing control freak who wants to be ahead of Mustang in everything. He even managed to take over the Azure-project. So I was temporarily under his command. Technically I still am."
"What about Roy?" Al asked.
"He was taken off charge because he punched him," Edward said, grinning. "That idiot... but he's on our side."
Al nodded. "What happened then?"
"They found out where Thule was... and the immediate decision was to go and attack them apparently. I know because I eavesdropped on a conversation between Kiehle and the Fuhrer."
"So they tracked my call, I suppose..." Al said.
Edward smiled. "Mustang told me that it might have been you. That's how I managed to find out where you were. Alfons and I took off and went through some trouble to find you."
Al stared at him with wide eyes. "Were you hurt, Nii-san?"
Edward snorted with a smile, his cheeks still a little swollen from the beating. "I'm okay. Finding you was our number one priority."
Al didn't quite know what to say. His big brother had probably gone through a lot of pain in the attempt to find him.
"When we finally found you and managed to escape, we were pursued by the military. They shot after us, and that's why we ended up in the sea."
Al looked down with an uncomfortable lump in his throat, fighting sudden tears. "I'm sorry that I've caused so much trouble! I only wanted to help..." He stopped on the small path in the middle of the forest. If he hadn't been captured, none of this would've happened. He would probably have been in Rizembool already, living happily together with Edward. "I went against the Colonel's orders. That's how I ended up getting captured in the first place," he blurted. "I'm sorry, Nii-san."
Edward stopped right beside him and put a caring arm around his shoulders, looking intently at him. "Don't think about that, okay? It's not your fault." His eyes narrowed solemnly. "You weren't the one who brought Thule Society to this world in the first place... That burden still lies on me."
Al lifted his head, eyes wide. "You didn't... Schiller-san told me they forced you to do it. So you didn't have a--"
"That doesn't matter," Edward said, cutting his brother off. "I still helped them. But what matters is, you made them a way out of this world. And if that Gate isn't yet destroyed, they'll have to use it to go back sooner or later. Right?"
Al didn't reply, drying his cheeks on his sleeve. He hated to cry. Especially in front of Edward. He couldn't even remember the last time he had cried so much like he had been lately. Usually he never cried. Maybe he had saved it.
"When they leave, we'll have you to thank for that," Edward said with a smile.
"But what if they don't? What if they stay here and continue the war?" Al said.
"Don't think about that now," his older brother said. "Whatever happens, I'll make sure they won't touch you again."
"And you won't leave again right?" Al asked, looking up at him.
Edward stared puzzled back at him. "Of course not. I'll stay here, and Alfons will too."
Al nodded slowly. "When I woke up yesterday, I was scared," he said hesitantly. "Because I saw him drag you up to shore, and I thought he was going to hurt you."
"He wouldn't do anything like that," Edward said. "He saved our lives. He even carried you most of the way, even though he was injured."
"He did?" Al asked flabbergasted.
Edward nodded. "Yep. He's a great guy."
They had reached the end of the forest, looking out at a large field of flowers and tall green grass which looked rather nostalgic. Al's eyes lit up at the beautiful sight. It felt odd, feeling such a rush of happiness by just seeing a field of tall grass out in the forest. But he felt suddenly an urge to let go. Both let go of his thoughts and his past, and just live in the present for a moment. That was the only way he could create new memories. Happy memories.
He closed his eyes and slowly he let go of all his previous sad emotions. Edward had said he shouldn't think about all that after all, so he would try not to for his sake. At least for now. They didn't matter out here.
He started walking, and then paced up into running through the open field. Running felt good. It was a constructive way of letting go of something unwanted. He was with his older brother now. That was all that mattered. He wanted to journey with him again, like they had used to do. By the end of the field on the other side let himself fall down into the soft grass, breathing in the fresh scent.
Edward smiled, following after him and slumped down beside him on his side.
Al sighed deeply, closing his eyes again and smiled. "I remember once we used to lie on our backs on the fields in Rizembool like this. And I wished I could smell the grass and the flowers."
