Alternate ending to anime episode 23, "Heart of Steel." Disclaimer: I do not own FullMetal Alchemist.
The Truth Behind Lies
"Maybe you can go back to normal, brother, and I hope you do. But I'm not sure that I ever can."
Ed paused and looked up at Al, a puzzled frown on his face. They stood on the roof of the hospital where Ed had been treated after the incidents in Laboratory Five. Or more correctly, Ed and Winry stood while the remnants of Al's armor sat propped against a wall, waiting to be reconstructed. Winry wondered why Ed's comment about quickly restoring their bodies had been met with such a bizarre response, but Ed appeared to brush it off. "Ah, what are you talkin' about? Of course you can, Al." He turned back to the pile of metal fragments arranged beside his brother and clapped his hands together, appreciating the feel of his newly restored automail as he prepared to transmute. "Here goes."
Winry watched from a few feet behind Ed, transfixed by the light of the alchemic reaction. The shattered suit of armor rose and appeared to restore itself before her eyes; with such a complex transmutation, it was easy to see why some viewed alchemy as a miracle. When it was done, Alphonse Elric stood whole once more, his armor indistinguishable from the time years ago when it did not yet play host to a soul.
Ed surveyed his work with satisfaction. "How's that?"
Al clenched a fist and raised the arm that had been crushed in Laboratory Five, seemingly testing it. "That's how you made me this way when you attached my soul to this armor in the first place … isn't it?"
Again, Ed hesitated at the strangeness of the question, but he was smiling when he answered. "That's right!"
A brief pause followed, and though neither brother moved, it seemed to Winry in that moment as if a gap had opened up between them. Whether it was the forced cheerfulness in Ed's voice or the misgivings that Al's comments caused, something about the encounter struck her as being very, very wrong—a feeling that was soon confirmed.
"Along with my memories." Al's tone became bitter. "After all, memories are just information you can reference, like a cabinet of files. As skilled an alchemist as you are, you could've created any memories you wanted me to have."
"Fake memories? Don't tell me that's what you're upset about."
"Why shouldn't it be? A while back in Resembool, there was something you wanted to tell me, but you couldn't. You said you were afraid of how I'd react. You remember that, don't you?" Al's voice gained in pitch and momentum until he was nearly shouting. "I can't remember parts of my past because they never happened. My memories and my soul are fake, something you created! Isn't that what you wanted to say?"
Ed stared at his brother in disbelief.
Winry couldn't bear to listen any longer. Since the day they had set out in search of the Philosopher's Stone, Edward and Alphonse Elric had been the perfect team, completely trusting one another, each complimenting the other's strengths. Now, all of that threatened to crumble apart, and she knew that if she stood by silently, it might never be restored—after all, unlike armor, no miracle of alchemy could repair that kind of bond. "No! What Ed wanted to tell you was that—"
"Stop lying to me!" Al practically screamed, shoving Winry back as she tried to approach him. "I know what the truth is. The person named Alphonse Elric never existed at all."
"That makes no sense!" Winry argued, shocked that Al would say such a thing. "You and Ed have always been together. I knew you when you were a boy, my grandma did too. We're friends, Al, you can trust me!"
"Can I? Really? How can I believe anyone when there's no way to prove it? When I'm just a hollow shell? All three of you could be in on it together!"
Finally, Ed spoke again, in a very low, quiet voice; Winry couldn't see his expression. "So. You've been sitting on those thoughts all this time. Is there anything else you're hiding? That you wanna say?"
"What about you, my so-called brother? Why won't you say anything? Unless it's true!" Al started to turn away until Ed grabbed his arm. "Let go of me!" he yelled, shoving Ed back. "What's the point of living this lie!" He backed away from Ed and Winry, his empty armor echoing with every step.
Why is this happening? Winry wondered, stunned by the sudden turn of Al's temperament. What had they seen or heard in Laboratory Five that caused such doubts to grow in Al's mind? Why wouldn't they ever tell her any of these things? Why did they always insist on shutting her out? A tear of frustration slid down her cheek.
