A/N: We interrupt this regularly scheduled chapter because Valentine's day didn't suck for like, the second time in the history of forever, and I'm still kind of riding out the happy.
This drabble is my typical, unspecified-post-series. C'est voilà:
65. Departure
Ed worried too much when it came to Al and his newly returned body; that was common knowledge to the whole of Risembool, most of Rush Valley, and the Flaming Führer's main office. If Al so much as sneezed, Ed was working out theories for alchemizing bacteria out of the air. Woe be to anyone who was 'too rough' for Al by Ed's standards- he'd tried to get Major Armstrong in a headlock for hugging Al too tightly (the result was kind of like watching a bear brush a flea off its neck, but the intent was there on Ed's part).
Winry finally decided that Ed needed a vacation- or at least that's how she presented it to him, even though it was more of everyone else getting a vacation from Ed. They arranged for Al to stay with Riza, and Winry was going to drag Ed to the villas in the south for a week, even (and especially) if it killed him.
As predicted by all involved, Ed had five-hundred last minute worries on the morning of their departure. What if Al got sick? What if he got overworked? What if his body rejected the soul? ("Edward, what?" "Equivalent Exchange is a bitch, so you never really kn-" CLANK.) What if there was a rebel uprising in Central? What if Mustang finally decided to jump Riza ("Yeah right, Ed, she'd shoot him in the groin if he didn't at least take her to dinner first,") and they forgot about Al?
"What if he gets lonely?"
Winry sighed, suitcases in hand. "Edward, let's put it this way," she said. "Our train departs in 45 minutes. If you're not on it, you owe me for the tickets and the hotel, you'll have a wrench in your skull, bullets in your ass, you'll be on fire, and I will personally make sure you stay a virgin forever."
The air ran cold in the wake of Winry's threats, and she almost thought Ed turned an odd shade of blue. Five minutes later, they were saying goodbye to Al, and heading out the door. Winry mouthed a silent 'thank you' to Riza, who had given her some pointers on dealing with stubborn state alchemists; the former colonel was behaving almost as well as Black Hayate these days.