The Ties that Bind

A series of related one-shots that range from Roy finding Ed and Al in Resembool and far, far beyond. Not chronological. EdWin, AlMei, Royai Parental!RoyEdAl Parental!RizaEdAl

Every Promised Day - 1915

Older Brother 16, Younger Brother 15

Alphonse leaned against the rubbles wall Ed had propped him against when sitting up on his own became too much of a chore. Everyone in the courtyard had come to congratulate him on returning, even those who'd had no idea he never had a body in the first place. He'd been hugged by Mr. Sieg and Teacher, fortunately not been hugged by Major Armstrong, had Mei cling from his chest almost constantly, felt the continued presence of Ed's flesh right hand on his shoulder, shook hands with Ling, shared a smile with Lanfan, even his Dad had been there when he woke to clutch his emancipated hand, but he had yet to see them, and he wanted to so badly he refused to be moved until they arrived. Major Armstrong had threatened to carry Al to the hospital, but Ed convinced him that waiting for an ambulance would make more sense.

Unfortunately, that meant Al's waiting time was coming to an end; he could hear the sirens almost at the gate.

"You're sure you saw them, Brother? You're sure they were okay?"

"I'm sure I saw them, and I'm sure they were okay." Ed squeezed Al's shoulder with his right hand. He hadn't been able to stop touching the younger boy since pulling him back through the Gate. "I think a field medic grabbed Mustang just a bit ago. Probably checking his eyes."

Al blinked, his brow furrowed. "What happened to his eyes? Did he get cut? Did he lose one?! You said he was okay!"

"Calm down, Al! The colonel is fine. It's just the Truth thing."

"The Truth thing?" Al frowned, and looked around the decimated courtyard that Major Armstrong was slowly and methodically restoring with his alchemy. There was something going on that Al was only half aware of, but if Ed's casual tone was anything to go by, he clearly thought Al was already in on it.

But what was 'it'?

"The sacrifices…" Al muttered, his voice so low even he could barely hear it. "Me and Brother, Dad and Teacher; we all saw the Gate and met Truth…But why was the colonel there?"

"What was that Al?"

Al grabbed the front of Ed's shirt and yanked as hard as he could, pulling Ed off balance with a yelp.

"What the heck, Alphonse—!"

"Why was the colonel there?!"

"Wha—?"

"In that place underground, beneath Central Command, why was the colonel there with us? Why was he being used as a sacrifice when he hasn't ever seen the Truth?"

Ed gaped at him, not even a startled sound escaping his lips. Al tugged harder, bringing Ed's face next to his as he tried to work out why his chest was burning and his eyes were stinging and he couldn't breathe.

"Well?!"

"…Al…" There was so much pity in Ed's face and voice that Al was actually disgusted.

"Don't treat me like a kid, Ed! Not now! Not after everything we've been through! Just tell me; how was the colonel a sacrifice?"

"Because I've seen the Truth."

Al jumped. He'd been so focused on Ed that he hadn't noticed the crunch of gravel that must have accompanied the colonel's approach. His head jerking up—or as best his head could 'jerk' considering he had very little strength with which to lift it—Al looked up and up and up at Colonel Roy Mustang who stood over the two brothers with the afternoon sun hanging halo-esk behind his dark haired head. Al almost grew dizzy as he stared up at the man.

I never realized the colonel was so tall…

"Al." Roy crouched slowly, clutching a small hand as he lowered himself to the ground and Al realized belatedly that Lt. Hawkeye stood beside the colonel. She was bloodied and stern as usual, but there was a softness around her that Al recognized. It was the same softness that appeared whenever he or Ed entered her line of sight. She smiled down at Alphonse, her eyes glittering with barely brimming tears.

"Hello, Alphonse," she said, the smile on her lips permeating her voice as she reached out and brushed his long blond bangs away from his face. "I'm so glad you're finally back."

