Roy carefully opened the door to room number 215 and peeked inside. A small smile appeared on his face at the sight of the two brothers, both fast asleep on the bed. Alphonse laid, resting his head on Edward's arm, while Ed had his hand snuggled in his younger brother's hair.
Gently, Roy put his hand on Winry's back and lead her into the room. She stopped as she came through the door and looked to the bed and the two forms in deep peaceful sleep.
She stood like that for some time, taking in the sight before lowering her head silently. Roy noticed that her shoulders were trembling.
"Are you okay, Miss Rockbell?" he asked calmly, reaching out for her shoulder.
Quickly, she looked back up at the Colonel, revealing a smile and nodded eagerly.
"Yes," she stated with glinting blue eyes. "I am just relieved." A shaky breath left her, finally relaxing her shoulders.
Roy stepped back, contemplating if he should leave. His thoughts got interrupted by Winry's high pitch voice. "What happened to him?"
"The fire," he answered simply, understanding that her question was directed at the missing arm. "His arm and left leg."
"Oh," she mumbled weakly.
Al stirred a little and his eyes fluttered open, woken by the sound of the quiet talking.
"Sorry, we didn't mean to wake you," Roy said immediately at the confused look on the boy's face.
"No, that's okay. I guess I fell asleep," he said in a slight daze and scrambled to sit back up. He looked back at Ed's still sleeping form and smiled. "Don't worry about him though. He's always been a heavy sleeper."
Roy nodded almost unnoticeable. He had noticed.
"I'll leave you three alone." Roy stepped towards the door and was about to open it up as Al's voice stopped him.
"Edward told me everything that you've done for him, Colonel. Thank you."
Roy stiffened from Al's words. Edward had... what? Wait, what?
Something in Roy's reaction must have revealed his confusion, even as he was standing with his back turned against them.
"If you hadn't taken him in, he wouldn't even have survived the first night in Central," Al elaborated with an ease that made Roy chuckle bitterly.
If it hadn't been for him, Edward wouldn't have hurt himself in the first place. Roy turned to face them with a crooked smile before he shook his head.
"I haven't..." Roy stopped himself with a sigh. "Thank you. I appreciate that."
"Thanks," a small whisper chimed in, and the attention shifted to Edward who still had his eyes closed. His lips were curved in a satisfied expression, and he let out a satisfied breath as he fell back to sleep.
'Is that really Winry? No. Uh-uh. Can't be.'
Ed looked at the young woman in disbelief. She had developed quite a nice figure, with curves and big beautiful... uh, blue eyes. Ed shook his head.
'Nope. Winry was an annoying little squirt, not this (he wouldn't call it beautiful), but... c-cute, maybe?'
"E-Edward? Do you remember me?" she asked, azure eyes bright and concerned looked down at him.
"Winry," he stated. "Of course I remember you." His voice was still painfully hoarse, and he choked down a coughing-fit, not wanting to seem any more pitiful than he already did. The force of the coughs instead made his nose run, and he awkwardly wiped his bandaged hand across it to cover it.
She laughed.
'God, I'm so stupid.'
"It's so good to see you, Ed. I almost couldn't believe it when they told us that... you know."
"Yeah, it's crazy," he mumbled, and vainly tried to loosen the collar of his gown.
'Is it hot in here? I swear the temperature just rose...'
An awkward silence followed until Winry finally found her words.
"Where... where have you been all this time?" she finally mustered, not being able to look him in the eyes.
Edward paused. He wasn't sure what to say. After leaving the orphanage, it had been kind of an unspoken agreement that he didn't have to talk about it. Roy knew a bit, Ed had noticed, probably from his personnel file that was sure to have been read by that nosy know-it-all.
"An orphanage," he said, contemplating how much they needed to know.
"How was it? Were they good to you?" she asked carefully.
"Win-" Al interjected, but Ed continued.
"It's okay. I don't really talk much about it. It was in Drachma. An institution for boy's with behavioral issues and... special needs." The last part was said with such distaste that Winry and Alphonse could almost taste it themselves.
"They weren't nice. But, I don't know. I wasn't very good either I guess," he chuckled bitterly. Something heavy lifted off his shoulders. Almost like relief. He hadn't realized it, but, maybe, he actually needed to talk about it.
"I tried to run off a few times, but I couldn't get far. It's not easy to run when you're practically missing half of your body." He shrugged, eyes stared blankly at the foot of the bed. Winry and Al listened intently. Ed glanced in their direction and suddenly felt a shiver down his spine, regretting opening up when he saw the pain on their faces.
Al spoke, as his brother seemed deep in thought and didn't continue. "Brother, I am so sorry." His hazel eyes were tearing up, and it broke something inside of Ed.
"No, no, Al. It's not your fault. Please, don't feel bad!" Ed said regretfully, wanting nothing more than to hug his brother and wipe those stupid tears off his face. He didn't ever want to be the reason for Al's tears ever again.
"But, but, it's just so unfair. You shouldn't have to go through all of that. With dad leaving, and mom..."
Ed could feel the warm sensation of something wanting to escape his eyes. He quickly wiped his hand across his face with a quick notion. When he let his hand down, he saw Alphonse's hand reaching for something in the messenger bag he had left on the floor.
A small capsule was lifted from it, and Al unlocked it, retrieving something silvery and round.
A pocket watch?
Edward's eyes grew wide with recognition. Alphonse held the chain as the watch dangled from his fist, and he opened it carefully before handing it to his older brother.
With some difficulty, Ed accepted the watch and looked at it with surprise written all over his fatigue features.
"You... you still have these? But how?" There was no holding back the tears now, as he watched the fading engraving and then to his brother, who held his own watch in a tight grip. He nodded.
"Yeah, granny found them a couple of days after the fire."
Winry leaned over Al's shoulder to see what he was holding. She had never seen it before.
"Our father got us them when we were born," Al explained and let her take a look at it. He knew her fingers were itching with the desire to pick it apart and resemble it. His sister was such a gear-head.
"This is..." Ed's voice broke, and he furiously wiped away the tears before they could even leave his eyes. "Al, this is amazing." He looked at his brother with such awe, and he never wanted to let go of the only part of his parents he had touched since he was four years old.
"They're a bit damaged, but..."
"It's okay," Ed interrupted, tears now streaming down his face. He cried freely, not caring who could see it. "It's fine, Al. So, are we."
Thank you so much for reading! I can't seem to finish this story. I really like writing it. This is another short chapter, but there will be another update soon!
Stay awesome!