*deep calming breaths, deep calming breaths*

So, um, here were are, the last chapter of Brotherhood...

Um... yeah, I'd like to thank all of you who have read, favorited, alerted, and reviewed this story so that it could get to the story it is today. It's hard to believe that I thought this story idea up in about twenty minutes a little after I started out on FanFiction in December. This story has sure come a long way from the twenty chapter max estimate that I gave it back in chapter two and I'm so glad that it doubled in size.

Without this story and all of your encouraging (and sometimes threatening) reviews, I don't know if I would be were I am today in the way I write and with the confidence that what I'm putting out for people to read it good and interesting.

So, before you begin the end of the long story, I'd like to thank one last time for my amazing friend and beta Dani for her help on this chapter and the last few chapters; even though her help was a bit late in the game, she sure helped me a lot and made my chapters of better quality for you to read, so thank her as well.

I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing this last chapter and I do hope you all don't get too upset while reading.

Edward did not know what to say or even think when he had heard the news; heard the news that there had been an accident, choreographed by Kimblee, and Maes and Jean had been badly injured. It had been physically painful to go from such happiness, after finding the children in relatively good health and getting rid of Kimblee once and for all, to finding out that he may lose one of his very best friends while another may even lose his legs.

Edward and his friends had practically set up camp in the hospital for several days afterwards; he had his own father to worry about as well, as he had been shot by Kimblee along with the slightly malnourished children. The police had wanted to start a court investigation within hours of their arrival at the hospital, but Edward wanted no part in such a thing when his mind was in such a mess. The officials gave him only a few days time before they would launch their investigation in full.

On the third day of waiting, it was told that Jean would not lose either of his legs and would regain full mobility after the bones had healed and he had gone through some minor physical therapy. But Maes had still not woken up from the coma that he had been in since the accident.

His parents had barely left his side for more than a moment ever since they had received the news. Edward and the others had been allowed to see him once or twice a day for a few minutes, hoping that familiar voices would help him back. Edward did not see Maes every time visitation was offered, mostly because he did not feel that the pulverize piece of flesh in the bed, hooked up to God only knows what, did not look like his friend at all.

Edward spent most of his time in pediatrics with the three children and told them stories about the good things that had happened while in Florida. Alphonse often went to see the children as well and quickly created a bond with the children. Sammy and Terry could have been discharged a day or two after leaving but Kyle had to stay longer.

After a week had passed, Maes still lay in his coma and the police had started to initiate the investigation in full. Hohenheim had been forced to stay two nights in the police station after he had said that he had killed Kimblee; the police had already had plenty of evidence on Kimblee's misdemeanors but the information on kidnapping and child abuse was new to them. They asked of several testimonies from Edward, Sammy, Terry, Kyle, and even Ed's friends to help confirm questions on Kimblee on the abuse and asked Heinkel and Darius about what they had found at the warehouse. There was going to be a trial in a few months to help tie up the lose ends for the courts.

When the children were finally discarded, Ed did not know of where to go. He did not want to go back to that horrid house that brought them all together but there were very few options to choose from. After talking it over with his father, he had decided to stay at the same hotel that Al, Izumi, and Sig where staying at, as it was close to the hospital.

People from their classes at school began to hear of Jean and Maes and they were soon flooded with guest everyday, the nursing staff had to create a timed schedule of when people could see them. Maes's parents encouraged the kids to come and see their son, hoping that all of his friends would help Maes in waking up but with everyday, people seemed to lose hope. The doctors had done a scan of his brain and it showed that Maes was not brain-dead as feared, meaning that he could still wake up and it would be wrong to take him off the life support.

Edward did not want to lose hope as people from the school and community did; instead, he pushed past his uncomfortable feelings with staying by Maes and began to spend more and more time with him. Roy often stayed with him during the nights, being Maes's best friend, and even Gracia, the girl Maes could not stop gushing over since last year, would come by once a day and stay with them. They all hoped and prayed that Maes would get past this, saying he was strong and would keep on. Ed just wanted everyone to be happy and in the end, everyone would…

Three Years Later

Edward exhaled as he lay back on the soft green grass of his back yard. It was a gorgeous summer afternoon and everyone was out and about having a good time. So much had changed since the summer three years prior, it was almost staggering to think of everything that had happened.

