Chapter Five "At Winry's Door"

Ed had nodded off while the train went by; it was strange though; he didn't dream. Normally when the young alchemist tired or even only slight fell asleep his subconscious was alive with colors and images of memories or things he'd seen and experienced. Not this time though. It wasn't something he ever really thought about especially when he had thought life itself to be somewhat like a dream. What did it mean if you had no dream…?

He looked down to see that the hay had gotten all over his blond hair and tangled him to look like some circus attraction. "Heh, I hope Winry doesn't run at the sight of me."

Oh no, there it was again. That thought that had crept into his mind for so long, what Winry might think of this new found image. It wasn't his clothes after all that could be changed easily. But even now his arm had formed into a thin-like-state after touching the hay, forming into the material he touched. He thought to make light of it by seeing them all as kids, him, Al, and Winry yelling at one another over which one was going to grow up the tallest. (Regrettably, he always lost on that end.)

Before he could analyze any more in his fact-based-mind he was interrupted by the train slowing to a stop. This would be a much easier escape as the men were all seeing to the passenger cars.

"Good thing I packed light." Ed smiled, leaping out onto the smooth grassy floor and bolting.

He almost tripped a couple of times, for the life of him he could not get used to his legs or the lack of a metal heel pressing into the ground roughly. It was rather nice if not rough on one who had lost it and forgotten how it felt to have both legs.

There was a lot of farmland to walk through but Ed was at a fast enough pace he should be at Winry's in not too long. The way the clouds moved were so peaceful, like nothing outside could touch it. Al would have stopped to watch them go by but in Edward's memories he was always moving, running like there wasn't anything behind him. He did remember loving the stars though; the light in the window which his mother put out for the two was one of his most treasured moments in his young years.

After Dante met her end and his father vanished from their world entirely Ed should have been freed of all this turmoil but now the empty feeling of not having Al standing beside him was slowly getting to him, if not for his resolve he would probably not be able to move forward at all without him. Turning back to the way he was as a child in front of his mother's grave, he was going to contradict every lesson he ever learned on their journey to find the stone, he was planning on bringing Al back to life.

Before he knew it Ed was in front of Winry's door, the sign that said Rockbell Automail proudly displayed on their porch. What was he going to do now? Impulsive as ever he didn't stop to think about knocking on this particular door because Winry was now the only person he had left who would listen to him.

Ed gulped in his throat with a slight nervousness on his face as much as he tried to hide it. When the door opened the image of a tom-boyish blond-haired girl that was at least a foot or so taller than Edward blinked with complete bafflement at his sudden appearance.

She was going to make a joke about the state Ed was in instantly but saw… his automail was replaced with a flesh and blood right arm. For the first time in her life Winry was speechless. The sudden excitement to see a friend again was wonderful but now she was completely confused. "You… does this mean you and Al found the Stone?"

Ed's eyes turned to the floorboards too ashamed to look her in the eyes. "Winry, can I discuss something with you?"

Resembool was a comfort with the privacy it offered and the lack of distractions, Winry was studying Ed with her eyes but trying not to allow him to avert to any sort of sad memory. "I see your hair's gotten longer." She laughed a little bit, standing next to him as she plucked some of the hay out playfully.

Ed was searching for the words to say, if anything he was overjoyed that Winry didn't take one look at him and treat him like some freak. He smiled only because he realized she was being kind in trying to lighten the mood but he was going to have to break that peace with his next words. "Winry, Al sacrificed himself to save my life after I was killed. I don't know what happened to him and, I'm not sure if my existence means that he's dead or that I'm truly alive at all."

Edward demonstrated this fact by touching the metal on Winry's earring and watching her face in pure shock when his arm materialized into the same substance instead of the previous flesh. Winry had not seen everything that he and Al did but she understood enough to know what that meant.

"I…might not be the Edward you know..."
End chapter