Disclaimer: Who is going to sue a fanfic writer, honestly?
Unchanged
Part 1 of 2
by Talia MT Ali
"Al!"
"Coming, coming," he muttered, scratching under the kitten's chin one last time before striding the door and closing it behind him. The newest litter was barely three days old, but the other animals would likely bother Dusky and her kittens if the door was left open. To the other cats, it was nothing more than another birth. For the dogs, birds, and other small mammals, the open door meant that the kitchen suddenly became a parade ground as they tried to get a look at the new additions to the family.
"Alphonse!"
"I'm coming, brother!" Al said with exasperation, picking his way around the bits of furniture draped in small animal bodies. Edward crossed his arms and tapped his foot, glancing at his new pocket watch with worry written all over his features.
"Winry is going to..." Edward began.
"Understand completely." Alphonse said firmly. "There's lots of time. Don't worry so much."
"She'll kill me if we're late!" Edward exclaimed, grasping Al by the wrist and pulling him out the door. His coat-tails flapped a little in the breeze as he towed Al towards the Rockbell house.
"We're not going to be late," Al repeated, pulling out of his brother's grip and forcing him to stop. "She'll be more angry if you're not tidy. Your tie is crooked."
"Torture device," Edward muttered, but suffered through Al fixing the tie. Al, of course, was pristine, as he always was. He couldn't imagine going around as Edward did regularly, half-dressed (and half-cocked), paying little attention to personal grooming, health, or safety.
"There," Al announced, giving the tie a final pat. "It's perfect. You look great."
"Thanks," Edward muttered, shifting his shoulders a little, particularly his automail shoulder. A familiar look of uncertainty crossed his face, and he asked again the question that Al had heard at least once a day for the past six months. "You're sure about this? We can still back down, you know."
"No, you can't." Al said, amused at the thought. "Winry would kill you, then."
"I'm serious! You just say the word, and..."
"We have to keep moving forward, brother," Al reminded him. "You deserve this. I like seeing you happy, more than anything in the world."
Edward tried hard to keep the happiness off his face, but managed to pare it down to a weak grin. "Thanks, Al. You don't know how much that means to me."
"Besides," Al said, continuing their walk towards the Pinakos. "You're nineteen now, and mom's fund is running out. If you don't marry Winry, you'll have to get a real job."
"Why you...!" Edward lurched into a run. Al sprinted in front, laughing at him.
They slowed by mutual consensus as they approached, stopping completely just before going into the yard. Glancing at his older brother just as Edward looked at him, Al saw the look of abject terror that crossed his face. Edward looked more like he was going to his execution rather than the happiest day of his life.
"Breathe." Al stooped to straighten his brother's tie again, and then patted his brother's shoulder. "You're supposed to be happy, remember?"
"I remember," Edward muttered. Then he squared his shoulders. "Thanks," he said, and strode past Al into the yard. Al trailed after him, following his brother to the front of all the benches.
"Edward, Alphonse," Aunt Pinako looked up and smiled. "You're early for once."
"Told you," Al muttered.
"Yeah," said Edward, ignoring Al. "Is... she here yet?"
"Yes, but you can't see her until the wedding!" Aunt Pinako admonished. "Did you want to start the day off with bad luck?"
"I just wanted to talk with her," Edward said hotly. "It's not like I was going to peep on her or anything!"
"That would certainly give you bad luck as well, boy!" Aunt Pinako shot back. Al couldn't help but giggle, even though Edward shot him a wounded glare. The elderly woman reached up to rearrange Ed's tie, and tried to encourage the single hair that stood up on Ed's head to stay flat with a vigorous pat. She stopped just short of using spit to make it stay, but Al could tell that she dearly wanted to.
"Can't I talk to her?"
"You can try," Aunt Pinako said grudgingly. "If you can get past her bodyguards to speak to her through the door."
Al and Edward looked in the direction the woman pointed, only to see two women in repulsive salmon uniforms guarding the door to the house. After a moment, Al recognized the salmon costumes as bridesmaid dresses. They fit well, but the fabric, the style of the dress, and the body shape of the bridesmaids (skinny and flat as a board) were painful to behold. Anyway, dresses or no, they looked determined to protect the door with their lives, and were glaring at any man who came within five feet.
"I could leave a message, I guess," Edward muttered, face falling into disappointment.
"I could tell her for you," Al suggested. "They would probably let me inside."
