Title: What Connects Us
Author: vanillavinegar
Rating: K+ (some violent imagery)
Summary: Blood was rarely used in Amestrian alchemy.
Disclaimer: Fullmetal Alchemist and all associated characters, settings, etc., belong to Hiromu Arakawa-san. The only profit I make from this work of fiction is my own satisfaction and, possibly, the enjoyment of others.
Author's Notes: This fic was written for prompt 99, 'seamless', at fma_fic_contest. It won second place that week. Thanks to everyone for reading, and special thanks to Ricorum Scaevola, kalirush, Harryswoman, and Kristen Sharpe (twice!) for reviewing.
Write a review, get a response from the author – promise! :)
His brother didn't know it, but Al had studied his bloodseal. The first time he'd seen it – while Ed was still in rehabilitation from his extensive and multiple surgeries – he had been stunned. Had he needed to breathe, it would have taken that breath away. The circle was unbelievably complex – and yet, utterly simple. There were the lines that meant life – there, the long squiggling shape that stood for the soul. That Ed had created it while in such wracking pain – while on the verge of bleeding out – had used his own blood to draw it…
Blood was rarely used in Amestrian alchemy, even in the small and struggling field of medical alchemy. When it used blood at all (which was uncommon), it was always that of the injured, never of the healer. If an alchemist used his own blood and the transmutation failed… Such rebounds were always, always horrible.
His brother knew this. They had studied the same books. Yet he had brought Al back, at the risk of his own life. He hadn't even hesitated. The slight breaks in the bloodseal were points where he'd needed more blood, not marks of uncertainty. In an alchemist's eyes, the circle was perfectly seamless, beautifully done.
Al knew that Ed believed the bloodseal a mark of how much he had failed his brother. But to Al himself, it represented Ed's determination and love. Thus, no matter how guilty Ed felt over his brother's metal form, Al could never regret it.
THE END