An after story to FMA: Brotherhood. More of a… reminiscence per say.

DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own Fullmetal Alchemist. I'm just writing what I wish the story would tell when Ed is older.

A Warm Apple Pie

It started as such a quiet day in Resembool. Those were so hard to come by after the Elrics returned from their journey. Ed rocked back in his wooden chair and messed with a fork, carving small indentations into the table. The kitchen smelled so good, as it always had when Winry cooked.

Winry… How lucky am I? Ed looked up to the ceiling, thinking to the day of his last departure. How it ever happened, Edward really never knew. One minute he was just upset for leaving again, and the next he had asked his best friend to marry him. I mean really, I never even kissed her! But she said yes. And Ed never did regret that last minute impulse.

"Daddy, Daddy! Uncle Alphonse isn't playing nice again!" Gabriel ran into the kitchen, his little sister Allison following dutifully. There goes my silence… Ed pouted.

"Oh how so?" Ed had become used to the act now. Al would always spoil the kid's game of hide-and-seek with a little alchemy, sending the kids running in and complaining.

"He used his alchemy again! And then he lied and said he never did it! But I don't believe him!" Gabriel's blue eyes were just as intense as his mother's. The child showed no fear, even when faced with his mother's wrath.

"Well I'll just have to go and talk to him about that!" Ed stopped rocking on the chair and stabbed his fork into the table. Gabriel walked beside his father and the two left Allison in the kitchen.

"Al, I hear you're picking on my kid!" Ed walked in and knocked his younger brother in the back of the head.

Al laughed, "I didn't do anything wrong! I swear!" The younger brother stood a good three inches taller than his older brother, but he would never say it. Though Ed's growth spurt had come late in his life and the blonde now stood over six feet tall, he was still haunted by memories of his life as a midget.

"Well if I hear one more thing about you cheating at a child's game again, I'll have to pummel you myself!" Ed warned Al by shaking his fist.

"I won't Brother, I won't!" Al laughed again. It's still such a sweet sound, his laugh. I can almost forget about those six cold years when he was in that armor. But Ed never could forget it, as long as he lived. The nightmares that came almost regularly, the maintenance of his automail and his inability to use alchemy could all attest for his childish mistakes.

Ed returned to the warmth in the kitchen and was greeted by Allison wrapping herself around his human leg. Ed looked down and smiled at his daughter. He picked her up and threw her in the air, Allison filling to the brim with self-indulgent happiness.

Twirling back into his seat after catching the four-year-old, Ed closed his eyes and took in the smell of the kitchen once again. An apple pie warming in the oven and the grease from automail was all connected to Winry. Though the house that had once belonged to the late Pinako Rockbell had always been saturated with a similar smell, Ed couldn't think of a better person to connect to it but Winry.

"You're mom is awesome Allison, you know that right?" Ed looked into his daughter's eyes. They were essentially mirrors of his own, only softer and wider. Her hair was of the same silky shade as his mother's, with maybe a bit of gold streaking through it. There was no way in Amestris could Ed deny this child. But as Gabriel's attitude had come from his father, Allison held the shyness of young Winry Rockbell.

"Papa, I know that. She's the bestest Mommy in the whole wide world!" Ally held her hands out as far apart from each other that they would go.

"That-!" Ed said, "Is a lie! My mother was the best mommy in the whole wide world!"

"Nuh-uh Papa! I bet you she wasn't!"

"I bet you she was!" Ed smiled on the outside, but was solemn on the inside. Neither of the kids would know their grandparents. But then again, Ed didn't plan on telling the kids about anything in his past. Not his military time, not the Homunculi and certainly not the taboo he committed. Alphonse had also promised Ed that he wouldn't tell about the time spent in the empty suit of armor.

A wrench to the back of the head shook Edward out of his miniature depression. Winry stepped into the kitchen, grease spotting her cooker's apron, and leaned against the door frame.

"Edward, I believe that I am the best Mommy in the world," she smirked.

"Fine, fine, you two win!" Ed sat Allison onto the ground and watched as she ran into the living room to get Alphonse to play with her and Gabriel again. I understand why Hohenheim said he was so hurt to leave us. I don't think I could ever force Winry to raise these two on her own. Ed had given up any return to the military just for his family. Nothing would change that. Except maybe, eleven years later when Gabriel and Allison would announce their want to join the military themselves, a visit from a certain someone would change his mind.

