Never Too Late
Disclaimer: I Don't Own FMA or the Song Never Too Late. FMA Belongs to Hiromu Arakawa and the Song Belongs to Three Days Grace.
Rating: PG—PG-13 Due To Violence, Blood, Bad Language, Angst, and Suggestive Themes.
A/N: Things are getting sad :( Poor Ed and Winry…
F—M—A
Ed had decided that, because they were in Central, he would rent out a hotel room for them to stay in for the night until morning. Currently, he and Winry were in their two-bed room; the Elric was lying on the green sofa that sat to the far left of the room, his back facing Winry. The Rockbell, of which, was on the hotel room's phone, calling back home to explain to her grandmother what had happened and why she wasn't home at such a late hour. Pinako scolded her granddaughter for being out so late but was comforted in knowing that she was in good hands, being with Edward, of course. It seemed that old woman was bothered by every other male that got near Winry but she trusted Ed fully with her safety and didn't even mind that the two teens were alone in one hotel room.
After a few more moments of talking with her grandmother, Winry soon said her goodbye and hung up the phone. She then, worriedly, looked to her childhood friend and stared at his back. The small clock on the night desk between the two beds in the room silently ticked and tocked in the eerie silence between the two blondes. Winry immediately knew why Edward had been so quiet, she had known from the moment his hand-blade had pierced Greed's chest. She knew because she recalled this same silence from when they were twelve years old. For Ed, old feelings were being revitalized.
For Winry, however, her own realization from earlier came back to haunt her. Her eyes drooped at the thought but she knew she had to tell Ed about her decision. She knew it best, for both of them, but her heart ached, as she knew that she would be causing him even more pain. Her head lowered and small tears threatened to prick at her eyes.
"Edward?" she said softly. The Elric stayed in his current position but simply shrugged, indicating the girl continue. Winry stayed silent for a few moments, making Ed believe that she had chosen to say nothing. However, she surprised him slightly when she did finally speak. Lowering her head so that her blonde bangs hung in front of her eyes, shielding them from sight, she clenched her fists tightly on her lap, afraid of the Elric's response to what she had to say to him.
"I…Ed, I think…we have to end this…" she mumbled silently. This certainly perked some interest in Edward. His eyes widened and he sat up finally and looked to her, curious.
"Winry, what…what do you mean 'end this'? What do you want to end?" he asked her. He had a vague idea of what she may mean but he refused to take up any assumptions until Winry herself had answered him.
"This!" Winry replied strongly, her shoulders tensing and her fists clutching tighter. Edward heard her sniffle lightly before a pair of tiny, crystalline tears slipped down form her face and onto her fists. The Alchemist's eyes widened at her reaction and he wondered what was wrong between them. The young mechanic continued, still hiding her eyes from view. "Ed…I…I don't think…I think we have to end our friendship!" she blurted out, finally looking up to her friend with tears streaming down her face. However, Ed's eyes widened like saucers and his pupils grew small; how he had hoped that his assumption was wrong…but it was dead right.
"W-what?" he asked, unsure if he had heard her correctly. "But, Winry…why? I…I don't understand; why don't you want to be friends anymore?" he asked. He knew there were many reasons why Winry wouldn't want to be friends with him but…did she have to tell him today? As if he didn't already feel bad enough, she had to go and tell him this.
"That's not it, Ed! Of course I want to be friends with you!" as a matter of fact, she wanted to be more than friends. She blushed as she felt Ed's curious gaze on her. "It's just…Ed, I…I'm holding you back like this," she explained to him silently. Edward's curiosity, however, wasn't satisfied.
"Holding…me back? Winry, what do you mean exactly?" the Elric questioned her; his fists clenching tightly as he almost begged her for an answer. Winry's shoulders tensed again and she looked down once more as well. She didn't want to be saying these things but she kept telling herself that it was for the best. If only in had felt that way, maybe this would be easier. But, sadly, the right thing to do is often the most painful.
"Ed…I'm tired of seeing you get hurt because of me," she explained as she hid her eyes behind her bangs. Ed's eyes widened and he looked to the floor, clenching his fists even tighter. "Ed, I'm…afraid…" This perked some interest in Ed. He looked up and then stood and walked up to the young girl. Winry, feeling his person approaching, stood up as well and turned the other way, her back facing him.
"Winry, if it's your life that you're worried about, don't worry," the Elric said, trying to reason. "I won't let anyone hurt you, I promise! If anything happened to you…I just know that I wouldn't be able to live with myself," he said softly. Surprisingly, he reached his flesh hand to her shoulder and tried to turn her around so that she would face him. However, the girl refused and simply turned herself around, angry and with more tears in her eyes.
"It's not my life I'm worried about!" she told him heatedly. Ed's eyes widened, yet again and he felt his muscles go stiff. The Rockbell held herself tightly and looked away for what she'd tell him next. "I said I was holding you back," she said. "I know that you'd always try your hardest to protect me…you proved that to me when you came to rescue me form Barry, even when I thought I was going to die…but what if you get killed when your trying to save me? What if something terrible happens to you because of me?!" she demanded from him, her fists clutching tightly at her sides. Ed looked at her, surprised for a moment, before looking away from those blue eyes of her and glaring at the floor.
"You shouldn't blame yourself…I'll always be there to save you because…because you're all I have left…"
Even if I say
It'll be alright
Still I hear you say
You want to end your life
Now and again we try
To just stay alive
Maybe we'll turn it around
'Cause it's not too late
It's never too late
Winry's eyes now widened at his words and they fell, saddened. "But I understand…maybe you're right…my enemies won't be able to hurtt me if they think that I don't have a weakness…I can't say I approve…" he looked up to her now, his amazing golden eyes full of sadness. "But if you think its best, then I have no say in your decision…" It stayed tensely quiet for a moment.
