WARNING: THERE MAY BE SOME CONQUEROR OF SHAMBALA SPOILERS IN THIS CHAPTER! READ WITH CAUTION!

Disclaimer: I do NOT own any of the characters from Full Metal Alchemist. They belong to Hiromu Arakawa.
Nii-san is Japanese for Brother it was used in the first chapter but I won't use it here

Pain Shared Between Brothers.

-Chapter Four- Unexpected Visit

Edward tried his best to calm the fuming brunette down, but it was to no avail.

"Look Sheiska just calm down. I mean what kind of reaction did you really expect?"

Edward had finally caught Sheiska's attention. She looked at him with a confused yet understanding gaze.

"I've been gone for a long time Sheiska; I wouldn't be surprised if people thought I was dead."

Edward didn't realize what he had said until the words were off his tongue.

Dead…People must think I died...The colonel is still alive, I know that much at least. Fritz Langue was proof enough of that.

"Brother?"

Edward was brought out of his trance once again by his faithful companion.

"What is it Al?"

Edward turned his attention to his brother, though he already could tell Al was concerned of Ed's sudden silence.

"…Are you" The elder brother smiled and cut off Alphonse's question with a nod.

"Fine, just thinking."

Alphonse already knew his brother had been lost in thought, for he saw that distant look in Ed's golden eyes. It was what he was thinking about that concerned Al. Al used to always be able to have some glimmer of an idea about his brother's thoughts, but now he was never certain. Ed had been gone a long time, and he had experienced things without Al by his side for once, it also pained him to know his Brother remembered everything about their four years together while he remembered nothing.

"Al! Yo Al are ya in there?" Edward waved his hand in front of his little brothers face, who gave a jump of surprise in response.

"Now who's the spacey one?" Ed laughed, but soon trailed off when realizing his brother hadn't joined in.

"Sorry…"

Edward frowned and his gaze took on a concerned air. He knew that when Al got quiet and submissive, it usually meant something was bothering him.

"So…Why don't you have lunch with us? You haven't been in town for quite a while..." Alphonse turned his attention to Sheiska and cut Ed off before he could ask Al what was wrong.

Sheiska lifted her eyes in consideration of the request set before her.

"Yeah that sounds good. I read in a magazine that these burgers are the best for a couple of miles" She said matter-of-factly.

Edward smiled and shook his head subtly.

"You're still the same as ever." He said with a chuckle as the trio walked into the restaurant and up to the counter to order.

Alphonse had made his way to the front and already began making his order.

"Umm okay... Could I have…Three quarter pounders…Two Hugio sodas…aaand two large fries?" Alphonse turned around to face the others.

"What do you guys want?"

Edward gaped at his brother. Speechless.

"…What?" Alphonse blinked twice and raised an eyebrow at his brother's expression, which was as Ed's expressions always are, over the top.

"Uh…Noth…Nothing…" Edward tried to turn his attention to the list of meals on the wall, but he couldn't stop himself from glancing at his little brother from time to time. Edward finally decided on a small burger, he hadn't eaten at this place before and had decided from his experience in Munich you can't always trust every resturaunt.

Winry and Sheiska both ordered salads, staying away from the burgers at all costs.

"That has to clog your arteries" Sheiska commented while staring at Alphonse's huge burger.

As Al inhaled his meal, Edward was staring out the window at the town.

"What's wrong Edward?" Winry questioned his silence.

"Oh nothing…Its just everything is so much different…Less Rural" Sheiska looked up from her book when she heard that comment.

"Well, your fame did gain this town a lot of publicity" Edward turned his face away from the window.

"My fame..?" Edward had always known he had a reputation as the youngest state alchemist in the military, but he didn't know that the town had gotten a reputation as well.

"Ofcoure Edward, You're the People's Alchemist" Sheiska gestured with her fork. Edward merely smiled and took a sip of his drink.

"Mothers chide their children with "That's not what Edward Elric would do!'"

Edward sputtered on his beverage, sending some of the liquid sloshing out of the cup. He coughed a few times and wiped his mouth clean.

"Are you serious?" Edward was amazed, he never thought that he could be used in such a manner. He never saw himself as a hero, or even the best role model for his own brother. He had screwed up a lot, caused people pain and suffering because of his actions, and people had died by his hand. As Edward saw it, kids should be praised for not doing what he had done.

"After your military funeral was held, which so many people attended that the trains were booked for a few days, there were articles in the paper, in magazines…" Sheiska rested her fork on her lower lip and looked up at the ceiling in thought as she continued on.

"…Little stories about how they met you, or how you fixed a toy or a tool, or saved a girl from being stuck under a mining cart…" The list went on and on.

Alphonse swallowed a mouthful of fries and spoke up.

"and I got a lot of letters…and fruit…and some polishing stuff…Some of the fruit came from so far away the fruit was rotten by the time it got here."

When Edward heard the word Fruit he remembered Velcio and all those at Zenotime.

I wonder how Zenotime is doing now…

Edward began to space out when the conversation became so awkward for Alphonse that he just stopped talking and went back to eating. Edward stared up at the sky and wondered what the rest of the day would bring with it…and as the sun bore down on him through the windows, and as he squinted his eyes to be able to bear the brightness of it, he began to wonder if things would ever be normal again.

But what is normal anyway, for a boy with two metal limbs, and a brother who had been a bodiless suit of armor for four years of his life, four years that he has no recollection of…

A/N: SOOO sorry this is sooooo late! I've been REALLY REALLY busy…..I mean now my own computer is DEAD so I'm using my sisters. This is all I'll be doing for a while so I promise I'll have a lot more updates! Soooooo what'd ya think of this chapter guys!