Fullmetal Alchemist Fan Fiction ❯ When the Cherry Blossoms Bloom ❯ Facing Hard Truths ( Chapter 6 )

Disclaimer: I never claimed to own this, so guess what. I do not!

 

Summary: When faced with Love's difficulty, can three people locked in its hold push aside their fear for the sake of it? Sequel to Feel Me, Shame Me, Heal Me.

 

A/N: Hello everyone, I hope you're enjoying this. I will be out of town for about a week this upcoming Thursday, March 15th. I'm going on a small vacation. I'll try to get a story update before I go, but I might not be able to since I'll be pretty busy these next few days. I will try though.

 

I made more of the conversation between Winry and Hoenheim while they were talking in the Resembool graveyard, I figured they could have said all this to each other but it just ended up cut out and edited in the series. Haha. You know what's funny, watching the series again after I added my Roy/Winry stuff in this fanfiction. It seems like it really could have been in there.

 

I hope you enjoy this episode/chapter.

 

 

When the Cherry Blossoms Bloom

Episode 6—Facing Hard Truths

 

“How much further is it to those doors? We've been walking for hours.” Pausing, Alphonse curled his hand against his forehead so it shielded his eyes from the sun, looking into the distance where those deep amethyst doors were. It seemed like they hadn't gotten any closer to them.

 

Edward shrugged, “Just keep positive, Al. We'll get there, no matter how long it takes. Getting home is the most important thing.” He signaled for them to keep moving with a wave of his hand.

 

Lowering his hand from his face, Alphonse sighed. “Since we left the red doors, Brother, I've been thinking. How well do we really know Winry? Could you be able to tell if she was actually in love with someone? She's not the type to shout it and dance about like other girls, is she?”

 

Stopping and staring at the quartz bricks, Edward's brow crinkled as he felt nerves and worry pit in his stomach. “Of course we would be able to tell. It would be easy. Girls are all the same when it comes to that kinda stuff, Al.” He turned around and looked at his brother with discomfort evident on his face. “Why do you ask?”

 

Alphonse rubbed the back of his neck, “Because from my observation, Winry and Colonel Mustang are in love… with each other.” He saw his brother's expression turn grim as the disbelieving furious look crossed his older siblings pale features.

 

“You're wrong! Al, you're so wrong! Winry would never be in love with that ass!” Ice seemed to prickle against the back of Edward's neck as he swallowed hard in what could feel like horror at the idea of Winry being in love with Mustang. “She might enjoy getting fucked by him, because well it's obvious all the women enjoy that with him. But there is no way that she would give her heart to a man that killed her parents, who doesn't care about anyone but himself! He left her, Al… in the middle of the night! A true man wouldn't walk out on her like that.” Edward pointed back towards where the red doors had once been. “He was in such a rush to run away because he was finished with her.”

 

“I think you're wrong, Brother.” Alphonse had arched a brow at the rage his brother just displayed “If what you are saying was true then why did he even bother to wake her up to say good bye, wouldn't he have just walked out?”

 

Edward growled. “You're completely missing the point!” He didn't want to admit that his brother could possibly be right… but only right about the waking her up part. “Winry doesn't love him and Mustang would never love just one woman, he's a pig.” Spinning around, he started towards the doors again, his arms crossed tensely over his chest. `She doesn't love Mustang, she doesn't. It's not possible, it isn't. Al's wrong, he has to be wrong. I won't allow that, I can't accept it!'

 

The brothers continued to walk silently along the pathway; they were finally coming closer to the amethyst doors.

 

`It's about time.' Edward inwardly groaned.

 

“Brother…” Alphonse gasped out and stopped moving all of a sudden.

 

Turning around and finding his brother's strange behavior, Edward wondered why Alphonse just pointed ahead of him. He noticed the boys brown eyes were wide. “What's the matter?” The boy was really nervous for some reason.

 

“It's…it's our mother.” Alphonse said, sounding barely there.