Edward's eyes widened, looking astonished at him and rolled onto his stomach. "But you were just a soul in a suit of armour at that time... Al... do you remember?"
Al nodded. "After I met you, I've started remembering more and more. And before that... I remembered the last time I saw you... and the research we did in Lior when we met Roze for the first time."
Edward sat up, resting on his elbows. "That's great, Al..." He laughed. "I was afraid you wouldn't ever get your memories back."
"I think it has something to do with the Gate," Al said slowly.
Edward frowned pensively. "The Gate?"
"Yeah... the homunculus called Envy threw me down in it. It was then I met you..."
"You told me then, that the time cycles between the two worlds were different," Edward said. "It confuses me, but you're probably right. It's been six weeks since I saw you inside that Gate."
"For me it's only three days ago, I think," Al said slowly. "So this world is behind the other one in time?"
Edward shook his head. "It's not that simple. But I suspect that the Gate has the power to see everything, no matter what time it is. Somehow it picked two different set of times and combined them together."
Al looked puzzled. "It doesn't sound... possible."
"Heh, I know. But think of it this way. For four years, your body was kept inside the Gate, and when you finally got your body back, nothing about you had changed since that time... Which means that the Gate made the time stand still until your body returned to this world," Edward elaborated. "Your memories were probably kept inside it the same way."
Al nodded. "I thought so too."
Edward continued silently. "The important thing is that we didn't lose anything when Alfons and I returned. In the beginning... I thought the Gate might have robbed you from me in exchange," Edward admitted.
Al gazed at him for a long time, understanding. That must have been hard. Still he was ashamed of himself for being captured in the first place. He had totally missed Edward coming home to this world. He wished he had been the first one to meet him. He should've been the first one to meet him.
"Do you think alchemy might affect time?" Al asked silently. For some reason that had bugged him.
Edward didn't dwell, but fixed his gold eyes curiously at his brother. "Time is an abstract thing," he said. "It's not transmutable."
"But by transmuting a Gate and then travelling through it," Al said, "haven't you somehow transmuted a canal between space and time? So in connection to that, you've alchemized a way of time travel."
"Well, that's one way of putting it, I guess," Edward replied thoughtfully. "According to the number of our years, there's six years difference between the two worlds. But even if we have made a Gate taking us to the year 1923 in the other world, we wouldn't skip those six years in our lives. So transmuting more or less time isn't possible."
"I guess so," Al said in a low voice.
"There's no point dwelling on this," Edward said. "Neither of the worlds should be aware of that the other one exists..."
Al sighed. "So basically there are just two completely different worlds, after all?" he surmised quietly. "Where neither of them would look at the other one as the same."
Edward fell silent before he replied. "Yeah." He thought about his hearing for one of the first times since he got to know that he was obliged to explain himself where he had been the last couple of years, and he just suddenly knew why. If the Amestris State Military got to know about the other world, really know about everything, how would they react? Would they react any differently than Thule Society? Wouldn't they look at Thule as a representing country of the other world and assume that the entire other world was a hostile one? The military already had enemies within other countries in this world. As a way to prevent more attacks from the other world, would they consider entering the Gate as Thule had done and attack back?
He suddenly realized, the military could never know about the other world. It was good that he had never attended the hearing. Even if that put his life in a quite difficult situation...
Al gazed pensively up at the blue and clouded sky. "It's still interesting to think about," he said, dragging Edward out of his dreadful thoughts. "Because if I had gone through the Gate, it would've meant that I travelled several weeks back in time."
Edward gazed at his brother again, realizing that he still talked about time travel.
"Do you think I would've... lost my memories of those last weeks?" Al asked him. His voice was low.
Edward pushed away his own thoughts and looked at him in askance. "No, I don't think so. At least I didn't when I went to the other world. I still remembered my last transmutation."
"So, we're just the way we are, no matter what world we're in," Al surmised thoughtfully.
