Leave A Scar

"STOP! THIEF!"

I looked up, seeing someone finish jumping onto the rooftop above us. Ed was already following him, spouting something off about how he wasn't getting away!

But when his platform deconstructed, there were a few sparks of red light instead of blue. I watched them fade, the pieces of sidewalk crumbling into a small pile in front of me.

His transmutation light had been red, when we were in Dublith.

"Al..." I began, still staring up at the roof like that would somehow help. "Did you...?"

"Yeah..." the younger Elric responded. "His light was a little red again."

Al raised us both up to the rooftop, where we stepped off his platform and onto the flat surface. Only to have the center of rooftop rise into a massive hand, red and blue light sparking around it. The thief turned around, giving a shriek through his ski mask before he was grabbed. The sack of money in his hand dropped, another smaller concrete palm catching it.

From his place beside me, Ed stood up, hands falling back down to his side. He smirked, kicking his weight over to his right leg, arm coming to rest on my shoulder.

He grinned at me. "What'dya think?" he asked, and a thin line of pain pierced the center of my heart when he said my name. "Pretty awesome, right?"

I looked over to what he was referring to; the pair of hands. He had added little details; tattoo-like designs running along the wrist, swirling along each finger. I bowed my head, turning away and failing to hide a smile.

"Yeah, Ed," I told him. "I like your hands."

I heard him laugh a little through his grin, and was surprised to feel a small squeeze against my shoulder before his arm slipped away completely. I blinked, wondering if I had imagined that or not. I looked down as his hands disappeared into coat pockets, like that would somehow rewind time. Or maybe I just felt like there would be some physical indication of him touching me. Some manifestation of the horribleness I felt on the inside.

I forced myself to focus, knowing I couldn't slip. Not now; not in broad daylight, with them here. I focused harder, immediately berating myself for missing the question Al had asked. I glanced over at Ed again, thankful he wasn't staring at me, thankful I didn't miss a question that was directed at me.

"I'm not sure why it's red, Al," Edward began, his head tilting a little as he looked at the thief struggling to get away. Al must have asked about the change in Ed's light. Good.

The elder Alchemist relaxed, sighing a little. "I don't think it's worth worrying about, though; it's really just making everything easier..."

"What do you mean?" Al asked.

Ed shrugged. "It... Feels like transmutations are a little easier now." He looked down, the space between his brows creasing a little more in thought. "Not that they were hard to do before. But... It just feels—smoother. Like taking a breath full of clean air after you've been somewhere totally polluted."

Al and I waited, stayed silent as he paused, shaking his head again. "It only gets to that level when it's completely red, though."

"But why would it change in the first place, though?" Al wondered aloud.

I had no idea. This was absolutely, completely out of my range of Alchemic knowledge. And even then... I wasn't even considered an expert. Before all of this, I had only heard of two different lights before...

I shook my head, trying to offer something. "It wouldn't have anything to do with what you're transmuting." I looked to Ed, softly raising a brow. "Right?"

I think he understood where my idea was going; a light amount of surprise came to his face. He blinked, then shook his head as he replied.

"No; it wouldn't be anything in the ground. I've transmuted other materials before." His arm clicked as he raised it, focusing on his gloved hand, stretching out his fingers. "My wrist, my eyesight..." His quiet voice grew a little strange at the end; a mix of confusion and repulsion. I didn't blame him.

I sighed a little, and then another voice caught my focus. The thief still being held by Ed's massive, stylized hand, desperately trying to wiggle out.

"Um, hell-lo?" he asked us, making me realize he had been blabbing during our entire conversation. I was just too far inside my own head to realize any of it. When we looked to him, he relaxed, huffing out a sigh.

"Gawd, finally!" He jutted his chin over at me, whispering in a loud voice. "Hey! Girlie!" he said. "I'll buy you some chocolates or somethin' if you gimme out of here. What'dya say?"

"WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU GONNA USE?" Ed yelled. "THE MONEY YOU TRIED TO STEAL?!"

The thief grinned through his ski-mask, and I think he tried to shrug because his shoulders twitched a little. "Hey, if she gets me out of here, I'll marry the foxy little lady." He turned his grin over to me, and I jumped a little, feeling chills crawl down my back like hundreds of little spiders. "What kinda rings do you like, darlin'? I'll get you a nice diamond one."

"P-please stop..." My voice was a wince, my eye twitching a little because this guy was incredibly creepy.

Ed tsked, dramatically rolling his eyes as he shifted his foot back. Turning his body enough to look over the roof's edge, search for the officers that hadn't shown up yet. They really couldn't get here any faster?!

"We really don't have to leave this creep-o here," Ed began, turning back with a bored stare.

"Y-yes!" The thief wiggled around frantically. "Lemme go! I knew you'd change your mind, a tough guy like you! Just do that weird clap and gimme out of here!"

Ed smirked, clapping his hands together. "Pretty sure you missed my point." He bent down again, hands meeting the rooftop's flat surface. With a flash of blue, the larger hand, the one that held the thief, began moving. The criminal's head darted from side to side, trying to see exactly what was happening.

"W-what?!" he said, beginning to wiggle so fast I thought he might hurt himself. "What're you doing? Where are you moving me to?!"

Ed laughed a little through his wide grin, the sound a bit menacing. The transmutation lights caught my focus again, as the hand stretched out above us, arm casting a shadow as it grew. I caught sight of pure blue sparks dancing along the limb, and suppressed another sigh.

