Disclaimer: I obviously do not own Fullmetal Alchemist. This fanfic idea was inspired and based on an FMA fan comic I once read a few years ago, but since I'm a stupid ass, I can't remember where I read it, so this idea is copyrighted to its rightful owner. Enjoy.
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Mission after mission, near death experience followed by another, being ambushed by homunculi, and running from vengeful Ishbalans who want to make your brains explode; things like that get a bit old after a while, and Edward and Alphonse Elric were most certainly sick and tired of the same events happening over and over. Their resolution? Vacation.
Al had suggested that they should head back to Risembool and spend some time with their childhood friends since their role as state alchemists always left them too busy for such things. Ed, who had wanted to research more on the Philosopher's Stone, gave in and agreed reluctantly, but it was obvious that he was happy to return to his hometown. In fact, he was the most enthusiastic out of the two brothers when they had gotten off the train and headed straight for the Rockbell's house. Now, after only a day's stay, the house was shrouded in a peaceful silence. A silence that could not possibly exist when one had Edward Elric staying with them. Al noticed this right away.
"Winry, have you seen Ed?" the younger of the Elric brothers said to the automail mechanic who was busy fixing the many artificial limbs lying before her on the table.
"Yeah, he said he was going to go out for a walk a few hours ago," she replied, setting down her wrench to speak to Alphonse. "He hasn't been back since…" The realization suddenly hit her, leaving the teenage girl rather concerned. She tossed a worried glance out of the window behind her, scanning the skies above, which were now a dark gray abyss of rainclouds.
"Did he say where he was going?" Al inquired, immediately noticing Winry's distress.
"No, he just said 'I'm going out for a bit' then left…Al, maybe you should—"
"Way ahead of you," he interrupted, heading towards the door, his voice heightening as he stepped outside. "I'll be back in a while! Knowing Ed, he's probably out some few miles from here."
Winry jumped out of her seat, rushing over to the door to yell; "Hey! Come home as fast as you can, okay, Al? It's going to rain soon!" She saw him give a small flick of his wrist followed by a far off "Gotcha!" The blonde stood at the door for a moment, watching as Al walked off before she returned hesitantly back to her table, sending another anxious peek out the window before resuming her work.
The large suit of armor stood a distance away from the Rockbell Residence, hands on his 'hips' as he surveyed the sea of grass and hills before him. Giving an exasperated sigh, Alphonse
shook his head at his brother's stupidity. There was no way he would be able to escape the rain in time, Al knew that for sure. That was Ed for you, always leaping before he looked. Cold wind whistled past the little brother as he raced down the hills, calling out his elder brother's name in desperation.
Alphonse ran aimlessly through his hometown, eyes darting left and right, hoping to catch sight of his blonde brother. One would think it'd be easy to spot a yellow-headed teen against a dark gray sky. Wrong-o. Al grumbled in aggravation and dismay as he saw the tiny droplets of rain begin to stain the dirt road beneath him. "This is ridiculous," the suit of armor uttered hopelessly, coming to a steady stop to shake off the water that had gathered on his metal body, which was proven to be useless since he'd be completely drenched in rain again seconds later. "At this rate, I'll probably come home full of rain. Ed should be able to…" Alphonse's voice trailed off as he lifted his gaze to see that he was standing before a miserable burnt pile of wood, ash, and other debris. A dead tree stood near the burnt ruins, bent and withered. Sorrow swept over the fourteen year old as he stared at the charred remains of his former home. His tensed stance suddenly began to slump, the memories of his preceding years flooding back to him involuntarily; memories that would have been better off forgotten.
Al turned his head away from the nightmare before him. He must have subconsciously ran here looking for his brother. Or maybe someone…
There was a loud 'clank' as Al continued walking, fists clenched and eyes glued on the road in front of him. To where he was going, he didn't know nor did he care. Any place but that place. The rain had began to fall harder and faster and a flash of lightning cast an eerie white glow over Risembool for a split second before retreating back into the clouds, leaving the small town drowned in a semi-darkness once more. In that short burst of light, Al had caught sight of something glistening out of the corner of his eye near the river, and a familiar yellow head poking out from the vegetation. Remembering why he was out in the pouring rain to begin with, Al swirled around immediately, running towards the golden dot, which grew larger with each step he took.
"Nii-san! What're you doing out here? You'll catch a cold," he called out once he was in hearing range of his older brother. Suddenly, Alphonse sensed something was wrong and stopped dead in his tracks a small distance away from the blonde shrimp, who's back faced him. "…Nii-san?"
"Do you remember days like this, Al?" Ed mumbled, ignoring his younger brother's inquiry. There was a long silence before he added, "Back when…she was around?"
It took Alphonse a moment to understand what his brother was rambling on about. "Oh yeah!" he exclaimed, "One time when it was raining, we were playing outside and you slipped and fell in the mud. You were completely covered in it, you even got your mouth full of it!"
"Yeah, it tasted horrible," the blonde Elric admitted, smiling sheepishly.
"It must have, because you started crying!" Al laughed recalling the memory, but was quickly silenced by Ed who had thrown an annoyed look at him over his shoulder.
Directing his gaze back to the river, Ed continued, "And when we went inside, Mom had asked why I was crying." The memory played like a movie before the prodigy's eyes.
"And you said it was just the rain," Al finished for him, giggling at his brother's stubbornness and at the mental picture of a young, pouty, teary eyed Edward covered in mud that had appeared in his mind.
"But she knew…" Ed murmured in a soft voice, "She always did…"
The silence that followed was one that sent chills through out Al's metal body. Any laughing, any teasing thought that had crossed Alphonse's mind had ceased immediately right then. The younger Elric
let his gaze drop to the ground for a moment then back up at the sixteen year old standing before him. Only then did Al notice how his brother's hands were clenched into tight fists, how his shoulders rose up and down slowly, and how his breath came in long, shaky sighs.
"Nii-san?" Al said cautiously, shattering the silence, "Are you…crying?"
The smallest of smiles somehow managed to find its way onto Ed's face as rivers of tears and rain streamed down his cheeks. Golden eyes glistened as they stared into the river as it flowed peacefully on as if nothing was wrong. The alchemist sighed again, the smile growing as he drew in a shaky breath. "No, Al…" Ed replied softly, "It's just the rain…"
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Author's Notes: Haha! Shittastic, wasn't it?! Yeah, I know, I'm still suffering from that writer's block. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed reading this despite how bad it was (it's my very first fanfic :3), I know I rushed it and I didn't read it over after I typed it because I'm a lazy shithead. I would appreciate it if you would be so kind as to drop me some constructive criticism. Give me thoughts, ideas, suggestions, anything! I really want to improve my writing. But try to be a bit…"gentle." Remember, this is my first FF so I would appreciate it if you didn't bitch. Also, a special thank you to brokenseraphim who helped me out a great deal with not only proof reading this fanfic, but also shoving (yes, shoving) me out of the nest to start writing and to upload it in the first place. I couldn't ask for a better beta. So three cheers for her! Hip hip, hoo--…whatever. –cue confetti-
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