Author's note: This is the first chapter of the sequel to Second Heartbeat. i'm sorry it took a while to load it up but i actually have to go to someone elses house in order to load it up so you can expect updates every weekend or so. This chapter is just to get things started, but i hope you like it.

She finished the book as she had done so many times before; it was as if it was the only book on her bookshelf, though there were many collections of many other books this one was always the first to be read. It was like she was obsessed with it. Of course, she seemed like it every time she recalled all 52 chapters in their strict order but it wasn't that she was obsessed with it but more that it would seem like an insult to her ex-husband's memory if she DIDN'T read it.

Thirteen years had passed since that tragic day. The one day when Winry was out of the house and the day when she came back to it she found the stone cold and marble pale face of her husband, Edward as he stared into nothingness. Four huge scars brazened in his face and there was a gaping hole in his stomach. Even without seeing the body as she came to the doorway she could smell the iron from the blood in the air. Before seeing the body, what called to her attention was the blood that coated the walls and floor. Before full-realisation of the death she found it ultimately odd to see full-stops dash across the computer screen with non-ceasing determination. Now all that haunted her dreams were those empty golden eyes that stared through her and chilled her to the bone.

But that day had long since passed, and the room had long since been washed of his blood. It still left behind a memory and now whenever some red substance stained the wall or spilt onto the floor the memory would come rushing back and take a hold of her. Her eyes would become red and puffy from the tears. This then would lead to questions from her son, Nicholas. But naturally, Winry would dismiss the tears and carry on as normal. But inside she would still be feeling the tears, drowning her with no mercy.

Of course, the questions of "Why are you crying?" weren't the only ones. Often they were ones of "Where's daddy?" or "Why haven't I got a dad?" to which Winry would answer "He's away on business and he may be gone for a very long time" or "You have a father. He's a great man." These would normally silence the boy's suspicions temporarily until the next round of the repeated questions came back.

But as Nicholas grew older, the answers now came with defiant retorts of "His business should be with us!" or "Well if he's so great then why isn't he home with his family?" to which Winry couldn't answer.

Nicholas had now long since grown out of accepting "truths" and always tried to challenge them head on. This often led him into fights with kids who said otherwise, making him the loner of his class. It was times like this that Winry wished that Nicholas had some sort of father figure but she didn't feel ready for another man in her life. But she always felt it hard to push away the feeling that if Edward were here then Nicholas wouldn't be such a deviant. But she felt that it was crucial that Nicholas knew that his father was alive rather than the terrible truth of his death. For this to work, she forbade him access to her room at all costs so that he wouldn't find the book or the newspaper report at the back. Winry knew she would have to tell him the truth sometime but inwardly she dreaded the moment when she would have to.

What kept her going through these times was her son. He carried such a familiarity to his father that it was uncanny. The face was mostly the same in features with those familiar golden eyes that turned with a determination, but his hair was a platinum blond, which was a lot hers only a lighter shade. His voice was admittedly the same only on a higher pitch to that of his father's. But that didn't matter. All that did was that evidently his father's blood rapidly through his veins.

But Nicholas Isaac Elric had changed so much from the sweet child that he used to be. His hair was now adorned with black streaks, which were attained without his mother's consent; these held evidence to his deviance. He was also absent of manners and deaf to reason. Really, he was just a bundle of energy and he always managed to keep his mother on her toes.

But there was only one thing that kept him quiet and still. Alchemy. Just as his father and grandfather had done he had naturally taken to learning the science. His skill was almost equal to Edward's now, but that was because he didn't have the skill of the handclap, and thank goodness!

As these thoughts and feelings still whirled around inside her head, she checked the clock of her bedroom wall.

"9:30pm."

She placed the book under her pillow and, with a sigh, left her room and walked up to Nicholas' bedroom. Poking her head around the door, left ajar, she found him reading at his desk with a lamp.

'Come on Nicholas.' She said calmly. 'It's 9:30. Start getting ready for bed.'

'Awww. 5 minutes?' Nicholas pleaded.

'Fine.' She sighed. 'But then I want you asleep, ok?'

'Ok.' Not even a thank you, as usual.

'Ok. Goodnight.' Winry shut the door behind her and made her way back to her room. She lay on the luxuriant quilt and her body sank into the comfy mattress. But the covers were always cold now. They had been since Edward's death and now they refused to warm up. She could remember how her and Edward would cuddle up together in the warm bed sheets before dropping gradually into their blissful slumber. But now the double bed seemed so much bigger without him and, with no one to cuddle up to, the quilt always stayed frozen.

She cuddled up to her pillow and slowly sleep took over her body.

Author's note: In case you haven't realised, this is 13 years into the future from the last chapter. but what do you think of Nicholas and Winry in here? Please R&R!