Ed invited Brigadier General Roy Mustang into his home. Lieutenant Colonel Hawkeye, or, as Ed should truly call her, Riza Mustang followed in holding a child even though she had a gun strapped to her back. Black Hayate followed unquestioningly and began to make acquaintances with Den.

"So, old man, you two finally got hitched and had a kid?" Ed nudged his old commanding officer in the side. Mustang blushed and turned his head, but put his elbow on Ed's shoulder and told him a short child like him wouldn't understand the difficulty of balancing military life with a family.

"Who are you calling a half-pint runt who can't even see the sun? I'm almost as tall as you Captain Jackass!" Ed got in Mustang's face, stirring old memories between the two. After a few moments the blonde settled down, "that's why I gave it up. I knew full and well I could return, but I just… I couldn't leave them here alone. The house is Winry's now, as you can tell." Ed offered the Mustang's a seat and sat across from them himself. Riza set the young child and watched him as he decided to meet the new dog in the room.

"How old is he?" Ed asked. Seeing the miniature version of Roy was a laugh. That must have been almost exactly how the Colon- General looked when he was young, except without the deep brown eyes.

"He'll be five in about a month and a half. You've haven't been in touch lately, Fullmetal," the Brigadier General used the name as if Ed never returned his pocket watch, "Receiving that letter from you proved to be quite a shock. Especially when you said it was your kids who wanted in the military, not you."

"What can I say; Resembool just isn't the best town for studying alchemy. And my teacher is too tired to take them anymore, even with Alphonse helping her out. He's got his own kid to deal with now." It was the truth; not a year after announcing that he and Mei were married Alphonse had a smiling baby girl. Emilia Elric, a girl with caramel blonde hair and eyes like her mother, never settled down. The girl was also five, but she had taken an interest into alchemy just like her father and uncle.

"Oh really? And I take it she's going to try and join the military as well? You Elric's are going to have a reputation like the Armstrong's here soon," Mustang joked. He told Ed about Colonel Armstrong working alongside his sister in the north, also seldom writing back unless to talk about his military life. "Thing's just aren't like they used to be. It's hard to be a good leader when everyone truly close to you is spread around the country."

"Well I'll be your support here in our little Resembool. You've always got a home to come to here Mustang," Ed's eyes said what he himself could not. Instead, the younger father stammered out, "well at least you got yourself a good wife now. Finally took old Hughes advice!"

The group laughed when Mustang turned a bright crimson red again. Winry took out the apple pie baking in the oven and divided the pieces between her husband and guests. Not a few minutes later were the children downstairs, begging for a piece themselves. They stopped when they saw Brig. Gen. Mustang sitting at their dinner table and immediately straightened up.

"So these are the two I've heard so much about. Gabriel Elric, seventeen years old and his younger sister Allison. Do you know what lies in store for you if you join the military?" Mustang's business face was on, his eyes turned cold like the first time Ed had met him. The father knew Mustang would treat his children well if they did join, but was still apprehensive of letting them go. They weren't forced into the decision like he was. They didn't have to suffer.

"Y-yes sir! I know that there will be hardships ahead of me, but that doesn't matter. I want to help with the settling of Ishvalan's back into their homeland," Gabriel's back was straight, his eyes set with determination. Even after twenty years, the Ishvalan homeland was still in ruins, barely making its way out of poverty.

Allison, with a sudden burst of confidence, also spoke up, "I want to know more about alchemy. The kind my father won't teach me about. I want to become an alchemic doctor, kind of like my grandparents and Alphonse!" Ed shot his daughter a look of venom. He wouldn't teach them alchemy because he wouldn't let them suffer they way he did. The Gate forbid that anything happen to Winry and him, but Edward couldn't take any chances.

"Oh really. You really are Fullmetal's kids. I'd say just from the front you've put on that you put on, you'll stand some of a chance in Central. I'll be looking for you there," the General stood, dusting his fingers off of pie crumbs. Riza scooped up Zachary and followed her husband out the door, whistling for Hayate as well. At the last minute, Mustang popped back into the room.

