July 18, 1904
Reiko Hikawa sighed and glared at the Elric brothers as they began doing alchemy to create her 'present.'
"Hey, y'know I want a fox plush right?" Reiko said.
Reiko had red hair, green eyes, and pale skin with freckles. She wore a purple Asian top patterned with Casablanca flowers, black leather pants, and black flats. Her hair was kept up in a ponytail with a purple bow.
"We know." Al said. "Ready brother?"
"Ready!" Ed said.
The two transmuted the plush and gave it to her.
"Wow!" Reiko said.
"Isn't it cool?" Kuri ran over, hugging her duck plushie the brothers had given her earlier.
Kuri was Japanese, with caramel colored skin and dark brown long wavy hair. She had blue eyes. She wore a white shirt edged in red embroidery and dark red capris, with socks and light brown flip flops. She wore a gold pentacle around her neck.
Xxx
That was our very first use of alchemy. Humankind cannot gain anything without first giving something in return. To obtain, something of equal value must be lost. That is alchemy's first law of Equivalent Exchange. In those days, we really believed that to be the world's one, and only, truth.
An' it harm none, do what ye will. That is the Wiccan Rede's Law of Personal Gain. In those days, we really believed that to be the world's one, and only, truth.
Xxx
"You kids already understand alchemy!" Kaori said. "Sounds like you could use some Wiccan studies as well!"
"Aw Grams do we have to share our studies with boys!" Kuri protested.
"At least we aren't magic addicts like you two!" Ed said.
"Shut up. You're short!" Kuri snapped.
"Taller than you teensy miko!" Ed said.
"Chibi alchemist!" Kuri growled.
"Enough!" Reiko poured water on them. "Wash up! We're having stew tonight!"
"Where do you think they learned it all?" Kaori asked Trisha.
"Well they are his sons after all." Trisha said.
Xxx
"How did you learn alchemy?" Trisha asked the boys after dinner.
"From Dad's books." The brothers said in unison.
"You mean you actually understand that?" Trisha said. "The world's alchemists would be shocked."
"Are we in trouble?" Al asked.
"Of course not! I'm so proud!" Trisha said. "You two are welcome to his books. I want you to learn all you can!"
Aug 12, 1904
Ed, Rei, Al, and Kuri were all lying down in sleeping bags in the Hikawa main room. Decorated on the ceiling were stars and planets the Hikawas had done.
"When I get my own place I'm gonna put stars on every ceiling!" Kuri said.
"Yeah and we're all gonna be friends forever!" Rei said.
"No, we'll all get married and have families and never be together again." Al said.
"Never!" Ed said. "Cuz we're gonna marry each other! I'm gonna marry Kuri and you're gonna marry Rei!"
"Pinkie promise!" Rei and Kuri said, offering their pinkies to Al and Ed.
Ed took Kuri's pinkie and Al took Rei's. "It's a promise!"
Sept 3, 1904
"Mom look what we made!" Al said. "This one's mine, and that one's brother's! I'm still working on mine!"
"They're both amazing!" Trisha said.
"You think Dad would be proud?" Al said.
"When he gets home he'll tell you so!" Trisha said.
But Ed noticed the break in her voice and grabbed his transmute.
"I'm going to Kuri's!"
Al followed. "Why are you angry at Dad brother?"
"He ditched us. And makes Mom cry. I don't like him for those reasons..." Ed said softly.
Al put a hand on his brother's shoulder.
Dec 12, 1904
"Al hurry up! Mom sorry we're late!" Ed said.
The house was silent.
"Mom!" Ed saw her on the floor.
Al called for a doctor.
After a while, Kaori began caring for Trisha.
"She'll wake soon, but I can't say for how long." Kaori said.
Kuri walked in, looking miserable, as if she hadn't slept.
"Ed...Al..." Kuri hugged them. "Don't ask how I know...just make...these words to your Mama count ok?"
She covered her face and ran into her sisters arms, sobbing.
