Chapter Twenty-Four

Ed woke early in the morning, turning in the bed to discover the other side empty. She had returned to Creta with Julia after the wedding. Everyone had been shocked to discover that Ed had decided to stay in Creta, and had obtained a visa to do so. No one had ever expected for Ed to settle down; even if they cracked jokes about it often.

After the discovery of her empty bed, Ed stood and made her way to her living room. Her and Julia had moved in together and shared the rent on an apartment. Ed soon found that Julia was sitting on the floor of their living room in her pajamas looking through one of those god awful boxes Winry had given them.

"And just what do you think you're doing?" Ed asked as she sat on the floor beside her girlfriend.

"Looking through pictures," Julia answered, unashamed of her actions. Why would she be bothered to look at old pictures of her girlfriend, after all. It was nice to reminisce, even if she hadn't participated in the stories the pictures told.

"Don't make me call Winry and give her a piece of my mind for giving you that stuff," Ed said. She actually wasn't that angry that Julia had been given the pictures. Julia was her girlfriend, and Ed didn't mind sharing that part of her life with her. Even if it embarrassed the blonde a bit.

"Oh, come on, you were so cute when you were little," Julia said, looking down at a picture of Ed and Al together with their mother. "And your mother was so beautiful. You look like her, you know."

"Nah, Al looks more like her," Ed said. "I look like my dad." Even though Ed and Al shared the same golden hair and eyes, Alphonse's face was more rounded like their mother's, and Ed's features were sharper like their father's.

"There aren't any pictures of your dad," Julia said. Ed had told her about the absent father before, so Julia hadn't been surprised. Though, she had thought there might be one picture. After all, their father hadn't left until they were four and five years old.

"Uh, yeah..." Ed trailed off. "I actually have a picture of him somewhere." She stood from where she had been sitting by Julia, making her way to their bedroom. After a moment of digging through a box underneath their bed, Ed returned and held the picture out for her to see. It was the only picture with all four of her family members. "My dad came back when I was sixteen and took the picture. After he died, my granny gave me the picture to hold on to. I don't know why she didn't just put it back on the corkboard, but whatever."

"Wow, you really do look like your father," Julia said with wide eyes as she looked at the picture. "I mean, no offense. I know you weren't very close with him."

"Nah, he's okay," Ed said. "Now, I mean. I still don't agree with his decisions, but when it came to everything, he helped Al and I. Hell, he was willing to risk his life for Al when it came down to it."

"I wish I could have met him," Julia said. "Him and your mother."

"I don't really know a lot about my dad because he left when I was so little," Ed explained. "But my mom...She was amazing. She gave Al and I everything she could, and was such a strong woman. I only wish she could have seen Al and I now. I mean, Al's married to Winry with a baby on the way."

"How are they doing, by the way?" Julia asked. Ed talked to Winry or Alphonse every day, and Julia didn't blame her. She knew how close they were, and admired their relationship.

"They're okay," Ed answered. "They're not really getting much sleep right now, though. Winry's back has been hurting lately and she hasn't been sleeping, so Al's not sleeping either." After the wedding, Winry was pretty much pregnant right off the bat. Ed teased Al about how they had a shotgun wedding and they were just trying to hide it, but Ed knew it wasn't true. Well...maybe. They had been all over each other before the wedding. Winry was due in two weeks and Ed and Julia were planning on returning to Resembool to help out during first few days.

"I wonder how that feels," Julia said quietly.

"What, to be pregnant?" Ed asked. "The way Winry describes it, it's full of back aches, no sleep, getting fat, and generally horrible." Ed left out certain parts Winry had talked about. Winry had told her all about feeling the baby's first kick, hearing its heartbeat, and everything. Ed didn't want to say anything about those parts.

"Don't get scared there, Ed," Julia said. "You know full well that we, as two girls, can't get pregnant together." Ed could hear the slight disappointment in her tone.

Ed internally groaned, as she should have known Julia would want a family someday. Julia had wanted her brother to be with her, alive and well, so bad that she had committed the taboo and lost her leg because of it. The redhead's left leg had been automail since she was sixteen. Ed thought it was almost ironic that they both had automail left legs.

"We should talk about this..." Ed trailed off. "But...can we do it later?" She wanted to talk about it, but needed to push it off so she could figure out what she wanted to say. Ed wasn't good at coming up with responses to serious discussions about the future.

"Sure thing," Julia said. "You have to get to work anyway. I have to go see about getting a visiting visa to Resembool." Ed had taken up a construction job nearby. She enjoyed the physical activity that came with the work.

"Great," Ed said, giving Julia a peck on the cheek before jumping up. She needed to get out of her pajamas and ready for work.


Lily (Guest): "I loved this chapter! And I'm glad you paired up Winry and Al. :)"

Thanks! I'm really happy about what I did with Al and Winry. I figured Winry had to get with an Elric. It was pretty much her destiny. (In all seriousness, though, she would have had a wedding in this fic whether it was with Al or not. I really just did Al because I thought it would be sweet for Ed to be the best man).