Title: A Final Choice
Author: Evil_Little_Dog
Rating: K+
Disclaimer: This is a derivative work, and, as such, I make absolutely no money writing this. Darn the luck.
Summary: Edward's dying, but gets to make a choice.
Notes: From FMA_Fic_Contest.
The last time Edward Elric saw the Gate, and the little white creature that referred to itself as 'Truth', he was an old man. He'd lived his life in the other world, where Amestris, and his adventures there, seemed like a dream, except for two notable reminders – his beloved brother, and two limbs made of steel.
He'd been in the garden, hoeing out weeds, when a strange pain made its way up his flesh arm like a lightning bolt, making his heart clutch. He'd grabbed at his heart, opening his mouth to shout, but nothing came out. The world spun around him, and, faintly, he felt the warm earth under his back, saw the sun gleaming down from the sky, smelled the bitter scent of tomato leaves, so close, and then, everything faded into stark white.
"Hello, al-che-mist."
The pain evaporated as soon as it hit, and Edward turned around, seeing the creature smiling at him. "What am I doing here?"
Truth ignored the question to ask one of its own. "What do you think?"
Edward inhaled deeply, realizing all the aches and pains of the world were gone. He glanced around, as if he could see back to his garden, to his house, to his brother, but nothing appeared. "Am I dead?"
Truth's smile stretched its mouth. "Oh, yes," it said, "or dying, but a soul, as you know, goes on." Behind it, the great Gate appeared, two black doors, with its familiar runes. "So, al-che-mist, you have a choice. Do you want to continue on your journey?"
The doors beckoned, and Edward started to reach out, to touch them. They still resembled nothing he knew, either from Earth or Amestris; still towered far overhead. (He didn't notice he could crane his head back, painlessly, to follow the height of them.) Some sort of dark material, similar to stone, rather than wood. The color of coal or jet. He rubbed his fingers together, remembering the door's texture beneath his hands. "What's the catch? What do I have to give up, this time? Another world? A limb?"
"Your memories."
"What?" Edward spun to the creature.
"You will be reborn. An infant. A blank slate."
"Tabula rasa." He'd heard the term before, debating with scientists on Earth. Searching the door, Edward whispered, "Where would I go?"
"Where do you want to go?"
He swallowed hard. His young life, he'd had so much hardship. After making the choice to stay on Earth, he'd hated that world for a while, hated he'd had to stay there, rather than return to Amestris. Things weren't perfect there, any more than they were on Earth, but alchemy existed. His automail wasn't a constant concern for people who considered him a cripple, unable to even think, despite the accreditations he'd received. Edward thought of his little brother, Al, and all the family they'd made on Earth.
But then he considered Amestris, the brilliant colors, the sheer explosions of taste and smell and, Edward closed his eyes for a second, emotion he'd had there. In his heart, despite everything, he'd always wanted to go home. See if Mustang ever became Fuhrer. Find out if Winry had become the renowned automail mechanic she wanted to be. "Home," he said, not even realizing he had.
The doors swung open at his breath of a word, the strange hands reaching out for him, hauling him through. And Edward's memories dissolved at their touch, leaving him a blank slate, turning his soul into a new, bright thing, as clean and clear as the dawn.
X X X
"It's a boy!" came the cheer, and Theodore, the newest member of the family, let out his first cry in his new world.
~end~