It's a shorty, but it felt done. Really, it just seems like the real ending to the previous chapter. I wasn't able to get anything written to the date I had set to publish this, but life just doesn't always give you the right tools for your creativity to flourish (as in, I've felt beat to shit and have been in a crappy mood).

"No," Ed said determinedly, stare aimed keenly onto his lap. Maes tried to muster up a wistful smile, but a sharp golden glare erased it. "That was my fault. I- I sat too close to the fireplace and my blanket caught fire. That had nothing to do with her."

With a sigh, Hughes tried to elaborate. This had clearly been the wrong way to bring it up. He should have warned them first to ease the punch. "Ed-"

"I said no! " Edward raised his voice and almost startled himself, unprepared for the newfound strength after weeks of feeling weak and feeble. The strain made his lungs ache, but he did his best to ignore it. "The fire was my fault. I caused it. Mom told me not to sit too close to the fireplace but I didn't listen and now she's dead. Don't try to put the blame on anyone else to make me feel better. That woman might have done some really bad stuff, but... not that."

Ed's heart was racing, blood pounding in his ears. He almost felt nauseated by the whirlwind of emotions that came crashing over him. Most profound was the fear that Alphonse would hate him now that he knew the truth. That it was him. He had killed their mother and was the reason that they had to grow up as orphans.

Warily, he looked to his younger brother, scared of the loath that was sure to gaze back at him. However, Alphonse didn't look at him at all. His younger brother only looked confused, but in his deep hazel eyes were hurt and pain that twisted at Edward's heartstrings and made him want to crawl over and beg for his forgiveness and plead for him to not resent him.

This was it. He was finally about to lose the only good thing he had had for the past twelve years. The sole person he had left in the entire world. It had to happen; he knew that, and honestly, ha had been anticipating it much sooner. Edward murmured the only words he could think of to somewhat sufficiently express how bad he was feeling, "I'm sorry Al. It… it was my fault. I broke it... us... everything."

The next few moments felt like an eternity. Nobody said anything. Maes had frozen in the midst of shuffling papers, and Roy was sitting back in his chair with a tense expression. Hawkeye hadn't looked up from her coffee cup at all for the last few minutes.

Eventually, Alphonse looked up. Edward could not read his expression and was immediately struck with panic, but he choked it down and buried it deep under layers of submission and desperation. Edward hid his face in his hands and tried to breathe through it. He didn't deserve to panic right now. But he was overwhelmed by his own mind and the feelings of guilt and it hurt so ( sososo) much and he was scared and now Al would hate him and Al would-

( please don't leave, don't leave me, don't want to be alone again, oh god please don't go no no no you're the only one I have left please don't leave please don't please don't please don't)

A hand on his shoulder made Edward squeak, suddenly aware that he was ranting out loud. Carefully, he removed his hands from his face and peered at the concerned faces watching him. He hated when people did that; gawk at him as if he was some kind of a freak in the circus (as if they had never seen a teenager going haywire before), and now that was what everyone did. All except...

All except Alphonse.

Edward couldn't see his brother anywhere and the terror finally broke out of his head and into his chest and rooted itself in the depth of his heart and oh god he had made him leave-

Two steady arms embraced his shoulders and a head of straw-colored hair brushed across his cheek. For a short moment, Edward sat stupified and wondered what was happening, until that boyish voice sounded (like cotton, like a warm nice blanket) into his ear.

"I'm never leaving. We're stuck with each other now, brother."

"B-but, I," Edward croaked, but Alphonse shushed him calmly.

"Let's just hear what Lieutenant Colonel Hughes has to say, okay?" Alphonse let Edward go. Hazel eyes gazing intently into his golden, pleading for him to just listen before he decided that he was an unforgivable monster. Carefully, Edward bobbed his head. Alphonse smiled warmly, pulling a chair out and seated himself as close to the wheelchair as possible, holding onto Edwards's hand with both of his arms in a gentle grip.

Maes presented the boys with a warm smile before he cleared his throat and shifted to speaking in a more formal tone, "I didn't mean to upset you, Edward. But, have you considered that your memories might not be entirely accurate? You were very young when the fire occurred."

"I'm sure," Edward stated resolutely. "I dream about it every night."

A sad chuckle escaped the Lieutenant Colonel at that, and his manner slipped once again into a more solemn expression. "That doesn't mean that it's true, Edward. If you've been thinking that the fire was somehow your fault and been feeling guilty about it all these years, it might be your imagination morphing the reality of what happened to fit your feelings about it. The matter of fact is that Isla Lucy has admitted that she broke into your house and poured lighter fluid all over your living room."

Alphonse gasped audibly. "What?" he breathed, clutching a little tighter onto the bandaged hand he was holding. Edward suppressed a winch with a frown, opening his mouth to speak a few times before he was able to get out what he wanted to say.

"That… No, that can't be right." Swiftly, he glanced towards his brother at the edge of tears, then shifted his attention to Mustang.

"The blanket, Ed. It was probably drenched in it," the raven offered.

Yellow eyes stretched desperately. "Wait… I… no, it can't…. what? Do you really think so?"

"She doesn't have a reason to lie, Edward. We already have enough evidence to imprison her for life, and she knows that. She wouldn't gain anything from lying at this point," Hughes reassured. "Also, why would she lie about that?"

As much as Edward knew that it was true, he still had a hard time fathoming it. Yet, some part of him understood it too. A despairing mother, mad with grief, wanting to take what had been taken from her away from the man she believed took it. Hohenheim might be guilty of the crime she wanted to punish him for, but he was dead and buried now. So, did it really matter to Ed and Al if he was guilty or not?

...Edward wasn't sure. All he knew was that even if it was, he had forgiven his father. He knew now that he never abandoned them, and it broke his heart that he had spent the remainders of his life mourning their death.

He just wished he could tell their father that they were still alive. Reassured him and let him know that Alphonse was thriving and that he had never lost hope either, even as bleak as things might have seemed at times. It hurt from his shoulders to the pit of his stomach to imagine their father thinking that his children had died believing he had abandoned them. Edward hoped that their mom never saw it that way, that Hohenheim had told her what was going on and that he had left to protect them, all though he wished their parents had told them that too.

Most of all, he wanted their father to know that he wasn't mad anymore. And, how much he loved him.

Please read:

This might be the second to last chapter! I think there will also be a bonus epilogue kinda thing too, but it depends. I think I wrote one a long time ago, sometime close to the first time I expressed that it was "the beginning of the end".

Please tell me if there is anything you want me do go into depth on. This story has been going on for over a year, and I'm really worried that I'm forgetting details that people are waiting to be resolved, and I will do my best to answer it or incorporate it into the last chapter (or epilogue).

I also wanted to mention that I am revisiting the first chapters, because some of them are unreadable. I originally started posting this on , and I hadn't figured out how to set up the text format properly. (I also low-key think my writing has improved, all though I wish I had as many ideas as I had in the start and also like the pace of the story a lot more back then).