When It Rains
Summary: 3 years have passed since Ed and Al Elric passed through the gate. Winry's shell is on the brink of breaking and Edward is on the brink of insanity for his mistakes. Time is running out. And Ed and Al are on a search for the dangerous Uranium Bomb. What do you think will happen when the last expectable person dies and the gate is once again opened even after 3 years of being destroyed. Will Ed take his opportunity and return home? Or will he stay? Read and Find out!!
Disclaimer: I don't not (sadly) own FullMetal Alchemist but I in fact and almost obsessed with the show/manga ; )
Enjoy!!
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Prologue:
On the Road 1910
The road to France was a long and tiresome journey. Although the Romas, or gypsies, had been oh so nice to the all-too-familiar Elric brothers, Edward still wanted to leave from their company. Edward looked up from the floor of the wooden truck bed to the dreary grey sky then noticed Noah's intense gaze upon him and then looked away quickly. Al watched his brother look at Noah then back at the sky. Al shook his head. As much as Al had tried to convince his stubborn older brother to try and give Noah a second chance of trust but one betrayal was enough to make him not trust her at all.
They had been traveling with the Romas for the past 5 days, and they still had 4 more days before they arrived in France. And each time, during those 5 days that Ed and Noah were alone for a bit too long or Noah made a move he didn't like, Ed would use any excuse to get as far away from her as possible and this strange reaction always caused the young gypsy think of strange unanswered questions...
Well, finally, after what seemed like hours to no end, the fifth day of traveling had ended and the old truck filled with gypsies pulled off onto the side of the road and began to set up camp. Jumping out of the truck bed, Ed and Al helped the ladies step down from the truck to begin their work. Noah was the last one to step down. As she grabbed Al's hand his memories of these past 2 days flooded through her head. She smiled tiredly at him, just as he gave her a toothy smile before watching his brother turn away from them. Noah looked at Al with hurt in her eyes and shrugged and showed herself to her tent.
As the night progressed, both Ed nor Al spoke and Noah didn't try to attempt to break their silent vigil. They each did they're own chore assigned to them by the lead of her band of Romas and prepared to sleep until early dawn. As Ed and All finished pitching both theirs and Noah's tent, Ed stood and cracked the kinks from his back and neck.
"Hey Al," Ed called to his younger brother, breaking the unusual silence that fell between them.
"Yes Ed?" Al responded no even looking at him as he placed both their sleeping bags in their tent.
"I'm gonna go wash up alright? Be back in a few." Ed said his voice unusually solemn. Noah watched the elder brother walk away from his tent and decided to follow him. When he finally reached the near-by stream, Noah decided it was best for her to stay hidden for a bit. She watched as he knelt close to the stream bank and gathered water into his hands and splashed it onto his hot, sticky, sweaty face. She watched as the water trickled down his face and down his neck before she came out of hiding. Edward didn't even look at her.
"What do you want??" His voice that was unusually sharp make her flinch but she still walked over to him.
"I just wanted to see if you were alright Edward. You haven't said a single word to me since you returned to this world. And I can't help but think that you still don't trust me even though your own little brother trusts and forgives me." She said matter-of-factly. She reached over to touch his hand but he moved away from her.
"Don't touch me. It's because of you that everyone I held near and dear almost died. How can I ever forgive you for that?" Edward said spitting out the harsh truth. He walked away just as she looked down into the rushing water of the stream.
"But Ed...I only did it so that I could be free from this horrible place...I never meant to hurt you..." She spoke to herself as she rose to her feet and returned silently to her tent. Ed walked past Al, who was placing his sleeping band down and laid down on his own sleeping bag and turned away from Al. Al sighed.
"She asked you why you wouldn't forgive her didn't she?" Al said hitting the bull's-eyes.
"I could have lost all of you just because of her selfish reasons...I could have lost...her..." Ed said curly tightly into himself.
"Ed, she just wanted to be free from greedy, power-hungry people. Don't you think it was selfish of us to try to bring our mother back?" Al reasoned his voice filled with wisdom beyond his years. It was Ed's turn to sigh.
"We were only children. We were orphans, Al. She was the last thing besides each other that we had left. We didn't know what would happen..." Ed said solemnly.
