They had the building surrounded, and guards were already sent in, however, they charged in to find the Elric brothers. Somewhere in the abandoned labs, those two kids were there, searching for what they were looking for.

Why did they go against their word? Lt. Colonel Hughes said that she'd understand when she had kids, but what did that have to do with it?

The light spilling down the hallway led them to their charges, the Elric brothers. But now that she thought back on it, they weren't fully prepared for what they saw just past the doorway.

Fullmetal was in the center of the room, alchemic power growing around him. His body was lit up as well, eyes going wide. They couldn't tell if he was in pain, but from the unnatural way his body jerked, they could only guess.

And his face… bore an expression she couldn't even describe. No emotion she saw ever came close to express what he was going through.

She didn't know what caused her to step out into the power that she only knew so little about, but even with Broche calling her to stop, she kept moving.

Just what happened?

The sheer force of the alchemic power was pushing her back, away from Fullmetal, but she fought against it. First they'd get Fullmetal out of this, then grab Alphonse and get of the building as possible.

First of all…

Every step grew faster, pushing against the reaction; she reached out for him…

The light faded, and she couldn't feel anything pushing against her anymore. No, the only thing she felt was the limp form of Fullmetal in her arms.

Maybe she didn't have to have her own kids to completely understand what he meant. Maybe.

After they had gotten out with the two brothers, Maria vaguely wondered, if Edward had just barely whispered, "Mom, you're back," before passing out in her embrace.

Owari


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So sue me, I just had to do this scene because it was so... so... Neh. Can't even describe it. But it took me a week long to post this thing because of the studying for an upcoming science test. But once it's over with, expect more fic.