"Can't hurt to try," his brother admitted. He tossed his ponytail back, set his shoulders, and strode off towards the two guards.
Alphonse followed in his brother's wake, apologizing and steadying those wedding guests his brother inadvertently pushed aside. A chance thought whispered across his mind, making him pause midway through a step. In a few hours, he wouldn't be his brother's shadow any more. In a few hours, Edward and Winry would leave for their week-long honeymoon in Central. Alphonse had never in his life been away from his brother for more than two days. Even when Edward came back, Winry would be moving in, and things would never be the same. Strange that he hadn't thought about it like that until now. He wasn't sure that he liked the idea of letting Edward run around with no checks. Admittedly, his brother was better than he'd been a few years ago. But just like his rampage through the guests, sometimes Edward's passion got away from him and...
"Let me see her!"
"Brother!" Alphonse cried. He quickly took the last few strides to his brother's side and put a restraining hand on his shoulder. "You can't see Winry before the wedding!"
"But..." Edward turned to face Alphonse. He visibly struggled with his temper at being circumvented before letting it go with a sigh. He jerked a finger at his little brother and said, "But he can go in, right?"
The two bridesmaids looked at each other, obviously weighing the chance of bad luck from the best man seeing the bride to Winry's displeasure if she heard they had barred Alphonse from entering. The absent Winry won the battle, and Right conceded, "I guess so."
"Yes!" Edward pulled his brother aside and whispered a few words to him.
Amused, Alphonse nodded and said, "Shall I also whisper sweet nothings in her ear and carry her off to the bridal bed for you, Brother?"
He dodged Edward's swat and edged past the two bridesmaids. The kitchen was as dark as it usually was in the evening, since all the windows were closed. The whole house had been given to Winry as her personal dressing room. Alphonse looked around the eerily silent house, wondering where ten girls could hide and be so quiet. Usually, they giggled, dropped things, fidgeted, and were generally as noisy as a pack of seagulls.
"I don't care!"
The shout shook the house with its volume. Alphonse cringed, but forced himself to go towards the sound, coming from the bathroom. The next voice he heard was somehow even louder.
"You are not taking a wrench!"
The bathroom door slammed open, and the aforementioned gull-like noises suddenly flooded the hall. A small projectile of white and yellow flew out of the door. Sensing danger, Al flattened himself against the wall as much as possible. Winry stormed towards him, accompanied by her personal hoard. Although she wore only the underdress, she had to grab a double handful of the material and hike it up to her knees in order to be able to move forward. She was already looking radiant with the mere imminence of the wedding, marred only by her deep scowl.
Seeming like a foreshadowing of horror, all of her bridesmaids in the pale orange-pink dresses trailed along behind her. Al had forgotten how much room girls could take up, just by being there. The size of the hallway halved; noises were multiplied tenfold; movement increased to frenetic level. As a male, his tolerance for such things was extremely low. It took a great deal of willpower to stop himself from sprinting away and hiding in a corner somewhere until the tidal wave was over.
"Al!" Winry stopped, looked him up and down, and apparently judged him worthy to be in her presence. "Tell Megan that I can take my wrench!"
"She will not take her wrench!" The one who was apparently Megan seemed to grow in Al's vision until she was at least eight feet tall, growing darker and darker with every inch. Alphonse felt like cowering. "This is a wedding, not a tune-up!"
To Alphonse's surprise, Winry grew just as much. She yelled right back in Megan's face, "It's my wedding and I'll bring what I want!"
"In my experience, it's usually best to let Winry have what she wants," Al offered meekly.
Megan transferred her ultra-glare to Alphonse, who felt both relief and shame that Winry was in front of him. But she, after all, was much better equipped to deal with female death glares than he. "But she needs something new, and if she takes the stupid wrench she won't have room!"
"Something... new?" Alphonse asked as both girls dwindled. Apparently sane conversation was the key in this particular argument to decreasing the Scary Female presence.
"Right, she needs something old, something new, something borrowed, and something blue." The bridesmaid Megan and two of her henchmen held up a necklace, a light blue handkerchief, and a pair of pantyhose. "We've got everything but the new thing."
"For good luck, right?" Al nodded and looked at Winry clutching her wrench. "Can I help, Winry?"
"Do you have something new?" she demanded crossly.
Alphonse cringed away from her tone, but went on, "Sorry, but, well, I just thought that if I alchemize your wrench... that would make it new, right?"
