Chapter 3

A new beginning

He bit his lip hard with blood beginning to sip through his lower lip. He had his eyes tightly closed shut, he didn't know why, but he was afraid. Mokuba didn't even know these people, but already he was quivering in fear with the thought of Al losing his life. Slowly he opened his eyes, still afraid of what the truth held. He didn't know exactly if he wanted to know the truth.

The light slowly faded, Ed stood anxiously staring at the machine. Seto slowly pressed the button in front of him, and the doors of the machine opened. Al's armor lay at the bottom of the machine, cluttered and out of place. Ed took a step forward, "Al?" He took slow breaths, taking another step closer. "A-Alphonse?" Something moved.

'Please… no… don't let him be… he can't be…' Ed tried to close his eyes, but he couldn't. He began to cry helplessly, like a young child. At the same time, he tried to calm down, but the thought of losing his brother could not make his tears go away. But soon enough, his fear and anxiety faded away, as he saw a figure crawl out from inside the armor. Ed was speechless.

Al felt weary and weak. He squinted his eyes. Where in the heck was he? Everything was so bright. He felt extremely cold. Al's eyes widened. He could feel. He looked down at himself, he had hands. He had human hands. The bright light faded around him as he put his hands on his arms and face. He had hair, hands, and legs. He was alive again. He was human.

He looked up, his brother staring at him in disbelief. Al slowly got to his feet, holding onto the machine for balance. "Al…" Ed said quietly. Al's eyes began to water, and it wasn't long till tears began to seep out and fall down his face. He walked over to Ed, falling into his brother's arms, crying his eyes out. Ed put his arms around his brother, shocked and overwhelmed with happiness, giving his brother something he couldn't in a long time.

Al was overwhelmed by all the emotions he had failed to feel in his last form. But at the moment, his emotions were mixed of sadness and joy. Ed fell to his knees, holding his brother tightly in his arms, putting his hand through his hair gently with his real hand. The brothers could not speak words, but all they needed were each other's embrace.

Mokuba felt sheer happiness for the 2 brothers, knowing it would be stupid of him to cry, but felt the urge to otherwise. Mokuba could tell his brother was thinking the same thing as well as he looked on at the brother's first reunion in a long time. But still, there were things to be done.

Seto walked over to them after Al had began to calm down. He placed his hand on Al's shoulder softly, "I'm sure your hungry. You haven't had a meal in a while, have you?" Al stared up at him, and slowly nodded. Ed scooped his brother into his arms and carried him out of the lab, to the dining room.

"The cooks' said dinner will be ready in a half hour. I'm sorry it'll take so long for you to have a descent meal, but I promise you it will be the best you've ever had."

"Thank you for the generosity. I'm sorry if we have been a bother to you or anything, you've been very kind to the both of us and we haven't done a thing for you." Ed replied. He sounded very different from before, as if he had picked and chose his words of what he was going to say. Al was curled in his brother's arms, breathing softly and quietly with a tired look upon his face.

Mokuba stared at Al. He had so many questions he wanted to ask him, but was too afraid to ask. It was probably not the time to ask questions, so he stood patiently watching the 2 Elric brothers.

"We'll probably have to do some tests…" Seto said randomly, rubbing his chin as he stared at Al. Ed had immediately become defensive, "What are you talking about? My brother isn't some test subject!"

"Edward, calm down, it's not like that. I meant examinations, physical tests. To make sure he's a well functioning human being. We had a very high risk of something going wrong, Al losing his life, or bringing him back looking like-"

"That thing…" Ed interrupted, looking down at Al, who was now fiddling with Ed's necklace. He looked up at his brother. Edward gave a small smile. "Can he talk?" Mokuba asked, unable to hold back curiosity. "What do you mean 'can he talk?' Course he can."

"He hasn't said a word since he got his body back. Maybe he forgot how to."

"Who forgets how to talk?" Al asked, looking at Mokuba. "Well… how were we supposed to know that?" Mokuba said with embarrassment. "Big brother, I can stand up on my own." Ed nodded and set Al on his feet. As Ed's hands left him, Al fell to his knees. "What's wrong with me?" he muttered to himself, glaring at the ground before him. "Your weak, you haven't used your body in a long time. It's not your fault, it'll take a couple of days to recover completely."

"Master Kaiba, dinner is served." The butler called, revealing the table that was covered in all sorts of foods. "Wow, I've never seen so much food in one place" Ed said with amazement. "Bon appetite."

-Later that night-

"That was great, Seto, thanks again for the meal." Ed wiped his mouth, than placed the napkin onto the table. "It was my pleasure."

