A/N: Hello all, once again! I don't really have much to say in this a/n, now do I? Except I now have all 51 episodes and CoS on DVD in English, so now I get what's going on, a little too late for the previous chapter, but whatever.

This here is the final chapter in my trilogy of chapters that started as a one shot, and I would like to thank everyone who reviewed. I'm sorry I didn't post you all before, but sometime soon I'll gather all of your names up and post them so you kind reviewers can have your own private chapter dedicated to you. And I'd also like to thank Jordan, cuz he helped me a lot with this fic. Even though we spent way more time going over FMN instead of this one, some huge ideas for this came from AIM convos and things like that. Oh, and I'll thank Jessie #3 for being Jessie #3, just cuz. Oh, and last but not least, we must thank all the wonderful people who created the FMA anime and made it what it is today. Including Caitlin Glass who voices Winry for having the same FMA shirt that I bought at Hot Topic a year ago… And Arakawa-sensei too of course, even though she only started the plot on this one (read the manga and you'll see what I mean. About volume 8 the two go in completely opposite directions…which is good. Maybe it won't be sad…it's like having 2 brilliant series sprouting from one plot! Like a fanfic but original!)

DISCLAIMER: duh, I don't own FMA cuz Arakawa-sensei does and not me. And the anime also goes out to TokyoPop, Funimation, and all those other fun anime-publishing companies just cuz I feel like thanking them. And I believe we all know this song, yes? Is it really necessary to say I don't own it? I must thank Jessi #1 for sitting in English I last year… "Guess what I watched last night! TITANIC!" no I didn't write this until waaaaay after it and she hasn't fallen prey to my madness and my must-get-friends-obsessed-with-FMA thing yet, but it reminded me that the song actually existed…yes I know it's rather overused, but I just had to use it! Gomen! bows before readers please don't hate me…

Every night in my dreams

I see you, I feel you,

That is how I know you go on

My life…what has it become? It's strange. I saw him, just two years ago to the date. I know he's alive. That should be enough. I know Al is with him. He's happy. Therefore I should be happy. So why am I not?

After he left for good, I couldn't do anything. My life was meaningless to me. My automail business went away, my loves, my skills, and I became lazy…not at all like my usual self. People would walk by…I know what they thought. They'd always give sympathetic glances my way, but I knew what they said when I wasn't around.

'She's crazy.' 'Why believe someone dead will ever come back to life?' 'It's not normal'… I knew it wasn't normal. But I also knew that he was alive, if just a little beyond my reach. He was everywhere. In my dreams, in my mind, in front of me, behind me, everywhere I turned. I couldn't forget. I couldn't let go.

Granny was worried. She often tried to cheer me up, but it often ended with her lectures on how irrational I was being, which only served to upset me more. I didn't need to hear about how crazy I was. I needed someone who believed me as well. Before, I had Alphonse…but now I have no one. Maybe Mustang or Hawkeye or Gracia or anyone else we met along the way, but I was in no position to talk to them. I knew I'd hear the same.

But it's two years later now, and my life has changed. I pretend to be happy. Everyone thinks my life is back on course. Now when I listen to the gossip I hear "That Winry Rockbell is finally getting some sense knocked into her!" But they don't know. I think about him all the time. My life is nothing different than it was those two years ago…I just learned to hide it.

I forget how long I've hidden behind my façade of life, love, and happiness…probably about a year now. But it's always the same. I hear his name and my mind goes numb. I can't think and it takes all self-control I have to not cry…until I reach home. Then they fall. Really, I'm surprised I haven't run out of tears yet. Sometimes I feel like I have…but that just makes it worse.

They say the best way to get over something is to talk about it. Let out those bottled up feelings before you explode. But I know it doesn't work like that. I tried talking. Where did it get me? My few remaining friends starting to consider locking me up for my sanity? My life even worse off than it was? Needless to say, that idea left quickly.

Then came the mask. That beautiful, ugly mask, contorted into what happiness I could manage, if just for the outside world. Only in the comfort of my room, alone, would I let my true feelings show. I cry myself to sleep every night. Granny must hear the sobs at night, though she never says anything about it. And I wonder, what has my life come to? The tears have stopped for now, just long enough for me to analyze my thoughts as I am now. Then that one thought that rules all other thoughts comes to my mind. If I were to look out my window right now and see my love's face behind the glass, what would he think of me? Would he care? Would he understand? Or perhaps he doesn't love me anymore. Maybe he would think it foolish, like everyone else. Then the tears come.