 

Whipping around, Edward started running he heard his brother call out for him and immediately start running after him, but Edward wasn't stopping he just continued to run as fast as he could. As he came closer to the doors, standing in front of them with her hands folded down against her belly, with a smile on her face and twinkling green eyes. Stopping and just staring, he swallowed a rather difficult breath of air. “Mom?”

 

“Hello, Edward.” She smiled prettily, her head tilting a little. “I've missed you my boys.” She replied seeing her younger son coming up behind Edward.

 

“Mom!” Alphonse yelled his eyes swelling with warmth and tears. He rushed right to her. Throwing his arms around her, he was holding her tightly. “It's really you this time.” Tears leaked from his eyes as he pressed tighter against her.

 

Trisha smiled, resting her cheek against the top of his head. “You've gotten so big.” She noticed her older boy was walking cautiously forward until he stopped directly in front of her. She found that he was looking at her curiously, suspiciously as he seemed to scan her every feature. “Ed...”

 

Edward cleared his throat, trembling “I…I'm sorry.” He hung his head, tightening his fists down at his sides, knowing that it really was her this time and not that homunculus he had destroyed. He felt her arms slide around him and pull him to her, and he squeezed his eyes shut and nestled into her. Edward wrapped his own arms around her middle. “I couldn't leave well enough alone, I had to try and bring you back. I really messed up! It was my fault, all mine! Al didn't really want to at first, but I kind of pressured him into it… and… everything went straight to hell at that moment. I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Are you disappointed in us?”

 

“Oh, no... Even if it was wrong, I know what you tried to do was out of love. I could never be disappointed in my boys.” She framed her son's face and tilted it up, so she could look him in the eyes, seeing the wetness glistening in there. “I had a full life loving my boys. I had no regrets when I passed on, except for leaving you two alone at such a young age. I should be the one who is sorry for never telling you two that I was sick. You might have been more prepared for what was to eventually come and not have behaved so recklessly and endangering your lives in that way. We all have to take responsibility for our own actions, and you very well have. I see that you two, even though you faced who knows what, you're fine. You're together and that is what's important.” Both her boys hugged her tightly, one on each side and she held them both close to her heart.

 

They didn't know for how long they were standing outside the doors, but Edward heard the scraping ahead and looked up to find the amethyst doors with pure silver handles started to open. “I guess it's time.”

 

The three of them found themselves standing in a graveyard in Resembool. It was mid morning and the birds were singing. Why did these doors bring them here, what could possibly happen in Resembool that would have his heart fear.

 

Edward and Alphonse walked forward with their mother following behind them. They saw a figure resting up against a tombstone and rushed towards it. The closer they got, the more they recognized the man it was their father. They looked back at their mother who didn't even look shocked or sad.

 

“Seeing him doesn't make you uncomfortable?” Edward asked.

 

Trisha smiled, “No, I appreciated every moment I had with him while I was alive. I know he loved me and I loved him, even if he left us. I never stopped.”

 

“Even when he just left us?” Edward stared at the grassy ground.

 

“Whatever his reasons were, he did what was best for us.” Trisha walked over to her grave stone, looking at her name written there.

 

“Do you know the truth?” Lifting his head, Edward looked at his father. He didn't hate him as much as before. He had some understanding when he lived with the man for a year back on the other side of the gate before Edward decided to go off on his own to try and find a way home. He knew the man had been afraid, afraid of how his family would react to what he was and that he was slowly dying, rotting from the inside out. So he had just up and left.

 

Setting her hand on Edward's shoulder, she squeezed it. “I know he had left you with a lot of heartache, but he loved you and Alphonse so much that I'm sure that it killed him to leave us.”

 

“You had died waiting for him.”

 

Trisha looked at the figure of her husband, “and that doesn't seem familiar to you, Edward?”

