Chapter Text
Ed took a deep breath, the air filling his lungs, the sound echoing through his ears. He’d finally done it. He’d gotten Al’s body back. He’d completed his mission, his goal, his quest. He took another breath, his arms- no, his arm shaking where it was holding his body up. Something wet and warm dripped from his face, falling onto the back of his hand, staining it such a pretty red. He blinked, eyelashes fluttering quickly as black spots began to grow over his vision.
He tried to take another breath, tried to snap himself out of whatever mess he’d gotten his head stuck in, but nothing seemed to work. Someone’s voice flooded into his ears, the sound making his head spin. A gloved hand landed on his back, successfully breaking what little concentration Ed had been keeping to stay balanced, and his face was very quickly planted in wet and sticky sand. He tried to get up, tried to force his body to work, but nothing helped. A pained whine left his throat, and the gloved hand was now trying to push him onto his back.
Someone, a man most definitely, appeared over him, their mouth pulled into a frown. They said something before looking away from him and calling out a jumble of random words. Ed let out a groan as a wave of pain washed over him. A dull throbbing drew his weary gaze to his right arm, where he fully expected to see his automail. Instead, he was met with a bloody mess.
Bile rised to his throat, and Ed had to hold back a gag as he quickly looked away. His body began to shake as he looked at his other arm, which was now smeared with his own blood, his own energy. The gloved hand was back, but now it pulled his face to look at its master. Familiar dark eyes met his golden ones, and Ed had to bite back a sob when Roy’s face finally came into focus. The man looked worried, far too worried for his usually cocky self, and it was only getting worse. Roy’s mouth was moving, words obviously falling from his mouth, but nothing met Ed’s ears.
The ringing was unbroken, even as Ed’s chest began to vibrate from an explosion somewhere off to the side. Roy flinched when the light flashed, taking a chance to look away from the teen before snarling. He looked back down at Ed, who couldn’t help but give a dry sob as he shook. The smooth texture of the gloves suddenly found itself on his back, pulling his body away from the ground.
A sound fell from his bloody lips, unheard by its owner as he was pulled to Roy’s chest. Ed couldn’t help but curl into the hold, burying his face in the Colonel’s jacket, no doubt staining it with his blood. Roy said nothing, or maybe he did, his chest simply vibrating as he started running, moving swiftly through debris and over discarded bodies. So many had fallen this day, and there was nothing they could do about it, not anymore. Funny how things work, as the last thing Ed saw before it all faded to black was his superior yelling something to him, fear plain in his eyes.
The darkness didn’t leave at first, making itself comfortably at home in his unconsciousness. The feeling of pain slowly ebbing its way closer to the darkness was familiar, almost exactly like the day he had first lost his arm and leg. Speaking of, his left leg began to hurt as well, the stump far too warm to be safe for his ports. Slowly but surely, the darkness faded away to a simple gray, and Edward managed to finally open his eyes. Instead of the medical ward at Central, the wooden ceiling of the Rockbells is what he was met with. His eyes fluttered across the familiar wood, taking note of each scratch and indent he’d remembered, but for some reason, the most recent damages are… gone.
Taking a deep breath, Ed dared to look down at himself, fully expecting to see his arm gone again and blood staining his clothes. That is, of course, exactly what he saw, but neither of his ports was in his stubs. Blinking, the blond brushed his shaking fingers over the bandaged wound that was still tender and fresh, almost like he had just lost his leg all over again. It was hot, and just putting an ounce of pressure on it made stars flash across his eyes, so Ed was very soon leaning back on the bed.
He shook his head slowly before looking at the rest of himself. He had no shirt on, his chest bare for the world to see, but no scars marred his skin. His stomach was clear of any old wounds, and his left arm looked perfectly fine again. It wasn’t natural, wasn’t normal. Being in the military for so long, working on the battlefield for so long, he was almost promised to gain scars, to gain mementos of horrid things, but now? Now it was all gone.
Footsteps snapped Ed from his thoughts, and the familiar face of Winry peeked from behind the old wooden door. Her blue eyes lit up with tears at the sight of him, and the girl very quickly rushed to his side.
“Edward! You’re awake!” Her arms quickly wrapped around his neck, and the boy had to choke back a cry of pain as Winry hugged him tightly. “You had us worried sick! You-You-” she cut herself off with a wail.
That… was weird.
Winry hardly ever cried like this anymore, not even when Ed had been on his deathbed a few months ago. He brought his hand up to rub the girl's back, pointedly ignoring the tears rolling down his collarbone and chest, before trying to pull away. But Winry just wouldn’t budge.
It was then that Granny walked in, her eyes tired from age and stress, no doubt made worse by whatever Ed and Al had pulled this time. Wait.
“A-Al-”
“Is fine, Edward,” Granny said, moving to stand on Ed’s right. Winry pulled away with a loud sniff, rubbing her snot on her sleeve before stepping closer to Granny. “He’s in the living room, making himself comfortable in that suit of armor he got himself in.”
That’s not right. Ed had literally just gotten his brother out of that damned thing, and he was already back in it? How? The old woman must have known what he was thinking, as she sighed heavily. “Tell me, Edward, what do you remember last?”
“I-I… Light, a-and blood.” The smell of sulfur and death, the feeling of iron and blood on his skin, the taste of pennies in his mouth. Roy to his left, gloves soaked in sweat and tears and blood but still pushing through, they had to push through. They had no choice but to keep going, to keep fighting, even if it cost them their lives. Ed had to get to that circle, had to get Al back, had to make everything right again. “There was… There was a voice.”
Had there been a voice? There had, at some point, when Roy was standing over him. Had those been tears on his cheeks, or was it sweat? Had Ed been crying? Even after everything, after getting Al back, had he somehow failed? There had been no voice after the darkness, but there was. There had to have been. A small, tingling laugh echoing in the back of his mind. The sound of a gate opening and closing. The feeling of being everything and nothing, of knowing all and so little, of being so large yet so small, of holding the universe in his hands yet being a speck in comparison to it. The familiar chants, the deals, the promise, the debt, the Truth.
Ed gasped, his hand reaching to paw at the stub that was once his arm. “W-We, oh my god, we-”
A sob rose up from his throat, and hot tears spilled from his eyes. “ Al, oh god what have I done? What have I- ”
A cold, wrinkly hand cradled his face, and his eyes were met with Granny’s old blues, filled with so much sadness, so much grief, and it was all his fault, all his fault, why couldn’t he do better? He was supposed to be better. Why did he do this? Why why why why why?
Granny must have said something, her lips moving and chest vibrating, but no sound reached him. Ed trembled, body unable to stop shaking at the force of his cries. What had he done? What had he done to Al? What had he done to his baby brother? The one thing he swore to protect with his life? The one thing he lived for anymore? The one thing that kept him alive? What had he done?
He shook as Granny helped him lay on his back again, brushing his sweaty bangs from his forehead. “Rest, Edward. We can talk in the morning, I promise.”
“B-Bu’ Al-”
“He will be there too, don’t worry.”
That was all Ed’s tired body needed to hear, and his eyes closed not even seconds later. However, he couldn’t have a peaceful rest, because why not? Instead of a pleasant dream, Ed opened his eyes to a void of white, and a far too familiar gate before him. Tensing, the boy turned around, meeting the Cheshire smile of an all too familiar face.
“Hello, little Alchemist.”