Entkommen die Vergangenheit

Heiderich had been taking care of him for the past week. He wasn\'t allowed to get out of bed but he was feeling better.



He wondered if Heiderich was having any luck finding a job.



Al had decided that as soon as he could he would try to get one as well.



Dr. Cavanagh had come by when Heiderich was away.



He had taken out Al’s stitches and told him to take it easy, he figured it couldn\'t hurt for him to stay in bed for another few days, and even then to try not to be up to long or do anything strenuous.



Heiderich sat at the end of the bed.



Al waited expectantly. Heiderich was staring at the wall sorting his thoughts.



Finally Heiderich spoke. "I\'m sorry. I should have made sure you were ok instead of acting so stupid... What if you hadn\'t gotten better? You lost a lot of blood. I was so sure you would..." Heiderich couldn\'t finish. He bent his head so Alphonse wouldn\'t see the tears forming in his eyes.



Al hated seeing him like this. For the first time he really realized what it meant to not be able to speak. Not be able to comfort his friends, or argue over something stupid like theories or to laugh.



He picked up the notepad that Heiderich had gotten him not long ago and hastily began to write.



You are being stupid!!! How could you have known? And I\'m going to be fine anyway. You had every right to be angry! I know I should have told you but I was scared of what you would think. So maybe we were both stupid.



He rapped his knuckles on the bedframe to get Heiderich\'s attention and handed him the note.



He placed a hand on Al\'s leg and read.



He laughed "I think you\'re right."



Al took the note pad back. I\'m always right!



Heiderich took the pencil and added a note of his own. Ich liebe Dich



Al handed the pad back. I love you too.



Heiderich carefully pinned Al to the bed and kissed him lingeringly.



Al heated the kiss up by slipping his tongue in when Heiderich\'s lips parted.



Heiderich lifted himself far enough up so that he could see Al properly.



Al noted Heiderich was flushed. He probably was too. That was the first time they had kissed in a while.



He wrote down what he wanted.



Heiderich read then asked "Are you sure you\'re ready?"



Al pulled him back to him.



Heiderich was as gentile as he could be.



It was slow and so perfect.



XXX



Al had finally convinced Heiderich that he was better.



He didn\'t like being treated like he was made of glass. He was mostly better right? Even if the doctor had said that he still should be careful he hadn\'t said to lay around and do nothing.



Of course Heiderich wasn\'t there when Cavanagh came by. If he had been Al would still be laying in bed instead of sitting in front of the fireplace.



Al had lost touch with how much time had passed since they got here but it was much more then a few days.



He hoped to convince Heiderich to do one more thing. He knew it was getting to the blond as much as it was him.



The fact that when they were together he had to be aware of every move was making him irritable. It had been fine at first but now...



Alphonse wanted it to be like before, even if it was only once.



So he went to work convincing Heiderich that fine meant fine.



XXX



Al untangled himself from the sleeping blond and headed to the bathroom.



He coughed and spat in the sink watching the red swirl down the drain, he hoped the sound of the running water had drown out the cough.



He looked up at his pail face. It wasn\'t so bad, but he looked much worse then he felt.



It had been worth it though. He splashed water on his face and turned off the tap.



He went through the cabinet looking for the painkillers but couldn\'t find them, they were probably in the case the doctor had left for them.



As the pain steadily got worse he had to give in and admit that maybe it hadn\'t been a good idea after all.



Heiderich wouldn\'t be happy, Alphonse shouldn\'t have left out the doctors visit.



He could hear Heiderich in the living room. Or kitchen, they were both part of the same room so he wasn\'t sure. He wondered when he had gotten up.



Al left the small bathroom.



Heiderich glanced up and might as well have sighed. Al could tell he was disappointed. Al would rather have had him annoyed.



The blond opened a drawer and dropped a small bottle in Al’s hands.



Al dumped two pills into his palm and downed them without bothering with water.



Heiderich kissed him lightly. He understood why Al had said he felt better. They both had needed it.



Frowning he held Al\'s chin in his left hand and told him to open his mouth.



He used his finger to swab the corner of Al\'s mouth. It came back red.



"Bed, now."



Al wanted to argue.



"If you don\'t get in that bed right now I will make you."