Unsure what she meant, the brothers went to their mother's side.
"There's money in the house...take it, and take care of each other..." Trisha said.
Ed suddenly realized that this might be his last moment with her. "Mom w-we...love you! Is there something we can do? Anything?"
"Transmute...a ring of flowers?" Trisha said. "Your father used to make them for me."
Her hand dropped from theirs.
The brothers realized she had loved their alchemy because she was reminded of their father.
Xxx
The two brothers sat at her gravestone for hours.
"Brother, I'm hungry. And I'm cold, too. How are we gonna do this? How are we gonna live without her?" Al said.
"We're not, Al. We're going to bring her back." Ed said.
After that the brothers decided to find a teacher and learn real strong alchemy. The kind that could bring back the dead.
Feb 20, 1910
"Water, 35 liters; carbon, 20 kilograms; ammonia, 4 liters; lime, 1.5 kilograms; Phosphorous, 800 grams." Ed said.
"Salt, 250 grams; saltpeter 100; sulfur 80; fluorine 7.5; iron, 5; silicon, 3 grams." Al said.
"And trace amounts of fifteen other elements. Yeah. That's everything. The physical ingredients of a human body. Now if we can just put together a soul, we should be able to call Mom back from the other side." Ed said.
"Brother are you sure about this?" Al said. "I have a bad feeling."
"Don't wimp out on me now." Ed said. "We're gonna see Mom smile again!"
They sat around the circle.
"Ready Al?" Ed said.
"What about the soul?" Al said.
Ed cut both their fingers. "Our blood from her blood. The spark that starts life."
They started the transmutation in a blast of red light. But soon there was a rebound.
Ed's leg was ripped away, and Al was dragged into the light.
"Brother! Brother please!" Al screamed.
"AL!"
The light dimmed leaving him alone.
"Give him back! Take my leg, take my arm, take my heart you can have it! GIVE HIM BACK HE'S ALL I HAVE LEFT!"
Ed clapped his hands together.
Xxx
Kuri Hikawa opened her eyes. There it was again. The sound of the killers footsteps as he stepped forward. Blood dripped off the blade where he had sliced her skin—or was it his own?
Kuri backed up, coward that she was, no weapon, no way to fight back. Kuri hid in the cupboard.
"Stay there, sister," Rei whispered. "Don't make a sound."
Kuri bit her lip. She tasted blood.
Nothing could convince her to move. Kuri was frozen. Kuri closed her eyes against the fear. Then she heard her parents screams as they were being murdered.
What was that? Was she crying?
No...that was blood. Pouring from her eyes. What was this pain? The anguish of death...the pain and darkness that came with the end of life?
The last two lights came into view. One that Kuri could not feel, could not read, frozen to her power. That thing out there, it wasn't human, she couldn't feel it. The other being out there was Kuri's twin, her Rei. The only one whose heart beat same as hers.
Caught by the hands of the monster, Kuri's mouth opened to scream...and no words came out. The blood from her eyes pooled into a circle, crystallizing. Kuri gazed at the hideous thing in awe and fear. Swirling within the little orb...light and dark...everything and nothing...her life flashed inside the tiny orb. The Shikon no Tama.
She grasped the orb in her hands as the homunculus Envy defiled her, gripping it as if it could save her. It couldn't. His face changed to Ed's, mocking her feelings.
She screamed, and the Shikon no Tama flashed, a bright silver light, she heard a cry of pain from the homunculus, then Rei's voice, crying out her name. The shape of a fox.
Then, darkness. Bliss.
Xxx
Kuri got to her feet, headed to the bathroom, stepping over bodies. She took a shower, then dressed and came out. "The Elrics. We have to go over there."
"Sister you need a hospital. A rape kit..." Rei attempted.
Kuri waved it off. "I don't know what your talking about Brother. Nothing like that ever happened. Stay here. When I return I expect it clean and ready to receive patients. Grams will be home any day and we need her expertise on prosthetics."
