Author's Note: I did what I told myself I wasn't gonna do and came back to this oneshot. I think I needed closure. Oh, well! There will be one more part after this and then I'll be done. ANGST IS MY THING, I'M SORRY!
Warnings: This part is darker than the first one since Ed knows things that Alex didn't, and there will be talk of suicide and things of the like. Ed's side of things is obviously going to be different than Alex's, because they're both different people and have different opinions on how things are in their lives. Ed's pretty shattered after what happened in their childhood, and her opinion of herself is devastatingly low.
On another note, the song that will be sung later in this chapter? You all know it - I mean I hope you would - and I'm flippin' sorry for putting it in there, but I really couldn't help myself. The lyrics seemed to fit anyway when I looked them up, and that song always made me cry when it played during sad moments - like when Winry almost shot Scar, holy shit - and... well, that probably gave away what the song is, didn't it. NO MATTER!
Have fun, because I sure didn't while I was writing this.
"Hello, ma'am. Is… Is Mr. Hoenheim around?"
"… Edith, sweetheart, go upstairs."
"Mom?"
Every time she closes her eyes, Ed can see that man with the tired eyes and crooked glasses, and her mother's stiff back, one hand still on the door in case she needed to close it in a hurry. Ed remembers that her mom didn't close the door quick enough.
Edith ascended the spiral staircase quickly, but paused to watch as her mom made a dash for the living room, the strange man following close behind her. This situation was too familiar in too many ways, different in one devastating one, and a strong part of Edith's being was pulling her down while another was pushing her up, one toward her mother and one toward her sister.
They were both screaming.
Ed tried to hide how badly her memories affected her from Alex. There were many times when she'd wake up crying in the middle of the night, caught up in a realm of childlike confusion and horror, but she could never tell Alex about it. Her baby sister was lucky. She'd been three then, too young to really remember what had happened. All she did was depend on others, and Ed had been forced into a situation where she suddenly had to dry her sister's tears, feed her, and change her pull-ups, if Ed managed to find any real ones.
She'd only been eight, and it was a battle already lost.
She continued on to her sister's room, shaken terribly by the sounds of shouting and objects breaking down below her. Her parents often fought in such a way, and Edith wanted so badly to protect her mother in a way she couldn't do whenever it was Hoenheim caught up in a rage, but something kept her from going back downstairs.
Her mother had always drilled it into her head, that no matter what, Edith was to protect her sister. It didn't matter who it was: Hoenheim, a bully, or even a random stranger; Edith was to defend Alexandra, because she couldn't do it herself.
It pained her greatly, but Edith entered her sister's room without a sound, practiced in the art of tip-toeing around when things in the house grew chaotic.
Ed gave it everything she had, but she could never truly give Alex what she needed or force the memories out of her own mind. They were born heiresses and grew up as street rats, and Ed never forgot about that. Alex was none the wiser, and it deeply disturbed Ed when her sister found ways to smile and laugh when she herself felt hollow inside.
Alex was her only family, and she'd loved her to such a degree that it was damn near frightening. Literally. Up until Alex started truly talking, Ed was alone with her own inner voice, and it wasn't until Alex stopped calling for their mom when she was upset, whimpering, "Sister," instead, that Ed remembered how it felt to love someone enough to risk everything for their sake.
Alexandra's crying had died down to exhausted whimpers by the time Edith arrived, and Edith approached her baby sister's bed even as she heard footsteps thundering up the stairs. Alex's nursery used to be Edith's, and the young girl noted how different shades of blue were now varying colors of pink. It was a room fit for a princess, unicorn plushies and frilly dresses and all, and Edith scrunched up her nose, walking over to her sister's bed in time with the footsteps on the stairs, being careful not to let on how agitated she really was.
Even at the age of eight, Ed had known that something was terribly wrong. Considering how often her parents fought, it's a miracle that Ed hadn't thought the situation normal; but even though Ed was nervous about the situation, she couldn't have imagined the outcome, or even thought to call the police. As the daughter of Van Hoenheim, she'd lived a fairly sheltered life, and Ed had never once considered the possibility that the strange visitor would end up murdering her mom.
But then again, she never thought she would be around to watch the life leave her mother's eyes either.
Her mom's screams followed her everywhere, night and day, and Ed could've been skipping down the sidewalk with a four-year-old Alex in tow and still, she heard the echoes in the back of her head. She thinks she hid it well – Alex never once worried until they were older, right before Ed was forced to leave her – but sometimes she wished she didn't have to hide it.
