Author's Note: Hey guys, HarpStar here! It's been a while and last time I wrote, it was a Detective Conan fanfic. Sadly, I stopped writing that story because I got a bad writer's block. So I decided to change the way that I do things. I will no publish ANY chapters of a story, unless I have the whole thing written. That being said, if you have kindly decided to read my story, I have good news for you! This story will be finished! :D
One of my biggest pet peeves as a fellow reader on fanfiction, is when people start with a good story and then never update after the first couple chapters. :( I'm going to really try to find some inspiration to continue my other story, but, I honestly don't know if that will ever happen.
ANYWAYS! That's just my rant about people like myself, who get my readers soo excited for a story only to leave them hanging. That WILL NOT happen here!
Disclaimer: I don't own Edward.. Winry does. Just kidding! I DONT OWN FMA!
Song is My Immortal by Evanescence.
One last thing, this story is based on FMA, not FMA Brotherhood. Just saying.
Without Further Adieu~ :D ENJOY!
Present Day Risembool
Winry Rockbell sipped her hot chocolate, letting the delicious liquid warm her from the inside out. It had been a hard 3 years for her since Edward and Alphonse had left. Then again, her whole life had been hard. Her grandmother had taught her never to feel sorry for herself and sometimes that was hard. Especially now with all of her loved ones slipping away from her. Sure she had made some friends in Risembool but, it wasn't the same as having a family.
She had coped well with the loss of Edward and Alphonse, or as well as she could. That was until her grandmother got sick shortly after they left. Her grandmother had developed a sickness that was not uncommon in Risembool. Trisha Elric had died of this sickness. The irony of it was that her parents had come up with a cure before they left to treat soldiers during the Ishvalan War.
Putting her hot chocolate on the table, Winry made her way upstairs to check on her ailing grandmother. As she walked into the room, she noticed that her grandmother was sitting up in bed reading an automail catalog.
"Hey Granny, how are you feeling today?" She asked with in a hushed tone with a small smile on her face.
"This disease is unpredictable. It could take years for my life to be taken." Pinako said this as if it were nothing. She sighed, put the catalog on her bedside table and made her way across the room.
"Granny, you shouldn't move around too much! It could make the disease spread faster and make it worse!" Winry didn't want to lose the last family member she would ever have. She never planned on getting married. She was going to devote the rest of her life to automail, and medicine. After the Elric brothers had left her behind, Winry had become a busy woman.
"Child, listen to me. You need to get some rest yourself." Pinako remarked. Being a wise woman, she knew well that her granddaughter spent majority of her nights studying, rather than sleeping.
"I am an old woman Winry. I have lived many years and if this disease takes my life, I will have no regrets so long as I know that you're happy." Pinako was rarely sentimental, but she didn't know how many days she had left and she wanted her granddaughter to know how much she cared about her well being.
"Of course Granny," Winry said with a sigh and a nod. The last thing she wanted to do was make her grandmother worry about her. She worked hard for both of them so that her grandmother had very little to worry about. Of course her grandmother still worked on automail, but Winry tried to keep from doing that as much as possible by doing as much as the work as she could.
"I made myself some cocoa, do you want me to make you some before I head out for the day?" Winry followed her grandmother down the stairs.
"I can take care of myself." Pinako replied, stubborn as always. "You're starting your shift at the hospital early today?" Because of her parents and her grandmother were surgeons, Winry was able to become a doctor rather quickly. Most of her training was done by her grandmother, but she had done through a training program at the hospital that took 2 years.
"Yes, I told them that I would be starting my shifts earlier from now on so that I can be home earlier." She wanted to home as much as she possibly could so that she could be with her grandmother in case she took a turn for the worse.
She had decided to become internal medicine doctor to understand infectious diseases better. Other doctors in the area had looked at what little notes were left behind from her parents but, none of them could come up with the cure like her parents had. Some of the notes had gone missing, or were taken with her parents when they went to Ishval for whatever reason. Just like her parents, the notes never made it back.
Another thing that happened after Ed and Al left was that Winry had written a song. Music was starting to become a major industry, and artists were starting to pop up all over the place. They made good money from doing it. Now, under normal circumstances, Winry wouldn't care about money but she had written the song for two reasons. The first reason, the reason why she needed the money, was because she needed money to fund her research at the hospital. The second reason, probably a pathetic reason, was because she thought maybe her song would reach Ed and Al.
"Granny, please don't strain yourself too much. I will be back as soon as I can. Call me if anything happens." Winry poured her hot chocolate into a travel mug, grabbed her briefcase full of her research notes and started to make her way out the door. Pinako glared at her as she walked out. She had just told her that she could take care of herself.
