Sundown couldn't come soon enough.

With every passing minute, Al spared a glance at the sky as if it'd bring the sun down faster. The inside of his cheek had long since been chewed raw, leaving a taste on his tongue that was no less bitter than the feeling that'd settled in his gut. His ability to focus was practically non-existent against the beating of his own heart, to the point where he was surprised he could still stand at all.

"The storm's only gotten worse since he's left. Why's it worse?!" he blurted.

"Eyes on me, Al." Winry hadn't turned in his direction–focused on filling pails with running water–yet she read him like a book. "We have to trust him."

"I know that. I know. It's just…" He bit his lip, turning away from the window. "You don't know our father. We don't know our father."

Winry turned off the faucet and placed the bucket next to the others, all of which were prepared in case something went wrong with the water line. (Al didn't fully understand why that was necessary when there was more water than they could ever need falling from the sky, but he didn't ask.)

"How long does it take to swim to Xerxes?" she asked.

"Huh?"

"I mean" –Winry followed his line of sight to the torrential downpour outside the window– "would Ed have reached it already since the time he left?"

Al thought back to the night he left home, to the anxious exhilaration that threatened to consume him as he swam to freedom. Despite his distractions at the time, Al was nothing if not observant when traveling–his teacher had drilled that into him.

"Definitely. Brother's a fast swimmer, even without an arm." He shook his head. "I just have a bad feeling about all of this. I trust him with my life, but he's always valued others before himself. After what happened with the harpoon… there's no way our father hasn't picked up on it."

Winry's brows creased as she crossed her arms, her gaze trained on the ground.

"I want to believe he cares," Al continued, as if saying it aloud would make the mantra he'd repeated in his head since childhood any more real. "He's our dad, isn't he? He… he has to care. He has to understand."

He looked to Winry as if searching for validation, and mentally slapped himself at the realization. She was stressed as it was, and here he was dumping his own deep-set worries on her as if it'd make things any better.

"Sorry-"

"Don't be," Winry cut him off, meeting his eyes. "I meant what I said yesterday, about both of you being important to me. I… I don't know how to help here. I wish I had answers, I wish I could do something, but all we can do is wait."

"It's agonizing. Waiting. Feels like it's all I've ever done."

Winry tilted her head to one side, silently providing him an opportunity to continue. Al almost kept his mouth shut, hesitant to burden Winry with more of his troubles, but if Ed had found strength in confiding with her, surely he could too.

"That night, after we encountered the humans, I really thought my brother was going to die. He'd lost so much blood and there was nothing I could do to help him." Al remembered the way the water was clouded red–how the healers had paled at the sight of his brother's mangled shoulder. He'd been pulled out of the room before he had the chance to do a thing, restrained by dozens of hands that prodded at superficial wounds. Nothing had hurt like the pain of knowing his brother was suffering because of him. Because he had been too weak to save himself. "Even as he was healing, he'd hide how much pain he was in because he didn't want to upset me. He'd done it to save me and for some reason he still blamed himself for what happened. I'd have done anything to take that pain from him. I still would."

Winry moved to sit beside him on the couch, the two of them facing the heavy raindrops that drummed against the window. Al often prided himself on his emotional maturity, but he couldn't help but lose a bit of his composure when his brother wasn't by his side. They'd always been inseparable, but an unfamiliar situation such as this was enough to make him feel like he was a kid again, locked in his bedroom waiting for Ed to return from another scavenging trip.

"He shows his love in weird ways, that's for sure," she said, and Al couldn't help but smile at the way her cheeks turned pink. "He doesn't realize that he only worries us more by trying to handle everything on his own. I understand it, though, even if it's a stupid way of thinking. 'Ninya always said I should take time for myself instead of devoting all my time to automail. I'm still working on that," she chuckled. "There's just nothing that makes me happier than seeing one of my clients' faces light up after they realize they have a means to move forward. Ed wants that for you, too."

