I'm back! Now...this is a request that's been standing for far too long in the "Request" chapter and left unattended (cough...like some other requests I've neglected T_T)! I'm EXTREMELY sorry about that, really! I'm that type of amateur-writer that writes whatever comes to mind or for whatever I'm in the mood for and I'm terrified of screwing up a chapter if I force myself to write! (bows repeatedly) Gomen everyone!
ANSWERS TO REVIEWS:
BuggyNess: Thank you so much! I'm glad you enjoyed it! :3 Yeah, you're right about being Hohenheim's sins, but I had the idea that, since Father was born from Hohenheims blood, Hohenheim would have implanted their previous memories into them by extracting a bit of the souls from Father in one of their many fights earlier on, that's how they still remembered everything that happened before.
Bob: Thanks a lot! :)
Cassey: Aw thanks! :3
GrumpyCatWriter101: THANK YOU! T_T Aw...damn...I have such awesome readers..(sniff) (reads idea) Ohhhhh, interesting! Very interesting indeed...ohhhh I'm gonna have fun with this one! ^_^ Thanks for the awesome idea! ;)
Sibling Bonding
The Alkahestry Brat and the Big Bad Homunculus
"Um...Mr. Greed?" Mei Chang slowly, cautiously approached the grumbling Homunculus, who was sitting on the ground of what was left over from the battlefield. It seemed like he was talking to himself, but she knew he was arguing with Ling.
She was holding a roll of gauze and scissors in her hands, Xiao Mei nuzzled the side of her face in encouragement and she bravely repeated her question in a louder voice, "Mr. Greed?"
The Homunculus, the last of his kind now, turned around and the dangerous-looking, slanted violet eyes had scared the hell out of the poor Xingese princess as she and her animal companion simultaneously jumped from the terrifying sight.
He growled in displeasure, "Yeah? Whatcha want brat?" his voice was a low grumble, not the normally smooth, silky voice she usually heard. It sounded strained too, was he in pain?
Mei noticed a small puddle of blood just next to the Homunculus, at first, she had thought it didn't belong to him, but according to his rigid posture and bad mood perhaps it did belong to him after all.
Realizing he was injured, she threw her worries out the window when she sprinted to his front and knelt down to the ground, opting to unroll the gauze.
Greed rose an eyebrow, "Hey! I asked you a question! It's rude to ignore your elders you know?" Greed playfully but gently poked her forehead and she yelped in surprise, rubbing the spot with her hand.
"I'm sorry but you're injured and...and I just have to help you!" unfazed, Greed observed how she continued to unravel the gauze.
"What's the deal with you Xingese people...sheesh, I said I was fine. It should heal any minute now," both Greed and Mei watched the medium sized flesh wound on the side of his stomach expectantly, as if the wound would close in a matter of seconds, which it should, but for some unexplainable reason it didn't.
Mei deadpanned, "Um...it didn't heal..."
Greed exploded in her face, "Yeah I know that!" he scoffed and fell quiet, probably talking with Ling inside his head.
"Don't be so harsh on Mei, I think she's a nice girl. Uhm...well for someone who tried to kill me for the throne anyway," Ling grinned innocently.
Greed scoffed, "Tch, yeah the brat's nice alright but I don't need any help. I'm a badass Homunculus! I should heal! Why am I not healing?"
Ling's expression turned worried, "Perhaps your Stone is depleted?" there was a brief pause in the air before Greed chased away his worries.
"You see these souls swimming and screaming around here kid? Nothing's depleted and if it were, big bad Greed wouldn't be here lecturing your royal ass. Hm...maybe my healing factor's disturbed for whatever reason,"
"Huh? What the hell? It should heal itself damn it!" Greed growled, wincing when he breathed in too deeply and a spark of pain shot through him.
Mei frowned and bravely moved closer to the Homunculus, "Please Mr. Greed, let me heal your wound, maybe you're too exhausted to-"
"I said I don't need help brat!" Greed comically shouted at her, holding his still bleeding side.
Mei exploded. Hell, Kimblee would've been proud of her! "Well I don't care! Now shut up and let me heal you!" Xiao Mei looked as distressed as his mistress, baring his small teeth at Greed, who blinked rapidly, in disbelief that this little cinnamon roll just shouted at him.
Greed scoffed, lifting the side of his shirt up, "Fine," he growled out.
Mei instantly smiled brightly, the mood immediately brightening around her.
"...The brat's creepy..." Greed commented to Ling.
"It's only because you're being difficult," Ling shot back smugly.
"Hey! I'm a Homunculus with regeneration powers! This ain't supposed to take this long! Besides, the brat's injured too!" Ling sensed Greed's distress at the visible wounds shown on Mei and his worry grew as well, "You're right..."
"Hey...why don't you take a rest? You're injured, injured people can't heal other injured people," Greed glared at her.
