Edward Elric woke up to the sun shining and the birds chirping. But this was not a happy day.
He flicked a piece of his golden bangs out of his vision and stood up, twisting his automail leg for good measure. He picked up his rumpled, cherry red coat from the floor and slipped in on, walking to the door and walking out barefoot onto the moist grass. Clumps of the green blades and dew stuck to his heel, but he ignored it.
His younger brother, Al, who had finally gotten his original body back, was crouched and in deep thinking. A patch of dirt surrounded him, as nothing had grown on the land since they burned it down.
It was October 3rd, the anniversary of their new lives, their quest to fix what had been taken from them. It was where the adventure started, and even though he and Al had gone through great amounts of pain, they met friends along the way that helped carry the burden. Ed would do it all over again; he had met his best friends on the life-making journey.
Ed walked over to Al, tapping his shoulder slighty. Al jumped, completely surprised.
"Still getting used to your new senses, huh? It already been several months."
Al turned around and gave Ed a look. "I guess so, but the fact that I can do so much more things now... I picked up habits from being in an artificial body that I never realized until I got my original one back."
Ed nodded, understanding. Along with Al being surprised with sudden touch, sometimes he'd still duck under doorways, among others. Once he forgot to eat for an two days just because he had gotten used to not having to nourish himself.
Ed got out of his train of thought. "What are you so deep in thought about?"
Al patted a spot next to him. "Here, sit down with me." Ed obeyed. "See there? It's the start of a flower." Ed's eyes went to where Al was pointing at. The flower was a misty blue, like the color of a glass marble. Its petals were still closed in, and it wasn't ready to bud yet. It was only about the size of an ant.
Ed smiled. "I guess anything can grow from something terrible."
And when Ed thought about it some more, he realized it was right. The lifeless area in the grassy field represented him and Al going through all of the tough times, yet the small bud was optimistic, showing up at the worst of times. If the area hadn't become bare, then the flower wouldn't have had room to grow. And if Ed hadn't traveled and become a dog of the military, Al wouldn't have his human body and Ed would still be missing an arm. And most importantly, they wouldn't have met the most important people, so loyal an ready to die to make sure their country wasn't ruled by evil.
And, as hard as it was to admit, the bastard Colonel wasn't that bad.
"I guess you're right, Brother," sighed Al contently.
"Guys!" a female voice shouted. The brothers turned around to see a far away Winry waving her arm estactically. "I made apple pie for us! Want some?"
Ed and Al looked at each other in delight. "Yeah, we're coming!"