Fic: "To Find Shamballa", Chapter Five, Part One
Title: To Find Shamballa
Pairing: Edward Elric x Alfons Heiderich
Side Pairings: Alphonse Elric x Winry Rockbell, Roy Mustang x Sheska, onesided Roy Mustang x Riza Hawkeye
Rating: G-NC-17
Summary: Alfons Heiderich had gone to Transylvania to pursue his passion, and maybe find a way to help save his tattered country. Little did he know that he would find Edward Elric.
Thanks: To
ssjkawaiitenshi, who listens to my plot ramble (and bounces ideas back and forth with me) despite her busy schedule,
caitlinnekofor checking over my Al!muse when I was writing the final version of this chapter, and
hikaru_9for the quick beta.
Note: This is the remake of the entire Movie arc. This is heavy DIVERGENCE. This is EXTREME DIVERGENCE. DIVERGENCE WITH A CAPITAL DIVERGENCE xD This will also be posted on Fanfiction.net, but that is the cut version of this story. The complete unedited version is LJ only.
Note 2: The longest chapter of this story yet with 4029 words...I worked my ass off on this chapter (sorry it's late!!), so I hope everyone likes it!! Finally, the plot gets somewhere!!!
Prologue Chapter One Chapter Two Chapter Three Chapter Four
---
Resembool, 1924
---
“Winry?”
“Mmm?”
Alphonse Elric looked down towards the table top, balling his hands in fists on his legs. It was hard to say what had driven this conversation; most breakfasts were silent, almost somber…Winry would quickly eat her breakfast and totter off to whatever assignment she was supposed to do for the day, and Granny had always eaten long before the two had even sat down to table. Den would leave…
The silence would fill Alphonse with a small numbness, but a numbness that came with familiarity and tradition. Habits.
Habits that he knew he could break, if he really tried to break them.
Break the dark monotony that made up this house and this family.
He smiled…or rather, tried to smile.
“It’s nothing, Winry. Don’t worry about it.” Looking for conversation among the silence, bringing up his deeper worries but not willing to address them at all. What a coward he was. “I was just wondering about somethi”
“About Ed, right?” She took a quick bite of her food, not even bothering to look at him.
…
A sigh.
“Yeah…”
A pause.
“I’m sure…”
He couldn’t see her face…but he knew that she didn’t have that usual pleasant expression of hers…that smile that he used to see over and over and over again, daily, again and again, as if there was no one else in the world and she was throwing it just for him. She never smiled these days-not since he woke up, and not since his brother left.
She never gave him any real ones, anyway…She would leave those large grins and half-smiles, but they were always empty…accompanied with pained eyes and a soft voice, with carefully chosen words as if Al was this invalid who had to have everything kept from him in order for him to be happy.
He couldn’t stand it.
It was like when his brother left…
He took everyone’s happiness with him.
Just like that.
It was as if nobody else mattered, nothing else mattered than the one who had left, and the rest of the world was left behind to turn only very slowly as it was out of the orbit of a certain Edward Elric. Wherever he was…if he was anywhere at all, and if these dreams of his were even real and not fabricated ideas or hopes or half-truths that his mind had created in order to cope with the loss.
He had seen his brother in those dreams. He had seen him clearly. Face, hair, eyes-all of it. Could hear his voice, could smell his scent…
But why was he all the way over there?
Why wasn’t he here?
Didn’t he see how much everyone else was suffering? Waiting in the house for him…just like…
Just like Mom and us used to wait for Daddy, Brother. You said you wouldn’t be like him…Always, always said that, Brother…that you’d never leave me and Winry alone, and that everything would be okay. That’s what you said, Brother!
Al swallowed.
“You’re sure…?”
Say something. Anything. Anything at all…
“I’m sure that Ed’s all right somewhere…he’s just…he’s just wandering around, trying to find his way home to you, Al.”
“And to you too, Winry.”
Another sigh.
“Yeah…and me too…I guess.”
She ‘guessed’? That didn’t make sense. Winry was just as much a part of their family as they were of hers. They always told her everything…well, except the resurrecting their mother part, but…
Was there something else that they hid from her?
What had happened during those ‘lost years’ of his?
“Don’t say that, Winry! I’m sure he’ll come home to you, too! And then…”
“I don’t really think it’s that simple, Al…”
Her voice was so sad…low, but sad…it was almost like she was trying not to cry…
His heart wrenched. This wasn’t the Winry he knew at all. Either that, or she had her soul ripped out of her body by some outside force, and nothing else really was right in her life anymore.
