Leave A Scar (Fullmetal Alchemist)

Breath[e]

I awoke on my side, some image before me and some ringing in my ears.

Where...? How....?

I was back, the Truth before me gone. And my heaviness had been evaporated.

Like steam from water.

Memories of a train station in Lauxotan brought me back. And then Truth's words rang out inside an evergrowing mind.

"I can give, too, you know, if I see that too much has been taken already."

So where...?

I could feel the energy as if it were the claw strapped to my leg. To be used at my disposal, however and wherever I decided.

Slowly, I picked myself up, and voices whispered to me, from the back of my mind.

"We're here for you."

"You got this."

"Ed's waiting."

He's... waiting? Why isn't he here?

But my darkness didn't respond.

"Mirah!"

Honenheim.

I turned towards his voice, the source nearly unrecognizable. So much older. Frail and broken, gray and cracked.

Were the souls inside of him not enough?

His lungs were wheezing out oxygen, no longer able to support. And pieces of him were flaking away.

What the hell did he sacrifice?

Instinct kicked in, bounding me closer to him. Without thinking, I placed my hand on his arm.

Please... take the pain away.

And Honhenheim inhaled as if he had just resurfaced from the ocean. Breathing again, lungs satiated. Skin becoming solid again.

I thought of Edward, and once again couldn't find him

Where...?

"Al's body..." Honhenheim said. "He should—"

Another cry of my name, and before I spun around completely, I caught sight of red. A red cloak finished drifing over some thin body. The frailness mostly covered, the vertebras of his spine texturing the cloth. Lightning birthed, sparking, nearly shocking me into existence again. Of course; Ed just stretched out his range, creating something of a barrier.

We still had this.

So where was he?

I heard his yell, a roar that screamed from his throat. My skin chilled. It... didn't sound like him.

And yet, the outline of his body told me enough. His skin charcoal-black, his outline white. And that lightning of his was pure darkness, snapping against whatever power that copycat absorbed from us.

More screams. More pain. My heart hurt just at that realization.

Whatever power Ed was dishing out... it wasn't enough. I could tell by the way his brows twitched, his mouth quivered in a frown.

"This is your chance," a voice called to me.

It was right; I had to help, I had to do something.

So, I drew. It was a small circle, complex even for me. But I gave Ed partial energy. My darkness—I manifested it into pure light.

I saw Ed's body jolt, refueled again. And that material, whatever he had made, tripled in power. Half of the copycat's face tore apart.

I pushed harder, my eyes closing at the sheer power.

I'm behind you... Always.

I could feel my energy slipping, but I allowed it to wash away like the ocean's tide receeding. Those screams were fading, and when my eyes opened—when my ears heard continuous silence—I saw a figure on the ground.

Pure darkness, eyes opening everywhere. And the scream of... a weaker being.

"No!" it yelled, the sound nothing but a squeak. "No! Not this way! You promised me a show!"

And, with a laugh echoing off the walls, something changed; the legs of the copycat being folded near its head, the rest of it vanishing in a blip with strange arms grabbing. And the last of Ed's darkness evaporated, wisping away as he collapsed on all fours.

All... All human limbs.

I called out to him, my eyes brimming with happiness. The best kind of tears.

I waited for him to regain consciousness, which only took a few moments. His eyes opening and re-focusing, no longer glazed over. His brain... coming back to him.

"W-where... Am I?"

His voice was quiet; innocent. It lacked the sure-fire confidence I loved.

"E-Ed?"

Those golden eyes squinted, trying to take in my face.

"...Mirah?"

I nodded, coming to rest my hand on his flesh arm. My thumb and forefinger nearly met in the center.

"Son!"

Ed sat up and I spun around, seeing Honhenheim crouched near Alphonse.

A weak body sat up, and bright golden eyes opened.

Alphonse Elric was human again.