Very early one morning, during one of their stays in Risembool with Winry and Pinako for a tune-up to his automail, Ed lay awake in bed, unable to sleep. His mind wouldn't stop whirling with words he couldn't bring himself to say. With a frustrated sigh he rolls out of bed, dragging his left hand over his face with a groan at the sunlight piercing through the window. Al was nowhere to be seen, likely already downstairs with Pinako and helping her with breakfast. He shook himself before setting about his morning routine and then heading downstairs, leaving his hair down for a while to try.
"Good morning, Brother!" Al said as he walked into the kitchen. He was, as his brother had suspected, helping Pinako make breakfast- as much as he could, anyway.
"Morning, Edward." Pinkao said, waving her cooking spoon at him briefly, keeping an eye on whatever it was she was making.
"Morning." Ed said with a yawn, stretching. "Hey, Aunt Pinako? Have you got a few spare sheets of paper I can have somewhere?" Pinako turns to look at him curiously, but gestures to a table across the room.
"There should be a stack of blank paper on that table somewhere. We keep plenty on hand." she says, turning back to the stove and stirring the pan's contents around. He moved over to it and searched through the design sketches, parts, and books for a moment before locating the blank paper and took a few sheets of it.
"Thanks. I'll be outside, just call me in when food's ready." he said, heading out the door.
"Okay, Brother." Al said. He sounded curious, but didn't say anything else. Once outside, Ed headed for the tree at the side of the house and sat on the ground, leaning against it. With a sigh, he pulled his pen out of his pocket and set it to the paper, pausing for a moment before beginning to write. Every so often he'd scowl and scratch a line out, sighing and trying again. After a few minutes Al poked his head out the front door and called for him.
"Alright, Al. I'm coming!" he called back, folding the paper and stuffing it, and his pen, into his pocket as he stood up before brushing his pants and coat off as he made his way back into the house.
"Morning, Ed!" Winry said with a smile as she set the dishes of food her grandmother had made on the table.
"New research idea, Edward?" Pinako asked, watching as he dropped himself into a chair across the table.
"No, just...something I wanted to write down." Ed said, noncommittally, as he helped himself to the various foods that had been set out. Winry frowned and started to ask him what he'd wanted to write, but stopped when she saw the look on his face; that look that said he was feeling particularly guilty for his brother's situation at the moment. Breakfast was eaten without a word said until Winry asked Ed to follow her to her workbench so she could get a closer look at his arm now that she'd had some good rest. He obediently sat down in a chair and held out his arm for her.
"Looks like we'll need to make some adjustments again, Ed...I'll need to machine some new parts, first, though." Winry commented as she examined the inner workings of the arm. "It'll probably take a couple of days to get it all done."
"Okay...take your time, Winry. You don't have to pull an all-night job, again." he said quietly, standing up with a sigh once she was done. She looked at him quizzically as he wandered out the door without another word. He spent most of the day outside under the tree, or in various places around the house, scribbling and scratching on the papers. He didn't say much to anyone and when Al or Winry asked him about it he'd just stuff the paper back in his pocket and refuse to say anything about it.
The next couple of days went the same way. It took Winry a bit longer than she'd expected to machine the new parts because she got a new idea in the middle of making one and decided to go with the new one instead. When she finally finished the new parts- late in the evening on the third day- and she went into the kitchen to find Ed at his latest writing spot, she found him passed out on the table. Unwilling to disturb him she went to get Al to carry him upstairs. Once the younger brother had carried Ed upstairs and left Winry to tuck him in he headed back downstairs to gather up the papers the elder had been working on. He had meant to just stack the papers together and take them upstairs, but the words on the page caught his eye. He sat down in the chair with a choked gasp as he read what his brother had been writing over the past three days.
How can I repay you brother, mine?
How can I expect you to forgive?
Clinging to the past I shed our blood
And shattered your chance to live.
Thought I knew the laws, I paid no heed.
How can I return your wasted breath?
What I did not know has cost you dear,
For there is no cure for death.
Beautiful mother, soft and sweet,
Once you were gone, we were not complete.
Back through the years, we reached for you
Alas, t'was not meant to be.
And how can I make amends?
For all that I took from you?
I led you with hopeless dreams.
My brother, I was a fool.
Quiet sobs echoed through his armor body as he clutched the paper, his hand shaking as he read. Had Ed been hiding these feelings of guilt the whole time? He knew his older brother felt guilty, but this... His hand still trembling he sat the paper down and picked up the pen, setting it to the paper and adding his own reply.
Don't cry for the past, now, brother mine.
Neither you nor I are free from blame
Nothing can erase the things we've done
For the path we took was the same.
Beautiful mother, soft and sweet,
Once you were gone, we were not complete.
Back through the years, we reached for you
Alas, t'was not meant to be.
My dreams made me blind and mute
I long to return to that time
I followed without a word
My brother, the fault is mine.
So where do we go from here?
And how to forget and forgive?
What's gone is forever lost.
Now all we can do is live.
