The night Manami gave her first performance at Grumman's Inauguration Ceremony could have been a dream, with as quickly as it came and went.
But now, it was the day after. Winry, Ed and Al, and Manami were back in their normal clothes, having returned to Resembool, and were walking down the familiar dirt road back home.
It was a beautiful day. Winry had mentioned that it was the perfect time of year to have a picnic, to which everyone agreed. When they got almost halfway down the road, Al heaved a sigh and went to approach the brick wall that lined the dirt road.
"Sorry… I need to take a break."
"Don't be sorry." Manami went to sit down next to him. "I'll stay with you."
Al looked to Ed and Winry. "You two can go ahead."
Ed nodded. "Okay."
Admittedly, Manami was surprised that Ed agreed to go ahead so easily… but she certainly wasn't complaining.
She and Al didn't have much of a chance to talk the night before, and Al couldn't even blame her.
It had been like a switch turned on in the city after hearing Manami's performance, whether they heard it in person or on the radio. It was much more difficult to get to their car at the end of the night, compared to when they arrived— for they were welcomed with flashing cameras and numerous reporters asking Manami to answer their questions.
Others, either old fans of Renee Wolfe or new fans of Manami herself, were begging for autographs.
Even Roy was a fan of Renee Wolfe when he was a boy, much to everyone's surprise... but it meant all the more that he was there for Manami's first performance.
He even asked for an autograph, which was honestly the biggest shock of the night for Manami, but she gladly made sure that he received her first autograph.
With the anxiety she dealt with throughout the day, along with not really eating, then having a burst of adrenaline before and after her performance, and doing her best to welcome this new stardom with grace… Manami was tuckered out by the end of the night. She had even fallen asleep in the car on the way back to the hotel, only waking up to get out of the car and travel to her room, where she passed as soon as her head hit the pillow.
So today, she and Al had agreed to, at some point, have him take a break and urge Ed and Winry to go ahead... so that they could have some time alone.
"We'll see you at the house." Ed smiled at them before turning to walk.
"Don't take too long!" Winry added with a laugh, then walked alongside Ed.
Manami and Al watched them walk away— and though Al turned his head before he could see, Manami swore at the last possible second before they disappeared behind the hill… Ed and Winry reached to hold hands.
She smiled to herself before looking back to Al and seeing that he was looking up at the sky. She followed his gaze, and they sat there in silence for a while, watching the white puffy clouds rolling across the blue sky.
"Hey…"
"Hmm?" Manami looked at Al after he broke the silence.
"... I just wanted to say it…" He smiled at her. "You were spectacular last night. I haven't been able to stop thinking about your song."
His confession made Manami's cheeks blush a soft pink.
"Well…" She shyly smiled down to her lap. "I guess it reached you, then."
"It did." Al went to stand up, and reach down to her with the hand that he didn't have the crutch on.
"Like you said… better than any words."
Manami looked up to meet his eyes and she smiled back at him as she took his hand and stood up.
They went to walk down the dirt road once again, immediately reaching to hold hands.
"So…" Al trailed off for a moment. "Have you thought about where you want to go from here?"
"Well…" Manami looked up to the sky. "That's a loaded question. But it's funny you ask that..." Manami reached in her pocket with her free hand and pulled out a business card.
"..?" Al leaned over to look at the card, too.
"Cedric Richter?" He said the name aloud.
"Mhm." Manami nodded. "I never got to tell you what happened after the ceremony ended last night…"
Manami's ears were ringing as she made her way off the stage after the curtains closed. Her heart was still pounding, but no longer because of anxiety. She couldn't wait to see Al and the others!
She was so excited to get to them that she had lifted her dress to allow her feet to move faster through the backstage area, when...
"Excuse me…"
She felt a quick tap on her shoulder, and something about it was familiar— she stopped and whipped around to see the stage manager boy who led her back here.
"Sorry, I'll try to be quick," He quickly apologized, his jade eyes shimmering. "My name is Cedric Richter. I wanted to start by telling you that your performance was lovely."
He held out his hand to shake, and Manami dropped the bit of dress in her hands so that she could take his hand and shake it.
"Th-Thank you..!" She said breathlessly.
"I just had to tell you…" Cedric chuckled weakly and pulled his hand back. "Trust me, this is just as surprising to me, but… I wanted to meet you because... my father was your mother's stage manager!"
"What..?" Manami's eyes widened in surprise.
"Yes!" Cedric smiled brightly. "I succeeded him, and now I manage the concerts and events here at the Central Grand Hall, but… after seeing you tonight, I just knew that meeting you had to be fate..!"
He reached into his breast pocket and handed her a business card.
"I won't keep you any longer, but… please, call me if you have any questions… o-or if you'd like to continue performing. I think we could make as great of a team as our parents were!"
