Hello Guys! I don't know about you, but I really hate projects. I have to rename 64 chapters. SIXITY-FOUR! Anyways, now for a short message from my editor:
Guesse who's back to editing the story? Yup Jirachi_Of_Frost is back and stoof
DISCLAIMER: I ONLY OWN MY STOOF, WHICH ISN'T THIS STORY
Chapter 12: Unforgotten Tolls
"Just obey for once in your life will you?" A voice called out to Iris. She turned only to see her brother being held by soldiers.
"Myles I-"Iris tried to say but someone interrupted her.
"We're siblings! You can't just separate us!" Iris turned around and saw herself screaming.
"No, no, no, no! This can't be happening!" Iris told herself. "Iris! Come to your senses!"
"Fine then. If you want to go so badly, then nothing's stopping you from leaving us" Younger Iris spoke.
"They have no choice! Don't leave things like this!" Iris screamed. "Myles! I'm sorry! Please listen to me!"
"Goodbye Myles Russet Kamillia" Younger Iris said as present Iris fell on her knees in tears. She watched as the car drove away breaking her heart once more.
"Iris!" A voice called out waking Iris.
"Edward?" Iris said and she wiped the tears falling out of her eyes.
"You were crying and whimpering in your sleep." Ed explained as Iris sat up. "Something wrong?"
"I think I know" Alphonse said. "You were thinking about your little brother, weren't you?"
"Oh yeah, I forgot. This will be the first time you've seen him in… How many years again?" Edward asked.
"Four… I think." Iris admitted.
"You think?" Ed chuckled.
"How many years since you've seen your teacher?" Iris asked with a smirk.
"Touché" Edward sighed.
"Are we close to Dublith?" Iris asked.
"We're almost at the Dublith Train Station." Alphonse answered.
"Is it too late to join Winry at Rush Valley?" Iris said with a nervous laugh.
"No way in hell are we going back there" Edward muttered.
"I know, I know. I'm just scared to see my brother after all these years, that's all" Iris smiled.
"What does your brother even look like?" Edward asked. Iris crossed her arms and closed her eyes, trying to remember what he looked like and trying to produce an image of what he would look like now.
"I can't tell you what he looks like now, but the last time I saw him, he had spiky light brown hair and dark brown eyes. I don't know what he would look like now, even if I try to imagine it" Iris sighed. "Now that I think about it, his hair color was similar to tree bark. I don't know why, but that's how my brain remembers it"
"Well, looks like we'll find out once we get there" Edward smiled.
"Yeah, you guys can go see your teacher and I'll see-"Iris tried saying but was interrupted.
"Stop right there! If we leave you to confront your brother by yourself, you'll just chicken out!" Edward smirked, which caused Iris to leer at him.
"Brother's right. We'll go with you." Alphonse said as the train's horn went off and the train stopped.
"Dammit…" Iris muttered as the trio rose, leaving the train.
"Well Al, we're finally here" Edward said as he froze along with Alphonse. The group had arrived at a little butcher's shop that was decorated with crimson paint. The shop tugged at Iris' memory even though she had no clue why.
"Do you guys need to take a breather?" Iris asked.
"No, we're fine" Alphonse answered.
"Speak for yourself" Edward muttered as a dog began barking from inside the shop.
"Did teacher get a dog?" Alphonse asked.
"Great, another thing to be afraid of" Edward chuckled. Suddenly, the door popped open and a man holding a bloody knife came out. Both boys cowered in fear.
"Um… Hello Sig. "Edward cowered.
"Long time no-"Alphonse said before Iris interrupted with a shout.
"SIG?!" Iris shouted. "No way! Sig, do you remember me? It's Iris!"
"Nice to see you again" Sig said ruffling Iris' hair.
"Wait, you know him?" Edward asked as Iris just smiled.
