The clouds were dark and loomed over Central for as far as the eye could see. A bright light would flash in the sky, quickly followed by a loud roar. Each roar mixed with the sound of heavy rain pellets hitting the glass window to a room borrowed by two of the youngest Elric siblings.
Mumbling could be heard from a boy with golden hair as he slept. He began tossing and turning which caught the attention of his younger brother, who did not sleep.
"Brother?" he whispered. A flash of lightning and thunderclap erupted and the boy's mumbles became audible.
"No... Don't... Please, don't leave us again..." Ed said before he continued to mumble gibberish as Al walked over to him.
"Brother." he tried again, this time not in a whisper.
"My... Myra... don't leave us. Please. Not after Mom—"
"Brother!"
This time Al was successful, as Ed's eyes shot open and he sat up as quick as the lightning flashed. Ed was panting as beads of sweat rolled down his face.
"Brother..."
The two looked up as the door swung open.
"Are you two alright?" Their sister asked. She wore a loose t-shirt and shorts. Her mid-back length hair was left open, and for a mere second under the dim lighting, the two boys mistook her for their mother. "My room is right next door. I can hear you from there." Myra said, snapping them out of their trance.
"We're okay. Brother just had a bad dream." Al replied for them. "Sorry, did we wake you?"
Myra shook her head, "No, I was already awake." She walked over to her two younger siblings and sat at the foot of Ed's bed, Al already at his side. "Wanna tell me what your dream was about?" She asked gently.
Ed, who was avoiding eye contact with his sister, finally looked up to face her. He was debating on talking to her about it or not, but the loving care and concern in her eyes brought so many memories flooding back that he gave in.
"I had a dream that you left again." he said simply, avoiding eye contact once again. "I had a dream that you disappeared from our lives... again." His bangs covered his eyes.
"Ed..."
"And after we just got you back!" he snapped his head up to look at her, his eyes now glassy. "You're not gonna leave us again, are you?" Ed's voice broke off.
"Brother, Sister wouldn't do that!" Al defended.
Myra put a comforting hand on top of Ed's. "I don't blame you for thinking that." she said. "But Al's right. I just found you guys, after so long! There's no way in hell I'm ever going to leave you guys again." She glanced at the two of them.
She put a hand on top of each of their hands as if to ruffle their hair a little. "I could never do that. I love you both too much."
The thunderstorm that was echoing through the halls of the hotel minutes ago, seemed more serene as the flashes of lightning and roaring thunder ceased.
"Hey, My?" Ed asked, turning his gaze from the window to look up at the girl. "How are you so fast?"
"What do you mean, Ed?" She asked.
"In battle. I thought I had speed, but wow, you can be as fast as lightning!"
"Yeah!" Al nodded in agreement, also waiting for her reply.
Myra gave a wry smile, "When I was training with the homunculi, they made us each work on perfecting one type of skill. For Oscar, his power, for Ava her strength, for Drew his stealth and for me, speed. I guess by doing so it really would make us unique by the time we became human weapons." A distant look could be seen in Myra's eyes as she gazed off to the side.
A comfortable silence fell between them.
"I remember what it'd be like after Mom died." Ed spoke, breaking the silence. "At first we'd always find ourselves sleeping in My's room. Both of us curled up on each side of her, tears on our faces, either from past memories or a dream we had about Mom."
"I remember that." Myra recalled the memories.
"Sister would just hold us close and sing to comfort us, wiping away our tears as we fell asleep to the sound of her voice. You've always sounded like an angel when you sing..." Al said, which Ed nodded to in agreement. "I still remember the song you sang for us on that one night where we both dreamt about Mom."
Myra seemed to be in thought for a moment before she quickly snapped her fingers. "Oh right! That song."
Ed twiddled his thumbs. "Could you, uh, maybe... sing it to us again?" he asked nervously. Obviously thinking that Myra might think that they're too old to be sung songs at night.
Myra chuckled a little at that.
"Yes, please!" Al begged. "It's been a while since we got to hear you sing."
"Alright then." Myra said with a kind smile.