 

Edward blinked, “Why would it…”

“Winry, Brother. Winry would always wait for us.” Alphonse said looking at him with a little regret.

 

“Do you think we treated Winry the same way our father treated Mom, that perhaps someday he might return, not knowing for sure?” Edward stared at his father, “Am I really more like him than I originally thought? Would she suffer silently without moving forward in her life just waiting for us to come back?” He shook his head, “I wouldn't want that for her! That's no way to live! There are times when she needs to concentrate on what is best for her, why can't she ever do that. That stubborn girl!”

 

Trisha smiled so light.

 

Hearing footsteps, Edward and Alphonse turned their heads seeing Winry walking up with flowers held in her arms and a basket in her hand. She was wearing a blue and white stripped shirt beneath a pink hooded sweat shirt and a pair of khaki pants with many pockets. Half her hair was pulled up in her usual pony tail while the other half framed her face.

 

Winry stopped next to a gravestone and stared at the man resting against another one. That was Ed and Al's mother's grave, “You spent the night out here again?” she asked a little surprised.

 

Looking up at her, it seemed he had been woken from a sleep. “Hmm? Oh, thanks for waking me. I could have slept all day.” He moves to lift himself onto his feet. “I've been losing track of time. Tell me, when did Trisha die?”

 

A sad but affectionate smile crossed Winry's features, “It's been six long years.”

 

Hoenheim was walking towards her, “I see. The boys must have been torn up over their loss. My God, I've done it twice. I was thinking you were Sara again.” He felt a little embarrassed over the mix up.

 

Understanding, Winry glanced down at her mother's grave. “You must have been good friends with her, I guess memories never age. Sara was my mom, and a great one at that.” She could hear footsteps and caught a glimpse of her grandmother passing through the graveyard.

 

Bending at the knee, Hoenheim touched Sara's grave, brushing the letters of her name lightly. “So much pain and all because of that damn war.”

 

Winry stared at the ground, a pained expression filling her eyes. “I can't imagine what it was like there. My parents were supposedly executed by the military they went to help, and all because they were treating the wounded Ishbalans the same way.”

 

“How sad we are.” He sighed, still staring at the grave.

 

“You can't sum this up with one word, its more than just sad.” Winry felt her heart tighten. “When I was little, I imagined the people who killed my parents as demons. But now I know the man who did it, and I… respect him somehow.” `I care about him in ways I never thought I could for him.' “There was a time I had felt lost and confused. It had been hard to make sense of it all and in some ways I still don't understand it. The military's higher powers, they are such cowards to have forced a younger at the time enlisted man to murder my parents like that. They couldn't even do it themselves. They had to ruin the lives of so many people just because they wanted control.” She was bitterly angry. “My grandmother told me that my parents were killed in a surprise attack on the hospital, but when I found the letter in some old papers, it was there, the truth and information I needed to blame the one I thought responsible. It was signed by a Basque Grand, it was his words telling exactly who did it and when. Oh how I had hated that man instantly, and the one responsible for actually shooting my parents dead…”

 

She relaxed and stared up at the sky, “it wasn't until some years later that I realized that I had been wrong, that the sole blame does not fall on the one who executed my parents. He only did what he had to. Refusing orders in a time of war would have ended up costing him his own life, especially for a pawn of the military. I don't know if I would rather be dead or live with the guilt, they are both so extreme. I know one life does not equal another, but there is only so much we can do and we have to be able to forgive, or else hate and vengeance will eat away at us until there is nothing left of what we once were. And just enjoy what time we have and be content when we can, because everything can change in the blink of an eye.”

 

“We have all felt lost. It is not unreasonable to act the way we have, to try and atone for our past mistakes.” Hoenheim replied, glancing up at Winry. “We all leave some kind of impact on this world. I regret not staying with my family; I wish that I could go back and change it. Knowing I can't, I can only move forward with the knowledge that I have acquired, just as you have.”

