Welcome back everyone to the final chapters of this story. I was planning on posting this earlier today, but got side-tracked from schoolwork and just realized how late it was! Well, that and the world series was on earlier (go astros!). Anyway, I'm posting all three chapters at the same time so you guys can enjoy them all at once. It's been fun writing this, and I've liked all the reviews I've gotten.
Wait…Read on before I get all sentimental and everything!
Chapter Thirty-Five
Early morning sunlight filtered through the thin curtains that hung over the second-story window and shone brightly onto the woman's face, waking her up. Winry slowly opened her eyes and rolled over, trying to ignore the light and get a few more minutes of sleep; her alarm hadn't even gone off yet. As if on cue, the annoying sound rang through the room, and was met with an angry fist. The woman rolled over again and looked blearily at the ceiling.
"I hate this job sometimes…" she muttered to herself as she finally swung her legs out of bed and stumbled to the bathroom. She remembered how she used to love to get up early in the morning, but since she had gotten older, she would have rather slept another hour or so.
Winry quickly dressed in her familiar blue uniform, as was the routine every morning, and checked all of her guns before holstering them in their various places. She walked over to the nearby coffee pot and began pouring a cup, but spilled the hot liquid on the counter as a honking noise outside startled her. Setting the pot down, she marched over to the balcony door and slid it open.
"How many times have I told you not to do that!" she yelled down to the street. Below, First Lieutenant Havoc stood by his open door to the car, smoking his cigarette. Looking up at the flustered woman, he smiled slightly to himself. "Sorry, Winry. I seem to forget every morning around this time…"
"You know," she said as she rubbed her forehead, "If I wasn't such a laid back officer, I would have thrown you in the brig a long time ago." She looked down and saw not only her soldier, but also close friend, smiling at her. This happened every morning, and every morning she attempted to stay mad at him, but it never lasted for very long. "Hang on a second. Let me clean up the coffee you made me spill, and I'll be down…" The Lieutenant nodded and closed his door, then made his way around to the other side of the car to open the door for when she came out.
Winry quickly cleaned up her mess, and then grabbing her coat, went downstairs and out the front door of her two-story townhouse. Shortly after the incident regarding the Philosopher's Stone, she was permitted to buy her own place within town, so long as she still showed up for duty at the proper times. Smiling as she saw Jean open the door for her, she quickly got inside the vehicle and relaxed. If it weren't for Havoc pushing her every single day, she would probably never be on time for anything.
He quickly got back into the driver's seat and handed a brush back to the woman. She became confused as she looked at the item in her hand. Reaching over to a side mirror she quickly came to realize that she had not brushed her hair yet. She had kept it short for a few years before deciding to grow it back out to her original length. Quickly brushing out her once-again blond hair, Winry handed the brush back to the driver, muttering her thanks.
"I do have good news for you this morning, Colonel," announced Havoc as they began to drive the short distance to Central Headquarters.
"Eh? And what is that my oh mighty messenger…" joked Winry. She hated it when he got all formal with her, and he knew it.
"Brigadier General Mustang called me last night and informed me that the Nature Alchemist is finally back and will be giving you a report today…"
"And why wasn't I informed?" Winry said, crossing her arms across her chest slightly, "I would have got up earlier if I would have known."
"No you wouldn't," he said jokingly as he pulled the car into a parking spot and put the parking brake on. He turned his head slightly as his eyes became softer, "And besides…you didn't seem like you were in a very good mood last night when I took you home. Being what day it was and all yesterday…"
Winry lowered her head slightly to hide her emotions, "I knew good and well what day it was yesterday, and I'm proud to say that I was perfectly fine."
Havoc stared at his superior officer for a moment before admitting defeat and exited the car. Moments later, her door opened, and she quickly took his hand to help her out. The moment she got out, she saw the man looking at her.
"You know, you don't have to hide it from me," he whispered, being careful not to drawing attention from any of the other soldiers walking around. "But you think you would have learned that with all the years we have worked together." Without another word he saluted her before closing the door behind the woman.
"Jean, you know I didn't mean it to come out like that," she said under her breath, just loud enough for him to hear.
"I know," he nodded, "I've worked with you long enough, haven't I?" he flashed a small smile and followed her as she walked to her office.
Winry sat in her chair and watched the world pass her by outside the window. Her thoughts had been elsewhere after the conversation she had with Havoc in the car earlier. Last night had been the ten-year anniversary of when the Philosopher's Stone situation had culminated; it was the last time she saw Edward. She forced herself not to cry; officers don't cry. But every time she thought about the man she loved, she felt her heart breaking slightly.
