Epilogue

Ed was stood at a podium. Beside him, he could feel the heat of the flames and glanced up at the congregation, each of whom was wearing black and an expression of deepest sorrow.

He licked his lips, scanned the faces of the people before him. He looked down at his speech, then up at his wife, Winry, and his children. Their first child they had named Nina, a young girl with big green-brown eyes, and hair as golden as Ed's himself.

Their second child had been called Maes. Riza Mustang had burst into tears when she'd heard Ed ask Roy for permission to call their child that. He had Ed's hair, but in the same dark-gold shade Al had had, and Winry's beautiful green eyes.

Ed swallowed. He gave his speech. There were people crying in the audience. Ed occasionally glanced down at his brother's body, next to him, in its casket. Military procedure normally meant he'd have been buried in Central, but Ed had spoken – quite heatedly – to the Fuhrer, and he had made special provisions.

After he gave his speech, Ed noticed something. Time seemed to have slowed down to an imperceptible crawl. People were crying, fully-grown men, people who'd never met Al, everybody had some sign of inconsolable loss betraying them on their face. Mustang's baby girl, Elizabeth, in the back row, was crying, though she probably had no idea where she was or what was happening. Ed looked down at his speech. Tears, tears he hadn't realized he had been dropping, soaked the piece of paper. He looked up again and then to his left. Al was within that casket.

And now, there he was, walking before the body of his brother, down the aisle. He reached the doorway, still crying and not caring, and turned down the path. Behind him, Izumi Curtis, Lieutenant Ross, Sergeant Brosh, and Major Armstrong were carrying the coffin. Ed walked solemnly to the centre of the graveyard. There it was, the already dug hole. On the left, Trisha Elric. On the right of the hole, Van Hohenheim. Ed suppressed a smile as he read, on the tombstone of his father, 'never will there be equivalency.'

Al was buried.

"Winry," Ed said, after the last of the grievers had left.

Winry came and put an arm around her husband's shoulders.

"I was right."
Winry looked at him, confused.

"There are however many elements that make up a human body, but the mind and soul are completely different." Winry looked confused. "And I was right. The homunculi had all three. But they lacked that special something else. Something Al had in abundance, and something he gave to me after he died."
Ed smiled.

Winry stared at him, understanding finally crossing her face. Nina and Maes looked at their parents, bemused. "Mom, what is it?" Nina said. Maes nodded, as though he too needed to know.

"One day, Nina, you'll know."

"Mo-om! That's not fair!"

Ed laughed.

"Let's go home." He said, and the four of them, Winry carrying Nina and Ed carrying Maes, left the graveyard.