Leave A Scar (Fullmetal Alchemist)

Days Like These

Ed was quiet.

Quieter than usual, that is. Sometimes, I think he would get deep in thought, lost in that brain of his. His eyes would drift to the window, and with gloved palm supporting his jaw, I think he would think. Enough to sort through those thoughts (he was having).

I wondered what was going through his mind now, but I didn't have to wonder very long.

"We'll head to Yectora next," he said, speaking to both Al and I. "Ask anyone if they've heard of anything."

Al was silent, and I forced myself not to nod in the absence of his words. Forced myself not to fill in that blank.

"And..." I looked over, wanting to ask what was next, if we couldn't find anything.

Ed just returned his gaze to the window, jaw still in his palm.

"And then we keep searching," he said. "For everything that happens, there's an equal and opposite reaction. Our bodies got lost in the Gate, so that means there's a way to recover them either here or there."

How do you know? I wanted to ask.

Ed looked down, at the floor beneath us. He stayed quiet, and with his eyes gently searching the decorated carpet, he spoke, voice thoughtful. Like he was postulating the world into a few sentences.

"When I was stuck in Gluttony's body, I performed a reverse-human transmutation with Envy's stone as the catalyst. I couldn't have gone through my gate without that kind of payment."

"So..." I blinked, totally at a lost for words.

Ed let out the smallest of sighs, but I knew it wasn't directed at me. His head bowed, his hand went limp, and he spoke, words quiet.

"So what I'm thinking is our solution might be lay somewhere inside ourselves. Maybe, with a tangible enough payment, we can perform a—"

"Reverse human-transmutation!" Al exclaimed. "Brother, that's genius!"

Ed grinned up at him, sheepishly. "Well, what can I say? Guess we've come a long way, from building stone horses to hypothesizing reverse-human transmutation."

Al laughed, while I just smiled.

My eyes suddenly opened, and I asked a question. Stepped out of the line I had put myself in.

"But what could act as the stone?" I asked.

Ed thought, fingertips falling one by one against his cheekbone, heel of his hand holding his chin again.

"Not sure." Al and I were practically knocked out due to disappointment.

"Well," Al began as we all picked our heads up, "like Brother said, it has to be tangible. So things like emotions or mental strength are out of the picture, right?"

"Maybe," Ed replied, thinking hard again. "We sacrificed some blood when we tried to transmute Mom back, but maybe our emotions played a role in the payment, too."

I thought for a moment, mind receding back to the red light Edward had. The one that took apart the basis of Alchemy altogether.

"Do you think, with that power you have, you could bypass the law of equivalent exchange when performing a reverse transmutation?"

Ed placed the nail of his ring finger in between his teeth again, thinking hard.

"Maybe," he said. "This really should be our last option, though. If it's this powerful with the law, I wouldn't want to find out what happens when it bounces back."