Family
By Henrika
Henrika- So sorry about the late update. The move did not go smoothly and then my notebooks went missing for awhile (I found them all again, thank goodness) and then we had to put down our white labrador that we've had for years because of lung cancer. I think I might do a fic based somewhat on that feeling with Riza and Black Hayate, but I'm not sure. The house is finally settling down now, so it's not too bad.
Aside from that rough time, I'm happy to bring you one of the longest chapters for this story yet. Roy will realize what Ed trades for transmutations, Al will acknowledge some guilt and more!
Now here's some news that you should know. I leave for college here in a few days. My parents were going to get me a laptop and still are, but I won't have it for probably a month. I do however, have access to the school computer labs and I will try to at least post some one-shots that are relatively quick to type. I will post again, never fear! Just don't be mad if they are a little slow and infrequent.
Thanks to:
Ginger Ninja-"Brilliant writing" I love you! That's so sweet!
igbogal-Yes! Another reviewer! I'm so happy that the characters are in-character!
pheonix-creator-I made someone cry. pats pheonix's back There, there. Here, have another chapter.
Terry-McElrath-Thanks for the idea! I put in a bit of Al-guilt in this chapter based on your comment. Thanks! Thank you also for the encoragement and nice comments. That's very sweet of you.
One last thing, 382 hits forthis story! Chapter 2 gets the least traffic, so I figure maybe around sixty people have actually read the whole story. Looks suspiciously at review counter, then at hit counter Hee, I'm just glad you guys are enjoying this as much as I am.
Finally! Read, Enjoy, and Review!
When the group returned from their jaunt in the countryside, they found Winry and Pinako hunched over two familiar pieces of auto-mail.
"At least the idiot didn't trash them completely this time." Winry said without looking up as she adjusted a screw on the arm. "We took them off at lunch. He has the spare leg so he can move around if he needs to. He's asleep now." She explained before they could ask.
"I'll go check on him." Al volunteered, disappearing up the stairs.
"Would you like us to start dinner?" Hawkeye asked Pinako, who was toying with the wiring in Ed's leg. The short woman sized the military officers up.
"Go ahead. Yell if you can't find anything." The others looked surprised as Riza herded them into the kitchen.
"I can't cook." Breda held up his hands.
"Me either." Fury and Farman chimed in.
"Then you'll go pick food from the garden and help me here in the kitchen." She said as she rolled up her sleeves and started rummaging through the cupboards. "Start the stove up sir." She told Roy as she plucked several spices from a cabinet. "Sans gloves." She added.
"We're on vacation Riza. First names, not titles." He replied as he lit the burner.
That threw her off for a moment, but she quickly regained her composure. "Jean, get the oven going please. Cain, Heymans, and Vato, you three go pick about ten potatoes, fifteen carrots, and anything else that looks ripe. Got it?" They nodded, scurrying out the door.
"So what are we making?" Havoc ventured.
"Do you have any specialties that you make?"
"Nope." Both men responded.
"Then by the virtue of the fact that we have chicken," She gestured to her find, "I suggest we make chicken."
"Works for me."
"Let's get started then."
An hour later, the Elrics and Rockbells drifted into the kitchen, Ed rubbing at his eyes with the arm he had left, while his nose worked overtime. "Wow that smells good."
"Mm-hmm." Winry agreed, grabbing her customary seat at the table.
"You can cook?" Ed asked the smug-looking man monitoring the stove.
"Yes, I can cook. I'm probably better than you. After all, you have to able to reach the top of the stove to cook on it." Mustang shot back.
"Yeah, yeah. We'll check that theory one of these says." The blonde waved the height jab aside, sitting down beside his brother.
"Dinner is served." Riza announced, placing a large, heaping platter of chicken on the center of the table. "Dig in."
"I don't think you have to tell us that." Al laughed as everyone began piling their plates up with food. Mustang joined them, occasionally getting up to check the dish still on the stove.
"So what did all of you do today?" Ed asked, alternately sampling the crisp chicken and smooth potatoes. "This is excellent by the way."
"Thank you." Riza said. "Your brother showed us around town."