"Yes, but still, we were being selfish. She has a right to be selfish too, she is human after all. The way she went at it was, yes, wrong, but she still has her own rights." Al said resting a warm gentle hand on Ed's shoulder. Ed flinched.
"Yeah...but I could have lost her Al...I could have lost her..." Ed said his voice breaking almost sounding like a lost child.
"I'm guessing you mean Winry?" Silence. Al smiled and sighed. "She can take care of herself. Besides you didn't lose her. She is always going to be there, shes always going to be your home." Noah walked away from their tent and into her own.
OXOXO
Rush Valley 1917
The temperature was beginning to rise just as the sun crawled its way across the now silent Rush Valley: the bustling city of mechanics. On the outskirts of town, a new shop had just opened 2 years ago. It was owned and run by the infamous Elric brother's mechanic: Winry Rockbell from Risembool. It had been Pinako's idea for Winry to get out of the house and start a wide range of Rockbell automail shops. The one currently opened was the one she opened in Rush Valley. It was only 5:30 A.M. but the temperature had already reached a whopping 80 degrees F from a chilling 68 degrees F. Her day had just begun.
Even though Winry ran a busy business she had plenty of help. When she arrived she asked Paninya if she would live with her. Paninya gladly agreed and even agreed to go with Winry to go get Rose from Liore. Winry refused to date, even though Paninya and Rose objected, saying that she had a business to run not a love life to complete. They both knew her real reasons fro her refusal to date. She was waiting for Edward Elric to return from the world beyond the gate.
Winry awoke feeling completely numb; she never did like to get out of bed. She looked over at her night table and stared longingly at the old pictures of the two younger forms of the Elric brothers. She shook her head. It would not help her if she just sat around thinking about the past all day long. She had clients to tend to and automail to fix. Getting out of bed, she donned her normal attire of a light colored jumper suit and her black tube-top. Walking downstairs she found Paninya and Rose were already awake.
"Well seem you finally got up sleepyhead." Rose said giggling as she chopped up Winry's morning eggs. Winry groaned.
Well automail isn't gonna fix itself. If it could I wouldn't be in business, would I?" Winry said laughing. Paninya and Rose joined in her merry laugh. It had always been like this when all three of them were together but when Winry was alone, she would open herself up to her pain and sorrow. But she never showed her true feelings around others. She would forever be happy-go-lucky to them. Inside she knew different. She sighed, contemplating thoughts always made her depressed. She rose from her chair. She just had to find something to keep herself occupied.
"Well I'll go check to see if everything is in order for today. Then I'll check the schedule." Winry said leaving the other two girls alone. They both watched her leave. Rose heaved a sigh along with Paninya.
"You think she misses those Elric brothers? After all its been 3 years since they left. Surely she would have come to terms with..."Paninya began but stopped. Rose shook her head and returned her attention to the stove.
"She can never forget nor come to terms. All she knows is that they've gone. She misses Edward terribly so and same with Al. She misses him too. They are her oldest friends and loved ones. After all, like you said, its only been 3 years." Rose said wisely. She too cared about the Elric brothers but even she had to admit that she truly didn't know exactly HOW Winry felt losing both brothers. They both sighed.
"I just wish Winry wouldn't put up such a mask around us. We are all friends here after all." Paninya fumed. Rose chuckled then her smile disappeared.
"But if she didn't put up a mask wouldn't you feel sorry for her?" Rose questioned. Paninya shrugged.
"Yeah I guess so, but I'd feel sorry about..." Paninya began in her own defense but Rose held up her hand as she took the pan of scrambled eggs off the stove and onto a nearby plate.
"Either way, Winry puts up the mask because she doesn't want out pity. After having them around for most of her life, only just to have them taken away from her, its kinda hard for her. Now all she has left is her grandmother, her dog, and maybe us and a few others. We shouldn't try to pity her but more or less to help her through this troubled time." Rose said smiling at Paninya's defeated face. Paninya sighed and gave up.
"Fine..."
"Winry," Rose called, "Breakfast is done!" Rose said taking the many plates of food to the table. Paninya pitched in while they saw Winry run to the bathroom, washed her hands then sat down in her usual place. She smiled at them both.
