This is a thought that's jumped around in my brain for a long while now, and so I just thought I'd type it out. I'm assuming it takes place not long after Edward met Alfons Heiderich, but I really have no solid timeline in mind. Use your imaginations. ;D I just love Heiderich. I feel he was a horribly undermined character, and I love toying around with him mentally in my own head. So, here I am sharing some of that. If you like it, feel free to ask for more. I might be talked into making this a series of one-shots revolving around the friendship between him and Ed. That's platonic friendship. I do get tired of most of the fics about them being yaoi...

Also, the university? Yeah, I'm not sure if that's the right one, especially considering it was located in Bavaria at the time of the movie (and moved to Munich in 1826, where it was renamed Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, also know as the University of Munich), but I recall them mentioning something about Bavaria in the movie so...maybe? I honestly don't care that much. This note is getting longer than the fic. Ffff.

15/04/11: it's official: I'm going to be making this a series of one-shots. They're not going to follow any consistent timeline, or even either canon with any reliability. They're just going to be whatever pops into my head. I'm also open to prompts, if people want to suggest some. I can't promise I'll use them, but that's not to say I won't, either. ;3

Disclaimer: Fullmetal Alchemist and all associated characters and settings are property of Hiromu Arakawa and Square-Enix. No copyright infringement is intended; no profit is being made.

oOo Truth oOo

For Alfons Heiderich, meeting up with Edward Elric at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität had been something of a blessing. The blond was outgoing and brilliant beyond belief. Despite knowing next to nothing about rocketry when they had started taking classes together, the loudmouthed teen was already starting to surpass him in areas of knowledge. And enthusiasm? Ed Elric had it by the barrelful. No matter what sorts of hurdles they faced in their studies, Ed was always there to snap them back onto the right path.

So it was that the two quickly became friends. They both had powerful visions for the future, and soon learnt that they worked well together. There was never a dull day when Ed was around.

However, there was one thing that bothered Alfons about his friend. Alfons' own family was living in Berlin, yet Ed's...well, Hohenheim was a man Alfons had met only a few times, but he seemed like the kind sort. Yet...Ed just did not seem to like him. Why? Well, he had no idea. In fact, getting Ed to talk about his past was something he had quickly gotten the hint not to do. The blond just did not like to talk about his life before...before Germany? So, Alfons let it go. He was free to talk about his own family if he so chose and he did at times. Mostly, though, they just talked about rockets.

On that note, the German scientist had no idea why Ed was so interested in building his own rocket someday. Alfons wanted to do it to leave his mark on the world, but he...well, he just got the feeling that his friend's reasons were more personal. Once again, though...Edward refused to tell him.

Whatever. It really did not matter, just so long as they were friends who could work together. At least, that was what Alfons had spent the past few months telling himself. No matter how much he tried, however, he just could not seem to break down the wall that was his friend's defences. He wanted to know more about his friend, he really did. It was just...so hard.

"Hey, Alfons, pass me those blueprints."

The blond rocket scientist was snapped out of his musings when the very person of his thoughts spoke. With a sigh, he rolled up the papers he had been looking at, handing them over without a word. He was used to Ed's demands by this point anyway, so whatever. He would not complain. It was just a bit of Ed's coarse...charm. Yeah, that was one way to put it. Charm.

"Hey, Al, what do you think of this?" Leaning over, the teenager scanned the document one of their classmates was holding out to him.

"Hm...are you sure that the force of the propulsion wouldn't break the cylinder? That seems like an awful lot of pressure for such thin metal."

"What is it? Alfons?" Behind them, Ed was sidling in, staring down at the paper intently. "Oh, I get it. Yeah, that's definitely more force than that can stand. I bet if you alloyed the metal, though..."

See? Edward Elric was nothing less than a genius, but he was so...impersonal. While the others all acted like friends, sometimes Alfons felt like the other teen was just using them; like he did not really care. That was probably untrue, but sometimes Alfons could not help but wonder why; why he got such a feeling in the first place.

"That would probably work... Hey, Alfons, take a look at this." With an internal sigh, he complied. Now was the time for working, not for daydreaming.

"What do you think? Winry always..." Wait, what? Had he just...? "Uh, wait. Never mind."

"Winry?" he asked before he could stop himself.

"Just someone I used to know," came the almost...icy reply. "She loved playing with machines. She always used to go on to me about the importance of balancing weight with strength."

"A girl did that, Ed? Where on earth are you from?" Alfons winced at the question, asked by one of their friends, knowing full well that Ed would not take it well...and he was right.

"That doesn't matter. What matters is that she knew what she was talking about," the blond snapped. Almost unobtrusively, Ed clutched his right arm; the arm Alfons knew was fake. What that meant, he had no idea.

"Anyway, look, if we change it like this..."

"He sure has a temper, doesn't he Al?" Alfons did not voice his agreement, but sometimes silence said it all, anyway.

oOo

By the time Alfons and Edward were left alone in their apartment, there was a single question that the teen was dying to ask his friend, and be damned with the consequences.

"Hey, Ed?"

"Yeah?"

"How come you always call me Alfons? I mean, everyone else calls me Al, but you never do."

At first, Alfons thought his friend was not going to answer, but then the teen sighed, almost in resignation, and replied, "Have I ever told you about my little brother?"

"...no."

"Al," the teen sighed, wistfully, "Alphonse Elric." And so did everything fall into place.

"Oh, Ed..."

The shorter teen huffed, sitting back with his hands behind his head. "Don't go getting all sappy on me, Alfons." Ed frowned for a moment, before muttering in a tone almost too low to be heard, "Maybe it's time I owned up."

"Owned up to what, Ed?"

Ed smirked. "To Amestris. Resembool. Al. Winry. Home."

Alfons had waited a long time to hear this, yet he never imagined in his wildest dreams...that he would never be able to even believe his friend.

Sometimes, he wondered about Ed. He really, really did.