"Sister..." Rei tried again, but realized it was kinder to let her live in her own reality she had clearly created.
Kuri walked to the door of the house, and slowly opened it.
There was the distinct sound of someone screaming. A flash of light, and then darkness.
"Kuri!" it was Al that saw her.
The transmutation was done, Ed was bleeding on the floor, and the suit of armor that was speaking to her was Al.
"Can you help him? Please help him!" Al begged her.
Kuri stepped forward, hands on her mouth, tears pouring down her cheeks. "I will help. But I can't carry him far. I'll get him to the Hikawa Compound. Grams will know what to do."
Kuri lifted Ed, and followed Al to the Hikawa Compound.
"Al," Kuri said quickly. "I-I'm so sorry. So…So sorry. Someday, I'll make it up to you."
"Make what up?" Al asked, confused. "You saved us, Kuri!"
"No," Kuri said. "I should have gotten there sooner."
May 3 1910
"So that was a human transmutation. And it was your doing." Mustang said. "Hello there. I'm Lieutenant Colonel Mustang."
"A State Alchemist?" Al said.
"Yes." Mustang said.
"Get lost. My friends are hurt!" Kuri snarled.
"She's right you aren't welcome here!" Reiko said.
"Let's here him out." Ed rolled up in his wheelchair.
"Ed! You should be in bed!" Kuri rushed over to him.
"But you don't want to be, do you Elric?" Mustang said. "You want the chance to get your bodies back. The only way to do that is to join the military and become state alchemists. You need to move forward. This is your answer."
He put a folder in Ed's lap.
"There's all you need to know."
"That's enough!" Kaori hissed and pushed Mustang out of her house. "I won't have a dog filling the boys heads with military rhetoric!"
Ed turned to Al and mouthed 'We're jointing.'
Kuri cursed under her breath.
June 30, 1910
Rei walked into Ed's room and locked the door. "Ed I don't want to tell you this. But I think you and Al deserve to know. The Hikawa family was massacred by a man with a tattoo like this." He showed Ed a picture. "The man then raped Kuri and then left her for dead. He...wanted me to see. I-I will never forgive him. I will destroy him. I am an avenger!"
"S-Someone raped Kuri...killed your family...and I was too busy making a mistake like this to help her! I just...I-I failed her..." Ed sobbed. "How can she look at me..."
"This isn't about you, idiot! You have to think about her! She is in a state of blissful ignorance! Don't mention it to her! Understand!" Rei yelled.
"Y-Yes!" Ed said.
Xxx
Rei walked into the dark room where Al sat alone. Dawn was just breaking, and she had just awoke, her red hair jumbled around his face, dark eyes poking out as he examined the big suit of armor.
She ran a rough hand over the cool metal. It reminded her of the automail prosthetics she, Kuri and Grams created. It was beautiful in its own way, and he stared in awe. But it also made him so very sad. Al, her Al, was now inside a suit of armor.
Her lifted his head and looked inside at the blood rune, reaching out.
"Please don't." Al's soft voice said.
Rei jumped.
"Good morning, Rei." Al said.
"Rei! You're on! I mean, you're awake! I'm sorry, I was just, uh... what about... I can... um..." Rei said, blushing.
"Are you ok?" Al said. "It's ok if this freaks you out."
Rei shook his head. "Nah. I was just thinking, now you're a shiny. I might just steal you away."
Her eyes glinted gold.
Xxx
"Kuri..." Ed called for her.
"What is it Ed?" Kuri sat down in the chair.
"I want you to make me an arm. And a leg." Ed said. "Automail. I can pay you—"
"No." Kuri said firmly. "Family doesn't pay. I'm working on a bio-magical prototype. Prosthetics that can feel. But it's not ready yet. I promise to study hard and work on it...so as payment for the automail I want something."
"Heh...equivalent exchange. You've been studying alchemy with Al and Rei." Ed said weakly. "What do you want?"
