Chapter 11: Reversal

When Winry awoke, Envy was gone. She shivered against the cold morning air and sat up, reaching for her clothes. She must have overslept. Her body ached. She shrugged into her clothing, pulled on her boots and exited the hut.

The brightness stung her eyes, sunlight on the snow. She squinted around at the other huts and noticed fresh footprints from each of them. She followed them to a makeshift shed on the outskirt of the village, where she found Mei, Scar and Marcoh pouring over the notebook again. The two chimeras and Yoki were nowhere to be seen, but Alphonse's metal body was in pieces in a corner of the room.

"Al?" Winry gasped, "What happened to you? Why are you here?"

"Winry!" Alphonse said, "I came over the mountain in the middle of that storm to warn you, and I got stuck nearby in the snow. It's a good thing Jerso and Zampano were looking for firewood or I'd still be there!"

"What were you coming to warn us about?" Winry asked, as Marcoh came over to them.

"I wanted to tell you that soldiers from Central have infiltrated Briggs, and that General Armstrong was summoned to Central Headquarters by the Fuhrer," Alphonse replied, "but then I found out you already knew. Winry, is it true? Is it true Envy has come to our side and is helping us?"

"It turns out I was wrong, and Envy was telling the truth about his intel on Briggs after all," Marcoh said. Winry glanced over at him.

"Do you know where he is now?" Winry asked.

"I saw him leave very early," Marcoh replied, "but I don't know where he went."

Winry frowned and dropped her gaze. Pieces of Alphonse's armor were scattered about. It seemed they had been so eager to look at the notebook they had neglected putting him back together.

"I sincerely hope you're right about him," Marcoh said, making her looked up at him again. A deep frown had settled on his face. "It's very possible he's gone to inform the homunculi of our location. It would be best to expect trouble."

"I don't believe that," Winry said. "He had come north looking for you and Scar, remember? If he was still working for the homunculi, don't you think you guys would be his first priority?"

"Still, I like to be prepared. The homunculi are capable of anything," Marcoh replied. He glanced over his shoulder toward where Mei and Scar were studying the book. "Although, I admit, I'm a little surprised he hasn't tried to kill Scar – he's the key discovering what those notes contain, without him our struggle might be hopeless."

Winry smiled. "And you've been openly discussing what you've learned while Envy's been around. Don't you think he'd think try to stop you from making progress, if he still worked for the homunculi?"

"Winry," Alphonse said. She stared down at his torso. Someone had at least put his head back on. "Zampano and Jerso told me everything. They said that… that you might have some kind of relationship with Envy. Is that what you had wanted to talk to me and Ed about?"

Winry was thankful that Marcoh had turned away from the conversation to join Scar and Mei again. She sighed and knelt on the ground in front of Alphonse, folding her hands in her lap.

"I was afraid of what you might think of me," she said. "I was going to tell you, but a lot had happened. There never seemed to be an opportunity."

"So, when he came to Rush Valley…" Alphonse said.

Winry nodded. "Yeah, he and I grew close and I started to like him, a lot."

"Even knowing what he is?" Alphonse asked. His tone was gentle, but she could tell he was surprised.

"I knew from the start who and what he was," she replied, "but then I discovered that he'd been lying to me – Major Armstrong came to Rush Valley when he heard a homunculus was watching me. And after that I didn't see him until recently."

"Zampano said they think Father erased his memories of you to keep him loyal," Alphonse said.

Winry looked up and smiled. "He remembers now. I've been talking with him, and helping him put it back together."

It felt like a weight had been lifted off her. She knew Alphonse well enough to know if he disapproved, he would say it. It was a tremendous relief knowing she wasn't judged for her decisions.

Alphonse chuckled, making her blink at him. "It's kind of amazing, don't you think? I mean, the homunculi are probably the darkest beings Ed and I have ever run into, and you've managed to get one to fall for you."

Heat rose in her face, as she said, "Fall for me? Alphonse, I didn't say anything about –"

"Think about it, Winry," Alphonse said. "Something about you connected with Envy enough to make him question what the homunculi are doing – which he clearly was, because why else would Father remove his memories if he didn't think he was a threat? And if that's not enough, look at how even after his memories were gone, Envy still found a way back to you. You can't deny it's pretty inspiring."

