Ch. 2 - That's Life
"…Brother!!" The former alchemist heard his brother call, rolling his eyes slightly and sighing as he turned to face his younger sibling. A year or so ago, they had actually managed to get Alphonse back into his human body, and he'd been bothering Edward a lot ever since then, getting excited over every single little thing that he found he could do now as a human and not as the once bulky suit of armor. The older brother smiled anyway as Al made his way towards him. Ed was about twenty years old, his sibling, Al, was pretty close to being nineteen. Who would have guessed that Alphonse was tall and lean at his age? Things looked pretty helpless for Edward when he was around that age, but the younger was taller than him when he was brought back to his own body. Of course, you can't count the eldest Elric out of the race in height. In fact, Ed had shot up over the years, and both brothers were now just about the same size, give or take an inch or so of difference. "Ed, Winry and Auntie Pinako want to see you; they need to adjust your automail!"
Yes, that's right. Ed had to choose between giving Al his body back or regaining his real arm and leg. The Rockbell's, though, were able to create a skin-like substance, which was tough, but allowed the shiny and unnatural automail to look as well as feel like any other natural limb. The boy climbed to his feet and made his way towards Al, following his brother back to the house. He and Al had moved in with them after tragic incident involving the young adult and the homunculi. At first, Edward had felt quite crowded in the house and, due to his inability to speak, Winry was always fussing over the boy to try to insure that he was comfortable. After getting quite fed up with it, he used all his vocal strength to give a shout of frustration, which only made him succeed in leaving his throat in pain and noticing a coppery taste in his mouth which he identified as his own blood. Upon realizing that the golden-haired teen was uncomfortable and didn't want to be the center of attention, Winry and Alphonse both backed off, thanks to Pinako's advice.
"Hey Edward. Feeling up to par for a new arm and leg?" Winry asked politely; she was still acting almost the same as she did when he first came back here. She yelled at him less and wasn't as harsh on him. The reasons being either she felt Ed was growing up and could take care of himself, or she pitied him. Ed
himself leaned towards the second choice when it came down to that debate. He just simply nodded and sighed slightly as he made his way to their workroom, sitting himself down as the two tinkered around for a minute. They started removing the skin-like covering and disconnecting his arm and leg as Ed was forced to bite his lower lip and wince. "Oh, sorry about that Ed…do you mind sitting still for a while and letting auntie and I update the automail? It shouldn't take more than an hour or so." She suggested to him as the boy shrugged his shoulders, indicating that he didn't really mind as they measured his original limbs to see how much of an adjustment they needed to make. "Oh, and Ed…Al told me not to mention anything to you as of yet, but--…" The honey-eyed teen looked up to the blonde girl, raising a questioning eyebrow as the girl bit her lower lip…a nervous habit of hers. "--you see, Alphonse mentioned something about having talked to your old military back at Central…and Edward, I think he's planning on dragging you back out to see them all…" The poor boy's eyes widened, leaving him slack-jawed and in awe. His brother would go and do that…fully knowing that he didn't want to see any of them anymore? The Elric's eyes flashed angrily, causing both women to cover their ears as all they got from the elder sibling as a distorted and enraged screech, sounding somewhat pained at the end as he was immediately slapped in the face by his close, childhood friend and sisterly figure. "…Edward Elric! Don't you dare do that again; keep that up and you'll never speak!" She lectured, causing Ed to subconsciously rub at his throat and roll his eyes a bit as he fixed his gaze to the floor.
'…Winry, I haven't actually been capable of holding a conversation in about three years now. What makes you believe that I still have a chance of regaining my voice back? I know it…and all of you know it too. Sure, I miss talking…I miss it a lot, but it was a small price to pay--to be able to see Alphonse happy like he is.'