Tigger: (is breathing heavily and looking around frantically) Okay so I managed to escape.
Amy: How long do you think you have till Armstrong gets back?
Tigger: I don't know. How long does it take to fight off a tank full of sharks?
Amy: It's Armstrong.
Tigger: Right, I'm going to start running now.
Amy: Uh wait before you go, you promised Al you would say the disclaimer in exchange for getting privilege to smack Ed upside the head.
Tigger: I don't have time for this.
Armstrong: BEWARE SHARKS YOU HAVE NO IDEA OF THE ARMSTRONG POWER!
Tigger: GAH! Okay fine. I DON'T OWN FMA! NOW I GOT TO RUN!
Amy blinked and looked around. Everything was gone. There was no more Milo or Ed or Al. There were no stacks of books or alchemy circles. All there was…was yellow. No people, no animals, no inanimate objects, no nothing. She looked down at herself. All of her injuries were still there but she couldn't feel them anymore.
"Hello?" she called out confused.
Where was she? What was going on? Was she dead? No, she would have known if she had died. Right? Who didn't know of their own passing? Besides she had a feeling she had been here before, wherever here was, anyway.
"Amy," a voice spoke.
Amy whirled around, startled, and came face to face with herself. Surprised she backed up, `Was she dreaming again? But if Amelia was real then they weren't really dreams were they? Even then this still meant she was unconscious. How would she remember this when she woke up? How could she prove this was real? Was this real?
If those thoughts weren't causing her head to spin, the conversation sure was. Amy had no idea why Amelia was being so confusing. Why did she just spill her story like that? She didn't even stop to explain or let Amy interrupt. It seemed like she was in a hurry, but why? Where was she going? Her clues led Amy to believe that Amelia was now free, but where would she go? Her body was dead. Could she return to it? What if she couldn't? What then? Would Amelia become a ghost?
"If Amelia is the essence of me then she should be easier to understand," Amy's mind groaned, "I don't think I've ever been this confusing."
"When you collided with my body, my soul returned to my body. The body has long since passed though."
"What will happen to you now?" Amy asked although a feeling in her stomach told her she wouldn't like the answer.
"I don't know. Then again who does really?"
"What do you mean?" Amy questioned. Her stomach was doing flip-flops as the awful feeling increased.
"It died so I die. It's simple as that."
She meant she was going to die. Amy knew that much. They were the same, so how could she not catch the clues? Amy had been a life-force for Amelia. She had been Amelia's mind and body, without those there was no Amelia. Amelia had only explained because she knew she would never have another chance too.
"How can you be so calm about that?" Amy shouted, close to tears.
How could she expect death so easily? How could she give up her life like that? Amy always fought to live, why was Amelia so different? Why would she give up what she knew for something she didn't know? Why take that risk? Amy would play host to Amelia if Amelia needed it. She would help Amelia gain a body. She could put her in a suit of armor. Amy understood the will to live and was willing to help others live. What Amy couldn't understand, was the will to die. No one ever came back from death, not even in a world with alchemy.
"You'll see one day," Amelia smiled a sort of little smile and waved to her, "This is where we part."
"No don't go! I want to talk!" Amy shouted reaching for Amelia.
If only she could stall her, persuade her. Anything! She wouldn't allow an innocent to die. Amy and Amelia were the same. Letting her die, would be like letting her twin die. No one else would ever understand them the way they could understand each other. There was so much they could gain, so much they could do. So much to compare, to talk about, to dream together. There were years and years ahead, if only Amelia let Amy help.
Her fingers grasped nothing though. Amelia continued to smile as she faded from existence. Amy was frantic now. She grasped the air over and over again, trying to grab the girl and haul her back into existence.
"Wait!" Amelia screamed desperate to stop her, to help her.
But Amelia was gone.
Winry was sitting next to Amy's hospital bed on an uncomfortable chair. The lights were too harsh for this time of night, but she paid it little mind. Her mind was elsewhere. Her thoughts were focused on the girl she was sitting beside. Amy's injuries had been healed nicely, nothing life threatening, and now they were just waiting for her to wake up.
Silence hung heavy in the air. Winry knew that the two brothers were blaming themselves for this incident. Normally she would try and snap them out of it, but the only person who could do that this time was Amy. Winry's heart felt a pang as she thought about the poor girl. How could something like that happen to her? Amy was a shy cute girl. Who would want to hurt her?
Winry glanced at Ed and Al. When she had arrived at the scene there had been lots of chaos. Al had come running out with Amy held in his arms. Amy had been whisked away by a doctor or nurse of some sort while the police charged in. They had emerged with Ed and a man in chains. The man was screaming and thrashing. The police holding him, winced at his voice, but didn't seem to pay attention to what he was screaming. Winry had heard though.
"My experiment! My experiment! Bring her back! Bring her back! I can prove it! I made her! You should bow to me! I can clone people! I can! I can!" he had screeched.
