The Sleepwalker

Disclaimer: None of these lovely characters from Fullmetal Alchemist belong to me. Sadly. Oh how I wish to own Roy….

Summary: All the stress from attempting to find the Philosopher's Stone and restoring their bodies has caused Edward to sleepwalk. He, not being aware of the fact, believes that the 'images' are a sign. Alphonse disagrees and concludes that his brother has gone insane. What happens when his somnambulism gets out of hand?

Author's Note: It's been a while since I last wrote something, and I thank those of you who spared a moment to read and/or review my fanfic(s). I cannot promise the best story ever, but I hope that someone somewhere will find my stories enjoyable. Enjoy.

Chapter 1: The Beginning

"Nii-san, are you still awake?" the voice of a young boy echoed in the small room.

The Fullmetal Alchemist tossed and turned in his bed. No matter how much he tried, he could not being himself to fall asleep. There were no noises or no deafening music; nothing surrounded him with the exception of his blanket and the dim moonlight. No, no one was crazy enough to party outside this late at night – especially not in the middle of winter.

His brother Alphonse Elric stood by his bed and looked at him with a worried expression. Not that you could tell, for he had a suit of armour for his body. He had no expression. The stone cold suit of armour was his body, and there was nothing he could do about it – not yet, at least. This was the result of a failed attempt at trying to revive a human being with the use of alchemy. He and his brother paid dearly for this wrongdoing.

"…yeah."

Edward Elric, the older brother, had lost his right arm and left leg. Though he had freedom of movement with the help of automail, he still preferred to have his old arm and leg, for they were the arm and leg he was born with. But that was not his top priority. His wish was to first restore his brother's body first, and in order for it to happen, they needed the power of the Philosopher's Stone.

"You can't sleep?" Alphonse asked.

Edward stared blankly. "Too many thoughts on my mind." He turned and faced the ceiling, but not even the plainness of the white ceiling could help to organize his cluttered thoughts.

"Do you want something to drink?" offered Alphonse. "Something to eat? Food always helps." Edward shook his head. "I just want to organize my thoughts." He turned to his side again, and remained motionless for a long time. Alphonse walked back to his own bed quietly, and tried his best not to disturb his brother's train of thoughts. Then, Edward's metrical breathing told Alphonse that he had fallen asleep.

The next morning, Edward yawned so hard that he could fit a tennis ball into his mouth. Sleepily, he got off of his bed and dragged his body to the breakfast table, where he yawned once again. Alphonse was already in the kitchen, preparing breakfast. Not that he could eat. But one of them did need food.

"Nii-san, are you all right?" Alphonse asked as he took out a carton of milk out of the fridge. For a second, the drawing of a cow on the carton seemed to have been smirking at Edward, who let it pass unnoticed. Alphonse took the carton to the table and poured out some of its contents into a glass, and handed it to Edward. "I slept, but I don't feel rested at all," Edward replied. He grabbed the glass of milk and drank it all at once. Then, as if he had been shocked by electricity, he jumped up and dashed to the sink, where he emptied his stomach. Alphonse sweatdropped. Edward turned to his brother, blood draining from his head. "Al… you did that on purpose, didn't you…."

"You must be really out of it today," Alphonse replied with a giggle. Usually, Edward, being an extreme hater of milk, would never touch even a drop of milk, or 'White liquid extracted from a cow,' as he called it. "Why don't you sleep some more after you eat? I'll go to the library by myself."

"But we rarely come to Central. We need to make the most out of this visit," Edward protested upon rinsing his mouth. He stuck out his tongue in disgust as the taste of milk still remained. "Besides, you can't possibly go through all those books alone."

"But you need your rest," Alphonse said. "You can't do much if you're only half awake. Can't you rest for now and go to the library in the afternoon or something?"

"It's all right, it's not the first time I went without sleep," replied his brother. "I have a feeling we might find something useful today." To that, Alphonse raised a brow. "And since when did your feeling become our guide, nii-san?" Alphonse sweatdropped once again. "We'll probably just find the books we read last time. The Central library is huge, but they don't update the books too often. Remember last time? We found nothing and bumped into the Colonel on the way back? He called you short and lectured you for not reporting to him regularly. So let me go. You won't need to face all that frustration again."

Edward gave a smirk between his bites of toast. "And why are you so eager to get to the library by yourself?" Alphonse quivered as Edward eyed him suspiciously. "Don't tell me you were going to borrow a book on how to take good care of stray cats…."

"No, no! It's not a cat!" Alphonse waved his hands in denial. "It's a cute little kitten! I found him shivering in the rain yesterday and – "

"Same thing!" Edward yelled.

"What about you then! What makes you so sure that we're going to find useful information?" Alphonse demanded.

"W-well, I just thought it'd be nice if I went with you. I'm a State Alchemist, after all. They might not let you take out certain books," Edward crumpled the rest of the toast into his mouth. "Well, let's get going now!" he said in muffled voice. He got off of his chair and pushed his brother to the door. Alphonse did not look satisfied.

"B-but nii-san – "

"No buts!"

"Nii-san – "

"No, don't talk!"

"But you're still not dressed – "

Edward paused for a moment. He looked down and found that he was in his pyjamas. And most unusually, his feet were wet. How could that be? He knew that he was asleep, in his bed, all night. Maybe, just maybe, that had something to do with the images in his head. Nah, there's probably some other explanation, he decided. Immediately, he dashed back to the bedroom, dressed himself and came back to the door. He cleared his throat as he walked out the door while Alphonse sweatdropped and locked the door behind them.

