I own nothing. Originally this was just one short story/oneshot, but I've decided to put all oneshots and drabbles relating to Ed and Al's human transmutation here. They are separate stories, but all around the same central theme.

Thirty-five litres of water

"How're we gonna live without her, brother?"

Edward looked back to him, golden eyes harsh and determined. "We're not, Al," he said firmly, "We're going to bring her back."

Twenty-five kilograms of carbon

"Brother, nobody's ever done this before... are you sure-?"

Ed scowled. "Of course I'm sure. We can do this Al... What else have we got to lose?"

Four litres of ammonia

"Okay, Al: Respiratory system."

"...Breathing, right?"

Ed nodded. "Immune system."

"That fights off illnesses, doesn't it?"

"Yes. Digestive system..."

One-point-five kilograms of lime

"Right... and we need to make allowance for energy transfer, so we need an arc here..."

Al leaned over, pencil in hand, pointing towards a symbol in the outer part of their quickly-sketched transmutation circle. "Shouldn't that be an equilateral triangle instead of an isosceles?"

"Of course! That makes sense..."

Eight-hundred grams of phosphorus

"Haemoglobin."

"That's in red blood cells, right? To transport oxygen?"

"Yeah. Okay, uh... Alveoli."

"...In the lungs?"

"Right. Okay, so-"

Two-hundred and fifty grams of salt

"What's missing? Every attempt so far has failed, but why?"

Ed bit his lip, thinking. "I don't know, Al... something's got to be missing..."

One-hundred grams of saltpetre

"Brother, are you sure we should be learning this? It's got to be forbidden fro a reason..."

"Come on, Al... we've got to try... to see Mom again. To see her smile."

Eighty grams of sulphur

"Okay, Al, don't worry. It's all ready."

"Brother, what if it goes wrong?"

"It won't, Al. Everything's perfect."

Seven-point-five grams of fluorine

"Our blood, from her blood... That's a soul, really."

Five grams of iron

"It's working!"

Three grams of silicon

"A rebound...! no, no, no... Al? Al? ALPHONSE! Give him back! He's my only brother, he's all I have left, GIVE HIM BACK!"

And trace amounts of fifteen other elements

"I'm sorry, Al..."

That is the complete chemical makeup of the average adult human being

"Al, Al, I'm so sorry..."

"Ed? Ed- your arm- your leg- Ed, what have you done?!"

Down to the last specks of protein in your eyelashes

"I didn't have much time... I used my arm as material in a transmutation, Al. I bound your soul to that armour..."

But there's still something missing

"Please, help him! He's gonna bleed to death!"

"Al? Is that you?"

Something we can't explain

"You tried to bring back your mother, didn't you?"

There is nothing you can give

"Take it as payment... for automail. I'm going to make this right again."

In exchange for a human soul.

"Al, I promise... I'm going to make this right."