Chapter 35

Afterward

"Impossible!" Wendy screamed, still slouched against the massive doors at the top of the stairs, dress tattered and bloody. "The Thule Society couldn't be disbanded by the likes of you! That's impossible! Envy would have never let himself be sent back to Shamballa by you people... he wouldn't have!"

Haushofer sighed. He didn't have time for this. "Look, all I know is that he was sent back. That's the story I heard. If you can't accept it, that's your issue."

"What about those Japanese assassins?!" Wendy cried out. "They were... they were on my side too! Where are they?!"

"They're nowhere to be found. Probably went back to report to their boss, then they're out of here."

Wendy kept shaking her head, mumbling, "Impossible... impossible..."

"Now," He held out a pair of handcuffs. "You'll be coming with me to the federal prison. I'm sure the Nazi Party would love to give you a fair beating for all the things you did."

That snapped Wendy back to reality. "What?! N-no, you can't! What about you, and all the things you helped Envy do?! You were being manipulated by him too! You can't just get off scot-free! You can't –!"

Officer Hughes helped restrain her to get the cuffs around her wrists, her kicking and screaming the entire way. "YOU CAN'T DO THIS! YOU CAN'T CONDEMN ME TO PRISON WHILE YOU GUYS GET NO KIND OF PUNISHMENT! LET ME GOOO!"

Meanwhile in the center of the long, cylindrical hall, three parents and one brother sat by the transmutation circle and cried.

"Teresa... Teresa..." Mrs. Elrick wailed, over and over. Her tears washed away what was left of the white chalk.

Mr. Elrick leaned over his wife, hugging her shoulders as he did his best not to cry.

Von was the third parent, the brother being Alfons. All were left without a body to mourn for the passings of their family: a daughter, a son, and a brother.

Alfons stood with his fists clenched, barely in belief that his brother was gone. He couldn't believe it. He couldn't face the fact that the one person he'd looked up to as a figure of strength all his life was no longer there. "Edmund... Teresa... they... you guys..." He couldn't form the words.

Wolfrik and his parents and Jiang and Mei stood by the weeping family members, offering what little comfort they could.

"Terry... Edward..." Wolf shook his head, in denial of it all.

Mr. Elrick spoke up, catching the attention of all who stood by: not just the Heiderichs and the Curtises, but the gypsies and Thule Society soldiers mourning over their dead, cleaning up the carnage caused by the grenades. "She's alive. I know she is. No Elrick would be killed off so easily." His green eyes watched Alfons and Wolfrik with earnest. "I'm sure of it."

"Why should I help you?" Envy prodded with rhetoric. "After all the trouble you caused us, you think we'd just hand over the power to return to Earth?"

"No, I didn't."

"Then why are you here?" Envy snarled.

"As a last good-bye." Terry smiled, taking a gracious bow before him and the other Homunculi, even Father himself, in their underground lair. She said, "Without you, I wouldn't have been able to have so much fun. I have you to thank. For all of it. So, now I bid you farewell, not as an enemy, but as a friendly rival. You couldn't have given me a better time."

"Even after we killed all your friends and threatened so many lives?" Envy burst disbelievingly. "I doubt that."

"You're still willing to come here and thank us?" asked Wrath.

"That's right." She grinned, waving as she went out the door.

"How did you live, anyway?" he asked as they walked down the streets of Central to the warehouse – the warehouse he'd prepared a transmutation circle to send her home. "Most die in the process of going through the Gate. The first time I was brought over, the only reason I survived was from one of my mother's soldiers being brought along in the process against his will. "

"Just because the Philosopher's Stone was used, that doesn't mean I have to die," Teresa said. "Page, you should know that."

He giggled, scratching the back of his neck – exactly how Teresa imagined another blond idiot might.

"You sure you don't want to come with me?"

He shook his shaggy, pale blond head. "Nah. I have everything I need right here. Turns out I'm better off. I like this world. I've become pretty skilled in alchemy, but if you ever visit again, be sure to head my way."

Teresa perked up at his request. She had a new goal now. "Of course. I'll be sure to come back with something I can properly thank you for helping me while I've been here." She lifted her hand for a fist bump, and so did he. "It's been fun."

I began this fanfic with the goal to put something into it that I hadn't into any other story before. I had hoped to portray that there was meaning even in the events of everyday life in a world that may not be so nice. I'm not sure if such a feeling got through, but I will say that although the journey has been long and hard, I have enjoyed nearly every second of it – even the not-so-enjoyable parts.

So much has happened over the two years that I've been writing this story I almost can't believe I'm finished with it. I can't believe it! I will happily put this fanfic away with a weight lifted off my shoulders. Often we hear "It's not the destination, but the journey," and I really have to agree. It isn't where we're going, but how we get there and what people we meet along the way that makes a destination worthwhile.

Special thanks goes to Edward Elric, who was the first to teach me to never give up even in the face of adversity, and has helped me in ways I can't even describe. Happy holidays~!

[End]