Happy 503 week! I wrote this story for the prompt 'Bittersweet'. I must warn you to have tissues available. There may have been tears when I wrote this.

This is set many years post manga/Brotherhood.

Edward and Winry had been married for decades and raised five children. Three had chosen to move away while two of them stayed in Risembool. Now they were surrounded by grandchildren. They had a good life with Winry's automail business doing well, and her eldest son, Ben, had taken over the family business so Winry could work part time. She loved spending time with her grandchildren and being active in their upbringing. Nowadays Edward and her both had greys in their hair at this point. Edward blamed the kids, and Winry blamed his youthful recklessness.

However, life wasn't perfect. Edward and Winry had been in Central for 6 months, going between doctor's appointments and treatments at the hospital that seemed to make her weaker rather than cure her. They were told that there was a chance that if she did all that they asked, that she could beat this and have more time.

Winry had arrived in good shape though she knew there was something wrong when she found a lump. She went to their doctor in Risembool, who referred her to a specialist in Central. Edward went with her, and he watched as they poked her with so many needles repeatedly that he wondered if she had any blood left in her body.

The first treatment that was offered was surgery. Remove the mass and nearby tissue. This meant she would lose part of her womanhood. She accepted it because she was told it would give her more time. Edward took her hand and agreed with her. He only wanted her to get better.

After the surgery, Edward saw her, and his heart dropped. Her chest was covered in bandages, and her lower half covered in a blanket. Her face was clenched, and tears streamed down her face.

She sobbed "It hurts!"

Edward rushed to her side and took her hand. He glared at the nurse that had escorted him to the room. He commanded "She needs pain meds!"

"Someone is bringing them now," she replied in a calm voice.

"They need to hurry up! Damn it!" Edward yelled, angry at the nurse but also angry that there was nothing he could do.

Another nurse finally came in with medication and injected it through the IV. Winry's face relaxed some. The pain had faded but was still there. It was just being masked by morphine.

Edward kissed her forehead. "Feel better?"

Winry nodded slowly; the fatigue obvious on her pale face. Edward didn't know if the fatigue was from anesthesia or morphine or a combination.

The surgery was complete, and they felt some sense of relief. Now Winry could focus on recovery, and then they would go home. Edward reminded her that their eldest daughter, Lucy, promised to make her a pie when she returned.

Winry chuckled lightly "You love that pie so much."

"Lucy does a good job, but yours will always be my favorite," Edward told her.

Over the next few weeks, Winry was released from the hospital, and they stayed with their youngest son, Hugh, who lived in Central with his wife and three-year-old daughter. Melissa was delighted by having her grandparents visit for several weeks. On Winry's better days, Winry would read to her. It was difficult to move her arms due to her surgery so Winry was saddened that she couldn't do many activities with Melissa. But Edward would try to make up for it. He would color and build puzzles with Melissa when Winry had to rest.

Melissa asked Edward "Why is Grandma so tired?"

"Well, she was sick. She had to have surgery to get better. And now she's tired because her body is healing," Edward explained, hoping it was simple enough for the three-year-old.

"Oh okay. When I'm sick, mommy makes me soup. Should we make soup for grandma?" Melissa asked.

"That's a great idea! It will make Grandma feel so much better and knowing that you helped make it will make Grandma happy," Edward said with a smile.

Edward and Melissa made Winry soup several times during her recovery. Winry was tearful when Melissa said the soup would heal her. Winry told her "I'm sure it will make me better."

Then Winry noticed her back was becoming painful. She mentioned it at one of her doctor's visits, and they ordered X-rays of her spine. The doctor hung the films on a lightboard in the exam room for them to see. He pointed to the white vertebrae that were healthy, and then the spotted vertebrae that likely had cancer in them.

"I thought the surgery removed all of it!" Edward shouted.

Winry took his hand, and Edward held in his rage. He sucked in a breath through his teeth trying to regain control of himself. Winry felt his frustration echo through her. The surgery was supposed to cure her. Had she gone through it for nothing?

