Finished writing this on May 10th 2020.
I'm sure some of your questions will be answered in this chapter.
Please leave a comment for your suggestions. :)
Disclaimer: I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist and its characters. All I own is the plot.
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Chapter 9: Հայր (Armenian: hayr)
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It comes out sometimes.
Roy observed the two toddlers try out new origami styles on their perch on the kitchen island. Edward had his tongue stuck out as his pudgy fingers worked to fold the multi-coloured paper into an intricate lotus, while Alphonse decided to stay with the less complex design of a pinwheel.
It's never in-your-face. You'd have to squint to be able to catch it.
That hyperfocused look he gets when a particular activity intrigued him, or when he'd get excited and clap his hands but would suddenly stop and just stare at his fingers as if seeing them for the first time.
Edward Elric, the Fullmetal Alchemist and a retired major of the Amestris military sometimes peeked out from the wide innocent eyes of little Edward Mustang.
Questions plagued his mind. Did Edward remember what had happened before the transmutation? Did the brothers deliberately do this? Was alchemy even capable of bending time and space to create an alternate universe? Is there a way to reverse this? Does he want to reverse this?
Would anyone of them want to?
The cushion beside him dipped as Riza sat on the couch. Her deep navy dress contrasted sharply against the cream colour of the couch and highlighted her blond tresses beautifully. She had taken to wearing dresses more often, offering only that she needed to get used to wearing them because of the pregnancy as the reason.
Roy thought she looked ethereal.
"Penny for your thoughts?" she asked, tilting her head slightly to the side.
He shifted in his seat and shrugged his shoulders. "Just thinking about the upcoming debates in New Optain," he lied, hoping she won't catch on. This was something he didn't want to bother her with at the moment. "It will be on live television and I have to admit I'm quite nervous."
And it was true. Roy was nervous in going to Riza's hometown. What will they find there? Was Berthold Hawkeye still alive in this world? He had to suppress a shudder at the thought. He would have to talk to Riza about that. Also, he had only ever been interviewed by radio stations before, but being on TV will be a whole new experience for him even if the Roy in this world worked the media perfectly.
"Do you need me to help you prepare?" Riza queried, no doubt already listing off suggestions and ideas mentally. "I can give Maes a call now."
Roy was quick to stop her from getting up and going over to the phone, grabbing her hand in his much larger ones. "Ah, you don't need to do that." And it was only because they had known each other for so long that he caught the slight look of disappointment in her eyes, so he amended immediately, "But I'd appreciate if we could bounce ideas later?"
She threaded her fingers through his in response and she smiled beautifully. "Okay."
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"Roy?"
He paused on the doorway of their bedroom, a tray of food in his hands. From where he was standing, he could see Riza lounging on the bed with an arm thrown over her eyes with Hayate by her feet. She avoided the kitchen and dining room during meals since it aggravated her nausea.
Really, it shouldn't be called 'morning sickness' anymore. It should be called 'all-day sickness' since it's already lunch time and she still runs to the toilet to puke her guts out.
"How did you even know I was here?" he asked in an amused tone.
He stepped further into the room as she pulled herself into a sitting position. He put the tray on the bedside table and pulled up a chair. Today's lunch menu for Riza was a simple chicken consommé and cobb salad since she can't stomach any richly flavoured food.
"I think I'm turning into Black Hayate," she joked and the shiba inu perked up upon hearing his name. "I can actually smell the food even before you entered the room."
Roy just shook his head and muttered, "Pregnant women."
"Where are the kids?" she queried, taking a fork from the tray and stabbing a tomato with it. "It's just strange they haven't called for me all morning."
He smirked, a teasing glint lighting his eyes up. "I didn't know you'd be a clingy mama, Hawkeye." He snickered when she rolled her eyes. "They're in the library with Izumi. Apparently the new lesson in science is interesting."
When Izumi turned upon their doorstep a week ago to start homeschooling Edward and Alphonse, Roy and Riza weren't that surprised anymore. She had been the brothers' teacher before after all. They just didn't think she was the most appropriate person to be teaching small kids, considering her teaching methods in their original world.
Surprisingly though, this Izumi Curtis is a much more subdued one, always wearing a gentle smile and definitely without that tough love shit she had going on before. They got their answer when her husband Sig and son Frederick picked her up one afternoon.
"Some things never change, eh?" she commented, petting Hayate who padded over to her side at the smell of the food. "Soon Izumi will run out of age-appropriate teaching material if this goes on at this rate."
