Sleep, sleep, my beloved,
without worry, without fear,
although my soul does not sleep,
although I do not rest.
Sleep, sleep, and in the night
may your whispers be softer
than a leaf of grass,
or the silken fleece of lambs.
May my flesh slumber in you,
my worry, my trembling.
In you, may my eyes close
and my heart sleep.
The Sad Mother by Gabriel Mistral
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Edward Elric had not been growing any more fond of how quiet his home had become. There was no more laughing, no more fun, no more joy, no more hope to think they'd get these things back, even eventually. There were no more of these things, because there was no more mother. She'd died and left them with no laughter or fun or joy or even hope. Not without her.
Ed tried to stay as strong as he could. Al still needed someone to try and keep things semi-normal. But he already knew that everything, everything was painfully not what it use to be.
Winry and Pinako tried to help, but it wasn't the same.
Near by towns people had tried to help too, but it wasn't the same.
Nothing was the same and both of them knew it was never ever going to be the same again. Until one day, when Al found a small hidden door in the basement of their house, did anything change. He had dropped a novel behind one of the smaller bookcases that housed some of their father's research in the basement. When he moved the bookcase to get the book back out, he could see that there was a distinct, small, locked door behind it.
When Al showed his brother, Ed couldn't make much of it either.
"Where do you think it goes, Brother?"
"I'm not sure. Neither of us even knew this was down here until today Al."
But, ever the curious pair, the two boys could not extinguish their need to understand and see for themselves what was a part of the house they'd thought they knew like the back of their hands. So, after dubiously making a stacked tower of chairs and books and other knick knacks to reach where their mother had kept her collection of keys, they began to work. They tried one after another after another. Until the last one, the largest, blackest, and -somehow- coldest slipped into place easily, turning with a slow, creaking click.
The boys turned to stare at each other, surprise mirrored in each other's faces.
"Where do you think it'll go, Brother?"
"How am I suppose to know? It could be a brick wall for all I'm aware!" Ed said, irritability filling his veins.
Al sighed sadly, instantly cooling any sort of anger or annoyance Ed had felt.
"Let's just take a quick look and then get back to work. We still have to try and figure out a way to bring mom back." Ed said after a moment, at the same time pulling open the little door.
To both of their surprise, the door opened not to a brick wall, but a dark passageway. Both boys stared into it, not sure what to make of it.
"What is it?" Ed said to himself, touching the frame of the door.
"Maybe it's a secret escape route or something?" Al offered.
Ed stared into the darkness.
"Whatever it is, it's giving me the creeps." he said, making to close it. His brother's hands, however, stopped him.
"Come on Ed, let's at least check it out, just once? To see what it is?"
Ed hesitated.
"We can pretend to be explorers again, like when we were younger, remember?"
Ed did remember. They'd always use to pretend to be grand explorers, combing the hills of the country for "exotic" wildlife and greenery. That was when mom had been alive. That's when things had been normal.
He wanted, more then anything, to relive, even for a moment, those good times.
"Alright, let me go get a lamp."
Al's beaming smile made Ed feel so warm and delighted that he could almost shake off the creepy crawly feelings he got in his gut when he had looked through the door. Almost.
Once Ed had gotten the lamp safely lit, he led the way through the small door, having to bend slightly so his head wouldn't hit the ceiling. Al followed closely behind, the sound of two pairs of feet shuffling resonating around them.
"There's a light up ahead, maybe you were right Al. This could be some super secret hide away." Ed said loudly, not sure if he liked the particular way his words rebounded against the walls. They weren't normal sharp echoes, they were muffled and slow, like they had had to pass through pudding to get back to his ears.
Reaching the end of the tunnel, Edward gently pushed open the door that had been been jarred open enough to let in weak light.
"What the-?" Ed asked out loud as he stepped into the same, identical basement that he had just left.
"What is it Brother?" Al asked, instantly given his answer as he clambered into and looked around the room.
"Maybe we got turned around or something." Ed said, looking back towards the doorway in confusion.
"I don't know Brother, it seemed a pretty straight course to m-" Al stopped suddenly as the sound of a chair being moved across the floor sounded. The both looked to the ceiling, where the sound had come from. Had someone broken into their house while they were in the tunnel?
Quietly, Ed extinguished the lamp and left it behind as he and Al made a near silent ascent to the ground floor of their home. As they crept, more noises became discernible. Pots and pans banging together, drawers being opened and closed, a sweet humming voice.
"Are they cooking something Brother?" Al asked Ed, receiving only a sharp "shh".
At that prompt though, Ed took a moment to sniff the air about them, shocked to find it wafting with the scents of foods his mother use to make. He had to wonder though, what sort of thief breaks into house, not to steal, but to cook? They approached door to the kitchen, the person behind it humming even louder then before. Al gulped once and before Ed could try and stop him, gently pushed it open.
