Unexpected [Ed, Open]

[Alphonse Elric]

The sun beat down on the hot dry desert that led to Liore, it was the only way of getting there in truth, but it was a long and arduous journey, especially if you had no means of transportation. It was made more difficult for the fact that in the desert of course, there was no water, and it took at least half a day to get to the town. Transportation or not, Alphonse had decided to head out across the desert, the hood of the red coat that had once belonged to his elder brother pulled up to shield his head from the scorching sun above. Perhaps it would have been an idea to get some sort of transport, but it hadn’t been feasible at the time and it would have taken him longer to do that, than it was taking him to get there on foot...though he admitted that at least in the confines of a car or truck, there was a less likely chance that he could collapse of exhaustion, or dehydration.

The younger Elric paused, unscrewing the lid of his flask as he tipped it back, mouth open to catch the water that should have been inside, alas, only one drop fell onto his tongue, and that seemed to dry up instantly. With a small sigh Alphonse put the lid back on the bottle and placed it on the sand beneath him before clapping his hands and pressing them to the ground. There was a flash of blue light, and a moment later a gush of water shot out of the ground beside him, climbing into the air. A smile passed over Alphonse’s lips as he removed the hood of his coat, enjoying the feel of the water as it tumbled down from the spray. It had been two years, two years since he had gotten his body back, since Edward had sacrificed himself...he didn’t remember it though, he remembered nothing of the life he was supposed to have led for four years, four years where he was attached to a suit of armour...four years that he had spent with his brother, the last thing he remembered was that night...the night they had tried to bring their mother back.

He’d been told several times that Edward was gone...but he didn’t want to believe that, he knew his brother was alive somewhere was safe and well...if only he knew where...and if only he could get to him. Wiping back sodden bangs the younger Elric picked up his flask once more placing it in the spray of water to fill it before withdrawing it again, fastening the lid tightly. Well, it would get him to Liore at least, and that was all he really needed right now. It could be said perhaps that Alphonse hadn’t exactly led the most normal of lives, even if he didn’t remember the stranger parts, and it was perhaps the fact that he didn’t remember those particular parts of his life, that this was one of the most strangest occurrences, for as he had turned to continue on his way...he suddenly found that he wasn’t in the desert anymore...in fact...he wasn’t really sure where he was. “...huh?” he cried, staring dumbfounded at the buildings that surrounded him...or what looked like buildings at least.

“W-What’s going on....” What was going on? Where the heck was he? This wasn’t the desert, and it definitely wasn’t Liore. Grey eyes moved catching sight of people, people...who didn’t seem to be dressed like anyone he’d ever seen...and above that they seemed to be staring at him...almost...well, frightened. “Hello?” the younger Elric said quietly, but wasn’t greeted in the manner he had been expecting, in fact, he wasn’t greeted at all, instead the people merely rushed off much to his confusion. What had he done wrong? He wasn’t exactly used to people reacting this way when he tried to speak to them, ok there were rude people in life who would just ignore you, but he couldn’t say that he’d ever had someone run away at the sight of him...this was new.

[Ed Elric]

The platform wasn’t crowded this evening, actually the only souls that were even around seemed to be himself, Al, and the ticket attendant. Only a few other passengers piled off the train with them and they had thinned considerably. It was simply a transfer though; he hadn’t expected any bustling in a small side stop to wait for the morning train.

The time was somewhere between one and three a.m., he didn’t know how long it had been since he had last checked his watch and he was too lazy to reach for it again. It wasn’t important yet, their train certainly wasn’t due for hours and Ed excused himself from Alphonse’s side to find the lavatory – and he did, around the currently snoozing attendant’s booth and behind a door marked with the symbol for ‘men’.

Inside, he relieved himself of nature’s call, and found himself leaning against a free standing metal sink. There were no counters and Ed gave up finding and proper soap after searching through three containers, two empty, one broken off of the wall. It had most likely been stolen by some disgruntled customer… Ed looked around the dirty bathroom and at a pile of old newspaper in the corner, or maybe it was a homeless guy.

He sighed and settled for rinsing his flesh hand for a couple long minutes under the -thankfully- hot water. When he was finished, he rested against the beveled edges of the sink and stared at his tired face in the cracked, grimy mirror probably held up by nothing but old gum and force of will. “I look like shit,” he said to himself and it echoed in the concrete room. “Hah,” after laughing at his reflection, turning the water to cold and splashing himself in the face with it Ed made to leave, not wanting to leave Al waiting for too long.