Sometimes I feel as though I'm looking down upon myself, as though I was reading the story of my life in a book. I feel as though I could pinch myself and wake up from this nightmare. I would be sixteen again, lying in my bed, covered in sweat with Edward right beside me, comforting me as he promises never to leave. Again and again he strokes my hair and tells me he loves me. How everything was just a bad dream that I can wake up from and that he'll always be there beside me.

But reality is not as sweet, precious, romantic, happy, or any of those emotions I would be feeling were that to happen. Though it feels like a bad dream, I know in my heart that this is the cruel reality of our world.

The tears fall again, onto the already soggy pillow. I lift my head up to flip it over and lie back down. But maybe, the only place I can be happy is my true dreams. Dreams of the life I live next to him, as though none of this had happened. And the first thing I see is two teenage boys laughing next to Trisha, and I know—this is my dream. But here in my mind, if only for a moment, I can find peace.

Far across the distance

And spaces between us

You have come to show you go on

He's here. I see him, standing right in front of me, clear as the sunshine breaking through the clouds. The surroundings disappear and it's just the two of us. Heh, who would have thought I'd be the romantic type? But I love to think like that. Maybe it's because I've invented some utopia where I'm together with him and nothing else matters. I know everything about him, and maybe it's just my imagination, but something tells me that underneath the muscle and strength, he's just soft and loveable. Just the perfect guy…

I shake my head back to my thoughts. He's just standing there like an angel without wings. I can't believe it. This is so real; it can't be a dream! Yet logic tells me that it is. Tears of joy well up in my eyes. It feels good to cry from happiness for once. I can't believe it. I'm almost afraid to reach out and touch him. Yet he walks towards me.

He takes my hand in his, oh so gently. "I'm coming. I swear."

And with that, he's gone. With a flash of light though, I see his body reappear, though less real than before. He's engulfed in light and his body changes into one I don't recognize. The nearly-transparent Edward, if he's still Edward, seems to go back to a solid form. "I'm sorry." He said before the light came back, and I see the real Edward break away from the strange, newer body, and become solid again.

I wake with a scream, shaking.

Near, far, wherever you are

I believe that the heart does go on

Once more you open the door

And you're here in my heart

And my heart will go on and on

What should I make of it? What could it possibly mean? Did Ed die? What happened to him? The questions fill my brain as Granny bursts into the room. "Winry! What in the world is wrong?"

"Dream…ed…light…someone else…more light…woke up…he's alive…somewhere…"

She sighed. "You're dreaming, Winry. He's not alive. You're starting to sound like them! Before I know it you'll have a taboo theory scrawled out in the basement, come crawling up just like they did with missing limbs and a damaged spirit…if it's anything you should have learned from those boys, it's that the dead are dead. There's nothing you can do about it. I'm sorry. I know you loved him. But it's over. Nothing left to do but move on with life. I care about you Winry…I want you to be happy…I want what's best for you. And spending nights crying and days pretending is not the way to do it. It's your life, but don't kid yourself. Those boys are gone. And there's nothing you, or anyone else in this world can do about it. I'm sorry."

"I feel so lost, Granny. He was my reason for everything. I started automail because I wanted to try something new. But when it became necessity for those two, I continued with it. My heart was gone long before I realized it and I got nothing in return save a visit four years later for more service. And then it hit me. To stay by his side meant I had to be of use. He was in no predicament to have a best friend, or a girl friend. He needed a mechanic, so I would become one. I would be the best mechanic in the world, just so Ed would stay by my side a little longer. But now, he's gone. I have no reason to continue. Everything I've accomplished in my life meant nothing after he left. I realize now that it was a mistake to build my life around hopes and dreams of where we would go when he succeeded…I knew in my heart he never would, but I wouldn't believe. He'd find a way, like he always did. But he didn't. And now, my life means nothing. Because everything I'd ever done in my life, was just so I could be nearer to him. I don't have any clue where I left off or what to do now. So how can I forget? The only thing that keeps me going at all is that maybe, just maybe, against all logic and reason, he can return and my work won't have been wasted. All I need is to believe he'll come back someday. It's all I can do to stay alive. Even if it is only half-living."

