Authoresses Notes: This takes place after the entire series is over. Just a warning. It may contain some spoilers. And ...right about now I'm just going to spoil the entire thing for you. So don't read the next few sentences if you don't want anything to be spoiled.

SPOILER

Scroll passed if you don't want to know

Al ends up sacrificing himself to that he can bring back Ed's arm and leg. Ed had been stabbed through the chest by Envy. Thus he was "dead". Then Ed wakes up and realizes what Al's done and so he then sacrifices himself, his entire body, to bring Al back, body and all. Al comes back, but he doesn't remember the past four years when they're wandering around doing all this stuff and Ed's in the military. So Ed has passed through the Gate and is now in, surprise, surprise, our world. Germany to be exact. Anyway, Ed joins the space program, hoping that it will bring him back to his world. Meanwhile, Al goes to study alchemy under Izumi again.

END SPOILER

And thus you leave the series. There is a movie that follows that comes out in Japan sometime in late spring of 2005. So. Disclaimer: I own none of these characters. None. Absolutely none. Anyway. On to the story! Please enjoy, and comments/reviews make me happy!

One Moment in Time

Chapter Two

Shinkono Kokoro

Staring blankly out the window as the train rocked on its tracks, Ed found himself wishing for the hundredth time for something to do, or someone to talk to.

"Excuse me."

Scenery after all was only so interesting.

"Excuse me."

Especially when it was rather unchanging for the past hour or so.

"Excuse me!"

Even a deck of cards would do.

"Excuse me!"

Ed looked up. "Eh? What, me?"

"Yes, you! You look familiar… I thought I'd come over and say hello."

Ed stared. "It's…"

"It's what?" The girl looked confused.

"It's you! The thief! You stole my watch!"

"Ed! Edward Elric!" She stood up in surprise.

"Yes! And you're… Dominique!"

"Yes!" Her face broke into a smile. "I knew it was you!"

Ed gave a little chuckle. "Go ahead and sit down. I'm bored out of my mind."

Dominique came into his booth and sat across from him. "So. Where ya been?"

"Germany."

She gave him a funny look. "Where?"

"OH! Er..uh, far away!" He exclaimed and then chuckled sheepishly. "Very… far away."

"Ah. I see." She smiled. "Where're you headed then?"

"Mm. To find my brother and Izumi, my sensei. How about you?"

Dominique leaned forward, ignoring his question. "Got time for a sidetrip?"

"Um…" Scratching his cheek, Ed nodded slowly. "Yeah. He doesn't really know I'm coming anyway… But I should find him right away…" Sighing, he shook his head. "I'm sorry, Dominique, I don't thin—"

"Too bad!" She interrupted him.

"What!"

"Too bad! You heard me! You're coming with me! It won't take long, honestly."

"I don't—"

Leaning right into his face, Dominique stared. "You. Are. Coming. With. Me." Leaning back again she grinned. "Whether you like it or not."

"…isn't that kidnapping?"

"Ha! You said yourself, he doesn't know you're coming, so it'll be fine. And I'm sure you could escape from me if you really wanted to, Ed."

Ed heaved a sigh and folded his arms across his chest. "So where are we going?"

"Ah, I can't tell you that! It's a surprise!"

"What? No! Tell me!"

She gave him a grin and a wink. "Nope! We're getting off at the next stop actually."

"Next stop?" Ed blinked. He looked out the window quickly. "We're…"

The train pulled into the station as Ed sat back in his seat.

"C'mon, silly. Let's go. Whatcha staring for? Grab your stuff! We're gettin' off."

Ed stood mindlessly. "I… don't have anything."

Dominique looked at him oddly. "Traveling with nothing?" Hoisting her own bags in her metal hands, she led him off the train. "You're a weird one, Ed."

"Dominique…" Ed followed her slowly, looking at her back.

"Yeah?" She looked over her shoulder.

"You're going to see Winry, aren't you?"

Dominique turned and smiled. "Yup! She asked me to visit. I'm sure she'd be glad to see you too!" She turned and headed toward the Rockbell house.

Ed headed after her slowly. Great…Now what? Dominique gave him no time to think, chattering endlessly. Ed sighed with relief as they approached the house, only to realize his stomach was twisted in knots. Dominique's voice fell silent as they paused in front of the house.

"OI! WINRY!" She yelled suddenly.

Ed clapped a hand to his ear. "Not so loud…"

Footsteps echoed as the door flew open. "Domi—" She froze.

Dominique walked up to her and put a metal hand down on her shoulder. "Look who I found."

Winry's eyes were locked on him. "Ed…" Her eyes watered up as Dominique looked between them in confusion.

Swallowing, Ed said brightly like nothing was wrong. "Hey, Winry."