"Y-Yeah..!" Manami looked up from his card to meet his eyes. "Thank you..!"
"No, thank you, Miss." Cedric insisted with a smile, which Manami returned before quickly turning to find her way out of the backstage area.
"Wow..!" Al said excitedly after Manami finished telling her story. "Talk about a small world..!"
"Yeah, no kidding." Manami laughed. "So, I have that to think about…" She said as she went to put the card back in her pocket.
"Think about?" Al blinked.
"Well, yeah." Manami shrugged. "I don't know if I want to jump into this right away, or if I want take some time to enjoy being home for a while first."
"Oh…" Al smiled and nodded. "I see what you're saying."
They walked for a little bit in silence, just simply enjoying each other's company, but Al suddenly stopped. He was looking off to the distance, making Manami raise an eyebrow.
Before she could ask, he let go of her hand and went to stray off the dirt road.
"?!" Manami stared in disbelief for a few seconds, but then he started swinging his legs over the brick wall and jog into the grass.
"Huh?!" She finally sputtered. "What are you—"
"Come on!" Al grinned back at her, not stopping to wait for her.
"Where are you going?!" Manami quickly went to follow him, getting over the wall with less difficulty, allowing her to catch up behind him.
"Somewhere I meant to visit and kept missing the opportunity…" Al began to ascend up on a hill.
Manami followed him, carefully watching his steps and making sure he wouldn't fall over. Thankfully, he didn't so much as stumble.
It was when they reached the top of the hill that Manami realized where they were. She let out an audible gasp.
It was the hill she would play on with Al and the others when they were little.
After feeling the pleasure of nostalgia for a split moment, Manami then felt a sting of pain course through her...
This was the very hill that all of her nightmares would start at. She even glanced behind her to make sure that there weren't young versions of her friends and sister about to run past her from behind.
Thankfully, that didn't happen this time...
When she looked back forward, she noticed that Al had sat down. Her eyes widened even more at the sight of Al sitting in front of her, his back facing her…
The realization hit her like a brick: Manami remembered those dreams, where she would be underwater, and a hand would reach for her. Only once did she make it to the surface, finding someone who sat with their back facing her… with short blonde hair, just like Al's.
Was Al the one who had been reaching for her in those dreams, all this time..? How could that even be possible?
After the encounter she had with Shiori and Maes, she wasn't so sure of what was a dream and what wasn't anymore…
"Have you considered that it could be both?" Shiori's words rung in her head.
"Manami..?" She snapped out of it when she heard Al say her name, noticing that he was now looking back up at her with a worried expression.
"Are you okay?"
"..." Manami shook her head and looked out once again, taking in the scenery.
"Yeah… I'm okay."
She closed her eyes and smiled softly to herself. She then shrugged her knapsack off her shoulders as she went to sit down next to Al, setting it down on the grass beside her.
The two of them sat for a while, looking out at the scenery and letting the breeze brush their skin and dance through their hair. In the distance, they could even see the Rockbell house.
Even further out, they could faintly see the rubble of what used to be the Elric house. Beyond that, Manami knew, was her own home… reduced to a pile of ashes as well.
"It's weird… the hardest part is over, yet there's still so much to do." She said quietly.
"Hmm?" Al raised a brow at her. "What else did you have in mind?"
"..." Manami was quiet for a moment.
"I want to clean up the remains of my home, to start." She said quietly, not looking back at him.
Al's brows furrowed, and he looked back out as he thought for a moment.
"Brother and I talked about doing that, too…"
"... I thought about maybe rebuilding." Manami looked down to her lap. "I haven't been able to decide… if it was worth reliving the bad memories to do so."
"..." Al looked at her, then moved to rest his hand on top of hers.
"But… it may be worth the good memories…" He said. "Not just the ones from the past, but also the ones that are to come."
"... yeah…" Manami smiled back at him, then opened her hand so that their fingers could intertwine.
"What did you have planned?" She suddenly asked.
"Me?" Al looked up as he thought. "Well… I don't know…"
He took a moment to think.
"I guess my goal right now… is to build up my strength." He finally said. "After that, I'm not so sure. I thought about maybe visiting everyone we met on our journey."
"Oh, I see..." Manami smirked and playfully bumped her shoulder against his. "You wanna get all hot and then show off your body to everyone?"
"It's not like that!" Al laughed, playfully bumping his shoulder back against hers. His cheeks burned a little when she called him "hot."
"I want to thank everyone… for all the help and support they gave us. But, in order to travel, I need to be off this thing." Al held up his arm crutch to display before fumbling to take it off and set it down next to his suitcase beside him.
"That's fair..." Manami hummed, watching as he set the crutch down on the grass.