"Winry dear, your life is your own. I can't tell you what to do or how to act or even where to pick up. Life doesn't work that way. It's one of the sad realities of this world. I wish I had an answer to every question you asked but I don't. You'll have to figure this one out on your own. As for what you do, that's up to you and no one else. If your interests don't lie in automail, then don't practice automail. It makes no difference to me. It will be sad when Auto Mail Rockbell dies with me, but it can't be helped and I'm not going to force you into anything that you don't want. It's your choice. It's your life. Go live it. Wait for him if you truly believe…and who knows? Maybe he'll come walking down the sidewalk tomorrow. Goodnight."

She turned and left without another word. I wondered what had brought on the sudden change of heart…maybe she hadn't realized that my life was built around his strength. Maybe she hadn't realized how much I needed him to live on. But I also realize that my memory is here. He's in my heart. Always. And so I keep that one small, comforting thought in the back of my mind. It's all I can do to continue living.

Love can touch us one time

And last for a lifetime

And never let go till we're gone

I often remember our younger days. My love for him was always there. Probably since I first laid eyes on him. He was so kind. So chivalrous, so perfect. And he always had a knack for protecting me. As long ago as I can remember…I was always clumsy. I'd trip over a tree stump and he'd be right there beside me. Then, as soon as he figured out I was alright, he's stand up and turn his back with that cute little pout on his face mumbling 'it's not like I care or anything' and ignore me for about five minutes before all was forgotten and forgiven. That's just Edward. It still is.

I can see him. He's always next to me. Deep within my heart. So I can't believe he's dead. He's in my dreams that give me hope. He's in my thoughts that keep me sane. And now, all I have to do is picture that small pout of his and my façade turns to the real me. Every so often, the old Winry breaks through the mask and shows the true colors of one who cares so deeply, her life would end, if not for those few, precious memories she had left. And again, I'm looking down upon myself, as though this was truly a dream.

Love was when I loved you

One true time I hold to

In my life we'll always go on

December 19, 1920

My Edward…where are you? I wait. I hold on to the precious memories we share. You remember that letter you sent four years ago? I still have it. I read it almost daily. I don't know why. I could recite the thing backwards by now. But I do. It's the last thing you gave me before you died. Of course, I still cherish everything else you gave me as well. That doll…it's barely in tact. I hug it when I need to feel nearer to you. And I have both of those horse figures. I know you didn't exactly give those to me, but I still have them. They remind me of you.

Why do I write this? It's not like you'll ever read it. The people of Risembool made you a grave. They think you're dead, but I know better. Still, that's where this letter is going. I haven't been to the grave once. I always figured that seeing your name engraved upon the stone would mean you were truly gone. They didn't have a service. No funeral. Why? Because there was no body. As I'm sure you're aware, because you're alive. I know it in my heart.

I wish you were here. My life is so messed up without my hope of your return. Granny talked to me the other night. She made me realize that even though my entire life was built around your safe return, that you once again, have to return safely. I decided that you'd need more automail. I know that. So I've started work. Right after I talked with Granny, I started work.

I put all of my life and love into it. It is the best piece I have ever made and the last. It is my masterpiece, and if you need them when you return, they'll be here. Perfect shocks, completely lightweight, the latest designs from rush valley, all made from reforged steel from your previous limbs. Oh, and it's size adjustable, so you'll never have to get new ones, unless of course you manage to destroy them again. But you know, when you return, you're staying here. No military. No Fullmetal Alchemist. No stone. No adventures or wars. I won't give you a chance to destroy them. I've lived enough of my life worrying for your safety and being apart from you, only trying to help you as best I can. And now, I'm lost without you. Please. Don't worry me any more. I'll get down on my knees and beg. Do whatever you want me to. But please, don't leave again. I love you too damn much.

I think I'll finish this up. I'll probably spend hours out by your grave. I even got flowers to place. I know you're not dead, but it's the least I can do.

I love you,

Winry

I stood up and stretched. The letter and flowers in hand, I make my way out the door and down towards the local cemetery. I'd been there many times before, for different people. First my parents, then Trisha, and now Edward and Al. It seems everyone I've ever loved has left me. Even Granny will soon be too old to carry on. She's near ninety now. Soon the age will catch up. Then I'll be alone.

I reach the grave. It stands there, just like a normal gravestone. It has his name plainly written across the top, but there's something else too…

"1900-1916?
I see you standing there

Always right beside me

Best friends since we met

Though not that long ago

And as close as we became

I feel you are Just beyond my reach In this world we share

I wonder, can you hear me?

