Recall the Other

The Sparrow Reaches the Nest

"Kono me mo mimi mo yubi mo kakato mo shizuka ni furuete mezamete yuku..."

The rain was still pouring hard over at Central. And at the train station, there stood the First Lieutenant, her hands on either side balled into fists waiting on the platform. Even though it was her idea to send an officer to escort Winry Rockbell, she'd decided at the last minute that it would be better if she picked her up personally on the way to the Elric brothers' residence. She felt a strange sense of duty to bring herself here rather than send someone else. Maybe it was that motherly instinct that most women have. She never imagined to look at the Elric brothers as if they were her own children(though she secretly wished for even just one).

Several minutes later, the train coming from Resembool pulled to a stop. Riza Hawkeye eyed keenly at the passengers, expecting to be seen almost immediately by the automail mechanic. Sure enough, blonde hair and cerulean irises appeared and stepped onto the platform. She only had to turn her head once or twice to spot the older woman in a navy blue military uniform. The crowd came and went. And the platform, now emptied, hung in silence. Aside from the rainfall, it was a little more quiet now.

Approaching the young woman, the lieutenant nodded to her once before walking towards the exit, where a car was waiting. Winry wordlessly trailed after her.

-x-

Winry shifted uncomfortably in her seat next to the driver, who happened to be Lieutenant Hawkeye herself. Winry only brought one suitcase with her, not sure of how long her stay would have been in Central. If she could talk to Ed, console him, encourage him easily into going back to work and getting on with life, then bringing a week's worth of clothes was enough. But if not...

She knew it wouldn't be that easy. How would it be? Ed and Al were the closest pair she'd ever met; like two peas in a pod. One was never without the other. Until now. In fact, Winry had failed to notice just how much clothes she'd packed into her suitcase, which would probably burst open at any moment with all the jostling as the car drove on. Pondering on it, she too realized that it wasn't easy to recover from Alphonse Elric's death. It hurt. She felt like a part of her had been taken away and would never be returned. And if that was how she felt, then Ed's feelings towards his loss was unfathomable.

Winry wanted to cry. Cry for them both. Then take her anger out on whatever it was that had driven the brothers to be this way. But she had to be a bit stronger than that. Stronger for them. For him. Losing their mother, then failing to transmute her only to fall deeper into the fire had been one thing, but to lose each other...

Winry pictured herself sometimes as the older sister for Ed and Al; willing to give advice, pacify them both when they engage in a meaningless fight, or just be there to support them. But that was the problem; she was hardly there. In fact, almost...never.

It had been two years, and hardly any contact had been established with the three of them. Sometimes she wondered if the brothers were just too busy to think about her.

She turned her gaze to the window, watching the rain come down in sheets, various things crossing her mind. Central...Resembool...Pinako...Den...Al...Ed...

...Ed...

"I'll just drop you off at their house." the lieutenant said, deciding to speak. She startled Winry, but she made a sound in her throat as if to confirm that and nodded before returning to look outside. Then she realized how she'd come to the train station at Resembool, and in some way, felt proud of herself, if not guilty. She'd prepared as much clothes as she could and left the house to run in the rain. She ran, without an umbrella. If Pinako had been there, the old woman would have scolded her for being so reckless, lecturing her on how easy it was to catch pneumonia during a storm, and that she could have at least brought an umbrella. Winry nearly forgot about her grandmother, just when she was about to open the door, and left only a note stating an emergency(though she didn't specify), and a promise to call as soon as she could. Den, she knew, was going to be okay, as long as he stayed put and didn't try to go after her. She'd refilled his doggie dish for his breakfast the following morning.

Walking, or rather running in a thunderstorm wasn't a walk in the park. Especially for Winry Rockbell. Thunder claps surrounded her then, shaking every bone and nerve in her body, and the fear of getting struck by lightning was part of the reason why she ran. How she ever managed to get from there to here safely was beyond her. Some part of Winry, deep down, told her that maybe it was because the thought of Ed alone and vulnerable in an empty house disturbed her. It was odd to picture him vulnerable though, considering he was really anything but vulnerable. But with Al gone, the idea was probably not so remote.

