Dear Brother

For twelve years, Alphonse stayed away to give his brother a second chance at the childhood they never had. For twelve years, Aphonse wrote his story, chronicling everything that happened so that someday he could share those moments with his brother once again. These are his letters.

A.N. So… big question. Why am I posting this as a separate story? Well, mainly it's because of writing style. This story is written entirely as a series of letters, in first person, often stream-of-consciousness from Al's point of view. ABNE is written in third person and switches POV several times in almost every chapter. At this point in ABNE, Ed is reading the letters written to him by Al, and so are you. I invite you all to read them as though you are Ed. Try to imagine what he is thinking while he reads. I won't be covering Ed's thoughts on everything in Chapter 23, so it's up to you to decide how he might react.

For those of you who have found this story but have not yet read A Boy Named Ed… well, it's up to you if you'd like to go back and read that one first (up to Chapter 22, that is). I'm not going to say you have to read ABNE. Technically, these letters could be read independently of the main story. And technically, you don't have to read these letters to keep following ABNE, although you'll be missing a lot of the how's and why's if you don't. The stories can be read separately but they are meant to go together. It's up to you how you want to do this. Actually, I'd be curious to hear the reaction of someone who reads all these letters before going back to read ABNE. I wonder how that would change their perspective.

Dear Brother will be updated once a day if I can manage it. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Ed, Al, and all their friends are the property of Hiromu Arakawa. I do not own them, but am grateful for the opportunity to use them in the unleashing of my own imagination.

Rating: This story is rated K+

February 2, 1915

Dear Brother,

Happy Birthday.

I can't believe it's been almost three months since the last time I saw you. Sometimes it feels like so much longer and other times… it's like I can barely keep up. So much has happened and I still feel so weak most of the time. I guess you don't really know about that though. Maybe I should back up a bit.

That's why I'm writing to you, even though I don't think I can send this. I'm so worried that I'll forget something I've been meaning to tell you. It wasn't supposed to happen this way. We were supposed to be together after we got our bodies back. But right now, I'm so far away and I haven't got a clue where you are or if you're okay.

I worry a lot. Dr. Marcoh says the stress isn't good for me but I can't help it. I need to know you're alright. The Truth said… he said you'd be alive, but that you'd be different. I don't know what he meant by that and I never got a chance to find out. It was so cold when I woke up. I didn't have any clothes and the wind was blowing hard. I could barely move because my muscles had atrophied so much while my body was at the gate. I tried to get to where I thought you were, but it was too far. I must've passed out.

When I woke up, I was on a train. Dr. Marcoh had found me. He was with that little girl from Xing – the one we were looking for. Her name is May Chang. And that little black and white cat is actually a panda bear named Shao May. May is really nice, even though she was working with Scar. Apparently, Scar helped her out a little while back and so she felt indebted to him and his Master Yoki. When they found me, they were traveling to help Dr. Marcoh get away from the homunculi and to find some notes Scar's brother had written which were supposed to help them stop the homunculi. I don't like Scar, because of what he's done and because he tried to kill you, and I can't forgive him, but for right now at least… I think we're on the same team. We have a common enemy and so we have to work together.

I'm getting ahead of myself again. We went up north, near the mountains. I wanted to go back to Central and look for you. But I was sort of stuck. I kept getting sick because my immune system was so weak. Dr. Marcoh and May took good care of me. But I couldn't do much for myself at all. I could barely move. I suggested that they leave me at a hospital and from there I could call Colonel Mustang and get transferred to a hospital in Central. Dr. Marcoh reminded me how dangerous that would be.

The homunculi are still out there. They have Colonel Mustang under their thumb and they'll do anything to get what they want. I don't think they can use me anymore, since I can't do alchemy. But that doesn't mean they can't use me to control you, and with how weak I am right now… I can't fight back.

I'm sorry, Brother, but I have to stay away to protect you. I can't let them use me against you. I'm sure you're just as worried about me as I am about you but I promise I'll find a way to come back to you as soon as it's safe – maybe when I'm a little stronger.

It's taking forever though. Two months… almost three now. I miss you, Brother. We get further and further away every day.

We're on our way to Xing now. We hid out in the mountains for a little while after we met up with Scar and Yoki. I don't think Yoki is really Scar's master. He's that embezzling former Lieutenant we dealt with in Youswell – remember? It seems like so long ago now, back when we first got started.

Scar and Dr. Marcoh spent a lot of time looking through Scar's brother's notes. I tried to help a little, but I can't read Ishvallan and the alchemy symbols were different. May says they're not quite like alkahestry either. We think it's something like a mix of the two. I'm not really sure how that works though.

More often, I was just sleeping or doing simple exercises to strengthen my muscles. It's so frustrating. It wouldn't be so bad if we were home in Resembool and didn't have to worry about homunculi or corrupt militaries. I'd be more patient if I knew you were safe – if we were together. For now, I keep pushing myself harder because the sooner I get better, the sooner I can find you again.

In the end, we decided it would be best to get Dr. Marcoh and me out of the country. The homunculi were still looking for us and they sent that Kimblee guy after Scar. If I only had the strength, I swear I'd take Kimblee on myself for what he did to you. But I can't fight anymore, so I'm running away with the others. I feel like a coward but I know it's for the best, for now.

Before we left Amestris, we heard a rumor that Fuhrer Bradley had been assassinated. If that's true – what does it mean? Are the homunculi gone? Will it be safe soon? I hope so.

Camel's are smelly. I remember you said they were smelly when you went to Xerses to see Lieutenant Ross, but I wouldn't have known then. I can smell so much now and yet there are times when I wish I couldn't. I won't take it for granted though. I won't take anything for granted in this body, as weak as it is right now. I'll be strong again soon. I'll keep moving forward.

My hand hurts… it's hard to write for so long. My handwriting looks almost as bad as yours. Dr. Marcoh says I need to stop for now and get some more sleep. We traveled far today and have further to go tomorrow. I'll write again soon. I promise.

-Al