Ed and Al's mother had told wonderful stories. She often started reading aloud from a book but added and changed things to suit the interests of her boys. She pulled faces that made them laugh. She did all the voices. Even after Edward had insisted that he was getting too old for stories and she agreed to only tell them to Al, he listened along anyway.
Ed wasn't comfortable thinking about Trisha Elric for many reasons. Guilt. Shame. The fact that as a homunculus, she might not even be his mother. He could just hope that he told stories half as well as she did. She'd have probably found his impression of Yoki especially funny.
"...so the miners spent all night partying. Now they could keep their fair share of the profits, the town started to thrive again. Perhaps one day some of you can cross the desert and visit it: it's one of the first places you come to if you're journeying from Xing to Amestris."
"But how did Alphonse get his body back?" a little girl cried, clinging on to Ed's arm.
"That's another story for another time," he said softly. "Don't you guys have chores to do or something? You can't sit around listening to me all day."
There were murmurs of protestations, but the children gradually made their way to their own houses, still chatting amongst themselves about the new and interesting visitor to the village. Ed scooched slightly further under the canopy that was sheltering him from the sun and tugged his new straw hat (ugly but functional) down lower.
"So. Are you ready to talk?" he called out to the figure that had been watching him at a distance. At first Ed had assumed he was just a big kid who was embarrassed about wanting to listen to the story, but the haunted look on the boy's face was a tale in itself.
"I think I know who you are," Ed called. "I've been waiting for you to want to see me."
The boy approached slowly and knelt down in front of Ed. He kept his eyes focussed on the bare earth between them.
"I'm Li Chang. I- I can't hear you," he stammered. He held out a pen and paper to Ed, still trying to avoid looking him in the eye. "I'm trying to learn to lip read, and you can write things down for me."
Ed considered the pad for a moment and wrote something down in his best Xingese script.
"You saw it?"
The boy read the words and inhaled a staggered breath. There was no need to ask what 'it' was. He nodded.
"Did you see anything on the other side of it?" Ed wrote. Li shook his head and doubled over, his whole body wracked by sobs. A release of weeks of pent up emotion.
"I- I don't know how to tell you how sorry I am for what I did."
He bowed low, supplicating himself at Ed's feet, forehead nearly touching the ground.
"I- I ruined everything. That thing I made… that thing that became you… I keep having nightmares about it. I've looked up to the Fullmetal Alchemist since I was small. I wanted to be just like him. And I did that to him. I made him into that. I'll never do alchemy again. Never again."
Ed wrote something on the pad of paper and slipped it under the boy's nose.
"How are you going to save your clan?"
It was unexpected enough to snap Li Chang out of his wallowing. He straightened up, finally meeting Ed's eyes for the first time. The boy's face was a red mess of tears and dirt. The homunculus was stony-faced, golden eyes aflame.
"I don't understand?"
"You made me in the hope that I could save your clan. They're still in danger. You haven't succeeded in your mission yet," Ed wrote, before pointing back to the previous sentence. He underlined it for additional effect.
"How are you going to save your clan?"
"I can't. I'm just a kid. I can't even hear anymore," Li stammered. Ed underlined the sentence again.
"How are you going to save your clan?"
Li gawped, bewildered, eyes wide with confusion. Ed sighed the way Izumi used to do when her apprentices were being especially dense. He took back the pad and added a few more sentences.
"You can't hear, so what? You still have a VOICE. You need to make people hear it. When you decided to commit the taboo to save your clan, you set off down a path which you need to see to the end. Don't you dare give up. If you want to atone for what you've done, keep moving forwards."
Then he underlined the sentence again, back and forth, until there was a black scribble underneath it.
"How are you going to save your clan?"
"I don't know," Li said slowly. Since the night of his human transmutation he had been trying to numb his quick mind, make it as slow and empty as he could. Ed's challenge was making it start to spin back into action.
"...but perhaps I could think of a way. You're right, I need to keep going. There has to be another way. I can find it."
