New life

By Gozilla

Disclaimer: I don't own anything and I don't have anything. So don't sue me!

Please excuse my poor English. -

Reviews are most welcomed!!

Enjoy!!

A/N: This is my first Fullmetal Alchemist fanfic. Please feel free to review and comment!

Summary: This is an A/U fic. The Elric brothers had finally found the philosopher's stone. In the transmutation to restore Al's body, something went very wrong. Will the Elric brothers live to start their new lives?

Flashes after flashes of lightning filled the large living room of a deserted mansion. In the middle of the living room, Alphonse Elric, in his armoured body, lied in the centre of a large alchemist pattern. The pattern was emitting blindingly bright lights.

Edward Elric, on the other hand, stood just outside of the pattern with his hands in the clapping position. But instead of the usual forming of an alchemist pattern by clapping his hands, Edward held a shining red stone between his hands. With his eyes closed, Edward concentrated all his energy to guide the tremendous power hidden in the red stone towards the alchemist pattern.

It was the scene which the Elric brothers had been dreaming for over the past six years. Only three days ago, they had successfully defeated the monstrous Sins and got a piece of the legendary philosopher's stone without any of the military people knowing (so as they thought). But it did not come without cost. Edward was badly beaten in the battle. He got a few cracked ribs, a number of deep cuts, and countless bruises all over the body. Even his auto mail arm and leg were seriously damaged and barely functioning.

Despite the Al's persistent pleads for his brother to wait until he recovered from the injuries, Edward insisted to return to their homeland, Rizenbul Village, immediately. He did not want to perform the human transmutation anywhere other than their homeland. He simply did not trust anyone... apart from the Rockbell's.

Three days later, the Elric brother finally arrived at their homeland. Sore and exhausted, Edward reluctantly agreed to Al's suggestion and went to Winry's home first.

"I still think it is not a good idea." Edward murmured as he limped along the road.

"Niisan, you need to rest! Look at you! You are about to collapse at any moment!" Al argued. In fact, he was very worried about his brother. Over the past three days, they had been rushing to return home without any proper rest.

Edward was still wearing the same bandages Al had roughly put on in a rush before they catch the first train of their three days journey. He refused to let Al to change them on the train as it might attract unwanted attention. He simply wore an ankle-long robe to hide his injuries and the bandages.

"How many times do I have to tell you that I am fine..." just before Edward could finish the sentence, his auto mail leg suddenly stopped functioning and he fell to the ground, face down.

"Niisan!!" Al rushed to help Edward to get up.

"Stupid auto mail!" Edward cursed, rubbing his nose. Soon he found that the auto mail leg had broken down completely. "Winry is definitely going to kill me for breaking her 'beloved' auto mail again."

Without warning, Edward was being lifted by a pair of strong cold arms. "Ah!! Al, what are you doing? Put me down! I am not a baby! I don't need anyone to carry me around! Put me down!"

"Niisan, I am not putting you down. You are in no condition to walk like this." Al stated in determination, leaving no room for discussion. "I need to properly clean your wounds and re-dress them once we got to Winry's home."

Edward was surprised to hear the tone of determination in his brother's usually very gentle voice. Knowing that his brother was just trying to help him, Edward relaxed in his brother's armoured arms and smiled in defeat, "All right, all right. You win."

As Al walked towards Winry's home, the brothers shared a peaceful moment. Al walked as gently as possible in order to avoid disturbing his brother's wounds. Edward, on the other hand, enjoyed the rhythmic movements of his brother's walk and slowly falling into sleep due to exhaustion and his injuries.

Edward was about to fall asleep when the soft voice of his brother woke him. "Niisan?"

"What is it, Al?" Edward asked. No matter how tired or how busy he was, Edward was always willing to listen to his only brother whenever he wants to talk.

"Niisan, I know I sound silly. But I really wish that time could stop right now." Al whispered in his timid voice.

"Why?"

"It is so peaceful." Al looked up to the clear night sky and the stars as he continued to walk, "It is like a dream. No battle, no army, no searching for the philosopher's stone. Just you, Winry, grandma, me, and our homeland. I wish we could just stay this way forever."

Edward smiled at his brother's words. Though he would never tell his brother, it was the same dream he had been fighting for since that faithful day.

Edward put his hand into his left pocket and felt the small stone inside it. "Al, I assure you that your body will be restored very soon. I am sure that your dream will come true. I promise." Edward gave his brother a confident smile.

"Yes," Al replied cheerfully, "and your arm and leg too, niisan."

-20 minutes later-

The barking of Dean, the Rockbell's dog, could be heard from a distance.

"Seems that someone is already welcoming us." Edward said, noticing Dean was running towards them from the Rockbell's house, the second home for the Elric brothers.

A moment later, Dean was circling around Al's feet affectionately and barking excitedly.

Al bent down and greeted Dean with one hand, while cradling Edward in his other arm with great caution. Dean put his front legs onto Al's outstretching arm, trying to reach the older brother.

