Disclaimer: I do not own any characters except ocs.
{Opening Song}
Chapter 12: One is All, All is one
Hohenheim stood near the front door early that morning, suitcase in hand, as he stared down at his kids, almost with a glare.
Ed quickly opened his eyes, realizing he had been dreaming. "Brother, we've almost reached the Dublith Station." Al stated as Ed suck down in his seat. From the action, Whity snuggled closer to him as Ed held her tighter. "You were having a dream?" Abbie asked. "Yeah... I was dreaming about 'him'." Al turned to face the window as it was quiet once more. "Don't worry about it, Ed." Whity stated. "Yeah." Ed said. "Well, let's go!" Abbie said.
~Izumi's House~
"Well, guys,...we're finally here..." Ed muttered as Al muttered, "Yeah..." "Today is the day I die... It'd be nice if Teacher weren't home." Whitney muttered. "Mhmm..." Al and Ed agreed. The sound of footsteps was heard as the door suddenly opened to reveal what looked like a murderer. The four all held onto each other, scared. Sig stepped out of the shadows as Ed said, "Hello Sig..." "Been a while..." Abbie stated as Al finished, "Long time no see..." He walked up to them, placing a hand on Ally and Ed's heads as he said, "Ed, Ally...nice to see you. You've grown a little." Then patted Abbie's head as well.
"You probably don't recognize me but it's Alphonse. Sorry, we've been away so long." Sig's eyes widened a little at the size of Al but soon started to pat his head saying, "You've grown more than a little..."
"Izumi, the Elric shrimps and Rockbell have come for a visit. Do you think you could see them?" Sig asked from the window. "Lying down...that's not a good sign..." Al whispered to Whity, Abbie and Ed. "Guess she hasn't gotten any better since last time-" Ed was then cut off by a foot hitting him in the face as Whity was behind him, and hit caused them to crash into the nearest building. "Hello, my stupid pupils...I hear you've become one of the Military's dogs..." the black-haired woman trailed off as she turned to find her next target.
Then she looked at Al as he panicked. "I'm sorry!" Izumi's face softened as she said, "Al...?" "Teacher, it's good to-" Al went to shake her hand, only to get flipped. "You're skills are rusty..." "Teacher!" Abbie shouted as Izumi turned and saw Aubrey and smile. "Abbie! I miss you." Izumi said as she hugged the 10 year old with a lot of love in her hugs.
Ed got up and went to help Whity, who was rubbing her back. "You seem fine for someone who isn't feeling well..." Al trailed off as she shouted, "NOT FEELING WELL?! I'LL SHOW YOU I'M PERFECTLY-" She was interrupted by blood spilling out of her mouth. Sig was by her side as he said, "You shouldn't exert yourself..." "How sweet of you to worry dear..." she buried her face into his chest and said, "Thank you." As little hearts form around them and fly toward us. Whity chuckled nervously.
~Inside Izumi's Place~
"The Philosopher's Stone...? I don't know much about it. It holds no interest for me." Izumi stated. Ed got a defeated look as he said, "I see...okay..." "There was that one Alchemist...the one from Central." Sig stated as Ed, Whity, Abbie, and Al gained looks of hope. "So who was the guy?" Abbie asked. "Let me think...what's his name...Ah! Hohenheim." Ed's face went from hopeful to angry. Ed bawled his fist as he thought back to the man leaving them. Whity placed her hand on his leg to try and calm him down. He grasped her hand and squeezed it pretty tight. "What?" Izumi asked. "He's alive..." "Someone, you know?"
"Yeah, that was Ed, Abbie, and Al's Father." Whity said. "The one who ran out on you when you were little?" She asked. "Yeah, that's the one. It's all because of him that our mother is dead...and if it wasn't for him..." Ed trailed off. Al noticed the tension with Ed and said, "So...did Dad say anything about the Philosopher's Stone?" "Yeah...something about a lifelong dream finally coming true. He seemed very happy when he said it." Izumi then got up and hit both Ed and Whity upside the head. "Ow!" "Now we're going to eat!" "Okay..." they both muttered, rubbing their heads.
