Fic - Bound to a Star
Dec. 20th, 2007 09:54 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
cornerofmadnessBound to a Star
The Recovery Series # 4; summer
Author -![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
cornerofmadness
Disclaimer - not mine, all characters belong to Hiromu Arakawa et al, Square Enix and funimition.
Pairing – none, Ed/Winry/Al friendship
Rating – PG-13 (for descriptions of wounds)
Time Line – manga based, no real spoilers provided you know how Ed and Al were injured, takes place in the first summer after the alchemic rebound and Mustang/Hawkeye’s initial visit
Summary – Winry tries to find ways to make Al feel human and included.
Author’s Note – This was written forishte for the holiday, even though she didn't ask for one but she keeps making me cool icons so this is a thank you as well as the ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
4purposes community for the prompt Summer. Thanks to evil_little_dog and to lyricnonsense for the suggestions to get this going. This concludes the Recovery series. Yay me, finishing a challenge at long last. And thanks to evil_little_dog for the beta.
The other stories are:
Story One- Learning to Live
Story Two- A Time to Heal
Building Walls
“He turns not back who is bound to a star” – Leonardo Da Vinci
X X X
Al wished he could feel the sun. His new body had seemed foreign in the cold of winter but now that the first blush of summer kissed him he felt even more alienated. Somehow he hadn’t anticipated this during the long first winter locked into his new body. He knew his armor was hot, hotter than skin should ever get. Al had to hold himself ever further apart from the people around him lest he fried someone like a brand.
All Al could do was watch his friends play around the swimming hole, a sense of longing veiling him. He couldn’t swim any more, Ed either. The most his brother could do was wade but Ed hadn’t attempted it. Al suspected his brother was too self-conscious to show off his new limbs. Al sighed, giving up his viewpoint as he lumbered towards home, never seeing the blonde girl as she watched him surveying the swimming hole.
X X X
Winry made her way back to Granny’s, a sense of guilt sucking at her, more draining than the hot sun. She went to the kitchen to get herself a consoling glass of lemonade before tossing herself in a chair.
Pinako looked over from the chicken she was seasoning for dinner. “Problems?”
“It’s not fair, Granny. They’re both so sad.” Winry swung her dangling legs. “Ed is having a bad time getting used to his automail. I mean up here.” Winry tapped her head. “He’s getting the hang of using it so fast but he hates it and then there’s Al. I want to do something nice for him but he can’t do any of the fun stuff we used to do. Picnics and swimming just remind him of everything he don’t have any more,” she said and Pinako nearly interjected a grammatically correction into the little girl’s oration but saw this wasn’t the time. “And he can’t play games with everyone, not in that body. They’re scared of him and he’s scared of hurting them.”
“That is a problem,” Pinako conceded, wiping her hands. She went over and put her hand on Winry’s back. “Why don’t you think of something you, Ed and Al can all do together, something you’ll all enjoy and don’t worry about the other kids? Let the brothers see what they can still do and we’ll worry about helping others to see them as they are now later.”
Winry shot her grandmother a determined look. “I will.”
X X X
It had taken a lot of hard thought but Winry had finally come up with something she figured would make everyone happy and Al wouldn’t feel left out. She checked the Farmer’s Guide to be sure of her dates then dug out her father’s army surplus tent, shaking out the mothballs. Their stink was harder to get rid of. Winry remembered her mother hadn’t really shared her father’s love of sleeping in the woods so the tent got stuffed in the attic, only coming out when the kids needed a fort.
Winry didn’t really need a fort, per se, or maybe she did. She felt like she was about to do battle with the ghosts haunting the brothers. She had to pack snacks yet, because she knew she and Ed were going to need them. Granny helped her ready all the things they would need to last the night. Now came the hard part: convincing Ed. Al was easy but Ed could be such a mule.
She found Ed just were she figured he would be; outside lying on the grass using Al as a shade tree while they both poured over alchemy texts. Ed was determined to take the State alchemy exam as soon as he could; pointedly ignoring Granny’s comments about what would the military want with a boy like him.
Winry had gone as far as to say that Mustang had obviously planned for Ed to take the usual three years of recovery and not show up for the exam when he was still twelve. Ed ignored her, too. Winry found herself hating that man for coming here to take Ed away. She had even written letters but hid them away. She didn’t even know where to send them and knew that a little girl like her would make no difference to the soldier but it made her feel better, like she was accomplishing something. It didn’t matter that Mustang would never see them.
Plopping down in the grass next to them, Winry patted Ed’s arm. “I’ve got something planned for tonight.”