Mei didn't relent, carefully wiping away the blood, "But I'm not as injured as you Mr. Greed. And I can always go to the doctor later, but if you lose too much blood, it will harm Mr. Ling too," hm...she had a point but still...
"I just think children like you aren't supposed to treat elders when you're injured yourself," Greed scoffed disapprovingly.
"Well, I'm not a child! And you're not that old to be talking that way!" she shot back, fixing him with a firm glare.
Greed would have shrunk back if he were Ling, "Well...this girl has spunk!" Ling chuckled, shaking his head and watching in amusement how things played out.
Greed observed how the little girl treated his injury and a small smile stretched over his handsome face and he gently petted her head, startled, Mei sprung up, looking surprised at the Homunculus.
"Thanks kid, I owe you one," Greed grinned and winked, patting her head almost brotherly.
Mei, flooded with sisterly affection for the older male, launched herself at him, crying waterfalls of tears, "Oh Mr. Greed! You can be such a softie!" Greed's eyes nearly bulged out of his head, blood shooting out of his wound like a water sprinkler as the little girl hugged him with surprising strength.
"HEY! KNOCK IT OFF KID! I'M BLEEDING DAMN IT!" Greed hollered comically, in truth, barely feeling the sting.
Ling was just laughing hysterically inside his head.
The Ice Queen and the Sparkling Idiot
"Ah, there you are sister," the Strong Arm Alchemist said cheerfully as he entered her office with a smile.
He noticed the lack of any sort of flowers or decorations, he knew his sister very much preferred to live like a Spartan but...
"What do you want, Alex?" cold blue eyes snapped to her brother from her paperwork, a drift of annoyance in her voice.
That though, didn't deter Alex in the slightest, "I've just thought on visiting you on this lovely day!" he posed, thankfully his uniform was still intact, the suns rays shining on him through the window almost like a ethereal being.
Olivier sighed but paused when he suddenly placed the small but beautiful vase full of white lilies on a empty space on her desk, "These are for you, I know you dislike those fancy bouquets so I opted for something elegant and beautiful, just like my sister," his grin sparkled proudly.
Olivier couldn't help but smirk, "Smearing honey on my mouth Alex? Is there something in particular you want?"
Silence ensued.
Then he exploded.
Or rather his shirt did.
"Oh please sister! Please give it back!" comical tears ran down his cheeks as he grabbed onto his sister's leg, who stood up and held the object of his desire out of his reach in the air, her saber poised threateningly over the creature's neck.
"I shall have none of it! No coward such as you deserves such a majestic animal quiet like this!" when Alex looked up at the object of his affections, he froze.
"You...you..." the waterworks broke, "YOU DRESSED HIM AS ONE OF YOUR SOLDIERS?!" his eyes widened, "HE EVEN HAS A SWORD?!"
Olivier smirked smugly, dangling the stuffed animal toy in the air mockingly, the little bear was dressed in a miniature sized blue uniform with a small, plastic sword strapped to his side.
"NOOOOO! MR. MUZZLES!" Olivier kicked her brother right in the face, shoving him away.
"I told you his name isn't Mr. Muzzles! It's Sir Edmund the Great!" she proudly held the stuffed animal in the air, as if holding a newborn baby in glowing sunlight.
Alex balled up into a ball on the floor while Olivier huffed and ordered him out of her office.
Several hours later – night time
Alex Louis Armstrong slowly, as quietly as he could, creeped into the one room he swore he would never enter again without his sister's permission, at least ever since she had shaved him bald and his beautiful hair refused to grow ever again...perhaps it was so scared of Olivier doing it again that it refused to grow again...
He shook his head and quietly squeezed himself through the much too tiny gap the ajar door left open, narrowing his eyes in order to somewhat adjust to the darkness around him and see better.
It has been a while since he was last in Olivier's room, at least since they were children, and he had no idea how many things she changed.
He blinked a few times, managing to make out outlines and slowly, ever so slowly, shadowy shapes and the every bit of a view of his surroundings. He could make out the bed, where his sister lay covered in a thin blanket for the summer, her writing desk stood at the far right corner, there was a small night desk situated to the left of her large queen sized bed, a small petroleum lamp was on it, along with her gloves.
Her trusty saber was just resting against the wall next to her bed, never out of its owners reach and Alex sweated at the thought how fast she could grab it and unsheathe it once his presence was discovered.
As quietly as was possible for a man his size and weight, he tiptoed to Olivier's side, to her bed, and carefully knelt down, his eyes straining to make out the small, fluffy shape wrapped tightly within his sister's embrace.
Wait...
Mr. Muzzles...Olivier was hugging him? In her sleep? She wasn't strangling him? Alex blinked, disturbed by discovering such a new...softer...more childish side to his sister.
