Another Moment.
Struggling with her loss of both Elric brothers, Winry finally decides to take matters into her own hands. But how can she discover the truth without Alchemy?
Meanwhile.
Ed, Al, and Noah, are having issues of their own. Traveling to Rome and trying to make a new life quickly gets pushed aside by odd feelings of energy that only Ed can sense.
Feelings are flailing around right and left, and not even a psychic can sort them out.
What happens when the answer could be the end to everything?
Hey folks, it's me again! Hope you'll like this one, because I put a little more effort into it than my last. Please let me know if it needs anything, and I'll be happy to edit. Towards the middle of the FF I start to go backwards and forwards a bit in the days. I tried to edit out anything really confusing, but just in case, I'm giving you a heads up.
Anyways. Enjoy!
Declaimer: I don't own this series, nor do I own the movie. But if the author makes a second movie and it's just like mine… I'm suing...
First Bit…
"Winry?"
She lifted her head from her desk, peeling off a few screws from her cheek before she answered Paninya "What?"
From the other room there was a distinct sigh, "I thought you might want to go into town and check on Will."
"Who?"
The sigh was louder this time without actually becoming a full on huff, "William Closick…" She waited a second, "The guy that was trying out the new auto mail."
Winry blinked a few times to wash away the fog of a restless nap, "Oh. Yeah, sure."
Paninya shook her head, she was hoping for more enthusiasm this time. Winry hadn't been doing much of anything lately, just moping around as if she were sleep walking half the time. When she wasn't dragging her feet across the floor aimlessly, she was making auto mail, she was making so much in fact, they were having to export some of their materials to other cities so they wouldn't run out of costumers. She had even started inventing new stuff because she was tired of making the same old thing.
It had been over a year since she had started working at Dominique's auto mail shop full time, she was even renting out a small building complex in town. She had enough money to afford at least a small house by now, but she wallowed in the self-pity of pretending to be poor. Whenever Paninya confronted her with it, she made the excuse that she was spending all of her money on food and extra parts for her personal collection. Paninya wasn't buying it. Winry had been acting this way for a while now, and everyone had just learned to work around it, because it would take no less than the threat of scalding hot spikes to make her confess what she was dwelling on. They had just learned to let her be.
Winry looked down at her desk as if it was the saddest thing she had ever seen. She wasn't that far off either, the thing was falling apart, scuffed, burnt, cluttered, she was surprised the cabinets still opened… actually… she was surprised it was still standing; it had over a hundred pounds of auto mail piled up on it, not including what was in the draws. But it was giving her a sadness of another kind. The same she woke up with every day upon seeing it; it was just a reminder of where she was, which reminded her of where she wasn't, which reminded her of why she had left, which in turn reminded her of the same damned thing everything time, every day.
It had been a year since Ed and Al had vanished again after such a short reunion. It had been three years before that, since she had seen Ed, and after all that time it seemed they had regressed back to their old relationship; bottled up, quiet, and just about ready to explode. They couldn't say anything to each other, both scared that it probably wouldn't last, just like last time. And now Al was gone too… he had been her only hope for getting Ed back in the first place, but now, how could he ever return? He said he would come back though… all those years ago, what was going to happen now?
She stood and stretched, letting her arms fall to her sides slowly. She lifted her left hand and rubbed the palm, it had become a ritual to touch the symbol whenever she was falling into a dark mood, which turned out to be nearly every day. Whenever her mind told her that it wouldn't bring her any closer to Ed, she usually pushed the thoughts away and remembered the day he had made the auto mail arm for her.
Paninya had been trying to make Winry forget about whatever it was she was obsessing about, and she had been going about it by trying to find her a nice guy to distract her with. Apparently 'Will' was that guy. Winry sighed… how much longer was she going to put up with this? She wasn't about to go rushing into the arms of any guy any time soon. She wasn't waiting for the next guy to cross her path; she was waiting for Ed's twin. She knotted her brow; it was just going to take a while to find him. Besides, he was plane B, plan A consisted of dying alone and depressed. Yep… that sounded right.
