I sighed, looking sadly at the graves again.
"It's okay." Winry soothed.
"It won't be the same..." I sniffled.
Jane and Den had both just died. They'd both somehow gotten sick. I guess it was reasonable... They were both old...
"Hey, if it makes you feel better, I got you..." Ed muttered, digging around in his pockets. Eyes red, literally, I looked to him. "Uhh... What was it again... Oh yeah! 'Kokoro no kagi!'" he said proudly, pulling out an ornate diamond-studded key pendant on a chain.
"Key of heart, huh?" I smiled a little. "Thanks, Edward." I said, kissing his cheek as I took the necklace from him. He colored a bit in the cheeks.
"Did you teach him that, Annabeth? It's in that... Japanese, isn't it?" Al asked.
"No, but via-Gate mail, my parents sent me a Japanese dictionary. I guess he looked a few things up in it as well as forming grammar through that song I sing... Aku no musume means daughter of evil. Aku is evil. Through that, I guess Ed figured out to put kokoro, or heart, before key." I deduced.
"Yeah... You beat me again..." the object of our conversation muttered.
"Oh, cheer up. It's right in time before we go our separate ways!"
"Huh?" he said suddenly.
"I guess we forgot to tell you Annabeth decided to go with me into Xing." Al told him.
"Whaaat? Why?"
"Maybe because we're still engaged, dim-wit?" Winry reminded him, making good use of her wrench.
"That and I can talk him out of adopting every stray we come across..." I said softly.
You've only been dead for an hour and I miss you already, Janey-baby...
Tears came to my eyes.
"Annabeth? What's wrong?" Alphonse asked.
"I've had Janey ever since she was a kitten..." I murmured. "Did I ever tell you that she could talk right from the start? She didn't just learn it... The second we let her and her sisters loose, the other two ran off to hide... Jane took a few steps out and clearly yelled 'Mommy.' I took a liking to her for that. And then when she was always the peace-maker between her sisters when they fought... And then she started to mimic my motions and learn to be more human... In turn, she taught me to be more of a cat... It'll never be the same without her..." A sob came up my throat, and I broke down. I fell to my knees sobbing, tears streaming down my face. My wings were quivering. I was crying really badly.
"It's okay. Maybe you can find someone in Xing. Maybe she'll be reborn as someone new, and you can find that new person." Winry soothed, kneeling down and wrapping her arms around me. "You probably had a deeper connection to Jane than I did to Den, and from Jane's actions, I understand that you two were like one mind in two bodies. It's not fair that she was ripped from you, but there is always that chance..."
"D-domou arigatou, Winry-chan..." I sobbed into her shoulder.
"If you do find her in Xing, I won't object to you bringing her home." Ed said. Al shot him a dirty look.
I gathered myself and stood up. "Well... We should get packing, shouldn't we?" I smiled weakly.
"Guess so." the brothers agreed.
"Well, what're you waiting for then?" Winry smiled.
Still bearing grief about the deaths of our beloved pets, we went back up to the house.
In about two hours, we had everything done, and were waiting at the station for Ed's train. "You'll be okay?" I asked. "Without your Alchemy, I mean?"
"Oh, c'mon! I sparred with Teacher! I'm sure I'll be fine!" he scoffed, rolling his eyes.
"Yeah, but there may be those who could use their Ninja Centerfold to knock you down without touching you!" I pointed out.
"Something tells me I don't want to know." he said, waving his hand in a dismissive gesture.
"You probably don't... At least not until you sleep with Winry at least once!" I laughed.
"Annabeth!" he and Winry cried. "You're so immature!"
"And proud of it! Beat that!" I cackled.
"No thanks." Winry muttered as the train pulled up.
As he boarded and the train pulled away, I fingered the necklace hanging from my neck. "I'm gonna miss the numb-skull..." I muttered, smiling.
"At least it'll be quieter without him." Winry smiled.
"Exactly!" I laughed.
"C'mon, Annabeth, we need to find where Zampano and Jereso vanished too." Al told me, tugging at my sleeve.
"I almost forgot those two are coming with! Let's go!" I smiled, turning around and tugging him after me.
It didn't take too long to find the two. Then again, in a farming village where just about everyone seems somewhat small, it isn't too hard to locate two hulking men. I guess they'd just reached Winry's, because they seemed to be just settling in when we arrived.
"Okay... Now we just need to wait for your girlfriend!" I teased, poking Alphonse.
"Hey! It's not like that! May's a friend, nothing more!" he objected, but it was too late. I already had the Chimera-men snickering and Winry and her grandmother smiling.
"Fine, she's not... But we still need to wait for May to come pick us up. Hopefully, it won't be long..."
There was a knock at the door. Through the window, I saw the familiar form of the Xingese princess. "Speak of the devil...!" I sighed, smiling as we all laughed a bit.
It had been uncanny...
But that's life for you! It can get pretty weird.
"You should adjust to life in Xing fairly fast, Annabeth... From the way you know so much about this place in your world, and it sounds fairly similar to Xing." May told me as we began our journey.
"Meh... I guess... It corresponds to China, a country in our world... Sorta..." I nodded.
For some reason, over the next few weeks, I couldn't shake the sense that something was gravely wrong...