Waltz of Atonement

"What's up Koda? What's going on?" Al asked. I coughed. "I think I know how you can you can find Ed, or at least get a lead. The military. Join the military, and there's sure to be some books about him. After all, he was the famous Fullmetal Alchemist," I said, straightening his shirt collar. Al blushed, and then he nodded. "Joining the military wasn't something I thought about. I'll do that, tomorrow," he said. Then, with a friendly smile, he said "And then we can continue my training!" I gulped. "Y-Yeah. We can continue with your training after that! But for now, let's focus on this," I instructed, hoping my blushing face wasn't showing. Al nodded, then turned around and headed back for the dining room. I sighed. "I don't know the first thing about alchemy. I guess while Al is signing up, I'll look up a book on alchemy. Or....if what Havoc said is correct, I can ask the Colonel," I said, placing a finger to my lips. "Hmmm..."

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

That night, it was nearly impossible to sleep. I layed wide awake in bed, listening to the wind slam against my window. I rested my head against the pillow, and that's when the noise came to my ears:

 

A small bell like melody.

 

My eyes widened as I sat up in bed. I had heard this melody before. I kept my ears perked as I listened in again.

 

The melody was sweet and mesmorizing, and I shuddered.

This melody came from Ed's military pocketwatch! Which must mean....

 

I jumped out of bed, running into the hallway to locate the melody. It was coming from the other side of the hall. I ran to the door and pushed it open.

 

"Ah! Koda!"

 

It was Al, sitting up in bed reading, with Ed's pocketwatch beside him. I sighed. "Oh yeah...I gave you his watch. I forgot," I said outloud. Al looked confused as he adjusted his blankets. "What?" he asked, blinking his eyes. "I'm sorry. I thought that Ed was in here. I heard his watch and...oh I forgot I had given it to you when you went with Izumi," I said sadly, my shoulders sinking. Al sighed. "Nope. I listen to it every night, hoping that maybe Nii-San will hear it and come home. Or maybe I'll remember something about him," he said, opening his book again. "Have you yet?" I asked. Al shook his head. "Nothing. But that's allright. I'll remember sometime. I just have to," he said. I smiled as I sat next to Al. "Your brother would be proud of you to see how hard you're working. I'm proud of you," I said, patting Al's head. He smiled happily as he blushed. "I try," he said shyly.

 

A fist hit the side of Al's wall from the other room. "Can you quiet down please?! God, I'm trying to sleep!" Kirrah's annoyed voice said from the other side. Gently, I closed Ed's pocketwatch and placed it in Al's hand. "Better go to sleep. Goodnight Alphonse. See you tomorrow," I said gently as I left the room.

 

I fell back into my bed when I got to my room. The melody was still ringing in my ears as I covered myself with the blanket. Ed's pocketwatch....it held so many memories for me. I felt a tear slide down my face as I found myself wishing I could unlock my memories and give them all to Al.