A/N I'm baaack! Now school, exams, and homework are all over for the next two and a half months! I hope to get a lot done with this story over the summer, so look forward to some updates. ^.^
Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.
Ed paced around the room impatiently as the clock chimed two o'clock in the next room over. Then he sat down in a chair with a sigh of agitation, glanced at the clock, stood back up, and resumed his pacing. Winry sat on the couch, her legs pulled up to her chest and her chin resting on her knees as she watched Ed.
"Would you stop fidgeting?" she finally demanded. "Al will be here when he gets here."
With a huff, Ed sat back down in the chair. "I can't help it," he muttered. "I want to see Al."
"You walking around like that won't change anything," Winry replied. Ed didn't reply. Winry sighed; he'd been like this all morning ever since he had had his automail connected. After doing a few simple exercises to make sure the automail was okay, he hadn't stopped pestering her and Granny about Al and what he had missed while he was away, but mostly about Al.
The one thing he hadn't asked about directly was what Winry had been doing while he was gone. Yes, she had told him that she had designed new automail, but he hadn't asked about anything else. It made her mad and disappointed at the same time just thinking about it. The way he kept asking about Al, who wasn't even here, when she was standing right in front of him…
Winry shook her head firmly. What was she saying; that she was jealous of Al? It was natural for Ed to worry about his brother, who he hadn't even been sure was alive all this time. She could wait for him to ask about her, even if it took forever.
Granny entered the living room from the kitchen, where she had been cleaning up from lunch, and looked at Ed and Winry. "Can't you two find something better to do than sit around?" she asked.
Ed opened his mouth to object when a knock sounded on the door, soft and polite. He froze, looking at Winry, who rolled her eyes and went to open the door. As the old wooden door creaked open, Winry wasn't surprised to see Al standing before her, a suitcase in his right hand.
Now that Winry was no longer in the daze that had taken over her when Ed had disappeared, she noticed some things about Al that she hadn't before. He looked eternally exhausted, with purple marks under his eyes to show for it. His eyes glinted with loosely veiled sorrow and regret in the sunlight, and something about him made him seem older than twelve years old, though that could be because he had four years of experience that his body didn't account for.
"Welcome home, Al!" Winry greeted him cheerfully, and Al looked at her oddly.
"Did something good happen to you, Winry?" he asked. "You sound the happiest you've been since Broth…since two years ago, I mean."
"Well, you're about to share in my good cheer," Winry informed him, giving him a wink.
"Winry, I don't think anything's going to cheer me up right now," Al sighed. "I hit another dead end in my research and now I have nothing else to go on."
"Forget your research then," Winry said, steering him inside the living room as he protested fiercely at her comment.
"You know I can't forget my research!" Al argued. "I just need a little more time, that's all, then you'll see, I'll…" He stopped abruptly when he saw Ed standing at the back of the chair he had been sitting in previously. His mouth opened and closed a few times before he finally managed to choke out, "Brother? Is that really you?"
"Yeah, Al…it's me," Ed whispered, his voice filled with relief as he recognized his brother. Al rushed over to Ed, dropping his suitcase, and hugged him, laughing as he did so.
"You haven't gotten much taller, Ed," Al teased.
"Hey, hey, there's no need for that!" Ed retorted, but his eyes danced with his joy at being able to see Al again. Winry felt out of place and intrusive as she watched the two brothers meet each other again after two long years, but at the same time, she found she couldn't look away from them. Everything had finally seemed to fall back into place, to return to normal.
Winry returned to her seat on the couch as Ed and Al took seats across from each other in front of her. "Al, what have you been up to?" Ed asked. "I'm happy you finally got your body back; I was worried it hadn't worked after all."
"I've been doing a lot of research, and I even got State qualifications to do it thoroughly," Al replied. "Ed, where were you? I tried to find a way to bring you back, but nothing would work. It was hard enough not knowing what I was even looking for…"
"That's right, Ed, you said you'd tell us where you went when Al got here," Winry pointed out. "Now that he's here, you should have no problems, right?"
"Actually, I was on the other side of the Gate," Ed answered. Winry gave Ed a look that clearly questioned what the Gate was, but he went on. "The other side was just like this one, almost. You couldn't use alchemy, but a lot of people there looked like people from this side of the Gate. It was really weird, to be honest."
