A.N. : my apologies to Edward, Nina, Winry, Alphonse, and anyone else I kill, torture, maim, destroy, etc. it had to be done. I felt a sadistic need to prove that Nina's cruel fate was indeed, necessary. Flame if you must. I'm used to venting.

I guess this could be considered a hay-fic because of all the citing (?) again Flame to your hearts content.

I've noticed I tend to use dividers in this fic. Their meant to signify that time has passed. Now you know.

Code: ( ) sounds. " " Talking Italics thoughts

Three Paths Lead to One

The whole world seemed to go silent. Black circles had formed around Ed's eyes, though whether they were from crying or lack of sleep was unclear. Nina's body had grown heavy with dead weight. He stroked the back of her mane one last time as if to say "I'm really sorry, good bye friend." She had died as though she had fallen asleep on his lap. Gently setting her head down on the pavement Ed tried to get up. His legs had failed him yet again. Alphonse spoke up for the first time in hours.

"…Come on brother. Let's take her back the house." His voice was soft and hoarse, like he had been crying hard for hours.

"What for"

"We can go bury her in the backyard next to the flower bed."

"Fine"

"I can carry you on my back too. You seem to be having trouble walking right now so…"

"That's fine." Ed replied listlessly.

Ed climbed on top of Al, wrapped his arms around where his neck would have been and held tight. Nina lay heavily in Al's arms, as they walked back to the house.

Ed slid off Al's back and went to find a shovel as Al, laid Nina down on the soft earth and sat down hugging his knees.

Everything was auto-pilot for him; his mind had gone numb. It wasn't until they had completely finished burying Nina, that he remembered her sketch book. He gave an exhausted look at the house. It loomed over as though it was crying for the loss as well.

A renewed, if not a desperate, resolve to save her had settled in his golden eyes. He began to walk over to the house. He had a good idea where it was.

"Brother, where are you going this time."

Ed muttered something of "fixing things"

Ed wandered through the halls looking for Nina's room. He could have sworn he saw it there while playing hide-and-seek. Sure enough, there it was. He quickly picked it up and flipped through it, only to find that there was yet another 'magic circle' missing.

They must be disappearing one by one every time I do this…. There's still one left. Hell I'll take every last chance I can get!

However, a wave of exhaustion had reminded him of the lack of sleep he had the night before. He took the sketch book with him and padded away to "his" bedroom. He pulled himself into the bed burrowed under the covers and fell asleep almost immediately.

It was late in the afternoon by the time he was startled awake by the sound of a door slamming wide open.

"Brother! We need to get out of here fast! We're not supposed to be here! We're going to get in so much trouble it's not even funny!"

"What? Is there someone else here?!"

"Basque Gran is on his way as we speak! If he sees us here, at the very least you'll be court marshaled!"

Ed's heart jumped a mile and he fumbled around for the sketch book. When he held it safely in his hands, he quickly made the bed look like he had never been in it.

"Al, get a head start and start running toward the Hughes place."

"What about you?"

"I have one last thing left to do before I go. I'll catch up with you really soon ok?"

"You liar! What could you possible have to do here?!"

"Just get going!"

"Not till you tell me what you're planning to do!"

"Fine! I'm going to save her if it's the last thing I do! Damn it!! She shouldn't have to die!! She's too young! For crying out lour only four years old! FOUR YEARS OLD!!! Why the hell should that bastard live when she can't!!! I'll save her from this even if it kills me!!"

"Brother she's dead! She can't be saved when she already died!"

"SHE'S NOT DEAD!! I CAN STILL SAVE HER!!!"

With that, he whipped the sketch book out, transmuted his arm to a blade, and slit his pointer and middle fingers.

"Brother Stop!"

"No Al, I can still do this!"

"I won't let you hurt yourself over this!"

"It doesn't hurt!"

"Don't tell me you've gone cutter on me!"

"I'm no—What?! No I haven't! Trust me I know what I'm doing here I've already done this twice."

"You have gone cutter haven't you!"

"No! This is the only way I can go back and help her!!"

The two brothers stood there silently, staring each other down.

"Fine! Let's get going." Ed huffed.

"After you." Al said in a tone that was just as gruff.

"Fine."

Ed wrapped up his fingers and ran out the door; Al right behind him. They took an alternate route to the Hughes' house. He wouldn't have minded getting there. He would have loved to know what was so important that he didn't look into the Tucker chimera immediately.

However he knew he had other things to attend to first. Ed ran faster trying to lose Al if only for a few moments. When there was a good distance between them, he tucked and rolled away into the bushes, pulled the bandages off and proceeded to trace the transmutation circle in blood. The steady flow of the crimson liquid had not slowed in the least. Ed was thankful for this because it made the whole process much faster.

The bright flash of light and strong winds swallowed him whole in a matter of seconds.

Everything around him vanished in a bright white nothingness.

Sorry Al I make it up to you. I'll make it up to everyone. I'll fix this yet….