I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist.

"Do you regret it?"

Alphonse's question had come so abruptly that Edward had to blink twice before even contemplating it. For the past few minutes the pair had been standing quietly in front of the ruins of their old home in completely silence. Barely nothing but crumbling stone as the late teens stood before it.

Edward could still feel the heat of the fire that burnt his past away as he glared at the devastated family home.

"Regret burning down our house..?" He replied a moment later, sparing his brother a sidelong glance. "Because we covered this, I did it so we couldn't chicken out. And we didn't, so no."

Al smiled warmly, rolling his eyes before looking up the clear sky, the afternoon sun leaving fingers of orange light across the gorgeous green landscape. "I didn't mean that, silly. I meant do you regret the transmutation."

Instantly Ed opened his mouth to affirm that yes, he absolutely regretted it, but he couldn't because, in some bitter reality, he didn't.

While he still couldn't forgive himself for trapping his younger brother in a suit of armour for most of his teenage years he found the events it triggered to be quite plentiful.

If they never transmuted their mother, they would have never met so many people that now play an extremely important part in their lives.

They wouldn't have been able to explore the country and beyond.

Help people.

Save their world.

They would have grown up wondering if they did try to transmute their mother would it work?

They would have grown up in despair, thinking they could have saved her.

Ed smiled sadly, turning to Al. "No."

Al was surprised, if he was honest. He could understand that no was the appropriate answer, but didn't think Ed could get past his guilt. "Oh?"

"Do you?"

Al didn't even need to think before smiling softly and shaking his head. "No. We did far too much in these last four years. I could never wish that away. Not even for the chance to live those years as a human. Without the trouble that transmutation caused."

"Mm." Ed confirmed as they lapsed back into a comfortable silence.

"To be honest." Al broke it again a few minutes later. "I'm sad it's over."

Ed laughed. "Who said it was? I'm certainly not done."

Al gave an agreeing nod. "Yeah true, neither am I. What if our paths separate us?"

"They will." His brother began, looking up to the sky. "But as long as we look up at night and see the same stars, we'll be okay."

"Yeah.." Alphonse sighed before laughing quietly to himself, the coming sunset capturing his attention. The bright hues of orange, pink and yellow blending together splendidly as they sunk down, as if into the earth.

"What?" Ed glared at him in mock annoyance. "I don't have apple pie on my face again, do I?"

"No no.." His younger brother gave a weak smirk, looking down as the wind picked up around him. The clear air filling his lungs feeling so refreshing. "It's just funny how we began this journey before this house, and now we conclude it exactly there."

"I guess it still holds the reason why I burned it. To start something new." The shorter man laughed proudly. "Happy October 3rd, Al."

"Happy October 3rd." Al grinned softly, holding out his fist. "Brothers till the end, right?"

Ed gave a wide grin, turning to his brother before knocking his own fist against it. "Right, till the end."

A/N: Wasn't keen on posting this, but I really wanted to write something for FMA day but couldn't really come up with anything good, so I just thought my contribution might as well be this. I think it's okay, but meh, suppose that's up to whoever reads it to decide.

Speaking of which, thank a ton for reading and I hope you do enjoy it.

Happy October 3rd :)

(BTW for some this might be early, but it's FMA day in my country so I might as well post my story now.)