lucetilogs | Post-Event Reaction Log!

[ On the same old dusty road, a familiar figure could be seen staring off into the distance. It would probably be difficult for Edward at first to make out who it was but once he does, the boy might be in for a shock. For the last few days, Hohenheim has been admittedly scarce around these parts and that was definitely his fault. Despite promising his son that he would try to be more available, Hohenheim felt as if he's done the complete opposite as of late. That was of course to no fault but his own, but that odd "experiment" certainly turned things upside down for him. Now that everything was finally settling down, Hohenheim packed his things and set out to find his son. He hoped that Edward would be back to his normal self again by now since everyone else seemed to be snapping out of it.

Gazing at the sky with a somewhat gloomy expression, Hohenheim was just about to wander off again until he spotted the youth nearby. Those piercing golden eyes blinked a few times in disbelief behind the metal frame of his glasses. ]

...Edward?

[ ~~PLEASEDON'THAVEASILLYACCENT!PLEASEDONTHAVEASILLYACCENT!~~ He honestly hoped that Edward was back to his usual angry and scowling self by now. ]

[Edward pauses in mid-step at the sight of the man walking ahead, eyes widening a little. He hadn't expected to see Hohenheim out and about- truth be told, he'd expected to reach the house and find his father back in that study of his. This is... kind of weird.

Well, whatever. He shifts the bag slung over his shoulder and awkwardly kicks some dirt in his path, continuing towards the man. When he speaks, the only accent he has is that of his native Amestrian again.]

...Hey. I'm back.

[To normal, that is. Hohenheim can probably notice that much- he's not wearing gloves, so his automail is visible.]

[ Hohenheim literally held his breath as the boy approached, half expecting that ridiculous accent from last time to assault his ears again. He had no idea why the Malnosso signaled out his son for that wacky experiment but they did. It was so odd for him to watch from the sidelines as insanity brewed in Luceti. Hohenheim almost wondered if he was seeing things since nearly everyone in town was acting as if they came out of the nearest looney bin. Now, it seems that everything has calmed a bit. [

Good.

[ He replied with a sigh of pure relief. ]

Good. I was worried you was still, well...you know.

[Edward nods, glancing around. He hadn't gotten out and about very much yet, but...]

Looks like people are realizing what happened, so the experiment's probably over.

[He turns his gaze back to Hohenheim, puzzled and curiously non-aggressive, which - considering it's the two of them - is pretty unusual. He's still coasting on the backlash of Promised Day memories, so his opinion of Hohenheim right now is... hard to describe. Or explain. So he just won't bother trying.]

What are you doing out here?

That's a relief if you ask me.

[ An oddly cheerful smile actually settled on Hohenheim's face as he regarded Edward. It seems that his son was telling the truth. He's back to normal again. ]

I didn't think that the entire village would end get affected by something like this. It's usually peaceful here after all.

[ At the sudden question, Hohenheim just stared at Edward with a wide grin on his face. ]

Well, I was looking for you.

It's happened before.

[Edward hates that- the fact that he knows the place well enough now to just expect this sort of thing. It's disheartening, because does that mean that he's growing resigned to it? He doesn't feel as bothered by the fact that it happened so much as... well. The fact that he's not as bothered by it as he ought to be.

But he went home. He saved Al. He helped save Amestris.

That makes for a pretty damn good day.]

...Looking for me? Why would you...

[He stops there, glancing down as he thinks back. "Because I'm your father," he'd said. Offering his Stone - his life - to bring Alphonse back. "You boys mean more to me than anything in this world."

Because I'm your father. That's reason enough, isn't it?]

[ The gloomy look within his son's eyes startled him. What was wrong? Edward looked as if he was doing just fine a minute ago, but now he seems so aloof. It was almost as if Edward was in a world of his own, a world a light-years away from this one. That look within the youth's gaze worried him greatly. ]

Why wouldn't I? I'm your father after all.

[ A slight frown settled on Hohenheim's typically melancholy expresison. ]

I wasn't too sure if you would come back, so I decided to look for you.

[I'm your father.

....

It's reason enough.]

...Yeah, you are. [With a shrug of his shoulders, Edward starts walking again, moving past Hohenheim to start back on the road towards the house.] Come on, let's go back.

[That's twice now- twice that he'd run off and Hohenheim had gone looking for him. He hadn't wanted to see it before, but... knowing what he knows now, remembering the words he'd heard back in Amestris, it's easier to spot it. Hohenheim isn't the best father. He isn't even a great father. ...Hell, he's not even a good one, at this point.

