Chapter 18: How Dare You
(Winry) I put on my wig which I had brought for some strange reason, I guess since I was going to central a few people might need me or something, and part to escape those looking for Winry to congratulate her.
I walked down to the place Ed had told me to. Why did they take Ed, and what was going on here?
"Ah, the famous, defensive alchemist, Eliza Rockbell; it's an honor to meet you." A man said, I sighed. I didn't like attention, no matter who I was.
"Cut the chatter, what did you do with Edward Elric?" I demanded to know.
"We know that you're engaged to Edward, Ms. Eliza; so stop the façade." I nodded, and knew that they'd make a connection, but guess we're engaged, that was information given by Ed for sure.
"What do you want, so I can take care of you and return power to the Military." I said like it was easy and I was bored, which was like I was, except I was worried for Ed as well as bored, and thinking taking them down would be easy.
"Okay, so I get to learn about you first. We go alchemist on alchemist; whoever wins gets their wish. I wish for you to destroy the bubbles around the people, and your wish is for your fiancé back and military in power again." I nodded.
"Want me to fight you or do you have another person, or let me guess Edward, or would that be low even for you?" I bragged.
"I thought you'd be a lot different then you are." He answered me. "You're smart, tough, and brave; a lot like Edward."
"Thank you." I said harshly.
"We're not evil, not to the least. I just want to challenge you." A man said.
"Go for it, what kind of challenge is this, offense alchemy test if I'm correct."
"We have not clue what you can do, how could we not make it unfair for you."
"A challenge, good," I said rubbing my hands together, some free style defensive jitsu. I took a marker and wrote the symbols on my hand, when I do it without the circle I'm much more weak then without it, so I'd write it. I can do it easy without the circle because Ed's close by.
"To make it fair to you, I heard you're top levels at protecting objects, but in this test you have to do both." He tossed a necklace to me. "Put it on, as will I. First one to get close enough to touch the other's necklace wins, alive or not."
"Fun," I said sarcastically.
"Good, I'll enjoy this also." The man said.
In three seconds, I had his necklace in my hand. It was made out of metal, a hard alchemic material to control if you know what you're doing, Al never got the hang of metallic alchemy but Ed is an expert while I can only do fair, but with Will Alchemy, I can do it easy.
"How did you do that?" He asked, seeing the challenge was over.
"Easy, I broke down the necklace when you weren't watching it, recomposing it on the ground underneath your feet, then when I came and attacked you, I grabbed it off the ground, tricking you into thinking my purpose was to attack you, then when I walked over here I held up yours and mine, showing you the one I had wasn't yours."
"Smart girl but how may I ask did you break it down, without touching it in the first place."
"How do you think I made bubbles for people around the world without touching them, I won though, so I get my wish."
"Fine girl," I smiled and walked into the wall, and put my palms on it and broke through it.
"About time, Will?" Ed asked.
"But of course, I can also do alchemy from far away without it but I haven't exactly mastered all my elements, fire and metal still are a bit droopy with me, so I was forced to use Will."
"Whatever, but how can you do it without a circle, and without touching the object, if you do know how, I can't."
"Easy, whether I know it or not, it's Will Alchemy that I'm using, just to a smaller extent. In your test, I used tiny pieces of the ground to transfer the alchemy threw the ground up the pole and over to the flag."
"Smart, so are you ready to go?" I nodded and returned.
"Wait, I need to say something to someone." Ed shrugged and I walked over to the man. "How dare you bother me why I'm sleeping and getting ready for my wedding, it's very impolite and bothering Ed to get to me is very rude, don't do again, or I will hurt you."
"Eliza, you know that you can't use alchemy to hurt people, directly. You could make a shield that is air proof though, but I wouldn't suggest it." I smirked and Ed sighed, and took my arm and pulled me away. "You're put me through a lot of trouble today."
"Yeah, I know but how dare he bother us." I said annoyed with him.
"That was quite rude of him."
"Now let's go home." Today was the last day we were spending in central but we returned to the house.
"Major Winry, Major Edward; your presence is requested by the Fuhrer." Lt. Bloch said. I sighed; it seemed we were not going to make it home on time.
"What do you think he wants?" I asked.
"Probably to congratulate us or something; or thank us for saving everyone. The normal thing." Ed answered lying back against the back of the carriage, and I leaned against his arms, them rapping around me.