"Of course! He's-"
"Iris!" A familiar voice called out. A familiar girl with blond hair and teal eyes rolled to the door in her pink wheel chair. Her outfit was a rose-colored shirt and white shorts, revealing her handicap, while her foot had a red shoe strapped on. Both of the brother's jaws had dropped as she rolled up next to Sig. "Hello again, Mr. Edward and Alphonse"
The brothers still had their jaws dropped in surprise.
"Excuse them, they don't know manners" Iris said as she hugged her sister.
Sig walked over to a window before speaking. "Hey Izumi, the Elric shrimps and their companion have come for a visit. Do you think you can see them?"
No one could hear the response, but Ed sighed.
"Lying down? That can't be a good sign" Alphonse worried.
"Guess she hasn't gotten any better since last time" Edward agreed. Before Iris could ask what they meant, the door slammed open and a woman's sandal kicked Edward in the face and into a building. Alphonse, who stood behind the door, looked petrified. A woman with dread locks and an evil look in her eyes walked out.
"Hello my stupid pupil" She spoke "I hear you've become one of the militaries dogs!"
"Aunt Izumi!" Grace smiled. Since Grace was next to Alphonse, she turned around, which caused Al to panic.
"Uh… Teacher, you see… It's because, uh" Alphonse sputtered.
"Al?" Izumi said smiling as her blood thirsty eyes disappeared. "Look at you! You've gotten so big!"
"Teacher, it's so nice to see-"Alphonse reached out to shake her hand, only to have her grab his wrist and flip him over.
"Your skills are rusty!" Izumi lectured.
"Aren't you forgetting someone?" Iris smirked as Izumi walked up to Iris as they locked glances for a moment.
"Iris. I see you came back" Izumi smirked as well.
"What? Don't believe in the promises I make?" Iris fired. Both boys looked like they would faint. "You should have more faith in me"
"Seems like Grace was right when she said your attitude had gotten worst"
"And yours is better?" Iris chuckled. The two continued glaring until Iris smiled and embraced Izumi, which surprised her more than anyone. "Thank you for watching over Grace"
Izumi's glare broke as she smiled as Iris broke the hug and grinned.
"That's Iris and Aunt Izumi for you!" Grace laughed. The boys realized what she said as their jaws dropped.
"AUNT?!" Both boys yelled.
"Aunt Izumi, perhaps you should slow down. You just got up" Grace smiled.
"I thought you weren't feeling well" Alphonse mentioned.
"NOT FEELING WELL?! WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?! I'M PERFECTLY-"Izumi suddenly coughed up blood, which surprised Iris and freaked out the brothers. Sig put his hand on Izumi's shoulder as Grace handed him Izumi's medicine.
"You shouldn't exert yourself" Sig warned, which caused Izumi to blush.
"How sweet of you to worry dear, Thank you!" Izumi said as Sig embraced her.
Iris swore she could see hearts bouncing off of Edward.
"Aunt Izumi, should I make some tea?" Grace offered.
"That would be much appreciated. Thank you, Grace" Izumi smiled at the girl as she hugged her foster parent before rolling inside with the help of Sig.
"The Philosopher Stone?" Izumi asked. "No I don't know much about it. It holds no interest for me"
"I see, okay" Edward sighed as he lowered his elbow, only to hit Iris, who had been sitting on the floor.
"Watch where you elbow, Edward" Iris said with gritted teeth.
"Oh, sorry. Forgot you were down there. I can hardly see you from up here" Edward apologized with a nervous chuckle.
"Shut up, shorty" Iris snapped. Ed gritted his teeth but didn't continue the argument since his teacher was right there.
"There was that one alchemist, I thought that one man from Central knew a good amount about the stone." Sig spoke.
The trio looked excited.
"Do you remember who it was?" Iris asked.
"Let me think… What's his name?" Iris said holding her chin. "Ah, Hohenheim"
"What? Are you serious? The Van Hohenheim?" Iris asked, surprised.
