Hello everyone! Welcome to chapter 20! *opens a bottle of champange*

Momentous, right? Haha

Thank you all for your lovely reviews and your alerts/faves! You guys are the best! You always make me feel like that "Oh stop it youuu" meme! xD

*Unbetaed*

Disclaimer: The usual

And away we go!

Chapter 20: Promise

"We're never gonna find Al, are we?"

"Sure we will. We just have to keep looking."

"We've been looking for hours. Don't you think we woulda found him by now? Or at least made it back to the entrance?"

"We'll get out of here, alright? There's no need to be so dramatic," Ed sighed, glancing back at Alice as he spoke.

Alice just huffed in response, raising the lantern a bit so she could see better.

The tunnel they were currently in was damp and smelly. There were wooden doors lining each side, with old barrels and boxes everywhere. Alice couldn't help but notice just how similar it was to Amnesia, a video game she had played back home. She hurried to catch up to Ed as images from the game came to mind.

"What's your problem?" Ed asked, glancing at her in surprise as she latched onto his arm.

"Grunts! I mean...uh, nothing." She replied, quickly looking away.

"Okay?"

Alice bit her lip, refusing to look at Ed. Instead, she kept looking ahead, trying to find something familiar. That's when she glanced down a tunnel and saw a splash of natural light. She didn't even bother telling Edward; she just grabbed his hand and took off. A few moments later they were standing in the entrance of the tunnel, the setting sun clearly visible.

"Oh hallelujah! Praise the Lord! We're out!" Alice cried, sprinting out of the mine and spinning around in the waning sunlight. Ed followed her out, a small smile on his face. Alice hadn't been the only one who wanted out of those mines after all.

Alice finally stopped spinning and stumbled over to where Ed stood. The two teenagers stood in silence for a bit, breathing in the clean, cool air.

"Is...Al still in there?" Alice asked after a while, glancing over at Ed.

"Possibly. I'll go back in and look."

"What? You can't go back in there! I told you, it's a death trap! We're lucky we got out alive!" Alice exclaimed, suddenly a bit panicked. Ed just sighed, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"I'll be fine, Allie. I just need to make sure Al's not lost. This mine is perfectly safe, okay?"

"Promise?"

"I promise. Will you be okay out here?"

"Yeah...Just don't take too long, alright?"

Ed nodded, watching her for a moment. Suddenly he leaned forward, giving her a quick kiss before running off. Alice blushed in surprise, the whole thing had happened fast she hadn't been able to respond. Shaking her head, she strode over to a group of rocks and sat down to wait.

.

.

.

Ed returned an hour later, a crumpled piece of paper held in his hand, his eyes blazing with anger. Alice leapt up, worried.

"Ed? Ed, what's wrong? Where's Al?"

"Gone! Those...bastards took him!" Ed exclaimed, throwing the paper at her. Alice just barely managed to catch it, hurriedly smoothing it out so she could read it. Her eyes flicked back and forth as she read, her face getting paler with each word. Her hands shook by the time she was finished.

"The...homunculi took him? They...want to...trade? For m-me?"

"Apparently," Ed growled, his arms crossed as he glowered at the mine.

Alice took a deep breath, looking back down at the note. She had no idea why the homunculi would want her. It's not like they knew she was from another world...right? But if they did somehow know...well, this would make more sense. She didn't know what they were planning, but she couldn't just leave Al with them. She had to get him back. That's what Ed would want too, right? Of course, Al was his little brother. Of course he'd want that.

"I'll go," She finally said, her voice sounding breathy. Ed's head snapped up and he looked over at her with wide, scared eyes.

"W-what? No! You, you can't just...go to them! You...don't know how to fight, you still haven't gotten the hang of alchemy! Absolutely not!"

"But, I have to! I have to go so they'll free Al! And I kinda know how to fight! I took karate when I was little!" Alice replied, gripping the paper tightly.

"That doesn't mean you can fight the homunculi! Look, we'll get Al back, okay? Just in a different manner." Ed said, looking back towards the mine.

"But this is the fastest way to do it! What if...what if I went in there, got Al freed, then escaped?"

"Escaped?" Ed turned back to her, shocked, "From the homunculi? Is that even possible?"

"I'm sure...it could be. If I tried. Ed, you have to let me go! It's my fault they took Al! I've gotta fix it."

"It's not your fault, Allie!"

"But it is!" Alice cried, straightening up, "If I wasn't here, the homunculi wouldn't have kidnapped Al!"

"You don't know that, Alice." Ed responded, his eyes narrowed.

"Why else would they take him?" Alice countered, crossing her arms.

"I...I don't know! Just...don't do this, Alice."

"Don't you want your brother back?"

"Of course I do!" Ed exclaimed, the lightest of blushes beginning to spread over his cheeks, "But Alice, they'll kill you if you go to them! I...I can't lose you, Allie."

"I..." Alice fell quiet, unsure of how to respond. This Ed that truely cared for her, the Ed that loved her. She wasn't quite used to it yet. But...

"I..."

Alice's eye's lit up as she got an idea. Taking a deep breath, she stuck out her hand, her pinky finger out.

"What...are you doing?" Ed asked weakly, glancing down at her hand.

"You...don't know?"

Ed just shook his head.

"It's a pinky promise. It's absolutely taboo to break a pinky promise, so you have to believe me."

"Just...what makes it so taboo? Is alchemy involved? Or some sort of curse?" Ed asked, looking at her hand warily.

"N-no. You just...can't break a pinky promise."

"How? If all your doing is touching someone's hand, surely it's easy to break?"

"Well, yeah...but. I don't know how to put this. You just can't break a pinky promise, Ed. They're...um, sacred. Okay?"

"...Alright. But why are you telling me this?"

"Because I'm going to promise you something. Just wrap your pinky around mine." Alice said, blushing. Ed blushed a bit too as he followed Alice's instructions.

"Now what?"

"Now I make my promise," Alice replied. She stared at their hands for a moment before lifting her head and looking into Edward's eye.

"I...I promise to return to you. Okay? If you let me go to the homunculi to free Al, I promise I'll come back. Once he's free, I'll escape. I promise I'll come back to you."

"And...you can't break this?" Ed mumbled, blushing even more. Alice gave a nod.

"...Alright. But you better not break your promise. I'll be waiting for you near-by, okay?"

"Okay." Alice said, moving their hands down and back up before letting go.

"Now, let's go get Al back!" She cried, grabbing Ed's hand and leading him in the direction of Central, "The homunculi won't wait forever."

Blehhhh. This chapter. ORZ

Gah, I'm sorry this is so short! But this was sooooo hard to write. I don't even know why. But I'm sorryyy. *bows*

I hope the promise scene went okay...I tried to keep Ed in character. And not make it too sappy. =3=

We're entering the final arc of the story! That's right, WMUP is almost over. There will probably be...2 or 3 more chapters. Plus an epilogue.

I wanna thank you all for sticking with me for so long! You're all amazing! :D

I do have a very important question for all of you though! I'll put it at the top of the questions list.

1- If you were writing this story, would you have Alice stay in Amestris forever? Or would you have her go home and have Ed and Al end up in our world with her? I think I know what I'm going to do, but I'd love to have your opinions!

2- It's Canada Day! Are any of my readers Canadian? :D

3- I just recently joined PewDiePie's Bro Army. Any one else a Bro?

4- Do any of you have a Figment account? If you do, you should talk to me. :)

That's all for now! There's a handy new way to leave reviews now! I can't wait to hear from you!

Until next time~