(Human by Christina Perri)
I can hold my breath
I can bite my tongue
I can stay awake for days
If that's what you want
Be your number one
The smiles, the laughs from so long ago. Shared between the three siblings playing outside on a warm sunny day as their mother smiled at their antics.
I can fake a smile
I can force a laugh
I can dance and play the part
If that's what you ask
Give you all I am
Back before the pain started. Back before all the tragedies began. When tears weren't shed over anything more than a scraped knee. When limbs were still intact and pain didn't follow wherever they went.
I can do it
I can do it
I can do it
But Trisha, their mother, grew ill and passed away. The eldest sibling was kidnapped and ripped away from her younger brothers' lives. Brothers who tried to bring their mother back. Brothers who thought that their sister had died as well. Brothers who paid a price too high for only suffering in return.
But I'm only human
They committed the taboo and set out on a journey. To help each other and restore themselves to the way they were before.
And I bleed when I fall down
I'm only human
And I crash and I break down
One lost his arm and leg. The other lost his entire body. Only his soul bound to a suit of armour remains.
Your words in my head, knives in my heart
You build me up and then I fall apart
Cause I'm only human
On an endless journey to find a Philosopher's Stone... only to find the truth of the powerful stone. Taking their hope and crushing it into pieces.
I can turn it on
Be a good machine
I can hold the weight of worlds
If that's what you need
Be your everything
The deaths that followed, Nina Tucker, Maes Hughes and others met along the way.
I can do it
I can do it
I'll get through it
But through it all, through all the pain and suffering, Edward and Alphonse had each other. That's all they really needed to get by, to keep living on in this world.
But I'm only human
And I bleed when I fall down
I'm only human
And I crash and I break down
Your words in my head, knives in my heart
You build me up and then I fall apart
Cause I'm only human
The truth behind the Ishvalan war came out. As well as the culprit behind the deaths of Winry's parents.
I'm only human
I'm only human
Just a little human
The homunculi. Father. Such dangerous enemies that cause so much pain for the Elrics and many others, it's almost unbearable.
I can take so much
Till I've had enough
But they never gave up. They fought, and they're still fighting. They'll continue to fight and struggle until their goal is accomplished. And finally... Myra Elric, their sister, finally found her way back to them. Now the brothers don't have to fight alone, because she won't let them. She'll fight alongside them.
Cause I'm only human
And she's not leaving their sides again, ever.
And I bleed when I fall down
I'm only human
And I crash and I break down
Your words in my head, knives in my heart
You build me up and then I fall apart
Cause I'm only human
But their journey is far from over. And there's more that awaits them.
Myra ended the song on a soft note. Boy, it's been a while since she's sung for anyone. She didn't need to turn her head to know that Ed was sound asleep on her shoulder, and she smiled at him.
"Al, why—"
"This body doesn't let me sleep." he quickly explained. Her smile quickly faded as Al's pain quickly stung Myra's heart. She felt sympathetic towards him and wished that it was her in his place so he could be sound asleep too. But Myra knew that wishing would only make things worse. She now felt a new determination to help get Al's body back as well as Ed's limbs. She could only imagine the suffering Al had to go through the past few years, and she couldn't bear the thought.
Myra gently put Ed's head back on his pillow, pulling the blanket over top of him and giving him a quick kiss on his forehead. She gave his sleeping form a sweet smile, eyes becoming droopy.
Myra tried to suppress a yawn. "Want me to stay up with you?" she asked turning to face Al.
"No, I'll be fine. You need your rest, Sister. Don't worry about me. I've been doing this for a few years now." Al tried to assure her.
"But, Al—"
"Sister, I'll be fine." he insisted, knowing just how stubborn she could be.
With a sigh, Myra gave in. "Alright. But if you need anything I'm right next door." She gave him a hug and kiss on his helmet before leaving the room to return to her sleep.
Al gave a soft chuckle, "Five years and it's like you haven't been gone all that time." Anyone could picture the young 14-year old giving a soft smile in the direction his 18-year old sister had just been. Happy to have her back after so long.
"Your voice still sounds like an angel..."
A/N: This was sort of a filler chapter, but I still hope it was good