I craned my neck, seeing the arch stop growing. I spun around, almost laughing as the thief shrieked at being suspended over the sidewalk.

"H-hey!" he clamored. "N-not funny, man! Not funny! I swear, just lemme down, and I won't hit on your girl! I swear on it!"

"My..." Ed tried to repeat what he had heard, and I was too busy feeling my face almost melt off to see his expression. One hand had come to my eye, covering it, and after a moment, I parted my fingers, sneaking a peek at the thief again.

He was looking down, still seeming totally scared. But maybe that was because of the police officers waiting below.

"You still want me to let you go?" Ed called to him, perking the thief's focus.

"N-n-n-no!" The criminal shook his head. "Please!"

"Well." Ed shifted, grinning to his younger brother. "He did ask nicely."

Al smiled, bending down to clap his hands. With perfectly normal light shining through the shifting cracks, the massive hand uncurled, dropping the thief into the waiting arms of law enforcement. The other, smaller hand behind us launched like a catapult, flinging the stolen money into the crowd as well. This like, the thief, was caught.

"Thanks!" one of the officers called with a wave.

"Sure!" Ed replied with a wave of his own. "Don't mention it!"

I just smiled, hearing Al's arm lower as Ed's folded behind his head.

"We've got a few minutes 'til the train to Ebolas leaves." he said. "It'd probably be good to check out the shop he broke into; see if anyone's hurt."

"Good thinking!" Al replied. "I'm sure they'd appreciate the help!"

He made a staircase for us as Ed smiled a little, the expression soft as he opened one eye, looking right to me.

"What's wrong?" he asked. "You're quieter than usual."

I tried to hide my shock, but failed for the most part. I immediately shook my head, continuing to hold my hands at the front of my skirt.

"I'm..." I realized there wasn't much of a point in lying to him. "A little worried."

Ed gave a light sigh, striding forward and taking the first steps down the staircase Al had made. His hands found his pockets again.

"Don't be," he said as I walked behind him. "There's nothing to worry about. It's not like this thing is hurting me in any way."

Yeah, but... I held the reply in, not sure what to say in return.

"What do you think it is, Al?" I looked behind my shoulder a little, like I could actually try to see the alchemist behind me.

"You mean why do I think it's red?" Al returned.

At my quiet, confirming hum, I heard Ed give a loud groan. He wasn't enjoying how this conversation kept continuing...

"I'm... Not really sure what to think of it," Al told me as we all stepped off the staircase and onto the sidewalk. Ed and I waited as Al bent down again, deconstructing his platform. "I've really only seen that light with Homunculi regeneration."

Ed scoffed. "Ah, please." His hands rose high above his head, body mimicking a wet spaghetti noodle as he spoke through pinched lips. "Do you think I've suddenly become a Homunculus?"

Al's eyes shrunk, body still crouched down and hands on the sidewalk. "Uh, no," he said. "I just think it's a little strange—"

"Yeah, yeah, it's been covered." Ed pivoted on his heel, starting off in the direction the thief came from. "You guys can stay here and play speculation. I'm going to see if anyone needs help."

I looked over to Al, selfishly expecting some kind of answer, but he just closed his eyes and put his arms out in a shrug. A silent who knows?

That was my entire view on this whole thing. That, and a steadily growing headache.

I walked with Al, heading in the direction Ed went off in. We were quiet for the most part, each of us inside our own heads.

I ran the side of my hand along my brow, digging my knuckle against my forehead, trying to ease the headache that had set in. Ed had told me not to worry, and I didn't want to make him worry more by worrying... But...

My throat suddenly became a little tight, and I tried to swallow, make it a bit looser. I tried to change my thoughts, too, but I just kept thinking about the one thing that really made me nervous.

No Homunculi yet. We hadn't seen a single one since Dublith. So what did that mean? Were they planning something...?

"There he is!"

I perked up, looking across the street and stopping. Ed was still talking to everyone, probably making sure nobody got hurt. I watched him suddenly look behind his shoulder, mouth moving in a quiet apology as he stepped to the side, allowing workers to pass by with a new glass pane for the display window.

My mind went back to that strange change in his transmutation light. I stifled a sigh, my shoulders moving down with the muffled exhale. Maybe... If he tried one more time...

I cupped my hands around my mouth, raising onto my tip-toes as I shouted to him from across the street. He turned, looking at me and waiting for my next words.

"Transmute something else, please?"

His face fell into a deep frown, posture slumping. Deflating the mood he had been in before, I think. I felt a pang of guilt; enough to drop my hands a few inches away from my face, lower my feet flat against the ground again.

I tried again, picking myself back up.

"Please?"

He huffed out a sigh, upper body swaying as he crouched down, saying something to those around him. Nothing bad about me, I hope.

A thought tried to creep up, one wanting to say I was just slowing them both down. I tried to ignore it, tried to focus on the sound of Ed's clap ringing out.

His hands separated, reaching out to the sidewalk. But before his palms had even touched the concrete, red light cracked out beneath his gloves. My eyes widened along with Ed's as the ground began taking a different shape.

Then a STUPID semi-truck passed by and I couldn't see the rest of the transmutation. Whatever he made was big enough to clear the very top of the truck, allowing me to see the skitters of perfectly blue light.