"Ed, what's the Gate?" Winry asked directly.
"It's nothing you need to worry about, Winry," Ed told her, Al nodding in apparent agreement. Winry felt a flare of anger ignite in her chest; why was Ed always keeping things from her? Not just him, but Al, too. Didn't they trust her enough to tell her what was going on? However, before she could object, Al started speaking again.
"What are you going to do now, Brother?" he asked. The question made Winry confused; they'd stay here, of course…right? She glanced at Ed, hoping he'd confirm her thoughts, but instead, he looked speculative.
"I don't really know," he admitted.
"Aren't you going to stay here?" Winry asked. "Al has his body back now, so you don't need to keep doing dangerous things like you were before."
"But Brother still doesn't have his arm and leg back," Al argued. "We promised we'd get our bodies back together."
"I'm fine with an automail arm and leg," Ed objected.
"That still doesn't answer either of our questions, Ed," Winry pointed out softly. "What are you going to do now?"
Ed didn't answer at first. He stared out of the window at the azure sky, thinking for a long moment. "I'd like to see everyone at Central again," Ed finally answered, grinning. "It'd blow the Colonel away to see me after so long, I bet."
"Everyone thinks you're dead," Al informed his brother. "It would surprise them, but after that, you'd have to be a dog of the military again once they know you're alive. Oh, and Mustang's a General now."
"What, he still isn't Fuhrer yet?" Ed scoffed. "He'll always be the Colonel." Al laughed at Ed's remark, but Winry wasn't amused. They were going to leave again? Just after they had gotten back?
"Winry, why don't you come with us?" Ed suggested suddenly. Winry jumped at being addressed and looked at Ed as if he had just questioned the ability to breathe.
"You want me to come?" she asked, forcing down the hope that was starting to well up in her throat.
"Why not?" Ed replied with a shrug. "You don't have to come if you don't want to."
"Of course I'll come!" Winry declared, then hastily added, "You might need someone to check your automail for you the way you always broke it."
"Hope you don't mind us borrowing her for a while, Granny," Ed said.
"Just be careful," Granny Pinako warned them, but a smile was touching her lips. "Trouble always seemed to follow you two brothers." Everyone laughed, but Winry's laugh was more of relief and happiness than anything else.
"When do you plan on leaving?" Granny asked. Ed and Al exchanged a glance.
"Would tomorrow morning be okay?" Al suggested. "I already told General Mustang I'd be stopping by soon to give him my report. Plus, it would give Winry time to get her tools together."
"Tomorrow's fine with me," Ed put in.
"Alright," Winry agreed. She couldn't remember ever having left Resembool since Ed's disappearance; maybe seeing Sheska and Lt. Hawkeye in Central would do her some good.
The next morning saw Ed, Winry, and Al stepping off of the train into Central. Granny Pinako had managed to find more clothes for Ed, so he now wore a scarlet red shirt and jeans and had a borrowed suitcase at his side. Winry was wearing a light blue sweater with khaki pants and had a large case for her tools slung over her back and a suitcase in her hand. Al had his own suitcase with him, and wore a white shirt with navy blue pants.
"Did you guys tell anyone from Central that we'd be coming?" Winry asked, looking around the train station.
"Nah, I wanted to surprise them," Ed replied.
"They'll be surprised alright," Al muttered. "I should have at least called to tell them I was coming to drop off my report."
"Too late to worry about it now, Al," Ed declared, purposely leading the way through the crowd. Winry was right behind him, and Al struggled to keep up with them against the jostling crowd.
When they finally exited the train station, Winry had to shade her eyes from the bright sunlight that streamed down into the city, reflecting off of windows and tall buildings. The streets were crowded, more so than the last time Winry had been there it seemed.
A large building loomed above all others, a large green banner hanging down from it with the military's symbol decorating the front of it. The white walls shone like polished marble and people in several different types of military uniforms filed through the double doors, stacks of papers balanced precariously in their hands.
"Are you just going to barge right in?" Winry asked doubtfully as they headed toward the military building. "Do you even have your silver watch to get in?"
"Don't worry about it," Ed replied, shrugging off her concerns. "I have my watch, but only Al needs to show his for all of us to enter."
