"Woooooaaah! So you don't sleep or eat? You don't even run out of breath!" Ling spoke with curiosity laced in his voice, like a child. They had been resting in their hotel room for the past couple of hours, with Al's beaten up body and Emmi's cuts and bruises.
"Uh huh! I just have to make sure the seal doesn't get harmed." Alphonse confirmed, with Ling practically bouncing with excitement.
"That's so cool! You really are immortal, huh?" Emmi could practically hear Al frowning upon Ling's response.
"No I'm not. This body… It's like a time bomb." Winry gasped quietly, as Al kept going. "Barry mentioned something, and it got me thinking. That any type of body is incompatible with foreign soul. Pairing them together, the body will eventually reject the soul. It could happen tomorrow. Or ten years from now. But it's inevitable that it will.
"Oh no…" Winry said with her voice shaky from panic. "Al, we gotta get you back in your regular body!"
"Well, hold on." Ling then spoke, cutting Winry off. "If it's about to give out on you, couldn't you transfer your soul into another object? Cuz if that's the case, you're impervious to pain and you don't have to eat! It sounds like a great deal to me!" Emmi herself frowned upon Ling's response. His ignorance to Al's situation caused a reaction in Winry to spark, as she stood with an angry look on her face.
"No it isn't! You don't know what you're talking about!" The room went quiet as everyone stared at Winry's outburst, before Emmi put her hand on Winry's wrist in a calming way. Winry gasped slightly, before looking towards the ground and muttering a quick 'sorry' before leaving the room.
Winry had resided herself in her hotel room, face down in the bed with the calm moonlight creeping into the room. Alphonse and Emmi decided to talk to her, to see how she's doing. Alphonse was the one to knock.
"Winry? We're coming in!" The two walked over to the bed, with Emmi's arms crossed in front of her and Al's hands on his metallic hips.
"You know, you and brother are always the first to explode. I never get the chance to get mad." Alphonse spoke with a playful voice, as Winry took a moment before turning her head towards the two.
"It's just...well…" Her mind seemed to drift elsewhere, making her sad as tears welled in her eyes before she sat up, grabbing a pillow and squeezing it tightly. "Just promise me you'll get your body back! Emmi, you gotta help him! ...Okay?"
Alphonse was quiet, as Emmi smiled, before embracing Winry in a reassuring hug. "I promise, Winry. Don't worry." Winry looked towards Emmi with teary eyes, and seeing Emmi's smile made her feel a little better, so she returned it with a small one.
"...WHAT THE HEEEELLLLLL?!" Edward's voice shrieked throughout the entire hotel. A day had passed, and as it fell towards night time again, the four of them had been greeted once again by Ed's presence, who had not bieen expecting what he'd walked in on. "Wha…?! How…?! How are you this beat up?!" Ed's hardcore reaction made Emmi bust into a fit of giggles which caused him to turn his outburst out on her.
"W..WHY THE HELL ARE YOU LAUGHING?!" Emmi grinned widely as her giggles didn't stop, before Ed then looked at Ling and Lan Fan, who were currently shoveling their faces with room service food.
"AND YOU…! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE?!"
"...eating a delicious dinner…?" Ling managed to say with food piled in his mouth. The answer resulted in the two of them being literally thrown out of the room, as Edward angrily slammed the door.
"Seriously?! How did this happen to you?!" Edward's brotherly worry echoed throughout the room, as Alphonse sighed, before beginning to explain the situation.
…
"A homunculus, and Barry the Chopper. And just to throw a cherry on top you find out your body might reject your soul…!" Edward restated, before he clapped his hands together to fix Al's armor.
"I'm gonna have to extend what little you have left to your armor." Edward spoke as he begun fixing Al up, and when he was done took a finished look of Al's body. Alphonse begun flexing his metal arms, and moving them around to make sure they were in good condition.
"Ed…? You'll be able to get his body back right?" Winry's unconfident voice perked up towards Ed.
"Yeah of course he will! I told you I was gonna get it back." Edward's face was contorted in determination as Winry sighed, like that one comment was what she needed for reassurance.
Edward sighed tiredly, as he took a seat on the small sofa before speaking up again.
"Al… I gotta tell you something. I dug up the body we buried in Resembol." Alphonse gasped, as Winry's eyes went wide, and Emmi stood with a curious look on her face.
It took Al a couple of moments to completely react, before he stood quickly. "What?! Why would you do that?!"
"Because Al. I found out that the thing we buried wasn't really our mother." Alphonse stared at his brother before his legs seemed to go weak and he fell back into a seat.
"But…! Hold on a minute..! Then that means…!"
"I don't know what… But the thing we made was completely different."
"But if it wasn't, then what happened to me?!"
"That's just it. This has actually convinced me that we can return you to normal."
"Really?" Emmi chimed in.
"Ed are you sure?" Winry also spoke as Edward gave them a sturdy nod before speaking again.
"Yeah, but before I start explaining it…" Ed's face contorted into embarrassment rather quickly, as his cheek began to blossom. "Well, uh, Winry? Do you remember when Al and I got into a fight about...eh… would marry you?" Emmi was immediately intrigued.
"Marry? This just got interesting." Emmi spoke mischievously, as Ed glared at her.
"Quiet, you!"
"The fight we were talking about on the roof?" Alphonse confirmed, as Edward quickly agreed.
"Al told me you turned him down." Winry nodded with a innocent face.
"Mmhm. Turned you both down."