Edward scowled softly at him. Somehow he got the feeling that there was something Al wished to forget. He wondered what it was, but he knew Al probably wouldn't want to talk about it. "Anyway," he said, "you were just telling me that you've gotten your old memories back." It had almost slipped off his mind already, but that was something he would rather have in mind than the military.
Al nodded. "Oh, that's right. In that white space where we met, you disappeared inside a Gate... After you were gone, I tried to open a Gate behind me. It was blocked with shackles."
"I remember it," Edward nodded. "So... you managed to open it, and your memories..."
"Yes... My memories started returning."
"So that's how you managed to obtain them back..." the older said pensively.
"Yes," Al said. "I think everyone has their own Gate. Because I somehow was connected to it, and the thing inside... it resembled me."
"That's right," Edward smiled. "My father told me that once too."
"I made it back, or... the Gate brought me back. Actually..." Al looked away from him again. "I tried to go to the other world, so I could find you. But instead I ended up back at Thule's headquarters."
"I was afraid that you might have disappeared through," Edward said. "But for once, the Gate saved us for a lot of trouble."
Al laughed shortly. "That must be the first time."
Edward grinned and locked his brother's head underneath his arm, jokingly brushing his hair into a mess. Al reacted by laughing and squirming and fought bravely to get free. They wrestled around in the grass for a while, until they exhaustedly fell back on their backs next to each other, just staring up at the sky.
"Do you remember how we used to spar-fight?" Edward asked with a smile. "I never won even once."
"Yeah, I remember," Al said. "And afterwards we lay in the grass like this. And Winry would come out and scold you for being reckless with your automail."
Edward laughed. "Yeah, indeed."
Al sat up, looking solemnly at him, carefully touching his metal arm. Edward gave him a questioning look. "What, Al?"
"I promised you... that I would get your arm and leg back. But..."
Edward waved him off. "Don't think about that, Al. I'm used to this now. The most important thing is that we're together again, right?"
"Yeah, but..." Al looked down into the grass. "Our goal was to bring us both back to normal."
Edward kindly shook his head. "If I actually got my old limbs back, I might miss this," he said, clutching his automail fist in front of him. "Sometimes it's actually quite useful."
Al stared unsurely at him.
"Anyway, you did bring me back to normal, Al," Edward said softly. "You brought me back to life, and I had my real limbs when I woke up. I just messed it up again when I brought you back afterwards. For that, I am sorry."
Al's eyes grew large and watered once again. "Stupid Nii-san..." he managed, and Edward gave him a smile.
--
The small river ran peacefully across the path he had followed, and he kneeled down beside it. He could see the mirrored reflection of the treetops and the blue skies in the clear water, and Alfons smiled.
Ever since he came to this world he had wanted to see more of it, explore the new places. He had rarely gotten the chance to do that in his own world, and until now he hadn't seen much of this world either. Not until he and Edward ran away with the airplane. Then he had been able to see how beautiful this world really was. He didn't mind spending the rest of his life in it, together with Edward even if he still felt slightly homesick. Still, this world didn't feel all so different from his own, after all. Even if he might have to give up on rockets and flying machines now, he'd find something other interesting things to do. Go to school, or maybe he could even learn alchemy. He hadn't even thought of that until now. And he figured he would be quite disappointed if he couldn't learn it. His mind was maybe not as great as Edward's, but that didn't mean he couldn't do any alchemy at all, right?
He didn't feel his injuries anymore. Somehow he felt like something about that was a little suspicious. The doctor had said it would take a couple of weeks for the pain to disappear. It had been three days since the attack at Central. Again, Alfons got the weird feeling that the Gate he had seen somehow had something to do with it. Not that he was complaining, but if the Gate was healing him, what did the Gate want in return? Edward had gone on and on for years about the law of equal exchange. What kind of exchange was this?
Alfons dipped his hands into the cold water and threw a couple of refreshing splashes in his face, cleaning the last traces of drowsiness off his eyes. Even if it was cold it felt good, and the strong streams of sunlight warmed up his face shortly after even if he had been cooled down by the water. He dried his forehead on his sleeve as he heard the sound of a twig breaking underneath someone's foot.