Al nodded, thinking back to how Ed's smile was brighter than he'd ever seen it after he'd joined him on the surface. "I think you've helped him more than you realize. He'll always be my big brother, but you finally gave him a reason to value himself as something beyond that. As someone that can rely on others, too."

"That goes for you too, Al. Ed would hate to hear you blaming yourself like this."

Al could already imagine what Ed would do if he'd heard him. The two of them had always harbored guilt over one thing or another, but Winry's words were true. It was pointless to dwell on things that had already happened. He'd told his brother the same thing, and here he was betraying his own advice.

"I'm not going to leave him to fight our battles alone. We vowed to move forward, so that's what we'll do," he affirmed.

Winry's grin calmed his heart, slightly loosening the anxious knot tangled in his stomach. It was a near miracle that they'd been able to find such solace in a human, and Al wasn't about to let his brother lose her so easily. If that meant going back on his word, then so be it. He'd deal with Ed's inevitable explosive response if it meant he'd be able to help him sooner. That's what brothers were for, after all.

Al began to stand, ready to declare his early departure, when a deafening boom shook the house.

He fell and slipped to the ground before he realized what'd happened, faintly noticing the sound of shattering glass piercing through the air.

"Al!" Winry lunged forward, checking him all over for injuries. "Are you okay?"

Al nodded and stood once more, holding onto the edge of the couch for balance. "What was that?!"

He slowly made his way over to the window, stepping around shards of a glass cup that'd broken in the chaos. Winry soon joined him, gently grabbing his arm to keep him steady like she had when he'd first learned to walk.

At first, the sight outside looked as turbulent and stormy as it had the previous day. The rain made it hard to see much of anything, but as soon as he craned his head to see the ocean, Al's breath caught in his throat. He could hardly comprehend what he was even seeing.

In the distant sea, an enormous figure had risen out of a whirlpool of waves, undoubtedly on a path to the shore. Though the details were hard to make out due to the distance, Al was sure that this wasn't an ordinary sea creature. It was something created, a terrifying artificial being that defied nature itself.

This was something much more than a simple disagreement between Ed and their father. Another party was involved, and Al's mind was racing through the possibilities.

Had the storm been a trap to get to his brother? Was this a fight for the throne?

He had a feeling he knew exactly who was behind such a thing, if his earlier interactions were any indicator, and the thought made him sick to his stomach.

Kimblee.

He knew where Ed had been, and he was the only non-royal who knew anything about the trident. The pieces were fitting together, and Al's nausea spiked so severely that he had to double over to catch his breath.

He'd missed the signs, too caught up in his own fantasy, and now his brother was paying the price. The entire village was paying the price.

"Al… what- what is that?!" Winry shrieked, eyes trained on the horizon.

Al could hardly hear her as he shoved off her hand and ran for the door. He had to do something. Anything.

Before he could open the door, a hand on his wrist pulled him back.

"I'm not letting you leave on your own. Especially not towards something like that."

"Winry-"

"No!" She shouted, eyes wide and brimming with unshed tears. "You don't get to do this. You and Ed can't just… come here, change everything and then rush into danger alone. I can't lose you both, I can't."

Al shook his head and pulled away, feeling his panic shift to anger. "I can't just leave him to die!"

"I know!" She shouted back, her eyes burning with something familiar. "That's why I'm coming with you."

"You can't-"

"I'll sail."

"It's dangerous."

"I know."

Al sucked in a breath, looking for any sign of hesitation. Winry stood firmly before him, breaths heavy with adrenaline and eyes hardened with purpose. She wasn't going to back down no matter what he said. It was the same unwavering determination he saw in his brother when he'd declared he was going to the surface.

Those two were going to be the death of him, but hell, they were an unstoppable force. The most he could do was stand by their side.

"Okay," he conceded. "But we stick together."

"No matter what," Winry nodded.

Winry didn't know what'd come over her.

For nearly ten years she'd been too terrified to even step foot on a ship, yet here she was, hoisting sails in the middle of a storm as if it was second-nature.

