Brigadier General Mustang tried and failed to contain his yawn as he wandered through the construction grounds.
"Did you not sleep well last night, sir?" asked the Captain by his side. "It won't do much for morale if you look tired in front of the troops."
"Oh no, I slept well enough," said Mustang, and his lips curled into a smile. "Though I'm sure I would have slept much better if I'd had you there by my side."
Captain Hawkeye rolled her eyes. If there was one thing the Flame Alchemist failed miserably at, it was subtlety.
"I was a little busy making sure you didn't go sleepwalking," she said, "considering what the weather was like last night. You know what water does to you, don't you?"
Mustang eyed her sourly.
"As you can see, things have run rather smoothly during your absence," said Hawkeye as they continued walking. "At this rate, we'll have this entire city finished before the New Year."
"I see," said Mustang, and he looked around at the rising buildings. "I wonder how many of these were buildings I destroyed?"
"Please try to be careful, sir. You don't want these people to hear you saying things like that."
They paused and waited for a pair of small children to run past.
"And I see you've still got all these kids running around," Mustang commented. "Didn't I say we should do something about that?"
"They have been keeping out of the way a lot more recently," Hawkeye informed him, "thanks to one particular individual who was found on patrol a couple of days ago."
"On patrol?" Mustang was confused. "So then, it was an intruder? Shouldn't they be locked up or something?"
"He would be, except he has proven useful in distracting the children and he's also lent a hand in construction work where it's needed," Hawkeye explained. "I feel I should warn you though: he's a little… unusual."
"Captain," Mustang said with another smile, "I've fought against artificial people created by Philosopher's Stones and just yesterday I met a boy supposedly from another world. I'd like to know how anything could surprise me anymore."
"LOOK OUT!"
The Brigadier General was knocked to the ground and the Captain leapt back and drew her sidearm as a large figure suddenly jumped out of a nearby scaffold and caught a huge beam that was in the process of collapsing.
"You guys, it's not gonna work!" he shouted to the other workers. "I told you, the wood's still wet and it's soft! You're gonna have to leave it for a little while longer! Trust me; I've done stuff like this before!"
He looked round, presumably to apologise to whomever he had knocked over, and yelped in shock when he saw Hawkeye's gun pointed in his face.
"I'm so sorry, Captain Hawkeye!" he cried, still holding the beam above his head. "Please don't shoot me! It was an accident, I swear!"
"At ease, Captain," said Mustang, and gently pressed down on Hawkeye's arm so that she lowered her gun. "I'm sure he didn't mean any harm. This is a construction site, after all. Accidents happen."
The youth's steely grey eyes widened in shock upon seeing his face.
"Oh my gosh," he gasped. "Y-You're Brigadier General Mustang! The Flame Alchemist! The kids were telling me about you yesterday, um… my name's Junko and I hope you're okay and I really, really didn't mean to hurt you, I promise!"
Mustang stared up at him in alarm.
"Well," he said, somehow maintaining his calm demeanour, "I see what you meant about unusual, Captain."
He took hold of Junko's large hand and was quickly pulled to his feet, and tried hard not to look intimidated by the sheer size of this stranger.
"Just what exactly is a chimera doing in this neck of the woods?" he asked. "I thought we'd rounded up the last of you guys months ago."
"Why does everybody keep calling me a chimera?" Junko asked frustratedly. "I'm not a chimera, I'm a Wallop! It's completely different! Just that I'm not from around here and…"
He trailed off when he saw the confusion in the soldier's face.
"Forgivemesirforspeakingoutofturn!" he quickly babbled and snapped a salute. "Itwon'thappenagainsirIpromise!"
Mustang almost laughed out loud at the boy's sheer terror.
"There's no need for you to get so panicky," he said casually, as he realised this wasn't exactly the most mature person he'd ever met. "Listen to yourself, kid: anyone would think I was General Armstrong, the way you're going on. Just calm down, alright? Look at me; I'm not hurt at all."
Junko slowly lowered his hand.
"You're not?" he asked with relief. "Phew! I was really worried there for a sec. Military guys are usually really mean where I come from, and I'm really sorry if this sounds bad but you kinda remind me of one of the meanest."
The Brigadier General raised an eyebrow in suspicion.
"N-not that it's a bad thing!" Junko said quickly. "You just seem like a really cool guy, that's all!"
"Hey Junko," said a worker who was standing on top of the beam the Wallop was holding, "you think you can hold this thing until we get new supports? It'll probably only take a few minutes."
"Sure thing, Nelson!" Junko said cheerfully. "It's no trouble!"