She looked so lost.
“Winry, I
---
Transylvania, 1921
---
“Alphonse!”
There were things that Alfons Heiderich had thought to wake up from in the middle of the night, right when he had finally gotten into a comfortable sleeping position after Edward the ever-so-charitable had hogged the blankets and all the pillows, leaving him one cold spot on the side of the mattress for his much too-tall body to curl up and try to balance on…
Maybe dreams.
Maybe a random chill, namely from the fact that he had no blanket and couldn’t possibly be warm with the lack of something covering him…
But no.
A scream and a sudden pain on his face shot him up with a surprised cry, sending him tumbling off the bed and crashing down to the floor in a pale, blond heap. He was surprised that he didn’t break something-or rather, that the floor didn’t collapse under his weight, or the splinters of the floorboards didn’t get into his skin. It was common knowledge to wear shoes when wandering the bedrooms for this reason, but…
“Agh…uh…”
What the…
Shuffling.
The bed was shuffling, practically moving along on the floor, as Alfons tried to push himself up to his feet.
What the hell was that? It was like a train had suddenly come through his window, whacked him in the face, and then disappeared, never to be seen again with any evidence of it actually being there. He was lucky that his damn nose wasn’t broken.
“Al…”
Alfons blinked, keeping his grip on the headboard of the bed as he looked over at the other occupant who laid there, twisting and turning under the confiscated blankets and sheets.
When had his hair fallen out of its ponytail? It was falling down, stuck to his shoulders and neck, which were both damp with sweat, soaking through the white shirt he wore…and probably his sleep pants, too. He was sprawled out, twisting and turning, and twisting again. It was almost like a long, drawn out, agonizing dance.
“Al…”
Al?
Alfons blinked again, but made no effort to move. Instead he stared down at the young man in the bed.
Al.
Al.
No. That was a coincidence. It had to be.
He swallowed hard.
“H-Herr Edward…” he mumbled. He reached out his hand, but then retracted it, sighing. “H-Herr Edward…w-wake up…”
A choke…
A sob?
“Al…I’m so sorry…”
!!!!!!!!!
Al?
“I’m sorry…I’m so sorry, Al…”
He huddled more into himself…the tears and the sobbing became louder…more audible to his ears despite the pounding of his blood that seemed to overwhelm any other sound he could have heard.
“Al…I’ve been wanting to ask you this for a long time, but…I dunno…I’m just…afraid of what you’re gonna say if I ask you, I guess…”
“What is it, Brother?”
Edward looked down towards his feet, fist clenching as it rested on his leg…
“Dammit, I…
It couldn’t be. It just couldn’t be.
“Al…”
Alfons could see him shivering under the blanket. Shaking…almost like a leaf, sitting on a tree amongst a quiet breeze. He was almost completely covered, but…he could still see enough. He could still see the flush in the man’s cheeks, and his gold eyes tightly shut, almost painfully so…
He reached his hand out again.
Edward rolled over suddenly, leg flying in the air, blanket riding up.
Riding up…
“Hey ah…could you get out of the room a sec? I don’t want another guy seeing me naked.”
Edward had said that, and then when he had called Alfons back in, he had already taken up the blankets and pillows and huddled under the blankets…almost like a shield.
But…
Something was shining in the dark.
Alfons leaned forward.
It was around where the knee should have been…
Metallic?
No, he had to have been imagining things…
Legs didn’t randomly have metal on them. Even with today’s prosthetics, they were immobile, and the way Edward moved there was no way he could have been a cripple…
…right?
But…
He shuffled forward, reaching a hand out…
Poke.
…Edward didn’t seem to notice.
Poke.
…Wait.
Was that rubber?
…No that couldn’t have been rubber. Skin wasn’t rubber. That just didn’t happen…
It just didn’t…
…
“Ughhhhh…..”
Edward started to shift, and shuffle a bit in the bed.
Scheisse! Ah, I wasn’t doing anything! A-Anything at all!!!
Three steps back, feet tripping amongst themselves as his body fell backwards, hitting the floor with a hard thud as the blob on the bed started to move a bit more again…
Was he safe?
Alfons moved back up to his feet…
“A-aaahh…”
He blinked.
“W-Winry…n-no wrench…Dint…break my automail this time…”
Hearing those words made Alfons Heiderich fall back down on the floor again…
(On to part 2...)