Al reluctantly, but quickly, returned to bed.



Now Heiderich did sigh.



Al wasn\'t allowed up again for three more days. During that time Heiderich stayed more then an arms length away unless he had to.



He slept on the couch to avoid temptation.



They used that time to study a book on sign language. Heiderich had gone out of his way to find it and used money they couldn\'t afford to waist to buy it.



Heiderich wanted Al to be able to communicate in a situation that he couldn\'t write notes. It also helped in day to day conversation.



Heiderich understood the meaning but hadn\'t bothered trying to use it. He was surprised by how complicated it was. He had though it would only involve the hands but motion and expression had to be taken into account. It was like a language in and of itself.



XXX



Eventually he felt it safe to let Al up again but he didn\'t let Al coax him into any decisions unless he asked the doctor first.



It was hard for Cavanagh to get away from work, the hospital was far from their new apartment so they had to settle for the phone.



Heiderich would describe Al\'s symptoms and progress and the doctor would give advice.



The day that Al had blood in his mouth after \'strenuous activities\' with Heiderich the blond had called Cavanagh and explained what happened.



Al had been embarrassed. He hadn\'t thought that Heiderich would ever discuss things like that with anyone else. He supposed that just showed how serious Heiderich was that Al recover.



Al was sure that Heiderich wouldn\'t have been this watchful if it weren\'t for his voice.



XXX



Time passes and Heiderich let him have more and more freedom, eventually even letting him go out on his own.



Al was beginning to worry about Heiderich\'s health.



Heiderich was spending so much time caring for Alphonse that Al feared he would forget to take care of himself.



And with that thought came the ever present knowledge of Heiderichs illness.



He still held the vague hope that Heiderich would get better. He was determined to find a way to save him and he knew that the answer lay in his memory.



XXX



He had heard about a girl named Noah.



After a lot of trouble he tacked her down and convinced her to help. It she was suspicious of him at first but gave in. Al had one of those faces you couldn\'t resist.



There were no pleasantries. Strait to the point.



Noah explained that she had to touch him for it to work. A dim light swung overhead in the cramped kitchen. She grasped his hand after giving him enough time to back out if he wanted.



Images flew by, hard to grasp anyone and the knowledge that came with them all at once was overwhelming.



Alphonse could see them too. They blurred, going to fast and he tried to catch them, study them. It was to much at once. He felt himself blacking out.



XXX



Al awoke in an unfamiliar bed.



He was only aware of the hand when it left him.



Sunlight danced off her dark hair. She must have been there watching his memories.



Sunlight?



He looked at the window, wondering.



"You\'ve been here all night. I never saw anything like this before. It never effects the one touched and I normally only get a glimps."



He didn\'t know how it worked so he couldn\'t offer up any ideas.



"He\'ll wonder where you are. You had better get back."



Of course she would know that too if she had just seen all of his memories.



And he did remember. Everything was comeing back as if a fog had lifted.



He wrote a note and gave it to her.



"No, there\'s nothing you can do. Just don\'t tell anyone about me."



They shook hands and he left, hoping to get home before Heiderich found he was still gone.



Of course he knew in all likelihood Heiderich would have noticed the night before.



He hardly had enough time to close the door before he was enveloped in the others arms.



Grasping Al\'s shoulders he studied him. Something had changed but he couldn\'t point out what.



"You\'re not hurt are you? What happened?"



Al did his best to explain.



"Did it work?"



Al nodded. There\'s a lot I need to tell you. His hands faultered. I\'m not sure you\'re going to believe it, I...



Heiderich grasped his hands to make him stop. "Of course I\'m going to believe you. I know you wouldn\'t lie."



Al tried to think of where to start. He began to move his hands a few times then stopped.



"What about starting with why they were after you? They said that you had performed magic."



Not magic. Alchemy.



"Alchemy? But isn\'t that just mixing chemicals and things like that? I didn\'t think anyone still did that."



Al shook his head



"There\'s more to it? Can you show me?"



Al bit his thumb. If Heiderich accepted this then everything else would be easier.



He clapped his hands together and placed them flat on the floor.



He felt the cement beneath them responding, there was plenty to work with but he didn\'t need much. Something simple.



