So, here we are…The last chapter…
(Dabs eyes)
I know some of you want me to write a sequel, and I really am contemplating it. But, like I said in a prior chapter, I think it's going to depend on what I get out of when I watch the FMA movie. I think I've changed one of the characters enough as it is, and I don't want to do something weird or anything (grins). Anyway, keep a look out because I will be posting my Inuyasha story when I get through with it. I should post stuff more towards the beginning of the year anyway, because there aren't many classes I need to take (well, let me rephrase that…There are a lot of classes I still need, but none of them are being offered!), so I will have some extra time to do lots of fanfic goodness then!
Once again, it's been fun putting this story up for you guys. I've gotten a hell of a lot more reviews (and mostly positive at that!) reviews than I thought I would have. And I think I may even be able to get better at my writing, so we'll just have to see!
Thanks again everyone!
Chapter Thirty-Seven
That same night after receiving her new automail limbs, Winry found herself sitting on the roof in the spot she would visit often as a child. She remembered vividly the conversations her and Edward would have, and how many times they fought over petty things as well. Lying back, Winry stared up at the stars, and secretly wished she could move back out to the country. This place was just so calm and peaceful, and she missed being able to see the stars at night.
Winry laughed quietly to herself as she could hear the arguing coming from within the house. There was always a nightly ritual that after Shay finished playing with Riley after dinner, that he would get a bath, and then go to bed. Around that time, the child stalled often, saying he was still reading a book or doing something or other. When it finally came time for him to go to bed he would whine and wish to stay up later, even if it was only for fifteen minutes. The woman could remember herself doing that for a period of time when she was a child. She would always tell her grandmother that she wanted to keep talking with Edward, who had been sent home by that point. Her fits didn't last very long as they discovered the fine art of sneaking out of their windows and lying on the roof together. They were so naïve and believed that no one ever knew, but deep down Winry knew her grandmother wasn't that oblivious to her actions. She wasn't exactly a quiet child most of the time.
Winry let her thoughts wander through the nighttime wind for hours, and before she realized what time it was, she saw the colors beginning to slightly lighten behind the mountains. She didn't realize she had been up there all night by herself, and shivered when she remembered that she forgot to bring her coat. Whenever she was off duty, the woman began the habit of wearing the same outfit as when she started as an alchemist. She didn't like dresses too much, mainly because of her leg being exposed and because of when she fought Envy those ten years ago. She didn't want to be caught off guard again.
She slowly and quietly slid off of the roof and onto the balcony, hoping not to wake anyone up in the process, but ducked instinctively as a streak of light flew high over her head and landed not far from the house in a large explosion. She quickly jumped up and looked around to see a hue of red and orange form about a quarter mile from the house. The colors danced in the still dark sky as smoke began to rise into the air, signaling a fire of some sorts.
Without taking the time to run through the house, Winry quickly jumped over the balcony and landed on the ground below her. Hearing the front door open, she turned and saw Havoc run outside as he threw a shirt over his head; he must have been sleeping when the blast happened, Winry thought to herself. He turned and looked surprised to see Winry looking at him.
"Do you know what happened?" he asked, "I was dead asleep and then heard that and thought the house was collapsing."
Winry shook her head, and heard Alphonse come through the door quickly next to Havoc. "What was that?" he asked.
"I don't know, but I'm going to take a look," she said, turning her head towards the direction of the explosion, "Jean." The soldier turned his heads toward the woman and nodded his understanding, and quickly disappeared through the door. Moments later, he returned with her shoulder holsters that held the larger of the guns she regularly carried. In his other hand were her two smaller thigh holsters, and he quickly tossed them to his Colonel. Quickly snapping the holsters on, Winry checked for her spare knives she always had strapped to her legs and looked back to the men, "Just watch over everyone inside. I'm sure they're already awake. Al," she said, nodding her head towards the door, "Make sure Grams is okay…I know she's up in age, but even she had to have heard that…"
Alphonse nodded his head and went back in to check on everyone. Checking one more time to make sure she had everything, Winry turned around to see Havoc staring at her, "What is it?"
"What would you do without me?" he sighed, smiling as he threw a small silver object at her, "You really wouldn't function, would you…"
Winry caught what was thrown and realized it was her State Alchemist's pocket watch. She quickly stuffed it in her pocket and smiled back at her friend, "Thanks…For everything…"
"Sure you don't want me to go?" he asked reassuringly, turning to face the door if she agreed. The woman slowly shook her head, "No, I'll be okay. Just stay here and protect my family…"
Winry turned and began to run towards the rising pillar of smoke, praying that no one was hurt in the explosion. She tried to reason what could have caused the blast, but no plausible ideas came to mind. She ran down the path towards the blast, taking cover behind any available bushes and trees along the way. As far as she was concerned, someone could be doing this intentionally, and she planned on treating it with high military caution in case a terrorist were behind the attack.
