Author's Note: Another one that took forever to come up with. The theme was quite tricky and ambiguous, at any rate. I finally thought of something after watching Tales from Earthsea and then talking about Ursula K. Le Guin's book Gifts afterward. In it, there's a boy who chooses to become blind by blindfolding himself. It hit me the next day that it sort of sounded like Ed. Warning: MAJOR angst ahead!
Timeline: After Episode 7 and/or 8
Theme: Covered eyes
If I closed my eyes, what would I see?
Perhaps it would be better if I was blind. Then I wouldn't see this sick, depraved world. I wouldn't see the crimes committed by the people I thought I could trust. I wouldn't see the blood on my hands that I (indirectly, it is true) shed.
Maybe I should blindfold myself. Maybe I should have you lead me by the hand. Maybe I should turn my back and just go home. Just live with what I've done, because I deserve it. I deserve it all.
What if I told Them what I've done? What if I was court-martialed, and sentenced to a lifetime in prison? What if they gouged out my eyes and cut off my hands so I couldn't do alchemy? What if they left me to my own darkness?
I deserve the darkness. I caused it, after all. I blotted those happy little eyes out forever. I've seen way too many eyes covered with the sheen of death, but this is the last straw. I could have stopped him. I could have. But I just had to lose my temper, get impatient, blow the whole thing. And now look. Look. Look!
I cannot cover my eyes. No, I must continue to look, continue to stare. Because that's me, Edward Elric. That's what I've become. A killer. A cold-blooded murderer.
And besides...I can't cover my eyes and curl up like a turtle hiding in its shell. Covered eyes mean no sight. No sight means no goal, and no goal.... I do not want to go there!
No; I must look. I must look at you without blinking. Because the way you are now is my fault too, and you didn't deserve any of this. I have to keep my eyes uncovered, wide open, so I can find a way to bring you back.
Because, no matter how many mistakes I make along the way, I know that you will gently pull away the hands that cover my eyes.