When the car finally cleared, I was staring at a pretty big statue of Edward. Striking a heroic pose; one hand on his hip, the other arm bent in front of himself, fist clenching. The actual Ed stood next to it, striking the same post and sending me that same grin from across the street. The small crowd surrounding him clapped.

I tried to force down my own smile, thinking about the small amount of light that I did see.

"It was a mix again, wasn't it?" Al sighed from his place beside me.

I sighed as well, leaning forward a bit. "Yeah... Seems like it."

My head perked up, looking to Ed as he finished calling to us, hands cupped around his mouth.

He leaned back, one hand in his pocket as he looked up to the statue of himself. The joking side of him was gone, a scowl replacing that grin.

A few moments passed before his other arm rose out to us, hand beckoning in quick curls of the fingers. Al and I exchanged a look, both of us a little worried, and a few moments later we were standing next to Ed and his monument.

"Professional opinion," Ed told me, my heart skipping as he spoke my name with those words. "Wha'dyou think this is? Go."

"I—I don't know!" I began, absolutely flustered and waving my hands in front of myself. "You guys would know way more about this than I would! This is way out of my range of knowledge! I've only heard about blue, yellow, and purple light before!"

He started to nod, the action cut short as he turned to face me with a look of interest.

"Wait a minute, how'd you hear about purple?"

I stared back at him. "I read about it," I said, then recited the title of the book. Pulling it from some deep part of my past self. "'Curses and Other Cryptic Creations: A Collection of Alchemic Conjectures.'"

Ed blinked, shaking his head before turning back to the statue. "Ain't that a mouthful." He glanced to me from the corner of his eye, a soft grin hooking one side of his mouth. "Your tongue tied after saying that?"

I couldn't help but grin, looking away with my head down. "A little bit."

Remembering why he had asked, I looked to him again. "Do you know about purple light?"

Ed shifted one foot back, turning enough to glance at Al, who gave a nervous smile in return.

Ed focused back on the statue. "Happened during the transmutation," he said quietly. "The glow started out gold, then shifted to a deep purple."

I focused on the ground, really trying to piece everything together. I tried to gather something, looking to him again.

"Do you think..." I searched his face, his jacket. Noting the coloring of it, and trying to piece together the right words.

Ed tilted his head to one side, still looking at the statue. "Maybe some kind of break down, between blue and red?" His eyes closed again, body hunching a little as a sigh left his mouth. "I really got no idea," he told me, and my name just made me feel a familiar, hollow uselessness. A tight laugh came from him, and he looked up to the statue again. "Honestly, I'm still trying to figure out how my sight was transmuted back in the first place."

"Yeah..." Al sighed. "That's when it all started..."

It wouldn't have anything to do with the bomb... Right?

I voiced this thought, holding back the small question at the end.

They both paused, and then Ed looked away from me again, giving a shrug. "Maybe some kind of chemical imbalance? But that wouldn't really make much sense; not enough to randomly effect my transmutations."

"Are you sure it's random?" Al asked. "Are there any differences between the times it's red, and the times it's normal?"

Edward shook his head. "Nothin' I can think of."

He looked up to the statue again, mouth twisting into a strange, tight frown as he shifted his weight to one leg. His metal one. The click hung in the silence between us, and finally Ed gave another small sigh.

"I'm sure it's nothing to worry about," he said quietly. He flipped open his pocket watch, the ticking growing a little louder as the face was exposed. "12:50. We should probably get going."

I caught sight of something on the other side of the watch; something deeply scratched inside the lid. I immediately looked away, hearing the watch snap shut again, chain jingling as it was pocketed.

Another thing I didn't need to shove my nose into.

As Ed pivoted around, Al looked up at his brother's monument. "We should probably take the statue down before we leave..."

"Really?" Ed turned back again, regarding himself as well. "I was thinking I'd leave it up. Thought it'd make a good centerpiece for the store."

Al and I both watched, in some mixture of amusement and embarrassment, as Ed put a hand to the statue's base and covered his mouth with the other one, failing to suppress a small little choked sob. Fake tears rained down his face.

"I can't take it down, Al," he said. "It's just so beautiful."

My amusement was concealed by my hand, like always, and Al's rang clear from his suit. Ed grinned, breaking away from the joking persona long enough to clap and deconstruct the statue.

I was glad his mood was back to normal. I found myself smiling a little as we started in the direction of the train station again, walking in between both of them as light conversation floated around me. Talk of where we would go next and plans for the next few days.

Edward motioned with his head, lightly regarding the shop we had just left. "I was talking with someone over there who said something about Lacco, and then his friend joined in and said his cousin heard a rumor about a 'magic' Amulet in Neug. So I guess we can hit those after Ebolas."

I nodded, taking in what I had just heard. "Nothing about what it actually does, though?"

He shook his head. "We've heard a lot of different things. It's 'magic', it's a way to raise the dead, it'll make your car sparkly clean." He rolled his eyes at the last one, and I laughed. "I'm pretty sure someone was confusing that one for an advertisement they heard, but so far, all we know for sure is that it's supposed to be incredibly powerful and it's really hard to find." A quiet, defeated grin came to him as he relaxed, and for some reason I almost imagined him to have pointed teeth. "Just like the Stone was..."

"But we found that to be real, too!" Al pointed out happily.

"Yeah, for better or worse, I guess."

We kept walking, and I was lost in my own thoughts again. Wondering how I could help them at all. Wondering if I should even try to.

There's nothing else for me to do...