"Edward, there will always be a place for you in the military. I'd like to have you join as my Head Strategist, but I know you don't want to move to Central. Just think on it," and then he was gone.

"So Mustang knows he's getting promoted to Fuhrer; it's not surprising. Fuhrer Grumman is on his last leg," Winry commented. She ignored Ed's look of slight confusion. He was being offered such a high place in the military, the chance to return to the new government he helped create. Or would he stay in Resembool, a humble carpenter?

That was the topic of the Elric's discussion that night before bed. The kids had tried to ask their dad what past he and Mustang had, but got not one answer. Winry knew better and asked what Ed was going to do.

"I could really make a difference there. I could help call the shots, and there wouldn't be any pointless wars. Mustang is a good man, but everyone has their faults. And that's why he's reinstating the old committee that would aid the Fuhrer in his decisions. But could I really join and leave you here alone? What if the kids pass the test as well, both of them? I can't just leave you here Winry!" Ed pounded his fist on the nightstand. His shoulders were tense and ached from the work of his last project. His automail port was also aching, a sign that a storm was brewing somewhere close by.

"Well, it looks like I'll just have to open up an automail shop in Central. I could get that girl I've been training to take up shop here. We have enough money to afford two houses Ed. You know automail isn't cheap," Winry pulled her husband onto the bed and began to massage his tense back. She knew there wasn't a thing she could do for his leg though.

"Mah, I don't want to uproot our family if the kids don't make it. And you know they'll be travelling more if they do. Does it matter what house they return to? Resembool has always been their home… You know what," Ed paused, "I'll make that damn General bargain with me. He'll get his Strategist; just tucked into a small back country town. It's that or nothing." And with that, Ed fell back onto the bed, smiling at his decision.

Winry laughed, "Oh Ed, you're always thinking about others. I'll make a deal. If the kids don't pass, we'll stay in Resembool. But if both of them do pass, we can move to Central so you can be able to hold a normal job. As I said, I can just open up shop there."

Ed looked into Winry's wide blue eyes. They looked like lakes, so crystal clear and always shining.

"Fine, have it your way," Ed turned over on the bed. How could he say no to a face like that?

Gabriel and Allison staggered out of Central hall's main building. The written test was over, and now to the test of moral's and alchemic strength. The two both stated to the counsel exactly what they had told Mustang, no regrets, no mistakes. For the physical show of alchemic strength, Gabriel transmuted his favorite weapon, a pure black short sword made almost entirely of condensed carbon, and began to tear down the statues erected for this exact use. Allison took a softer method, bringing her brother in and healing his wounds in front of the counsel with her own version of alkahestry. Thank you Aunt Mei for showing this to me. I'll be sure to pick up the slack where Alphonse leaves off.

The Elric children, weak from their test, fell into the apartment building. Despite Ed stating that they could survive on their own at seventeen and fifteen, Winry threatened him with the wrench, saying that they weren't him and Alphonse. He was forced to go with them and spend the long week waiting for the military's reply. Ed would also use the meeting with General Mustang to his own personal use.

"Back so soon?" Ed asked while lounging on the couch. So little to do with so much time, "you failed. Just going to throw it out there."

"Thanks Pops," Gabriel smirked as he grabbed a water bottle from the fridge. His appearance had changed little since he was a kid, though the once liquid blue eyes had darkened a bit, becoming harder with age. Allison was slowly growing out of her inborn shyness. Hopefully enough so that she would make a good State Alchemist.

"Dad, you didn't ever tell us what your affiliation with Brigadier General Mustang is. Were you in the military?" Allison asked sweetly, sitting next to her father on the couch. He buried his head within his own hands, silky golden hair covering those. The fact that Ed had a right hand of flesh and blood still surprised him sometimes. He would sometimes long for his automail back and the ability to transmute, but the feeling would fade through the memory of Alphonse.

"Yeah, I was. And I'm going back… By the Gate I'm a messed up human being," Ed brought his head out of his hands for a moment, then placed it back, "but a human through and through."

"Why do you always say that, Dad? The Gate? What is it?" Gabriel leaned over the couch, asking right into Ed's ear.

