Author's Note: I got the idea for this from the last two lines of Hoobastank's song "The Reason": "A reason for all that I do/ And the reason is you." It seemed to fit right in with Ed's motivation, so I simply had to write this. It's not strictly a songfic - just inspired by the song.

"The...reason any man has ever done anything that is visionary is love."

- Majhal, Full Metal Alchemist

Some people ask me what my motives are. Why do I do what I do? Is there a reason behind it, or have I turned mad because of the horrors I have witnessed? And really, what could drive me to do the desperate things I do?

I attempted human transmutation at the age of eleven, and at the same age I successfully attached my brother's soul to a suit of armor – a feat I am told is well above the heads of many grown, skilled alchemists. At the age of twelve, I became a State Alchemist. By the time I was a teenager, I was already searching desperately for a fabled Stone that was said not to exist. At the age of fifteen, I fought desperate battles that usually left me an inch from death. I even hesitated on the verge of killing a roomful of prisoners to create the Philosopher's Stone. I have dug up my mother's bones, and desecrated the grave of something that was not human, but was still something I had created and killed. I have fought and captured Homunculi (who, by the way, are considered fairy-tales), I have been inside real and fake Gates, been trapped inside them, and escaped through them. I have faced death, I have endured life, I have made the necessary sacrifices. Quite a list for a sixteen-year-old.

And again I am faced with the monosyllabic question: why?

There can only be one reason for why I have gone to such pains when I could have given up and gone home long ago. There's only one reason, but that reason has many parts.

My mother was a major reason for why I took my first steps down this road: her gentle example in life, and the firm conviction she instilled in me with her death. And there are other reasons too, of course. Various people I have met over the years, lives I have touched that have in turn changed me forever. Winry, Colonel Mustang, Lieuten- Brigadier General Hughes...the list could go on and on. But there is one reason that stands high above the others, higher even than Mom.

The person I speak of is someone that I love very much, perhaps more than any other person alive. But I wronged him terribly; hurt him and banished him almost beyond recall. The past five-odd years have been entirely devoted to restoring him, to making amends for my mistakes and telling him with my every action that I'm sorry.

Yes, that's right. There's a method to my madness. There is a reason for all that I do. And that reason...is you.