He pulled up and in his hand was a perfectly round cement ball.



He looked up at Heiderich who was a little pail.



Al let him process what he had just seen.



"So, all you need to do is clap your hands?"



Al began quickly explaining. Normally you need a transmutation circle but I saw the gate so I don\'t need one.



"Transmutation circle?"



Al drew one on his pad and showed Heiderich.



Most alchemist need to use this.



"And you don\'t need to use one because you saw a gate?"



The gate is where you go when you die, and it connects my world and yours.



"Your world? But that\'s... There\'s only one world."



See, I told you you wouldn\'t believe me. Al started to move away but Heiderich grabbed his arm.



"No, I\'m sorry. It\'s just a bit much to take in. So why did you see this gate?"



Al\'s eyes widened and he looked away. I saw the gate when we tried to bring our mother back.



"What do you mean? Bring her back?" But he thought he knew already.



Our dad left when I was little, I didn\'t even remember him but Niisan hated him. A few years later mom died. We learned alchemy and we were taught by a women named Izumi. We went home when we though we had learned enough. That was when we made the biggest mistake of our lives. We tried to bring our mother back to life.



Al had stopped. His eyes were empty, remembering another time.



"What happened?"



Al reluctantly came back to the present.



It didn\'t work. What we brought back... It wasn\'t her, but we still had to pay the price. That was when I lost my body. It must have come to this side if Cavanagh says it\'s been here for that long. Niisan must have thought it was taking my life in exchange for hers and I think in a way it was. So he managed to hold on to my soul and attached it to a sute of armer. We-



"Armer?" It was hard to imagine his little engel as armer.



Well the only other option wasn\'t very pleasant.



"And you could control it? You could move?"



Yes, but I couldn\'t feel. Or eat or sleep. It doesn\'t sound very bad but there were so many times I wished he had let the gate have me. He felt so bad after. He spent all his time trying to find a way to get me back to normal and get his arm and leg back. We decided that we wouldn\'t try to bring mom back again. It had cost to much. He joined the military and became a state alchemist. We wanted to find the philosophers\' stone. But what we found out almost made us stop. To create the stone you needed to sacrifice human lives, and not just a few. If that was what it took we weren\'t about to use it. But we thought we could find another way. As it turned out others wanted the stone too and they didn\'t care about the humans needed. In the end the stone was created.



From the look on Al\'s face he knew how it was created.



We got it. One of the people that was trying to create it fused it with me to save me from the bomb. Al smiled bitterly. I have horrible luck don\'t I? But after we got it Niisan was afraid to use it. If we used up the stone it would disappear and since I was the stone we didn\'t know what would happen. We couldn\'t even touch because it would cause a reaction. He thought of a way to use it\'s power to amplify our alchemy and reconnect my soul after told him I didn\'t care if I disappeared and would do it anyway. And I ended up here without my memory and you know from there. Niisan must have figured out what happened and came through the gate to find me. I think what he gave up wasn\'t something physical. I know that what he did he never would have done otherwise.



"But it wouldn\'t have changed him entirely. What he did he must have wanted before going through the gate."



There\'s a difference between wanting and doing.



The hard look Al gave him left him sure that there was no room for argument.



He thought of anything else to ask. "What exactly is alchemy anyway?"



It isn\'t magic, it\'s science. You can\'t make something appear out of nothing. If you have the right materials then you can make what you need or you can shape something He indicated the floor. To make something else made of the same material.



"I suppose that all explains how you acted when you woke up."



Al looked confused.



"You couldn\'t sleep at night, that must have been because you weren\'t used to it. And then there\'s the fact that you weren\'t used to the feel of things. You touched almost everything you passed, and then there\'s that time you almost burned your hand."



You wouldn\'t let me in the kitchen for a week after that.



"A week?" Laughter danced in his eyes. "I thought I said you couldn\'t go back in at all."



Well I was hungry. Maybe everything would be alright. Heiderich hadn\'t acted as he feared he would.



So you don\'t mind?



"No, of course not. What did you think I would say?"



I don\'t know. I was afraid you would hate me for it.



"How could you think that? I could never hate you! Think of everything that\'s already happened. I\'m still here despite all that."



