Prompt: The movie, Conqueror of Shamballa and a need to escape from life

Timeline: The beginning of the movie

Pairings: Depends on how you look at it. Al x Winry, Ed x Winry... It really doesn't matter to me, just as long as you review!

DISCLAIMER: I will never own Fullmetal Alchemist: Manga, Anime, Games...etc :'( happy now?

Author's note: Sibling love is the best :) PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE review.

"Al, I'm so sorry."

I can see her face now, etched with pain and sorrow. I can see how she tries to hide it. I can see her face every time she looks at me. Winry's never been very good at hiding things. A whispered word here and there, the pictures on the wall. I'm not sure how to describe this feeling, this utter emptiness. It's all so hard to believe, everything that she tells me. My soul used to be bonded to a suit of armour, and all those years searching… with…

Edward.

Brother.

The pictures on the wall almost mock me, forever reminding me of what I lost. Frozen smiles and his features so similar to mine. I often trace those features, cold, smooth, flat paper feels strange against my touch. It's often in these moments that Winry looks at me, pleading. She apologizes, although why I'm not sure. I want more than anything to trace those features and feel reality under my fingertips, not just cold paper.

I can't remember anything.

"I'm sorry, Al."

I'm the one causing this pain. The reason why Winry's eyes look so wistful every time she looks at me. Everyone, even she, seems to have given up on him. They tell me that he's gone.

No.

My brother, my only brother. The only family I have left. How often it is that I ask questions about him, constantly. Winry tolerates this… she tells me stories, only to apologize again soon after. Nothing fills this void inside me. I'm the one at fault. I don't want this body. I want to go back to the way things were. Anything at all to get him back, to see Winry smile for real.

I need him.

Everyone does.

And the tears fall, once again.

Winry sees, and her face falls into lines of misery, only to try to plaster on another fake smile.

"Oh, Al. Please don't cry. I'm sorry, I really am."

She apologizes, over and over again.

"I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry."

I can see her shoulders shaking. I can hear the tremor in her voice. There isn't anything worse in the world than Winry crying. I'm powerless. This routine needs to stop…

I need to stop

Crying.

And yet, I can't.

Suddenly, I can't control myself. The tears flow faster, sliding down my cheeks and landing on the wooden floor of the kitchen, small puddles of despair. My throat tightens that I can only barely choke out

"I'm the one that should be saying sorry."

I curl up into a ball on the couch, directly facing the collage of photos on the wall. Edward Elric grins back at me, a moment caught with nothing but a metal box. Such a precious moment. My younger, happier self, and a vibrant Winry smile back at me, together with Edward.

Together with my brother.

They're mocking me, aren't they…?