Immediately alarmed he was on his feet, whirled around and stiffly scanned the trees surrounding him. Frowning and listening hard, he tried to calm down his suddenly racing heart. He couldn't see anyone. Had he just imagined it?
If Edward and Alphonse were playing games with him and his paranoia they would definitely hear it afterwards. Alfons didn't think being on the run from terribly dangerous enemies was particularly fun.
He relaxed as a little squirrel jumped out from the woods with a twig in its little mouth and rushed up into a thick tree. Feeling a little stupid, Alfons sighed deeply of relief, glad that Edward hadn't witnessed this. He would've teased him forever if he had known he had been afraid to death over the sound of a cute, little squirrel.
Alfons wondered if the brothers had gotten enough time for now. He decided to go back and look for them. He took out the empty flasks and hurriedly filled them with water. Then he stuffed them back into the backpack, fastening the top just as he definitely heard a sound that had nothing to do with the natural life of the forest.
Click-click! The sound of a loading gun.
"Stay right where you are," a firm voice said warningly behind him. "Keep your hands where I can see them."
Alfons froze on his knees, his eyes wide in their sockets. He turned his head slowly around again, looking straight at a soldier in blue uniform. "I've found one of them," he said into a small microphone fastened to a plug in his ear.
Two seconds later Alfons found himself surrounded. Slowly, he rose to his feet, standing stiffly in the middle of a circle of pointing muskets. Alfons's eyes darkened, trying to keep his calm even if these sudden changes of events wouldn't possibly end up okay on his part. What were the military doing all the way out here? They had even covered up their tracks in the forest. He hoped they hadn't already found Edward and Alphonse... This looked really bad. He would never even get the chance to see Rizembool now.
"Keep your hands where I can see them!" one of the soldiers repeated, and Alfons lifted his hands slowly up, away from his body.
Out of the crowd, Colonel Roy Mustang stepped into the circle with a stern look in his one eye, which narrowed by the sight of him.
Alfons met his look, feeling very uncomfortable but still somehow relieved that it was him who had come and not another superior officer.
"Well done," Mustang commented. "Hawkeye, seize him."
Without a word, Riza Hawkeye stepped forward and took both of Alfons's arms in a strong hold, twisting them behind his back.
Alfons suppressed a small whimper as she fastened the handcuffs uncomfortably tight around his wrists. He felt a prickly twist in his stomach. He had thought at least Roy Mustang supported him to a certain extent. Why was he treating him so harshly? It didn't quite add up with what he had looked like when he had last seen him, yelling something after them as they took off with Azure – like he had wanted to warn them about the fact that they would be shot down otherwise. Neither did it add up to how he had helped him cover his real identity. Maybe things had changed. Could they still trust this man?
Another man stepped into the circle, joining Mustang's side. "Good job, Colonel. I see you still know how the rules are to be played." Brigadier General Kiehle fastened his stern eyes at Alfons, who squirmed uncomfortably in Hawkeye's hold. The Brigadier approached him swiftly, a small smile revealing in the crook of his lips. "Heiderich, you didn't think we wouldn't follow you, I hope?"
It was a rhetorical question so Alfons didn't bother replying, just offered the man a glare that he hoped hid his fear.
"Since Thule Society managed to escape, I decided to prioritize finding you three," the man informed. "So tell me, where are the Elric-brothers?"
Alfons didn't say anything. He wouldn't mess up more for Edward than he had already done. It was a relief that they hadn't been caught yet. Hopefully he would get Al away safely.
The Brigadier General waited impatiently for him to answer. "I asked you a question, Heiderich. You're obligated to reply to your commanding officer."
Alfons looked away, not making any signs of opening his mouth. He didn't care what happened to him, he would rather die than sell Edward out.
Then Kiehle's hand suddenly swung down and connected hard against his cheek with a loud smack. The blow had been so fast that Alfons had barely seen it coming.