There were a few times when she almost broke and told Alex about what happened. She had the right to know, but Ed couldn't bring herself to bring such darkness into her sister's life. Ed was always the strongest, the one who would lead an expedition to rob a convenient store or steal from an old woman's purse, but the memory of that day had damaged her way beyond repair, whether Alex knew it or not. There was no way in Hell she'd let that happen to Alex, so she always swallowed down the words whenever the urge hit her and suggested that they go looking for food money.
It broke her heart when Alex was always quick to agree.
"Hey."
Alexandra blinked owlishly as Edith sat down on the bed beside her, tiny fingers curling into the fabric of her pillow. Alex had only recently made the transition from a crib to a normal bed, and she often woke up at night in a panic, unsure of where she was. "You look sleepy." Edith whispered, and Alex let out a squeak of a yawn, as if to agree. "When Mom's done talking, she'll come sing to you."
There was a loud thump from the other side of the door. "Where is she?" A voice bellowed, and something strange raced up Edith's spine, a violent shiver that usually only happened during the winter, when she and Wes played outside in the snow for too long.
"Edith." Alex said, speaking for the first time. She'd lifted her head and was watching the door, golden eyes glazed over with exhaustion. Another thump sounded, the door trembling from the impact, and Edith couldn't help but flinch, scooting closer to her sister, who looked up at her, squinting in confusion. "Sister?"
"Everything's okay." Edith said instantly, but froze as the brass doorknob started to turn, slowly, the door inching open with a drawn out squeaking noise. As light started to fill the room, Edith started to tremble. "Everything is just fine."
Ed doesn't think she'd be a good mother. She managed to keep Alex from dying, sure, but she corrupted her somewhere along the way, made it so her sister didn't have a strong grasp of what was right and what was wrong. Alex had been pretty soft for a street kid, and Ed had encouraged as well as stifled that side of her, because the weak didn't survive in their world.
A man stood in the doorway, looming and panting and peering into the darkened room over wire frames. There were red stains on his clothing, a paperweight clenched in his right hand, and Edith noticed a pool of blood forming in the hall behind him. "Nina." The man said. He was watching Edith, a small, shaky smile forming slowly on his face. "Oh, Nina."
"Mama." Alexandra said, voice pinched as if she was about to cry. She couldn't possibly understand what was happening, but she'd never liked strangers. This new presence in her home was frightening, and Alex reacted in the only way she'd known how, calling for help, and disturbing the intruder. "Mama!"
The calm look faded from the man's eyes as he shifted his gaze to Alexandra, and Edith stood up, stepping sideways to block her sister from his view. "Lechery." The paperweight fell from the man's hand, and he reached into his pocket as he took a step forward. Edith watched him warily, and she almost didn't notice the glint of whatever it was he'd grabbed. "What did your mother expose you to, Nina?"
"Who – " Edith squeaked out, but the intruder was shoving her aside, onto the floor and away from her sister, who pulled her butterfly sheets over her head with a terrified wail as the man loomed over her bed, raising his arm high. The object in his hand finally took shape, and Edith flailed from her place on the floor, gasping in fear. "No, don't!"
Of all the things that have happened in her life, both before and after that day, that moment was by far the most terrifying. Ed recalls being eight years old, how confused she'd been and how utterly unprepared she was to deal with it. She hadn't known what to do when that man broke into her house, only did what she would have normally done in a similar situation, but when she saw the knife, the one intended for her baby sister, Ed acted on raw instinct.
Even then, she would've rather died than see Alex get hurt.
"Stop it!" Edith shouted, picking herself up off the floor and flinging herself at the man standing over her sister. He staggered, unprepared for the sudden attack, and Edith ground her teeth and tried to steel her expression, refusing to show fear. "Don't touch her, you bastard!"
She punched and kicked and clawed until the man finally took a swipe at her, and Edith fell back with a sharp cry. She landed heavily on her bottom, pulling her knees to her chest and hunching over, clutching her stinging hand to her chest, fighting back tears of pain. "Nina!" Edith felt the man's presence beside her. She ignored him as best she could, her only thought to distract him so that he left Alex alone. She bit her lip and slowly uncurled her hand, a wave a nausea coursing through her as she looked at the gash, blood dripping down her palm and between her quivering fingers. "Daddy's sorry, Nina. I didn't want to hurt you."