That\'s true. I suppose I should have thought of that.



XXX



Al was absently looking out the window when he saw two black cars park across the street. He recognized them as belonging to the people they were hiding from.



He needed to get the blonds attention but Heiderich was facing away from him.



He didn\'t want to knock on the window and get the people on the streets attention so he did the first thing that came to mind.



He threw his note pad at him. It missed but did get Heiderich\'s attention.



"What was that for?" He looked annoyed.



Al pointed out the window.



Heiderich came over. Seeing the cars he grabbed Al\'s hand and left the appartment. Instead of going down stairs he went up.



He opened the door to the roof. Icy wind and snow blasted in.



He had hoped for another way out but there was none. The nearest building was seven meters away. He wasn\'t about to take the chance and try to jump unless it was absolutely necessary.



"Can you do anything?" He asked Alphonse.



Al clapped his hands together and created a bridge between the two buildings. They climbed over and repeated the step until they thought they were far enough away.



Al clapped his hands once more and brought four walls up around them and a roof.



It kept the wind out but didn\'t help much with the cold.



He saw that Heiderich was shaking. You don\'t have your medication do you? It was hard making the signs with his frozen fingers but Heiderich understood.



"No, I don\'t need it right away though. It doesn\'t help much anymore anyway." Heiderich pulled Al against him. "I\'ll be f-fine."



Having thought of a way to keep warm Al wrapped his arms around Heiderich\'s neck and kissed him passionately. He tried to suppress the shivers that went through his own body as he finally started to feel the cold.



They peeled off their wet clothes and Al found himself on his back, not caring about the freezing floor.



He felt wet kisses trail down his neck, suckling.



Al pushed Heiderich onto his back and took him in his mouth.



"Oh god Al. D- don\'t stop."



Heiderich moaned and pressed Al\'s head down further.



Alphonse held Heiderichs hips steady. He took him deeper into his mouth and felt the blonds fingers tangle in his hair, holding his head in place. He came into Al\'s mouth.



Al sat between Heiderichs legs, eyes half close and dark, flushed and aroused and he licked his lips.



Heiderich pinned him down and roughly entered him. Al squeezed his eyes shut. Words formed on his mouth and Heiderich brought his own down to savage Al\'s lips.



"I love you." He said huskily.



Looked for something to grab on to, his hands finding Heiderich\'s shoulders.



They forgot about the men that were after them and about the cold.



Heiderich groaned as he found his realease, Al hot and gasping beneath him.



He rolled off leaving Al to recover.



They were warm again.



Al got Heiderich\'s attention and weakly signed. We can\'t stay here forever.



He didn\'t relish going back out into the cold but there wasn\'t much choice.



"Right. We\'ll find somewhere else then. Maybe we can stay with someone."



They pulled on their still wet clothes.



But we don\'t know who told. I don\'t think it\'s safe.



"Well we can\'t just check into a hotel." Heiderich snapped.



I don\'t know what to do ok, but I don\'t want to walk into a trap.



Heiderich pulled Al closer, pressing his cheek against his soft hair. He realized that the stress was getting to him, but that wasn\'t an excuse to yell at Alphonse.



Al rested a hand on Heiderich\'s chest.



He reluctantly stepped back. Ready?



"Yes."



Al put everything back to normal.



The wind had stopped and the snow fluttered prettily down to earth.



They linked hands. Staring up at the full moon



Al looked preoccupied. "What are you thinking."



It\'s stupid. Al blushed.



"If I say anything just remind me that I was the one who asked."



I was just thinking that if we went through the gate no one would be after us and- and you would get better.



"I thought you had to pay a price though."



To get someone back yes, and even then you don\'t really get them back. To open it, just to pass through. I think there\'s a way around paying. From what I\'ve seen I think that if you\'re near death when the gate is called then you can go through freely because it was going to show itself to you anyway. The loophole is that you show up on the otherside healed.



"You don\'t know for sure, it\'s not worth it."



I said it was stupid.



It was obvious what Al wanted to say. You\'re worth it. He wasn\'t about to let Al risk himself for his sake.



"Lets go find somwhere to stay."



There was a fire escape and they used that to get to the ground.



