Chapter 16

November 9th – November 11th

November 9th – Train 6, In Transit to Dublith

Winry wasn't returning to Central. Not yet, at least. She was hunting the spark – that spot of light in the darkness which told her where Hohenheim was.

She almost found it funny that a spark of light told her where a black shadow was.

She was getting closer and closer to the spark, and her geographical knowledge of Ametris told her Hohenheim would be somewhere near Dublith.

Risembool to Dublith was a long trip, and her back was beginning to ache. Again. Winry shifted one way, shifted another, then finally flopped onto the seat with a frustrated squeal. Nothing was helping.

She briefly considered releasing her wings for a few seconds – the carriage she was in was empty, after all – but decided against it. It would be just her luck for someone to walk in during that split second and see her wings.

oooooooo

November 9th – Train Station, Dublith

When the train finally pulled into Dublith station, Winry had never been so relieved to disembark. She bolted for the bathroom and stayed in there for fifteen minutes, allowing her wings time to stretch and relax before she pulled them back in.

If anyone thought it was unusual for a young girl to spend a quarter of an hour in the bathroom, no one commented on it.

Winry stood at the entrance to the station, and once more tried to sense the spark that told her where a Gate Daemon lay. Slightly east of her current position.

Having gotten her bearings somewhat, she headed off.

oooooooo

November 9th – Dublith Central Hotel, Dublith

Winry was only half-concentrating on where she was going. The other half was busy searching out Hohenheim.

And she'd been led to this hotel. Winry looked up at it, trying to determine where Hohenheim was. She wasn't close enough to get an accurate idea, so she entered the building, and began climbing the stairs.

oooooooo

November 9th – Dublith Central Hotel, Dublith

Winry stared at the little brass numbers. 132. She was sure Hohenheim was beyond this door.

With a deep breath, she raised her hand and slapped it on the wood. A low noise echoed down the corridor, and the door opened.

Hohenheim had to fight the urge to take several steps back. He'd long been aware that the Daemon within him allowed him to see parts of others that ordinary people would never glimpse. He could detect the presence of Daemon's and their essence, and alchemists who had seen the Gate took on a slight glow in his eyes.

But he'd never seen anything like this.

The woman in the hallway shone with light so intense he wondered if he should shield his eyes. Far from the faint, lamp-like glow of those who had seen the Truth, she looked like she had a miniature sun under her skin. As bright as the white light that lay beyond the Gate.

What came out of his mouth was not what he intended. "What are you?"

Winry blinked, but decided to let it slide. After all, she saw the black shadow gathering around his body – she could only imagine what she looked like to him.

"I'm Winry Rockbell." She smiled, but did not extend a hand for him to shake. "And I think you know why I'm here."

'What?' Hohenheim thought. 'Winry...wasn't that Pinako's granddaughter? Ed and Al's friend? And how was he supposed to know what she wanted? He had no idea why she would be-'

But then he knew. He could see it in her eyes. The pupil expanded, and within it, he could see...

He could see the Gate. He could see the doors flying open and yawning wide, as though about to engulf him-

He broke the eye contact so suddenly he thought he heard something crack. But Winry didn't appear offended in the least. Instead, her expression was almost compassionate.

"You must this would come someday," she offered.

"I believe I did," he sighed, opening the door wider in a silent invitation for her to enter.

She stepped in, and got right to business. "I have to take it back."

Hohenheim nodded again. "What did...what did the Gatekeeper give you?"

"Everything I need."

"And if I resist...?" he ventured.

Winry's face was grim. "I take it by force. And then I...alter you...to ensure you are incapable of performing alchemy again."

"What?" Hohenheim was unable to keep a tinge of fear from leaking into his voice. What had Winry become, that she could do something like that?

"Homunculi cannot perform alchemy," Winry stated blandly, reciting the knowledge that Truth had imbued her with. "But humans can. Have you ever considered why?"

Winry didn't wait for Hohenheim's reply. "The answer is quite simple. There is an integral, undefinable part of a human being that allows them to perform alchemy. The closest approximation would be that it is a part of our souls. And if I cannot trust that you will not take on another Daemon, I am quite capable of removing it."

Hohenheim's voice failed him.

"I assure you, you won't suffer for its loss. But you will be incapable of performing alchemy from the moment I take it from you. So I ask you now, what is your decision? Do you surrender it willingly, or do I take it with force?"

Some part of Winry couldn't quite believe she was doing this. But she reminded herself of what she'd done as Angel, and didn't back down.

Hohenheim sighed wearily. "I suppose I don't have much choice...I'm rather relieved to tell you the truth..."

At Winry's quizzical expression, he elaborated. "I didn't really want to take this...creature...but once I did...I couldn't die. And I couldn't get rid of it. Let me tell you now – immortality isn't as enjoyable as you would think. So I'd only be too grateful if you took it from me...but what about my brother?"

"Brother?" Winry wrinkled her nose, flipping through her mental files on those she had to track down. "The one called Father?"

"The same."

"I get it," Winry whispered, the pieces beginning to fall into place. "Your brother did it...and you did it to try...to try to keep an eye on him...make sure he didn't do anything..."

Hohenheim snorted. "That was the idea. But it didn't work."

Winry held out her hand, palm-up, as though asking for something. Hohenheim wasn't a fool – he knew what she was asking for.

"What do I have to do?"

"Just give me your hand, and look into my eyes."

He did so. Winry concentrated hard, looking straight into his eyes, trying to see within them, to reach within him...

She felt it. A dark shadow, coiled within his body. She felt it, grasped it...and tugged.

It slithered into her so easily she was shocked. For a moment, she felt the Daemon battle to suffuse her body, but she wouldn't allow it. Locked in an entirely mental battle, she forced it down, boxed it in. She held it within her body, but refused to let it manifest.

