Phase 11

It was pitch black all around, and Edward Elric was running. He didn't know where he was running to, or what he was running away from. He didn't even know why he was running in the first place, but his feet wouldn't stop.

Suddenly, a voice was heard in the dark void.

"Hey, Shorty! You're too slow! Better hurry or you'll never catch up! Hahaha!"

Ed became incensed. He could not pinpoint exactly which direction the voice was coming from, but nonetheless he picked up his speed and shouted, "Don't call me 'short'! I'll snap your head off and use it as a bowling ball!" He thrust both hands forward and wrapped his fingers around something solid.

"Ack! Brother! Brother, let go!"

"Edward! Let go of him!"

"Ugh...wake up, Brother!"

Golden-colored eyes snapped open and stared intently at the person in his direct line of vision. It took a few more seconds for his brain fog to lift in order to allow reality to sink in.

"Alphonse?"

Edward realized his hands were clutching his brother by the throat. In addition, there were two pairs of hands that were grasping him by the wrists and lower arms -- attempts to pull Edward away from strangling his sibling. Realizing his error, Ed quickly released his hold on Al.

As he gingerly touched his sore throat, Alphonse felt grateful that Edward's hand was no longer made of automail.

Edward turned to the other person in the room.

"Winry?"

The girl breathed a sigh of relief. "Finally awake I see." Suddenly, she pulled out a wrench from seemingly nowhere and smacked it on top of Edward's head. "Edward Elric! You disappear on me for months and come back looking half dead! Don't you ever do that again! Do you hear me?!"

The blond-haired alchemist clutched his head with both hands. "Ow! Jeez! What'd you do that for, Winry?!" Eyes that were shut in pain suddenly snapped open. "Huh? Winry?! Is that really you?" Edward said incredulously.

The young woman sighed aloud and folded her arms across her chest. "Well who else did you think it was?"

Edward sat in stunned silence -- his mouth halfway opened -- unable to believe that the childhood friend whom he had been parted from for so long would now be standing in front of his very own eyes.

Winry's here. That must mean we're back in Resembool. But wait...this doesn't look like Winry's house. This looks like...His thoughts became interrupted by Alphonse's next words.

"Thank goodness you're finally awake. You've been asleep for the past two days now. Dad, Winry, myself, and Big Brother William -- we've all been very worried about you."

Ed turned to his brother with a curious expression. "Who's William?"

Alphonse -- and even Winry -- became speechless.

"Uh...don't you...remember?" asked Al.

Just then, a slight creaking sound was heard.

Alphonse and Winry both turn towards the door.

"Oh, you're here. Come on in. Big Brother Edward's awake now," Alphonse said cheerfully.

There is a moment's hesitation before the visitor walks in -- dressed in a long-sleeved, black turtleneck attire with matching colored long pants.

Edward looks up -- his eyes turning wide. An intense heat flared from within his chest and quickly surged to his head.

"You!" he shouted, pointing a sharp finger at the pale-skinned, dark-haired person in the doorway.

"Big Brother, do you remember now?" Alphonse asked hopefully.

"Yeah! I remember! You were the one who was taunting me and calling me 'short'! Well you won't be laughing anymore cause I've caught up to you!"

"Huh?" Before Al could make sense of what Ed had just said, the latter jumped out of bed and hurled himself at the unexpected visitor.

"Brother! No!" Alphonse flung himself at Edward, catching him midway in the air before he could tackle Envy.

"Ack! What are you doing, Al?! Let go of me!" Edward struggled to break free of his younger brother's hold on him.

"Calm down, Brother!"

Amid the chaos, Winry brought down her wrench on top of Edward's head, sending him and Alphonse crashing to the floor -- with Alphonse pinning his brother down.

"Ow! Will you quit doing that, Winry?!"

"Edward Elric! You've just woken up from a long illness yet here you are trying to hit someone! You ought to be ashamed of yourself!"

"You're one to talk!" Turning to the Homunculus he shouted, "And just what are you doing here anyways?!"

But it was Alphonse who spoke next.

"Brother, don't you remember? We passed through the Gate. We're back in Amestris now -- back in our old house in Resembool."

"Our...house?"

"Uh-huh. Dad reconstructed it from memory with his alchemy."

