Epilogue

Five years later…

Envy sat bolt upright in bed. His breath came sharp and ragged and his body quivered with tension. Moonlight gleamed off the thin sheen of sweat over his face and arms and glittered off the teardrops slowly slipping down his cheeks. A moment later the figure lying next to him sat up as well, arms sliding around his shoulders in a comforting embrace.

"Hey," she whispered, "was it another bad one?" He knew what she meant: was it another worse-than-normal one? He let out a shaky breath, not bothering to wipe the moisture off of his cheeks.

"I can still hear them screaming…" his voice was hoarse. Elsie's arms tightened around him.

"I'm so sorry…" her tone was pained.

"Hey," He reached up to brush a dark lock of hair away from her face, "Don't apologize. It's hardly your fault."

"It's not fair," she murmured. He shook his head.

"It's completely fair. It's the least I deserve," he replied tiredly. She sighed. They'd had this debate a thousand times before. She wasn't about to continue it now. The moonlight shone off of the gold band around her left finger, distracting her slightly. She decided to change to subject.

"It's our anniversary tomorrow," she said softly, resting her head against his shoulder. He blinked in surprise.

"Already?" he inquired. She nodded.

"I can't believe it's already been three years," she marveled. He chuckled softly, a smirk playing across his lips.

"Time flies when you're having a good time," his tone was mischievous as he slipped an arm around her waist and pulled her back against the pillows, rolling over to gaze down at her. He saw the flash of her teeth in the dark as she grinned.

"You're such a brat," she accused, her tone amused. He hummed.

"You knew that when you married me," he informed her dryly.

"Yes, I suppose I did," she smirked, arms slipping around his neck as she captured his lips with her own. The twisted horrors of his dream slowly drained out of his mind as he was very effectively distracted by the woman in his arms.

"They're here!" Mason called from the front yard. Elsie glanced up out the kitchen window to see the visitors they'd been expecting walking up the path to the house. The afternoon sun was beating down, glinting off the blond hair of the Elric family. She heard Envy call out a greeting as he walked around from the back of the house where he'd been working with Sig.

"Hey pipsqueak!" He called. Ed gave the green haired man a wilted look.

"That nickname doesn't even make sense anymore. I'm taller than you!" he shot back defensively. He was indeed almost a foot taller than the wiry man. Envy grinned.

"Maybe. But in my eyes you'll always be the angry little shrimp I so fondly remember," his tone was innocent. Winry clamped a hand down on her husband's arm before he could fly off the handle.

"Must you provoke him as soon as you lay eyes on him?" she demanded, giving Envy a reprimanding look. Envy had the good graces to look a little sheepish.

"What can I say? Some things will never change," he smirked at his half-brother and Ed rolled his eyes. Sig and Mason converged on the small group, greeting them cheerfully. Mason slapped Edward on the back congenially.
"You managing to get any sleep with those little hellions in the house?" he grinned at the blond man. Edward sighed, his dark circles answering the question for him.

"Wrath! Wrath!" the little blond girl next to Winry squealed, letting go of her mother's hand to dash towards the house. Her younger brother fussed slightly in his uncle's arms. Al, smiled indulgently, lifting the boy up to sit on his shoulders. The toddler grinned, grabbing two fistfuls of the man's short blond hair.

"Sara," Wrath greeted the enthusiastic little girl at the door, crouching down so she could wrap him in a hug. His long dark hair was pulled back in a ponytail and he too was now slightly taller than Envy. Sara pulled back quickly.

"Guess what, guess what!" She bubbled excitedly, "I'm turning four tomorrow!"

"Really? You're four already? Are you sure about that?" He raised an eyebrow, as if doubting the girl. Her grin quickly turned into a scowl.

"Yes I am! I'm four years old!" she declared vehemently. The now 15 year old Wrath cracked a grin, straightening up and ruffling the young girl's hair.

"Alright, I guess I'll trust you," he chuckled.

"Hey!" she grinned again, "Stop it!"

"I can always tell when those boys arrive. Everything suddenly gets louder," Izumi walked up beside Elsie at the kitchen sink. The dark haired young woman laughed softly.

"That's what you get when you have children," she pointed out.

"Indeed," Izumi replied. She frowned slightly as she stared out the window. "Envy seems tired. How are the dreams?" she inquired. Elsie grimaced.

"They don't come as frequently, but he still has them. I'm not sure they're ever going to go away completely," she replied, her tone bleak. Izumi nodded understandingly.

"We can never completely escape our pasts. Even once things are made right…." Elsie glanced at the older woman to see she had a hand resting on her stomach. She felt a terrible sinking feeling in her chest.

"It's getting worse, isn't it?" her voice was barely more than a whisper. Izumi sighed.

"I don't have much time left," she replied gravely.

"But…" Elsie wanted to object, but she knew the woman was right.

"I've been living on borrowed time for years. I'm just grateful to have lived long enough to see this," she stared out at the group of young people standing in her front yard. Her gaze moved to rest on the dark haired teen, currently occupied with the oldest Elric child. Her expression grew somber. "It's going to be hard on him," she commented softly. Elsie followed her gaze to Wrath and felt tears threatening to rise. Five years seemed like such a short time for him to have gotten to spend with his mother…

"I'll look after him. Both of us will," she said fiercely, referring to her green haired husband.