Even now, walking next to me

I feel that you are

Just beyond my reach

My eyes, they always see you

And my hands are there to touch you

However, as close as we have become

You will always be just beyond my reach

And will you read my mind,

Just this once?

And never yet again

Be just beyond my reach...

Of your love"

Winry Rockbell

I gasped. How did they find that! It was my own work, locked away in my room forever, never to be seen by anyone. How could it have ended up on his grave?

"Do you like it? I found it lying on your desk one day." I knew it was Granny without even turning around. "That's why I was angry…see, I went into your room to see if you were there. It was one of those days I couldn't find you and I saw your journal there…this, along with an entry about how if you hadn't learned from Ed himself not to, you would study the way they had and create a Homunculus of him, no matter what price you had to pay. I thought the poem fit for the stone, don't you?"

I wanted to be angry with her. She should know not to go through my private things…But I had to admit, the poem did add a nice tough to the grave…"But what will he say when he returns? To know how I felt about him all this time?"

"I'm sure he'll understand. Because that Truth Izumi talked about…somehow, someway, he's in it. And right now, I bet he's feeling exactly the same."

I smiled my first true smile since he left. "Thanks, Granny."

Near, far, wherever you are

I believe that the heart does go on

Once more you open the door

And you're here in my heart

And my heart will go on and on

It's like before. Edward is standing before me, just as I remember him. Were in that place again. The nothingness. It's just a blob of light surrounded by darkness. Just like before. But then, it appears. A giant, looming gate, towering above me and between us. It opens, and I can barely see him through all the distorted impish creatures, but he's there.

He tries to walk through, but the imps grab at his flesh and tear at his skin. First his fake arm and leg and he manages to get pretty far on those alone. But then they start scratching his real flesh away, bit-by-bit. But he keeps coming. He at least reaches the side of the gate I'm on, and his body is enveloped in that light again and I witness the same phenomenon as before. His 'spirit' leaves his body and enters another. The flash fades and another quickly takes the place of the first, as his form emerges once again from the body and reenters his own tattered and worn body. He gets up and walks towards me more, the gate closing behind him, the imps still squirming and tearing apart the mechanics of the prosthetics. His arms slowly wrap around me, but as I return the hug, his body becomes limp and slowly fades away from me.

I know I'm dreaming, and I know that in my bed right now, I must be throwing a fit. I assume I will wake up…but I don't.

I'm inside of a room now. It's rather rundown, and I can see Edward sitting at a desk. He's writing something. Then, he puts down the pen and sighs as he closes the journal he was writing in. He stands up and walks over to a transmutation circle drawn on the floor and begins marking himself in the same way. First his forehead, then his arms, and last his chest, all tattooed with the same circle. He places his hands crossed over the chest mark and they glow a bright blue. Then I see the door swing open, and Al jumps into the circle and grabs a hold of his brother's arm. Edward's eyes shoot open, and both of them fall limply to the ground, their souls gone. Then the bodies disappear as I am transported to yet another place.

Edward is standing again, this time with his back towards me. I must be invisible or something. He obviously doesn't know I'm there. He has different markings on himself now, and as he activates them, his body expands. It becomes huge and disgusting, not nearly resembling what it once was. The new monster was bulky and drooling. He turned around to face me.

"You see what you've done to me? What happens when you make me promise things I can't keep? This is my life now. I'm a hideous monster. And it's all…your…fault!"

Monster-Ed started stalking and fumbling towards me. I saw red and woke up in my bes screaming.

You're here, there's nothing I fear,

And I know that my heart will go on

We'll stay forever this way

You are safe in my heart

And my heart will go on and on

Well, at least I thought it was my bed…it was actually very comfortable…I opened my eyes only to see something I never thought I would. Those shining, golden eyes I've loved my entire life were staring down at me. I blinked a couple times, figuring I was still dreaming. After all, I had just skipped between three dreams…but they were real this time.

His eyes weren't on mine though. He had looked away as soon as my eyes opened. I actually got the feeling he thought I was still asleep. His real hand was stroking through my hair, every so often going astray to brush the bangs out of my eyes. His other hand, I noticed, was still the fake one from the other world, torn to bits.

