Another songfic, based now on Kyoudai (Brother) by Vic Mignogna. If you haven't heard this version, please look it up. I cried when I listened. Vic (Ed) has such a beautiful voice, and it goes with the song perfectly.
The lyrics are in quotes. The scene would be before the Fifth Lab.
DISCLAIMER: I don't own FMA, the music or the music of Vic Mignogna.
Brother
Ed sat on the cold ground, upset that there was no grass to hold onto the day's warmth. He glared at the dark sky, cursing it internally for not having a heat source as the day carried the sun.
"Al… I've been thinking…" Ed left his sentence to hang through the air, knowing Alphonse was awake, but not if he was in the conscious state of being to respond.
"About what Brother?"
"Just… the day we decided to transmute Mom. I've been wanting to ask you something for a long time, but I don't know how to put it," Ed continued to stare at the deep night, searching for random constellations to fill his semi-idle mind.
"What's wrong Brother?" Alphonse turned to look at Ed, his hair looking silver in the soft light of the moon.
"I… Do you… Never mind," Ed turned onto his side and attempted to let sleep overtake him, not wanting to hear what Alphonse would say to his question. Do you hate me?
Ed woke later in the night, Alphonse missing from the small earthen pasture. Where could he have wandered off to? Ed sat up and stretched. The moon was still casting its false light on the barren field, an eerie shadow gracing everything it touched. Standing, Ed made his way to a lone tree and leaned upon it. I should climb up and look for Al, Ed yawned, But I'm so tired… Acting more on his second impulse, Edward slid down the trunk of the tree, half conscious at what was slipping out of his mouth.
"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
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"
For Ed really had killed Alphonse that day, encasing him in an unfeeling suit of armor, unable to sleep, eat or feel emotions correctly. How it had to feel, not knowing if it was really fear that ran through your soul or just an empty hollow feeling that always followed you. The words continued to slip out of Ed's mouth slowly and full of sorrow.
"Beautiful Mother,
Soft and sweet, once you were gone
We were not complete
Back through the years
We reached for you
Alas, t'was not meant to be
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"
I'm his big brother, and I can't even protect him. Mother put her faith in me and I let her down. How can Alphonse not hate me? Why is he even here now? Ed heard a faint clanking sound and knew Alphonse was approaching silently. But Ed's fatigue had finally clouded his thoughts and the young boy slid into unconsciousness as his younger brother approached the lone tree.
"Brother… is that what you've been wanting to know? If I forgive you?" Alphonse asked the sleeping child as he transmuted the fallen leaves into a sort of blanket. And though Al had no body to aid him, the younger brother sang as softly and beautifully as Edward, not knowing or caring if he heard.
"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
Beautiful Mother,
Soft and sweet, once you were gone
We were not complete
Back through the years
We reached for you
Alas, t'was not meant to be
My dreams made me blind and mute
I longed to return to that time
I followed without a word
My brother, the fault is mine"
Edward stirred slightly at the sound of Al's response. He gazed into the glowing orbs that signified Al's eyes with tired contempt. He had heard enough to know Al's thoughts. And he knew Alphonse well enough to know that his younger brother would be smiling if he still had his body. The two looked at each other again for a moment, then in unison whispered softly:
"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"
Alphonse set the transmuted blanket into his brother's lap, watching as the small alchemist curled in upon himself. Alphonse pulled his knees up and wrapped giant metal arms around them, ready to guard and aid Edward in any way he could. Because they were brothers, no matter what happened and no matter what was said. They were all they had left.
Please look up the song if you haven't already and reread the story with it playing in the background.
And please, please, please review! I love to hear your comments, no matter how good or bad. Even if it's one word, it helps my writing!
***For Life as a Chimera: Chapter four will be up within two weeks. Here's another 'one-shot' to fill your time***