Bearer of Truth Chapter 1- Alchemy

Edward Elric stepped off the train and onto the platform, releasing a deep sigh. He looked out over the rolling hills and green fields of his home town. It had been six months. Six months since he had left Resembool. Six months since he'd seen Winry Rockbell, his childhood friend and secret crush. Six months since he had left her on this platform, making a fool of himself and babbling about equivalent exchange in a marriage proposal gone horribly wrong. He grimaced at the memory. Someday soon, he was going to redo that, hopefully less awkwardly.

Ed hefted his suitcase, setting off along the road. He hobbled on his automail leg, which was now a few inches too short. He had finally grown while he was in Creta, studying the region's alchemy. He was now several inches taller and his features were sharper, more chiseled. He was muscular but thin, tall and lean in a way that had caught the eyes of many Cretian maidens. Ed continued down the road, many people he had known all his life looking at him with puzzled expressions before recognition dawned on their faces and they waved. Ed waved back, chuckling to himself.

He reached the sign indicating that the yellow house in front of him was Rockbell Automail. He had arrived. He walked up to the porch and knocked on the door. A shriek sounded, followed by a loud crash and a string of curses and loud footsteps. The door opened and Winry stood there, glowering. "You better have a good..." She began. She looked up at him, jaw dropping, and she slouched against the doorframe. "Ed?" she asked in disbelief. Edward chuckled and entered, closing the door behind him. "Good to see you too, Winry." he said, his voice a little deeper and smoother than she remembered it being.

Winry relaxed, letting a smile warm her face. "Nice to see you've come back without broken automail for once," she told him. Then she noticed how he was slouching and groaned. "But it looks like you need a new leg anyway," she said. "I'm just glad I don't have to worry about your arm anymore. I'll only need…" Her musing was interrupted by Ed's question. "Where's Granny?" he asked, looking around. Winry smiled and stood, motioning for Ed to follow her. "She's downstairs," she told him, leading him to the basement. They walked down the stairs to find Pinako Rockbell with her back turned to them. "Granny," Winry called. "Ed's here." Pinako stopped her work and turned around. "Well, if it isn't the pipsq-" she started before noticing Edward's height. "Never mind. What brings you to Resembool?" she asked.

Ed smiled. "I finished in the West earlier than I expected," he explained. "I'll tell you about it later. Is Al here?" Pinako nodded. "He is, but he got home from Central late last night and he's still sleeping. We can all talk at lunch." "What was Al doing in Central?" Ed asked, frowning. Pinako and Winry looked at each other. "We'd better let him tell you," Winry said nervously. Ed looked dissatisfied, but agreed. After some more small talk, Winry told Ed she needed to go into town to get some parts for his leg and Ed offered to accompany her. She fit him with a spare automail leg of the right height and they set off.

They walked together to the market. When they walked up to his open store, the town's parts supplier, Gunter, looked up and grinned at them. "Hey, Winry. Hey, Ed. It's been a while. You've certainly grown." "So have you," Ed noted, catching sight of the man's gut. Gunter laughed and slapped his belly. "Credit the wife's cooking!" he said, then grew very serious. "Speaking of wives, when are you going to get yourself one?" he asked Ed. Ed blushed. "Um..Well..I…" Winry blushed too. "I know!" she said suddenly. She handed Ed a list of groceries they needed. "Why don't you go get these while I get automail parts. We can meet up in front of the schoolhouse" Ed nodded quickly, snatching the list and running off.

Winry sighed in relief before noticing that Gunter was smirking at her. "I knew it," he said chuckling. "I knew there was something between you two. What's going on?" Winry bit her lip. "Well, we've been friends for as long as either of us can remember, but we started being more than that a couple of years ago, when I visited Ed in Central. Then, he might have proposed to me just before he left six months ago and I might have said yes, but I'm not sure." Gunter laughed. "That's Ed for you. You can never be sure about that one." His laughs stopped and he locked eyes with Winry. "He's a good man, though. He has a short temper and he shuts people out sometimes, but he's one of the most caring and honest people I know. You're lucky." He grinned again. "Now, what can I get you?"

