The Hope Never Fades
A/n: I have edited some parts of the story in hopes of making it a bit better. Please R&R!
Disclaimer: I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist
The thick grey clouds filtered the afternoon sunlight, filling the sky with a cold, bleak light. A young girl with sun blond hair was pulling the warm blue muffler higher over her nose and red cheeks as the temperature steadily drooped below the freezing point. Winter was once again claiming the grassy plains of Resembool, covering them with a thick white cloak as far as the eye could see. The air was filled with tiny but beautiful snow crystals making their way down, spreading around on the white fields. Winry looked down at her companion dragging her from one spot to another completely unaffected by the cold.
Den stopped at a once green tree which was now stripped of its pride. She began to sniff systematically around the roots, not letting one spot go unsniffed. Winry smiled at her childhood pet but as she let her eyes survey the horizon, hoping against hope for the sight of her loved ones retuning from the world beyond, both of them in flesh. She knew the second she scouted the all too familiar path, now covered in snow, which led down from the Rockbell house and ended at the Resembool train station, that her wish would not be granted. How she longed to see the owner of the familiar red coat and the goldish-brown haired boy walking up that road.
She was brought out of her thought by an impatience tug at the leash she held between her cold, stiff fingers. She looked down at a pair of huge wise deep brown eyes and sent the canine a small smile. Sometimes it felt like Den knew what she was wishing for, knowing who she was constantly searching for each time they went for a walk. She knelt down beside the black dog noiselessly throwing her arms around the warm animal and burying her face in the soft, familiar fur. She could feel the tears of yearning and concern fall from her sky blue eyes, the cold winter breeze leaving a frozen kiss on her cheeks, freezing her fallen tears. Once they came she couldn't stop them. She cried into Den's warm fur while she sat there patiently waiting for her owner to overcome her sadness and once again put on a fake smile, hiding her deepest fears as well as her feelings. Den muffled her nose into Winry's hair, comforting her.
Winry lifted her face from the comfort of her canine companion's fine fur and rose to the ground on unsteady legs. She brushed away the unshed tears with her cold fingers and allowed herself to be led by Den down the white path, towards the now frozen river. She bent down, releasing the eager canine from her leash. Den dashed down the little hill at a speed no human can compare to, barking happily as she darted towards the icy riverbed.
Winry resisted the urge to let her gaze linger at the road again, but continued sweeping her eyes over the great plains of Resembool once more. It was indeed a gorgeous view, completely different than a few months earlier. The green fields covered in wild flowers were only a fantasy at this time of the year. To think such time consuming changes can occur in only a few weeks is amazing and still no one thinks about it as something special. Well for someone who needs to let her mind drift to something else than two teenage Alchemists far away, it was the perfect subject to think about. The two boys she so sincerely waits for are no longer present in this world, she knows that well, but something in her won't let go of the little fraction of hope her heart contains, that the boys will return safely home.
As she stood there watching the blissful canine, her mind wandered to a time without an aspect at how fast joyous things can change in the blink of an eye or how someone can long for someone so badly they start hoping against rationality that their someone's not a mirage ghosting by the edge of their perception; their childhood, Edward, Alphonse and hers.
She recollected the time they were still ignorant to the world's true face. They were unknowing to their own parents suffering, only the smallest thoughts meant something. It was their time to grow up while playing on the grassy plains all day, until that fateful day, the day that everything went downhill, her parent's death. The healing gap in her heart had not yet healed and would never completely grow, and now her childhood friends had left her, reopening the little coating they had managed to make on her heart's bleeding pit. She closed her eyes shut, suppressing the urge to shed more tears at the behalf of the loneliness knocking on her heart's door. She just wished for them to be safe and happy, not like she was, so filled with yearning and fright making her withdraw more and more into herself, shutting the outside world out.
She sighed in frustration at how her mind flickered back to the Elric brothers the moment she put down the wall surrounding her wounded heart and decided to drag her whining mind out of the gutter she was glued to and try to live a normal life again. She went back to the present watching Den play with a frozen stick she had dug out from the snow and laughed, the only sound coming out from her blue lips were a weak giggle.
