The End Is The Beginining

Disclaimer: I don't own FMA, it owns ME!

Summary: Aphonse Elric has died of a heart attack at the age of 125 years. At the moment of his death, he sees a "crisis apparition" of his beloved older brother, Edward, who takes him to kind of a supernatual way station called "The Waiting Room". Here he reunites with his wife, Winry, and oldest son, Yuki. They eventually go to "The Good Place", a version of heaven; which is Risembool in the summer time, where they become children again and play all day.

Chapter Four: The Beginning

Alphonse woke with a start, and found himself laying in his own bed. How had he gotten here? His last memory had been of falling asleep on the floor of his father's study. He looked over to his brother's bed. Edward lay motionless, a soft snore issuing from the lump under the covers. Alphonse closed his eyes and dozed off again. When he woke up a second time, the light coming through the window was brighter, and the clock by his bed read 8:30. He closed his eyes again, then suddenly jerked back awake: he had to pee. He threw back the covers and discovered not only had his sandals been taken off, but he'd been undressed to his briefs!

How strange. He padded to the bathroom and did his 'business', then washed his hands and face. When he got back to the bedroom, he discovered his bed had been made, and fresh clothes were set out for him. Strange, and getting stranger. The biggest surprise came when he entered the kitchen: the table was already set for breakfast! As if on cue, his stomach started to growl. He climbed into his chair and viewed the spread: bacon, eggs, cheese, cold cereal, oatmeal, fruit, pancakes, waffles, butter and syrup, orange juice, toast, and jam - everything to delight the appetites of little boys.

He took a smaller selection than last night, and chewed thoughtfully while he formulated new questions to ask of his brother. Speak of the devil - he heard thumping footsteps upstairs, followed by the toilet flushing, and water running.

"AL!"

Al called out "Down here!" Ed charged down the steps like a juggernaut, "Ah! Breakfast!" As a child, Edward had the usual healthy appetite, but it was as a teen it had gotten truly scary, for then he ate like his remaining limbs were auxillary stomachs! Ed was exhibiting his teenage appetite here, and it was truly remarkable.He filled his plate and cleaned it off to the last crumb, while downing multiple glasses of milk and orange juice. Maybe Ed's view of what he considered paradise was all the food he could stuff himself with - and then some.

"You done, Al?" He nodded. "Let's go then! Winry's probably waiting for us down by the river." Edward jumped down and charged for the door, pausing only briefly to grab his sandals and pull them on while still running. Al was about to jump down, when he paused and said "Thank you" to the empty air again. He probably couldn't explain why, except he felt it was a good idea to be polite to whomever - or whatever - was putting all this delicious food out.

He hit the floor running, bent down to grab his sandals and he was out the door after his brother. He could hear distant barking, and Edward shouting "Den! Den!" Alphonse looked down the hill and he could see Winry standing still, a furiously barking Den - as a puppy - racing around in circles around her, with Ed chasing her. Or was Den chasing Ed? When he reached them, Winry looked at him with her blue eyes shining. "Look, Al! It's Den! I woke up this morning and she was on my bed, licking my face!"

The puppy threw herself at Al and they both went down in a pile, Den reaching for his face with her long pink tongue, Al was giggling, his questions forgotten. Only after a serious day of energetic play, did Ed stop long enough for Al to ask "Brother? Who is feeding us? We fell asleep in father's study, who took us to our beds? You seem to know more about this place than I do."

"Mmmmm" Ed didn't answer at first. "I dunno exactly what they are called, the Christians would probably call them "angels", to the Buddhists, they are "tennin", and Hindus call them "devas". Whatever they truly are, they work behind the scenes of this place,to make it idyllic for the dead."

Al was silent for so long, Edward finally looked at him and said "O.K., Al, I can see you have more questions, so ask, and if I know the answer, I'll tell you."

"Did you ever marry, and have children?"

"Ummm, marry? No. But when I was in England, I, erm - had some "intimate encounters." Edward blushed red to the roots of his hair. "Because the men were needed to fight on the front lines, women took over their jobs at home. Some had boyfriends, or husbands - they were lonely. Or the boyfriend/husband would get killed in action, and they would sometimes come to me for -ah - "comfort."

Al shook his head. "Oh, brother!"