“Huh?” Ed grunted, not even looking up from his book.
Winry scowled. “It’s a surprise.”
“I’m busy.”
“Brother,” Al scolded, and Ed actually looked at him for a moment.
Winry snatched Ed’s book and he lunged for it. She rolled away from him, clutching the book tightly. “You’re coming tonight or I hide all your books where you’ll never find them.”
Ed’s eyes bulged. “We need these, Winry. You don’t-”
“I understand, Edward,” she replied snippily. This wasn’t going as planned. Darn it, Ed just made her so mad sometimes. “You want to find your cure but you can take a night off and spend it with me.” Folding her arms over the book, Winry turned to the other brother. “Al, you’ll come, right?”
Al’s armor rattled hollowly as he nodded. “I like surprises. Come on, Brother. Don’t hurt Winry’s feelings. We could use a break.”
“And come back with fresh eyes,” Winry said. She should have known Al would be her best ally.
Ed nodded slowly. “All right. What are we doing?”
“I don’t want to ruin the surprise. I’ll come get you when we’re ready,” Winry said, getting up. She might as well let Ed get some final studying in. It would probably make him less grumpy. It was still way too early for what she had planned anyhow.
X X X
Winry enlisted Al’s help to put up the mothbally tent while Granny kept Ed occupied with washing dishes; more appropriately sat smoking while Ed whined loudly. She wasn’t sure how Ed would take to sleeping out but she knew Al loved stargazing. That should ensure Ed would play along at least long enough to remember he liked it, too, and that his alchemy texts would be waiting for him tomorrow. Granted she hadn’t told Al about the stargazing bit, wondering if he remembered what should be happening tonight. He just thought they were camping out at the moment.
“Let’s go get Ed,” she said.
“Sure, Winry.” Al cast a look up at the sky. “It’s a really nice night.”
“It’s perfect,” she agreed. She couldn’t have asked for better.
It didn’t take them long to round up Ed. Once he had accepted the idea of a night off to have fun, he seemed to be looking forward to it. Making Ed carry the snack basket, Winry led the way back to the grassy open hill behind Granny’s house, the one they had sled-ridden down in the winter. She carried a blanket and unfurled it before the tent.
Sitting down dead center, Winry patted the soft, old cotton on either side of her. “Come on, sit down.”
“This is our big surprise?” Ed pointed to the tent as he sat next to her. Al sat to the other side.
“Yep that and,” Winry laid down and pointed to the stars, “tonight’s the night the meteor showers start.”
“Oh cool,” Al said, laying back with a rattle.
“I love meteors,” Ed said, the excitement plain in his voice. He nestled down next to her.
“I know. I thought this was something all three of us could still enjoy together,” Winry replied. She felt Al’s big hand close over her arm and Ed’s smile brightened.
“Thank you, Winry,” Al said softly,
“You’re the best,” Ed added.
Winry couldn’t contain her smile. “Thank you. Let’s hope we don’t fall asleep before the meteors start.”
Ed stared up at the sky. “There are so many stars out tonight.”
“Glittery,” Winry agreed. “There’s the Swan.” She pointed to a constellation.
“That doesn’t look like a swan,” Ed grumbled, pointing out the less than swan-like lines.
Winry rolled her eyes. It was such an Ed thing to say. “Sure it does. See there’s the wing.”
“No way. They should call it the Trapezoid constellation,” Ed argued.
“Brother, that’s not very romantic,” Al chided.
“No, but that’s what it looks like,” Ed protested.
“Ed, you have about as much romance in you as a stone.” Winry slapped his chest lightly.
Ed wrinkled his nose. “Who wants that stuff anyhow?”
“And the Horse and Cart,” Winry proceeded doggedly, ignoring Ed but he cheerfully added in what he thought they looked like until they had named most of the constellations and he had renamed them. One of them, the array, she had to admit if she looked hard, did look like the arrays the brothers drew.
“Hey there’s one!” Al said excitedly, pointing to the streak in the sky.
“Ooo.” Winry clapped her hands together. Shooting stars were so neat. Ed and Al started talking about what was in a meteorite and tektites that they made when they hit. She just shook her head. The brothers could suck the mystery out of anything.
As more meteorites blazed across the sky, the youngsters fell mostly silently, watching them, almost hoping one would land and then Al could have a coveted tektite. Finally Al looked over at her and said, “Winry, I’m glad you did this. You’ve been so…distant.”
“Al,” Ed hissed.
“Brother, you’ve noticed it, too,” Al protested.
Winry bit her lip for a moment then said, “I thought…you want to leave here. I know that you do. I guess I was letting you go.”
