The room was silent as Roy watched Edward and Alphonse staring at Manami. They stared at her for what felt like forever. Manami could see in Ed's eyes that he was still piecing it together.

How do I know that name?

She died several years ago…

So how is she here?

Unless…

His golden eyes narrowed. The guilt made her heart sink in her chest and her eyes lowered to the floor.

"Alright, so..." Roy began to step aside. "I have an hour-long lunch break now." He was going to need it... "You're welcome to stay in here and hash this out." Roy said as he went to leave the room, the door clicking shut behind him.

That was the only sound for a long while, before Edward finally spoke. "I can't believe this..."

He was angry.

"Ed…" Al tried to ease his older brother while Manami only pursed her lips. She couldn't even look at either of them in the eye.

"... do you have anything to say..?" Al asked softly, but the pain in his voice was apparent. It took a moment, but Manami finally managed to speak.

"I'm terrified."

"We're the ones who should be terrified, looking at a ghost." Edward snipped, making her flinch again. "I don't get it. We were your friends, so why—"

"Because I did something really, really bad..!" Manami cut Ed off with a trembling voice, making the Elric brothers stop and glance at each other in surprise.

"That's your excuse?!" Ed gritted his teeth. "You did something bad and ran away to leave us to think you were dead?!"

"That's exactly it!" Manami finally managed to look up at them.

Ed felt himself tensing up, the hairs on the back of his neck standing. He had a thought, but he quickly dismissed it.

"Guys... The Colonel gave us time to talk, not argue. We need to be open— and patient— about it." He added.

"Tch," Ed clicked his tongue before glancing over to the two couches sitting across from each other.

"Guess we don't have a choice. I'm listening." He growled, gesturing for her to sit first.

Manami swallowed thickly, but she slowly made her way to one of the couches and sat. The brothers watched her sit, taking in her movement to further accept the reality that she indeed was really here. After she sat, they made their way to the couch across from her and quietly sat. Al folded his hands in his lap while Ed hunched forward a bit to lean his elbows on his thighs.

"I think you owe us the pleasure of hearing your story first." He said to her, looking her straight in the eye. "And we want everything."

"Whatever way you're afraid of us reacting, just... don't be." Al spoke, trying to sound more gently.

"Like Al said, we need to be open and whatever. It's the only way that we're going to get past this." Ed muttered.

"..." He was right. Manami finally let out a deep sigh, and folded her hands and rested her forehead against them, like a shield covering her eyes. "... I…" She felt the words form a lump in her throat that almost choked her. "I think... I killed my mom and dad."

A statement that really shocked the Elric brothers, but Ed knew to not jump to the conclusion that she was a murderer.

"What do you mean?" He asked quietly. Manami took another deep breath. "While you were in Dublith, I…" She got choked up again. She started to tremble. "I tried to bring Shiori back."

It was a glass shattering realization that had knocked the wind out of Ed's chest for a brief moment.

"You attempted... Human transmutation?!" He hissed, and at that moment Manami finally looked up to meet Ed's eyes.

"What was lost?" He asked quickly, which took Manami back for a second. She also noticed how his eyes were scanning over her, like he was looking for something on her. She didn't know that he was desperately looking to find what was lost. What was taken from her.

"My mom and dad were the only ones affected, and... they were gone by the end of it." She answered.

Both Ed and Al were speechless. Manami didn't know what to think of that and she looked down nervously.

"I mean, when everything started happening, they came down to see what was wrong, and... if I remember correctly, they stepped in the circle before they…" The harsh memory cut her off and she gritted her teeth. "I was suddenly at this white void where someone spoke to me, saying that my toll was solitude. I didn't know what they meant until I woke up to find no one around except… a monster."

Ed gritted his teeth, and now he was the one to hold a hand over his eyes. "Damn it…"

"So…" Al finally spoke. "You left right after that?"

"Well..." Manami paused. "It started with burning that thing." She paused. "But I pretty much convinced myself out into thinking I didn't belong there anymore. I didn't know what everyone would think, so I assumed the worst and ran away instead of facing it, and I burned everything down to make it look like an accident. I… wanted to come back and explain everything, but I didn't know how to." She shook her head. "Any conclusion I could come to is that they're gone. Dead. And it's my fault, so..." She shrugged weakly and her fists clenched in her lap.

"I don't know how much it will mean now, but… I'm sorry..." Her voice trembled as she felt the tears start to well in her eyes. She quickly shut them tightly to hold them back. "I'm so sorry..."