When he looked back, he saw that now it was Mustang whose eyes were wide with shock.
"Just how strong are you, big guy?" he asked.
"Trust me, this is nothing," Junko said proudly. "I once held up an entire carrier ship all by myself! I mean, it was pretty heavy, but… why are you smiling?"
Mustang couldn't avoid laughing a little.
"It's nothing you need to worry about," he said. "Just that you remind me of someone I once knew. I bet you and his brother would get along pretty well if he stopped complaining about how tall you are."
"Well, I- wait." The implication hit Junko like a wrecking ball as memories of screaming, ranting and bizarre exaggerations flooded through his mind. "Are you talking about Edward Elric? You know him?!"
Now Mustang was even more confused.
"How in any kind of hell do you know Fullmetal?" he asked.
"Sir," Hawkeye interrupted before the discussion could go any further, "the inspection?"
"Right," Mustang said with a nod. "Sorry to cut the conversation short, but there are other matters that need my attention. But it was definitely interesting meeting you, Junko."
"Yeah," said the stunned Wallop weakly. "Interesting to meet you too, sir."
With one final nod of acknowledgement, Mustang turned away and he and his Captain returned to their walk through the construction site.
"Like I said," said Hawkeye, "he has been quite helpful around here lately. But I don't quite understand how somebody like him could be familiar with either of the Elric brothers."
"You'd be surprised how many people those two met on their journeys," said Mustang, and he scoffed. "I wonder if Fullmetal is having as much fun as I am right now."
Ed was worryingly silent.
"I-I just want you to know I don't blame you," said Aerrow, trying desperately to prompt some kind of response. "I don't blame you for any of it. If anything, it was probably my fault for standing too close to the circle when-"
"I get it, alright?" snapped the ex-alchemist.
Aerrow fell silent in shame.
"And would you care to explain why you didn't think to tell me about this sooner?" Ed asked angrily.
"'If he finds out the truth about my arm, not only will he get stupidly angry but he'll blame himself for it'," Finn quoted. "'And then he'll get all depressed and then we'll all suffer because of it'. Isn't that what you said, bro?"
"Aerrow, why didn't you think to tell him?" asked Piper. "You should've known they'd find out sooner or later!"
"And we're not angry," Al said, trying to be reassuring. "It's just… didn't you trust me or my brother?"
"It's not that!" Aerrow insisted. "It's just- I-"
"You wanted to spare my feelings," said Ed. "You didn't want me to blame myself for what happened. Am I on the right track?"
The Sky Knight didn't respond.
"Or did you think that I wouldn't understand? Is that it?"
"No, it's not, I swear! I just… I figured it might be easier on you... not knowing…"
"But like Piper said, we were bound to find out!" said Al. "How long did you think you would be able to hide this from us?"
Aerrow wasn't sure what he could say.
"…I don't know," he muttered.
Ed stood up and offered the redhead his hand.
"Come with me," he said. "I wanna show you something."
Aerrow allowed himself to be led from the room.
In his absence, Al leaned on the table with his chin on his hands.
"So…" he said, trying to fill the silence, "…do you know if he actually gained anything from the Gate? It's just that usually, if that happens to an alchemist and they survive, they gain the ability to transmute without a circle."
"Oh, he can do that alright," Finn boasted. "You should've seen him in the fight we had against a bunch of Cyclonians on the day we came here, it was so awesome! The dude was unstoppable!"
"And it was only about a month ago that he figured out he could actually transmute," Piper added. "And before then we didn't even know if he'd gotten anything out of that experience except an automail arm and months of excruciating pain. I didn't even know it was possible for one person to go through so many painkillers!"
"How many times did he OD?" asked Finn. "Was it three times or four?"
"It was only three," said Piper, "and then we switched brands and got some stronger ones. He didn't take so many at once after that."
Al nodded.
"That's good to know," he said. "I know what it's like to experience something that awful and wonder if you lost more than you could ever gain. And I'm glad to see your friend is doing well. Really."
He smiled faintly.
"I'm sure his nightmares will go away eventually," he finished.
Ed took Aerrow's hand and pulled him up onto the roof, and led him up to the very top of the slope.
"What is it you wanted to show me?" asked the Sky Knight
Ed turned around, facing the road that led to the house.
"This," he said.
Once he was next to him, Aerrow looked round.
A sharp intake of breath was what followed at the sight of the rolling, never-ending expanse of green hills and fields and more trees than he could ever hope to count. The landscape practically glowed under the bright blue sky, studded with only the occasional cloud, and in the distance he could see…
Wow.