I saw pain in his eyes as he stared into the distance, muttering things I couldn't hear. But soon, his words began to get louder. I could very faintly hear him promising to never leave again. How he'd always be there. And if I hadn't cried enough in my sleep, fresh tears began to fall down my cheeks.

"I'm dreaming." I mumble to him and his eyes shoot down, connecting with mine.

"No, you're not. I thought so too. But it's not, I promise."

"How did you get here?"

"I sent my body through the gate one final time. It's a good thing we didn't seal that side and that Mustang didn't seal this side…It was my father's theory. It was flawed though. My body did attempt to take over that of another, but when my spirit was rejected, I somehow ended up in this body again.

"But the question is, are you alright?"

"Yeah. Just a little shaken is all. What was I doing?"

"Screaming, crying, tossing around…nearly fell off the bed too. You kept saying 'don't leave me, don't leave me' over and over again. And so the only thing I could do was promise you that it's all over and that I'll never have to leave like that again. And you should know by now, I always keep my promises."

It seemed like the Edward I knew should have smirked at that, but he didn't. He still looked concerned. "You know I was surprised to find I had a grave…that's where I reconnected with this world, I think. I saw the poem…and read the letter. You should know I never meant to cause you so much pain. I had no idea you'd give up your dreams because of me…"

"Automail wasn't my dream after all. I figured out after you left—the only thing I ever dreamed was that I could be by your side forever."

"I'm sorry…"

"No. Don't apologize. …I don't suppose you ever got that last letter I sent, did you? Back before all of this happened. Before you passed through the gate."

"I did. And I just barely read it too. It was a lucky break. If I hadn't have pulled Mustang over for a ride to the church, I never would have. I stopped in the tunnel leading to Old Central to read it. Lucky I remembered I had it too. And lucky Mustang ever got it…he was shipped off to war in the north. It was Pride's idea. If it had gotten there a day later…"

"I understand. I'm glad you got to read it before all of this…"

"Yeah."

I was calming down from my dream, finally. I had realized that it was the real Edward. I wasn't dreaming. And I couldn't have been happier.

"And about those arguments…I know it was a while ago, but the offer still stands. Now that I'm here for good and all." It took me a minute to figure out what he was talking about. Then it hit me. Those fights between him and Al about who would grow up and get to marry me…

"I think you already know the answer to that, Mr. Fullmetal Alchemist, Sir."

"Haha, very funny. I haven't been called that in years and I get back home only to hear it from my girlfriend of all people."

"I don't remember anything about me being your girlfriend…I am your fiancé, now, judging from my previous statement, so get it right!"

We both laughed as he leaned down and captured my lips with his.

I didn't even occur to me until after we broke apart that it was our first. Heh. I guess 'happily ever after' does exist after all.

The End

A/N: So, that's it. I hope you enjoyed it! my first completed chapter fic! does happy dance . Now then, that was probably really confusing, yes? Well, I got some reviews in the first 2 chapters asking if Winry was dead. I hope that chapter answered your questions and gave a good ending to our favorite romance-less anime series.

Just cuz I'm not sure if I explained it right, Ed's father's theory was correct in some aspects that he could trade bodies, but he did not know that, should the body chosen reject the soul, the original body would be taken over again. Therefore, Edward ended up in his same body, if that makes any sense at all. And I know I didn't mention it cuz there wasn't room, but Alphonse made it as well. Feel free to ask any other questions you have, and please review and tell me what you think. I know it's the last chapter, but that doesn't mean you can't review. And you're still gonna get mentioned, so be happy!

Oh, and the day that Winry wrote the letter was the day before Ed transferred through the gate. The years are different because that's how they are in the movie. If you watch the last episode and/or the movie, the captions will say somewhere in Amestris year 1918 or Munich, Germany year 1923. there's just always that 5 year difference in the years. I know I screwed that up in the last chapter, but I went back and fixed it.

And the poem on Edwards grave was actually a random thing I came up with when I entered a poetry contest online. It was called "Valentines poetry contest" cuz it was on Valentines Day, but it didn't have a theme. Just to be safe, I wrote a love poem…actually it's one of the best I've done, in my opinion at least, and it's deffinatly the only one I'd send off to a poetry contest…of course it was spur of the moment too…so yeah. Anyway, that's my poem and not some other poet who you can look up online and yell at me for stealing without credit. Cuz it's mine! All mine, I tell you::maniacal laughter:. Shutting up now…

With love

Midnight Wolf 314