Chapter 14: He's gone

Al woke to the sound of someone crying, and kept crying, and crying. The person was crying very loudly. "Winry!" Al ran into her room and saw her crying on her bed. Al ran into his brother's room, and realized he was gone. "Brother, where are you?" He yelled from the house, and no one answered.

"Alphonse, what's going on?" Pinako questioned Al.

"Brother is missing Auntie." Al yelled.

"There must be a good reason why Edward left Winry and you here." Pinako made sense but Al was worried about Winry.

Al walked into Winry's bedroom, and sat next to her crying on her bed. "Winry, it's okay. Brother will be back, if he doesn't then he'll be in trouble with me."

"Why would he leave me?" Winry asked, and hugged Al.

"I'm sure he left a letter or something, we just have to find it." Al responded. "See I found it, Winry. This one is addressed just to me, so I'll read it first it might be personal."

--

Dear Al,

I guess by now you must have found out I'm gone. I had to go, Al. I made two lists; one of things she gives me, the second things I give to her. It is really sad how much problems I give to Winry instead of helping her, and supporting her like she needs. Take care of her for me Al. Keep yourself happy, Al. Make sure Winry takes care of Molly; If Molly dies because Winry's too sad to help her. I'm not enough for Winry; she needs someone who's better fit for her. Just make sure she's okay, take care of yourself Al; And Auntie Pinako.

Your Brother,

Edward Elric

--

"So what does it say?" Winry asked, still sniffling.

"Sorry Winry, but it just says for me to take care of you, myself, Molly, and Pinako. No directions of where to go, where he's going or anything, it's sad. I'm going to hurt brother if he does come back." Winry broke out in tears, and Al and Pinako sat next to him.

"Winry, he wouldn't leave you a letter, according to what he told me, he can't face you any more, it's his stupidity kicking in again." Winry cried more, and Pinako just sat by her granddaughter and rested. "I want to beat up Edward to Alphonse, but we're both going to have to wait. He left me instructions on where he was but he said that we are absolutely not to come, and Winry can't see the paper, and we can't tell her."

"Brother, you as good as in the hospital when you come home." Winry stood up.

"Okay Edward, I have exams for alchemy and without you there I'm going to have to take them without you, and with the limited power I have, I'm as good as gone without you, so if you want to see me, it'll be in the hospital." Winry yelled.

"Winry, I know you're upset but we have things to do before you go, first we have Molly, she's still out but not for long, she's starting to wake up, first her, then Ed, then the exam is the schedule, okay?"

"Okay Al, you're right. Ed will be fine out on his own, for now. Molly is the only one in trouble now. I can do it, right?" Al nodded, and Winry took a deep breath. "I know where he is, he went back to the military. That way he can take care of a few things on his own conscious. I just have one last thing to do before I work." She drew a will circle on the floor, and was about to clap her hands.

"No Winry, no alchemy until Molly is take care of, if you're out and she's in pain, you take care of her infection, and Pinako you work on a new ankle joint, that will go faster." Winry nodded, and took care of the infection, she uses jells, chemicals, and needs and repaired the skin after taking off the automail. Winry sealed it up along with a shot of pain reliever so she'd be okay before they put on the new automail.

Winry walked out of the door, and Al grabbed her. "Winry, what if Molly is in trouble again, you can't leave, not yet. The order, it's the only way everyone will be okay."

"Okay but I'm going to take a few hours of sleep after this alchemy, no Edward means no power, then I'm probably going to be beaten up after the alchemy I'm about to do."

"Winry…

"No Al, Edward agreed to this, if he leaves my side and could be endanger I put the bubble right on him, it's a chance that it will be hard but hopefully I can access wherever he is without being nearby without that power, don't stop me."

"Any way I can help make this easier on you Winry?" Al asked. "It is my stupid brother who ran off, I miss him too."

"I know Al, but this is what has to be done. It's a lost alchemy and no one can learn it, you're born with it, and I am so just lay me in my room afterward and try to contact the military and tell them that Ed can't come back without me and you."

"Okay Winry, go for it. Please be okay." Winry nodded and sat in the middle of the circle, she clapped her hands together, and set them on the ground and passed out. "I hope this worked for you and brother's sake."

A/N: The bubble as mentioned is now fit perfectly to the shape of the person, so they are able to do anything like normal, except no alchemy, and use of weapons. The only way they can be broken through is Winry focusing on letting the person free or their need to save Winry in danger which can only switch that person with Winry so she's protected and not the purpose. I had questions about it earlier and they fixed all the problems with it.

Al picked up Winry and carried her into her room. Al closed the door and walked downstairs to watch Pinako work and then he'd play with Den, he missed that. But first he had to call the military to watch out for Ed.

"Hello I need to speak to Fuhrer Mustang, this is Major Alphonse Elric and it's very important. Can you please put me through?" She replied yes and it was sent through.

"Hello, who is this?"