Winry blushed and handed him the list of parts she needed. He told her he would have them delivered to her house later that night and she set off to meet Ed. As she was nearing the school, someone called her name from somewhere on her left. She looked over, seeing only an alleyway between two shops. She walked over, looking for the person who had called her.

Ed was waiting in front of the schoolhouse when he heard Winry's scream. He dashed off, heading for the alleyway that it seemed to have come from. He rounded the corner and saw Winry lying bound in the alleyway."Turn around!" she screamed. "Ed, run!" Ed stepped towards her, only to be hit hard in the back of the head. He crumpled to the pavement. Winry screamed again and the men who had ambushed Ed knocked her out too.

Ed woke in a small, dark room. The air was thick and a dull rumble sounded beneath him. Winry was propped up next to him, unconscious. Four men in masks sat at the other side of the room, talking anxiously to each other. He nudged Winry and she came to, taking in her surroundings. She motioned for Ed to turn so they would be back to back. If they could do it without anyone noticing, they might be able to untie each other. Ed shifted. "I wouldn't do that," a voice sounded. A fifth man stepped out of the shadows. He bent over Ed and, even through the mask, Ed could smell alcohol on the man's breath. "Nice to see you're awake, piss-eyes. Now the fun can begin," he snorted. "Piss-eyes…" Ed muttered, his eyes narrowing, then widening with realization. Only one person had ever called him that. "Adam Cohen," he spat. Adam snorted, removing his mask. His cronies followed suit.

Adam was a brawny boy with brown eyes and greasy black hair. He wore a permanent scowl on his face and was always covered in dirt and grime. Adam and his "henchmen" had been tormenting Ed, Al, and Winry since they were children. "Not bad, Elric." he said. "But it doesn't matter if you know who we are now." Ed smirked. "Oh yes it does," he said. "Make no mistake, we're getting out of here. But not before I kick your sorry ass." Adam whipped out a knife and slashed Ed's face, leaving a deep gash. Ed didn't give Adam the satisfaction of showing any pain.

Adam snarled. "I hear you lost your alchemy, pipsqueak," he teased, shocked when Ed showed no reaction. Winry squirmed. "Come on, Adam," she said. "You're 18, so start acting like an adult. Besides, Ed's taller than you now, pipsqueak." Adam's face went red. "Shut up before I cut out your tongue, bitch." Edward growled. Adam turned back to him, smirking. "Don't like that, eh? Sit tight for a moment while I deal with your girlfriend over here," he said, shoving the blade of his knife into Ed's right thigh and leaving it there. Winry screamed. "Ed!" "Oh, shut it," Adam said crossly. Ed seemed to not take much notice of the blade, grimacing only slightly. "Now ," Adam said, "We'll see whose name you scream when I take.." Twin pillars of metal shot from the wall and smashed Adam's genitals between them.

Adam gave one high-pitched shriek before crumpling to the ground, blood pooling between his thighs. Ed was glaring furiously at Adam's prone form. A metal spike had risen from the floor and split the ropes binding him. He pulled the knife out of his thigh and tossed it aside, standing up. "Who's next?" he asked, raising his fists. All four men charged him.

Winry watched in awe as Ed fought. He would twist, flip, and dodge before dealing a single devastating blow to each opponent. Within a minute, all four men were unconscious. Ed walked over to Winry and used the discarded knife to cut her bonds. He helped her up and together they walked towards the room's single large door. Ed flung it open. He swore and pulled Winry back, both of them stunned by the landscape moving past them. They were on a moving train.

Ed grabbed Winry's shoulders. "Stay here," he said. "I'll try to find a way off the train." Ed leaned out the door, looking ahead. After a moment, he took a deep breath and grabbed Winry's arm, jumping out of the train just as it was on a bridge over a lake. "You idiot, Ed!" Winry screamed. "You can't swim!" Ed's eyes widened just before they hit the water. Winry surfaced, gasping. "Ed!" For a few agonizing moments, it seemed he was gone for good. Then, he suddenly rose out of the water, struggling to stay afloat. He winced at Winry. "Sorry, Win," he said. "I had to ditch the leg." Winry laughed, tears streaming down her face. "I don't care about that, you moron." She hugged him tightly, nearly pulling them both under. "I'm just glad you're not dead." They swam to the shore and crawled onto dry land, exhausted.

