Good evening everyone! I just got home from class, though I do have to admit I didn't do anything. I've been a little sick today and thought it better not to jostle this body around and cause more havoc to happen! Nonetheless, I'm posting three chapters tonight, so I won't keep you waiting!

Chapter Twenty-Six

"Brother? You've been in there for four days! You need to come out and eat something!" huffed Alphonse. Since Edward had found out about Winry's disappearance from Lior, he had kept himself shut in her room and refused to come out for anything. "Brother? Are you even listening to me?" yelled Al. He understood his brother was in tremendous pain, but starving himself was not the answer to his sorrow.

"Al?" came a tired voice from behind the locked door, "Please, just leave me alone…"

"Why?" shouted the younger brother, "So you can starve yourself to death and leave me behind too? You know, you aren't the only one who is suffering here. Not only Pinako and I, but everyone in this house loved Winry dearly…What am I supposed to do if I lose you too…" he finally whispered after receiving no response. Alphonse stood at the door for a few more minutes, and finally turned around to walk downstairs; Edward was still obviously ignoring him. Just as he was about to descend the stairs, Al heard a click, and then a small creaking noise come from Winry's bedroom. He quickly turned around to see the door open slightly, and the small form of his older brother look out.

"Brother!" Al exclaimed when he saw the state Edward was in. Dark bags made the teen's eyes appear sunken, obviously from his lack of sleep. His hair was not in its normally neat braid; it was very messy with pieces falling from it and framing Ed's face. His face appeared slightly thinner, as did his body from the recent lack of food. Both necklaces now adorned his neck.

Edward slowly opened the door more and began to step into the bright hallway, shielding his eyes from the lights. He turned as he saw Alphonse come towards him.

"Brother, look what happened to you!" he said quickly, worried for his elder brother's health, "Come downstairs right now and eat something. Auntie Pinako already has some food set out…"

Edward nodded and slowly followed his younger brother down the stairs into the kitchen. Pinako, Fury, and Havoc sat around the table drinking their morning coffee, and gasped when they saw the state of Edward as he walked into the room. Pinako quickly got up from her seat and poured the boy a glass of water, and fixed his plate for him, "Oh, Edward, look what you've done to yourself, child…"

Ed looked at his full plate and regretted having come downstairs. The thought of food made his stomach churn, though it did ease itself slightly as he took a sip of water from the glass. He remained silent as everyone watched him. Finally noticing their attention was focused on him, he glared as he spat out hoarsely, "What are you all staring at?"

"Edward…" Fury said quietly a moment later, "Have you seen what you look like? You look awful…"

"I don't care anymore…Neither should any of you…" retorted the teen. Suddenly Pinako stood up from her chair and stormed over to Edward. Without notice she raised her palm and back-handed the teen, sending him flying off of his chair.

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR?" Edward screamed as he jumped up from his position and rubbed his cheek.

"I've had enough of your childishness! Do you really think you are the only one who has to mourn her!" Pinako yelled, her finger waving dangerously close to the boy's face. "Do you honestly think the rest of us don't care that she's gone? How do you think I feel, losing not only my son and his wife, but now my only grandchild! You don't see me moping around, not eating, and wishing myself to an early grave even though I should have been the one to go before ANY of them!"

The silence blanketed the room as each individual froze at the elder woman's words. Pinako silently walked away into the kitchen and returned with some ice wrapped in a cloth. She walked up to the jittery teen who believed she would hit him again, and gently placed it where she slapped him, "And here you go, one of the two family members I have left, slowly killing your body while we sit out here and worry about you…Silly child…"

Edward gingerly took the icy cloth from her and kept it pressed against his sore face. "Anyway," Pinako spoke as she walked back to her seat and resumed drinking, "I don't think Winry would appreciate what you're doing is because of her…" she finished quietly. Ed stood there as everyone stared at each other, still trying to contemplate what just happened. He took his seat at the table again and looked over to the older woman who continued to stare at her tea, "Um…Auntie? I'm sor--"

"Don't worry, Edward. We'll just pretend this never happened. Then there's nothing to apologize for," she interrupted, lifting her head to slightly smile at the teenager. Edward understood and slowly nodded in agreement, his mouth turned in a small grin. He looked towards his food, picked up his fork, and slowly began to eat.

A short time later after eating most of his breakfast, Edward went upstairs to get a shower and change clothes. He insisted on using the bathroom in Winry's room, as he felt more comfortable when he was in her room.

A half hour passed before the teenager finally came down. He walked down the stairs while he used a towel to dry his long hair, and finally noticed who was, and wasn't, occupying the house at the moment, "Where did the Colonel and everyone else go?"

Havoc tilted his head to look at Edward as he kept his position on the couch. Covering his mouth as he yawned, he lifted his hand in front of him to see if his bandage needed changing, "He got a call from Falman at the station. Apparently an investigation group arrived earlier, and he went with Hawkeye and Breda to try and send them back to Central."

Edward smiled slightly and sat down in a nearby chair. He hissed as his muscles protested at first; their misuse over the past few days made themselves known. "Does he actually think it's all right to cover for a wanted person?"

Jean slowly shifted his body to turn towards Edward, "I don't know if he fully believes your story yet, but knowing him, he's going to want to see for himself the truth about the Fuhrer." Realizing he wasn't going to finish his nap anytime soon, he sighed and slowly sat up on the couch, stretching his arms and legs out. "Either way, we all knew an investigation team would arrive any day now. Seeing as how the three people that were wanted resided in the same small village."

Edward looked up at the soldier as he realized the third person he was mentioning was Winry, "Why would they be looking for her?"

