Author's Note: I'm really sorry that this took me so long to get out! But don't worry! I'm on summer vacation now, so I'll have more time to write and hopefully I'll be able to update more often. Thank you for all of your reviews and special thanks to The New Fullmetal Alchemist for cheering me on!

Sixth Avenue Heartache

Chapter four: Fall Away

Gracia walked up the stairs while holding a large first aid kit and some bandages. Careful not to drop anything, she opened the door to Edward's room. Seeing that he was actually awake, Gracia smiled warmly at him and went over to help him sit up on his bed. Ed gave a weak smile as Gracia started to take his old bandages off. His condition was still bad, but at least his fever was finally gone.

"How are you feeling today?" she asked as she carefully took off another bandage from his shoulder.

"Good, I guess," Edward tried not to move too much.

"You know, you're lucky that your fever went away when it did. Other wise you'd be in some trouble," Gracia informed him. "With the condition you're in now physically, that fever of yours would only cause more problems for you to get better."

"Why didn't you just put me in a hospital? I'm sure that they'd be able to care for me just as well," Ed wondered. Gracia sighed and shook her head.

"Edward, I thought it was obvious," she laughed, "we can't take you to a hospital. You've been gone for five years; most people think you're dead. We couldn't just carry you in there; the military would be all over you and with the state that you're in now, you won't be able to shake them off," Gracia said as she reached over to get some alcohol for his wounds. It made sense to Ed. You can't just suddenly walk in after such a long absence and act as if you've only been gone for a few weeks.

"I guess you're right," Ed said as he winced at the sudden pain of alcohol on one of his cuts. Gracia continued the process of removing bandages, cleaning wounds, then wrapping them back up. As she checked over her work, Gracia frowned at the sight of Ed's body. There were so many cuts and bruises on him, not to mention that he looked half starved.

"Edward, you need to make sure and eat plenty of food and get lots of rest," Gracia said in a motherly tone. Ed nodded his head slowly in response. "I don't like seeing you this way," she added in a sad tone, "so you have to get better soon, okay?"

"I will," Ed said as he looked up to give her a small smile. Taking the now silent room as an opportunity to tell Ed about the guests that would be arriving, Gracia eased into the subject.

"So Ed, other than the people who were there the night you came back, including myself, you haven't seen anyone else, am I right?" she said casually, hoping to catch Ed's attention. Seeing that it didn't, she continued, "and I'm guessing that you haven't had the chance to call anyone in particular either. Oh well, I'm sure they'll understand, I mean you've been sick ever since you got here," Ed's attention was now on her.

"Who are 'they' exactly?" he questioned; he still didn't look up at Gracia.

"One of your friends and family member," she said brightly. Ed immediately froze and slowly looked up at her. "They'll be coming later on today. Maes is going to pick them up at the train station and bring them here," Gracia informed him.

"Al…? Al's coming? He's alright?" he asked her in a mixed voice of shock and worry for his brother's well-being. Gracia was stunned at his questions. He didn't' know?

"Um… yes, of course he's alright. He's been looking for you ever since you disappeared," she told him. A small smile appeared on Ed's face at this catching Gracia by surprise.

"What about Winry? How is she?" he questioned suddenly, his eyes lighting up a bit. Gracia proceeded to tell him about Winry and Alphonse in great detail as Ed hung on every word she said. By the time that she was done, Ed had a small smile on his face, but even his smile was mixed with sadness. It seemed that even the happiest things couldn't release the misery that was imbedded in him.

Gracia frowned at this. "You know, if you ever need to talk about something, you can always come to me. You can't keep things bottled up inside forever Edward. You'll have to let it out eventually," she tried to comfort him.

"I know," Ed said quietly. Seeing that he wasn't going to say anything else, Gracia decided that it would be best to just leave him alone for the time being.

"Well, I'd better get back downstairs. You can come down any time you'd like to get something to eat or better yet, I'll bring something up to you. With the state of your body, it might take awhile to completely regain your strength," she explained to him. Edward nodded in response. With that, Gracia left the room, shutting the door quietly.

Left alone once more, Ed sighed and looked up at the ceiling. "Maybe things are starting to look up for me," he said in a hopeful voice. Ed suddenly hung his head low and added in a dejected voice, "who the hell am I trying to fool? Humph, I bet you're having a real laugh up there, huh Matthias? Things can't go back to the way they were, no matter how hard I try."