"Right," Winry agreed, but she was still less than confident. But as they went up the steps and through the doors of the building, no one challenged them. A few people that Winry didn't recognize waved to Al, who politely returned the gesture. Along the way, he told them who they were and what they did in the military.
"That's Lt. Colonel Rina Glass; she looks nice and innocent, but she's an expert when it comes to hand-to-hand combat…and over there is Major Michael Ashton; he's in charge of filing reports for criminals."
"Lt. Colonel Glass looks very young to be in the army," Winry commented, glancing back over her shoulder at the retreating figure. She was tall and lean, with dark red hair that barely reached her shoulders and looked to be about fourteen or fifteen. "Why's she here?"
"I've never asked her about it before," Al admitted. "After all, Brother and I joined the military at young ages, and our reasons weren't exactly something we wanted to share. I figured she'd tell me if she ever wanted me to know."
"Oh, do you like her Al?" Winry teased.
"I-I do not!" Al replied hotly, his face blushing as he looked away from Winry, who giggled.
"That's so cute, Al!" Winry said. "You never told me you had any interests other than your research. If you like her so much, you should just ask her out."
"What about you?" Al countered, causing Winry's face to heat up instantly.
"What about Winry?" Ed asked, obviously confused. For a child genius, he sure could be dense sometimes, Winry reflected.
"Nothing," Winry declared. "Anyways, are we almost there yet?"
Relieved for a change in conversation, Al answered, "It's the next door on the right." Al had taken over leading the way to Mustang's office since it had been moved after Ed's disappearance and he no longer knew where it was.
Now Al stood before a door with a silver plaque that read 'General Mustang' near the top of it. He knocked in his soft, polite way, and announced, "Alphonse Elric, sir; I have my report and some company with me."
"Come in," Mustang said from the other side of the door. He sounded weary, but glad at the same time. As Al pushed open the door, Winry saw at least five or six people sitting at a table in the center of the room, working on various papers and reports. She recognized Hawkeye, Breda, Ross, Falman, Fuery, and Havoc after watching them closely; it had been awhile since she had seen them, and she no longer knew if they held the same rank as when she had seen them last.
General Mustang was sitting behind his desk near the back of the room, a pen in hand as he glanced over the paper before him. He signed it near the bottom, then pushed the paper to a pile on the corner of his desk and faced Al. "Another report?" he sighed, rubbing his forehead.
"Things seem really busy," Winry commented, looking around the office.
"Oh, Winry, you're here," Mustang said, surprised. "You look well; you seemed very tired and dazed last time I saw you."
"When was that?" Winry asked, her tone clearly conveying her confusion.
Mustang's eyes softened. "I visited you a quite a few months ago, it's normal you wouldn't remember." Winry felt embarrassed that she couldn't recall him coming over at all at first, but then she vaguely remembered him visiting her and saying that he wanted to check up on her to see how she was. Hawkeye had said that he was just trying to get out of work.
Hawkeye looked up from her work and smiled at Al and Winry. "Good to see you," she greeted.
That was when Mustang noticed Ed standing slightly behind Winry in the doorway. "Who's your friend?" he asked Al.
"Geez, Colonel, it's only been two years, and you've already forgotten me?" Ed asked in mock disappointment. Winry and Al moved aside so that everyone could see him better, and Winry noticed quite a few pens drop as everybody turned their full attention on Ed.
Mustang was as good as ever at hiding what he was really feeling; the only thing that exposed him was his wide, shocked eyes. "Full Metal…?" he asked quietly, his tone disbelieving.
"Unless there's another alchemist that looks, acts, and talks exactly like me, you'd be correct," Ed replied. His beaming face made Winry realize just how glad Ed was to see everyone again. Had he been suffering alone all of this time?
Ignoring their work, everyone rushed forward to speak with Ed, with the sole exception of Mustang. He sat at his desk leaning his chin on his hands as he watched his officers, his face completely expressionless now. Winry watched on as Ed greeted and exchanged news with all of his comrades, feeling even more separated from him than ever before.
A/N I'm sorry I didn't get this chapter finished sooner; I had been planning on doing it yesterday, but then I got distracted. -_-'