Artwork by arneewenn on deviantART. :) 

Beta: TaintedLetter

(óヮò)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧

The following day the Elric brothers briefly visited Elizabeth in her greenhouse while she worked. It was without surprise that they wanted to discuss Nina's reformation into a human. Elizabeth gave them her notes, and the three of them enjoyed a delightful morning of alchemical debate.

It did eventually lead into Alphonse asking, "Where is Nina now? Is she inside?"

"I have a friend up north, a brilliant scientist," Elizabeth said, tucking her hair behind her ear. "I've sent Nina and her dog up there for now."

"Huh? How come?" Alphonse asked, surprised.

"Nina's lost her memories as a side effect to the transmutation," Elizabeth explained. "I'm ill equipped to rehabilitate her into society, or help her with the psychological trauma likely created. Doctor Lustavious is better suited to such. I'm sorry you didn't get a chance to say goodbye, but I thought it would be best if Nina received help as soon as possible."

Edward scratched the back of his head, frowning slightly. "It's a shame, but understandable."

"She's young, so she should be able to make a full recovery," Elizabeth stated confidently. "I'll write down the contact information for Doctor Lustavious for the two of you. If you're ever up north, feel free to visit. Just let her know that you're my friends."

After Elizabeth quickly scribbled down Lust's phone number, Edward pocketed it and thanked her.

"How long do you think rehabilitation will take?" Alphonse inquired.

"Hard to say," Elizabeth answered with a shrug. "I have limited knowledge in psychology, and Nina is a unique case. I do know that this first year is crucial, though. Perhaps at the end of the year the three of us could visit her?"

"That'd be great," Edward said, grinning. "Oh... hey, Lizzie, do you have any spare emergency kits?"

Elizabeth blinked in surprise at that question, a little thrown off guard by the abrupt change. She slowly nodded. "Yes, I have a few made up. Do you need some?"

"Ehhh... better safe than sorry. Alphonse and I have some things we need to take care of," Edward said, pointedly looking away from Elizabeth.

Elizabeth's eyes narrowed and she peered suspiciously at him. "Hmm... are you guys worried about that Ishvalan?"
The serial killer who was targeting State Alchemists had returned to Central. Last time Edward and Alphonse had fought him, they barely escaped with their lives. It infuriated Elizabeth that such a cretin was still alive.

She wished Papa would give her permission to hunt it down, but Papa was reluctant to do so. Papa would readily admit that Elizabeth was a fine soldier, and more than capable of eliminating trash, but the serial killer known as Scar was a step above trash. He was a viable threat to alchemists. If Elizabeth was stuck in hand to hand combat against him, she would lose.

But if Elizabeth landed one of her toxins on him, she would win.

Since that was an if, and not a sure fire statement, Papa would not tolerate risking her. The only way he would send Elizabeth out to hunt down Scar would be if it was absolutely necessary, or if Pride accompanied her. Pride would be more than capable of dealing with serial killer—especially with the help of Elizabeth—but Pride had to concentrate on other things in Central. Elizabeth didn't know what Pride was working on, but she knew it was important.

So for now, Elizabeth was on reluctant standby.

Edward and Alphonse both flinched at the mention of Scar, lowering their gazes and refusing to meet Elizabeth's eyes. If she didn't know any better she would say they looked downright guilty.

'They're both boys with growing egos. It must have really bothered them to have lost to Scar before,' Elizabeth incorrectly concluded, reaching out and giving them a sympathetic pat on the hands.

(In hindsight, had she known that both boys were going to be taunting Scar into attacking them to use themselves as bait for the homunculi, she would not have been so sympathetic.)

"I'll give you both the emergency packs, but then I have to check on Maes today," Elizabeth said, hopping up from her work bench and gathering the emergency packs. "There's a doctor in Xing whose made a medical breakthrough in stroke victims. I think he might be able to help with Maes' recovery."

"Xing, huh?" Edward asked, rubbing his chin. "Are you going to contact him?"

"I already did when I saw Maes was getting close to waking up," Elizabeth answered dismissively. "I was originally going to invite him up here, but he has family in Xing and is reluctant to leave. I'm going to talk to Gracia, and see if she might be interested in moving to Xing for his recovery."

Edward whistled while Alphonse let out a soft oh.

"That's a pretty big move," Edward observed.

"I suppose," Elizabeth said with a shrug. "But she doesn't have any living relatives here, and their daughter is young enough she could easily adjust. What matters most is Maes' recovery, right?"

"Still... I mean, that's a change of jobs, learning a new language, finding a new house," Alphonse ticked off. "Would they be able to afford it?"

"I would pay for it," Elizabeth said, waving her hand dismissively. "Maes was the first live field patient I used all of my advancements on. Studying the long term effects on his body is in my field's best interest. The doctor agrees with such, which is why he's willing to take Maes on as a pro bono and help his family adjust, in exchange for some of my plants."

"And you're okay with that?" Edward asked.

"I'm not giving him anything that could be weaponized," Elizabeth retorted. "Papa doesn't care if I pass on some better antibiotic, or whatever. Besides, it'll be sold to the public soon enough. Might as well make the most of it while I can."

