Chapter 25
A/N: This is a random Risembool chapter to let you know what's up with the emo kids. They're still alive, after all... So, on with the chapter!!!
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Winry sighed and glanced up from her work. It's just too damn lonely... Den sat quietly at her side, using the peace to sleep. Winry stood up and set down the wrench in her hand. She walked to the door and looked out to see Al sitting in the grass quietly. He appeared to be thinking, pulling blades of grass up between his fingers every few seconds.
"What're you doing, trying to kill the lawn?" Winry asked, pulling Al out of his thoughts.
"Oh... no, not exactly," Al said, laughter in his voice. Winry smiled and sat down next to Al. Al looked at her silently. She's not the same since Brother broke up with her, he thought to himself. Her eyes have lost their light... Winry looked up at him with her dull eyes sadly, making Al worry about her even more.
"I wonder how Ed is," she said softly. "He hasn't called in months..."
"I'm sure he's fine," Al replied. He looked away from Winry as he said this because it almost hurt him to look at her. Is this what they mean by heartbroken?
"And I hope Kaylen is well," Winry said, her voice almost at a whisper. Al looked at her as she said this, knowing she didn't mean it. Winry knew that Kaylen was the girl in Ed's mind that night, but she just couldn't admit it. Talking about it just made her sadder, but somehow it was mentioned almost every day.
"It'll be okay, Winry," Al said before standing up. Winry smiled at him as she watched him walk into the house. Suddenly, she felt a single tear slide down her cheek and placed her head in her hands. Not again... Don't cry for him again.
Al walked around the house silently, almost completly bored out of his hypothetical mind. I really do wonder how Brother is... I wish he'd call us. As these words went through Al's mind, the phone behind him rang loudly, making him jump. He went to answer it himself since no one else was around. "Hello?"
"Al, thank God!" Ed said on the other end.
"Wow, I'm amazing..." Al said quietly.
"What was that?" Ed asked.
"Um, nothing!" Al said. "So how are you? Why haven't you called us?"
"Sorry, I just haven't had the time," Ed replied. "We've just figured out that this guy blew up a school for stone components, and he wrote a clue about you. So, keep your eyes open, okay?"
"Alright," Al said, "but you never said how you were."
"Girlish, how else would I be?" Ed said, and the brothers laughed.
"Is Kaylen okay?" Al asked.
"Oh, she's lovely," Ed said, a smile in his voice. "Tell Winry I said hi, okay?"
"I will..." Al said. "You really need to call more often. Winry really looks like a ghost walking around here. She's still taking it pretty badly." Ed sighed heavily.
"Well what do you want me to do?" Ed asked. "I'm..." He trailed off, leaving Al to finish his sentence.
"You're with Kaylen, right?" Al asked, and Ed remained silent. He really didn't want to answer Al's question, but the truth was obvious. The silence on the phone was broken by Winry in the background.
"Al?" she said, and Al whipped around to look at her. She wore a true smile for the first time in a long time; apparently she had heard the conversation from the other room.
"Brother, Winry would like to talk to you," Al said, waiting for the response on the other end.
"Alright, put her on," Ed said reluctantly. Al handed Winry the phone and left the room silently.
"Edward, is it really you?" Winry asked quietly, fighting back tears.
"Yeah, it's me," Ed replied. "How are you? How are things back home?"
"Everything's alright," Winry answered. "Just the same old stuff going on. How about you, Miss Emily?"
"We've dug ourselves a little deeper into the whole clue thing," Ed said with a sigh. "We aren't sure where this is going to lead, but we're gonna stick with it until the end."
"How is Kaylen?" Winry asked, jealousy obvious in her voice.
"She's okay," Ed said nervously. "We were hoping you and Al would come out to Mascradé for Christmas. We'll both be there."
"I don't see why not," Winry replied, wrapping the phone cord around her finger. "Ed, I'm so glad you called. I was starting to wonder if you had forgotten about us."
"Guess not. Well, I've gotta go," Ed said as a girl's laugh became audible in the background. "It was nice to talk to you, Winry. I miss us talking like old times."
"Yeah... I'll let you go," Winry said as a tear found its way down her cheek. She hung up the phone without a goodbye and turned to see Al standing behind her. They looked at each other for a moment and then turned away.
"I guess he's too busy for us now," Al said quietly.