Ed's POV

"Well, I suppose you're here to retrieve your brother?" Truth asked, the entirely white being baring his teeth. He smirked, and even though there was nothing else for me to help read its features, I knew it thought it had the upper hand. Boy was it wrong. And to believe it called itself Truth. "And how do you plan on paying the toll? You can't really believe I'll just give him back to you, just like that," the all knowing being hissed. "Will you trade yourself for your brother?" the being asked, that ever present smirk on its face. I smirked.

"No," I said resolutely. "I have too many people waiting for me back home," I explained, crossing my asymmetrical arms over my chest.

"Then what shall be your payment, little alchemist?" Truth asked. I resisted the urge to explode at the being, knowing well that could ruin my whole plan. "What are you willing to sacrifice?" it asked, its voice full of contempt and malice. In response, I jerked my thumb behind me at the huge set of stone doors behind me.

"I think my own portal of Truth should suffice," I said, a smirk on my lips as I stared at the all powerful creature. "It's all mine, so I should decide how it gets used. And I think this is a pretty good way to use it," I said, crossing my arms over my chest once more, a smug smirk on my face. Truth was silent for a moment, letting my words sink in.

Then, he began laughing. I winced at the sound, the sound that had haunted my dreams for years. Ever since that day, that noise had been rattling around in my head, never letting me catch a break. It had kept me living in constant fear, fear that I would never return Al to his body. And here I was, thinking I had everything figured out, and he was laughing at me. My heart clenched at the thought of my plan failing. This was the only option I had left. If this didn't work, I didn't know what I was supposed to do.

"Yes, you are correct, Edward," the Truth finally relented. "But are you sure about this?" he asked, his voice still holding some humor as if he wasn't finished laughing. I gave him a firm nod. "If you give up your portal, you'll never be able to perform alchemy again," he reminded me, and I smirked.

"I know," I assured the being. "But alchemy is nothing in comparison to my brother," I explained. The pure white being nodded.

"While that is true," the Truth began, and I felt my heart plummet. "I don't want to see you through your talent away, just like that," it said, the smirk returning to its face as it snapped its fingers in emphasis.

"Well then what the hell am I supposed to do! This is what I want! This is my own damn portal, and I'll decide what I do with it!" I raged at the being in front of me. Still, it didn't look bothered. In fact, it raised at hand at me and opened its mouth to continue.

"I don't want to see you throwing away your talent, so I'll let you keep it." My eyebrows furrowed at the being's words, unable to understand how this was going to work. There was no equivalent exchange. "Instead, I want you to do me a favor; there are other worlds in need of protection, you know," it said. I took a step back, not understanding in the slightest. "I want you to go to another world which is in need of help. See this as your payment. You get to keep your alchemy and your brother. Just do me this favor," it said.

"Do you really believe that I'm just going to leave after I finally got my brother back? I can't just leave him alone, and I promised Winry I'd be back as soon as all of this hell was over," I yelled. It held up its hand again for me to be silent.

"Seeing as it is not time yet for you to enter this particular world, I will give you one year. The second the clock strikes 12:00 on August 25th of next year, I will come calling, Edward Elric. Promise me this, and I will return your brother to you, your alchemy still intact."

I thought about the offer for a moment. I wasn't sure what I was getting myself into. It hadn't given me any other information. I had no idea where I was going, who I would be dealing with, or what I would be doing. My mind was still reeling in the fact that there were other worlds outside our own, but I never thought there would be an all powerful being known as god, and here it was standing in front of me.

"How long will I be away from my family?" I asked.

"It will be a 10 month period of time. There is a young boy who will be in need of protection. This is too important for this other world's timeline and future to let go. And you, Edward Elric, are the perfect man for the job," it explained, crossing its arms over its chest.

"I guess this is all the information I'm getting, huh?" I asked. Truth's silence was answer enough. "And there's not a catch to any of this, is there? I'll return after my ten months?" I asked.

"Well of course, Edward. That is the law of equivalent exchange. If there was a catch or something I wasn't telling you, it wouldn't be equivalent, no would it?" Truth reason, and I couldn't exactly argue with that logic. If anyone knew equivalent exchange, it was Truth. I thought about the arrangement for a moment more before extending my newly returned limb to the creature. Truth reached forward with its own, and we shook. "I'll be back for the toll in a year, young alchemist. You best me ready," it said before disappearing.

As it disappeared, my face broke out into a smile as I saw my little brother, still skin and bones but Al nonetheless sitting in front of his own portal. "You ready to head home, Al?" I asked as I approached the boy who was nothing but skin hanging off protruding bones. I extended my hand to the boy, and he accepted.

"Ready as I'll ever be," the boy said. This hair and skin was dull, but his eyes shone bright. I could still see the fire that I hadn't seen since that day. I carefully threw my arm around my brother, supporting him at his waist as one of his scrawny arms wrapped around my shoulders. We both looked up at Al's portal of truth, smiling as we entered the doorway into the light.

ONE YEAR LATER

"Edward, do you have everything?" the blonde-haired blue-eyed mechanic asked from the other room. I held back a sigh, but there was a smile on my face as I shook my head. Ever since we had gotten back to the Rockbell's house in Resembool five months and almost a year since the promised day. Alphonse had spent seven months in the hospital covering and putting weight back on. It had been a long and rough journey, but now we were here. Al was nearly back to normal, and we were all getting used to living with each other again.

"Edward Elric, are you listening to me?" a female voice asked, and I looked up to see Winry standing in the doorway of my room. She had her hands on her hips and a fierce look on her face. "I want to take a look at your automail, and make sure you have everything before you leave; once you leave you won't be home for another 10 months," she reminded me. Her eyes were downcast as she mentioned how long I would be away.

