Disclaimer: I do not own Full Metal Alchemist or Brothers by Vic Mignogna
A series of one shots centered around Mustang, his crew, Hughes and his crew, and Ed and Al. These might go out of order. So I will tell you Ed and Al's age somewhere in the story. And if I can't find a place in the story then I'll put it at the beginning of the chapter.
I'm following the Brotherhood version where Ed became a state alchemist sometime that wasn't winter, since it was snowing or cold when he became a state alchemist. And I don't know the exact date when the boys did the human transmutation so I'm making up a date, so I don't wanna hear any complaints from you people.
Fullmetal Alchemist: Stories of Central
Edward: 13
Alphonse: 12
One shot #1: Brothers
In the ballroom, at the military headquarters that was used for parties the military held, Edward walked towards the piano that was in the corner of the room. He had just turned in his mission report and was feeling kind of down. The lead that he had gotten on the philosopher stone had been false. His automail arm had gotten destroyed again so he and Al had to make a side trip to Resembool to get it fix, making Ed and Al late in getting back to Central for his meeting causing Mustang to lecture him…..again. And now he was stuck in Central for a few weeks because his assessment was in a few weeks. Mustang wouldn't send him on another mission because then he would get distracted by something on his mission and come back late and miss his assessment. It was his first assessment since joining the military when he was twelve.
It's been three years since that night, that horrible night. The night where Edward lost his right arm and left leg and where Al lost his body. It's been three years and his little brother was still stuck in that suit of armor. His brother was stuck in that suit of armor and it was all his fault. He saw the warning signs. He knew it was forbidden. Yet, he still did it. And his brother, who didn't want to do it, lost the most, while all he lost was a leg and an arm.
Edward sat in front of the piano and ran his hands lightly over the keys. He took his red coat off so the sleeves wouldn't get in his way. He softly began to play a sad melody.
Al walked around Central headquarters looking for his brother, who walked away without him after his meeting with the Colonel. He looked sad about something and Al wanted to know why.
Sighing, Al went back to the Colonel's office to see if anyone knew where his brother was. When he got there, he saw all the men working, which was a rare sight. Then Al saw Hawkeye holding her gun and glaring at all the men. "Uh…Lieutenant, do you know where my brother is?"
Hawkeye frowned and shook her head. "Sorry Al, I don't. But do you know why Major Elric is sad today?"
"No, I…" Al froze in what he was saying when he saw the calendar on the wall. The date was August 18.
Havoc looked up from his work when he heard Al freeze. "Is something wrong, Al?"
"Today is the day." Al murmured.
Everyone looked at Al confused. "What is today?" Mustang asked as he came out of his office.
Al didn't answer them. He just turned and stared out the window.
A voice from the doorway stopped the team from asking Al any more questions. "Today is the day their mother died. And this day three years ago, Al almost died and Ed lost his arm and leg."[1]
"How do you know that?" Al asked sadly.
"I'm part of the investigation department, Al." Hughes said softly.
Al didn't reply but turned towards the door. "I'm going to go find brother."
"Go to the ballroom. I saw Major Elric heading towards there."
Al nodded his helmet head and left the room. He quickened his pace when he got out of the room. His brother always felt horrible on certain days of the year. Today and October 3rd were two of the worst days for him.
When he made it to the ballroom, he saw his brother sitting down at the piano. He was playing a soft, sad melody. As quietly as a suit of armor could, Al walked towards his brother as Ed began to sing softly.
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.
Ed and Al sat in front of the transmutation circle with all the ingredients in the center of the circle. "Are you ready, Al?" Ed asked his brother.
Shyly and quietly, Al nodded his head as he was looking at his brother. "Are you sure about this, brother?" He asked worriedly.
"Yes. Don't chicken out on me now, Al." Ed replied.
Without another word, both boys put their hands on the transmutation circle.
Though I knew the laws, I paid no heed.
How can I return your wasted breath?
What I did not know has cost you dear,
For there is no cure for death.
"BROTHER!"
"It's a rebound!" Ed exclaimed, scared out of his mind. The arms coming out of the gate grabbed his left leg and out of the corner of his eyes, he saw the hands grabbing Al's whole body.
Al was being pulled into the gate by the hands. "BROTHER! ED! HELP!" Al screamed as he reached out toward his older brother. Edward moved forward to grab his little brother's hand but fell down and grabbed his left leg, which was disappearing as the hands took it away.
When he looked up, Edward saw that his brother was gone and tears began to run down his face. His brother was gone. [2]
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.