We arrived at the dinner hall were we were told to meet. "Surprise," I jumped and Ed was smiling as people surprising me had caused me to transmute a wall of stone in front of us.
"Major Winry, Major Edward; it's just a wedding shower. What's with the wall?" Lt. Ross asked. Ed just looked at me. I sighed, and transmuted the wall back into the ground.
"When you try to scare or surprise Winry, it never turns out good; it seems we're lucky this time. I usually end up with a wrench to the head, or she'll punch me or she'll do alchemy on something and hit me with it." Everyone laughed at this. Ed rubbed his head. "I try to be careful to what extent I scare or surprise her. Next time I might end myself in the hospital."
"Well brother, let's sit down." Al said happily.
"Al, what are you doing here?"
"You don't think all these people just decided to think of this on their own and not invite us and have this all ready for you by then. They've know about it for a while. I knew Winry would want to go into central for stuff for the wedding so everyone was on call for when it would happen."
"Wow Al, thanks. You did a great job." I said amazed with everything.
"I think you misunderstood my Winry, I didn't plan this all alone, it was all Molly's idea, she's the one that made it happen, and I just helped. She's been helping me with everything since I met her, all the ideas and stuff."
"Wow Molly, thanks." I said hugging her when she appeared from behind Al. "Wow you guys are great to Ed and me?"
"They really are, we're lucky to have family and friends like you guys." Ed said waving to everyone.
We sat down at the table and we ended up talking to anyone and everyone at the party; we got gifts from everyone and they were all really great gifts. I realized that Riza wasn't here.
"Mustang, where is Riza?" I asked.
"She didn't tell you?" Mustang replied.
"No." Ed answered.
"Well she and I are engaged to be married and she's off in France with her family arranging everything."
"That's wonderful, Mustang." I said.
"Yeah Mustang, I knew it would happen but now, who knew?" Ed said happily.
"Thanks well enjoy the party." Ed and I nodded and he walked away.
"You hear of the new dress code?" Ed asked, holding a paper in his hand, the same one Mustang had handed to him earlier.
"No." I answered.
"You remember when he was just a Colonel. What was the thing he always said he'd do when he became Fuhrer?"
"You don't mean?"
"Yep," Ed handed me a paper with the label and everything on it.
"Ed." I whined.
"Hey, I'm not Fuhrer, am I? Don't complain to me. I'm sure Riza has complained just as much as you can, so don't even waste your time. We have to pick it up before we leave, at the dinning center where our party was, that's where the official military ball is being held this summer." I sighed.
"Don't worry it's only in two weeks." I jumped up, alerting everyone. Ed pulled me down into my seat. "We get your uniform today; all you have to do is show up in it at the ball. It's a no problem thing for you. We dance, have fun then go home again. Okay?" I sighed, and relaxed, I don't know what he was trying to do, make me have a heart attack.
After all that excitement, I was happy to board the train back home to Reisenbool. The uniform was horrible, and I mean horrible. It was a knee length skirt in blue, like all the military uniforms and it was a short sleeved blue top, like the old one was. How did they expect girls who were gunmen to shot and absolutely how did they expect me to be able to do alchemy and move around in that, it's ridiculous.
When I got on the train I fell asleep with my head resting against Ed's shoulder and he could somehow he could manage to stay awake while I was so tired from these days out.
When we arrive home I was happy as could be and Ed and I were making the final preparations for the wedding. I was checking to make sure everyone's outfits fit them perfectly which they did. The colors and everything were really great together, and everything seemed perfect. She would love for the wedding to be perfect but like she knew she had two legs and two arms something would go wrong, she would do anything to stop it but she hoped she would be wrong.
(Ed) We arrived home and after finished, we set the date for the wedding to be a week from today, Oct. 3 was the chosen date. Her purposing made sense, it was a day when we lost it all but also gained a lot more, to me all it seemed like is that we lost a lot, like a partial alchemy, half of everything, everything lost, our home, our friends, and the closest thing that we had left to family we were leaving. It hurts me to think about it, why would she suggest it?
Flashback
My mind went blank and I looked at the ground. "What's wrong with Edward?" Elicia asked scared. Winry rubbed my back, in a slightly useful attempt to calm me down, and help me understand her thinking.
"Edward it's a time that means a lot to me, and you." I tightened my fists.
"How could it, the day I left, burned down our house, left you, how could it mean so much to you? Doesn't it hurt you like it does me?" Winry in another attempt to settle my body as it was hurting in the pain of remembering and took my hands in her own.
