Illusion of the Bluebird
By Gozilla
A/N: Thanks a lot to all who you have read and / or left a review! Hope you will enjoy this chapter.
Special Thank: I would like to give my special thank to Hitokiri-san for beta-ing my story and correct my messy English! Thanks a lot!
Credits: Please refer to the previous two chapters. Again, many thanks to the BBI team, kier and h2oblue! You are the best!
Summary: (Spoiler to Bluebird's Illusion and the TV series) The Elric brothers had finally found the philosopher's stone and Al was finally restored. But there was something wrong with Al's body. Would Ed find the solution in time?
Disclaimer: I don't own anything and I don't have anything. So don't sue me!
Please excuse my poor English. -
Reviews are most welcomed!
Enjoy!
Chapter 4 – First Day
-Two weeks later-
"Niisan!" Al gently pushed the sleeping Edward, who had wrapped himself up tightly with the blanket, "This is the third time I've called you! Hurry and wake up! General Mustang will be here in 10 minutes!"
"Hmm... Who cares about that?" Edward murmured in his sleep.
"Niisan!" Although Al hated to be so harsh to his brother, he had no choice but to pull away the blanket forcefully. "Get up, now!"
Edward protested with annoyed mumbles. But soon he gave up and got off the bed. Sluggishly, Edward went to the bathroom, yawning tiredly.
Al felt a pain in his heart as he looked at his brother's back. Edward had lost quite a lot of weight in the past three weeks, and the dark eyebags still lingered under his eyes.
Despite Al's quick recovery from the transmutation, Edward had remained weak and exhausted over the weeks. He spent most of the time sleeping since the transmutation, and had barely eaten anything.
Pushing the thought aside, Al hurried to the kitchen to prepare breakfast for his brother.
As Al placed the food and a bottle of milk on the table, Edward's protests came again.
"I don't want to go to that place." Edward murmured unhappily as he walked out of the bathroom. "Especially don't want to see that annoying General..."
"Niisan." Al said, smiling, "General Mustang has helped us a lot during this time. Not only did he arranged everything we need for our living, he also sent Lieutenant Hawkeye to take care of us. You should really thank him when you see him."
"I know, I know." Edward said carelessly and started eating breakfast.
Al noticed that the bottle of milk was untouched by his brother. "Niisan, you have to drink the milk."
"I am not drinking something so disgusting."
"But milk is nutritious." Al insisted, "You should start drinking it if you want to grow taller."
"I am not drinking it." Edward argued, "I am not tall merely because the automail limbs are too heavy."
"Niisan, I have been wanting to ask you." Al asked, sadness filling his face, "Why is my body restored while... yours is not?"
Edward looked at his brother, surprised by the question. He then gave Al a warm smile, "As long as your body is restored, everything is alright." In fact, he did not want to risk the safety of his brother by searching for a way to restore his arm and leg. He had succeeded in his main goal, restoring Al's body and allow his brother to live a normal life, and everything else was not important to him, including his arm and leg. He left the kitchen and walked towards the bedroom, indicating that he did not want to continue with this topic.
Al quietly followed his brother and helped him to wear the military uniform. Al smiled as Edward stood with the full uniform on, "You look great, niisan. You look like an adult in this suit."
"I am an adult." Edward smiled back.
The door bell rang and the brothers went to the door.
"I will come back as soon as I can." Edward said as he left and walked towards the car that had stopped in front of the house.
Al was about to clean the dishes as a wave of pain assaulted him from the inside of his body. He fell to his knees and panted heavily as the pain disappeared as quickly as it came, leaving a dull pain over his body.
"What... what happened?" Al wondered, confused and scared.
Edward got into the car parked in front of his home and sat at the back seat, without saying a word.
"What kind of face is that?" Mustang said in a teasing tone, "Come on, this is the first day of work after being promoted as a Colonel, don't look so annoyed."
Edward simply ignored Mustang and looked out of the window.
"How are you feeling, Edward?" Hawkeye asked.
"Better." Edward gave a small smile to the Lieutenant. He really appreciated Hawkeye for taking care of him and Al in the first week after the transmutation, when they needed help most.
"So, where is your brother?" Mustang asked, "From the look on your face... did you have a fight with him just before you came to work?"
"I did not have a fight with Al!" Edward snapped.
