Work Text:
things are better if i stay (so long, and goodnight)
june 25, day 6: dream / sync / timeless
For @edling-week on Tumblr!
First, there was nothing. A color that couldn't exactly be described given that it was the absolute absence of color. The closest you could get, I think, would be a deep, dark black that threatens to swallow you in the lonely hours of the night.
But then that changes. Color is introduced, and with it, Life.
A large floating rock, a larger floating rock, and an even larger ball of fire.
But then there was
E
V
E
R
Y
T
H
I
N
G
The Sun was familiar with Earth.
Just as the Moon was, if not even more so.
Because The Sun was there longer. The Sun had stayed and it had watched. The Sun had watched as the tides moved, and as the plants had adapted. As people came to be, as the world turned, as minds evolved. The Sun had watched as humans became stupid, and decided that war should be a common place and rights should either be taken away at the snap of a fingers or barely given in the first place.
But everything kept turning and everything kept moving. There was nothing The Sun could do, not with the space that separated them. The Sun would do what it could to provide without death, but humans were too obtuse to be thankful. They continued to poison their planet, slowly but surely. The Sun could see it coming, the day when its rays would be too bright, and its gift would bring destruction and devastation to their planet.
Who's fault would it really be?
The Sun, for giving too much? For hoping too much?
Or the humans, for being too ambitious? For reaching out to The Sun as if they could touch it?
(For following in Icarus' footsteps, despite it being a tale cautioning against such a thing? Who was at fault when all was said and done?)
The Sun could never answer such a question. So, instead, it would simply look away. It was easier, that way.
The Moon didn't have that luxury. To just- look away. To focus on other things.
The Moon, in its own humble opinion, was much more familiar with the Earth. It was always there, a small 238,900 miles away. That was nothing compared to the 93,000,000 miles that The Sun had.
The Moon was always there, watching over. It didn't have the luxury of ignoring the problems, and it was forced to face a short-handed view of every mistake the humans made. The Moon would be there, always, a constant revolution around the constant rotation. It would allow the Earth to see as it spun, round and round, stuck in an orbit of mistakes and pain.
It would give light during the dark hours, and it would watch everything with a deep feeling of sadness.
Whether it wanted to or not.
They tolerate each other.
And one day, they both decide to go down to Earth. To see if they can do something to stop the cycle of Birth, Pain, Regret, then Death.
So they plant a seed.
The Sun chose a broken man, who had a strong desire to be a father.
The Sun had mercy on him.
Now you may be thinking the process was similar to- Tangled, or something. A drop of Sunlight, a flower bloomed, an old hag, and a sickly Queen with a loving and worried Husband. If you did, you would be wrong. A drop of Sunlight, scientifically, is not possible.
Now a ray of Sunlight? It happens every day. Literally.
A ray of Sunlight so bright it turns sand to glass. A ray of Sunlight so bright it makes the window burning to the touch and sets the curtain on fire. A ray of Sunlight so bright it gives Van Hohenheim to need to shut his eyes. A ray of Sunlight so bright it overheats him in a matter of seconds, and he becomes so overwhelmed he passes out.
Van Hohenheim hits the floor, and from the other room, the love of his life runs in, worried half to death.
Three weeks later, Trisha Elric announced she is pregnant.
And in the beginning, all was great.
Their baby was born a small red thing, crying so loud the midwife plugged her ears with a wince. Trisha laughed and named him Edward Elric, after her grandfather. Edward Elric is loud, stubborn, and incredibly caring. He is protective, and he is curious, and he is smart.
And one year later, he is an older brother.
Alphonse Elric does not carry the gift of The Sun, but Edward treats him as if he does. Well, later. At first, Edward was upset with the new addition to their household. Eventually, with a few lessons and lectures, he sees reason. Edward treats Alphonse as if he is the most precious thing in the world. Edward treats Alphonse carefully, all of the love in his heart bubbling up to his hands.
The Sun laughs fondly.
Van Hohenheim, unaware, sheds tears for his children.
"Can you tell me a story?" Alphonse Elric asks, three years old and unaware of any hardships of the world.
"Of course," Edward Elric responds, four years old, with a sinking feeling in his stomach.
Then in a few weeks, Van Hohenheim is gone.
What a father he was.
The Moon had laughed at his troubles, and The Sun does not hesitate to point out how hypocritical that is.
It doesn't matter though, not really. Edward Elric becomes more protective, he becomes brighter. He treats his family as if they are the only things in the world that matter. His golden hair and golden eyes shine in the eyes of The Sun, and The Sun does not regret a thing.
And then The Sun's child had his mother ripped away from him, by a common western illness. It had claimed Trisha Elric's life, and it leaves Edward and Alphonse Elric without a mother. They do, eventually, gain another mother from the experience, but then it all goes wrong.