“We’re not leaving, Winry, not forever,” Al said. “This is home.”
“Yeah,” Ed said but Winry could hear the lack of conviction in his voice as if he knew something Al didn’t yet.
“I just don’t want you to join the military, Ed,” Winry said, her voice cracking. She shook her head violently. “No, I don’t want to talk about this tonight. I want us to be happy.”
Ed didn’t look at her as he reached over to pat her head but the corners of his mouth turned down.
“Sure Winry. We can just watch the shooting stars,” Al said gently, giving her an out.
Winry dredged up a smile. “I’d like that.” She was glad when Ed rummaged in the basket and came up with some little sandwiches for them to eat as they stargazed. The food took the attention off of her.
Finally, Ed fell asleep on her shoulder. Winry looked over at Al as she rubbed Ed’s back. His muscles were knotted where they joined the docking port. “I know Ed will become a State Alchemist, Al. I know you will leave and I don’t really want to stop you. I know you can’t find the answers you need here. I just don’t…I don’t want you to die like my parents.”
“We…” Al sat up, gazing down at her. “I can’t promise we won’t but I’m different now, Winry. I can look out for him.”
Winry smiled and put her hand over Al’s glove. “I know you will. That’s all I can ask for.”
Al seemed to smile back. “Want help getting him in the tent now, Winry?”
“No but he is drooling on me.” Winry turned Ed’s head. He snuffled like a dog on the scent and dug back into her shoulder with his cheek. “When we both fall asleep you can shove us in there.”
“I will, Winry.” Al looked back up at the stars. In a barely audible whisper he added, “I’ll always watch out for you two.”
The Recovery Series # 4; summer
Author -
cornerofmadnessDisclaimer - not mine, all characters belong to Hiromu Arakawa et al, Square Enix and funimition.
Pairing – none, Ed/Winry/Al friendship
Rating – PG-13 (for descriptions of wounds)
Time Line – manga based, no real spoilers provided you know how Ed and Al were injured, takes place in the first summer after the alchemic rebound and Mustang/Hawkeye’s initial visit
Summary – Winry tries to find ways to make Al feel human and included.
Author’s Note – This was written for
ishte for the holiday, even though she didn't ask for one but she keeps making me cool icons so this is a thank you as well as the 4purposes community for the prompt Summer. Thanks to evil_little_dog and to lyricnonsense for the suggestions to get this going. This concludes the Recovery series. Yay me, finishing a challenge at long last. And thanks to evil_little_dog for the beta.The other stories are:
Story One- Learning to Live
Story Two- A Time to Heal
Building Walls
“He turns not back who is bound to a star” – Leonardo Da Vinci
X X X
Al wished he could feel the sun. His new body had seemed foreign in the cold of winter but now that the first blush of summer kissed him he felt even more alienated. Somehow he hadn’t anticipated this during the long first winter locked into his new body. He knew his armor was hot, hotter than skin should ever get. Al had to hold himself ever further apart from the people around him lest he fried someone like a brand.
All Al could do was watch his friends play around the swimming hole, a sense of longing veiling him. He couldn’t swim any more, Ed either. The most his brother could do was wade but Ed hadn’t attempted it. Al suspected his brother was too self-conscious to show off his new limbs. Al sighed, giving up his viewpoint as he lumbered towards home, never seeing the blonde girl as she watched him surveying the swimming hole.
X X X
Winry made her way back to Granny’s, a sense of guilt sucking at her, more draining than the hot sun. She went to the kitchen to get herself a consoling glass of lemonade before tossing herself in a chair.
Pinako looked over from the chicken she was seasoning for dinner. “Problems?”
“It’s not fair, Granny. They’re both so sad.” Winry swung her dangling legs. “Ed is having a bad time getting used to his automail. I mean up here.” Winry tapped her head. “He’s getting the hang of using it so fast but he hates it and then there’s Al. I want to do something nice for him but he can’t do any of the fun stuff we used to do. Picnics and swimming just remind him of everything he don’t have any more,” she said and Pinako nearly interjected a grammatically correction into the little girl’s oration but saw this wasn’t the time. “And he can’t play games with everyone, not in that body. They’re scared of him and he’s scared of hurting them.”
“That is a problem,” Pinako conceded, wiping her hands. She went over and put her hand on Winry’s back. “Why don’t you think of something you, Ed and Al can all do together, something you’ll all enjoy and don’t worry about the other kids? Let the brothers see what they can still do and we’ll worry about helping others to see them as they are now later.”
