"It's a risk I'm willing to take." Following after someone shortly after they vanished was more likely to be a success than going after a person you'd only been told was here months before, but Ed wouldn't voice that thought because he didn't know what Keith had considered. It was still recent enough that the portal could still be pointed in the right direction.

"Val wouldn't have left." Not intentionally, not without him, and that was the part that stung most. Either he had to live here with the knowledge that they were building a life in this place only for her to vanish without a word, without consideration. Or he had to live here knowing that she disappeared without a word because she had no other choice.

"She was doing a lot of independent research on the portal, I think she got pulled in somehow, maybe she fell or got pushed-" Not important. "This place ... It's practically a permanent vacation after the one we came from, we had so many plans here. We promised each other-" Broken promises seemed to be all Ed was good at, anymore. "She had nothing to go back for, she has no one else... If I stay here and do nothing she'll stay that way, at least if I try to follow her there's a chance she won't have to be alone anymore."

Valeria had him, just him, and this particular version of him. The people he was leaving behind here? They all had each other, they had people they could rely on and Al had the option to go home and be with the version of Ed that was there. It wasn't a flawless plan, but it was the most logical one. If he actually believed the portal would send him where he wanted to go, at least.

"The way this place works? If I'm not meant to go after her... I'll be back sooner than you think."