"I believe so" Izumi answered, looking at the boys. Iris looked over as well and saw Edward, who looked pissed off while Alphonse looked worried.
"Ed, what's so bad about Hohenheim?" Iris asked.
"Wouldn't you like to know?" Ed snapped. "Then he's alive."
"Someone you know?" Izumi asked, looking at Ed's clenched fists.
"He's our father" Al answered. Iris froze at the response. She was well aware of what their father did, but she didn't know that Van Hohenheim was their father. Her brother had met Hohenheim when she was little, but she never knew that Edward and Alphonse were his sons.
"The one who ran out on you when you were little?" Izumi asked.
"Yea, that's the one!" Edward growled. "It's all because of that bastard that our mother's dead. If it wasn't for him…"
"Did their father say anything about the Philosopher Stone?" Iris asked.
"Something about a lifelong dream coming true. He seemed very happy when he said it" Izumi looked over at Ed before getting up and whacking him over the head. "Now we're going to eat!"
"Okay!" Edward replied while holding his head.
"Aunt Izumi!" Grace called from the other room. "Harmony's here! Can she eat dinner with us?"
"Why not?" Izumi called. "As long as you help make dinner"
"Okay!" Grace called, rolling into the room. A tan girl about 2 inches shorter than Edward walked into the room behind Grace. The girl wore rolled up jeans that went to her knees and a white long sleeve shirt with matching shoes. Her messy hair, which was currently in a ponytail, reminded Iris of the red dirt in East City, both in color and texture. Her automail was shining and clanking against the wooden floors as she walked in. The girl looked over at the trio with her crystal blue eyes and smiled.
"Hey there!" A loud voice spoke. "Name's Harmony. Who are you?"
"I'm Iris, Grace's older sister" Iris said shaking her hand. "This is Edward and Alphonse"
"Nice to meet you!" Harmony's eyes went to Ed's arm as she walked over. Edward suddenly began to panic. "May I examine your arm?"
"Uh… Well-"Ed stuttered.
"Jeez, you can say no. I don't like people who jump at the chance to examine me without permission either" Harmony giggled.
"She does that to everyone, she even asked to examine my stump" Grace said as she rolled past the trio and into the kitchen with some ingredients. Harmony's attention suddenly went to the scar on Iris' leg, true to Grace's statement. With pleading eyes, Iris nodded as Harmony bent down and examined Iris' scar on her right leg.
"Whoa! This is amazing!" Harmony exclaimed.
"Harmony!" Izumi called as Harmony stood up. "Please refrain yourself from examining our guests"
"Yes ma'am!" Harmony called.
"So Harmony, Grace told me that you built your own automail?" Iris said.
"Yep. I got into an accident when a robber broke into my house and it messed up my leg. I went to a doctor and he sent me home after 'fixing me' up. Turns out it was worse than they originally thought so eventually they had to chop it off. My grandfather wanted me to make my own automail since I would be walking on it for most of my life, so he taught me what he knew, despite me being around 7. After a while, I got the hang of it and now I can even repair my automail with no assistance needed!" Harmony smiled.
"Not bad!" Edward praised.
"Where's Duchess?" Iris asked. Suddenly, a white dog ran into the room and tackled Alphonse to the ground. "Never mind…"
"Um, hello" Al said to the dog that tackled him. Duchess barked in response which caused everyone in the room to laugh.
Later That Day
The group sat at the table, all munching on their dinner (Except for Al).
"You aren't eating AL?" Sig asked.
"Oh no, I-"Al attempted to cover up.
"Before we came here, Al got hungry and ate before us so it's no surprise he's not hungry, now" Iris smiled.
"My mom doesn't let me eat any snacks before dinner since if I do, I don't eat everything on my plate" Harmony added as she munched away at her meat.
"Well, have you seen your appetite?" Grace said as both girls broke into laughter.
"Hey Al. You should tell them about Rush Valley" Edward explained. "About the baby being delivered"
"Oh yeah, we helped deliver a baby!"