As Alphonse wrote, Ed stirred upstairs.
"Nn...Winry? How did I get up here?" Ed asked blearily, sitting up and rubbing his eyes with his left hand.
"You fell asleep at the kitchen table. Al carried you up here so you wouldn't wake up with a sore neck." Winry said, putting a hand to his shoulder to try and push him back down onto the bed. "Go back to sleep, Ed."
"Alphonse...? Wait...where are those papers I've been working on?" he asked, suddenly wide awake.
"He went back to get them for..." she started, but before she could finish Ed launched out of bed and hurried downstairs. "...you?" She blinked in confusion before slowly following him down.
When Ed got to the kitchen his papers seemed to be as he'd left them, but Alphonse was nowhere to be seen. He paused at the table to gather his papers, but froze when he saw more writing than he remembered writing on them. He slowly picked up the sheet with fresh writing on it, his eyes widening more with every bit he read. His free hand clenched into a fist at his side, his arm shaking with restrained emotion. He dropped the paper and burst out the front door. Winry stared after him for a moment before moving to the table to look at the writing. Tears sprang to her eyes and she sat down with a soft sob, one hand going to her mouth as she read. Outside, the elder brother searched for the younger.
"Alphonse!?" Ed called, casting his gaze around for his brother, but he was nowhere to be seen. "Al!" On a whim, he headed for the spot by the river where the pair often went when they wanted to be alone as children. Sure enough, Al was there, laying in the grass and staring up at the stars. "Al..." The armor bodied brother sat up and turned to look at the other, a surprised gasp ringing through the empty metal when he saw his brother's face. The elder's eyes were full of unshed tears. He silently made his way to his younger brother, his limbs trembling with carefully restrained emotion as he fell to his knees beside him. "Alphonse, I..." Before he could continue, his younger brother swiftly pulled him into a hug.
"I know, Brother..." Alphonse said quietly, the same tears in his echoing voice as were in his brother's. Ed froze for a moment before slumping into his brother's embrace, hugging his metal body even though he could not feel it, for once letting go of his steadfast control and letting his emotions reign free.
Atop the hill, well enough away that the two still had their privacy, Winry and Pinako watched the pair, tears trailing down Winry's face and a rare show of empathy on Pinako's own.
"They'll be alright, Winry." Pinako said quietly, taking in a deep breath of her pipe briefly before releasing it with a sigh. "If anyone can do it...those two can." Winry nodded slightly, a sad smile curling her lips.
Brothers
A Fullmetal Alchemist song-fic
By: Maribeliza
Very early one morning, during one of their stays in Risembool with Winry and Pinako for a tune-up to his automail, Ed lay awake in bed, unable to sleep. His mind wouldn't stop whirling with words he couldn't bring himself to say. With a frustrated sigh he rolls out of bed, dragging his left hand over his face with a groan at the sunlight piercing through the window. Al was nowhere to be seen, likely already downstairs with Pinako and helping her with breakfast. He shook himself before setting about his morning routine and then heading downstairs, leaving his hair down for a while to try.
"Good morning, Brother!" Al said as he walked into the kitchen. He was, as his brother had suspected, helping Pinako make breakfast- as much as he could, anyway.
"Morning, Edward." Pinkao said, waving her cooking spoon at him briefly, keeping an eye on whatever it was she was making.
"Morning." Ed said with a yawn, stretching. "Hey, Aunt Pinako? Have you got a few spare sheets of paper I can have somewhere?" Pinako turns to look at him curiously, but gestures to a table across the room.
"There should be a stack of blank paper on that table somewhere. We keep plenty on hand." she says, turning back to the stove and stirring the pan's contents around. He moved over to it and searched through the design sketches, parts, and books for a moment before locating the blank paper and took a few sheets of it.
"Thanks. I'll be outside, just call me in when food's ready." he said, heading out the door.
"Okay, Brother." Al said. He sounded curious, but didn't say anything else. Once outside, Ed headed for the tree at the side of the house and sat on the ground, leaning against it. With a sigh, he pulled his pen out of his pocket and set it to the paper, pausing for a moment before beginning to write. Every so often he'd scowl and scratch a line out, sighing and trying again. After a few minutes Al poked his head out the front door and called for him.
"Alright, Al. I'm coming!" he called back, folding the paper and stuffing it, and his pen, into his pocket as he stood up before brushing his pants and coat off as he made his way back into the house.
"Morning, Ed!" Winry said with a smile as she set the dishes of food her grandmother had made on the table.
"New research idea, Edward?" Pinako asked, watching as he dropped himself into a chair across the table.
"No, just...something I wanted to write down." Ed said, noncommittally, as he helped himself to the various foods that had been set out. Winry frowned and started to ask him what he'd wanted to write, but stopped when she saw the look on his face; that look that said he was feeling particularly guilty for his brother's situation at the moment. Breakfast was eaten without a word said until Winry asked Ed to follow her to her workbench so she could get a closer look at his arm now that she'd had some good rest. He obediently sat down in a chair and held out his arm for her.
