Older Then Time, Loving Forever

You traveled with Hohenheim as Alphonse went to meet up with his brother. You were at a small slum called Kanama; you were having a wash and getting changed into some new clothes, “Erm… Miss. Mor… your friend just gave me some other clothes he’d like you to wear,” the woman knocked on the door, “Oh… ok,” you opened the door slightly as she handed you the clothes.

You unfolded the clothes and saw a simple dark blue dress, you smiled to yourself, “He never forgot my favourite colour,” you smiled.

Putting the dress on you put some black slip on shoes as well and carried your other clothes to where Van was sitting before you left him.

Though when you got to his little camp you saw 4 others had joined him. “Ah… Rea!” Van smiled when he saw you, “That dress fits then?” Van smiled, “Yes… thank you,” you were still shocked seeing Edward with Ling/Greed and the two soldiers that worked for Kimblee. “Rea?” Edward looked back at you, “Why are you together?!” Edward pointed at his Father yelling, you smiled, “I found him in Liore… and I decided to stick with him since its been so long since we’ve actually seen each other,” you walked over to Edward, “But its great to see your ok,” you smiled. Edward’s cheeks burned red as he folded his arms and looked away, “You too…” Edward spoke; you hugged Edward and held him close.

“Are you two together?” Van stood besides you both, Edward jumped in shock and glared at his dad, “It’s none of your business if we are!” Edward yelled, “Well you’re my son, and she’s my best friend, so it kind of is,” Van put his hand behind his head, “Yes, we are,” you smiled, “REA!” Edward glared at you, “What? He’s got a point and you know I don’t like lying,” you explained, “Then why did you never tell him you are considered the ‘Mother’ of the homunculi,” Van spoke, you froze. Edward was shocked also, “Rea… is this true?” Edward asked, “Yes… Envy told me when we were inside Gluttony’s stomach… I don’t work with them though,” you explained.

“I’m going to tell Edward and the others about ‘Promised Day’ ok,” Van spoke, “Sure,” you nodded.

You sat next to Van as he told the same story he told Alphonse. Edward covered his face, “Guess you won’t be able to accept it as easily as Alphonse did.” Van spoke, “You told Al too?!” Edward asked, “Yeah. He probably has a lot to think about, but he accepted it. The philosopher’s stone you’ve been looking for is right here. Do you want to use it?” Van pointed at himself, “Don’t fuck with me! They’re lives of people who are totally uninvolved! We lost out bodies due to our own carelessness! What gives us the right to use their lives?!” Edward stood up, “I’m glad my son grew up to say that.” Van smiled.

“A solar eclipse occurs tomorrow. He’s planning on using that.” You spoke, “A solar eclipse? How would he use that?” Edward asked, “Edward. Would you be willing to help us stop his plans?” Van asked, “Help?! Don’t get the wrong idea! I’m going to beat the hell out of that geezer even if I don’t have to work with you! I’m just listening to what you have to say right now because teaming up with you might increase our odds of winning!” Edward yelled, then turned and left. You stood up and put your hand on Van’s shoulder, “I’m glad to hear… Whatever the reason may be, you’re willing to fight alongside me.” Van smiled.

Edward stopped, “Granny Pinako asked me to tell you Mom’s last words. ‘Sorry I couldn’t keep my promise. I’m going to have to leave you first” Edward spoke, Van didn’t reply, “Message Delivered!” Edward yelled looking back at Van who had tears falling down his face. You hadn’t seen him cry in so long as you stood next to him and held his hand.

Edward went with the others as you stayed with Van, “You should go with my son,” he spoke, “I’m staying with you, when we go to face the dwarf I want to be by your side like we were many years ago,” you explained, Van looked down at you with a serious face, “You realize if we go against him, there’s a chance we might die,” Van explained, you nodded and bowed your head down, “I’ll make sure your mortal again, and make sure you don’t die so you can follow the dream you always wanted,” Van put his hands on your shoulders. You looked up at him with a smile, tears appearing in the corner of your eyes, “Thank you, Van,” you hugged him.



I stopped, remembering to tell Hohenheim the message Granny Pinako told me, “Granny Pinako asked me to tell you Mom’s last words. ‘Sorry I couldn’t keep my promise. I’m going to have to leave you first” I spoke, though he didn’t reply, “Message Delivered!” I yelled looking back at Hohenheim who had tears falling down his face. I had never seen him cry before, showing me a side I’ve never seen. Reaka stood next to him holding his hand, they had such a strong relationship from all they had been through. It shocked me to see another side… to both of them.

I was eating some noodles with Donkey Kong and Lion King. “Hey, shouldn’t you try to sit knee to knee with your father and open up to him?” Lion King spoke, “Yeah, man. You should at least call him ‘Old Man’.” Donkey Kong explained, “Seems like a lot happened in the past, but he definitely doesn’t seem like someone who would abandon his wife.” Lion King explained, “He probably has a lot of personal reasons. Come on. Listen to what he has to say.” Donkey Kong said, “Shut up already! I’ve got a lot of personal reasons, too!” I yelled at them both, “For example?” Lion King spoke, “You’re probably just too stubborn and proud. And maybe because your jealous that your girlfriend is staying with her best friend more then you,” Donkey Kong said, I clenched my fists and looked down at my food bowl.

