Yeah, I'm trying something different this time, it's a 'what if' story based on the events in the Elrics' childhood in the manga. It starts off during Ishbal, around the time of the attack on Resembool.
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I'm sorry, Winry. We shouldn't have left you alone last night. I hope we can make things right.
Ed and Al ran from their home in Resembool to a place near the train station. As quietly as they could, they crept through the town and made their way to a seemingly empty house. Military policemen were standing in front of the house, but the Ishbalans within had a hostage, so they were unsure of what to do.
Ed pulled a piece of chalk out of his pocket and began drawing a circle on the wood as Al kept guard. As he finished, Ed placed a hand on the circle and formed an opening on the wall of the building. He stood in shock as he saw what was within.
Winry was tied to a post in the middle of the room, surrounded by Ishbalans. When they saw the two boys standing just outside, one ran toward them and tackled Ed, pinning him to the ground.
"Brother!" Al shouted as one of the Ishbalans grabbed him as well. The Ishbalan who had grabbed Ed placed the chalk in the young alchemist's hands and pulled him upright.
"Cover that hole. Now."
Ed was shaking as he drew a circle on the ground. He looked around at the people in the room and decided he had to do something. He placed his hand on the circle, and the opening was sealed, leaving the three children alone with the Ishbalans who had planned on attacking the Resembool train station.
They tied Ed and Al with rope and forced them to sit next to Winry. Ed stared at his captors with fury in his eyes. "What are you going to do with us?" he asked.
"If those military men do what we ask them to, then we'll let you go. If not…"
"What?"
The Ishbalans were silent. Ed began to panic. "Are you planning on killing us?" he asked. "Why? What did we do to deserve this?"
"You didn't do anything. It's your country we're fighting against."
"But… it's not our fault! Please, leave us out of this! And if not us, then at least let Winry go. Please!"
"Be quiet!"
Ed looked down at his bound hands. "Please." He had tears in his eyes.
One of the Ishbalans kneeled down in front of Ed. "We know it's not your fault. But then again, it's not the fault of that child who was killed that Ishbalans hate alchemy."
"You mean the child who was accidentally shot?" Ed asked.
"That's right."
"If that's what started all this, then why are you going to kill us? Won't that make you about the same as the people who started this?"
There was a tense silence in the room. The Ishbalans all exchanged glances. Finally, the one who had spoken to Ed spoke again. "I'm giving myself up. There's no way I can kill children."
The other three stared at him. After a moment, one walked up to him and patted his shoulder. "I'm with you."
The other glared at their comrades. "Does it really matter who we kill? They're all Amestrian, after all."
"But if we kill children, then it'll be harder for the rest of Ishbal."
"If we kill them, then they'll finally understand that what they're doing is wrong!" The Ishbalan glared at everyone in the room before pulling out a gun and pointing it at Ed. "This kid, he's about to ruin everything we've planned. I can't forgive him for that."
"What are you doing?"
"I'm getting rid of this brat."
Ed's eyes widened, and he twitched as a gun was fired. It took him a moment to realize that he hadn't been shot. He stared wide-eyed as the Ishbalan who had been ready to kill him fell to the ground, blood dripping from a wound in his chest.
He screamed.
At that moment, the military entered the room, guns pointed at the three remaining Ishbalans. The 'kind' one dropped his gun and held his hands up. The other two quickly followed suit. The three rebels were led out as two military policemen untied Ed, Al, and Winry. Winry and Al were crying. Ed was in a daze.
The three were brought home by one of the policemen, and Pinako began the process of helping the three recover from the horribly scarring incident.
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News of this incident quickly spread through the country, and even through Ishbal. When it reached the ears of a certain doctor couple, Sara Rockbell made the decision to go home. Nobody argued against it, not even the injured Ishbalans she had been treating. She left with the promise to return when she could.
As she arrived at her home, she could see just how damaging the incident had been. She came into a silent building. Ed was trying to get his brother to eat something, and Winry still hadn't gotten out of bed. Sara went to Ed's side and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. She took Ed's place and looked into Al's eyes.
"You really shouldn't do this to yourself. It'll just make you feel worse."
