It is the simplest of elements that influence them all.

Metal: Aluminum
Word Count: 2023
Genre: Actually… none in particular. Angst I guess. BUT THERE IS EDxWIN AT THE END SO THAT MAKES IT OKAY, RIGHT!
Setting: Anywhere! Anime or manga… the "You" is Ed.

DISCLAIMER: … Me no own FMA, or the book I mention in this. There. Good? I think so.

Dedication: To S J Smith, who is an awesome writer and not only inspired me on the theme, but gave me permission to use it too. :)

AUTHOR'S NOTE: So… in case you're wondering, this is going to contain a lot of chapters that have nothing to do with one another, focusing on the theme of "metal." THIS WILL BE MOVED TO MY PEN NAME "TSUKINO SORA" in a few days… I would put it there now, but I just created that name and ffnet wants me to wait three days before I post anything there. (Man...) Also… some of these elements might be metalloids.., as in, they have some properties of metals but aren't actually metallic. Ah… I love FMA. And Chemistry. Yay!

Of Corundum
Aluminum

Thirteen. That is the number of protons and electrons present in Aluminum. You want to laugh at the irony. Thirteen; the unlucky number. You had looked up the element for 'fun,' or rather, you had gotten sidetracked in your research and started to wonder again whether there was a way to make the philosopher's stone without the sacrifice of human lives. So you thought, how different would such a stone be from the one in legend?

Would it be red? Would it still amplify alchemic power? Obviously, you would want it to. Such a thing that had those abilities would be the philosopher's stone. But how different could it get without human lives? How different could it be before it couldn't be called the philosopher's stone anymore? How great would it be if you found another way?

And how strange would it be, to have a philosopher's stone that wasn't red? None have ever existed. Then again, you've seen some pretty unbelievable things before that you would have never thought to exist. But that doesn't mean you know how to make something as unbelievable as what you've seen.

It isn't fair! There are plenty of red stones that by look alone could be assumed to be the philosopher's stone. But they aren't what you need. You wish it were that easy though.

And that thought brought you around to the ruby, and eventually, Aluminum. There are plenty of red stones… but one in particular resembles the one you are searching for. A ruby. That crimson stone is all too familiar to you, even if only in thought. "Pigeon's blood," it is sometimes called, for it's deep red colour. Oftentimes the philosopher's stone was described as having the colour of a ruby… the colour of blood. It all makes sense when you compare the two.

And then, it makes even more sense when you look at their composition. Sure, they vary vastly in their making. The Philosopher's stone, along with other elements, is mainly composed from the sacrifice of human lives. The ruby is corundum; it is composed of two simple elements. Oxygen and… Aluminum.

Al2 O3. Aluminum Oxide. It's ironic that such a simple compound can produce a stone so similar to the one you are searching for. Why can't it just be the stone you want? The elements are so simple… the elements don't include people's lives.

You don't want to take people's lives for your own selfish reasons… well, in a way, you don't think it is selfish. Your brother wants his body back, and he deserves it. You want yours back too… and although you would instantly give up your own for his, he wouldn't let you. You promised each other that you would get your bodies back together, and you will. And you don't want to die, obviously.

But you deserve to, don't you? For what you've done? For all the horrible sins you've committed? You've hurt people, (you've ripped their faith from them), you've killed people… you've made people cry. One in particular you seem to make cry all the time. And you hate it. That thought alone makes you want to believe that you should die right where you are; the ruby-coloured liquid flowing through your body ceasing to provide you with oxygen.

But then again, those same people you hurt, those same people who make you want to leave the world remind you that you must stay in it. At least long enough so that you wont see yourself hurting them anymore. You remember that time you went to the Island with your brother and you both contemplated death. When you asked him what would happen if you died right there on the Island, he had said that he didn't want to die. He said that the people who loved you both would be sad that you were gone from the world. And you, the cynic, had realised that your own death would only affect those who knew you. You learned what "One is All, All is One" meant. And you had discovered that your lives were just a small part in the delicate balance of the world.

But they were a part of that balance, all the same.

It was like… a ruby.

Having thrown just another book about the philosopher's stone (that offered you no answers) across the room in frustration earlier, you got up to pull another book from the shelf. Another book about another red stone. It was dusty, which made sense, because why would people need to look at it that often? But you picked it up anyway. It was titled: Gemstones of the World: Revised and Expanded Edition. In it, you aimlessly looked through the pages for information on the ruby. It had said that while rubies were mainly composed of Aluminum and Oxygen, other elements were present in minute quantities. But no matter how miniscule the quantity of those 'minor' elements was, the simple presence of those elements made a difference. That was how rubies related to "One is all, all is one;" each individual life was like each element – not much on it's own, but something beautiful when all put together. And it could be 'one' little life, or 'one' little element, that affected the 'all' of the human race, or the 'all' of the ruby. Chromium, in tiny quantities, could give the ruby a brilliant lustre in a deep red hue; and one human, one simple life, could perhaps fix the wrongs he had committed and the many lives he believed himself to have ruined.