The court case with Kimblee had been over soon after it had started; the evidence was so staggering that the jury soon got on the side of Edward. Hohenheim as not convicted of anything or had any mention of the death of Kimblee on his record, saying it was in complete defense for himself and his child.

Edward got the house demolished; he never wanted to look at the cold, dark house ever again. After that, Hohenheim began to work on the construction of a grand but simple house on the outskirts of the town, large enough to have many visitors come and go at one time. Seeing as Edward was only sixteen at the time, Hohenheim took the guardianship of Sammy, Terry, and Kyle and had them live in the grand house with them as one happy family. Alphonse moved in with his blood family the Junior and Senior years of high school but still visited his foster parents and his friends at least once a month.

Maes woke up from his coma a little over a month after his accident but had temporary memory loss from it. His friends spent the first day they were allowed to see him for more than ten minutes explaining all that had happened to him until his memories came back; the last thing he had remembered was meeting Alphonse. Jean's legs eventually healed and was revived one-hundred percent by the time junior year began. Jean found that his accident left a lasting impression on some of the girls in the high school and soon found an increase in dating aspects.

Last year, Edward, Winry, Roy, Riza, Maes, Jean, Sheska, and Gracia graduated from high school and were now enjoying their first summer as college students. There were many worried thoughts and conversations but after Roy, Jean, and Maes's trip of back-packing across Europe during last summer, Sheska's worry that she would not get into the same college as everyone else, a boat-load of drama between Roy and Riza's wobbly new relationship, the group found themselves enrolled in the same college as everyone else.

Now, three summers after one of the best and worst summers ever, Edward found himself relaxing in his large backyard as he listened to the noises of his best friends and family happily playing and enjoying themselves that fourth of July.

"Thirsty?"

Edward opened one eye and saw Winry sitting next to him holding out a cold can of soda for him. Ed smiled at her before he sat up and took the drink from her hand.

"Thanks."

"No problem."

Edward took a long drink from the can and let the icy-cool beverage cool him off from the summer sun. Even though the sun was setting, it still was a bit too hot out for his automail. Ed tried his best to hold in the loud belch that wanted to break forth after chugging the carbonated drink.

"So when is Al going back to visit Izumi and Sig?" Winry asked.

"Next weekend. He's planning on spending the last two weeks of July with them."

"Are you gonna miss him?"

"I was kinda thinking of road-tripping down there with some of the guys to hang out with him."

"I never want to drive a straight twenty-something hours ever again. No matter how much anyone pays me."

"I didn't have to pay you last time we went," Edward said with a tiny smile.

"Well that was different; it was a bit of an emergency situation and-."

"And you wanted to do it because you love me," Ed said with a large grin at the young blond, who blushed slightly at his words.

"…So?" the blond asked as she casually sipped her drink. When Winry spoke again she was speaking so rushed that Ed could hardly understand her half the time. "I've always loved you and you've always loved me and we always know that if we are in desperate need of help we can go to each other and we'll help one another."

Ed couldn't help but let out a few chuckles at her nervous nature. Ed and Winry had finally become an actual couple right before their junior year of high school. It had been an interesting scene when they walked into school that first day, hand in hand, and had to answer to about fifty people that yes, they were finally 'together'.

"What?" Winry asked a bit defensively when Ed continued to smile at her.

"Nothing. I just love that I can depend on you is all."

Winry smiled gently at him before she reached out and gripped his empty left hand before giving it a bit of a squeeze. Winry leaned closer to Edward so as to kiss him but the two were interrupted before there could be any lip contact.

"Hey love-birds! Quit with the PDA! You're gonna make someone hurl!"

Ed turned to see Terry, now sixteen-years-old, standing a few feet away from them, with a Frisbee under on arm. He had grown out his hair a little from the previous buzz cut and he had sprouted up quiet a bit over the past summers and was now a good five inches taller from his thirteen-year-old self.

"Well Terry, once you finally get the courage to ask out your little crush, I'm sure you won't mind indulging in some PDA," he said with a devious smile.