"So." Ed's feet stopped, and I halted with him to see we were at the station. The track in front of us empty, waiting to be covered by the train. "This is it. Ebolas, here we come."

He was trying to keep himself happy, and I had to smile a little at the effort. I looked over at him, wanting to say something, when suddenly Al stretched his hand out, hovering it a little above Ed's bangs.

Ed looked to his hand, blinking once. "What're you up to, Al?"

"Brother... You've grown taller!"

Ed hesitated for a moment. His eyes flicked to me, to the top of my head, and he realized Al was right. A giant, beaming grin came to his face.

"I have, haven't I?" he bragged, ċhėst puffing out a little more. His hands came back to his pockets, eyes closing as his head turned down and away. "It's about time things start changin' around here!"

He looked to me again, still incredibly happy. "How's the view from down there? Lemme know if you need help reaching any high shelves or anything, alright?"

He kept rambling on, and I laughed a little, wanting to tell him he had only grown a few inches at the most. But he was happy, and that was enough to keep me quiet.

The train rolled up a little while later, and I stepped on board feeling a little lighter than usual. Maybe Ed's mood was just contagious.

A few minutes after the train began moving again, however, I noticed that wide grin of his had faded.

I glanced over at him again, shifting my stare to Al and silently excusing myself from the conversation we were just having. I leaned forward, wanting to reach across the booth diagonally and catch Edward's focus that way, but I stopped. Thinking better of it.

Before I could say anything, Ed moved his stare away from the floor. He looked right to me, and I saw the fear in his eyes. Making them look a little hollow. Making them feel a little too familiar.

"That Homunculus," he began, his voice quiet. "The one back in Dublith. The one who could rip muscles." He paused, stare flicking to my lips so fast I wasn't sure I had seen his eyes move. "How could she do that? They..." He looked away again, avoiding my stare. "Homunculi can't perform alchemy..."

I leaned back into my chair, realizing what he was saying. A little bit.

"So she couldn't have been transmuting..." I repeated in a mumble. I looked up, looking to both of them as I grew confused. "How is a Homunculus made?" I asked, trying not to let my embarrassment for my lack of knowledge and guilt show. "I know the speculations, but..."

Ed seemed to get out of that strange state of fear he was in before; he and Al shared a glance, and then Ed grinned at me sheepishly.

"We're... Actually not a-hundred-percent sure," he said.

The shock was enough to make my head hang in defeat. I was expecting an actual answer...

"But," Al interjected with a raised finger, "we do know that the seven Sins came from Father!"

"Wait." I sat up again, looking to Ed even more confused than ever. "I thought Father was a Homunculus, too..."

This time, realization knocked into Edward's face, hanging his head to the side. "Guess I did say that, huh? 'Eight Homunculi, seven Sins and one Father.' Sorry." He grinned, relaxing again. "I was using the term pretty loosely, just going with the definition of 'artificial human'."

"Oh." I felt heat rise to my cheeks, embarrassed again for looking so foolish. I looked back to Al. "But you don't know where Father came from," I put a slight question in my voice.

Al shook his head. "We know he had been around for a long time, and he had the ability to try and make a Gate."

Okay, now I was definitely completely confused.

"A Gate?"

Ed had seen this question coming; he shifted, legs crossing as he rested his elbows on the top knee, hands coming to support his chin.

"Yeah," he replied. "Goes back to human transmutation." He grinned, a little nervous. "Which... Is definitely something that takes a while to explain."

Before I could back out, lean into my seat and tell them they didn't have to, Ed waved a hand at me. "Don't worry; we'll make it quick."

"There's... A place we went to, when we tried to bring Mom back," Al said. "It was white, and there was..." He looked to Ed, who met his stare. "Someone? Something there?"

"A bit of both, I think." Ed nodded. He shifted in his seat again, hands relaxing to curl in front of himself; like he was trying to hold the idea he had in place. "So, when we tried... To do what we did, we were transported somewhere, like Al said."

That cleared things up, a little bit, but also brought more questions.

"You were taken somewhere," I began, "because you tried to do human transmutation?"

Ed nodded, hands coming to his ŀȧp again. "Yeah, basically. It's part of the trade..." His stare dropped away from me, voice growing solemn as he added, "The rebound, actually." His head shook, wiping the thought away. "But, anyway, this place is white, and it... Feels like you're in-between."

In-between what? I tilted my head, wanting to ask him to continue on. But then I realized what he was saying.

"Like you're in limbo?" I asked.

Ed nodded. His stare fell back to the floor again, focusing a bit more. "It's strange, to say the least. Like you're weightless, but there's something grounding you at the same time. There's still something connecting you to everything else."

Al stayed quiet, seeming like he was listening to his brother just as much as I was. I swept my gaze back to Ed, watching the Alchemist lean back, head towards the ceiling as he sighed.

"And... There's a gate there, when you show up. It's pretty big, and it's the reason we can do Alchemy."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I repeating the phrase back to him, blinking. "B-because of a Gate...?"

He nodded, and then the solemn demeanor broke with a grin. "Yeah, sounds pretty darn crazy, doesn't it?" He laughed, and Al nervously gave a lighter giggle. I smiled a little, ready for them to tell me it was all a joke.

But they didn't.

"You're..." I felt the blood drain from my head. "You're being serious."

Al hummed as he nodded. "That's right!"

