Memories
Takes place after CoS, but Alphonse never followed Edward through the portal.
The old man sitting in the corner of the bar was 92. He had lived a fruitful life: he married an amazing girl and had a son. He was a scientist, a very successful one. People of all ages knew him by name and he was certainly a presence hard to ignore. He was kind and constantly projected an image of a kind grandfather, one who knew exactly what to say at the right times. At least, that was the image the public knew him by. He was always thought to have lived a very happy life.
They couldn't have been more wrong. They never noticed the slightly glassy look his eyes regularly sprouted and despite known to be constantly smiling, the smile was always a little nostalgic, as if he was living in a dream.
Much was known about his life after he had reached the age of 16, but there was virtually no information on his earlier life. It had seemed, that he just popped up out of nowhere. Not even Wendy knew, and she the closest person to him in this particular world. All that was known about his earlier years was that he grew up in a boring town.
The man's name is Edward Elric.
-Line breaker-
The man was 64. His son had married 10 years ago and had a little girl. He was a grandfather. He and his wife had grown old but she was still as beautiful as ever.
Today was the 3rd of October. The old man reached into his right pocket and took out a sliver pocket watch. He looked at it. Ever since his arrival in this world, he was careful to take care of it and polished it daily and it had never once left the right pocket. And now, it was finally time to part with it.
He lifted the sliver pocket watch up and opened it one last time. The words Don't forget Oct.3.11 was messily carved into the shiny metal. The watch had never once stopped since the day of his arrival in this world and it was on this day, that it finally stopped. He walked up the wooden stairs of the house he shared and entered his private study room. He placed the watch under the loose floorboard, where other memorial objects were, contained in a simple but large wooden box. He put the loose floorboard back.
It was concealed and he walked away, never to see it again.
-Line breaker-
The man was 35. He and his wife was about to have a baby. A baby boy to be exact and they have yet to pick out a name. Family members (all on his wife's side) and friends had eagerly waited for the baby to be delivered.
When the baby first opened his eyes, he couldn't believe it. The baby had eyes the exact shade as Alphonse's, his younger brother. It was then that he decided to call his baby boy Alphonse – after his younger brother.
His wife had thought that the newest addition to the family was named after Alfons Heiderich, his German friend who had died trying to send him back to Amestris, back home. He could never bring himself to tell her otherwise.
-Line breaker-
The man in his mid 20s was about to be wed. He and his lovely fiancée Wendy was going to be married. He should be happy. But he wasn't. For one, Alphonse wasn't here and neither were any of his other friends in Amestris. The other problem was that the girl he had really wanted to marry was in Amestris. So he went with the second best option, Wendy. Wendy was a splitting image of her and he did enjoy her company and as a lover well enough. But Wendy wasn't her; he wanted the girl who wacked his head with a wrench every time he did something stupid, he wanted to be able to hear her laugh, to see her smile.
He and Wendy had met when she moved into the neighbourhood and things escalated from there…. He didn't, couldn't reject her because she was the exact copy of her and rejecting her would feel like he was betraying her somehow.
And so he went on with his marriage and faked a smile even if he was utterly miserable internally.
-Line breaker-
The young man in the scarlet coat was 20. The automail for both his arm and leg wasn't holding up and not to mention, he was finally growing. Had Colonel Mustang been there, there was no way he could call him short – because he no longer was. He cracked a smile at the thought. But facts still remain as facts, and his automail had grown rusty despite his best efforts. It was time to throw them away.
The young man didn't want to part with them; they were one of the last reminders of his world – proof that Amestris wasn't a dream and actually existed. He missed everyone back home terribly, especially Alphonse.
In the previous week, he had gone to a doctor and that doctor had managed to make him prosthetics (not nearly as good as Winry's). Now all was set, done and dusted and all that was left was to throw Winry's broken automail away. The doctor had offered to get rid of it and the young man had refused. But he couldn't bear to part with it: it was Winry's last gift to him.
And so he carried them home, went up the wooden stairs and discovered a loose floorboard. Once removed, he had grabbed the simple wooden box Alfons had once given to him as a Christmas gift, placed it in the empty space and placed both pieces of automail into it. He replaced the floorboard and left to work.
-Line breaker-
Now the man was 95 and on a hospital bed, barely able to move. His son and grandchildren were there with him, whispering comforting words to him but it was not needed. He was old and he had seen too much. He embraced death.
He took his last breath and the world faded away and the gate appeared. He was once more in the same white space that he hadn't seen in decades.
The gates opened and Al was there, arms outstretched, inviting him into an embrace and he didn't hesitate. As he ran towards Al, he seemed to become younger: the grey faded away from his hair, his eyes once more became bright and eager.
The brother embraced and for once, he was truly happy. Al was there and that was all that mattered.