"Really? Where'd you go?" He turned to Al, who quickly busied himself with his meal. The others did as well, innocently looking away as they finished up.
"Oh, just around town. You know; local landmarks and such." His voice tittered and he mentally berated himself as Ed looked at him strangely. Now was not the time to ask him about the house.
Roy came to his rescue. Who's ready for dessert?" There was a chorus of happy agreement to that suggestion. "Can I borrow your lighter Jean?" Havoc tossed him the silver lighter and Cain and Heymans pulled the dishes off the table, replacing them with bowls of ice cream that they had previously scooped up. Mustang lifted the mystery pan from the stove. "Everybody ready?" He flicked the lighter and set it to the pan, holding it away from himself as a bright blue flame licked up into the air. He poured the flaming concoction over the ice cream, showing off with a style of flair that only he possessed.
"Cherries jubilee." Pinako exclaimed. "I haven't had this in ages."
Roy took a seat after cooling the pan in the sink, stirring the warm fruit into his ice cream. The group copied the motion before trying the treat.
"Wow." Winry said.
"Yep." The brothers agreed.
"Yum."
"Good."
"This is the first time I've managed to reduce people to one-word answers."
"Don't let it go to your head." Ed said, halfway through his bowl.
"Wouldn't dream of it." Mustang said with a falsely sweet sincerity.
Farman volunteered to do the dishes and the others thanked him before settling into the den for the evening.
Ed plucked two tomes from the bookshelf, handing one to Al. Winry immersed herself in the latest auto-mail magazine and Granny Pinako fixed herself a new pipe. Havoc distributed sections of the Central Times that he had picked up in town and a companionable calm fell over the room, pleasantly broken by one person or another reading an interesting fact from their material.
"Listen to this." Breda said. "Thief Psiren re-emerges in Xenotime, the former city of gold. Her fan-club rejoices at her return and Xenotime has enjoyed the tourist boost, which has restored their failing economy." He paused. "Weren't you two talking about her earlier?"
The brothers nodded, both of the sighing. "Figures." Ed said.
"It's for a good cause Brother, even if it is wrong." Al said. "Though I wonder where she's been?"
"Taking care of your brother." Mustang said without looking up from his perusal of the paper. "Along with the others wounded on the battlefield."
Al looked surprised, but Ed just looked contemplative. "I thought that voice sounded familiar." He noticed the looks he was receiving. "She talked to me while I was asleep and sometimes I could hear her. You guys too sometimes. It was weird."
"Sounds like when we gave you auto-mail surgery." Winry said. "You kinda drifted in and out."
The blonde looked almost unwillingly at the void where his arm should have been. "I'm glad she's doing something honest for once. Was." He turned to Al. "We'll have to visit Xenotime one of these days. Say hello to her and everyone else we know there. I'm sure Russell and Fletcher would want to catch up with us."
"Yeah that sounds nice." The rest of the evening passed peacefully. Den was the first one to yawn, rising from his place by Riza's feet to pad over to his basket in the corner. The yawning caught on until everyone was affected.
"I think it's time for bed." Pinako said. The group nodded; filtering off to the various rooms they had been given. Mustang noticed that Ed wasn't moving and he folded his newspaper slowly until they were the only ones left in the den.
"Something you wanted to ask Edward?"
Ed hesitated for a moment. "Did you ever think about leaving the military after Ishbal?"
Roy thought back. "For awhile, but it was mostly during, not after. Once I decided to become Fuhrer to fix the military, my path was set? You want to leave?"
"I'm thinking about it."
"You realize they won't let you, don't you?"
"Yeah. I know."
"Then there's not much to question is there?"
"No." A defeated tone hung in his voice and he stared at his hand. Roy noticed it was shaking, though Ed was making an admirable attempt to hide it. He stood up, coming to stand beside him.
