Cardinal sin (2) : A laugh in Vain

Epilogue

Ed did not like funerals. He hated them. He loathed them.

Why?

Well, a question like that is easily answered. Funerals were ceremonies held when somebody died to honour them. They were sad events full of mourning. Sometimes, people found it in them to laugh and smile.

Ed always thought people who had the nerve to look happy at funerals were not sad enough to be invited. Let only those who will mourn the dead properly come, is what he thought as a child. Now, attending the second funeral in his life, Ed wasn't sure what to make of that past opinion.

But at the moment, he was too busy grieving over two people, one far more than the other. In fact, for the other, it was less sadness that he felt, and more remorse.

He had killed a man!

Those who expected him to celebrate his victory were mad. Even if Vain was an evil person responsible for the death of Rebecca Catalina and Granny, he was still a man holding in his hand a precious life; Ed had stripped him of that without mercy.

Burying Vain alongside the rest of the Cardinal Sin back in Torchpit so he could rest near his dear friends brought no ounce of relief to Ed. Knowing there was blood on his hands was a form of torture like no other. It was as though the overwhelming remorse he was feeling since murdering Vain was embodied into some wriggly worm slowly eating away at his insides. Soon, Ed felt, he would be no more than a pitiful man alive and well physically, but with all thought and emotion dead to the world.

Furthermore, it was entirely his fault that Granny was now six feet underground with a headstone placed on top. Had he not decided to chase foolishly after the Cardinal Sin, then that sweet old woman would still be with them today. Winry's life wouldn't have been ruined even more.

Granny was Winry's parental figure. She'd raised Rockbell ever since her parents were killed and taught her the fine art of automail. With her gone, Winry would be all alone.

And whose fault was that? Edward's.

He glanced guiltily at his fiancee, who was standing beside him. Her posture was rigid, her appearance appropriate in a long black dress—it used to belong to Granny, back when she was young. Winry held her hands behind her back and her eyes in front, but her lip trembled. From her expression, Ed could see that she was fighting tears.

Gently, Fullmetal put his arm around Winry. He pulled her to him and she accepted the shoulder he offered and began to cry openly. She managed to bring forth tears from Fullmetal, too, and they all mourned Pinako Rockbell's loss as a sad, sad community.

The End