Chapter.12 – Memorial
Winry wandered down to the basement where she found Riza busy working on the automail for Ed. He'd foolishly taken to wandering around Risemboul, despite the price on his head now that he was officially a deserter also. Alphonse was busy following him, the two of them reminiscing about their days of youth when they wandered around the green fields, without much care in the world. Winry sighed. She too missed those days, but years of growing up isolated in a small village had turned her into a strong capable woman. She had no time for her childhood anymore.
"How's it coming along?" Winry asked, looking at Riza's progress. She had developed quite a lot since her first arrival at the Rockbell's house. Riza sighed, putting down her screwdriver.
"I'm just missing him. There's not been any word about him whatsoever. I'm so worried that something's happened to him, and that I could be there to help him."
Winry sighed, walking over and placing her hand on Riza's shoulder.
"How about we go for a walk?" she suggested, "You could do with the fresh air,"
Riza looked up and nodded. She slowly got up, walking out of the basement as Winry followed her. They walked up the steps into the main room, and towards the door. From the window, they could see that it had snowed, and a thick layer of white snow had covered nearly the entirety of Risemboul.
"Snow…" Riza said, "It's winter already?"
Winry nodded as she got hers and Riza's coat. She handed Riza her coat as she slipped into her own, and together, they both walked out of the house and into the cold snowy landscape. They wandered slowly down the path, the snow crunching under their footsteps. Riza smiled as she looked back, seeing the sets of deep footprints they had created in the snow. Winry glanced back and continued to walk, away from the house and through the fields. They didn't speak as they walked, the two of them feeling that the beauty of the snowy landscape didn't require words to describe it. They both walked until they ended up near the graveyard, where they saw Edward and Alphonse, standing by a gravestone. They both walked over to them, and Edward looked up as they came closer. He didn't say anything, but turned his gaze back to the gravestone. Winry stepped forward; unsurprised to see 'Trisha Elric' carved into the stone. The snow had covered the gravestone, and it was a poignant image to see the stone sticking out from the ground, surrounded completely by the snow.
"It's been… so long since we last visited her," Edward said. No one replied. There wasn't any need to. Winry nodded as she remembered the many times she'd seen Edward and Alphonse sat by the gravestone. They all stood there by her gravestone, Winry saying a short prayer to herself. Edward and Alphonse then walked away, whilst Winry and Riza followed them. They both walked away from the graveyard and through the snow until eventually they came to a large hill. Upon the hill stood the charred ruins of a house that once stood there. Floods of memories rushed back to Winry as she remembered the time she stood there with Pinako, hoping the best for the Elric brother's future. Alphonse walked forward, stepping into the snowy charred ruins.
"This was where the kitchen was… And this was Dad's study." He said, pointing to various spots that all looked the same to Riza and Winry. "Over here is where you dropped all the books on me," he said to Edward, who smiled back as he remembered the memory.
"It sure has been such a long time since then," he said. Winry nodded again, as she turned around to give Edward and Alphonse some space. They walked through the snow, heading back towards the house.
"Sometimes you forget," said Riza. Winry looked up, and for the first time in a long time, she didn't see a face that had hit rock bottom. Riza looked slightly more headstrong, as though a realisation of something had kicked her into perspective. "Sometimes you forget that there are other people in the world going through so much. Those Elric brothers have been to hell and back…"
Winry didn't reply. She didn't know what to say that would contribute to the deep conversation Riza was having.
"I thought it was the end for me when Roy left. We were going to do so much here. Retire from the military, get mundane jobs, start a family… When he left, I thought there'd be nothing, and now that it has been so long, all I do now is dread the day where his death is revealed to me. But death is a natural part of life. We shouldn't mourn for those who've gone because we'll never see them again, but rather celebrate for the wonderful times we did spend together, and we did spend so many together,"
"I have to agree," Winry said. She remembered her first experience with death, when it was revealed that her parents had been killed in Ishbal. She never thought she'd be able to get over it, but somehow, she had gotten through it, just like Edward and Alphonse had done when their mother had died, and just like what Riza was going through now.
"I still hope he will one day return," Riza said finally, "But I feel that perhaps now I can accept it if he cannot…"