"I can't promise it won't happen again." He paused. "I can't promise you anything except my help when I can give it and when you choose to accept it." He laid a hand on Ed's flesh shoulder and the blonde looked up at him. "Live and be content while you can; those were your words that Alphonse repeated that day." Ed looked back down, unable to meet Mustang's gaze as he thought back to that rainy day in the alley where he had been willing to have Scar kill him to supposedly save his brother. "Get some sleep." And Roy finally realized the answer to his question; what Ed was giving up for his "equivalent" transmutations. He had been right all along; Ed was sacrificing a part of his soul, just a little bit more of his innocence in order to cause another death that would kill him a little bit more. He would use his power to kill and to save and the equation would be balanced; forcefully. And Roy was left with a new question; what would be left of the kind soul before him when the equation was perfectly balanced? He left, contemplating these revelations, but Ed didn't rise to follow.
He stared out the window, his thoughts running rampant through memories of other rainy nights. He nearly laughed at the irony when the skies began to pour down upon the earth.
Al woke in the middle of the night, aloud crack of thunder and a bad feeling starting him up out of his bed. He instantly traced the bad feeling to the empty bed beside him. "Ed." He whispered.
He threw on his coat and shoes over his pajamas, grabbing an umbrella as an afterthought as he quietly rushed out the door. Seeing that his brother wasn't around the house, he started running to the only place he could be.
The sandy-haired blonde nearly slipped twice as the path turned to mud and the wind tried to work the umbrella from his numbed grasp, but he kept on. He started up the final slope, sighing in relief and concern when he spotted his brother.
The shorter Elric was sitting against the base of the blackened tree, staring out into the blackened ruins of their old house. He was drenched, the black tank top he was wearing plastered onto his frame. His bangs and ponytail lay limp as well and he was shivering slightly. He finally noticed that someone was getting close and turned his head. "Al." An acknowledgement.
"What are you doing out here Ed? It's freezing." He draped his jacket over his brother, holding the umbrella over the both of them.
"It rains a lot where we're concerned doesn't it?"
Al thought on that for a moment and realized what his brother was saying. Bad things happened to them in the rain. Their failed transmutation, Nina and Alexander, their encounter with Scar, all under dark skies. "Ed." He started, but his brother cut him off.
"Do you hate me? For everything? Mom and the armor and burning down the house?" The golden eyes were set on the sodden timbers, the sky, anywhere but Al's face.
Al was reminded of when his brother had asked that question before. He should've hated him, had even punched him once because he thought his brother had just made him up. He had spent four years locked away in a suit of armor, without the ability to feel or cry or even look human. But the more he tried to hate his brother, the more he found that he just couldn't do it. His brother already carried so much, anymore would kill him. The auto-mail, the guilt, the pain, and he had still managed to smile, still managed to restore him back to his body just like he had promised. And his brother still carried so much. Al looked at the auto-mail that glistened with rain. Shouldn't his brother be angry with him? He hadn't been able to restore Ed's limbs like he had promised. How could he possibly hate someone who didn't resent him for that? He realized he hadn't responded. "No Brother, I don't hate you. I could never hate you. And I agreed to everything so don't try to take the burden all on yourself."
Ed nodded, finally meeting his brother's eyes, a relieved sigh slipping through his lips. "I wonder if…" He looked back at the house. "I wonder if we could rebuild this someday. Now that we don't have to search anymore and only if you'd want to." He added quickly.
Al laughed softly, remembering his conversation with the others and how Roy had told him that he would have to ask Ed if he wanted to rebuild. He hadn't expected his brother to beat him to it. "I'd like that. I really would. Now c'mon." He said, belatedly remembering that they were in the middle of the rain and mud. "You're soaked and it won't do well for you to catch a cold." He pulled Ed up, helping him put on the jacket he had set around him earlier.
"Hey Al?"
"Yeah?"
This is real, right? You don't really…"
Al leaned over and hugged his brother fiercely. Ed awkwardly looped his one hand around Al's neck in return. "It's real. All of it. I don't blame you, I love you."
Ed sighed, comforted at last. "Love you too."
The pair managed to sneak back into the house without waking anyone. Ed shucked his wet things, toweling off and changing; and after a mug of tea and several blankets had warmed his system, they retreated to their beds, lulled to sleep by the gentle rain.
Henrika-Truthfully? I've never had cherries jubilee. Ah, artistic BS. Cough. License, I mean. Hope you liked it?