Sixth Avenue Heartache

Chapter five: Here Is Gone

Hughes walked into the kitchen to find Gracia, who was sitting at the breakfast table, watching him as he walked in. He walked over to her and gave her a kiss on the cheek and sat down next to her. Letting out a sigh, Hughes laid his head on the table and closed his eyes. He felt worn out from worry and wanted nothing more than for the day to be over. Before his thoughts could continue, Hughes felt a hand brush though his hair.

Turning his head in the direction towards his wife, Hughes smiled and relaxed once more. At this Gracia chuckled, "Everything will be fine, you don't have to get so worked up."

"I know, but I can't help but be a little worried. Aren't you?" Hughes questioned. Gracia looked thoughtful for a few moments with a small frown on her face.

"Yes, I am worried," she said seriously, "What ever caused Ed that much pain isn't going to go away just because he's back home," Gracia explained. "But with Al and Winry by his side, I think that they'll find a way to work things out."

"It sounds like you have a lot of confidence in them," her husband observed as he brought his head up and sat properly in his chair. She smiled in response.

"Can you blame me? Ed's been known to do the impossible, despite how hard 'impossible' may be," she said. A smile spread on Hughes face at her reasoning and leaned back in his chair.

"You have a point," he said as he tried to balance himself on the back legs of his chair. "Do you think one of us should go up there and check on them?" Hughes asked.

Gracia shook her head. "I think we should leave them alone for now. They'll come down when their ready." She started to get up, but then turned towards Hughes and informed him, "If you keep leaning back in that chair, it'll be your own fault when you fall." Hughes grinned, but didn't take her warning.

Edward, Alphonse, and Winry sat in silence for what seemed like forever, until Winry mentioned repairs for Ed's auto-mail.

"Come on Ed, prop your leg up and let me see the damage done to your leg," she sighed and she picked up Ed's leg. Lifting up his long pants, that were covering her work of art, Winry starred down at an unfamiliar model of auto-mail. Unlike hers, which was made with the best metal, this one was poorly crafted and looked like it was about to break at any moment.

"Sorry," Ed said as Winry looked up at him in confusion. "I lost your auto-mail and had to make my own," he explained quietly.

Before he disappeared, Edward could go in for a maintenance check or get a replacement without any problems. But in Germany, auto-mail didn't even exist, so there were no auto-mail mechanics. This left Edward in a difficult position. He couldn't go on without some type of prosthetic, but the world he was in had no such thing even close to auto-mail. So using what little knowledge he had of auto-mail, Edward managed to create a more primitive version of it.

Winry let a smile appear on her face as she looked up at Ed. He looked so different, yet exactly the same. "I'm impressed that you managed to make this on your own," she commented in a quiet voice, trying to lighten the mood. Ed didn't respond to her comment and remained quiet as he focused his attention on his little brother. Alphonse, who was sitting at the end of the bed, starred the floor with a sad look.

"It's okay Al," Ed interrupted his thoughts.

"What?" Al said startled, he didn't even notice Ed watching him.

"I'm fine, you don't have to look so sad," he tried to dismiss. Unfortunately, neither Al nor Winry believed him. In the past, when ever Ed was hurt, he was always able to brush off the pain and tell everyone that he was alright. This time, the pain was too much to brush off and dismiss.

"No, you're not okay brother," Al responded in a quiet voice. Ed looked shocked for a moment at Al's statement, but could say nothing to deny it. Turning his gaze to the bed sheets, Edward remained silent. Alphonse continued to stare at him and Winry, who suddenly felt that she should leave to let the brothers have a moment alone, tried to break the awkward silence.

"Let's not worry about that at the moment. Right now we're together after a long separation, so let's talk about something more positive like…"

BANG!

"OW!" someone from downstairs obviously hurt themselves.

"Maes, I warned you. It's your own fault!" the three could hear Gracia scolding her husband for god knows what reason. Winry, seeing an opening to leave, let out a giggle and looked at Ed and Al.

"I'm going to go downstairs and say 'hello', okay?" she said and left before either of them could say anything else to her. Alphonse and Ed watched as she went out and closed the door behind her. Turning their attention towards each other, silence fell once more. Neither one knew what to say to the other. What could they say?

"Brother," Al started, "where were you? Could you at least tell me that?" He sounded as if he was curious, but didn't want to force Ed to tell him. Edward looked at him and then let out a sigh.

"Beyond the Gate."

"The Gate?" he said confused, "but how…? Is that why… you're like… this?" Al chose his words carefully. Edward remained quiet for a few moments and shook his head. It's more complicated than just the Gate little brother, much more complicated, he thought.

"No, the Gate doesn't do this to people," Ed indicated to his current physical state with disgust, "People do this to other people."

"What do you mean?" he asked quietly. Edward didn't respond; he either didn't hear the question or chose to ignore it, Alphonse couldn't tell which.

"There's a whole different world beyond that Gate Al and god forbid if anyone find out," Alphonse sat there, stunned. He wanted to ask so many questions, but by looking at Ed, he could tell that he would have to save it for a later time and drop the subject for now.

"So…" Al dragged out; he didn't know what else to say. Ed gave him a small smile for his attempt at conversation. Seeing that Al was having a difficult time to find a topic of conversation, especially one that didn't involve endless questions directed towards him, Edward decided to step in.

"Could you do me a favor?" Ed asked. Alphonse looked surprised at first, but agreed to it none the less.

"Do you need something? Food or maybe something to read?" he asked eagerly.

