Ed grinned through his tears at his brother even as he cupped the transparent face he had longed to see for so long now. The fact that Al looked like this, a fourteen year old youth, instead of a nine year old child, lifted one more weight off of Ed’s shoulders. His brother wasn’t going to be punished any more for Ed’s hubris. Al’s hair was more pale than Ed’s but it fell past slender shoulders and instead of being a brassy color, Al’s eyes were almost the same shade as Ed’s own, perhaps a touch darker. Other than that, they could honestly pass for twins.

“Hey! That symbol’s on my necklace and a trunk in my parents’ attic!” Xander’s voice broke through Ed’s musings, and he turned to watch Xander shrink under the eyes that were turned his direction even as confusion flickered over Ed’s face. What symbol could Xander be referring to, unless he meant the Alchemy Cross on Ed’s coat, but why would it be on a necklace and a trunk in some attic? When Ed had mentioned his title of “Fullmetal Alchemist” and Roy’s of “Flame Alchemist”, Xander had a flash of confusion on his face before he could cover it up, but hadn’t asked what the titles were. He had just accepted them as part of Ed and Roy, but it was obvious that alchemists weren’t common wherever they were.

Snorting, the blond girl, Buffy, climbed to her feet, somehow balancing on her pointed heeled shoes, and straightened her tiny clothes as Al looked away. Not even Winry wore anything that revealing, even when she was working on automail.

“How can some funky symbol on some kid’s coat be on a trunk in your parents’ house and your necklace?” she asked in disbelief, causing Xander to flinch and Ed glared at her for the ‘kid’ comment. “And since when do you wear jewelry anyway?”

“It was in the trunk,” confessed Xander, pulling a thick chain out from under his horribly bright shirt, and Ed noticed that the chain was of a high quality silver, almost pure. “And I needed a new cross since my last one, um, vanished.” From the way he paused, Ed was sure that Xander was going to say something else and decided to be polite about how his other cross was lost.

As the pendant came free of the garish fabric, the young alchemist’s golden eyes widened even as he heard Al gasp at the sight of the Alchemy Cross attached to the front of the largest Philosopher’s Stone they had ever seen or even heard a rumor of. Ed didn’t realize he was moving until he was standing in front of Xander, his eyes fixed on the Stone. This close he could se the shimmering and shifting going on in the alchemically created crystal as it changed from a bright carnelian to a dark, almost black garnet and every shade of red between. Here was the accumulation of six years worth of toil and searching in the hands of someone who had no idea what they held.

The key to giving Alphonse a physical body of his own again.

“May I borrow your Stone?” Ed asked, tearing his eyes away from the hypnotic changing reds to look up into surprised brown eyes. “I just want to use it for a bit and then I’ll give it right back. I promise on my honor as the Fullmetal Alchemist.”

He didn’t want to keep the Philosopher’s Stone, he never did. He only wanted to use it long enough to give his brother back his body, and make everything all right for Al once more.