I tried to smile, picking myself up from my seat for a brief moment; shifting a little. Trying for a distraction, I guess. "T-there's... No way..." I swallowed, trying to gather the right words. I dropped my stare to the floor beneath us, like that would somehow help. "How..." I focused a bit more, trying to think right. One side of my lip twitched in a shaky smile. "Would you even know...?"

When no response came, I forced myself to look up, seeing Ed share a glance with Al. The elder Alchemist looked to me again, giving a brief shrug.

"Intuition, I guess. Or..." He looked away, staring off to the side as a slight blush tinted his cheeks. "I guess it's like recognizing an old friend. You just know."

I felt a tiny bit of heat come to my own face as well. Ed softly shook his head, throat clearing before he grinned his blush away.

"Anyway! There was something else there, too!"

I looked over to Al again. "That's what you were talking about, right?"

Al nodded. He turned to Edward again. "You'd know more about it than I would. You spoke with them longer."

"Ah, yeah," Ed replied. "Guess I did, didn't I?"

It—they—could talk?

"You talked?" I asked, then realized I should probably try to add more. "With...?"

"It wasn't for very long," Edward said, "just enough to get an idea of... What I was talking to. And even then, at the time, it was pretty confusing." He shook his head, eyes shutting and remaining closed as he continued on, the space between his brows pinched. "Started their introduction saying, 'I... am you.' Told me it was Truth; that it was everyone and everything."

"I..." Al looked down, seeming to be studying his ŀȧp. "Think I remember something like that." He tried to laugh a little, shoulders twitching in a brief shrug. "Everything happened so fast! It was hard to tell exactly what was going on."

"Do you remember what it said?" I asked him.

He paused again, shaking his head. "Not really. Like Brother said, they told me they were me. And then... They told me to remember what I was going to feel."

"What... You were going to feel?" I asked.

Al nodded, and a part of me still couldn't believe this. Some thought must have escaped from my brain; moving my lips in a bȧrėly audible, "This is absolutely insane..."

I caught sight of Ed shrugging, still lounging in his own seat. "Hopefully you never have to find out for yourself," he told me. And the sound of my name brought me back to reality again; the present moment, why we were talking about this in the first place.

"Okay," I began, "so what happened after? With the Gate and Truth?"

Ed looked to his younger brother again, and briefly uncurled and curled his fingers in a wave. "Truth waved," he said, looking back to me. He tried to grin. "And that's when everything just got really painful."

My hair almost stood up in complete shock, I was so surprised. I kept my hands covering my mouth, eyes wide. "What happened?!"

"Well..." He raised a hand to the back of his hair, scratching a little in thought as he looked away. "I saw The Truth"—He glanced at me, pausing before grinning sheepishly—"Different type of Truth. It's confusing, I know."

I smiled a little bit, trying to return his expression. Ed lowered his hand back down to the armrest, looking down and shrugging.

"Guess if I had to explain it simply, it'd be just that; the truth. Everything anyone could know about Alchemy." He shook his head, eyes closing again. "It poured into me. I thought my head was going to explode, trying to keep in all that knowledge." His hand ran along one closed eye, like his head was hurting right now. I hoped that it wasn't; that my question wasn't the cause of the pain...

"Right when I thought I had it," he said with a tight, almost inaudible laugh, "The one thing we were missing..." His hand came to support the side of his head again, his other one reaching out, fingertips straining towards the empty seat beside me. Reaching for something I couldn't see.

"I was kicked out." The hand dropped back down to his ŀȧp. "Never saw what was in there. Waiting."

I didn't know what to say. I watched his stare remain on the floor between us, expression concentrated in thought. "Paid my leg to see everything, too." His head shook, eyes rising to smile at me. With a grin, he continued, "Gave my arm to get Al into that suit, and well, you already know the rest!"

I nodded, offering another small smile. It was the best I could do, given the topic.

"So," Al began lightly, "to loop back to the original conversation, Homunculi are missing a Gate, and that's why they're incapable of performing alchemy."

"Okay," I said quietly, still feeling my head hurt a little.

Looking away, I thought back to what we had just spoke about a few minutes ago; how that... Blonde Homunculus could do what she did. An idea popped into my head, and hesitantly I looked to them both.

"So... Homunculi can't reproduce?"

Ed raised one eyebrow, confused. A small blush crept onto his face. "Where's your train of thought headed?" he asked me.

I couldn't help but smile at him, holding down a laugh because we actually were on a train. I saw the realization dawn on him as well, earning me a smile back. I relaxed, the situation a little less tense as I answered him.

"Well, I was thinking something along the lines of evolution," I said. "But I guess that's a little silly, isn't it?"

Ed scratched the back of his hair, stare on the floor beneath us. "I dunno," he began slowly. "Maybe not, but it'd still take a long time for a Gate to form through natural selection"—His face twisted in a look of disgust—"even if they were to breed with full-on Alchemists. Eck." His head shook, blurring his face for a moment and wiping the thought away. I grinned a little, raising the side of a curled hand to my lips.

"It would take a long time," Al agreed, tapping his chin in thought, "but that reminds me of some speculations I read about Homunculi creation."

"What are they?" I asked.

Al pretended to scratch the side of his face, eyes avoiding mine. "Well, they're actually off of a few books I read on The Truth."

"Not..." The space between my brows clenched a little in confusion. "That... Thing you spoke with, right?"

Al quickly shook his head. "No, what Brother was talking about."