“You can’t organize your thoughts very well, right? Can’t really blame you. Your father is a philosopher’s stone in the shape of a human, so is your girlfriend. And on top of that your girlfriend is my so called Mother also,” Greed smirked, “That’s not all of it. They both just shown a side of themselves that I wasn’t really expecting.” I spoke.



“Here you go.” The woman put some red cloth down, “Thanks.” I nodded and taken the cloth. “What are you going to do with that?” Greed asked.

I put the cloth down on a barrel nearby and transmuted it to look like my old red coat. “You’re going to wear something flashy like this again?” Lion King asked, “Why’s it gotta be red?” Greed asked, “Because this will probably be one of our last battles and it gets his blood boiling for battle.” We looked back and saw Reaka standing in front of us. “Rea,” I spoke, “Hey, I’ve decided to come along with you guys, if that’s ok,” Reaka smiled, “Sure it is, we’d love to have a beautiful young girl like yourself come along,” Greed walked over to Reaka with a smirk on his face, I smiled as she walked over to me, “I told your father that when we go against the dwarf that I’d be standing by his side, but your father said it would be best that I meet him in Central and stay with you for a bit, knowing your father he has something planned up his sleeve,” Reaka smiled at me, “It’s good to have you back,” I smiled, Reaka nodded and hugged me.

We all started to walk out of Kanama towards Central. “Hey, you know… You don’t really have to stick with me through all of this. I personally think it would be better for you guys if you were to leave to attend to your own business from here.” I spoke, “Hey, you’re one of my henchmen. Don’t go ordering me around.” Greed spoke, “Henchmen?” Reaka looked at me confused, “I guess you guys want to return to your original bodies too?” I asked, “I wonder… This body can be pretty convenient. I guess I wouldn’t mind staying like this forever.” Donkey Kong spoke, “That’s the spirit!” Greed laughed, “Then… why?” I spoke, “Well, you know. We don’t really have anywhere else to go.” Lion King spoke, “My animal instincts tell me that I’m better off staying here.” Donkey Kong explained, “Okay…” I replied.

“And what about you? Weren’t you saying something about running away from the other Homunculi?” I looked at Greed, “You’re asking why I came back to Central? Not tellin’.” Greed looked back with a smirk.



You held onto Edward’s hand has he stopped for a moment then smiled to himself. You softly pulled him along until you were about to run into Heinekel, “What is it?” Edward glared.

You felt a strong presence in the air, one you had felt before as Alphonse walked out of the forest, “Al! Man, don’t scare me like that!” Edward ran over to him, “I’m glad we were able to join up! How have you been?” Edward smiled, “Looks like you were safe and sound too, Brother.” Alphonse spoke, “Huh? Aren’t you supposed to be with Major Miles? Is everything going well over there?” Edward asked, you noticed Greed shake a little, “I actually wanted to talk to you about that. Could you come here for a second?” Alphonse turned to leave, “Y-Yeah.” Edward replied, “Al… is everything ok?” Edward asked, “Why do you ask?” Alphonse replied, “I dunno… I just got a feeling.” Edward spoke

“Edward!” you called, he looked back and saw you were holding onto Greed who was covering his face, “Ed!” Ling called, “Ling!” Edward was shocked, “Get away from him! He’s… That’s…!” Ling spoke, suddenly black arms stretched out, one shadow cut you on your neck. You fell on your knees as blood dripped from the deep cut on your neck making it difficult for you to breath, “Rea!” Edward ran over to you as the arms retracted, holding you in his arms, “W-What’s going on?!” Edward was shocked, “So you joined them, Greed. And you were taken control of by a human like that… Your soul is too weak!” Pride yelled.

“A-Al…” Edward spoke, “I-It’s Pride…” you gasped as your wound started to heal slowly, “Pride’?” Edward looked at you, “Yeah. I guess he’s sort of like our eldest brother… and Reaka’s oldest son,” Greed spoke as you taken a deep breath in after your neck healed completely, “A Homunculus?!” Edward was shocked.

“So you’re going to betray us no matter what, Greed? Then at this point, you’re nothing but an obstacle for us.” Pride spoke, “Damn you… How did you know we were here?!” Greed yelled, “How dare you transform into Al!” Edward snapped you grabbed Edward’s shoulder, “Pride’s power isn’t to transform… its completely different,” you spoke, “Mother is right, this really is your little brother’s body.” Pride lifted the helmet with his shadow as he revealed the blood seal on the inside. “You son of a…!” Edward growled, “I’m going to dispose of Greed right here and now. And then, I’m going to have the Fullmetal Alchemist and my mother come with me afterwards.” Pride spoke as his shadows slowly approached.

