Forever, Far Away
He leaves his soul in that big house on
the hill, where his wife waits forever. Forever is simply too far
away to reach.
She is young. She has no one: no family, few friends. She is alone. She has a gentle smile, and a prettiness about her that even the simplest of clothes cannot hide. She is afraid of disappointing him, because she knows he has been married before. She is afraid that he will be measuring her against his first wife, and that he will find her lacking.
He feels so very old when he sees the youth shining in her round eyes, and yet with her he feels everything as if it were new. He has been alone many, many years. He is handsome, huge, and shy all at once if she is in the room. He is afraid of disappointing her because he knows that she knows he has been married before. He is afraid because he knows that nothing can last forever: forever is simply too far away to reach.
She cries as she says "I do," and then again when he repeats the words. He thinks she is amazing, like something from out of a fairytale. It's been centuries since he has read about princesses and heroes.
He is so very careful that night: careful not to hurt her, careful to hide the few patches of rot growing along his spine, careful to remember everything just as it is in that single moment when nothing matters except how she makes him feel. He feels everything as if it were new, with her.
"Trisha," she remembers him scolding gently, when he wakes to find that she hasn't bothered to sleep in and has instead made breakfast. He pulls her back into the bedroom, back into the warmth of the bed, and all of the food is stone cold by the time they can pull themselves out again.
She births a son early in their second year together. He wonders if he has ever been so simply, completely, and genuinely happy before. Fourteen months later, a second son follows. He knows he has everything he could possibly want, and he prays the day will never come when he will have to give it up.
He leaves as soon as Alphonse has learned to walk. He leaves her in tears, and with more than enough money to keep her and his boys comfortable for many years. He leaves his soul in that big house on the hill, where his wife waits forever. Forever is simply too far away to reach.
Fin.
AN - I got bored one day and realized that there is not a single marriage in all of Fullmetal Alchemist that ends with the couple growing old toegther. Dante and Hohenheim. Trisha and Hohenheim. Maes and Gracia. Izumi and Sig. May add more chapters if the idea continues to plague me.