Alphonse had been found a short time later after Edward performed the transmutation to bring him back. Instead of being fifteen year-old at the time, Al reappeared as a ten-year old boy, with no memories about anything that happened after the fateful night he originally lost his body. He remembered what his older brother was like when they were children, but had no recollection of anything after that. Winry and her grandmother took Al into their home and had him live with them for a while since the military had granted Winry a leave of absence for as long as she needed. Rose had also been discovered not long after the incident in the Old Central Town, and had nowhere to go. Also, surprisingly, she had been the one taking care of the baby that was used when Dante had captured Winry; apparently the child was an orphan from the Ishballan war to begin with, so Rose had become kind of his adopted mother.
The first few months after the incident had been hard on the teenager, as was to be expected. She had trouble eating or sleeping most of the time, and at one point, had almost given up hope after Alphonse was found, and Edward wasn't. She would never show it in front of the younger brother, didn't want him to know of all the hell everyone went through during that time. But slowly, she began to overcome her sadness and regain control of her life. She returned to duty almost six months after the incident, and was promoted to Colonel a year later. Second Lieutenant Havoc, at the time, offered to work underneath her, and Mustang approved. He knew the two were close friends, and held no grudge for his subordinate helping out another fellow officer. It was at that time Mustang promoted Havoc to First Lieutenant status. There were many times where Havoc could have gone higher up in the military, but he felt content in the position he was occupied.
Soon after Winry left to live in Central, Rose called her and told her about Alphonse's interest in alchemy. He knew that somehow it could help him find his lost brother and bring him home. Winry remembered panicking at first, not wanting him to go through the pain of before, but was assured that he was being watched carefully by her sensei, Izumi.
A year passed before Alphonse came back to Rizenbul from his training. He yearned to become a state alchemist, like his brother, and traveled to Central to ask Winry for help. The State Alchemy portion of the military had changed drastically since the Fuhrer's disappearance, and the actual military came under Parliament from then on. It was better in a lot of aspects. Most of the alchemists mainly helped people now; they were hardly ever used for warfare, and even then it was usually just for scare tactics. Alchemists traveled a lot of Ishbal to help rebuild the old city, and even though the Ishballan's still didn't approve of alchemy, they accepted their help when other ways didn't seem possible.
Alphonse spent months studying for the alchemy exam, and passed, becoming the second youngest alchemist ever to pass, though he wasn't much older than Edward was when he passed. Mustang pulled a few strings and put Alphonse underneath Winry's command, making the Colonel very happy. She was happier knowing she would be able to help Alphonse and watch over him, as he got older.
Yes, the one thing she hated about this job more than anything else had to be being behind a desk and inside an office most of the day. She missed the days when she was a younger alchemist and could basically go wherever she wanted. Granted, most of that freedom had to do with her being under Mustang's command at that time, but even then she missed it dearly.
A knock at the door brought the woman from her thoughts and she mentally chastised herself for letting her mind wander over the past. She quickly released the pendant that was instinctively held in her hand. She had a bad habit of daydreaming lately, and she worked to stop the distraction. She saw Havoc walk to the door from the corner of her eye; she still faced the window. It was just such a pretty day outside, and she would rather be anywhere else than here.
"Winry, Alphonse is here to report…" came the low voice of Havoc from behind her. The noise startled her, and she mentally slapped herself again for daydreaming before turning around in her chair and standing up. She looked to the middle of the room where the younger of the two brothers she grew up with stood. He had matured into a handsome, young man, and at the age of 20 looked so much like his older brother, even wearing the same red coat that sported the marking from their sensei on the back. Winry smiled at the sight, and walked around the desk to be in front of him. Standing straight as a board, the woman walked up to him, and barked in a commanding voice, "Produce your report, Nature Alchemist!"
She smirked internally as she saw the surprised young man fumble around and hand her the report, then realizing he was holding the report in the hand he saluted with, switched them and saluted correctly. Relaxing, Winry smiled as she put a hand on her hip, "How many times are you really going to fall for that, Al…"
Alphonse looked around and saw Havoc smirking by the window, then looked again to his childhood friend. "Oh yeah…sorry about that, Colonel…I mean uh, Winry," he said, blushing as he scratched the back of his head. He was so used to other officers being so demanding, that he seemed to forget about relaxing when he came back to Central to report.
Winry walked over to one of her couches and flopped herself down, indicating that the two other men should do the same thing. She quickly read the report, taking in all of the details, then sat and contemplated a moment before speaking.