"..." Ed sighed heavily and patted his knees before standing up and walking towards the windows. "I could scold you all day about what a fool you are." Manami sunk at his words. "But, you know… I can't." He looked at his metal hand. He would be a hypocrite if he scolded her.

"Brother…" Al spoke softly, but Ed only sighed once again.

"We went to your funeral, you know." He said quietly, lowering his hand and leaning against the windowsill to look outside. Manami opened her eyes but could only look down at her clenched fists in her lap as she listened quietly.

"We had just gotten back from Dublith, I'd say a week or two after you left. We were devastated to hear you were gone." Ed continued. "Granny Pinako did most of the planning for it, but everyone in the village pitched in to have a funeral for your family. Your tombstones are right with Shiori's."

Manami slowly looked up to Ed, though she could only see his back. She then turned to look at Al in the suit of armor, who simply looked away.

"Al and Winry cried through the whole thing."

"You did too, Ed."

"Yeah..." Ed turned to look at Al. "You remember what we said, Al? ... if we were successful the first time, we would try to bring Manami and Shiori back, too."

"Mm." Al hummed lowly in agreement.

"..?" Manami's eyes widened as she looked back to Ed. The first time..?

"We tried to bring our mom back, first." Ed finally looked back at her, his golden eyes burning into her chocolate ones.

"It took my leg, and then…" Ed looked to Al and sighed. "You may just want to sit..."

Manami obeyed, slowly going to sit down, her gaze following Ed's to look at Al. After a nod from his older brother, Al slowly went to reach for his helmet.

"Don't freak out…"

He lifted the helmet to reveal there was no one inside. Not the little blonde boy with short-cut hair with golden eyes. Not the boy that Manami would only admit to herself that she had feelings for.

It was now Manami's turn to feel the glass shatter. Her heart dropped and she stared at him in pure shock. She didn't freak out, but her eyes welled up with tears again.

"I had to attach his soul to that suit of armor, which took my arm as payment." Ed explained as he slowly walked towards her. "So… you're not alone."

"... I can't believe it…" Manami went to rest her face in her palm.

"It's a lot to take in for the both of us." Al went to put his helmet back on.

"And that's why I can't scold you for that, other than…" Ed groaned. "Really? With just notes from our books? How long did you even study them?"

"Not that long. I know. I have no excuse." Manami shook her head while still holding it in her hand.

"We studied for almost two years before trying." Ed mumbled. "We worked tirelessly to make sure—"

"And even then, it didn't work out." Manami cut him off, and Ed gritted his teeth for a moment as he tried to think of a quick response.

He couldn't. She was right.

"... I'm sorry. That was out of line." Manami apologized softly, lowering her hand. "It's just... not possible, is it?" She looked up at him, and he was immediately overrun with guilt at the sight of tears in her eyes.

"... No." Ed looked away. "The dead can't come back to life. But… that's why I joined the military." He looked back at her. "So that we can utilize their resources and find a way to get our bodies back to normal. I don't know your reasons for joining the military, but now…" He sighed and rubbed the back of his neck.

"Gah, this is just too much to accept right now, yet I have to get over it before the Colonel comes back." He gritted his teeth.

"I'm sorry…" Manami went to stand.

Ed shook his head. "... it's just dangerous, and…"

"You don't want me to die— well, again." Manami nodded. "I can assure you, I'm not dead weight. I'll be putting all my alchemical and fighting skills into helping you. Not just because it's my job, but…" She shrugged. "I have to start making amends to my friends."

"..." Ed sighed through his nose. "I'm gonna make this clear, I need space to come to terms with all of this. I can't just welcome you back with open arms and pretend you didn't leave with no intention to come back."

Manami didn't respond. She just looked down to her feet again.

"But thanks to this stupid partnership, I'm not really gonna get that space. You're now caught up in our mess." He rubbed the back of his neck.

"... but we do know that you're sorry. And I can accept that apology." Al said quietly, going to stand up. "Brother will, too. He just needs time."

"A good bit of time." Ed nodded, his face still in a frown. "Until then, we're just partners who happened to know each other previously." He said, and Manami looked back to see Ed extending his closed fist. She stared at it for a brief moment before noticing that Al extended a fist out as well. She could feel her throat grow a lump as the tears... finally overflowed from her eyes. She quickly lifted one of her hands to try to wipe them away quickly.

"C'mon. Don't leave us hanging." Ed muttered, averting his eyes from her tear stained face.

Manami sniffled as she lifted her other hand, balled into a fist, to touch both of theirs.

They could visibly see her hand tremble.