But he is one. A father. Edward's reached a point where, maybe, he can start acknowledging that much. A father can't be a father without a kid, after all.]

[ Watching as Edward passed by, Hohenheim couldn't help but smile at what his son said. This was perhaps the first and only time that Edward ever refer to him indirectly as "dad". It really made him smile. ]

Hey, wait for me!

[ He quickly follows with a goofy grin on his face. ]

Edited 2012-04-10 12:42 (UTC)

Don't fall behind, old man. [Which. Is another world for not-dad! ...Okay, he'll work his way up to it. One hand in his pocket, Edward doesn't look back, but he can hear Hohenheim's footsteps, and feels a surprising relief. They're a pretty pathetic little family, but maybe he can teach his idiot father a thing or two about sticking around. He's got time for it, now.

He's quiet for a long moment, lost in thought, considering all that had happened in the last several days, and - going a little further - the last several months. It's been a bumpy ride, but... they've all come a long way, haven't they? Yeah. But there's some things that need to be said.]

Last week... when I disappeared for a day? I went home. I was back in Amestris.

[ Being able to walk alongside Edward like this brought a little bit of joy to Hohenheim. Usually his son didn't want anything to do with him, highly in contrast with Alphonse who seemed to yearn for Hohenheim's attention. Nevertheless, the old alchemist was making the best of this situation by being quiet and enjoying the moment. He walked alongside Edward with the goofiest grin on his face until the boy began to speak. ]

They sent you back to Amestris?

[ He nearly stopped in mid stride when he heard that. ]

But how? I mean, why? I thought the Malnosso wanted to keep us here, not send us back home.

[That makes Edward glance over in irritated surprise; it's not often that Hohenheim makes such a clearly ignorant statement, as far as he's observed.]

What? Haven't you even seen- [...No, probably not. He hasn't been here that long. With a frustrated sigh, Edward faces forward again, expression flat.] Nevermind, it doesn't matter. Either way, I got sent back. We made it through the Promised Day.

Edited 2012-04-11 09:46 (UTC)

[ Hohenheim's blood ran cold as soon as Edward mentioned the Promised Day. He knew that the two of them would try to combine their efforts to stop Father from achieving his plans, but he honestly wasn't sure if he wanted to hear what happened. Had the two of them failed, all of Amestris would be lost including everyone they cherished.

However judging by Edward's reemergence in Luceti, he assumed that they somehow won. ]

...I see.

[ A frown settled on his face. ]

If you survived the Promised Day, then I'm surprised that you still have your automail.

[Another pause, as Edward lifts his hand to gaze at it for a moment. He's been trying not to dwell on what he'd regained for a day only to lose again, but it's pretty hard to ignore when it's staring him in the face.]

...I had it. For half a day, I had my arm back. Al sacrificed his soul to give it back... so I could win the fight.

[ The world weary alchemist literally froze when Edward said that. To think that his youngest son would go as far as to sacrifice himself for his brother really touched Hohenheim's heart. Yet at the same time, a sense of dread washed over him as he thought of the consequences of this self-less act. Knowing full well that he would never stand for this sort of ending, Hohenheim already knew what must be done.

He utterly refuses to let his sons suffer any further. ]

Edward.

[ His face was solemn and grim now. ]

You and Alphonse won't be separated for long.

[ Of course he's certain that Edward knew what he was plotting to do, so it goes without saying that Hohenheim plans to sacrifice himself to save Alphonse. He doesn't care much about his own existence, at least not as much as he cares for the lives of his sons. If he can bring his son back, then he'll do it and use himself as the sacrifice. ]

What?

[Edward is baffled for a moment, stopping in the middle of the street to look back in confusion at Hohenheim... and then he laughs.

He can't help it, really; he was angry before, furious actually, at the suggestion Hohenheim had made back in Amestris, to give up the remainder of his life as a trade-off for Alphonse. "Because I'm your father." It all comes down to that - that dumbass and his self-sacrificing solutions to everything - but he's not mad anymore. Edward laughs not because the prospect of such sacrifice is funny, not because it's a stupid suggestion (and it is, it definitely is).

No, he laughs because, in retrospect, the solution to the problem all along was so painfully simple. If he'd thought of it years ago, their entire journey would have ended before it even began.

But then, a lesson without suffering is meaningless, isn't it? That is the ultimate truth.]