"I know," Izumi's gaze rested on the young woman with a smile, "You and Wrath are very close. You've been like an older sister to him. You're going to make a wonderful mother," her tone was meaningful. Elsie raised a hand unconsciously to her own stomach where a slight bump was beginning to show. Despite the distressing tone of their conversation, she felt a little blossom of warmth in her chest. "Have you decided on names yet?" Izumi asked with a warm smile. Elsie shook her head amusedly.

"Not yet. I think Envy is still trying to wrap his head around the idea. I thought he was going to fall over when I told him," she chuckled slightly. Izumi smirked.

"How does he feel about it?" she asked.

"He's hopelessly excited. And terrified," Elsie grinned. Izumi chuckled.

"It'll be good for him," her tone was amused.

"I think so," Elsie agreed.

"My ears are burning," Elsie heard the dry voice and turned to see her husband now leaning on the kitchen doorframe.

"It's about time you had your own little brat. I can't wait to see you fending off a couple of mini Envys" Edward commented smugly from behind him.

"Oh shut it pipsqueak," Envy rolled his eyes, before dodging an easy going punch from the blond alchemist. The group of young people filed into the kitchen finding seats at the table.

"Alphonse, when are you going to find someone to start a family with?" Mason demanded, "You're older brother's got two kids already for heaven's sake and a third one on the way if I'm not mistaken," he commented.

"You're pregnant again?" Elsie cried in surprise. Winry grinned tiredly.

"Yes indeed," the mechanic sounded happily resigned.

"I'll worry about that when I find the right girl," Al replied confidently, unconcerned by the older man's tormenting.

"Speaking of girls, what about you Wrath?" Ed demanded, glancing at the dark haired teen who had appeared in the doorway with the young girl still clinging to his hand, "Found yourself a sweetheart yet?" the alchemist's tone was teasing. Wrath turned slightly pink.

"No," he replied stiffly.

"Are you sure about that?" Winry raised an eyebrow, "I bet the girl's in town are falling for you left right and center," she replied with a knowing smile. Elsie chuckled at the boy's embarrassment. She had to agree with them though; it wouldn't be long till some girl latched onto him. He'd grown up nicely.

"Alright, enough tormenting each other," Izumi ordered dryly, "It's time for lunch," The older woman grabbed the pitcher of lemonade and cups from the counter and brought them over to the table. Elsie grabbed the two plates filled with sandwiches and followed her, setting them down in the middle of the table before sliding into the seat next to Envy's.

"Alright! These look great," Mason grinned.

"Hey, save one for me," Wrath said, slipping into the seat next to the young man.

"Mum!" Sara demanded imperiously.

"Come here and your dad can get part of a sandwich for you," Winry told the girl patiently. The young girl walked over to her parents and Ed scooped her up causing her to shriek excitedly before he settled her on his knee. Al passed the younger Elric child over to Winry before reaching for a sandwich of his own.

Elsie's gaze flicked to Izumi who was standing at the kitchen door with Sig. She watched the older man pull her into a careful embrace. Despite the knowledge that her time with them was coming to an end soon, Izumi looked happy; as happy as Elsie had ever seen her. It was hard to imagine how the place would be without her... Elsie's throat tightened and she glanced down at the table. The older woman would be sorely missed by everyone. But death wasn't the only thing on the horizon. She glanced across the table at her blond haired friend who was busy feeding the toddler in her arms. If Winry was pregnant then that meant she'd be having her baby around the same time as herself. She felt the warm glow return to her chest at the thought of the new life now growing inside her. The feeling of anxious anticipation was growing stronger by the day. Would it be a boy or a girl? What would they call it? What would they be like?

She felt a hand slip into hers, fingers intertwining with her own.

"I love you," Envy murmured in her ear, leaning in to steal a quick kiss. She smiled at him, feeling a thrill of happiness at the familiar words.

"I love you too," she replied softly, squeezing his hand.

-End-

-Author's Note-

Well, we've come to the end of the story. Since you've made it this far I'd love it if you'd do me the honor of letting me know what you think of it. I just hope you guys had as much fun reading it as I did writing it. ^^

Omg. Envy got married. xD Now, I know the concept is as old and dated as the dinosaurs, but really, is there anything wrong with marrying a guy before you start ripping his clothes off? Just a thought. xP I know, I guess that makes me a traditionalist. I think I'm the last of a dying breed...

I've finally started uploading the sequel to this story! It's called By Affliction of Emotion and you can find it on my page under the 'my stories' tab.

Speaking of my profile. There's a link to my dA account with the fanarts that I've drawn for this story. And I've already drawn a number of fan arts for each of my stories. So if you're interested...it's there ;)

Thank you all for reading and reviewing and favoriting and following. ^^ it brightens my day each time an alert pops into my inbox. It's awesome that other people actually enjoy this story. I've played around with writing since I was little , but I've never written fanfiction before and this is only the 2nd story I've ever completely finished...so I'm still relatively new to this. The positive feedback I've gotten from this story has been a little mind blowing. I really appreciate it. :)