"Please, don't hurt my sister." Edith said, forcing herself to look up into the man's eyes. From his words, Edith understood that this man thought she was his daughter Nina, but Edith was too afraid to tell him otherwise. There was something off about him, something broken, and for the first time in her life, Edith was genuinely terrified. "Please, D – Daddy? I love her. Don't hurt her."
The man looked at her sadly and reached out to stroke her hair, and Edith tried her hardest not to flinch, though she inevitably failed. "What's her name?" He said eventually.
"A – Alexandra." The lump under the sheets shifted, and Edith prayed her sister would stay still and quiet. "She's only three years old."
The man frowned. "Three? But – "
There was silence. The man looked at her for a long moment before Edith saw something shift in his eyes. "Yes." He said, and his voice was cold. He stood suddenly, grabbing Edith's arm and yanking her up as well, ignoring her cry of pain. "You're Van Hoenheim's daughter."
Edith swallowed thickly but said nothing.
The wound Shou Tucker inflicted upon her eventually turned into a nasty-looking scar that stretched over the length of the palm on her right hand. She told Alex she got it in a fight, and her younger sister always used to trace it with her fingertips, grinning cheekily and calling the stupid thing a badge of honor; and all Ed could do was smile, pull Alex close, and press a firm kiss to the top of her head.
She thought differently than her sister, saw the scar as some sort of sacrifice or payment, because she got her sister's life in exchange.
"Get her." The man said, turning to leave the room. "We're leaving."
Edith's chest shuddered with barely suppressed sobs as she nodded, wiping the blood forming in her hand on her jeans absentmindedly. She hurried to Alex's bedside and threw the covers back, staring down at her sister, who stared up at her in return, her eyes wide and shining with tears of confusion. "Sister?" She whispered as Edith leaned down, not wanting to get blood on Alex but unable to do anything about it as she hauled her sister up and into her arms.
"We're going for a car ride, Al." Edith said, aware that the man was watching her from the hall. "You like car rides."
Alex's face brightened, and she nodded enthusiastically, wrapping her arms and legs around her older sister's torso. "Okay."
Edith couldn't get out of the room without stepping in the puddle of blood, and she moved carefully, more tears spilling down her face when she heard the squelch and felt her foot slide forward slightly. She was glad she was wearing shoes for about a second before she noticed where the blood was coming from and all thought was wiped from her head.
"Edith?" Alexandra asked when Edith placed her injured hand on the back of her sister's head and guided her face to her shoulder.
"What's the song that Mommy sings to you, Alex?" She said, voice cracking as she watched the man toe at her mother's limp body, probably checking to see if she was alive. "Do you remember the words? Can you sing it for me?"
Alexandra was quiet for a moment, and Edith jumped when she saw her mother's body convulse violently. She was holding a phone, slowly pressing buttons, and the man was watching her silently, almost curiously. "Let it all out." Alex started whispering out the words only moments before their mom's fingers stopped moving, and Edith clutched at her sister's body, coughing out a sob. "You don't always… have to act brave."
Ed thinks it would have made an Oscar-winning scene, a three-year-old singing some sappy song while her older sister and their mother's murderer slowly left the scene. Light yet devastating, somehow innocent, the blood spattered walls soaking in a child's voice, restoring some of what was lost. For all she denies it, Ed really is a poetic idiot, and she really wishes her entire life thus far was just some shitty-ass movie, because everything cleans up nicely on the silver screen.
She wants that happy ending, for her sister and for herself.
"The g – gaffiti flower sways." Her mother's killer turned her around and pushed her toward the stairs, and Edith struggled to stay upright as she slid across the floor, tracking her mother's blood behind her as she went. "No one knows who they are… losing things and – and – "
"Finding things in the middle of this long, long road." Edith supplied the words, clutching at the banister as she slowly descended the stairs, staring at the pictures on the walls and somehow knowing that she would never see them again. "There are days when we feel alone and feel like crying, but – "
"Change the pain into stars." Alex sang with renewed vigor, more sure of herself, because this was her favorite part of the song, even if she didn't know most of the words. "Turn on the light… shine tomorrow."