"Why should it Edward, you're back. You wanted to remember it, even though it hurt you didn't you. To heal you have to bring up memories. You leaving meant so much more then you and Al leaving me with Pinako it was a hopeful day that you would come back in one piece happy, with Al. Though it never happened like that, the day when you lost all that was yours; it meant that you needed something else. What hurts makes us stronger, you should know that." She explained her reasoning.
"I know, but why then?"
"Because it's in mid fall when all nature is harmonized and is beautiful; Great things come when others leave, even healthy plants, Al in whole, for every pain, new beginnings, that is why." That amazed me, how she could see the good and the bad, unlike me. Maybe I was lost, lost from seeing the good, but I couldn't believe that because I saw Winry, Al, Pinako and Molly they're all good, I guess I couldn't see the good with the bad back then, but now I was starting too, like when I was little, innocence.
End of Flashback
Either Winry was psychic or she just knew me. "Thinking about what happened back at Garcia's house, or something else?" Technically she was guessing but her first guess always seemed to be right, then she doubt she was right but she was, and I knew it.
"Yeah," I said still drowsy from my thoughts.
"That day may seem to you such a bad thing, but it wasn't. You know how much you changed for the better because of the journey. It wasn't the best way to learn these lessons but you're a different person, because of it Ed. You've learned lessons that you needed to learn, and it seems you just needed to learn them the hard way. When you left on that journey, you learned things that your mom had been trying to tell her but you didn't see it, you always were hard headed. That's why Al thought to stop, but you were the boss, you should have thought about it, but you were consumed in grief, and couldn't. Al was younger only by a year and saw it."
"So are you saying it's my fault?" I asked confused, she shook her head.
"It was no one's fault. If anyone's it those who tried to defy death, and bring a spark of hope to bring back the dead and should have burned their work, marked what happened, someone should have, it's their fault and it'll never be yours Ed."
"You didn't know what would happen; if you did I know you wouldn't have done it."
"But I knew that it had been tried and failed before, so isn't that the same thing."
"Transmuted removed limbs, the hardest thing in the world to heal from and to attack automail to, because the joints are still there, they feel and sense the transmutation result in them. They said it was impossible, they said it couldn't be done. They doubted you'd walk again; doubt you'd ever be anything more than a failure and dead. They said I couldn't do it. They were wrong. I made the automail, I like you took something someone said they couldn't, and something they had tried and failed at and took it and attempted it with Pinako. We did it. What's the difference?"
"I failed." Winry sighed.
"No, the only difference was that the thing you were trying to do was impossible, not someone said it was impossible, it was. You can't bring someone back from the dead; you can make their body, or have their soul forever, not both. When they're dead, they're dead but if you're close enough you can save their soul but not the body the body is still dead."
"I guess you're right."
"You and I learned a lot, even if it seemed like it wasn't worth it, and though it probably wasn't to have tried lost all that regain a lot of it then never have attempted the forbidden thing in the first place, it was worth it to get it back and learn the lessons that caused the mistake in the first place, right?" I was confused but I sort of got what she was saying, well almost. I think she's… well I'm lost.
"Explain it more simply."
"Though it seems easier not to have gone through all that trouble eventually in time you would have tried it any way if you didn't go on the journey because the lessons you learned on the journey is what you missed out on that caused you to defy alchemy in the first place."
"So without going on that journey I would have in time just tried the transmutation anyway because I never learned the lessons that came with my problem."
"Exactly, that's why you gained a lot from leaving, even though you had to leave it was worth it to know that because you went you aren't to leave because you learned your lesson."
"You could have just said that last thing at the beginning and make it simple for me." I said crossing my arms.
"Trust me, simpler isn't better. Remember with the lighter automail, it was torn up easier, it's the same thing."
"Yeah, I got it."
"Good."
"You ready to be married?" I asked her, sighed that conversation was very stressing.
"Of course I am Ed, why would I?"
"I don't know I'm tired, and I was just wondering." I sighed.
"You should go up to your room and rest; you haven't slept for the last 3 days." I nodded tiredly and went up to sleep, maybe then I could finally relax knowing that everyone is safe.
Preview: The next chapter is the wedding; the chapter's title is 'Alchemy's First Gift'. It's going to be great because I wrote it and it's going to amaze all readers. So read on!