What an odd dream, the young alchemist thought to himself. It seemed so real! But how could that be? Sure, realistic dreams do exist, but this was too strange. The streets, the library, and the books…everything seemed so real, yet something seemed to be wrong. He placed his automail hand on his chin and thought it through and through. Let me go back to the beginning and think about it a little bit at a time. First, he thought, I was in front of the library at night. I don't know how or why I got there, but I was there. I don't even know how I got inside. But I remember going to the shelf where alchemy books were. He scratched his head.

Alphonse looked amused and confused at the same time. "Nii-san, what are you thinking about?" You're going to bump into someone or something if you don't watch where you're going, he added.

"No, I'm not hungry yet," Edward replied half-heartedly. His brother could do nothing but sweatdrop.

I turned and headed towards the door. Probably didn't find any new books. This was where it started to get weirder. I saw light. I turned swiftly and one book in particular caught my eye right away – the book in the middle of the shelf was glowing. As if there was an extreme attraction, I extended my arm and grabbed the book. Wait. Why do I not remember what I did after? I only remember holding the book and standing in front of the shelf blankly for a long time. Then what happened? Did I read the book? No, he had no recollection of that. He could not even remember what the book looked like.

But then again, he pondered, my feet were cold in the morning. Cold and wet. Could it be possible that I actually did go to the library during the night? Did I walk in the snow with my bare feet? No, he decided. That was impossible. Al would've noticed me leaving. It was probably just a weird dream – from wanting information on the Stone too much.

While Edward was wrapped deep in his thoughts, the two had reached the library. They headed for the alchemy books' section right away – or rather, Alphonse had dragged his brother to the section, as he was incapable of this type of multitasking without the risk of walking into a wall. "Are you sure you're okay, nii-san?" Alphonse asked, concerned. "Maybe you should go back and get some sleep. The library isn't going to run away from you."

Came no reply.

"Nii-san? NII-SAN!" Alphonse hanged onto his brother's collars and shook him like a cocktail shaker. Edward felt the world shaking and spinning before him. He rubbed his eyes to clear his vision and yelled back at Alphonse. "What!"

"I said, you should go back and get some sleep! You've been acting weird," responded his brother. "You haven't been listening to a word I said. What's been on your mind, anyway?" A pause. "I'm only asking because I'm concerned about your health, nii-san."

"…all right. I'll tell you. But only if you promise not to laugh – I feel weird enough as it is," Edward sighed. And he told the story. About his weird dream – how everything was so realistic, how he found the glowing book. A long pause waited upon the end of Edward's story, as Alphonse looked at his brother expressionlessly. "Nii-san…. Please don't tell me you thought it was a sign from God…."

"O-of course not! Alchemists are scientists, we believe in science and technology," Edward felt himself blush. It was silly, really. On many occasions, he had proven that he only did believe in science. "But it was different. I mean, it was weird. I only remember certain scenes – I don't remember how I got there or anything. But my feet were cold and wet. How else could this have happened?"

A shrug came as his brother's reply. "Maybe you dreamed about food before the weird dream and got drool all over yourself," he said jokingly. However, Edward was not impressed. "I'm pretty sure that I didn't do that. Besides, wouldn't you know whether or not I did?"

"Well I – " The suit of armour took a step back. Edward stepped forward wearing a suspicious look. "Were you outside playing with the kitten?"

"I-I couldn't help it! Beanie's a stray kitten so she's used to going outside at night!" Alphonse cried.

Edward twitched. "Beanie…?" he said, raising an eyebrow. "Don't tell me…"

"Yeah, I named her after you, nii-san," Alphonse replied happily.

Within microseconds, the terror of the enraged alchemist flooded the library. And with that, of course, came the arrival of the librarian and the removal of the brothers from the building.

To be continued…

Author's Note: Somnambulism means "sleepwalking" in proper medical terms. Though I do not know exactly how it works, I have done some research on it. I'm trying my best to make the story fit the facts, but sometimes it might just slide away from reality. As far as I know, it can be caused by stress and childhood fear (I'm going with stress in this story), and the sleepwalker usually doesn't remember most of the sleepwalking process. But from experience, some people do remember certain scenes/images.

I heard from my mother that I used to sleepwalk. I didn't do it often though. One of the times I sleepwalked, my mother saw me walking downstairs into the living room and sitting on the couch. Then, after a while, I went back to bed. I remember seeing my mother come downstairs from where I was sitting, but I don't remember how I got to the couch or how I went back to my room.

Some clarifications: In English, they seem to have translated the manga/anime differently. In Japanese, instead of "Who are you calling a shrimp!" Edward would say "Who are you calling a bean!" Bean is the correct term to use when making fun of people who are vertically challenged in Japanese. I'm sticking to the Japanese version. Also, you probably all know this already, but nii-san means 'big brother'.

Anyway – hope you enjoyed the first chapter. Feedback is most welcome. Please tell me what you liked or hated about my story (in other words, don't just go "I liked it!" or "It sucked!"); I will attempt to improve it in the second chapter.

Thanks for taking the time to read my story!

- Sammi. Oct. 15/2005.