Edward shook his head and responded, "No, not food or books; I was wondering if you could go somewhere and pick something up for me that I left behind." Alphonse looked at him curiously and nodded his head for him to explain.

"When I came back from the Gate, I ended up in an alley. Since I wasn't in the best condition," Al rolled his eyes at the understatement and Ed ignored this and continued, "I had a hard time carrying my luggage, so I left it there. Could you go and get it for me?"

"Sure," Al said without a second thought. "Where did you leave it exactly?" Edward began to explain where he left his bag while Al paid close attention to every detail his brother said.

"It's not hard to miss," Ed finished. Al nodded and started to get up to complete the task his brother had asked him to do.

"I guess I'll get going then. It shouldn't take long, so I'll be back soon," Al reassured. Edward gave his brother a smile as he watched his little brother walk out the room.

"So he hasn't told anyone what happened to him?" Winry asked in a disappointed tone. She had hoped that Edward had, but of course, he kept his mouth shut since he got there.

"He hasn't talked much," Gracia explained as she finished putting a bandage on Hughes' head. "Then again, once he heard that you and Al were coming, he became more talkative. Even with the lack of energy, he seemed excited that you two were coming." Winry couldn't help but smile at this.

"It's good to have him back," she admitted. The sudden sound of footsteps caught the room's attention. A moment later, Alphonse walked into the kitchen.

"Sorry I didn't come in earlier to say 'hello' Mrs. Hughes," he apologized. Gracia waved off his apology in understanding as he turned his attention to Mr. Hughes. "What happened to you?" Al noticed the bandage on his head as he grinned like a maniac.

"I leaned too far back in my chair and fell," he explained as Al let out a laugh. Gracia and Winry rolled their eyes at Hughes' bluntness.

"Is Edward hungry or something?" Winry asked when she noticed that it was odd that Al left Ed's side. She thought he would be stuck to his big brother like glue.

"No, brother left his suitcase behind and asked me to go get it," Al explained.

"His suitcase?" Winry asked.

Alphonse just shrugged and added, "He said he wasn't able to carry it when he came back so he had to leave it. Well I'm going; do you need me to get anything while I'm out Mrs. Hughes?"

"Um, if you could pick up some milk on the way back that would be great," Gracia said as he headed for the door. Al nodded in response and left. "He's such a sweet boy," she complimented as Winry nodded in agreement.

"I guess he's so happy to have Ed back that he's doing anything he can for him," Hughes observed as the two women nodded in agreement. Seeing that Alphonse would be gone for awhile, Winry decided that now would be the best time to talk to Edward alone.

"I think I'm going to go check on Ed," Winry told them. Making her way up to his room, she wondered what she would say to him. Her mind was blank; what did they usually talk about? Winry wasn't given much more time to think once she opened the door to Ed's room. Looking at him again almost made her cry; he looked terrible. Seeing Winry enter the room, Ed gave her a bright smile.

"Hey," he said simply.

"Hey, yourself," Winry responded smiling. So, seen any good movies lately? No, that's lame! I know there's something I can say to start up a conversation, Winry thought with determination.

"So what happened downstairs?" he asked after a brief silence. Winry was thankful that he said something; she still had no clue.

"Oh, that. Mr. Hughes was leaning too far back in his chair and fell," she replied with a slight giggle as she started to walk towards him. Ed's smile widened at the thought of Hughes' antics.

"I can easily see him doing something like that," he joked. Winry took a seat next to him and looked at him with a questioning gaze. Returning the look, Edward was about to ask her what the matter was when she suddenly threw her arms around his neck.

"I'm so glad you're back Edward," Winry said to him, "You have no idea how much all of us missed you." Thankfully no tears were streaming down her face this time and Ed didn't feel as awkward. Wrapping his arm around Winry, he hugged her back.

"Trust me, I know what its like," he said quietly. With the awkward feeling coming back, Winry let go and returned to her original seat, which was a safe distance from where Ed was. She could already feel her face turning red.

"I heard that you're trying to start your own auto-mail shop," Ed told her. Winry couldn't help but beam with pride.

"That's right! It's one of the reasons I came down to Central for. I was hoping to find a place to rent out around here," she explained.

"You don't want to stay in Resembool?" he asked Winry curiously. She shook her head in response and smiled.

"They have Granny there, so I wanted to come here, where I can hopefully practice and get some more medical training at the Central hospital," Winry explained. "Besides, it's not like I can never go back," she added cheerfully.

"That's true," Edward said simply as he looked down at his sheets.

"And later on I can install a new arm and leg for you. I already have it made so whenever you're ready," she said happily. "Not only that, but I want to stay to help you recover," she said seriously. Ed brought his gaze back up upon hearing this. He didn't know what to say.

"Winry…"

"You don't have to tell me what happened, Ed. That is, not if you don't want to tell me," she interrupted him. "I just want to be by your side for now," she said so quietly that Ed almost didn't hear her. Now he was at a loss of words. He wanted to tell her everything. How he was force to live in a constant nightmare; how he watched all of his friends die for some stupid reason that he still didn't understand; and how he felt so terrified for the first time in his life that he might never return home to see his loved ones.

He wanted to tell her everything, from the time he left until he came back. But, Edward realized, it was only a passing thought. Not only were his physical wounds still fresh, but so were the mental ones and it would take longer than he'd like for those to heal.

Author's Note: Alright! Done with Chapter 5! Sorry it took so long everyone. I had a terrible case of writers block. Hopefully I'll be faster with the other chapters. Thanks to everyone for the great reviews! Don't hesitate to post more!