8/26/18 EDIT: Yikes. All I did was read the first paragraph and I'm already cringing. Welp. Here we go!
Disclaimer: I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist, the song lyrics, or any of the characters within.
Winry and Rose were walking down the streets of Lior. Rose herself hadn't been all over the entire city, even though she had lived there her entire life. So when Winry arrived the two friends decided they would explore the city.
Rose and Winry walked down the street, laughing. They were talking about Edward and his ridiculous dislike of comments on his height; laughing at the long and loud rants he could get into, after beating up anyone who dared to call him short.
Once they had calmed down, Winry told Rose about the one time she had ever seen Al at the end of his fuse. Al rarely lost his temper, but when he did, he was a lot scarier than Ed could ever hope to be. Ed and Al had been fighting some bad guy that the military had ordered them to go after. He was a former State Alchemist gone insane and was going on a rampage in Central.
Ed had told her what happened the last time he'd seen Winry. After fighting with the man for over an hour, the battle raging all over the city, the former Dog of the Military had been able to gain the advantage. He kicked Edward in the head with his automail leg.
Rose gasped in shock. "What happened?! Was he alright?"
"Oh yeah. Ed was fine. While the kick wasn't heavy, it wasn't especially light either. Edward was unconscious for almost five minutes. Once Al saw what the man had done, he freaked out. Al completely pulverized the Alchemist. He was so scared something might have happened to Ed." Winry stopped to think. "Those two idiots love each other more than everything else. They're the only family they have left."
Rose looked at her. "They really are idiots if that's what they think," she said softly. "They do have family. You, Mrs. Rockbell, Colonel Mustang and his crew. They do have a family. They just have to be able to see that."
Winry smiled. "Thank you, Rose. I needed that."
"Of course."
Rose decided to change the subject. She pointed to a crumbling building up ahead. "Do you see that building? That's the former church of Leto. When Father Cornello first arrived, he didn't have a very big following. So he used that building. When he finally gained enough followers- meaning the entire city- he built the Temple of Leto and moved there."
"Hmmm." Winry said softly. "I wonder how that building is still standing. Look, there's little to no support in the bottom, and I know if people haven't been in there in years, then it can't be very safe. It should be demolished."
Rose sighed. "You're right. It should've been. But the believers used that place as a hideout. They refused to leave the building. We couldn't very well knock it down if people live there."
"No. I suppose you're right." Winry said. As they walked past, Winry thought she could hear strains of music within the building. "Hey Rose. Everyone left the building though, right? Now that they know it's not going to be demolished?"
"Yes. Or at least, that's what we thought. Why?"
"Because I think someone's playing music inside."
Rose stopped to listen. Her eyes grew wide. "You're right! But nobody should be in there! The whole building could collapse on it's own anyway!"
Winry's eyes flashed defiantly. "Well then! We'll just have to clue in whoever's in there, aren't we?"
Rose nodded. "We have to be careful, though. One wrong step, and you could fall through the floor."
"Let's get going"
~~~~~Time passing squiggles~~~~~
Rose and Winry stepped through the sanctuary doors. The place was the source of the music, they knew now. For some reason, the sanctuary was in the back of the building instead of the front. Rose thought it was probably because the building wasn't meant to be a church, so the biggest room available was simply converted.
When the girls entered, the piano music morphed into a different song. Winry thought it sounded familiar, but couldn't place it. Behind the piano sat a very familiar-looking blond. Edward's red coat was draped over the bench next to him, his black-leather clad shoulders were hunched, and his forehead creased in concentration.
Winry opened her mouth to ask him what on Earth he was doing in the dilapidated ruins of the former Church of Leto, when Rose shushed her and pointed. Behind Ed stood Al. The armor was silent, watching and listening to his brother play the oh-so-familiar song. Neither of the brothers saw the girls. Rose took Winry's elbow and led her to one of the steadier-looking pews to sit.
Rose wanted to listen.
But then the strangest thing happened. Edward opened his mouth and began to sing. Winry's eyes widened in shock. She knew Ed could play piano. When they were kids, sometimes she would go to practice with him to watch him play. But she didn't know he could sing. Then she knew why the song sounded so familiar.
How can I repay you,
brother mine?
How can I expect you to forgive?
Clinging to the past,
I shed our blood,
and shattered your chance
to live.
Idiot, Winry thought.
Though I knew the laws,
I paid no heed.
How can I return you're
wasted breath?
What I did not know has
cost you dear,
For there is no cure for
death.
My God. He really is an idiot, isn't he? Rose couldn't help but think it. She knew Winry was thinking it too.
Beautiful mother,
soft and sweet,
once you were gone,
we were not complete.
Back through the years we
reached for you,
alas, 'twas not meant to be.
And how can I make amends,
for all that I took from you?
I lead you with hopeless dreams,
my brother I was a fool.
