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This is for Roy, so she will be happy.
When Ed had run, Al had thought it couldn’t get worse.
But it did.
When Ed’s eyes turned violet and the thing that took his body tried to kill them, it got much worse.
But not nearly as bad as when the Gate opened, grim and great, and those things reached for his brother.
Ed’s scream as the hands had wrapped tight around his face was going to haunt Al’s nightmares for a long time.
But watching Ed smile like that made Al want to cry. That bitter, empty smile. He had seen a smile like that before, on soldiers who had seen too much. They floated around Central like ghosts, locked in their own private pain. They were so caught up in something that had broken a part of them that they never got past it. Instead, they would pretend to move on, pretend to be really alive.
The thought that his brother had pain like that hurt Al in a way. If Ed could keep something like that hidden, what else was he hiding?
Then Ed had stopped breathing. For a split second, Al had a flash of a memory, of small children holding their breath out of spite.
But it was obvious to him that Ed wanted air, needed air, but, for some reason, couldn’t take it. As if something was keeping him from breathing.
Al was scared. Beyond scared. He had seen people who were forced to face their past break down. That once their shell was pierced, they would crumble in on themselves and fade.
Then Riza had touched Ed, and the man had gasped for air. Al saw that Ed was just as frightened as he had been.
“I….” A wavering, almost sob broke the sentence. “I didn’t want to go through that again. Never. How could I make you do it if I was too scared to?”
That was the moment that Al saw Ed break. His brother, the Fullmetal Alchemist, the man who had stood up to the military, to homunculi, to death and the confusion of changing worlds, broke. He sank against Riza with a sob, and clung to her.
Al saw his brother break, and feared that they would never be able to put him back together.
He wouldn’t stand for it. Carefully, so not to jostle the other two too much, Al climbed onto the bed as well. Wrapping his arm around his brother, Al leaned close. “We love you, Niisan. No matter what happens, we love you.”
That was all he could do, but Al was determined that he would do it right. That Ed would know they were there for him, whenever he needed them.
Ed deserved it.
When Ed had run, Al had thought it couldn’t get worse.
But it did.
When Ed’s eyes turned violet and the thing that took his body tried to kill them, it got much worse.
But not nearly as bad as when the Gate opened, grim and great, and those things reached for his brother.
Ed’s scream as the hands had wrapped tight around his face was going to haunt Al’s nightmares for a long time.
But watching Ed smile like that made Al want to cry. That bitter, empty smile. He had seen a smile like that before, on soldiers who had seen too much. They floated around Central like ghosts, locked in their own private pain. They were so caught up in something that had broken a part of them that they never got past it. Instead, they would pretend to move on, pretend to be really alive.
The thought that his brother had pain like that hurt Al in a way. If Ed could keep something like that hidden, what else was he hiding?
Then Ed had stopped breathing. For a split second, Al had a flash of a memory, of small children holding their breath out of spite.
But it was obvious to him that Ed wanted air, needed air, but, for some reason, couldn’t take it. As if something was keeping him from breathing.
Al was scared. Beyond scared. He had seen people who were forced to face their past break down. That once their shell was pierced, they would crumble in on themselves and fade.
Then Riza had touched Ed, and the man had gasped for air. Al saw that Ed was just as frightened as he had been.
“I….” A wavering, almost sob broke the sentence. “I didn’t want to go through that again. Never. How could I make you do it if I was too scared to?”
That was the moment that Al saw Ed break. His brother, the Fullmetal Alchemist, the man who had stood up to the military, to homunculi, to death and the confusion of changing worlds, broke. He sank against Riza with a sob, and clung to her.
Al saw his brother break, and feared that they would never be able to put him back together.
He wouldn’t stand for it. Carefully, so not to jostle the other two too much, Al climbed onto the bed as well. Wrapping his arm around his brother, Al leaned close. “We love you, Niisan. No matter what happens, we love you.”
That was all he could do, but Al was determined that he would do it right. That Ed would know they were there for him, whenever he needed them.
Ed deserved it.