Here's the next chapter of The Birthday. I know you've all been waiting for it!
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So, here we go!
Edward, meanwhile, had been wandering the streets at midnight when Gracia found him.
Ed still didn't know why she had been out at that time, nor had he been told she was released from the hospital. Her arm was in a sling, and she had a few bruises on her face, but Ed was still happy to see her. He was happy to have a motherly figure around. It made him feel more relaxed, or as relaxed as he could be after he had been told that he'd assaulted Winry. So it wasn't him, exactly, but it was close enough to him: his step brother who just happened to look like him at the time.
Chapter 9
Gracia took him home without question when she saw the shape he was in. He was strangely distraught and disturbed in some way. She set him up on the couch where he went straight to sleep after hitting the plush cushions. She stayed up with him for half an hour or so, watching him sleep, and watching the tears he had left unshed while conscious come out unconsciously. She patted his head once and kissed his forehead, and then went to check on Elysia.
Gracia was awakened around two o'clock by sounds coming from the couch.
Ed happened to be having a nightmare.
The fact that he was this scared really said something. Ed usually never thrashed about this much in his sleep, even with nightmares. She put a hand to his forehead, only to have it quickly slapped away by a flailing hand. How had Winry said she dealt with these? Oh yes.
"Edward?" she asked in a soft tone. Edwards thrashing slowed a bit. It was working.
"Ed, you're having a bad dream," she continued, placing a hand on his chest, and then one on his forehead.
Winry said this was the time she usually kissed Ed's forehead, so Gracia did the same. Ed's breathing calmed and his arms came still and dropped back to the couch. "Ed, wake up,"
"Win?" Ed asked. And, as if on cue, he opened his eyes. Finding Gracia there, he was slightly startled.
"Expecting Winry?" Gracia asked, and giggled.
At Winry's name, Ed's face turned sour. "Kinda. She's usually the one that wakes me," Ed said, but it was almost painful.
"Ed, will you tell me what happened?" Gracia asked. "I think now's a good time. And you'll be able to get it off your chest. I promise I won't say anything to anyone,"
"I don't want to disturb your sleep," Ed said.
"Ed, if you have another nightmare, you'll be disturbing my sleep even more. You had better tell me," Gracia said, sitting in a chair by the couch and wrapping a blanket around herself. "Go on,"
"Well, I got Winry back yesterday," Ed started.
"Oh, Ed, that's wonderful! She's okay, right?" Gracia asked.
"Well, she's okay physically. It's the mentally that I'm worried about," Ed said. "We had a nice day yesterday, and then last night she said she wanted to talk about the kidnapping. So I told her I'd listen. She told me stuff about her kidnappers, and where she was, and then she told me that I molested her,"
"What?" Gracia asked.
"Anyway, I couldn't stay. I left her in the dorm room about eleven thirty, and I was just walking around when you found me,"
"Why would she say you molested her? You weren't anywhere near her, right?" Gracia asked.
"Nowhere near. But it wasn't me, exactly. It was the homunculus Envy, who looked like me at the time,"
"That's the homunculus that pretended to be me," Ed nodded. "Oh, I'm sorry Edward. That's horrible. But you can't just run away from that. You can't just not see Winry for the rest of your life, especially since you're hopelessly in love with her,"
"What!"
Gracia looked taken aback. "You didn't know that? I thought you knew..."
"No, I knew that, but how did you know!"
"Please, Edward, it frighteningly obvious. As a matter of fact, relationships are most often seen by peers before they're seen by the couple themselves," Gracia said. "Anyway, what were you planning on doing?"
"First, getting some sleep. After that, I don't know what to do,"
"Why don't you stay here tomorrow, until you're feeling better and think you can talk to Winry," Gracia suggested.
"Thank you, Mrs. Hughes," Edward said.
"Now get some rest. You know you need it," Gracia said, standing and turning back for her own bedroom.
Ed sighed as she left, and lay back down on the couch. He was asleep in no time, and this time his head wasn't filled with nightmares.
Winry had sat in the bed for an hour contemplating what to do. Her tired and depressed brain was too tired and depressed to figure out whether to go after him, where he was going in the first place, and what to say to make him forgive her for putting him through that. She didn't have to. It was really rather snide of her to have said it in the first place. And, needless to say, she was feeling a guilt trip.
These thoughts tossed her into an uneasy sleep.
