A/N: Well, here's my little contribution towards Christmas stories. This is going to be three short stories that somewhat relate to each other, all based on a world where Ed wanders away from Rockabell after Al dies. Yes, this takes place in an AU. Each story is a different length. Some have multiple parts. Some don't.
Anyways, Happy Holidays and enjoy!
Part 1
The Village Knows
Everyone knows anyone in the small town of Rockabell. The baker knows the blacksmith's daughter in an intimate sort of way, but the blacksmith's daughter dreams of the voice of the boy who sits on the fountain edge and feeds the bird bread crumbs. The boy on the fountain knows the group of kids who live up the hill and they all know the son or daughter of some shop owner. The shop owners know their customers, for courtesy's sake, and the customers are so talkative that they may as well be sitting down at every person's table for dinner on any given day of the week.
The village knows the mechanics who live on the outskirts of town. They're the ones who make the fake arm for the stable boy who was trampled over by horses as a kid, or the ones who repair the automatic chimneys of the rich as winter creeps in, or the ones who spruce up the farmer's tractor by giving it a new engine. The kids know the mechanics through their toys, mysterious and filled with strange compartments that pop out as their miniature racecars move farther down pebbled roads
The mechanics know the Elrics, who are gone far from town, meeting the new people that don't live the same old routines every day and having adventures that boggle the minds of the children. On their rare visits to town, the Elrics bring exotic spices and scents of fire and smoke and life and death. Although he is taller, the younger is the one who insists that his older brother place the incenses on high shelves scattered about the blacksmith's place. The older huffs and groans and yells about being a pipsqueak, but manages to get the job done with ladders constructed out of floor boards and flashes of blue lightening.
The Elrics fill their visits with empty words and bickering, senseless mutters to keep real life hidden away. The mechanics can see the pain in their eyes though, deep, running through their pupils like knives and slicing their dreams in half. When the older brother excuses himself from the household and ventures outside, the mechanics know that he's given up, even though the younger brother still sits at their dining table, hunched over so he doesn't bang against the ceiling, his armored fingers interlocking.
The kids of the town know where the older Elric goes; to the top of the hill, where a single grave lies. They trail him at first, slingshots loaded and ready to fire upon him, but with a glare the Elric dispels them. They scatter like crows, leaving him alone as he gets down on his knees, pants soaked by the mucky ground.
The mechanics know when and why the elder Elric screams; all so alone and without a mother. But they don't flee their house and try to find him. They know that he needs time, so much time, to heal the wounds on his heart.
The village all knows of the Elric on the hill and are displeased when he screams, the sound shattering their silly ideas of peacefulness with its pain. Yet there is little to be done, for they fear him and his mysterious manners; the way he can transform anything into anything else, the way his face is always smiling yet his aura is always dripping black, the way he can disappear from their lives and then reappear like nothing's gone wrong.
When the boys leave, everyone is standing solemn at the train stop. Silence. One can almost see the still air.
But the town can still carry on, the kids annoying the baker's new wife as she pins after the fountain boy, the mechanics fixing up the tractor for the farmer who has to harvest all the crops so the wedding cake can be made, the townspeople waiting in anticipation for the bride and groom to kiss.
Roaring into the station, the train is covered with white lace and giant drapes of cloth. 'Newly Weds' is emblazoned on the back. A man in tuxedo sits on the railing of the final car. His blonde braid drapes over his shoulder like a belt of a roman warrior and his red coat flaps in the wind. At the edge of his eyes are tears which are wrenched away from the edges of his face by the wind.
The mechanics stand at the train stop, adorned in frilly white dresses and bouquets. Behind them is an older man, blonde and broad shouldered. The blonde on the train looks at the group, meeting the older man's eyes. Then the stranger looks away, hiding his face in the shadow of the train's lip. A long screech fills the air, distracting all eyes from the lone man on the train to the front of the train, where a couple, arm in arm, eyes lock, board.
The kids, dressed in confining suits and bothersome corsets, cheer alongside their parents. Just noise. The air sizzles with sound.
Chugging, the train leaves the station, the braid and coat of the man on the back flying in the wind.
This time, no one knows where the man is going; why he's going; who he is.
The elder Elric, now alone.