"Winry, I'll be okay, and your automail is flawless as always," I promised her. She had fitted me with her special northern automail because we had no idea where I was getting sent and thus we didn't know what the climate was going to be like. Either way, hot or cold, this was the safest bet. "But we can go over that checklist no problem," I said, hoping this would appease the girl. She looked thoughtful for a moment before nodding.

I sat on my bed with a sigh, listening to Winry as she spouted off a number of things from a list. She, of course, made me pack a whole bag of automail servicing equipment because I would be gone for so long. Ten months away from my family. I didn't like that idea very much, but this was what the Truth wanted from me, and I was in no position to refuse.

I rubbed my face with my right hand as I thought of being away from Al and Winry for so long. Al and I had been joined at the hip since we were kids; it would be weird traveling to a strange, foreign land without him, but he wasn't part of the contract. The Truth had given me minimal details, so I didn't even know if I was going to be able to communicate with my younger brother. This thought had me more worried than anything else about this trip.

And then there was Winry. Ever since we had returned home, Winry and I had grown closer than I had ever thought possible. I wasn't sure where it was coming from all of a sudden. Finally, I had turned to Al, voicing my thoughts to the younger boy. At first, he had been silent before erupting into a fit of laughter. After some screaming from myself and about five minutes, Al had finally calmed down enough to speak. From there, he finally explained that it had been obvious that I had been in love with Winry all these years, and Winry had felt the same about me. Al had even admitted that the tension was painful for him to watch. He had gotten smacked upside the head for that particular comment. It had taken all this time for me to realize, and now that I was okay with this idea, excited even, I had no idea how to tell her.

"Edward Elric!" I heard someone shout before something was hitting me square in the forehead. I flopped back on bed from the force and finally looked up to find a bloody wrench sitting in my lap, an angry Winry Rockbell standing across the room.

"Really, Winry? Again with the wrench, you gear head?" I asked, rubbing the affected area of my face. She only huffed and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Shut up, alchemy freak," she grumbled under her breath. "Do you have everything on this list, Ed?" she asked, handing me the list, an exasperated look on her face. Glancing over it, I found that I was only missing my hair brush which I quickly rushed off to grab. Hefting my worn suitcase over my shoulder, I looked at Winry expectantly. There was a look on her face that I didn't quite recognize.

"What's up, Win?" I asked, slightly concerned.

"N-nothing!" she said a little too quickly, a bright red blush on her face. She was quick to recover and began speaking again. "Anyway, it's time you say goodbye to Al and Granny; you only have ten minutes before midnight," she reminded me. I cursed under my breath as I glanced at the clock on the wall. She was right. I only had ten minutes before Truth came for his end of the deal. "Finally time to repay that equivalent exchange, huh," Winry said, clearly trying to lighten the mood, but I was thinking of something else entirely.

"Equivalent exchange," I muttered under my breath, thinking hard.

"What's wrong, Ed?" Winry asked.

"Equivalent exchange," I repeated, a little louder this time as I looked at the girl in front of me. I dropped my suitcase at my feet. "I give half of my life to you, and you give half of yours to me!" I managed to get out. By then, we were both a blushing, stuttering mess. Winry was trying to figure numbers out under her breath, and all I could do was laugh. "You're amazing, Winry," I said as I pulled the girl into my arms. She tensed for a moment before she finally relaxed, hugging me back.

"I'm going to miss you, Edward," she muttered into my red trench coat, this one looking slightly more presentable and missing the flamel symbol.

"I'll miss you too, Win, but if I can write, I will; I promise," I vowed. She only hugged me tighter. She leaned back with a sigh.

"Let's get you down to Al," she said, a smile on her face. I smiled back and nodded, letting her lead me down the stairs to the kitchen, my suitcase hefted over my shoulder once more. Downstairs, I found Al sitting on the floor playing with Den while Granny sat at the kitchen table.

Upon seeing me, Al stod from the floor, albeit shakily, but he did it. I pulled my little brother into my arms, holding him tight. "I'll see you in 10 months, little brother. You better have some good research ready for me when I get back," I said, ruffling his hair. He laughed, only hugging me tighter.

"Be safe, brother. I love you," he muttered into my coat. I sighed and ran a hand through his hair once, relishing in the feeling. I pulled him impossibly closer, never wanting to let my little brother go.

"I will. Love you too, Al," I said as I patted his back before leaning back as I glanced over at Granny.

"You be careful, Edward. I want you back in the same state," she ordered.

"I will, Granny," I promised. "Keep an eye on this one for me, would you?" I said, ruffling Al's hair again, causing the younger boy to laugh heartily. I pulled the younger boy back into one more hug. "I'll be back in 10 months, Al."

"See you then. You better be careful; you have a wedding to plan," Al whispered. Before I could retort, I was opening my eyes in the familiar white void. Truth was sitting on the floor in front of me once more.

"Hello, Edward Elric. It is finally time for you to repay your debt," it greeted, not moving from its spot on the floor. "When you get there, there will be someone waiting for you. Good luck," the white being said. I was about to ask him for more information on the mission, but before I knew what was happening, I found myself staring up at the blue sky. Sitting up, I looked around, finding my suitcase to be sitting at my feet, and to my surprise, there was an old man wearing even older clothes.

"Might you be Edward Elric?" the old man said, peering at me over his half-moon glasses. I stood and brushed my clothes off of any dirt.

"Yeah, and who are you? Truth said there would be someone waiting for me," I explained.

"Ah yes, that would be correct. My name is Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, and I am the headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."