Until the End
By Gozilla
A/N: Thanks a lot to those of you who read and reviewed the story! This is the last chapter of the story. Hope you will enjoy it!
Disclaimer: I don't own anything and I don't have anything. So don't sue me!
Please excuse my poor English. -
Reviews are most welcomed!
Enjoy!
Chapter 5: Life and Death
"It seems that you made good use of the philosopher's stone and restored your armour brother, chibi." Envy changed back to his normal form and looked at Al intently, "But I am sure we will find someone to reverse the transmutation and get back the stone."
"And now, chibi." Envy said as he transformed his right arm into a sword, "Your job as my tour guide is over and you can die now."
"I won't let you harm niisan!" Al shouted as he stood shielding Edward. Knowing that Edward was seriously wounded, Al got himself ready to defend his brother.
"No, Al, run! You can't win over this monster!" Edward said weakly.
"I am not leaving you." Al said in determination.
"No, you must run and get help! I can't protect you anymore!" Edward said. A muffled moan escaped his mouth as waves of sharp pain assaulted him from the wound. "Please, run, Al."
"I am not leaving you, niisan." Al said without taking his eyes off from Envy, "You have been doing everything to protect me all these years. It is time for me to protect you."
Envy charged forward, his arm sword aiming to kill the elder brother. But he was blocked by a powerful kick from Al. Al continued to punch and kick at Envy, not letting the deadly sin to get near his brother.
"Not bad." Envy teased, "But not good enough." He said as he kicked Al at the stomach. Al fell to the ground, holding his stomach and shaking in pain.
"Maybe I should cut off an arm or leg of yours in order to save me some trouble." Envy walked towards Al with an evil smile, his arm sword ready to strike.
"Don't you even think about it!"
Envy jumped a few meters away, just in time to escape from his head being cut off by Edward's arm blade.
Edward stood in front of his brother, with the shield of his right automail arm transformed into a large sharp blade. His left hand held tightly to the wound on his abdomen. He panted heavily and his forehead was covered with sweat as the combination of the sharp pain from his abdomen and shoulder assaulted him mercilessly. Stars were dancing in front of his eyes due to the heavy blood loss and his weakened body.
But none of these would deter Edward's determination to protect his brother.
Envy looked in surprised before anger overwhelmed his mind. "You two are such nuisance! Stop pretending this brotherly-love shit! I have been observing human beings for hundreds of years! You are all selfish, pitiful and disgusting pest!"
Suddenly, Envy's face changed from anger to teasing, "How about if we make a deal, Fullmetal chibi? I will let you go safely and promised that none of us will ever go after you from now on. But you will leave your brother to us. Not a bad deal, right?"
Al looked at his brother, silently urging him to take the deal. Being the closest person to Edward, Al knew that his brother wanted nothing more than a peaceful life.
But Edward did not move. He looked at Envy with steel determination, "I will not let you touch my brother, Envy."
"Then I guess the deal is off." Envy said casually before charging at the brothers with lightning speed.
Edward could barely block the first strike of Envy's arm sword. Envy quickly transformed his left arm to a sword and stabbed toward Edward's heart. With great reflection trained over the years, Edward managed to avoid the deadly blow but received a long wound over his chest.
"NIISAN!" Al cried in horror as Edward fell to the ground and rolled away in pain. "You bastard!" Al shouted and attacked Envy.
"You are too precious to be killed." Envy teased as he counter-attacked, "But I would love to play with you for a while." He fought and drew numerous shallow wounds all over Al's body.
Envy was too focused on his "game" and did not notice until his heel hit on something soft.
It was Edward.
Edward was still lying on the ground. He clapped his hands and placed them on Envy legs. Bright blue alchemy light flashed around Envy's body and a shocked expression appeared on Envy's face.
Envy stood still as a status and asked, "What... what have you done to me..." he could not finish the sentence as his became completely still.
Al, whose body was covered with blood from the numerous wound on his body, ran to hold his brother, "Niisan... what happened?"
It took a few moments before Edward recomposed himself from pain and exhaustion. "I transmuted his cells." Edward said breathlessly, "I saw him transforming himself into various appearance and even weapons. I guess that his body cells must be kind of fluid-like in order to be able to change their shape and hardness at his will. All I did was to transmute the structure of his cells and changed the cell wall into solid form. He won't be able move unless someone can counter-transmute his cells with alchemy."
Violent chilly wind reminded the brothers that they were still in danger. Al looked up to the sky and knew that the worst of the snow storm was approaching.
Quickly, Al checked on the wound on his brother's chest and abdomen. The wounds were bleeding heavily. The snow around Edward was dyed red with his blood. "Niisan, I have to get you to the doctor in the town." Al said, deeply worried.
Edward shook his head slowly, "No, Al, you have to go by yourself. I... I don't think I can walk. Please... save yourself..." He felt extremely dizzied and exhausted with the massive blood loss and injuries. He felt as if his eyelids were as heavy as his automail limbs and, slowly, he closed his eyes.
"Niisan! Wake up!" Al shouted in terror, "You can't fall asleep here! Nissan!"
But there was no response.