He opened the door and was about to call out to Al to see if he had found them an at least vaguely suitable place to wait for the few hours before their train arrived but stopped dead in his tracks.

This wasn’t the train station, certainly not the place he’d just been in. There were stout buildings scrabbling for the sky, and it was day. Ed was positive a few moments ago it had still been night and the only source of light was a pale fingernail moon. That sure as hell wasn’t the case at that moment…Ed rubbed at his eyes but the image didn’t change. “What the hell?” Edward swung himself around but the doorway was no longer there, no smelly worn-down bathroom just a continuation of the long row of thatched houses and persons.

Ed stood shocked for a long while as unfamiliar people dressed in an unfamiliar way rushed about him, or not, some meandered as though they didn’t have a care in the world. But this wasn’t right. Had he fallen asleep leaning against the wall in the bathroom? Was he hallucinating? Had it been to long since he’d slept? Since he’d eaten?

No...this wasn’t a dream. Ed didn’t have to pinch himself to figure that out. What was…where was Al?

The thought of Al shocked Edward’s brain back to working. Al had been there with him at the station but Ed didn’t see him towering over everyone as a seven foot suit of armor. There was no echoing voice calling for him, and Ed started running the first direction his feet decided to take him. “Alphonse!” The people about gave him a passing glance or two, but compared to the din of shouting, screaming children and other sorts of chatter, he made little more noise. But still he was crying out. “Al! Hey, Alphonse! Where are you?!” And damn that was a fine question he intended to find the answer to…

[Alphonse Elric]

This had to be a dream, a hallucination brought on by the heat of the desert, yeah, that was it, he’d probably snap out of this sooner or later to find himself still standing in the desert. Even if he told himself that none of this was real…it felt real, heck it even smelt real, but he knew well enough that the mind could play tricks so easily, allowing you to sense things that weren’t truly there, making them as vivid as something that truly was real…there was only one real way to test whether he truly was hallucinating. Alphonse pulled back the sleeve of his coat slightly, exposing his skin as he pinched himself hard with a gloved hand. “Ow...” he whined wincing a little…but the scenery didn’t change, it was still all here, these buildings…the people…if this really wasn’t a hallucination, just what was going on?

Alphonse frowned as he began to think about what would happen when people realised he was missing, Winry for one…she wouldn’t exactly be pleased to learn that he’d disappeared on his way to Liore, she’d probably be thinking he’d collapsed in the desert or something…that wasn’t good at all. “What am I gonna do?” he said quietly to himself as he began walking, eyes moving over the building with interest and confusion. What was he going to do? How was he supposed to get back? This really didn’t make any sense, he couldn’t exactly explain this away with alchemy, he knew what a rebound was after all, but this wasn’t a side effect of him making a well in the desert…was it? No, there’d been equivalency so that wouldn’t make any sense for start…still…there had to be some logical explanation for all of this…even if he couldn’t exactly think of one right now.

“Alphonse!” The younger Elric stopped in his tracks blinking a couple of times in rapid succession…was someone calling him? “Al! Hey, Alphonse! Where are you?!” Was the voice getting louder? Wait, he knew that voice didn’t he? It sounded almost like….Edward? Alphonse’s eyes went wide as he realised that the voice was indeed his brothers…a little deeper maybe than he remembered it, but it was definitely his voice. “Brother…” he said quietly before looking around for the bearer of the voice. “Brother!”. It was him wasn’t it, it was Ed? Was this the place he had been all along? No, no that probably wasn’t right, but he cared little of that right now, all he knew was that his brother was here and that sent bolts of excitement through him as he raced around a corner.

He was expecting change, after all, supposedly Ed had been in his teens when he had disappeared, and the last memory he really had was when they were both kids…still, he wouldn’t have changed too much would he? It seemed the younger boy didn’t have far to run before he saw something just off in the distance, pushing through an alleyway of people, some taking notice, others ignoring…was…was that? A red coat…wait wasn’t he wearing that? Finally his brother passed into full sight and Alphonse stared somewhat dumfounded…this wasn’t what he remembered…and this wasn’t what he expected, Ed didn’t look the age he was supposed to have been…that was eighteen right? If anything he looked…well, not that much older than Al himself. It didn’t take long for his mind to push aside the thoughts as he ran straight towards his brother. “BROTHER!” he cried excitedly just before he reached him…and instantly he did the first thing that came to mind, he grabbed him in a hug.

[Ed Elric]

Ed wished there was some way to conceive what was going on around him. A million or more questions screamed inside his head, what is this place? How’d I get here? Why am I here? Does it have to do with the homunculi? The military? Was it random phenomena? Is Alphonse alright?