"Looks like we'll need to make some adjustments again, Ed...I'll need to machine some new parts, first, though." Winry commented as she examined the inner workings of the arm. "It'll probably take a couple of days to get it all done."
"Okay...take your time, Winry. You don't have to pull an all-night job, again." he said quietly, standing up with a sigh once she was done. She looked at him quizzically as he wandered out the door without another word. He spent most of the day outside under the tree, or in various places around the house, scribbling and scratching on the papers. He didn't say much to anyone and when Al or Winry asked him about it he'd just stuff the paper back in his pocket and refuse to say anything about it.
The next couple of days went the same way. It took Winry a bit longer than she'd expected to machine the new parts because she got a new idea in the middle of making one and decided to go with the new one instead. When she finally finished the new parts- late in the evening on the third day- and she went into the kitchen to find Ed at his latest writing spot, she found him passed out on the table. Unwilling to disturb him she went to get Al to carry him upstairs. Once the younger brother had carried Ed upstairs and left Winry to tuck him in he headed back downstairs to gather up the papers the elder had been working on. He had meant to just stack the papers together and take them upstairs, but the words on the page caught his eye. He sat down in the chair with a choked gasp as he read what his brother had been writing over the past three days.
How can I repay you brother, mine?
How can I expect you to forgive?
Clinging to the past I shed our blood
And shattered your chance to live.
Thought I knew the laws, I paid no heed.
How can I return your wasted breath?
What I did not know has cost you dear,
For there is no cure for death.
Beautiful mother, soft and sweet,
Once you were gone, we were not complete.
Back through the years, we reached for you
Alas, t'was not meant to be.
And how can I make amends?
For all that I took from you?
I led you with hopeless dreams.
My brother, I was a fool.
Quiet sobs echoed through his armor body as he clutched the paper, his hand shaking as he read. Had Ed been hiding these feelings of guilt the whole time? He knew his older brother felt guilty, but this... His hand still trembling he sat the paper down and picked up the pen, setting it to the paper and adding his own reply.
Don't cry for the past, now, brother mine.
Neither you nor I are free from blame
Nothing can erase the things we've done
For the path we took was the same.
Beautiful mother, soft and sweet,
Once you were gone, we were not complete.
Back through the years, we reached for you
Alas, t'was not meant to be.
My dreams made me blind and mute
I long to return to that time
I followed without a word
My brother, the fault is mine.
So where do we go from here?
And how to forget and forgive?
What's gone is forever lost.
Now all we can do is live.
As Alphonse wrote, Ed stirred upstairs.
"Nn...Winry? How did I get up here?" Ed asked blearily, sitting up and rubbing his eyes with his left hand.
"You fell asleep at the kitchen table. Al carried you up here so you wouldn't wake up with a sore neck." Winry said, putting a hand to his shoulder to try and push him back down onto the bed. "Go back to sleep, Ed."
"Alphonse...? Wait...where are those papers I've been working on?" he asked, suddenly wide awake.
"He went back to get them for..." she started, but before she could finish Ed launched out of bed and hurried downstairs. "...you?" She blinked in confusion before slowly following him down.
When Ed got to the kitchen his papers seemed to be as he'd left them, but Alphonse was nowhere to be seen. He paused at the table to gather his papers, but froze when he saw more writing than he remembered writing on them. He slowly picked up the sheet with fresh writing on it, his eyes widening more with every bit he read. His free hand clenched into a fist at his side, his arm shaking with restrained emotion. He dropped the paper and burst out the front door. Winry stared after him for a moment before moving to the table to look at the writing. Tears sprang to her eyes and she sat down with a soft sob, one hand going to her mouth as she read. Outside, the elder brother searched for the younger.
"Alphonse!?" Ed called, casting his gaze around for his brother, but he was nowhere to be seen. "Al!" On a whim, he headed for the spot by the river where the pair often went when they wanted to be alone as children. Sure enough, Al was there, laying in the grass and staring up at the stars. "Al..." The armor bodied brother sat up and turned to look at the other, a surprised gasp ringing through the empty metal when he saw his brother's face. The elder's eyes were full of unshed tears. He silently made his way to his younger brother, his limbs trembling with carefully restrained emotion as he fell to his knees beside him. "Alphonse, I..." Before he could continue, his younger brother swiftly pulled him into a hug.
"I know, Brother..." Alphonse said quietly, the same tears in his echoing voice as were in his brother's. Ed froze for a moment before slumping into his brother's embrace, hugging his metal body even though he could not feel it, for once letting go of his steadfast control and letting his emotions reign free.
Atop the hill, well enough away that the two still had their privacy, Winry and Pinako watched the pair, tears trailing down Winry's face and a rare show of empathy on Pinako's own.
"They'll be alright, Winry." Pinako said quietly, taking in a deep breath of her pipe briefly before releasing it with a sigh. "If anyone can do it...those two can." Winry nodded slightly, a sad smile curling her lips.