Al knew that he must get his brother to the doctor as soon as possible. Quickly, he tore a few pieces of strips from his clothes and roughly dressed Edward's wounds. Carefully, Al carried the unconscious Edward on his back and left the valley.
Two hours later -
Al struggled in the thigh-deep snow and walked against the violent wind. Having a wounded person on his back made things worse. But he did not even think once about leaving his precious burden behind.
But after the two-hours journey, Al had pushed himself beyond his limit and his vision had begun to blur. Unable to go any further or find any shelter, he found a place under a large rock which provided minimum protect against the snow and wind. Gently, he put down his brother leaning against the rock. He panted heavily in exhaustion. He felt he would faint at any moment.
Al looked up to the sky. The weather had changed to the worst over the last hour and there was no sign of improvement.
'What should I do?' Al thought helplessly. 'I can't let niisan die here. But I don't have the strength to bring him out of the mountains. What should I do?"
Suddenly, Edward stirred slightly.
Al gently shook Edward's shoulder, "Niisan, niisan, please wake up."
"Al... I am sorry I can't protect you..." Edward remained unconscious, "Al... Envy, don't hurt my brother..." a painful frown appeared on his face, "No... Al... don't die... please... don't leave me..."
Al smiled bitterly as a drop of tear rolled down his pale cheek. He embraced Edward protectively against the strong chilly wind, "Niisan, don't worry, I won't leave you. I will be with you... I will be with you until the end." he said as he finally lost the battle and gave in to blackness.
Two days later -
Al slowly opened his eyes and used his hand to shield off the bright morning sunlight from the nearby window. He felt his head was about to split into halves and his whole body sore. He looked around and found himself in a cosy room with a small fireplace on the other side of the room.
Before Al could recover from his confusion, the door opened and someone came into the room.
"Alphonse?" came a female voice.
Al turned to the person and found that it was Hawkeye. "Hawkeye-san? How did I get here? How do you... recognise me?" he notices that there were stretch wounds over Hawkeye's face and hands.
"You look much alike as Edward." Hawkeye smiled as she put down a tray of food, "We found you and Edward in the mountains two days ago."
"In the mountains..." Al searched his mind, trying to remember what happened. Suddenly, everything happened in the mountain came back to his mind. He shot up and jumped off the bed in shock. Only to fall back to the bed as his limbs were too weak to support him.
"You need to rest in bed, Alphonse." Hawkeye said in concern, helping Al to lie down on the bed, "You are hurt and you suffered hypothermia in the storm."
"Niisan!" Al cried, "Where is niisan? Is he alright? Please, he was seriously hurt! Please help him!"
Hawkeye put an assuring hand on Al's shoulder, "Don't worry. Edward's condition has been stabilised. The doctors have taken care of the wounds. He is resting in the room next door."
"Please, take me to him." Al urged.
Hawkeye hesitated, as it would be best for the youth to stay in bed and rest. But, knowing the brothers for years and the deep bonds between them, she knew better than to decline the request.
"Alright."
"Thank you so much!"
Room next door -
The room was quiet. Al entered the room slowly with the support of Hawkeye. The first thing he noticed as Mustang, who was sitting with arms folded on a chair placed near the bed. Mustang was wearing a loose shirt, revealing bandages wrapped around his body.
Mustang looked up at Al with his usual cold eyes. He sighed slightly in defeat as if saying, 'I knew you would come first thing after you wake up.' and left the room.
Al immediately approached the one lying on bed.
Edward slept not too peacefully as he turned and tossed slightly in his sleep. His wounds were properly dressed and his face was not as pale as before.
"Hawkeye-san, could you please tell me what happened?" Al turned to Hawkeye and asked.
"We were attacked by one of the sins, Lust." Hawkeye said, "We fought and Taisa managed to kill Lust after burning her for about a hundredth time. We were hurt but Taisa knew that you brothers were in greater danger. So we went into the mountains and looked for you."
"We found you under a large rock, both unconscious." Hawkeye continued, "We feared for the worst. But, somehow, you brothers are really strong and survived. Armstrong has left to arrange transportation to take you two to the military hospital in Central. You two, especially your brother, need further medical attention."
"Thank you." Al nodded in appreciation, "I thought we were going to die. Thank you so much for saving us."
Al turned to look at the battered face of his brother. A painful frown appeared on Edward's face and he murmured, "Al..."
"Edward has been restless since we found him." Hawkeye frowned in worry, "The doctors have given him pain-killers to reduce the physical pain. But none of us could ease the pain in his mind."
"I am here, niisan." Knowing that Edward could not feel with his automail limbs, Al gently put his hand over Edward's heart, "I am here. We are in safe hands now. Don't worry. Please rest. I will be with you."
As if he heard or felt the presence of his brother, Edward's frown relaxed and fell into a peaceful sleep again.
Feeling extremely exhausted and sleepy, Al climbed into the bed and slept beside his brother, just like they always did when they were small.
Hawkeye smiled warmly and retrieved from the room quietly.
The End
Hope you enjoyed the story!
Please feel free to review and comment!
I am thinking if I should write a sequel to the story. Let's see if I can come up with some ideas about how things would go on from here.
Meanwhile, I am working on a short story about Edward in Munich. I will post it as soon as it is completed. Stay tuned.
