Raccoon: This is what happens when I'm supposed to be studying. Please excuse any OOCness. In the light of the last chapter that came out, the end is getting near and here's how I think it should end.
Ed was out sitting in the very cleansing rain. It was strangely comforting and really a chance to be alone. But there were people who came to enjoy the rain with him. He smiled as his brother came to sit with him. His finally human brother. Quietly he began to sing a song that had been taught to him so long ago.
When I am down and, oh my soul, so weary;
When troubles come and my heart burdened be;
Then, I am still and wait here in the silence,
Until you come and sit awhile with me.
As he sang, he could tell that his brother was remembering the song too. Others came to sit outside with them.
You raise me up, so I can stand on mountains;
You raise me up, to walk on stormy seas;
I am strong, when I am on your shoulders;
You raise me up: To more than I can be.
Al joined him in the refrain and smiled as Roy and Riza came walking out holding hands.
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Riza was in the make-shift kitchen of the place they had commandeered in Xerxes. She was cooking over an open flame for the first time in a long time. Very faintly, she thought she could hear a boy singing. At least, she hoped it was one of "her boys."
"You hear that?"
Riza smiled as she turned around; Roy was standing there with his own smile. Holding out a hand to his fiancé, he told her "Leave it. Let's go find out who's singing."
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"We heard someone singing. Mind if we join you?"
Al shook his head and noticed that Ed wasn't paying attention to the fact that more people had come to sit in the rain with them. They took that as an invitation to sit down in the entry way.
You raise me up, so I can stand on mountains;
You raise me up, to walk on stormy seas;
I am strong, when I am on your shoulders;
You raise me up: To more than I can be.
The next time the four heard someone coming, they realized it was more than one someone actually. Havoc was using Breda and Falman as supports while slowly moving towards the people already outside. Fury was walking backwards slowly as basically a walking goal. Getting the wheelchair in would have been too much of a hassle since it did not fold. Everyone present realized the irony of the next stanza in the song.
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Havoc could hear someone singing from his room. His wheelchair didn't fold so they had left it outside and getting around required at least one other person.
"Is someone singing?" he wondered aloud. "I want to see who it is."
As he attempted to get himself out of bed, Falman and Breda came over to give him a hand. He may never be able to fully walk on his own but he'd be damned if he was in a wheelchair for the rest of his life. Fury, Falman, and Breda were all used to what it took to get him any where in this place; using Fury as a goal and with Black Hayate trotting along beside them, he slowly made his way outside.
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There is no life - no life without its hunger;
Each restless heart beats so imperfectly;
But when you come and I am filled with wonder,
Sometimes, I think I glimpse eternity.
Ed had stood up and gave his spot to Havoc. The poor guy needed a seat more than he did. Ed stopped singing as he spotted someone coming towards them and headed towards the person himself. Pretty soon Ed was embraced by a blond-haired girl his age. Quietly he sang into her ear the same song from their childhood. Over his shoulder, she had beckoned Al to come join the two of them and joined them in their singing.
You raise me up, so I can stand on mountains;
You raise me up, to walk on stormy seas;
I am strong, when I am on your shoulders;
You raise me up: To more than I can be.
Winry managed to drag both boys further away from where they had been and turned them so they were facing everyone sitting outside; she didn't let go though.
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"If that's the song that mother sung to me before she left….." Winry thought as she headed towards two boys who were her brothers and their strange surrogate family. Ed was standing there staring at her and she ran to him to smother him in a hug. It had been too long since she saw them.
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All three stood in the rain with their arms around each other and sang. Standing out here, no one could see the tears they cried for the people who had taught them the song.
You raise me up, so I can stand on mountains;
You raise me up, to walk on stormy seas;
I am strong, when I am on your shoulders;
You raise me up: To more than I can be.
Ed can see the quiet, gentle smiles on the others' faces. It has been too long for all of them and yet, too short. He is after all a kid standing in the middle of a dessert wrapped in the embrace of the two people who he knows know him the best. He can see the people who have helped him and who he wishes he knows how to help. Progress is progress, and he admits silently that he is amazed.
He can tell from here that for once Roy is not smirking but actually smiling a real smile. Riza has that mothering look in her eyes as she manages to watch them all without really watching them. Ed sends a genuine smile in Havoc's direction; the human body truly was an amazing thing. They had been his crutch and he their's and somehow, everything seemed to be fine.