Winry took a moment to take in their surroundings. She sighed in relief. They were only a couple miles away from home, but… she glanced over at Ed. With one leg gone and the other wounded, she'd have to carry him. She walked up to him, gasping when she realized he had fainted from loss of blood. She tore off a strip of her shirt and bound his leg. She pulled him onto her shoulders and set off for home. The trip was long and hard since there were no roads to follow, but she eventually arrived safely.

It was nightfall by the time Winry carried Ed up the stairs to the porch. Winry stumbled through the door with Ed still unconscious on her back. Sitting in the living room, both Al and Pinako jumped at her entrance. Al rushed forward. "What happened? Where were you?" he demanded. "Later," Winry told him sternly. "Let's take care of Ed first." Pinako ran to get first aid supplies. "Get him on the couch!" she called over her shoulder. Winry carefully lowered Ed setting him down gently and removed his pants, exposing the stab wound. Pinako ran in, carrying bandages and a needle and thread. "I'll stitch his leg up. That one on his face won't need stitches, but sterilize it and bandage it up," she commanded Winry. Winry quickly obeyed, Al watching anxiously.

Ed woke up a few minutes after Pinako had finished. "Hey guys," he mumbled, coughing. Pinako sighed. "It sure would be nice if you come home undamaged for a change," she said, exasperated. Ed frowned. "I did earlier today, didn't I?" he asked. Pinako shook her head. "Your leg needed to be replaced with all the growing you've done, so that doesn't count." Ed stared at her, mouth agape. "Never thought I'd hear you say that." Pinako smirked. "Don't count on it happening again, Ed. You're still shorter than your younger brother." "Don't call me short," Ed said jokingly, not really having the energy to get mad over it. He sat up and was immediately hit in the back of the head with a wrench. He turned to glare at Winry, but was surprised to see Al wielding the wrench, glaring back at him. "Explain," Al growled. Ed gulped. "W-Winry?" he asked, "Do you think you could tell them? I'll help where I can, but I have the strangest headache." He glared daggers at Al. Winry proceeded to tell them the story, with Ed pitching in details she forgot. When they finished Al looked deep in thought.

"Who was the alchemist who freed Ed and attacked Adam?" Al wondered. "It would have to have been someone of considerable skill." Ed looked at his younger brother grimly. "It was me," he confessed. Al stared at him, shocked. "Brother! But how? How did you do it?" he asked, appearing confused, distressed, and relieved all at once. Ed sighed. "I suppose now is the time to tell everybody about my trip to Creta," he said. "But first…" He looked at Pinako. "Can we eat, Granny? I'm starving." Winry fitted Ed with a new leg and they walked into the kitchen.

Once they were all eating around the table, Ed started to tell his story. He had spent his first four months in Creta without finding any leads. Just when he had been about to give up, he had met an old alchemist who offered to teach him the secrets of Cretian alchemy. Ed was an eager student, but he couldn't try any of the alchemy himself. Then, one night, everything changed.

Ed drew in a deep, shaky breath. "That night, a gang of rogue alchemists attacked the town. The town's only alchemist, the old man who taught me, was on his deathbed. He called me to his bedside and…" Ed trailed off. Winry took hold of his shaking hand and squeezed it reassuringly, urging him to go on. Ed took another deep breath.

"That stupid old man," he said, tears leaking from his golden eyes. Everyone was shocked. Ed never cried. "He opened the portal. He gave his Gate of Truth to me at the cost of his own life." At this, Ed broke into sobs for the first time since the night he and Al had tried to bring back their mother. The others just stared into space, not knowing what to say. After a few minutes with no sound other than Ed's continued sobbing, Winry and Al caught each other's eye and each put a hand on one of Ed's shoulders. "I fought off the other alchemists," he managed. "Saved the town. But that doesn't make me feel much better."