I glanced to Edward, watching his eyes sweep over to meet mine as I added, "The 'knowing everything about Alchemy' truth?"

Ed nodded silently, and Al brought my attention back to him. He was tapping his chin with his finger again, voice soft with thought.

"My suggestion is basically off of a folklore that's been around for the past hundred years or so," he began. "It states that Homunculi are simply people from different dimensions. They're teleported here from somewhere else through the Gate, and they use something that's not alchemy in order to manipulate their bodies. So, in other words, they use their universe's version of alchemy—or their own version of The Truth."

Ed snorted as he laughed, trying to cover his mouth up with one hand. He opened one eye, smiling a little more when he noticed me staring.

He shook his head. "I'm sorry; I just can't keep a straight face whenever I hear that one." His fingers curled into a fist as his eyes clenched shut, a slight giggle escaping him. "I mean"—He bowed his head a little more, and I wouldn't be surprised to see tears brimming his eyes if he opened them—"teleported through the Gate? What do you have to be smoking to think that up?"

I grinned, just because he was laughing so much. "That... Is a little far-fetched."

Ed shook his head again, trying to keep himself under control. "Keep goin', Al. Let's veto that one for now."

Interest perked my mind into working a little harder, and I turned back to Al again, watching him nod in return.

"Yeah, okay," Al replied. He smiled at me. "That one is a little bit crazy, but I have another one that might make a bit more sense."

"What is it?" I asked.

"It's only another hypothesis," he began, "but it does deal with an altered form of human transmutation and Homunculi generation. It states that the power a Homunculus gets is related to their cause of death. So, for example, the Homunculus in Dublith may have died by some form of torture before someone tried to bring her back to life."

I looked over to Edward. "Human transmutation...?"

He shook his head silently, and Al replied to me.

"No, it's not actually a way to create Homunculi. It's just something I read about; I was hoping it might spark some ideas!"

But Ed was considering it, hand resting against his forehead, elbow propped on the armrest. Complete concentration written all over his features.

"It..." His eyes shifted around, studying the floor near my feet. "It might lead to something, Al. I wouldn't rule it out... There had to be some kind of base for Father's Homunculi, right? Some kind of template, maybe?" His head bowed, both hands coming to the space between his brows, separating away from each other like another headache was coming on. "But maybe not, given the power he had..." He shook his head, slowly. "You got any more of those speculations, Al?"

"Uh, no," Al replied, his eyes shrinking for a moment before he looked down to his ŀȧp. His hand curled into a fist, bunching up his loincloth. "Sorry. Those are all the ones I read..."

"You found these in a book?" I asked, raising a brow. "How...? Even writing about human transmutation is completely illegal..."

That seemed to pick Ed's mood back up again; he laughed quietly—snickered, really—and left Al to fend for an answer.

"Um, well, May gave them to me! The friend from Xing we told you about. I think she picked them up from Drachma, or Creta—I can't remember which one!"

A suggestive grin came to Ed as he elbowed his brother. "Just a friend, huh?"

Al became flustered, frantically putting his hands in his ŀȧp. "I-I don't know what you're talking about!"

"Yeah. I'm sure all those letters you write to each other say differently."

Al just gave a tiny, mortified mȯȧn as he looked further away. I met Ed's wide grin with a smile of my own.

"That's so cute, Al!" I said. I grinned a little more, watching as Al became even more panicked.

"Uh, um, so ANYWAY." Those eyes made of light curved, a small laugh escaping him. "Back to the topic at hand. Homunculi."

Ed sighed, and just the sound of his breath deflating like that brought the mood down again. I looked over to him, watching his hand come back to support the side of his head. Knuckles propped against his temple, the side of his cheekbone.

"So I know we only got one relatively solid lead," he began softly, "but at this point, I'm willing to consider every possibility we can think of." He uncurled the fingers resting against his face, knuckles slowly rolling against his cheekbone until two fingertips pressed against his temple. His eyes closed, brows scowling a little. "Even that ludicrous Gate teleportation idea..."

I searched his expression, trying to find an answer for the question I wanted to ask. There was none, forcing me to speak.

"What do you mean?" I asked him finally, quietly. Those golden eyes slowly opened, and after a moment or two, the tiredness inside them fled. He picked himself up, hand falling to curl against the end of the armrest.

"That muscle Homunculus," Edward said. "Every other Homunculus I've seen had black hair; hers was blonde. So either she got some pretty nice hair dye just for the hell of it, or something about the process of Homunculi creation changed."

I understood what he was saying, and turned to Al. "Through human transmutation...?"

Al nodded. "Possibly." He looked to Ed. "But you... Dug up the grave of what we transmuted."

"I know," Ed replied, "and..." His voice suddenly trailed off, whatever thought he was following before leaving him. His eyes went wide. "What if they're mixing methods?" he asked quietly, seeming to be speaking to no one in particular.

Chills descended down my spine, just hearing that. I watched, half of my brain focused, as Ed lowered his gaze from the opposite side of the booth. Focus came in between his brows, and he searched some place near his feet in silence.

"It's kind of a long shot," he began, "but what if they're mixing energy from the gate with human corpses? What if..." He swallowed, and his next words were shaky. Uncertain. Nearly spoken like he was going to be sick. "What if that's the thing we were missing, Al?"

I stared at Ed, feeling a horrible, sour nausea creep up my throat, flanking the back of my mouth. My sight turned to Al as the younger brother spoke, voice shaking slightly.

