The Empath Alchemist {Edward Elric X Reader}

23

(A/N) - A lot was covered, so this is a longer chapter. Also to prevent any possible future confusion, Scar does not kill Winry's parents in this fic. Thank you for the incredible support, I hope you enjoy!

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(Y/n) went off to the bathroom to clean herself up after she had finished crying. She always looked a mess when she sobbed. When the tears proceeded to flow without warning and dampened her entire face and reddened her eyes, she looked insane, at least she did from her perspective. She assumed that was the reason why Edward was staring at her so intently as Alphonse did his best to calm her down.

Hope was such a strange concept, she thought this to herself as she rounded the corner and approached the bathrooms. The short haired woman who had been examining books in the infirmary instructed (Y/n) that the lavatories were just down the the hall infirmary and to the right, and the Mustang was happy to say that she found them without getting lost in the maze of a Command Center. She pushed the door open and approached the mirrors with a heavy sigh. She was grateful that the space was unoccupied, which allowed her to take time for herself without feeling as if someone was examining her through the small, narrow opening between the closed stalls behind her.

Turning the faucet to hot, a light smile touched her lips. Hope really was strange. It didn't matter how long one could have it, or how strongly they'd believe that something good would come out of their endless longing, for hope did not always promise a happy ending. Hope was something that people had when they had nothing else to hold on to, it was something that gave them the motivation to keep climbing though the mountain's peak was not visible to the eye. It was a reassuring thing, and without it, (Y/n) wasn't sure how far the Elrics or Winry would have come. It was true that hope guaranteed nothing, but it was proving that what they had fought so hard for was truly attainable. Hope was no longer desperate, but a concept that showed them just how farther they had to step- just how longer they had to fight before they could be kids again. (Y/n) wondered if Alphonse would have even been shown his physical body if he hadn't hoped to, if he hadn't believed that one day he would. Of course, logic completely demolished the idea, for Alphonse' soul would have been tugged back to his body whether he believed it would or not. That was just how things worked. But (Y/n) liked to think that Alphonse and Edward's determination inspired these events, that their undying dream for tranquility and hope for new beginnings allowed Alphonse to reunite with his body, even if it was only for a short amount of time. (Y/n) thought it was quite funny, in more of an ironic way, how she- an alchemist- believed hope to be stronger than the laws of science. She couldn't say that she was particularly mad about it. It was quite the opposite actually. She was grateful enough to believe in the power of hope and aspiration. Without it, waking up every day would have been undoubtedly harder than it had been for both her and the Elric brothers.

A sudden giddy grin spread across her face as she thought of Alphonse reconnecting with his body. It was almost time for him to feel again, to eat again, to sleep again, to be him again. She'd get to hug him properly, to see his face that resembled his older brother in more ways than one. She'd get to actually look at him, and take in his appearance. She'd get to see him without guessing what he looked like according to the rows of pictures of him as a baby up to a preteen she'd studied. She was so excited, she almost forgot about everything that had to be resolved before she could fantasize about the future.