Chapter 1

[Disclaimer: I don't own FMA. This is set in the same universe as New Beginnings. I've been wanting to write more in that for a while, so have this for now. Because each chapter is a relatively short one-shot, you might be a bit lost if you haven't read New Beginnings. But I know these kinds of suggestions/warnings don't always work on me. By all means, don't let me tell you what to do.]

Alphonse clapped his hands and pressed the ground. Spikes rose up towards Selim. He sliced through them and kept his shadows going towards Alphonse, not even slowing down. Alphonse mostly dodged them, though Selim suspected he would've sliced through a sleeve at least, if his shadows were sharp enough.

Alphonse clapped and pressed the ground again. Dust rose up.

Selim gritted his teeth. That trick was annoying. It was one he didn't really have a counter for. Which was probably why Alphonse kept using it.

Well, he shouldn't just stand in one place. Selim moved away, using his shadows to listen, or feel, for any signs of Alphonse coming. He heard the crackling of alchemy instead. No surprise there. He drew his shadows closer, acting as some protection for his more fragile flesh form, and opened more eyes to see from different angles.

He barely saw the attack coming in time. A large bit of earth was moving towards his head. It was more likely to knock him down than cut him open like earth spikes, but something that size would hurt to get hit in the head with.

Selim sliced the tip off the mound, and ducked to the side as well, to avoid the thing's momentum.

Another clap. "I was hoping you'd step there," Alphonse said.

He didn't sound close, but he had learned alkahestry. Selim felt something come up and wrap around his feet, stopping just above the ankle. Selim looked down, shadow eyes still facing the dust. The earth was wrapped around his legs. He could cut through it, but he'd have to be more careful than usual, so he didn't slice his own limbs.

"I see," Selim said. "You realize you're focusing on the wrong part."

The dust cloud was thinning. Selim's shadows could see a figure ahead of him. He launched a tendril out, attempting to knock the figure to the side. It was when he hit it he realized that was more rock, not a person.

Alphonse tried to jump at him from above. Must've used alchemy to create a platform on the otherwise flat field. But Selim still had too many eyes watching from every angle. He swatted Alphonse aside.

They fought a bit longer. Alphonse attacked physically or with alchemy, Selim used his shadows. He was forced to use them defensively instead of even trying to dodge until he freed his feet, but that didn't last long. Alphonse made another dust cloud at one point. He created several walls of earth with alchemy, making it hard to guess which one he was hiding behind. Selim sliced through all of them at once with his shadows, but doing so was risky. Using more shadows at once was a good way to get tired, and he'd want the battle to be over soon after doing so.

Luckily, he could tell Alphonse was also getting tired. He wasn't a suit of armor anymore. He had to worry about breathing, and energy, and injuries.

Alphonse sent more rocks at him. Selim sliced a large piece off and flung it back. Alphonse's expression before he rolled to the side was worth it.

No one really "won" the fight. They just kept going until they were both tired out. Alphonse stopped, standing in the field. Selim was forced to put his hands on his knees to stay standing. He'd still be able to move his shadows, just definitely slower than usual. That still might surprise the average human, but probably not Alphonse. He didn't take the obvious opening. Whether he knew it was bait or whether he was also just tired, it didn't matter. Alphonse sat down after a moment, taking deeper breaths than normal.

"Thanks for that," Alphonse said. He even managed a smile.

"Why would you be grateful? You're the only human who leads to a somewhat even fight, if I want to practice."

Selim also sat down, but a bit away from Alphonse. He made sure he could see Alphonse out of the corner of his eye, and that his good ear was facing him. That was good enough.

Before the Promised Day, Pride wouldn't need something like "practice." He was incredibly powerful compared to any human. In the unlikely event he got injured, the Philosopher's Stone could instantly heal him. Even prolonged fights were more of an annoyance than a serious problem.