Edward still wasn't back when she woke up.
She silently cursed whatever gods there were for ever having said anything to Ed in the first place. He must really be mad at her if he was still out somewhere. That meant that he hadn't slept at all, or that he had gone to a friend's house to sleep. Looking at the clock, she sighed.
"It's still too early to call anyone and see if he slept over. That would just be disturbing everyone's sleep again," she reasoned to herself.
That said, she dressed and went out looking for Ed herself.
As she headed out the door, she was looked at rather strangely by some male officers who were probably wondering why she was in a male dorm, and leaving so early, and who had invited her there in the first place. She rolled her eyes at the disgusting looks on their faces and continued out the door.
Despite her sense of guilt for having put Ed through all of that strife, she really did feel better. She had gotten the terrible happenings off her chest, and she could face it when the military came to question her about it. She expected that she'd cry when telling the tale, but that was normal really.
Actually, it was quite a wonder to her that she was able to get over it this fast. That wasn't normal.
She was about to ask the guards to open the gate when she realized something, perhaps Mustang had sent Ed out on another mission.
She veered off sharply to the left and entered the main building. The delivery truck at the side entrance brought up some memories of her first kidnapping, but she shook it off. Edward had been there for her after that. It pained her to know that he was not here now.
And after the lovely day they spent yesterday!
As she walked down the hall, a few of the military people nodded to her. She came upon Ross and Brosh around the corner to Mustang's office.
"Lt. Ross? Have you seen Ed?"
"What? He's not here?"
"Er- no,"
"Was he kidnapped?" Brosh asked. "Or maybe he-"
"No. We had a talk yesterday, and he kinda left me. I figured I'd give him some time, but when he wasn't back when I got up, I decided to look for him," Winry said.
"Ask Mustang, he might have seen him," Ross said, pointing down the hall toward Mustang's office.
"Well, thanks anyway," Winry said dejectedly. She then left and traveled down the hall to the office. She knocked once, just to be sure he wasn't busy, and then entered the room.
All of Mustang's staff watched her as she came in. She waited in the doorway awkwardly for a few moments, and then they all turned away from her.
"Miss Rockbell, what can I do for you?" Mustang asked from behind his desk. Hawkeye stood off to his right, and gave a greeting nod to Winry.
"I was wondering, Colonel, if you had seen Ed," This got the attention of everyone in the room, and they all stared awkwardly at Winry again.
"Fullmetal's missing now?" Mustang asked. "He isn't with you?"
"No,"
"And he isn't in the dorm?"
"No,"
"And he isn't in the cafeteria?"
"No,"
"And he isn't undergoing surgery to make him taller?"
"Uh- no,"
"Then I have absolutely no idea where he is," Mustang said. "Do you know when he left?"
"It was around 11 last night," Winry said.
"And do you know why?"
"Well... we were talking... and I told him a few things about my kidnapping that got him upset, and so he left. I wanted to give him a little time to digest what I told him, but he wasn't back when I got up, so I went looking, and I still haven't found him,"
"Hawkeye, where does Fullmetal like to go?" Mustang asked her.
Hawkeye flipped through a few sheets of paper on a clipboard. "In order of frequency: the library; the park; the cafe; the dorm; the military training grounds; the river; the hospital, although that's not for recreation it's just where he usually ends up; your office, which is not for recreation either but usually you calling him for some absurd reason such as to tease him relentlessly about his height; the cafeteria; the train station, because of all of his traveling; and he sometimes visits automail shops to buy more oil or a present for Miss Rockbell here, or perhaps to buy some scrap metal to fix his brother with," Hawkeye placed the clipboard back on the desk.
"Very thorough, Hawkeye," Mustang said.
"It was really Ross and Brosh, sir. They are the ones you usually assign to tail Fullmetal,"
"Ah, right," Mustang said. Winry just blinked. "Have you checked in all those places?"
"Sir, Edward hasn't allowed me to leave military grounds without his presence since... ever, now that I think about it. So, no, I haven't checked any of those places. I also believe that if Ed didn't want anyone to find him, he wouldn't go someplace people have seen him in frequently; he's smarter than that,"
Mustang glanced at Hawkeye.
"She's right, sir," Hawkeye said. "Fullmetal is a very hard person to find when he's not looking to be found. He's also very recognizable, so people would notice if he was anywhere out in the open. But I don't think he's gotten into any trouble, sir."