With a deep breath through his nose, Alfons endured the stinging pain by tugging a little at the cuffs around his wrists and ignored the look he received from the Brigadier General. This was nothing... The Brigadier General had to try harder than that to make him talk. Still he didn't even dare meet anyone's eyes at that point. And it bothered him that Mustang simply stood there watching. Wasn't he on Edward's side?
"Where are the Elric-brothers?" Kiehle asked again, his voice sharp as a knife.
This was it, Alfons thought. Roy Mustang must have sold him out. Maybe he had even told them that he wasn't the person he said he was. Even if Mustang was on Edward's side, that didn't mean he was on Alfons'.
He received a new sharp slap, as a consequence of still remaining silent. His head jerked to the side of the hit, so hard he thought his neck would bust. For how long would it continue like this? Maybe they were planning to torture him for information? The thought of that made Alfons shudder. It was just about then he felt Riza Hawkeye clutching his shoulders from where she stood behind him. She had held him since she handcuffed him, but something in that particular touch made his thoughts spin again from the start. The way she squeezed his shoulders somehow told him that she supported him. It was a squeeze in a comfortable way. But still, it felt like a warning. Maybe he should at least say something. He didn't have to tell them where Edward and Al were. And it would be easier to say something if he knew he wasn't alone. He suddenly got a bad conscience for thinking that Mustang had betrayed them. It didn't add up. If Riza Hawkeye supported him, Colonel Roy Mustang did too.
"I'll only ask one more time," the Brigadier General warned. "Where are the Elric-brothers?"
Alfons took another deep breath, gathering all the courage he could possibly utter and lifted his head to meet Kiehle's steel eyes. "I don't know," he said.
Brigadier General Kiehle's stare narrowed even further. "You don't know?"
Alfons replied with something he hoped was a solid glare.
"That's a lie," Kiehle said, swinging his hand down at Alfons for the third time, at the same spot. His head jolted to the side again as the hard hand hit him. The pain throbbed and he felt his cheek swelling and a sway of dizziness. Anytime now he was sure his knees would betray him.
"Tell me where they are."
"I don't know!" Alfons said louder, shutting his eyes tight. He expected to receive another blow at his face, but it didn't come.
"I see you've decided to become difficult, Alfons," said the Brigadier General, for some reason using his first name suddenly. "That's not like you, I thought you would be more willing to cooperate. You want to protect your family, don't you?"
Alfons shot him a look back. The military thought he was Edward and Alphonse's cousin, so it was no wonder why he called them his family. "That's why I won't tell you," he replied steadfast, not sure where his courage came from. "You were the one who shot down Azure, weren't you?" It was a simple guess.
"Better seeing it at the bottom of the sea than in the hands of betrayers," Kiehle replied spitefully. "Don't you think?"
Alfons wanted to lunge at him, but Hawkeye held him back. "We're not betrayers! We wanted to save--!"
"That's enough," Kiehle interrupted him. "Take him back to Central."
Then Mustang suddenly stepped closer. "Sir," he said. "Allow me to question him. I might be able to haul out something useful. I know a certain weak point of his."
Alfons slowly opened his eyes and stared at the Colonel in shock. What was he planning to do to him? He couldn't help feeling frightened by the look in Roy Mustang's face. It was though every sense of emotion was wiped away and his one eye was as cold as a winter in Munich. And what did he mean "weak point"? What if all this had become a personal matter from Mustang's side? This was the first time he met Mustang after having every card on the table about his and Edward's past. Alfons had almost literally stolen Edward from him. So he couldn't actually blame Mustang for being bitter with him either, could he? In the time after knowing that they had used to be lovers, Alfons had felt slightly surprised that Mustang had acted so nice to him before. But it was probably the end of all that now.
"Oh really?" Kiehle said, obviously curious. "You think you can do the job better?"