"Yeah, that's what they usually said to me after sex." Ed grinned and ducked a slap from Winry. "None of them ever came right out and told me if I'dgottenherpregnant,but I have to assume I left a few illegitimate brats here and there."

Now Al was blushing, because this talk was reminding him of the many blissful hours he'd spent doing "adult things" with Winry. He decided to completely change the subject:

"How do you know so much about this place?"

"Well, for one thing, I've been dead for much longer than you have. I've been cooling my heels in that waiting room for a good long while, and I've heard things."

"What things?"

"Well, the - 'angels', orwhatever you call 'em sometimes pass through the waiting room, and if you ask respectfully, they will answer your questions. They don't go into detail, but they told me enough to satisfy my curiosity - mostly."

"Just for the record, Brother, how long have you been dead?"

Ed frowned for a moment. "Well, lessee, it was, um, in the 1960s, I can't remember the exact year anymore. I had moved to the country of America after the war, to a state called California. It's warm all the time there, y'know."

"Warm all the time? That must have been nice."

"At first, Al; but then it got rather boring. No seasons there, unless you count the rainy season - and the wildfire season. But I digress. There was an earthquake there the day I died, and a wall fell on me."

Alphonse gasped. "Oh, Brother! I'm sorry!"

"What for?"

"It must have been painful!"

"Nah, I was in bed, sleeping, I never knew what hit me, never felt a thing. But I will tell you I was mightysurprised to open my eyes and find our father standing over me, telling me to get up."

"You saw Father? Oh, I wish I could see him again, we never got to finish our talk that day in Risembool."

"Yeah, hell of a time for him to fill me in on this, that, and the whole thing. I wish he'd told me everything that day too, it would have saved us a whole lot of grief. We could have all gone to the underground city and fought Dante and her homunculi together."

"Well, brother, you were too busy kicking, punching and yelling for him to explain anything."

"Well, I didn't feel like talking with my mouth, so I let my fists do it for me. I was such an angry teen, I didn't trust any one but you. Well, I might have trusted Maes Hughes, but then he got killed and no one bothered to tell me until later."

"So, for how long did you see him?"

"Umm, not too long; we got to the waiting room, and Mother was there, it was really nice to see her. We had a lot to talk about, but I didn't get to say half the things I wanted to tell her before Father came up and said it was time for them to go, and I should stay here and wait for you."

"You mean, they just left? Just like that? I would have liked to seen Mother again!" Alphonse didn't realize he'd raised his voice, and he was gesturing wildly.

"Calm down, A!" huffed Winry, hugging a whining Den. "I only had a few minutes with my parents too, before they went to their Good Place. The waiting room is a nice place, but it can get old quick for some people."

Al took a few deep breaths. He couldn't believe it, he would never see his mother again. Another question occured to him. "Brother? Do you think our parents came here - to this Good Place?"

"They - they might have. You might actually meet some people who grew up here, who also see Risembool in the summer as their personal paradise."

"You think we might see them - Father and Mother?"

"I doubt it. After so long, they probably both have gone Elsewhere by now."

Al hung his head, and tears stung his eyes. How he longed to see that loving face once again.

"Al, please don't cry." Winry hugged him, and kissed his cheek. "The 'ang' - the ones who maintain this place can grant you dreams of what you most want to see." This cheered Al up a bit and he sniffed back his tears. Winry went over to Ed and straddled him. "Wake up, lazy butt! Get up or I'll pee on you!"

"Yuck! Girl cooties! Get away from me!" Ed jumped up and ran off along the river bank, with Winry laughing and Den barking after him. A splash told Al he'd fallen in, so he got up and went after them. Sure enough, Ed was sitting in the shallows, while Den energetically 'washed' his face.

After a few 'days', or maybe it was a lot of 'days', Alphonse had lost track of time, not that time mattered here. He was having a lot of fun reliving his childhood, and he found Winry's suggestion did work. When he drifted off to sleep at night, he thought he could hear - if he lay very quietly - a familiar voice humming or sometimeseven singing a lullaby to him. He dreamed his mother was there with him again, stroking his hair as she sang him to sleep. When he was in the kitchen, he thought he could smell a faint whiff of her perfume - lily of the valley.

