Title: Teardrops on Roses
A/N:
me: As promised, here's the twoshot for five reviews!
Sora: Wow, Kitty! You actually did something right while I was gone!
me: Shut up Sora! Anyway, thank you soooooo much!! Six reviews in one night AND three alerts?? I practically died from happiness!!
Sora: Yeah, yeah. No one cares.
me: That's what you think :p but still, I can't begin to describe how much your interest means to me! I might just extend this to a threeshot! Oh and here are some replies:
yoshei: Lol coma Ed rox! Thanks, I will!
TenshiElric: Ok, ok! Here it is! throws story
MithLuin: Yup. I'm so mean to poor Al though XD
Syolen: Okiedokie! This story might actually run a little longer than I expected, but that's a good thing!
Renneh: Might be a threeshot! winkwink WITH AN EPILOGUE!!
Night Rain Illusion: You think so? I thought it was pretty crappy when I wrote it, which was why I didn't expect so many reviewers! (I would have made cookies if I knew)
Anorak Myth: Omg!! I'm so glad you liked it so much! And yeah, I thought that too about the Veggie!Ed thing when I first saw it ( ') Sorry, I can't tell you! If I told you that, then that would ruin the ending right? Besides, Sora writes depressing things, so you should take it up with him. XD But it won't end here, I promise!
Thanks again and please enjoy the story!!
Sora: Kitty doesn't own fma and neither do I. But she does own a…what? Kitty, I'm not saying this!
Chapter 2: Rain on my Face
Fuhrer Roy Mustang stared blankly at the page before him, rereading the letter again and again to make sure he had understood what it said. Hawkeye had dropped it off sometime around noon; it was now a quarter past three.
But no matter how many times he read and reread the note, nothing changed. It was the same tear smudged paper, littered with delicate cursive delivering sharp, cutting words that could only have come from the woman who had been housing the Elrics for nearly five months now.
Of course, he thought grimly, it was only the one Elric now.
He knew it would happen, the signs had been there. Al's reluctance to speak about Ed's progress, the way that blonde girl (was she called 'Winry' or something?) always seemed on edge when he called, and, most importantly, the strange letter Alphonse had written him, a mere two months prior to this one.
Roy remembered being thrown completely off guard, when Al's usually detached tone seemed anxious and worried in that letter. The younger Elric had detailed to him a small quarrel that had taken place in the Rockbell home, which right away was something he'd never reveal, and then continued to say what the argument had been about. Edward. Or, more specifically, Edward's existence.
He had been especially thrown by that detail, and had sent a response posthaste so as to further interrogate Alphonse on the matter. It consisted of a small letter, with a few sparse words of news in Central and a single, subtle inquiry: Is everything alright, Al? So simplistic in nature, he could have easily been talking about a stressful job or perhaps a fight with a girlfriend, rather than the life or death of his only brother.
He had wanted to call of course, as that was considerably faster, but he couldn't break the casual façade he had created in order to gently pry the answers from the teen. Roy thought that nothing else could surprise him after Al's sudden show of concern, that is, until Pinako answered his letter one week later.
Al is very ill. We'll call if there's any change.
It was a single, detached line; the kind that doctors delivered to waiting families. Really more of a note than a letter, but it was just enough to cause Roy's entire world to come crashing down.
The poor man had thought that seeing so many of his friends die on the battlefield would prepare him for moments like these, but he was wrong. At least in those situations the blow dealt had been a shock, halting any pain and only fueling the rage he felt towards his enemy.
But this enemy had been invisible to him, and he had been helpless, utterly and completely useless, when Al's condition just kept getting worse and worse until finally it released him from its iron grip.
And handed him over to hollow embrace of death.
He strode purposefully towards his car, having already "asked" a timid young Sergeant to retrieve it for him. When he had seen the date of postage on the envelope of the note he'd been reading, he had nearly burst into flames of rage. Said letter, clenched in his fist, had been sent at least two weeks ago; an unfortunate detail that made the request for Roy's presence at the service today a difficult one to acquiesce with.
But by a stroke of luck, the funeral did not begin for another three hours. So he had three hours to drive to Resembool. Yeah, right.
Damn it, he cursed inwardly, wanting badly to fry whoever was in charge of his mail.
Winry stood by Ed, trying her best to be strong, if only for her grandmother. Though Pinako probably had the only dry eyes within the group, Winry knew that the woman was suffering a pain much deeper than her own. Whilst Winry felt as though she'd lost her dear brother, Pinako was experiencing the death of her son and his wife all over again.
But as they lowered the simple russet brown coffin into the midnight pit, she felt the tears begin to flow. She squeezed her eyes shut angrily, willing herself to stay strong; but she couldn't stop them from coming once they'd started.
She hid her face from the crowd, and found herself dwelling on thoughts from earlier that day. That man Mustang hadn't shown up, and Edward seemed completely unfazed by Al's untimely death.
She suddenly felt an irrational rage towards them both. Why should she stand, bawling like a baby, when they act as though nothing happened?
Winry glared through her tears at the golden head of the elder Elric. Though she vaguely knew that it hadn't been Ed's fault that Al had died and that she was being ridiculous, she felt she could never, would never forgive him.
Fair eyes that had dulled to bronze gazed upon the grim faces, rimmed in black veils and coats, standing around the strangely large brown box. Thoughts suddenly came to him in quick bursts of energy, before fading silently back into the background.
He couldn't understand why everyone was wearing black for one thing, or even why they were just standing around outside in the rain. If Al was here, he'd want Ed out of the rain; that much Edward knew for sure.
But for some reason, Alphonse wasn't at his usual place by Ed's side, and Ed had a suspicion that his caretaker's sudden disappearance had something to do with this strange gathering. He felt it was something fairly obvious, something that he was missing, but through the haze of his mind he couldn't quite put his finger on it.
Plus, he was starting to get annoyed by the pouring rain outside. Although he was under one of the black umbrellas, he was getting wet. Especially when they started to lower the big box into the ground and everyone around him started choking on something. Something he couldn't see, as the unrelenting moisture started to blur his vision.
Why did the rain sting his eyes so?
Although it had taken the use of strange new forms of transportation called "planes", Roy had barely managed to make it to Resembool before the service was over. Unfortunately, he could see from a distance that all that remained now were the hunched forms of Winry, Pinako, and… Edward.
It was nearly six and the sky seemed to be reflecting the feelings of all those who had attended the internment; as there was not a dry eye in the small group that remained. Roy reluctantly prepared himself to explain his absence at the service, before he noticed something rather odd. A prickling feeling that told him that he had missed something very important….
And then it hit him. In a rush, he half ran, half walked the short distance to the clustered family; thoroughly surprising the Rockbell women and causing them to shout indignantly and incoherently at him.
But he was deaf to their screams. In a flurry of movement, he had grabbed the elder Elrics face in one hand and all but forced the teen to look at him.
There were gasps all around as the rest of the group caught the movement in time to see what Roy had seen.
Fresh tears, glistening in shimmering golden eyes; exactly where their owner had left them.
me: Sorry, I know it sucked but I was trying to finish it so that I could post it Everyone who reviews gets fresh cookies!
Sora: And everyone who flames gets cookies AND milk!
me: Hey!