After what seemed like forever, Winry finally began to reach the site of the explosion. She was silently thankful that the blast happened in one of the many fields in Rizenbul instead of in a residential area, but was confused at the dozens of small pieces of material she saw lying around on the ground. Keeping her guns out and at the ready, Winry kneeled down to find a medium-sized piece of metal steaming in the grass. Without thinking, she reached out with her right hand to touch it, and yelped when it burned her skin. Looking around, she noticed most of the smoke and dust coming from a central area. She couldn't really see anything in it as the smoke was still thick, but she felt a slight fear crawl through her skin. She had never experienced anything like this, and didn't know what to do.
Winry decided to blend into her surroundings as much as possible, which was somewhat easy since the sky was still dark outside. She quickly found a small bush to kneel next to, and pointed both guns towards the center of the smoke. As the smoke began to clear, Winry was able to make out a large container of some sorts that was partially collapsed into the ground. What would something like that be doing out here?
Then it hit her; she remembered seeing a streak going overhead before the explosion. Could this thing have been in the air and crashed? It seemed logical, but no one had ever made such a contraption as far as she knew. It would be impossible to get anything that heavy to fly in the air! Before she could think anything else, the woman was startled as part of the ship began to move. She could hear some creaking sounds, and as she cocked her guns, she saw a hatch or door of some sorts open from the other side of the container.
Staying silent, she watched the shadows of a tall person get out of the contraption and stretch their arms and legs. The smoke was thick enough that she couldn't make out any details, but could only see the shadows playing off of the small flames that were scattered throughout the crash site. So were terrorists really behind all of this? Sure, she may have irritated some people along the way while she was a Colonel, but that didn't warrant anyone to try and blow up her hometown. She watched as the person began to check over the contraption they had just exited, and become mad she guessed because from out of nowhere they kicked the side of the machine, and then quickly grabbed their foot as they began hopping around.
So, um…maybe terrorists weren't behind this, at least she had never seen any act like that.
Winry, slowly getting up from her position, silently crept closer to the source of the explosion, kneeling quickly whenever the shadow stopped moving. She noticed that the shadow was attempting to put out some of the remaining flames around from them, though the smoke that rose still blocked a good view of who it was. She could feel the heat from the diminishing flames as she came closer and closer to this threat, and she finally decided she was close enough. Now was the time to figure out what was going on.
"Freeze!" Winry yelled into the relatively quiet area, save for the crackling of burning twigs and grass. She saw the figure stop moving suddenly, then begin to move away from the wreckage and closer to her. "What the hell, didn't you hear me? I said freeze, bastard!" she yelled again, but to her dismay the figure kept approaching. If she didn't react soon, the stranger would be upon her. Quickly, she fired a warning shot into the air, though through all of the smoke, she wondered if the stranger knew it was just a bluff, or if they just thought she was just a lousy shot. The stranger had come closer to the edge of the smoke as she fired off the round and quickly stopped, much to the happiness of the officer. She quickly holstered one gun and kept the other pointed straight at the shadow, "Don't move! I won't miss on purpose next time!"
Silence surrounded the area again as the officer kept her gun pointed at the shadow in the smoke. Winry was caught off guard when a vaguely familiar voice called her name. She quickly glanced around while keeping her gun pointed at the intruder, but found no one near who could have called for her.
"Winry…" it called again, and she realized it was coming from the intruder that she had held at gunpoint. She narrowed her eyes as she realized the intruder knew who she was. So maybe she really did irritate someone, and now they were after her.
"Who are you?" she yelled to the shadow, and was surprised when they refused to follow her orders to stay put. The smoke began to clear as the sky turned lighter, making their form now visible.
"You don't recognize me?" came his voice…the voice she had wanted to hear for ten years. Slowly from out of the smoke appeared Edward, albeit an older-looking Edward, but Edward nonetheless. He had grown taller within the last ten years and was dressed in peculiar formal-looking clothes, but it was still her Edward. There was no metal shining from underneath his sleeve; it appeared that all of his limbs were back to normal and his automail had disappeared. His long ponytail blew around in the wind which had suddenly formed, dispersing the remaining smoke and haze.
Winry, not believing her own eyes, slowly sank to her knees as she saw the illusion come closer to her. She had dreams these past years that included the man she loved, but never had she had them this realistic and during her waking hours. The gun shook in her hands as she kept it pointed at the person in front of her. She could feel the warm tears begin to slide down her face and onto her arms, and nothing she did could stop them from flowing.