"Major Alphonse Elric, Fuhrer. We have big problems here."

"Okay Al, what is going on, is you three okay? I though Winry's alchemy prevented problems."

"Yes they do, but brother has gone missing and Winry thinks he is going back to the military, and Winry told me that it's too dangerous at his state. You can't let him come back until me and Winry are with him, can you do that?"

"Al, I wish I could but all we can do is tell him there is nothing he can do for us, at this point all is calm and everyone is out on vacation, even I am about to leave to another spot to check things out. I can't tell him he's not allowed to come back, sorry. Tell Winry that I'm sincerely sorry but I can't. Military Rules."

"I understand if she was conscious I'd explain. I'll tell her when she comes to."

"What's wrong with her?" Mustang asked concerned.

"She did alchemy."

"What?" Mustang yelled.

"In order to create these bubbles it takes tons of her energy, one knocks her out for a day alone. She had to…

"Edward."

"It's called Will Alchemy, she uses her need for something, and her heart to transmute the bubbles from the air, but it uses all her power, and in Will Alchemy in order to do something you have to have 6 different attributes, Winry only has 3 of them, while brother has…

"The other three, so she had to protect him using up all her energy to protect him. If I see Edward I'll knock him out for you, okay Alphonse. I'll be sure to get it through his hard head the problems he's causing."

"No, don't. Brother feels guilty because he causes her enough problems. But if he doesn't go home thank feel free to bring on the guilt. Winry needs brother and brother is all lot weaker if not for that bubble, he'd be pretty weak now that he depended on her for so long, no food, and no care for his automail. He's as good as hurt already."

"I see I'll take care of this. Tell Winry not to worry so much and he'll be back soon." Al hanged up the phone.

"Al, he's not heading to go back to the military, he's going to find the self that he lost long ago. Winry is already awake which means, he's nearby. He's…

"At our former home,"

"Yes, he's trying to find the part of him he lost, and if Winry created the bubble that easy, he's nearby and safe." Al fell onto the chair. "You better…

"Go see him, right." Pinako waved good-bye.

Ed and Al's property Ed sat there quietly just sitting there and then he felt the bubble appear, more like sensed it. "Winry, man will you ever give up. You're probably unconscious by the power it took to create this. Are you crazy?" Ed yelled.

"Winry's okay brother, don't worry so much. Since you were still nearby she could use your power to create it and it didn't have such a distance to travel, and use us so much power. She's already stirring in bed."

"Al, how did you know?"

"Pinako said that you were looking for the self you lost, and I figured you'd start where the place you were born, and grew up. It turns out I was right."

"You're very smart Al, I knew you could figure it out with the clue I left with her. I didn't tell her where exactly either, but I said I was going back to the beginning, simple enough to figure out. I haven't been gone long, how's Molly and Winry?"

"You've been gone almost 1 day from when we woke up. Winry cried for about 4 hours, then they worked on Molly for the rest of the day, then she created the bubble, and has been out since then, but she's fine. Molly's leg is uninfected according to Winry. So you coming back, or am I going to have to tell Winry to come here and take you away?"

"Please don't make me go back at all Al; I need to sort a few things out. No one can do that for me."

"I am going to brother because you're hurting Winry more than if you were there, if you're there no one else can hurt her. You never hurt Winry when you're with her, only when you're not. I'm not leaving until you come back with me." Al argued.

"How can you not say that I cause her more problems then do anything for her? I mean I made a list of them, I know I cause her more bad than good."

"I think you missed out on a few things on that list because she seems to think that you're less of a pain by her side then when you're away too. Here we go, when you're with her she's always happy, cheery, she can use her alchemy, she can protect those who she loves, she can be around you. When you're gone she's sad, crying, upset, scared, and afraid that you won't come back. Which seems like more problems for Winry now?"

"Me, being gone cause more problems, but I can't give her anything, balance her with me compared to her not ever meeting me." Ed replied.

"Brother, if you didn't exist she'd be bored sitting at home doing automail stuff all the time, she might enjoy it but she won't do anything else and she wants to have friends, Pinako says when we were gone she was so lonely and bored and used automail as an excuse. If you didn't exist she would ever be happy. She'd be more poor that's for sure." Ed laughed and Al smiled. "If you're here, she's happy, smiling and enjoying it. Everything has ups and downs, you should know that."

"I guess you're right, Al. I guess if I ranked it on importance then I would have figured out the same thing as you. I'm just afraid that I'm not good enough; she has so much good for everyone compared to me, and even all the things she does for me. I could never match her, how many times have I saved her compared to times she's saved me?" Ed asked. Al laughed.

"It's pretty equal because for every time that she creates the bubble you save her from passing out, and then the times with Barry, and then there were times when we were young and she's just begun saving you. The only other time she would be able to make up for all that is the automail when she did all those surgeries but other than that, I can't think of anything."

"I guess you're right, are you going to hurt me Al?" Ed asked concerned for himself.