She'd never forgotten what her parents had drilled into her brain–the memories as vivid as they'd been in the moment. She remembered every step, moving on autopilot like she did when building automail. Time had done nothing to dull her knowledge, yet she'd spent years feigning forgetfulness for her own sake.

It had been easier that way. No one would need to see the way her breath would catch in her throat–palms clammy at the simple thought of facing the open sea. Getting herself to swim near the shore had been a massive hurdle to overcome, and even then, it still wasn't sailing. The land was near enough to ground her–her body the only vessel she needed to command. She wasn't completely surrendering herself to the ocean, so it'd been… bearable.

She wouldn't have been able to step foot on a boat any time soon if it wasn't for Ed, that much was a fact. Who was she if she couldn't face the sea in the same way he'd faced humans? Their situations were their own, she knew that, but to see him conquer his fears for her… it was enough to make her want to do the same for him.

Winry chose this of her own volition, and she would rather drown than see it through. Maybe it was stupid of her, but the thought of waiting was simply unbearable.

She finished her preparations and sucked in a deep breath, remembering how Ed had taught her to swim.

Move with the water.

It was a simple mantra, but one that'd stuck with her ever since Ed had proven it wasn't just nonsense. She couldn't fight against the current, just as she couldn't fight her own anxiety.

She'd embraced the waves for both their calmness and turbulence, and she'd do the same with herself. The pounding of her heart kept her grounded–focused–and she didn't dare try and soothe it away.

With Al by her side, she lifted the anchor and set sail into the darkness, her path set on the monster in the distance.

Their plan had been simple enough, but entirely reliant on Ed's condition. Al would swim to Xerxes and Winry would follow behind, anchoring just outside the kingdom to prevent being spotted. Al would look for Ed while avoiding being seen, and hopefully would return with him.

Their plan for the monster was a bit less… concrete. Al hoped that he and Ed would be able to stop the mer responsible for the destruction using their training in combat. (Winry had been shocked at that revelation, not realizing Al's mention of Ed fighting had more merit than she once thought.) Since Ed knew how to use the trident, if he could just get a hold of it, he'd be able to destroy the monster and cease the storm. If need be, Winry would be on standby to provide medical assistance, and was armed with harpoons in the case that the monster needed to be defeated in a more physical manner.

She felt conflicted about that option, knowing the brothers' history with harpoons, but Al had been convinced they were necessary to have on hand. It had helped that the ship she "borrowed" was Resembool's primary fishing vessel, and already had plenty of supplies on deck for her to utilize.

Of course, all of their planning would mean little if Ed wasn't able to help. It was entirely reliant on the prospect of stopping the dangerous merperson that Al had reluctantly mentioned–someone close enough to the king to understand his magic and a traitor who undoubtedly would want the princes dead alongside their father.

Winry had felt ignorant and foolish for not considering the fact that since Ed and Al were royalty, they'd be massive targets for assassination plots. She supposed she'd still viewed their lives as a fantasy, in a way. Something so out of reach that its flaws were nearly incomprehensible. It had felt silly to compare the politics of her own world to those of an undersea kingdom, but they were more similar than she once thought.

It terrified her to know that Ed was in the presence of someone who wanted him dead. That he'd willingly left for her.

Winry kept her eyes focused ahead, blinking away tears that she refused to let fall. The rain battered against her skin like needles, the wind whipping against the sails with a bellowing roar. Her fingers had grown numb from gripping the wheel, steering to keep the stern pointed to the waves just as her father had told her. Al did what he could to steady her, but ultimately, it was up to her to keep the ship from capsizing.

Move with the water. Move with the water.

She glanced down to look for Al, but the waves made it impossible to spot him. She could only trust that he was nearby as she followed the path forward, remembering his instructions on where to anchor.

The monster was closer now, but was no less horrifying than it'd looked from the shore. The creature's gaping jaw was large enough to swallow her ship whole; its viridian tail leaving an enormous wake as it swayed from behind.