"So is everything in order Winry?" Rose asked picking up a biscuit.
"Oh yes." Winry said nodding. "Everything is tip-top shape, as usual. We're actually prepared for about 5 day so repairs." Winry said laughing. The other two glanced at each other and joined in with her.
Breakfast soon ended in silence as the 3 girls went off work. Paninya and Winry picked up their plates, set them in the sink and went off to the garage, while Rose picked up the rest of the kitchen to begin the cleaning. Winry began to whistle as she turned the closed sign to the open side and sat on the stool by the counter waiting for their first customer of the day.
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As the day ended, Winry gave a big yawn before walking over to the door of her shop and flipping the open sign to the close side. Smiling over at Paninya, Winry looked outside the window and watched as the sky changed colors; going from a gorgeous blue sky to a bright pink and a deep orange. Winry sighed then walked past the door to the garage, locked it then walked upstairs. Rose met her upstairs with a big smile on her face and a large laundry basket in her hands. Handing over a new outfit, Winry said a silent 'thank you' before heading straight to the bathroom. Walking downstairs, Rose met Paninya in the kitchen...well more so saw her butt sticking out of the fridge while snooping for something to eat.
"You know I really do wish that you wouldn't look for something to eat when I am about to fix dinner, Paninya." Rose said sighing as she set the laundry basket in the living room.
"Aww Rose! I'm hungry!" Paninya whined coming over to her in the living room. "I've been working all day long and I'm really hungry!" Paninya pouted. Rose glanced at her and laughed.
"You maybe hungry, but you are gonna ruin your appetite, and I will not have you waste good food. Besides Winry didn't go straight to the kitchen. Instead she went to the shower!!!" Rose said laughing again. Up in the shower, Winry felt her sore muscles relax under the prickling hot water. 'Edward...' she thought as the water slowly trickled down her body. 'Whats happened to you? I hope you're happy wherever you are...' She thought, slowly being pulled into her dreams of the younger Elric brothers. As Paninya and Rose went back and forth about dinner, the phone began to ring. Rose and Paninya stopped talking and glanced at each other. Rose looked at the clock. Its bright red colored numbers were burning 6:49 P.M. into her eyes.
"Now who could be calling this late...Paninya answer that and I'll start dinner." Rose asked walking into the kitchen. Sighing, Paninya grudgingly got up and answered the phone.
"Hello, Rockbell Automail Shop, this is Paninya, how may I help you?" She said her voice going from monotone to her regular way of speaking.
"Hello is Winry Rockbell there?" the voice said. The person's voice was like a stern female voice, one with authority and firmness.
"Uh, shes indisposed at the moment, may I know who's calling?" Paninya asked becoming suspicious of the person on the other side of the line.
"This is Lieutenant Riza Hawkeye. I'm a friend of Winry. We need Winry to come to Central." Riza said seriously. Paninya snorted.
"What for?" Paninya asked not really caring.
"Its about the Elric Brothers."
OXOXO
Campsite 1910
It was late in the night and all the lamps in every tent were out, all except one. Inside this tent, were the two Elric brothers. Edward was laying on his mat with his arm covering his face. Beside him, Al sat on his mat looking over all of their father's notes that they (him and Ed) got from the University in Germany. Al glanced over to his older brother and sighed.
"If you wanted to go to bed, all you had to do was tell me. I would put my stuff away and turned out the lights." Al said to Ed without glancing away from his papers. He heard Ed sigh, faint and weak.
"I'm sorry Al, its just we need to find out where the bombs are before we arrive in France so that we can just go straight on and find it. And we've only got 4 more days before we reach France. That's not enough time." Edward stated half-way in a daze, sleepiness and sadness imprinted on his face. "I just didn't want to bother you." Ed said quietly looking over at his younger brother. Ed looked over his brother, still amazed that Al was now human and not some body of armor. Ed had gone through so many things to get his brother's body back and it eventually costed him to pass through the gate. Thus, foreplaying several other events that eventually ended with the reunion of himself and his younger brother and noticed the pain, sorrow, heartbreak and sadness pass through his eyes.