They were at the door, and Edith reached out to open it but was suddenly yanked backwards by the back of her shirt. "Don't scream or do anything that will alert anybody." The man whispered fiercely, and Edith felt the press of something sharp at the small of her back. Alex was still singing, swinging her legs happily, occasionally kicking Edith as she did.
"I lose my way." Alex continued as Edith nodded, and the man pocketed the knife before opening the door, stepping outside before Edith. "But we'll be together and look for bright stardust." Edith purposefully left the door slightly ajar. Her father wouldn't be home for a few days, so it was up to someone else to save them. "Let it all out."
Ed sang that song to Alex for a year or so after that, but stopped when her sister was about four, afraid it would trigger something and Alex might remember something awful. Though she eventually forgot the lyrics altogether, Alex would still hum the tune to herself absently as she grew older. Ed had asked her where she'd heard it once, curious as to what she would say, and Alex pondered it for a moment before shrugging, smiling sheepishly. "I don't really know. Sometimes… I have these dreams where someone is singing to me. I can't make out the words, but I know the tune. Kinda weird, huh?"
Ed had rolled her eyes while Alex pouted indignantly. "Why is my sister such a lunatic?"
She and Alex left with Shou Tucker that day and were with him for a little over two weeks before Ed found an opportunity to slip away with Alex while he was asleep. It didn't work out as Ed had planned. Tucker had taken them far away from where they grew up, and at eight years old, Edith had no idea how to get home or where to go for help.
She was standing at a payphone one day with Alex standing close beside her, shakily depositing coins she'd managed to find. It had been a while since they'd eaten, and Edith was starting to feel woozy. She dialed one of the two numbers she'd memorized and waited anxiously, shifting her weight from foot to foot as time wore on. Ed started to feel angry, because of course he wouldn't answer when she needed him to, but then the ringing stopped. "This is Van Hoenheim speaking."
At the sound of his voice, Ed tensed in fear. She'd managed to forget about it what with everything else that had been going on, but her home life hadn't been all that great, had it? An image of her mother's body flashed in her mind; she saw bruises that hadn't been inflicted by Tucker, bruises that Ed herself had seen on her own body from time to time. Yes, she was just as afraid of Van Hoenheim as she was of Shou Tucker, and she couldn't decide between the two evils.
Her mom had told her to protect her sister. If they went back home… would he hurt Alex? She glanced down at her sister, took in the exhausted look in her eyes and the paleness of her skin, and knew that she couldn't do that to her. Alex had suffered so much in the past few weeks, was frightened and longing for a person they would never see again, and Ed couldn't bear to see her be hurt any longer. People likely assumed they were dead, and Edith knew she couldn't tell anyone otherwise, because they would take them back to Hoenheim.
Ed hung up on her father without saying a word, glaring angrily at the phone as if it were the man himself. He and her mother had gotten into a fight, and he'd left in a furious huff. If he'd stayed, none of this would've happened; her mom would still be alive and Alex wouldn't be so exhausted and shell-shocked that she didn't even speak anymore. She hated him, was afraid of him, and she had been for as long as she could remember.
"Things will work out." She said brightly, and Alexandra blinked up at her. "I can take care of us just fine."
She was never able to actually take good care of Alex until she started prostituting and made nearly five hundred dollars on most nights. The results were well worth it, but it had been a terrifying experience in the beginning. It scared Ed that there were people in the world that would take advantage of a child like that, give a thirteen-year-old nearly a thousand dollars just to have their way with her.
Over the years, she became desensitized to it, and by the time she was sixteen, Ed had no problem snapping at a customer if he was being too rough with her because she didn't really give a shit what happened to her anymore. It's all for Alex, she would think every time, face blank and eyes tired as some disgusting forty-year-old man lost himself within her. It's always been for her.
Her sister was Ed's only joy in life. She'd come back from work at the end of the day and find comfort in Alex's presence, because while she'd always had to pretend in front her sister, she was also the only person Ed could relax around. Alex was also the only person who genuinely cared for Ed, was happier when she was around, and Ed was drawn to it like a moth to flame.
While Hoenheim had always been cold, their mother had poured every ounce of her love into her daughters, and Ed could never forget about it. She was starved for the affection that had been taken from her at such a young age, and she exhausted herself trying to make sure Alex felt even a semblance of that complete adoration that their mom had showered them with.
