Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood: Nightmares & Sentimentality
Greed & Ling Yao
Set during the nights after Ed, Darius, and Heinkel joined Greed.
Nostalgia-a bittersweet longing for things, persons ,or situations of the past.
On occasion, Greed would wake up, screaming, in the middle of the night.
Edward was by his side in an instant, attempting to mask his concern with a series of complaints. But the worry was plain in his eyes, and Ed slipped in an "are you okay?" in the middle of his curses.
"I'm fine." Greed would snap. "Just a nightmare."
"I didn't know homunculi dreamed." Darius had once said.
"Well I do." And that was that. Greed then turned on his side, his back facing away from the others.
No questions.
No discussions.
Heinkel then grumbled something about Greed "not even apologizing for disturbing our sleep"
Ed wondered to himself just what in hell goes on in the sin's head.
They all went back to sleep. Everyone pretended they didn't notice the pure rage and sorrow in Greed's scream when it ripped through the silence of night.
Ling noticed. He knows exactly what, who, it is that caused Greed to wake so suddenly.
They'd plagued Greed's thoughts often enough for the young prince to be able to match names to their faces. Martel, Roa, Bido, and Dolcetto…
Greed had tried to block them out for so long. He told himself that it wasn't his life. They weren't his. Then, the memories came back to him. And Ling was there to watch it all unfold. At first it came slowly. It started out at flashes and blurs. He'd see their faces, hear their distant voices.
Soon afterwards the memories flooded in, and they were clear. Their voices echoed loud in his head, and their faces were once again imprinted into Greed's soul.
Ling saw it all. How they all met, the laughs they shared, the crimes they commited, the way they died.
At first it was odd, feeling the anger, pain and emotions of Greed. There was pure hatred towards Wrath, something which Ling understood far too well. But deep within Greed was something else, something other than an insatiable avarice. There was, if Ling could believe it, a hinge of self loathing. It was a shock, realizing that the homunculus obviously didn't want to feel, but did.
Sometimes Ling would see himself in Greed's memories. He'd see himself yelling at Greed.
Are you determined to prove you're a monster?
They'll always be a part of you. You can't just erase them from your soul. They were the only part of you that you chose!
Can you not hear their souls crying out? You abandoned them, your real family. You threw them away like trash.
You turned your back on something you wanted. You don't deserve to call yourself Greed!
Greed was aware that Ling saw everything, but neither of them ever once spoke of it. Greed wouldn't mention it, Ling would never ask. The young prince watched quietly as Greed let the memories tear him apart. And he knew.
Greed did not dream. No, dreaming would be too human.
At night, Greed remembered.