So here it is, my first chapter of a (hopefully) pretty decent and long ff. I hope you'll enjoy it since its my first piece of writing that I seemed to be actually satisfied with. Constructive criticism is always welcome, as are reviews and rates! :)
Little side note: At some parts it may seems as if Ed is jealous of Al, but thats not the main point of the story. Nothing AlxWinry thingy is going on here.
Disclaimer: All characters are created and owned by Hiromu Arakawa, and I do not claim any ownership over them or the world of Fullmetal Alchemist.
I Keep Running From The Throne
Chapter One: There's go to be more
Ed was lying on his bed, gazing out of his window. It seemed as if this night would never end, as if something was keeping him awake to notice every little thing that was still living around him. The war between the homunculi, the military and him ended a month ago, but he still had the feeling that something terrible was about to happen. That something would change so drastically again, that he had to be prepared for it. But little could he know.
Edward listened to Al's soft snore, how he breathed the air out of his lungs with such an ease, that Ed feared he might stop every second. After all he knew that his little brother still struggled with his new body.
While Ed also knew that things have gone back to normal, he wasn't satisfied with how things have been at Resembool.
Every morning he'd get up to get breakfast with Al and auntie Pinako, then he'd be training with Al until late afternoon until he was so beaten down that all he could do was to continue with his research about eastern alchemy. He wasn't able to perform any kind of it anymore, but he wanted to know as much as possible to be safe.
But something was feeling weird. Or rather, someone.
Ed had the feeling that Winry avoided him. He had no clue why, but something within his guts told him that something between them broke after he came back home. He had the feeling that Winry looked sad and abandoned, but whenever he tried to reach out for her, she'd flinch back.
Maybe it was something that had happened when he was away, maybe it was something she'd rather not remember, or maybe it was because the war changed him. It was something, he had to find out.
When Ed woke up this morning, the first thing he noticed was the hot summer sun shining through his window right into his face.
"Damn." he murmured. He was still sleepy as he didn't get much sleep that night. When he tried to get back to sleeping, he heard a soft laugh coming from outside his room.
"Al, you're too loud. You'll be waking your brother!" he heard a quiet voice still filled with laughter, say.
"He is still asleep anyway. You know how he is, Winry. Not even a train right in front of him could wake him up!" said the other voice with a chuckle.
"Come on Al, we really should prepare breakfast before granny comes home." Ed heard. And with that, silence returned back to his room.
'Maybe that was my wake-up call.' Ed thought. He knew that Winry and his brother were more or less siblings as they grew up with each other, but because of how things were at the moment, he couldn't help but feel weird about them.
Ed got up, fixed his t-shirt and boxer shorts, got out of his room and started walking downstairs. When he was halfway down, he saw Winry and Al standing in the kitchen, laughing while they prepared breakfast. Winry was roasting bacon while Al was setting the table.
"Good moooorning!" Ed shouted as he walked into the kitchen, putting on a smile that was more forced than real.
"Ah! Morning nii-san!" Al said happily as he placed the third plate onto the table. Ed looked over to Winry who just had turned to the stove again while mumbling a quiet and rather sad sounding "Morning, Ed."
"Mornin', Win." He said in a worried manner.
"What are you two up to today?", Ed asked his little brother, hoping to hear something that could brighten his mood, something, that could include him too.
"We wanted to head over to town after breakfast. Winry needs new screws, I believe.", Al said while looking over to Winry, who still stood in front of the stove even though the bacon should have been ready by now.
"Mind if I join you?" Ed asked Al, knowing that if he'd have turned with this question to Winry, she would have tried to find her way to get out of this trip.
"Of course not! I would have asked you anyway, I'm not too sure if I can accompany her today."
And with that, Winry suddenly turned over and let out a loud "What! Why?" as she looked to Alphonse in horror.
'What is wrong with her?!' Ed asked himself. 'Have I done anything to make her feel like spending time with me was such a horrible thing? Something to be scared of?'
"You know, my legs still hurt a bit since I'm not used to walking all the time. I think the training with Ed yesterday killed me quite a bit!" Al let out a laugh.
"I'm not in a hurry, I don't need these stews today anyway. We could wait until tomorrow if you'd like to!" and while saying that, Winry's voice shacked a little.
"Nah, please go with brother, I think he needs something from town anyway, don't you, nii-san?" Al asked his brother who looked kind of off-guard.
"Ah, yes. I forgot that I need some…new…t-shirts! And you'd be a big help, Win. You know how I really don't like going shopping." Ed grinned, looking at her like he was pleading her to go with him. He knew that she couldn't say no anyway, it would be unlike her to act like that.
She managed to let out an "A-Alright then." before serving the bacon.
"I guess it's settled then!" Al said happily, looking over to his brother who seemed have his mood brighten. It was useless to try to lie to him anyway, he always knew what was going on inside Ed's head. They were too much alike, yet too different to not know when the other needed help.
When they seated themselves, the three said"Itadakimasu!" started to eat their breakfast . If Ed only knew what was going to happen that day, he might have tried to eat a little more.