Winry got in her car and drove to the local hospital that had been built 4 years ago. She drove past the orphanage that she was having built just down the hill from her house and couldn't help but smile to herself. The orphanage would be ready for business by the end of next week. Although life wasn't going the best in a lot of ways, Winry felt content because she was helping as many people as she could. She recalled the memory of Edward telling her that her hands were not meant to take life, but to give. She felt tears stinging in her eyes but she held them back.
She had to be strong for her grandmother. For the Elrics, even if they would never come home to her again. For the orphans that would have shelter within the next month.
After she pulled into the parking lot at the hospital, Winry wiped the tears from her eyes and got out of the car. She wore black pants with a grey button down shirt, her hair pulled back in a high pony tail. She made her way into the hospital to start her shift.
Present Day Germany
'There's gotta be a way that I can get stations from the other side of the gate. I just want to hear the news from over there.' Alphonse thought as he fiddled with his radio. All he was getting was static. Edward would probably be angry if he knew that Alphonse was trying to get news from the other side.
"A.. No.." He couldn't make out any of the words that the guy was saying. But he was almost certain that it was the voice of the most popular radio host on the other side of the gate.
"Fshhhhh."All he was getting was static. Alphonse got really frustrated at this point, realizing that he may have been so close to his goal and he had just messed it up. Alphonse did something that was uncharacteristic of him. He threw the radio against the wall.
"Winry Rockbell!" The voice boomed from the radio. Alphonse gasped in surprise and ran over to the radio. It had been 3 years since he had seen Winry. She was like a sister to him. Next to Edward, Winry and Pinako was the only family member he had.
"Hey Ricky!" It was Winry's voice! Without thinking Alphonse ran out of his room and down the stairs.
"E-Ed!" Alphonse practically screamed. Edward ran over to his brother, worried that something might be wrong.
"What's wrong Al?!" Alphonse held the radio up to his brother. Edward looked at it quizzically until he heard her voice. The voice that sounded like music to his ears.
"Music has been in my life ever since I was a little girl. When I was younger, my mother tried to make me learn piano before she went to war," There was a slight pause, "I, uhm, I never thought that it was important. I loved automail. Then when she died, I taught myself because whenever I played, I thought of her. She always believed that a person should have diverse skills." Winry's hid her thoughts from the rest of the world, but Edward and Alphonse knew her well. They knew how much broken Winry was over the loss of her parents. Edward felt lie his heart stopped in his chest.
"That's an amazingly tragic story! Miss Rockbell, can I ask what you're doing with your life right now? I mean this song has been so popular since you made it two years ago. Have you considered writing another song?"
"Well, I've thought about it. The reason I haven't is because I just finished earning the title of doctor at a local hospital. It's been a lot of work and it's taken up most of my time to be honest. I've also been busy building an orphanage and trying to find a cure for my grandmother." Edward and Alphonse looked at each other. Granny was sick?
"Wow! I guess I should be calling you Dr. Rockbell then! Winry, you sound like a saint. You truly are one of a kind. Thank you for giving us your time!" Ricky was ever the enthusiastic radio host.
"Of course!" You could almost hear the smile in Winry's soft voice.
"Now, without further adieu! The most requested song on the radio, My Immortal by Winry Rockbell!" The sad music started:
I'm so tired of being here
Suppressed by all my childish fears
And if you have to leave
I wish that you would just leave
Cause your presence still lingers here
And it won't leave me alone
These wounds won't seem to heal
This pain is just too real
There's just too much that time cannot erase
When you cried I'd wipe away all of your tears
When you'd scream I'd fight away all of your fears
And I held your hand through all of these years
But you still have
All of me
"Alphonse how could y-" Edward started to scold him for trying to get news from the other side again but Alphonse cut him off.
"Shush brother! I want to hear this!" Alphonse could hear the sorrow in Winry's melodic voice. He never knew that she could sing, but he did remember Edward making fun of her when her mom made her do piano lessons.
You used to captivate me
By your resonating light
Now I'm bound by the life you left behind
Your face it haunts
My once pleasant dreams
Your voice it chased away
All the sanity in me
These wounds won't seem to heal
This pain is just too real
There's just too much that time cannot erase
When you cried I'd wipe away all of your tears
When you'd scream I'd fight away all of your fears
And I held your hand through all of these years
But you still have
All of me
I've tried so hard to tell myself that you're gone
But though you're still with me
I've been alone all along
When you cried I'd wipe away all of your tears
When you'd scream I'd fight away all of your fears
And I held you hand through all of these years
But you still have
All of me
All of me
All of me
As Winry's voice drew out the notes, Alphonse felt this feeling in the pit of his stomach. He desperately wanted to find a way to go back.
"Brother.." Alphonse said quietly.
"I know Al, but it's been 3 years. Winry probably doesn't even remember us anymore." Alphonse punched Edward in the arm. Edward grabbed his arm and stared at Alphonse.