Winry felt herself blushing. "Oh, Alphonse, you're such a romantic. Leave it alone, okay?"

Alphonse laughed. "Fine, fine. It's too bad he's not here. I'm sure he'd be able to help with deciphering those notes. Imagine how much knowledge he must have about the plan for Amestris."

"Well, I'm sure whatever he's doing right now is just as important," Winry said, grinning.

Envy's feet were freezing. He had been walking for hours, pushing through knee-deep snow to get to where he stood, overlooking Fort Briggs from the side of the mountain range. He could see it in the distance, looming there. It was quiet and unassuming.

He had expected there to be a sign – maybe smoke, maybe a brigade of artillery, something. But it seemed undisturbed.

The blood crest had not yet been carved.

It wouldn't remain that way for long. Kimblee was resourceful. He'd find a way to draw blood, no matter the cost. That was what he was good at. That was why Father had kept him alive.

Envy frowned. The wind numbed his skin. If Kimblee hadn't returned from the mining town yet, that must mean something had gone awry. Perhaps, he had gotten caught in the storm. Or perhaps Fullmetal had decided to cause a distraction to keep Kimblee from following the mines.

If Kimblee suspected a cover-up Fullmetal would be in for it. Envy's immediate instinct was to want to go to the mining town and ensure the sacrifice's safety. But he stopped himself.

Fuck the sacrifices. Fuck the plan. Fuck Father.

Envy felt his anger bubbling up. For once in his life he had something Father didn't: companionship. And the first thing Father would do is try to take it from him, like he already did with his memories. So, fuck him.

He took a deep breath, sucking the cold air into his body. It felt good. He felt great. After almost three centuries of doing exactly what Father wanted, Envy was finally free.

"You guys are still at it?" Winry said, bringing in some mugs of hot tea she had made over the fire. She passed them around. Scar, Mei, Marcoh and Yoki were huddled around the book, flipping through each page intently. Alphonse was still in pieces in the corner.

She walked over to him and started picking up the bits of one of his legs. "I guess we shouldn't leave you scattered around like this."

She heard Mei gasp. "That's it!"

Winry turned around in time to see Mei grab the book from Marcoh and pull the threads of the spine apart. The pages feel into a scattered pile at their feet, and Marcoh threw his hands up and said, "Mei! What have you done!?"

Marcoh and Scar dropped to their knees and started frantically trying to put the pages back in order, but there didn't seem to be any numbers on them. Mei picked up a page and said, "There are too many different words that mean gold and immortality in here. And all those weird phrases… what if we separated and then reorganized the pages, grouping the similar words together?"

Marcoh and Scar exchanged a look. Alphonse, Yoki and Winry watched them slowly pick up the pages, inspect them and begin organizing them into small piles.

"… 'golden man', what does this group with again?" Marcoh asked, and Mei replied, " 'Immortality'; that pile over there."

Winry looked down at the pages near her feet, and stooped to pick them up. The writing was difficult to make out, small and thin. She spotted a word Mei was looking for and handed it to her. Behind them Zampano and Jerso arrived, staring at them in confusion.

"… 'perfect man', right over here," Marcoh mumbled to himself. Winry handed him another.

Eventually, they had grouped all the like phrases and words together into a single, circle-shaped pile. Mei leaned forward, saying, "Now to connect the markings…"

She used some charcoal from the fire to draw a transmutation circle connecting all the points across the pages. When she was done, everyone stood back to stare at it. Winry wasn't quite sure what she was supposed to be looking at, but it seemed to baffle the alchemists in the group.

Marcoh slouched, dropping his face in his hands. "This is just the country-wide transmutation circle. We already knew about this. It was all for naught."

"Then the research was just a waste of time?" Zampano said. "It didn't help at all?"

"If we don't reverse this situation, the world will suffer an unspeakable tragedy," Marcoh said, sighing into his hands. "I can't believe it was just a red herring."

Scar frowned deeply. "My brother's notes must have been meant to warn us of the dangers ahead. Even back then, he could see what was happening to this country."

Mei stood up. "We can't give up now! There's got to be something else. I just need to step away, and come back with fresh eyes."

She sighed and left the shack, saying something about sustenance. Yoki and the chimeras followed her, grumbling. Winry frowned and looked down at the transmutation circle. She had overheard bits and pieces of their conversations while they worked through the book, but she never imagined how dangerous the situation was.

