So these are Al's diary entries from 1916. It will make sense as you read. Probably lots of mistakes about Creta because I haven't seen Sacred Star of Milos.

Honestly, I don't like this one all that much - I like the idea, but I think the format ended up restricting it. If I ever write it into a full story, I won't be using diary entries. And there's a lot of moral ambiguity - I was gonna go more in-depth, but there just wasn't room for it. So if you want to point out the issues, go ahead - just know that I'm aware of most of them ^^;

Also if you miss the subtext you're missing half the story. Jussayin'.

82. Following

16th June, 1916

I worry about Brother sometimes.

Okay, no, all the time. I always have. He's a bit too accident-prone. But this time it's not an accident - he's doing it on purpose.

I got my first call from him today. It's a wonder we were able to get a connection at all, considering he's all the way out west and I'm in Xing, but both Grumman and the Colonel - oops, General now - have been trying to get everything connected. I took a train here, can you believe it? Ling won't stop whining how he dragged himself through the desert and I might as well have done him the honour of doing the same, but I mostly ignore him. He may be the Emperor but he's still a prat.

Anyway, I got a call, but he seemed really distracted. He told me about the architecture in Creta five times - although now that I think about it, that might just be Brother.

I don't know why I'm so worried. I think I have a sixth sense for when Ed's getting himself into trouble, kind of like how Winry has one for whenever he's breaking his automail. I suppose it's nothing, really, but I feel like I should have gone with him. I'm not sure I trust him to take care of himself -

Agh, listen to me. I sound like a doddery old grandmother. Brother can take care of himself.

I think.

-Al

23rd June, 1916

I got another call from Brother! Funny, I get so wrapped up in things here that I don't think about it, but I do miss him terribly. Calling Mei 'bean-girl' helps but it's not quite the same. (Boy, does she hit hard. My head still hurts.)

He says Creta's awesome. He's in their capital city, and he says he'll stay there a while. Apparently their national library is gorgeous. Frankly, I'm jealous, but he says he'll steal me something badass.

I said no, of course. (As tempting as it was. Darn you, conscience!)

I wish he sounded happier, though. I mean, he doesn't sound sad, exactly - just...tense. It's a strange place, though, as cool as it is. Maybe that's why. I mean, he barely even knows the language.

-Al

24th June, 1916

I talked to Mei.

She said Creta doesn't have a national library. It was destroyed in one of their border skirmishes with Drachma.

I hope she's wrong.

Brother promised he'd never lie to me.

-Al

30th June, 1916

Brother called again today, but he's not in the capital city anymore. He's in a small town just outside of it with a name I can barely pronounce, let alone write.

I asked him what happened to reading through the library. He sounded really nervous, but just said he got bored. That's when I knew he was lying - but I didn't say anything.

I feel kind of like I should have, but the last time I was 'absolutely sure he was lying' I nearly ruined everything. Maybe he was just mistaken about it being the national library. Maybe it was a really, really dull library. (Apparently they exist.)

Am I making excuses again?

I still can't find the Dragon's Pulse, either. Mei's getting frustrated with me again, but one of the other alkahestrists I ran into at the palace said that patience is the most valuable virtue when it comes to alkahestry.

Maybe that's what I need to do with Brother as well. Just...be patient. He'll tell me everything eventually.

Still...it was weird how he hung up. We were talking, and then all of a sudden he said, "Wait - shit - sorry, Al, gotta go - I'll call you next week, alright, bye!" And then he hung up.

I think I heard somebody screaming in the background.

-Al

3rd July, 1916

Mei keeps telling me not to worry. It's so frustrating! I can't not worry - he's Ed! She just doesn't know him like I do.

"I have a brother too, remember?" she said, but it's not really the same, and I even said so. She has to be respectful, he's the Emperor. And they didn't even grow up together.

"Well, fine, I'll never try to sympathize with you again." That was right before she drilled me on the Dragon's Pulse again, then ran me through the Xingese elements, the proportions of an alkahestry circle, and the history of pandas in Xing. (I don't know either. She's weird.)

Sometimes I wish I was still learning from Izumi-sensei. At least she made sense.

-Al

4th July, 1916

General Mustang called today; apparently there's been a series of unexplained incidents resulting in property damage along the Cretan border. They're on the other side, so it technically shouldn't have anything to do with us, but the Cretan government seems to think it's the work of Amestrian insurgents.

Oh boy, you know you've spent too long in the military when. But the General was calling me to make sure it wasn't, well, you know who.