The seven were now around the table eating... well not Al. "You aren't eating Al?" Sig asked. "Oh no; I'm fine! I had a big meal on the train ride here." As stated with his hand raised. "Hey Al, you should tell them about the baby being born in Rush Valley." Ed stated, trying to change the subject. "Oh yeah! We helped deliver a baby! There was a big storm and we couldn't get the mother to a doctor." "It's generous to call what we did help... Whity were the ones who did something." They all glanced at them as Aaliyah blushed and said, " I most of the work, but my sister did help the rest." "Yeah; everyone is blessed when a baby is born." Abbie stated. "Yes, that's right; that same miracle brings us all into the world. Always take pride in the lives that were given to you."
"Oh yeah, Teacher! Do you know brother and Whity are dating!" "Al!" Ed and Whity both began blushing as Izumi said, "Is that so?" Al and Ed were currently in one of the guest rooms when Al asked, "Hey Ed? teacher hasn't changed, has she?" Ed turned his gaze from the ceiling and said, "Nope, she hasn't changed one bit in all this time."
~Flaskback~
People were stacking sandbags as the rain continued to pour down. It had rained so much that it began to flood. The force from the water piled behind the sandbags broke through and caused the water to rush forward. "Brother, Whity, look," Al pointed to a woman who headed straight for the flooded area As Abbie was being carried by Whity. She walked right through the water as Whity asked, "What is she doing?" when she was far enough, she clapped her hands together and placed them on the ground.
She stood, dusting her hands off as a man, big and tall, stood next to her with an umbrella. "Well, that ought to hold back the water for a while..." "Lady who are you?" one of the citizens asked. "Just a housewife passing by," blood suddenly poured out of her mouth. The man next to her wiped her mouth as Whity, Al, and Ed ran up to them.
"Hey, old lady! Could you be our teacher?" Ed asked her. She turned around with a devilish look and created a stone fist with alchemy to knock them back, as Whity moved back a bit. They just got up and ran towards her again. "Pretty please old lady!" She got madder as she cracked her knuckles. "I'm a little hard of hearing...I didn't quite catch that...Maybe you should repeat yourselves..."
Al, Whity, and Ed glanced at each other, and then back to the woman as Ed said, "We'll try again." "Please teach us," Whity stated together as Al finished, "Pretty lady!" "No way." She turned as they exclaimed, "What? Why not?!" "Because, I don't take on students and besides...we're in the middle of a trip."
Al and Ed jumped onto her arms as she tried to swing them off, only to fail. "You brats! Where are your parents?!" "Um, mam...these little ones don't have any parents..." "hm..." she looked down to see at the trio who was holding on to her. As Izumi gave in and said, "...How am I supposed to say no to that?"
*Time Skip*
Al, Ed,and Ally stood on an island, Looking at Izumi and Sig with wide eyes as Abbie looked at them on the boat with Izumi and Sig. "You three are on your own. This is your introductory training. If you do well, you'll move on to the main phase. During this first phase, and use of alchemy is forbidden."
Their eyes widened more. "One is all, all is one; you have a month to figure out what that means. You better find the answer in the allotted time. If not, you're headed back to Resembool." Sig, Abbie, and Izumi began to paddle the boat back when she suddenly threw a survival knife at them. "Bye!" "Ah! What do we do now?!" They all screamed.
It was dark now and they were lying on a bed of leaves. "I'm so hungry..." Ed said as Al said, "I want to sleep in a real bed..." "I'm freezing..." Whity muttered together, trying to hug themselves for warmth. "What's this have to do with Alchemy training?!" Ed screamed as his stomach growled. Al and Ed snuggled into Whity as Ed muttered, "I'm...so...hungry..."
"I wonder how they're doing out there.' Sig stated as he placed meat chucks on hooks. "You know what they say: no better teacher than experience. This is the best way for them to learn the essentials of Alchemy. I'm teaching them the same way I was taught. If they don't learn anything from this, then it means their talents as Alchemist will be limited...and I'll have to give up on them as pupils." She threw her freshly sharpened knife to Sig, who caught it between his fingers.
"It's not their Education I'm worried about...their lives could be in danger out there." "They're not doing anything I haven't. My training began in Briggs mountains." Izumi stated as Sig sighed and cut the meat as he said, "You shouldn't compare yourself to normal people." "That island has plenty of things to eat. They're not going to die."