"I think helping is more than just panicking and screaming like the house was on fire" Iris laughed.
"What else could we do? There was a big storm and we couldn't get the mother to a hospital, so we all had to pitch in and help, even thought it was mostly Winry" Edward continued.
"The mother was brave too, you got to give some credit to her!" Iris giggled.
"You've got a point there. Everyone's blessed when a baby's born, huh?" Alphonse asked looking at their teacher, who had a distant look in her eyes.
"Yes, that's right. That same miracle brings us all into this world. Always take pride in the lives that were given you." Izumi advised and both boys smiled.
"I'm glad I'm alive. If I wasn't I wouldn't have met you, Aunt Izumi!" Grace said hugging her Aunt.
"If you didn't meet your Aunt, then we wouldn't have met each other either!" Harmony included.
"Yeah. Izumi is someone I would trust my life with. She took care of you, after all!" Iris said ruffling her sister's hair.
-this be a timeskip mortals-
Iris looked up at the ceiling of her sister's room, wearing her pajamas. She was rooming with her sister, which meant she was sleeping on the floor.
"Hey, Iris?" Grace asked as she climbed into bed from her wheelchair.
"Yeah?"
"Guess who I saw a while after I came here?"
"Who?"
"Myles." Grace smiled.
"Oh. I see" Iris said as she sat up.
"You should go see him. I see him once in a while. He won't be mad at you" Grace smiled.
"I already promised the boys I would go see him" Iris sighed.
"Are you going by yourself?"
"No, they thought I would chicken out so they're coming with me"
"Were you going to chicken out?"
Iris froze and sighed. "Dammit"
"I think with the boys there you can do it" Grace smiled. "You think of them as your brothers, don't you?"
"Yeah. But that's what scares me. The fact that I might lose them. Even if they reassure me, it still is in the back of my mind, no matter what" Iris sighed. "As much as it pains me, it's inevitable if someone I know dies. You and I both know that"
"They won't die" Grace smiled. "Iris, do you remember when Myles found a wild dog that had an injured leg near here?"
"Yeah. I went up to the dog and tried picking it up only to be bit several times." Iris chuckled. "Man that hurt!"
"I bet! Do you remember what you told Myles when he asked you why you did that?"
"I said 'No creature is worth abandoning, no matter what the danger'. I saved that dog too!" Iris stated.
"That's not the point!" Grace giggled. "If you were willing to risk your hand for a hurt dog, then you'll protect those boys and in return, they'll protect you. You'll be fine, Iris"
Iris lied back down as her eyes grew heavy and sleep drew her in.
Iris' Dream
"Iris, Grace! Come here real quick!" Maxwell called out. A 9-year-old Iris and an 8-year-old ran over to her brother and the man he was standing next to him. The man was taller with a hard look on his face and had gold hair in a ponytail that matched his eyes behind his glasses.
"Hello good sir!" Grace bowed. "My name is Grace Swan Kamillia"
"Would you chill? It's not like he's Führer Bradley" Iris snorted.
"Iris!" Maxwell laughed. "Try to be polite. This is Van Hohenheim"
"Well, Van Hohenheim is just like you and me" Iris smiled.
Hohenheim kneeled down to Iris and smiled.
"You know, I have two little boys at home. You girls remind me of them."
"I bet I'm more awesome. I know alchemy" Iris smiled.
"Is that so?" Hohenheim smiled as he got up.
"Leaving so soon?" Iris called out.
"Not yet. Want to help me create something?"
"Sure. Can we make a music box?" Iris smiled. Maybe he can help me.
"Absolutely. We need the materials though"
"Got it! Be back soon!" Iris said running off to town.
Iris ran off in search of metal, glass, marble and other necessities. Maxwell had never seen her so determined to make something in her life. Iris went all around town looking for the pieces while Maxwell talked with Hohenheim. By the time Iris came back, she had been covered in dirt and scratches, from head to toe with a sack on her back.