Ed was still running nowhere; it was hard to be running anywhere particular when he had no idea where the hell he was to begin with. Worse yet it didn’t make any sense to be running the way he was, the faster he ran didn’t mean to more things would make sense. He should have been stopping to talk to some of these people, to see if they knew anything more than he did, to see if anyone could at least tell him what the name of this alien place was.

But he couldn’t seem to make himself stop; the most important thing was to find Al. If Al was even anywhere around, there was a big probability he was wasting his time. Especially if any of this had to do with the homunculi, they weren’t stupid enough not to separate the two. One Elric was enough trouble.

He was about to start shouting Al’s name to see if he could get any response when one-and-the-same answered before he had the chance. “BROTHER!” Edward was almost hauled off of his feet by a grasping barrage of small, gloved hands and ever that call he was quite certain he no longer had eardrums, of course none of that really mattered when it actually hit him what had just happened. Wait, brother? Ed pulled himself back to look at the face of the boy that had rather enthusiastically hugged him.

Edward didn’t know what to make of the small boy. He sounded like Al…but no, that was a pipe dream, only a few minutes ago Al had still been a suit of armour. He looked like Al, too, same eyes, same bright smile and Ed’s heart ached. “Is that really you, Alphonse?” Ed tried not to get his hopes up, tried to keep reminding himself that this could be any form of trick down to a simple sleep-apnea induced hallucination. But he wanted to believe it so badly and the more he stared at…at Al, the more he did. If there was anything Edward should have known it should be Al. “What’s going on, Al? Last time I saw you…last time I saw you you were still in the armour! What happened, how’d you get your body back?!”

[Alphonse Elric]

There were no words to describe the elation the younger Elric felt at this moment, two years, two years of being told that Edward was lost, that he wasn’t coming back, that he’d never see him again…a long two years. Winry had been so hopeful in the beginning, even agreeing with him that no doubt Edward truly was living his life someplace else…but even she began to lose hope in that, and eventually Alphonse had found himself talking to her about it less and less, if only to avoid the inevitable lecture about how it had been a long time, and that maybe, just maybe, he should have been thinking about something else. He didn’t understand that at all, since when had Winry been so…pessimistic? She had always been the positive one, the one who helped them…and now it seemed almost as though she wanted to do the opposite. Maybe she hadn’t given up entirely...maybe she merely did not wish for the younger boy to continue the way he was, focussed on only one thing…but Alphonse didn’t see it like that.

This really was like a dream, a wonderful dream, one he’d been wanting to come true for so long…this was Edward…this was his brother. Alphonse half wanted to cry as he hugged him, nearly knocking him over in the process. “I knew you were alive…I knew it..” he thought as Edward pulled back and Alphonse stared at him with glistening eyes, even as he kept his smile. He seemed…confused, but then he supposed that would only be natural, especially considering he hadn’t seen him in such a long time. “Is that really you, Alphonse?” The younger boy nodded excitedly to his brother’s question, his bangs falling across his eyes somewhat. He really was confused about this wasn’t he, else he wouldn’t have been asking…did he really look so different? Then again, perhaps the last time he would have seen him he would have been that suit of armour Winry had mentioned right? Maybe that was it?

“What’s going on, Al? Last time I saw you…last time I saw you, you were still in the armour! What happened, how’d you get your body back?!” So it really was because he wasn’t in that armour huh? But something else in Edward’s sentence made Alphonse frown…wait…Edward was the one who had saved him, returned his body back to him…wasn’t he? It’s what he’d been told time and time again, the story repeated as many times as Alphonse could ask, hanging on every word…but then…why was he asking . “Huh? What do you mean how did I get my body back brother?” he asked looking at him with a confused expression. “You did it…that’s what Rose told me”. Yes, it had been Rose…he remembered the day he’d woken up, the day that felt as though he had been asleep for so long, and there was a strange girl with black and pink hair carrying him, and frankly that had been confusing in itself at the time. Alphonse cocked his head to the side somewhat, staring at his brother, feeling that elation rise in his stomach again. “I’m really glad to see you…”.

[Ed Elric]

This was what Edward had wanted for so long now, this was what he –they- had been working towards, and now it seemed like it was real. He was reaching, touching, he could feel Alphonse beneath his fingers. His shoulders were obviously scrawny, even through the swathe of a…deep, red coat that certainly looked familiar but he looked young. Too young; his happy, round face looked maybe twelve or thirteen. Al was already fourteen and they hadn’t gotten his body back yet, he was bound to be older by the time he did. But he was Al, Ed would never forget his face, every night before bed he would visualize Alphonse and usually himself as children to make sure that even if the only way to get Al back was to create a body for him he would be just right.