"What're you saying, Brother?"

"What if..." Ed swallowed, pulling in a deep breath through his nose. His hand curled into a fist, bunching up the denim of his pants. I still saw the brief shakes his fist made; the quivers that stabilized a moment before he continued on. "What if we just needed some of that energy?"

A grin shook onto his face, and his hand rose to his hair, gripping the front of it and causing tendrils to poke out between his gloved fingers. "What if we just needed... Hohenheim there"—I saw his eyes squint a little, a glossiness reflecting off the gold—"Or we just needed Father, somehow..." Those eyes shut, head turning away slightly, hand holding his hair a little firmer. His shoulders bounced with silent laughs. "What if that's all we needed...?"

"You..." I searched for the right words, trying to throw my line of focus out enough and reel in the right memory. I retrieved it, gaze shooting back up and my upper body leaning a bit more towards him. "You told me they weren't human, right?"

"They're not..." Ed responded, voice bȧrėly a murmur. Words bȧrėly moving his lips.

I nodded, trying to give a good enough smile. "That's right! They're not. They're missing something, right? Something that makes them human."

Ed took in a deep breath, looking away from me. Blinking a few times, searching the floor and the empty seat beside me.

"Ethics, morals, abstract thought, generative computation, emotions, linguistics..." The list rattled on, bȧrėly above a whisper. I eventually understood what he was categorizing. Everything that makes us human.

I felt frozen, for a moment or two. I felt like I was against a wall, backed into a corner. Because I agreed with him; if Homunculi did have those abilities... And he had taken their lives...

I found myself reaching out, taking his hand in mine. Snatching it, really; holding his fingers like he had done for me on the rooftop. His voice stopped, one word cut in half as he looked down at our hands.

I felt completely out of my own body. I didn't recognize the voice that came through my lips; I didn't feel the vibrations that were made as the right sounds hummed from my throat; I heard what was said, though. And I'm glad some small part of my brain was actually working for once.

"Just because there's similarities doesn't mean we're the same as they are," I said. "You said it yourself; there's something different. There's something else missing."

I briefly felt the texture of his glove, the warmth of his skin underneath as my thumb ran across the backs of his fingers. My mind came back to me, slowly crawling into focus, as Ed nodded briefly. He blinked, and slowly began settling back into his seat. His hand slipping away from mine.

"We have to," he said quietly. "We have to..."

I knew what he was talking about. I swallowed down the lump in my throat, looking down at my crossed legs, the gentle folds my skirt made over them. I just... I just wasn't sure. Wasn't sure if being here, being with them, was the right thing. I would need to fight back, eventually. But could I take a life—human or not? Could I even consider it a life?

I had already attempted to kill; I drove a concrete-spike into that female Homunculus' eye. I did it without hesitating, holding down screams of agony as I tried to get enough weight onto my wretchedly disabled leg. I tried to kill her without a second thought, because Ed had been in trouble.

Was I any better than those... Soul-less monsters?

There was a disgusting thought rising up, creeping into my consciousness. Something that wondered what that made Ed, since he had killed so many now. I shoved the thought away with as much viciousness as I had, refusing to consider any part of it. I looked up, the sounds of the train coming back to me. The buzz of passengers chatting, and the quiet rhythm of Ed's voice. I focused completely, seeing his elbow on the armrest, open hand supporting his jaw as he kept speaking. I followed his stare to the aisle, surprised to see a food cart there. The employee listened intently, and I watched her nod a few times as he kept ordering.

"...And some Oolong tea, if it's not too much trouble."

He... He was ordering my favorite type of tea. This is what made my brain fully snap back, and I turned to my bag, sitting on the seat beside me.

"I can cover it," I said, opening my bag to retrieve my wide wallet.

I didn't even have it halfway out before Ed's hand came to my wrist. Gently stopping my movements. I looked up, seeing him leaning forward and grinning wide. His other hand extended out to the employee, wrist flicking and fanning out more than enough money.

I pretended to make a sour face, stuffing down the disappointment and reminding myself he was glad to pay for the things we ate, places we stayed. I wanted to keep that smile on his face. Whatever the cost.

Ed drew back, relaxing into his own seat with that beaming grin still there. I smiled back at him, and when I noticed the employee finish pouring my tea, I instantly brought my focus to the left armrest of my seat; a small table that flipped up and folded out. I quickly shifted the table until it was above my ŀȧp, something that was almost second-nature by now, and tried to take the tea the hostess was offering.

She just shook her head, placing on the table for me. "Wouldn't want you to burn yourself."

I tried to smile back, falsely curving my eyes as well.

She reached back into the cart, returning to us with both hands holding containers of food. "Two lunch specials?"

"Yeah, that's for me." Ed reached across his brother, taking one container while briefly hooking a thumb in my direction. "The other's for her."

The circular container was placed on my table, right next to the tea. Another one of my favorites. I stared down at it, trying to relax my stomach, trying to untangle it because I knew I had to eat this for him. He couldn't worry like this...

I looked up, hearing the employee announce everything Ed had ordered as she handed it to him.

"One chicken club."

"Yep! Thanks!"

"And two sundaes." She tried to hand one to me, when Ed took the first, and I instantly raised a hand, falsely grinning her way.

"That's for me again," Ed grinned at me. "Unless you're interested."

