Aaaaahhhhhh! The final chapter!!! Besides the bonus chapter… This is the longest chapter in this story! So I guess I'd better stop yammering, huh?
Some of this stuff is a little weird, and some is a little corny…so sorry? It's romantic, though!!!
Sorry about the lyrics, they just worked out better this way…
Comeback of the Year
We've traveled like Gypsies, onlyWith worse luck, and far less gold
We're the kids you used to love-
But then we grew old.
We're the lifers here 'till the bitter end
Condemned from the start
Ashamed of the way the songs and the words own
The beating of our hearts
All that the two had to eat was the bread that Ed had stolen from the factory. That was finished off in a few days, though. Traveling across the country, even for only a few days, reminded Ed of when he was still back in Amestris, traveling with Al, searching for the Philosopher's Stone.
There were still soldiers stationed throughout the countryside, positioned to kill. Ed still wore his Nazi uniform for this reason. If they saw him, even if they saw Carina with him, they usually thought nothing of it. Sometimes he'd even get food off of them, if they couldn't find any food and were hungry enough to risk it.
Eventually, they arrived at a city on Germany's northern coast (A/N I checked in History class. It's the only one of Germany's boundaries with sea by it instead of land.). Before then, they'd been able to avoid all cities and most towns, but now they needed to be there in order to get a boat to sail to America. Now, though, they were able to see the devastation of this city. Buildings were blown apart, and there were soldiers from several different countries overflowing the city.
"You should take your uniform off," Carina suggested to Ed, "They're probably fighting against the Nazis, so they'll kill you if they see you dressed like that."
"Yeah, you're right," Ed agreed, stripping himself of his shirt. (A/N Now, now, calm down, ladies) Of course, his pants wouldn't give anything away, so he left them, and he still had a black shirt that had been on underneath the Nazi uniform. "Do you want to stay here or come with me to buy the tickets?"
"I want to go with you," Carina said, "But if we're going to get out of here, I'll have to stay here. Otherwise, they'll recognize me, and won't let me go."
So Ed went down into the town. He got many looks, having never been in the town before. He finally navigated himself to where he could buy tickets.
"And why do you want to leave?" the man at the window asked.
"My brother moved to America several years before the war started. We were poor, so my sister and I were going to go over there once we saved up enough money. But then the war started, so we never really got the chance until now," Ed lied. He'd gotten used to doing it, so he'd become very good at lying.
"I see," the man said, "Two tickets, then?"
After about an hour and a half of complicated and confusing who-knows-what of mind numbing interviewing and questioning, Ed had his two tickets for Carina and himself. Their boat would leave in two day's time.
As he walked back to where Carina was, Ed wondered what his mother would say about this- all of this, if she were still there. He often thought of her, which was ridiculous; men his age wouldn't normally think like that. And he was a grown man. But he still dreamt of her at night, relied on her smile in her memories…Instead, his thoughts drifted to Alphonse. He couldn't wait to see him again!- Providing that he was still alive and okay. There were so many things that could have happened to him…but he couldn't think about that now, as he walked back up the hill to Carina.
There's a drug in the thermostat to warm the room upAnd there's another around to help us bend your trust
I've got a sunset in my veins
And I need to take a pill to make this town feel okay.
The best part of "believe" is the "lie"
I hope you sing along and you steal a line
I need to keep you like this in my mind
So give in or just give up!
A few days later the two were on their way across the vast ocean to America. The people on the ship were very diverse; there were American soldiers and ex-soldiers, ex-Nazis, and a good amount of Jewish people, and some other persecuted people. But besides Ed and Carina, they, for the most part, stuck to these groups and never intermingled unless absolutely necessary.
At least they were well fed, and eventually the color started coming back into Carina's face. Ed promised that with his money (he had been well paid as a Nazi), the first thing that they would do when they got to America would be to buy her lots of new clothes and give her a feast.
For the most part, they stayed in their room and just talked. They talked about the last few years, their pasts (though Ed was limited in what he could say), their families, and so much more. Carina had learned a lot of interesting things in the camps.
"Like, you know the only thing that we had to hold onto was the word 'believe'? Well one day, someone in my room, when we were talking about stuff like that, commented, 'Yes, but the word "believe" contains the word "lie".'"
"That's…really depressing," Ed replied.
"Everything in those camps was depressing," Carina told him.
"Yeah," Ed agreed, "They were."
Then one night, Carina was walking back from the bathroom after dinner. Ed didn't wait for her, since it was right by their room. But when she came back, she told him that she'd seen some of the soldiers and ex-soldiers popping pills and doing other drugs out on the deck. She asked him why they would do that, when compared to the people in the camps, they had been through absolutely nothing.
"Not really," Ed said, lying on his back on his bed, "If those things really made you forget everything and made everything bad go away, I'd probably be doing them, too. But I know that they can't, so I never will." (A/N no one out there should be doing drugs, anyway. Anime and manga should take up all of the money that you could possibly spend on drugs.) Then, he sat up straight and looked at Carina. "They didn't offer anything to you, did they?"