"I'll fix your arm for all your troubles," Winry said to him finally. Edward put his flesh hand over the area of his metal arm that now lacked a protective plate. "But I can't put myself in this position anymore,"—"No," Ed interjected suddenly. "I understand…I do…really…" he said dejectedly as he looked away from the girl and turned back towards the sofa that he had been, moments ago, laying on. Winry held herself sadly as she could feel the Elric's pain. But she couldn't just sit and watch him get beat up anymore, especially not because of her.
F—M—A
The next morning, Ed and Winry would spend some time fixing up the Elric's arm. Luckily, they were able to find another Automail mechanic that allowed Winry to use their molding equipment and tools. After paying the other mechanic for the materials, the two blondes headed to the train station. It had been very silent between them, as Ed had been mentally praying to the God he didn't believe that this was all just a bad dream and that he would just wake up soon. But he never did.
When they reached the train station, Ed and Winry looked at each other. Winry's heart ached from the great amount of depression she saw in her friend's golden orbs. She clutched her eyes tight and looked away from him; it hurt so much to leave him like this but, as she kept telling herself…it was for the best. She forced herself to move ahead with her shaky legs. Before she could board the train, however, she felt her wrist being grabbed and pulled gently by something cold. Her eyes widened and she turned around quickly, only to be met with the Alchemist's eyes once more. She looked at him curiously, awaiting an explanation. Before she could ask, he spoke.
"Winry, please…" he mumbled sadly. "Reconsider…I don't…I don't want this to end, especially not like this," he told her, his grip around her wrist tightening. Winry looked down to her wrist and noticed that he was holding her with his metal hand. However, as strong as his grip seemed, the Rockbell easily pulled out of it, making Ed's eyes widen sadly. The mechanic brought her hand to her chest and turned around once more.
"I'm sorry," she muttered and then quickly boarded and went off to take her seat. Edward found her easily and he felt his nails suddenly engraving themselves into his palm and his eyes tensing before closing and opening again when he spoke again.
"Winry, I'm sorry!" he yelled out to her, not caring who or how many heard. Many onlookers did hear him and looked in his direction. Winry, however, perked her eyes interest and looked out her window. She looked at him curiously.
"What?" she asked curiously; she had not been paying attention and therefore had not heard him. She saw his body tense at her question.
"I'm sorry!" he yelled out again, tears threatening to break his barrier. However, when he spoke, the train's horn rang out loudly, preventing Winry form hearing his words again. The train then began moving and the sound of metal against metal was too loud for Ed to repeat himself. The train soon was out of the station and the Elric simply stood there and looked down, glaring at the innocent floor. He growled lowly to himself and his fists clenched tightly while his bangs hid his eyes from view.
"I'm sorry."
F—M—A
Edward returned, alone, to Central's Military Headquarters. From there, he went to the built-in library to get some peace and quiet to write his report on the Greed case that had ended only the night before. He might as well get it over with before Mustang chewed his head over for it. However, he felt it truly sucked that the Colonel gave no heed to personal feelings on those damn cases. This one was very similar to the Barry the Chopper case in the sense that he had to take someone's life. However, after that, he had lost someone very important to him. He sighed as he continued writing his report. He finished after at least an hour or so and then walked to Mustang's office.
After giving his commanding officer the document, he headed back to his hotel room to take a hot shower and try to wash away his troubles. However, it seemed that the water wasn't hot enough to do that. As relaxing as it could've been, his ordeal with Winry was still fresh in his mind. He stepped out of the bathroom wearing only a pair of blue boxer shorts and with a white towel drying his hair. Sitting down on his bed, he looked over his options.
He could continue with Winry's plan; never speak to her again, keep doing whatever job Mustang gave him and try to move on. He shrugged at the thought; he'd suffered enough, damn it, couldn't he get a break? The Alchemist could also resign from the military and go back home, permanently. If he did that, however, he would lose the privilege of being able to use the advanced libraries that belonged to the military. Not to mention, what if he quit and went home only to find out that Winry truly never wanted to see his face in front of hers again? Then where would he go? The Elric sighed sadly and leaned forward, his elbows resting on his knees while his palms covered his face. He was limited on choices, and each had their own consequence. However, another idea was soon thought of.
Last time he checked, he was, of course, a State Alchemist, a famous and well-known one, for that matter. As crazy as an idea as it may be…what if he faked his own death? It was simple; pick up a near-impossible mission from Mustang, a dangerous one that required man-power, and allow himself to be 'killed.' His body would never be found and he would change his identity soon afterwards. This way, no one would pay to much mind to him and he would keep his secret to himself. He would still have his State Alchemist pocket watch, therefore he would still be allowed into military libraries and certain facilities.
The only real consequence was one that caused pain to himself; Winry, even though she lived out in the country, would soon learn of his 'death' and he was sure she'd probably be happy to be rid of him, as much as that hurt him. He did recall her once saying that she didn't care for him. However, he would still be alive…he'd never be allowed to go near Winry again and would be left with only bittersweet memories of what they once had.
His golden eyes tensed doggedly but also sadly and his hands turned to fists. It was decided.
In a few weeks or so, Edward Elric would be presumed dead.
F—M—A
A/N: Wow…as sad as this is, this story is still gettinggood XD anyway, please R&R, no flames :) thanks!