"I'm back!" Iris called out as she carried the bag on her back.
"Iris! What happened?" Myles asked.
"It doesn't matter. Where's Grace?"
"Practicing the piano again, why?" Myles asked as Iris ran to another room where a piano was heard. Sitting on the couch was Maxwell and Van Hohenheim, who was the most surprised at the girl's appearance.
"Grace! Can we play the song Teresa taught us?" Iris asked dropping the stuff beside the piano. "I want to show Van Hohenheim the song I want to put in the music box"
"Okay! I'm not having any better luck with the song I've been practicing" Grace giggled as she scooted over and allow Iris some room on her bench.
"One, two…" Iris said as she began tapping the keys with her sister. It was like the whole room froze. Teresa had taught the pair the song because their mother said every child should know it.
"Mom said it was an apology from a brother who made a huge mistake" Teresa had told them.
When the pair finished Iris jumped up from the bench and ran towards the bag.
"Do you think it's possible to put this song in the music box? I tried a lot of times and I still can't get it right" Iris said. Hohenheim rose as he grabbed the bag and set the materials on the ground as he motioned for Iris to help.
"Visualize the music box you want and the song. Don't break your concentration away from that song." Hohenheim said as he set his palms down with Iris'.
Iris pictured the music box in her head and didn't lose focus. The music box in her head had a marble outside and curved bottom. The inside would have a carving of her family and the wind would be under the latch used the open it. She heard the song they played in her ears as she felt sparks come from her hands. After a moment, Hohenheim tapped her shoulder and she opened her eyes. The music box was just as she pictured it, except when she opened it, two more people were carved in. Her face lit up as she turned the crank and the song played as little twinkles.
"How did you do that?! I've tried all this time but I couldn't get it!" Iris asked. Hohenheim ruffled her hair as he rose and began leaving.
"Who knows? I'm just like everyone else, I'm no one special" Hohenheim replied before exiting the house and leaving an embarrassed Iris.
The Next Day
"Morning guys!" Iris said as she joined the boys at the table.
"Morning Iris" Alphonse greeted.
"You ready to see your brother today?" Edward reminded her. Iris' face began turning blue as she slumped over.
"No… Is it too late to go to Central? I could stay with Hughes" Iris sighed.
"Yep. We're going with you later today" Alphonse consoled. "You can do it Iris! We'll be right there with you!"
"I know, I know" Iris sighed.
"Iris, Edward, Alphonse!" Grace called as she rolled into the room. "Aunt Izumi wants to speak to all of you outside"
"What do you think she wants?" Iris asked the boys. "Is it about that question you tried to ask about earlier?"
"I don't know, let's just hope she doesn't kill us" Edward replied as the trio rose and headed outside only to find Izumi staring at the brick wall that was her house.
"Yesterday you wanted to ask me something. What is it?" Izumi said while no softness in her voice.
"Well…" Edward smiled. Izumi's hands suddenly clapped and a spear emerged from the brick wall. Izumi began swinging her spear at Edward, who began jumping away.
"If this is for the attitude I gave yesterday, then just beat me up and get it over with!" Iris growled as she clapped her hands and a dagger came from the ground, blocking Izumi's spear as she swung it and ripped Iris' pants to her knee where her scar was visible. "Ed, you're up!" Iris yelled as she moved out of the way and Ed transmuted his automail, cutting the top of the spear clean off. Izumi froze with a glare plastered on her face.
"As I suspected, you can both transmute without a matrix!" Izumi shouted. Iris and Edward immediately froze, fear was plastered on their faces. "On top of that, Al is now a suit of armor and two of your limbs are made of automail!"
"Teacher, how did you know?!" Edward asked.
"Oh please! Iris' scar and alchemy gave it away, not mention that I can tell from sparing with you and Al!" Izumi yelled. "You two saw it, didn't you? YOU SAW IT?!"
