Cardinal Sin (1) : Rebirth of the Fullmetal Alchemist

1 - Dilemma on the train

The flat stretches of green earth ruled over by the many farms of the small town of Resembool, soon gave way to bare land where nothing could be seen for miles aside from old forests and the occasional river. Only an ancient, singular train track cut through the quiet wilderness, otherwise unperturbed by the touch of mankind. A train was speeding along it, and it lacked the big crowds of travellers its owners wished for. 

In the far back of the second caboose sat a young man of eighteen, built strongly, tall as he was so gloriously proud of, his blonde hair pulled back into a neat ponytail at the back of his head. He was leaning his arm (one of flesh and bone, mind you) on the window beside his seat, gazing out at the swiftly moving land. This man was very famous, though one might not guess just by looking at him—the only other passenger in the caboose, an elderly woman, was one such person. Years ago, he'd been a state alchemist, the youngest one ever, too, wandering the country of Amestris in search of a way to get his and his brother's bodies back to their original states. In addition to this, two years ago, he had defeated a being known as the homunculus Father that had in his intentions to wipe out the entire country for self-gain. However, now, he was sure folks were starting to forget about him, for, in order to accomplish this feat, he'd had to sacrifice the very thing that had secured his fame; his alchemy. Since that faithful day, he had been living a quiet life in the small, rural town of Risemboul.

His name was Edward Elric, but he was more commonly known as the Fullmetal Alchemist.

Presently, the Fullmetal alchemist was having a very hard time suppressing his urges to grin broadly and dance around, crying out his joy. Just the task of keeping his face neutral was hard—though he was falling quite miserably as he had a deep shade of red painted across his cheeks (the elderly lady in the caboose was eying him judgementally for this).

All this was due to the fact that he'd sort of asked his childhood friend, Winry Rockbell, to marry him.

Well, technically, he hadn't gone down on one knee and asked her directly to marry him with a ring to place on her finger. Instead, his dorky self pointed and told her, while yelling, that if she gave him half her life, he'd give her half of his, using the concept of equivalent exchange to do so.

Equivalent exchange.

He had proposed to a girl whose interests dwelled in automail and who took absolutely no pleasure in anything related to alchemy by making reference to the concept of equivalent exchange.

Ed banged his head violently against the window, internally screaming, for he had just realized just how stupid he had been. A proposal to the person you loved was something special and romantic, and he went out like a fool and asked her in about the worst way possible. 

Amazingly, it had worked.

There had been a sensible plan to begin with. He would only admit his feelings for her and that would be that. Ed had resolved to follow through after a restless night of trying to convince himself. His younger brother, Al, had tried hard to pry out the reason for his nervousness in vain. 

It was supposed to be a quick, straightforward confession, but, evidently, things didn't work out as he had intended them to. He'd tried to tell her before leaving Granny's house. Then, again on the way to the train station. By the time they arrived and sat on a bench waiting for the train's arrival, Ed was panicking. The young man still couldn't bring himself to open his mouth and say it. Finally, when the train did come, and he was about to step onto it, not to see Winry for a long while, he found the courage (it was a very little amount) and told her. The only problem with this was the haunting fact that it had come out wrong and now, apparently, they were going to get married.

It never hurts to skip a few steps like dating, right?

Right?

Ed suddenly arched his back and yelled, "I'm such an idiot!"

The elderly woman was not impressed.

His marriage was certainly already doomed.