Winry sighed. "You moron, Ed," she said. "The old man gave his life for his friends. You said yourself he was dying anyway. "Don't feel guilty about it." "I know!" Ed snapped. "I know all of that. But that's not the problem. I… I can feel him! His anger, loneliness, pain, loss, confusion! He's inside of me and I can feel him!" Ed completely broke down, leaving everyone to stare in shock. After a few minutes, his sobbing stopped and he slumped over, silent.

Soon after Ed had recovered from his outburst, someone pounded on the door. "Longshot!" a familiar voice sounded. "I know you're in there! Come on out!" "Longshot?" Ed asked, noticing Al's guilty face. He glanced down, noticing the silver chain dangling out of Al's pocket. He glared. "You didn't," he said, clearly furious. Al looked like he might lose his dinner. "Sorry Brother!" he said quickly, "But becoming a state alchemist got me research money for Xing." Ed stormed into the entry hall, planning on telling whatever military bastard was at the door to get lost. At that moment, the door burst open. Ed instinctively transmuted a short blade from thin air. "Colonel?"

He realized it was Mustang, his old commanding officer. Just as Ed lowered the blade, Mustang snapped his fingers, causing an explosion right in front of Ed's chest. Ed flew across the room, landing in a crumpled heap. His shirt smoked, singed nearly all the way through. Mustang descended. He reached down to grab Ed, but Winry grabbed his arm. "Stop it!" she cried. "Ed's done nothing wrong, you bastard!" Mustang just threw her to the ground. A white-hot lump of rage built in Ed's chest. He tore off his smoking shirt and threw it up to the smoke detector, setting the sprinklers off. Mustang swore, unable to use flame alchemy anymore. Ed transmuted a new blade, this time a full sword, and swung it up to touch Mustang's neck. "Get. The hell. Out," Ed growled. Mustang gulped. "Answer my questions first, Fullmetal. You've clearly been lying about your inability to use alchemy. Additionally, you must be using a Philosopher's Stone to transmute from thin air. I thought you were better than that!" Ed's gaze softened a little and the lump of anger began to dissolve. "I suppose you do deserve explanations," Ed sighed. "Sit down. You too, Lieutenant."

Lieutenant Hawkeye walked out of the shadows of the porch and into the house, simultaneously lowering her firearm. "How'd you know I was there?" she asked. Ed smirked. "Easy. Everyone knows Matchstick here doesn't go anywhere without his girlfriend." Hawkeye blushed. "I am not his girlfriend!" Mustang just snarled. "Careful who you call Matchstick, Pipsqueek." Ed stood, straightening to his full height, now nearly two inches taller than Mustang. "You're going to need some new material," he said chuckling. "In the meantime, I'll be enjoying my revenge, Matchstick." Ed and Hawkeye walked into the living room, Ed pausing to shut off the sprinklers. Winry handed him a new shirt to put on. Mustang just stared, mouth opening and closing but no sound coming out. After a moment, he followed Ed and sat down on the couch next to Hawkeye. "Brace yourselves," Ed warned them. "It's a bit of a shocker." He told them everything he had told Al, Winry, and Pinako, but managed to keep himself together this time.

Mustang looked thoughtful. Both he and Hawkeye remained perfectly still. She was the first to speak. "So we know how you got your alchemy back, but you still haven't explained why you're using a Philosopher's Stone." Al, Winry, and Pinako perked up. They hadn't heard this part yet.

Ed took a few moments to respond. "It's not a Philosopher's Stone. It's a trick I picked up in Creta." He transmuted a slab of iron with the periodic table engraved on it, again out of thin air. "The periodic table sorts elements by weight. Heavy elements are made by using lighter elements. What I do is fuse oxygen and other elements in the air into the element I need." Mustang jumped up from the couch. "That's… That's amazing! Imagine the possibilities!" Ed held up his hand, stopping him. "There's a catch. Fusion of heavy elements releases a tremendous amount of energy. Only alchemists who have seen the Truth can control it. Even for us it's a little risky. If you lose control, the energy released could cause catastrophic damage.