"What the hell Al?!" Edward exclaimed rubbed his arm. He looked up at Alphonse and he was surprised by the anger that he saw there. Or was it hurt?
"Brother.. I can't keep living here! It's suffocating! It's not our home. I'm was so glad when we were reunited, but I want to go home! Home to where our mother is buried. Home to where Granny is sick. I want to see Granny before she dies brother. And I want to go home to where my sister is. Where Winry is! Please brother, there has to be a way. I know you kept you promise, and I know you got my body back for my but please brother, make me another promise. Promise me, that you will help me find a way to go home." Alphonse had obviously had these thoughts for quite some time. Edward couldn't believe that Al was holding all of that emotion back. He stared at Al with wide eyes before dropping his eyes to his feet, his hair covering them.
"Please brother.. I know you want this too. I saw the way you looked at her every time she was around. And I saw the look in your eyes when you wrote her letters." Al stepped forward and grabbed Edward's shoulders.
"Umm.." Noah interrupted, "Would you guys like some dinner?" Alphonse looked over at her and then back at Ed who was still staring down. Alphonse sighed and stormed stairs to his room.
"Sorry Noah.." Edward murmured quietly before heading up the stairs to his own room. He laid face down on his bed and thought of Winry. He missed her so much. They say home is where the heart is. Well if that's true, then he hasn't been home in a long time. He just didn't want to make Al a promise that he wasn't sure if he could keep. He honestly wasn't sure if there was a way to get back through the gate.
He thought of the words to the song and he wondered what they meant. He could hear the heartbreak in her voice. With a sigh, he put the back of his hand to his forehead. He didn't think coming to Germany and living here would be so hard. There was an emptiness in his heart. He didn't realize what she had meant to him until he realized that he would never see her again. After hearing that Granny was sick, Edward couldn't help but agree with Al.
He wanted to give Winry pleasant dreams again. He couldn't help but snort at that thought. Of course she said it in her song, but after failing to bring his mother back, he didn't want to let his emotions take control of him again. They needed to find a way to get back to Risembool. They needed to find a way home. They needed to find a way back to her.
5 years old, Risembool
"Winryy! Come on I'm tired! Can you hurry up please?" Edward groaned and put his hand over his eyes. He heard Winry sigh but she continued her work.
"Listen, if you would come back more frequently to take care of this better, your repairs wouldn't take so long! Now stop whining like a baby before I hit you in the head!" She was quite exhausted herself. She had worked on other clients all day until Edward showed up. Then she started working Edward's arm. His leg needed to be built from scratch since he had grown an inch and a half since she had last seen him.
Winry briefly rubbed her eyes and yawned. He was always such a pain in the ass when he showed up. Of course Winry wasn't complaining that she got to see him, but she hated that it is was always under bad circumstances. She hadn't slept well last night and she hadn't eaten much today because she had forgotten.
Edward peeked at her from under his hand. He always avoided looking at Winry because his heart rate would always increase. His eyes wandered down from her face that was concentrating on her work, down to her chest where his eyes lingered. He could feel the heat rising to his cheeks. When he heard her sigh again, he looked back up at her face. She closed her eyes slowly. It was just then that he realized how pale she looked.
"Hey Win, are you ok- WAHH!" Just then she passed out and landed on the floor. He could feel panic rise in his chest. Lucky she had just finished working on his arm. He jumped up from the table and picked her up from the floor.
"Winry, are you okay?!" He was so afraid that something was wrong. She weakly, tiredly, reached up and smacked him in the head.
"I'm fine idiot, now be quiet and take me to bed please.." Her voice sounded so tired. Edward had a feeling he would be staying in Risembool for longer than 4 days like he had originally hoped. He calmed down and his expression softened.
"Sure Win.. You need to take better care of yourself.." He mumbled as her carried her up to her room and gently laid her down on her bed. He admired her sleeping face. Perfect porcelain skin, that was a bit pale right now but it looked soft to the touch. Her eyelids were closed, her long lashes gracing her cheeks. He had known ever since he could remember that Winry was a beautiful girl. He almost reached his hand out to touch her cheek, but he quickly dismissed that thought. He got up to leave, but he felt her hand on his wrist.
"Ed.. Do you remember that time when you, Al and I had a sleepover when we were younger? Do you remember how we begged our parents for weeks to let us do it but, they always said it wasn't appropriate for guys and girls to have sleepovers? We finally convinced them and we ended up staying up all night? Do you think, umm.. Do you think we could have a sleepover again? I know it seems childish but, we're friends right? And I really missed you guys!" Edward's eyes widened at her words. He hadn't even realized that she was still awake and he didn't know how to respond.
"Uh Win, I.. I think that would be inappropriate." He rubbed the back of his head with his free hand and tried to get up from the bed, but she tightened her grip on his wrist.