The person that looked like her Edward was soon standing in front of her and began to kneel to her level. At that moment, her brain kicked back into gear and the woman quickly backed up away from the person, holding her gun steady yet again at his head.
"How do I know you're really Edward? How do I know you're not someone screwing with my head again?" she growled as cocked the gun and ignored the anguished tears that continued down her face. The gun being so close and loaded finally prompted the person to hold his hands up in surrender. "Tell me!" she screamed at the person, "Prove to me you're him!"
"Winry," the person said quietly as he slowly reached into the neck of his shirt. He saw the barrel of the gun pointed at him, and didn't want to provoke her anymore. Gradually, Winry could see a small and shiny pendant dangling from a necklace that hung around his neck. Even in the lightening sky, she could tell it was exactly like the one she crafted for him those many years ago.
The barrel of the gun lowered to the ground as the woman could see the shining pendant dangling from the man's neck. Could it really be him?
Edward let the pendant fall out of his hands and dangle around his neck, and then dared to move slightly closer to Winry. For ten years he had gathered colleagues around London, Munich, and the world, and he had finally designed an ship that would allow him to travel into space; one step closer to his real home. He couldn't imagine what it was like for her here to not know how he was doing, to not know if he was even still alive. Maybe she felt how he did when he thought she was caught within the crimson light. He knew it was agony for himself over in the other world, working and planning almost day and night to comprise a way to get home. Many sleepless nights were had just thinking about her and getting home. And he was finally here…
"Winry…" he finally whispered, bringing the woman from her thoughts. He watched as Winry slowly un-cocked the gun and set it on the ground to the side. She looked back at the man in front of her and brought her hand up to his older face. He felt as she took her hand and cupped his face, trying to discern his true identity; looking for any reason not to believe him.
"Prove you're him," she said quietly after a moment, bringing her hand down and resting it on her gun that still lie on the ground, "Tell me something that only Edward would know…"
"Well," he said after a moment of thought, "The words we exchanged on the last day we saw each other; down in the old city. I said I would only come back if I knew you were going to be here to come back to…Then you're exact words were…'Whatever happens, know that I'll be here. Even if I have to stand on the edge of the earth forever, I'll be here waiting for you'…" Edward slowly took Winry's hands in his own, and was happy that she didn't pull back. "Every single day I was over there, those were the only words I would hear echoing in my mind. I came back because I knew you would be here…"
Winry looked down to see his hands holding hers, and the fear she felt when she first crawled onto the scene vanished in a split second as she felt his skin against hers. Looking back up, she could see his golden eyes staring into hers. His eyes. Without notice she flung herself into his arms and wrapped her arms around his torso. She held onto him tightly as he wrapped his arms around her small body, his heart breaking from the sound of her sobs.
A few minutes passed before the woman's sobs began to die down and she finally pulled herself away from Edward's grasp. She sat back, and he could see the happiness in her eyes as she gazed up at the man she loved. She quickly reached up and wiped her eyes, then reached forward and wiped away the small few that had escaped his own. Smiling at him, Winry reached over to grab her gun and swiftly holstered it onto her back. Edward stood up, and then leaned down to offer a hand, which the woman happily accepted. He moved behind her and wrapped his arms around her as they watched the sunlight hit the remaining parts of his ship. He leaned over slightly to rest his chin on her shoulder as they held onto one another, and watched the last of the flames finally die out.
"So, the place you were at," Winry finally said, tilting her head up to him after several minutes of silence, "Machines run everything over there? Things like this can fly in the sky?"
Edward laughed to himself, causing a small frown to appear on the woman's face. He unwrapped his arms and turned her around to give her a big hug, then wrapped his arm around her waist as they began walking away from the wreckage. "Don't worry, I'll tell you how they work when we get back, you machine-freak…"
A small smile played over the woman's features as she realized his childhood joke, "Okay, fine, you alchemy freak," she pouted as they continued to walk back towards the Rockbell home, "You better tell me when we get home, or else I'll sick my wrench after you!"
Edward looked down at the woman next to him; he hadn't realized he had grown so tall in the past ten years. Looking at her, and then the road ahead of them, he smiled to himself, "Yeah…when we get back home…"
"Edward?" came her voice, bringing him from his thoughts. He stopped walking when she did, and looked down to her. Looking up, Winry reached a hand up to his face and brought it down to her level before giving him a tender kiss. He wrapped his hands around her slender body, pulling her towards him; happy to be in her presence. She pulled back slightly after a moment, and leaned her forehead against his. She smiled as she saw the happiness flow through his eyes, much like she felt through her entire soul. Finally they were together again.
"I told you I'd be waiting…"