AN: Yay! I finally finished the next chapter! It's been finished for a few days now, but for some reason my laptop hates . ;A;

Annieways, here is an actual decently-lengthed chapter!

Disclaimer: No. I still don't own FMA. I'm an emotional gay preteen. How do you expect me to write a manga.

"Zuzwang. It's a move in chess, when the best move is to not move."

-Mr. Nobody

The sunlight peaked through the windows, filling Trisha's body with warmth. It was nice, feeling the heat on your skin without already burning, feeling the chill of spring air without coughing up blood. Trisha stirred slightly, a smile creeping onto her lips. She was so glad to awaken without being in agony. She had to remember to thank Ed and Al later…Ed and Al…Oh, god.

All too suddenly, Trisha remembered the events of last night and jolted awake, sitting up straight in bed, hair messily falling over her face. She stood and found that Pinako had laid out some of Sarah's old clothes for her: a skirt and a button-up shirt. She smiled grimly, remembering her best-friend's outfit. In her memory, Trisha wore her hair just as Sarah did.

Once she trotted downstairs, Pinako's face lit up. "I see you've noticed the clothes I set out for you, Trisha," she remarked, frying something in the kitchen. The clock read 10:37am.

"Is Edward awake?" Trisha asked, ignoring Pinako's statement.

"No, and I haven't seen Al yet, either. I can't blame them; anyone would be exhausted after such an ordeal," the elderly woman answered. "I'm surprised you're up so early. You stayed up quite late last night."

"Well, you know me," she chuckled. "Always up and at 'em." Pinako blew some smoke out of her pipe and smirked. Trisha wondered for a moment if the epidemic was caused by the pollution of Pinako's pipe due to all the times she smoked.

"Ah, yes, it was quite the hassle to convince you to stay in bed all those years," she chuckled. "It was almost comical." Just then, Winry came trotting down the stairs, hair tied back in a long ponytail which reached the small of her back. Trisha took a moment out of her time to envy Winry for her beautiful Rockbell genetics.

"Good morning, Winry," Trisha greeted. "How did you sleep?"

"I didn't," she replied. "Been up all night." Trisha shook her head.

"Do you ever sleep, Winry?" she chuckled. Winry shook her head with a slight smile.

"I don't think Al slept either," the blonde remarked.

"Hm? Why?" the brunette asked curiously.

"Well, last night he said he didn't think his body could sleep."

"Well, that does make sense," Pinako mused. "He doesn't have the bodily functions to."

"Mom? Granny?" a ten-year-old's voice echoed through the room from the bottom of the staircase. "I thought I heard you talking about me."

"We were," Winry confirmed. "About your ability to sleep." The entire house shook as Alphonse carefully walked down the steps.

"I don't think I can," he replied. "I didn't sleep last night, and I don't know how." Winry took her gaze from the armor and finally realized what Trisha was wearing. The blonde ran up to her and wrapped her arms around her, breathing in the scent of her long lost mother. Trisha smiled sadly and returned the hug.

"Can I see Edward?" she requested gently.

"I'm about to check his wounds, you can come with me," Pinako answered. "I'll warn you- it won't be a pretty sight." Trisha nodded.

"I….I know that, but he's my son, and I need to see him. Especially since…" Trisha paused, stopping herself from saying 'it's my fault,' knowing Pinako would run into another lecture. "…since his injuries are so bad." Trisha breathed a sigh of relief when Pinako didn't seem to notice her pause.

Upon entering the room, Edward stirred, yet didn't wake. The pair of mothers were silent as Pinako pulled the sheets off of the sleeping boy.

Edward's breathing was soft and gentle, his cheeks flushed from fever. There was a very faint red tint from blood on his shoulder-however, all the blood had been cleaned the best it could. The stumps where his leg and arm used to be were wrapped tightly in now crimson bandages, stained with blood. He was naked aside from his boxers and bandages, his hand still on his stomach just like when he was a child. Trisha smiled at the memory. Whenever Edward would sleep with his stomach out, she'd wake him up in the morning by tickling him. Pinako evidently noticed this, and shot Trisha a glare saying 'Don't even think about it'. She gingerly unwrapped his bandages, careful not to wake the child. Once they had been removed, Trisha inhaled sharply.

While the wounds were much better than the night before, it was still pretty bad. The stumps and been cleaned, allowing a full view of neatly sliced bone and muscle. It was surreal- like the comical images of a sliced off limb with bone in the middle. There was torn flesh around the wound, being the only thing blocking the world from his bones. It almost looked scarier than when it had been covered with flesh and blood.

Within ten minutes, Edward's wounds were again cleaned and bandaged, all while he was asleep. Trisha admired Pinako; that woman works wonders.

"When will he wake up?" Trisha whispered nervously.

"Who knows?" Pinako replied. "Hopefully, he'll be conscious by this week."

"Th-this week?" she stammered.

"He's exhausted, Trisha," Pinako sighed. "He'll be fine. He's gone through a very traumatic injury; he'll need his energy to heal." The brunette nodded.

"How long will that take?"

"Trisha, nobody can know. No one person recovers in the same way; we need to give him time," the woman answered. "I'm going to take a train to town today. I'm leaving Winry in charge."

"Why?" the young mother questioned.

"I need to buy some medical supplies for Ed; we have the tools here for automail surgery, not amputation recovery." Trisha nodded.

"How long will you be gone?"

"About a day or so. Don't do anything involving Ed without Winry's permission-"

"-Why not?! I'm his mother!" Trisha huffed defiantly.

"You're not a doctor, or trained at all in the medical field," Pinako replied calmly. "Winry is capable of supervising Edward for a day or so." Trisha sighed in response to this, glancing back at her son.

Oh, Edward…What should I do?

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