"Can you do it? Can you bring her back?" My voice trembled, hope mixing with fear of the Sea Witch.

"Hmm, now, raising the dead…" Dante pondered. "I've never tried before. It will cost you."

"Anything!" We promised together, determined.

Dante laughed, her homunculi echoing the sound from the shadows. Alphonse shivered beside me. "Don't you know better than to promise something so rash?"

Her circle glowed. Finally, we would have our mother back…but, wait, the light was changing. Hands shot out towards me; Al screamed.

"Al!" I turned towards him, mouth gaping as I watched my brother disappear. "AL!"

"You have to pay a hefty price for such an act, Edward Elric." Dante cackled. "What will you give up?"

"G-give him back!"

"Hmm…" somehow the musings of the Sea Witch were ominous. "I should be able to arrange this…and your guilt will be a much better prize than anything else. I'm afraid I won't be able to complete your mother though. Choose—your mother or your brother…"

I gulped. "J-just give me Alphonse back!"

The light from the transmutation circle faded, while another grew behind Dante. Metal formed, armor floating behind her. Then, from the armor—"Brother!"

It was Al. He was empty.

I gasped, jerking out of the dream, grateful it had ended there. Usually it continued, up until I saw the thing Dante had resurrected…I gritted my teeth, scowling. It was over, that happened years ago. I shouldn't still have that stupid nightmare.

"Brother?"

Sighing, I turned towards Al. We shared the same room, though he could no longer sleep, not since being turned into armor. "It's nothing, Al."

"I know you had the dream again, Brother."

"Yeah, but it's just a dream. I'm fine." And I was, for the most part. Sure, I still missed Mom, but I'd come to terms with the fact that the dead don't come back. They shouldn't. Really, the only thing lingering from that day was the guilt, terrible guilt for getting Alphonse stuck like he was.

Al huffed. I could see him in my head, the way he used to be, rolling his eyes and swishing his tail at how stubborn I was.

"Hey, is he awake yet?"

"I wish you'd just call him Dad, Brother."

"He didn't do anything when she died, Al. He didn't even bother to see how we were, to stop his 'official business' long enough to realize what we were planning. He's not a dad." I frowned again. I hated when Alphonse decided to defend him. "Anyway, is he?"

"No." Though I could tell he was still miffed, I could hear the smile in Al's voice. He loved sneaking out almost as much as I did.

"C'mon then!" I swam out the door, hurried, wincing when my scales shimmered. I wished I could have had another color; the red was just so noticeable.

It was way easier than it should have been to avoid the palace guards. I had wanted to move out, but Hohenheim wouldn't have that. Still, if he really wanted to keep me and Al in, he should have increased security. I mean, come on, we're mermen. It's only a courtesy to swim through the halls. There's really nothing stopping us from using windows as exits.

Once the city was out of sight below, I smiled. It felt so nice, being free like this. And heading for the surface was even better.

I broke the water, breathing in the morning air; I loved it. Water left a weird tingling in my mouth.

Al came up beside me, his metal tail pumping the water. Made out of our metal, he didn't sink like he would have with the heavy human variety, but it still took some work to get him to stay up.

We swam up to the rock, alone, in the middle of the ocean, pulling ourselves up. It was things like this, having to drag myself up to Winry's shack, that made me think humans were better off; legs could swim and walk. Tails were so limited. And Al had it even harder, his metal making a dreadful screeching noise.

"Yo, Winry!" We shouted. She was usually up, tinkering with her so-called automail, but somehow never heard us coming. "It's us!"

A thump was heard inside, then she opened the door, waving her wrench around as always. "Hey, guys!" she giggled.

There was something a little off about Winry. To use her words, she was "off her rocker, and damn proud." That's why she lived alone out here, only going to the mainland to buy supplies or see customers. That's also why she was safe to talk to—even if she talked about her merman friends, none of the other humans would believe her.

"How's it going, Winry?" Al was always so polite around her. To be honest, I think he had a thing for the girl, but she had eyes only for her automail.

"Excellent!" Winry's eyes got a little glassy. "I'm working on this arm, and I've made the fingers five times more mobile! This is revolutionary!"

I rolled my eyes, listening to her prattle on. I sometimes wondered if all humans were as weird as her. I pulled at my hair, curious as always about how heavy it got up here. I vaguely paid attention to Winry's explanations of this and that, understanding none of it. Really, I was waiting for the sunrise, easily my favorite thing about the world above the water. None of the colors reach us down below.

And there it was. I smiled, satisfied by the breaking orange glow on the waves. Breathtaking.

But at this point, I had to start worrying. The rest of the merfolk would be waking up soon, and our "guardian" (I prefer to think of her as a babysitter) Izumi would check our rooms first thing, as always. We had to be there.

"Hey, Al."

"Yeah, I know, Brother. Winry, we have to go."

"Man, they keep you on a tight leash down there don't they? How can you have a curfew before the day even begins?"

I snorted, then froze, hearing a faint splashing sound.

"EDWARD! ALPHONSE!"

"Shit," I muttered. That was Izumi alright.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING!?"

"Bye!" Alphonse squeaked, before making his way down the rock as fast as possible. I followed suit; Izumi wasn't just loud, she was scary, and not afraid to smack us around.

Of course, that's exactly what she did upon seeing us. "You know better, Edward! Your father doesn't want you up here!" Another hit.

"He can't even remember his family, no wonder he doesn't consider that the surface might not be all bad," I muttered. Talking back was a bad idea, but I hated the restrictions he put on me.

"Brother!"

"Edward!"

My head was really starting to hurt from Izumi's pounding. I didn't envy Al his body, but at least he couldn't feel her blows. "Come on, we're going home! And," she added, seeing my reluctance, "if you don't argue, I might not tell Hohenheim about this."

That was a good deal. I sighed, diving in, the sound of Winry's lingering giggles echoing in my ears.