Aimlessly wondeing the streets seemed pointless but there wasn\'t much else they could do.



The sun had begune to rise.



Al had started to feel exposed.



Heiderich pulled him to a stop. "There\'s a library there, you can wait inside, I have to go do something.



I want to stay with you!



"I won\'t be long I promice."



Al gave him a dirty look and went to the library, for the first time in his life wishing it didn\'t open so early.



XXX



Heiderich left to find a way out of town. He didn\'t want Al around the people he was about to go see.



Al entered, a white haired woman sat behind a desk piled with books.



She looked up, eyes peering at his face then slipping down to glance at his body then back to his face.



He felt himself turning red under her scruntity.



"Sorry." She said laughingly. "I thought you were a girl."



Al\'s brow formed a V. He crossed his arms.



She just laughed. "Come over here."



He stopped at the otherside of her desk.



The woman rested her elbows on the desk and tented her fingers. "Now what can I do for you?"



Physics He signed without thinking.



She stood. "Right over here."



He pulled on her shirtsleeve. You understand.



"Well of course, I\'ve read every book in here. There happens to be one on sign language righ over there."



He supposed that made things easier at any rate.



She stopped infront of one of the many bookcases. It was filled with more books on physics then he had ever seen.



She was staring at him again. "Has anyone ever told you that you\'re very pretty?"



Al felt himself turning even redder. Someone had actually but he wasn\'t about to say so. He wasn\'t sure if she was complimenting him or not.



"I can\'t help but think I\'ve seen you somewhere before. Ahh that\'s right. A short blond fellow came round a while back asking if I had seen his little brother. I asked why he had been looking for him here and he said that you liked librarys. He had a photo of you. Poor bloke seemed desperate."



Al fished out the picture of the two of them before he had lost his body and showed it to her.



"Yes, that\'s the one. So he found you then?"



He tucked the photo away, nodding.



"That\'s good then." She wondered off, letting Al settle down and read.



He couldn\'t get passed the first line without thinking back. Ed had come here looking for him. Al hadn\'t been there then but he had shown up after they had met up again. By accident too. It was odd how things work.



Hearing voices he peeked around the shelf and retracted his head right away.



How had they found him? He quickly looked for a place to hide. There was a leather sofa against the wall he pulled it out thinking to hide behind it. He found that if he went from the back he could hide under it.



He managed to get the couch back in place from underneath, a lot hadrer then it sounded.



The voices came closer.



He lay perfectly still on his stomach, holding his breath. He was sure they could hear his heart beating.



"But they said a boy matching his description came in here."



"They were probabaly still half asleep. This is obviousally a dead end, librariean said no one was here."



The voices receeded.



He waited, wanting to make sure.



He heard heel come over. "You can come out, there gone."



He placed his feet on the couch and his hands on the wall and pushed then scrambled out and slid the couch back against the wall.



"That shelf over there pulls out, there\'s an old office we dont use anymore behind it, you can go out the widow. They might still be watching the front."



He couldn\'t think of how to say thank you in his panic so he hugged her and went through to the office.



The window stuck for a moment before giving and oppening. It was big enough for him to get through.



Once he was outside he ran. He didn\'t stop untill he was to whinded to continue.



He ducked into an ally to catch his breath.



Al realized he was lost, he wouldn\'t be able to find his way back to the library if he tried.



He hoped Heiderich saw them and didn\'t go to the library to find him, then again they might not even be there anymore.



Al retreated to the back of the ally and sat between a dumpster and the wall, hidden from view of the street.



He yawned, realizing how tired he was. It was hard to keep his eyes open now that his heart had finally settled and he wasn\'t moveing around anymore.



He was shaken awake.



Al looked up into concerned blue eyes.



Warm lips met his, beating back the numbness.



His mind worked sluggishly, he tried to ask how he had found him but he couldn\'t move his hands.



Heiderich grabbed them and held them in his own hands trying to warm sensation back into them.



"What were you thinking falling asleep in an ally in the middle of winter?"



Giving up Al mouthed the question.



It was easy enough for Heiderich to guess. "How did I find you? You weren\'t at the library so I asked if she had seen you. She wouldn\'t say anything at first but I think she figured out that I didn\'t wan\'t to hurt you. So she showed me the way you left by. I looked down a few of the streets that branched off from there, I knew you wouldn\'t get far on foot but still... It was more luck then anything I found you."



