Ed knew he messed up even before he was fully awake. How could he not when his sleep was plagued with what he happened. What he "paid" to see.
And Al.
He almost died. Could have died if Ed was just a little too slow in tying his soul down into that suit.
First thing he did was make sure that Al was still in there, but after that?
"Ed? Brother?"
How can he look at his brother, his little brother, that he almost killed because of his own... hubris. Of course the reason why there has never been a successful human transmutation wasn't because no one was smart enough. That Ed and Al weren't the only ones who came up with an equation for a human body.
He should have come up with a better replacement for a human soul. DNA? No wonder the rebound was so great. There is no way a few drops of blood could ever equal a human soul.
Their mother's soul.
"Brother? Are you in pain? I... I was supposed to tell Granny when you woke. Don't move."
The footsteps that followed were way too loud. Ed was always the loud one, not Al. He was always the one that could sneak up on Dan in their games.
But at least he is alive.
Ed closed his eyes, no longer wanting to see the mound under the sheets were only one of his feet were. Give his arm for his brother is one thing, but Ed gained nothing from the leg his paid. The knowledge might be useful, but it was things that Ed could have learned in a few years with enough studying.
Their mom was still died.
They failed.
No, we not only failed, but now Al doesn't even have a body. We have less now than ever.
"Okay, I'll take it from here. Why don't you go see if Winry is up yet?" Pinako said, and Ed could already smell the faint smell of smoke even before the door opened.
"But I want to make sure brother is alright."
"He will be. Just give it time."
The door opened and Ed opened his eyes. Pinako was pushing a wheelchair in, but parked it to the side before walking over to the bed.
"Good. Doesn't look like there is any inflammation. You hungry yet?"
Ed shrugged, which only reminded him of the lack of weight on one side.
"You lost a lot of blood last night. Drink this, then we'll see how you're doing."
Ed lifted his head only a little to see the glass of milk on the table. Even seeing that white devily liquid didn't make Ed feel anything. It felt more like he was in a fog than in a bed.
"Why don't you just give him an IV?" A voice that Ed thought he would never hear again asked.
Ed lifted his head up all the way to see his mom standing in the doorway. She looked just like she did last time, only wearing Winry's dad's clothing.
"I have no idea what that is Lola. Is that some fancy thing from the future?" Pinako said without skipping a beat, moving the glass of milk closer to Ed.
Lola? Future? What...
His mom snorted. "Yeah, I guess. It's just a fluid bag that you insert directly into the vein to keep patients hydrated. It's got electrolytes and shit in it."
Ed stared at his- not his mom. That was very obvious now. His mom never cursed or said bad words.
"That sounds useful. Remind me to ask you more about it later."
Ed wanted to yell at this imposter, why it felt like tricking Ed into thinking that maybe it worked. Maybe it wasn't a complete waist of time and of Al's body.
But what came out was a weak, "Who..."
Pinako and that... thing... both turned to look at him.
"Ah shity balls. Sorry kid, I forgot you were out of it when the 'big reveal' happened." The thing said, rubbing the back of its neck in another move that Ed had never seen their mother do. "Um, good job on not dying. I'm Lola Rockwell, and due to some reason, I ended up in your mother's body. So... I guess sorry about that too."
After confirming that it was indeed not his mom, Ed went back to staring at the glass of milk.
"You're not really good with kids are you?" Pinako said after the awkward silents that followed got to be a little too much.
"Eh, last time I've interacted with a kid was when I was one myself."
"Really? How old are you?"
"24, though I skipped a few grades in school. I graduated with my Ph.D. when I was only 20."
"A doctorate at 20? So you're someone who's more focused on work than family."
"I could give two shits about family. I have more important things to do. Or had? Will have? Damn this is getting confusing."
Ed listened with half an ear as they talked, and the more he heard the more it was clear that it wasn't his mom. He woke up figuring he failed, but somehow it was worst knowing how close they got. The only thing they messed up was the soul, but if they figured that out-
"Granny? Winry is up trying to make breakfast and... is brother alright?"
Al. Al was stuck as a living suit of armor because of him. He needed to fix that before anything else. Ed briefly wonders if he could just trade his body for Al's, but he doesn't even have a full body.
"Physical he'll be fine. Probably still in shock, and need to eat at some point or I will have Lola try her IV-thingy on him."
"Hey, I'm an astro-engineer, not a medical doctor."
"Which is even more reason as to why Ed needs to drink his milk," Pinako concluded.
Ed looked away from the table and resumed his starting at the wall.
"Hey Granny, can we put Ed in the wheelchair now? Maybe it will help to get out of the room?"