Li stood up and gave Edward a low bow, bending at the waist. He had spent a while masquerading as a stupid child, but now he was standing like a Xingese prince again.
"Thank you."
He turned to leave, but Ed climbed to his feet and placed a gloved hand firmly on the boy's shoulder. The kid was lucky, really. He was getting to have a calm conversation with the being who represented his hubris, his shame. If only Edward Elric had been so fortunate. Ed held out a slip of paper for Li to read.
"I forgive you", it read.
The song of the crickets at dusk signalled the time for the bonfire to begin: for logs to be lit in the central fire pit and for the community to gather close to shelter in its warmth and bask in each other's company. For once, Ed was there, groggy but awake. He had initially been worried that he was going to drift off to sleep, but once he was in the firelight, the dance of the flickering shadows invigorated him. He tried not to think too hard about how utterly bizarre and creepily inhuman that was.
This was not going to be a normal gathering, dedicated to stories and gossip and song. This was going to be a council of war. All eyes were trained on Mei, dressed in her finest silks, demonstrating her pedigree as a ruler. Alphonse was the only person whose gaze was also accompanied by a slight blush.
"People of the Chang Clan," Mei said loudly, projecting her voice, "I've called this meeting so that we can discuss a plan for our clan's future. But first, I have an announcement to make. Ed?"
Ed sat up straight, surprised to be called by name. He even looked around, half expecting another Ed to step forward.
"Er, yes?"
"Ed, you were brought here by the actions of one of our tribe, and that has caused you pain. Yet, you fought valiantly on our behalf yesterday. You were willing to give your life for the children of the Chang clan, and showed us that you are able to use your unique powers with restraint. Thanks to you no blood was spilt, Chang or Chen. I know that you do not know if you have a right to the name Edward Elric. So, after discussing it with my people, I would like to offer you our name. You would be welcome to be Edward Chang, and be known as a member of our clan, no matter where your travels take you."
Ed looked around the fireside gathering to see the faces of the villagers all meeting him with warmth and expectation. Didn't they know what he was? Didn't they understand?
"Thank you, Mei," he stammered, surprised at how much the gesture touched him. Mei was offering him more than a name, she was offering him a family. A group to belong to fully, not just an inherited association. Something of his own. "Thank you, everyone. It would be an honour."
"Great!" Mei beamed, dropping her regal air for a moment, before resuming it again even more intensely.
"Now, to business. We can't stay here for much longer. I think that Edward's actions may keep the Chens and the neighbouring clans away for a short while, but they are bound to come back. We don't know when. We need to find a new refuge."
Suddenly, a member of the clan stood up and stepped forward into the firelight. All eyes turned to Li Chang, his chin held high like a king.
"Listen, everyone," he shouted, with the same projection and diction as his sister. "I am going to travel to see the emperor. I will take Mei's red stone plants and give them to him, and I will demand that he listens to our plight. That he listens to me as a Prince of the Chang clan. If he doesn't, then I'll just find another way. I'll keep trying until I make him listen. I will restore our honour."
"Li," Mei said softly, stepping towards him so that he could see her face. She shook her head and mouthed clearly, "You can't."
"I think he can," Ed interrupted. "He's strong, he's determined, he's obviously a genius. I think that he will find a way to save your tribe, if you give him a chance."
Mei looked at her sibling afresh. His jawline looked so pronounced in the flickering firelight. He stood up so tall, so straight. The determination on his face had an intensity she hadn't seen before. When did her little brother become so grown up?
"Are you sure?" she asked.
Li nodded.
"I'm certain."
"Then you can go, with my blessing," she said, and she guided Li to sit down by her side. It was only fitting that he did, as her brother, and a son of the emperor. The rest of the clan nodded and murmured approvals amongst themselves.
