Alphonse sat on the floor of the cheapest hotel they found that evening as Edward took off his boots. He had just eaten and was preparing for bed since the sun had already set.
"Brother," Alphonse spoke up; not liking the silence and the disappointment on Edward's face. "We can still look for the Philosopher's Stone, I don't mind."
"You're giving up?" He diverted his attention to his little brother.
"What do you plan to do? She did us a favor and the least we could do to repay her is leave her alone."
Edward laid down on the bed, "I'm not ready to give up yet. All I want right now is to know if she could help us or not."
"What if she can't?"
Edward paused for a second to think carefully though he knew the answer. "We'll go back to our search for the Stone; but I have a hard time believing that she can't do anything for us. Think about it, Al, she defies the laws of Equivalent Exchange yet is able to heal people completely and sounds to be using nothing but simple alchemy. I don't know how she does it because it doesn't make any sense. It's too far-fetched to believe."
"It must be real though, Jacob's a sure witness." Alphonse replied incredulously.
After some time, the boys lost all conversation to be lost in their own thoughts. Though the evidence pointed to reality, the fact that is was real blew the brother's away. There was no possible way that alchemy could work for a small form of human transformation but somehow, it was happening to real people like Jacob.
The silence continued until Edward rolled over in the dark and Alphonse stared at his back. He wondered, not for the first time, how his older brother felt about the position they were in right now.
He had always insisted Alphonse had nothing to owe him, that getting his body back was the first priority. Here Edward had a chance and it was denied him. Alphonse wondered how many times he felt the door shut in his face. A lot, was easy to assume and still, his great brother kept going despite the disappointments. His appearance may not show it but his eyes showed a strength many lacked.
Edward's deep heavy breathing whistled with the quiet and Alphonse knew that he was asleep. As noiselessly as possible, Alphonse stood to look out the window and expand his usual daydreaming. He could stand there all night wandering inside his head.
The room window stood a story and a half above the concrete because the first floor was half in the ground. It was an interesting design having to go down a few stairs to enter but they couldn't have picked a more boring location to build it. It stood a mile from the station and sandwiched between a bakery and a hardware store. All the windows of the hotel either faced the street, a brick wall or a back street with more walls.
Alphonse gazed down the back street that he explored earlier over the metal fire escape attached to the outer structure. Maybe he could investigate the alleys more. No doubt Edward wasn't leaving anytime soon so maybe a small step toward this recent new goal would make him happy.
Alphonse quietly snuck out the room but paused before closing the door, "Brother," he whispered, "I'll be right back okay? Okay." He mocked his brother's voice to answer his own question. "I'll be back before dawn." With that, he gently shut the door and left.
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"Ring around the roseies…" the children's voices were like whispers but the sound seeped through the window glass to Edward's dream; waking him. He heard giggles and chuckles echoing form outside and he sat up cautiously in the bed; half turned to face the window. Why would children be playing around outside at midnight?
"Pocket full of posies…"
The mirth of the innocent children hushed through the eerie silence like ghosts through walls. Edward slowly and easily stood up on his bare feet then started walking towards the window.
"Ashes, ashes…"
Edward was three steps away.
"We all fall down…"
He saw nothing; just the empty street separating the backsides of buildings. It was completely silent and there was no movement.
Edward stood there for a moment, scanning the street over the fire escape. Only a sliver of the white moon shown so there was little light to see anything anyway. He shrugged; he probably dreamt the whole thing-and walked to the window.
Edward flipped open his pocket watch, a poor attempt to see the time. He turned from the window across the room to the candle and matches on the dresser. This hotel is so poor and cheap, Edward thought as he lit the candle. He held the silver watch under the light; two in the freaking morning. He massaged his eyes with his soft thumb and index finger; he was too awake to fall back asleep now.
Edward froze; what's that sound? It was a creaking and groaning noise; obviously from the hotel walls. Yet, it didn't sound quite right. It had a hint of a metallic noise, like from metal…
SLAM!
Edward spun around; a starved looking woman peered into the window with a pale hand against the glass. He jumped, lost his footing and slammed his back against the knobs of the dresser. The vigorous shaking caused the candle to fall on the floor and go out so there was nothing but darkness.
He cursed breathlessly as his head slowly reached back to the forming bruises down the right side of his spine. But he spared ho time for complete recovery of air as he crawled from the wreckage. The light took away his sight adjustment to the darkness so he almost hit the wall with the window. However, he stubbed his real middle finger on it instead. He cursed again then walked his hands up the wall until they patted the glass with his eyes following them.
Nothing; no children, no singing and no mysterious woman. Edward's golden optics searched the street anyway as he settled down after the adrenaline rush. It was now making him groggy so he sat on the bed.
He wasn't surprised Alphonse was gone; he must've gone searching the streets under guilt. Still, Edward didn't dwell too much on his little brother's absence as he did with the poor starved woman who scared him.
He didn't catch all her features, which he kicked himself for, but he remembered her green eyes. Even that information didn't stir him so, it was how sorrowful those green orbs were set. Her delicate eyebrows were crease with fear, her eyes were tearful with betrayal and her mouth was slightly parted from choked air and tears. Her pale hand, also fragile and thin, seemed to be gripping the pane with such desperation. Her whole face showed a cry for help to Edward. This fact was what stirred his clever mind.
Her image yanked at a vein in his heart and all he could think of was to help her. Yes, she frightened him half to death but he had hope to meet her again and answer her cry.
That is, of course, if she is real.