Long Summary:

"There's a war out there Alphonse," Ed muttered while he stared out his rain-washed kitchen window. "It's only a matter of time before we're sucked into it like the rest of them…and I'll try my hardest to make sure that that doesn't happen to you too."

A war has broken out close to home and it appears never-ending once the war reaches its eight-year anniversary. What will happen to the young men of the country as the draft is initiated once again? More importantly, what lengths will Edward Elric go to protect his younger brother from the hideousness of war? Eventual EdWin. Set in a slight Alternate Universe; Amestris with same technology and time period-key difference: there is no alchemy

So, this is and idea that popped into my brain over a month ago and I've been working on the idea ever since. But I'm excited to finally be able to put this story into action.

I hope you enjoy and stick with the story, even during the next few chapters when it's going to be mainly exposition.

"…they say 20 new recruits were killed yesterday. Bomb explosion. Just straight out of boot camp."

"Damn right shame."

"…a truck of supplies was blown off the road from an IED. Killed 10 people."

"I heard it was actually 15! Appears like the government either wants it kept quiet or they want it covered up completely!"

"Well of course they do! They don't want us all to think that all of our men are dieing out there! What government would do that?"

"…why are we still battling in this God-forsaken war? What's the point?"

"Point? When has war ever had a point besides taking the lives of good men, women, and children all over?"

"…do you think this war will be over soon?"

"This war will never end…it's an incessant and absurd war. There will only be an end when the people of Amestris or Aerugo stand up and dictate an end."

"Well if that's your opinion, why don't you go and see how it works out by demonstrating it yourself!"

"Would you like some more Coffee sir?"

Edward looked up from his newspaper and into the flirty green eyes of his waitress. After glancing into his half-empty coffee cup and then glancing at his wrist-watch, he gave the girl a small, half-smile.

"Sure why not? I've still got more time," Edward lied.

"Anything else sir?" she asked once his cup was filled again with dark, hot liquid.

"Oh no thank you. After this, I think I'll be done."

"Okay then. Let me get you your check."

Edward let out a sigh as he watched the perky girl flounce away from him as if there was a runway in-between him and the counter. All of these girls were starting to get to him; he had enough problems as it was already.

He sat in his favorite, not to mention only, coffee shop in town, hiding from the blistery March weather that waited for him outside of the door. Everywhere he went there was only one discussion: the on-going war. That damned war had taken nearly everything that Ed held near and dear to himself and yet…there was nowhere on the planet where he could go and escape any information on the war.

"Will that be all sweet-heart?" his waitress asked in a tone that made Ed cringe slightly.

"Yes-thank you."

Ed pulled out the needed amount of bills as he stared at the check that she had left him before he drained the entire cup of coffee. He flipped over the paper and frowned slightly once he saw what was written on the back:

555-6789

Taylor

-Call me!

Once the note was slipped into his newspaper (he didn't want to hurt the poor girls feelings by leaving it there), Edward stuffed the rolled up paper into his inside coat pocket, buttoned up his jacket, and left the warm and cozy café.

The blistering winds hit his face hard as he persisted through the not-so busy streets of Resembool. The main street was usually the main gossip spot of the town but no one stopped to talk today. Once he had was about to get off of the main street, a voice called from behind him.

"Edward!"

Talk about problems. Edward let out a small groan of annoyance before the person in question had gotten too close to him.

"Edward, where have you been?"

Edward turned around to see a curvy young woman with tan skin, big brown eyes, and brown hair that had bright pink highlights in them. It was, in Ed's opinion, his Kinda-Sorta-Possibly-Maybe-On-Again-Off-Again-Girlfriend-Of-Two-Years, Rose, but Ed was sure when it came to her, they were as serious as could be. It wasn't that he didn't like her anymore well…no. That was a lie. Actually, he didn't like her anymore-at all. He wasn't even sure if he liked her as a fellow human being at all. This was due to the many, strong differing opinions the 'couple' shared. First of all, there was the whole different opinion when it came to the seriousness of their relationship. While Ed had been hinting for quit some time now that he would like to stop seeing each other, Rose kept hinting that she wanted a particular present for her upcoming birthday-an engagement ring.

"Oh…hi Rose," Ed said to her, hoping like hell he sounded sincere to her over the howling winds.

"Yes. Hello Edward," she said rather coolly. "Where were you?"

"Huh?"

"We were supposed to be meeting at Martha's Furniture Store so we could decide on what bedspread would go best-with-the-paint-in-our-apartment!" Rose wined so quickly that it began to sound like one big word near the end.

Second reason as to why Ed wanted to break up: Rose always seemed to take Ed's 'no's' and 'why can't you do it's' into 'yeses' and 'of course I'll help you'. Not to mention whenever Ed tried to tell Rose clearly what he really wanted to do-which never involved shopping for matching pillow-cases for this non-existent 'our' apartment-she always whined and cried Ed's poor ears into submission.

"Um yeah about that…you see I was kinda busy and I had to go check-."