"Hmm, not a terrible idea. Lola, Al, help me with the boy."
Ed felt himself be picked up and he duly released that it even smelled like their mom. Was losing his leg and ruining his brother's life not punishment enough?
"There we go. Al you can be in charge of wheeling your brother. Lola you know how to cook?"
"Does making toast count?"
Pianko sighed loudly. "Can you make sure that Winry doesn't start another fire?"
"Probably?"
Al started rolling Ed out of the room and they could hear Dan barking outside. Lola paused on her way to the kitchen just as someone started knocking on the door frantically.
"Give me a second." Pinako murmured as she walked past them all.
"Stop being noisy Dan, be nice to the guests..." Pinako got out before a man in a blue military uniform shoved passed her.
"Sorry for the intrusion Mrs. Rockbell."
Ed didn't bother lifting his head up to look at the face of the man, but he could tell that Pinako wasn't happy about this.
"What does a military man want, barging in here like this?!"
"My apologies," A feminine voice said followed by more footsteps, "We heard that the Elrics should be here so..."
Al started rolling him into the room, the squeaky wheels effortlessly cutting off the conversation. Ed looked up at the man through his bangs, and briefly notice he looked angry before he was pulled up by the front of his shirt.
"We went to your house, WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT MESS?! WHAT THE HELL DID YOU MAKE?"
"Who the hell do you think you are manhandling a kid like that?!"
The hand on his shirt was ripped away, and Ed noticed that... that thing was standing between him and the man now.
"Who are you?" The man asked in a very similar tone.
"Lola, I'm... their aunt. Now you better have a fucking good reason for barging in like that."
"Have you seen your nephew's basement? Do you know what they did?"
"Everyone here knows, but that still doesn't give you the right to do that. Can't you see they have suffered enough already? And you better not be thinking of arresting some fucking kids for just wanting to see their mom again."
"...Sorry..."
Ed didn't even notice that he opened his mouth, but it was like a dam broke and tears started falling down his face as he just repeated that word over and over. This was all his fault. He almost killed his brother, and that... Lola has to deal with his mess too. All his fault.
At some point, he stopped crying and they moved to the table. Pinako, Lola, and the man - Mustang - sat in a chair while Al pushed his wheelchair to one of the sides.
"...There would be research funding, access to secret documents, the country's research data and technology will be at your disposal. You will get these privileges, if you become a State Alchemist. However, in return, you are bound to follow military orders. And then, you're able to access information that average people cannot get. You may be able to find something that would help you two return to normal..."
"But I thought alchemy is for the people," Al asked quietly, but Mustang still answered without any pause.
"That is correct. Thus they are called the military's dogs."
There was a short silent that befell the table as they all processed that, before Pinako asked, "Are you sure that these kids are skilled enough for national qualifications?"
"Between the alchemy circle found in the Elric's home, the subject of human transmutation, and the ability to transmute a soul; there is no doubt."
"Just like that? Sure, the kids are fucking geniuses, but they are still kids. They're both dumbasses when it comes to thinking about anything outside their own goals. The military can't be desperate enough to let kids who haven't even reached puberty get join." Lola said, though it sounded like she does believe that the military would do that.
It reminded Ed a little of Winry.
"If they past the test, they can become State Alchemist regardless of what you think Miss. Eric. I'm not trying to force them to join, I'm only stating the possibility." Then Mustang turned to look at Ed. "To live your life with hopelessness and a piece of armor for a brother or to sell yourself to the military for the possibility that you can recover! That, is your choice."
"Shitty choices there," Lola commented under her breath as Mustang stood up.
"That'll be all for today. If you decide to, come to the headquarters in East City. This should be helpful." Mustang said as he handed Al a letter.
Ed waited until the door closed again, before telling Pinako, "I want automail."
A/N: Sorry this took so long, but you have homelybiscuit to thank since after reading their review this morning I finally opened the doc and wrote more than a sentence. I guess all I needed was a reminder of why I started this fic. So Lola can get her tattoos back.
This chapter did end up a little on the short side, but again I liked how it ended it. I'm not sure if I'll keep up the alternating pov chapters like I originally planned.
Thank you everyone who favorited/followed this story! Hopfully the next update will happen sooner then over a year. And like always, special thanks to homelybiscuit, DannyPhantom619, CallmeCrazylol, PaperWorld, BlackDove WhiteDove, spicyrash, Savage Kill, Not-Gonna-Update, gothgirl124, hopeful Cynic, IsraAl'Attia-Theron, and lizyeh2000 for thanking the time to leave a review!
Hope you all enjoyed this chapter, and have a fantastic day/night!