One Last Time
In the blink of an eye, he was gone. She could still hear his steps lazily wander off from her. Every time she realized he was not there, tears filled with sorrow rolled down her restless face, returning, even if for a fraction of second, their usual warmth to them. Even with the children around, it felt so… cold. They were the only thing that lit her life, that held her to it. She couldn't just leave, it was her duty to take care of them, to give them happyness… despite the fact that she did not have much.
Clung to the hope that one day he would come back to her, she waited. She had made a promise, and was willingly going to keep it. As time went by, so did her strength. Eventually, she, without realizing it, produced a sickness which scarred her day by day, opening the wound of loneliness, enlarging its size, consuming her. She fought as far as she could, she was determined to save her last breath for him, for his beloved.
Pinako began to come daily, her granddaughter and his sons took care of her, of Trisha. Trisha Elric. While in that half-dead state, she was able to occupy the hours of suffering with thinking; she came to recongize that they had never been married, so the kids bared her surname. What would be of them if she was gone? She had to be stronger, to resist. It would tear her heart to leave such young boys to their luck.
How she prayed for him to come, day and night. The one thing she hoped to do before she left was to lie by his side, to see him one more time. She would have given her life for that.
One day, he came back. She unknowned how had he gotten there, but he saw him standing by the door. He smiled pleasantly, his eyes glittered in a way she had never seen before; he kindly raised his hand, as if saying 'hello'. She didn't need to hear his voice, his sole presence was warming enough. She felt how happy tears took her soul, blurring her sight yet leavig her with the certainty and peace that she had seen him, one last time.
Well, I must say this is far more personal than the Alphonse's one... Oh, and this fic is not AU! Try wondering how come Hohenheim might be standing in front of her, when neither in the manga nor in the anime he does this. I labeled the fic as 'Mangaverse' because I like to keep that kind of stile, yet it can be read by any one who has only seen the anime
...Enjoy?