Fullmetal Alchemist Fan Fiction ❯ Eye of the Beholder ❯ Chapter Two ( Chapter 2 )

Eye of the Beholder

 

LadyMad

 

Chapter Two

 

He wasn't exactly sure if he'd heard that correctly and hoped with all his being that he hadn't. His eyes pierced deeply into Colonel Mustang's with a sense of sadness and guilt that almost, almost, made the rigid man feel the boy's emotions.

 

“They…can't. They can't. They can't charge me with Al's murder! He wasn't murdered!” Ed cried, getting on his knees and facing Roy straight in the eyes.

 

“As far as the military is concerned, you can be charged because to them, he was murdered you controlled the stone and he died with you in control. To the law, that's involuntary manslaughter. I…” Mustang looked down for a moment and then met Ed's eyes again. “I'm sorry.” Clenching his fists tightly, Ed looked down at the sheets. He wanted to deny it but it did appear that way. To the law, Al was murdered and his own brother was the murderer. “We still need your story on it, though. You're not guilty just yet, not until it's proven with fact. That's part of the reason I'm here talking to you now.” Ed looked up at him, disbelief in his face.

 

“An alibi? You need me to give you an alibi?!” Ed screamed. “I was there! How the hell can you prove it didn't have anything to do with it!?”

 

“Edward, look. We just need to know the full story. None of us were there.” Ed clenched his teeth, trying to hold back his remaining tears but surprised he had any left to cry. “If anything they'll demote you.”

 

“What if I resigned?” He asked. “Will I still be charged?” Roy sighed and looked at the wall.

 

“I'm not sure.” Mustang paused for a long minute and looked down at his gloved hands. “Maybe if I got the story from you, it will be easier for them to let you go with just resigning.” Ed nodded.

 

“Some years after my father left us, my brother and I got into alchemy. We tried little things. My mom died before we went looking for the stone and our father. We attempted a human transmutation to bring her back and…you know how that ended up. I almost lost Al but I gave my right arm and left leg for his soul. Then we left to find the stone to get ourselves back to normal. This last time, we found the Philosopher's Stone and tried a transmutation to regain my leg and arm and Al's body. The stone took Al's soul and gave me my limbs. I don't know why it did.”

 

“And that's the story?” Mustang asked. Ed nodded.

 

“At least what I can remember of it. I've been knocked out twice while performing the transmutation. I'm not going to remember everything.”

 

“It traded Alphonse's soul for your limbs?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“Did you think that maybe that's what Al wanted? He seemed genuinely interested in your happiness.” Ed looked up quickly and looked at Mustang. “It might not have been murder. It might have been…”

 

“Don't…say it. Al wouldn't even think about that!”

 

“As far as he told you.” Mustang took a deep breath and looked over Ed's arm. The bleeding had stopped and it seemed that Edward had calmed down. Hopefully he'd stay that way.

 

“I'm going to need a few days to think all this over, Colonel.” Mustang nodded.

 

“I can give you that.” He turned on his heel and walked from the room. Slowly, Armstrong followed but turned his head and took a last glimpse at Ed before leaving the room.

 

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

 

Edward turned everything over in his head at least a thousand times each day. After the first day, he began walking, getting the feel of a real leg again and putting stress and pressure on his right arm, getting it in shape. Thankfully the two limbs adjusted quickly to the rest of his body. The loss of Al, however, still lingered on the forefront of his mind. Conducting his own physical therapy was just a minor punishment to himself and his limbs. Thinking ahead, Mustang had had all sharp objects, including needles, removed from the room and out of the young alchemist's hands.

 

He had experienced a breakdown but convinced himself he was recovering from it. However, Ed never noticed how his emotions and mentality slipped downward and declined slowly with each passing day. After five days, Colonel Roy Mustang returned with a packet of paper in hand. Ed had just been finishing his `therapy' for the day when Mustang walked in.

 

“Good to see you up and about, Ed.” Mustang replied to the sight. Ed nodded with a lack of smile or emotion present on his usually happy face. Mustang noticed that Ed's usually well kempt, braided hair had been messily pulled back into a ponytail at his nape. “Have you thought anything through?”

