Picking up the Pieces
Summary: The Plan was good- until a miscalculation causes everything to go horribly wrong, of course. So now, Ed, Al and Winry are stuck too far in the past, no where near their target date. With no ideas of how to fix their future. Manga-verse, AU, Edwin, Royai in later chapters.
Well, this shall be fun :) Somehow some idea got into my head along the lines of 'what if father won?' So there are/will be major spoilers for the manga. So, enjoy, and please review!
Prologue - Last Ones Left
Ed crouched low on the ground, unmoving, listening closely for any other signs of life. He had his back to a long ruined wall of a building, which was honestly very unlikely that it would protect him if the enemy decided to attack. There were no buildings left standing in the place that was once Central city, except for the military HQ, which the homunculi used as a base of operations. Ed shivered, bringing the old blanket around him more tightly, in hopes that it might keep him warmer in the late February air.
It had been three years now. Three years since Father activated the country-wide transmutation circle. And well, everything went downhill from there. Everyone who wasn't on the homunculi's side was slaughtered. The countries surrounding Amestris had been overrun- and possibly more of them. Ed knew for a fact that after Canas' soldiers - Canas was a large country overseas, to the west- Father planned to destroy that country as well. Ed could bet that he, Al, and Winry were the only ones left. Everything that had happened- Ed dearly wished that he could go back and try again, but the truth always stung. He could not- that was a fact of life. Once something is done, there wasn't away to go back and redo it.
Ed stood up, brushing his long, un-kept hair behind him. He hadn't kept it in a braid or ponytail for a long time- nor had it been cut in the past three years, or brushed properly. Only Winry finger-brushed her hair slightly, apparently having it as a rats-nest annoyed her. Ed clapped his hands, cringing at the way his auto-mail moved roughly. It had been broken many times, and Winry could only do a repair to keep it working, but not very well. He touched the ground beneath his feet, the dirt moving to the side, revealing a staircase. Ed gave a breath of relief. There were days that he could not go back inside because Father would block alchemy- though he could not do it constantly- and neither Ed or Al would be unable to get back inside. Ed walked down the staircase, quickly closing the entrance again once he was down low enough, leaving him shrouded in darkness. His eyes quickly adjusted to the darkness, and as he made his way down, he saw a dim light- most likely from the lamp that they kept on, or one of the occasional fires.
Ed walked out into the open room, where Winry was asleep on the table, her clothes stained with dirt and blood- which wasn't hers, most likely it was Ed's. Al was deeply into an alchemy book, obviously having trouble seeing in the dim light. His hair looked a lot like Ed's, though slightly shorter. He had the least injuries out of the three- Ed having the most- but he was the thinnest and weakest, because of his time in the gate.
"…Brother…" Al said, looking up, "This book says it's possible to do alchemy- and travel through time. It's a bit iffy, but I'm sure we could come up with a way for it to work."
"Time travel?" Ed muttered, "Somehow I doubt that would ever work… but…"
"If we could stop this from happening then… everybody… would be okay." Al persisted.
"Al-"
"I've checked the equations a hundred times! It will work!" Al exclaimed.
"Well- Wait, you checked the equations?"
"I even tried it on something small, and it worked."
Ed glared off to the side, "Well I guess our choices are die, eventually starve, die, or a chance to go back and fix everything…"
"Difficult choice, Brother?" Al said sarcastically.
"Ugh… Why are you talking so loud?" Winry mumbled, sitting up, obviously still half-asleep and rubbing her eyes.
"Sorry…" Al replied, sending her an apologetic glance.
"What are you talking about anyway? 'Go back and fix everything'?"
"Al thinks he can make it so that we go back in time." Ed stated.
"Go back-?" Winry said quietly, as if she was currently in a dream.
Al nodded. "But only if-"
"What are you waiting for?! If we have a chance to help everyone again, let's take it!" Winry exclaimed, jumping up.
Ed looked grim, nobody saying anything for what felt like an hour, before Ed sighed. "… Looks like we're doing it, then."