Suddenly Edward's human heritage comes roaring, making him think he can bypass the rules of the universe. It makes him cocky, and it makes him desperate, and it makes him pay for those thinking that he is above the law of Equivalent Exchange.
Edward Elric is left without an arm and a leg, and Alphonse Elric is left without a body at all.
They join the military, and The Sun still, somehow, had faith. The Sun had more faith with every helping hand they meet along the way, and every time they are beaten into the ground just to get back up again.
The Sun had faith in the both of them, because they are brothers, and that makes them both children of The Sun.
The Elric brothers had faith too, when late at night, The Moon helps them keep the darkness away.
The Moon chooses an Emperor. The Sun is not surprised.
The Emperor had many children. The one child blessed by The Moon is named Ling Yao.
Ling Yao never meets his father.
The Moon seems confident, and The Sun wonders how they had both ended up choosing such horrible fathers. One thing both children had in common, however, is that they both had wonderful mothers.
Ling doesn't need to meet his father when his mother is by his side right up until she is assassinated.
Ling Yao is best friends with a girl named Lan Fan, and The Sun notes happily that he treats her similarly to how Edward treats Alphonse.
Ah. It seems they have both chosen older brothers.
The Emperor announces the Quest for Immortality, and Ling Yao grips onto the chance to prove that he is more than his father takes him for. Edward and Ling are alike, in that way. The Sun laughed for a long, long time at that.
Ling Yao tells Lan Fan that he is going to Amestris, and she doesn't question why. She, instead, demands that he take her and her grandfather, Fu. Ling grins something sharp and tells her he had already assumed they were coming.
"Why are you doing this?" asks Lan Fan during a tired and cold night in the desert, The Moon lighting the way in front of them. It is supposed to be unbecoming of her to question her prince, but none of them care for such things.
"Because I have to," is what Ling Yao answers, keeping his eyes on the sky above him. It's not really an answer, but Lan Fan nods as if he has answered her query.
As The Moon's child treks across a great desert so he could treat his people, The Sun made sure to keep its rays less blinding, and more reassuring.
The days are less scalding, and the nights are less freezing. Though Lan Fan and Fu are bewildered, Ling is used to such treatment.
When they reach Amestris, The Sun and The Moon wait anxiously for their children to meet.
And when their children met, eye to eye, about a week later, it all
C L I C K E D
I N T O
P L A C E
Ling and Edward immediately became frenemies of sorts, and neither of the celestial bodies were surprised in the slightest. While The Sun and The Moon cared deeply for each other, they were also very competitive, a trait that seemed to pass along into their children. Edward and Ling, much like the beings that had blessed them, spent most of their time antagonizing each other and the rest of their time trying the pretend that they didn't like each other.
As much as they hated to admit it (in the beginning, at least) they worked well together like- dare I say it- The Sun and The Moon. What a coincidence.
They found their common enemy soon enough- the Dwarf in the Flask. They spent the night together in the wonderful venue otherwise known as Gluttony's Stomach, or Gluttony's Fake Gate if you want to sound more sophisticated. They eat Edward's Leather Boot Soup together and Edward nearly kills himself for the people he loves- again.
It is becoming too common of an occurrence for The Sun to be comfortable with.
Somehow (not that they had any doubt, mind you) Ling and Edward defeat the Dwarf in the Flask (or (Edward's Weird Technically A Pseudo Uncle, I guess?) who was doing its very best to eat The Sun and The Moon. The celestial bodies of course, are very thankful of this.
Then, like the absolute idiots they are, Edward and Ling part. Ling goes to off to Xing with Lan Fan, Mei, and Xiao Mei, (and without Fu, sadly) and becomes a much better Emperor than his father ever was. (This is noted with pride by both The Moon and The Sun). Edward stays in Amestris and helps make his birth country a better place to live while also technically not being in the military. As proud as he is with how far the nation has gone, he has to admit their new law against child soldiers is quite a hassle for his whole Trying To Make His Country An Okay Place To Be Born In plan.
Even with their loved ones around them (and piles of work everywhere they look) a hollow feeling follows them everywhere they go. They learn to cope and do their best to ignore it and focus on something else, but it's a presence that never leaves.
It's something they remember feeling when they had been children. So used to the chronic pain of being without each other that they hadn't even noticed it until it had left. But upon meeting each other, they had gotten to used to living without out it.
Then it was back. And then had to get used to living with the pain once again.
But years later, they meet again.
And the pain leaves.
That time, they don't separate.
And when they died, many, many, many years after that, they met once again, held in eyes of The Sun and The Moon.