Title: As Years Go By

Author: Sofipitch

Word Count: 315

Rating: G

Summary: It felt as if everyone had grown up without him.

Warnings: none

It had taken years of traveling for him to learn how to sleep on trains. When he had first started traveling with Alphonse, he had walked around tousled and groggy with blood shot eyes and a crackling voice. Eventually he got used to the hard wooden benches and the bumpiness of the ride. He tired himself out from not sleeping so much that he was eventually coaxed into sleeping.

Now after years of having slept on them, riding them was calming to him, save for the lurching of the train departing and stopping. The ride would've been peaceful, but his stomach was twisting itself into knots. It was the first time in a long time that he was returning to Risenbool. Winry no longer lived in Risenbool, she and her family had moved to Central due to her husband's job. But the memories that radiated off of the place reminded him of her, since long ago she had been the only reason for him and his brother to return there. Now he was coming to visit his brother and his wife who were living on the reconstructed remains of their mother's house.

As he passed the vacant Rockbell house, still present despite having been empty for many years now, he noticed that the Rockbell Automail sign still stood proudly out front. It felt odd coming back, as if everyone had grown up, gotten married, and moved on with their lives, while he was still doing the same and only thing he knew how to do: wander and run when real family problems arise. And then try to pretend it never happened.

From the outside of the house, he could hear his nephew crying and he felt his heart go heavy. He had his own kid, just like the others, but he couldn't raise him. And he couldn't help thinking that it was all his fault.