Family Portrait
3. Oct. 11 Never Forget
Edward, a young twelve year old boy, suddenly became a man. That night he took fire to his childhood and his home. He watched the flames, remembering what his family had become. Four went to three, three dwindled to two.
No, he wasn't running away. He was running forward.
Edward told himself that, repeating it over and over as he smashed a jagged rock into the new metal of his pocket watch. "I'm not running." clink. "I'll protect my family." Clink. "I won't ever leave." Clink.
"Not"
Clink.
"Like."
Clink.
"Him."
He fought off tears as he scratched his oath into the silver. Even at that age, he knew the possibilities were slim. He knew he may spend his whole life searching for nothing. He knew that he was risking his life and soul by selling it to the state.
Edward watched as his house burned. A singed photo fluttered out of the flames and landed in the grass before him. It was their one family portrait. His mother rocking baby Alphonse in her arms, his father holding him up, tears in his eyes.
He didn't understand the tears.
He didn't want to.
That man was not his father anymore.
Edward tossed the photo back into the fire.
He ran away, he forgot, he chose not to remember their family.
He clutched his silver pocket watch.
"Never. I'll never be like him."
People often asked where his parents were.
"What are you doing out here by yourself? Where's your mom and dad?"
Edward never answered them. Somewhere inside, he still thought of his family as three.
It wasn't until East Command held a family picture day that he accepted it. He watched as Mustang's team brought their parents and siblings into the office for a photo. They were all so proud of their sons.
Would his mother be proud of him?
What was there to be proud of? It had been two years and he was still dragging his little brother along in a body that he had been forced in because of him. Two years and no progress. Two years…and still no home.
He watched as Mustang took his photo alone. The Colonel said that his mother didn't care to come out there for a stupid photo.
The line between Roy and his father blurred for a moment. He watched as that man sat by himself in a frame, separate from those he once loved. He didn't even want his family there. It was all about him. Family didn't matter to that bastard.
Edward hadn't signed up to have his photo taken, but right then he took Alphonse and forced his way to the front of the line.
"Make it quick," he snapped at the photographer, tapping his foot impatiently.
He kept the picture in his wallet the way a proud father would.
The next time someone asked him where his parents were he flipped out the photograph and said, "See this? This is my family, just me and my brother. We do just fine by ourselves."
With the promised day approaching, with the impending possibility of losing them, Edward decided his family was not two, but much more. Winry, Granny Pinako, Teacher and Sig, even the guys from Mustang's team, he didn't want to loose them.
All of a sudden his family went from two to over twenty.
Even that moocher Prince and that bastard Mustang. Even…Hoenhiem.
When did that happen?
Edward laughed at the thought. He had been thinking he had no home for so long, only to realize he had been there the whole time.
He knew that his mother was proud of him. So what if Alphonse hadn't gotten his body back? So what if they didn't always have a reliable place to rest their heads? So what if sometimes they traveled all day? They had found their place.
Edward knew that he was doing what he should, even if it felt entirely impossible. He knew people loved and cared for him, as he did them. Maybe it made him simple, but that was all he needed to put everything he had into the battle that was to come.
There was no portrait of the family he belonged in, no record of it's existence, but the bond held tighter than any other.
Edward, a twenty-six year old man, held his son as a photographer focused his camera. Winry stood next to him, her arm hooked around his, her free arm holding their daughter.
"Say cheese!" The light flashed, blinding him for a moment and upsetting the children.
"Alright, Al! May! Get in here!" Ed called, ushering his brother and sister-in-law over.
Alphonse and May, her belly swelling, found a spot next to them. "Since when did you like pictures so much?" Alphonse muttered, "Hughes rubbed off on you too much?"
Ed laughed, "I'm not that bad."
"Yet," Roy interjected from across the room.
"Shut up, you!" Ed snapped. "Your lucky Winry made me invite you!"
"Be nice," Winry warned, pinching Ed's arm.
The camera flashed again and soon Pinako and Hoenhiem were pulled into the frame for the next one. "Dad, you can't forget mom," Alphonse reminded Hoenhiem. Riza passed a picture of Trisha over to the grandfather.
He tilted the frame so that the flash wouldn't reflect off the picture directly into the lens.
With the third picture taken, the children were placed in their playpen. Roy, Riza, Ling, Lanfan, Havoc, Breda, Izumi, Sig, the Armstrong's, Falman, Fuery, Scar, Miles, Ross, Brosh, The Hughes family, pushed close together.
Edward smiled as the camera flashed. It was the tenth anniversary of the promised day and the first time everyone could get together to celebrate it. Finally, he would have a portrait of his whole family, whether they liked it or not.
No, he didn't need pictures or carvings in pocket watches to remember. He would never forget the sorrow of his first promise, the pain of every battle, the joy of seeing one of their faces. He would never forget the good times, nor the bad. They were and would always be everything he had.
3. Oct. 25 Always Remember
A/N: So this is my submission for FMA Day! :D I though, might as well do this because there will never be another 3. Oct 11 in my lifetime XD
Thanks for reading and reviewing! :D