The Promised Day


Had he the capability, Alphonse would have passed out from shock when Edward walked out of an alleyway, ready to fight with him. He had always believed that Ed would come back, of course, but at this point he had been gone so long that seeing his brother was a surprise. Of course, Al immediately questioned him; where had he been, what happened, was he alright?

But Ed didn't answer, he just shushed Al, eyes hard.

"Brother, what happened? Tell me!"

Again, silence. Edward stared up at his brother, covering the mouth of his armor with an oddly new automail hand. Though not physically effective, the gesture served to quiet Al. Ed turned, and Alphonse followed.

Silent or not, Edward was there to fight Father.


Edward sat silent, fuming slightly, just listening to Alphonse explain to Mustang that he wasn't fucking speaking. He didn't want to say anything; he was here to do what he had to do, and nothing more.

Finally, they got moving. They could hardly stall, with these strange "immortal soldiers" attacking them. It was odd, Ed thought, slicing one through the stomach. They were almost like half-homunculi, not regenerating when injured, but not dying either.

If that was a surprise, it was nothing compared to the shock Edward felt when a wall exploded, only to reveal…Envy.

His heart leapt.

The homunculus broke into a wide grin. "Hey, fancy meeting you here, Ed."

Edward couldn't speak. It had only been half a month, but it still felt strange to see Envy, especially outside of the cell. Still, Ed could feel a smile forming…until Mustang attacked Envy.

His mouth instead fell open, gaping in confusion. Of course, Mustang didn't know Envy had changed. Or had he? The homunculus was fighting back, insane grin in place as he taunted the Colonel. Edward felt as though his reality was slipping, and he couldn't hear anything. He just watched as Envy devoured the things that had been attacking him, using the extra energy to go at Mustang.

Hadn't Envy changed? Edward knew he couldn't have dreamt the words of love the homunculus had spoken. But neither could he deny that Envy was laughing sadistically at Mustang's pain, not deterred by the burns he received.

Alphonse was shaking him. Ed stood stock still, trying to make sense of the tangled thoughts in his head. Envy must have said something to piss the Colonel off, because his expression was livid, and Envy actually paled before running away down into the tunnels he had emerged from.

Still the shaking, as Mustang ran after the homunculus, followed by Lieutenant Hawkeye. Al's voice came to Edward as if from far away. "Brother! Brother!"

The surreal moment was broken, and Ed pulled away from Alphonse, sprinting after Mustang, wanting to find Envy. Something inside him had been broken, his voice certainly, but something more since he had left Envy, and though he knew he still had a mission, the appearance of the homunculus was like something out of a dream.

And Edward had to make sure it wasn't.

A maze of tunnels. Why did it have to be so confusing? Left, right, left—no, backtrack, he heard an explosion, and then a scream; Envy's scream. The sound ripped him open, stumbling on the ground as more yells followed.

Why was this happening to Envy, why was he fighting against them, wasn't he better now, was Envy okay, Envy, Envy, Envy...

Edward stumbled into the correct tunnel, only to see the homunculus fall, dissolving into a tiny little creature. But it was Envy. And Mustang was poised to kill him.

"NO!"

The word ripped out of his throat, hoarse and painful, as Ed threw himself in the line of fire.

Mustang's face was terrifying, screwed up in hatred and bloodlust, an expression Edward had never seen on the Colonel before. "Why…in the hell…shouldn't I kill him?"

This time his words were whispered, his newly rediscovered voice spent. "Because…because I love him."

The tunnel was silent for a moment, before Mustang snapped, once, blasting searing heat over Ed's flesh shoulder. He was just barely spared from burns.

"Please," he murmured. "I know it doesn't make sense, and he's done some terrible things, but if you kill him you're stooping to the level of a homunculus. You'll be taking a life and hurting me…so please…don't do it."

Mustang looked ready to kill Edward along with Envy, but Hawkeye placed her hand on his shoulder, shaking her head subtly. He took a deep breath…"Fine," he spat.

Relieved, Edward sagged to the ground, just as a small voice said his name. He whipped around, leaning for once to be eye to eye with Envy.

"Ed, he should kill me. I don't know how you can sit there, and be so good. To not want to destroy even scum like me." A single, fat tear rolled out of Envy's eye. "You're just so…perfect. Better than me. I can't stand it."

Envy's next words were garbled, a hand reaching down his throat. "Love hurts so bad, Ed." He pulled his Philosopher's Stone out.

"No! Envy, no, don't!" Ed shouted, but it was too late.

"Goodbye, Ed…"

Edward desperately tried to push the Stone back into the homunculus, but his body disintegrated, followed by the Stone.

In that moment, Ed lost all reason. He allowed two tears to fall, and then pulled himself together. He had a mission to complete. He left his love to do so, and now Envy was dead. There was nothing to do but finish what he started.

Standing up, Edward faced the shocked Mustang, eyes hard and sharp, golden glass. He clenched his fists.

"Let's go deal with Father then."


Victory should have been a happy affair, but it held no joy for Edward. He felt like his insides had been ripped out, and now he was simply numb. He snuck off, not wanting to be a part of everyone's celebrations.

He didn't know what to do with himself.

Perhaps it was fate that carried Ed's feet to the tunnels, down into the cell he had once been a prisoner in. Once there, he fell to his knees, and spoke, promising himself they would be the last words he would ever say.

"You had been around long enough, I'm sure you'd heard the saying. 'If you love something, set it free.' You did that, didn't you, Envy? You loved me enough to let me go. But there was more to the saying. 'If it doesn't come back, it wasn't meant to be.' Did you not know that part? Or could you not wait that long?

"Dammit, Envy. You did it, you let me go. And I came back. I loved, love you too. Even if you let me go, I wanted to be with you."

Edward choked back a sob. "Envy, I came back. See? I'm here."

He fell to the mattress, the blanket no longer smelling like Envy, just of dust.

"So where are you?"