The doctor explained that surgery had removed the initial tumor but cancer is tricky. If it gets into the lymph nodes, it can travel via the lymph system to other parts of her body. There was no way to know this before going into surgery, especially since she had no other symptoms.

"What do we do now?" Winry asked.

"There are options. We can do chemotherapy though it has side effects," the doctor stated.

"I'll do it," Winry said with resolve. Edward agreed with her. He knew despite the surgery; Winry had the strength and determination of a mountain lion. And he would be there to take care of her.

Just a few days later, the nurses connected bags of chemicals to Winry's IV that were poisonous hoping it would kill the 'bad' cells but not affect the healthy cells. These toxins made her nauseous, and her hair thinned.

Winry wondered aloud to Edward during one of her infusions. "How could my body betray me like this?"

Edward saw her frustration. He had pondered about how cancer starts off as one cell that has mutated and multiplies. It spreads throughout the body, taking over. It doesn't know that it's harming the body, which makes him angry. It's not evil but just doing what it knows how to.

"I don't know, Win," he said while holding her hand and eyes half shut. He wanted to take care of her, but he had grown weary. It was disheartening to see her resolve begin to crumble. That strength that she had always carried with her was fading.

Over time, Winry lost her vibrancy, and appeared much older than when she arrived. Due to the nausea from the chemotherapy, she had lost weight, and was thin. She became so weak that she had to walk with a cane, and with Edward's assistance. Most of her daily activities involved him assisting her. Winry had valued her independence, and it was embarrassing that she had to rely on him so much. She was used to taking care of others but not the other way around.

The treatments didn't seem to work. It was still spreading despite Winry following their treatment protocol. They offered yet another surgery but there was great risk with it.

That's when Winry told Edward "I want to go home."

Edward felt his chest cave in when he realized what his wife meant by that single statement.

"But Winry!"

"Ed, I'm not going to get better!" Winry shouted. And then there was silence in the room. Edward's eyes enlarged in shock, and thoughts came to him. This was the beginning of the end. She was done, and he would have to say goodbye to her sooner than he wanted.

The doctor said he would give them a few minutes and stepped out of the room, trying to avoid the awkward conversation that he knew was coming.

Winry took Edward's hands into hers. She recalled how he had done this for her when he was comforting her after learning whom killed her parents.

She looked at their hands as he held his head down. Winry told her husband "We've lived a wonderful life. We've been with our children longer than our parents were with us. And we have helped raise our grandchildren. And I want to spend what precious little time I have left with them."

Edward's eyes moistened. He couldn't remember the last time that had occurred. His shoulders slumped and his forehead touched hers. He loved his wife more than anyone in this world. She held him stay grounded despite his restless nature. What would he do without her? Tears streamed down his face when he whispered, "I don't want to lose you."

Winry put her hand on his face. "I know. I don't want to leave either. But we both knew it would happen sooner or later. And since I have the choice now of where I want to do that, I want to be at home. Not on an operating table."

Winry took her hand from his face and embraced her husband. He nestled his head against hers. He understood what she wanted and accepted her decision. He breathed out "Let's go home."

Author's note: Cancer treatments have evolved over the years as have the protocols for diagnosing it and staging it. Now when lumps or masses are found, imaging is obtained not only of that area but other areas where it may have spread. For example, a patient has a mass in their lung found on a chest x-ray. My current facility orders an MRI of the brain because lung cancer tends to spread to the brain. They use it for staging, which impacts what treatment options doctors use.

Winry has breast cancer in this story, which tends to spread to the spine. These spine tumors can be very painful. And it travels throughout the body via the lymph nodes.

In this period of time, chemotherapy was available. I imagine it was harsher in the beginning than it is now. Some chemotherapies today do not make the patient nauseous or make the hair fall out. Some still do. It really depends on the type of cancer that determines which chemotherapy agent the doctor prescribes for the patient.

On to more personal matters, you may have guessed that I knew someone with cancer. My mom had pancreatic cancer, and I couldn't be with her much during her treatments though I did talk to her on the phone. I was there when she passed away, and I consider it a blessing to see someone I love to take their final breath.