"Y-yes! Yes!" Ed panicked. Iris looked down as she nodded.
"It seems the three of us are beyond help" Izumi spoke with a soft voice. Edward gripped his automail arm and Iris tried to smile and not cry.
"You saw it as well, Izumi?" Iris said with a weak smile on her face.
"Could you tell me…?" Edward asked.
"Perhaps Grace should hear this as well. Come, we'll speak inside" Izumi said as the trio followed her. The found Sig sitting at the table as Grace came around the corner with Duchess while she smiled at her foster parent.
"Hi Aunt Izumi" Grace noticed the look on her parent's face and her smile disappeared. "What's wrong?"
"We need to tell you something" Izumi said as she walked to the table and sat next to Sig. "Grace, before you came into our lives, we were unsure we would have any children to care for. For a while it seemed we were barren. As much as we wanted a child, we couldn't conceive. When we were finally able to conceive, I ended up falling gravely ill… and our child as well. He was not able to take a living breath in this world, and so, I committed the taboo. As a result, I lost parts of my inner organs. What an idiot I was"
"No! That can't be true! You told me you had gotten into an accident when you were a child-"Grace stopped when she saw the look in her foster parent's eyes. "There was no accident, was there?"
Izumi looked down, which gave Grace the answer she needed. Grace looked down as Duchess whimpered, comforting her master.
"I realize now that I should have told you boys sooner." Izumi sighed. "It must have been awful for both of you"
Edward gripped his arm once more and Iris looked at the floor.
"It's not your fault Izumi! I chose to make that mistake! You didn't exactly know me back then!" Iris smiled.
"I did this to myself, it hasn't been that big a deal actually!" Edward smiled. Iris felt her grin disappear at Ed's sentence.
"Besides, now I've got this long list of things I get to look forward to eating when I have my body back! Right brother?" Alphonse cheered.
"Yeah! Its nothing-"both boys turned when they heard sniffling. Iris had her head down towards the ground as her tears fell. "Iris, what's wrong?"
"I'm sorry. I tried to stay cheerful for you guys, but… I couldn't do it!" Both boys looked confused. "You both are hurting, but you don't want to show it. It hurts me to see you like that"
"What are you talking about? We're perfectly-"Edward tried to reason until Izumi embraced the boys.
"You darling little idiots" Izumi said softly. "It's okay to hurt"
Ed accepted the embrace and felt his heart pang.
"Forgive us"
"We're so sorry, teacher"
"Please forgive us"
"We're so sorry"
Later That Day
"You ready?" Edward called.
"No" Iris whined.
"You promised you would go through with this" Alphonse reminded her.
"I know." Iris sighed. The trio stopped at a gray colored house with black metal fencing and a beat up crimson mailbox.
"Come on, we'll be right behind you" Edward encouraged.
"But can't we do this at a better time? I mean it's getting pretty late and-"Alphonse gave Iris a little push, which caused her to walk forward and approach the door. Iris felt her hand shaking before it even made contact with the door. Before she could knock on the door, it opened revealing a little boy around 5 or 6 years old wearing bright green clothes that clashed with his blond hair and brown eyes.
"Hello there!" The boy spoke in his young squeaky voice.
"Rolo, I thought Samuel told you not to open the door" A familiar voice spoke. Iris began shaking as a boy with dirty blond-brown hair and deep brown eyes came from behind the door and opened it. The boy's eyes grew wide at Iris as he froze for a moment.
Iris finally got her legs to move as she attempted to run away, only to get blocked by Alphonse.
"Alphonse, move!" Iris commanded as the armor ignored her command and pushed her back to where she was standing.
"Iris?" The boy said as she turned around, with her legs shaking and faced the boy.
"H-hey Myles" Iris spoke with her voice shaking.
The little boy from before, Rolo, pushed past Myles and looked at Iris with curiosity.