Eyes slowly scanned the room from their vantage point near the floor. "T-T-This can't be...this is...our house? The one we shared with Mom?"

The room fell silent.

Edward's expression became tense as his mind made a recollection of the recent events.

That's right. Al and I met up. We found Dad. Then we got tossed through of the Gate, and the building was collapsing around us. I was driving...and then...and then...what else happened?

Ed shook his head vigorously. "This has gotta be a dream. Yeah, that's right. I'm still dreaming right now. This isn't real -- Ouch! My head hurts!" He squeezed his eyes shut and clutched the top of his head where Winry had last struck him.

All this time, Envy had not moved; but a concerned look in his eyes made him step forward and crouch to Ed's level on the floor. Fingers extended, he slowly reached for the top of Edward's head.

Golden eyes snapped opened. Believing himself at threat of an imminent assault, Edward struck first. He gripped Envy by the wrist, twisting the latter's arm in the process. "What are you doing?!"

A spasm of pain contorted the Homunculus' face. His eyes were squinted shut, but he did not cry out in pain. Nor did he try to pull his arm away.

Alphonse became alarmed. "Brother, what are you doing?!" He tried to pry Edward's fingers away. "Stop it! Let go! You're hurting him!"

At hearing the latter's plea, Edward released his hold on the Homunculus.

"Are you okay?" Alphonse inquired of his eldest sibling.

With a dejected expression, Envy stood up and walked out of the room without a backward glance.

Alphonse released Edward. "That wasn't a nice thing to do, Brother. You go and apologize." He was met with a frown.

"Why should I?!"

"Edward Elric! You march out this room and apologize right this minute!" Winry commanded.

Suddenly, Ed's stomach emitted a growl. "Uh...can it wait till after I get something to eat? I'm starving."

***

Ed was rapidly shoving food into his mouth, ignoring all forms of etiquette. His childhood friend and brother remained in the room with him while he ate.

"Edward, slow down. You might choke," Winry cautioned.

"I can't," Ed said in between bites. "I haven't eaten in days. I'm starving right now. Mhmm...this food is so delicious!"

"Uh-huh. Dad made it himself, although I think he overdid it a little. There's still some leftovers -- enough to last us through dinner tonight and maybe even into tomorrow. It's great that you love the Shepherd's pie. Dad said it's also Big Brother William's favorite."

True to Winry's words, Edward began to choke on his food.

"Brother/Edward!" Alphonse and Winry both cried out.

Ed reached for his glass of water and downed it in a few gulps. He took a deep breath and exhaled.

"Are you okay?"

"I found that hard to swallow," Edward replied sarcastically. Then he pushed his tray aside.

"Aren't you going to finish your food?"

"I'm full."

"Already? But earlier you said you were starving."

"Yeah, well..." Edward left that sentence unfinished.

"In that case, you should go and apologize to Big Brother William now."

Edward's mind became tense. He folded his arms across his chest and stubbornly said, "No. Why should I? It's his fault for creeping up on me." The next thing Ed knew, he was being pushed out of his bedroom door and given stern looks by both his brother and his friend.

***

A myriad of memories came flooding into Edward's consciousness as he reluctantly began his search. Each place that he looked -- his brother's bedroom, the master bedroom, the attic -- brought visions of him and Alphonse when they were little. He saw his mother -- the ghost of an image of her -- scolding him in the hallway for pulling a prank on his little brother. He reached out for his mother, but her image vanished as quickly as it had come.

When it was clear that the Homunculus was nowhere to be found on the second floor, Edward made his descent down the stairs. The front door stood ajar. As he walked closer to the entrance, his eyes fell upon the family photographs. It felt as though time had rewound itself -- that he and Alphonse were still living their carefree days, that their mother had never died, that they had never performed the transmutation and paid the price for it, that he had never burned down their house when he decided to bury the past.

***

Edward treaded along the path that lead from his house. All around him, the landscape looked just as he had last remembered it. Lush, green hills rolled on beyond what the eye could see. Puffy, white clouds danced across the blue sky. A breath was drawn, taking in the fresh country air.

Eventually, a cluster of trees and bushes came into view. On a whim, Edward decided to deviate from the unpaved walkway. His impulse brought him into view of the person he was looking for -- or rather, forced to seek out.

