Hello, again, everyone! Here's another earlier than normal update! The song idea comes from AllINoIsImNotAwesome. I hope you all enjoy!
Travelin' Soldier by Dixie Chicks
The young man walked out of the front door followed by two women, one elderly and the other her eighteen year old granddaughter. He had on his familiar old red coat, his reliable black pants and shirt, and a pair of black boots, a sight almost nostalgic for the ladies that followed him out onto the porch.
"Are you sure you have to leave in the middle of the night, Ed?" Winry Rockbell called to him, halting his footsteps.
"Yeah, Mustang said for me to get out there as soon as possible to help stop the uprising." he responded, turning back to flash her his usual cocky smile. "I should be home soon enough."
The year he'd spent away from the military had been a wonderful reprieve for them, a time for him to relax and replenish, but duty had called and like the faithful dog of the military that he was, he responded to the command.
"Okay. Call before you come home so I can make you an apple pie." she responded with a tender smile.
"Will do. Bye, Win. Bye, Granny."
"Good bye, Ed." the two responded together, watching as he made his way down the long dirt path alone.
He'd been gone for two weeks, so far, and it was enough to drive Winry insane. Every day she kept looking over the horizon, hoping he just forgot to mention in his letters that he was on his way home. When the phone rang, she rushed to pick it up, nearly knocking her grandmother over in her haste to answer it.
"Hello?" she answered, hoping it was him.
"Hey, Win."
She released a breath she didn't realize she had been holding.
"Ed! Are you coming home?"
"Actually, that's what I'm calling about. They're sending me somewhere else."
"Oh." she muttered.
"I know. I just wanted to let you know in case you didn't hear from me for a few days, since I'll probably be working my ass off."
"Okay. You still better call when you're on your way home."
"I will. I gotta go now. My train is pulling in. See ya soon, hopefully."
"Bye."
Another two weeks had passed and Winry was working hard in her shop to keep her from going out of her ever loving mind. Edward wasn't home yet and he still hadn't tried to contact her. She dug around in a drawer to find a screw for her new piece, cursing when she couldn't find it. She stood and untied her apron, hanging it on the door as she headed out of the room and went to the front door.
"Where are you going, Winry?" her grandmother asked from the living room, dragging her attention away from the newspaper she had been reading.
"Gotta go into town. I'm missing a screw for my latest project."
"Okay. Be careful."
"I will."
She walked to town, being very careful to not let her mind stray to the state alchemist that she desperately missed, because if she thought about the fact he was still not home too much then only a miracle would save him from her wrath. She stopped at the local hardware store, a radio station out of Central City playing softly in the background. She made her way to the screws and started looking for the one she needed when the music on the radio stopped.
"This is Central Radio. We hate to do this, but with the previous uprisings in the surrounding countries we have a list of fallen soldiers to report to everyone."
They read names off of the list that Winry only half heard, not recognizing any that were listed.
"And finally, Edward Elric."
The screw fell to the floor as Winry's eyes widened, her blue eyes staring into nothingness as tears began to fall down her cheeks. Surely, they hadn't just said that name. Surely, her ears were playing a very cruel joke on her. When a young man walked up to her to see if she needed assistance, she looked at him blankly.
"What was the last name that they said?"
"Edward Elric, I believe. Hey, miss, are you alright?"
The young man barely caught her before she hit the floor.
Winry sat up in her bed, covered in a cold sweat, her hair sticking to her face.
Please let that have been a dream. Please don't let him be gone!
She moved to get out of bed with every intention of going to wake her grandmother up before a heavy arm landed on her stomach, effectively holding her in place.
"Where are you going, Win?" a voice asked, slurred from sleep.
Winry couldn't help the tears that cascaded from her eyes as she flung herself down and buried her face into Edward's muscular chest, his arms immediately circling around her and holding her close.
"Hey, what's the matter? Why are you crying?" he asked, concern about her sudden action waking him up completely.
"I had the most horrible dream. I'm just so glad you're here."
Edward didn't have to ask. Judging by the way she was clinging to him as if he would disappear the moment she let go, it had to have been about him and it hadn't ended too well.
"Go to sleep, Win. I'll keep the nightmares away."
Winry nodded as her eyes began to close, glad to be held in the warm comfort of her fiance's arms as the tears slowly stopped and she drifted back to sleep.
And there it is! I re-wrote this chapter a couple times, both ending in Ed's actual death, but I couldn't bring myself to permanently kill him off. Thank you to whimsicalMedely for her extremely kind review for the last chapter. Words can't express how much each good review brightens my day! :) So, until next time, enjoy the week!