"Dr. Marcoh, you said the country is in danger?" Winry asked, feeling slightly stupid for not paying more attention.

Marcoh grunted as he lifted himself off the concrete floor. "Yes. The homunculi and this country's government have worked since its inception to complete this transmutation circle. It is meant to create a philosopher stone of enormous power."

"And the philosopher stone is created using human lives…" Winry said, as the realization came to her. She felt like someone had dumped a bucket of ice water over her head.

Marcoh put a hand on her shoulder.

"I'm surprised that Envy didn't feel you ought to be privy to this information," he said, before leaving her. Scar followed Marcoh out, leaving Winry to stare in silence at the circle feeling like the ground had fallen out from beneath her once more.

Early evening had arrived. The temperature was dropping sharply with the sun. Alphonse's metal body was still in the corner of the shack, in pieces, and now that everyone had left he didn't know what to do but think.

The circle. The philosopher stone. The homunculi's plan. Nothing seemed to help them counter it. Alphonse had gone through all the details in his mind, and nothing stirred. If only he could move a little closer to the pages…

"Well, this is just great," he sighed, wishing his friends had at least thought to put him back together before leaving.

He heard footsteps crunching in the snow and hoped someone had remembered to come back for him. When he looked up, Envy stood in the doorway of the shack. He looked a little ragged, and Alphonse wondered where he had gone off to all day.

The homunculus spotted the transmutation circle almost immediately. Alphonse kept silent, realizing he hadn't been noticed and he was mostly curious to see what Envy would do when he thought he wasn't being watched.

Alphonse was cautiously optimistic that Envy was truly on their side, but a bit of Edward's skepticism had rubbed off on him. It was possible that Envy had not changed, and that he had some ulterior motive for being there.

Envy crouched before the pile of pages, and he didn't seem to give anything away. Alphonse was having a hard time reading him. Then…

"Clever humans…" Envy mumbled. He reached out and touched one of the five markings.

"That can't be everything," Alphonse said, making Envy pull his hand back and spin around in surprise.

"Oh, it's you," Envy said, standing up and coming over to him. "I thought you were with the pipsqueak?"

"I took a shortcut through the mountains to warn everyone about Briggs," Alphonse explained.

Envy blinked. "In that storm?"

"Yeah, and then when I found out you had already warned them," Alphonse said. "So, thanks, Envy."

To his great surprise, Envy's face broke into a smile.

"Hey, no problem. So, what's with the transmutation circle? Don't tell me you guys only just figured it out," Envy said, gesturing to the pages on the floor.

"No, we knew about your – I mean, the homunculi's – plans already, but we'd hoped to find something in Scar's brother's notes that would help us counter it," Alphonse said.

"And that's all you found, huh?" Envy said, glancing over at the circle.

"That can't be it," Alphonse said. "There's got to be more to it. It was our last lead!"

"Yeah, and you're running out of time too," Envy said, making Alphonse fall silent. Envy put a hand on his hip. "They haven't carved the blood crest at Briggs yet, but give it a few days. Then, basically everything will be in place. You guys are out of time…"

Alphonse didn't like the sound of his voice. It was void of emotion, like he didn't care what happened one way or the other. Envy yawned.

"You know," Alphonse said, darkly, "if your Father succeeds and turns everyone into a philosopher stone, Winry will get caught in it too."

Envy stared at him. He dropped his hand.

"She told you," he said.

"I heard it first from other members of the group," Alphonse replied, "but, yeah, when I asked Winry, she told me everything."

"Everything?"

"So, are you going to help us or not?" Alphonse said. "You must know something we don't, something we haven't figured out yet. Please, tell me!"

"What's this?" Envy threw up his hands and grinned. "I thought you'd be pissed off, or something! You just found out your close friend is sleeping with a homunculus, and you have nothing to say to me? Wow, I'm –"

"Sleeping with you?" Alphonse gasped. "She didn't tell me she was sleeping with you! She just you were close!"

Envy winced and took a few steps back. "Oh, so she didn't tell you everything then. Well, now I guess you know – that was the reaction I expected you to have, by the way."

Alphonse grumbled. "I didn't want to know that!"