"That brother of yours is a walking disaster area. Are you sure he hasn't gotten himself in over his head again?" (Brother would have FLIPPED if he'd heard that. As it was, I just had myself a private little chuckle.)

I told him the truth - that as far as I knew Ed was actually enjoying a peaceful vacation. The General didn't seem to buy it.

"The words 'Edward' and 'peaceful vacation' don't seem to mesh very well. If you hear anything from him, let me know - and tell him to stop terrorizing the natives. It's bad for diplomatic relations."

I wonder what is going on. There's been no deaths, which is pretty good, but it's still weird. I bet if Ed found out he'd go and fix it right away - that, or get himself neck-deep into some dangerous situation. And I wouldn't even be there to save his butt as usual.

I think I should take up drinking.

-Al

7th July, 1916

Something is very, very wrong and I'm an idiot for not saying something sooner.

Brother called today, but we didn't talk for long - I told him about Mei, and Ling, and Xingese food (which is fantastic) but then suddenly there was this bloodcurdling shriek. It was so loud I actually started looking around, but Ed stammered something about having to go and hung up.

Or at least, he tried. He must have missed the cradle or something, because I could still hear what was happening. I can remember every word.

"Why are you screaming like that - oh jesus - that -"

"What's the matter, pipsqueak? Can't handle a little bit of blood?"

"It never did anything to you!"

"It existed." There was a crack, kind of like the sound of splintering branches. "Next time it won't be a cat, midget. Leave me alone."

"No."

I hung up after that. I know that voice - but he's supposed to be dead.

-Al

8th July, 1916

I nearly called General Mustang and told him what I'd heard. But then I didn't.

What if I was wrong about what I heard? What if it's somebody else? What if there's a perfectly reasonable explanation for everything?

(What if I'm still making excuses?)

-Al

9th July, 1916

Asked Mei about Envy, since she's probably spent the most time with him out of all of us. She didn't want to talk about it. I prodded a bit, though I probably shouldn't have - and she burst into tears.

I dropped it after that, and hugged her until she calmed down. It turns out Envy had a ball with her - telling her how she would fail, how she was useless, how her clan were just sending her off to get her out of the way, how she would never be anything more than the princess of the garbage heap -

I can't write any more. It makes me too angry. She was thirteen! But I suppose it's second-nature to someone like Envy to pick on somebody's insecurities. I remember how he needled at me when we first got him in the jar -

How could we ever have let Mei leave with him?

-Al

14th July, 1916

No call from Brother. I suppose I can't expect him to be exact every week, especially since I think there's a pretty significant time difference between Xing and Creta. I don't think it's a full day, though - otherwise it would have been a problem before now.

-Al

15th July, 1916

The General phoned in. There's been a death in one of the incidents - a woman found, just about beaten to a pulp in the aftermath. Finally some people are speaking up about what's going on - but nobody's taking them seriously, because they're babbling about giant green monsters and lightning coming down from the sky.

I should rephrase that. Nobody's taking them seriously, unless they were involved in the Promised Day.

I asked the General about alchemy in Creta. There's some, but it's mostly concentrated in the major cities. In the small towns - like these ones - it would seem to a lot of people like lightning.

...Still no call from Brother.

-Al

16th July, 1916

Finally caved and called Winry. She made me promise not to call her too often, because we end up talking for hours and "I have customers! Send me letters instead!". Haha.

But she's just as worried as I am. She hasn't gotten anything - letters or calls - for ages. She's used to it (ouch, guilt) but this time it's different because I'm not with him. "You're the sane one."

I couldn't exactly disagree with her. But - "Do you know who Envy is - was?"

"One of the, uh, homunculi, right?"

"The shapeshifter."

"Right. But they're all dead."

"...Yeah." Winry's a mechanic, not an alchemist or soldier. She doesn't need to know that Envy was very possibly still alive.

She can't help me figure out how.

-Al

17th July, 1916

I can't sleeeep. It's awful. You'd think with all the training Mei's putting me through I'd be able to get some rest, not to mention not sleeping for four years. Jeez.

This thing with Brother and Envy (maybe) won't stop bothering me. I know how Winry felt - feels - now; he never had to tell me anything before because I was there for most of it. But now I'm two countries away and all I know is what comes over the line.

Goddammit, I'm NOT going to sit here and let him do something stupid!

Later

I'm back. I called the last town Ed phoned me from and asked about the recent Amestrian visitor. I got a string of foreign curses and a curt reply telling me that the little green-haired psychopath was long gone.