“Huh? What do you mean how did I get my body back brother? You did it…that’s what Rose told me.” Edward thought about that for a few moments. So it had been him, Ed smiled; he had gotten Alphonse back…somewhere, at some time. Who did he mean by…Rose, the girl from Lior! But why did she know what he had done? Oh, hell, it was too much. There was…so much he had to figure out but he wanted so much to just be happy. Happy that Al was here, right in front of him. “I’m really glad to see you…”

“Alphonse…” Ed trailed off and took a deep breath to calm himself, to focus. But he couldn’t. He lunged, tugging Al into a quick hug of his own. He pulled himself away almost immediately and tried to appear nonchalant but that wasn’t nearly as important as grinning at Alphonse as though he’d slept with a hanger in his mouth. “I’m so glad to see you, too. I wasn’t sure…how did it happen, Al? You said I got you back, how did I do it?”

Ed looked around again, but he couldn’t get his bearings. Nothing in this place was familiar except for the fact that people looked like people. Everything else was different, the homes were obviously homes but they looked strange, the street was unlike any he had ever seen before and there was a weird weight in the air an odd pressure. He wanted Al to answer his first question, to wait and hear but his mind was all over the place and he started in again. “What year is it? How old are you?” He hoped Al didn’t feel like he was being interrogated but Edward had to get some answers before the questions drowned him.

[Alphonse Elric]

Alphonse could hardly manage to keep himself still as Edward seemed to mull over what he had just said, frankly the younger Elric was practically bouncing, his excitement all too evident, even as he tried to keep himself calm, but it was easier said than done. He had waited so long for this moment, and it still hardly seemed real, like those dreams he’d had time and again where he was with his brother, dreams of childhood and dreams of the future, somehow the thought of this all being just another one of those dreams dampened his elation somewhat as he finally stilled. This was starting to become confusing, the more the younger boy thought about it, the more this whole situation seemed somehow…wrong. This was his brother wasn’t it? Now Edward seemed so confused about everything, things that he should have known that he didn’t and it was beginning to make Alphonse feel somewhat uncomfortable.

He hadn’t lost his memories too had he? There had always been the assumption that the equivalent exchange that had been paid for his body was Edward and even then Alphonse had doubted it, he had known he was alive he knew he was alive…and he’d spent the best part of two years looking for him…that was no illusion, that was no dream. “Alphonse…” The younger Elric’s mind came back into focus at the sound of his name and he jumped slightly as Edward lunged, pulling him into a hug before withdrawing just as quickly, leaving Alphonse a little dumbstruck for a moment…he hadn’t been expecting that, not that it had been a bad experience, he admitted that he had wanted to hug him again, wanted to keep a hold on him for as long as he could before all of this melted away…but it wasn’t melting away, it was becoming clearer if anything, and the younger boy felt a smile return to his lips.

“I’m so glad to see you, too. I wasn’t sure…how did it happen, Al? You said I got you back, how did I do it?” At that question the younger Elric frowned deeply and let his gaze fall to the floor. How had he done it? Maybe he really had lost his memories…but how could he tell him? How could he say that he had used himself as the equivalency, how could he possibly say that to him? “Uh…I-I don’t really know the details…” he said quietly trailing off. He couldn’t do it, he couldn’t sit there and explain to his brother that he had been assumed dead. Alphonse knew little of the details anyway, besides the second hand information he had been given…but he’d refused to believe Edward’s apparent death, and damn it he was right! He was standing right in front of him! “Rose didn’t really tell me all that much, sorry brother”. He was lying, he was lying to his own brother…but it was necessary right? He couldn’t say it…he couldn’t give Edward that piece of information, if only to save him from that supposed truth…he wouldn’t put him through that.

Now Edward was looking around, seeming interested in the strangeness of this place, though Alphonse admitted it wasn’t all that strange…there was something in the air maybe, something he’d never felt before…but otherwise, it just looked like a normal row of…well…they were houses right? “What year is it? How old are you?” Woah…he hadn’t been expecting a barrage of questions, and the younger Elric looked up at Edward with a somewhat shocked expression. What year was it? What was his age? Why was he asking him those things? “Uh…” wait year…what was it? “Nineteen sixteen” he said quietly looking somewhat confused. “I’m…thirteen”. He knew he should have been older, for some reason, when his body had been returned to him, he had been ten once again, he hadn’t aged a day since the day they had tried to bring their mother back…he was supposed to be seventeen according to Winry…but he wasn’t.