 

Trisha looked at her sons and then at the young girl talking with Hoenheim. “You three kids have really grown up.” She said with affection.

 

“Winry is a special person who rarely thinks of herself. I was just too blind in the past to notice it. I will tell her how I feel once I get back home. I won't be a coward.” Edward looked away from his childhood friend.

 

Alphonse smiled with a nod, “I hope so brother, I also hope that you aren't too late because of the Co—” His brother's hand was slapped over his mouth and he heard him growling.

 

“Never mention that again, Al. Do you hear me? Winry doesn't love that bastard and that's the truth.” Edward's tone was tight and rough.

 

“But it's obvious she forgave him for what happened in Ishbal! Her and the Colonel they—”

“Al! PLESE! Just don't talk about that. I can't take even the idea of Winry being in love with that jerk. It's not true.”

 

Sighing, Alphonse lowered his gaze to the grass. `I know you don't see it, Brother. But Winry and Colonel…they need each other. I can see it, I wish you weren't so blinded by jealousy to see that the Colonel is the best thing for our Winry, and that she is the best thing for him.'

 

Trisha watched her two boys, she worried that her son would never see this truth. She didn't want them to be stuck in this layer of Edward's heart's fear.

 

There was a bright flash of light, making Edward and Alphonse cover their eyes. They could hear their mother laughing lightly.

 

“You boys never did get used to this in the first layer, did you?” Trisha's tone was light and easy. They could hear people's screams of fright, it sounded like Scieszka and Winry was shouting back at her, also the noise of Winry's scooter that she had been given and had been tinkering off and on for a couple of years, fixing it ever so slightly making it go faster, smoother. It was one of the things she was always so excited about. She was a mechanical genius, she could make anything from scratch and fix anything she managed to get her hands on.

 

Finally able to see, Edward, Alphonse and their mother found themselves with the military, which had seemed to have taken Winry and Scieszka into custody.

 

Winry was mumbling quietly as her hands had been tied along with Scieszka as they were walking beside Riza Hawkeye who was trying to ask them questions. Winry was still internally irritated that Riza had shot her precious scooter and she had just tweaked and played with it making it run faster, better, even more smooth than ever before…! “You didn't have to shoot it.” She grumbled, bitterly.

 

Riza sighed, hearing the wound in Winry's voice. “Would you have rather crashed and ended up breaking something where you would wind up with what you sell?” She asked Winry whose lips only formed a tight line. “Tell us the truth girls, who tipped you off about the Elric brothers?”

 

“Nobody,” Winry replied looking away, determined not to say one word. She wasn't going to betray Ed and Al. She would have done the same thing for Riza if the situation called for it. The woman shouldn't expect her to give information.

 

Riza knew that Winry was really a loyal friend. But how can they help the boys if Winry and Scieszka weren't going to trust them and be honest with them?

 

Winry glared, “And don't talk to us about truths. Not when you think Ed and Al could really be traitors.”

 

“We won't know that until they are captured and questioned.” was the reply Riza gave. She wanted to express more, but there was no telling who was watching and who would report to whom.

 

Staring at the back of Roy's head, Winry didn't know what the man was thinking. He and his men had been chasing after Ed and Al because they were wanted for Treason. Why? Why would he accept such a foul mission when he knew the boys weren't traitors? It hurt to think that the past was replaying, the man who was trying to make things better could have possibly taken a step back. It more than worried her, it angered her and she could feel her temper sparking into a raging fire. "Aren't you going to speak? You're the one who got them into this in the first place.”

 

Scieszka leaned closer to Winry, “It's no use. He doesn't care about anything but the bars and stripes on his uniform.”

 

Edward growled, “I remember this, that damn Mustang was here and chased us all over the place.”