"No," she answered.
"Good," Ed said, lying back down, "'Cause if they did, I'd have to beat them up."
Like me and Al, he thought, We were a good team. No one could beat us. Heh, damn homunculi…Al, I wish you were here. Just please be okay when I come for you. I don't want all of this to have been for nothing. Then he looked at Carina. No, it hadn't all been for nothing, because he'd been able to help her.
"Ed? Why are you looking at me like that?" she asked, catching his eye.
He just smiled back at her. "Just thinking," he said. "Come over here." She walked over to his bed and stood over him for a moment. Then she yelped as he grabbed her, and pulled her onto the bed with him.
"Ed!" she exclaimed, but he just held her closer to him. Finally, she gave up the struggle and rested in his arms.
No, I don't need drugs or any of that shit, he thought as he stroked the sleeping girl's hair, Because she makes my worries go away.
We're the therapists pumping through your speakers
Delivering just what you need
We're well read, and poised- We're the best boys
We're the chemists who found the formula
To make your heart swell and burst!
No matter what they say, don't believe a word.
'Cause I'll keep singing this lie
If you keep believing it!
When they finally got into America and got everything relatively settled, they went into a restaurant and finally had a decent meal. The restaurant had a radio on as they were eating, and it could be heard throughout the building as it was announced that World War II had come to an end.
Upon hearing this, everyone in the restaurant cheered. Women cried and talked about how they couldn't wait to see their husbands and sons again.
Ed smiled and stood up with Carina. He wished all of these people good luck.
"Hey, where are you going?" a man who worked at the restaurant asked, "Aren't you going to celebrate with us?"
"Really, guys, I'd love to," Ed explained, "But I need to find my brother. We've been apart for far too long."
"Hmmm…What's his name?" the man asked, "Lots of people come in and out of here, and I get to know a lot of them, so if he lives near here, I may have met him."
"His name's Alphonse," Ed told him, "Alphonse Elric."
The man dropped the glass that was in his hand, making the glass break all over the floor. "Mr. Elric? Y-you're his brother, Edward that he's always talking about? Man, where have you been? For the past how many years he's been coming in here and we got to know each other, and he always talked about you. Even after he got rich and moved into his mansion, he kept coming to this run-down joint."
"W-wait," Ed said, surprised by the news, "What's this about a mansion?"
"Oh, you didn't know? Well, Mr. Elric was down on his luck for a time, but I guess he found his chance. Last I heard, he was one of the top names in science. What did he discover a cure for again…?"
"Do you know where I can find him?"
"Oh, sure," the man replied, and wrote something on a piece of paper, "Here's his address. It's actually only a few miles away from here, so he doesn't come in as often anymore, but give him my regards."
"That's so much!" Ed exclaimed. He grabbed Carina's hand and they ran out of the restaurant.
Several miles, cabs, and hours of walking later, they reached the estate. Ed had no problem getting in the gate, even thought it had been locked, and went up to the front door and rang the doorbell. The door was answered by, surprisingly, a woman. Who looked like—
"M-Marta!?" Ed exclaimed.
The woman sighed. "That's what Al called me when we first met. But my name's Maria. Actually, you look a bit like Al…Hey, wait a minute! How did you get in here!?"
"Uh…er…" Ed stammered, "Look, I'm just here to see Al. Can I do that?"
"Well, no one was scheduled to see him today, and he just got back from that convention in New York…Oh! Unless you're not here on business? So you're a friend of his?"
"Yeah…" Ed said, and Maria invited Carina and him inside.
"What did you say your name was?" she asked as Ed and Carina, amazed at the house, sat on a couch in the living room. "Al! You've got visitors!" she called up the stairs.
"This…compared to the camps…" Carina trailed off.
Then, they saw Al coming down the stairs. "Who is it Mar-" but he stopped when he saw his brother in his living room. "E-Ed? I-is that you, brother?"
Are we growing up, or just going down?It's just a matter of time until we're all found out
Take our tears, and put them on ice
'Cause I swear I'd burn the city down to show you the light…
The two stared at each other for a few seconds before they hugged.
"Wow, Ed, you look just like Dad!" Al exclaimed.
"WHAT!? I look NOTHING like that bastard!!!!"
"Calm down, brother, I was only kidding! At least you grew. You're finally taller than me!"
"Sheesh, thanks a lot, Al. C'mon, we haven't seen each other for years and the first thing you do is tease me?" Ed asked, then smirked, "At least you've got yourself a girlfriend…"
"H-hey!" Al blushed, flustered, and Ed laughed.
After a few hours, everyone was situated. Maria was cooking dinner, Carina was in her room, previously one of the several guest rooms, and the two brothers were in the younger one's room.
"What's her name?" Al asked. Of course he was talking about Carina. He didn't ask who she was; didn't need to. He already knew that.
"Carina," Ed answered.