It's okay. [It's a brief laugh, for Hohenheim's sake, fading quickly into a surprisingly easygoing grin. He can't be mad at this. It's the ultimate victory, the one he and Al had shared. Together, they'd beaten Truth. He can't ever be mad about that.] You don't need to do anything, you idiot. I got him back.

[And it was worth it. Knowing he'll return to that, live a lifetime without alchemy, the life of an ordinary human being. Something he'd always been, just as he'd told Truth itself.

So worth it.]

[ Well now, that wasn't the response he had expected to hear from the boy. Hell, that wasn't even remotely in the same ballpark! Why in the world is he laughing at him?! Hohenheim just stood there stunned. ]

Edward!

[ He nearly yelled in dismay and horror. Does his son truly hate him this much to laugh at him so? This is just terrible! ]

Huh? What do you mean you got him back? And I'll have you know that I'm not an idiot!

You are if you think I'd let you sacrifice your Philosopher's Stone to get Al back.

[Yeah, he knows what you were thinking, you good-for-nothing dad. it's an easy thing to guess, especially when Hohenheim had tried it in Amestris.]

Al wouldn't have wanted that. We'd promised each other- we wouldn't use a Philosopher's Stone, and we wouldn't let anyone else die for us. There was another solution, though... I didn't realize it until that moment. The Gate of Truth- my Gate of Truth- it was mine to sacrifice. So that's what I did.

[No one died, no one lost anything, no one was left behind or alone. Alchemy for Al. It's the least equivalent exchange he can think of, actually.]

You defeated Truth by sacrificing your Gate to it?

[ There's no way that could've been the solution. Just how did the boy manage to think of that? To sacrifice his own Gate of Truth for the sake of Alphonse's life...

Why the hell didn't Hohenheim think of that himself? No, why hasn't anyone thought of that? ]

...I can't believe it. You actually did it.

Aren't you supposed to believe in me? Some father you are.

[It had taken some desperate thinking and willpower to get it done, though, so it's understandable that it took so long. He'd clung to alchemy too much, relied on it for too long. Giving it up when he'd always thought it was the answer to everything? Heh, no way.]

I do believe in you, Edward. It's just that I didn't think it would ever be that simple.

[ It seems that the both of them clung to alchemy far too much for their own good. Who would've ever guessed that the answer would be right under their noses? Now Hohenheim couldn't help but feel terrible for even suggesting to use himself as a sacrifice.

He's an idiot after all. ]

Neither did I, obviously. [Well, he can't really blame Hohenheim- the man already blamed himself for what had happened to them, apparently, which is something Ed himself had only recently learned. But it is their fault, not his, and that's why he's glad they finally found a solution to the problem.

Speaking of which, though...]

Coming back here, though, everything's been reversed. My arm is automail again, and I can still use alchemy. I don't really get it, but it looks like I'm back the way I was until I go home for good.

I wonder why, no, rather I wonder how that happened, Edward. If you already successfully reclaimed your limb and lost your alchemy, then how could you possess it now?

[ A frown settled on his face as he continued to ponder about this odd mystery. ]

Do you mean state that the Malnosso brought your body back here from an earlier period of time, but left your memories intact? Seems rather plausible if you ask me, especially considering some of the feats the Malnosso have performed thus far.

We were warned about that part, so I was kind of expecting it. They'd told us that if we were sent back, everything would be reversed like it'd never happened. It's why I didn't bother volunteering in the first place- I wanted to go back and make it through the Promised Day, but not if it wasn't even going to matter.

[So they'd just picked he and Haruhi out of a barrel or something? Or the whole experiment had gone wrong. They'd pretty much admitted that anyway, so whether it was really an accident or not is the real question.]

I see...

[ Not sure what to think now that the Promised Day had come and went for Edward, Hohenheim finds himself struggling now in finding the right words to say. He's grateful that his son managed to finish what he could not, but at the same time he's somewhat lamenting over the fact that his sons had to finish what he began. Had he been better prepared or perhaps been a better father, neither Edward or Alphonse would've needed to intervene.

Yet and still, Hohenheim felt this strange sense of peace now that the nightmare has come to an end. It didn't really matter whether it had been him or his sons to defeat the Homunculus for as long as they won and prevented Armageddon for Amestris. ]

At least all of your efforts up to this point has mattered enough to save the lives of the many.

[ He grins faintly at Edward. ]

You did well, son.

Post-Event Reaction Log!

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