"What makes you say that, Hawkeye?"
"Just a woman's instinct, sir,"
"Ah yes, and instinct is a very powerful thing. Have no fear, Miss Rockbell, Edward gets angsty from time to time, and only time by himself will make it better. Sometimes not even Alphonse can help it, which is saying something. Your best move is to leave him alone for now. But, onto other things, the military has a need to interview you and record what happened for our personal knowledge. It would be better if this is done as soon as is possible. If you are free later today, then that would be best,"
"Alright," Winry said. "Perhaps around one?"
"Perfect. I shall see you later Miss Rockbell, you may go,"
"Thank you,"
As Winry exited the office, only one thought crossed her mind:
'How am I going to tell them Edward sexually assaulted me!'
Edward awoke around noon. He was so surprised to see that it was midday that he fell off the couch and scrambled to find Gracia.
She was in the kitchen making lunches. "Edward, you're awake. You slept well," she said.
"ED!" shouted Elysia, who had come down the stairs. "Mommy told me you found Winry! Yippee! Can I see her? Can I? Can I?" she said, glomping onto Edward's leg.
"Maybe later, Elysia," Ed replied, patting her on the head.
"Here," Gracia said, placing a plate on the table. "You must be hungry,"
"Thank you, Mrs. Hughes," Edward said, and started shoveling the contents of the plate into his mouth. It was rather strange to be back at this house after what had happened on his and Elysia's birthday. He peered into the dining room and was able to see where Winry, Envy, and he had sat that night. That had been the beginning of everything. It was the night Winry got kidnapped, the night Gracia was injured, and possibly the worst birthday he'd ever had. Scratch that- it was the worst, and it was probably Elysia's worst party too. "How are you feeling?"
"I'm just fine, Edward. I was released from the hospital last night, and Mustang interrogated me, and that's why I was out so late when I met you on the street," Gracia said. "It was a good thing I found you, too. It rained pretty harshly last night. I would hate for you to have been stuck out there,"
"Well, thank you for inviting me in. I didn't think of anywhere I could go at that late at night,"
"It was no problem, Edward. You saved everybody at the party, it was the least I could do,"
"Mommy! I'm hungry!" Elysia said. Gracia smiled and placed a grilled cheese sandwich in front of her daughter.
"Anyway, Edward, stay as long as you like. Perhaps you would like to have dinner with us?"
"That would be great, thanks,"
Winry spent the rest of the time before the interrogation looking for Ed. After finally giving up, she sat on a bench in the park and counted off the places Hawkeye said Ed was usually found.
"I've checked the park, the hospital, Mustang's office, the train station, the library, that cafe, the cafeteria, the training grounds, the river, and the dorm rooms. That leaves all of the automail shops, but I highly doubt he's there. Alphonse isn't metal anymore, and why would he be going to buy me a present. Plus his automail's in top condition, I fixed it a week ago,"
Winry checked the clock on the tower of city hall. With a start, she began running back to base; her interrogation was in a few minutes. How could she have forgotten?
She got to the military base just in time. Running up to Mustangs office, and getting stares from personnel as she passed, she tried to think up some excuse for Edward to have molested her. The military couldn't believe that someone would dress up as Ed, and unless it was Hawkeye and Mustang that were interrogating her, there were no other people who would have come into contact with the homunculus that changes forms.
She heaved a tremendous sigh of relief when she found that the people in the room were Mustang and Ross.
"Oh thank goodness," Winry said. "It's you,"
"We were asked to add our testimony to yours, Miss Rockbell, so we will be interrogating you," Ross said, gesturing for Winry to sit.
She did so, and couldn't help the wave of nervousness that comes with being put on the spot.
"Start at the very beginning. What happened after Elysia's birthday party?"
"I was unconscious when they took me. When I woke up, I found myself in a dark, yet lavishly furnished room on a feather bed, which I found rather strange," Winry began.
"Go on,"
"And I immediately panicked. I had no idea where I was, and I knew that if I was with Edward, he wouldn't have locked me in a room and left me alone. Then, I heard someone enter the room. It was Mr. Hughes. I told him he was dead, but he didn't listen to me. He thanked me for going to Elysia's birthday party,"
"Let the brainwashing begin," Mustang muttered.
