Full Metal Alchemist
Always Brothers
Prologue
Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Fullmetal Alchemist, Funimation do.
Author's note: This is my first FMA fic ever, so I am going to ask that you don't flame me for attempting this. The idea came to me late one night as I was musing over the episodes that I'd watched at my university's Anime Society. We haven't finished watching it yet, but I've already read on ahead and found out what happens at the end. This is an AU fic since I don't know what will happen at the end of the movie, though most of the flashback material in later chapters will be mostly in line with the anime. No spoilers yet since this is just the opening chapter. Please read and review, constructive criticism is very welcome as I am still working out my writing style.
A lone figure ran through the pouring rain towards the Central Head Office for the Armestris Military. Short, dark blond hair dripped rainwater into empathetic hazel eyes. The young man shivered as he wrapped his blue military jacket tighter around his upper body,
"Stupid rain, and stupid Mustang, why didn't he send a car this time?" the 18 year old muttered mutinously under his breath as he entered the huge building. Alphonse Elric, the Metal Ore Alchemist calmly nodded to the pretty dark haired receptionist as he made his way to his office on the third floor of the building, the rain water dripping from him creating mini puddles wherever he stepped. Alphonse took out his silver pocket watch, proof of his status as a State Alchemist, and opened it,
"Well, it looks like I'm early despite everything." He sighed as he closed the watch with a snap and pushed his fringe out of his eyes. A tall blonde woman, also in the standard blue uniform, practically marched towards the office door, only noticing Alphonse as she went to open the door,
"Ah, first Lieutenant Elric, it's nice to see you early as always." She spoke, her voice short and clipped. Alphonse stood to attention at once,
"Colonel Hawkeye." He replied in the same voice before relaxing and letting the colonel into her office. As he shut the door behind him he shot his superior officer a confused glance,
"Excuse me, Colonel Hawkeye," he asked in a small voice, "do you know why General Mustang requires us to attend this meeting? It is a regular meeting is it not?" Hawkeye looked up from her papers; her piercing ruby eyes meeting Alphonse's worried hazel ones. She sighed quietly,
"To be honest Al, I don't know why he wants us in particular to attend, but I believe it may be something to do with the resettlement of the Ishvar people back into their own land." She replied with a warm smile. Al smiled back at the thought of helping a band of people who were not widely accepted back into their own lands again. Little did he know the trouble that doing just such a thing would cause.
A young man dressed in a red robe with the Flamel Snake insignia imprinted on the back groaned as he came to. Messy blonde bangs hung just in front of liquid golden eyes while the rest of the long hair was tied back in a high ponytail Those same golden eyes stared at the white gloved hand that was pushing against the ground just in front of him. The young man struggled to a sitting position and inspected his surroundings. He appeared to be in the middle of a burned down house in the middle of the countryside, the dirt in front of him seemed to be stained with blood that would never wash out, no matter how hard it rained. Edward Elric, the Fullmetal Alchemist stared at his surroundings as if he couldn't believe where he was. A sudden whoop of joy startled the crows gathering in the trees around the house, a flurry of shining black feathers raining down on the golden haired young man as he jumped to his feet, a huge smile on his face. A breeze lifted the bangs away from his face as he breathed just one sentence,
"I've finally made it home."
Pinako Rockbell was standing in the kitchen of her roomy house preparing dinner for both herself and her granddaughter Winry, who was upstairs in her room working on a new kind of automail arm that was both stronger and lighter than the other artificial limbs she had created. She was infinitely grateful to Al, one of her oldest and truest friends, for discovering this new metal and extracting it from its ore just for her to work with. Winry sighed as she pushed her long blonde fringe out of her eyes for what seemed like the thousandth time since she began her work over three hours ago. Bright sky blue eyes were currently dark with concentration while she placed a screw near the wrist of the new limb. A sudden knock at the door broke her concentration, causing the pretty young woman to drop her screwdriver as she looked up with confusion.
"I'll get that." Her grandmother called as she set her spoon down and shuffled to the door. When Mrs Rockbell uttered a startled cry, Winry grabbed the nearest wrench, tied her jacket more tightly around her waist and rushed down the stairs to confront whoever had startled her grandmother completely intent on using the wrench to the best possible effect. She stopped suddenly, hand with the wrench stuck in mid-air as she came face to face with a person she had believed she would never see again after a three year absence. The young man at the door rubbed the back of his neck nervously with his hand, a smile on his face,
"Sorry to scare you Winry, but I kind of need a new arm." He said indicating his missing right arm. Winry dropped the wrench she had been carrying and leapt down the rest of the stairs, only to envelop her oldest friend in a tearful hug. Pinako cackled like she had never cackled before and lead the young man in to offer him some dinner and to let him explain what had happened during the years he had been missing.