Pairing: Edward Elric x Alfons Heiderich
Side Pairings: Alphonse Elric x Winry Rockbell, Roy Mustang x Sheska, onesided Roy Mustang x Riza Hawkeye
Rating: G-NC-17
Summary: Alfons Heiderich had gone to Transylvania to pursue his passion, and maybe find a way to help save his tattered country. Little did he know that he would find Edward Elric.
Thanks: To
ssjkawaiitenshi, who listens to my plot ramble (and bounces ideas back and forth with me) despite her busy schedule,
caitlinnekofor checking over my Al!muse when I was writing the final version of this chapter, and
hikaru_9for the quick beta.
Note: This is the remake of the entire Movie arc. This is heavy DIVERGENCE. This is EXTREME DIVERGENCE. DIVERGENCE WITH A CAPITAL DIVERGENCE xD This will also be posted on Fanfiction.net, but that is the cut version of this story. The complete unedited version is LJ only.
Note 2: The longest chapter of this story yet with 4029 words...I worked my ass off on this chapter (sorry it's late!!), so I hope everyone likes it!! Finally, the plot gets somewhere!!!
Prologue Chapter One Chapter Two Chapter Three Chapter Four
---
Resembool, 1924
---
“Winry?”
“Mmm?”
Alphonse Elric looked down towards the table top, balling his hands in fists on his legs. It was hard to say what had driven this conversation; most breakfasts were silent, almost somber…Winry would quickly eat her breakfast and totter off to whatever assignment she was supposed to do for the day, and Granny had always eaten long before the two had even sat down to table. Den would leave…
The silence would fill Alphonse with a small numbness, but a numbness that came with familiarity and tradition. Habits.
Habits that he knew he could break, if he really tried to break them.
Break the dark monotony that made up this house and this family.
He smiled…or rather, tried to smile.
“It’s nothing, Winry. Don’t worry about it.” Looking for conversation among the silence, bringing up his deeper worries but not willing to address them at all. What a coward he was. “I was just wondering about somethi”
“About Ed, right?” She took a quick bite of her food, not even bothering to look at him.
…
A sigh.
“Yeah…”
A pause.
“I’m sure…”
He couldn’t see her face…but he knew that she didn’t have that usual pleasant expression of hers…that smile that he used to see over and over and over again, daily, again and again, as if there was no one else in the world and she was throwing it just for him. She never smiled these days-not since he woke up, and not since his brother left.
She never gave him any real ones, anyway…She would leave those large grins and half-smiles, but they were always empty…accompanied with pained eyes and a soft voice, with carefully chosen words as if Al was this invalid who had to have everything kept from him in order for him to be happy.
He couldn’t stand it.
It was like when his brother left…
He took everyone’s happiness with him.
Just like that.
It was as if nobody else mattered, nothing else mattered than the one who had left, and the rest of the world was left behind to turn only very slowly as it was out of the orbit of a certain Edward Elric. Wherever he was…if he was anywhere at all, and if these dreams of his were even real and not fabricated ideas or hopes or half-truths that his mind had created in order to cope with the loss.
He had seen his brother in those dreams. He had seen him clearly. Face, hair, eyes-all of it. Could hear his voice, could smell his scent…
But why was he all the way over there?
Why wasn’t he here?
Didn’t he see how much everyone else was suffering? Waiting in the house for him…just like…
Just like Mom and us used to wait for Daddy, Brother. You said you wouldn’t be like him…Always, always said that, Brother…that you’d never leave me and Winry alone, and that everything would be okay. That’s what you said, Brother!
Al swallowed.
“You’re sure…?”
Say something. Anything. Anything at all…
“I’m sure that Ed’s all right somewhere…he’s just…he’s just wandering around, trying to find his way home to you, Al.”
“And to you too, Winry.”
Another sigh.
“Yeah…and me too…I guess.”
She ‘guessed’? That didn’t make sense. Winry was just as much a part of their family as they were of hers. They always told her everything…well, except the resurrecting their mother part, but…
Was there something else that they hid from her?
What had happened during those ‘lost years’ of his?
“Don’t say that, Winry! I’m sure he’ll come home to you, too! And then…”
“I don’t really think it’s that simple, Al…”
Her voice was so sad…low, but sad…it was almost like she was trying not to cry…
His heart wrenched. This wasn’t the Winry he knew at all. Either that, or she had her soul ripped out of her body by some outside force, and nothing else really was right in her life anymore.