"It's a damnation really. The God-damned Gate. It's the closest thing there is to God that I'll ever believe in," Ed was started now. These were his kids, and he didn't want them making his mistakes. He would tell them now about the military, his alchemy, and the Gate.

"I was ten when my mother died. My father had left year's earlier. Your uncle and I got desperate, and we committed the taboo. We were both in front of that Gate. I lost my leg and traded my arm for Alphonse's soul. You know that helmet we have in the front yard? The one used by those blue-jays a few years ago? That was the helmet to the armor I bonded Al's soul with.

"We got in a lot of trouble, Al and I. Mustang covered up our folly though, and we, well, I, was able to join the military and research a way to regain our bodies. To make a long story short, we saw a lot of people die, many of those that were close to us. Al and I should have died so many times, but we were saved by the very people we were trying to destroy. Then the day came when Fuhrer Bradley's government was overthrown and the new government we had was set up. That day, I stood in front of the Gate once again. Alphonse had traded his soul for my right arm, and I couldn't bear to live with that. So I gave up my use of alchemy for my little brother. That's why I can't teach you two what you've wanted to know. And that's why Roy Mustang calls me Fullmetal. I was the Fullmetal Alchemist."

The children were silent. All the information they had yearned for was spilled in front of them, a bare and ugly truth. And it was the short version. What pain had their dad really gone through to make him scream like he did at night? Who had the kids not gotten a chance to meet because of the tragedy?

"Dad I'm… I'm sorry," Allison said slowly. It hurt her to see him hurt like that. Edward Elric never showed pain. End of story.

"It's… It's fine. I brought it upon myself. Al and I knew that," Ed sat up and looked at his children. They were almost grown to adulthood, and were mature enough to even think about taking the State Alchemist exam. They weren't kids anymore.

Gosh I'm such a lucky dumbass, Ed thought to himself. He'd call Winry again tonight and tell her how the kids did. Oh Gate I'm going to turn into Hughes if I don't settle myself down. Bragging about my wife and kids- Gosh!

"Gabriel and Allison Elric. Welcome," the Brig. Gen. opened the door for the two teens. He sat at his seat, boxes littering the floor and walls, "Sorry it's messy in here. I'm just preparing for the move."

The two sat down on the plush red couch that had been moved to sit in front of Mustang's desk. Before the door fully closed, Mustang caught a golden eye and smirk in the hallway. So Fullmetal, you've reconsidered? Thought Mustang before returning his attention to the children in front of him.

"It's okay, sir. It still looks cleaner than our house," Gabriel joked and Allison smacked him lightly on the back of the head.

Mustang laughed, easing some of the tension. But within seconds, his business face was back.

"I've received a letter from Fuhrer Grumman. It seems you two will be the last State Alchemist he's appointing and naming," Mustang handed two manila envelopes to the adolescents, "I didn't bother to open it for privacy reasons, but since it is your certificate, you can open them."

Both children were all smiles. Even a face as serious as Gabriel's could hold a grin. The two were accurately named, for coincidence, just like their father.

"To Mister. Gabriel Elric of Resembool, Amestris," Gabriel started. Allison mirrored with her own reading.

"You have been chosen to join the elite military corps known as the State Alchemist of Amestris. You will be requested during times of war to serve your country and in times of peace, you will be given a salary to compensate for any research you and your colleagues might partake in. Your second name, as given by Fuhrer King Grumman himself will be the Archangel Alchemist…" Gabriel paused. In place of Archangel, Allison was given the name of the Angel Alchemist.

"Is that a joke? Because we're siblings?" He asked.

"Well obviously it is Brother. You get to go out and cause all the harm and trouble and I'll follow and make everything right! It doesn't mean you're evil. Gosh, do you even know what an Archangel is?" Allison joked with her older brother.

The family is so tight. They're almost exactly like Edward and Alphonse. I wonder if the boys would have acted like this if their family hadn't fallen apart. Mustang though while the two siblings bickered. Then again, I never would have met Fullmetal if his family had stayed together. And the Homunculi would still be running the show. Roy was bittersweet about the boys past, it being a constant reminder of things good and bad. But the two had grown up to be capable men and fathers all the same.

Ed burst into the room seconds later.