He'd heard that such a thing existed, but he'd never actually seen a proper horizon before.
"It's a nice view, isn't it?" asked Ed. "I figured you might like it up here. You don't have any tech for flying, right? This is probably the closest you're gonna get. As long as you're in Resembool you can come up here any time you want."
A light breeze blew through their hair.
"Mom used to bring me and Al up here when we were tiny," Ed said with a smile. "She told us that on a really clear day, if you're very lucky, you can see all the way to Central. 'Course I've never actually managed it, but it's a nice idea, don't you think?"
Aerrow wasn't sure what he could say.
He could only wonder what it was like to have a mother.
"The funny thing is," Ed continued, "it's usually me who's so worried about burdening other people that he keeps everything to himself and never speaks about it, not even to his own family."
He looked over at his friend.
"That's what it is, isn't it?" he asked. "You're just afraid of burdening me, aren't you?"
Aerrow couldn't think of anything to say that wouldn't make him sound like an idiot.
How could he have thought not to trust Ed with something like this?
"You should've known…"
Suddenly an elbow hit him in the back and he fell uncontrollably forward, hit the slanted roof with a heavy thump and slid down before catching himself on the gutter and swinging down so that he was dangling by his hands.
"…I'm not the weakling I used to be!" Ed finished, and jumped down the roof after him.
Adrenaline flooded through Aerrow's veins as he kicked himself away from the wall and let go of the gutter, and then he fell down and landed feet-first on the railing that surrounded the raised porch. Lightly as a cat, he jumped and flipped off the railing and hit the ground with a heavy thump, rolling as he landed and springing up to fight again.
Ed scaled down the face of the building, moving from window frame to window frame, until he too reached the porch and vaulted over the railing, and his landing was probably a lot heavier than Aerrow's due to his metal leg. Once he was down he charged forward, pulling back a fist, and the Sky Knight ducked to the side to avoid the punch but Ed spun like an out of control top and slammed his other fist into the side of Aerrow's head.
Despite the ensuing dizziness, Aerrow managed to avoid falling and kicked up at Ed, who dodged and knocked his leg to the side with his arm before planting a kick of his own in Aerrow's stomach. The Sky Knight tried to punch, but Ed caught his fist effortlessly in one hand and twisted him to the side, and he had to stumble to avoid falling.
From there, all it took was a hard shove to knock Aerrow down, sprawling on the still-wet ground. The only thing he could do was lay there, trying to catch his breath in the thick, choking air that he doubted he would ever be completely adjusted to, as Ed stood over him and glared down at his crumpled form.
"Looking at you now," he said, "you really don't belong on the ground, do you?"
Aerrow didn't reply; partly because he was afraid of another beating, but mostly because he still hadn't stopped panting.
"You're gonna have to change now," said Ed, offering his hand. "You were already starting to smell, and I doubt Granny would appreciate it if I let someone trail mud into her house."
Still nervous, Aerrow took his hand and was pulled to his feet, but almost jumped back in shock when the blond suddenly pushed his sleeve up, revealing his steel-plated forearm.
Thankfully, all he did was stare at it.
"I… I'm sorry," Aerrow said, his voice quiet and weak from exhaustion. "I… honestly, I didn't want to cause any trouble. I figured it would be easier on you if you didn't know-"
"-if I got suspicious that one of my friends was hiding something from me?"
At this, the Sky Knight fell silent again.
"You were so troubled back then," he said, his voice beginning to crack. "I just… didn't want to hurt you."
"You idiot."
Before Aerrow could respond, Ed pulled him into a tight hug.
"You think I don't know what it was like?" he asked. "You think I don't have experience with Truth, with the Gate, with the horrible agony and blood loss when you have a major part of your body just suddenly taken away? You think I wouldn't understand the fear? The shock? The struggle of recovery? Or maybe you didn't think I would know what it felt like to have all the information in the universe forcefully pumped into my mind! Is that it?!"
Aerrow's eyes started to water against his will, as the combination of fear, confusion and horrible memories rose to overwhelm his mind.
"I can't imagine how hard it must have been for you," Ed said softly. "I was lucky. I had Alphonse to talk to. We committed the taboo together and together we paid the price. But for you it was an accident. Something that was never even supposed to happen. It could have been any one of you guys and the fact that it was you…"
Slowly, still uncertain about where this was going, Aerrow raised his arms to cautiously return the hug.
