To Mend That Which Is Broken

A quick note! Any spoken text written "like this" means that it is in Irish Gaelic.

Al was drifting off to sleep with his head still against Maggie's knees, one of her wide hands resting on the side of the helmet. She looked up when Ed came in, dressed in fresh clothes and looking a little calmer.

"He really is only a child, isn't he?"

Ed nodded as the woman gently shook Al's shoulder. The boy groaned and sat up, looking a little confused. Then stood up hurriedly and stood back while Maggie rose off the bed and winced slightly. When both brothers started to come toward her, she smiled and held up a hand.

"Don't worry, my leg's asleep is all."

Al looked down and Ed smiled slightly as Maggie walked by. She turned to face them before she closed the door, smiling at them.

"I'm going to make something to eat. I'll call you when it's ready."

Ed nodded and the door closed carefully. He turned to look at his brother, who had sat down near the window and was looking less miserable then he had been.

"What did you tell her Al? How much?"

"Everything. I couldn't help it…it just came out all at once. And she just listened. She said that she might know how to help us. I think she might really want to help."

Ed glanced around the room, amazed at how bare it was.

"I wonder where her son is."

"He died."

"What? How do you know that?"

"I wasn't the only one who talked. He went to fight the English with the IRA. He didn't last two months. His comrades found him in a ditch outside of town."

Ed didn't say anything as he sat and braided his hair again, his eyes far away. If she was willing to help, what could she want in return? They had discovered a long time ago that Equivalent Exchange didn't apply only to alchemy…

Yawning, he leaned back against the pillow. He listened as Maggie cooked in the other room, talking to herself in her own language. He liked the sound of the language, but he had discovered that even the things that sounded similar to German weren't even close to meaning the same things. Maybe he would try to learn the language while he was here…

……………………….

"Edward? Alphonse?"

Maggie poked her head into the room as she called the brother's names, biting back a smile when Ed jumped so badly that he tumbled to the floor. Al yelped and jerked into a half crouch in his surprise, but when he saw Maggie, his eyes got a little brighter. Ed took a deep breath and got up, pulling his short sleeve as low as he could over his false arm.

"Dinner's ready boys."

"Dinner?!"

Both looked out the window to see the sky was indeed beginning to darken. When they looked back to Maggie, she smiled and shrugged.

"You were sleeping so well, I didn't want to wake you. We'll be having a few guests, just to warn you."

"Alright. Thank you. I never said it before…"

"Don't worry. Hurry up now, or we'll start without you!"

She backed out of the door and closed it again. For a moment neither brother moved until they heard the voices coming from the other room. How many had Maggie said were over for dinner?

"We should hurry, Edward."

"You don't even eat."

"But I like to sit."

Ed rolled his eyes and pulled on a black coat and his gloves before opening the door and stepping out and crossing into the dining room. At the table was Alexander Knight, an unfamiliar man a little older than himself and three women he didn't recognize. Maggie came out carrying a pitcher and a loaf of bread.

"Well, sit down."

Both sat near the three women, trying to get a good look at them without being noticed. To Ed's chagrin, one was staring, or rather glaring, back at him. He looked across the table to the quiet man. His dark hair fell into his eyes and he never looked up from his plate, his grey eyes blank and dull. Maggie murmured to Edward that he was the glaring girl's older brother, Liam.

The youngest looking was a chubby girl that introduced herself as Moira. She wore a loose grey shirt with heavy black pants. Her long dark brown hair hung in waves around her shoulders, framing a round smiling face dominated by wide grey eyes.

The oldest girl introduced herself as Angela. Her hair was dark red and as straight as a doll's, hanging down her back and past the seat of the chair she sat on. Considering her great height, Ed thought that was impressive. Her simple brown dress was covered with a cream colored apron that was stitched with small yellow flowers. Her eyes were covered in a grey film that Ed knew to mean that she was blind.

The glaring girl didn't want to give her name. Finally Angela introduced her as Siobhan. Siobhan's hair was a thick curly mass that hung halfway down her back, giving her a misleadingly cheery look…until you saw her eyes. Ed noted with some surprise that her eyes were an odd green-gold color. She sat closest to Ed, and he noticed that she was shorter than he was.

"Alright everybody, go on."

Edward reached out and picked up a cold metal bowl and glanced into it, recoiling slightly from the contents. The meat on the platter in front of Maggie was roasted and steaming, the meat in the bowl was raw and swimming in blood. Siobhan snatched it away from him and smiled at Maggie. Ed saw that her hands were heavily bandaged, then his eyes traveled to her face again.

Really, when she wasn't glaring, Ed thought as Maggie dumped potatoes on his plate along with a thick cut of beef, Siobhan was quite pretty. Siobhan stood and walked into the kitchen and stayed there for a few minutes before returning.

"You didn't have to do that, Maggie."

"It's better than having you girls go out hunting alone."

Siobhan sat and put her wrapped hands in her lap. Her eyes narrowed again when Angela muttered under her breath.

"What was that, Angela?"

"He's still watching you. Maggie was telling me that they need to be… repaired."

Moira's eating slowed and Siobhan stiffened in her seat, glaring at Ed and Al out of the corner of her eyes.

"I won't do it. And neither of you are to tell them anything."

"But Siobhan-"

"No buts, Moira. They will want to push too far. Remember what happened when I first discovered these things."

"I agree with Siobhan. However, they may not. We will have to judge that for ourselves later."

Ed looked at the girls, putting a half a potato in his mouth. He really needed to learn this language!

"What are you talking about?"

Siobhan whipped her head around, keeping her hands under the table.

"We wondered what you tried to bring back that lost you your limbs and your brother his body."

Silence fell over the table and Angela tsked in anger.

"Once again, you have to say the nastiest thing you can."