She looked so lost.
“Winry, I
---
Transylvania, 1921
---
“Alphonse!”
There were things that Alfons Heiderich had thought to wake up from in the middle of the night, right when he had finally gotten into a comfortable sleeping position after Edward the ever-so-charitable had hogged the blankets and all the pillows, leaving him one cold spot on the side of the mattress for his much too-tall body to curl up and try to balance on…
Maybe dreams.
Maybe a random chill, namely from the fact that he had no blanket and couldn’t possibly be warm with the lack of something covering him…
But no.
A scream and a sudden pain on his face shot him up with a surprised cry, sending him tumbling off the bed and crashing down to the floor in a pale, blond heap. He was surprised that he didn’t break something-or rather, that the floor didn’t collapse under his weight, or the splinters of the floorboards didn’t get into his skin. It was common knowledge to wear shoes when wandering the bedrooms for this reason, but…
“Agh…uh…”
What the…
Shuffling.
The bed was shuffling, practically moving along on the floor, as Alfons tried to push himself up to his feet.
What the hell was that? It was like a train had suddenly come through his window, whacked him in the face, and then disappeared, never to be seen again with any evidence of it actually being there. He was lucky that his damn nose wasn’t broken.
“Al…”
Alfons blinked, keeping his grip on the headboard of the bed as he looked over at the other occupant who laid there, twisting and turning under the confiscated blankets and sheets.
When had his hair fallen out of its ponytail? It was falling down, stuck to his shoulders and neck, which were both damp with sweat, soaking through the white shirt he wore…and probably his sleep pants, too. He was sprawled out, twisting and turning, and twisting again. It was almost like a long, drawn out, agonizing dance.
“Al…”
Al?
Alfons blinked again, but made no effort to move. Instead he stared down at the young man in the bed.
Al.
Al.
No. That was a coincidence. It had to be.
He swallowed hard.
“H-Herr Edward…” he mumbled. He reached out his hand, but then retracted it, sighing. “H-Herr Edward…w-wake up…”
A choke…
A sob?
“Al…I’m so sorry…”
!!!!!!!!!
Al?
“I’m sorry…I’m so sorry, Al…”
He huddled more into himself…the tears and the sobbing became louder…more audible to his ears despite the pounding of his blood that seemed to overwhelm any other sound he could have heard.
“Al…I’ve been wanting to ask you this for a long time, but…I dunno…I’m just…afraid of what you’re gonna say if I ask you, I guess…”
“What is it, Brother?”
Edward looked down towards his feet, fist clenching as it rested on his leg…
“Dammit, I…
It couldn’t be. It just couldn’t be.
“Al…”
Alfons could see him shivering under the blanket. Shaking…almost like a leaf, sitting on a tree amongst a quiet breeze. He was almost completely covered, but…he could still see enough. He could still see the flush in the man’s cheeks, and his gold eyes tightly shut, almost painfully so…
He reached his hand out again.
Edward rolled over suddenly, leg flying in the air, blanket riding up.
Riding up…
“Hey ah…could you get out of the room a sec? I don’t want another guy seeing me naked.”
Edward had said that, and then when he had called Alfons back in, he had already taken up the blankets and pillows and huddled under the blankets…almost like a shield.
But…
Something was shining in the dark.
Alfons leaned forward.
It was around where the knee should have been…
Metallic?
No, he had to have been imagining things…
Legs didn’t randomly have metal on them. Even with today’s prosthetics, they were immobile, and the way Edward moved there was no way he could have been a cripple…
…right?
But…
He shuffled forward, reaching a hand out…
Poke.
…Edward didn’t seem to notice.
Poke.
…Wait.
Was that rubber?
…No that couldn’t have been rubber. Skin wasn’t rubber. That just didn’t happen…
It just didn’t…
…
“Ughhhhh…..”
Edward started to shift, and shuffle a bit in the bed.
Scheisse! Ah, I wasn’t doing anything! A-Anything at all!!!
Three steps back, feet tripping amongst themselves as his body fell backwards, hitting the floor with a hard thud as the blob on the bed started to move a bit more again…
Was he safe?
Alfons moved back up to his feet…
“A-aaahh…”
He blinked.
“W-Winry…n-no wrench…Dint…break my automail this time…”
Hearing those words made Alfons Heiderich fall back down on the floor again…
(On to part 2...)