"So, it means that you are dissatisfied with the President's decision to promote you as a Colonel and assign you to the alchemy crime investigation team." Mustang teased.
"Dissatisfied...so what if I am? I'm pretty sure that as compared to me, you have more things to be dissatisfied with the President!"
"Me? Well, if you want more, you have to sacrifice more. Isn't that the first law in alchemy - 'equivalent exchange', a principle that both you and I know thoroughly?"
Edward suddenly remembered the voice that had spoken to him just before he had blacked out during the transmutation, "Equivalent exchange...is that really so?"
-In the afternoon-
Havoc put down another large pile of documents on the table with a loud thud.
"Why am I so unfortunate that I have to deal with so many documents?" Havoc sighed heavily and complained as he massaged his shoulder.
"I should be the one saying that." Edward's unhappy voice came from behind the piles and piles of documents, "You are just helping to bring the documents to me. I am the one who has to deal with them."
"But it is still hard labour to me." Havocretorted.
"Arrr... I have had enough of this!" Edward stood up, extremely annoyed, "I have been working all day and you people just kept on giving me more and more work! How am I supposed to finish them all! Isn't there someone else in the team who can share the workload?"
"That's the problem." Mustang said, leaning on the doorframe to Edward's office, "The team has just been set up and you are the only investigator at the moment. Not to mention that the cases have been accumulated for years without someone with proper experience to investigate."
"Then why is it called a team when there is only one person in it?" Edward shouted.
"Of course there are more than one person in the team." Mustang smirked, "There are support staff like Havoc to help you. In addition, I am the supervisor of the team."
"Then why don't you help me deal with the cases?"
"Because I am a supervisor and I am supposed to overview your work, not doing your work." Mustang said as he left the office.
"Arrrrrr..." Edward was so furious that he did not know what to say.
Someone knocked on the door.
"WHAT?" Edward yelled angrily. His anger disappeared as he saw Al standing at the door.
"What is it, niisan?" Al asked, worried, "Why are you so angry? Is something wrong?"
"No, Al." Edward smiled bitterly, "It is just that annoying General again. Why are you here?"
"I brought you some biscuits that I made in the morning."
"You didn't come all the way to bring me biscuits, right?" Edward asked with a smile. It wasn't that he did not want to see his brother. But he would want Al to stay away from the military as far as possible. It was enough for him to suffer as a dog of the military alone.
"Of course not." Al laughed, taking out Edward's state alchemist pocket watch, "You forgot to bring the watch this morning."
"Oh, thanks." Edward said, "Well, as you are already here, do you want to eat the biscuits with me? I am close to a mental breakdown with all the work."
"Sure."
The brothers then sat on the sofa placed in a corner of the room and chatted happily. Unnoticed by both of them, someone from a nearby building was watching their every move with a telescope.
"I did not expect that the armour brother would be taller than Fullmetal chibi." said one voice.
"It is because Fullmetal's body had previously been burdened by the connection with his brother's body in the Gate. It is amazing that he had actually grown a bit over these years," said another voice.
Al left Edward's office and went home after chatting with his brother for about half an hour. Edward did not notice the time and worked until late evening before he rushed home.
When Edward came to the main gate of the military building, he saw someone standing by the gate. As he approached the person, he found that it was one of the people he wanted to meet the least.
It was Mustang.
Edward pretended that he did not see the General and walked straight passed him. But then Mustang spoke in a low voice.
"Fullmetal, may I ask how you and your brother are?" Mustang asked. Though he would not admit it, he was worried about the brothers' conditions, especially the extremely slow recovery of the older brother.
"We are fine." Edward answered simply and continued to walk towards the car waiting to take him home. He just wished to get home and see his brother as soon as possible.
"Fullmetal."
"What?"
"Don't do anything stupid." Mustang said as he walked towards the military building, leaving a very surprised Edward standing by the gate.
"Hmmm..." Edward said hesitantly, "I will try..." before he got into the car and left.
Mustang went to a dark corner and a female voice came.
"He still won't say anything?" Hawkeye said, "He looks terribly exhausted even after three weeks of rest. And I have some unsettled feeling about Alphonse."
"I feel the same too." Mustang frowned, "But I can't get hold to exactly why I have that feeling. And he won't tell. Maybe he does not trust me."
"Maybe he does not want you to worry."
"Maybe... maybe..."
End of Chapter 4
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