Edward once again let out a heavy sigh and brought his one good arm to his head and ruffled what little hair he had left. Dropping his arm, Ed fell back on his bed and closed his eyes. Despite the sinking feeling in him, he couldn't help but smile at the thought of seeing Al and Winry again. Edward's once calm face adopted a twitch at the thought of Winry and his auto-mail. She was going to be pissed, but even at that Edward still let out a small laugh.

"Al! Hurry up or we'll miss the train!" Winry yelled as she rushed for the train.

"I know, I know! I'm trying!" Al yelled back. He struggled to keep up and hold all of the luggage at the same time. As Winry boarded the train she turned around once more and yelled at him to hurry up. I wouldn't be going this slow if you held some of the bags instead of just running off with that one piece of luggage, Al grumbled to himself. As he finally got on the train, Al looked around for Winry.

"Al, I'm over here. This compartment is empty," she called to him. Al struggled to get there, but made it in the end. "It's a good thing that not many people are on the train today or we wouldn't have gotten this whole compartment to ourselves," Winry said cheerfully as she grabbed some of the bags from Al and threw them on the overhead above their seats.

The train whistled, signaling its departure, and then set off. The trip to Central from Risenbool would take awhile, so Al and Winry tried to get comfortable in their seats while talking about nothing in particular.

"So, what's in that bag?" Al questioned.

"Which bag?" Winry asked curiously as she glanced at all the luggage that she and Al had carried on.

"The only one that you carried," Al pointed out.

"Oh! That one," She exclaimed. "It's just some auto-mail," Winry said in a tone that told Al to not ask about it anymore. Taking the hint, Al didn't question it any further. He had noticed awhile back, that whenever Winry went some where for a period of time, that she would always carry that suitcase with her, but never unpack it. Whenever Al would ask about it though, Winry always gave him the same response; it's just some auto-mail.

The ride went uneventful for however long that they were on it. At some point, Winry had fallen asleep while Al was staring out the window, taking in the scenery that he was passing by. As he starred out, Al's eyes eventually became heavy and he found it difficult to keep his head up. Before Alphonse knew it, he too had fallen asleep.

After what seemed like minutes, Al became aware of the sound of Winry's voice. "Al, come on. You have to get up now. We're here in Central," her voice continued. Seeing that it didn't do much good to get him up, she decided to take a different approach. "Wake up!" she yelled as she punched him in the shoulder. Al's eyes flew open at the sudden pain in his arm.

"Ouch! What was that for?" he asked her as he tried to get rid of the pain.

"We have to get off the train now, silly," Winry reasoned as she picked up the bags and opened the door to their compartment so she could leave. Following her lead, Al grabbed the remaining bags and left. As they walked off the train, they both looked for Maes Hughes, who had offered to pick them up.

"There he is," Al exclaimed as he spotted Hughes, who was waving at them. Winry called out to him and walked over, Al following closely behind her.

"Hey guys, long time no see," Hughes greeted them with his usual grin.

"It's good to see you Mr. Hughes," Winry told him with a bright smile on her face. Al gave him a cheerful smile as well.

"Let me help you with some of those Al," Hughes offered.

"Oh, thanks," Al responded as Hughes grabbed one of the many bags that he was holding.

"Well, got everything?" he asked. Winry and Al nodded in response. "Okay then! I parked the car close by, so why don't we get going." As they walked to the car, Hughes told them what's been going on in Central since their last visit and, of course, Elysia. Once they got in the car and started to drive off, Hughes had finished his rambling about his family and Alphonse took this opportunity to ask Hughes something.

"Have you heard anything about Ed?" he asked quietly from the back seat. Hughes looked at him through the rearview mirror and smiled. Al always asked him the same question every time he came to Central, and every time Hughes would have to disappoint him. Luckily, this time, he wouldn't have to see the sad faces on both Alphonse and Winry.

"Actually, I have heard something," he told them. Winry and Al's attention was immediately drawn to him as he said this.

"You have? Really?" Winry asked him hopefully.

"What is it? Do you know where he is?" Al asked with the same hopeful voice as Winry. Deciding that it would be best to tell them about Ed now rather than later, Hughes pulled over and stopped the car. He looked down for a moment, trying to figure out how to tell them without causing them to panic too much.

"Yeah, I know where he is," Hughes said.

"Are you serious!" Al said excitedly.

"How is he? Is he alright?" Winry questioned him, she too was getting excited.

