Using a hand to shield her eyes from the setting sun, Trisha Elric glanced once more at the well-worn path. There was nobody in sight. Worriedly, she returned to her sons' dirty clothes and resumed scrubbing them with soap.
Edward and Alphonse played outside every day, but they always came back when the sun started to set. Now, it was sinking well into the horizon. What could have happened to them? Thoughts of broken bones and wild animals swam uneasily across Trisha's mind.
Not that Risembool, the village that the family lived in, was remotely dangerous. Secluded and quiet, the notion that anybody might be seriously hurt in Risembool was laughable.
Still, Trisha liked to keep her sons close by. Although she was confident in their abilities, she was always afraid that one of their alchemical experiments would go awry and hurt them. And she grew lonely as well. It hadn't been the same since her husband had left.
Since her husband had left…
Sadness erupted inside of her. In an effort to distract herself from the grief, Trisha peered at the path again. To her great relief, she saw three distant figures approaching. She straightened and waved, smiling.
As they grew closer, however, Trisha's anxiety increased. Alphonse looked fine, but Edward was soaked. The two appeared to be ignoring each other. The boys' friend, Winry, was with them, but she looked angry.
Usually, the brothers would greet their mother before entering the house. But when they drew close, they ignored Trisha and walked slowly inside. Bemused, she noticed that Ed sported a purpling bruise on his cheek.
Trisha turned to Winry for an explanation. However, Winry needed no persuasion.
"Miss Elric! Miss Elric! Ed and Al, they--well, they got into a fight--Ed lost--he fell into the--and--" The little girl fidgeted with her toy wrench furiously.
"Slow down, Winry, and tell me what happened from the start," said Trisha calmly.
"Well, Ed and Al are mad at each other--they won't tell me why, though," added Winry angrily. "And they started shouting, and Al ran off to the river--he always goes there, you know, I guess he likes it--and Ed followed him, and I went with him, and they started fighting! I told them to stop, but they wouldn't listen, and pretty soon Al punched Ed so hard he fell into the river!" Winry spoke in a sort of half-annoyed, half-impressed tone.
Trisha shook her head and sighed, but Winry wasn't quite finished yet.
"And now Ed's really mad at Al, Miss Elric! I've never seen him so mad before! And I wouldn't talk to him just now, Miss Elric, because he's even madder because a turtle in the river bit him on the--"
"That's enough, Winry," said Trisha quickly. She had the distinct feeling that whatever the turtle bit, it hadn't made Edward any happier.
"I don't think they're ever going to make up!" continued Winry concernedly. "Ed said so!"
"They'll speak to each other again," said Trisha kindly. "I'm sure of it."
"But--!"
"They will," interrupted Trisha. "Now, go home, Winry, your granny is probably getting worried."
Winry looked as if she wanted to argue some more, but gave up and trotted obediently towards her house. Presently, however, she stopped and turned around.
"Will they really be all right, Miss Elric?" Winry now sounded genuinely worried.
Trisha smiled and nodded. Winry wasn't entirely reassured, but she turned back to the trail and left.
Now that she was alone, Trisha's calm demeanor slipped. She bit her lip nervously as she hung the last shirt up on the clotheslines. Ed and Al always got into little scuffles and arguments, but this was the first time one of their fights had actually grown this serious.
So it was with a feeling of apprehension that Trisha went back into the house.
As soon as she closed the door behind her, it became apparent that the boys were determinedly ignoring each other. The air between them was so venomous that it would have probably poisoned Trisha if she walked near them.
Both boys leapt up when they spotted their mother. At once, they began shouting.
"Mom, mom! Al punched me and threw me into the river!" yelled Ed, pointing an accusing finger at his brother.
"The whole thing started because of him!" shot back Al angrily.
"He gave me a bruise--"
"--because he asked for it--"
"I have scratches--"
"--we both have scratches--"
"He threw me into the river!"
Trisha held up both hands to stop them. It took a few tries, but the flow of accusations and insults gradually ceased.
"All right, all right! What really happened--?"
Ed and Al immediately resumed their shouts.
"At the start?" Trisha finished, talking over the brothers. "What caused the whole thing?"
Both boys pressed their lips shut and didn't speak.
Trisha repeated her question, with the same result. Obviously, something personal had happened between the two.