Al looked at the food on his plate and gave in to hunger. Sara watched him for a moment before she realized that Winry was standing at the foot of the stairs, silently watching her.
"Winry…"
Winry didn't move for several minutes. Finally, she let out a sob and fell against her mother, holding on as tightly as she could, and crying. They stood together for a while, mother and daughter, both sharing yet another bond: they both had seen death (because a doctor in a battlefield's got to have seen at least one person die, right?).
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Ed didn't cry. He didn't spend his time hiding away. He didn't lash out at anyone. All he did was live. His movements seemed unnatural, as if a part of him wanted to give up, just stop doing everything while another part of him wanted to continue living. Al found him one day standing on the railing of the balcony.
"Brother, it's dangerous standing up there. You could fall and get hurt."
"Al."
Al started. He hadn't heard his brother's voice for several days now. "What is it, brother?"
"You know how easily I could die?"
"That's why I said you should get down."
"No, that's not what I mean." Ed turned and moved to a sitting position, facing his brother. "Back then, I really thought he was going to kill me. I was scared. I wanted to tell you so many things, but I couldn't. I…"
"I was afraid too, brother. I didn't want to lose you."
"But at the same time, I don't like what happened. I hate the fact that that guy was killed because of me."
"Brother, he was going to kill you! And maybe even Winry and me. He saved your life."
"Even so… I just hate everything that happened. I hate those people. And maybe…" Ed paused, and his voice became barely audible. "I hate Ishbalans."
"Brother…"
Ed jumped off the railing and walked inside. Al followed his brother inside and tried to talk to him, but Ed didn't say a word. He just walked outside, looked around, and ran home.
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"Alphonse?" Al picked up his head and looked up to see all three Rockbell women standing in front of him. "Where's Edward?" Sara asked.
"He went home," Al replied.
"Did you two have a fight?"
"No, not exactly… brother just said some things… that I don't think he wanted to say."
Sara sighed and stood erect. "Then we should go talk to him."
Al stood and followed Sara down the road to their house. He explained what had happened on the way.
"So… I think he hates Ishbalans now."
"But you don't?"
"I don't think so, because even though they attacked us, it's not like they were doing it for no reason. And… you said that the people you were helping were nice, didn't you?"
"That's right. It's good that you think that, Al. Just because a few people hurt you doesn't mean everyone from that race is that way."
"I don't think brother knows that, though."
"That's why we're going to talk to him."
They found Ed curled up in the fetal position in his room, sitting next to the window. Al waited in the hallway as Sara walked up to Ed and sat next to him.
"You know, you can't just sit around and sulk all the time."
"I'm not sulking."
"Really? It sure looks like you are."
"Go away." Ed curled up into a tighter ball just as he felt a tug on his ear. "Owowowowowow let go!"
Sara had grabbed Ed's ear and pulled his head back from his knees. "And what makes you think I'll do that, hmm?" She let go, and Ed rubbed his ear, glaring at Sara. "Look, you've had a hard time, and the only way to feel better is to talk about it. What are you so upset about?"
Ed thought about it for a while before speaking up. "I…" He paused. The words wouldn't come out.
"You told Al you hate Ishbalans, didn't you?"
Ed nodded.
"You don't have any reason to hate them. Just because a couple of people did something to hurt you doesn't mean every single Ishbalan would do the same. And it's not like they wanted to hurt you in the first place."
"One of them did. He tried to shoot me."
"Okay, so one of them was a little extreme. That doesn't make the rest of them extreme. Listen; when I was out there helping them, we met a lot of Ishbalan children, who were about your age. They were just like you in a lot of ways. They wanted to be happy, they didn't want to lose their families, and some of them didn't even have parents. They have it just as hard as you do, if not harder."
Ed began to tremble. Sara placed a hand on his back. "It's okay for you to cry, Edward."
And Ed did cry. He hid his head and sobbed until he ran out of energy. Sara covered him with a blanket and let him sleep. Al worked up the nerve to enter the room and stood at the doorway. Sara smiled and stood up.
"Come on, Al, let's clean this place up some while Ed sleeps."
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Yep, so there'll be about… five or so chapters for this story.
