Authors note: I own nothing but the idea for this story. This takes place after The Conqueror of Shamballa; this is in Winry's point of view. Thank you for reading!
Hope
One…
Still, a year and a half later, I am plagued with nightmares. I lay in my bed, heart pounding against my chest, blonde bangs covering my eyes. My chest feels like it is going to explode, I feel like I'm going to explode. A year and a half later; I'm still so full of anger and sadness.
Sunlight streams through my window and plays upon my floor boards; I know I need to get up, get dressed. But I want to lay here and remember how Ed would smile at me, or how Alphonse would laugh at me when I was angry. I feel the tears well, but blink them back and feel my shoulders sag. This sadness won't go away.
"Winry! You're going to be late! Let's go!" Riza pounds on my door. "Roy will have my ass if we're late again!"
I groan. "I know. I know. Riza calm down."
"It's Lieutenant Colonel Hawkeye to you." Of course she'd throw her new rank in my face.
I stick my tongue out at the door as I sit up, stretch, and listen to her boot clad footsteps fade from outside my door and Black Hayate's little paws scurrying after her.
I dress in my uniform, putting my hair up, and staring at my reflection. What would Ed and Al do if they saw who I am now? I put my gun in my waistband. Is this what they think I would've done? Or did they not think of me at all when they left? I clench my jaw and turn on my heel, storming out without a second thought, determined to grab a bagel before Riza has the opportunity to drag me out of the house.
‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑‑
"Winry!" Major Armstrong comes bounding down the hall toward me making me stop and turn to greet him.
"Major Armstrong." I salute.
"I keep forgetting you're a lieutenant now." He pats my back in a fatherly way. "Almost twenty years old, and joining the military! Your parents would be proud. Especially with the way you've moved up the ranks so quickly! You'll be like me before you know it!" Armstrong gestures profoundly and smiles. I return his smile weakly and wait for him to get to the point. "General mustang wants to see you." I sigh. What did I do now?
"Are you his errands boy now, Major?" I joke as I turn. He follows me.
Major Armstrong beams. "Just doing him a favor." I raise my eyebrows, but don't say anything.
We walk in silence down the hall, feet silent on the tiles of central command. I open the door to Mustang's office and am forced to do a double take.
"Oh, Winry." Alphonse cries as I walk through the door. "You're a soldier?" The step he's taken towards me stutters to a halt, giving me the opportunity to appraise him. He's gotten taller, taller than me and looks like a man. How is he only 14?
"Alphonse." I murmur quietly. My knees feel weak. "What are you doing here?" I don't know whether to draw him in for a hug or draw my gun.
"Hi, Winry." Ed. His voice, the one that's been haunting my dreams, is finally real. Irrationality takes over and I draw my gun. "Woah, Winry! What the hell are you doing?" Ed demands, hands raised in placation. The gun wavers.
Major Armstrong puts a hand on my arm, I shrug it off. Tears blur my vision. "You guys are gone. Never coming back. This isn't real. This is a nightmare. I know it." A lump forms in my throat, making it hard to breathe.
"Winry," General Mustang walks in front of the brothers, his voice smooth and filled with pacification. "This is real. They're real." The gun stays pointed, now at Mustang, but behind him stands Ed. Almost as tall as Mustang now, but with the same braid, the same golden eyes. Mustang advances and takes the gun from my hold; I relinquish it without a fight. "Thank you, Major. You can go."
"It was a pleasure to reunite them sir!" Major beams before stepping out of the room.
"Winry!" Al pushes past Mustang and grabs me in a bone crushing hug. His body is warm; smelling like boy and warmth. "We've missed you!" He pulls away and smiles. "Brother! Haven't we missed her?"
Ed stands away from us, hands in the pockets of his pants. He is watching me but pretending not to. "Yeah. We've missed you." His voice is low and he won't meet my eyes.
I look at Mustang. "General Mustang, how did they get here?" Demand creeps into my voice.
"Lieutenant Colonel Hawkeye found them in the train station, asking for tickets to Resembool." He tosses over his shoulder, casually laying my gun on the table.
"Winry," Al looks at me questioningly. "Why are you here in central? Why aren't you home?" Tears threaten to make reappear but I push them down and go with anger instead.
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN WHY AM I HERE? WHY ARE YOU HERE?" I yell. "I THOUGHT YOU WERE GONE AND NEVER COMING BACK?" I stare at Mustang. "DID YOU NOT CLOSE THE SEAL?"
"Watch how you speak to your General, Winry, you're a lieutenant now. You need to know where you stand in the ranks." Mustang says coolly. I bite my tongue, knowing I forgot my place. "And I did destroy the transmutation circle. This is not how they got here."
"Really, Winry, it isn't! We studied really hard to get here! No one in the other world can get back here now! We're really here!" Al says excitedly, bouncing on his toes like a little girl.
I look at Ed, but he looks everywhere but at me. "Feeling guilty, Ed? I question angrily.
He looks at me, startled. "Winry, what-"
"Do you feel any guilt at all? You leave without saying goodbye, not once but twice? Left me to bury Gran alone? You came home, let me fix you up, and then you vanished? This time possibly for good? There was no one here to keep looking for you! You both just left me here! Do you know what I've lived through here? You guys were all I had left and you abandoned me!" I shout as the tears I've held in for so long finally stream down my cheeks. "Do you know what it's been like?" I whisper, broken.
"Winry." Al cries, reaching for me. But I'm looking at Ed, waiting for a response. He gives none.
"I didn't think so." I leave the room; leave them both behind like they did to me. And just like them, I don't look back.