Hope's Illusion

~Chapter 1~ How they found out

They handed her his silver pocket watch with the Amestris military crest. She stared at it and looked up at the military officer standing on her porch. He shifted uncomfortably under her unwavering gaze.

"Ummm… I don't mean to sound rude or anything, but why are you giving this to me?" Winry asked the man.

He moved his gaze around, looking anywhere but at the teenage girl. "You are requested at Central headquarters miss Rockbell. You and Mrs. Rockbell."

"Why?"

"Well, I'm not really at liberty to say. I was just sent here to get you and your grandmother to bring you to Central. I wasn't given specific detail as to why, but as I understand it, it is something very important. About the Fullmetal Alchemist."

That was all Winry needed to hear. She was up the stairs and in Pinako's room in a matter of seconds. She didn't even remember to invite the soldier into the house until she ran back downstairs to gather her tools and automail parts for Ed. She quickly led the soldier to the living room where she asked him to please wait patiently while she packed some of her and Pinako's things into a suitcase. By four, they had departed on the train, headed for Central.

It was around two in the morning when the train pulled into Central. Pinako, Winry, and the soldier who came to get them yesterday walked out onto the platform, not really surprised that there were only a few people there. One of the people though, they all recognized. Alphonse was waiting for them on a bench near the exit of the platform. Even though he couldn't show facial expression, the two Rockbells could tell something had Al worrying. When the approached him, Al didn't even look up, instead he sat there with his face in his hands. Winry was about to say something, when he spoke.

"I know It's kinda late….but, I think you two should go to headquarters." His voice was quiet, and came out weak and wavering.

"Alright Al, are you gonna come with us?" Pinako asked.

He stood up and gave a small nod. They walked to a waiting car, where Jean Havoc sat in the driver seat. He gave a small smile when he saw them, although it looked closer to a grimace than anything. The drive to headquarters was a silent one.

When they got into the building, Winry couldn't help but notice the sullen mood of the place. They walked down the dark halls of the east wing and received more than few sympathetic looks.

'What the hell happened to Ed?' Winry thought.

Al opened the door to General Hakuro's office, followed by Havoc, Pinako, and then Winry. Inside they found Colonel Roy Mustang, Hawkeye, Breda, Furey, and General Hakuro. They all looked up at the new comers. General Hakuro and Colonel Mustang stood up.

"Please sit down, Miss and Mrs. Rockbell."

The two Rockbell women sat down on the plush royal blue couch, directly across from where Mustang and Hakuro sat. It wasn't long before General Hakuro stood up and left the room without saying anything. Roy sighed heavily, not really wanting to tell the little family what happened to his youngest subordinate. Really, Kain, Jean, and Breda had just finished crying and he really didn't want them to start again. To be honest with himself, he didn't even know what had happed to Ed either. He hated this part, he was always the one who had to tell the families about their lost ones. But, this time, it was like a family member of his own had died, and he was breaking the news to some cousins or something. And to top it all off, he didn't even know what the hell happened to his subordinate. He was sad, depressed even. He never wanted this to happen, he had wanted to keep all of his men alive. Ed was only a child, he already lost so much, he didn't deserve to end it this way. He figured in the short year he had known the kid, he grew to like him and even respect him a little. But only a little. He dared to admit to himself, that when this was all over, he would walk home, crack open a bottle of scotch, and drink and cry to his heart's content.

Roy cleared his throat and began. "As you may or may not know, your friend, Edward Elric was recently commissioned to stay down at a small Ishvalan refugee camp in between Rush Valley and Dublith." Roy looked to see if the two women were following, and seeing no confused looks, he continued. "He was called there to help with something that I am not allowed to mention, it was only going to last a few days at most. It was a military thing, so Alphonse stayed here, in Central. An ishvalan mistook Edward talking to a child, for him harassing it, and started a fight. The fight soon escalated and other officers got involved. Some of the Ishvalans took their actions as a declaration of another war." Roy took a deep breath to calm himself and force down his emotions. "Edward Elric is dead."

The room was silent. Everybody was still.

"What?" Everybody turned to Winry. She sat on the couch, her hand frozen half way to her mouth. Her voice was so quiet it was hard to hear. And yet, to Roy, it was as loud as a gunshot. It was the first sound and unbelieving look from a family member after he dropped the bomb on them. He waited for the young girl to explode. He looked at her, but she was staring out the window. He turned to look at the grandmother, she was sitting still, but he could see the tears sliding down her cheeks in the moonlight.

Winry chuckled. "You're lying." She stated simply.

It was now Roy's turn to be confused. "What?"

She shook her head. "You're all lying. This is just a bad dream right? Or maybe some stupid prank? I don't know, but I don't find it funny." Her voice was strong, but Winry's eyes were now leaking tears. "Ed isn't dead. He's hiding…or-or he's j-j-just sleeping s-somewhere. B-b-but he's no-ot d-d-e…" Winty didn't even finish her sentence. She broke down crying into her hands. Pinako gave the young girl a small hug and pulled her to her feet.

"Ed!' Winry started screaming. "Edward Elric, if you don't show yourself this instant, I swear to God I will hunt you down and kill you myself!" Her screams were only met with silence. This only caused the girl to cry even more. Al gently picked up the hysteric girl. Winry kicked and screamed even more and tried to fight Al, but him being in a giant suite of armor was working in his favor because soon enough, her strength gave out and Winry fell asleep in Al's arms.