Winry jumped at the sudden sensation of something rubbing against her leg. She glanced down only to see Den's paw brushing against her left leg in a manner to get her attention. Winey knelt down beside her and Den placed her cold forepaws on the young woman's leg and stared at her with canine concern. Winry gently took Den's head between her slender hands and bent down to kiss her childhood companion on her soft nose, cold from the constant snowflakes landing on it. She attached the leash to Den's collar and they continued their walk wherever the road carried them.
When she was snapped back into reality her absentminded mind had taken her to the train station. She knew why and it still hurt to see all the merry people leave the train and meet up with their friends and families. Lost in thought, Winry did not realize she was crying until she felt the tears fall onto her bare hands. She had been watching a reunion between three friends. Two of them were coming out of the train looking for somebody when a mass of black crashed into them, sending them some steps back. She saw how they sprouted with pure happiness and felt her heart crack at the sight before her. It was then she felt the tears staining her rosy cheeks and quickly wiped them away, half running avert the train station and its felicitous people.
Blinded by tears she kept running without stop. She bumped into people leaving the station and whispered apologies as she kept on running with Den at her heels. Once she finally came to a stop, she was panting for air. She looked at her surroundings recognizing where she was in seconds; the little path leading up to Edward and Alphonse's house. They used to play their all the time when their parents were alive, but after Trisha died, her sons burned down the house as not to be tempted to come back before they finished restoring their bodies. She let Den take her up the little hill to the debris of once a beautiful white house which contained so many memories for both families, happy as well as somber ones. Winry sent the snow covered ruins one last glance before leaving the quiet place alone. As the snow continued to fall down on the world in beautiful crystals covering everything within its white blanket, Winry and Den wandered over the untouched snow to the resting place of her parents as well as many other unlucky souls. She brushed the snow of the two tombstones and shed a silent tear on their behalf. She knew they wanted her to move on, but it was difficult to do that alone. She had granny Pinako and was grateful for the old woman's kindness, but she wasn't able to oust the empty void Winry felt inside of her, and the only ones that could possibly have a chance to do just that, was beyond her reach.
Winry felt a gentle tug at the leash again and saw Den standing beside her, looking at her with those understandingly deep brown eyes. She nuzzled her nose alongside Winry's leg and talked to her in the canine language. Soft murmur sounds came from Den's chest as she comforted her broken owner. Winry scratch her behind the ears and they began their walk home to the yellow house not too far from the debris of the Elric brother's.
It was completely silent except the rhythmic panting from Den and their footsteps on the frozen ground. By now Winry's sun blond hair was covered in the delicate falling flakes, her fingers were stiff from lack of warmth and her lips were turning purple. Her body was shivering in the cold weather, the winds freezing kisses did nothing to better the conditions.
She pushed her body forward, happy to see the outline of her grandmother's house not too far away. Pictures of the little kitchen table and a steaming cup of homemade cacao squeezed in between the misery in her mind and her legs absentmindedly sped up. She could hear Den's paws on the slippery ground alongside her own feet, her nails scrapping against the ice covered gravel. Her eyes danced over the road, searching for anything that could trap her feet and trip her. A gasp escaped her cold mouth as her eyes focused on the road ahead of her instead of the incoming meters. Before her mind was sure of what it was, her legs had abruptly stopped running. There, on the road in front of her two frames could be seen, one supporting the other. She blinked away the fresh tears as her hope doubled. When the figures neared enough to be resolved to her eyes, she could see the familiar red coat. She shut her eyes tight and in her already fragile emotional state fell to her knees. Shutting her eyes, she attempted to block out all sensation, the steadily feather-like touch of snowflakes drifting into her damp hair and the icy wind on her rosy cheeks, but most of all she tried to shut the reality of the figures making their way towards her out of her mind, trying to reduce the painful truth to another nightmare that would evaporate once she opened her eyes just like the hundreds of thousands she'd had before.
