The next four days went by at a snail's pace. Doctor Quinn had kept a close watch on her throughout the duration but had left earlier that morning on an emergency call. Ellie had left her bed to use the bathroom or get in a short stretch to ease her sore muscles, but for the most part, she slept.

Roy hadn't spoken to her since that night, in fact, she hadn't even seen him. She knew he was there, however, as she had overheard him talking with the others a few times. Her heart swelled with emotions she couldn't understand, it was like she had done something horrible, but she didn't know what and yet the guilt was there. She felt like perhaps it was the way she had spoken to Mustang, the words she'd said, but why? It wasn't that bad, she just told him that she didn't need any help.

As she lay awake in her bed, she felt the sun climb through the window pane and sighed in comfort as its warmth blanketed her arms. The sun, that meant it had stopped snowing, at least for the time being. Turning her head, she gazed out the window across the room. She still wasn't feeling the greatest, but thankfully her head wasn't pounding as much today. Downstairs she could hear the others talking, though their words remained a secret.

Nothing about this seemed right. She'd been on her own for such a long time, sleeping in this house just didn't seem...natural. She had allowed herself to get too comfortable with her life as of recent. Because of her long leash, she'd forgotten that she was truly a prisoner in the custody of an Amestrian soldier. Why was that? What had made her think that things were okay? An hour or so went by as she pondered but nothing came easily to her. Annoyed, she brought a hand up and satisfied an itch beneath her metal alchemy-binding collar. That was another thing, several months had gone by and she was still trapped without her alchemy. She could feel it becoming unfamiliar to her, it would take some time to bring her skills back to the surface once she had it back.

Sigh.

"Sorry gramma..." She muttered to herself as she quietly climbed out of her bed and rested her bare feet on the cold wood floor. At first, the movement made her dizzy, leaving her body heavier than it should have been. Still, she made her way to the dresser where Pinako had put her now clean clothes. The floor creaked suddenly as she began dressing. Holding her breath, she peeked towards the door to make sure no one was on their way up the stairs to inspect the noise. After a moment or two, she decided the coast was clear and finished up by throwing on her boots and infamous red jacket. Seeing herself in the mirror like this, she felt a wave of relief. The final touch was to pull her hair back in a braid. This was the person she truly was.

She poked her head outside her door and looked down at the living room where the three sat enjoying morning coffee. It wouldn't be hard to sneak out from the top floor, she'd done it all the time when she was younger. However, she was quickly finding that there was a problem. The more she moved about, the more she tensed, the stronger the itch in her throat became. Her cough had settled down greatly since first bedridden, but now that she was on her feet it seemed to be coming back. Whether it was her more rapid breathing or just the dry air, it didn't matter, if she fell into a coughing fit someone would be sure to come and check on her. That simply couldn't happen.

Part of her felt guilty for leaving like this, but she couldn't keep pretending that everything was fine and back to normal. This house brought back too many painful memories, and she wasn't the same person she was back then. She didn't belong there. Everytime time she stepped over the threshold at the front door, flashbacks displayed her blood on the floor, the tears as she sobbed that her brother and mother were gone, that it was her fault. They didn't seem to realize how much it hurt to be here in this place.

Tiptoeing back to her door, she silently pushed it closed, slowly turning the handle to keep the latch from clicking loudly when it shut. Delicately she feathered back across the aged floor and stopped at her frosted window. It's sill still bore the scribbles she'd artistically placed there when she was young. The frame was surprisingly quiet as she lifted it up, the cold breeze that entered chilled her to the core. Her breath came out in foggy clouds as she shuffled her way over the window sill and out onto the side of the house. There were a set of beams that she'd used ever since she was a kid to escape the room, usually when she was in trouble. Looking down as the icy wind licked her face, she placed her food in the crevice beside the beam and then pulled the rest of herself to it, holding on tightly. The crosshatch style boards that connected between the two beams made for a perfect ladder. To the best of her ability, she reached across and closed the window. Her hands were freezing already, she assumed it must have only been around ten or fifteen degrees out. In a familiar rhythm, she began to shimmy down the 'ladder', each board slick and caked with snow. Her fingers began to throb as they held on. She stifled a scream when she suddenly lost her footing, both of her feet slipping from their supports. She dangled there for a moment, trying to regain her stability, but beneath where the snow had been, was solid ice.

"...gk..." She groaned as she began to lose her grip, the frigid air numbing her hands. A gasp escaped her lips as she finally slipped from the ledge she held onto, luckily it wasn't too far down. She landed in a snow drift that had accumulated beside the house, and thankfully so as it silenced her fall as well as prevented her from being hurt. Getting up quickly, she brought her hands to her mouth and huffed a few breaths on them to dull the sting.

Two hours later.

"I'm telling you, I don't think she would want to become an official military soldier. Working under you as a paper-boy maybe, but other than that..." Pinako explained as she placed a collection of winter nuts on the table in a decorative bowl. Wyn remained quiet as he listened, he still hadn't forgiven the government for the loss of his parents at Ishval. It was something that should have never happened, regardless of the excuses the military gave, he would never believe it.

"I don't know, maybe that's what she needs?" Wyn suddenly piped in, he'd not said a word for at least an hour and had preferred to sit on the couch in front of the fire than at the table with the others.