"We got one!" Ed cheered happily as he and Al walked up to the trap. "How are we supposed to eat it?" Al asked. Ed pulled out the knife as he said, "We kill it..." "Kill it?!" Al asked as Whity cried, "You can't kill it!" "We have to Whitney; we have to eat."As Ed and Al then looked at the rabbit Ed handed the knife to Al and said, "You do it." "No, you do it," Al said pushing it back to him. "Catching them is more my area."
"You always make me do the dirty work!" Al whined as Whity got up and walked over to the rabbit. As soon they reach it a fox grabbed it. "Hey!" Ed shouted, running after the fox. "Ed!?" Whity and Al shouted, following after her. After chasing the fox, they were brought to a fox's den. The fox gave the rabbit to its cubs as the four watched. They then saw the fox cubs eat the rabbit and look disgusted. "Let's stick to fish..." Ed stated.
"How are we supposed to get the fish?!" Ed exclaimed as they looked into the water. The four were back at their shelter, bruised and dirty on the ground as Whity said, "Well here we are...no food, no nothing..." "Hey don't remind me!" Ed shouted, irritated.
A few days later, it began to rain. "I hate it..." Whity muttered, hugging herself as they sat under a leaf. The three were now lying in the sun which beamed down onto them. Ed suddenly sat up and looked at Al. Right now, the sun was getting to Ed, because he saw Al as a buffet. He began drooling as he lunged and bit Al's arm. "Ed!" Whity began to Ed off of Al. "What're you trying to do to me?!" Al exclaimed.
Ed was back on the ground when he saw ants walk by. He suddenly poked one up and placed it into his mouth. "This is gross!" He yelled, falling back to his lying position and looking up to the sky. "Al...Whity... I'm alive because I consumed life..." he stated.
"Nope, nope?!" Al shouted as Whity just stared. "This is unfortunate, but Al." She said as she put her arm around Al's shoulder. As Al looked over to her with a confused expression on his face. "What?" "I see trees of green, red roses too. I see them bloom for me and you. And I think to myself, What a wonderful world." Whity sings, as she continues, "It's wonderful isn't it."
As Ed and Al looked at her with concern expression on their faces.
Music entered the background as Al, Whity, and Ed were shown with wood in front of them. Ed was holding some rope around a stick that Al was holding down with a rock as Whity watched on.
"We're not going to die." Ed declared. Al nodded. "Mm-hmm." The trio were shown running through a bush after a rabbit. Both of them were wearing capes made out of leaves.
The trio were seen to be wearing leaf crowns. Al carried the knife while Ed and Ally had a sticks with the end carved into a sharp point. A rabbit got strung up by its legs. "I'm sorry." Ed said as he got ready to kill it with Al and Whity praying in the background. As Ed brought the knife down, the scene changed to the wooden spike being thrust into a fish. Ed brought up the spike while Al caught a fish with a line behind him.
Ed was shown to be pulling the stick in the wood to make a fire. "Just keep going a little longer." Al said.
With a small flame started, the trio added some sawdust and blew on it until the flame lit up. The trio cheered and hugged each other.
It was now nighttime and the trio appeared in front of a fire. They were sitting on logs as they scarfed down their dinner. As the trio went back to relax, then Ed paused in his eating and pointed at something behind Whity and Al. Al and Whity looked over to see the baby foxes from earlier. Al tossed his food at the two foxes and they both grabbed an end and pulled at it.
"Tomorrow will be one month." Ed said. "Hey Brother," Al said as the two were shown to be lying on the ground. "Have you figured out what Teacher meant by 'One is All, All is One?' I've been thinking about it this whole time, but I still only have a few vague ideas."
"I'm not really sure about this." Ed started. "But do you remember when I was weak from hunger and I ate those ants?"
"You ate a lot of them." Al said. "I sure did." Ed replied. "And boy did they taste nasty. But then that got me thinking, if I hadn't eaten them, I might have died. Then I would have been eaten by them." The screen pulled back to show the two boys from the sky. "I go into the Earth and become grass. Then the rabbits would eat that."
"You're talking about the food chain, right?" Whity asked as the whole island was shown. "Yeah, but it's not just that either." Ed replied. "A long time ago, this whole island was probably at the bottom of the sea. And tens of thousands of years from now, it could be the peak of a mountain for all we know."
The night sky covered in stars took over the screen. "All things are connected?" Al asked. "Is that what you're saying?"