"I'm just saying that I know him better," Mustang said, obviously liking this fact. Like he had just beaten the Brigadier General in some sort of bizarre competition. "And I want to find out where the Elric-brothers are as much as you do."
"Fine," the Brigadier General said. "But if he doesn't talk, it might hurt your position, Colonel."
The threat was obvious, Alfons knew. Even if the Brigadier General himself couldn't lower the Colonel's rank, he had a certain power over the Fuhrer's senses of judgement. It wasn't fair.
"Havoc, Breda," Mustang said. "Take him to the car."
With a fearsome grip around his heart, Alfons could only stand still and let himself be grabbed by the two men he had used to work with. With a firm hold on each side of his arms, they dragged him away after Mustang, and Hawkeye held her gun ready behind them in case he would try a courageous escape attempt.
Alfons was confused. Were they his enemies or not?
"Sorry, boss," Havoc muttered so low that only he could hear it, and Alfons felt a little better. Even if they would arrest him and question him, they didn't really think of him as a criminal, right?
Mustang walked ahead, his back tall and perfectly straight. He didn't even offer him a look, and Alfons couldn't help feel a little helpless and miserable.
They didn't have to go far until they got to a small one-way road, with several military cars standing parked by the road.
"They'll continue searching the area," Mustang said sternly, and Alfons looked hesitantly up at him. "Even if they are hiding, there's a high chance that we'll find them."
Alfons gritted his teeth. "What are you doing, Colonel?" he heard himself ask, feeling suddenly angry. "Are you helping them arrest Edward and put him up for trial?" He didn't know what to believe, but if that was true, they had no one left they could really trust. How could the Colonel do something like this? Didn't he care about Edward after all? And Edward had truly counted on him, maybe a little too much.
Mustang finally turned around and looked at him, his eye still cold. "Ever since the day I decided to become Fuhrer, I have never done anything I haven't believed was the right thing to do. No matter what my orders were."
Alfons looked a little confused at him.
"Let him go," Mustang said.
Immediately Havoc removed the handcuffs from Alfons's wrists. Still confused, Alfons offered him a grateful look.
"I wanted to know if they are okay. So how are they?" Mustang asked.
Alfons nodded slowly, still a little struck by surprise. "Alphonse Elric seemed quite traumatized when I first met him... but I think he'll be all right, as long as he has Edward with him. Edward is a little beaten up, but he's... He's Edward." He smiled softly.
"I see." Mustang thoughtfully rubbed his chin. "I'm glad they're all right. You three scared me to death."
Alfons' gaze lifted bemused, and to his further surprise he saw a trace of a small smile on the Colonel's lips as well.
"I'm sorry," Mustang then said in a murky tone. "That bastard Kiehle just had to order to fire all his arms at you, even with Al there."
"What happened after we took off?" Alfons asked fast.
Roy's eyes darkened. "We had an encounter with Thule Society, but they got away. Their hideout had been partly destroyed after they dropped bombs partially on their own ground, in an attempt to scare us away."
"I see." So that was what they had heard while being underneath the ground. The military had at least not used bombs, which meant the Colonel had been honest all along. Alfons wondered where Thule had gone now.
"Try to be more careful," Roy said, almost like he was scolding, but still speaking a little fast as if he didn't want to waste precious time. "When Hawkeye fires, run that way." He pointed down another path, leading back into the forest.
Alfons's eyes widened. They were going to let him run?
Mustang stepped forward and gently squeezed his shoulder. "For now, think about yourself and when you're safe, wait for Edward to find you. If they get away, they'll catch up to you sooner or later."
Alfons nodded slowly. "Yes, sir..."
Out of nowhere Fuery showed up with a sheepish smile. "Here you go," he said, handing Alfons his backpack back.
"We put in some money for you, so you don't have to worry about that," Havoc said.
"And we didn't confiscate the gun," Breda added.
"Just be careful with it," Falman warned.
Alfons sighed gratefully and brought the pack onto his back. "Thank you," he said, letting his eyes wander from Breda, to Havoc, Fuery and Falman, and at last...