"Well, mainly because she was sent into Lior before you were to scout the city and find out about Scar and that giant transmutation circle…"

The teenager nodded his head slightly at the information. His heart still broke each time he thought of her being inside that city as the crimson light overtook it, but he attempted to hide his emotions from everyone else now, much like he used to do. Silence overtook the room as each man looked in various places, their minds both winding around the memories they had of the same woman.

"Edward, there's also something else I want to tell you, because I don't think anyone else has told you…I know she would have wanted you to know…" Havoc could see the boy turn slightly towards where the soldier sat and looked at him with his tired eyes. "Promise me you won't run away when you find out first…"

The teenager cocked his head in confusion, but then nodded. Something told him he would not like the news he was about to receive. He could see Havoc lean forward and hold his chin in his good hand, while his other lay sorely on his lap. "Do you remember that guy that hung around her? That Chadwick guy?" He could see Ed nod in anger at obviously bad memories of the man, which may or may not be good for the conversation. "Well," continued Jean, "it ends up that it was that homunculus Envy who acted like a soldier to get closer to her. Winry and that thing got into a big battle at the shooting range, and he almost succeeded in kidnapping her." He lowered his eyes at the memory, "If we would not have shown up, I have no doubt that he would have overpowered her…"

Havoc could see the emotions that ran through the teen's face, and almost regretted telling him anything. But he wasn't done yet, "That thing also killed Maes…" Edward's eyes quickly opened at the news of his friend's death. If it wasn't one of his friends getting hurt, it was someone that he loved getting it instead. When was all of this going to stop? Is he just going to have to become a hermit, so he will never have to know anyone; and in return will never be hurt? How many more people have to die because of him?

"I uh…just thought you needed to know," continued Havoc after a few minutes of silence between the two, "I know you have a habit of running into the homunculus a lot." Jean saw the boy was taking the news better than he thought he would, which surprised him as everyone thought he would run back to Central. Maybe it had to do with what happened in Lior.

Edward slowly stood up and walked back upstairs to Winry's room a few minutes later, and quietly shut the door behind him. Even though it was early afternoon, the room remained dark since he had not opened the curtains since he found out the news those few nights ago.

Edward walked over and opened the curtains to let the light flood the room. He turned around and noticed how much cheerier the room appeared during the daytime. The sun danced throughout it, and a flash of metal from under the bed caught the teen's eye. He walked over and looked underneath her bed to find a metal box. Edward slid the box out from underneath and placed it on her bed. It seemed to be locked, and even though he knew he shouldn't be looking through it, he was curious and wondered what could be hidden within.

Edward grabbed the box, headed over to the girl's window, and opened it. He saw the familiar tree they used to climb from her window to the roof, and after tying the box to his arm with some string sitting nearby, he scooted out the window and jumped to the adjacent tree. He quickly navigated upwards and soon found himself sitting in their old spot towards the front of the house. They used to hide up there when they wanted to talk, or to get away from Al when he was a toddler; he never wanted to leave their sides at that age. They would sit up there for hours, joking and talking about anything and everything, until usually Pinako would call them down, or he would see his mother come over to retrieve her children for dinner. He would sometimes sneak out of his room after dinner and come over, just so they could continue their conversations. Both of the older women knew what the two were up to, but never said anything about it.

As the sun continued to shine in the afternoon sky, Edward looked down at the box he held in his lap. He felt a little guilty for wanting to pry into Winry's obviously private thoughts, but for some reason he felt he needed to look through it; maybe it contained some answers to his questions. Even though the box was locked, Edward easily opened it using his alchemy and popped the lock open. He slowly opened the box and peeked inside. On top of what looked like a stack of pictures sat a small notebook. He carefully removed the notebook, handling it like it was a fragile piece of glass, and set the box on the roof next to him, closing the lid slightly so the wind wouldn't blow the pictures around. He opened the cover to realize Winry's handwriting was contained in most of the pages; was this what some girl's considered a diary? Edward never really understood some of the things he had heard girl's do. More curious than before, he began to read the first page:

Winter Age 11

Dear Diary,

I've never done anything like this before. Since I really have no one to talk to, Grams suggested I write what I think down in you. That way it's almost like talking to someone. Edward has been gone almost a month now. He came back from training and left not long after that. I don't think it's very fair. Him, Al, and I used to talk all the time and now I have no one to talk to. Regan lives down the street, but she helps her family a lot with their hotel-thing. I think it's called a bed and breakfast? Anyway, I have to go fix dinner with Grams, so I guess we'll be 'talking' later!

P.S. I really miss Edward. I'm mad because I can't wish him a happy birthday, because he's staying at an alchemist's house to study for the state alchemy exam coming up. He won't even be here for mine coming up soon in spring, just like last year.

Winter Age 11

Dear Diary,

I just read in the paper that Edward made it! He became a state alchemist, and the youngest one ever at that!

But I had to read it in the paper…

He couldn't call or write to tell us…

Has he just forgot we even existed?

Edward felt guilty after he read the first two small pages of Winry's journal. He hadn't forgotten them, but did he? He never did write them, or even call them to tell them about his acceptance as a state alchemist. It had been so long ago; he didn't even remember why had hadn't let them know anything. He lowered his head in sadness, but remembered he still had more to read. He pushed his sadness aside and continued reading her feelings and thoughts. The next few pages just mentioned everyday occurrences that happened over the next year or two. There was nothing really very exciting, which was to be expected from a small town like Rizenbul. But the entry after those would haunt him for the rest of his life.