"All right," Trisha said again, "you don't have to tell me. Work it out between yourselves, and come up with an agreement." With this being said, Trisha left the room to check on dinner.
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If Trisha thought that her words would convince the boys to make up, she was very wrong.
Evidently, Ed and Al had refused to speak to each other while she left them alone, or had had another fight. Either way, they seemed absolutely certain that they would never talk with each other again. Dinner was dismally silent. Trisha tried to start a conversation, but gave up due to her sons' unresponsive moods.
The brothers both said "Good night, Mom" to Trisha as they walked up to their bedroom. At first, a hopeful Trisha took this as a good sign, but the next minute brought muffled shouts from upstairs. After a crash and a final yell, footsteps thundered down the stairs, and Alphonse emerged, holding a pillow and looking livid.
"Brother kicked me out!" he said furiously. "He says that I have to sleep on the couch because I'm the younger brother!"
As he stalked off, Trisha wouldn't have been surprised if steam suddenly gushed from his ears.
Morning brought Trisha a feeble hope that Ed and Al would have had enough of their fight, and make up. However, they seemed to be even more mad at each other. The two stabbed their breakfast with their forks more than they ate it.
Watching this, Trisha decided that it was time to resort to drastic measures. After Ed departed to their dad's office to learn more alchemy, and Al (refusing to go to the same room as Ed) went to the living room to read a book, Trisha left the house to visit her friend Pinako.
Old Pinako had been Trisha's husband's drinking buddy long ago. Pinako remained close friends with Trisha even after her husband had left. She even helped with getting Ed and Al out of the womb.
Trisha knocked on the door. A mad yipping started. Soon, Pinako opened the door, with the family dog, Den, by her heels. Den was still a puppy, but he was growing fast.
"Down, Den, down…Trisha, come on in, I'll come as soon as I get this dog off of me…"
It didn't take long to get Den distracted, however, and Pinako came into the kitchen a relatively short time later.
"Tea?" said Pinako absentmindedly.
"No, thank--well, yes, all right," said Trisha awkwardly, as Pinako began filling the teapot with water.
As Pinako set the pot down to boil, Winry came into the room and spotted Trisha.
"They didn't make up, did they?" she said knowingly. A sad frown pulled at her features. Cradled in her arms, Den barked.
Trisha shook her head.
"I told you so," said Winry, petting Den. "Ed looked like he meant business."
"That's what you came to talk to me about?" said Pinako, shaking her head, as she drew a chair and sat down. She passed a cup to Trisha.
"Yes," Trisha admitted, toying with the cup handle. "They've been in small fights before, but nothing like this. I'm afraid I don't know what to do with them."
Winry sighed. Pinako stood still, thinking.
Finally, she said, "Leave those boys alone."
Trisha was taken aback. "Alone? By themselves?"
"What do you mean, Grandma?" said Winry, dropping Den in horror.
"Leave those boys alone, Trisha," repeated Pinako, turning to face her with reassuring crinkled eyes. "A few days later, maybe a week, they'll speak to each other again. I'm sure of it." Pinako smiled.
"You're quite sure?" Trisha asked doubtfully.
"Just be patient," was the old woman's answer. "They aren't the type to hold grudges against each other. At least, Al isn't…it might take a little more time for Ed to recover, but he will." Pinako said this last sentence confidently.
After that, Pinako did not speak again until the kettle whistle blew shrilly, at which point she filled both of their cups and talked of old times.
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Ed and Al hardly spoke to each other over the next few days. If they did, all they would say would be things like "Pass the salt" or "Shut up." Trisha felt as if she were trapped between their anger, unable to do anything that could help them. She had never known them to be so resolutely stubborn.
A week later, Trisha felt sure that Pinako was getting old in her years, and her advice was starting to go faulty. But then, when the sun started to set on the eighth day, Trisha overheard a heated argument between her sons as she returned from picking tomatoes.
"…just leave me alone!" Trisha recognized Ed's voice, angry and loud. Although she couldn't see him or Al behind the house, she could imagine Ed frowning fiercely and balling his hands into fists.
"I deserve a fair shot too!" Al retorted just as madly. "Who knows what'll happen in the end?"
Another alchemical experiment? Trisha raised an apprehensive eyebrow.
"You know what'll happen in the end!" Ed shouted. "So butt out!"