Envy grinned. He turned back to face the transmutation circle and put his hands on his hips.

"You are right, though," he said, making Alphonse fall silent. Alphonse watched Envy's grin fade as he stared down at the charcoal markings, and wondered what might be going through his mind. "I hadn't actually considered it until now."

"What's that?" Alphonse asked.

"That Winry would die."

His tone was difficult to place. Alphonse didn't know if he sounded sad, or just indifferent.

"If we're missing something, would you tell us?" Alphonse asked.

"From the look of things, you know everything worth knowing," Envy replied. "But, yeah, I'd tell you."

His voice sounded genuine that time. Alphonse had dealt with Envy on multiple occasions in the past and this was the first time he'd ever felt they saw eye to eye.

Envy turned back around and approached him again. He stooped to pick up a couple pieces of Alphonse's arm and looked at them, turning them over in his hands. "Do these go together somehow?"

"Uh… Yeah, I think so," Alphonse said, uncertainly. He watched, dumbfounded, as Envy crouched in front of him and started slowly putting the puzzle of his armor back together, bit by bit.

Eventually, Alphonse finally had the use of his arms back and could start working on his legs himself. Envy wandered back over to sit in front of the transmutation circle, one leg pulled up in front of his chest.

"Thanks, Envy," Alphonse said, but he figured Envy hadn't heard him, because he didn't respond.

"Putting the pieces back together…" Envy was muttering to himself. He reached out and picked up a page, looking at the scribbled text on it. Then, put it back down. Picked up another, looked at it, put it back down.

Marcoh appeared in the doorway behind him, and shouted, "Hey, don't touch that!"

"It's okay, Dr. Marcoh," Alphonse said. "He's helping us."

"No, he's going to sabotage it!" Marcoh said. He ran up to Envy and grabbed his shoulder. "Stop, right now!"

Mei, Scar and Winry had just arrived when Envy spun around and pushed Marcoh back. He flew a few feet before skidding to a stop at Mei's feet. Envy balled his fists.

"Your pestering is starting to piss me off!" Envy snapped, making the group tense. Scar stepped in between Marcoh and Envy, flexing his hand. Winry watched with wide eyes from behind them.

"Stop this!" Alphonse yelled, as Envy leered down on them. "Don't instigate it! I believe Envy – he's turned over a new leaf and is working for us now!"

Envy froze and his mouth opened slightly. Something had happened, and Alphonse wasn't sure what, but Envy didn't seem interested in Marcoh anymore. He turned around and looked at the pages on the floor, and gasped, "Turn over a new leaf…"

He ran back to the circle and grabbed a page off the top. Everyone watch him, as he flipped the page over and placed it back down.

Mei gasped and ran over to stand next to him.

"Flip it over!" She said. She and Envy started turning over the pages. Scar, Marcoh and Winry ran over to watch.

Once all the pages were turned over, Mei drew another circle.

"Well?" Alphonse asked. He couldn't see a thing from his vintage point, but everyone was staring down at the pages with wide eyes. "What is it?"

Mei looked over at him. "It's the reverse transmutation. A circle formed by combining both alchemy and alkahestry!"

"Really?" Alphonse said.

"This is amazing!" Marcoh said, staring down at the notes. "This must be what your brother wanted us to find, Scar. He's combined both types of alchemy to counter the homunculi's philosopher stone!"

Scar's lips turned up in a small smile. "Faithful to the end, as always."

Alphonse noticed Winry look up at Envy and give him a smile of encouragement. The look in her eyes; it was a look similar to the one he'd seen her give Edward, but it was slightly different.

"You must know what this means, Envy," Marcoh was saying. "We have found the key to defeating the homunculi."

Everyone fell silent and glanced between Envy and Marcoh. Envy leaned back, frowning. Alphonse could feel the tension in the air. They seemed to be gearing up for another round. Scar's eyes narrowed on Envy, ready to strike if need be. Mei watching Marcoh with big eyes.

From across the transmutation circle, Marcoh held out his hand to Envy, and said, "And we have you to thank for helping us find it."

A collective sigh passed through the group. Envy cautiously took Marcoh's hand. Winry glanced between them.

"I'm sorry I doubted you, but I had to be sure," Marcoh said.

Mei jumped up and cheered. "Now that we have a homunculus on our side, there's no way they can stop us now!"

Envy seemed to like the attention. He grinned at her, and said, "And believe it or not, I can also do alchemy!"

"Wait, what?" Marcoh gasped. "Impossible. Homunculi can't perform alchemy. It's against their very nature."

Envy clapped his hands and placed them on the floor. Blue sparks danced in front of their eyes as a small amount of concrete liquefied, rose slightly, formed into a wobbly shape and then solidified again.

Marcoh gaped.

Envy scratched the back of his head, and said, "I'm still trying to get it to work properly. It's either super powerful or not powerful enough."

"This is incredible!" Marcoh said, staring down at Envy's strange transmuted concrete. It very roughly resembled a mug, except the inside hadn't hollowed out and the handle just looked like some protruding shape. "How did you come to be able to do that?"

"It's a long story," Envy said, frowning, just as Winry replied, "He passed through the Gate of Truth!"

Envy glanced over at Winry, and she smirked. "What? I didn't realize it was a secret."

"So, you were granted the knowledge and power of alchemy by passing through the Gate, even though you're a homunculus," Marcoh said, thoughtfully, "as well as complex human-like emotions."

Envy's eyes widened slightly. Winry looked over at Marcoh and asked, "How did you know?"

Marcoh smiled. "I've worked with Envy before, remember? He's a sadist and loves to torment humans, calling us insects – at least, that's that was how Envy used to be."

Envy glared at Marcoh, but he continued, "Several weeks ago I would have never thought you'd be the one working with us out of the homunculi. I've done some thinking about it, and came to the conclusion that you had shown more complex emotions than just envy. For instance, your display of anger in the mines seemed to be inspired by confusion, not any sort of jealousy. And when your information about Fort Briggs turned out to be correct, it didn't match your behavioral pattern, to help humans. I eventually put the pieces together: you had emotion, but I wasn't sure how."

Everyone had fallen silent. Scar shifted from one leg to the other behind Marcoh. Yoki and the chimeras were sitting on the floor around them, listening carefully. And Mei and Winry were looking at Envy. Winry smiled at him softly.

Envy grinned at the attention. "So, if you're so smart, do you have a plan to beat Father?"

All eyes turned back to Marcoh, who looked down at the transmutation circle.

"Yes, I think so," he said, "but it's risky. We'll have to test this out on a philosopher stone to ensure it will work when the time comes."

"Are you saying…?" Mei gaped, eyes wide.

Marcoh nodded. "We'll have to lure and kill a homunculus. They are the only beings with philosopher's stones –"

"Are you insane?" Envy said.

"It's the only way to test it," Marcoh replied. "Envy, do you know how we could lure one of the homunculi here – hey, where are you going?"

Envy stood up and turned to walk away. He stopped and looked back at the group sitting on the floor, and said, "If you want to kill yourselves, be my guest."

"Envy!" Winry said. Winry jumped up.

Envy was nearly out the door when Winry grabbed his arm to stop him. He refused to look at her, his stubborn streak getting the best of him in that moment. Instead he looked up at the clouds driving above the horizon. It would snow again tonight.

"Hey, what's got you so wound up?" Winry asked. Her touch was light, gentle. Envy dropped his gaze to the snow.

"You're all idiots if you think just because you have a new toy you can take on a homunculus," he said. "They are shorthanded right now, so the only homunculus who would come out is Pride."

"It's okay to be scared, Envy," Winry said, making him scowl.

He spun around so that he was face to face with her. Behind her Marcoh and Mei got to their feet, ready to defend Winry if need be. Envy snapped, "I'm not scared, human."

"Don't you dare take that tone with me, or the next time I slap you across the face, you won't recover from it!" Winry's fists were balled in her gloves, arms ridged at her sides. She stared up into Envy's violet eyes, and leaned closer to him when she spoke, almost needing to stand on her tip-toes to seem more intimidating.

Marcoh exchanged a look with Mei, and Envy was staring, dumbfounded, at Winry. It took him a moment to recover from her sharp response. He snickered and said, "Wow! I like that side of you!"

"Are you going to help us or not?" Winry said. She put her hands on her hips and frowned up at him.

Envy sighed, and put a hand to his forehead. "I know the right answer to this…" he mocked. "I mean, it's staring me right in the face."

A small smile slipped onto Winry's face. She pushed him, playfully. "Well?"

Envy frowned, and looked over her shoulder at Marcoh. "Pride is dangerous. I've never seen anyone challenge him and live – homunculi included."

"Are you sure it will be him?" Marcoh asked.

"Yeah, all the others are occupied their roles in the plan," Envy replied, eyes darkening with thought. "Wrath wouldn't leave Central, not now that things are getting close; Gluttony is useless and would need a guide; Sloth is still in the tunnel; which leaves only Pride and Greed."

"What about Greed?" Marcoh asked, and Mei jumped up, saying, "That's Ling Yao, isn't it? I saw him in the homunculi's lair when you saved me. Has he gained the means to immortality by becoming an homunculus?"

"Yeah," Envy replied. "I wouldn't worry about him. He usually doesn't take orders from Father for very long. His avarice usually drives him to follow his own goals. I'd bet that bastard's long gone already."

"So, then tell us, Envy," Marcoh said, as Envy approached the group again, "what do you know of Pride's powers and how can we lure him here?"

They had worked until the dead of night when the snow was falling thickly on the village, and most everyone had already gone to bed. Winry was having trouble keeping her eyes open, and her butt was numb. They had been sitting on the concrete floor of the shack for nearly four hours. Alphonse was finally whole again, and was sitting cross-legged behind Mei, who looked like she was about to fall asleep on the spot.

The only two people who seemed even remotely energetic were Maroch and Envy, who had gone over the strategy a dozen times to make sure everything was in order. Winry had just nodded off and tipped her head onto Envy's shoulder, when she was jolted awake by him saying, "Let's go through it again, just one more time."

Mei groaned and fell back onto Alphonse's lap. "Not again…"

"Let's give it a rest, Envy," Winry said into his shoulder, and hoping he wouldn't get ticked off that she was calling him out in front of the group. He didn't seem to mind, as far as she could tell.

"We can go through it some more in the morning," Marcoh said. He stood up, grunting at the stiffness in his legs.

Winry sighed and started to sit up, when Envy slid his arms under her and lifted her effortlessly off the ground. She leaned her head against his chest as he stood up and started walking out of the shack and down the hill. Distantly she heard Mei let out a little squeal, and figured the young girl was probably swooning.

Snow crunched under Envy's footsteps, and she could feel the chill touches of flakes landing on her face. She heard the wooden panelled door slide against the snow as he opened it. He was setting her down on her bed when she opened her eyes.

At first she assumed he would tuck her in and leave, but he didn't. He closed the door, and came to join her under the covers.

He laid on his back and she curled up to him, under his arm. She settled into him, finding that perfect spot on his chest for her head. She glanced up at his face and saw the red glow of his eyes gently pushing through the darkness as he stared up at the ceiling.

"Not tired?" she asked.

They could barely hear the footsteps of other members of their group heading to bed. The thick snow seemed to muffle the sound around them. Envy was still staring up at the ceiling, and Winry thought he might not have heard her whisper.

Then, he said, "I never thought I would actually face them."

Them. Winry knew intuitively of whom he meant; the homunculi. It was odd of him to voice this thought with her. She could even hear the slight peek of anxiety in his voice.

She reached for his other hand that was resting on his chest and gave it a squeeze.

"You never thought you'd be working with humans either," she said, smiling, "and yet…"

"Tsk, you don't get it," Envy said, making Winry frown. She pulled away from him, sitting herself up on her elbows and looking down at the soft glow of his eyes.

"Then at least explain it," Winry said.

"You don't know them," Envy said, darkly. "The things they do, the things I've done… If you even knew the half of it, you wouldn't want to look at me ever again."

Winry didn't doubt it. She knew little of what the homunculi had actually done, because Edward had kept a lot of information from her. What she did know was that the homunculi had been behind a number of violent outbreaks, murders, and wars. She was naïve if she thought Envy's hands were clean.

"But we're still family." Envy shifted so that he was turned away from her. Winry's eyes were slowly getting used to the darkness and she could barely make out the shapes of his shoulders, the strange circular markings connecting them to the center of his spine.

It had never crossed her mind that the homunculi thought of themselves as family, that the meaning of the word would carry the same weight. But to Envy, that clearly meant something.

She tried to imagine what it would be like to live for hundreds of years with the same group of people, with a family. And then betray them. She thought of Granny and Edward and Alphonse. She thought of Den and the smiling faces of her neighbors in Resembool.

To think that it would be possible to change her entire moral code and everything she had lived for, and come around to face them as their opposition. As their enemy.

She knew she would never be strong enough.

But Envy had done exactly that. And he had done it for her. He had betrayed everything he knew about his long life, just to be with her.

"I love you," Winry whispered into the darkness. The words rolled off her tongue like water, so smooth and perfect. It felt good to say it out loud. She could sense the syllables hanging between them in the silence for what seemed like an eternity.

He rolled on to his back again. She could see the red of his eyes as he stared up into hers.

"What did you say?" he asked. She had never heard him use that tone of voice, piqued with disbelief and soft like he wasn't sure if he ought to ask.

"You know what I said," Winry said, stubbornly.

She was blinded momentarily as Envy fueled the small flame in the lantern, dousing them in light. He was looking up at her, lips parted slightly as he tried to find the words but nothing came out. A strange expression started to surface on his face.

He reached up and drew her down to him. She let him wrap his arms around her tightly as she was pinned under the weight of them with an ear to his chest and her hands underneath her body. She was reminded how heavy his arms were and there was a moment when she realized he seemed to have forgotten to mind his strength.

She gasped and looked up at his face. There were tears streaming down from the corners of his eyes, his mouth in a deep frown. He stared up at the ceiling, not noticing that she was watching him.

She placed her head back on his chest and smiled, softly. She endured the pressure created by the weight of his arms and felt his body shake as he cried silently.

The next few days were spent burning time. According to Mei, Maroch and Zampano had made contact with the homunculi somehow and set the ball in motion. They would have to wait for a sign that the homunculi had arrived, so in the meantime, they spent some quality time helping out around the town.

Winry had found a place helping the young kids learn in a makeshift classroom at the heart of the village. The chimeras had taken turns getting firewood and running out into the cold to help the hunters carry back heavy loads of game. Marcoh treated the sickly. Yoki entertained the children. And Mei had started teaching Alphonse and Envy alkahestry in the shack on the hill, which from what Winry had witnessed when she dropped off lunch was becoming quite the chore.

"Not like that! Like this! You have to feel the dragons pulse! See, I'm doing it!" Mei exclaimed loudly as Winry dropped off a platter of food for them. Alphonse was screaming back about not knowing what she was going on about, and Envy was giving Mei a deadpanned look.

"You're just pointing at your forehead!" Alphonse snapped, "You're not doing anything!"

Mei sighed heavily and turned to Envy. "You know what I mean, right? You have the philosopher stone inside you, so you know what energy flow feels like! Tell him how to do it, Envy!"

Alphonse and Envy exchanged confused looks.

"Philosopher stone is a different energy, idiot," Envy spat.

"Sorry, to interrupt," Winry said, putting the platter down on the floor next to them. "But you guys look like you could use a break."

"Finally…" Envy reached over to grab a piece of fruit off the plate and had his hand slapped by Mei.

"No breaks until you get this!" she said.

Envy frowned at her. "Did you seriously just slap my hand?"

"Envy, focus!" Mei said.

"I can't focus with you screaming at me, rice girl," Envy yelled back. "Also, I'm hungry. Move!"

He pushed her away easily and grabbed some food off the tray. Mei glare at him, before reluctantly turning to take some food for herself. Alphonse sighed and turned to Winry.

"Any word yet?" he asked.

She shook her head. "None. It probably takes them some time to travel here, like anyone else."

"Pride doesn't need to travel," Envy said between bites of apple. "He's probably here by now, he just needs a vessel to reach us."

"Right, you mean because his body is shadow," Alphonse said, and Winry assumed a conversation about the state of Pride's power had happened between them while she was away.

"Hey!" They looked up to see Zampano running up the hill toward them. "Guys, it's starting! Jerso said he saw someone coming from the South. He has the same colouring as Envy, and he's alone!"

Envy frowned, and Alphonse turned to him. "But I thought you said Pride wouldn't cross the snow like that? He needs a vessel for his shadows!"

"It's not Pride," Envy said, standing. "If it's who I think it is, then we're lucky – I can handle Greed on my own."