Neither of the brothers could argue against that.

(óヮò)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧

The Hughes family didn't take much persuading to move.

Especially when Maes Hughes had officially woken up from his coma.

Elizabeth had stopped by as planned, and found Gracia and Elicia crying into the arms of a groggy Maes. Maes noticed Elizabeth in the doorway and offered her a tired smile, and as soon Gracia realized Elizabeth was there she rushed over to hug her tightly.

"Elizabeth!" Gracia cried out, picking up the small girl and hugging her tighter than what Elizabeth was comfortable with. "Thank—thank you—thank you—"

Elizabeth squirmed in the embrace, her face hot with embarrassment. "It's—it's fine, Mrs Hughes. How's Maes?"

Gracia reluctantly released Elizabeth, wiping at her puffy eyes as she did so. Elizabeth approached Maes, who was still holding on to his daughter.

"Can you speak?" she asked him, and he shook his head no. "Can you write?"

Again, he shook his head no.

"Do you remember who you are?" Elizabeth asked, and that got a nod. "Do you remember how to walk?"

A flicker of hesitation crossed over his face and he gave a reluctant shrug. His brow was furrowed in clear concern.

At a glance, it would appear that the damage to Maes' brain had locked away some of his functional memories. He physically could speak, but he couldn't remember how. He understood Elizabeth—which really was fantastic—and could even go so far as to answer questions.

"Can you count with your fingers?" Elizabeth asked, and Maes held up his hands to stare at his fingers. His eyes were narrowed in concentration before he started to put down one finger at a time. After all ten fingers were down, Maes gave a slow nod to confirm.

"How old is your daughter?" she asked next, judging how far his amnesia would stretch.

He held up two fingers, and Elicia let out a huff. "No! I'm three. This many, Daddy."

Elicia held up three fingers, while Gracia anxiously fluttered around.

"Losing just one year isn't bad," Elizabeth soothed a startled Maes. "Considering how bad it could have been, this is good progress. You won't be able to retain all of your memories, but you can relearn language. Now, I know this is sudden and might be overwhelming, but the sooner we get this taken care of the better off your chances are at a full recovery. I've been in contact with a doctor in Xing..."

They would be moving out in a week.

(óヮò)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧

Elizabeth spent the rest of her day making arrangements for the Hughes family. It was an expensive ordeal, but Elizabeth valued her precious people significantly more than she valued her family money. She would miss Maes quite a bit, but it was important for him to recover. In a few years they could meet up again. He might even be able to move back to Amestris and rejoin the military! Things could fall back into a comfortable routine.

Elizabeth truly and sincerely desired that. So while, yes, she would miss him, it would be worth it.

She had so few precious people in her life. She didn't want to lose any of them.

Even if that meant she would have to say goodbye for now.

She knew she would get to say hello again.

Come evening Elizabeth returned home, surprised to find that Papa wasn't home yet.

She checked up on Selim in his room, finding her dear friend absentmindedly playing on the piano. She crossed the soft blue carpet and took a seat on the piano bench beside him. Selim didn't acknowledge her presence right away, gently tapping on the keys as his attention roamed elsewhere.

He would behave this way whenever his shadows were focused far away from his container. Elizabeth didn't want to bother, or intrude, so she kept him silent company.

The lullaby-esque music came to a halt as Selim turned his head toward Elizabeth. "You're moving the Hughes family out of Amestris?"

"Yes," Elizabeth answered, unsurprised Selim had been watching her all day. "Is that an issue?"

"Not really," he said, dark eyes narrowing in thought. "Ellie, have you talked to Wrath about the fungi being ready?"

"I was going to tonight, but he's not home yet," Elizabeth admitted. If there was a hint of reluctance in her tone, neither commented on it. "I passed by the office on my way back from the hospital but I didn't see him there, either."

"There was... an incident. Scar attacked the Elric brothers again," Selim slowly said. Elizabeth's entire body tightened as a shot of adrenaline pierced her heart. "They are fine. The issue is... during the attack someone used the military private coms to issue false reports of Scar across Central. Wrath was able to use our... youngest brother to track down the true Scar, but both were intercepted. It would seem the Elrics had used themselves as bait, and successfully kidnapped our brother with the help of Mustang's men."

Elizabeth couldn't breathe.

She felt like she had the wind completely knocked out of her.

Someone had dug a sledgehammer into her diaphragm and beat her ribs in.

'What?'

No.

'No.'

They wouldn't—

"Breathe!" snapped Selim, his voice breaking through her haze long enough for Elizabeth to gulp in a strangled gasp of air.

It hurt. It stung. It burned inside of her lungs. The air felt toxic inside of her, and her lungs were pincushion of icicles.

She crumpled, bowing forward as she buried her face in her knees and worked through what was said.

Edward and Alphonse were good boys.

Edward and Alphonse were her friends.

Edward and Alphonse lied to her.

Edward and Alphonse kidnapped Selim's family.

