Chapter 1; Perhaps
Bane; "I'm in a morbid mood."
A; -sigh- "When AREN'T you in a morbid mood?"
He wasn't the same, after the incident. How could he have been? Nothing else could have mattered anymore; absolutely nothing. But Al mattered. Al had always mattered.
They all would have known something was up by the mere tone of his voice. It was broken, almost frail on the other end of the reciever.
"I-I'm not going to be coming by for a while, Winry."
"Ed? You okay? You sound…a bit off. Did something happen?"
For some odd, unknown reason, she could have sworn that she felt the tears that he fought perilously through the biting silence.
"Nothing happened. I'm fine. Everything's fine."
When he stepped into the office, his silence was unnoticed, as though only his temper had given him his infamous charisma. Quiet footsteps led him to the Colonel's office, whereas he proceeded to give the door a slight nudge.
"Yes?"
"Colonel…"
Roy yawned absently, looking up to find an exausted-looking Edward Elric. Giving him an acknowledging nod, he failed miserably in his attempt to conceal the fact that he had just been taking an hour-long nap.
"I haven't seen you in quite a while, Fullmetal—"
Four crisp sheets of parchment landed lightly on the desk, and the strangely untriumphant prodigy made eye-contact to emphasis his next words.
"The report you needed…Um, Mustang? I was wondering…if I could have a few weeks off…"
At this, the superior officer was a bit surprised.
"What do you need the time for?"
He didn't release how much his heart was set to aching as he continued confidently to speak, " There's some family issues I need to work out before I can come back to the military."
Roy caught something in the boy's eyes. Surely they weren't tears? Since when had the great and noble 'guardian of the people' cried? And from what loss?
However, Edward did not—would not—allow the tears to flow.
"I think that will be fine, Fullmetal. You haven't impended any out-lasting damage to work off. Anything else?"
The boy shook his head and turned to leave. He paused at the call of, "Take it easy, okay?" But his stillness didn't last for more than a moment. He left the military facility silently, for the first time in his life.
He opened the door to the apartment he had rented—shared—with his brother. There was silence; but that was to be expected. Depositing his over-coat and boots beside the door, he turned to face the in-room dining area. There he sat, in the same spot he had been in when Edward had left that morning.
"Hey, Al."
There was no response. There was never a response.
Forcing a smile, he made himself look into those blank, now green, eyes. They had been blank ever since… But that didn't matter now; he was here, with his brother… And that empty stare… would always be what was left of a sibling who had risked too much.
The shallow breathing of the boy beside him awakened saddening memories of the days when he'd look into those eyes and find a gleam-- and find life.
Bane; "Yeah, anyway, the next chapter is much better. And I have it written…along with the 3rd Chapter. Only…I kind of wanted Reviewage before I continued with this one… I figured you guys could help with that?"