Epilogue
Ed stood outside his house, holding Aden's hands as he tried to walk. At nearly 8 months he had been grabbing onto things and pulling himself up so the oldest Elric decided it was time to teach him. Aden scooted one foot forward, not lifting it up, then almost fell over. "Whoa there big guy… don't get too jumpy." He right him again, letting the baby get used to his own weight. "Alright… let's try again." He watched as his son tried again, picking one leg up high and putting it down on the ground a few centimeters forward firmly then stopped moving, his eyes mesmerized by a woman in the corner of the garden. Ed looked up and nearly dropped Aden on his face. Asuna was sitting cross-legged in the corner of the yard, her long brown hair pulled over her shoulder in a braid. His jaw dropped and he shook his head he should have gotten more sleep the night before but Aden kept waking him up… but when he opened his eyes she was standing, looking at him, a soft smile on her face and he knew this wasn't a dream. Ed lifted up Aden and nearly sprinted the length of the garden.
"I thought you were-" Her finger pressed to his lips.
"Shhh… that's a thing of the past." Aden wriggled to get free and Ed set him down. Asuna within seconds had jumped on him, wrapping her legs around his waist and her arms around his neck, knocking him back into the garden fence. The kiss that followed was not the last but the most awaited kiss that they would ever remember.
XxXxX
Al stood out on the balcony of his house, his elbows on the railing, his chin in his hands. The alchemist sighed, watching the clouds go by. He wore a pair of jeans, his upper body cooled by the spring breeze. His hair was down, blond ribbons of hair flew in front of his face, whipping around his head. "If only I could… bring you back."
"Bring who back." A soft voice said from behind him. The younger Elric jerked around to see Maria standing behind him, her blonde hair down around her shoulders, one hand resting on a pregnant stomach. Al looked stunned, his mind completely numb. Maria walked forward, "I don't think he likes it in there." She whispered as he wrapped his arms around her, tears in his eyes. Maria rested her head against his chest, listening to his heartbeat. Her eyes filled with tears, spilling over down her cheeks. He pressed his face into her hair, closing his eyes. "I wanted to come back and see you so badly." She ran her hands through his hair, trying to get his hair out of his eyes. She ran her fingers across his face, wiping his tears away. "I'm sorry…" She whispered and pressed her forehead against his.
"Everything's okay now…" Al whispered, stroking her hair back from her face and closing his eyes. "You're here."
XxXxX
"Aaaand he winds up!" Roy, wearing his uniform pants and a white but very muddy button down shirt that was unbuttoned halfway down, took a pitchers stance and threw the ball towards Ryan, in jeans and a white shirt, who swung and hit it, knocking it into their next door neighbor's window. Roy looked at Ryan and Ryan looked at his father and the two of them jolted towards the door, covered in mud from head to toe and barefoot the two of them tumbled onto the kitchen floor. Roy grabbed Ryan by his feet and picked him up, Ryan's shirt falling down around his armpits.
"D-Dad!" Ryan laughed as Roy carried him up the stairs.
"What? I'm just making sure you don't go anywhere!" He laughed, they dripped mud on the stairs and Roy paused, thinking about Riza. She would have blown his brains out if they had done this before… then he shook his head and dragged his son into the bathroom, the two of them stripped down getting into the shower. Mud collected around the drain as Roy squirted shampoo into his son's hair, scrubbing it in. Ryan giggled, leaning against his father's legs.
Feet walked up the stairs on the opposite side to the mud tracks. Riza's face contracted with anger. How dare he track mud into her clean house. Her blonde hair pulled up in a ponytail, she wore a tight white t-shirt and ripped stonewashed jeans. She figured that if she had to look like a man on the job she could look her gender off the job. Her bare feet padded over before the bathroom door where the muddy tracks ended. It was very much like saying the buck stops here. She frowned.
Ryan laughed again and Riza's eyes filled with tears, he was alright. She then heard heavier footsteps on the tile floor of the bathroom. Roy.
Roy wrapped a towel around his waist, tucking it in tightly. Ryan however avoided his grasp as he reached for him with a fluffy white towel. Ryan slipped away from him like soap and Roy dove forward, catching him and wrapping him up shoulders to toes in the towel and picked him up. Ryan giggled, the four year old letting himself be picked up. Roy opened the door, nearly falling out backwards. Ryan was the first to notice his mother, tapping her foot on the ground, standing by the mud. Roy turned, looking at her. The freezer door opened. 1
"I'm guessing… that… I'm not gonna get out of this one huh?" Roy's eyebrows furrowed apologetically and she shook her head. "So we're just gonna skip over the formalities of you're alive and I thought you were dead and just skip right to the firing squad part right?" She nodded.
"Just because you thought I was dead does not mean…" She walked over and took Ryan from him. "Ryan… go to your room… I need to speak with your father…" Her tone was that of a drill sergeant's. Ryan nodded and ran off, falling twice because he couldn't bend his knees for the towel. "That you are safe from me." She pushed him up against their door, their lips locked together. He wasn't even going to ask how she got here or how she managed to survive… or anything of the sort… he was just glad she was back.
XxXxX
Eran Elric was born later that year, making himself and Aden almost exactly a year apart. Al, Maria, Asuna and Ed had a joint wedding with Ryan as their ring bearer. The girls rejoined the military under the pretense that their deaths were a cover-up for one of their assignments and life returned to normal… or as normal as life gets around the Elric brothers. As already another enemy was forming in the shadows…
Alright… that was fun to write… I wanted to bring them back so I made them not die… but you'll find out about all these loose ends… like the last cliffy!!!
1 Uhm… this is an inside joke between myself an a friend and I had to put it in there… kinda like… ah motherland in Dirt and Dust… please… don't ask…