Ed ponders all these things as she stands with her hands in her pockets in front of the house where she used to live. The lights are off, and she stares at the window that she knows used to be her own. She wonders if Hoenheim kept things the same, or if he refurnished everything after they disappeared, if he tried to wipe away the memory. She wouldn't be surprised if he did. He'd never cared much anyway.
All these memories are flooding back as she gazes at the once familiar setting, and Ed would wish for Alex to be here if she weren't trying to forget that she even had a sister. The young woman sighs, reaching up to scratch at the back of her neck and shifts her gaze to the house next to her childhood home. The lights are actually on, and Ed only hesitates for a moment before she starts walking toward it, aware that she looks like a worthless punk but too high-strung to give a fuck, and she knocks on the door three times – more like pounds on it, but whatever – and settles in to wait.
It suddenly occurs to her that maybe his parents will answer the door, but it's too late to run away now, because the door is opening and Wes is standing there, long hair tied back and sleeves rolled up, looking every bit the respectable citizen she imagined he would be after all this time.
"I told you I'd visit." She says when he continues to stare at her just as he did that day when he ran into her and Alex in a town far away from here, a town that he was visiting by some odd twist of fate. "So, here I am."
"Edith." He says, and she lifts an eyebrow, smirking despite herself. "I – Wow, I didn't think you'd actually show up."
"Hey, I always keep my word. How 'bout you?"
He laughs, and Ed aches at the sound, hasn't heard laughter in so long. "I didn't tell anyone you were alive, if that's what you're asking. I still don't understand why. We had a funeral service and everything, Ed!"
"Things were complicated." Ed sighs, and she reaches up to tug at the collar of her jacket, desperate to conceal the hickey that she knows is still present on her neck. Wes watches her carefully, and since she can't read his expression, she doesn't know if he's seen it or not.
"You wanna come in?" He asks eventually. "My parents aren't home and my grandma's asleep."
"No. I can't stay long. I just – " She pauses, glancing to the left, toward the house she grew up in.
"He doesn't live there anymore." Wes says quietly, stepping out onto the porch and closing the door behind him. She knows he wants to hug her but isn't sure where they stand, and frankly, she's glad he's keeping his distance. "He moved a little while after… the incident, when Shou Tucker was tried and sentenced to death."
"Figures." Ed says. She's not sure how she feels about this new development. "You know where he went?"
"Nope. I could ask my dad if – "
Ed shakes her head. "Nah, it's fine. I just want to do my best to avoid him if possible."
Wes makes a small noise of agreement. "Where's Alexandra?"
Ed was hoping he wouldn't ask, though some part of her knew he would. Until tonight, she'd been doing a good job of pretending that Alex didn't exist, though she's come to realize that a world where there is no Alex isn't one worth living in. She sent her sister away for her own good, but Ed is losing a long-fought battle without her, and her inability to fight the memories has brought her here to her childhood best friend's doorstep. She's not even sure Wes can help her. "I sent her to live with our uncle."
Wes blinks. "You mean Roy? You found him?"
"I know he and his wife moved after my mom was killed, so I looked up his address and sent him a message to go get Alex and take her back home with him."
"What did she have to say about that?"
"I didn't tell her." Ed admits, and her guilt over the situation mounts when Wes stares at her incredulously. "She wouldn't have agreed to go without me if I'd been around."
"Edith." Wes sighs, and she scowls in irritation. She's fucking eighteen years old and doesn't need to be lectured, least of all by Wes Rockbell. "Are you living with them, too?"
"No."
"… Why not?"
"Because I'm a horrible person." Ed says tonelessly. "I'm a bad influence and Alex doesn't need me around anymore. Roy and Riza can give her what I never could." She refuses to look at Wes, tightening her grip on the object in her pocket briefly before pulling it out and thrusting it toward the man. "Here. Take it."
She can almost feel his confusion as he takes the box cutter from her, turning it over in his hand as he tries to gauge its significance. He can't possibly know the confusion that thing has been causing over the past couple of hours. "What is – " He cuts himself off, comprehension dawning as he looks at her, sees the expression on her face. "Oh, my god, Edith."
"I wasn't gonna do it." She snaps, though he isn't fooled. He can probably see how red and puffy her eyes are. "I'm too much of a fucking coward, I always have been."
"Edith, what happened?" Wes asks desperately. He clutches at the box-cutter so that his fingers turn white, and he's starting to shake. "What happened to you guys that day?"
