Author Note: Only the epilogue remains.

Disclaimer: FMA and its characters belong to Hiromu Arakawa

Chapter 48: The End of the Journey and the Start of Another

It had been over two months since Sarah and Alphonse were released from the hospital and they were just about healed. The brothers decided to head back to Resembool and Sarah tagged along after Edward insisted on her doing so. She didn't offer any protest, as she wasn't at all eager to leave Edward and return to her empty apartment. At this point Sarah was basically living with them at the Rockbell residence. This of course brought up the issue of bed arrangements. There were three available beds however there was often a patient staying there, which meant that two had to share a bed. Edward knew this when he invited Sarah to stay with them; he figured he would just share with Al no matter how cramped it was but Sarah had another idea. She insisted on sharing a bed with Edward. Being an official couple, there wasn't really a reason why they couldn't. Granny Pinako and the others were okay with it, in fact they encouraged it…even Winry did. Her feelings for Edward never really went away but still she supported the two's relationship wholeheartedly. Edward wasn't exactly opposed to the idea but he was still a little shy at times so he protested against the idea. However, he quickly agreed to it after Sarah explained why she wanted to share a bed with him, apparently she did have other reasons besides wanting to be close to him.

"Honestly Edward… I'm tired of all the lonely nights. I never had a choice before but now I do. It's selfish I know but I want to have you there."

"I'll still be in the room." Edward responded as he took in her sad eyes, his willpower crumbling with each word.

"I know but still that's not enough." She admitted. "Despite there being someone else in the room I still wake up alone with a hollow, empty feeling in my chest." She brought a hand up over her heart as if to emphasize the last part. "Besides…if I have any nightmares you'll be right there to comfort me." She said staring at him almost pleadingly. Edward sighed then smiled at her.

"Okay…" He agreed making her smile. The first night they shared the bed he kept as close to the edge as possible even though he wanted to wrap an arm around her and bring her close; he didn't want to overstep any boundaries that she might have and overwhelm her. She realized that he was trying to be considerate but really all she wanted was to have him hold her. She wasn't necessarily afraid of having nightmares but, like anyone else, she rather not have them. Somehow she knew that being in Edward's arms would keep them at bay so she scooted over and curled up against his side. He didn't hesitate to move his arm to make room for her. He pulled her close so that her head rested against his chest. The sound of Edward's heartbeat lulled her to sleep and Edward followed soon after. They both slept peacefully without any nightmares to haunt them.

Despite living peacefully in Resembool, Edward and Alphonse already started making plans for another journey this time separately. Alphonse planned to go to Xing to learn alkahestry from May while Edward headed west…alone. It wasn't long before Winry found out about this and she wasn't happy. She immediately confronted Edward over his decision to leave Sarah here while he went on this new journey. Naturally this confrontation started with a wrench slamming into Ed's head.

"Ow! Geez Winry what was that for this time?" Edward asked as he glared at the girl. However, he immediately became nervous when he saw just how angry she was.

"You're leaving her here." Winry stated angrily. Edward paled, knowing immediately what she was talking about. He nodded timidly. "Why?!" Winry demanded.

"Well…I-" Edward sputtered.

"WHY?!" Winry yelled again, not having any patience for him at that moment. Her yell startled Edward into speaking.

"Sarah's never been able to live normally before…never. Now she can. You weren't there to see her joy…her relief when she realized that there was no longer anything keeping her from a normal life. There's no way I could take that away from her. Dragging her with me on another journey will do just that. We know that trouble follows me wherever I go, at least here she can live peacefully until I come back." Winry calmed down somewhat after hearing his reasoning.

"Have you talked to her about this?" Winry asked. She glared again when Edward averted his eyes. "Does she even know about this journey?" She asked angrily. Slowly Edward shook his head. "God damnit Edward! You two are in a relationship…she has every right to know about this. You should have talked to her about this first." Winry scolded him.

"Still I won't-" Edward's sentence cut off as he was struck in the head again. He looked up to glare at Winry but saw that she was staring past him with wide eyes. Realizing that it wasn't Winry who had hit him, Edward turned around to look behind him. He winced when he saw Sarah standing right behind him with her hand still in the air. "Sarah…" He whispered taking in her angry expression.

"You're an idiot." She said, her face softening, before she grabbed his collar and pulled him into a kiss. Edward made a noise of surprise but he didn't move to pull away, instead he melted into the kiss like he always did. Sarah pulled away after a minute to stare at Edward's perplexed face. Wasn't she angry with me a second ago? Edward thought as he took in her now tender, loving expression. Sarah chuckled as she caressed one of his cheeks. "You should know by now that I want to be with you wherever you go…I came back for you didn't I?" She reminded him. "So don't go running off without me. No matter what I'll always be by your side, for as long as you want me." Edward smiled as he brought his arms up around her, pulling her into his chest.

"So forever then?" He asked half playfully, half seriously. Sarah laughed as she returned his embrace.

"Definitely…so you better buy me a ticket too." She said, just as seriously, as she stared up at him.

"I will." Edward sighed happily as he held her close to him, finally content with his life.

Author Note: I hope it didn't seem as if I was rushing things with the two sharing a bed.

Angry Winry is always fun to write.

The sooner you guys the review, the sooner I'll upload the last chapter.