Ed opened his eyes and looked around the dimly lit cavern. He sighed and heard it echo. He still felt very tired. Four hours sleep was not enough time to recover from passing through the Gate again. He knew he'd probably need another week to fully recover from it. He stretched his legs out one at a time and relished again the feeling of two sets of muscles tensing and tingling as he moved them. Damn, but it felt good to have normal legs again. It almost made up for the other change in his anatomy. Almost but not quite. After all not only had he changed sex, but his arm was still missing.
Edward groaned softly. He was now female. He had no idea of what being a female entailed. He knew what it meant anatomically but that was going to be scant help. He had lived with a female but she had read his mind, not he hers. What was he supposed to do now? How was he even going to manage being like this until they could reverse it and could it even be reversed. Ed shuddered at that thought. It had better be.
He puffed out his next breath and sat up. Fortunately the clothes he had on were comfortable and concealed his new physique. But it was still disconcerting to Ed to feel his shirt and trousers fitting different. The materials rubbed and stretched in new ways and it was un-nerving. It was like wearing the wrong size only worse, he thought.
He raised his hand, he had taken the glove off earlier and he looked again at the slender and definitely more feminine hand. He would have to get his automail back and modified to suit his new appearance. He grunted at the thought of that and then paled totally at the thought of how Winry would react to his changed … circumstances. And then there was Mustang and all the others. Ed broke out in a cold sweat. He was so dead, and so was Al he thought.
Ed dropped his head into his hand. Al. At least there was a bright side to all this. He was back home and Al, his little brother, was alive and well. And he had yet to be really grateful and happy at being home. He had gone straight into a two hour rant to hide the shock of suddenly being back in Amestris. And he had used it to cover the bone deep tiredness he still felt. Screaming at your brother because he had changed your sex on you was the probably the best excuse he had ever had for ranting. But most of all he had wanted to hide the anger he had felt towards Al for putting himself in so much danger by attempting it in the first place. What ifs tumbled around his brain. He could have lost Al and he would never have known. For four years, the thought of Al being alive and safe at home had kept him sane in the world beyond the Gate.
Ed stood up and began to walk across the array drawn on the floor. He looked at it and marvelled at its complexity and beauty. His little brother really was quite the genius. It was shame about his small error. Ed sighed. Equivalent exchange just did not like him.
Ed picked his way up a small sloping passage and was rewarded with the sight of a bright full moon and starry sky. He frowned at the familiarity of the stars then his mouth opened as he realised just exactly where he was. The first home he could ever remember. The only place that had truly been home.
"Nice spot to pick, Al," he mumbled with easy sarcasm.
"I thought so" Al replied from his position. Ed spun around and picked out the shape of his brother amongst the stones. A faint stench of smoke still lingered as he moved across to sit beside him.
Al was taller, Ed thought with a passing frown. And his face still has that innocence to it, despite being what… eighteen now. His hair's quite short, I wonder why he cut it. He always said he'd grow it long one day. He was dressed in black shirt and trousers and seemed thinner than he should be despite the thickness of the coat hanging around his shoulders. But Ed was caught up in his eyes. Grey eyes, he knew, with so much intelligence and honesty in them. Eyes that had seen too much and yet had never let it shadow him. Eyes that held everything Ed had worked for, everything he had struggled and sacrificed for. Life. His brother. Perfect and alive.
"I never thought I would see you again, Al." Ed wrapped his only arm around Al and leant against him. His brother was warm solid flesh and Ed had never been happier. He felt his eyes prickle and blinked furiously. There was no way he was going to cry like a girl … even if he was one.
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‼️🎈hello everyone thank you so much for reading this chapter! 🙏 If you'd like to read the full novel "FullMetal Alchemist: Unequal Exchange", you can find it on my Ko-fi page: ko-fi.com in the store section. This fanfic will consist of 10 volumen , this is the 1st Volumen with 49 chapters . 🎈‼️
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