Winry's scowl deepened. "Alchemize my wrench?"
"I'd put it back afterwards," interjected Al hastily. "It's just for the wedding."
"I'd agree to that," Megan agreed.
"You'd put it back exactly how it is?" Winry asked suspiciously.
"Down to the last scratch," Al promised.
Winry's face cleared as she thought that over. Biting her lower lip thoughtfully, she inquired, "What would Ed say if he knew you were doing alchemy?"
"He doesn't have to know," Al said confidently. "I can do it and he'll never know the difference."
"All right," Winry agreed, reluctantly handing her wrench to him. A piece of paper and a pencil appeared in his hand as he squatted. He briskly drew a quick array on the paper, and set it with the wrench over the pattern on the floor.
He looked up to see Winry hovering almost protectively over him, and her flock of bridesmaids watching with wide eyes around her. Even the fiery Megan seemed rapt.
"This will just take a second," Al said, and activated the array.
Blue light poured upwards from the array, filling the hallway and pouring through all of its occupants. In about five seconds, it was done. The array and the transmuted wrench lay unharmed on the floor.
Winry was the first to reach for the transmuted wrench. It had formed itself into a thin, smooth, glowing band with silver tracings threading through the metal. Without a word Winry slipped the bracelet on and admired it.
"It's beautiful," Megan breathed.
"Look at the pattern!" A bridesmaid crowded around Winry's wrist, cooing over the new piece of jewelery.
"It's so complex! It's pretty!"
"It's actually the alchemical array that I'll need to turn it back to normal," Al offered, putting the paper and the pencil away. "So I won't have to draw an array for that. Sorry, but that was all I could think of that used the same amount of metal as a wrench."
"It's great, Al. Thank you." Winry's eyes were as bright as the metal that circled her wrist. Abruptly she recovered, and hopped to her feet with her hands on her hips. "There! Now I'm done with this stupid superstition. Let's get on with the dress!"
The cheer that filled the hall actually staggered Al, who steadied himself against the wall. The bridesmaids poured out of the hallway like water through a funnel. Winry was hard on Megan's heels before she paused to look back at Alphonse.
"What are you doing in here, anyway?" she asked, dodging her friend's hands as they coaxed her to come inside.
"What? Oh!" Alphonse remembered the message Edward had entrusted him to deliver. "I've got a message from Brother."
"Really? From Ed?" Winry's attention was abruptly one hundred percent focused on Alphonse. "What did he say?"
"He said to tell you that he loves you, and he can't wait to see you today." Al began, and paused as three bridesmaids stuck their heads out of the bathroom. Winry's eyes were shining again, and she clasped her hands together in front of her heart. "He also wanted me to tell you that he wants to hold you and kiss you, and he might not be able to wait through the ceremony, so he wants you to be ready after 'Dearly Beloved'. I think he was kidding on that part," Alphonse confided. "He also said that you don't have to worry about making yourself beautiful, because if you get any more beautiful you'll burn his eyes out. But in a good way. That's what he said."
"Ohhhh, Ed!" Winry twirled once, making her skirt flutter around her. The effect reminded Alphonse of a butterfly. "Tell him... tell him that he better be ready. And that I love him too! And tell him that if his tie is crooked I'm going to hit him with my wrench... my bracelet!"
"I'll tell him that you love him too, and that you're going to bang him..." Al paused as the bridesmaids tittered and tilted his head with confusion. "...over the head? If he's not straight. Don't worry, I'll make sure he's neat."
Winry laughed, seeming lighter and happier than he'd ever seen her. "Oh Al! I'm so glad you're living with us afterwards. We're going to have so much fun!"
Then her friends succeeded in grabbing her arm, and she was yanked into the bathroom. As the door closed, Al was treated to the sight of Winry swarmed by ten young women baring what looked like implements of death. He shook his head at the sudden silence and turned to the kitchen to report back to Ed.
Living with us afterwards? Al had been under the impression that Winry was moving in with Ed and himself, not that Winry and Ed were taking the house as their love nest and just letting Alphonse live there. He shook his head again as he pushed open the door. It wasn't like it really mattered, anyway. He located Edward's anxious face in the crowd and started in his direction, edging by guests and circling benches and lawn chairs.
"We will begin in ten minutes," Pinako pitched her voice to carry over the low murmur of the crowd. "Please take your seats. Edward, Alphonse, to the front please."
