Note: This update's coming a little earlier than the changed update schedule had planned for.

WARNING:Violence- no blood. Yet. But the blood will be coming.


Al wants to wince the moment the words left his mouth.

Said out loud, it sounds so… melodramatic. Like he's jumping to conclusions without proof.

But there really isn't a better way to put it, is there?

A troubled silence falls over the three of them.

"So then…" Mei hesitates, "what do we do about it? And what do we tell her?"

Because they have to tell her. Somehow.

Al won't even consider the alternative where they leave her in the dark and he knows Ed and Mei well enough to know that they would feel the same way.

No one, it turns out, has an answer for that.


Winry emerges around the same time Ed is considering the risk of going up the stairs to wake her.

Her eyes are bleary from sleep, her hair, still up in its ponytail from before, pokes out at weird angles.

She either didn't notice or she doesn't care.

She smiles appreciatively when she sees the food laid out on the table. "Thank you, Mei." She pulls out a chair and sits down. "I'm starving."

Mei shrugs, but she can't quite keep the smile off of her face. For someone who's supposed to hate cooking, she looks mighty pleased with herself.

It does look wonderful, but that's not even the best part.

Whatever blend of spices Mei used has mixed together to create a heavenly aroma that wafts around them.

Ed's mouth waters.

Places have already been set. The only thing left is for Ed to say the blessing. He does so.

"So…" Winry begins. She looks at the empty seat with a place set before it. "Noah isn't coming down, is she?" she asks. "Should we…?"

"I'll take a plate up to her." Ed stands, ignoring the urges of his own stomach, and fills a plate. "Start without me. I won't be long."


"Noah?" He raps gently on the door, but he won't risk opening it.

There's no answer from inside.

He sighs. "Noah, I've brought your dinner."

Saying it like that makes it sound like she's their prisoner, but there's nothing he can do about that.

If she's choosing to stay behind closed doors, that's her prerogative. Ed isn't going to work to make her change her mind.

He considers for a moment. Then he stoops to leave the plate on the floor near the door. He nudges it to the side, just so she won't accidentally step in it if she does choose to come out.

He raps on the door again with his knuckles. Predictably, nothing changes and there's still no answer.

"Your food's outside the door," he says, feeling more than just a little awkward. "In case you want it."

There's nothing more to say and there's no reason to linger.

He walks away.


In the end, Noah eventually opens the door to take the food.

She hadn't wanted to at first, but she had realized that there was nothing romantic or even reasonable about allowing herself to starve like some damsel in a storybook.

So she takes it and brings it back to sit on the bed.

The scent is… unusual, but not unpleasant. She takes up the fork left along with the food and pokes at it.

Meat and grain and unfamiliar spices.

She takes a bite.

The flavors are strong, but it's enough for her stomach that it's food. She hadn't realized until now how hungry she truly was.

It's different from what she ate with her tribe, but it's good. She finishes and sets the plate aside on the dresser.

She isn't willing to leave the room.

Instead, she curls up on the bed.

Edward hates her. He brought her food, he made sure she was okay, but it doesn't matter because he hates her.

She drags her knees to her chest. Her fingers ball into fists and she presses them hard against her eyes.

Edward hates her. He hates her. And it won't ever change, because he won't ever see her. He can't get past what she is. Who she is. What she's done.

He won't ever understand her. He won't even try.

It isn't fair.

Noah curls into a tighter ball around herself.

Her heart clenches and there's a burning sensation behind her eyes.

She wipes the moisture away, but she welcomes the tears.

If nothing else, she has a right to her own tears.


Noah wakes with a start. She's still curled on the bed and she slowly stretches herself out. It's dark out- plenty of stars, but the moonlight is minimal.

She pushes herself up until she's seated and lets her legs hang over the edge of the bed. Her bare feet brush the floor.

Noah doesn't remember falling asleep and she hadn't heard anyone else come up to bed, but if it's this late, then there's a good chance they're all asleep.

She stands, almost robotic in her movements. The pillow comes with her. She clutches it almost helplessly to her chest.

Noah crosses the room, feet gliding soundlessly across the floor. She stops at the door. Her heart is pounding and her mind is racing, but anything even faintly resembling a coherent thought eludes her.

What is she doing?

Her fingers wrap around the door knob and she turns it.

It feels like all of her has suddenly become devoted to a single purpose without knowing what that purpose actually is.

No… She swallows, but it does nothing to alleviate the dryness in her throat. No, she knows exactly where she's going and it terrifies her, yet electrifies her at the same time.

A strange sort of excitement ripples down her spine. It gives her chills.

After tonight, her problems will be solved.

She's trembling when she steps into the hall, when she enters the room across from hers. She hesitates before she shuts the door.

Her resolve sharpens. The click of the door closing rings with a firm note of finality. There's no turning back now.

The room's occupant was asleep, blonde hair spilling across the pillow.

Noah stands over her, fingers digging into the pillow.

What does this girl offer that Noah doesn't? What makes her better?

"I am everything you are," Noah whispers. She doesn't know where the words come from, but that doesn't make them any less true.

She holds the pillow in front of her like a shield.

And then she brings it down over the sleeper's face.

Winry awakes in an instant, bucking against Noah's weight. In the faint light, Noah can just make out the whites of her eyes. Her arm lashes out, catching Noah in the chest.

Noah had thought she could do this, but now she's realizing she underestimated the strength of the other woman.

Winry is lean, but years of automail mechanics have toned the muscles in her arm. When she balls her fist and strikes out again, this time delivering a glancing blow to Noah's chin, the strike has more power to it than Noah would have thought.

The blow smarts and it nearly dislodges Noah. She fights to stay put.

Winry is fully awake now and thrashing.

Noah is terrified now- she had been counting on this being a silent ordeal. There's a possibility that this will wake the rest of the household and- what is she doing, this isn't her, what is she doing- if that happens…

Winry's nails dig into the flesh of Noah's forearms, scratching her deeply. It catches Noah off guard, throws her off balance, and it's enough for Winry to finally throw her off.

With a noise somewhere between a scream and a sob, Winry shoves her hard.

Noah stumbles back. She fails to catch herself in time to remain upright and falls against the dresser.

Hard.

The whole thing rattles. Something crashes to the floor.

The dog starts barking downstairs.

People will start waking up.

Ed will wake up.

No. This can't be happening. No. It wasn't… She didn't mean…

Winry's hands are on her shoulders, struggling to keep her pinned down.

"Stop." Winry's voice is small, in between pants. "Stop."

Noah grunts, arches her back. The dresser is digging into her back painfully.

She reaches back, fingers groping. They close around something.

She doesn't think. She acts.

She swings her arm with a wordless cry-

-and plunges the object into Winry's side.


Note: This was originally meant to a one-shot- then a three chapter fic, with an estimate of about 8,000 words max. Then it became this. But in all three, this was intended to be the climax.