Clang. Al had almost reached the edge of the roof; Winry suddenly became afraid of what his next intention might be.
"Wait."
Ed's expression was unreadable, but his voice was steady—chillingly so. Al actually stopped and looked at his brother, much to Winry's relief. She had worried that the younger Elric brother might be past reasoning at this point. Now hopefully he would listen to Ed's reassurances and try to work past the doubts that plagued him.
"Alphonse . . . we've been through a lot together." Ed rubbed the back of his neck distractedly. "After all this . . . everything we've learned . . . I guess I thought we would be the only ones we could trust, now. I thought we would stick together no matter what, because we're brothers."
Al took another step toward the edge of the roof, still hesitant.
"But Alphonse . . ."
A dramatic wind swept across the rooftop, momentarily blowing Ed's long blonde bangs over his eyes. Al seemed frozen in place, or perhaps it was time that had stopped.
". . . everything you said just now . . ."
Winry gasped.
". . . is true."
"Nooooo!" Winry screamed. She rushed over to Ed and grabbed his shoulders, shaking him. "You idiot, what are you saying? That's your little brother!"
Ed took hold of her wrists and pulled her away gently. "Winry, stop. You don't know the whole story."
"Of course I don't, because you never tell me anything! But I know that you and Al are brothers, and—and Al looks up to you, and now you've gone and—"
"Winry, that's not Al."
"What?" she whispered, not daring to turn around and face the suit of armor somewhere behind her.
Ed stared at his feet. His next words came out so softly she could hardly hear them. "Al . . . Alphonse is dead, Winry. He died the night we tried to bring Mom back."
Winry felt her head begin to spin; at the same time, she felt strangely distanced from what she was hearing, as though she was observing herself from someplace far off. Distantly she was aware of a scraping pain as she fell to her knees.
"The Gate took him," Ed continued. "Body and soul. Truth is, he was gone before I had a chance to do anything. It all happened so fast."
"But . . . his spirit . . . the armor . . ." she protested weakly.
"Pretty realistic, huh?" He opened and closed the fingers of his right hand in a fist, watching the automail without really seeing it. "I still don't know how I pulled it off. I thought of all the memories I had of Al, and I just sort of . . . And there was the cat . . ."
"The cat?"
"Yeah . . . You remember that cat that Al found, and Mom wouldn't let us keep it? But Al kept leaving out scraps for it, and it stayed close to the house. And it was there that night . . . I didn't know what else to do, I was so scared . . . So I transmuted the cat into the suit of armor and gave it all the memories I had of Al, and . . . Well, I guess it worked out pretty well there for a while, huh?"
Silence met his words, as everyone stood on the rooftop absorbing the implications of what had just been said, Winry still staring at Ed, Ed staring at his fist, and Al's expressionless gaze impossible to discern. The only sounds were the rustling of the wind and the slight creak of Ed's automail, which probably needed to be oiled, Winry thought, weirdly detached from the scene around her. She had an oil can in her luggage . . .
Suddenly, implausibly, Ed began to laugh. "Haha! Look at you two! It's like you've seen a ghost or something. Don't you know what day it is?"
No one answered him.
"It's April Fools' Day! Oh, come on, guys! You didn't actually believe any of that, did you? Lighten up already, I was only kidding!"
Al turned around so that he was facing away from Ed. "I . . . I hate you, brother!"
"Al? Al, come on! It was a joke! You don't really—"
"Just leave me alone!" Al shouted, and grabbing hold of the edge of the roof, swung himself over the side of the building and dropped to the ground below.
"Al!" Ed screamed and rushed to the place where Al had jumped from, looking as though he were going to jump after his brother until Winry tackled him and held him back. "Wait, Al! It was a joke!"
His cries of protest echoed off the surrounding buildings and followed Al as he ran off into the distance, as far away from the insanity as he could get.
Happy April 1st. Oh, and I wouldn't recommend following Edward's example when pulling off your own April Fools' pranks. Just fyi.