So... yeah... skivving off [real] work for other stories and such... And school classes... But, anyway, this story was bred from my current obsession with the music from the musical 'Next to Normal' and my unnatural love for the character Gabe and the actor playing him, Aaron Tveit.
I really like 'There's A World' from this musical, and so this one[?]-shot was born. [Though, knowing my luck, it's going to become longer...] No real spoiler alerts for this story as its pretty much AU, and the recommend listening for this song [I know I never do this, but just this once...] is There's A World from Next to Normal [it's only about a minute and a half long, but I really like it...]
Oh, and lyrics at the end are slightly tweaked. But only slightly, seeing as it is really only dialogue, and, and, and... yeah.
"This is the lyrics to the song." [As it is a songfic...] Everything else is normal for what I do.
Read and Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I own not Fullmetal Alchemist or Next to Normal.
There's A World…
[AU] In 1909 an accident that would later become known as the Rush Valley Tragedy occurred. Many families suffered from the tragic train derailment that day. Even to this day, five years later, families are still suffering. One family in particular…
She brought yellow daffodils this time. She thought they brightened up the otherwise bleak room he was kept in, and the- he always liked the color yellow. Maybe next time she would bring him marigolds…
If there was a next time. Her mind snarled traitorously at her. She shook her head though- she couldn't allow herself to think those sorts of thoughts. He would be fine, he would recover. He would return to normal and become the Edward he had been before…
Winry believed that if she told herself that enough, that that would bring him back and keep him away.
"Ah, Winry!" One of the orderlies smiled as she made her way down the hall. She had been here enough times that they all knew her by name and they just waved her past, ignoring the visitor protocols. Winry had only paused once, and that was to stop by the nurse's station for allowance to place the flowers in Ed's room and acquire a vase.
She shifted the vase to one arm as she lifted her hand and knocked on the door. It wasn't necessary, seeing as people came and went as they liked to his room, but Winry felt the need to show some courtesy. Ed didn't answer back, but he normally didn't. She just opened the door and took two steps into the room before she fully processed the scene.
The vase hit the ground a split second before the scream pierced the ward.
~30 minutes prior~
"Your stats look really good today Edward!" He wasn't really paying attention to the nurse, but he smiled and nodded along with her anyways. Ed watched with a bit of smile as she packed up her things and left. A frown appeared on his mouth as she stopped though.
"Oh, and Winry will be here soon!" She smiled. "She called the other day saying that she'd be visiting today." Ed hummed and nodded his head, not really paying attention as she left.
But a flash of dark gold caught his attention by the pale colored curtains at the window that showed an even bleaker setting.
Ed turned his head a bit lethargically, and couldn't help the smile that split on his lips as he saw who it was. The nurses never announced him, and the doctors didn't seem to know anything of his visits, but that made it all the much better. He always managed to come right when he needed cheering up too, or just for the hell of it.
"Al," He managed to say, watching as his now-fifteen year old brother come over to stand by his bed [it was Al's birthday today, after all.]
"You haven't been by in a while," Ed continued talking, watching as Al approached the bed, his eyes never leaving Ed's. Ed was prone to ramble for a while, and Al took a seat on the chair by him. Al's visits were sporadic, but Ed always enjoyed them. It brought life to the dull hospital he was trapped in day in and day out.
"I thought you would have something better planned for your birthday rather than visit me," Ed continued as he sat up in the bed. "I wish there was something I could do for you for your birthday. I mean, it's gotta be boring just staying here with me…" He sighed unhappily, and started a little when Al grasped his hand with his. A fond smile broke on Ed's lips.
"Al…" Gold stared down dark stormy grey eyes. There was a pause where neither brother said anything, before, finally, Al spoke.
Al almost never spoke- he had always been that way since the accident. Yet every time he spoke, it brought an unnatural happy feeling to Ed's chest. He didn't know why Al spoke so little, but Al never went to anybody about it. [Though, Ed was secretly glad about that. Undoubtedly, if Al had gone to a doctor, they would have locked him up like they did with Ed.]
"There's a world, there's a world I know," Al said, holding his brother's hand. "A place we can go where the pain will go away." That didn't escape Ed's attention.
"We?" Ed asked. Excitement and happiness was creeping up in Ed's chest. Could he really mean…?
"There's a world where the sun shines each day," Al continued on like Ed never interrupted him. "There's a world, there's a world out there." He smiled down at his older brother.
"Al, do you really mean-?" Ed wouldn't let it go. "I mean, seriously…?"
"I'll show you just where," Al leaned forward, running a hand through Ed's golden tresses before placing his forehead on Ed' was a beat as Ed's pupil slowly disappeared as something was pressed in his lax hand.
"And in time I know you'll see," Al stepped away from Ed. "There's a world where we can be free." He gave a knowing smile at his brother as he drew lines on his arm with the opposite arm.
"Come with me."
