Epilogue

A month later, Ed, Al, Roy, Hawkeye, and the Rockbells were standing on the small train platform.

"You better write more often," Winry said as she gave Ed a very threatening look. "At least Al wrote to me once in a while when he was away."

"Okay, I will!"

"Don't worry, if Ed slacks off, I'll be sure to write," Al said in an oddly cheerful voice.

Ed gave him a dirty look. "I don't slack off!"

"Then why is it I always have to get you going to do things?"

As the argument went on, Roy stopped paying attention to them and turned back to the train schedule. Sighing, he realized it would take a longer time than usual to get to Central. So much for an easy train ride.

"Four tickets to Eastburg, then on to Central City," Roy said to the man behind the ticket window.

"So you're finally moving your family to Central, huh?" the man said as he got the tickets ready.

"My what!"

"Your family. Isn't that your wife and two sons over there?" he said, pointing to Ed and Al, who were now standing by Hawkeye and asking her something.

This was perhaps the third time in Roy's life that he was struck completely dumbfounded. Family? Wife? Kids? What the hell? The thought actually scared him. Make that terrified him.

"Um, no, not really," Roy finally managed to reply in a voice that sounded much more shaken than he wanted it to, then quickly paid for the tickets and got the hell out of there.

"Is anything wrong, sir?" Hawkeye asked when he returned.

"Oh, no, it was nothing," Roy replied, quickly regaining his composure.

After a moment Al spoke up. "So what happens when we get to Central City?"

"The first thing I'm going to do is go home and unpack. We won't get into Central until late, so there's no use going to Headquarters until the next day."

"What about us? Will we still stay with you?"

"We'll be fine in the dorms, Al." Ed replied almost immediately.

"Don't you think Al should decide for himself where to stay?" Roy asked in a somewhat gentle voice.

Ed looked at him, as if he wasn't quite sure if he should be angry or not. Finally his face softened slightly before turning back to Al. "All right, Al, where do you want to stay?"

"You know, Ed, it really wasn't that bad at the Colonel's house. He had plenty of alchemy books, and he always made me dinner."

"I'm surprised you're still alive after eating his cooking for so long."

"Al never complained about the food," Roy retorted.

"Well, it wasn't exactly the best, Colonel," Al admitted, looking sheepish.

Roy frowned. Okay, so he wasn't especially good at cooking, but that was completely beside the point. "So, Al, where do you want to stay? I'm assuming Ed wants to stay in the military dorms, like he did before."

"Then I'll stay there too, especially now since I'm also a State Alchemist."

"Then everything's settled." Roy let out a small sigh of relief. His house wouldn't have lasted two weeks with the three of them under one roof. Ed wasn't ready for that kind of closeness, and quite frankly, Roy wasn't sure if he was, either.

After several more minutes, the train finally pulled into the tiny station. Ed and Al said their final goodbyes to Winry and Pinako, then followed Roy and Hawkeye as they boarded the train.

"Don't forget to visit once in a while!" Winry yelled out as the train pulled away.

"We won't!" Al yelled out in return.

A few hours into the train ride, Ed brought out a deck of cards and started dealing hands to Al and himself. As he watched them play card games, Roy realized that he wouldn't mind it at all if the three of them were able to one day tolerate each other enough to live in the same house.

"A family, huh," he mumbled to himself.

"Did you say something, sir?" Hawkeye asked, looking up from her book.

"No, it was nothing." Roy turned to the window and smiled as he watched the countryside go by.

Nothing yet, anyway.

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