Disclaimer: I don't own FMA or anything related to it. I do love Winry though...
The shrill sound of a whistle broke the veil of silence that had imposed itself on the grounds of the Haushofer Mansion. Though lightened in the days since the gate opened, the number of guards that responded to the whistle was still impressive, their training however wasn't. Almost every guard left their respective post to see what had caused the alarm on the other side of the grounds, oblivious to the fact they were being tricked into leaving their posts. They were being tricked by a pair of gypsies, who would continue to distract them as long as they could. Later, they would find out the true purpose of the alarm but it would be too late to stop the small group of teenagers from seeking in through the doors that had been abandoned.
The distraction that the Nadja and Fredric had come up with had worked perfectly; almost every single guard in the mansion had left their post. Fire, it seems works perfectly as a means to make anyone forget their duties, Ed thought with a grin. The small group made its way through the building, passing through the room the gate had appeared on the way to the laboratory. No one impeded their progress, and they managed to find the lab with the help of the map.
The laboratory looked much like certain parts of Laboratory 5, back in his own world. Yet the instruments were slightly more advanced, leaning more toward chemistry than alchemy. A door off near the opposite end of the lab stood out, due to the fact that in large orange letters was the word Storage printed neatly across its steel frame. The door was slide back already, revealing a mass storage area inside. Wooden boxes of size sat inside, some piles higher than others near. A few sat near the door, waiting to be sealed, with stacks of research papers stacked neatly inside. The drawing on one caught Edwards's eye, it was the bomb.
"Alphonse, you have that lighter we bought before we came or did Fredric take it?" he asked. He brother shook his head no. "Damn. See if you can find anything in the lab." His brother shuffled off with Noah while Ed continued his search of the boxes. Each one of the unsealed boxes contained some sort of material that pertained to the bomb itself. They ranged for simple schematics to the complex mathematical formulas involved in the explosion of the bomb. They all needed to be destroyed.
His brother ran back into the room carrying a small barrel of Bunsen burner oil. Noah followed shortly behind him with the burner itself and some matches. "Brother, do you think this will do?" Ed let out a short laugh.
"Yeah, Al, that will do just fine. Can you and Noah push those boxes back toward the others, while I search that last crate?" Both of them nodded and went to work while Ed broke open a small little box that had been sitting with the research. Inside, surrounded by straw, were the pieces of the bomb. There was a sledge hammer sitting near a box of tools just inside the door, Ed went and grabbed it. Since the inside of the bomb was exposed it would be easy to break it even farther.
"Set that stuff on fire." Ed yelled over to the other two, as he brought the hammer down with his right arm. Using the oil and the matches, the two quickly set the boxes on fire, it spread quickly due to the oil and the two were forced to move back, to avoid setting themselves on fire. The bomb wasn't fairing well under the power of Ed's hammer and arm either. It came down once more shattering the remains of the bomb. The fire in the corner of the room consumed the remains of the research greedily, taking back the stolen knowledge. What could be done short of murdering, had been done, it was finished. Ed sighed with relief; from nearly a decade since the first time they had saw it, the damn bomb was no more. Noah and Al picked up the remaining and threw them into the fire to insure it would never return in its current form. They had to leave; it wouldn't be long before someone noticed this fire.
"Let's go." Ed said, dropping the hammer.
The group ran down the hallways making their way through the mansion. They had just entered the gate room, as Edward now thought of it, when a shot had rang out. Noah cried out as the bullet pierced her stomach and knocked her to the ground.
Rudolf Hess stepped forth from the shadows, a smoking gun held in his hand. His voice came out strong despite the look of pain on his face.
"I should have known it would be you, son of Hohenheim. Tell me what did you and this gypsy destroyed this time? No matter you will die here." He said as he pulled the trigger again. Through pure luck it seemed the bullet hit Edwards's automail arm, and ricocheted back along a similar path it had came used millisecond before. The bullet traveled back toward Hess with an angle that put the bullet through his skull, ending Hess's life. The body fell over, with a look of shock on the face.
Noah however was not as lucky to have it end so fast. The blood seeped from the wound despite the efforts of Ed and Al. Noah could feel her life fading, she already knew there was no hope. Guards had heard the gun shots and the doors could only hold them for so long. They would die too, she could feel it, but she wouldn't let them.
Their lives and knowledge flowed into her from their hands. It was then she knew what to do. The past couple of days of Ed's life gave her the knowledge, and terrible it was. He knew how to open the gate and return home, but he knew the price, a life. While they labored to stop the flow of blood, she took her own hand and bathed it in her blood that now seeped around under her. It came down to the floor and drew a small circle, she could feel the gate inside her begin to open to take her back, but she wouldn't let it just yet.
