I woke as Ed shook me gently, whispering my name. I blink, trying to clear my blurry vision. I could feel tears on my face so I knew I must have been having a nightmare, but whatever dark terrors had stalked my dreams I could not recall; they faded as I woke. Whatever had frightened me was gone, leaving only exhaustion in its wake. I shot Ed a look of thanks, and rolled over, trying to fall back asleep before I was fully awake, but I couldn't. It had been three weeks now since my auto-mail surgery, and two since the nightmares had started. My wounds had finally, though slowly, started to mend. I was still in a lot of pain, but it wasn't nearly as bad as it had been. Now, though, I felt a different kind of pain. It was a deep, severe ache where auto-mail met flesh, creeping all the way into the muscle and bone beyond. I groaned as I rolled onto my back. "Why does it hurt?" I asked, my words slightly slurred in my half-conscious state. When I looked at Ed I realized that he, too, was hurting; his eyes were tight with pain. "It's raining." He grumbled, as if that explained everything. After a moment, he realized his words meant nothing to me, and clarified. "Whenever there's about to be a significant change in the weather, like rain or snow, the area around my auto-mail ports starts to ache. It can get pretty bad. Personally I've found it's worst when it's rain. The pain usually starts before the storm, and lasts anywhere from a few hours to a day or two after it ends. I assume you have the same problem, and it's raining as we speak. Unfortunately, there's not really anything we can do but suffer through it." I gave a frustrated sigh and closed my eyes again, determined to fall asleep in spite of the pain, but I wasn't having much success. When I opened my eyes again, I noticed Ed was watching me. I smiled despite my pain, and decided to give up on falling back asleep. "Why don't you try and get some rest?" I recommended, but he shook his head. "Nah. I always have trouble sleeping when I ache like this." I nodded. "Apparently, me too. I used to love the rain..." Ed smiled sadly at the wistful tone in my voice. "You can still love it, it'll just be harder."
"Yeah." I agreed, "Definitely harder." I had always loved the sound of the raindrops on the windows and the smell of the earth; the gray clouds and the quiet peacefulness of days like these. They had always calmed and inspired me, making writing or drawing easier, and banishing tension and anxiety. "Oh, crap!" I exclaimed as a sudden realization dawned on me. Ed flinched, immediately concerned. "What is it?" I groaned, "I'm gonna have to learn to write left handed!"Ed stared at me incredulously for a moment, then doubled over, roaring with laughter. I scowled at him. "It's really not that funny." Ed grinned, wiping a tear from his eye as he tried to regain his composure. "Sorry, it's just... that's what you're worried about right now?" I shrugged. "I'll have to learn to draw again too..." Ed's amused smirk finally faded, replaced by a comforting smile. "Don't worry, I'll help you. I used to be right handed too, actually." I was a little surprised by this; I had never really thought about the way Ed wrote. Now that I did, though, I realized that his movements were very deliberate, as if he had to think each one through. Though I had noticed this, I had dismissed it without trying to fathom it. I realized that there were a lot of things like this; little things I had noticed but never asked about, like why he didn't like milk or why he always wore gloves to hide his auto-mail. Sure, I was good at guessing, and I probably knew the answers already, but I had never actually asked him. On a whim, I decided to voice a few of my curiosities and observations, and he, in turn, voiced a few of his own. From the reason Ed never followed the military's dress code to why I preferred sleeping under the stars to a hotel, we asked each other about anything and everything that crossed our minds. I don't think we had ever really done anything like that before; simply taken time to get to know each other; showing interest in the small things like preferences and favorite foods and colors. We learned a lot about each other that night. We talked until the rain stopped and the clouds were broken by the first rays of morning.
Time skip!
It had been two months since my surgery, and my recovery was progressing significantly. I was allowed out of bed now, though never alone, and had even started a small amount of physical therapy. I was still haunted by nightmares, but I was learning to deal with them, which meant Ed was getting more sleep, for which he was grateful. Though he had never complained, the late nights really were starting to wear on him, so it was good that he was finally able to rest. I felt guilty for keeping him up so many nights, but he always insisted he didn't mind whenever I brought it up.
On another note, I was finally starting to hope again. My mood improved with my recovery, and as I healed I finally believed that I really was going to get better. I could finally see the light at the end of the tunnel.
It's almost over everyone! This next chapter that I'm about to type will be the last, bringing me to a total of ten chapters. I'm pretty proud of that; this is probably the longest fanfic I've ever written and, as I mentioned previously, the first I've ever posted. Thanks for everyone who stuck with it this far! Also, I'm in the process of writing both a sequel and a prequel so we'll see how that goes. Once I finish them I may be posting those too, if people like this one enough.