She sobbed once and ran to Ed, throwing her arms around him.

Uneasily, Ed put his arms around her. "Hi…"

"WINRY!" an old familiar voice shouted.

Ed blinked and laughed as Winry hastily scraped her tears away. "I'm coming, Grandma! Come on. Let's go inside!" She ran passed Dominique into the house.

"I guess you don't visit much, do you?" Dominique said as he approached.

"Hehe…I… really couldn't," Ed mumbled as he walked into the house.

"Edward, take off your shoes!" Auntie Pinako screeched.

Ed froze. "I'm barely in the house!" he yelled back, semi-grateful that she behaved normally.

"Don't argue with me. Let's have tea." She turned and walked back into the kitchen.

Ed took off his shoes and walked into the kitchen after Dominique, shaking his head, silently thanking Pinako again for behaving normally.

"Sit down," She said as she took the kettle off the stove. Winry was getting cups down from a cabinet.

Ed sat, letting the familiar feeling of their hometown wash over him. "Thanks," he said as Winry set a glass down in front of him and Pinako filled it with tea. They both sat and everyone drank their tea in silence.

"Ed…" Winry began, staring at her glass. "I'll bet you need… tune-ups? Or maybe even completely new pieces because,… because you've grown so much…" She trailed off.

Ed looked at her and smiled. "Sure. That'd be great, Winry." He laughed and then shoved his pantleg up, revealing a made-do job he'd down to adjust for his height change. "See! Nothing compared to what you can do."

Winry gaped. "Edward Elric…" She looked down to her lap, shoulders quivering.

"Winry? Did I sa—"

"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO MY MASTERPIECE!"

Ed flinched. "N-nothing! I-I had to make due! It's just that… well, the best I could do, you see, and I didn't have anyone to fix it, and I couldn't really show people, and, it's not too bad a job with what I had to work with…." He trailed off, not finding any more reasons to futily defend himself.

Winry groaned. "I'm going to have to make all new!" she complained. "Your arm, too, since that will be too short."

Ed gave an apologetic grin. "Not my fault I finally grew…"

Winry smiled. "I bet you drank milk."

"NO! I hate milk!"

She laughed. "Well, I'll get right on it!" She jumped up and ran into the workshop, filled with purpose.

Pinako smiled as Ed leaned back in his chair, sighing easily. Dominique blinked. "What just happened. Why's your automail screwed up? Couldn't someone fix it?"

Ed shook his head. "Mm. Nope."

"Wow. That's odd." She finished her tea. "I'm going to help Winry."

Pinako looked at Ed. "So."

"…so."

"Clean the dishes."

Ed groaned and tookt he glasses to the sink to clean them.

"How did you get here?"

Ed flinched. She certainly cuts right to the quick…He scrubbed the glasses and then sighed. "I don't know. I was heading somewhere for dinner and,… I somehow got hit by a car and… died? At least… I should have died. But then I woke up and it was morning. …I was in Mustang's backyard." He finished the glasses and turned back to Pinako. "So that's basically the story. And I was off to find Al and Izumi-sensei when I ran into Dominique on the train. And she dragged me here."

"Hmph!" Pinako expressed her opinion succinctly. "And good thing she did too! Did you think you were going to go traipsing around the country like that! She's a sharp girl!"

Ed grinned wryly. "Yeah, well, you try to find an automail mechanic in a world where there isn't one!"

Pinako cackled. "Yes, yes. Well, it's good you stopped by. Even if it was just to visit. Your mail looks alright. For the most part."

"Of course. Winry made it."

"Thank you, Ed."

Ed's head swiveled to the door to see Winry standing in the doorway, smiling happily. He flushed lightly and looked away. "Yeah. Whatever."

Dominique held up a measuring tape. "Yup! We need to measure you now!"

Winry walked over, taking the tape form Dominique and then smiled at Ed. "After all, you've grown."

Sniffing, Ed took his jacket of, throwing it over a chair and then spread his arms. "Yeah, yeah. I'm growing on Mustang, you know. Nearly caught up. So ha!"

Winry smiled and shook her head, taking the needed measurements of his arms. "Yes. You have grown taller. I don't know about as tall as Roy, but you're taller. These clothes are interesting."

"Yes. It's how you dress in Germany."

"Germany?"

"Yeah, that's what he said before," Dominique added in.

"Yup. It's where I was all this time," Ed said, looking at Winry. "It's…far away."

Winry frowned. "Oh. We didn't know where you were. Al didn't know either…"

Ed nodded. "Yeah. I know."

Winry knelt next to him, measuring his leg. "…I'm glad you're back though."

Smiling at the ceiling, Ed nodded. "Yeah. Me too."