Slowly she brought her other hand to the small circle causing Edward to look up and see it, but not in time to stop her. Alchemic reactions took place on the floor spreading a circle that Ed had designed less than a day before, a circle meant for human transmutation or more specifically to bring the gate to the person who triggered it.
Realization bloomed in Edwards mind as he recognized the circle, yet it was to late the transmutation was triggered. Time slowed and space split apart revealing the white space of the gate. A figure of light stood in front of the three of them. A smile on its face, revealing the sharp teeth in its mouth.
"You called?" It said, looking directly at Noah.
It looked at Edward and Al after a second, a small smirk came across its face. "Ah, yes, you two again. Nice to see you got your arm and leg back Edward. So what is it this time?"
Noah was growing weaker by the second, but she still managed a whisper. "It's not what they want; it's what I want for them."
Edward heard the whisper, and knew what she wanted. A tear slid down off his face, hitting the white nothingness of the gate. He remembered what this thing was, it was Truth. It was simply put, the gate, but still a separate entity that controlled the gate. Ed had seen him twice before now, the day they had tried to bring their mother back and the day his brother had gotten his body back, the day he had died.
"You want to send us home. Don't you?" Ed managed to ask in a faint whisper.
Noah gave a slight nod of her head, her strength almost all gone. "Yes" she managed to croak out. "I want you to be where you belong." Her head turned toward Truth, who watched her intently. "My mind, body and soul as the price; grant them passage home." And in a thought to herself, They have been away from their home for to long already.
Truth lifted an eyebrow at her sacrifice, but all the same it was fair exchange. "So be it." The gate creaked open, the wide eyes and black bodies of the gate children just beyond its opening. Their arms reached out and took her into the gate. Truth looked at the brothers, and gave what could be called a shrug. "Time to go home, little Elric's."
The creature of light grabbed them both before they had a chance to move, and moved through the gate so quickly there wasn't even time to blink. There wasn't any actual difference in the sides of the gate, yet there was a feeling of difference in the sides. There was one problem though; they were still stuck near the gate. Only one reason why, Edward thought, Noah's life only bought us passage, not an escape. The thought was sobering that Noah would give up even a small chance to live for someone she had known for little more than a month, it was very sobering. Ed caught the look in Truth's eye and he understood.
"Well now, you're back on your side of the gate. There's just one little problem." It said. Ed wasn't surprised, after all equivalent exchange was the law here. His younger brother was confused by the look of it, it didn't surprise Edward though. His brother had never conscious while in the gate, except for the brief journey through it a few weeks before.
"To let us out of here you need payment right?" Truth's only answer was a nod, but with it a smile grew on its face.
There is only one thing I can give, forgive me Winry. I destroyed it again. "My Automail?" Ed offered, it was the only thing he could offer.
Truth looked at Edward's face, then at the automail. He sniffed at the air as if to sense the composition of it parts. There was a slight difference between this automail and most others. This one had emotions attached to it, from Edward and a certain young lady. The hope and love poured into the making of it made it worth much more than the steel, sweet and blood that she had put into this little creation. Yes, Truth thought, It would do nicely.
Pain shot through Ed as the automail was torn from him as his original limbs had been nearly a decade before. However, if there was one thing Edward Elric could get past it was physical pain. His brother's face was one of shocked horror, from both Noah's death and now the pain that came from his brother at Truth's hands. At last it was over, but as the fabric of space and time ripped open to spit them out, Truth had one last thing to say. "Try to stay out of trouble now."
The next thing either of them knew was the cold wind whipping at them. Stars shined bright in the clear sky above, and the sound of crickets interrupted the night. Burnt timbers laid scattered about on the ground, years of erosion and decay breaking it down what it had once been. Edward hadn't seen it in years but the place was unmistakable, it was the place it had all began. Finally they had returned home.
His brother found his voice before his brother did. "Brother are we…"
"Home? Yes. Thank you, Noah. We'll miss you." The younger brother shed tears first, giving over to the mourning a lost friend. Ed shed just a few tears with his brother, his emotions tied up inside himself. He would let lose when the time came.
"Let's go home."
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Authors Note- Well here is the main end of the story though there is another chapter. Basically I wrote this just because I wanted to get the boys home. Ah… Oh well. If you didn't like it sorry but I cant change that. I may go back after a while and add some things, but for the most part it would be filler. Come back for the Finale!
Oh. And PS. Part of this was wrote when I first started coming up with the Ideas for this short story. I always wanted to kill Noah. I really didn't like her… Winry for the win!