"Thank you, Lieutenant," Al said, but his eyes were drawn almost instantly away to lock on Roy's surprisingly peaceful expression. Al frowned after a moment when the colonel didn't open his eyes before a hollow, sucking feeling opened in his stomach and tried to vacuum his heart right out of his chest. "Colonel…You…you said you saw the Truth…"

"I did," Roy said, his voice soft and affirming without any hint of emotion. "Pride forced me to open the portal, turning me into their last sacrifice."

"He…forced you?" Heat welled up inside Al, causing his brain to haze. "That—that's awful!" Then realization hit him full in the face and Al gasped. "Oh, Colonel; what did it take?"

There was a light puckering between Roy's brows as he lifted a hand and groped forward, clearly trying to touch Al but getting nowhere close. Al didn't hesitate to grasp that wandering hand with both of his own and clutch it tight.

"No." Al choked on the burning in this throat, blinked back the stinging in his eyes. "That's…that's not fair."

"It's not," Roy agreed, and Al was peripherally aware of Riza standing and beaconing Ed to join her off to the side, leaving he and Roy more or less alone. "But it happened, and I have to come to term with it."

"No you don't!" The words were ripped from Al almost against his will. "You don't have to at all! They took your eyesfrom you, Colonel! Took them! It wasn't even your choice; they forced you to open the portal, and that's just…it's so wrong—"

"Alphonse." Roy's tone wasn't sharp or upset, but the quiet calm probably did more to cut through Al's hysteria than the loudest shout or strongest order. Al focused in on Roy's face and hated that the colonel's eyes were still closed. "It is wrong, it isn't fair, but it happened, Al. It happened. It's already done."

Al gritted his teeth, and the stinging in his eyes grew absolutely unbearable until the pain poured out as hot, salty, stinging tears. He collapsed forward, his body unable to sustain him anymore, and his forehead slammed into Roy's shoulder. The colonel grunted, surprised, but there was no hesitation as his arms came up to wrap Al in a tight, warm embrace.

"I'm sorry, Colonel. I'm sorry." Al sobbed. "I'm so, so sorry. This shouldn't have happened to you—never to you—and I'm so sorry."

"I know, Al. I know. It's not your fault, but I know."

Al had no concept of time as he lay in Roy's arms sobbing himself sick, but the colonel didn't once loosen his grip, and at one point, he lifted a clumsy hand to stroke down Al's long, ratty hair.

"I'm so glad you're back," Roy was whispering when Al finally started winding down. "I wouldn't change a thing if it meant not getting you back, Al. Not a single thing."

That quiet admission stunned Al to silence. "…Not a thing?" Al asked, unable to comprehend the magnitude of what Roy was saying. Because it was huge. Roy wouldn't change his blindness? Would change his subordinates' reassignments? Wouldn't change General Hughes's death?

"There are things I wish had never happened, Al." Roy didn't pull back as he spoke; instead, he held Al tighter. "But if it meant losing you, never holding you like this, never having you here and safe and whole? No, Alphonse. I wouldn't change a thing."

Al's breathing turned ragged as more tears welled up. He'd never, in all his life, felt so…important, so treasured, so loved as he did right in this moment. He wasn't sure he ever would again. Hearing the colonel say this—something so inexplicably unbelievable—there was nothing Al could do but accept it. Because the colonel wouldn't lie to him. Not about this.

"I only wish…" His voice trailed off, prompting Al to glance up.

"Colonel?"

"I wouldn't change anything, Al, but I do wish…" Roy sighed and shifted his grip so his chin was rested on Al's hair. "I wish that I could see you."

Al choked on a sob and buried his face in Roy's chest. "Me too, Colonel. More than anything."

Kaliea: So I was watching the end of Brotherhood (again), and I realized Al was "gone" when Roy's blindness was explained. That coupled with the lack of Roy/Al reunion (which is lame), and this short was born. Yay!

Anywho, thanks for reading!