Edward stood up, and Alphonse changed his trajectory to coincide with his brother's. They met in the center aisle and continued up to the front.
"She seemed happy to hear from you," Alphonse said. "She told me to tell you that she loved you, and that she'll hit you if you're not perfectly neat. Oh, Brother, your tie is crooked again. Stop touching it!"
"It's choking me," Edward protested, but his eyes softened with the word of Winry. Worry lines around his eyes softened and disappeared, making Edward abruptly look like a young boy again. He smiled up at the tree under which the ceremony would be performed and sighed, his happy sigh. In fact, at this moment he looked so similar to Winry that they could be brother and sister rather than betrothed. Seeing that expression made Al feel vindicated and pleased (since he was the one who had first suggested they go out), but also a little hollow.
It can't hurt forever, Al reasoned to himself as Pinako admonished Edward and straightened his tie. He stared out blankly across the guests and admitted to himself, It figures that this would be the first battle Ed won.
He had long since given up on Winry, having seen the obvious attraction between her and his brother develop for years. Alphonse could doubt his own heart till the end of time, but he could never doubt Winry's. And, once he had admitted it to his brother, Edward's course was clear. This was the natural, logical conclusion.
Besides, it wasn't like he was losing Winry, he continued the thought further, ignoring Edward's last minute attack of nerves, his whispered monologue, and his ill look. Winry would even live in the same house as he would. It was better she marry his brother than one of the louses from the village. None of them could appreciate her genius like Ed and Al could, having first-hand experience. They couldn't appreciate why she went to bed every night with her wrench, or why she was so determined to protect those she loved, or why she was so rough with them.
Yes, that all made very rational, logical sense. Ed and Winry were perfect for each other. He just wished...
If wishes were horses, he'd have a ranch! There was no point in wishing for the impossible. And there were a lot of impossible things in Al's life, so he should know that by now.
The music began. Alphonse and Edward both looked up, to the back of the aisle where Winry would soon be appearing. Edward took a deep, steadying breath, and then another. His hands trailed up to tug at his tie, but Al stopped him en route.
"Don't touch it," Al murmured, riveted to the slowly opening door. The organ began to sound, a breathy voice in the outdoors. It was quiet compared to the racket it usually made in the church. In a way this wedding was a bit of a farce, since neither the bride nor the groom had believed in God since they were small children. But this was the way things were done in Risembool, and that was that.
Since he was the only family Ed acknowledged, Al didn't have to file in with the bridesmaids or the other groom's men. His gaze traced the path of each of the couples as they proceeded up the aisle to the front, splitting to either stand by Ed and Al or going to Winry's side. He was half glad and half sad at the unexpected boon of being saved from walking the aisle.
The flower girl and the ring bearer toddled up the aisle, local children that Ed and Al sometimes babysat for. The ring bearer, Michael, bared his gap-tooth smile up at Alphonse, who squeezed his shoulder encouragingly. Edward was busy hyperventilating.
"Breathe slowly," Al whispered as the organ music turned triumphant and all heads turned to the back.
"Breathe... right..." Ed scoffed quietly, but was stunned silent by a single glistening white slipper.
The world held still for a long moment when Winry emerged from the house.
There was no comparison between the Winry Al had seen earlier and this Winry. That Winry was merely lovely beyond belief. This Winry was an angel descended from heaven. The plain white dress had roses stitched into the bust and down the train, glimmering with each breath she took. Against all the white, her tanned skin seemed to glow with good health. Golden hair wreathed her head in an aura, but her face was shrouded by a delicate veil. Even through the gauzy material, though, Alphonse could see her eyes, glowing with internal rapture.
Edward wasn't breathing. Alphonse couldn't hear his rasp of breath. Sneaking a look at his older brother, Alphonse saw that Ed was rapidly turning blue. He poked his brother's side hard, getting him to expel his breath explosively. He then pretended to ignore Ed's glare in favor of watching Winry make her way down the aisle. It seemed like she just loomed larger than life with every step she took, until she filled his whole vision. He could see nothing but her.
Her eyes were only for Edward. Alphonse finally could deny it no longer.
Edward had finally beat him in the only contest that really mattered.
Part 2, the final part, will come next week. It's written and edited, it just needs posting. Hint hint, reviewers! Encourage me! Otherwise I may forget, oopsies!