Riza Hawkeye stepped up to him and wrapped her arms around his shoulders, hugging him tightly to her. "Be careful, Alfons," she said gently.
Totally taken aback, Alfons could only stand stiff and didn't even consider noticing how wide his own eyes were at that moment.
How nostalgic this hug felt. Even how her perfume smelt.
He felt her hand in his hair, stroking caringly and all he wanted to do then was to hug back, cry into her shoulder and call her mom.
But then she pulled away slowly and smiled kindly at him, and he hoped terribly much that he didn't look as ready to cry as he felt.
"Good luck," she said, and stepped back from him.
"Thanks," he whispered.
Mustang smiled. "Your best chance is to find a city, and stay at a motel for a while under false names."
Alfons nodded fast, still feeling odd and a little dazzled.
Mustang then nodded, turning to Riza. "Okay, go."
Hawkeye lifted her gun and fired rapidly three times straight towards the clouds, making Alfons jump. Then he started running as fast as he could. Behind him he registered slightly that Havoc and Breda started running as well, but in a totally different direction.
A few moments later the Brigadier General stepped hurriedly out of the forest, staring widely at Roy Mustang. "Colonel, what is going on here?" He glared from one to another, finding one he expected to see missing. "Where is Heiderich?" he asked wrathfully.
"I'm sorry, sir," Mustang said apologetically. "He managed to escape. Hawkeye tried to hit his leg."
Lieutenant Hawkeye saluted. "I missed, sir."
The Brigadier General's eyes narrowed sharply. "You let him escape..."
Mustang stepped forward. "Instead of coming with terrible accusations like that, sir, shouldn't we follow him? A couple of my men are pursuing him. He went this way, and he won't get far. Follow me." And then he led the way, in the totally opposite direction, following after Havoc and Breda.
--
Edward frowned. "Did you hear that?"
Alphonse sat up in the grass. "Hear what?"
Edward turned around and peaked up in the tall grass, stunned by the sight that revealed in front of him. By the edge of the forest, a whole unit of armed soldiers were obviously searching for something or someone in between the trees. Even if there was some distance in between them, they were definitely close enough to become a dangerous threat.
"Shit!" Edward wheezed and abruptly threw himself down beside his brother again.
"Nii-san, what's going--?"
He swiftly shut his little brother up by pressing his flesh hand against his mouth and squeezed him to his chest to make him stay low. "Shh!"
"They can't be far away from here!" a voice called. "Keep searching, and walk through the field in a line."
Edward's breath hitched. How did the military find them all the way out here? They must have assumed he would cover up their tracks. If the military searched the field, they would find them sooner or later. And if he used alchemy now, he would immediately give away their position because of the reaction light of energy.
He heard muttering voices and feet against the grass, pressing it down as they moved as hunters with loaded muskets.
Alphonse had stiffened in his hold, hearing it too and clutching his hands around Edward's flesh arm. He shut his eyes tight. For now the grass was high enough to shield them from being seen, but it wouldn't for long.
Suddenly the sound of a gun firing three times loomed over the forest, and everyone on the field froze.
"Report back immediately!" the voice called, sounding startled. "Something happened at Mustang's!"
The voice sounded very familiar. Edward recognized it as Kiehle. Brigadier General Kiehle. To his relief, the sounds of the soldiers started to move away from them.
But he was immediately worried. Had someone been shot? Where was Alfons? Was he okay? Slowly he released his little brother, and Al rolled onto his stomach, supporting himself with his elbows and breathed sharply. "Was that... the military?" he asked hesitantly.
"Yeah..." Edward replied in a low voice. "That was a close call. We need to get out of here fast." He rose slowly when he thought it would be safe to move. "Come."
They started running across the field and into another part of the forest on the other side. Edward felt an uncomfortable twirl in his stomach. Alfons had to be all right, or he'd never forgive himself. He hoped he wasn't captured or harmed. But for now Edward had to count on Alfons that he managed to take care of himself. He had to prioritize getting Al out of danger before he could start dwelling upon everything else. He tried to convince himself that it was the right thing to do.
