The Price of Life [Fullmetal Alchemist]

Chapter Fifty Five

and my skin
it will start
to break up &
f a l l a p a r t
|-/

•••

I laid in bed quietly, holding my breath as I hear my sister shuffle awake next to me. Immediately she turns to me, checking to see if I'm sleeping or not. I face her and she blinks in surprise.

She sits up, wringing her hands together. I can tell she's trying to think of what to say; her mouth wriggles and her eyebrows are knit tightly. Then, she closes her mouth as if she didn't want to say a word. I frown in worry. I had noticed she'd been distant lately, but I thought little of it. I knew she would tell me eventually, so I never pushed her. I was her sister, which made me her sole confidant. I waited.

Eventually, she looked out of our window at the moon's glow. It made her face shine. She swallowed hard, then said something I couldn't forget if I tried, even without my powers.

"Dad is going to die and something terrible is going to happen to me."

She had stated this as if it was as normal as speaking about the weather.

I sit up fully, horror striking my features.

"That's all I see left in my future, Sonia," she tells me, her voice breaking. She can't bear to look at me, even as I grab her wrist to try for her attention. Instead, I hug her tightly, a sinking feeling in the depths of my heart.

"Don't go," I demand, gripping her as if it could prevent her leave. "We can change the future like dad tells us."

She looks at me solemnly, a sad, almost-smile of pity gracing her face. I wonder if it's for me, or for herself. She shakes her head.

"No. Not this time."

I wonder now if this was the future she had seen. And I wonder if she would have been disappointed in her dear little sister.

•••

"We have to go, Sonia," Ed tries to convince, pulling away from their close embrace to put an automail hand on her shoulder. She's exhausted her tears, but her eyes are glazed over and stare millions of miles away. From this, he understands she's using her powers to reminisce, but it doesn't comfort him from the fact that she looks dead, which was a very real possibility just a few moments ago.

It doesn't take much for her to retreat back into the real world, though - he tugs at her hand with his own flesh one and suddenly she's back in his safe arms. With a thank you in her eyes she's on her feet reminding herself of the urgency at hand. She had vowed to herself she wouldn't hold back her team and remembered what was at stake.

The group looked at her as if she was some sort of wounded animal: a mixture of pity and fear. It made her sick. Quickly Sonia answered everyone's silent question.

"I'll be fine." With those three words, she walks into the next room. They all watch her figure shrink smaller and smaller into the distance.

"She spoke in the future tense," Mustang notes woefully.

"It is best we give her time," Scar informs, knowing all too well the loss of a sibling. "Nonetheless, let's press on."

They quickly catch up with Sonia, who they find making an engravement into the brick wall with her trusted dagger.

"The Promised Day," it read.

"Just in case someone ever forgets what happens today."

•••

The group advanced forward, everyone only a few steps behind the other. Scar lingered in the back, so Sonia slowed down a bit to meet his pace. He makes a face of inquiry at this, and she hesitates before opening up her palm.