Reunion
Timeline: Chapter One: Rebirth
Rating: T
Note: This small piece contains the main character's name. As far as her character arc goes, it's a spoiler. If that doesn't matter to you, then continue reading!
He turned around, and the clothes were the first thing to catch his focus. That outfit; a small black sweater open to reveal a white shirt, a matching dark skirt.
For a moment, for the briefest of seconds, Ed thought it was her. All the terror in the world came to crash into him, but then he saw the dark hair. The equally dark eyes, and the small pink lips.
It wasn't Winry.
He relaxed, deciding to play the shock off as embarrassment. Whoever this was would leave soon enough, and the diagnosis of insanity they had branded him with would be gone as well. He said something, made some excuse about today being a long day, which wasn't exactly a lie. Every day felt like a week, lately... Those weeks stretching into months, years... An endless rain pouring over both of them.
She held up a map, telling them her destination, and Ed realized how soaked she was from the rain. He took a step back, inviting her in as his eyes flicked to the top of the umbrella. Definitely big enough for the three of them.
Her reply was polite; a small thank you as Ed looked over her appearance again. Something... About her was familiar, and he focused a bit more on her face as she introduced herself.
Mirah.
The name triggered memories long forgotten. Buried deep within a mound of struggle and pain; deep within the ashes of their childhood home.
He couldn't believe it was actually her.
She laughed when he asked about it, the sound covered by her hand against her mouth. Ed immediately felt a soft tick of annoyance at this trait, but the way her eyes curved and the way she replied bloomed something else inside him. A warmth.
He let himself relax further, listening to Alphonse's question and replying with a casual explanation. Ed watched her smile again, feeling his own expand a little bit more.
She'd definitely changed since childhood. That chipperness was still there, but from the corner of his eye, Ed found his focus tracing the curves of her body. The outfit fit her well, accentuating the shallow dips of her waist and light curve of her hips. The length of her legs, even if half of them were covered by that skirt...
He focused completely on what she had been saying. Trying to figure out exactly how long she had lived in Resembool. And she had the timeline right; it had been just about a year before she moved away. He remembered the disappointment, and he remembered how strange it was that he couldn't gather the courage to at least say goodbye. A memory came back; staring down at the ground, scowling at the dirt while his mother said the farewells for them. He remembered feeling Mirah's stare on him, those dark eyes just focusing. Maybe wanting to say goodbye to him, too.
Al was saying something now, and with a flash of alarm—a jolt that could only come from wanting to protect family—Ed realized his brother's memory was skipping again.
Mirah comforted him before Ed could, but her words just made everything harder to deal with. Not only were they still like this... But she had no clue what they had become.
How much they'd changed.
"It was such a long time ago, and we all look so different now!"
"Different" was an understatement...
A/N: And our main character's name is revealed! Mirah is pronounced a little bit like "mirror" (Mearrah) and basically represents her inability to look at who she is in every single way possible. Yep, I know that goes against the usual European-based naming style of FMA but I just couldn't help myself when I thought of it! I'm a sucker for analogies haha.
So, ahem, honesty time! This entire rewrite was triggered a few months ago, when I suddenly realized that Mirah's outfit was almost exactly like Winry's when she confronts Scar in Brotherhood. I didn't realize this until I was well into writing the fic, and I've decided to keep her clothes the same with a few more professional alterations (button-up shirt instead of a plain white one, knee-length skirt, etc). And their similarities also deeply tie in with Ed's character arc, so that's super, too c:
