Sakura Goddess
Chapter One
Had you asked about what might be there to meet him on his routine trip to the forest that first day of the season he would've said what all the other boys did: "Plenty of shade, plenty of sleep." The sun had risen, an annoying rooster crowed a wake-up call,-to which he responded with the usual shouting of curses-and he was out in the field as always, a slice of toast clutched in his teeth. It had gone on after that in the manner he was accustomed to until high-noon: When he and his comrades took their sweaty, shirtless selves away from the dirt of the field and into the forest's shady, meadow-like grasses.
"Is it me, or did winter turn Bradley into even more of a hard-ass?" he groaned, pouring the canteen of water over his head instead of drinking it.
"Aw, whatsamatter, Ed? Big, bad Bradley whip a little too hard?"
"Shut it, Roy!"
Roy laughed into his canteen, the other boy, Jean, stifling chuckles in his own.This may have been the first day of this year's spring, but the three boys had spent seventeen years' springs alternately working and resting in the fields and forest. They had all been orphaned and had all come to accept Master Bradley as their guardian ten years ago. He could not, and would not, ever be a father to them in action or in mind.
A man, whom insisted on being called master, who worked his "sons" from morning till night and kept them working and in line with a whip all the while could hardly qualify as a father.
"It is just you," Jean chided. "You always know just what to say to piss him off."
"He shouldn't get so angry about the truth!" Ed nodded determinedly, wincing as the fresh gash on his back poked the tree bark. And said again when Roy rolled his eyes, "It is the truth. The day I turn eighteen is the day I can finally snap his leash and get out on my own. And then, I'll take over the king's precious estate!"
"So, say that you do," Roy humored him sarcastically, "he's not the only one around here with "sons", you know."
"I know," Ed smirked, eyes ablaze with conviction. "But Bastard Bradley is the most powerful. As soon as he falls the rest will be cake!"
"And do you have, oh I dunno, a plan?" asked Jean.
"Mh-" Ed flinched. "Uh…W-well, I've got plenty of time to work out the specifics. I'm not eighteen for a while."
Roy coughed to hide is peal. "You can talk all you want, but without a plan you're not gonna get anywhere."
"At least I'm working towards something worthwhile! All you two are concerned about are those girls across the way," Ed frowned and thrust his thumb back towards the village.
Jean grinned, though both he and Roy were blushing, "Don't talk to us about getting girls, Ed. You know as well as we do that half of 'em have their eyes on you."
"Yeah, well they can look all they want. I'm not interested."
"Aw, c'mon, Ed. I bet a girlfriend would be a big help with your little revolution!"
The new voice came from behind him, and was quickly given an owner when a familiar face jammed into his peripheral vision.
"Maes!" Roy smiled. "Where's Al?"
"Right here!" came a rather breathless reply on Ed's other side.
"Alphonse!" This time the smile was Ed's when he looked up into his younger brother's smiling face.
"Hey, brother!" Alphonse sat down next to him, while Maes went to a trunk in the middle of their clearing.
Maes and Alphonse worked on the Hakuro estate not far from Bradley's. Having been seven years-old at their time of orphanage, Ed could do nothing to ensure his siblings employment on the same farm as he. They'd at first met in secret, before they were old enough to 'be of use' on their own fields, but once they were old enough to be considered functional-around ten-they had found that they could meet in the open during the noon break.
"You're late," Jean chuckled, elbowing his friend weakly in the ribs.
"You know how Hakuro is, Jean," Maes elbowed him right back. "He won't let us out until we've done just enough to satisfy him."
"'Just enough' seems to become more every day," Roy nodded towards his and Al's dirt-covered chests.
"It's not as hard as it looks," Al shrugged. "Besides, you get used to it after working with him so long."
Ed sighed. "Sit up," he murmured. When his brother complied he used more of his water to clean off what he could of his brother's front, and then continued with a growl and a grimace when he reached his back.
"He brought it out again, didn't he Maes?"
"Twice. And both times he never gave a reason," Maes replied solemnly, rubbing the back of his head.
Ed cursed both masters under his breath, washing the mud and dried-blood off Alphonse's spine.
"Don't be surprised, Ed," Roy muttered, leaning against his tree. "Hakuro's a bigger fan of the whip than Bradley."
"Whips," Ed spat in a whisper. "Do they honestly think that makes us work any harder!?"
"For one who hates them so much," Maes began, that hint of concern and comicality all workers held for their comrades manifesting in his smile, "you seem to enjoy causing Bradley to use them."
"I said it before, he shouldn't get so angry about the truth. Besides, a whip in the back is nothing compared to the pain we'll all be feeling if we let this rule go on much longer."
"Brother…You're still thinking about a revolt, aren't you…?" Al leaned towards him.
"I'm planning it, Al. We'll be free one day, every one of us. I promise you that."
"Be wary of your promises," Roy chuckled. "You might just have to keep them."
"I will keep it," Ed replaced the lid on his canteen. "I don't make idle promises and I don't go back on my word."
A gentle breeze began to wind its way through the exhausted congregation; drying with light taps of air Alphonse's damp chest and stroking sympathetically the open wound on Ed's back. Soon the breeze became a wind, with force increased though feel still gentle over the boys' bare skin, and it brought down the first pink-petal drop of the impending rain upon the potential revolutionary's head.
"Looks like the Lady of the Forest believes you," Jean smiled.
"That," Maes contributed, "or she's cursing you for all eternity."
"C'mon, Maes, you know that's not how the legend goes."
"Isn't it?" Al chirped curiously. "Check the petal, brother. Is it split or whole?"
Ed blinked twice, "Don't tell me you all believe those stories?"
"And you don't?" Roy smirked. "You're the one who always told stories of the Sakura Goddess at dinner. And, if I'm correct, you still do."
"What?! It's not like there's any other stories or things to talk about around here!"
"Or maybe," three boys grinned at Jean's words, "we've got a romantic among us!"
"Shut it, Jean!"
Ed flushed an embarrassed, angry, red, and that sent all but the brothers into a fit of laughter.
Using his odd ability, Maes changed the mood back to a more thoughtful atmosphere, "Well, real or not, if the Sakura Goddess is with you, then so am I."
A smile came to the petal-topped boy's face.
"We all are, Ed. We'll do what we can, when we can," Roy replied with a trademark grin and a wink.
Ed opened his mouth to thank them, but was quickly cut off by a sharp whistle from the direction of the village.
"Damn, already?"
"What're you complaining about? Don't you like the watery soup we'll get to slurp before we go back to work? And let's not forget the stale bread." Jean popped his back as he stood.
It went quiet in the clearing for another moment as all the boys rose to their feet. Living the way they did for so long, they eventually became accustomed to their conditions: Short breaks, long days, early mornings, and plenty of disgusting food. But as hardened as they were to it, that whistle still gave them an ominous chill.
The whistle took them away from their favorite forest-before they became orphans, every child in the village would spend their days in the forest, searching for the famed Sakura Goddess. And it was thinking about the Goddess said to be so close that the mumbled words came from Ed's mouth, directed to his brother.
"Why would a Goddess just spend her days in the trees when people are suffering right next to her?"
"You know the story, brother…" Al murmured back sadly.
All the humans in the forest were silent after that; listening to the wind do its best to loosen the blossoms from their branches, but they all knew it was not yet time for the petals to fall.
They reached the edge of the forest, stepping from beneath the shade into the cruel sunlight. It may have been the first day of spring, but even minimal heat is hard on the weak and wounded. As always, their goodbyes were various waves and high-fives as they parted, with a brotherly hug between the two relations.
Just as Ed was about to follow his friends, another gust of wind blew into his back. But it didn't just blow past his ear, however:
Edward…
He froze. No one, not even Al called him by his full name. Slowly he turned back to face the trees, narrowing his eyes and sweating for reasons other than heat. Someone was there; beckoning him with a sweet voice and breathy finger across his chin.
"Hey, Ed!" The familiar male voice made him jump. "What are you doing? Get your lazy ass over here!"
"Coming, coming!"
Reluctantly he turned back to face his companions and left the forest to his back, as he made his way towards the fields and his master's steely face.
For the rest of the day he had the voice on his mind, and who it might've possibly belonged to. Of course, he told no one else about it; they would've dubbed him immature or crazy. And as for the mysterious petal on his head, the first single pink snowflake in the sakura snowstorm: There were no flaws, no discoloration; it was a perfect silken dewdrop in his hair and on his fingers.
The first petal of spring was perfect, and he had been honored with its falling atop his head. The Sakura Goddess was going to bloom for him.