"Hello, Dean. How are you doing?" Edward gently stroke Dean's head. The dog was a family to the brothers and they were very happy to see it well and healthy.

When they reached the house, the first thing they saw was Winry's grandma standing at the door of the house, with a warm and welcoming smile on her face.

"Got into trouble again, kids?" grandma stated.

"Well... ah... yeah... sort of..." Edward answered, embarrassed. They almost always return to the Rockbell's after some major trouble.

"Ed! Al!" came Winry's voice.

The brothers felt a chill running down their spines at the voice. "Hel... hello, Winry..." they said in a very stiffed voice.

"What have you two done to yourselves?" Winry came running out of the house to greet the brothers. "What happened to you, Ed? Why is Al carrying you? What have you done to my auto mail this time?" Winry said in a suspicious tone.

"Ah... well... it's a long story..." Edward looked away, avoiding Winry's almost murderous look.

"Let's get inside first." Grandma started walking into the house. "It is cold out here."

Al gently put Edward on a chair near the fireplace. Though he could not feel the weather, he did not miss Edward's slight shivering when they came along from the train station.

Edward sighed in content when the warmth of the fire embraced him. But the comfort did not last long.

"Ed..." Winry murmured with a deadly look on her face. "Let me see my auto mail."

Edward swallowed hard in fear. Hesitantly, with the help of Al, Edward slowly took off the long robe he was wearing, revealing the badly damaged auto mail and the bandaged wounds.

Edward heard the sound of a deep inhale from Winry. He closed his eyes and waited nervously for a deadly hit on his head which usually comes along.

But it did not come.

Carefully, Edward opened his eyes. Instead of the usual angry face, sadness and worries was written over Winry's face. A drop of tear slid down her pale cheek.

"Win... Winry... Why are you cyring?" Edward asked nervously. "I... I am sorry for breaking the auto mail. I didn't mean to..."

"You stupid pig, it is not about the auto mail!" Winry said as she wiped the tears from her eyes. "Look at you, why can't you ever take better care of yourself? You better stay still now. I am going to get you some medicine and new bandages. Al, help me get some warm clean water. We need to clean your brother's wounds. Come on! Don't just stand there! Move it!"

"Ye... yes, madam!" Al nervously replied and rushed to the kitchen to fetch the water.

-30 minutes later-

After cleaning the wounds with water, Winry started applying salve on Edward's wounds in order to reduce the soreness. Al stood beside Winry, helping Winry in caring his brother.

Grandma retrieved to her room 15 minutes ago to sleep, trusting her grand-daughter and Al to taking care of Edward.

The three remained quiet. It was Edward who broke the uncomfortable silence.

"Ah... Winry?" Edward carefully checked on any change in Winry's facial expression. "Are you still mad at me for breaking your auto mail? I... I am really sorry. I didn't mean to. The opponents were very strong. I am sorry, Winry."

No response.

Edward sent a nervous look to Al. Al shook his head, not knowing what to say.

Edward took a deep breath and gathered more courage. "Winry, please, I am very sorry for breaking the auto mail. If you want to beat me up, please do so. I will not complain about it."

"You silly thing." Winry whispered softly.

Edward and Al looked at each other in surprise. They had rarely heard of such gentleness in Winry's voice.

"I am worried about you, silly Ed." Winry said as she continued to apply salve on Edward's wounds. "I can always fix the auto mail. But it hurts me to see any of you two brothers getting injured. You two are like my own blood-brothers. I don't want you two to get hurt. Please promise me you won't do anything stupid and get hurt in the future, OK?"

Edward and Al felt a wave of warmth washing over them at Winry's words. They knew the Rockbell's had always been welcoming them. But now they knew that they were part of the family, something they thought they would forever lost since the moment they burnt down their home.

"Now tell me, what happened to you two?" Winry asked.

"Well, we..." Al was about to explain everything to Winry before Edward cut in.

"We are both very tired, Winry." Edward interrupted, faking a yawn. "How about if we explain it to you tomorrow?"

"OK." Winry reluctantly agreed, disappointment on her face. "But you have to promise that you will tell me everything."

"No problem." Edward replied.

"Also, Ed," Winry patted Edward's auto mail leg, "I made some minor repairs to your auto mail leg. It should be able to support you for a while. I will help you to install the spare auto mail leg tomorrow."

"Thanks, Winry," Edward smiled, "for everything."

Winry smiled back and went to her room.

Edward and Al switched off the light and went to the guest room.

Once sure that Winry was out of eavesdrop, Al asked, "Niisan, why didn't you let me explain it to Winry?"

"Because if we tell her that we will try to restore your body with the philosopher's stone, she may think it is dangerous and try to stop us." Edward said as he put on his red jacket. "Al, I will restore your body tonight."

End of Chapter 1

Hope you enjoyed the chapter!

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