"Daddy!" Both Selena and Harika cry in joy when they see their father come walking into the house Major Miles has kept the kids. They tackle their father down, so all three ends up on the floor. Didn't matter to any of them though, Shade the least; he's just so happy to see his kids again to worry about a sour back and jolts of pain going through his right side.
"I thought you would go away like mommy...!" Harika cries into his chest. Scar feels so sorry to hear this but does not speak as he has no wish in ruining this happy moment.

Shade hugs his youngest with his remaining arm. "I feared that too for a while." He admits, to then looks up to Scar with a joyful smile. "Good thing we got family not wanting that."

"Sure is!" Selena beams, "he went after you the second he heard!" Harika nods in agreement.

"I believe he did; seems like the type who would recklessly run into danger without thinking." Shade laughs.

Scar scowls by that hint of teasing about his protective side. His brother is the one to talk. After all, who was it there used his own body as a meat shield between a manic State Alchemist's alchemy and the younger brother? Scar's thoughts are quickly forgotten when he suddenly gets two girls hugging him, looking down he sees the overjoyed looks in his nieces' eyes.

"Thank you for returning back our daddy!" Selena says.
Harika nods. "Yes, thank you."

He simply nods before turning back to his brother who is getting back on his feet; he does have a bit of the trouble since he lacks an arm. "When you have recovered further, I will help you find a suitable automail engineer." He tells him.

Shade nods then turn to the other man standing in the room, unlike most other people he has seen on their way here, this one is dressed quite differently by wearing a sort of uniform. "Judging by your outfit and the way you're standing; I say you're a sort of warrior."

"Very impressive observations, I'm a soldier." Major Miles praises the older brother of Scar, the man's oldest kid did more than once tell him that Shade here has no memories further back than ten years and all that time he has been in Xing. So he has no idea how an Amestrian soldier looks like. "Name's Major Miles." He offers the man his left arm since Shade here is missing the right.

Shade shakes it, asking a bit suspicious. "Major isn't your name, right? It sounds more like a title."

"Correct, Major is my rank in the military," Miles explains the man, adding. "I will tell you further about the ranking system in the military later, but right now I suggest you rest and catches up with your daughters."
Shade nods and the Major turns to Scar, even though the man is supposed to aid him with several things here today; Miles is certain Scar needs to catch up with his newfound family. "I'll come tomorrow." and leaves.
"You're in the military too?" Shade asks Scar while allowing his oldest daughter to sit on his lab.

Scar shakes his head. "No, but I am working very closely with them." A certain General is, however, considering him as her soldier, and he doubts she ever will cut him loose since he pretty much owes her his life and freedom. He takes a seat right beside his brother. "I am helping them rebuilding Ishval."

"How long have you been doing that?"

"About three years by now." Scar replies, most of Ishval's houses have been restored, but the culture is still lacking as most of their books and those who carried the torch of their belief are pretty much all gone. He shifts a bit unsure when his brother's youngest daughter asks him to be put on his lap. He hesitates but obeys her small command, letting her do a sort of game with his right arm and the tattoo covering it.

Shade eyes land on the tattoo, noticing right away how familiar it looks to his own. Letting his eyes scan the left, he realizes why: his brother has the same tattoo as him on his left, which means he has the complete set.

Scar notices how his brother is staring at the tattoos, knowing what question will come up so he figures he might as well answers it now. "These arrays were part of your research." He won't, however, reveal that his right arm once was Shade's. Telling that will only lead to questions he does not wish to answer. But he feels that his brother deserves to know about his research. Scar reaches out his right arm, letting the creator of these markings get a proper look at them. "If you wish; you can study the array you have been missing."

"I would like that very much," Shade says, he pulls up his glasses and his observant red eyes scans the array up and down, putting together what it's supposed to do and what it all means. When all the pieces put together, he hums thoughtfully. "I've always wondered why I only had an array for reconstructing. Now I realize why; I had been missing the other arm." Glancing at where his automail arm should've been, now only a pitiful stump left. "I hate to go through that again, but I really need my right arm."

Scar winches ever so slightly by how Shade said it, fortunately, his brother did not get a proper read on him this time, nor sees anything wrong with him slowly pulling his right arm back. Shade's too busy thinking about this small discovery. "Yes, I think I remember this. The right arm of deconstruction and left of reconstruction, together they can perform a complete transmutation—a complete circle." A yawn from Selena snaps him out from his thoughts, and the father of the two notices how tired the two girls are. He quirks a smile and suggests to them amused. "Seems like it's about time you two heads to bed."

"Not tired..." Selena grumbles, with Harika more asleep than awake and looks ready to use Scar as her bed.
Shade sends his brother a knowing look and Scar obliges, first carries Harika, then brings Selena to bed. Letting their father kisses them goodnight.

Shade notices how calm Harika has gotten, not afraid of her surroundings like she was back in Xing. That's a good sign.
Leaving the room, Scar suggests Shade should get some rest as well. "You're still healing."
"Not sure I can sleep." Shade muses, eyeing the man beside him. "I got so many questions."

"You will have plenty of time getting those question answered." Scar assures him, quite amazed that even with amnesia; his brother's mind just can't rest in search of knowledge. "Now, you will rest."
Shade obliges, before Scar leaves the room though, the one-armed man remarks teasingly. "Something tells me this isn't the first time you have told me this."
His brother has no idea. Scar has lost count on how many times he has almost to force his brother to bed when finding the older one reading far out of the night; screwing with his circadian rhythm completely. It drove him nuts and knowing his brother; that stupid habit will return. "It isn't, now go to bed." He commands his brother hard and leaves. He hears a soft chuckle from the room and Scar can't stop himself from smiling either, although that's because he's not as alone as he believed. Before going to bed himself, Scar makes sure to thanks Ishvala for this blessing giving to him.