At that moment he caught sight of Amy who was being examined by the medical personnel. Winry's heart had leapt into her throat as she tried to hold down the fear and panic. Before she could dash over, another shout was heard.
"What have you done to her?" the man began to shout. He was looking at Ed with an unimaginable rage in his eyes. Clearly he blamed Ed for his and 'his experiment's' fate.
Winry could hardly believe that this was the same man she had met yesterday. That man had been so composed, so in control. He was calm, cool, and collected. Even when faced with confrontation, he never showed any anger. Now he was a manic. His emotions were all over the place. He neither cared nor was aware of the fuss he was causing. Instead, he seemed to be focused on one thing and one thing only. Amy.
Winry shivered. That look in his eyes would haunt her for the rest of her life. She tried to distract herself by thinking of other things, but her mind seemed to be going in circles. This evening would be imprinted on all their minds forever. Winry glanced at Amy. She felt so bad for her. It was obvious that Amy had never dealt with things such as this before. How would she react? How would she fare after this event?
Without any real thought to it, Winry grasped Amy's hand and held it tight. She wanted to let Amy know she was here. She was going to help her. Winry would not let her deal with this alone. She, Ed, and Al knew how important support and comfort was in times of need. After all, they had all suffered tragic losses, but they had had each other to help them through it. Amy had already lost so much, she shouldn't have to loose any more.
Amy began to awaken. Immediately Winry and the others snapped to attention. Her eyes opened very slowly and she blinked a few times before focusing on anything. She seemed confused and her eyes still had traces of sleep in them.
"Amy," Winry called to her, "Amy how do you feel?"
Amy didn't reply but instead her brow wrinkled in confusion. Slowly she lifted her arm and examined it. Her eyes widened and she looked around the room frantically.
"Amy," Al called to her, "Amy it's alright."
Amy didn't say anything but her eyes began to fill up with tears.
"You're safe now," Ed told Amy, "We put Milo in jail. He'll never bother you again. I promise."
Winry glanced at Ed. He looked miserable. Ed had never been good with crying girls especially when it was his fault. Although this time it really wasn't his fault, but Winry knew Ed wouldn't accept that. Both Ed and Al always took the blame. They hated seeing others suffering and would rather suffer themselves because then they were the only ones getting hurt.
"She's dead!" Amy sobbed.
Amy's comment caught everyone off guard.
"She's dead. She's dead. She's dead." Amy kept repeating to herself through the tears.
"Who's dead?" Winry asked.
"It's all my fault," Amy cried into her hands, "All my fault. She shouldn't have died! She can't have died! She was supposed to live! She had friends and family and a life and it's all gone!"
"Who's dead?" Winry asked again, but this time looking at Ed.
Ed clenched his fists and looked down at his feet.
"Amelia," Ed spat through clenched teeth, "That bastard killed Amelia and was going to hurt Amy next."
Winry's eyes widened. So it was true, the townspeople had suspected right. Amelia had never run off. Instead she was killed by her teacher and left to rot in a basement. Winry's stomach took a horrified churn and her eyes watered slightly. She looked over at Amy.
Amy was still weeping and screaming. All Winry could hear was the same line over and over again.
"My fault. All my fault."
"Amy, it's not your fault," Al tried to assure her, "Milo was the killer and he was going to hurt you too. None of this is your fault. If anything it's ours."
"You don't understand!" Amy shouted, "Amelia was me! She was me! He killed myself of this world! Oh my God! I'm dead. She's dead. We're dead! Dead! Dead! Dead! All my fault! Her-mine family friends all left behind. Dead. Forever."
Amy seemed to have gone into shock as she continued to spit out phrases as if she was in a trance. Over and over again she kept calling herself dead. She insisted that it was all over. That it was all her fault. Finally Winry couldn't take anymore.
"YOU'RE NOT DEAD!" Winry screamed.
Immediately all noise from Amy stopped. She seemed to realize where she was for the first time and stared up at Winry surprised.
"DON'T YOU DARE SAY YOU'RE DEAD!" Winry continued to yell, "Dead is when people don't come back! When you never see them again! When they never kiss you good-night or tell you good-bye! When you never spend another moment with them! When they leave you with a gaping hole in your heart!"
Tears began to slip out of Winry's eyes and down her cheeks. She rubbed them away angrily but the more she tried to get rid of them, the more tears came.
"You are not dead!" Winry said fiercely, "You are still here! You can still get up and walk! You may be suffering now, but that shows you are still alive. You have to move pass this! You're heart still beats! You're still alive! Don't you dare ever say you're dead! Don't you ever say it!"
Winry sobbed and tried to rub her eyes dry with the back of her arm.
"Because," she whispered, "I never want to loose someone important to me ever again."
Amy's eyes began to water again.
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry," she sobbed.