"Listen," Hughes said seriously. Al and Winry's excitement dwindled at the tone of his voice, but they waited for him to continue. "Edward is… Edward isn't doing too well right now. He's sick, really sick." He told them sadly. Hughes hated to tell them this. They were so excited to hear about Ed's return and now he had to tell them this terrible news.

"What?" Al said quietly as his face adopted a worried look on it. Winry became silent with worry. Hughes began to tell them of Edward's arrival at his house up until that morning when he had last seen him. At this point, Winry had tears running down her face and Al became quiet as he absorbed the information.

"We would've called, but this didn't seem like the appropriate thing to tell you over the phone," Hughes explained to the two, as they nodded in agreement. "He really needs the both of you," he added with a sad tone. "He doesn't talk or eat as much anymore. We're lucky if he says more than three words to us."

"What happened to him?" Winry finally spoke up.

"I have no idea, but where ever Edward was, it might as well have been hell itself." Hughes started the car and began driving towards his home once more. The rest of the ride was quiet; everyone was lost in their own thoughts. Before they knew it, they had arrived at the Hughes' home. Hughes parked the car and turned around once more to give them a smile. Getting out of the car and grabbing the luggage, the three made their way to the house. Unlocking to front door, Hughes stepped in and placed the luggage by the staircase.

"You can go see him now if you'd like, he's in the second room on the right. I'll be in the kitchen telling Gracia that you're here," Hughes gave them an encouraging smile and walked away towards the kitchen. Left alone, Al and Winry looked at each other, silently questioning one another as to what they should do. After a few moments, Al placed a hand on Winry's shoulder and began to walk up the stairs with Winry following close behind him.

They walked up the stairs for what seemed like forever. Each step seemed to take more and more effort to get up. Finally, they reached the top and began walking towards the second room on the right.

"Everything will be okay," Al told Winry as they stood in front of the door to Ed's room.

"You're right Al, everything will be alright," Winry said as if to reassure herself. Alphonse reached over and opened the door. Looking in, they saw Edward propped up against the headboard of his bed, starring out the window across the room. He didn't seem to notice the two people standing there at first, but eventually turned his head to look at whoever was standing there. As he looked at them for the first time in years, Ed gave them a small smile.

"Hey Al… Winry," he said quietly. Winry felt tears pouring down her face as she took in his appearance. His whole chest was covered in bandages and he looked starved. His face, despite the smile that he had on, looked so sad and his hair was practically gone. She couldn't help but cry at the sight of him.

"Ed… Edward," she said slowly as she walked towards him and stopped in front of his bed. Winry sat down next to him and reached up to touch his face, as if to make sure that he was really there and it wasn't all a dream.

"Yeah, it's me," he responded. Winry looked straight into his familiar amber eyes as her tears continued to pour down her face.

"You're really here," she quietly said.

"Don't cry," Edward reached up to wipe some of the tears away from her face. "Please don't cry." At this point, Winry embraced Edward in a tight, but gentle hug. She buried her face in the crook of his neck and continued to cry. Unsure of what to do, Edward awkwardly placed his one arm around her and tried to comfort her.

"Edward, I've missed you so much," Winry told him.

"I've missed you too Win," he said comfortingly. Winry continued to cry and hug him for a few minutes, but eventually let go and got up.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to come in here and cry all over you," she said, wiping away any remaining tears.

"It's okay," Ed responded as he looked towards the door way to find that Alphonse was still standing there, but had tears streaming down his face. Edward gave him a questioning look and smiled. "I'm glad you're alright Al," he said.

"Brother…" Al choked out; Edward starred at Al and watched as he walked over to him and sat down where Winry once was. Without a second thought, Alphonse hugged his brother tightly and buried his head on Ed's shoulder.

"Brother, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry," Al's voice was muffled, but still sounded choked up from the tears. The room remained quiet, except for the sound of crying, for a few moments until Ed finally spoke.

"Stupid," he said with some difficulty as his eyes began to water. "What do you have to be sorry about?" Ed asked as his tears began to fall slowly from his eyes.

"I'm sorry that I couldn't find you sooner. I'm sorry that this happened to you. I'm sorry that I wasn't there to help you," Al's muffled voice was in hysterics as he apologized. His tears soaking Ed's shirt as he did this. "I'm so sorry brother."

Edward wrapped his arm around Al tightly and let him cry on his shoulder. Winry watched the sad scene before her, but couldn't help the smile that was now on her face as the two brothers were reunited once again.