Chapter Three
By morning the thunder and lightning had stopped but the rain was still as heavy as ever. Ruby was afraid of what Ed might try and do. She couldn't let him try to find him. She knew what could happen if Ed did find him. She couldn't let anything like that happen.
"Ruby, get up, it's time for breakfast!" Pinako tapped on the bedroom door. "Honestly, how anyone could sleep so late is beyond me."
"Yes ma'am. Coming!" Ruby called. She quickly got dressed and headed down into the dining area. Ed and Al were already sitting at the table and Winry was bringing out a big stack of pancakes. She sat down across from Edward.
"Good morning, Ruby," Al said.
Ruby smiled. "Good morning, Al." Winry plopped down beside her, forking some pancakes onto her plate. Ruby took some, too. "Amber's still sleeping." She said. Ed poked his pancake with a fork.
"Brother, is something wrong?" Al asked. Ed sighed, stabbing down into his pancake.
"I'm not hungry." He said. He walked out of the room, not even casting a backward glance. Winry looked concerned.
"Something's wrong. Ed is always hungry." Winry said. Ruby stood up, following Ed. She knew he couldn't go anywhere in the rain but she didn't want to chance it.
"Ed, are you okay?" She asked. She turned a corner and, sure enough, he was standing by the open door. He turned around to face her, tears streaking his cheeks. "Ed, please, tell me what's wrong." Ruby asked.
"Everything," he said. He shut the door and slammed his fist to it. "Everything's wrong, damn it! If Al and I had stayed behind, you wouldn't have been murdered! The military would have never had a reason to be there and you would never have had any problems!" He fell to his knees on the floor, clenching his fists.
"Edward, it is not your fault!" Ruby said firmly. "Stop blaming it all on yourself. If this and if that won't turn back time." He looked up at her. She had never been so firm before. She was sure growing up from that innocent little kid he'd left behind, before she was murdered. "Ed, just let things be. The more pressing issue right now is what I should do about my final mission." Crying from upstairs interrupted their conversation. Ruby ran to check on Amber and Ed followed. Ruby picked the little baby up and whispered soothing words into her ear, helping her to calm down. Ed smiled at the sight of them.
"Can I hold her?" He asked. Ruby handed Amber to him.
"This is your daddy, Amber," she whispered. Ed smiled down at the baby- his baby- and couldn't help but feel happy. "She has your eyes," Ruby said. Ed looked closely at Amber's eyes.
"Yeah, she does." He said. He handed her back to Ruby who had picked up a bottle. She carried Amber down the stairs and into the kitchen where she prepared breakfast for the baby- milk and a little bit of apple sauce.