Having only recently begun poking into the FMA fandom and FicWad, I was delighted to find this story. It's enormously entertaining, with a number of poignant parts that manage to make one's eyes tear up without breaking the flow of the story.
I'm eagerly awaiting more of this! It's very well-written, and the original characters each have their own distinctive flavor that makes them uniquely endearing. Also, although I love Reilly, I'll admit to being a little nervous when the Maes/Reilly hints started cropping up, and I think you handled that situation with a skillful flair.
I am, however, a little bit confused: it's entirely possible that I may have simply glossed over this while reading and forgot, but how old are Ed and Al at this point? I was imagining them to be around 15-17, but then we found out about Noah and his son, and I wondered if maybe they weren't older than I thought.
Anyways, very well-written, and I'm looking forward to reading more of this!
Author's response
Ed and Al are about 20 and 19, respectively (though Al still has the body of a 14-15 year old). In the movie, Ed has turned 18, and Al's body is about 13 years old. We figure this story happens about two years after that. And while we have several HughesxReilly shippers, they'll have to be disappointed. They'll just end up good friends. ^_^ Glad you like the story; the next chapter should be up soon!