His afterlife was made more bearable, until the 'day', he was running close behind Edward, Winry and Den on another adventure when the strap of his sandal broke and he stumbled. The trio disappeared around a tree, Al tossed aside the now useless sandal, then the other one, and ran after them barefoot. He rounded the tree and - they were gone. He looked for them, calling their names until he was hoarse, and it was dusk. Maybe they'd gone home. First he went to the Rockbell house, but it was dark and silent. He searched every room and every closet - expecting them to leap out and yell "BOO!", but one one was there.

He shuffled slowly home - looking up towards the house, he saw a light glowing in an upstairs window. Maybe they were there, so he ran all the way up the hill. He was huffing and puffing by the time he made the back door - he ran into the kitchen - the table was set for dinner, but only one plate was set out. His. Where had Edward and Winry gone? He washed his hands, but ate only a little food, after eating he said the now standard "Thank you" to the empty air again, then paused before jumping down. "Please," he begged the empty air, "Where is my brother?" But no answer came until he was alone in their bedroom and drifting off to sleep.

"Elsewhere" whispered a voice which was everywhere, and nowhere at the same time. It sounded like his mother, but it could have been his father as well. The next morning, he ate only a piece of toast before addressing the quiet house "I want to be Elsewhere too. Please." But no voice came to him, and he wandered glumly out, stopping only long enough to pull on a mysteriously repaired pair of sandals.

He heard voices down by the river, and hoping it was Edward and Winry, ran down to greet them. But it was some kids he'd never seen before - he would have left, but they were new here, and wanted to play. Alphonse thought his heart wouldn't be in it, but he was surprised after a while to realize he was having a good time with his new friends. When the light shone from upstairs, he said "goodbye, see you tomorrow" to them and went home, ate supper with a lighter heart than that morning and read in father's study until he fell asleep.

And that is how his existence in his personal Good Place went, he still missed his brother, and wife; but playing with the other kids helped to ease the ache in his heart. Until one 'evening', he found he had more trouble than usual climbing up the hill to the house. He looked down at his legs, they seemed shorter, and so were his arms. Alphonse barely made it to the yard, he was so tired by that time, his legs didn't seem to support him anymore, and he had to crawl.

He stopped after a few feet, exhausted. There was a pair of bare legs, and feet in sandals in front of him. A female voice said, "Oh, there you are, my little man, come to mommy!" A pair of soft hands lifted him into the air, and he saw the face he'd been longing to see for so long. "Mommy!" She kissed his cheek, "Hello, Alphonse, my darling." A deeper voice sounded, "Hello, son". A large male hand ruffled his hair. "Dada?" His mother spoke again. "We love you Alphonse, but it's time for you to go Elsewhere now."

"Ma-ma?" His parents faded away, and suddenly he was in darkness. Now an undefined force was squeezing him, pushing him along a dark corridor towards a bright light. As Al crept closer to it, he thought he could hear muffled voices, now a woman's voice, crying in pain. Something grabbed his head and started pulling on it, and now the voices were louder.

He heard a man's voice say "C'mon honey, just one more push, just onnneee more! Yeah! That's it!" And just like that, the squeezing and pushing and pulling stopped, and Alphonse Elric was free.

A newborn infant cried as nurses wiped blood and mucus off it's body, then weighed and measured it, before wrapping it in a pink blanket. Given back to the new mother, it quieted down and gawked at her, while looking around at it's new world, blinking in the light. It began crying again when a bright light hit it's eyes, the flash of a digital camera recorded the first images ofthe new life. "Enough, honey!" laughed the mother, "You're scaring her!" The father smiled and put away the camera. "Can I hold her?"

He'd never held an infant before, and he handled his new daughter like she was made of fine china, but in her father's eyes, she was like the choicest porcelain. He rocked her gently, so she stopped crying and peered curiously at him. Then he brought her up close to his face and kissed her forehead. "Welcome to the world, sweetheart; welcome."

Author's note: It is said that for every death, there is a birth. I like to think that the same day my father died, he was reborn - maybe as a girl.. And while lying in a bassinette somewhere he was thinking "What's going on? Where am I? Where's my pants? What the hell happend to my teeth? And why am I wrapped in a pink blanket?"

Next week, I will post a far happier Alphonse-centric story - I promise!