Silence...
Chapter Eleven: A Train Ride to Central...
DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST! (INSERT WITTY REMARK HERE!)
When the brothers boarded the train, they found a seat nearest the doors, but farthest from the "normal express". What that meant was they were trying to stay away from others. Even though they both had full bodies and weren't that awkward looking. Either way, they sat alone. Ed was cuddled up in his train seat, snoring up a storm while Alphonse was gleaming out the window, watching the night time scenery fly by. It was weird. Those brothers hadn't traveled in years and now they were finally leaving again. Supposively, Ed had, in the past, cut the Colonel's hand off, but Ed couldn't remember that day. All he could remember was from the memories told to him by visuals (pictures) and stories (newspaper clippings, old reports, other old things that they had saved), thus leaving Ed out of the way of remembering the other important stuff.
As they rode the train to Central, they decided they'd be getting comfortable since most of the time, the train took about 3 days or so to get from Resembool to Central City. Al closed his eyes and began to slowly drift to sleep. "Eh…" He fell to sleep and his body went limply against the cold window.
Three days had gone by, and they weren't all that exciting. But the sound of iron and steel and other metal components rubbing harshly against each other woke the youngest Elric while the oldest, Edward, came flying to the floor and woke up from the fall. "HUH!?" He panicked a moment and then realized he was on a train. "Right…we're going to Central….are we there yet?" He complained. Al laughed slightly and told him to get up.
"Brother you're on the floor, get up." Al commanded. Ed obeyed reluctantly, and shifted his glance to that around him. "And yes, brother, we're finally here!" He cheered. Ed smiled and looked to the suitcase in the cubby above them. He stood up on the train seat, then climbed onto the table and grabbed his suitcase first, then grabbed Al and jumped down.
Ed hadn't gotten any taller and by the looks of it, it didn't seem he would. Before his death, Ed had actually gained around six or seven inches and now stood at exactly five foot five inches. Edward sighed as the train came to a complete stop. Ed handed Al the suitcase – Al's suitcase – and held onto his own. "Alright, we're HERE!" He exclaimed with joy. Al nodded and led Ed off of the train. The station was bustling, busy with boarding and un-boarding. Ed looked around and blinked. For some reason it seemed familiar, but not in the same sense as what the train station in Resembool. "Huh…" He shrugged it off and looked at Al. Alphonse smiled and told him to follow him so he could take him to meet the Colonel.
It seemed to be quite a while before they arrived to the Military HQ, and Ed kept complaining about his feet hurting. For some reason, Ed said, it was hurting as if it were asleep. Like when your foot hurts because you haven't used it in a while and all the blood had escaped, leaving it cold and in pain. Yup, that seemed to be the case. Either way, when they arrived, Al told Ed to stay put.
The alchemist nodded and stood outside the door. Al left to the inside.
Alphonse walked to the Colonel's office and knocked. There was a clash and a loud shout, and the Colonel rushed to the door. He had gotten startled and fell out of his chair, taking most of the stuff on his desk with him. The Colonel opened the door and blinked. "Alphonse, what are you doing here?" He asked then looked back to the mess he had made. "Uhm, if you can excuse this mess, come in." Roy told Al.
Al nodded and set foot into his office, a quiet laugh escaping from his mouth.
Outside, Edward saw a bunch of crows. "Uh…" He more curiously decided to take a closer examination. So he climbed a tree that was near the building and jumped onto the roof. He saw the crows fly down at him and gawk as if Ed had done something to offend them. "Whoa! GET AWAY!!!" He shouted and swatted at them. He jumped from the roof, landing awkwardly, but still successfully and ran inside shutting the door behind him. He panted and grabbed at his chest, feeling his heart beat. His heart rate had sky rocketed from fear. Sighing angrily, he stomped to the main lobby's information desk. "Uhm, can you help me and tell me where Colonel Roy Mustang's office is?" Ed asked the lady at the counter. Ed was breathing hard as the woman noticed.
"Yes, gimme a second." She told him and wrote some things down on a small piece of paper. "There. Go according to those. He's upstairs." Ed grinned at her and nodded.
"Thanks!" He bowed and turned to begin walking.
"No problem, sir."
Meanwhile with Al and Mustang, Alphonse helped clean the Colonel's mess and apologized for startling him. "Sorry, sir. I didn't mean for that to happen. But I assure you, you'll be even MORE shocked when you hear— " And sudden the door swung open.
"AL!!! THOSE THINGS OUTSIDE WERE YELLING AT ME!!!" He yelled at Al. "Don't you EVER leave me out there with those……black feathered……PEOPLE!!!" He cried out. Mustang looked completely shocked. It was Ed. It was really him. Mustang looked to Al and Al sweat dropped.