Heiderich sat against the wall and dragged Al over.



Al rested his head against Heiderichs shoulder and fell back to sleep.



He was hardly aware when Heiderich picked him up to find somewere warmer for them to settle down.



XXX



Al woke up wondering where he was.



It looked like an abandoned building. He was on the floor wrapped in a worn blanket.



Heiderich was keeping vigill at the window. Making sure that nothing seemed out of place in the night.



Al winced at the stiffness in his back as he sat.



Heiderich didn\'t look well.



Al went over to him, touching his arm to get his attention.



You should get some rest. I\'ll keep watch.



Now was when Heiderich normally took his medication. Al hoped that he had been telling the truth when he said that it didn\'t do much anyway.



He didn\'t know what to do. He needed Cavanagh to get more but how could he know if they hadn\'t gotten to him? What if he was the one that had given them away?



The thought of using the gate was growing stronger but he knew Heiderich would never agree.



The hours went by slowly as he stared at the empty street.



He thought he saw something move in the shadows but passed it off to imagination.



Until he clearly saw a figure at the end of the street.



They wore a cloak and he couldn\'t see who it was, just an indistinct shape.



Having a bad feeling, there was no reason for anyone to be here. It was clear no one had lived in this part of town for years.



He decided to wake Heiderich just in case.



He shook him but got no responce.



Heiderich was sleeping deeply and Al had used to wake him by making noice if it came to it but he didn\'t want to alert the figure to exactly where they were.



He shook him harded and finally Heiderich stired.



Al sighed, releived.



"What\'s wrong?" Heiderich pushed himself up.



There\'s someone outside. Something isn\'t right.



"Are they coming here specifically?"



I don\'t know.



Heiderich had trouble making out Al in the dark but managed to understand.



"Lets stay in here and see if they keep going."



They watched out the window, careful not to let themselves be seen.



Once the cloaked figure reached the exact middle of the street he clapped his hands together.



Al pivited and takled Heiderich to the ground. Debrie flew through the window where they had just been standing.



Could it be Ed?



There was no doubt that the fugure had used alchemy.



They hadn\'t used all the steps. They had broken material appart without reshaping it.



He knew Ed had done that before.



Al scrambbled to the window. Trying to make out the figure through the cloud of dust.



He saw them accross the street, it looked like they were going from building to buildind destroying them.



Heiderich grabed him around the waist, pulling him away form the window and into a run.



Another explossion sounded and they were nocked fom their feet.



"We have to get out of here before he does that to this building!" Heiderich had to shout over the noise, there was no chance of being over heard now.



They got to the back where the stairs were and ran out into the chill air and didn\'t stop.



The ground shifted and rose, spliting them up and surounding Al.



How was this possible?! The alchemist had been on the other street.



He was about to bring down the wall when a hard feminin voice spoke. "If you do anything I don\'t like I\'ll bring the walls together and you\'ll have to say goodby to your friend."



He stopped.



"Now you will answere all my questions. How is it that you got here?"



She brought her hands up parallel to eachother. "Answer."



Al stumbled forward a hand out and she brought hers closer together.



He froze.



"Now will you answer?"



He signed and pointed at his neck.



She grabbed his chin and tilted his head back studying the scar.



"You do understand that I have to make sure you aren\'t pretending."



It happened before he could even register her words.



She clapped her hands and placed them on his shoulders.



Light flashed and pain seared through him.



It felt like he was on fire.



The next thing he knew he was sitting in front of her. It was hard to breath, like the air had become thicker.



"If you could you definitally would have made noise."



Al clutched at his stomach, shaking uncontrolably.



She took something out and aimed it at the sky. Some part of him realized it was a flair.



Two more people came, one of them was the alchemist that had been destroying buildings. They had Heiderich at gunpoint.



He didn\'t recognize any of them.



"Did he say how he got through?"



"Can\'t talk."



"Really are you sure?"



"I heated all the water in his body." She directed the next to Al "It\'s a lot worse then it sounds isn\'t it?"



Heiderich ran to him. "Alphonse?"