My hand waved on its own, and soon enough the topic was dismissed. Ed nodded, completely accepting the happiness I gave him, and the employee dug back in her cart, withdrawing a carton.

"Oh! And another lunch special!" Her hand came to her mouth, a blush on her face. "I'm so sorry I didn't give this to you before!"

Ed grinned, reaching across from Al and taking the container of food. The younger Elric looked to me, smiling quietly. An expression I couldn't return.

"Don't worry about it!" the elder Alchemist laughed. "Thanks again!"

Just hearing his voice, I couldn't help but smile; it was a small one, but I instantly saw Al return it. Ed drew back into his seat, immediately popping open the lid of the meal he was holding and breaking apart the chopsticks with his other hand. He glanced to me, noodles positioned a few inches away from his open mouth. The smallest of scowls came to his face.

"Eat your food," he told me.

I noticed the steam rising from the bite he hadn't taken yet, and tried to grin, seeing my way out. "It's still a little hot, isn't it?"

He scowled just a bit, never breaking eye contact as he took the first bite. And his stare popped wide, watering a little. A fist came to his mouth, chopsticks poking out between two clenched fingers.

"No..." he whɨnėd softly. "It's a perfectly normal temperature..."

I couldn't laugh like he wanted me to; I couldn't even give that great of a grin. I was happy Al filled the silence for me, placing a smile back on both of their faces.

I got to thinking, while waiting for my tea to cool. Maybe it was the heat curling around my face, or the fact I was holding the mug with one hand and hovering my other around the cup's curve; maybe it was the warmth I was experiencing that made me think of the cold, empty suit sitting across from me.

My thoughts went to Al, how guilty I felt whenever I ate something in front of him. I wished I could somehow change that; make it so he could experience food again. I couldn't imagine not being able to eat for as long as he has...

I thought back, my mind shooting to memories. The pain of forcing myself to eat, that sick weight in my stomach trying to reject food I didn't deserve to have. But I'd always stayed nourished enough, for better or worse.

I felt my lips shake, trying to fight back a wave of tears. I leaned into my tea a little more, eyes shutting. Trying to make it so the steam caught my focus enough to stop me from looking like more of an idiot than usual. About to cry with a mug of tea in my hands. I had nothing to cry about; nothing that deserved any real pain. I shouldn't even be getting this close to tears.

Memories tried to drag me back, this time to somewhere a little closer than before. On a rooftop, on my knees and completely broken against Ed's embrace.

I didn't realize my hands were shaking until Al called my name. I stabilized them as best I could, stare quickly shooting up to meet his. Those lights glanced to my tea, and then he said the question I was dreading.

"Are you okay?"

I nodded as fast as possible, raising the cup to my lips and taking a sip. Instantly feeling my tongue want to shrivel up from the sheer amount of heat. I swallowed it down, feeling the path down my throat instantly become a little raw, a little scalded.

More memories.

"I'm fine, Al," I said, some part of my brain still in the present moment. But the words were flat; not very convincing at all.

Al didn't say anything; he probably didn't know what to do. How to deal with me. My eyes went to Ed, seeing his stare near the floor again. Brows furrowed a little, some mix between thoughtfulness and concern. Both something I didn't deserve.

"I'm fine," I repeated a little louder, focusing back on my tea. Noticing his stare relax a little as he focused back on me. I raised the cup to my lips again, bȧrėly moving my mug anywhere before Ed placed two chopsticks in his mouth and quickly clapped.

A light burst of wind blew, a small breeze that instantly squinted my eyes and cooled the tea in my hands. Made the temperature perfect, actually.

"That tea's too hot," Edward said quietly, removing the sticks from between his teeth and picking up a few noodles. "You'll burn yourself if you drink it."

That's the point. But I didn't dare voice this thought. I just nodded, giving a weak word of thanks that he didn't reply to. I peeked over at him from the rim of the cup, taking a sip that was pleasantly warm. The slight heat ran over the raw skin of my tongue, but only part of my brain was focused on the ache.

Ed was still focused on his food, seeming to not be paying any more attention to me. Good. Hands busy with pulling noodles into his mouth, his stare going out the window this time. His focus a little further away from me.

I had to keep it that way...

__________

A/N: I know I have an Author's Note like every chapter—I hope you guys don't mind! There's just so many details that I should probably clear up; things that change from the canon divergence.

In the last chapter, when Al comments on Ed's height ("But you've been getting taller, Brother!") he's really just commenting on how after the defeat of Father, Ed grew a little bit, from 4'11 to 5'3"-5'4" in the space of almost a year. He only notices the most recent height increase in this chapter :) Our MC's around 5'5", so Ed's about 5'6.5"-5'7". And yes, he's very happy about that!

Also, because Ed and Al never tell the military about the Stone, Amestrian economy booms. Currency is "upgraded" (from cen coins to bills and coins), train services get massively revamped (faster and more frequent rides, comfy seats, armrests with flipout tables between them, overhead conductor speakers, and of course, food carts :) ). My reasoning for this is because those in the military never have to worry about the stone (and because everything seems to be safe with the new furher) they can focus on other things, like train services and general economy. Also, given Ling's position as emperor, Amestris and Xing are on good terms, resulting in more of the Xingese (or "Chinese") culture bleeding into Amestris' (to note an example, in chapter five our MC goes through a beaded entrance way).

Writing this fic is just too fun sometimes!

Anywho, thanks for reading! Super psyched to hear your thoughts on the chapter c: