Whiskey Lullaby

Winry laid sprawled across her bed. The sun was shining through her open window. She stared at the ceiling in complete silence. Edward and Alphonse had returned from the other side, so why wasn't she happier? She could finally tell Ed how she felt, right? Wrong. Winry had thought they would never return, and after months of crying and suffering; Winry made the tough decision to give up on ever being with him and move on. And she did find someone. He was handsome, kind, caring, and loving. She didn't love him as much as she did Ed, but she loved him none the less. She agreed to marry him, thinking she would not be able to marry Ed. But about a month after agreeing to wed this man, Ed and Al returned. She introduced her fiancé to the two brothers. She told him about how they were best friends and how she was also Edward's mechanic. He was happy to meet her childhood friends, and greeted them happily. Alphonse was happy for Winry, and congratulated them. Edward however kept all his emotions hidden. He was jealous of this man. What was he to do now? He couldn't live without Winry.

" Win, are you still sleeping?" The voice of Edward reached her ears. She frowned.

Why couldn't he find his own place to live?

" No Ed. I'm awake." She sat up and brushed her hair before opening the door. Ed walked in and closed the door behind him.

" Winry...are you really going to...marry him?" He looked at the floor, not wanting her gaze to meet his eyes.

" Yes, I love him." She had known this was coming.

" Why can't you love me? Why can't you be with me?" He needed to know, this was haunting his every thought.

" I do love you....but it's not that simple..." Her voice trailed off, why did he have to do this?

" If you love me then you should be with me. I can't live without you Win." He finally looked up to see her eyes filling with tears.

" Ed, I can't just leave him and be with you. He loves me too you know! I can't hurt him!" She shut her eyes, and her tears fell like rain. He knew this was hurting her, but it was hurting him more. He would be the one with the eternal scars.

" But you're hurting me! I've loved you forever Win! Do you know how much this hurts me, to see you marry a man I don't even know? How well do you even know him?" He moved towards her.

" It's too late! I'm marrying him! You can't stop me! Now get out of here! Find your own place!" He lowered his head, and walked downstairs. This was the last of their many fights. He walked out the front door and down the road. He headed towards the bar. He was going to forget her the only way he knew how. With the help of a bottle of whiskey.

Winry watched him leave her. She sunk to the floor and cried. Her heart panging with regret and guilt. Though it hurt her deeply, she knew it was better this way.

Ed sat at the bar, and tried to drink away her memory. But it seemed no matter how much he drank he never could get her off his mind. He would go back every night hoping he would forget her, forget the pain. Until one night, the night that changed everything. He bought some whiskey and drank it on his way home. He drank every last drop. He sat on his bed, holding a note he had written for her. A part of him knew this was the end. He felt light-headed and soon collapsed on his bed. When they found him, he was laying with face down in the pillow holding a note that said he'd love her till he died. Winry couldn't stop crying. She knew this was her fault. Ed was gone because of her. Because she didn't want to hurt someone, she hurt someone else. She realized how wrong she had been when she thought things would be better this way.

They buried Ed underneath the willow where they had all played as children. The willow that held so many memories, so much happiness, and now so much sorrow and pain. The willow would serve as Ed's eternal protector.

Soon after Edward's death Winry distanced herself from her fiancé and everyone around her. She started to drink to forget him, and her mistake. Though she tried to hide the whiskey on her breath, people knew of her suffering. She would slowly drink away her pain, but the image of his long blonde hair, golden eyes, and sincere smile were burned into her memory forever. But one night things changed. She sat on her bed holding a picture Ed in one hand and a bottle of whiskey in the other. She looked at the picture longingly. She wanted him hear. She wanted to tell him she was stupid and she couldn't live without him. But instead she drank her whiskey, leaving nothing but an empty bottle. Her head pounded and her vision blurred as she collapsed onto her bed. When they found her, she was laying with her face down in the pillow clinging to his picture for dear life.

They laid her next to Ed. Her fiancé objected to this but Alphonse didn't listen. He knew Winry would want to be by Ed forever. He knew they would love each other even in death. So there they lay, beneath their favourite childhood place. Together for eternity.

THE END