"And you were the only one," Ed continued. "You and your squadron; you're a family, aren't you? You take care of each other and you share in everything. Except this is one thing that you could never share. I think… I think the only way to properly understand the Gate of Truth is to experience it first-hand. And I know you could have tried. You could have tried to talk to them about how it messed you up. But there always would have been that little lingering voice in the back of your mind, telling you that they could never comprehend it and that thanks to Truth, you would always be alone."
"You have dared to knock on the door of Truth and now the way is opened for you."
The words echoed in Aerrow's mind as a lump in his throat grew bigger and bigger, and more and more painful.
"There's no need to act so surprised. After all..."
He shivered as the memory came flooding back, of falling into nothingness as a deluge of images and sounds and words crashed into his mind like a tidal wave and he was unable to move or even close his eyes as a ghostly visage of a human drew closer, reaching towards him, and despite his desperation and terror some part of him was wanting it, needing it, pleading for it never to end…
"...isn't this what you were curious about?"
Ed gave him a gentle squeeze and he gasped in shock as he was brought back to reality.
"You're not alone," he said, his voice now soft and gentle. "It's true that me and Alphonse aren't the only ones who've had experience with human transmutation, but we're the closest, aren't we? And you won't be burdening us – you won't be burdening me – by sharing. Alright?"
Behind his back, Aerrow stared at his automail hand, the lingering and unavoidable reminder of his clumsiness and stupidity. He still didn't feel like it was something that belonged to him. How was he supposed to be a Sky Knight if he could barely even stand his own arm?!
But now… now Ed was telling him that it was pretty much normal for him to feel messed up…
"...what you were curious about?" whispered a faint, fading murmur in his mind.
"It's okay," said Ed. "Trust me, Aerrow. There is nothing wrong with you. I'm amazed that you held up this well after only a year, especially since you were pretty much the only person you knew who felt this kind of loss. But it's okay now. And it'll take a while, but you're going to be alright. Now look at me."
He pushed them apart, and Aerrow felt ashamed that his pathetic tear-stained face should have to be turned towards the elder boy's kind smile.
"Look at me," Ed repeated. "I went through the Gate too, remember? I still have nightmares about it every now and again, but aside from that I'm doing great! I know you can too. You'll put all that new knowledge to good use and you'll knock that Truth jerk right on his butt!"
"B-But then…" Aerrow struggled to say, forcing himself to lock gaze with those fiery golden eyes, "…why did you just try to beat me up?"
"You didn't expect me to get mad that somebody I considered a friend would be hiding something this big from me?" asked Ed. "I mean, I respect other people's secrets, but you have to give me some slack every now and then. Especially when you consider that it's something I was partially responsible for."
Partially responsible.
"You do trust me, don't you?"
He wasn't angry. He wasn't blaming himself, at least not entirely. It was the lies that had bothered him, not the event they concerned, and he was showing genuine worry for the Sky Knight's wellbeing.
All of Aerrow's fears, feelings of need to hide this from Ed… it had all been for nothing.
"I feel so stupid…" he muttered.
"Don't," said Ed. "I understand why you would want to hide it from me. I was a real dork back then, wasn't I?"
Aerrow gulped, but the lump in his throat refused to budge.
"You've changed so much in the past year," he said. "Y-you've actually grown… and I'm just…"
"You say that like there's something wrong with it," Ed pointed out.
The visual connection broke as Aerrow closed his eyes, unable to bear looking at Ed's face any longer, and a hot tear sprang forth from under each eyelid. He barely responded as the ex-alchemist pulled him into another hug, and there he finally broke down and allowed himself to cry.
"Trust me, I know how horrible it is," Ed said softly, not trying to make himself obnoxiously audible over the redhead's sobbing. "It's okay. Believe me. It's okay."
After a few more minutes, he pushed himself away again.
"Let's get you back inside," he said. "You need to get yourself cleaned up, okay?"
"Okay," Aerrow said weakly.
He put up no resistance as he was led back into the house.
Stork wasn't afraid anymore.
Well, technically he was. He was still so petrified he felt like he could wet his pants any second.
And he was still so angry that he could probably have destroyed this entire fortress if he tried to, but that wasn't what was most prominent in his mind right now.
No, Stork had fallen victim to that most deadly invention of sapient beings: boredom.
He had counted the bars that separated him from the corridor at least a hundred times already, had been told to stop scratching at the bed he sat on with his fingernails, barred from whistling and humming and was pretty sure the blank beige colour of the walls was all he was ever going to see for the rest of his life at this point.
And if he called for a guard one more time, they were probably going to shoot him or something.