"We still need a plan," Al interrupted. "Even if Li is able to restore the clan's honour, it may take him time that you don't have. Why don't you seek temporary asylum in Amestris? Following the reinstatement of the Council and the deplatforming of the military, Amestris has been much more open to housing refugees."
"I don't know if we can all make it to Amestris, Al." Mei countered. "If we head to the rail links or the sea we'll be ambushed by the Chens, and we can't head out into the desert. I don't think some of us would survive that."
"I have connections in Amestris. I'll cross the desert, tell them about you, I'll come back with an escort, or some kind of transportation."
Be my knight in shining armour, Mei thought. Alphonse really would try to do it for her: traverse a desert, challenge a government, come riding back on a white horse to scoop her up and keep her and everything she loved safe. No matter how wise he was, no matter how tempered by experience, Alphonse Elric was a gallant dreamer at heart. She was beginning to love him for it. That wasn't going to stop her bursting his bubble, however.
"Amestris' policies have changed but there is a big difference between welcoming people who have already made it into the country and sending resources to interfere in a domestic territorial dispute in Xing."
"I've got to try," Alphonse insisted. "If I can't get help then I'll come back and we'll figure out another way."
"You have ten days," Mei said. "I can't risk staying here any longer. If you're not back in ten days with help, then we'll set out across the desert by ourselves. It will be hard going, but I don't know what other option we have. Deal?"
"Deal. I won't let you down, Mei," Al said firmly.
The more gossip-prone Changs would entertain themselves over the following days by discussing in hushed voices how at this point, Al had reached out and put his hand on the Princess's, and she had smiled up at him adoringly. A Chang Princess and the Alchemist of the West? Some of the older members of the clan were practically planning the wedding.
As the embers of the bonfire grew low, the Changs dispersed and went back to their houses. It had turned into a meeting of logistics: what provisions could Li be provided with for his journey? How much water would Alphonse be able to carry? How could the Changs keep safe until his return, or prepare to set out on their own if he were unsuccessful? Edward had only caught half of it as sleep was finally beginning to catch up with him. He dozed until it seemed that the meeting was over and he was going to finally have a chance to curl up in his own bed. That was until Alphonse took him to one side conspiratorially.
"Ed, I know you're probably going to want to sleep, but I need to talk."
"Sure," Ed mumbled, looking up at the sky. Above the towering trees, he could see the paintbox of reds and oranges giving way to the darkness of night. The moon was high in the sky, full and resplendent. Just the way he liked it.
"I think it's important that we made a start for Amestris immediately," Al said. "Hopefully it will be several weeks before there is another attack, but we don't know that. The faster we get help the better, and it's safer to set off at dusk. That way we can make a good start before the intense heat in the middle of the day."
"Makes sense."
Al watched the sky too for a moment. It was another echo of the past, stargazing with Ed. Al and his brother had spent hours lying down on the grassy hills of Reisembool, staring up at the stars and recalling their names and the stories they held. A few weeks ago, it would have felt uncomfortable to let himself remember happy childhood times while interacting with Ed the homunculus. Now, it felt much more natural.
"Whatever you said to Li earlier really helped him," he noted.
"Did my best. Now it's up to him."
"You know, perhaps you're not the brother I grew up with-"
"Uggh! You keep reminding me!" Ed snapped, and he turned away, flushed. He was far too tired to deal with this. Except Al gently touched his arm and continued softly, "-but you're a lot like him sometimes. It's more than just inherited memories. You're determined like he was. You're smart like he was. You care about people the way he did. Family can be something you choose, can't it? I had a brother who I grew up with. We travelled the world together. He sacrificed himself for me at the Gate. But that doesn't stop me from having another brother that I found more recently, does it?"
Ed didn't speak for a moment. If he tried, he feared his voice would crack in two.
"You don't mind having a brother that doesn't have a soul?" he said at last, pulling his emotions into a wry smirk. Alphonse shrugged.
"I knew an Edward who spent years searching for his original body. Perhaps this Edward can search for a soul. Perhaps he already has one and it's just a little different. Perhaps I don't know as much about souls as I think I do."