"I don't care! Please Ed? Don't leave me. Stay with me. Please.." He looked down into her tired blue eyes. Even when she was tired, he eyes were so beautiful and captivating. Her saw loneliness in her eyes and he couldn't help but feel guilty. He didn't want his good friend to feel alone. He sighed in defeat and laid down beside her in the bed.
"Fine, but if Pinako gets angry about this, you take the blame okay?" He looked over at Winry when he heard movement from her side of the bed. This proved to be a mistake because since the bed wasn't made for two people, her face was inches away from his. He could feel her breath on his face. He felt his face heat up, and he hoped that she couldn't tell how embarrassed he was.
Winry's point of view
She didn't know what had come over her when she asked Edward to stay. She was just so tired of never getting to see him and she hoped that he got Al's body back soon so that they would be back permanently. When he turned to face her, she felt a little embarrassed at how close their faces were but, at the same time, she didn't really care. She bit her lip and looked down.
She knew that she felt something for Edward. She had had a crush on him since they were kids and she honestly thought that she would outgrow it. Especially when he left to get Al's body back and she never got to see him. But, that only seemed to make her realize just how much she cared about him. The hard part was that even when he was here, she couldn't express the way she felt because she didn't want to distract him from his goal. It wouldn't be fair to do that to either of the two boys.
She also knew that Edward was not only oblivious, but he was also focused on his goal of getting Al's body back. Of course she didn't think this was a bad thing. If she expressed that she felt something to him, she knew he wouldn't return the feelings. Still, every time she saw him spar with Al, she couldn't help but notice how muscular he was and it gave her sensations in places that made her embarrassed to think about. Any girl would love to have a guy like him physically. That wasn't what mattered to her obviously. She admired his determination, his loyalty and his love for his brother.
When she looked back up at him, she saw that his eyes were closed, his features relaxed. It wasn't often that she saw him look so at peace. He was probably exhausted from his journey to Risembool from wherever on Earth he had come from. She was very exhausted as well. She smiled fondly at his sleeping face and before she could stop herself, or have second thoughts about her actions, she leaned up and kissed his temple. She let her lips linger for a minutes before pulling back slowly.
She let her eyes stay closed for a minute when she put her head back on her pillow before decided to sneak another peak at his handsome face. She realized right away, that he was looking right back at her through half-lidded eyes. Her face heated up once she realized that he was awake when she kissed his forehead.
"Over the years, I've always had to make sure that I'm on guard at all times. I've become a very light sleeper." He explained quietly. Winry's eyes widened as she realized she probably woke him up.
"I-I.. I'm sorry.." She looked down again and felt her cheeks get even warmer. "I didn't mean to wake you up." Her eyes shot open when she suddenly felt his lips on her forehead.
"Relax Win, and get some rest. You deserve to have good dreams." She could hear him stifle a yawn while he was talking. When she looked back up, he had his eyes again. She shifted to get closer to him shyly and then closed her eyes as well.
"Goodnight Ed." She heard him let out a grunt as she began to drift off. 'As long as you're here with me, I'll always have pleasant dreams.'
Present day Risembool
Winry could still remember the feel of his lips on her forehead like it was yesterday. They were surprisingly soft and gentle. She always mentally kicked herself when she thought of the memory as if it meant something more than it did. If only she had kissed him on the lips instead of on the forehead. Once he left for good, she realized just how much he meant to her. She loved him.
It was when she came to realize that he would never come home that she decided that she would never get married. She never looked at another man and had the feelings that she felt when she looked at Edward Elric. She thought she could get over the heartache, but she quickly realized that wasn't possible.
She pulled into the driveway of her home. Thank God she was salaried. It didn't matter how many hours she worked, so long as the work got done, she would get paid a flat amount for the year. She had started at 7 in the morning and usually left between 1 and 2 in the afternoon depending on what she had to do. Now that she was a doctor on top of being an automail mechanic, she didn't have to write any more songs for money. She just did that in the beginning to get things going.
She also had supplies at her house to do research at home. She worked as much as she could to find the cure. No other doctor in the region that she had taken the notes to could crack the code. Winry hoped that as their daughter, she could understand where her parents thinking was but it was difficult. It was like trying to put a puzzle together when half of the pieces were no where to be found.
"Granny, I'm home!" She called after she walked in the door to her home. She could hear her grandmother working in her workshop. She let out a sigh of relief. At least she was feeling well enough to work.
After going up to her room and changing, she made her way into the workshop to help her grandmother out. She was already tired so she could tell that it was going to be a long night.
A/N: Thanks for reading guys! Let me know what you think, I have the next chapter already written but, I want to know what you guys think before I post it. I want to make sure you guys like where's it going! ;D Review and make me happy guys!