"You know big brother?" Rolo asked. "Did he scare you? You're shaking lady"
"I-I don't-"Iris choked. Edward almost felt guilty for making Iris go through with this. The Iris he knew was always acting like the one in charge. If it wasn't in front of him, he would have never known that the quiet and shaking girl in front of him was Iris.
"Rolo, go inside" Myles commanded. The little boy shrugged as he ran inside, leaving Myles to confront Iris. "Why are you here?" Iris struggled to find the words. It was like her mind was under lock-down, refusing to show her anything, only leaving her struggling to talk.
"I-I came to see y-you" Iris said quietly. She could only imagine the lecture she would get if her former superior saw her right then. "I understand if you don't want to-"Iris felt her brother's arms go around her as tears fell from his eyes.
"Why didn't you come find me sooner?" Myles asked through his sobbing as he buried his face into his sister's shoulder. Iris felt her legs go out from under her along with Myles. She could feel tears streaming down her face as well.
"I thought you hated me… I thought you never wanted to see me again… I assumed you wanted to forget me…" Iris spoke. Myles bonked his fist into his sister's head at the response. "Hey! What was that for?!"
"For thinking I would do something so stupid!" Myles yelled. "I thought you were supposed to be the smarter one, yet look at what goes on in that useless brain of yours!"
"You couldn't blame me after what happened the last time we saw each other!"
"I can!" Myles screamed. "I thought you were long gone or dead. I thought… That I would never see you again"
Iris embraced her little brother.
"I'm sorry… I won't leave you like that ever again… Please forgive me, Myles. Please, forgive me…"
"You don't have to ask" Myles said rising on his feet. "I forgave you a long time ago. Right now, I'm just glad you're alive" Myles reached a hand, which Iris gladly accepted, and helped her to her feet. Iris felt a grin on her face as she wiped her eyes.
"Looks like you got taller. You're as tall as me, now" Iris chuckled.
"Looks like someone else is taller than you" Myles said pointing towards Edward and Alphonse.
"Right. The blond one is Edward, the older one, and the armor is Alphonse, the younger one. They're the Elric brothers." Iris explained as the boys walked forward to shake hands with her brother. Iris smiled at the sight of all three boys chatting.
The Walk Back to Izumi's
"I don't care what you two say, that was the hardest thing I've ever done" Iris sighed.
"We could tell, you were shaking" Edward said.
"THEN WHY DID YOU MAKE ME GO THROUGH WITH THIS?!" Iris yelled.
"We thought that it was time to make up with your brother. You couldn't stall this for any longer, Iris. But, in the end, you both made up, right?" Alphonse asked.
"I guess so" Iris smiled. Suddenly, she felt a forgotten question pop into her head. "Oh guys. I know this may be a little nosy, but you never told me your mother's name. It's okay if you don't want to tell me"
"No, its fine" Alphonse replied, looking to his brother.
Edward smiled and said "Our mother's name was Trisha Elric"
Iris froze in her tracks as familiar voices replayed in her head.
"These are Trisha's sons, Edward and Alphonse"
"I'm Alphonse Elric and this is my older brother, Edward"
"He went to go see our mother's grave"
"YOUR BEST WASN'T GOOD ENOUGH!"
Iris fell to her knees as the voices clouded her head. Both boys turned around and kneeled beside Iris.
"Iris!" Edward yelled. Her eyes blanked out and her face remained in a state of shock.
I couldn't… Iris thought as the boys struggled to get her attention.
"IRIS!" Both boys shouted. Alphonse waved his hand in front of her face, which caused her to jump.
"Iris, what the hell happened?" Edward asked.
"Nothing. I just zoned out for a bit" Iris assured. "It won't happen again"
"Good, we were worried" Alphonse said helping her up as they continued their walk home.
…I couldn't save their mother
CLIFF HANGER! I know, I hate these too. As soon as my editor is done, I'll post the next chapter, I promise!
Jackie C.A.