"Everything we see, everyone we meet is caught up in a great unseen flow." Ed said as he lifted his finger with an ant on it. "But it's bigger than that. It's the entire world, the entire universe even." The trio were shown to still be watching the sky. "And compared to something as big as that, Al, Whity, we are tiny, not even the size of ants. We are only one small part in a much greater flow. Nothing more than a faction of the whole. But by putting all those 'ones' together, you get one great 'all' just like Teacher said. The flow of this universe follows laws of such magnitude that you and I can't even imagine them."
*The next day*
"Today is the day...let's hear what You've learned about 'one is all, all is one." Izumi stated as she looked down at the three. "All is the world," Al stated as Whity and Ed finished, "One is me!" She then laughed and said, "Very well then...now the real training start." Ed, Whity, and Al gave each other high fives and cheered, "Yeah!" "The basic of transmutation is the power of the circle which denotes speculation of power. To call this power, one must draw a structural matrix over the circle."
Izumi threw the book she read into the air and knocked Al to the ground, she caught her book and said, "This also is speculation of power. It's best if you experience it yourselves." She glanced at Whity and Ed. They glanced at each other, knowing they wouldn't make it, and charged at her.
"Enough of that...keep reviewing the morning's lessons till lunch is ready." Izumi started walking towards her front door. Al drew a circle in the dirt and said, "The circle denotes power, to call upon and harmless this power, one must draw a structural matrix over the circle. But teacher, you just clap your hands together..." she stopped in front of the door and glanced back to them.
"You can do it without a structural matrix?" Whity asked. "Of you think about it, a certain way, I am the matrix..." "How do you do it?" Ed asked intrigued. " perhaps it's something you learn once you see The truth." She did walk into the house, closing the door behind her.
~Flashback end~
Whity rose from her bed and as she remembered those words Izumi told her. "Perhaps it's something you learn once you see the truth."
"She couldn't have..." Whity muttered as she got up, headed into Ed and Al's room. "Whity?" Al asked as Ed said, "What is it?" "I-i think...is it possible teacher has seen the truth?" Al gasped as Ed looked at them and said, "...I think we're on the same page..."
~The Next Day/Outside Izumi's place~
"Now, what is it you wanted to ask?" Izumi asked the four as they stood outside of her house. "Well..." Ed trailed off as Izumi clapped her hands together and created a lance from the brick wall next to her. She charged at Ed, causing him to clap his hands and turn his auto-mail into a blade, cutting the top of the lance in half. She then turned to Whity, transmuting another lance, and tried to attack her. Only to have Whity duck. Izumi used her foot to drop-kick her while she still lay on the ground, but Whity clapped her hands together and placed them on the ground, causing a stone fist to rise and attack her. Whity quickly got up only to find Izumi dodged the fist. "As I suspected...you two can transmute without a circle. On top of which, Al is a suit of armor, and two of your limbs are auto-mail."
"Wait, teacher, I have exclamation why I can transmute without a circle. Before I was a lab rat, I don't know who was my parents, half my life, i was plan to be human weapon, but I turned 10 manage to escaped, and somewhat in Resembool. And the rest is history." Whitney explained her story. Aubrey was crying at her big sister backstory and how much pain she was in.
T-teacher, how'd you know?" Ed asked shocked. "Please, I can tell from sparring with you! You saw it, didn't you, Edward...?" "Yeah..." Ed trailed off. "It seems like we're all fools..." "T-teacher, you saw it too? Can you tell me..." Ed trailed off.
~Inside Izumi's place~
Whity sat down as Ed sat next to her holding her hand. "For a while, it seemed like we were barren. We wanted a child but couldn't conceive. When we were able to, I ended up falling gravely ill...and our child as well...he wasn't able to take a living breath in this world...and so... I committed the taboo. As a result, I lost parts of my inner organs...what an idiot I was..." Whity gripped Ed's hand tighter as she muttered, "Teacher..."
"I realize now that I should have told you sooner...it must be awful." "...No, we did it to ourselves. It's not that bad actually." Ed stated as Al said, "Yeah, now I have this long list of things, I'm going to eat once I get my body back." "You idiots..." Izumi placed her hands around Al's neck as Ed, Abbie and Whity was in the middle and said, "It's okay to cry..." Whity to cry as she said, "Please forgive us..." "We're sorry..." Al and Ed finished.
{Ending song}