Chapter Ten

It was two days since Ruby attacked Ed, who killed the thing she was trying to protect the whole time when he collapsed to the ground. The doctor who had been sent for had pronounced Amber Dead On Arrival, which everyone already knew, but Ed was still alive. That is, up until now.

Winry entered the bedroom where the doctor stood over Ed, examining him closely. She carried a bowl of water with a cloth soaking in it which she set on the ground.

"Is he..?" She choked. The doctor pulled the sheet over Edward's head. Winry fell to the ground.

"I'm sorry," The doctor said. He left the room to tell the others.

Down stairs, Pinako sat at the table, frustration and concern wrinkled across her face. "She was always such a good girl," She muttered. She stood up when the doctor came down.

"He's dead," He said. Before Pinako could reply there was a knock at the door. She opened it. Two men in military uniform stood with six others behind them.

"What do you want?" Pinako asked. Roy Mustang handed her a paper.

"We've been ordered to capture the Dagger Alchemist. We believe she's staying here." The other man, Armstrong, said. Mustang signaled to the men behind them to begin searching for Ruby.

"And just what do you plan to do with her once you have her?" The three adults turned to face Winry, face streaked with tears, standing at the bottom of the stairs. "Kill her like you did my parents?!" They didn't reply.

"Sir!" Two of the men saluted Mustang, two others were carrying Ruby by her arms, and the other two were helping carry Edward's body, wrapped in a sheet, to a more suitable place. Ruby didn't fight the soldiers, but rather went with them. Mustang looked over at the two carrying the body, then to Ruby. He walked up to her, snatching the pocket-watch from around her neck. Still Ruby didn't fight them. Armstrong came up beside him.

"Shall we go back now, Colonel?" He asked. Mustang nodded.

"Yes," He said. The soldiers followed the Colonel and the Major outside, carrying Ruby with them. Mustang turned his head to look at the side of the house. He thought he'd just seen movement. He signaled for Armstrong to follow him as he walked over to check it out. They saw a figure lurking in the shadows.

"Whose there?" Mustang called. The figure stepped out from the shadows. "Edward?" Ed stepped up to them. Mustang stood frozen to the spot, his body going rigid.

"Being dead wasn't my thing, so I came back just to piss you off and get my girlfriend away from you." Ed said. He came up to Mustang and punched him in the stomach. Mustang fell to the ground, clutching his stomach. Armstrong picked up a rock from the ground and used his alchemy to transform it into a spike, which he hurled at Ed. Ed dodged the attack, running past Armstrong and Mustang to where the soldiers were holding Ruby. He quickly had the two holding her taken out and went for the others. Ruby stood there, fear and confusion clear in her eyes. She watched as Armstrong picked up Mustang and carried him over to the house, setting him down and going back to fight Edward.

"Ed… I thought you were dead! I… I…" She stopped talking as he grabbed her arm and pulled her away. Armstrong began chasing him but Edward quickly outran him. Ed ran as far as the forest leading out of Resenbool before stopping, and even then he looked around before speaking to her.

"Ruby, are you okay?" He asked. Ruby nodded shakily. Ed sighed. "I'm sorry I had to do this," He walked behind a tree, and when he came back out, he wasn't Ed. He was Envy. Ruby fell to her knees.

"I actually thought..." She shook her head. "I should've realized." Envy came up and put his hand on her shoulder. Ruby looked up at him. "I didn't want to kill him... Why... Why… Did you make me kill him?!"

"You shouldn't have to ask that question." He said. Ruby stood up and backed away from him. Envy sighed. "I'm Envy, I was jealous of him. It wasn't my master I was afraid of; it was Edward I was jealous of. Sloth didn't care either way." Ruby's body shook. He just wanted Ed dead for his own reasons; there was nothing equal about it! What he had said about equivalent exchange was just a cover up so he could get away with it.

"You tricked me. I trusted you and you betrayed me!" Ruby ran out of the forest, back to Resenbool. How could I have been so stupid, to trust a homunculus? She thought. Tears streaked her face. I'm going to set this right… She headed back toward the house. She wanted to be back before they sent soldiers out to find her, to keep her records as clean as she could from then on. She knew she could never erase what happened with Edward, but she wanted to make it easier on herself.

By the time she got back, they were just beginning to organize the search parties. She slipped in the back door of the house, where Winry usually takes out the garbage or sneaks in when she gets into trouble. On her way to the front of the house, she saw Ed's body wrapped in the sheet, lying on the floor. She stopped by it, getting to her knees.

"I'm sorry I did this to you…" Her voice trailed off into sobs. She bent over the body. She could feel where his auto-mail arm started, the hard metal easy to tell from his flesh. She pulled the sheet back to reveal his face. "I'm going to fix this, Edward; I promise you I'll fix this." She pressed her cheek to his. His body was cool and pale; a lot of time had passed since he was pronounced dead. Ruby laid there for a few moments before Winry came in, spotting her immediately.

"Ruby!" She gasped. She looked away from her and from Ed's uncovered face. "What are you doing? The soldiers are all out there looking for you!" Ruby covered Ed's face before standing up and walking over to her sister.

"I'm going to fix things," She said. Winry seemed confused. Ruby noticed this. "I'm going to bring Edward back."