The next day, Scar thought he would be the first one up, which is at the break of dawn but to his surprise and also irritating, his brother's habit of staying up late has already surfaced. He finds the man sleeping, not in his bed but at the living room table with a small pile of books lying around him. Scar rolls his eyes and without a word starts cleaning up the mess his brother have made. He notices that the books Shade have read all are about what little Amestris knows about Ishval; which isn't much. Scar is however, sort relived his brother has decided to study about their culture; it will help him understand why the Ishvalen people do certain things. Maybe also makes Shade understand that many of their people do not fancy alchemy, it has gotten loosen a bit up after the Promise Day, but many still have lingering memories of what alchemy did to their home and loved ones. Hopefully, their people will let his brother do his alchemy, the man did after all study alchemy to bring people together—not that Shade remembers...
"Brother." He nudges the man awake, and Shade stirs slightly at first then he straightens up with a yawn, "Is it morning already?" Shade asks.
"Did you study all night?" Scar asks him judging, not that ever bothered his brother.

"Couldn't sleep." Shade brushes the tone of Scar off. He stretches out his rather sour back from have fallen asleep practically on the floor, using the small table as his pillow. "So I thought I might as well read up on what it meant to be an Ishvalen. These books weren't the greatest but reading what little they got; I do recall our god Ishvala." He does a light tap on the book before him and has to admit, "but I do not think I will start doing prayers as of yet. Been living in a different culture and life does that, but I will try not to use my alchemy too often."

"The people's view on alchemy has changed." Scar replies, now that he's both older and wiser when it comes to the subject of alchemy; been using it himself. Scar has gotten greatly aware that his brother's alchemy can be dangerous in the wrong's person hands— such as a person like himself. But like any tool, alchemy can be used for good. "If you have any of the morals I remember you having, our people wouldn't mind you performing alchemy."

Shade chuckles, both delighted but also a bit nervous that he might not be the same person his brother remembers. "I might not be the same man you remember..."
"You haven't changed." Scar says, picking up the last book. "Maybe some of your viewpoints, but not the core of who you are." And he puts the books back to where they belong.

"I have changed."

Scar turns back to his brother, not sure what he meant for so far everything Shade does is something he did back when he last saw him.

"I don't remember anything about our home..." Shade tells him sadly, he lifts his arm, showing the alchemy array. "Don't even remember what made me start study alchemy when it's clearly frowned upon in the Ishvalen way of life and belief."
"What made you study alchemy back in Xing?" Scar asks him.

Shade shifts position, scratching the back of his head with an embarrassed look on his face. "It might sound silly, but all I wanted was to help people."

Not entirely the same reason, but the core is still there. His brother always wanted to help people in his unique sort of way.

"I have gotten quite good at it." Shade continues.
Scar notices that his tone sounds proud, his brother often got that tone when he spoke about something he really has a passion for and done a lot of research on.

"Good enough that the chief of the Wang clan accepted me as his healer. Although I do have the feeling, he mostly did it because of his daughter..."

"Your wife?"

Shade nods slowly, he's still smiling but now a sad one. "You would've liked her. She was a very talented alchemist healer, very kind woman. Bit of a tough lover, though. She wouldn't stop bugging me before I agreed to get the automail arm."

"Sounds like the two of you suited one another."

"Yeah... when she died... part of me desperately tried to figure out a way to bring her back..."

Scar's eyes wide hearing this, his brother... had considered human transmutation? Did he do it? "Did you?"
"No." Shade shakes his head, but has to admit, "the thought crossed my mind several times, I admit that but..." He sighs sadly, his remaining hand clenches. "Who am I to say who lives and who dies? And besides... how could I possibly recreate a flawed— wonderful woman such as Li?"

That's not exactly how he would've describes his love, Scar thinks. His face must have betrayed him for the moment Shade looks up to him, the older man laughs softly and points out. "It was those flaws I loved so much about her. There is no growth in something flawless, and that makes it boring."
Now that he mentions it, Scar thinks about what makes him care about people and realizes that it's both their strength and flaws. He never thought it about it that way before his brother pointed it out.
Yes, even now, without most of his memories, his brother still has that wisdom of his. Without it, he would've done something stupid: such as human transmutation. "You are a very wise man, brother."
And he had to lose him before he would fully realize how much he had depended on his brother's wisdom. "Always have."
Back then he had been too stubborn to listen to what his brother had been trying to tell him, maybe if he had, then he wouldn't have gone on a murderous rampage.

Shade quirks a smile of this praise, but even though his brother considers him wise, there is still a lot he does not understand and needs to understand. One of those things is getting to know his brother and their homeland better. "Maybe, but even a wise person like me has a lot to learn." and he's glad there is, he rather not get bored as that makes him do stupid things in an attempt to remove said boredom.

A shuffling sound makes both of them turn to the children's room, and a very bushy-haired Selena comes walking out. She mutters an incoherent morning before she crawls up beside her daddy and falls back asleep in such a manner that Scar cannot help but think of a cat.
"Give her ten minutes, and she will be out and causing trouble," Shade says, making Scar raises a brow for he's not seeing a hyperactive kid in Selena right now.

being smart is not the same being wise, at least not in my eyes. I see wisdom as something only people with a lot of experience and does a lot of thought on the subject have.

Scar, for example, is very smart but he wasn't very wise back in the manga, he did become wiser when he realized that killing people out of revenge will lead to nothing but more hatred and despair.

comments and such will be a great, as it will tell me if you guys like this story or I should simply keep it to myself.