More Than This
Written for the live journal community, fma_fic_contest, for the prompt "condense".
Note: Post Conqueror of Shamballa.
The autumn breeze toys with her hair, making her hand rise to smooth it back in place. The wind has no sympathy though, mussing the strands again. She might've worn a scarf today but had been in a too much of a hurry to run out into the world. It's silly she hadn't gone back in, she thinks. She has no schedule to keep track of, not really, certainly not on such a day. Even so, she feels as if she is running late for something very important.
She stops at a stand. The vendor remarks it's a beautiful day. She agrees, maybe overpaying her purchase, but it's worth it. The scent drifting off what she bought is sweet and bracing.
Carrying it to the park, she takes a cobblestone path, walking along the edge of a pond. Ducks squawk and honk off to her right, squabbling over the bread crumbs a little girl is throwing to them. Some of the birds break off from the flock, waddling after her. They would be disappointed. She has nothing for them to eat and won't share her coffee with them. The ducks stop following as she takes a fork in the path, going further into the park.
She has a specific goal, a place she needs to be this day. The path leads her in an ever-diminishing circle, until she stands in front of a monument. Taking a deep breath, she tilts her head back, needing to shade her eyes for a few seconds until they adjusted to the gleam of sunlight on the metal.
The impact two young men had on her country couldn't be condensed in a simple statue. There has to be more to than this – a plaque in front of a pair of bronze figurines – their lives have to be more than simply what the cold words implied. There has to be a story beyond the plaque.
Major General Alex Louis Armstrong, Retired, has given her a name to follow up on, one that might help her find out more. She hopes this Winry Rockbell will be able to tell her about two young men, the Elric brothers, and what actually happened to them, so long ago.
She wants to expand on their lives, so everyone will know who they are, beyond a statue in a park.