And it was for this strange reason that Winry bravely stepped out of the house with a suitcase in hand and ran out into one of her greatest fears just to see him. She felt herself blush, and she didn't know why.

"Winry-chan, if it's not too much to ask," Hawkeye spoke again when only a few words had been exchanged between the two women so far, "would you be willing to take care of Edward if in any case, he just doesn't have that kind of energy to do things himself at this time?"

Blue eyes widened slightly, but she knew of course that her answer would be yes. So another throaty sound of confirmation followed by a nod, and she consented to that favor. Then a thought occurred to her.

"Miss Riza, was it...alright to leave the Colonel alone at HQ?" she'd heard only once from Ed that Colonel Mustang was notorious for letting his subordinates do all the work for him, while he sat back in his desk and made not-so-private calls to women he'd be currently dating.

To her surprise, the lieutenant chuckled softly to herself. "Actually, he's the Fuhrer now. And I'm quite confident that he'll have all of his paperwork done before midnight."

When Winry didn't respond, she continued. "Tomorrow's another holiday, and the Fuhrer's looking forward to a date with some woman he's arranged a meeting with."

"Oh I see." was all the younger woman could say. Readjusting her blue cardigan, Winry decided to stare straight ahead at the windshield. It was a good thing she had the chance to change into drier clothes at the Resembool station. Her hair was still soaked, though.

Fingering the wet flaxen strands, she voiced a thought to the woman beside her. "On the phone, you said that it's been two nights...since Al died."

Ruby-red eyes gave her a sideways glance before answering, "Yes I did."

From the corner of her eye, she saw Winry turn her attention fully to the lieutenant, so she added, "I'm not too worried about his physical condition, though. I just believe he needs to talk to someone, preferably you. Right now, he needs contact from another human being. And..."

Winry waited for Lieutenant Hawkeye to finish, but she just broke off. Whatever she'd been wanting to say...might have been a disturbing thought.

Surely he wouldn't think of...killing himself...would he?

Her heart sank, worry etched in her delicate features. But even with that, Winry couldn't bring herself to think that Ed would commit suicide out of depression. Since when had he ever given up? When had he ever allowed himself to be swallowed up by despair rather than keep pushing forward? Hadn't he always been a solid, unbreakable pillar of support? For everyone? For himself and Al? For her?

Then, the car came to a halt, much to Winry's surprise. Looking around, she guessed that they were already here. They were parked near a white house with a red tiled roof, giving it the impression that it was private property, then she felt that maybe it was more of a small dorm reserved only for the military. It was small and modest, but she could tell it was the brothers' ideal home. She could almost imagine Ed walking out the front door in a uniform similar to Hawkeye's, Al standing at the doorway, seeing him off. Then in the evening, the street would be bathed in yellow lights, the house glowing with its own warmth produced by two teenage boys. Sitting together, having dinner, talking in happy tones, bidding each other goodnight before turning in...

...All gone.

"Winry-chan." Riza's voice jolted her out of her wistful thoughts, and saw that the lieutenant was standing outside on the driver's side. It was only then Winry noticed that she'd already stepped out of the car and was now standing on the sidewalk facing the house. The lights were out, as if no one was home. No. Please let him be here... she found herself pleading.

"I'll be going now. If anything, don't hesitate to call me at headquarters if you need assistance."

Winry nodded to Hawkeye. "Okay. Thank you very much, Miss Riza."

The older woman held her gaze for a few more seconds before bowing her head in a gesture of farewell, and entering the car to drive away.

Winry watched the car speed off around the corner before turning her eyes to the dark, empty-looking house. The rain had lessened considerably a while ago since she'd arrived, and it came down as gentle precipitation on her head and shoulders.

Ed...

TBC

A/N: Ack. This fic's too broken down in tidbits for you people to be satisfied, isn't it? I'll try harder.