Winry wanted to throw a wrench at him for his idiocy, but she didn't want to interrupt the music. Edward had stopped singing to play the instrumental. Winry knew why this sounded familiar. This was the song Ed had hummed to keep himself from screaming in agony when she and Granny first attached his automail. IDIOT IDIOT IDIOT! Winry screamed inside her head.
As the instrumental ended, Ed opened his mouth to start singing again, but Al, of all people, interrupted him. Ed jumped. Rose realized that Edward hadn't known Al was standing behind him and watching him play.
Don't cry for the past now,
brother mine.
Neither you nor I are free
from blame.
Nothing can erase the
things we did,
for the path we took was
the same.
Good, Al. Now he doesn't think it's his fault alone. Rose thought. As startled as Ed had been that his brother was standing behind him, he had kept on playing.
Beautiful mother,
soft and sweet,
once you were gone,
we were not complete.
Back through the years we
reached for you,
alas, 'twas not meant to be.
My dreams made me
blind and mute.
I long to return to that
time.
I followed without a word,
my brother, the fault is
mine.
Al?! What the hell? You're not making it better! You're blaming yourself for this?! Now Ed's going to blame himself for making you blame yourself! Winry and Rose thought this together, though neither of them knew it. They were both surprised when Ed and Al started singing together.
So where do we go from
here?
And how to forget and
forgive?
What's gone is forever
lost.
Now all we can is live.
Edward continued playing the song, until the end. Winry and Rose both sat speechless. When Ed stopped playing, he grinned and turned around to face his younger brother. "Well, Al! I didn't know you could sing!"
"To be fair brother, I didn't know you could sing either. I didn't even know you still practicing piano."
Al isn't angry with me for not telling him about the singing, thank God. Ed thought. "I don't actually. I'm just lucky I remembered which key makes what note."
Both Ed and Al started when the sound of clapping interrupted them. Ed turned and glared at the pews, where Rose and Winry sat with tears in their eyes.
"WHAT ARE YOU GUYS DOING HERE?!" Ed snapped.
"Well, we were going to pull whoever was in here out, because the building is structurally unsound, and could collapse at anytime." Winry said smoothly. "But then who do we find inside playing piano and making with the major angst? You two idiots! Then we decided to sit and listen, because the two aforementioned idiots can both sing, AND NEITHER OF THEM TOLD ME!" Rose nodded along, quietly. Winry got up and stalked towards them, wrench in hand.
Both Ed and Al yelped and back away, because WHERE THE HELL DID SHE GET A WRENCH SHE'S WEARING A SUNDRESS!? Winry threw her wrench at Ed, who was about to hide behind Al, and nailed him right between the eyes (like Rachel Dare, her blue plastic hairbrush, and the Titan of Time himself, Kronos). Winry pulled another wrench out of nowhere and started beating up on Al.
Rose stood and approached Winry from behind, unsure whether she should stop Winry, or just let it happen.
"WINRY!" Ed wailed. She hit him again.
"BOTH OF YOU STOP BEING IDIOTS, ALRIGHT?!" Winry's hits became weaker as she started crying. Rose came up behind, and put her arms around the crying girl. She looked up at the boys and said quietly, "We should probably leave. The building could come down at any moment." The boys nodded and followed Rose out of the Church of Leto.
When they got outside, Winry had calmed down. She pulled out her wrench again and hit each of the boys once more. "That's for not telling me about the singing! For two, what the hell were you guys doing inside a desolate building that could collapse?" Ed sighed. "We're here because Colonel Bastard ordered us to be. We don't even know why. I saw the piano, and thought I would see if I could still play."
Edward was interrupted by a loud rumbling. All four teens spun around and watched in shock as the old Church of Leto collapsed into itself.
Ed said softly, "The vibrations from the piano must of caused the building to collapse." He was silent for a moment, then yelled, "DAMMIT! I'm going to have to report to that BASTARD how I made the building collapse! Worse, he's going to make short 'jokes' about how he can't see me over his GIGANTIC stack of paperwork, and he's going to actually ask me how I made the building fall! AGGGHHH!"
Winry was quiet for a moment. "If it makes you feel any better, Ed, I'm not sure Colonel Mustang could see all four of us stacked on top of one another over all of his paperwork." Ed grinned. "You're right, Winry! That does make me feel better!"
The four of them all froze when they heard an unamused snort. "You may be right about that, Winry. But it still doesn't change how I wouldn't be able to see Fullmetal if he was standing right behind Black Hayate." Ed watched angrily as the form of the Flame Bastard made its way out of the shadows. "Now. Would you mind telling me how you destroyed the former Church of Leto, please?"
Winry grinned. "Gladly."
The End
8/26/18 EDIT: This should be rated M for extra cheese. Wow. Not a lot of actual editing needed. Still, I'm sorry this even exists.