She couldn't keep doing this; she couldn't keep living like this. She had to do something, even if it wouldn't get her anywhere.
She walked out into the main office after spending almost an hour deciding about what she was going to pack. Did she really need all of her wrenches? Or just the oldest and the newest… along with the few in between for different size purposes? But she couldn't leave without that one she had used to dissect her first engine… was she even going to use them though? She laughed quietly to herself, using them was beside the point. The pliers were another matter… she had to have all of those, what person in their right mind would set out without a couple pairs of good pliers?
Winry looked at Paninya shyly, "Bye… I'll come back as soon as I can." she took a deep breath, hoping Paninya wouldn't notice how large her outcall bag was.
Outside the Valley was busy as usual, she had gotten used to the thrall of people a long time ago, and she actually liked it now. Seeing so many people with auto mail was always a plus.
She turned in the direction of the nearest train station. If Will needed help with his auto mail, he would have to go to the shop. And if he wanted her help, he would have to take a train to Central.
Once she was on the train, she cast an already tired gaze down the hall, she hadn't been able to get a window seat like she had wanted, but an isle was always nice.
What was she looking for? She guessed it didn't really matter. Whatever it was, even if she didn't find it, it would still be giving her something to do. Why was she going to Central? She shrugged to herself; it just seemed like the best place to start… maybe she could have a word with the military. About what? Nothing… Maybe she could say hi to Shesca? She dipped lower into her seat; she needed to find an Alchemist is what she needed to do.
"Ed?"
He sat bolt upright from the uncomfortable bench he was on, "I'm up!"
"The train's coming…"
Ed rubbed his neck and looked to the uncertain face of Al, "What's up?"
"We're out of money…"
Oh, yeah. Well, it was bound to happen at some point, "maybe we can ask for work on the train,"
"…"
Ed let out a tired breath, "what?"
"Are you sure we're going the right way?"
Ed looked around the surrounding landscape, it was the same washed out, dismal land he had gotten used to over the years. Even Al was dressed appropriately in the drab clothes of this unimaginative universe. Ed had even gotten him to cut his hair! Making sure to state clearly that only he could pull it off, it didn't suit his brother. That was beside the point though, and even further from the question he had been asked.
"I think—"
"Is that the train?" Noah's voice sounded above and behind them, she was standing on one of the decks of the train station.
She sounded unusually happy, Ed hardly felt like telling her they were out of money, "Yeah… but we're not going to be on it unless we know how to wash dishes better than the people already working on the train."
Her face twisted up in confusion, "What are you talking about?"
"We're out of money."
She laughed, "Is that all?"
Ed and Al both turned to look at her clearly, Al was the first to actually say something, "All'? If we want to eat it's something, never mind getting on a train to nowhere,"
Food… Ed let his thoughts circle the word lustfully; he was beginning to miss it.
Noah let out an exasperated breath, "Just wait a second…" She turned in a flourish of skirt and the sound of a few bells. She had taken to wearing them around her ankles lately, and their jingling followed her heavy feet down the stairs and to their bench.
She drew a proud breath, "I happen to have at least some talents, and unlike you, I'm paid for mine." She waved a few marks in front of their faces, "I think it's about enough for three tickets and…" She counted the rest, "A muffin."
"One muffin?" Ed's voice wasn't hopeful.
"It'll have to be enough for a few hours. I might be able to make more money on the train, but I wouldn't want to risk it." She looked around nervously, people had been more accepting of Gypsies in the last few months, but there were still a great many people who just wished they would find another town to bother, "I think I might be able to dance at the next station… hopefully we'll get enough money to take us all the way to Rome."
One muffin… Ed mourned the loss of the others that never existed; it was going to be a long trip.
"Why are we going to Rome again?"
Would it be so bad if he just stole a muffin? I mean, how horrible would the loss be? It wouldn't even have to be a muffin! Maybe just a small piece of bread…
"Ed?" Al looked at his brother's contemplative face and waved a hand, "Did you hear what I said?"
Ed snapped out of it, "Oh, yes, yes. Rome. Wonderful place." He looked to Noah with a bright smile.