 

“Yes. Did you talk to `them'?” Mustang nodded.

 

“They agreed to drop any charges against you and put them on suicide if you quietly resign.”

 

“Not that I'm happy with the fact that my brother is being accused of suicide but I don't have much choice.”

 

“You do, but the other wouldn't have such a nice outcome.” Roy quickly regretted his choice of wording but noticed Ed's reaction, or lack thereof. Ed took the packet and thumbed through it. “It's a notice that you're resigning. It means that if you sign that paper, you can't hold anything against the military or try to press charges for any reason.” Ed sighed and nodded. He held his hand out and Mustang placed in his palm a pen. Ed quickly read through the packet, skimming most of it, signed the last couple pages and handed it over to Mustang. “Edward, I wish you luck. I really do.” Roy said. He shook Ed's hand, turned, and left the room.

 

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

 

Winry walked into the room just in time to see Ed packing what few belongings he had into a small duffel. He wore the same clothes he had worn when he joined the military but without the military's insignia anywhere on him. She'd been told a bit about what had happened but not all of it. Hoping to get full answers, she'd come to see Ed only to find she'd actually be saying goodbye. She cleared her throat and put her hands behind her back innocently. He didn't bother to look up but his hands stopped for a moment.

 

“How long will you be gone for?” She asked trying to input her usual happiness into her depressed voice.

 

“I'm not sure I'm coming back. I don't have anything to come back to.”

 

“What do you mean? What about the military? Don't you still have that…?”

 

“I resigned. Didn't they tell you?” Winry shook her head and looked down. A wallet-sized picture of Alphonse lied on the bed waiting to be packed.

 

“You're going to go home to see me though.” She said it more as a hopeful statement than a question and she was sure he knew that.

 

“I don't think so.” Tears formed in the corner of her eyes but she held them back as best she could.

 

“Why? Why run? You can only run so far. Besides, you can't run from your past.” Ed continued packing, not even looking up at her for one second. “Edward look at me, damn you!” She screamed. He still didn't look up at her.

 

“I know this is all for the best, Winry. Maybe one day I'll see you again but for now…I need space. I need to think. It's the only thing I have left.” Winry, now, couldn't help but let the tears fall.

 

“You have me.” Her voice was choked and hollow, the words sincere and full of tears. He looked up at her, his golden eyes meeting her own blue eyes.

 

“I can't touch anything without killing it. I think it might be best if you don't seek me out.” His eyes, full of tears, glistened in the light. He suddenly looked down, away from her. “It's best if you just forget about me.” Winry's eyes went wide with shock.

 

“I can't forget you. I can't. I've known you all my life!”

 

“You've only known a part of me.” He zipped up his bag, slung it over his shoulder and walked out the door. Winry ran after him and stopped in the middle of the hallway, her hand to her chest.

 

“Ed!” She cried out his name, hoping he'd stop but he didn't. Armstrong and Hawkeye stood up against the wall as Ed walked by. Roy glanced at the teen before looking away, somehow afraid to look him in his eyes. “ED!!” Winry cried again. No one said a word to him as he walked through the corridors and down a flight of stairs before opening the doors to the hospital and walking away from all he'd ever known.

 

As he walked down the street, he reached into his shirt, pulled out a pendant of the alchemy circle, tore it from his neck and threw it down while he continued to walk. The grey sky seemed to mirror his emotions and began a light rain. A piece of paper flew from Edward's pocket and hit the wet ground. It was a scrap and in Al's handwriting. The words `I love you, my Brother' were scrawled quickly across it. A black gloved hand bent down and picked it up then picked up the pendant. Crystal green eyes watched as the young, blonde-haired boy walked farther down the street. The eyes of a child but so much more.

 

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

 

A/N: Sniffle, sniffle. So much damn drama! Anyway, I'm hoping that the rest of the fic won't be as dramatic as the first two but who knows? Well, hope you enjoyed reading and tell me what you think. Oh! From here on out, not many of the other FMA characters will be paying a visit. I might change my mind and throw in a few every so often but that's just a maybe. Anyway, chow!