 

Winry didn't believe that was true; there was no way it was. She got to know him so well that it's hard for her to believe that. It was so strange that he wouldn't even really look at her; he hadn't even said one word to her yet! It was downright frightening. That determined look that had been on his face had her practically terrified. She had to say something to shake him, to get him to at least talk to her! Maybe remind him about irrational orders. “Tell me, Roy, was this the kind of devotion you had when you killed my mom and dad?” Out of the corner of her eye she saw Riza flinch who looked at her where Winry's expression of worry calmed the woman.

 

Riza understood that Winry just wanted to get some kind of reaction out of the Colonel and faced forward.

 

Edward watched the whole scene involving him and his brother and Mustang's subordinates chasing him down. Winry looking so worried. He wondered who Winry was more worried for. It felt strange looking at this whole event as it played out before him. The tactical moves of Mustang and Armstrong as they put more than just alchemy to the tests, they used their heads too. It was a pretty brilliant move, Edward admitted to himself, crossing his arms over his chest and letting out a puff of air.

 

Winry couldn't take it anymore. It was all too much! What had Roy so determined in stopping them, was it just because he was ordered to, was it just because it was his job and would do anything to rise to the top even crush Edward and Alphonse. Two boys that she knew he cared about. She couldn't allow that, her dear friends, they grew up together, they laughed and cried together. They got their first knee scrapes together! No…no… "STOP!" She cried out in anguish. Her heart felt like it was being split in two!

 

At the sound of the terror in her voice, Roy stopped moving and he let out an audible sigh. If he turned and looked at her, he wouldn't be able to continue with what he was planning with the point he was trying to make. She would crumble his resolve with those beautiful blue eyes that could see deep into his soul.

 

Sinking to the ground, she hung her head, “Please, just stop.” She sounded crushed and vulnerable.

 

Edward watching himself appear sad when looking at Winry and he heard his own voice from the figure of himself in the past “Winry?”

 

Roy took a deep breath and stared at Edward, to make his point now. “I once executed two people. Two doctors. `There are no sides, just patients.' That's what they said as they treated our fallen enemies in Ishbal. But the people they were healing would just rise up again to fight us. The military asked them to stop, but they wouldn't, and their make-shift hospital was becoming a den for insurgents. I got my orders in the morning and I shot them that night.” He could just feel her eyes on him, Winry's eyes as he recounted the horrible truth to the Elric brothers and everyone else within range, everyone needed to hear this. “Afterwards, I tried to kill myself, but I was too much of a coward. So I took an oath instead - to never follow unreasonable commands again, to reach a position where I wouldn't have to follow them. And I've stayed true to that.” His temper had reached its boiling point and finally he let the Elric brothers have it! “I'm not chasing you because I was commanded to. I'm doing it because I'm pissed. Now why the hell did you two run away without asking for my help first?!”

 

Winry felt relief flutter within as she lifted to her feet. She should have known, should have trusted that Roy would never revert back, that he was determined to be a good man out of all that has happened. `Thanks goodness.'

 

“He really wanted to help us, Brother. Only you were always so against it, you never trusted the Colonel.” Alphonse said after he had watched this whole scene.

 

“It wasn't just him, Al, it was the whole damn military. How can you trust people who maintain control through war and violence? And he was one of them.” Edward looked away with an ill growl.

 

Trisha walked over and placed her hands on her boy's shoulders. “But for a good reason, not everyone who joins the military wants absolute power. You didn't Edward, why did you join the military?” She saw her boy's brow crinkle and he stared downward. “It wasn't because you wanted to be powerful and in control. Not everyone wants that when they become a dog of the state. They want to serve their country to help make it better; they think they can make a difference. It is just when war breaks out it turns everyone into monsters, doing what they never thought possible just to stay alive. People become their worst nightmares. Didn't Colonel Mustang want to make things better, for everyone as well as himself? To in some way give back what he felt he had no right in taking in the first place. What you see is not always what you get. There is more to the man than what is on the outside, only you never took the time to see it, never took the time to understand anyone else's suffering other than your own.”

