Disclaimer: I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist

Equivalent Proportions

Edward was dimly aware of the world around him. The blackness had swallowed him up at long last but now it wanted to spit him back out again. He was becoming more and more aware of the dull roar of reality. In theory, death was silent. From all the noise, Edward guessed he wasn't as dead as he thought.

That array was to bring back Al, if it had worked, Edward would be dead right now but instead he was aching all over. His chest, lower stomach, even his hips were burning as if he had been stretched. Edward feared if he moved, he would pull not a muscle but every single fucking muscle he had plus a couple he didn't just for good measure. He was supposed to be dead after all; therefore he had no business moving but an annoying little voice in his head spoke up.

Aw crap, I need to get up before someone finds me and decides to kick my ass.

Ed had just that kind of luck too. Someone like Scar or even some bar thug who recognized his face would happen to stumble along this… place and beat him into a bloody pulp for no reason other than he was Edward Elric, the Fullmetal Alchemist. It was in times like these he hated his popularity. There were very few places he could hide without stilts and a haircut.

A dull roar of a motor brought him back to the immediate situation. Somewhere in the deep bowels of his mind, Edward convinced himself it was time to get up. Now talking his body into going along with the plan would be another thing.

Edward pleaded and begged but his muscles weren't responding to his queues to move. Edward cursed in his head and tried to move his automail when a sudden burst of white hot pain rippled through his body faster than he could think. Edward was seeing stars behind his eyes lids and fought the wave of nausea washing over him. Damn the circuits connected to his nerves must be fried!

A voice somewhere above him spoke softly, but he was too dizzy to comprehend. He opened his eyes to see very blurry clouds and the face… of someone he once knew, but Maes Hughes is dead? Edward closed his eyes; maybe he had died after all.

For the second time in who knows how long, Edward woke up, still vaguely aware that he was no dead. Did that mean it didn't work? Was Al still trapped in the gate, waiting for Ed to save him? No, that didn't make sense. If that were the case, Edward would be dead as equivalence for his failure. The array had been perfect, so it had to have worked. So him being alive meant… something but his head was ringing too much to think straight.

Voices broke him out of his painful pondering. Edward opened his eyes slowly and waited for them to adjust. He was in a small, bare room. The dreary colours made him think it must be night out, but he could see sunlight through the window over a plain brown desk. He next noticed that he was lying down, covered up in a small bed. His body still burned all over, but Edward could move, grudgingly. He lifted his left arm with a groan, it wasn't broken but also wasn't happy to be moved either. Edward let it drop back under the covers.

I guess I should check my automail while I'm at it.

Edward braced himself for the pain again and lifted his right arm. Not flash of nerve searing pain coursed thought him so he gave his fingers a wiggle. They too ached with the same over used pain as his left. He dropped the arm and froze. My arm hurt. My ARM hurt. Edward sat bolt upright despite the disagreeing of his muscles and looked at his hands. They were both flesh, flawless and perfectly matched. He threw aside the blanket and was overjoyed to see his legs too, matched.

The cool air from the room bit at his bare skin. For some reason it felt horrible strange and invasive. His chest was reacting more to the light breeze from the window than it should. His nipples were tingling, something they didn't normally do. Edward covered them with his palms and shuddered, another bizarre reaction. It was then, in that moment, that he felt something wrong, something horribly unspeakably wrong. His fingers cupped soft skin bulges that came out from his chest in round lumps.

Holy fuck I have some advance swelling disease!

Edward was a brave man No ill looking ailment could turn his stomach, not even one on his own body. Still cupping the protuberances, Edward looked down, removed his hands slowly and felt all the blood in his body turn to ice. They were breasts and looking down between them past his smooth stomach was a serious lack of—

"Holy Fuck! I've been robbed!"

Edward knew then, he was most definitely alive because no nightmare was cruel enough to strip him of his…identity like this.

Author's Note

This is just the prologue. Thank you for reading!

Oni