Fullmetal Alchemist Fan Fiction ❯ Veritas Hominum ❯ Al ( Chapter 17 )

Al

 

Al slammed the door when he walked into his office and sank into his chair.

 

Ed was back. His brother was back.

 

At least someone had had the good sense to tell him before he'd walked into that committee meeting.

 

And now Ed was under house arrest for desertion.

 

Al sighed. At least he had come back, unlike their father.

 

He had been angry for so long, and now that he had finally come to terms with his brother abandoning him just like their father did, his brother had returned.

 

Actually, to be more specific, he had returned to Winry. If they had never built this damned plane-thing, he might never have known his brother was alive at all.

 

Al balled his fists. After his brother had disappeared, he had done nothing but search for a way to get back to his brother. He had learned alchemy, become a State Alchemist against the wishes of his teacher, and nothing worked.

 

He'd woken up one day, a happy-go-lucky ten year old, his brother gone and Winry suddenly five years older than he was. He'd been angry, of course. Something had happened, but apparently the only person who knew was Ed, and he had disappeared.

 

I was so stupid. Everyone told me it was time to let go, that he was dead, he would want me to be happy; but I kept on looking anyway! It took me ten years to come to grips with what I thought was the truth - and now he has the gall to come home and not even let me know he was still alive!

 

Guilt washed over him; he'd gone and confronted his brother after the hearing. There had been no reason for Ed to stay away that long and there was absolutely no excuse for Ed to not come see him as soon as he had gotten back to Amestris; to tell him that no matter what his life was like he would have made room in it for his brother.

 

Ed had been quiet though his entire tirade, and did not speak until Al finished; and even then all he said was, “I'm sorry. I thought you were happier without me.”

 

Al was speechless; and not because he was angry that his brother thought that, but because deep down, he knew it was true.

 

The thing is, he was happy. He had been elected a senator at a very young age; he was the second youngest State Alchemist in history, second only to Ed himself. He had a loving girlfriend he had been considering proposing to, and… seventeen years is a really long time.

 

He had the sudden urge to hit something. Hard.

 

Al didn't know whom he was angrier at: Ed for coming home without his help, or himself for giving up the search for his brother.

 

When he'd been elected to Parliament, he had justified ending his search by telling himself that Ed would have wanted him to be happy. And now, although he didn't want to admit it, he wasn't really angry with Ed. He was angry at the world because of the way it had turned out, because of everything they had gone through.

 

And now… he had been placed in charge of his brother's interrogation. He was not looking forward to this.