Family
Chapter 3
By Henrika
Henrika- Tried to make it extra-long to make up for the slow update.
Thank you to Terry-Mc-Elrath(I live in Oregon too, though I'm moving back to my home state of Idaho soon. Thank you so much for being such a loyal reviewer. You are awesome!), Gundamwinggirl(there are some very day-dreamy pics of civilian Mustang on sites like cherished soul, an Alphonse site and of course full-metal As for Ed…define alright before you read this chapter. Heh.) And special thanks to tir-synni(You finally kicked me off of my lazy procrastination on this fic and got me to typing this chapter. Hope you enjoy it!)
And that reminds me kiddos, if you enjoy (or despise it), say so! I love feedback!
Postnote- I honestly thought I posted this a few days ago. I was wondering why no one had responded and I look to find that there was no new chapter. I apologize for being a scatterbrain.
Alrighty, here we go!
They arrived in Risembool later that afternoon, nearly at the break of evening. Al greeted them at the station, concern flickering in his eyes when Fury and Breda had to help his brother off the train.
"Brother!" He wrapped his arms around the blonde, hugging fiercely. "It's so good to have you back."
"Glad to be back." Ed whispered softly. The others retrieved the luggage, leaving the brothers to their reunion. Eventually the pair joined them and they set off for the Rockbell home.
Al filled them in on local gossip and news from both Risembool and Central, everyone else occasionally chiming in to asking about such-and-such a place or event. "Aquaroya finally became too unstable for people and they had to evacuate. They expect the city to be completely underwater in a few months. I guess Clara couldn't save it after all." Mustang pulled up short. He had wondered why the thief had been on the battlefield.
"That's too bad." He heard Ed saying. "Even if she was a, you know, she had pretty good reasons for doing it. She was just a bit twisted. Remember the day she was a nun?" The two snickered over the memory and Mustang caught back up to the group as they crested the hill.
"What do you think?" Al said proudly as he pointed out the Rockbell home. Ed just gaped.
"Al?"
"The array was pretty simple and I added another workshop, so Winry and Granny let me do it." An addition had been added to the house, a small connector linking the two. "It has enough room for all of us now."
"Very impressive Alphonse. Thank you." Mustang said. The others offered similar praise and thanks, Ed eventually doing the same. They headed closer and were to the front walk when a familiar wrench came flying through the air. It neatly cloaked Edward, sending him to the ground.
"You could say hello like normal people Winry!" he yelled when he regained his senses.
"Ha! You wish Bean Boy!"
"A bean!" He howled, though it was half-heartedly. He really was glad to see her.
"Yep. Welcome back Shorty." Ed clamored back onto his feet, swaying unsteadily for a moment before he regained his balance. The moment didn't go unmissed by the military, but they decided with a few shared looks to just let the issue be for the moment.
"Hurry up and get in here." Pinako opened the door. "There's food to be eaten." The equivalent of a feeding frenzy followed. When they finished, Pinako asked the inevitable question, "How long are you planning to stay?"
"A few days, if you'd be kind enough to put up with us." Hawkeye said.
"Why don't you go show them their rooms Al?" The boy complied, Winry going with him while Ed hauled himself up the stairs to the room he usually occupied on his visits. Pinako pulled Mustang aside. "What happened to that boy?" He opened his mouth. "What really happened?"
Mustang worded his response carefully. "Edward overtaxed himself during a transmutation. He ended up being indirectly responsible for the deaths of the last of the rebel leadership and they surrendered. He's been unconscious for the past week and he only woke up a few days ago." He eyed Ed's retreating back. "He's still feeling the effects."
"Ah." Pinako bit her pipe thoughtfully. "Off to bed with you. I'll get the rest of the story later." Roy looked at her in surprise, but thought better of arguing and instead nodded, headings in the direction the others had taken. Hawkeye intercepted him in the hall.
"Well?"
"She wants to know everything."
Hawkeye sighed. "I can't say I'm shocked, but we don't know the whole story so…"
"Ed's going to have to talk. I'm not sure he's up to that right now."
"We'll do what we can." Hawkeye said reassuringly. "Goodnight."
"Goodnight." Riza went into her room and Mustang went to the open door down the hall, marveling at the detail in Al's work. The bed was marvelously soft and Roy went to sleep almost instantly. Train rides were draining after all, and sitting on a hard seat for such a long time had already put plenty of his parts to sleep. He was just following suit.
