.
They Don't Remember
January 25, 2013
"Brother!" Al whispered as they walked away from the lodgings they shared. There was no sense in moving out of them just because Alfons was gone. Not when Alphonse was here to take his place and they could go on with life as it had been before.
"Brother," he repeated, catching up to the boy who had gone on ahead.
Ed slowed his gait and turned halfway around to hear what it was that Al had to say.
"Brother, that looked just like Gracia Hughes. Elysia's mom. I used to go visit her all the time back in central when I was looking for you."
"Yeah," Ed thoughtfully chewed his lip, wondering how best to explain the phenomenon of look-alikes shared between the worlds.
"There are a bunch of people in town that you may recognize. I've met up with Hughes and Gracia and Havoc and Dolcetto and Fuhrer Bradley and Dante. They look exactly like them," he said, his voice soft. "But they aren't the same people at all. Sometimes, they don't even act like the version of them that we know from back home. But sometimes it's like they could have stepped right out of Central." He paused. "Except for the fact that they don't remember anything that they should, nothing of the things we've done together."
He took a deep breath, letting the lecture sink in. He looked at his brother's solemn face with a sideways glance, understanding how he must feel to the knowledge that the familiar faces around them were strangers.
"It's rough," he confirmed.
They walked along in silence for a moment, Al not responding. Well, it was a lot to take in when being landed in a different world, Ed supposed.
Alphonse clenched his jaw and swallowed hard before he brokenly whispered, "Yeah, I imagine it must be."
Because Al was that person in Amestris until he got his memories back. *sob*