"What do you mean?" Terry asked with a raised eyebrow, cheeks flushing the faintest of pinks.

"You know what and who I mean," Ed said as he nodded his head over to the young brunette who was eating at a picnic table, talking to an older Kyle.

Sammy, now fifteen-years-old, was defiantly a lot more feminine that her former self. She had grown out her short bob and grew out her brown hair past her shoulders. She had fully hit puberty and now looked like any other teenaged girl; it was a bit odd for Ed to see a girl who was like a little sister to grow up before his eyes. Sammy was just as nurturing and caring as she was before, often making sure that both Terry and Kyle had their homework down for school the night before and usually took care of most of the laundry in the household, no matter what anyone insisted.

Kyle was now twelve-years old and would soon outgrown Sammy if he kept up with his growth spurt. His sandy blond locks had grown out a little bit and his large eyes had been grown into, making him lose some of the innocence in his face. He was still a soft-spoken boy and was often pushed into doing things by his pseudo-siblings.

"Shut up! She's like, my sister or something!" Terry exclaimed, bright-red cheeks and ears showing his embarrassment to the whole world.

"Uh-huh," Winry said slyly. "Keep telling yourself that."

"Ugh…" Terry grumbled with clenched teeth as he turned away from Ed and his snickering at him. "You two are so annoying!"

"Now why do you always fight with him?" She asked as she gave her boyfriend a light slap on the head. "He's gonna throw a punch one day."

"Yeah and I'll be ready for it."

Winry rolled her eyes before she pushed herself up off of the ground.

"Where you going?"

"I was going to see where the other had run off to; you wanna come with me?"

"Sure."

It was true; it seemed that their friends had run off somewhere. The three younger children were all sitting at the small picnic table and Hohenheim, Izumi, and Sig were all standing around the grill on the patio, laughing and relaxing with food or drinks in their hands.

Edward and Winry walked into air conditioned house and began walking through the lower levels and only continued upstairs when they found that none of their friends were to be found.

"Think they're on the top deck?" Edward muttered as he poked his head into one of the last rooms on the top floor.

"Most likely."

As Ed and Winry moved towards the hall to get to the top deck, they began to hear voices that clearly belonged to their friends.

"Dammit, we're did Ed go?" Jean asked.

"He probably figured something out and went to investigate," Roy muttered.

"Oh I hope he doesn't find out what we're doing before hand!" Sheska fretted.

"It's about time he figured something out," Maes said with contained laughter in his voice. "You've been trying to plan this surprise for about a month now."

"A month? More like a whole freakin' year man!"

"If you get the cops or the fire department called on us again, I swear I am so not covering for you Jean," Riza threatened.

"Come on Riza! I already have like, two strikes against me!"

"And whose fault is that exactly?" Al asked.

"The people who ratted me out, that's who!"

"Jean, you do know that it's illegal to try and cover up a crime," Gracia said in an exasperated tone.

"Pff… only if they have hard evidence."

"They had you on camera you dumbass," Edward said as he made himself known to his friends.

Half of the group jumped a little at his voice but a few like Riza, Maes, and Al kept their cool. Jean quickly tried to cover up the evidence of whatever he was planning on doing.

"What are you planning on doing to my house Havoc?" Ed asked with a small sigh.

"Nothin'. Why do you ask that?" Jean said as he used his body to pin down a large blue tarp onto whatever he was attempting to hide.

"Just fess up Jean, what are you hiding?" Winry asked.

"Just tell him dude," Maes said with a smile that said that he wanted to burst out laughing any minute now.

"Fine," Jean muttered, sounding quite depressed.

With a swift movement, Jean took a corner of the tarp, lifted it up and moved it out of the way so that Edward could see what was hidden underneath.

"Oh jeez…" Winry said, covering her face with one of her hands.

"No way in Hell Jean," Ed said, staring at what lay beneath the tarp.

"Why the Hell not?" Jean exclaimed.

"Because I don't want you blowing up my freaking house!"

Lying in front of Ed was a large pile of fireworks of all different sizes, colors, and explosions. It was worrying some to see so many explosives in the hands of someone like Jean with a pyro like Roy nearby.