So he sat on his bunk with his knees pulled up to his chest, resting his arms across them and leaning his bony chin into his crossed wrists.
'Not as if I'm actually valuable in any way,' he thought grumpily. 'After all, I'm only a complete alien who just so happens to be a member of one of the most powerful squadrons in all of Atmos. Not like I'm actually worth paying attention to!'
He sighed. This kind of thinking was going to give him a rash, probably similar to the ones he would inevitably develop on his wrists from the 'cuffs'.
He had to try to think rationally. It was a concept almost unknown to him, but he had to try, right?
'So apparently this is a place the Elric brothers have visited,' he recalled. 'Meaning the pipsqueak was here. What was the place he said he came from? Armistice? Amy-stress? No, it was… Amestris, that's it! Does that mean this place, wherever I am- is this in Amestris? Does that mean I actually have a chance of finding him?'
He froze as a soldier walked past his cell, and relaxed once they had gone.
'It's probably not,' he decided. 'I'm betting he got lost on his way back home and ended up in some world of eternal ice, where all the men are sadists and all the women are terrifying sadists. And if that's the case, he's most likely moved on, which means I'm stuck here with no hope of ever getting out and I have no idea what's outside this building except snow, ice, trees and more snow and ice! There could be zombies out there, for all I know! Zombies and bandits and wolves and bears and…'
The realisation hit him like a brick wall.
For all he knew, this entire fortress could be crawling with mind worms.
Quick as a flash, Stork pulled up his blanket so that it covered his head, and shoved his fingers as deep into his ears as they would- no, not as deep as they would go, because then he'd probably be feeling his own brain.
At least he wasn't bored anymore.
No, he was just getting justifiably cautious again, as thanks to his experience with this sort of thing he knew that nine times out of ten, he was right.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the spiky-haired doctor standing outside his cell, staring at him with an expression of bafflement as he took a small sip from his coffee. Realising conversation was wanted, Stork extracted a finger from his left ear.
"What are you doing?" the doctor asked flatly.
Stork's already frustrated frown deepened along with his annoyance.
"Have you any idea what kind of nasties could be lurking around this place?" he asked. "For all you know this whole place could be swarming with mind worms. They're probably waiting in the cracks in the walls for me to fall asleep and then they'll come in through my nose and my ears and they'll eat my brain."
The doctor looked about as weirded out as it's possible for a person to be.
"Uh, yeah," he said, and took another swig of coffee. "Sure."
"What, you don't believe me?" Stork demanded. "You're a doctor, aren't you? Shouldn't you know about this sort of thing?"
"Huh?" Now his confusion was a little more believable. "I'm not a doctor! What the hell gave you that idea?"
"The white coat? Don't doctors wear those?" Stork asked disbelievingly. "What are you if you're not a doctor?!"
"Duh," the not-a-doctor said flatly. "I'm an automail engineer. The only one this far north. Next closest one is probably somewhere in Drachma."
Wait, automail?
Automail?!
"Automail…?" Stork muttered.
"Yeah, you know what that is, don't you?" asked the engineer. "Artificial limbs? This is a military outpost and it often has to prevent invasions from a pretty formidable army, so of course soldiers are gonna lose arms and legs every now and again. If they didn't I'd be out of a job."
'Profiting from war,' thought Stork. 'How pleasant.'
Something occurred to him. Something odd, but worth mentioning in the long run.
"Can I…" he said carefully. "Do you have a workshop or something? Can I see it?"
The engineer snorted in laughter.
"You wish!" he said. "Wanna see my workshop, come on…"
He turned and walked away.
Stork slapped his forehead as hard as he could. How could he have thought to ask something so unbelievably stupid?!
Then again, it wasn't as if he had anything else to do around here. And seeing those kind of mechanisms were probably the closest he would actually get to anything like his precious Condor.
If he didn't get out of here and find a way home soon, he would probably never see her again.
Great. As if he didn't have enough tragedy in his life already.
As last night's dream had been all too happy to remind him.
It was just his luck that right when he thought he'd found a home with people who cared about him and not only enjoyed but needed his presence, it would all be torn away from him in the space of a few seconds.
Just like last time.
"Ahem."
When he looked up again, he froze in terror. Or maybe the freezing was because of the cold iciness in the eyes of the woman who stared him down as a soldier unlocked the door to his cell.
"You are to come with me," said General Armstrong.
Stork had no idea what to say or do.
"NOW."
Until he received the prompting he needed to spring to his feet and snap a salute.
The General rolled her eyes and strode out of sight down the corridor.
Still apprehensive, Stork followed her.