And following the suit, Ed took what was in his hand and drew lines on his arm the same way Al drew ones on his. A warm feeling started to surround Ed as the minutes rolled by after he drew the lines on his arm. When was Al going to take him to this world? He really wanted to see it…
Then, the sound of shattering glass and a high-pitched scream broke the silence that had enveloped the room for several minutes.
~There's A World~
"Elric, Edward." Doctor Marcoh's voice breached the silence of the observatory for the operating room. The whirring of his tape recorder was the only accompanying sound as he took note of what had just occurred and what was presently occurring.
~There's A World~
"Come with me," Al's voice whispered by his ear through the darkness he had slipped into. The darkness had come right after he had heard the scream, but Al's voice had stuck right with him.
There was a light towards the end of the darkness. Ed had the feeling that maybe he shouldn't go near the light, but he wanted out of the darkness, and, for all he knew, Al could be there, right beyond the light.
~There's A World~
"Discovered bleeding out in his hospital room." The surgeons seemed to have trouble stopping the bleeding Marcoh noted as well, and Edward was very pale. The nurse, though, they had sent for blood for a transfusion hadn't come back yet.
With how things were going, Marcoh wasn't going to be surprised if Edward died on the table. Yet, with any luck, he would pull through. After all, in the slang used these days by kids, he was Fullmetal.
Stubborn. Crazy words kids came up with to replace the real ones.
~There's A World~
"There's a world where we can be free." Al's voice was getting louder, and the light was an almost blinding white at this point. But Ed still pressed on. If he continued, he would see Al. At least, that was what his head was telling him, because Al's voice was getting louder, which meant he must be getting closer to Al, shouldn't he?
Then, something, somewhere, in the back of his head, told him to stop. Something wasn't right here…
Wasn't Al…?
~There's A World~
"Multiple wounds to wrist and forearms. Self-inflicted; most likely caused by sharp pieces of glass from the vase that had been placed beforehand in the patient's room." Marcoh watched as the nurse finally stumbled back into the operating room with the blood for the transfusion.
Edward was hooked up to the blood transfusion just moments before the heart monitor flat-lined.
He watched as Edward's body convulsed as the attempted to restart his heart. Marcoh knew that Edward was going to survive. This wasn't his first time in the operating room, wasn't the first time his heart had stopped.
~There's A World~
Al was dead. Al had been dead. The rational part of his mind was telling him that. Telling him that he needed to go away from the light, that this wasn't Al, and that he didn't want to die, damnit!
"Come with me." Al's voice- but was it really Al? -called once more, enticingly, attempting Ed to take those last few steps to him. But, while half of him wanted to go, there was another part holding him back.
He still… He still had things to do, didn't he? He couldn't die yet. And what of… what was her name… He tugged at his hair, disbelieving himself. He couldn't have been so far out of it, so close to death that he couldn't remember her name. The one light that had kept him going before this… What of…
Winry! What of Winry, his mind yelled at him. What would she do without him? She had already lost her parents and Al, how could Ed make her lose him too?
Ed couldn't, and that's why, very painstakingly, he took that hardest step away from the light and started back towards the darkness.
Back towards life.
~There's A World~
"Sutures, gauze, antibiotics, sedated and restrained. Damnit." Marcoh cursed, observing as the operation ended. Edward was Fullmetal indeed, as the doctors had managed to get his heart started once more, after which the operation had gone quite smoothly.
The restraints were so he wouldn't pull a similar stunt, while the sedation was simply to guarantee his unconsciousness for a while, and to make sure his wounds were on the way to recovery before he tried any mad attempts to break the restraints and rip out his sutures or something similar.
He turned off his tape recorder and left the observatory after making one last comment on the tape. He left and went straight back to his office, not bothering to stop and inform Miss Rockbell of his decision at the moment. Let her regain her wits after this attack, he reasoned. Then he'd tell her.
"Electro-Shock Therapy highly recommended."
~~End Part 1~~
I'm not completely sure on whether or not this is going to end as a one-shot or not, or if I'm going to continue this. I realize Ed and Al may seem wildly out of character, but then again, maybe they don't... Hmm...
And if there's confusion of that bit underneath the title about the train accident and Rush Valley, I set the time for around when I thought Ed and Al would be coming back from Dublith. I remember from one of the animes that Rush Valley was a halfway point to Dublith [because Ed said they were going there and Winry saw Rush Valley on the map, and yeah...]
This would be when Ed was sixteen.
And, I figured, though this is AU, I'd weasel the Fullmetal title in somewhere. I think it was from the manga, but I remember reading that Fullmetal was another way of saying 'stubborn', so yeah...
Review, please and thank you! ^_^
~~Paw-Chan Signing Out~~
Notice as of 7.8.11:
I have made the decision that this will be more than 1 part. I have no clue how long this'll be, but I am currently working on part two. The next part will hopefully delve into the Rush Valley Tragedy, and more.
Thank you! ^_^
~~Paw-Chan Signing Out