Edward screamed as he grabbed the stub he had left of his leg. He stayed laying on the ground as tears continued to steam down his face. "Mom!" He moaned in pain as he looked up and reached towards the creation in the center of the transmutation circle. When the smoke cleared from the transmutation, his eyes widened when he saw what was in the middle. Whatever that was, it wasn't his mother.
The young alchemist looked towards his right to see just his brother's clothes. "AL! NO! THIS ISN'T WHAT WE WANTED!"
And how can I make amends?
For all that I took from you?
I led you with hopeless dreams,
My brother, I was a fool.
A suit of armor fell to the ground behind Ed and he crawled to it. He pulled the helmet off of it and sat up. After drawing a transmutation circle in it with blood, Ed threw his hands together. "Give him back. Give him back! He's my little brother! He's all I have left! Give him back! TAKE MY ARM! TAKE MY LEG! TAKE MY HEART! JUST GIVE HIM BACK!" Edward yelled as he slammed his hand onto the transmutation circle that he drew in his blood.
Edward continued playing the piano, but stopped singing. He was having an internal battle with himself. Tears were fighting their way out of his eyes, as he was trying to force himself from crying. He wouldn't cry. He couldn't cry. He didn't deserve to cry, not when his brother couldn't cry anymore. This was all his fault. He had caused his brother to lose his body.
The young alchemist closed his eyes and continued to play the soft, sad melody.
The state alchemist felt someone sit next to him and started playing with him, then the person started singing.
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.
Al opened woke up and sat up. He shook his head and looked at his hands. "What is this?" Al muttered, then looked to his left when he heard someone moan. "BROTHER!" The little brother ran to his oldest brother's side. He saw that his brother was missing his left leg and right arm. His eyes were full of pain. "What happened to you? And me? What happened to me?"
"There wasn't much time. I used my right arm as material in a transmutation. All I could manage was to attach your spirit to the armor in the corner." Ed said.
"Oh no." Al said, scared and upset. "What about mom?"
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.
Ed shook his head. "Don't look. It wasn't human."
Like everyone who was told not to look at something, Al looked towards the transmutation circle and grasped. "I don't understand, Ed. What happened? Your theorems and equations, there seemed so perfect."
"The theorems weren't the problem, Al. It wasn't the math. It was us." Edward said.
My dreams made me blind and mute.
I long to return to that time.
I followed without a word,
My brother, the fault was mine.
Al wrapped up his brother's wounds the best he could and picked up Ed and ran to their friend's house, The Rockbells.
The door to the Rockbells' house opened and Al was on his knees, holding his brother to his chest. "Please, help him. He's going to bleed to death."
Winry and Pinako stand at the suit of armor and the injured Ed shocked. "Al?" Winry questioned. "Is that you?"
So where do we go from here?
And how to forget and forgive?
What's gone is forever lost.
Now all we can do is live.
"I'll become a state alchemist and I promise Al, I'll find a way to get you your body back." Edward promised as he sparred with his brother for the first time since he got his automail.
"And while we're at it, we'll get your limbs back to, brother." Al replied. "Brother, you aren't going to try to bring mom back, are you? We agreed it was a mistake."
Edward smiled a little. "Don't worry, Al. I know it was a mistake. The dead can never come back. And I will never do it again, because I don't want to…. I don't want to risk losing you again, Al."
"We're all we got, Al."
The two boys finished playing their song and looked at each other. "Brother?"
Without a word, Edward leaned his head against his brother's metal chest. He bit his lip to try to hold in his tears. "Brother, you're allowed to cry."
"No. I can't cry. How can I cry? I don't deserve to cry when you can't cry." Edward murmured.
"Then do it for me." Al replied. "Cry for me cause I can't do it."
Edward's shoulders started to shake as he finally let his tears out of his eyes. Al wrapped his arms around Edward's body.
Mustang, his crew, and Hughes and his crew watched the two boys with eyes for of pity. "Those two boys have been through too much in their lives. They are just kids. They don't deserve this." Hughes said.
"Fullmetal made this choice and he isn't going to quit until he accomplished his goal." Mustang replied. "All we can do is offer him as much help as we can give."
Twelve year old, Edward Elric glared at Mustang outside Central Headquarters. "Sure you want to do this kid?" Mustang asked.
"I'm not backing out. I will become a state alchemist and find a way to return my brother to his body." Edward replied determinedly.
A/N: [1] Do not start. This is my story, so I do what I want. So I am making it that Ed and Al attempted human transmutation on the day that their mother died.
[2] I don't know if Ed cried in the show, but this is my story so he does here.