"Come on! It's the Fourth of July man! It's our birth right to spend the day, gorging ourselves on food that shouldn't be qualified as actual meat and blowing shit up!"

"Because that is what the founding fathers would have wanted," Roy added with a smirk.

"Exactly," Jean said seriously.

"Doesn't matter. This isn't your house that you're blowing this shit up at. It's mine."

"But we wanted it to be a little surprise celebration for you," Sheska said. "We don't get a chance to throw as many crazy parties like we used to."

"Really?" Ed asked skeptically. "Because that paint took about a month to get off of the walls in my dorm and that party was pretty epic."

"That's not the point!"Jean yelled before he picked up a blow torch from the floor and turned to look Ed dead in the eye. "Look, I bought these fireworks illegally and I'm gonna blow them up whether you like it or not, mister."

"Oh geez," Ed muttered. "Whatever. But do you have to do it up here… on the very flammable and wooden deck?"

"Hmm," Roy said, turning to look at Jean. "That is a good idea."

"Something that I've been begging for the past hour and a half," Al sighed quietly. "I don't think dad would be very pleased if his deck caught on fire."

"Fine, fine," Jean said, flapping his free hand at them all. "if you people are so worried in my abilities-."

"We're terrified," Riza said.

"Ha-ha, very funny Riza," Jean said, deadpanned. "But if you are all so willing to lessen the epicness of the moment by moving the location to a safer place, then so be it."

Once the sun had gone down completely, Jean, Roy, and Maes moved the fireworks into the grassy field far away from where the others were sitting and began the show.

It was loud-ear-drum shattering at sometimes-, bright-almost to the point of blindness sometimes-, and absolutely gorgeous. With the many bright and colorful pinwheels choreographed beautifully, Ed might have guess that they were professionals if it weren't for the fact that he knew that they were just guessing and messing around as they shot off one after another.

Ed gripped Winry's hand as he leaned against the porch railing and smiling happily at the scene. This is what he had wanted for years now, to be happy and to have all the people who he cared about to be happy with him. A few years ago, he might not have believed that he still had family that cared about him and missed him and could have ever escaped from Kimblee's harsh rule. But he found his family and finally escaped from it all with loved ones.

Ed glance over at Al, who was standing next to him, laughing hysterically as Jean almost caught on fire for the third time tonight, and threw his right arm around his neck. Al seemed slightly surprised at the gesture at first but soon got used to it and laughed with his older brother.

How could I have ever forgotten a kid like this? Ed thought as he stared at the amazing guy who just happened to be his brother.

"What's up Brother?" Al yelled over a pack of Chinese fireworks.

"…Nothing!" Ed said with a small shake of the head. "I'm just having a great time!"

"That's good!" Al yelled back before giving Ed a bright white smile.

Even for a minute?

It had been a long and arduous road but once Edward was finally here, happy and healthy with all of his closest friends and family, he realized that maybe it was worth it all in the end, seeing as nothing this great could have come out of nothing. Ed would just have to hope that that in exchange, for all of the years of pain and suffering and all of the unknowns, he would be happy and content for a long time afterwards.

The End

...*sniff*

So, again I would like to reiterate what I said at the top and just thank all of you for being such amazing readers and helpers to me when I need a good push to write. :D You guys are amazing and I don't know what I would have done if you weren't here for me to torture you with my endless amount of cliffhangers.

But, before too many of you start to feel the symptoms of withdrawal (I think I'm starting to feel it) I would like to tell you all now that I have decided to draw a collage of pictures from the last chapter and then create side stories on it (much like I do with the story, Journey's End) I do not know when I'll get to it exactly because I first have to finish the picture and I just started sketching it out last night before I went to sleep. I hope most of you keep an eye out for that to help you along with your loss.

I would also like to remind everyone who may not have seen that I will be planning on putting up a new AU FMA fic in about a week or so and I hope many of you who have enjoyed this story go and check it out when I put it up. Story summary and info can be found on my account here.

So, for the last time, goodbye and I hope you really enjoyed not only the chapter, but the entire story.

~Fun-Sized Kirk