"Well, I could use some exercise myself, so I might just join you for some of your regimes." She laughed, making him laugh as well.
"What do you mean you could use some exercise?"
"I don't wanna get flabby!" Manami joked. "Gotta stay in shape!"
"Well… you know how we used to get some exercise?" Al asked, making Manami raise a brow.
"What— GAH!"
Al had suddenly lunged at her, wrapping his arms around her tightly. Manami gripped onto him as she fell backwards and, before she knew it, they were both rolling down the hill over each other.
"Oof!" Manami landed on her back with a thud at the bottom of the hill. Thankfully, Al landed on top of Manami, instead of the alternative.
"Geez…" Manami groaned. "Are you okay—"
Manami, for a split second, was worried that Al may have hurt himself during that tumble... but she suddenly stopped at the sound of giggles. She opened her eyes to see Al bursting out into full-blown laughter, so strong that he couldn't even open his eyes.
Seeing him laughing and looking so happy, possibly the happiest she had seen him since he got his body back… that, along with the fact that she was here, sharing that moment with him… caused her smile so wide until she started to laugh herself.
Before long, they were both laughing so hard that they were in tears.
It took her back to when they were little, when they would roll down these hills and laugh like this all day. The countless hours of happiness...
The giggles finally subsided. They both took a moment to wipe their tears away before Al looked down at Manami to meet her eyes.
"I love you." She said, grinning widely.
Al couldn't help but shoot the same grin back at her.
"You beat me to it."
"Don't I always?"
Al leaned down to kiss her, making her well up with happiness. She reached up to cup his face as she kissed him back.
Reliving the happiness she hadn't felt in years, with the one she loved most… and knowing that he loved her, too…
It made this moment even happier than she felt in the past. In fact, it was truly the happiest moment in her life so far.
One that she would remember forever.
Eventually, Manami and Al had gotten their things and returned back to the Rockbell house. They heard barking nearby, and looked over to see Den turning the corner around the house.
"Hi Den, what do you got—"
Both Manami and Al's eyes widened at the sight of a very familiar helmet connected to the string in Den's mouth. The black and white dog approached them and set the very helmet from Al's armor down on the ground in front of them.
"..." Manami crouched down to pick it up. "Al… I thought you…"
"Hey!" The front door swung open behind them and out stepped Ed. "We were getting worried—"
He stopped when Manami and Al turned to face him, revealing the helmet in Manami's hands.
"Oh… is Den finished with that?" He asked, rather casually, as he approached them.
"Huh?" Al and Manami looked back to Den, who wagged his tail happily.
"Remember when he took your helmet and we couldn't find it since?" Ed asked his brother, who nodded.
"Well a few weeks after, I found it out there," He pointed to the side of the house Den came from. "Nesting some baby birds."
"Huh…" Al smiled and let out a laugh.
"But now, I guess those birds grew up and didn't need the nest anymore." Ed put his hands on his hips.
"So you brought it back?" Manami asked Den, who let out a bark in response.
"That's awfully nice of you." She laughed.
"I guess you got a second chance to keep a piece of who you once were, Al." Ed said.
"Well…" Al's eyes fell on the helmet in Manami's hands. He seemed unsure.
"If you don't, I want to." Manami grinned and hugged the helmet to her chest. "I'll be the selfish one and say I wanna keep it."
Al laughed, his cheeks turning pink. How could he say no to a face like that?
"Well… I guess the rest of that body made for enough automail." He sighed out of his nose and smiled. "We can keep this as a memento."
"Mm…" Manami smiled fondly at the helmet. "Yeah… a memento of grudgingly hard work, paid off."
"Mm." The Elric brothers both hummed in response and nodded in agreement.
Manami then looked up to the yellow house that was the Rockbell House. Ed and Al followed her gaze.
"I wonder what's in store… for this new chapter of our lives." Manami said quietly.
"We'll just have to see." Ed said and pointed his thumb behind him to the front door.
"Come on, Granny's got tea made and Winry just put a pie in the oven."
Al and Manami smiled at this news and they all went to walk inside, Den at their heels.
With everything that happened, Manami never imagined that this is how her life would turn out. She never expected to be reunited with her old friends… and then come home with them and live a normal life. She never expected to discover that her mother was a celebrity... and then pave her own way to stardom, too. She never expected to love again… and not only did she get to, but she was also loved in return.
But maybe that was what was so beautiful about life. That anything could turn around, no matter how dark it may seem…
Being with Winry, Ed, and Al… no more Homunculi, no more Philosopher Stones, no more fighting…
Manami and the Elric brothers crawled their way out of the darkness alive… and now, they would get to bask in the light.
This was their future, beyond the Promised Day.
Their Promised Future.
THE END