Al felt exhausted by this… Ed had been more and more inattentive lately, and it was starting to get a little tiring having to repeat everything he said, "Yes… but why are we going there?"
The train horn blared over whatever Ed was about to answer with. They picked up their drums (The only way they could help Noah get money) and boarded without being able to finish their conversation.
Al sighed behind Noah and Ed as they walked through the train. Wherever they were going, it was going to take a long time to get there.
Winry stumbled out of the train into the Central train station, and it took her another stagger, two lurches, and a trip to get her balance right. Some how she had managed to stuff her bag with enough tools to start her own auto mail shop, plus enough money to get her half way around the world, and a small section for clothes. She only ever wore two outfits, and her overalls were currently being used as padding for her bag so it didn't feel like she was carrying around a load of jagged stones.
She looked around her without much hope. What was she doing here? She didn't want the military to be a part of anything she was doing, so why had they been the first thing she thought of when she thought of finding a way back to Ed? Probably because they were the only Alchemy link she had with him. She thought for a moment… there was their Teacher's family though; Izumi's husband might actually be more help than the entire alchemic army combined.
Winry let her shoulders slump forward. Well that had been a waste of money. She looked to the train schedule for the next one leaving to Dublith, 3:45pm. She looked to a clock in the station; she had about enough time to buy some lunch.
Winry's forehead connected with the window by her seat on the train. Okay… so Central had just been a stop on the way… no problem… it's all part of the journey. She snorted, why was she kidding herself? She was so scattered brained she couldn't even pick the right direction to go in. She wasn't someone who usually did spontaneous things, and she was learning quickly that she wasn't good at it either.
"Where you heading?" a kind breathy voice sounded across from her.
Winry looked over to the man sitting in the cabin with her, he was young, probably in his early twenties… short black hair, brown eyes, round welcoming face. He wasn't the worst person she could be sharing a cabin with, "I don't know…"
His brow rose, "Well if you're on the train, you must have some idea of where you're going."
Winry shrugged, "I could just like trains…" She looked back out the window, but she could still see the man shacking his head.
"Nobody who likes trains that much has enough money to go around wasting it on tickets to nowhere."
He was wrong about that of course, usually people who liked trains that much, were rich people who couldn't find any other better hobby, "What if I said I knew where I was going but I didn't know why?"
The man nodded in thought, "That I could believe, half the time I don't know why I'm doing anything…"
Winry laughed with a quiet breath, "Well at least you're not leaving a job you love, a comfortable home, friends, and family, to wander around the world aimlessly looking for something you're never going to find."
His eyebrows met at the middle, "No… can't say that I am. What, might I ask, are you looking for?" He sounded genuinely curious by now.
Winry pulled her eyes away from the grassy landscape, "Someone who vanished."
"Oh." He looked understanding, "Well I'm Edward Densing, and anyone willing to leave you without a word doesn't deserve to be looked for."
She almost wanted to laugh, 'Edward', if that wasn't irony, she didn't know what was. As for Mr. Densing's other comment, "Well I'm Winry Rockbell, and I'm sorry to say that you're wrong. The person I'm looking for deserves to be looked for, but just doesn't want to be found."
Edward smiled, "Oh? That doesn't sound very polite; chasing someone who doesn't want to be followed."
She crossed her arms, "well he's just going to have to deal with it. He has a bit of a hero complex, so he's naturally stubborn and unemotional…" She unfolded her arms and relaxed, "but I don't think he wants to be…" why was she telling this man all of this? She could have stopped talking at any point, but no she has to go on and spill her guts.
"If you ask me, I'd say you're just wasting your time and energy. You could be living a happy life it seems…"
She narrowed her eyes, "Well I'm not asking you." And that was the end of that conversation. No one was about to tell her what she ought to be doing.
She stood up abruptly, grabbed her bag (hardly flinching when it threatened to drag her down to the floor with it) and walked out of the cabin. There had to be an empty cabin somewhere on the train. Because there was no way in hell she was going to spend 11 hours traveling with that guy.
A/N RR would be fantastic! I love my readers, and I love to hear anything you have to say!