Ed's smirk tilted into a genuine smile as a tension he had been carrying since the moment of his creation melted away. He looked back up at the star-spangled sky with a contented sigh.
"Can I ask you something I've wanted to ask for weeks now? I didn't because I wasn't sure I had the right."
"Sure," Al nodded.
"How is everyone? How is Winry? Granny? The Hughes? Teacher? That bastard Colonel and his team? I guess I've technically never met them, but they feel like old friends."
"Well, I haven't seen them for a few years now either, but I have managed to exchange letters from time to time. The last I heard, Winry was out in Ishval, fitting victims of the war there with automail. Granny is fine, although I think she's pretty much retired these days. Gracia seems happy. Elicia is turning into an amazing artist. Teacher was really ill last year, but I think she's doing better. I don't know about the Colonel. I think he was planning to resign his commission. Become a civilian."
"Mr Mustang?" Ed scoffed, "Weird."
"I wonder how they'll all react when we get back to Amestris," Al mused, "How I'll explain about you."
"I've been thinking about that. I've got a puzzle for you."
"Oh?"
"Yeah," Ed said, keeping his eyes fixed firmly on the stars. "Imagine there is a homunculus. Right now, he's safe, he's in control. But we know from experience that homunculi don't always stay that way. Over time, the fact that they're not really human seems to wear them down. Especially when they have to meet people who knew the human they are a copy of. I think that under those conditions, our hypothetical homunculus would find things difficult, even if he had a brother who cared for him."
"I see," Al replied quietly. He thought for a moment before continuing, "But what if that homunculus was in a totally different country to the one his human counterpart had lived in? One where he has a new family? Perhaps he could make a new life for himself. People would treat him like his own person there."
"Exactly what I was thinking."
Al clenched his fists tightly and scrunched his eyes closed, letting a particular future which he'd started to envision melt away.
"You don't want to go back to Amestris, do you?"
"No. I feel like I miss everyone there, but that country already had an Edward Elric, and if I'm not him, then I'd always be trying to match up to him. First I want to make sure the Chang clan are safe, perhaps I can defend them while you're gone or find a way to help them all cross the desert, if you don't find any help. But then I want to head to the libraries of the capital here. Study more Xingese philosophy about the Transformation of Things. I feel like I'm so close to answering some questions"
"What sort of questions?"
Ed turned to Al and said in a low whisper, "What's beyond the Gate, Al?"
"Beyond the Gate? I don't know what's beyond it. I know what's in it. Knowledge. All knowledge."
"If I could prove I had knowledge that could have only come from the gate, that would mean I've been there. Why would a homunculus created weeks ago have ever been to the gate?"
Alphonse felt a prickling sensation run down his scalp, down his spine, into his toes. Would that mean…? Could that mean…?
"I don't know what it would mean, but if there's an answer, you'll get to the bottom of it, brother." he said, pulling Edward into a tight hug, clamping his fists around Ed's clothing, wanting to anchor the two of them together. Edward squeezed back tightly before stepping back.
"Alright, quit pawing at me," he chuckled. "I'm going to see you again in ten days or so, right? You take care crossing that desert. I'm going to sleep."
He turned quickly to head for Mei's hut, but Alphonse stopped him.
"Wait-"
Ed turned to find a bundle of fabric being thrust into his arms. It was heavy, well worn, and despite it looking pitch black in the monochrome moonlight, he knew that it was very, very red.
"I think this might be your legacy, not mine," Al said. Ed reverently slipped it on, only to glare at Al when the sleeves hung down below his hands. Al laughed and with a clap of his hands and a crackle of alchemic energy, the sleeves shrank to the perfect length.
"That's better. Now go on, get crossing that desert," Ed said, turning to go inside the hut. "And you'd better come back. I know a certain Xingese princess who'll be heartbroken if you don't!"
"Shut up!" Al replied as he strode away.