Edward and Alphonse were a threat to Selim.

The thoughts were so bizarre, so alien, that Elizabeth had trouble accepting them. Even as she struggled to catch her breath, her mind refused to wrap around the idea that her friends would hurt Selim.

'Why?'

'Why, why, why, why, why—'

Fact one: Edward and Alphonse encountered a hostile homunculus who nearly killed Edward.

Fact two: Edward and Alphonse encountered another hostile homunculus who ran a group of terrorists that kidnapped and violated Alphonse.

Fact three: Edward and Alphonse encountered the same honconculus who nearly killed Maes Hughes.

Every homunculi that the Elric brothers came across had attacked them. Of course they would be under the impression homunculi were evil! Even Elizabeth would be forced to draw that conclusion if she were in their shoes. They didn't know her dear Selim, or Papa, were the good homunculi. They hadn't had a chance to know that because of all these rogue homunculi.

That's right.

They were her friends, and they were good boys. They wouldn't hurt Papa, or Selim, if they knew.

'And what if they would?'

Elizabeth knew the answer to that, though.

Selim was her priority.

Her life belonged to him. He saved her, and every day she was granted was a gift from him by consequence.

If Edward and Alphonse were a threat to him...

They would have to be removed.

Like a puppet whose strings were cut, her distress fell away. The pain turned to numbness, and her breath no longer burned her. She slowly sat back up, collecting herself.

She asked Selim, her voice small and detached. "Are they a threat to you?"

Selim shook his head. "No... No they are not."

'For now,' Elizabeth allowed.

(óヮò)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧

(Pride)

While Pride's vessel sat in bed with Ellie as she read another war story out loud, his shadows circled around the premise. The moment Wrath began to approach their designated home, Pride confronted him.

"You're having quite a bit of trouble with the humans, aren't you, Wrath?" Pride asked him, his tone a touch condescending.

If Elizabeth had been involved in this fiasco, it wouldn't be an issue, after all. Pride understood the desire to hunt, but failure in that hunt was something he would not tolerate. Especially from someone as important as Wrath.

"Scar got away with you, and they even made off with Gluttony. It's not like you," Pride stated, an accusatory tone in his voice. The unhidden questions of Why? What's wrong with you? went unspoken.

While Pride and Wrath respected one another—and likely enjoyed each other's presence more than their siblings—it was against both their natures to show compassion or concern.

"Yes, you're right," Wrath agreed rather amiably.

Pride's shadows twitched, his vessel minutely frowning at how accepting Wrath was of that statement. If he didn't know any better...

"You seem happy."

"I won't deny that," Wrath agreed. "This is sort of enjoyable. I've been alive for sixty years, and now here I am at the top of this country. All just as Father planned."

"And yet?"

"Colonel Mustang, the Elric brothers, and those folks from a foreign land... as crafty as we are, they've still got us scrambling around. The younger generations' time might be right around the corner, Pride."

"Wrath, you've been in contact with humans for too long," Pride admonished. For an immortal such as himself, it seemed absurd to think of a "younger generation" having a time. He couldn't deny that the latest generation produced outstanding humans, but the homunculi were inherently superior. It didn't matter how smart, or strong, a human could be.

A human was simply a human and would always be bested by a competent homunculus.

This talk about the next generation was far too similar to what elderly humans remarked about when nearing death. It was true that Wrath would die from old age in time like an elderly human, but he was still a homunculus. He was still above them, and consequently should be above their silly beliefs.

Wrath let out a soft chuckle. "You may be right."

"I hope you won't forget what sort of beings we are," Pride coolly advised. "I will refrain from informing Father of your remarks, which could be taken as treasonous. Anyway, about Gluttony..."

"Not to worry. According to the military police's information, I have a pretty good idea where he is.

Pride did not respond right away—in part because Ellie asked him a question, and also because he considered the next choice of action.

Wrath was not like Envy. He was not a blubbering fool who acted irrationally and without careful consideration. The mistake of letting them take Gluttony was certainly an issue, but Gluttony was not nearly so important to risk their entire operation over.

Was it enough of a problem that Pride had to step in, or send Ellie in to clean up Wrath's mess?

No.

Not yet, at least.

"For now, I will leave this up to you, then," Pride decided. "Another blunder, and I'll take over."

Wrath inclined his head, accepting such. "Did you tell Elizabeth?"

"Yes."

"Her reaction?"

"Dissociation, as expected," Pride answered, a touch of—well, not joy but close to it—in his tone. "With their deaths, Ellie will lose complete attachment to humanity."

And the two homunculi smiled at that.

(óヮò)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧

Should I include in my warnings that this story includes unhealthy / toxic relationships? I'm uncertain if it's enough of a potential trigger to spoil the story or not. Now that we're this far ya'll can see their relationship. Do you think it needs a warning tag?

Answer: Phone background is a chibi version of my oc Lilly with Hitsugaya from Bleach for my Bleach fanfic coming up. Desktop is of Elizabeth and Selim being cuties.

Question: How do you deal with emotional pain, both big and small?

Reviews are love!