Written the same way as Sleep. I think I liked Sleep a little better, though…But you can judge that for yourselves.
Pretend
When they were little kids, one of there favorite things to do was to play pretend.
All three of them would come up with some sort of story and they'd all get to choose their characters- and fight over who got to be the hero.
They could be pirates, or people from a fairy tale. They were explorers shipwrecked on an island, or stuck in a rainforest. They could pretend to be just themselves, growing up in a big city like Central.
Then there was their favorite; one that they acted out multiple times. Ed and Al would pretend to be two famous alchemists who traveled the country, while Winry stayed at home and waited for them and helped people by being the greatest mechanic alive.
How they longed for it to be reality.
She pretended she was okay.
She pretended she wasn't sick.
She pretended that her husband would come home.
She pretended that she would always stay with them.
She pretended she wouldn't die.
They pretended they could bring her back.
The pretending was a lie.
Al knew his brother was living with guilt along with the pain during the surgery. Ed thought it was his fault, no matter how many times Al reassured him that it wasn't.
Each night, he left the room and pretended to sleep, knowing that it wasn't time to let Ed know that he was responsible for his little brother's restless thoughts.
He didn't need to know yet that Al was just pretending.
He held his stomach, pretending that the wound didn't cause him any pain. Al saw right through his attempt at secrecy.
"Does it hurt?" he asked softly. Ed bit his lip and nodded slightly.
"Yeah," he muttered. "I'll be fine."
Al shook his head. "We'll be in Central soon. We'll get you to a hospital. I know it's not life-threatening, but that doesn't mean it doesn't hurt. You don't need to pretend."
They were both alive. Al had his body back. He was relatively healthy. Ed could quit the military. They could go home.
He didn't need to pretend that everything was okay; it was no longer pretending.
Because in the end, the truth is always better than a lie.
The second one bothers me…But I tried to have it be two with them as little kids, one during the surgery, one during the journey and one happily ever after, like in Sleep.
These five of one theme things are fun to write…
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