"Mmmm. She's pretty."
"Y-yeah, I g-guess…So," Ed answered, rubbing the back of his neck, embarrassed, "So, what's with the mansion and everything? How'd you get so loaded?"
"It's the funniest thing, brother!" Al exclaimed, "Alchemy is a lot like the sciences in this world! Because of Alchemy, I've been able to discover a lot of things for this world. And I'm pretty much set for life! All I really do now is go to conventions and things here and there, but I don't really need the money. I just wanted something for you to come home to."
"Thanks, Al," Ed said, and hugged his brother.
About two months later, Al went away to California for another convention that he'd been invited to. Maria went with him. Ed wanted to go, too, to keep an eye on the two, until Al pointed out that then Carina would be left all alone in that big house for three days. Ed had then volunteered to stay at the house.
On Saturday, the morning after they'd left, Ed was sleeping when there was a knock on his bedroom door. He groaned and rolled over, then sat up, dangling his feet over the side of his bed and rubbed his eyes and called out, "Come in."
When Carina opened the door, Ed saw that she was wearing the jewelry that he'd kept safe for her (A/N thought I was gonna forget it, didn't ya?), as well as the first dress that he'd bought for her when they'd gotten to America. It was a summer-ish dress, with short sleeves, and it went down to her knees. It was light blue with light green leaves all over, and it was tied around the middle in the back. Her hair was longer, there was color in her skin again, and, thanks to Maria's excellent cooking, she was almost at a normal body weight. She looked beautiful.
"Carina, what is it?" Ed asked, sensing that something was wrong. She looked on the verge of tears.
"Thank you," she said, "For taking care of me for all these years."
"Sure thing," Ed said, confused, "But why are you telling me this now?
"I don't want to burden you anymore. I mean, if it wasn't for me, you could have spent the entire weekend with your brother like you wanted to."
Ed sighed, "Come over here," he ordered. Carina walked over and sat down next to him on his bed. "You missed," he informed her, wrapping an arm around her slim waist and pulling her into his lap. She let out a giggle, and he put his other arm around her waist in a kind of hug, pulling her even closer. "Now," he said quietly, "If I'd thought you were a burden like you said, I would've gotten you to move out long ago, or would have left you in Germany. And secondly, I didn't go with Al because I chose not to. I wanted to go, sure, but I also love being with you."
Carina tried to turn around on his lap, but Ed just held her tighter. She squirmed until he finally let her turn all the way around, but before she could say anything, he kissed her.
It was just a quick kiss, and when they broke apart, Carina asked, "Why did you stop? There was no reason to, this time." And she kissed him. She pushed her weight against him, and he gave way so that they were lying on top of each other.
Sorry, Win, Ed thought as his tongue felt around the opening of Carina's mouth, But it looks like I'm never going to see you again. Please forgive me. He felt her hands on his bare chest and kissed her even more passionately.
They finally broke apart, breathless, and sat up straight on the bed again. But it wasn't long before Ed scooped up Carina in his arms again, hugging her.
"Carina," he said to her, "You know I love you, right?"
He could tell that she was blushing as she fumbled for words. What she came up with was, "Y-y-yeah…" Ed laughed until he felt her wrap her arms around him, nuzzle her head into the crook of his neck and whisper, "I lover you too, Ed."
He smiled to himself before saying, "Well, then, let's have breakfast, shall we?" As he got up, he lifted her up. She gave a little yelp of surprise before landing on her feet as they let go of each other. They turned to the door, and as they began walking, Ed grabbed Carina's hand, making her blush again.
"I hope you can cook," Ed said as they made their way down the stairs, "Because I haven't got a clue."
"Cereal it is, then."
And that's it! And now for the looooooong A/Ns…In school, we had these things, "Match Makers" on Valentine's Day that told you things like, who you should date, who your friends should be, stuff about your horoscope, etc, and one was things that happened on your birthday. Mine is June 28th, and it said, "Treaty at Versailles is signed (ending World War I) in 1919," so I thought, "Oh! Perfect!" Because it looked like it said, "World War II". Later, after I'd written something for the radio guy to say, I was reading it out loud to my mom and realized my mistake :P So, I had to change it all around!!! Sigh C'est la vie!
For this line, I wanted to have Ed say something about humans, because if you translate those lyrics into actual words, they totally sound like something that Ed would say. Only, it didn't fit in and I later forgot about it. Whoopsies '
For those of you that read "FMA Advice Column", I didn't do this on purpose, I swear!!! Someone asked the question if Ed could cook, which should be answered by the 8th column, but I wrote this before I ever got that review. I swear, it was a coincidence!! Lol.
For many of you, I think that that's it! If you're interested, I'll have the lemon up soon… shudders It might take me a while to get the nerve to type it up, though…Anyway, please check out my other stories! I'm starting a new one, though I'm not sure what I'm gonna call it. Prolly something with "Avril Lavigne" in the title. They'll be good, trust me. Bye for now!