"So there are now forests around Ishbal…I never thought I would hear such a thing," she muttered to herself, glancing back down to the paper.
"Neither did a lot of the Ishballan's," commented Alphonse, "And at first they were skeptical, I mean, you know how they get when they see alchemists at work. But I was able to reassure them that I was not altering any of the components of the plants, just making everything happen faster. And now they have forests. It's great, Winry!" he exclaimed, "You should see all the wildlife that is now starting to show up again around there. Most of those things there haven't been seen in over a few hundred years!"
Winry laid down the report and looked at Alphonse for a moment before smiling, "Good job, soldier… I would expect nothing less from you."
The night was starless as the shop signs from down the road lit up the sky. Winry and Alphonse sat on the balcony of her townhouse and listened to the unique noises that only towns could make. Cars would drive by every once in awhile, their engines sometimes sputtering from improper use. Nearby homes that had no consideration for their neighbors would have their windows open as the watched their televisions, or listened to their radios. Dogs could be heard barking from various yards, always in competition with each other. Leaning back with his eyes closed, Alphonse finally turned his head to the side to see his childhood friend cleaning all of the various guns she carried around daily.
"How can you put up with carrying all of those around everyday? It just seems to me that it would weigh you down a lot," he noted. He saw Winry lift her head at him and smile slightly.
"Well, since I've been made a Colonel, I really haven't had a chance to use my alchemy. I still know how to use it, but these guns are a kind of a backup I guess." Winry sighed, leaning back and stretching her body. "Well, that and I can use them in battle to use my alchemy. The markings on my automail will react when I touch them to another metal surface, that way I don't have to clap my hands every time I use alchemy. Sometimes it's useful to keep your opponent guessing."
Winry stood up and sorely stretched her limbs again, "I'm going downstairs for a drink. Do you want one?" Alphonse nodded, and she disappeared down the stairs. Moments later he could hear her walking upstairs, and turned to see she had come back with a small tray that held some glasses and a pitcher of water. She poured him a glass, then one for herself, and leaned back in her chair to relax.
Minutes passed in relative silence before Alphonse began talking. "That place we had dinner tonight was really nice. It's such a quiet neighborhood…"
Winry turned her head slightly to look at the younger brother. The whole group, including Mustang and his subordinates, had dinner at the Hughes's house earlier that night. Since Mustang had disposed of the Fuhrer, who was a homunculus, he no longer had any guilt when it came to visiting Grace and Elysia. Winry would stop by at least one day out of every weekend, and spend hours just talking and playing with the girl. She had grown in the past ten years, and was blossoming into a beautiful young teenager.
"I…uh…I know I never got to meet Mr. Hughes, but from what I heard tonight and saw around the house, he seemed like a pretty nice guy," Alphonse commented. A small smile formed on Winry's lips as she nodded her agreement, "Yes, he was a good soldier, and a loving father…"
A small pain began to irritate Winry's left arm, and she stretched her arm in hopes of extinguishing it. When that didn't work, she quickly walked back into her room and grabbed her basic tools and small oil canister, and returned to the balcony. Setting the instruments on the table, she opened the cover of her automail and tinkered around in the wires and connections with her screwdriver.
"Is there something wrong? Anything I can do to help?" Alphonse said, sitting up slowly as he saw his friend's discomfort. She shook her head at his question, and after oiling most of her joints noticed the pain seemed to be gone. She screwed the cover back on her arm and oiled her leg joints just in case they were beginning to dry out.
"Nah, I just think I need to have Grams check it out to make sure everything is working right. I may need to have a replacement soon," she said, cringing at the thought of the pain from replacing limbs, "But, if it has to be done, then it has to be done…Right?"
The younger brother nodded his head, though he really didn't understand the mechanics of automail.
"I've got some vacation time that I can use soon, maybe I can go to Rizenbul and visit Grams. I haven't seen that old woman in forever!" she laughed to herself. "I don't think there's going to be many missions coming up soon, I'll have to double check though. But if not, you should come and visit Rizenbul…when was the last time you visited?"
Alphonse blushed as he realized it had been awhile, "Um…I think it's been at least three years, if not more. The forests in Ishbal have been keeping me pretty busy…And then we are still working on ways to help prevent Aquroya from sinking into the water…"
"Well it's settled then, I'll get Havoc to postpone my meetings…Um…if I have any…I think…and then we'll schedule a few weeks to go home and relax! The city nights can never compare to what you find at home in the country!"