The Price of Life [Fullmetal Alchemist]

Chapter Twenty Eight

The blonde alchemist strays a ways behind the group, making sure to keep eyes on them, but not walking alongside them.

"Not to be rude, chief," Breda calls out as they turn a corner, "but you should hurry up. I think you want to see this." He grins back at Ed, who just rolls his eyes and picks up the pace.

"What could possibly be soooo...." Ed can't finish his own sentence; what's in front of him puts him in a state of disbelief.

Under the heat of the sun stand the Second Lieutenant and the See-All Alchemist. Maria Ross, Sonia Moran.

Ed's agape mouth makes Sonia chuckle. "You look surprised. Trust me, I am too."

"Have you been here this whole time, you idiot?!"

"Hey, it wasn't my fault! My lying, scheming, dumbass step brother did all this, not me." She crosses her arms and looks away, obviously still hurt by Mustang's actions and Hughes' sudden death. Ed frowns, but puts on a smile and walks towards her. He punches her lightly in the shoulder.

"Good to see you're not dead, at least."

Sonia's smile doesn't reach her eyes, but she smiles nonetheless. "Ditto."

"You too, Second Lieutenant." He grins and gives a thumbs up to her.

"Good to see you again, Ed. But to the rest of the world, I really am dead."

Edward's face reads confusion. "What does all this mean?"

Armstrong puts a giant hand on Sonia and Ed's shoulders. "Let us talk."

The group gathers around tree stumps to sit on in a circle.

"So," Sonia starts. "Anyone want to explain first?"

•••

"I knew the Second Lieutenant didn't murder him. The colonel really pulled one over on us, huh? That bastard. Sure is smart, though. Wouldn't ever say that to his face."

"Who cares about that? We have more pressing matters if you don't remember! Like, my sister is a homunculus and is probably behind the murder of Maes, and not to mention how the military is doing some seriously sketchy stuff with the fifth laboratory, and probably even more than that! Something needs to be done!"

Ed notices that she held her stomach while she was talking. The incident with Scar is still clear in his mind, and it is still clearly engraved into Sonia's mind as well.

"Could you describe these creatures? These... homunculi?" The Major questioned, whipping out a miniature journal. After sketching all the homunculi Ed and Sonia had encountered so far, the images were passed around the group and laid in front of them. Sonia couldn't tear her eyes away from her sister's photo. With the description she had given him, Armstrong was just too good of an artist. She suddenly felt nauseated.

"Not that I don't want to be a part of this little pow-wow, but I'm gonna go get some more water," she half-lied, getting up and excusing herself from the group. The other teen gave her a look, but she purposefully ignored it and walked carefully over to the waterhole.

Once out of sight, she reached out to a broken pillar and leaned on it. Her temples throbbed and her breath was shallow. Stress was coming at her from all sides. Maes Hughes. Mustang's lies. Homunculi. Sister homunculi. Even her otherworldly powers were failing her, adding even more things to worry about.

Sonia trudged back to the water, kneeling before it. She dipped her hands into the water and rose it to her mouth to drink. The water helped. She must have been there for quite a bit because Edward eventually came to get her.

"Comfortable?" he asks rhetorically, arching an eyebrow at Sonia's position on the rocky ground.

"As comfortable as I'm gonna get."

He sticks out a hand for her, and she gets up with his aide.

"C'mon," he motions, "the Second Lieutenant is about to leave." Sonia frowns but follows him back. Her headache persists, but it's not as strong. He picks up on her silence.

"Everything okay?" he asks in a quiet and low voice. Sonia opened her mouth to answer, but then felt a presence behind her and turned around just in time to dodge the plank of wood trying to hit her in the head. Ed jumps back in surprise. In front of them are a group of Ishbalans with simple weapons. They look at each other in surprise.

"Care to tell me why you tried to hurt my friend?" Ed assumes a fighting stance, and Sonia follows his lead.

"You two are Amestrian children, are you not? We could easily take you as hostages to your military and your Fuhrer."

The two almost laugh. "Like the military is gonna keel over to your demands over some kids."

"Do not shirk your importance as a child! It was the death of one that started an upheaval between us!"

"That's enough."

An elderly woman appears from the rubble, a child right next to her. Their red eyes aren't filled with anger like the others.

"Threatening children is shaming your Ishbala. Do not cause them any harm."

The grown men drop their sticks, looking shameful.

"I don't understand," Ed turned to face their saviors. "I thought you hated us Amestrians."

The boy speaks up then. "I never said I didn't hate you. But... there was a time that your people showed us compassion, even when your country didn't."

"What do you mean?" Sonia questions, crouching slightly to accommodate his size.

"During the war, there were these doctors. They saved many of the lives of our people. Even going so far as to endanger their own lives for Ishbalans. They showed us mercy, and we can never repay them, because... it cost them their lives."

The short alchemist is baffled. "Doctors, you said? Amestrian doctors? W-w-what were their names? Do you remember?"

"The doctors Rockbell." Ed gasps with wide eyes, and they pick up on it. "Did you know them as well?"

"I did."

Sonia tugs at Edward's white sleeve. "Who is it?" His jaw clenches, and he doesn't look at her when he says, "Winry. Her parents.

"Who was it?" Ed's voice tremors. "Do you know... can you tell me who killed them?"

"One of their patients. It was a tragedy. He had a wound to the face, but now it is in the shape of an X. He had a complicated tattoo that covered up the entirety of his right arm. He was the murderer to the Rockbells."

Both Sonia's and Ed's fists curled.

The woman kept speaking, "Please. If you could go to the resting place of the Rockbells... give them our thanks. And our deepest apologies." She motions to the rest of the Ishbalans to follow her. They take her lead, and soon enough Sonia and Ed are standing among the rubble alone again.

"Scar..." Sonia whispers, clutching the front part of her shirt where her own scar is. "So heartless! He's caused nothing but pain."

"When I find him, he'll have hell to pay, I promise you that." the determination in Edward's eyes frightens her, but she can't say that her expression doesn't match his own.

"Come on. Let's go." Ed starts walking back to the group, but Sonia catches his flesh hand with her own, holding him in place. When he looks at their hands together in surprise she immediately pulls away, then looks down in embarrassment.

She clears her throat. "Ed?"

"Yeah?"

Sonia looks up to meet his golden eyes. "I need you to help me with something. If you will."