"No, I told Winry that when you come back she could, but if that doesn't hurt you enough me and Pinako will help."

"Great!" Ed yelled annoyed and frustrated. Ed and Al head back to Winry's home.

A/N: For fun and just for dramatic pause I decided to go to central with Mustang and Hawkeye because it's interesting so –Mustang's Office-

"Who was that Mustang?" Riza asked.

"Alphonse Elric, it seems that Ed is having a mental breakdown or something."

"Of course, over what though?"

"Not sure, just that he wanted to leave is all Alphonse told me. Edward ran away. Alphonse feels that he's going to be coming this way; to get back into his military days again."

"So what did Al want us to do?" She asked.

"Make sure Edward can't join without Winry and himself with Edward. Winry says Edward's condition is unstable and so is hers, she was unconscious when we were on the phone."

"Why are those two so weak?"

"Winry's alchemy is a rare sort of alchemy, not battle alchemy; it's what we call defensive alchemy. Except with that she used a circle but under the same principal, it can't do harm, just create and destroy for pure purposes. It's a lost alchemy lost long ago, I studied it, and it's called Will Alchemy. You can't learn it, you're born with it. It requires 6 attributes which 2 people carry 3 of them; Winry has 3 and Ed the other. That's why they are strongest while together, and why these bubbles we're in now are perfectly designed, Will Alchemy doesn't always need a circle if it's for a good purpose."

"Wow, sounds very powerful, so what are the 6 attributes? And who has which ones."

"Well many people are born with some of the attributes but to find three people that carry each of two and one person to give away their own two to the two people is rare. The three must have a strong bond, and two of them must have a super strong bond. It's usually a pairing of 2 boys and a girl, like Ed, Al and Winry. Al had two and when his body went away the attributes left and was given one each to them, so Winry could then do alchemy."

"So what are the 6 themselves?"

"Oh yeah, will, maturity, power, protection, innocence and weakness. I suspect Winry's are Will, and protection since she could do alchemy on those two principals without Edward or Al. I believe Al's would be innocence and weakness because if Al is around with them his cancel out the powers of maturity and will. It's because of this I believe Edwards are Maturity and power because she made so many bubbles with Edward without passing out, and maturity because he's beginning to think things through, and that's why he is guilty of their past, see."

"Wow, no wonder it's so rare and hard, and she also has defensive alchemy and Ed has regular alchemy, how can that be?"

"Ed's alchemy is power which he was left to because of all that power he could use it to do normal alchemy, while Winry was left with her defensive ability so defensive alchemy, all make sense?"

"Wow that is so complicated, so only when the two are together are they strong?" Mustang nodded. "Isn't that dangerous, you split them up and they're in trouble."

"They lose the power given to them by Al when they're apart, Ed got from Al the attribute of innocence and Winry does will cancel it out so when she's with him he's mature because she makes him. Winry's can't control the weakness without Ed so that's why it came to be, so they are complete equal at their high level."

"Somehow, that all makes sense, so ready to go to vacationing with me."

"Of course but aren't we supposed to be looking for Edward?"

"No, I said I'd take care of it if we came across him, if I don't look I can't find him, so we'll let Winry and Alphonse takes care of Edward."

"Right, so let's go."

Winry's home "Pinako, is he back yet?" Winry said rubbing her eyes with one hand and holding the rail with the other.

"Sorry Winry, they haven't returned, it's late. Maybe you should go back to sleep. Alphonse is taking care of everything. Edward and Alphonse will be back by tomorrow."

"You sure?" Pinako looked at Winry; Winry was still wobbling even with using the rail as help to get down the stairs.

"You're very weak still Winry, are you okay?"

"You know what's weird about that, Edward didn't make a sound when he left I knew he was gone because I could sense him being gone. It's like my alchemy bonds me to him, he's still nearby, that's why I knew it wasn't such a danger to protect him, but I needed to since you know who is still out there."

"You have begun to worry about those two more than their own mother would; she trusted them to watch out for each other. Relax, and go to sleep."

"My sense wouldn't let me go to sleep this morning when he was out of the area, and it won't now. If not for the use up for most of my energy now, I wouldn't have passed out, but I had to save up strength but when it sensed them gone, it woke me out of it when I had enough energy."

"I see, so you plan to stay up all night until they return?"

"I seem to have no say in the way my body works anymore, except alchemy. When they're close enough my body will just collapse to sleep, then whatever goes down, will." Pinako nodded, walked outside without Winry noticing, left a note on the door and came back in.

"No sign of them, good-night; try to rest so you can beat Edward up in the morning for running off, and eat breakfast with us." Winry never learned why but as soon as she sat down she feel fast asleep, her body might have been worn out from all of this, or just needed to.

Ed and Al could now see the house but the quite of the night scared Edward. He was afraid it was a trap for him. He watched out for flying wrenches, and alchemic traps. She was good at stealth, and traps for her enemies, he was just plain scared of Winry's plans.