Mustang woke the next morning to the smell of coffee and the noise that could only be his men hastening towards the source of the heavenly aroma. He debated between leaving the warm, soft bed and the healing revitalization that came with caffeine. Coffee addict that he was, he dragged himself out of bed and threw on clothes before joining the migration to the kitchen.
Riza handed him a warm mug as he entered, knowing full well that he couldn't function until he had had his morning coffee. He accepted it gratefully and surveyed the room as he sipped. Riza had knelt to play with Den, carefully scratching behind his ears. Havoc, Breda, Fury, and Farman were all devouring large plates of bacon and eggs, dutifully supplied by Pinako. Al and Winry were helping her, though Mustang noted bemusedly that they didn't need to stand on stools to reach the stove. It was a cozy scene, but it was missing something. "Where's Ed?"
"Still asleep." Al said. "Brother never was a morning person."
Mustang wanted to say something to the contrary; Full Metal had always been awake and ready before the morning call, but he held his tongue and drank more coffee instead.
"How did Den lose his leg?" Riza asked Winry as she scratched the dog's belly, to his great delight.
Winry looked a bit upset at the sudden memory. "The farmers had been setting gopher traps and Den got his front leg caught in one. It was mangled so badly it had to be removed." She brightened. "We were able to give him auto-mail though and he gets along just fine." She paused. "You miss Black Hayate don't you? Ed told me about him."
The older woman nodded. "I'm sure he's fine, but…"
"You can share Den for awhile." Winry offered cheerily.
"Thank you." A loud thump from upstairs punctuated the comment.
"Ed's up." Al smiled, wiping his hands on a dish towel. But there were no sounds beyond that and Al made a quick sojourn up the stairs, worry plastered over his youthful face.
Pinako offered Mustang a plate and set her own on the table. "So," She began, but a cry from upstairs cut her off.
"Brother!"
No one hesitated and they practically leaped up the stairs to the boy's aid. Mustang was the first one to join him in the doorway and instantly saw the reason for Al's distress. Ed had slipped from his bed (the earlier thump) to fall into a corner of the room. He had transmuted his auto-mail into a familiar blade that rested back against his chest, golden eyes staring disfocused at something only he could see.
"Full Metal!" Roy pushed past Al, but still kept a safe distance from the other alchemist actually in the room. The boy turned to him, eyes showing a faint glimmer of recognition.
"Flame?" He asked weakly.
"Yeah Ed. It's me. The fight's over now. Your brother's here." Al came to kneel down by him.
"Brother?" The sandy-haired blonde asked cautiously.
"You got your body back?"
Al looked a bit stunned, but recovered smoothly. "All because of you Brother."
"Ah. That's good." He clapped and un-transmuted his arm before slumping back into the corner of the wall.
"What's wrong with him?" Al asked, feeling his brother's forehead and finding it cool.
"Apparently the transmutation he performed is still having repercussions on both his body and mind." Mustang picked Ed up and deposited him back on the bed, drawing the rumpled covers over the small frame. "He ended the war Alphonse."
Al looked sadly at his brother, brushing back the blonde bangs and smoothing the covers down. "At this cost." He said quietly.
Mustang nodded helplessly, noting the others had much the same look on their face. Winry entered the room, slipping an arm over Alphonse's shoulders, which were heaving with unrealized sobs. Mustang wisely chose to leave the three childhood friends alone. The others followed suit, Havoc gently closing the door behind them all.
"Kitchen." Pinako directed and they trooped obediently in that direction while Winry and Al took up a vigil over Ed.
"He'll be fine Al." She pulled the two chairs from under the desk in the room over to the bed, pushing Al into one. "This is Ed after all." Winry hoped that Al didn't notice her biting her lip, a nervous habit she had developed.
"But Brother had never had alchemy do this to him."
And the mechanic found that there was nothing she could say to fix this, no way to reassure the boy who had spent four years of his life as a suit of armor who couldn't feel those small little reassurances. She hugged the now-human boy, trying anyways. "Ed will be alright Al. He's too stubborn to be anything else."
"Okay." He sought Ed's human hand beneath the covers. "You're not alone." He whispered.
Henrika- Ah, I made Ed delusional. That scene was actually pretty fun to write, as sadistic as that sounds. I'll try to update soon, but don't hesitate to bug me a bit if I don't get it up within a week or so.