"What do you mean?" Roy inquired, sipping on his coffee. He watched as the mechanic sighed and leaned his head back.

"The only reason she does all those things, getting into trouble I mean, is because she hates being stagnant." He explained.

"You mean she's bored?" He responded with a somewhat less than impressed tone. The blonde turned back and glared, standing and making his way to the soldier. An accusing sort of look on his face.

"If you had gone through what she's gone through, you wouldn't want to have time for your mind to wander either. She's not a bad person, she probably doesn't even like doing the things she does, but its the only way to keep her mind busy enough to keep the bad out."

Roy looked back to the table, allowing his eyes to rest on the rich brown liquid in his mug as he considered the boy's words.

"Still, that's no reason to-"

"Isn't it though? She doesn't hurt people, she just plays these games to stay busy. Think about it, why else would she stay so obedient to someone like you?"

Pinako stayed quiet as she listened, waiting for a moment to arise where she needed to silence Wyn and diffuse the situation.

"Obedient? Do you have any idea-"

"If there's one thing I know about her Colonel, it's that she hates taking orders, she likes being the master of her sails, yet she still listens to you for the most part. I think it's because you've given her something to focus on." Pause. "It's more than what I could do." Wyn added as he looked away, and if Roy didn't know any better, he'd say there was sorrow there. Then it suddenly became clear, the two had grown up together for a good portion of their lives, he'd probably had a crush on her from the beginning. "I haven't seen her this relaxed in a while, I don't know why or how, but you've managed to bring the old her back a little."

Roy sighed. He wasn't good at this...family..type stuff. He was pretty much alone other than his line of work. Still, maybe he was right?

"Anyway, just don't forget who you're dealing with, she means a lot to us, she's not just some person on your checklist. You do something to hurt her and you'll have me to deal with, I don't care if you're an alchemist." The mechanic said as he allowed himself to relax a little. "I'm gonna take some lunch up to Ellie."

The others watched as the boy made his way to the kitchen and threw together a sandwich and poured some milk into a glass for his friend, then went up the stairs.

"Did I...do something?" Roy asked a bit awkwardly. Pinako shook her head and lit up a cigarette right there at the table, something she normally never did.

"No. He's been like this ever since she left. Ellie isn't easy to get close to anymore, she basically left us behind. We all know she still cares and considers us family, but she doesn't allow herself to become invested in things or people." She paused for a moment to puff on her cigarette. "No one can get close to her." She repeated.

Roy was quiet for a time. "Well, what does that have to do wi-"

"Because you did."

The man didn't quite understand. He knew what she was trying to say, but he didn't see how it made any sense. Eloise wasn't close, she was his charge. Were they mistaking that sort of closeness for something else?

"Gramma!" Wyn's voice bellowed from upstairs, Pinako and the Colonel both erupted from the table and rushed up the stairs. Expecting to see Eloise needing help or in trouble of some kind. Once they reached the doorway, however, there Wyn stood, the tray of food in his hands but no one to give it to.

"Where is she?" Roy asked as he walked further in, looking down at her bed where she should have been. "She didn't come downstairs, we would have noticed."

Pinako sighed heavily and took a longer than necessary drag off of her cigarette. "Good lord, what are you up to now El." She muttered as she walked to the window, opened it up and then stood aside. "She left. The snow is disturbed and her tracks are out back."

"What?! She's too sick! There's no way she could-" Wyn began as he set the tray down on her bed. "Her stuff is gone."

"Mhm.." Pinako added. "She felt like she was getting too close. So she left. To be honest I'm really not surprised."

Wyn grit his teeth together as he looked down, hand's balled into fists. "What did we ever do? Why won't she let us help her?" He uttered as he did his best to hold back the water from his eyes.

"Well, you'd better go find her." Pinako instructed as she left the room, Wyn followed her out as Roy looked out the window at the path she'd left.

"I'll grab my coat." The mechanic said hurriedly but as he was about to rush past his grandmother she held up a hand. "Not you dear."

Wyn didn't quite understand until she turned back and looked into the room, focusing on the soldier who was still turned toward the window.

"Him?" The boy asked, a little unsure.

"We both know it needs to be him."

Mustang shook his head and turned toward the two, he walked through the room and then out past the both of them. Making his way downstairs, he put on his heavy, military coat. A sense of duty about him, but also an air of worry. Before he could walk out the front door, Pinako placed a hand on his arm and then handed him the scarf Ellie had made him. The corner of his mouth pulled up into the slightest of smiles as he shook his head, taking the item and wrapping it around his neck.

"I'll find her. Don't worry." He assured and as he opened the door, but noticed that the storm was apparently making a come back. Snow was falling and being blown sideways, thankfully at the moment it wasn't very thick but that was likely to change.

"See that you do." Pinako added as she watched the man turn and walk out into the snow.

"Shouldn't I go too?" Wyn protested, but Pinako shook her head and sighed.

"No. It needs to be him. Come on, we need to stock the woodpile in the house before the blizzard buries it again."

The two watched as Roy left on foot, in search of the fullmetal alchemist.

Sorry it took so long to update! And don't forget to review! What do you think is going to happen?