Hohenheim felt a strange, sucking sensation somewhere in his chest. It made him want to breathe just that bit deeper, made him want to pull away from Winry's hand...

But he never got a chance. Suddenly, Winry was engulfed in flames, fire that looked as though it were made of solid white light. With a start, Hohenheim recognised the pure energy that lay beyond the Gate.

The urge to step away came again, but stronger this time. What was she, that could control this kind of power?

He saw a dark shadow dart from his hand to hers, and the sudden laxness, the emptiness of his body, told him the Daemon had left him. He saw the darkness swirl within the white flames, battle briefly for dominance, then coalesce into a small form and fade from sight.

The white flames faded, and Winry returned to normal. And she truly looked normal – the light shining from within her had gone. Hohenheim knew it hadn't faded...he just couldn't see it anymore.

For the first time in many, many years...he was just an ordinary human.

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November 10th – Hidden Cellar, Central

"One down, two to go," Winry muttered to herself as she slipped into the cellar beneath Central.

"Winry!" Jade called. "Where were you?"

"Just making good on a business deal," Winry said, sighing with relief as she unleashed her wings.

"Business deal?" Earnest asked, the albino boy jogging to meet them.

"Yeah," Winry yawned. "Man, I need sleep!"

"It's ten in the morning!" Jade exclaimed, a look of disbelief on her face.

"I've been up all night, give me a break."

Winry toppled into her bed, and was asleep almost before her feathers hit the sheets.

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November 10th – Hidden Cellar, Central

"Now, can everyone hear me?" Winry called from her perch on the rafters.

The cellar amplified her voice, making it echo out across the people below. A few scattered nods were her only response.

"I'm sure you're all aware of who I am, and that I apparently had friends in the military all along. Friends that I didn't remember."

Again, a few nods.

"So, you may find that I'm absent for longer periods of time than usual. But don't worry, I'm just visiting those friends and trying to reconnect with them. Above all, my responsibility towards all of you hasn't changed – I'm not going to abandon you simply because I got my memories back. I'd offer to take all of you with me, but...while this military employs some great men and women, it also houses a corrupt leader. And I won't have you placed at risk for me."

But in her heart, Winry knew this was only a temporary solution.

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November 10th – Military Headquarters, Central

Roy remained utterly stiff in his chair, listening to the military brass yammering around him. He barely noticed it – his gaze was focused on Bradley.

He couldn't even be in the same room as the homunculus without remembering. Without his mind replaying Riza, face as blank as an empty canvas, the gun pressed to the skin of her temple, and him, the floor hard against his knees,pleading for her life...

He blinked, hard, mentally snapping himself out of it. Roy knew this was exactly what Pride wanted – for the memory of humiliation to distract him, make him docile.

Roy was determined it would have the opposite effect.

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November 10th – Military Headquarters, Central

Winry stepped out onto the balcony, staring into the stormy night.

She was spending a few days with Ed and Al – still trying to get her equilibrium back. She could almost feel a gap between them now, a gap created by her experiences, and she would do her best to close it.

The storm almost seemed an expression of her own inner turmoil.

And Winry was seized with a sudden, almost rebellious, urge to fly in it.

She scrambled onto the balcony railing and looked out over the hideous drop, toes poised on the very edge, wings stretched behind her for balance. She grinned wickedly as the storm grew in intensity.

She used to hate storms, but her opinion was changing fast. There was just something so...daring...thrilling...wild...in this. In the idea of flying amongst rain, thunder and lightning in the dead of night.

Winry didn't care if anyone was watching. They couldn't see her in the blackness of the night – and if they did see, who would believe them? (Mangeli, perhaps, but she wanted to find him).

Winry stepped off the edge, the wind catching in her unfurled wings and hurling her skyward. She laughed as she rose through the air like a leaf caught in an updraft. Higher and higher, carried by the wind and by the slow, measured beats of her wings.

She was flying!

Her hair and clothes were driven into frenzy, torn between plastering to her body with the driving rain and whipping about her in the raging wind. She soared into the heart of the tempest, as lightning knifed across the sky, followed almost instantly by the growl of thunder. She could have deflected the rain that soaked every inch of her, but she found she didn't want to. It was…liberating…to be like this. Part of the world around her. Part of it in a way no one else could understand, because no one else knew what it was like to fly through the air like a creature of the sky.

Somewhere, in the distance, a clock began to strike midnight.

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November 11th – Military Headquarters, Central

Lightning split the sky right beside her, and Winry started. How high had she flown? Looking down, she could only just make out the dark shapes of the buildings below her.

Too high. She had to land before the storm swept her away.

Winry angled for the balcony she'd launched herself from, gliding smoothly in spite of the fierce wind. She'd land, dry herself off, go straight to bed, and in the morning...no one would be the wiser.

oooooooo

November 11th – Military Headquarters, Central

As the pale shape in the sky began to drop back towards the balcony, Ed ducked swiftly inside.

He didn't know why he hiding from her. But he couldn't help feeling as though he had seen something he shouldn't have – something that should have been private.

He dried himself in record time, and only just managed to launch into his bed before he heard Winry land on the balcony.

Ed's eyes were shut, and he tried to even his breathing out, trying to pretend he'd never awoken. He heard the rustle of feathers as Winry shifted, and the clink of metal in the next room as Al picked up another book.

He nearly sighed with relief as he heard Winry slip into the second bed once she'd towelled herself dry.

Ed risked opening one eye.

Winry's eyes were closed, but he could see a few droplets of water still clinging to her lashes. Her face was relaxed, peaceful...almost serene. One hand rested on the pillow beside her head, her finger curled slightly as though grasping air.

With her wings stretched out behind her, Ed couldn't help thinking that she really did look like an angel.

It was a long time before he fell asleep again.