Chapter 26 – Epilogue – Years into the Future

Baby you're all that I want.
When you're lying here in my arms
I'm finding it hard to believe
I'm in heaven.

Edward's eyes opened slowly from his dream. It had been 2 years since she had died protecting him. Crimson was wondrous and powerful, mysterious, and giving, and when she died, she followed her word, and ran away. He found the sketchbook hidden in her home, where it was in the most unlikely place ever. It was under the fireplace, where fire could easily scorch it.

The pictures were astounding, magnificent, and as if they were photographs more than sketches. Some of them were of places, buildings, and the people that lived there. Of families they had pasted and met, of valleys and rolling hills, and of sunsets and sunrises, all in different positions and different colors. Some of them were of friends: of Mustang and Hawkeye, of Hughes and his own Family, of Murder and Revenge, of her mother and father, and of them together. The last picture was of him and her, curled up together in each other's arms at night, both eyes were closed, hair ragged, and battle worn. At the bottom, in her graceful and swift handwriting she had perfected in the thousand years of her life, it wrote: Dedicated to Edward Elric. Always remember me, even in death.

It was her voice that woke him, and, with gentle and silent tears sliding down his face, he pulled out her sketchbook. The pages were slightly yellow, growing old with age. The sketches, though, were still as perfect as the day she sketched them onto paper.

"Are you alright, Edward?" Noah asked. He smiled and nodded, thankful for her company. She was like Rose, back in Liore, kind and sweet. His younger brother, Alphonse, in his newly returned body of flesh and blood, stood next to her in the kitchen with a smile on his face.

"I am going for a walk, Noah. Don't wait to eat for me. I'll pick up something from the market," he said, before taking his coat and stepping out into the daylight. It seemed like yesterday he was stepping out into the daylight to face off with Crimson to renew his State Alchemist license, and where they had truly had their first fist-to-fist battle. He sighed, remembering her face, just like she had asked, and walked out.

I hold the light and the darkness of my heart,
Trembling while I embrace the shadows, moving me apart.
I can't give up all the dreams that I have chased,
And my love will be there, and will come to me again with pride.

Edward stopped in the middle of the road, making the man behind him run into him. "Sorry," he said quickly, and headed out of traffic. There, he saw a young girl, with short cropped red hair and green eyes. She looked about his age, if not a little older, and was singing. She had a microphone up to her lips, and her voice rang throughout the crowd.

When I look to the sunset,
All the colors, so beautiful
That the tears fall right down
Into the sea, to the ocean
Of my heart.

Though the brightness of the sun has drifted far away,
Tomorrow holds the sunlight of a brand new day for me

Edward watched as the girl twirled around on the stage, singing the song with all her might and soul. A faint memory pulled at the back of his mind. He shook it and watched as she continued to dance and swirl onstage.

I hold the light and the darkness of my heart,
Trembling while I embrace the shadows, moving me apart.
And I can't give up all the dreams that I have chased.
And my love will be there and will come to me again.

With each rising sun,
I'll find the future that is mine.

She ended with a blast of music and fireworks, and the crowd burst into cheer. Then it hit Edward. She looked exactly like Crimson. Her voice was the same, her fluid body movements were the same, and the only thing that had changed was her eyes. Instead of Blood red, they were beautiful green. She stepped down from the stage and stopped right in front of Edward, her eyes wide.

"Hello," she whispered, and tried to push herself past him, but the crowd blocked her.

"I enjoyed your performance, Miss," he stopped, seeing if she would say her name. She chuckled and held out her hand.

"Morena," she said. His smile faded slightly, but, he shook her hand.

"Edward," he said, and turned his back. She placed her hand on his shoulder, and twirled him around with so much power Edward was shocked she held it. The look in her eyes made him stop dead in his tracks. They had flashed blood-red, then completely black, then went back to the normal green. Her eyes were wide with confusion.

"Elric?" she asked. He nodded, and in a quick moment, her arms were wrapped around his neck, then she caught sight of the sketchbook, and snatched it out of his hands. "I see you kept it," she said, but, once again, her eyes changed colors in a bright flash, then she shoved it back in his hands and left. "And Crimson is glad you did."

Edward Elric never saw Crimson or Morena again.

This is My December