"Oof… Ouch!" Emmi teased as Ed shot her another glare.
"Whatever. So the questions for both of you then. What was your reasoning?"
Alphonse and Winry both turned towards each other as Alphonse begun to answer.
"She said...I just don't like men who are shorter than me." Edward fell into a ghastly yell, as Emmi burst into laughter.
"You can't judge a man for something he can't help!"
"Short men…! That's too good, Winry!" Emmi felt tears in her eyes from how hard she was laughing.
"Why you!" He shouted before grabbing Emmi in a choke hold, with his right arm gripped firmly against her neck.
"H-hey… L-let go!"
"I don't see how this has anything to do with getting Al's body back." Winry continued, as Edward loosened his grip on Emmi but still held her in the same position before speaking again.
"I had to be sure. Al had a memory of something that I don't recall. And you seem to remember the same way, Winry. Which means that it happened without a doubt. So now that we know you remembered something real, we also know for a fact that that really is Al bonded in there. I pulled you out Al. I did it. I know it's only a soul, but that's just it. If I was able to pull that much of you out, then I got a hunch that your body is still in there, and I can pull it out."
"You think my body is still in the portal? Existing separately from my soul? ...like Barry's body!" Alphonse came to a sudden realization as he shouted that last part. Edward let go of Emmi as he walked up to Alphonse and gave his armor a quick tap with his metal fist.
"Right! What did you see? Try to think back! Can you remember what happened when the Truth unraveled you?"
'Truth…?'Why does that sound familiar?' Emmi's thought chimed in upon hearing the name, as Alphonse spoke again.
"I reached out. And it was me! It was my hand I grabbed!"
Edward bursted into a confident smirk as he tightened his fist.
"I knew it! Looks like we aren't done with the Truth yet, Al! We're gonna get in there and pull your body out!"
"Brother… After the portal, I remember looking at you from inside that thing. The thing we thought was Mom!"
"Are you… you were inside of it? That thing was you!"
"I guess so! But my soul didn't bind. It must've rejected me right away! So that means, we didn't harm anyone else's soul after all!" Not a minute passed before a soft knock was heard on the door of the hotel room. Emmi walked towards, and opened it to be greeted by one of the hotel workers, claiming that Edward had a telephone call from a woman named Izumi Curtis.
Alphonse followed Edward down to the lounge as Emmi waited a moment before following as well. She walked down the hallway and down a flight of stairs before she heard the voices of the Elric brothers.
"...ought it was me who killed Mom." She heard Alphonse's voice. "I thought I was the one who killed Mom a second time."
"So did I, Al." Edward's voice was next, as Emmi stood by the wall and listened carefully, deciding right now wasn't the moment to step into the conversation. Emmi heard Al's metallic body clank as he must've moved a part of his body, before his shaky voice made Emmi's heart drop.
"Thank you, brother. Thank you. I wasn't the one who killed Mom after all…!"
"But still, none of this changes anything. I'm the one that put you in that body. I don't care what it takes, I'm gonna make you normal again-"
"Brother!" Edward was cut off by Al's quick retaliation. "I was right there with you and I knew that there were risks. So quit trying to shoulder all of this on your own! I can't watch you suffer like this. Not on your own. I can't just stand back and watch other people get hurt over what I've done! Like what happened to Mr. Hughes! I felt like it was my fault when I found out he was dead. And I told myself that if it meant other people getting hurt then I don't even want my body back." There was a short pause between the two, before Alphonse captured his composure and spoke again. "Brother. I've met other people who weren't exactly human. But they still managed to live their lives with purpose. And even in this body, it hasn't stopped anybody from treating me like I'm still human. This body can reject me anytime, but it's the same with being human. You never know when you're gonna get sick or die in a accident. So I can still get by like this. I can live a somewhat normal life. And that's how I've managed to keep going. But now… I can't take it anymore! Because… I can't… I can't take all the nights by myself!" Emmi smiles softly hearing Alphonse's words, as he spoke once more.
"It's too lonely! And that's why I have to get back to normal." Emmi could hear Ed's smiling.
"Sure. You're going to!" Emmi couldn't help it, and as her face turned into a big grin she quickly turned the corner and practically jumped down the stairs to reach Ed and Al.
"Hell yeah you are! I'll be there to make sure it happens!" Emmi cheered, as she hooked her arm around Ed's neck with the biggest grin possible.
"Emmi?! When'd you get here?!" Edward's voice collided with her own, but in a more inviting way than usual.
"I was listening the whole time! You are my partners after all!" She could feel Al's smile, as well as Ed's determined grin plastered on his face as he vigorously rubbed Emmi's head before pounding up the stairs, with the two following.
"We're gonna knock that Truth jerk on his butt! And then we're gonna pull your body right outta that place!"
"Yeah!" Alphonse agreed confidently.
"Hell yeah! This is exciting!" Emmi cheered as they turned the corner of the hallway and walked confidently and swiftly down the hall, with a determined mission in mind.
Hi everyon, welcome back! I am so so so so so sosososososososososo sorry for taking foreverrrrr to post a new chapter; school was really busy during that time and now that it's summer, more is coming!
Things are about to get pretty interesting, so stay tuned for that!
I also would like to apologize for such a short chapter; I was going to make it wayyyy longer (like combined three episodes in one chapter), but I figured it had been so long and that you guys would want a new chapter ASAP. I promise the next chapter will be waaaay longer, better, and more exciting.
Anyway, thank you for being so patient, and I hope you have a wonderful day!
:)