Then again, one simple human could ruin the lives of many. Your thoughts drift to the corner of your mind that wonders if Lior survived after you exposed Cornello to the people. He had lied to everybody… but hadn't you, by exposing his lies, taken away their faith?

You don't want to think about that now, so you go back to your book. Yes, Aluminum and Oxygen. In a simple way, they could resemble the components of the philosopher's stone.

Oxygen was in every breath that one took, oxygen gave life to the people and to every living thing. (Well… besides plants). Oxygen could be life itself, and isn't that what the philosopher's stone was supposed to be? The elixir of life; the way to immortality?

But it was also death. The death of the many, many people used in its making. The philosopher's stone represented life and death at the same time. Aluminum could be the death part of the ruby:philosopher's stone analogy. It had 13 protons and electrons, the unluckiest number to have. By the time you were thirteen, you had already lost both your parents and ruined your brother's life.

No… thirteen was decidedly NOT a good number by your standards.

But these aren't things you want to think about now either. So, even though the book was what made you think of them in the first place, you flip through it some more. Going to the next page, you learn that rubies were not the only stones in the Corundum species.

Sapphires, the only other stones with the Aluminum Oxide composition, included stones of every colour other than red. You don't need to read that though, as it's right in the picture provided by the book. Right in the centre of the picture is a large, yellow-golden stone. Hah! Just like your eyes. So it would seem that Aluminum Oxide relates to you much more than you thought it would.

But your eyes aren't the only ones represented by the colours of the sapphire.

Something tugs at the back of your heart, looking at the deep cerulean hue of the sapphires in the picture. You inhale sharply as you remember just who's eyes have that ocean-blue tint in their iris. It's surprising to you when you realise just how much you miss seeing that colour… and how much you miss looking into that particular person's eyes.

Not… not that you looked in her eyes that much.

Not that you missed her… just… it was a nice colour, that's all!

Okay… time to read the suddenly SUPER AWESOME and TOTALLY WAY MORE INTERESTING THAN WINRY book now… "Today corundums of gemstone quality of all colours except red are called sapphire." It reads. Hah! So… they weren't just special 'cause they were blue. They weren't even blue all the time! So… yeah. Now that you think about it, you don't like the colour blue that much anyway.

Nope.

Not at all.

…

"Redvarietiesarecalledrubies(page82)." You read so fast the words stick together in your head. But it's DEFINITELY NOT because your heart is beating as fast as you're eyes are scanning the page.

And… IF your heart WERE beating quickly, it definitely WOULDN'T be from anything other than the strenuous activity you're currently engaged in. Yes… the completely physically exhausting activity of sitting in the library reading. That made a lot of people have trouble breathing, right?

Of course.

Because you weren't having a hard time breathing just because a certain someone's name was on your mind. That wasn't it at all…

…

Well! Back to the book then, isn't it?

"The various colours of the sapphire are qualified by description, e.g., green sapphire or yellow sapphire. Colourless sapphire is called leuko-sapphire, pinkish orange sapphire Padparadscha ("Lotus Flower")."

Yup, this book was awesome. In fact, you have nothing better to do all day than read this book. And right now, you CERTAINLY don't want to be thinking about anyone- er, anyTHING other than this amazingly NOT boring book.

Well, next paragraph. "There is no definite demarcation between ruby and sapphire." You stop. The ruby, the stone that is so much the same as the one you're searching for, is no different from the brilliant and beautiful blue sapphire exactly the same colour as your best friend's eyes.

You know… maybe you don't like this book so much after all. In closing it, you glance at the cover-slip on the inside. In it is a quiz: "If you think you know all there is to know about gems, test your knowledge with these questions:" Ooh, a test? You're good at tests. You ARE the Fullmetal Alchemist after all! You passed the National Alchemy exam at the age of twelve! You could do a simple test, even if it was from a book as strange as this one.

"1. What is the most desirable colour of a ruby?"

Okay… odd. Kind of creepy, actually. But it's just a coincidence that it's about the same thing you were just thinking about for half an hour. And anyway, you know the answer. Red, duh. Blood-coloured. The colour of the philosopher's stone.

Hmm… it says the answers are on the back flap. Oh what the hell, you can humour the book and pretend that you need to see the answer to its not-so-hard quiz. So you turn to the back, and check.

"Answers:

Pure red with a hint of blue."

Your eyes widen and you shut the book with a snap. Pure red with a hint of blue. Since when did it have anything to do with the colour of her eyes? Er- the, uh, colour blue? 'Stop thinking about it!' you yell inside your head. So… the red of the stone was only perfect if it had the blue of her eyes.

It needed both. That blood-red colour… and the colour of her eyes. It needed both to be perfect.

Did you need both too? To be happy, did you need both the red and the blue? Was it worth it to have the red stone if at the same time there was no blue, no colour resembling the colour of her eyes?

Slowly, you put the book down. That's when you realise, that perhaps there is way more to the Corundum species than Aluminum Oxide.

And you realise that perhaps, even with all the good you plan to use it for, and all the things you want from it…

Perhaps you want more from life than just the philosopher's stone.

That book is real, by the way. It's by Walter Shumann. Reviews would be cool :D