Winry shot her grandmother a determined look. “I will.”
X X X
It had taken a lot of hard thought but Winry had finally come up with something she figured would make everyone happy and Al wouldn’t feel left out. She checked the Farmer’s Guide to be sure of her dates then dug out her father’s army surplus tent, shaking out the mothballs. Their stink was harder to get rid of. Winry remembered her mother hadn’t really shared her father’s love of sleeping in the woods so the tent got stuffed in the attic, only coming out when the kids needed a fort.
Winry didn’t really need a fort, per se, or maybe she did. She felt like she was about to do battle with the ghosts haunting the brothers. She had to pack snacks yet, because she knew she and Ed were going to need them. Granny helped her ready all the things they would need to last the night. Now came the hard part: convincing Ed. Al was easy but Ed could be such a mule.
She found Ed just were she figured he would be; outside lying on the grass using Al as a shade tree while they both poured over alchemy texts. Ed was determined to take the State alchemy exam as soon as he could; pointedly ignoring Granny’s comments about what would the military want with a boy like him.
Winry had gone as far as to say that Mustang had obviously planned for Ed to take the usual three years of recovery and not show up for the exam when he was still twelve. Ed ignored her, too. Winry found herself hating that man for coming here to take Ed away. She had even written letters but hid them away. She didn’t even know where to send them and knew that a little girl like her would make no difference to the soldier but it made her feel better, like she was accomplishing something. It didn’t matter that Mustang would never see them.
Plopping down in the grass next to them, Winry patted Ed’s arm. “I’ve got something planned for tonight.”
“Huh?” Ed grunted, not even looking up from his book.
Winry scowled. “It’s a surprise.”
“I’m busy.”
“Brother,” Al scolded, and Ed actually looked at him for a moment.
Winry snatched Ed’s book and he lunged for it. She rolled away from him, clutching the book tightly. “You’re coming tonight or I hide all your books where you’ll never find them.”
Ed’s eyes bulged. “We need these, Winry. You don’t-”
“I understand, Edward,” she replied snippily. This wasn’t going as planned. Darn it, Ed just made her so mad sometimes. “You want to find your cure but you can take a night off and spend it with me.” Folding her arms over the book, Winry turned to the other brother. “Al, you’ll come, right?”
Al’s armor rattled hollowly as he nodded. “I like surprises. Come on, Brother. Don’t hurt Winry’s feelings. We could use a break.”
“And come back with fresh eyes,” Winry said. She should have known Al would be her best ally.
Ed nodded slowly. “All right. What are we doing?”
“I don’t want to ruin the surprise. I’ll come get you when we’re ready,” Winry said, getting up. She might as well let Ed get some final studying in. It would probably make him less grumpy. It was still way too early for what she had planned anyhow.
X X X
Winry enlisted Al’s help to put up the mothbally tent while Granny kept Ed occupied with washing dishes; more appropriately sat smoking while Ed whined loudly. She wasn’t sure how Ed would take to sleeping out but she knew Al loved stargazing. That should ensure Ed would play along at least long enough to remember he liked it, too, and that his alchemy texts would be waiting for him tomorrow. Granted she hadn’t told Al about the stargazing bit, wondering if he remembered what should be happening tonight. He just thought they were camping out at the moment.
“Let’s go get Ed,” she said.
“Sure, Winry.” Al cast a look up at the sky. “It’s a really nice night.”
“It’s perfect,” she agreed. She couldn’t have asked for better.
It didn’t take them long to round up Ed. Once he had accepted the idea of a night off to have fun, he seemed to be looking forward to it. Making Ed carry the snack basket, Winry led the way back to the grassy open hill behind Granny’s house, the one they had sled-ridden down in the winter. She carried a blanket and unfurled it before the tent.
Sitting down dead center, Winry patted the soft, old cotton on either side of her. “Come on, sit down.”
“This is our big surprise?” Ed pointed to the tent as he sat next to her. Al sat to the other side.
“Yep that and,” Winry laid down and pointed to the stars, “tonight’s the night the meteor showers start.”
“Oh cool,” Al said, laying back with a rattle.
“I love meteors,” Ed said, the excitement plain in his voice. He nestled down next to her.
“I know. I thought this was something all three of us could still enjoy together,” Winry replied. She felt Al’s big hand close over her arm and Ed’s smile brightened.
“Thank you, Winry,” Al said softly,
“You’re the best,” Ed added.
Winry couldn’t contain her smile. “Thank you. Let’s hope we don’t fall asleep before the meteors start.”
Ed stared up at the sky. “There are so many stars out tonight.”
