(no subject)

[seekinghome]

Who: Edward Elric and YOU
Where: The Beach
When: The afternoon
Rating: Probably not more than PG, but if it does get higher, I'll update.
Summary: Ed's had a bit too much time to think.
The Story:

Now that Ed's gotten fairly settled into a routine in Wonderland and things from the last event have calmed down, Ed's found himself with too much time on his hands to think about things. Some of them are things like worrying about how Alfons was doing back in Germany and how he and Hohenheim took Ed's disappearance.

And then there's his and Al's Mirrors and how disturbingly different they were. Ed still found it hard to believe that a version of his brother would hate him. In some ways, it reminded him painfully of Sloth and the way she hated him. On the third hand, there's Greed and the issues Ed has resulting from him; some of which were tied in to his own version of him.

All of this is why he can be found sitting on a bench at the beach, watching the waves roll in and retreat; occasionally sipping from one of the beers he had a closet produce for him.

Comments

[seekingbrother]

Al eventually came across his brother in his own wanderings, pausing for a moment before going over and sitting beside him. "Hey, Brother."

[seekinghome]

Ed looks over at him, jarred out of his thoughts. "Hey."

[seekingbrother]

He smiles a bit, leaning back to look at the waves. "I've never seen an ocean before. Was there one in Germany?"

[seekinghome]

Ed shakes his head. "Not really. A tiny section has access to the ocean, but the majority of the country's landlocked."

[seekingbrother]

Al nods, looking over to Ed. "...what's on your mind?"

[seekinghome]

Ed sighs and takes another sip of his beer. "A lot of things."

[seekingbrother]

He frowns. "You wanna talk about any of it? Even if I can't help, it could help to just get it out."

[seekinghome]

"I'm worried about how Alfons is taking my disappearance. I can't imagine Dad's all that happy about it either, although he's got his own place and wouldn't have noticed as quickly as Alfons would," Ed says, taking another sip of his beer.

[seekingbrother]

Al frowned. "Winry's probably noticed that I haven't been calling in by now. I usually try to call her at least once a month while I'm out on the road. ...if we get sent back, what are we gonna do if you get sent to Germany?"

[seekinghome]

Ed looks down at his beer. "Probably drink something a lot stronger than this."

[seekingbrother]

He scowls. "I'm serious, Brother! We should try and make a plan so I can get over there and bring you home! We have the time now, all that we have to do is figure out how to pull it off."

[seekinghome]

"So am I!" Ed fires back. "Besides, who's to say we'd even remember being here, given what we'd been talking about in the library with Greed and Ling? Any plans we try to make could be for nothing!"

[seekingbrother]

Al squares his shoulders, fists clenching. "And what if we do remember it, even if it's only parts? Just because it might not work doesn't mean we shouldn't try!"

[seekinghome]

Ed takes an angry swig of his beer and stares out at the water. "I'm sure your bright idea involves alchemy. Which doesn't work on the other side of the Gate."

[seekingbrother]

"But I still need your help to figure out how to open the Gate without hurting anyone! I don't remember how it works, but obviously that's how I'm gonna have to get you! Maybe I can hold it open to bring you home or something, but I need your help to figure out how."

[seekinghome]

Ed stares off moodily at the water for a bit. "Dante used Rose's baby to open the Gate. Something about the kid being that young made it easy to do. Didn't hurt it any, so far as I saw."

[seekingbrother]

Al bites his lip. Using a method that woman came up with didn't sit well in his stomach, but... "What did she do to the baby? Could you tell?"

[seekinghome]

Ed shakes his head. "I don't remember. She was opening the Gate to try to get rid of me, so I had other things to concentrate on at the time."

Ed's getting a bit twitchy. He doesn't like thinking about that night.

[seekingbrother]

Al nods, biting his lip. "Rose doesn't really remember much from while Dante had her, what with all the drugs she'd been given."

[seekinghome]

"Yeah, I noticed that she was... really out of it."

[seekingbrother]

Al nodded. "She recovered from it, thankfully. She runs an orphanage in Liore now."

[seekinghome]

"She does, huh? Good to know she was able to pull her life back together."

[seekingbrother]

"Yeah. Last I heard Mister Armstrong was heading out there to help with the reconstruction effort, too."

[seekinghome]

"Oh lord," Ed mutters. The mental images he's getting are... interesting, to say the least.

[seekingbrother]

Al chuckles, knowing full well what's going through his brother's head. "Yeah, I'm not sure if I should feel sorry for them or not. He'll definitely help, but..."