"Rei and I want to join you on your trip to get your bodies back. I'm looking for something too." Kuri said. "No, I can't tell you what it is. But I'd like to find it. I think I can only find what I'm looking for if I'm with you, Ed."
Ed was quiet, thinking. "Alright Kuri. You and Rei can come. Al and I will just have to protect you."
Kuri rolled her eyes. "You think we spent all that time you were training sleeping or something? Grams taught us reikohaidan—martial arts with the art of spiritual power. We won't be dead weights. Besides we have three years of your surgery and rehab to bulk up."
"No." Ed said. "I'll do it in one."
Kuri kissed his forehead. "My little nut job."
"DON'T SAY LITTLE!"
July 13, 1910
Kuri approached Ed. Al was in the other room with Rei.
"Hey Ed, I don't...I don't know how to say this." Kuri said.
"Come on out with it then." Ed said.
"Al can't remain in a body without his soul for more than...29 and a half days." Kuri said.
"Th-that's nowhere near enough time!" Ed said.
"The full moon is tonight Ed. I can use reikohaidan to bring her body back...for one night a month. But if it isn't done now, the first time, then yes, she will die. I need you're help. It was your blood seal after all." Kuri said.
Ed was shocked. "And maybe after that you'll teach me this 'reikohaidan.' If it can do that..."
Kuri smirked. "Only if you teach me alchemy."
"I see, so you already learned Equivalent Exchange. Sure, I'll teach ya." Ed said.
Kuri held out her pinkie. "I promise I'll do all I can to put you both back together. I'm walking this path with you Ed. No going back. That's a promise."
Ed grinned and took her pinkie. "Promise!"
Xxx
Kuri could feel it coming in the air tonight, though it wasn't until after dusk that she knew beyond any doubt that the tumescent moon would crest between the proud jut of the rocks this very night.
Kuri prepared herself, taking special care to gather the oils, to pull together the herbs, anything that would give Al more of a fighting chance.
Knowing that the element of the Moon was Water, Kuri chose the largest and most beautiful of the conch shells she had collected during the last full moon. Kuri held it carefully before me while Kaori escorted her from the Uchiha compound to the winding path that led down to the southern shore of the river. As they walked, Kuri saw that the light from their torches reflected the pink center of the shell as if illuminating a secret.
With the aid of Ed, Al, Rei, and Kaori, Kuri lit each of the element candles and put them around Al in the transmutation circle Ed had helped her with.
When the moon was high enough in the sky, Kuri raised the conch, signaling silence, and then she and Ed activated the significantly altered transmutation circle.
The transmutation's light was silver, and Kuri helped Ed back into his wheelchair and the two of them stood back silently, waiting and hoping that their power would be enough.
The light dimmed and the candles went out.
"AL!" Ed wheeled himself to the center of the circle and looked at him.
"Brother you idiot! I'm not wearing any clothes!" Al said.
Kuri rolled her eyes. "Ya know it's better if you just sleep and let your soul recharge inside your body."
"Now your the idiot! You think I'm gonna sleep?! I'm gonna run and skip and dance and eat everything in sight!" Al ran inside. "Well? Come on!"
Unseen to everyone else, Kuri noticed Ed's sad smile, remembering that as the moon set, he would once again be bound to a suit of armor.
July 15 1910
Kuri looked at Ed. "You ready?"
"Yes." Ed said. "Do whatever you have to."
Kuri charged her hands with reiki and touched the nerves on his now healed stumps. They went numb to his feelings, but in reality were supercharged and ready to be attached.
Rei came in the room with prosthetics.
"Tell me if it hurts at all." Kuri said.
"I don't care about pain." Ed said. "It's nothing. Compared to what he's given up."
July 15, 1911
"Are you sure you wanna do this?" Ed said, just coming back from sparring with his brother.
"I have to. Don't question me. You promised we could come." Kuri said.
"I'll second that." Rei came over with Alphonse, watching the house burn.
"This is a new road. For all of us." Ed said. "You gave me limbs. Now I'm gonna start walking."