Yes, it was probably another alchemical experiment. But still…it wasn't like Ed to block his brother from alchemy…
"Why're you so sure she'll pick you!" Al shouted back.
She?
"Because she likes me better!" Edward yelled.
Were they referring to Trisha?
"No, she likes me better!" was Al's comeback.
"I've been with her longer!"
"We met each other at the same time!"
"Well, you're a year younger than her!"
"Love doesn't have anything to do with age differences!"
Suddenly, it all clicked together, and Trisha knew exactly who the boys were talking about. She stifled a laugh. Why Ed and Al had refused to talk about their argument to her made immediate sense.
She had no idea that her sons both had crushes on Winry!
Of course, that was why they wouldn't tell Winry either; they were too embarrassed to admit that they liked her. And that was why they were fighting so much…probably betting on which of the brothers Winry truly loved…
Trisha fought back a mad surge of laughter.
Renewed shouts brought her back to attention.
"No! I'm not letting you ask her!"
"I won that fight!"
"Let's have a rematch, then!"
Flurries of punches commenced. Grunts followed. Cries of pain came next. Several punches later, the victor emerged, triumphant.
"You get back here!"
Alphonse dashed out from behind the house, closely followed by Edward, who already had a purple bruise forming on his head. Both were so caught up in their chase that they didn't notice their mother as they passed by her.
Trisha considered going after her sons, but decided against it. It would be best--as Pinako had said--to leave them alone.
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Winry wasn't quite sure what was going on.
One minute, she had been leaning against an old oak, playing fetch with Den and reading Automail for Beginners. The next thing she knew, Ed and Al were with her. Both were panting hard.
Bewildered, Winry waited until the brothers had regained their breath. Then she spoke up.
"What do you guys want?"
Slowly and calmly. Granny had often told her she was always too rude with boys.
Satisfied with her polite manners, Winry crossed her arms and waited for the response.
Seconds passed. The silence stayed.
Winry's eyebrows furrowed in confusion.
It was as if Ed and Al had spent all of their energies running towards her, and now they had not the slightest clue what to say to her. Al opened his mouth to say something, but closed it soon after. Ed managed a sort of grunt. Both of them were blushing fiercely.
When an awkward minute had gone by, Winry decided that it was time for a more direct approach.
"Spit it out!"
That seemed to get them going. Only the words they wanted to say came out in a jumbled rush. Total gibberish. Was something wrong with just them, or did all boys have speech defects?
"Slowly," Winry tried.
Ed and Al stuttered the same comprehensible question. Both red as a tomato, they waited nervously for her answer.
Winry merely gaped at them with her mouth open. Her dog and book were completely forgotten. Then the giggles came. Peals of laughter overtook her, making her fall over and clutch her sides. She even thought she felt tears in the corners of her eyes.
Finally, she sat up straight, still giggling.
"Sorry, Al, but you're still just a kid."
Al blushed scarlet. He looked like he was going to cry.
"And Ed…" Winry turned to look at him.
"I don't like boys shorter than me."
Ed turned a nasty shade of maroon.
Winry closed the matter with a smile and a "Sorry."
Finally, Edward and Alphonse seemed to regain awareness. Backing away, they turned around and ran for home.
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The good thing was that the brothers were now speaking to each other again. They seemed to have made up in their shared misery.
The bad thing was just that. Their shared misery. For a good amount of time, Ed and Al were sunk in a desolate depression. They ate less, lost weight, and took great care never to venture anywhere near Winry.
It was apparent to Trisha that the two had broken hearts. Ed was probably more torn than Al; Trisha had caught him more than once clutching fistfuls of his hair and swearing.
In due time, however, the brothers pulled themselves together. Trisha couldn't say for sure that they had made full recoveries. Although it was hard to tell, Ed appeared as if he had willed himself to forget Winry's rejection. Al, on the other hand, seemed to remember the whole ordeal, but looked perfectly happy by next month.
Life went on. Ed and Al maintained a good relationship, with the occasional scuffle and argument. Trisha continued to make regular visits to Pinako's residence. The brothers learned more about alchemy, and amazed their mother with their increasing abilities.
And through the years, Trisha kept the overheard argument between her sons to herself. But she couldn't help thinking that when her husband returned, she would have quite a story to tell him.