The sight of their mother's back that greeted them was enough to stop their hearts for a beat. There she stood, somehow, in the kitchen, humming a tuneless song like she always had.
"Mom?" Ed asked no one in particular, disbelief heavy in that single word.
She turned to them at that point, sending another wave of shock through their bodies.
"Oh good, I was wondering when you boys would be coming up for lunch."
The woman before them, in almost every way, was their mother. She had her voice, her face, her hair, even her lilac dress was exactly as it had been before her death. What was not the same were her eyes. Instead of the calm green they had loved now sat two large, gleaming black buttons.
"Mom?" Ed asked again.
"Oh you silly boy, I'm not just 'mom' or 'mother'. I'm your Other Mother, my dears." she said sweetly.
"What's that?" Al asked, moving to stand further into the doorway.
"Alphonse, every little boy and every little girl has an Other Mother, in case their first parents every fail in taking proper care of them. You see though, it's only the best children that get to ever meet their Other Mother." she explained casually, placing hordes of food onto the table.
After another minute or two of placing dish after dish and plate after plate onto their table, the Other Mother gestured for them to come further into the room. When neither boy moved, still far too confused to begin to think about moving, she put her hands on her hips playfully, saying,
"Come in my darlings, don't be shy, I've made quite a spread of your favorites for you today."
Al blinked, as if broken from some trance and all but ran the rest of the way into the room, plopping himself in his normal seat.
"Edward, are you joining us?" she asked, button eyes staring through him.
Ed gulped, unsure of what to make of the whole situation. His mom had died, he'd seen it with his own eyes. Why should he believe in something that wore the face of someone who was dead? Was he really supposed to believe that everybody in the world had someone just like her, just like this Other Mother? There was no logic, no rhyme or reason that he could see, in this situation.
But...when he glanced over at Al and saw the pure bliss that danced wildly across his face, Ed didn't care anymore if this made any real sense at all.
With a decisive grunt, Ed walked to the table and sat down in his normal chair, grinning at Al from across the table.
"Dig in, I've made plenty."
And dug in they did. They ate to their heart's content, sampling all of their favorite fair, from their mom's quiche to root beer floats to her wonderful roast beef. Having taken their fill, both Ed and Al sat in their chairs, stomach bloated.
"My, my, I didn't know I had such strong, growing boys!" Other Mother said enthusiastically, clearing the table.
They both sat there, grinning like idiots, patting their full stomachs.
"You know, you could stay with me, instead of going back to that big old empty house all by yourselves." she said in her sweet, soft voice.
Ed and Al's heads shot up at this, disbelieving.
"Really?"
"You would do that?"
The Other Mother smiled brilliantly.
"You both can stay forever, if you want. We'll only ever eat your favorite foods and we'll only ever play the games you want to play. How does that sound my dears?"
In response, the two youngsters jumped from their seats in near unison, running to their Other Mother, hugging her around the waist.
'It's so wonderful.' Ed thought. 'We have her back, safe and sound and beautiful as ever. We didn't even have to use any alchemy.'
"There is, however, one little thing we must do before either of you can stay here with me. Can you do one, tiny little thing for me, and then we can be a happy family, together forever?"
Ed stared up at this woman, his Other Mother. The light of the room glittered off the buttons that acted as her eyes in a way that made him uneasy. He tried to shake it off and hugged himself closer to her. He nodded and he could feel Al do the same next to him. They both knew that this was better. No matter what it was that she asked of them, this world where things were normal and happy and fun and joyful was so much better then the terribly sad one they'd left behind.
"My darlings, my sweet darlings. I'm so glad you're both willing to love me so. I promise, I'll never, ever leave you."
Even though her eyes scared him and he couldn't help but feel that something was just not right, Ed knew that this Other Mother of their's had to be better then having no mother at all.
She had to be.
------------------------
For years the Elric house stood empty. No one could say what had happened to those boys that day. Had they run away? Were they alive? Were they dead? No one could say for sure.
The only thing authorities ever found to be strange, out of place about the house was the one, little doorway they found in the basement. The cold, iron key had been left in the hole, the door slightly open. What made this door so very odd, was that behind it was nothing but a brick wall. Nothing else in the house had been disturbed. Nothing left open, nothing tampered with. It baffled the authorities, made them wonder:
What could have possibly been behind that doorway that the Elric brothers would have left it open, even though everything else was so tidy? What had been behind it for those poor boys?
--------------------------
A/N: If you don't know what the Other Mother asked the boys to do for her, I'd suggest reading Coraline to find out. Other then that, all I can say is that this has been one of my more odd fanfic ideas I've had...kind of like it I guess.
Just FYI, they don't exactly have a crossover section for Fullmetal Alchemist and Coraline (in fact, they don't even have a section for Coraline yet), so I'm stuck with just leaving a warning in my summary.