"What is that?" Rose snapped as she stared at a slip of paper that fell out of Ed's pocket. To his horror, Ed realized it was the number his waitress gave him.

Countdown to explosion in five, four, three, two-

"Why do you have another girls number!" Rose sobbed as she pointed accusingly at the slip of paper. "Why do you always have other girls numbers? Can't you just say that you're taken? Why can't you just do the one, simple thing I asked of you today? Don't I do as you ask?"

Um, no.

"And, and-you haven't been appreciating all the work I've been doing so you can move in soon! Admit it!"

Ed opened his mouth to maybe try and defend himself but found that he would just let her spin out of control and let her run away in forced tears rather than adding more fuel to the fire that would never, ever burn out.

"Don't you love me Edward?" Rose began sobbing hysterically, causing several people to stop and stare at the scene unfolding before them.

I'm pretty sure I never said I did.

"W-well fine!" Rose screeched to Ed's face. "If you won't say it- then I'm leaving!"

And with that, Rose stormed away in her classic, overly-dramatic and not-so convincing exit. Ed let out a sigh before he turned to the people around him and gave them all a look that said 'does anyone have a gun I can shoot myself with?' before he began down the side street.

As Edward branched off the main street and onto one that lead to frost-bitten fields, his eyes passed over something: it was their towns' war memorial. He let his eyes linger for a moment on the plaque containing the names of the ones who had died that horrible day years ago; Ed kept telling himself that the only reason his eyes were watering was because of the strong winds.

"Hello Brother!"

Ed looked up as he closed the front door behind him. His brother, Alphonse, was standing at the stove, cooking something that smell deliciously like stew. He couldn't help but smirk at the flowery apron that he was wearing.

"So how was the coffee shop?"

"Ehh…caffeinated I guess. Full of lovely gossip," Ed added sarcastically as he plopped down onto a chair at the kitchen table. "Ran into Rose again."

"Ugh, so what happened this time?"

"I seriously have no idea. She just started screaming and crying so soon after she saw me I just…didn't really give a shit," Ed finished truthfully.

"Well why don't you just break up if you don't want to be with her anymore?" Al asked exasperatedly.

"Al! If it was that easy I would have had this problem done years ago! You've never chucked a girl before! You don't know how hard it is. Especially when the girls a psycho."

"Edward," Al said in a stern warning tone.

"What? She is crazy and don't you deny it! But hopefully she'll be so pissed at me that she'll just let me loose. When's that done?" Ed asked, changing the subject to the big pot on the stove.

"In a bit Ed. Why don't you set the table?"

"Why Al? There's only the two of us. There's only ever thetwo of us," Ed groaned as he got up from where he sat. "That is, unless you suddenly got some friends?"

"I do have friends Ed!" Al huffed. "Unlike some anti-social, loud-mouthed jerks!"

"Well if we were all perfect like you Al I'm sure I could make friends too."

"So why don't you even try anymore? I remember a certain blondie about ten years ago that was the most popular kid at school."

"Jeez Al, can you stop sounding so conceded?" Ed asked with a smirk before he dodged a spatula that came flying his way.

"You know I was talking about you! What happened brother?"

"Heh, times change things," Ed muttered.

Not to mention that this fucking war goes and takes away all of your friends. Either by killing them or by fucking up their minds so that they'll never be your old friend ever again…

Dinner was a quiet affair as ever. Al told somewhat interesting tales of what happened down at the college campus, that was located a town over, while Ed fiddled with his food; Al instantly knew something was wrong when he noticed that Ed was not inhaling his stew like usual, but decided against pointing it out.

Government Decides to Reinstate the Draft

What will this mean for the young men of the country?

Ed stared at the front page of his news paper that he held in his hand. His heart was beating a million miles an hour and he felt his mouth grow dry. The Draft…it would be reinstated? He had heard myths of it around towns. He had heard of people saying that the government was using the rumor as a kind of threat, a scare tactic, but…but actually doing it? That was a whole different thing all together.

"Did the paper come yet brother?"

Ed turned his head around quickly. Al was standing once again in the kitchen with his ridiculous apron on. It was the next morning and after a night of restless sleep, Ed got up. It was Monday which meant that Al would be leaving for the local college in a while and Ed would leave for work.

How would he tell Alphonse that, odds are, the two of them would be shipped out to the front lines in only a matter of time? Ed glanced back at the paper quickly before he tossed it into the nearby bushes.

"It got soaked from the rain this morning," Ed invented quickly before he took his spot at the table again.

Al gave him an odd look before he shrugged and went back to the cooking if breakfast. Meanwhile, Ed's head was in overdrive. He knew he couldn't keep this news from Al for very long at all; it was front page news after all.

"Edward?"

"Huh?" Ed asked, snapping out of his trance.

"I asked you how many pancakes you wanted."

"Oh, um…three's fine. Thanks."

"No problem," Al said as he slapped three steaming pancakes onto his plate, his face and eyes holding signs of concern. "Is something the matter brother?"