“Glittery,” Winry agreed. “There’s the Swan.” She pointed to a constellation.
“That doesn’t look like a swan,” Ed grumbled, pointing out the less than swan-like lines.
Winry rolled her eyes. It was such an Ed thing to say. “Sure it does. See there’s the wing.”
“No way. They should call it the Trapezoid constellation,” Ed argued.
“Brother, that’s not very romantic,” Al chided.
“No, but that’s what it looks like,” Ed protested.
“Ed, you have about as much romance in you as a stone.” Winry slapped his chest lightly.
Ed wrinkled his nose. “Who wants that stuff anyhow?”
“And the Horse and Cart,” Winry proceeded doggedly, ignoring Ed but he cheerfully added in what he thought they looked like until they had named most of the constellations and he had renamed them. One of them, the array, she had to admit if she looked hard, did look like the arrays the brothers drew.
“Hey there’s one!” Al said excitedly, pointing to the streak in the sky.
“Ooo.” Winry clapped her hands together. Shooting stars were so neat. Ed and Al started talking about what was in a meteorite and tektites that they made when they hit. She just shook her head. The brothers could suck the mystery out of anything.
As more meteorites blazed across the sky, the youngsters fell mostly silently, watching them, almost hoping one would land and then Al could have a coveted tektite. Finally Al looked over at her and said, “Winry, I’m glad you did this. You’ve been so…distant.”
“Al,” Ed hissed.
“Brother, you’ve noticed it, too,” Al protested.
Winry bit her lip for a moment then said, “I thought…you want to leave here. I know that you do. I guess I was letting you go.”
“We’re not leaving, Winry, not forever,” Al said. “This is home.”
“Yeah,” Ed said but Winry could hear the lack of conviction in his voice as if he knew something Al didn’t yet.
“I just don’t want you to join the military, Ed,” Winry said, her voice cracking. She shook her head violently. “No, I don’t want to talk about this tonight. I want us to be happy.”
Ed didn’t look at her as he reached over to pat her head but the corners of his mouth turned down.
“Sure Winry. We can just watch the shooting stars,” Al said gently, giving her an out.
Winry dredged up a smile. “I’d like that.” She was glad when Ed rummaged in the basket and came up with some little sandwiches for them to eat as they stargazed. The food took the attention off of her.
Finally, Ed fell asleep on her shoulder. Winry looked over at Al as she rubbed Ed’s back. His muscles were knotted where they joined the docking port. “I know Ed will become a State Alchemist, Al. I know you will leave and I don’t really want to stop you. I know you can’t find the answers you need here. I just don’t…I don’t want you to die like my parents.”
“We…” Al sat up, gazing down at her. “I can’t promise we won’t but I’m different now, Winry. I can look out for him.”
Winry smiled and put her hand over Al’s glove. “I know you will. That’s all I can ask for.”
Al seemed to smile back. “Want help getting him in the tent now, Winry?”
“No but he is drooling on me.” Winry turned Ed’s head. He snuffled like a dog on the scent and dug back into her shoulder with his cheek. “When we both fall asleep you can shove us in there.”
“I will, Winry.” Al looked back up at the stars. In a barely audible whisper he added, “I’ll always watch out for you two.”
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Date: 2007-12-21 03:26 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-12-21 03:42 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-12-21 03:44 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-12-21 03:54 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-12-21 12:16 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-12-22 02:43 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-12-22 09:42 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-12-21 04:25 am (UTC)*giggles at Ed renaming the constellations*
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Date: 2007-12-21 04:28 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-12-23 03:04 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-12-23 04:15 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-01-01 02:15 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-01-01 04:19 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-01-02 04:01 am (UTC)I want to do something nice for him but he can’t do any of the fun stuff we used to do. Picnics and swimming just remind him of everything he don’t have any more,” she said and Pinako nearly interjected a grammatically correction into the little girl’s oration but saw this wasn’t the time.
Funny typo I found. Becuase Pinako is using bad grammar to consider correcting Winry's grammar. hee.
convincing Ed. Al was easy but Ed could be such a mule.
I just adore this line. ^_^
And total yay for connecting the sled ride from winter into this one.
I like that Ed apparently once he's asleep at this age is one of those that you can pretty much forget about waking him up. Hee hee. It seems so in character for him to do everything he does with great intensity.
Thanks for the dedication. ^_^ I've enjoyed rereading the older ones and reading the new ones immensely.
no subject
Date: 2008-01-02 04:54 am (UTC)head desk to the typo and yes I think Ed is a big sleeper. I'm glad you enjoyed the series.