And that was one thing they needed to discuss. They both knew what happened when the boys got their hands on extremely advanced knowledge on alchemy before. Heck, they both saw it on that basement floor, slick with blood and grime. That grotesque figure could not be easily forgotten.
He wrinkled his nose at the morbid image and decided to just focus on the conversation. "But how old are they exactly?" At the blonde's curious glance, he elaborated, "Sometimes I don't know how to address them. They may look and act like children – our children – most of the time but recently, I've been seeing Edward and Alphonse Elric more than Edward and Alphonse Mustang."
That piqued her interest and she made a move to stop eating and put her dishes aside, but he stopped her. He continued, "Sometimes I catch Alphonse staring at his reflection on the mirror as if he couldn't believe what he was seeing. And just yesterday, I had to wrestle with Edward to get him to drink his milk and he actually called me Bastard when he thought I couldn't hear him. Oh, but I did."
He could see the gears moving in her mind. "So that was why they weren't allowed to watch their favourite TV show yesterday."
Roy nodded, stealing a quail egg from her plate and popping it in his mouth before she could slap his hand away. "I'm not entirely sure, but I think his memories as Edward Elric is leeching into his consciousness somehow."
Riza hummed in contemplation. "Do you think the same is happening to us?" His only answer was a raised eyebrow and she shrugged. "I mean, when we woke up from the 'accident'," she started, using air quotes for the word 'accident'. "Don't you think it strange that we knew how to seamlessly integrate ourselves to this life? We even know how to operate the television even if such thing didn't exist in our world!" She seemed to have noticed her increasing volume when Hayate whined, so she whispered the next words.
"What if this world's memories take over ours and we'll soon forget who we really are? What will happen to your – our goals?"
He sighed. Unless the boys could somehow tell him how they transmuted this world, he won't be able to find the answers to her questions, much less undo it. "We'll figure this out."
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"Mama?"
Both he and Riza looked up from the television to the small figure by the door of the office. After their lunch, they just spent the day while the boys were away on their studies just lounging in companionable silence on the bed, each stewing in their own thoughts of their loaded conversation earlier.
Then Riza had enough of being unproductive and bullied Roy into doing some paperwork which, then, transitioned to them preparing for the debates. They had been watching this world's Roy's TV interviews for pointers since and they were due for a break.
Riza scooted over and tapped the space between her and Roy to invite the child in. "Yes, baby?"
Alphonse trudged towards them, a small frown marring his features. He looked to be deep in thought, quite reminiscent of how he looked like when he got lost in his research notes in the library with Edward before.
The child climbed up the couch and peered shyly at both adults. He put his thumb in his mouth but Riza gently pulled it away. His baby teeth won't grow straight if he kept it up.
"I want to stay here."
Roy's heart skipped a beat and his gaze snapped to the woman beside him to find her looking at him with the same shocked expression he was sure mirrored his. Did Alphonse say what he thought he said?
He was the first one to glance away. "Wha- What was that, Alphonse?" he stammered, still unsure of what was happening. "I didn't catch that."
But, just like in a snap of fingers, the child's demeanor changed as if he just remembered something. "Brother ate all the cookies!"
Then he jumped off the couch and ran out the door, screaming bloody murder at his brother for finishing all the cookies Riza had baked the day before. The two adults sat in silence for quite some time, stewing in their thoughts and both hesitant to actually acknowledge what had happened.
What did Alphonse mean when he said he wanted to stay here? Did he want to abandon their lives in the world they originally came from? Or did he mean that he wanted for them to not go to New Optain next week?
"You heard what he said, right?" Riza whispered, her eyes not leaving the door to where the child disappeared.
"Yes," he replied, a bit anxious to how she would react to this situation.
"Did he really mean it?" Riza finally turned away from the door to look at him. There was a look in her eyes that revealed her unease. She kept her hands clasped together, but he could see how pale her knuckles had gotten from being clenched so tightly. "Does he- Do they know how to reverse this? If yes, and he says he wants to stay here, then we won't be able to do anything about it unless you find out how to do it, right?"
He shifted in his seat and his gaze rested on hers, mulling over the thoughts that his lips threatened to spill. "What if," he swallowed the lump that formed in his throat, wondering if he's about to say the right thing. He reached over and cupped her cheek, tenderly caressing it with his thumb.
"What if I want to stay like this too?"
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