“All I know about him, is that he's…he's not good enough for Winry. He's a smug arrogant, jackass with a power trip. Winry shouldn't even be within two feet of the jerk, let alone love the guy. I can't accept that, I wont!”

 

“Shouldn't you let her make that decision, Edward? It's not up to you who she loves, it's up to her own heart.” Trisha said, moving her hand through her son's hair on his forehead. “She needs your support whether she chose to love you, even if she decided that Alphonse is the one who holds her heart. From what I have seen, being deceased I am able to see you all, to see what you are up to and how you've all grown into fine young people. Winry cares about Colonel Mustang a great deal.”

 

“No! No!” Edward shook himself away from his mother's touch and backed up. “She doesn't. She would never…she's too smart to fall for that creep. It's not true. It's not!” And he took off, running away from what had still been playing and going on in front of him. “She doesn't love that asshole. Everyone is just confused… it doesn't make sense. Where did everything go wrong, how could she even…how did they even...” He kicked a tree hard with the bottom of his foot. “Damn it, damn it! Winry! Why didn't you ever say anything to me about your life, about what would make you happy. You never talked to me and Al, unless it was about us or your Automail. Why would you even tell things that you never told us to someone who you thought murdered your parents? Who obviously took everything from you! I want to understand, but I just can't.” He fell to his knees, his hand pressed up against the tree trunk sighing deeply and hanging his head.

 

Alphonse came running and saw his brother sitting up against the trunk of a tree. “Brother! There you are. You shouldn't run off.”

 

“Do I deserve this, Al? Do I deserve this pain this torture in having to see Winry going through this and with that damn Colonel. I had responsibilities to get your body back, and those had to take the lead in anything we ever did. I could never really think about Winry or girls for that matter. You were my first priority. It had been you stuck in that armor which was all my fault. What am I getting in exchange for this terrorizing?”

 

Kneeling down before him, Alphonse sighed and folded his hands in his lap. “I don't know, Brother. Maybe you're gaining life, experiences that you need to have. Now that you don't have to worry about me anymore, you can concentrate on something for yourself. Maybe this terrorizing is giving you the courage you need to tell Winry how you feel. Even if you don't get what you want, you will still have the courage to say something, to admit how you feel about her without holding back.”

 

“It's hard, Al. I don't know if I can accept this, what if Winry does…” Edward felt sick, “You know…” He crossed his arms over his chest and glanced away in bitterness.

 

“Do you remember back in Chloe's tent, the visions in the crystal ball?” Seeing his brother nod, Alphonse continued. “From what I saw, you might have a chance to gain her heart, Brother. It's not over for you yet just because Winry cares about the Colonel in these past timelines. They are separated and she has two children now that he doesn't even know about. They haven't kept in close contact for years.”

 

Edward felt a little relieved at hearing that he, looked up into his brother's eyes. “I see. Yes, you're right, Al.” He stood, “I just need to get through this fear of mine and when we get back to Resembool I'll tell Winry the truth. She's not with that bastard right now! Those visions in that crystal ball were of the present day. I can do this, I can get back home before it's too late.”

 

“It's never too late, Brother. There's always a possibility for anything to happen.” Alphonse said supportively. Hearing footsteps, they looked up and saw their mother coming towards them.

 

“Are you ready to continue?” Trisha asked with a smile. It was true, her boys had grown up to become fine young men. She just worried for Edward's sanity in what was to come. Having to be forced to watch intimate behavior with the girl he loves and the man he hates is bound to take its toll on her son's poor brain. Knowing that, she had every confidence that Edward will come out of this much more wise and understanding.

 

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So, how did you like my added stuff within these series episodes? 47 and 48 I think will be the episodes I got material from for whats behind the amethyst doors. I kinda lose track of the episode numbers because it doesn't really say, unlike when watching Fushigi Yuugi which says what episode number it is lol. I'm sure you all had an idea who this guide was going to be.

Thanks for reading,

Ryoko Blue