Hey everybody! Happy end of the month! (It's my goal to get one out by the end of each month!) I hope your Februaries were good, and I hope you enjoy this chapter. My writing pattern was strange, I would sit down and write a lot, wait a lot, then sit down and write a ton more, and it was really sporadic. I hope this chapter is coherent. Haha. Thanks for reading, and enjoy!
Ed tied his shoelaces nervously. The hotel room was quiet. Toby and Daniel were already ready. Everyone was nervous to escape. "Alright," he whispered to them, "It's cold out there, so if you hide your face, everyone will think it's from the wind." He didn't know why he was whispering, but everything just seemed so quiet. The sun was rising, and the three were about to make their way to the station.
Toby and Daniel went out the side door while Ed returned the key to the front desk. "You taking Daniel and Toby somewhere safe?" Erika asked. "They're leaving tomorrow. Don't disturb the room, they'll go out the back when they need to. They don't need the key," he slid it over the counter. "Okay," Erika nodded with a suspicious smile. "Are you sure you want to go?" she gave a pout. "I can't stay another day," he said, recognizing her advances, "Winry already misses me too much at home." He quickly dismissed himself, noting the time, and left through the front.
Ed met Toby and Daniel on the side of the hotel, and the three of them walked quickly to the station. There were a few people milling about in town, and it was key that none of them recognized them.
"Tickets," the man said, looking over the three of them. They had made it to the station, and Ed was starting to get nervous. He was looking around suspiciously, and thought he saw someone behind the pillar. Toby and Daniel handed over their tickets to be stamped as if they were two travelers, and Ed did too when the man asked him for his ticket. They were treated as separate parties to Ed's relief. They lifted their bags up and into the train and found their seats in Car D.
All three of them remained silent as they put their bags under their seats and sat across from each other. Passengers filed in around them, and Ed was so anxious for the train to leave. "Ed, do you smell that?" Daniel asked quietly. It was barely audible because of all the people bustling around them. There was a loud child sitting behind Ed, and a couple having a tiff across the aisle. "Yeah, I do," Ed gave a slight nod.
Toby watched their nervous expressions, the fear showing on his face. "Are you excited, Toby?" Ed returned to his joyful self, so as not to alarm anyone. Toby answered hesitantly, "Yeah. I've never been to a super big city." "It'll be nice to start moving, huh?" Ed asked Toby, but looking at Daniel. "I know that feeling," Daniel tried to smile.
It was all code. Daniel had seen the man behind the pillar too, and all three of them just wanted to be moving. Ed looked out the window. "All those people," he was referring to the people on the platform, "are going to cities everywhere." Ed's eyes flickered to the pillar. The man was still standing there. Ed hoped he wouldn't get on the train.
…
Al awoke in the middle of the night, slightly hot. He remembered using all his chi on finding Ed, but he didn't remember falling asleep on the couch. He removed one arm from under the blankets and ran his hand through his hair, staring up at the ceiling. He thought about May, upstairs and asleep. Did she really understand his motives? He thought about Winry, upstairs and asleep. She was so strong. All of the things going on around her seemed overwhelming to him, but she had bounced back from the Neil incident so quickly.
He hoped that May and he could be in a strong relationship like Winry and Ed's in the future. He imagined a house not unlike this one, the two of them snuggling on the couch, and he smiled. He knew that married life was hard, but he couldn't seem to imagine them fighting. He was sure that making up was good though, if they ever did fight.
His mind wandered to the thought of the first night of marriage- the honeymoon. He could feel the blood rushing to his face, and he swallowed nervously as if it were somehow tonight. He dismissed the thoughts quickly, turning over on the couch to his side, knowing that he would need more sleep before morning came.
The next time Al awoke was to Winry and May making breakfast. "Watch out for the splatter," Winry turned the stove top down. Al could hear the sizzling of some sort of breakfast meat on the pan. He guessed bacon from the smell that hit when he lifted the blankets away from partially covering his face. May was getting things from the fridge, and Al sat up on the couch.
May cracked the eggs into the pan, and Winry was flipping the bacon. "The biscuits have been in for 7 minutes, I'm going to check them really quick," Winry pulled the oven mitt from the drawer and May moved away from the oven while Winry peeked. "It's hot in there for sure," Winry smiled, "They'll be done soon."
Al was out of bed and in the doorway to the kitchen, smiling at the two of them in aprons and cooking. Winry smiled back at him. He approached busy May at the pan with eggs. "It smells really good, guys. It woke me from my slumber," Al mused.
"I'm glad," May smiled, "How did you sleep?" "Really well," Al helped Winry set the table. May flipped the eggs, "Draining your chi on accident does that to you." She remembered when she first drained her chi, "The first time I did it, I went out for the next 10 hours."
"I was training too hard, trying to improve, but I was trying too hard. My instructor came looking for me when I didn't show up to lessons, and he found me asleep. I got quite the lecture when I woke again," she recalled. She moved out of the way so Winry could get the biscuits from the oven. "If you overuse your chi and drain it over and over, it will become exhausted, just like if you physically train too hard," she explained, "It can be really damaging and take a lot to fix."
After breakfast, Al washed the dishes. "Granny's coming tomorrow, right?" he asked Winry. "Yeah, she's coming in the morning, probably around lunch time. We could all eat lunch downtown if we want to," she answered. "That sounds nice," May commented. "Yeah, definitely," Al seconded.