[Ed Elric]

Nineteen sixteen? Edward looked every which way as though expecting the world to melt around him. The reply threw things further off track than he had expected, it was improbable and impossible. As far as Ed knew it was nineteen fourteen and even if by some…off chance it were nineteen sixteen, Alphonse would have been seventeen, not thirteen. Suddenly, Ed felt lost completely. He had absolutely no grasp of where he was and even worse he had no grasp of when. He couldn’t even begin to place himself in time and, as much as he hated to admit it, that frightened him immensely.

It frightened him because he hated not knowing what was going on. It frightened him because he hadn’t the means to figure it out. But most of all it frightened him because Alphonse was here and he couldn’t know how long it would last, he couldn’t know if it would last, hell, he didn’t even know if it was more than a hopeful fantasy.

“Thirteen, Al? How can you be thirteen? Last time I talked to you…it was just a few minutes ago! You were fourteen and it’s only nineteen fourteen, and you should be seventeen if it’s nineteen sixteen!” Ed fell back a bit, running a hand over his eyes and gritting his teeth in frustration. He needed to start searching, to find something that explained all of this. Anything to place them somewhere recognizable. “How did you get here? How long ago? What were you doing, where were you?” All of those questions sounded stupid and he was nearly certain that the answers wouldn’t lead him any closer to the truth.

“I’m sorry,” he started in again taking a deep steadying breath. “I know I’m blabbering but this is annoying.”

Ed stepped farther away and tried to calm himself, if nothing else Al seemed just as confused as he was and if there was anything at all he could do it was to try to be a steady support for his brother. They had to move, nothing was going to happen standing around doing nothing. There was no excuse for this, he was overreacting. There was an explanation for everything, even the impossible. He’d been told at one point that proper homunculi were impossible and he had to this date run into at least four of them, strong and functioning fully. The hard part was finding the explanation.

Ed closed his eyes for a few long seconds and when he opened them again he was viewing through a different perspective, seeing things more for what they were than registering nothing but the alien nature of it all. He turned around, back to Al and beckoned him forward. He started walking, simply stating, “Come on,” and knowing Al would follow him unconditionally no matter what year it was or the fact that he hadn’t a clue where he was headed.

[Alphonse Elric]

Edward looked confused at his answers, and Alphonse honestly couldn’t blame him, but they were the truth, even if somehow he knew Edward didn’t believe him. It was funny, this wasn’t exactly how he had planned his eventual reunion with his brother, he had know it would happen one day, he wished for it to happen over and over, played the scenario out in his head…and it was never like this. There was no strange, alien place, there were no questions he could not answer, there were no feelings of guilt, just the happiness in the knowledge that his brother was alive…and whilst he truly was glad that Edward was indeed alive and well, the feeling was quickly fading beneath a veil of sadness, a sadness at how lost his brother seemed.

“Thirteen, Al? How can you be thirteen? Last time I talked to you…it was just a few minutes ago! You were fourteen and it’s only nineteen fourteen, and you should be seventeen if it’s nineteen sixteen!” Alphonse swallowed hard as Edward spoke and he stared at him for a moment before lowering his gaze. Nineteen fourteen? That didn’t make any sense…it was nineteen sixteen wasn’t it? It had to be…and he was thirteen, he was, at least in body, and perhaps if he had the memories of those years he would be older in mind, but he cared little of that, only that this situation seemed to be riling his brother up, and Alphonse took a step back himself, raising his gaze once more as his eyes widened and Edward blurted out a barrage of questions. “How did you get here? How long ago? What were you doing, where were you?” Alphonse suddenly found himself feeling incredibly overwhelmed, and he opened his mouth as if to speak, but simply closed it again, biting down on his lower lip.

“I’m sorry, I know I’m blabbering but this is annoying.” The younger boy exhaled loudly as Edward apologised for his sudden barrage of questions, and he felt himself relax a little as he watched him with a worried expression painted on his face. He didn’t like seeing his brother this way, confused, and very obviously agitated by the situation and lack of answers he had received…and Alphonse regretted not being able to answer them all. Edward turned back to face him now and beckoning him forward with a simple ‘come on’ and the younger Elric actually felt a smile tug at his lips, this was familiar territory, Edward calling him, and he had always followed as a child, willingly and without question. “Ok brother” he said quietly, and began walking after him.