Alphonse didn't know pain greater than this. It was like a nightmare. A beloved family friend, a wonderful sister-in a law, a dear wife. How could this happen to Winry? Why did it have to be her? The image of her face, smiling dearly, flashed through his head. The agony was spreading, all throughout his body, a tidal wave of emotions. Tears stung his eyes as he bit his lip from crying out.

"I know. It's a hard concept to grasp." Ed said slowly, his voice at the edge of breaking. "But we need to accept this. I don't want to accept it, but it's for the better. What use is it mourning over something that can't be reversed? I have gotten use to not using alchemy, because I know all the pouting in the world won't bring it back."

"Brother…" Alphonse put his hand on his sibling.

Edward clenched his teeth. "I want to make her days euphoric. I want her to laugh the way she always did. I dream of swinging her around, her ebullient voice carrying through the air. But now, those conquests are done." Large tears began to well in Ed's eyes as he started to lose his composure. "Alphonse, I don't want her to die! I want her to live happily with me! Why does it have to be her?" He sobbed. "Why is it always my family and never me?"

Putting his arms around the shaking shoulders of Edward Elric, Alphonse whispered. "I will be there for you. You always were for me. Now, it's my turn. Brother, I love you. I want you to stand strong." As he too started to weep, Alphonse said softly. "Winry loves you as much as I do. She would never want to see you like this, crying over her."

Two little children entered the room. Both had the same golden blonde hair as their father. The taller one, a muscular boy, looked quizzical when he saw the two men weeping into each other's shoulder.

"Father? What's wrong?"

Edward looked up. "We have some news to tell you."

The second child, a pretty little girl with flowing blond locks and twinkling amber eyes, climbed into his lap and put her arms around his neck. "Is Mommy sick?"

"Yes, Mommy is very sick."

Matthew, the boy, asked, "How sick?"

"I don't want to say this, but she has cancer." As Matthew's eyes grew wide, sweet innocent Sena asked with a quiet voice:

"What's 'cancer'?"

Alphonse spoke up. "It's a disease that hurts all the good things in your body." He tried to make it simple for the girl to understand. "Doctors don't know how to treat it."

In realization, Sena started. Her eyes became wide like her brother's. "Is Mommy gonna die?"

Edward wrapped his strong arms around Matthew and Sena together. "Yes." He wept. "She has six months. We will try to make her happy together, right"

Matthew began to cry. And Sena chimed in too, heart-wrenching wail that made Alphonse want to beak everything in sight. This was too unfair.

Cuddling them in his arms, Edward said, "But we love her. And she loves us. That is what is most important."