Title: Solemn Deceit.

Warnings: lust and reminiscing? Hell if I know, nothing you should be worried about though

Summary: Ed commits suicide to fix a problem, leaving Al to fend for himself. No one knows what problem Ed killed himself to fix.

Word Count: 1,088

A/N: wow....i got this out quickly. i transistioned straight after posting chapter eight a couple days ago to writing this. be proud of me ^^

Solemn Deceit

Al slowly transitions to awake, sitting up and rubbing his eyes. He stands up, walking over to the light switch, flicking it with a yawn and stopping dead in the middle of the action upon seeing what was hanging on the door knob. He closes his mouth and kneels in front of the door, looking at the beautiful sliver thing in front of him. He reaches to touch it but stops mid-motion afraid touching it would make it go away. Eventually he manages to take it in one hand and open it with the other. There, in his hands, lay Ed's State alchemist watch. Engravings and all. He let it fall out of his hand and when it slightly thumped on the door he snapped out of his trance. He quickly throws on the clothes he had discarded when he went to bed (it was too warm to sleep fully clothed) and went back to the door, gently taking it off the knob and holding the watch to his heart, closing his eyes and tilting his head back as the chain swung slightly against the rest of his torso.

He pulls the door open, gathering the chain into his hand too. As he walks He replaces the watch he was given for the one that Ed had had. He was clipping the chain to his belt loop when he stepped into the kitchen.

"Did you see what was on your door?" Rosé asks with a smile. Al nods enthusiastically showing her the pocket watch. Her smile grows.

"It was hanging on the front door this morning. There was a knock but when I went to the door no one was there, I thought it was a prank, but as I was closing the door I saw the watch with a note on it. The note said to give it to you. Though it wasn't signed," Rosé explains.

A thought appears in Al's mind. Roderick had a pocket watch....right? and he didn't get a very good look at it before he put it back away and left....but it was silver. So it could be....couldn't it? Al crossed his fingers in is pocket while he puts the watch back in. Why would Roderick even have Ed's state alchemist watch, anyways? Unless he was Ed....

"I'm gonna go out and wander, I'll be back....in a while." Al says, stomping on his shoes and swigging the red coat over his shoulders and pushing his arms through the sleeves. Rosé looked at the symbol on the back and smiled. It was Ed's, it was always nice to see how close the two were.

"Ok, don't be out too long though," she says sipping tea. Al nods and heads out.

Rosé had shown him the majority of the city yesterday and his legs were slightly sore form all the walking, though he just ignored it cause he'd have to do worse in the time he was a state alchemist. One of the things Rosé had shown him that fascinated him the most was what they had done with the church. The converted it into a sanctuary. It was a place you went to, just to wrap yourself in your thoughts and not let go for hours on end. It was like a library without all the books, it was just that deathly silent, and Al loved it. It was the perfect place for him to absorb in himself. He'd find a corner in a mostly empty room and let himself think of Ed all day. Maybe even let himself cry if there were few enough people.

Al comes upon the place, enters and heads straight to where he'd expect the least amount of people; the recording room. It was the room Ed had been in when exposing the "priest's" plans to the whole city Al was out side holding the bell. It was a room that even Rosé didn't enter completely when giving his tour, it was full of despair. Despair of what could've been if the priest's promises to them were true. It was a lonely room, and perfect for his mood.

He opened the door slowly, silently, only to find none other than Roderick standing on the balcony through the large full glass doors, wind blowing his loose hair. He looked the ideal person for a commercial right then. Any commercial. Al walked it, closing the door silently behind himself and leaned in the doorway, watching Roderick, remembering Ed, for he looked exactly like this when lost in thought on a balcony. He would always be messing with the hair tie for something to keep his hands busy with. Al smiled fondly as another breeze came by and swept his pony tail up too.

Ed and Roderick both looked very peaceful and beautiful standing in the wind, hair swept up, too deep in though to notice anything around them. Ed had always loved to go to the quietest places to think. Probably was too deep in thought to know he took his hair down and was playing with the hair tie. It was always so surreal that, the first couple of times Al saw it, he had to make sure he wasn't hallucinating. To see Roderick doing the exact same thing as Ed.....made Al's heart throb and throat clench tight with tears.

"Why'd he come to Liore? Why'd he even become a state alchemist? I wished him better than that. Hell why'd I leave him in the first place? I'm such a retard..." Al hears Roderick say quietly and his eyes shoot open. He turns on his heels and quickly walks out of the room, the door closing loudly behind him. Roderick whips his head around, Hair getting in his face. "Al...?"

Al continues to walk briskly towards the entrance of the building and out onto the street, only slowing to weave through people. He found himself back at Rosé's home and sighed. It was too early for him to be back. He sighs again and flops down on her porch, in one of the rocking chairs, curling into a fetal position. Sure he thought Roderick to be Ed, he honestly had. But now that he knew that he was right, it was a shock. He felt....betrayed. Ed was here all along but was hiding from everyone. Everything. And Al thought he had just been chasing a memory too hard. "But...I love you," he whispers as the wind sweeps his hair again and he lets a few tears fall down his face.

A/N: omg, so I was reading over this chappie for editing purposes and when I read Rosé sipping her tea I remembered I had tea ^^"

well since I've already unraveled it, you know, from the beginning you could've figured out the plot from the title of the fic. Solemn Deceit. Solemn: gravely or somberly impressive; causing serious thoughts or a grave mood. Deceit: the act or practice of deceiving; concealment or distortion of the truth for the purpose of misleading; duplicity; fraud; cheating. Ed solemnly deceived Al. and no, the defs aren't because I think you're stupid. I like dictionaries and I figured I'd do anyone who's reading this and doesn't know what the words mean, a favor. So yeah. And you know.....Dark Soul of Shadows kinda had it in chappie two. She said-and I quote- "Also, I'm wondering is Ed really is dead. I know that he left a suicide note for Al telling him he was dead, but I'm still wondering. Ed isn't the person that would kill himself without a very good reason. So... I'm trying to figure that out." So ha! Pwn! ....I'll stop ranting now...

Your Author

~Evelynn