"Uh, no. Not really," Ed said, hoping like Hell that his face didn't give away his big, fat lie.

"Right," Al said, sitting down next to Ed; he could he the skepticism in his voice. "The weather looks pretty foul out today, doesn't it brother?"

"Yeah…" Ed muttered before he turned to look out the window.

The weather did indeed look foul. Black storm clouds dominated the sky and Ed could detect a small drizzle in the distance. Strong winds bent trees, and other vegetation, doubled. Not a very good day at all today and it only appeared to be getting worse by the minute.

"Hey Alphonse," Ed suddenly piped up.

"What?"

"What are you doing at the university today?"

"Not much from what I heard. Only have my two classes and then I'll probably be back before lunch."

"Do you know if you have any tests?"

"I'm pretty sure I don't have any tests today. Why?"

"I just thought…well, since the weather's so nasty-and it seems to be getting only worse-the trains might not be operating as well and I just thought that maybe you could take a day off."

"A day off?" Al asked in confusion.

"Yeah. I was actually going to call the store and tell them that I wasn't feeling too good and would call off."

Al stared at his older brother for a while and tried to asses the situation: he brother, known to never take a day off of work or anything else unless 100 percent incapable, was not only encouraging himself to take off school but was saying that he was going to skip work?

"Um…who are you?" Al couldn't stop himself from asking.

"What do you mean?"

"Encouraging a day off? Who are you and what have you done with my brother?"

"Oh quite being so melodramatic. I just thought that it would be good. You know…with everything that has been going on lately and since we haven't been able to spend as much time together as usual."

Ed knew he had convinced Al once he had said the last part of his sentence. Because it was true that they had not spent as much time as they used to since Ed started work and Al began going to the college in the next town over. The time that they had lost together seemed to be multiplying the past few months, with the way the war was going on.

"Okay Brother. I guess a day off won't hurt any."

"Good," Ed said, relieved.

"So what did you want to do first?"

"Well, I wanted to run into town for a moment to pick up a few items first," Ed lied again.

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"Well maybe I should go-."

"No," Ed said quickly, cutting Al off. "I mean, you look pretty tired. Maybe you should rest up a bit or something."

"Brother…are you alright?"

"Yes Alphonse! I'm fine I just…"Ed trailed off, knowing that Al had finally caught scent of all the lies that he had just flung his way and now he was going to pay for it.

"Edward," Al said sternly; his face such an astounding representation of their mother's at this moment made Ed want to avert his eyes but knew that he could not.

"Alphonse, I promise I'll talk to you later, just let me pick up a few things from the market and then I'll come straight home."

"And you'll tell me why you're acting so obviously weird?"

"…yes."

Once the front door had shut behind him, Ed reached down into the bushes and pulled out the slightly damp and dirty copy of the Resembool Flyer, the local newspaper, and turned it to the front page. Re-reading the headline only made him feel as if the bottom of his stomach had dropped out, but he read on. He had to know.

'…it was reported last night, at a press conference in Central, that due to the depleting numbers of soldiers on the battle field that the Head Council had unanimously agreed that the Nation Wide Draft is to be initiated once more…Council pleaded for understanding last night when the news was announced, causing a near riot in Central-mostly due to a large group of upset mothers…for terms of Drafting, see page 5.'

Edward was sure he had almost ripped the fragile newspaper in his desperation to reach page five. Once there, Edward's golden eyes scanned the page hungrily to find the much needed information.

'…terms of Drafting are as follows:

-The draft only applies to men not already in service. Women are still on a volunteer basis.

-Once a man reaches 18 years of age, he will be sent a letter from the government with information on where he will be attending his boot camp.

-Boot Camp will be a minimum of two months

-All draftees must join up for a minimum of three years of service to the Amestris National Military

-Failure to do so will automatically cause a representative from the military to forcibly bring you to said station of Boot Camp

-All Draft Deserters (men who have failed to sign up for their services in the military and who have fled in hopes of getting out of the draft) will be rounded up by Military personal and then incarcerated at once caught

-If one has a preexisting condition, or has a disability that might affect your likelihood of joining the military, please contact a nearby Military outpost and a representative will be sent to your dwelling to discuss.'

Edward re-read the page at least five more times, trying to get all of the words and conditions into his unusually slow and unresponsive brain.

…reaches 18 years of age… he will be attending his boot camp… All draftees must join up for a minimum of three years of service to the Amestris National Military… All Draft Deserters… will be rounded up by Military personal and then incarcerated at once caught …I have to join the military…

Edward stared at the newspaper, the feeling of dread was slowly moving through every pour of his body. He was going to have to join the Amestris National Military.

…and Alphonse will have to join soon enough after me.

Tell me what you think about the overall story and what you thinks going to happen next. Please send me a review, because they make me happy and keep me going. So if you like this story's idea, send me a review to keep this going.

Bye, thanks for reading!

-FSK