"Well what do you two want to do today? I have customers coming in I think," Winry said. "We can just hang around the house if you don't mind," Al responded, "You don't have to entertain us. We can just study more Alkahestry." "Are you sure?" Winry asked. "Yeah, we definitely don't mind," May answered, "I'll even help you out if you need an extra hand over there at the workbench."
The day seemed short when it was all over. Winry crawled into bed at last, feeling exhausted. Granny was coming tomorrow, and she was nervous about what Granny would say about her. She was sure that Granny seeing her would stir up memories of Sarah, Winry's mom. She wondered what Ed was up to, hoping that he would come home soon. Maybe he was on his way home, just like Granny was.
The sun was barely up when Winry woke the others. They all cooked breakfast in the kitchen and scarfed down their food. "I haven't seen Granny in such a long time," Al said, "It'll be good to see her." "Yeah, it's exciting," Winry smiled, "We'll have to start decorating the place for the shower too." Winry washed the dishes while the others got dressed. They were still a little bit groggy, and Winry expected it was the time change. She tidied up the kitchen and then began to worry about if her house was clean enough for Granny to visit.
"Don't worry, Winry," May came down the stairs, "I started moving some of my things so Granny can have my room." Winry suddenly remembered that she didn't know where Granny would be sleeping. They had talked about hotel rooms downtown and staying here, but she didn't remember the conclusion. "It's alright, Winry," May saw the panic in her eyes, "It'll work itself out."
Winry took a deep breath, "Okay, let's get the decorations out. I forgot that it was already Thursday and this party is on Saturday." Al returned from the bathroom to find the girls pushing boxes around on the floor. "This banner is probably going to go over there," May opened a box and pulled it over to the doorway to the kitchen.
"Yeah," Winry seemed distracted. "We're getting decoration boxes out so we can decorate with Grandma Pinako when we get back from the station," May explained to Al. Al checked the time. Major Armstrong would be here any minute to pick them up. "Winry, I think Major Armstrong will be here soon. We can continue with Granny here. Don't worry too much, okay?" he tried to lead Winry over toward the door to help her with her coat. May watched, and noticed how flustered Winry was. Her chi was buzzing with activity. She was worrying, and suddenly, May felt something touching her own energy. It was a small yellow orb of energy from Winry.
She almost dropped what she was holding. She looked at Winry and saw the yellow energy mixed with her light blue. Winry was putting on her coat, and Al was helping her to take deep breaths. Winry's eyes were filling with tears. May honed in on the yellow energy mixed with Winry's. It was soft and kind, but it was also very strong. "Alphonse," May was staring off, but reached out to touch his shoulder. "What is it?" he asked, noticing May's wide eyes. Winry was about to cry and he was trying to calm her, and now May was looking at him strange. "It touched me," she said. "What do you mean?" Al looked from Winry to May, not sure what was going on with both the women, and he didn't know which one to help first.
He hugged Winry close to him as she started to cry. "Al, I…" her words were incomprehensible to Al, but he held her and stroked her long hair with her head on his chest. "Shh, it's going to be okay, Winry," he said, looking over at May. "Alphonse, the child's chi touched me. I felt it," she snapped out of her stare. Focusing on the energies realm would take too much from her. "What do you mean?" he gave her a questioning look. "Feel Winry's energy. Look at it," she said.
Al tried to understand Winry, but she was talking into his vest, and he didn't understand her words. "Ed's going to be home soon, Winry. And everything's going to be okay. Granny will comfort you. She'll make you your favorite foods I'm sure. She 'll make stew for all of us," Al smiled, hoping Granny would make stew for them.
There was a knock at the door, and Al felt that things couldn't get more complicated. But he kept his cool. May answered the door, still in her own shock. "Princess May! It's so good to see you again," Major Armstrong got out before he noticed that Winry was crying on Alphonse. "It is good," May smiled, "Winry's just feeling a bit off today, though…" She trailed off, not sure exactly how to describe it. Winry had looked up by now and was trying to dry her tears in the company.
Armstrong wanted to ask what had happened, but he decided it was better not to. "It'll be alright, Winry," Al offered his handkerchief for her. She took it gladly, and dabbed at her puffy eyes. "I'm sorry, everyone," she apologized. Everyone got their coats on, and Armstrong tried to make small talk about the weather. "It is getting colder and colder these days," he said, "Best to bundle up." They all made it out to the car, Al taking special care to bring Winry a snack, and he helped her into the front, next to Armstrong.
Armstrong tried to cheer her on the car ride, and Al and May were whispering in the back. "I felt the child's chi. It reached out and touched mine," May insisted, "Focus on her energy. There is yellow in the light blue." Al took a deep breath, closing his eyes to focus. He opened them and saw what May was trying so hard to convince him of. There was yellow mixed into the light blue, and it was indeed a different energy. He blinked and unfocused on the energies realm.
"It reached out and touched you?" he asked. "Yeah, and it touched my energy. I felt it," May repeated, "I'm not sure what it means or how it happened." Al was taken back. May knew everything energy. She was pretty much already an Alkahestry master. "I'll have to do more research," May admitted, but she was up for the discovery. She liked learning about things she knew nothing about.
Keep reading for the Edwin reunion! I promise if not next chapter, the chapter after!