“Hey! You two should hide somewhere- Wow, you guys sure didn’t waste any time, did you?!” Edward yelled, “Our animal instincts are telling us to not fight that thing!” Darius spoke, “Are you going to be okay?” Heinekel asked, “Of course we are. They can’t kill Al, Rea and myself because they need us for whatever reason. But on the other hand, I can give them everything I’ve got! I’m going to beat you to a pulp!” Edward thrown his coat off to one side, “You’re right; I’m not going to kill you. However, I can’t guarantee that you won’t lose a limb or three.” Pride spoke and went straight for Edward as Greed pulled you back.

You ran towards Pride but he sent a few more attacks at you, just managing to dodge you jumped back and behind a few trees. Edward created a stonewall in front of him, “You can’t guard against this guy!” Greed yelled, “Just keep moving! He uses the shadows to stretch as far as he can!” you called and flipped forward. But the shadows grabbed a hold of your feet and held you in the air as a shadow wrapped around your neck chocking you, “Well, I’ve captured your friend.” Pride spoke, Edward froze seeing you above the ground, “Do I also have to capture the people in the slums in order for you to cooperate with me?” Pride asked, “He’s good. He’s going right for your soft spots.” Greed spoke.

“I can’t be on the losing side all the time.” Edward spoke clapping his hands. You saw the light from the slums turned off, killing the shadows. You screamed as you fell on the floor in a heap, “Rea!” Edward spoke, you had landed on top of him. “Sorry…” you lifted yourself up and helped Edward stand up too, “Good thinking with killing the light, Pride is useless without light to make a shadow,” you spoke, “Well you saying he uses he shadows gave me a thought,” Edward pulled you close to him, “And stay close so I don’t lose you,” Edward whispered, “Aww, how cute,” you whispered in his ear. “Shut up…” Edward murmured.

“Ed. Hey, Ed.” A voice called, “Is that you, Donkey Kong?” Edward asked, “How’s your little brother doing?” Darius asked, “He doesn’t seem to have moved at all. You can hear it when he does.” Edward spoke, “Okay. Let’s leave this place for now.” Darius spoke, “You’re telling me to abandon Al?!” Edward asked, “Edward, he’ll be fine. Alphonse has managed to survive to now, so he’ll survive for another while ok,” you spoke keeping your hands on Edward’s shoulders as you could barely see anything, “I understand that you’re worried. But Reaka is right, what if we were to approach him carelessly, just to find that it was a trap?” Darius spoke, “We need to stick together until Heinekel takes care of Pride in order to avoid accidentally attacking each other.” Darius explained.

You held onto Edward as he followed Darius, “Is that… the sound of Lion King fighting?” Edward asked, “Let’s just leave it to the nocturnals for now.” Darius explained.

“Duck!” Darius pulled you all down to the ground sheltering you from the sudden attack, a tree fell to the ground after hearing a piece of it being ripped out. “Smells like the Fullmetal Alchemist and our Mother. Smells like Greed.” You heard Gluttony’s voice, “Judging from the voice… Gluttony?!” Greed spoke, “Him?!” Edward asked, “Now I get it. He used Gluttony’s keen sense of smell to find us.” Greed spoke, “I also smell a scent of a guy I don’t recognize! I can eat him, right?” Gluttony spoke, “He’s talking about you, Darius. That one’s also a Homunculus.” Greed spoke, “How do you expect me to fight against a monster like that?” Darius asked, “He’s just following his nose. In this situation, you should be evenly matched.” Greed spoke as you heard Gluttony fell over making you laugh to yourself, “My animal instincts are telling me not to do it, but… Men are all about guts! Victory goes to the swiftest!” Darius yelled and went to attack Gluttony.

But one hit Darius accidently punched Edward in the stomach, “Damn it, Donkey Kong… I thought we were sticking together to avoid attacking each other…” Edward was curled up on the floor as you knelt by his side, “My bad,” Darius spoke, “Get up you big baby,” you spoke and pulled Edward to his feet.

You heard Gluttony get smacked to the ground, “I’m honored!” Ling spoke, “Is that Ling now?!” Edward asked, “Yeah!” Ling spoke, “You’re making me angry…! And I’m also hungry! But you guys aren’t letting me eat you! That’s why… I’m just going to swallow you!” Gluttony yelled, “I have a bad feeling!” Darius spoke, “What do you mean?!” Edward asked, “Something’s coming.” Ling spoke, “What, exactly?!” Edward asked, “This is… just like back then!” Ling spoke, “Hey… Whoa, Whoa! What do you guys see that I don’t?!” Edward yelled.

Suddenly you felt another presence as you heard Gluttony cry out in pain, “What was that?!” you were shocked, “Stay still!” Darius put your head down along with Edward’s. “Is there someone else?!” Edward asked, “I have no idea. I haven’t got a clue, but this is…!” Ling replied. From the red light appearing from Gluttony you all saw an outline of a person, “Glad to see you’re in top shape! I’ve been waiting for you, Lan Fan!” Ling spoke as Lan Fan looked around.