"I told you, you'd be more shocked." Al told him. Edward blinked and pointed to Roy.
"Who's this guy, Al? A friend of your's?" He asked, unsure. Al shook his head and told him the details, telling Ed who Mustang was and other things as well. "So this is Mustang, huh? He's not all cracked up as you said he'd be." Mustang glanced at Ed, then back to Al and leaned over the desk to Al, asking him something.
"Does he not remember me, or something?" Al nodded. "How come?"
"Because…he has no memory." Al told him simply.
"Oh…and also, how is he alive again?" Mustang asked. Ed cut in.
"I was brought back by Al." That's when it clicked in Roy's mind: Al was human again.
"And…how are you human? I mean, Al…when did you get your body back?" He asked. "And what is he?? Homunculus?" He questioned further.
"Uh…Ed got it back; Ed is human; is there anything else you'd like to ask?" Al replied. Ed was sort of confused by this.
"Uhhhh…." He just stood slightly dumbfounded. Colonel Mustang sighed and shook his head, and resumed to relaxing. This was how he spent the day. He got up, came to work, slacked off, got criticized by Riza, and then went home, and went to bed. The thing is, no one ever seemed to yell at him for the right reasons.
"You know, Colonel...with how you're slacking so much, you'll end up never being the Fuhrer..." Al said. Mustang looked up.
"Oh, you don't think I'll become the Fuhrer?" He said and slammed a fist upon his desk, a few papers scattering away. "I WILL become Fuhrer. I WILL be the strongest man in the military, power-wise." He said, striking a pose. Al and even Ed shook their heads and decided it was time to go.
"Colonel? We need to go. It was nice talking to you..." Al said as he quietly backed off, while Ed just stood staring at him. "C'mon, Ed..."
-- Later that Night... ----
When they got a hotel room in Central and parted for the night, Ed fell asleep almost instantly. Alphonse had watched him the remainer of the night and finally went to sleep, but not without constantly reasking himself many questions like: "Will I have to try and regain his memories all alone? Or will someone help me? Can he get all those memories back? Or are some of them lost forever? God, Ed...why'd you have to die?" He fell onto the bed with a long sigh and closed his eyes. Alphonse then later fell asleep.
-- The Next Morning... ---
The next morning, Ed was the last to wake. Al found him in the bed snuggled tightly in his blankets. When Al tried waking Ed, it seemed to fail everytime. "Hey, Ed...wake up..." He said in Ed's ear. Not responsive. "Hmm...Ed, I've got food..." Al said. Surprisingly, still no response. "ED! WAKE UP!!!" He shouted loudly out of frustration. Wow, it was hard taking care of Ed. He was just like a baby, lost with no clue where to go. And now he was refusing to wake up? The stress was piling upon Al even moreso. "C'mooooon...please wake up?" Not responsive.
Again, he tried waking Ed.
Not responsve.
Again.
None.
Again.
None.
Finally, Al just sat at the edge of Ed's bed and uncovered Ed's feet the blanket covered. "Oh, Eeedwaaaard! If you don't wake up, I'll tickle you...I know you hate being tickled, especially on your feet." Al snickered and neared on hand to one of Ed's feet. Still, not responsive. Finally, Al dived in and tickled Ed to no return. Edward was wide awake now, and laughing. Sudden, a sneeze was heard from the boy.
Al blinked and frowned. "Are you sick, Ed?" he asked. Ed shook his head.
"Not that I know of..." Ed said with a stuffy-sounded voice. Al frowned moreso in worry, now. Ed usually didn't wake up to most things just because he was a hard sleeper, but now that al thought about it, it seemed to fit. Ed was having more trouble than usual waking up, and that usually came with being sick.
"I think you are, Brother. I think you should rest yourself. We can leave when you're feeling better." Al said, pushing Ed down from the now sitting-up position he was in. Ed shook his head. Great, he's refusing. That's JUST like him, so determined to do other things than to rest. HE KNOWS HE NEEDS THE REST! SO WHY DOESN'T HE GET IT?! He's so darn stubborn..., thought Alphonse. "Ed, you're going to rest, whether you like it or not." Al threatened. Ed shook his head again and pushed himself up, showing Al that he wasn't gonna take commands from him.
"Al, I'm not sitting here and wasting time. We outta be getting back. Besides, what else is there to do around this place?" Ed said and looked out the window. The city bustled below them.
"Oh, Brother...you're just so stubborn..." He sighed greatly. Oh, how he wished for his brother to listen to him just once!
A/N: Well, then. I hope this was at least an O.K. chapter! I tried pretty hard! I'm doing it from memory of the RP me and an Al I knew (Jaime Peterson), and it seems to have gone a bit of a different direction. Oh well, I hope it's okay though. I'm only one person, y'know. OwO