The Blood Spiller
Chapter 8: Seeing is Believing
Edward hit the floor and gasped. He looked at Alphonse, who was staring back with a sad ghostly expression. He looked at him in disbelief and stuttered. "Al? H-how is this, I…" He trailed off remembering Winry at the house. He looked down at his feet and flushed with confusion and anxiety. "Brother, I came back to help you." Ed looked back up at Al and he felt tears welling up in the corners of his eyes. "I thought I had lost you." He stared into his now misty dark eyes. The younger Elric smiled in the corner of his mouth.
Al kneeled down and stared into his golden eyes. "I never thought you could hold off eating for so long, nor sleep." Ed stood back up and sat back down on the seat. He kept staring out the window. He felt his anger rising again at the thought of Al's killer. He tightened his fists and clenched his teeth. "Havoc will pay for your death Alphonse, he will pay deeply." Al shook his head. "He won't if you don't saver your energy. Brother, you need to get some rest and eat something or your going to be dead too."
Edward finally looked over at his deceased brother. "You wont leave me will you?" His tear had fallen and he let go. Alphonse smiled at him. "No, Ed, I will be right here." Ed nodded and laid down on the seat like he would normally do and closed his eyes, falling into a deep sleep.
Roy walked into the car that Ed was riding in and went over to the teen's seat. When he reached it he saw him curled up with his coat covering him. He winced at the sight of it. The coat was the one that he had held Alphonse with until he had passed. Blood soaked thru and stained the bright red with crimson. He wished Ed would at least wear a different one, but he knew why he was still wearing it. He wouldn't do anything until Havoc was dead.
Sitting down on the other side of the train across from Ed, Roy sighed. He hated train rides as much as anybody and was worried for his youngest soldier. I couldn't even begin to imagine how Ed must be feeling. He stared at the sleeping boy and wished he could help him in some way.
Leaning back in his seat, Roy put his hands behind his head and shut his eyes. "Why can't this train ride end?" He groaned. He was about to slip into slumber when suddenly a cold chill crept upon him. He shivered and tried to ignore it, but instead it just grew stronger. He opened his eyes and saw Alphonse hovering above the sleeping Ed. He said nothing, but backed up to the window as far away as possible. He watched the glowing boy just look over his brother. What the hell? Al is supposed to be dead! How is he here? This is just freakish! Is he a ghost? No, he can't be, ghosts are not even real! But this is impossible!
The ghostly Alphonse suddenly turned around and stared at him with a saddened expression. Roy stopped trying to get away. He looked at the spirit and felt bad. He was no longer scary, just sad. Al phones looked at his brother one last time and started to walk down the aisle of the train. He than disappeared.
The train lurched to a screeching halt, sending Ed flying up out of the seat. He looked around and saw out the windows the familiar station of Central. He than looked for somebody else. "I am still here, Ed, just keep going." Ed stood up from his seat and looked to the back of the car at the casket. He turned back at the front and walked to the exit. Walking off of the train he went to the Colonel and Lieutenant. Roy looked down at him and gave a reassuring smile. "Can I see you a moment Ed?"
Edward stared at him with an unreadable expression and followed him to the other side of the train station. When he stopped and faced him, his expression was sympathetic and happy at the same time. "I came to talk to you on the train and found you finally sleeping." Ed looked at his feet. Roy continued. "Have you seen…um….Al?" Ed's head flew up and he stared at him. He watched Roy back up a little, afraid he had upset him, but he held his hand up. "I thought you didn't believe in ghosts, Colonel." He frowned at Roy and waited for his reply. "I do now. He was with you the whole time, if you didn't know."
Ed nodded and started to walk away when Roy put his hand on his shoulder. He stopped and looked back at him. He was smiling at him. "I wanted to tell you that you can tell me anything as a friend and not as a colonel." Edward gazed down again and couldn't help himself from letting more tears slide out. He then felt Mustang put his arm around him. He squeezed, reassuring him. He than walked away to talk to Riza.
After going thru paperwork and interrogations, The soldiers and Ed were on their way back to Rizenbool for a proper funeral for Alphonse. On the way, Roy and Riza sat in the same seat as Ed to keep him company while he ate some food after a week. After a couple of hours Ed fell asleep and Roy and Riza were the ones remaining. They went over to some other seats so they would not wake him and started to talk.
"I'm glad to see you finally gave him some support, Colonel." Riza smiled at Roy and he blushed. "He just lost his brother--well sort of." He looked out of the window seeing that they were getting close after a couple days of riding. "What do you mean?" She stared at him with her dark eyes. "Hawkeye, do you believe in ghosts?" She hesitated at the question and slowly nodded her head. "Have you ever seen one?" He watched he nod slowly after a few moments. He looked over at Ed, once again seeing Al hovering over him. He pointed to Ed's seat. "Tell me if you can see him."
Riza looked at him confused for a moment then looked over at Edward's position. She gasped. She than turned back around, phased at the sight. She looked again and gasped again, simply stuck in disbelief. Roy nodded at her when she looked at him for answers. "Wow" was all she could stammer.
The train slowly came to a stop and the two got up and woke up Ed, telling him that they had arrived. He rubbed his eyes and stretched. He than smiled. Roy wondered why but thought that he probably saw his younger brother still by his side.
Well, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I put a break on the blood and thought that would be a good thing to do. Just to clear it up, incase anybody thinks that there will be a pairing of Roy and Ed, that will not happen, just in case any of you thought so. Well, I hope to see some reviews to tell me how I did! Thanks!