Mustang paled. "Then how can you justify doing it? What if you lose control?" "The old man who taught me said that I had enough alchemic strength to control the reactions several times over. I, at least, am perfectly safe doing it." Ed responded. Mustang nodded slowly, taking it all in. "Alright, Fullmetal," he said. "That answers my questions, but we still have a problem." "What? What is it?" Ed asked nervously. "I have two options right now regarding your "desertion" of the military. We can't tell everyone this story. Even if they believed us, I don't want any power-hungry maniacs learning what you just told me about." Mustang said. "The first option is that I drag you to Central and put you on trial. Considering what you've done for the country, you'd probably get off pretty easy. The second option is that I can reinstate you as a State Alchemist and pretend I've had you doing undercover work." Ed grimaced. "Those aren't the best options I've ever been given, but I guess…" He was interrupted by Hawkeye. "I have an idea. Fuhrer Grumman wanted to post a State Alchemist in each town and city in Amestris to prevent alchemical abuse. Ed's been in the military long enough, you could promote him straight to Colonel and station him in Resembool. That way, he'd only have to leave home for the occasional mission."

Mustang considered this, then nodded. He turned to Ed. "What do you say, Fullmetal?" he asked. Ed smiled. "Well, I guess it's my best option right now, so I'll take it." Mustang stood. "Good," he said. "We'll leave at 6:00 tomorrow morning. It should only take a day in Central to get the paperwork done." Pinako spoke up. "Do you need somewhere to stay the night?" she asked. Hawkeye nodded. "This way, then." She led them down the hall. "Goodnight, Colonel Pipsqueek," Ed called. "General!" Mustang barked back. Ed just laughed. Winry went off to bed too, leaving Ed and Al alone.

Al started to get up. "Not so fast," Ed said threateningly. "You are an idiot. Why the hell would you become a state alchemist?" Al looked uncomfortable. "I needed the research funding, brother." Ed glared at him. "Don't lie to me, Al. There's plenty of money in my account. You know that. Why did you really do it?" Al sighed. "You always could see right through me, brother. I don't want to have to depend on you. I know that sounds silly, but I know that you and I can't be as close as we are right now forever and I know how you feel about Winry. You may need that money yourself one day."

Ed softened a little. "Well, there's nothing we can do about it now. Let's get to bed. Mustang is dragging us off to Central first thing tomorrow morning, so we need our rest. Before that, though, you need to tell me what you "know" about Winry and me." Al snickered. "Well, I know that you won't take your eyes off of her whenever you think she's not looking and she's the same whenever she thinks you're not looking. I also know what happened on a certain train station six months ago." Ed fell off the couch, sputtering. "H-How?" He glared at Al again. "Now I have a new reason to be mad at you, you little sneak! That was private!" Al just laughed. "Whatever it was, it was awful. You'll need to do better than that, Ed." He ran off to their shared room. Grumbling, Ed followed. The two fell asleep quickly.

Winry walked into their room quietly. She sat down next to Ed's bed and sighed. He still slept with his tummy out. She pulled down his shirt so he wouldn't get cold. She pulled out a piece of paper and a pen and started to write a note for Ed.

Ed,

I know you'll probably have to go to Central, so I'll stay up to work on your leg. The work is going surprisingly quickly, so I should have it done. If I'm asleep when you get up, it will be on my workbench in the basement. I've taught Al how to connect the nerves in case you need reattachment on the road, so he can hook it up for you. Don't do anything stupid while I'm not around to watch you.

Have a nice trip!

Winry

She capped her pen and put the note on Ed's bedside table. Ed stirred in his sleep. Winry had been harboring a crush on him since they were really little. She hadn't thought that he felt the same, but then he had pulled that stunt at the train station before leaving for Creta. And he had been super protective of her today, first with Adam, then with General Mustang. She hoped he did like her. She got up, planting a kiss on Ed's cheek before she left. Edward Elric was not easy to love. He had a quick temper and tended to retreat deep within himself whenever something dangerous had happened to him, refusing to share what had happened with anyone other than Al. But she loved him anyway. Only time would tell if he returned that love.