Winry smiled gently and gave Amy a hug.
"I'm sorry too."
Ed grumbled slightly as he woke. His muscles were sore from the previous day and he felt like he hadn't gotten any sleep at all. Lazily he stretched his limbs trying to remove the kinks. Once stretched, he headed over to the bathroom to get ready. When he emerged twenty minutes later, he saw Al sitting by the window gazing out it.
"Ready to go?" Ed asked.
Al looked up and nodded. The two left the hotel room and headed over to the hospital. There was a heavy silence as the two walked through the early morning. Few people were out at this hour. Ed continued to observe his surroundings, sending occasional glances at his brother.
"Al," he began not really sure what to say next.
"I'm fine brother," Al tried to reassure him, "I'm just want to know how Amy is doing."
"Winry would have called us if anything was wrong," Ed pointed out.
"I know," Al glanced up at the early morning sky, "Brother, is this our fault?"
Ed also craned his neck upward. The sky was on the darker side now but rays of light could be seen over the horizon. A few birds drifted through the early morning air.
"We've made so many mistakes, haven't we?" Ed questioned, "And others have had to pay the price."
Ed could see Al peering at him from the corner of his eye. He pretended not to notice and continue.
"They're our sins and yet others bare the burdens. We've suffered so much yet we can't protect the people we care most about."
"I don't think that's true brother," Al objected, "I do not think we pressure them or force them to bare our problems. They have chosen to stay close. Winry, Auntie Pinako, Ms. Hawkeye, and Colonel Mustang all know what we have done but they have chosen to stay with us."
"They have, haven't they?" Ed grinned.
"I am grateful to have them," Al said sincerely.
"We're just lucky," Ed said, "What are the chances other people like them exist?"
"Do you suppose Amy feels that way?" Al asked, "Do you think she minds being around us? Look at all we put her through. After last night. I'm not sure she'll ever forgive us."
Ed frowned. Last night has certainly not gone as planned and he regretted even suggesting his plan. His stomach clenched as guilt shot through him. He never meant for something like this to happen. Last night, Amy had looked so scared and frightened when she woke up. He could only imagine the horrors she had witnessed and he could kick himself for ever losing sight of her.
"I don't know Al," Ed admitted.
"Ed! Al!" a voice called out to them.
Ed and Al spun around to see Winry racing down the street to them.
"Winry?" Ed questioned, "What are you doing here? I thought you were staying at the hospital with Amy."
"I was but we got hungry. The food there is atrocious, so I went out to get something," Winry explained.
Now that she had pointed it out Ed did notice Winry holding a large paper bag in her hands.
"Are you sure it was a good idea to leave Amy alone?" Al asked, "She seemed pretty upset last night."
Winry's mood quickly changed from chipper to affronted and the smile disappeared off her face.
"I would never leave her alone if I thought she needed me," Winry hissed, "She's fine now. We spent all night talking."
"Al didn't mean it that way Winry," Ed quickly intervened, "We were just worried."
Winry frowned for another couple of seconds before releasing a sigh.
"I know," she sighed, "But really Amy's okay now. We spent all night talking. Amy was just confused and scared last night."
Winry did look a little dead on her feet. There were large circles under her eyes and her skin was slightly paler then usual.
"She had confused herself with the Amelia. It was like she couldn't tell the difference between her and Amelia. She just kept saying she had died," Winry explained with a far-off look in her eyes, "That may have been the scariest part of yesterday. I thought I was losing her."
"But she's all right now, right?" Al asked hesitantly.
"Yep," Winry nodded cheerfully.
"Let me guess you snapped her out of it with a lot of yelling and some wrench swinging," Ed smirked, "That's just like you."
Next thing Ed knew he was lying on the ground and his head was pounding.
"Hmph," Winry huffed and began to walk away.
"You know you kind of deserved that one brother," Al said offering Ed a hand.
"Shut up," Ed mumbled into the dirt.
OMAKE:
Tigger: (is hiding in a tower of toys) He won't find me here! He won't find me here!
Armstrong: TIGGER YOU HAVE PROVEN DIFFICULT TO FIND SO I HAVE RECRUITED MY COUSIN!
Cousin: ONCE WE FIND TIGGER WE WILL MAKE HER RUN 20KM!
Armstrong: YES WE WILL BUILD HER FITNESS FOR HER PUNISHMENT!
Tigger: (is mildly curious about who this cousin is peaks out) AHHH MY EYES THE SPARKLES THEY BURN!
(Tigger passes out)
Amy and Al and Ed: (all look up) AHHHH! THERE ARE TWO! (all pass out)
Armstrong: I guess our Armstrong genes were too much for them.
Cousin: Let us go run 40km!
Armstrong: LET'S!
[Here is the url code to see the other Armstrong from the author's new work Gin no Saji (Go to mangafox and then look up gin no saji and its chapter 1 page 32)]