"Ed, we can always look through these tomorrow and we don't have to go straight and continue once we get to France. We can just stay somewhere and research, rest, and THEN go forward." Al said reasonably. Ed shook his head.
"We don't know how much more time we'll have left before someone uses the bomb. We need to find them as soon as possible." Ed said placing his head in his hands. Al sighed.
"Fine, but you still need sleep. Your starting to look like a walking zombie." Al laughed. "So I'll do this tomorrow night and you can help." Al said getting up and stretching. "So I'm going to put these away and turn out the lights and let you get some much needed sleep. I'm gonna go wash up." Al said putting all of his notebooks away, turning out the lights and left Ed all alone in complete darkness.
Getting used to the darkness, Edward sighed and laid back down on his mat and rested arm over his eyes in the same fashion as before. As his heart rate slowed down, his thought process began to diminish as he fell into a deep slumber. Noah glanced over and noticed that the lamps were out in the Brother's tent and so she decided to find out for herself just who was so dear to him.
Walking, silently over to their tent, she looked around her to see if anyone was looking and walked into their tent. Al watched with a curious face as Noah entered his brother and his tent. Concerned, he walked as fast as he could back to the tent. Once inside, Noah noticed that one of the mats was empty. But she overlooked it. Instead she walked up slowly over to the now sleeping Edward Elric and slowly leaned over his head and when she lightly brushed his head, a young girl with bright sunshine hair and sparkling blue eyes flashed inside her mind. She shot straight upward.
"Winry..."
"Noah?" she turned to see Al starring at her with concern. "What are you doing in our tent?" Al asked, his voice giving his nervousness away.
"Well...I was just...who is so special to him that he still won't forgive me? And who is 'Winry'?" Noah asked sitting down never wavering her eyes from him. Al sighed and turned on a lamp.
"Edward, my dear older brother, can hold hard grudges even for the smallest of things. That's just the way he is. Even after 10 or 12 years, she still hasn't forgiven our father for leaving our mother. And I would never ask him to change." Al began making sure that she got his point. She nodded.
"Now what you have to understand, Noah, is that Edward has a big heart even if he doesn't show it all the time. And back home, there are many people that Edward would hate for anything bad to happen to them." Al said pausing. He sighed.
"Back home, Ed has several friends in the military. Some he had in Loire, her name is Rose. Some in Rush Valley, her name is Paninya. Our teacher Izumi Curtis and her husband. Our granny, Pinako Rockbell and our long time dearest friend Winry Rockbell. Winry is not only Ed's mechanic but I think that shes captured his heart and visa versa." Al finished with his eyes closed and his hands on his lap.
"Do you understand me Noah? You could have caused all of them to die. You could have caused me to die. But they didn't, nor did I, but Ed still holds a grudge. And he may very well keep his grudge for a long while." Al said looking straight into her eyes. She turned away.
"Well...Edward seems to be quite the heartbreaker if he left her and hates me..." she stood "Well I'll see you tomorrow morning then." She said walking out then tent and into her own. She sighed and fought the coming tears from shedding. As she rested her head on her pillow, one lone tear fell. Al sighed and glanced over at his sleeping brother. He shook head and started to spread himself out on his mat.
'Oh Ed...if only you would come to terms and realize just what you left.' Al thought to himself. 'If only you could see her and realize...' he soon fell fast asleep.
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Well hello there!!! Its been such a long while since I've written anything!!! But anyways, this is my first FullMetal Alchemist fanfic and I do hope you all enjoy it (just as much as I have writing it). Anyways, I've already finished chapters 2 and almost done with chapter 3 for this story but I just have to type them up.
Oh announcement;
For my Naruto story Will You Have Me, I'm starting to get back into the swing of writing that but I'm kinda stuck on where I wanna go with it. But hopefully, you'll enjoy the twist I'm planning for it.
With my Truth story, still typing that one up (haven't really had time to do anything much outside of school work T.T)
End of announcement and onto Up comings:
I might be starting a Rurouni Kenshin story sooner or later but it depends on whether I can figure up a good enough storyline.
SO now that you know what exactly is going on I'll get moving on typing up Chapter 2
Thanks - : Tigeret : -
Chapter 1 - Findings