But now he only had one soul. His shadows were still part of his body, but if someone used, say, their arm all day, they could still get tired. There were upper strength or speed limits. Like other body parts, Selim's shadows could get better over time, but that meant he had to practice.

And there were very few people who could help with that where he wouldn't win in seconds.

"I need to practice too. I asked. You could've said no. Or tried to kill me for real," Alphonse pointed out. "I know you don't like me."

"And I know that's mutual. Though you're better than your brother."

"I get that a lot. Don't think too highly of yourself." Based on his tone, Alphonse knew the problem with telling Pride that. "My brother and I have lives. We have more things to do than hating you all day."

"Oh I'm aware," Selim said. He turned slowly towards him and smiled tightly. "I seem to recall you telling me about dismantling a Xingese cult while I still had amnesia. Strange you had time for that but not anything about your real reason for visiting."

"Is that what this is about?"

"Of course that's what this is about." Alphonse had tried to humiliate him during the Promised Day, and the night before. But Pride had wanted him to go to Central, and he ultimately had. Compared to someone like Edward or Mustang, what Alphonse had done before his memory wipe was nothing. "You and Edward played dumb. You took it upon yourself to visit my mother, and make sure I hadn't gotten my memories back. You knew who I was. And you pretended not to. For fifteen years, you never deigned to mention anything."

"Oh, and that would've been a good conversation before you got any memories back? 'Hi Selim. By the way, you're a three-hundred-year-old being made with alchemy who's killed hundreds and was planning to destroy the country. And one of the reasons we're here is to make sure you don't get back to that.'"

Selim forced himself not to get frustrated. He took a breath, and replied coolly. "You're playing dumb again. If you're trying to be insulting, I know you can do better. You know I got my memories back gradually. It only took until the third one to remember killing humans, something regular fourteen year old Selim would find horrifying. You wouldn't have to tell my everything, but it would've been nice to have some warning, or at least some context for what was happening. And I think you know that's what I meant."

Mrs. Bradley had told him about his past life before any of his memories started coming back, when she saw him using his shadows. But the Elrics didn't know that. And shouldn't it have been their responsibility anyway?

"Hmm." There was a pause. At least Alphonse seemed to be taking the conversation seriously now. "And the shock or horror wasn't important? It had nothing to do with why you had a change of heart?"

"I'm sure I could've still been shocked with some warning," he pointed out. "I think you didn't want to tell me, because you thought it was more likely I'd get my memories back if you reminded me. Shove Selim in a corner somewhere and hope he's ignorant forever. I notice you had fifteen years and still didn't have a plan when I did remember."

He wanted to use his shadows to loom over Alphonse. But again, just had a practice fight, the energy use wasn't worth it.

"It could've been worse for you if we had a strict plan," Alphonse pointed out.

"I'm aware."

He wasn't look directly at Alphonse, but he could see him look at the sky out of the corner of his eye. "Brother and I had more people and things to consider than just you. And if we were going to tell you, it couldn't be while you were too young. If you want to hate me for that, well, I'm not going to stay too hung up on that. But, we could've handled things better. I'm sorry neither of us said anything before your memories started coming back."

Selim felt a bit like he'd been hit in the head (again). He hadn't expected Alphonse to agree with him to any extent, acknowledge he'd done anything wrong. Why would he? Pride was terrible, in general and to Alphonse specifically. Alphonse had reason to be angry with him. If he'd apologized to Selim just to throw him off, it was working, but he didn't think that was it.

He looked out at the dark field in front of them, the stars up above. "I'm not going to just, stop being angry with you instantaneously," he pointed out.

He didn't think most people would, never mind him. And he didn't think he'd ever like Alphonse, certainly not the same way he liked the three humans he was genuinely close to. But he did respect him more than a lot of humans. It would probably be overly complicated to try explaining that part.

"But, I wouldn't mind doing this again."

"Yeah? I wouldn't mind that either," Alphonse agreed.

[This was the chapter I wanted to write the most. The others are considerably shorter and more light-hearted.]