"Anyway, after that Wrath came in. We talked a little bit, and I told him I was hungry, so he left to get some food for me. When he came back, he said I had to change for dinner, and picked out a dress from the closet. We talked some more, and then he led me to dinner. There were two girls there, and one other homunculus, Gluttony. One of the girls had a baby, her name was Rose. The other was the one the homunculi called Master, and her name was Lyra,"
"Lyra," Ross said, and scribbled the name down on the clipboard where she was taking notes on Winry's testimony.
"The dinner was brought in on the heads of these beasts that Lyra called chimeras,"
"Chimeras?" Mustang asked.
"Yes. There was more table talk where Lyra tried to make me jealous of Rose so I would spill information about Edward. I asked her if she was expecting me to fall for this, and she told me she expected more from Edward's lover,"
"Ed's lover?" Mustang and Ross both asked at the same time. Mustang said it with an amused tone, while Ross said it with curiosity.
"You're not..." Ross began.
"Oh no!" Winry said, denying the accusation at once. "Ed and I aren't sleeping together,"
"Okay," Ross said, looking a little relieved.
"Wrath brought me back to the room, and I was falling asleep when there was a tap on the window. It was Ed. He told me we had to get out of there now, and pulled me out the window. I squealed and alerted Wrath, who was outside the room. He came in, and Ed pulled me to the roof. We started running on the rooftop, and across buildings. Then, we reached an alley," she sniffed. "Edward started to kiss me and- and he pulled up my skirt and-"
"What!" Mustang said.
"Oh my god," Ross said. "He didn't-"
"No! No, he didn't. He was about to, when Wrath got there and took me away,"
"Edward?" Mustang said.
"And it wasn't Edward. I knew it. It was that homunculus, the one who can change into other people. He did it again the next night, only he touched my chest," Winry sobbed.
Ross handed her a tissue and shared a look with Mustang.
"But during that time, I figured out that we were underground. There were no stars, and the buildings on the edges curved upward like the whole place had fallen into a hole,"
Ross wrote that down on the sheet of paper. "Miss Rockbell, we have a few more questions for you,"
Winry was rather distraught when she was let out a few hours later. She needed to talk to Edward. Even just seeing Edward would do. But she needed him, and where was he? She didn't know.
"Edward? Where are you?" she sobbed.
"Miss Rockbell?" someone said behind her. It was Mustang. "Gracia Hughes is out of the hospital. I thought you might want to know that,"
"Thank you," she said, sniffing.
Looks like she was going to the Hughes'.
She sniffed and wiped her tears away while she walked through the building and exited the main doors, heading for the gate. She asked the guard on duty if they had seen Edward leave, but they hadn't. She should have known. The guard on duty now wouldn't have been the guard on duty last night, and that's when Ed would have left.
She turned right at the gate, starting to walk toward the Hughes' house. She promised herself that by the time she got to Gracia's there would be no more tears on her face, and she would put on a smile for them. They would probably be happy to see her. Goodness knows she would be happy to see them. She swiftly turned the last corner and caught sight of the clock on top of town hall's tower. Four o'clock in the afternoon. It would be dinnertime soon. She would have to make the visit short, unless they invited her to dinner for some reason.
She stopped at the gate to the house, looking up at the light yellow building and putting on a smile. With that, she headed toward the steps and rang the doorbell.
"I'll get it!" It was a male voice.
She was shocked when the door was opened by Edward.
"Ed..."
"Winry?"
They just stood staring at each other.
She didn't know what to say. Her mind was blank. He was here. He was alright. She had been out looking for him all afternoon, and here he was, just when she wasn't looking for him. Tears sprang to her eyes again, and she started sniffling.
She heard more than saw Ed's hand let go of the door handle. It reached out toward her for a moment, before it was quickly drawn back. She could tell that inside, he was conflicted. His face turned sorrowful, and he quickly stepped back into the house, turning and starting to run off.
"No!" Winry said, catching him before he could go anywhere. She hugged him around the back, pressing herself into him. "No, don't leave me again," she sobbed into the back of his shirt.
"Winry..." Edward said as his hands came up to clasp her own upon his chest.
"I have my wrench, Edward," she warned, squeezing him. "You'll be unconscious before you leave me again,"
He chuckled, and she felt the vibration inside of him. It felt odd to her. She didn't know you could feel someone laugh. "Winry, let go," he said lightheartedly.