His previous plans and plots of snatching away Mr. Muzzles vanished into thin air the longer he stared at his sister holding onto the teddy bear, as if it would chase away her nightmares. His blue eyes softened, the hope in his heart rising again that his sister dubbed as "Ice Queen" may not have been so cold at heart as she always pretended to be.
It was true, he did know she wasn't completely cold, but he never would have thought she was so soft as to sleep with a stuffed toy.
Upon pondering longer on it, it wasn't necessarily that a grown woman was sleeping with a stuffed animal that surprised him, being that the woman was a very powerful and lethal general that commanded a whole platoon of strong men stationed at Fort Briggs, but the fact that, as children, he remembered how he gifted her that bear because Olivier had been depressed after the death of her pet dog.
As young as he was back then, just a little boy, he had thought of cheering up his sister and had went shopping with his mother once, he had spotted the bear at a toy store and there had been more beautiful toys but for some reason, the bear had caught his eye and wouldn't leave him at ease until he finally purchased it with his mother.
Alex clearly remembered how surprised little Olivier had been at Alex gifting her such a toy, but, despite throwing the bear at his head and shouting at him she didn't need pity from a little kid such as him, he also remembered that she was smiling under her long, blonde bangs and that, when he had left the room but hid behind a wall to observe her, she had walked over to the abandoned stuffed animal and held it tenderly against her.
He remembered being so happy she had accepted his gift and was even more surprised she had held onto it for all these years.
He may have pretended that he had been cross with her for renaming Mr. Muzzles, but seeing her looking so peaceful, holding the stuffed toy within her arms...
The alchemist smiled and slowly bent down, placing a gentle, warm hand on top of her blonde head and affectionately kissing her forehead.
"Goodnight, Olivier," with warmth and brotherly love and affection filling his heart, he quietly left her room, closing the door behind him with a soft 'click'.
After several long minutes passed, Olivier slowly opened her blue eyes, looking at the door where her brother had left through and touching her forehead where he had kissed her good night.
She sighed, hugging Mr. Muzzles closer to her and sighing, "That idiot brother of mine...I can't believe he entered my room..." she looked down at the bear, "Isn't that right Mr. Muzzles?" she chuckled softly to herself, before closing her eyes and losing herself in the land of dreams.
We will make it
"B-brother?" Alphonse quietly, uncertainly whispered into the dark room.
It was already late into the night and Alphonse wasn't sure if his brother was sleeping or not, he knew his brother had been exhausted from today's fighting and escaping from Kimblee, not to mention Winry beating him up over destroying her automail again...
"I'm awake, Al," Ed's calm voice echoed in the empty room and Alphonse felt safer for some reason.
"Um...I'm sorry if I woke you," he wrapped his arms around his knees, his eyes a dull glowing red.
"Nah, it's okay, I wasn't really sleeping in the first place," Ed paused for a brief moment, as if thinking of something, then he asked, "Is something wrong?"
Alphonse briefly contemplated about not telling Ed about his doubts, but he wasn't a very good liar and Ed would know immediately when he was lying, "It's just...about what Mr. Kimblee said..." he looked into a dark corner, sensing his brother's eyes on him, "Um...do you think he...he was right?"
Ed's voice took on a serious tone, "You mean what he said about the war? About killing people?"
The nervousness within him grew but nevertheless, he continued, "Y-yes..."
Edward hummed thoughtfully, before saying flatly, "The bastard was right, it's true that, once you don that fancy uniform, you're expected to kill people, even if you don't want to. He was right about being naïve if you join the military and think you aren't expected to kill, because those kinds of people don't last long in this world. Mustang said something similar too..."
Al hung his head down, "Oh..." sadness and doubt creeped up on him like the lethal shadows belonging to Pride.
"But he was wrong about us!" Alphonse was startled by his brother's sudden determined, fired up voice, "He was wrong about us Al! We can get our bodies back and we will! There's nothing anyone can say to us that will stop us from achieving our goal you understand?"
Al found his courage growing again because of his brother's encouraging words, "Y-yeah,"
"Right, now if you have these doubts again don't hesitate to tell me alright? After all...what are big brothers for huh?" Al smiled, he could almost see the large, goofy grin his older brother was wearing right now.
"Mhm...thanks brother,"
"No problem Al...now let's get some sleep, tomorrow's a big day. It's the day we will kick Kimblee's white suited butt!" Ed laughed and Alphonse released a amused giggle at his brother's antics.
Yeah...there was no need to fear anything with his big brother by his side...
Because he knew...even if the possibility of regaining their bodies back was only two percent...he knew, his brother would sacrifice his one percent just so Al had a higher chance of getting his real body back.
Because his big brother, despite all his flaws and ticks, was the biggest hero of all to him.
Oh man...I almost cried at the end...the feels...damn...