Sheâs pale and sickly - looking just like before - even the smile he loved so much. Dammit he needed to pull it together. She was right - Al was strong - stronger than he was that was for sure. It was his brotherâs strength that had powered him through these years and if he didnât get his act together no doubt Alphonse would surely clobber him for it.Â
But her hand is on his automail now, wrapping around it and sheâs not speaking a word to it - nothing at all. He jerks it back, holds it to his chest in a fist and covers it with his real handâŚhis human hand. Wasnât sheâŚ.surely she knewâŚ.surely Pinako told her âŚso then wasnât she⌠wasnât she mad? Wasât she disappointed in them? In him? Wasnât she upset over what he did to them âŚ. to his brother?Â
Here she was telling him not to push down his own feelings like it was a simple thing to doâŚeven more so when heâd spent the last eleven years doing just thatâŚhe never even allowed himself to grieve, though now he apparently didnât have to. He wondering how that all workedâŚ.and honestly he wondered for a moment if it might be some kind of trick. The homunculi had their eyes and ears on his every move - would they sink this low?
Envy himself boasted about how easy it was to pull the trigger on a helpless child, surely watching him crumble into a useless heap over the revival of his dead mother would be something that bastard would relish in.Â
âArenât you⌠arenât you mad?â He sounds, pulling himself back from her a little as he still clutches his automail to his chest - ashamed that if this truly is his mother - she has to see him in such a broken state.  âArenât you mad at me? Fer what I didâŚ.fer losing AlâŚ.ferâŚ.almost killinâ himâŚâ Thereâs a pause as he looks at her confused, ready to analyze every word that comes out of her mouth from their point on and to process every touch; every motion with the upmost care.Â
He needed to know if this truly was his mother - was this truly Trisha Elric?
His heart clenched in his chest at the thought and he felt his body grow heavy with anticipationâŚhe almost felt like he was holding his breath.Â
âArenât you ashamed of me?âÂ
Ashamed? No .... Trisha could never be truly ashamed at her children. Yes, they did something entirely stupid, and they certainly did pay the price for it, but, they did in desperation. They were left without either parent, as she saw, the only person to care for them was Pinako, and she was a bit too old to be dealing with three kids! No... if Trisha was ashamed and disappointed in anyone, it wouldâve been Van Hohenheim.Â
Donât get her wrong, she understood why he had to go. She understood what was at stake, but, she also understood that he had a duty as a father to these two boys. It was unacceptable that he never once came back to Resembool... but, Trisha couldnât assume what exactly he was doing, was he was thinking. That was a confrontation for another day, if Van Hohenheim lived to face her.Â
Without a second thought, the mother gently took that metallic hand back into hers, fingers enveloping the cold metal. âI could never feel nothing but love for you, or Alphonse.â Her eyes momentarily dropped to the hand she held, a sad look crossing in that gaze of hers. âI only wish it never came to this. I wish neither you or your brother got caught up in such taboo.âÂ
Her graze rose to meet his, her eyes wavering just a bit. Never once had she managed to cry in front of her boys knowingly, she always prided herself on being strong, but this time ... seeing that vulnerable look upon the boysâ face absolutely broke her heart. âIf only I had held on for you two back then...â her voice trailed of as her hands fell from his, one reaching to wipe her eyes with the back of it-- this wasnât the time for crying, for self pity! Whatâs done is done, the past cannot be changed.
But then why was she feeling so unbelievably guilty?