Envy was sitting on the grass, with his back slouched against a tree trunk.

The golden-haired boy halted in his tracks. He shoved his hands inside his pockets and glanced away, fidgeting as he tried to come up with the right words to say. Despite the latter not looking up, Edward knew that Envy must have known that he was standing mere meters from him.

Finally, Edward could no longer stand the silence.

"Listen up. Frankly, I don't know what I'm doing here. It was all Al and Winry's idea."

No response.

"They made me come apologize to you. Although you did deserve it for trying to lay a hand on me, you jerk." That last sentence was spoken in an undertone.

Still no response.

"Just because I'm going to apologize, it doesn't mean things are going to be okay between us. You're still the same psychopathic murderer who colluded with Dante to take the lives of countless people for the Philosopher's Stone."

A leaf fell from a tree, fluttering to the ground.

"Hey! Are you even listening to me?! It's rude to ignore people when they're talking to you!" Edward scowled.

With Envy seemingly continuing to ignore Edward, the latter's temper flared up even more. He began marching up to the Homunculus.

"Forgive him."

Edward halted. His expression immediately changed into one of surprise. "Huh? What did you say?" The alchemist advanced more cautiously this time.

"Don't blame him. He didn't mean to. He didn't know. All he wanted was..." Envy's next words were inaudible.

Edward crouched down in front of Envy, trying to peer into the latter's eyes. It was difficult to do, for Envy held his gaze downcast. Long strands of dark, green hair obscured his face. The latter's speech was mumbled, and Edward could not make heads or tails of it.

Without warning, the Homunculus' upper body slid from the tree trunk and starting falling to the side. If Edward had not caught him in time he would have made impact with the ground.

"Hey, what's the matter with you?!" Edward became slightly alarmed. He propped Envy up against the tree trunk; only to see the Homunculus' head roll to the side, his eyes closed.

Hands gripping onto him by the shoulders, Edward shook the latter gently. "Hey. Hey! What's wrong?" He patted him a few times on the cheek. "Wake up!"

Ed's eyes darted every which way and came to rest upon Envy's right hand, where multiple trails of blood were running down the back. The former became speechless from shock. He looked around, but there was no other soul in sight. The young alchemist swore to himself.

***

There was no other choice. Edward begrudgingly piggybacked Envy to the house. Along the way, he took note of how light the Homunculus was. It was almost as though he had several pillows strapped to his back instead of a living being.

Upon their return, Edward sat the unconscious Envy down on the living room sofa -- his upper body flopping against the armrest. Using one hand, Edward reached up to brush away the latter's black-green hair that had spilled over onto his face. He pulled up Envy's sleeve and saw the bloody bandages wrapped around his wrist and lower arm. The young man has a sudden recollection of his earlier interaction with the Homunculus.

Did I do this? Why isn't the wound healing?

Blood continued to trickle down the back of Envy's hand. Despite Edward's animosity towards the Homunculus, he decided in the best interest to tend to the unsightly wound. It was at this moment that Alphonse entered the living room. One look at the unconscious person on the sofa brought him running over.

"What happened?!"

"I don't know. He just passed out all of a sudden. Alphonse, get me some water and towels, and some more bandages." 

Alphonse's eyes widened when he saw the bloody hand. He rushed off to retrieve the items. In the meantime, Edward worked to remove the soaked bandages.

Soon after, the younger Elric returned. Together, the two attended to Envy's injury.

"I don't get it. Why is he still bleeding? He should be able to heal himself."

Alphonse's expression becomes grave. "Dad said that when they were still in Germany, the Thule Society kept Big Brother William imprisoned and tortured him every day to experiment on opening the Gate to our world. Ever since we got back, all the injuries he's suffered -- not to mention the ones he got when he forced himself out from those lances -- all his wounds still haven't completely healed yet. Dad's not certain, but he suspects it has something to do with having the Red Stones depleted from Big Brother William's body for so long during his captivity. He wouldn't say when Big Brother William will recover."

Edward is speechless. His eyes travel from Alphonse to Envy, then finally to the bloody hand that was being held in his own. He gives it a gentle squeeze before continuing to wipe the blood away.

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