I guess I should give up any hope that I'm wrong.

-Al

18th July, 1916

Finally, Brother called! I can't even begin to tell you how relieved I was to hear his voice. But he sounds tired. I asked him what was wrong and he tried to tell me it was nothing.

"Ed, don't. I know you're lying to me about something - stop it."

"It's nothing, I..." He gave up pretty quickly. "I'm just tired. I've...I've been taking care of somebody."

"Envy?"

He was silent for a long time after that. "He deserves a second chance -he's changed, he's changing -"

I told him about the woman beaten to death. I wanted so much for him to say that they hadn't been anywhere close to there, but all he said was, "Oh." It was little more than a whisper.

I'd never heard him sound so old.

"Come home," I ended up saying. "Come home."

"I can't. I'm the only thing stopping him when he goes on a rampage - I'm the only one, Al, don't you get it? He listens to me -"

"Come home," I said again. "He's not your responsibility."

"He is now -"

That was when he was suddenly cut off and another voice took over. Envy had snatched the phone away from him. "Oh, it's the tin can. Stop trying to convince him, I've been trying to get him to go away for ages now and he ain't leaving." He laughed.

Then he hung up.

-Al

Later

I called Mustang.

I told him everything.

-Al

21th July, 1916

On my way back to Amestris - Mei's with me, which I'm incredibly grateful for. If she wasn't here I don't know what kind of a mess I'd be.

Mustang led a raid to capture Envy and Ed. Yeah, capture. I can't believe I'm saying it either...But it's the only course of action that the brass could decide on. It's strictly undercover, although Grumman's communicated with the officials in the area to let them know some of the basics.

Envy got away. They're bringing Brother back to Central while they figure out what to do. Mustang said he might be extradited back to Creta to stand trial for the woman's murder, but that's bullshit. He didn't know anything about it, he was trying to stop it...

...but not everyone's gonna see it that way.

-Al

15th September, 1916

"I ran into Envy a few days after I first crossed the border. I thought he was dead. I found him eating animals, trying to use their life force to boost his Stone. It must have been working, because he'd gotten his usual body back.

"At first, I fought with him; he ran off, went on a rampage in his full form. I stopped him. He rampaged again. I stopped him again. I tried to make him realize how many people he was hurting every time.

"I ended up following him, stopping him every time I could. He got better and better - it was just when he got angry. When people laughed too much, smiled too much - young families, young lovers - he'd lose it. But he was getting better, I swear.

"I don't know who she was. I didn't even know it had happened. But I can tell you why. She reminded Envy of what he didn't have. That's all."

He shrugged. "I tried my best. I...guess it...wasn't enough."

I asked him why he'd tried so hard, why he'd even thought of giving Envy a chance.

He shrugged again, and then looked up at me. I can't remember the last time he looked so desperate. "I...I had to try...I had to least try to save one more person. Just one more..."

He buried his head in his hands.

I wrote down everything he said, word for word. Maybe this way, I can reread it, try to figure out what I'm missing.

We're back in Rizenbul now. Winry's come back to stay at least for a while. They couldn't find Ed guilty of anything except really bad decision-making, but Mustang did practically order him to stay in one place for a while. And I'm staying with him - as long as I need to.

Mei wants to return to Xing. I said she could if she wanted to, but I couldn't. She got really upset - I don't know why. She says I'm too distracted now - of course I'm distracted. Ed is all I have, and he's been gallivanting around with a murderer! I think anybody would be upset.

I can see why she wants to go home, though. It's been almost two months getting everything sorted out. I really didn't mean to get her wrapped up in everything...I'm getting better at alkahestry, though. I think I've figured out how to read qi now - it's hard! But I can kind of sense it now. Mei says I need to find a clear enough source. Everybody in Xing can shield theirs.

-Al

16th September, 1916

I couldn't sleep (again) so I got up to check on Ed. He's always been a restless sleeper, and it hasn't gotten any better since he got back.

There was someone else there with him, sitting by the bed. I didn't recognize her - she was a small little thing, with dark hair tied in a braid and really, really pale skin. She was holding Brother's hand and caressing it, like Mom used to do whenever we were sick or she just really felt like it. Sometimes I woke up and noticed she was doing it. I never let her know I was awake though, because I was worried she'd stop.

I kind of think this girl was doing the same thing. Because it was really obvious she cared about him.

Then she looked up at me and she completely changed. "Go away," she hissed, and that was when I realized who it was.

Envy had followed Brother all the way home.