She sat there on the ground, eyes shut tight and tears falling from her closed eyelids, making their way down her cheeks and onto the soft snow below. Through her attempt to block all sensations out she could still hear footsteps on the frozen ground coming closer. She didn't dare to open her eyes just to feel the pain of thousands knives tear through her heart.
After a few minutes which seemed to last for hours, the footsteps ceased to exist. Instead she could feel someone's breath against her exposed skin. She felt someone's hand tilt her head upwards and a familiar warm voice said her name softly. More tears flowed down her cheeks as she realized he was really real. She opened her eyes slowly meeting Edward's golden orbs. She threw her arms around his neck and hugged herself tightly against his chest, crying into his red coat.
She felt Edward's grip slowly withdrawing and grabbed onto him harder, not wanting to let go. She heard him sigh and the familiar sound left a burning sensation course through her body, making fresh tears spring to her eyes. She tried to blink them away but the tears kept coming. She held onto him harder, her stiff fingers aching and her knuckles turning white, but she didn't care. They had to fall off before she let go of him this time. Edward's arms wound around her waist again, a quite sob escaped her tightly shut lips. She bit down hard on the trembling lip, forcing the other sobs back. She wasn't sure how long they stayed like that, embracing each other but eventually Edward pulled away, forcing her cold fingers away from his jacket and took a step back. She held the gasps back as the pain stung her empty hands. She slowly lifted her downcast face to really look at him. His face was flushed but that didn't draw her curiosity. She shifted her gaze, meeting his eyes and was immediately captured by his golden gaze. She wasn't sure what he saw in hers, pain? Sorrow? Or maybe the huge relief that washed through her. She watched the mixed emotions unfold in his eyes, jumping between pure joy to endless hurt. What had he read out of her tearing eyes that made his face and eyes change so drastically?
She hadn't realized the tears building up in her eyes had begun to make a river down her cheeks until she felt Edward's hand, warm against her cold skin, brush away the stray tears. She sniffed quietly and averted her eyes, the icy wind drying the remaining tears in seconds. Suddenly and without any warning cold air was brushing against her red cheeks fast until her body connected with something soft and cool. She opened her eyes and saw red, literally. She stopped the gasp mid through and nuzzled her head closer to his chest, wounding her arms around his back, tightly. There were no need for words, she knew that. His actions told her all she needed to know.
She felt him move slightly and before she knew it he was standing, a gloved hand outstretched. She smiled slightly, a small smile but a smile nonetheless, and reached for his hand. He held her hand tightly, helping her up from the cold ground. She felt the gentle squeeze before he let go and an arm draped around her shoulders. She leaned into him, letting him support some of her weight incase her legs weren't strong enough to carry her all the way.
Something stirred in her mind and she looked at him in wonder. Why did he still have his Automail arm?
Panic spread through her body, each cell froze. She saw Edward's expression tense as he read her face. Did he see the fear in her eyes? Where was Alphonse? Sudden nausea made her empty stomach twist. Had something happened? Was he…? She pushed her body away from Edward and whirled around, too fast, her head spun uncomfortably and her legs wobbled. Two strong hands steadied her but she couldn't focus on him, not yet. She needed to see Al, needed to see if he was with his brother. She was partly sure she had seen two figures on the road, two frames supporting each other. It couldn't be one person could it? It couldn't just be Edward? Had her mind played another trick, messing with her again? It had made illusions so many times before she had lost count. Was it possible that it was just Edward coming home without his brother?
The air left her lungs in one breath as her eyes landed on the sandy-haired boy standing a few shy steps in front of her. She stumbled forward, a hand grabbing Edward's and dragging him with her. Tears blurred her vision but she forced her exhausted legs to take the short steps so Al was in her fumbling arm's reach.
Al gently grabbed her hand, the touch felt warm against her icy fingers. His tender squeeze made the tears, one by one leave her eyes. Den barked happily, running in circles around them, tail wagging.
Winry freed her hands and threw her arms around both brothers, pulling them close to her while crying tears of happiness, the empty void inside her finally filled and the wounds healed. Her boys, they were home at least.
A/n: The sequel to this story is called "The Return". Feel free to check it out!
Have a nice day!