"Tucker tried to kill Alex." She says, and Wes is wide-eyed, because his questions are finally being answered. "He would have if I hadn't gotten in the way, and after that I had to watch my mom die. I saw it all the time growing up, I still see it now, and I gave up my sister because I can't fucking control it anymore."
"Can't control what?"
"The urge to give up. I never pulled anything because I knew Alex needed me, but now – "
"You don't get to say that Alex not being around is a good enough excuse to kill yourself, Ed!" Wes snaps, and he throws the box-cutter over her head, and there's a few moments of silence before Ed hears it clatter somewhere in the street. "That's stupid and selfish and you know it!"
"Oh, shut up!" Ed hasn't felt this angry in a long time, not since Alex tried to follow her to work and she slapped her younger sister in a panic-induced rage. She refuses to lose it now and keep her arms at her sides as she glares at Wes, both of them breathing hard. "You have no idea how this feels, so don't even try to preach to me. God, I don't even know why I dragged my ass all the way out here."
She spins around with the intention of stalking away, but Wes snags her wrist, dragging her back up the concrete steps of the porch. "Ed, stop. You obviously came here for a reason. You want help, you do! Please, tell me how to help you."
"You can't help me." She'd intended to tell Wes to let go of her and fuck off, but that slipped out instead. "I'm tired, Wes. Really tired. I wouldn't even be here right now if it weren't for my hatred of Hoenheim and Tucker, because if I end it now after all this time, it means they won, and I don't want that."
"What about Alex?" Wes asks. His grip on her tightens, and he's desperate now, agitated by the desolate tone in Ed's voice. "Huh? Don't you think she'd miss you or blame herself if you just dropped off the face of the earth? Don't you want to live for her?"
Of course she does, but after nearly eleven years of continuing on with only one true purpose in life, she's tired and fed up. She told Alex in her brief letter that she would come back for her someday, but why should she? Alex will be settled into her new life by then, and Ed couldn't bring herself to disrupt her sister's life after everything she did to get her there.
"The Edith I knew was stronger than this." Wes says, and Ed is really sick of crying but can't seem to stop as he draws her in. "She dealt with a lot of shit and came out better in the end, because she always wanted to prove that she was more than what people said. Your dad beat on your mom when he got angry enough and you would always direct his anger onto yourself whenever you had the chance. You bore other people's pain as well as your own, and I'm so sorry you went through everything you did, but I can't let you give up like this. You're better, I know you are." Ed doesn't say anything, and Wes adds, almost hesitantly, "If you won't do it for me, then live for Alexandra, Edith. You're really all she has. Don't take that from her."
She left Alex in that motel almost six months ago, and Ed hasn't contacted her sister since. How can she? If she sees her sister or even hears her voice, Ed will definitely cave and go live with her at their uncle's; but she can't, not until she's better and isn't detrimental to Alex. She'd ultimately decided to leave Alex because the box-cutter had been looking more and more appealing by the day, and Ed had needed some time to work some things out on her own.
Wes looks near tears as Ed slowly turns to face him, and she's struck by how much she's missed him over the years. Wes Rockbell, her best friend, the man who fought bullies at school with her, discovered her mother's body, and kept her and Alex's existence a secret simply because she'd asked him to. "I think eight-year-old Edith was the one who made me come here." She says. "You're still the only person she trusts, Wes."
He hugs her then, clutching at her so desperately it's hard for her to breathe, but she manages to hug him back, somehow. It's odd. This is the first time she's held someone other than Alex in years, and the tears just keep coming, because it's just occurred to her that she can have a normal life again. She doesn't have to keep prostituting to get by, and she doesn't have to lie to Alex about their past, which she probably knows about by now.
Ed wouldn't have been able to end her own life. Even now, she's still fighting to live. She'd been ready to do it this morning, but she'd somehow found herself buying a bus ticket and riding nearly all day to some small town in Oklahoma, just to get to this doorstep, to someone who would talk some sense into her.
And Ed is happy, so much so that she tightens her hold on Wes' neck and jumps up into him, wrapping her legs tightly around his waist. One of his hands slides up into her hair and the other slides down, gripping a safe place on her upper thigh, and they're both laughing, delirious with relief and hope and something else that Ed doesn't even have the energy to think about right now.
There's a long road ahead of her, but she's ready to keep trying, and one of these days, she will go back for Alex, when she's a person who deserves to be called Alexandra Marie Elric's older sister.
