April 13-July 20, 2010

Author's Note: I never thought this story would reach 140 reviews. I'm in shock…. Thanks to everyone who read and reviewed! I LOVE YOU!

Disclaimer: I do not own FMA… not even going to bother with this thing.

Chapter Twenty-Two: Calm

Another night had passed with Al and Winry waiting for Ed to wake up. Winry slept on the couch as Al stayed by his brother's side. Since it was a Saturday Mustang and his team, along with Hughes, visited the next morning. They were all excited to see Ed wake up calmly and tell him about what had happened. They also had a lot of questions to ask him so that they could finally finish the report that was still on hold.

They all sat in silence and watched Ed as he slept. Mustang, who was still a little afraid that Ed would remember what happened yesterday, was casually tapping his foot waiting for Ed to wake up. Ed's eyes were still closed and his fever remained. The doctors said that it would probably stay that way until his body is a bit stronger. Al stayed by Ed's side until he noticed the sleeping Winry about to fall off the chair. He immediately let go of his brother's hand and caught her. Everyone's attention was brought to the two teens.

"That was close…" Al said.

Winry looked around with hazy eyes and noticed Al's hand supporting her.

"Oh… sorry. I guess I couldn't keep still huh?..." Winry yawned.

Everyone smiled and laughed as Winry carefully set herself back on the couch in a sitting position.

"Al… AL… Don't leave me…." Cried a small voice.

Everyone's head turned to the tossing teenager. Ed's heart rate began rising again; his mind going in a frenzy.

"Oh! I let go of Brother's hand! He must be remembering that night again! Stupid fever!" Al said as he quickly made his way back to his brother's side. He tried to stop Ed from moving too much. At the touch Ed's eyes shot open. He was about to sit up but Al held him down this time.

"AL!"

Ed looked around the room in frenzy.

"Brother. Don't worry I'm right here…" Al said softly.

Ed looked at Al and his eyed filled with recognition. He sighed and relaxed his muscles. His heartbeat slowed back down to normal.

"Where am I? What happened?" he questioned.

"Your in the hospital. You were badly injured when we finally found you." Al said.

Ed didn't have time to respond because everyone had gotten up from their seats and greeted Ed. Winry ran over and hugged him.

"Welcome back." she said.

She let go and both of their faces had a hint of red in it but was quickly unnoticed when the others began talking.

"Good to see you with the living again chief!"

"Hey Ed! How are you feeling? Do you want to see some photos?...Ow. You didn't have to hit me Roy."

"Finally awake Fullmetal? Took you long enough."

"Shut up… I still remember you calling me short. I'm going to get back at you for that." Ed said menacingly.

Mustang stiffened but he didn't let Ed see it slightly panicked posture. As soon as things got calmed down Ed asked what happened again and this time everyone took turns explaining what happened after he passed out. Everyone could see the shocked look on Ed's face when they told him about Al defeating all those alchemists within minutes. Even though you couldn't see it everyone could feel the embarrassment radiating from the younger Elric. However no one wanted to say what happened after the fight. They were still pretty freaked out about it; they were so close to losing him, and it hurt to know that they nearly did. It was Mustang who built up the courage to tell him what happened.

"You… well…you sort of died for a while. It took the medics several shocks to finally get your heart started again. Then we brought you to the hospital and you have been asleep for a few days now. You have several injuries and you were electrocuted so there were some burns by the ports of your automail." Mustang finally finished, but he noticed that Ed wasn't really paying attention anymore.

I nearly died? How come I don't remember that… All I remember was trying to get to Al. I would never leave Al to be all alone! He must have been worried sick…

"So what happened to the other guys? What was their verdict?"

"Well we can't put them in trail yet since we still need to know what happened with you, when you were all alone with him. The other three will be charged with assault most likely. But this is all being added to them becoming rogue alchemists too; so pretty much they will be in jail for the rest of their lives or will be sentenced to death. It's not really our decision of what happens to them. But they will get what they deserve don't worry about it." Hughes said.

"Oh…okay."

Mustang and Hughes proceeded to ask Ed questions and began writing down all the answers so that they could begin making the report. They were lucky that this was mostly all they needed to do with paper work. No one died so there was one less stack of paperwork to do. They had already finished mending the house area and tended to anyone who was injured during the fight. It would have been an understatement if someone said that everyone was glad that they could put this whole ordeal behind them. They were not just glad, they were beyond glad.

The rest of the afternoon was uneventful. Ed went back to sleep an hour after he woke up. The doctors said that his fever was still present and that he needed as much rest as possible. No one complained, even though he had woken up, Ed still looked really bad and that he needed to sleep for the next 10 years. Havoc, Breda, Falman, and Fuery shortly after Ed feel asleep. They needed time to rest as well; they were searching for Ed and worrying about him for about a week now and really needed to catch some sleep. Mustang, Hawkeye, and Hughes left later on after talking with Al and Winry, fixing up the details of when Ed was first kidnapped.

Everyone agreed to coming to visit again the next day for a little bit so that they could talk to Ed a bit more. Everyone missed the little guy and wanted to spend some more time with him when they could. They all knew that as soon as he was able that he would immediately go out and search for the stone to try and fix Al.

When Al and Winry were alone in the room again, they discussed about when they should put the new automail for Ed. Winry was already excited about installing them, whereas Al was not so excited. He managed to convince Winry to wait a while until she attached it.

I don't want him to get shock any time soon. I want his body to rest first. Even though he tries to hide it, I know that when Winry puts the automail on, brother is in a lot of pain. But I'm happy that he finally woke up. Everyone is in a better mood now…even Ed.

Though it wasn't very visible, even though he was still in pain, you could see the calm and relaxed look on Ed's face as he slept a dreamless night.

Author's Note: Yay! Next chapter is reconnecting Ed's automail! How will he react to the electricity! Well. I sure don't know!