It didn't take long until Al started to slow down, too tired to run any faster. "I'm sorry, Nii-san..." he breathed. "I'm..."
Edward stopped and waited for him. "Don't worry about it, Al."
"Where is Heiderich-san...?" Al asked.
"I'm here." Alfons abruptly stepped out from the trees, breathing hard as well. Running for his life had never been his strong passion.
Edward's eyes lightened up in relief by the sight of him. "Alfons!" He stepped quickly towards him, squeezing his arm. He wanted to kiss him, but he suddenly remembered that he hadn't told Al yet... so he didn't. "Are you okay?" he asked instead.
Alfons nodded. "Yeah... are you?"
"They didn't see us," Edward said. He frowned at Alfons' swollen cheek. "You're hurt..." He gently touched Alfons' cheek with his cold metal fingers.
Alfons closed his eyes. Edward's cold touch felt good against the soreness. "They captured me," he explained with a sigh. "And Kiehle started asking me questions I didn't want to answer..."
Edward's eyes widened. "Bastards... I'm sorry, I shouldn't have let you walk off alone like that."
Alfons snorted with a small smile. "It wasn't your fault, and I'm fine. Mustang and his unit helped me escape."
"He did, huh..." Edward managed a smile. "That stupid, old bastard. We should send him a greeting card sometime then."
Alfons grinned back. "You're right."
Some distance away Al stood watching them in silence, quietly stuffing his hands into his pockets on his long red coat. A small dark feeling was triggering his heart by the look in his brother's eyes when he had noticed that Alfons was hurt. Touching his cheek like that. They seemed to be close, and somehow Al couldn't help disliking it. Edward was his brother, not Alfons Heiderich's. But then he shoved it away and just turned away from them, feeling a little ridiculous.
Quietly he dozed off in his own secret thoughts for a moment. His memory was still fuzzy of different images, a mix of what he had seen inside the Gate that had been his missing past and what he had experienced during his captivity. It was almost unusual not waking up feeling sick and all he could see was the hard, black stonewalls. Normally that would be a bad association, having experienced a trauma like that. But it made Al think of Schiller, and it wasn't so bad thinking about him. Despite of everything that had happened, the beating, the sedatives, the chains, Al had felt a certain comfort of having him around, and that couldn't mean that Schiller had been a real bad guy, could it? Sometimes Schiller had spoken quite pessimistically about the world, and how cruel it could be. And he had been right. As long as differences existed, so would hatred.
Al wasn't sure if he could really consider Schiller on his side or not, but he knew he couldn't hide it to himself anymore. He was worried about the man. He wouldn't admit it to either Edward or his doppelganger-friend, since they probably wouldn't understand. But Schiller had wanted to save him after all, and still Al didn't know why. But maybe it was Schiller who needed to be saved now, and who would understand that other than Al? To everyone else, Schiller was just a part of Thule Society, the enemy. Al wondered where he was now or if he was okay. Maybe he would be punished for letting Al escape. Maybe he even missed Al. If Al saw him again, he decided he'd try to get him out of the Society. Maybe he could live in Central and start a new life, and help the military saving innocent people from the horrible attacks. His thoughts fell again back at the conversation he had had with his brother some moments ago.
"Do you think I would've... lost my memories of those last weeks?"
"No, I don't think so. At least I didn't when I went to the other world. I still remembered my last transmutation."
"So, we're just the way we are, no matter what world we're in," he had surmised thoughtfully.
Al knew Edward had probably thought that the reason he had asked such a thing was because he wanted to forget something. But that wasn't it. He wanted to remember, and never would he risk losing something as precious as his memories again, no matter what kind of memory it was. Inexplicably, he thought that remembering the bad memories could be just as necessary as remembering the good ones.
"We should hurry up and use all the vantage the Colonel is able to give us," Edward said, starting to walk fast further again. "Rizembool's waiting."