AUTHOR'S RAMBLINGSWell, I finished the next chappy! (Obviously...) I'm also watching Doctor Who! XD This chappy is dedicated to Matt Smith because he's epic. Enjoy!~ X3

He was drifting, and everything was silent. There was no need to breathe, and there was no need to move. He was nowhere and he was everywhere. Something warm burned on what he thought was his left hand. He wanted to grasp it back, but there was nothing he could do. The hand was way too heavy and there was no hope for it.

'Am I dying?' he thought, 'Is this what Al meant by the Gate calling me?' After some time, he determined that had to be it. There was nothing to be done. He literally was stuck in the dimension of loneliness. So he closed his eyes. And continued to drift, in his world of silent suffering.

Izumi sat at Edward's bedside, grasping his flesh hand tightly and trying to fight the tears that were streaming down her pale face invariably. After so much, so many near death experiences and after so much training, the young man in front of her was close to being on his deathbed. It wasn't fair, and hope seemed to be hiding. And it wasn't something that she could battle off for him.

"Oh Sig… I wish you were here..." But he couldn't be. Sig Curtis had passed away only a month ago, just another reason to fuel her grief. He would know what to say to make it all okay; he would make sure that she didn't blame herself. But she did. The face of anger that she put on for Mustang was only that. Just a face. On the inside, she loathed herself so much more. And there was nothing she could do, just like everyone else.

Winry Rockbell was tough, but there was only so much pain that a person could take and still stand. Currently, she was sitting in bed, shining metal arms hanging limply on either side of her. A year and a half had passed, a long and miserable year and a half. She just barely managed to raise her right arm over her head.

"Not much longer Edward…" she murmured, draping the prosthetic across her forehead, "I haven't been able to do much physically with this automail, but I've been studying. I've worked hard and my rehabilitation should be over in a few months. Just… Wait for me!" A tear ran down her cheek and she bit her lip to stop herself from sobbing.

There had been a time, some number of years ago, when she had told Edward that because the two brother's wouldn't cry for themselves, she would cry for them. These tears weren't for the brothers, they were for herself and she could finally understand Edward's point of view. There wasn't much she could do now though, barely able to manage the finer motor skills and barely able to write. She just had too though!

Winry rolled over and forced her aching nerves to send signals to punch the pillow. The shock ran up her arm though and she let out a small scream, followed by a cough, flecking blood across her white pillows.

"Winry?!" came the voice of her grandmother, Pinako Rockbell, "Winry?! Are you alright?!" Footsteps came pounding up the stairs and Winry hurried to turn herself, without using her arms. Her grandmother came in quickly though and saw the blood on her chin. "What happened" the old woman asked gently.

"I punched the pillow…" Winry muttered angrily. She couldn't keep worrying Pinako, it wasn't fair to her. The old woman already had more than enough to deal with dealing with all of Winry's customers after all.

"How many times have I told you Winry," Pinako started as she wiped off Winry's chin, "Don't keep hurting yourself! We've already lost Al, and I can't deal with losing you and Edward at the same time!"

"Don't say that!" the young woman shouted, tearing her chin out of Pinako's grasp, "Never say that! Edward is not going to die! I don't care how bad his vitals look, or how badly he went and messed himself up, but he will not die! Not before…" WInry went silent and hung her head as tears streamed down her face once more. "No before…" She couldn't continue.

Pinako reached forward once again to wipe off Winry's chin.

"I've always taken care of you three Winry, and I know without a doubt that Al is not that man who hurt you. I don't know who the hell he is to imitate my godson, but he wasn't Al. Don't blame yourself for that. As for Edward..." Here Pinko pause while she took clean pillows out of the closet for Winry. She fluffed them up and helped Winry sit back before continuing.

"Winry, I don't know what to say about Edward. But what I do know is that everyone's time will come. Now, get some sleep Granddaughter, we're going to give you a rather large workout tomorrow. Goodnight.". Pinako walked from the room, leaving Winry to worry in silence.

A grin split the face of a young man as he stood on the borders of Amestris. He stood, hands at his side with a single briefcase in one hand.. His eyes were closed.

"Well, well Mr. Al-che-mist... It seems that the Gate is calling you. This is far better than I could have imagined. Just remember Mr. Al-che-mist..." his eyes shot open, revealing golden eyes tinged red, "I'm always watching." He turned from the border and walked back towards the center of the country. The briefcase in his hand swung next to him as he walked. He looked down towards it one more time and smiled, a grin even wider than the one he'd grinned only moments ago.

"This is why your brother isn't here Mr. Al-che-mist. You haven't quite learned that lesson yet, after all."

AUTHOR'S RAMBLING REPLIES

karmadella1234: I turned up, didn't I? Thanks though.

Firefly264: Thank you! And yeah... It was kinda filler-ish... And I think that Royai is adorable! XD

Guest(who made the body snatchers comment): I'm glad you're still interested. And what? Hammers? I'm lost... And yes, life is always more interesting that way.

Ren0Zia: Thanks!

Victorious-Mind: I do stuff like that all the time... YAY! INSPIRATION! Royai is kinda gonna be a side thing here, but I want it to be a recurring theme.

Dfire: Thanks! I'm glad to be back too!

lotrprincess: Yeah, the Royai seemed a bit out of place, but I feel like that's what I had to put in there. I mean, Roy's going through a whole lot of stress in his job as the Fuhrer now, and with Ed in a coma, he's close to breaking. I feel like he needs something good going on for him.

Thank you to karmadella1234, Firefly264, TearsDrippingDown, Ren0Zia, toph12341, Gyneth-Coral-Melody-Laterza, alchemyfreak71, RosettaEvans16, Victorious-Mind, Dfire, Ponine Pontmercy, lotrprincess, and AkihikoIsSmoothlySexy.