She contemplated that for a moment, and settled on just loosening her grip instead of letting him go. She sniffed again.
Her grip was loose enough that he could turn around to face her before enveloping her in a tight hug. "Winry, I am so, so sorry about what Envy did to you," he whispered to her. She clutched him tighter. "You know I'd do anything for you, right?"
"Anything? Anything in the world?" she asked, although it came out more like a soft hum because she said it while her face was buried in his neck. But he got the meaning, anyway.
"Anything at all," he replied, smiling. She could feel it, being so close to him.
"Edward? Who was at the door?" Gracia asked, coming into the hallway, where Edward and Winry were having their moment. "Oh," she said when she saw them. Edward and Winry let go of each other, but still stayed close, close enough to hear each other breathe.
"Hello, Mrs. Hughes. Good to see you're out of the hospital," Winry said.
"And it's so good to see you, dear," she said. Edward stepped back as Gracia came to hug Winry.
"WIINNNNRYYY!" Elysia's cry came from upstairs, and they spun around in time to see Elysia slide down the banister. "Winry! Winry! Winry!" Elysia chanted as she came to hug the girl's leg.
"Hi, Elysia," Winry greeted the little girl as she glomped onto her leg.
"Dinner's almost ready. Would you care to join us?" Gracia asked Winry.
"If you don't mind," Winry said.
"Oh, dear, of course not!" Gracia replied, and went swiftly away to the kitchen to prepare for another person to dinner.
"Can I help, mommy? Can I?" Elysia asked, running after her mother.
Winry turned back to Edward, once again alone with him. She hugged him again, her arms around his neck. Ed held his arms loosely around her as she said "I just came back from being interrogated by Mustang," Ed visibly stiffened as she pulled away slightly, so she could see his face. "I was looking for you all day. I needed you, Edward. You ran off last night without any word of where you were going. I was worried,"
"Sorry," Ed said. "I just needed some time to get over what you told me. That's one heck of a load to drop on a person, Win,"
"I know," she replied. "And I'm sorry I made it sound like I was mad at you for doing that to me. It wasn't you, and I know that. I think I just needed someone to feel bad about what happened, someone besides me,"
"You will almost never run out of people who feel sorry for that happening. Me, Mustang, Hawkeye, we all feel we could have done something to prevent you from getting kidnapped, so we all feel sorry," Ed replied.
"Well then, I shouldn't have been mean enough to remind you and put even more of a load on you," Winry said, smiling.
"Hey, it's in the past. We can move forward, now," Ed said. But a little spot in the back of his mind said, 'You can, but I can't. I have to give up the Philosopher's stone tomorrow at midnight, and myself along with it,'
"Right," Winry agreed. 'Moving forward,' she thought. 'Let's see, going back to Resembool, seeing Al, Pinako, and even Armstrong... hmmm...making Ed quit the military, marrying Ed, having sex with Ed, making tons and tons of children with Ed-' she was suddenly aware of her last thoughts and stiffened. Now, she was aware for every movement of Ed's hands on her, every spot the touched each other, every time they brushed against each other. She blushed rather hard.
So hard, in fact, it made Ed ask, "Are you alright?"
She squeaked and pulled away from him, her arms pulling back from around his neck. 'Oh nice going, Winry,' she scolded herself. 'Here we were, having a nice moment, and you had to go and ruin it with your perverted thoughts about Ed!'
'At least I'm having perverted thoughts about him again!' she fired back at herself. 'After what Envy did to me, I was in serious doubt that I'd ever think that way about anyone ever again! This proves that I'm getting better, right?'
"Winry?"
"Uh! Yeah! I'm just fine!" Winry said, blowing by him into the living room. "I'm gonna go help Gracia with dinner!" she laughed awkwardly and strode through the living room to the kitchen.
Edward was left staring in her wake.
TBC
Alright, so kind of a short chapter, but it had some important stuff in it to set up for the next chapter. This chapter itself was rather boring though, and I think that's why it took a long time to write.
Speaking of which, sorry about the REALLY LONG WAIT, guys. Maybe next chapter will be quicker.
REVIEW PLEASE
It's possible that I go faster when I get more reviews.
And, along with this story, I am writing my next, so that I'll be ahead of the game. I don't think I'll publish any of it until this story is over though. And with the way this is going... there's no telling when that will be.
animebookworm44