"Yeah, it's nice having company. This place is always so empty." Mokuba said with a smile. Seto looked down at his brother, then ruffled his hair. "Now I bet a little someone has had a little too much fun. If you hurry and get changed, I'll be up to tuck you in."

"Ok!" Mokuba sped off and up the stairs without another word. Ed looked over at Al whom was curled up on the couch, already asleep. "Looks like I'll have to get him to bed too." He walked over and gently picked him up, and put him over his shoulder. "Your brother's a great kid." Ed added, as they began to walk up the stairs together. "Yeah, I don't know what I'd really do without him."

"I can tell he feels the same. He idolizes you." Seto sighed, "Yeah, but sometimes I worry if that's a good thing." Ed titled his head, "What do you mean?"

"Well, sometimes I feel as if… I'm not doing it right. That I should be doing something different, I mean, am I really the right role model for him?"

"Sure you are! I mean, look at you. You have your own company, you work and do everything on your own, your completely independent and in control of your life. Most people don't have their own houses at 25, your doing great."

"I suppose… but I don't want him to do what I did to get all that." Seto stopped at the door of the room as Ed entered to put Al in bed. "Hey Ed."

"Yeah?"

"I forgot to tell you. Your brother might undergo some strange… side effects." Ed stopped. "What?"

"Side effects."

"What kind of 'side effects'?" Ed stared at him. "It's really nothing to worry about, don't get so upset. Your brother just might be overwhelmed by emotions."

"How so?"

"Well, take when you first saw him in his original body. You saw how overwhelmed he was by his emotions. That was probably joy that was causing him to do that. Next might be sadness, or envy, any kind of normal human emotion. And since he hasn't experienced these emotions in so long, it could be harmful." Ed ran his hand through Al's hair, feeling the softness of his skin. He felt like a new born baby, his skin was so healthy. It very much varied to his past suit of armor that he had been stuck in for so long. Now Al could live again.

"Nii-sama…" Seto turned around to find Mokuba at the door, he wore long sleeved blue pajamas and was staring up at his older brother. "Are you ready yet?"

"I'm coming." Seto turned and left without a simple goodnight and followed his sibling to his room. Mokuba hoped into bed, suddenly filled with energy as he left himself bounce. "Ok, ok, fun time's over. Time for bed." Mokuba nodded and crawled under the covers. Seto sat on the side of the bed. "I don't want you coming to my room tonight. If you wake up, try and fall back asleep, ok? I have a lot of work to do tonight."

"You always have a lot of work to do." Mokuba pouted, frowning. "Mokuba… you know it's for the best." Mokuba opened his mouth to protest but said nothing. He knew exactly what to say, but refused to say it knowing it would only start an argument between the 2.

"Well… goodnight Mokuba." Seto said, kissing him on the forehead. "Night Nii-sama…" Mokuba said as he turned on his side and brought the covers up to his chin. Seto flicked the light switch and closed the door softly. He walked into his office and closed the door, staring at the computer before him. He knew this routine almost by heart. He'd be up till about 4 in the morning without protest, and the next day there would be more work to do and he would do the same. But tonight he felt strange. Usually Seto would take on any challenge without question or concern, but tonight his thoughts were occupied on other things.

He sat down in front of his computer and turned it on. As it began to load, Seto stared out the window beside his work desk. He felt odd, he had just met these 2 strangers yesterday, and yet he talked to them as if they were actually friends. Friends, to the great Seto Kaiba, would have to have been a person he'd known for years. His trust was hard to earn, and easy to break, maybe it was for this reason Seto had not gained any friends over the past years.

His brother was the only person he knew he could trust with everything, but even his trust with his brother could be uneasy. Mokuba could be a bit of an open book, and telling him his personal secrets could be hazardous to himself and his company. But he had known Mokuba since he was born, so how could he think otherwise?

But these people. These strangers. He felt safe telling them his life, and he had only just met them. It was strange, but at the same time, it was reasonable. They both had suffered what he had in the past, therefore it wasn't strange telling them his situation. But at the same time, could he trust them? Was it safe?

His work appeared on the screen, and he put his thoughts to the side and began to work, and as he had planned, he would be there for most of the night till the beginning of dawn.

A/N: Oh yeah! Another AWESOME chapter to my AWESOME story. Hope you all are enjoying it. So Seto is now learning the value of trust, but is this a good thing or a bad thing? Is letting down your guard really a good thing? And what of Al? He now has emotions and can feel again, like a normal living human. But every living thing must die, and with his newly created body, he is at high risk of danger. Wait, does that mean Al's gonna die? Do I love leaving you in suspense?

Well, I do like leaving you in suspense.

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