"Getting impatient Fullmetal?" Mustang leaned his chin on a gloved hand.

"I guess," Ed shrugged, then turned towards his children, "so, you failed like I told you, right?"

"Put some faith in me Dad!" Gabriel held up his certification as Allison raised hers. Ed scanned the two of them, stopping at their second names.

"Angel and Archangel. The history of the People's Alchemists will live on. You two better not spoil the reputation Al and I worked so hard to build up!" Ed put his hands on Gabe and Ally's heads.

Mustang pulled out the two silver pocket watches in his blue military uniform and handed them to Ed's children.

"These prove that you're a State Alchemist. Show this to anyone and they should give you access to the books and fund that you were entrusted with. Oh, and Ed," Mustang tossed a slightly tarnished watch into the adult's hands, "That's yours again, if you'll become my Head Strategist."

Ed ran his thumb over the inlaid design. There was so much meaning behind it, but Grumman and Mustang wouldn't have the emblem changed. It still held a significant value of the past. One never to be repeated.

"I've got a compromise for you-" Ed began. Then he remembered Winry's promise. If they both make it, we'll move to Central… Resembool will always be our home, but I'm going to have a big job to do… Ed looked up from the silver watch of memories into Mustang's now warm eyes.

"I accept."

"Then I'll make it my first order of business as Fuhrer to have you license reinstated to you, Fullmetal. It's good to have you back on the team," Mustang saluted Edward for the first time. And for the first time, Ed saluted back.

"You know… being Head Strategist automatically makes you a Brigadier General. How does it feel to jump up in the ranks your first day back?" Mustang joked.

"It's a funny feeling. Am I going to have to walk around in one of those awful blue uniforms?" Ed sighed. He was half hoping to be able to dawn his red trench coat again.

"I wouldn't have it any other way."

"Mom! Mom!"

"Mother!"

The two Elric teens forgot that they were exactly that and ran back to their home with a childish laughter and gait. Winry acted shocked that they both passed the test, but Ed knew that she had never doubted them. When the three walked into the house, boxes were stacked in the three rooms used by the house's inhabitants. A celebratory pie was cooling on the center of the wooden table.

"I take it you took your job back?" Winry placed her hand on Ed's shoulders after eyeing his silver Alchemists watch. The intoxicating scent of fresh apple pie and automail grease swirled around her.

"Yup. Al's not going to be thrilled, seeing as I scolded him for trying to join the military after he returned from Xing. But that's behind us now. And I'm just going to have a boring desk job. Who knows, maybe I can get some of our old group back together and make things a little more interesting in Central. I sure as hell know that's what the kids are going to do," Ed smiled and kissed his wife on her forehead, then the base of her neck and finally on her lips. Gabriel and Allison mocked their parents, fake gagging and telling them what they had always said as toddlers, "Ew! Married people love!"

Ed pulled away from Winry and shot his kids the evil eye, laughing all the while. Then, as if snapping out of a lapse in concentration, Ed let go of Winry and shot back to his room.

Gah, where is it? Where is it? Ed pulled out his last red trench coat, tattered a bit on the sleeves and the bottom. But the color hadn't faded and his teacher's emblem was still perfectly imprinted on the back in black. The coat was too small to fit anymore, thanks not only to Ed finally growing, but to his now broader shoulders. Hell, this definitely won't fit Gabriel. I'll just show it to them and they can just copy the design.

Ed returned from his room and threw the jacket at Gabriel.

"That will be what you're wearing over your outfit if you're not going to wear those damn blue monkey suits."

"Really Dad? This gaudy thing? Do we have to?" the two had almost identical complaints.

Edward smirked and imitated Mustang, a talent he was quite good at, "I wouldn't have it any other way."

I hope you liked it. I feel like this sums up a few of the loose ends (really, were there any? lol). I might post a chapter from Alphonse's perspective, but this is purely one-shot.

***For fans of Life as a Chimera, the next chapter (along with the third) should be posted within two weeks***

***For fans of my Naruto stories and True Blood, I'm done. I can't keep writing BTM for it would be about 50 chapters. The same goes for Sen's Story. For True Blood, I just can't piece together what I thought I could. I'll try once my Chimera story is done, but it's not guaranteed that I'll finish. Sorry***