Title: Broken Waltz (One-shot)
Author: Lilang Luha
Genre: Angst, Dark/Death-fic, borderline Gen. fic
Pairing: very implied Roy x Ed
Author Notes: Don't own FMA. Blah, blah, blah. This was written for the May Contest of fullservicefma. It's the 1st fanfiction contest I've participated in, so thanks very much to the beta's and lj user "grainofsand" for helping. It's rather dark and there is death, hence it is not for the light-hearted.
Beta's: lgndryyoukai and sevenvirtues
Spoilers: None

"He's been sitting there drawing those weird things on the walls all week. We don't know why he keeps doing that; he just keeps saying that they aren't real." the officer stated, glancing at the boy wearily.

"That will be all," the woman in rank said. "I'll need time alone with him."

"Ma'am, are you certain? He's not quite…sane …"

"I've known him for a reasonably long time. It will be alright," she said calmly, gripping the gun in her holster.

The officer nodded reluctantly. He opened the prison cell to allow her to go in, then saluted before leaving.

The blond boy continued muttering to himself as she surveyed the area, observing that the walls were covered with drawings of different arrays. Books and papers with half-legible scribbling lined the dusty floor. Why the boy did not chose to use alchemy as a means to escape was beyond her comprehension. She closed the cell door with a clang. As if sensing her presence, he stopped his muttering at the wall, and turned around.

She nearly stepped back upon seeing such hollow, empty eyes, but steeled her emotions flat. "Shall we get down to business?" she started.

The blond shifted his eyes left, then right, then tilted his head in an unsettling manner. "I didn't really do it, and I didn't mean to."

She sat down on the steel chair and brought out pictures from a file folder. Splaying them out on the dirty table, she demanded, "Tell me you didn't mean to do this. Tell me you didn't mean to kill him."

The boy picked up one photo, and gave a humorless, crazed laugh. "This man, this man, this man… he betrayed me after all these years."

"Betrayed you? How?"

He clutched a tuft of blonde hair on his head, and huddled to his knees on the cold ground. "Said he loved me. Loved me truly. I loved him more. I loved him but he lied to me." He chuckled, eyes glazing with unshed tears. "Everyone did."

"Is that why you killed him?" She leaned forward. "You have to tell me the truth."

The blond suddenly hurled at her, grabbing the lapels of her uniform and shaking her violently. All she could do was keep her body steady to keep from falling backward.

"TRUTH?" he snarled, hot breath stinging her face. "Why should I? They lied. All of you are liars! FUCKING LIARS!" He shoved her away and backed against the wall. "I thought he cared, but it was all about climbing the mountain. That stupid fucking mountain." He slid down to the ground and covered his face with his hands. "All I worked for…. it's all gone… I have nothing now…"

The woman straightened her uniform and shifted into a normal position on the chair. She pressed her lips into a thin pink line. "You know as well as I that it's my job and sworn duty to ask you these questions. As soon as we're done here, you can leave the past behind you."

The blond boy looked up, eyes once again blank. "The Shadows." He whispered, eyes a slate of chilling emptiness.

The woman suddenly felt cold on the back of her neck. "…Shadows?"

"The Shadows told me to do it." He smiled maniacally. "After It was made, they all tried to kill us. 'Under orders' they said, but yes, oh yes, they tried and tried until one of us fell into the merciful hands of Death himself…"

"By 'It' I'm assuming the Red Stone?" she asked.

He put two delicate fingers on his lips and sighed. "He kissed me, you know? We made love and kissed and spoke of sweet nothings, but all he wanted was It to help him climb the mountain." His eyes shifted to hers and narrowed slightly. "You think I'm crazy, don't you?"

She shrugged. "I am not one to decide that."

"You'd know what I mean, if the only person you ever loved was killed in front of you." He huddled into a ball and rocked back and forth. "They ran after us like we were insects, and they stepped on him, my only brother. They took him, and made him into an animal, like we were never human to begin with. Then they burned him alive." He looked up with wild eyes. "Do you know what dying screams sound like? When someone is slowly scraping your soul away? I hear them in my head everyday. Oh, yes, yes, yes. It comes and goes and comes and goes, but it's always there laughing at me. My brother's telling me how it's always my fault. My fault!" he laughed quietly. "When the fire was burning, I saw the flames dancing together like a broken waltz. It's beautiful, watching them dancing like that. That's when the Shadows came to talk to me."

"What… did the Shadows say?"

"They talked to me, but I didn't want them to talk to me. Isn't that funny? They are the only things I can trust, but they make me do things I know I shouldn't. I told them to go away." His expression suddenly seemed forlorn, almost desperate. "I swear I told them to go away. I swear!"

"What did they make you do?"

"They whispered to me." He looked around and then leaned toward the woman to speak softly, as if his words were a deadly secret. "They said, 'We only go away when the flames die out.'" He pulled back and nodded. "They were right."

Her hands gripped the folder tightly. "So… what did you do next…?"

"What else?" The blond boy's lips stretched into a cold, disturbing grin. "I extinguished the fire."

She bit the inside of her lip and glanced at the gruesome photos splayed out on the desk. The pictures were filled with different body parts captured from different locations. Her eyes wandered to one picture of a dark head impaled on the front gates of Central Headquarters, dripping a pool of dark red blood on the floor. She tried to hide the expression of fear, sadness, shock, and disappointment.

How did it come to this? she thought.

"Why is it that you don't just escape?" she asked. "You could easily do that, but you don't. Are you staying here, biding your time to kill us all?"

The boy shook his head vehemently. "No, no, no, no, no, no." He leaned flat against the wall and sank down again. He stared up at the ceiling. "My brother would be mad. I can't run away. He always told me to be good so I can get to Heaven. I'm being good, are you happy now? The bastard's gone, the Shadows are gone, and I'm being good. I just want you to be happy."

The woman regarded the boy for a moment. She gathered the pictures back into the manila folder, stood up, and then exited the cell. She closed the door with a loud clang, and looked sorrowfully at the blond boy.

"Don't worry," she said. "You'll see your brother soon." The boy didn't seem to hear her, and continued to look at the ceiling dazedly.

She clutched the folder against her chest, and left the hall without looking back.

Fini.