"You can translate for us?"



"Yes." He didn\'t want Al to be hurt.



"Good then ask him how he got through."



"He can understand you."



She glared at him.



"Al? Can you answer?"



She clapped her hands together and touched Al\'s forehead.



"Stop it!" Heiderich pushed her away from Al. "How do you expect him to answer if you keep hurting him?!"



One of the others spoke. "We were told to keep him alive."



"I know what I\'m doing!" She snapped.



"I\'ll answer for him until Al can for himself."



"Fine. Then answer."



He told her what Al had told him.



"And what\'s his full name?" She wanted to know if he was apart of the state or not. The german wouldn\'t know that.



"Alphonse Elric."



"Elric? Any relation to Fullmetal?"



Al weakly signed, Heiderich wouldn\'t know.



"He says that\'s his brother."



"You don\'t match the description."



"Philosopher\'s stone." Heiderich translated.



"The stone! Did you have it or did someone else use it on you?"



"He had it."



"Where is it now?"



"He doesn\'t know."



"Did it dissapear? Where was it? Was it in your hand and when you came through it was gone?"



"No."



"Then where?"



Al bit his lip then huriedly signed when she moved.



"It was inside him."



"How do you know it\'s gone?"



Al thought. "He doesn\'t."



"So it might still be in you and everytime you use alchemy you bring yourself closer to oblivion, knowing this will you still use alchemy?"



"Al!"



"What did he say?"



"If he has to..."



"Good."



Al signed.



"I don\'t think-"



Al signed again.



"He wants to know why you use your alchemy to hurt people."



She laughed. And bent forward to stare him in the eye. "What right do you of all people have to ask that. You who used the forbiden alchemy to your own gain."



"Forbbiden?" Heiderich asked.



Al stared at the ground.



"That\'s right. It is against the law to bring someone back to life. You go into the darker side of alchemy to do so. Countless people have died trying and countless have killed for that goal."



She forced him to look at her. "Then again you\'re here aren\'t you? And essentually that\'s what your brother did. He brought you back."



How could she know all this?



"That\'s not how it was. Al says he wan\'t really dead." He wished he didn\'t understand what they were talking about.



"Didn\'t you know?" She asked him. "You should have died as the price. Your brother did bring you back, your body didn\'t end up where it was supposed to but was perfectly resurrected. That\'s common enough but your soul is intact. That\'s what is so amazing about you. You\'re whole."



"Al says that his brother brought his soul back right away, the gate didn\'t hold it long enough."



"Did you know then?"



Heiderich looked at Al.



Since I got my memory back I wondered if that was how it was.



"What!"



I wasn\'t sure! I hoped that it wasn\'t like that.



"Why did you leave that out when you told me before?"



She cleared her throught "Well?"



"He thought about it but wasn\'t certain."



One of the others shifted from foot to foot. "We should continue questioning later."



They made them walk in front.



Are you made at me?



"No. Why didn\'t you just tell me before?"



Because I didn\'t want to admit it. It\'s horrible, how can I call myself human? I\'m no better then the humunculus.



"What exactly makes you different then someone that nearly died and was saved by medicine?" He sroked Al\'s hand "You\'re as warm as anyone else."



Thanks. Al smiled sheepishly.



"No conversing!" A voice called from behind.



They didn\'t speak again. They had said what they needed to anyway.



There was a loud pop! and smoke billowed around them.



They heard the three shouting.



Grabbing Heiderich\'s hand so they wouln\'t be sepearated he ran.



They could hear the alchemists following blindly.



All the streets converged on one spot. They were in the original part of the city, nearing the exact center.



Al thought they had lost them but ran anyway.



All at once the smoke was gone as they broke through the cloud.



They found themselve in the middle of a vast alchemic circle.



\'This must be the one made by the ancient alchemists.\' Al thought.



Al gapped at the figure that stood before them.



"Edward?" Heiderich sounded as astonished as Al looked.



Footnotes!



And things are getting more serious as the chapters go on. Don\'t worry, it won\'t stay that way. I have to have at least one more happy scene somewhere.



The question to ask is "Has Ed had a change of heart?" It\'s easy enough to find out. All you have to do is click Chapter five.