It was repulsively impressive, towering out of the ocean like a lighthouse as it beckoned her closer. Despite her distance from it, the sheer power of the thing was enough to send rolling waves hurdling directly towards the ship. Towards her.

"Just a little further!" she grit out, bracing as the waves hit the bow of the ship.

Her iron grip on the wheel slipped from the force, sending her toppling to the deck as it spun uncontrollably.

The ship was quickly thrown off balance, tilting rapidly on its starboard side. Fishing supplies careened towards her as they slid down the deck, toppling into the water as Winry fought to regain her footing.

She reached for the helm, gripping it fiercely as she gathered her legs beneath her. Her feet caught and slid against the deck as she pulled herself up, stumbling yet relentless in her grip. Without a moment to think, she grabbed the wheel and yanked–a scream tearing itself from her throat as she strained against the pull of the waves. She couldn't hear over the dizzying beating in her head and couldn't see past the rain droplets that stung her eyes–yet she refused to let go.

She could do this. Ed needed her.

Winry yanked the wheel even harder, feeling the skin peel from her fingers against the wood of the handles. She planted her feet in place and stepped back, using the force of her entire body to steady the ship back into place.

Move with the water. Move with the water. Move-

With a final tug, the wheel spun to her command, sending her to the ground once more. She stood as quickly as she'd fallen, regaining her balance as the ship steadied itself.

She'd really done it, hadn't she?

Giddy with emotion, she rested her head on the wheel, her giggle sounding foreign to her ears.

She did it.

"Smooth sailing, Winry!" Al called from below, the relief evident on his face. "Are you okay?"

"As okay as I can be." She lifted her head and forced a smile. "How about you?"

Al grimaced. "Likewise. Just a little closer and I think you'll be good to anchor! I'll be back as soon as I can, but if we take too long-"

"I'm not leaving without you guys," Winry sharply interrupted. "We go back together."

Al sighed and rubbed a hand on his forehead. "You're as stubborn as he is, I swear. You can't survive out here, Winry. We can handle ourselves, I promise."

Deep down, Winry knew that there was a chance she'd have to leave them behind. She wasn't stupid; she knew there was little she could do as a human in the middle of the ocean.

Still, she didn't want to entertain the possibility. This had to work. It had to.

"I know. I know that," she said softly. "We'll figure it out if it comes to that, but for now, let's do what we came for."

Al nodded, the fondness in his eyes sparkling against the rain droplets. "Be careful, and shoot a flare if you need me."

He dipped beneath the waves as quickly as he'd risen, leaving Winry to her own devices.

She looked back at the soaked nautical chart he'd left her and calculated how much further she had to sail. She'd conquered the waves once, and she'd do it as many times as she had to if it brought Ed back to her.

With a resolution as bright as a Resembool sunrise, Winry got to work.

For a moment after Ed woke, everything felt normal.

Al was shaking him awake again, surely because he'd slept through another one of his scheduled appearances at some prissy event. It was hardly a new experience, and part of him wanted to just turn over and go back to sleep.

After a few seconds, everything came rushing back.

What'd been done to his father, what'd been done to him, and the fact that Al was very much not supposed to be there.

His grogginess had all but been forgotten as he shot up, wincing at the pain in his tail.

"Al?! What the hell are you doing here?!"

Al's face crumpled, and without missing a beat, he pulled him forward into a bone-crushing hug.

"Don't you dare start with that. We thought you'd… that something terrible had happened to you!" he stumbled out in near hysterics.

Ed returned the hug, temporarily ignoring his wound and the implications of his brother's presence. As much as he'd wanted Al to stay away from everything that'd happened, it was soothing to have him back at his side.

"Hey, I'm okay, aren't I?"

Al pulled away, looking as if Ed had just slapped him in the face. "What part of this is okay?!"

Ed flinched, realizing his choice of words. "It looks worse than it is, but it's nothing life threatening," he assured–unpleasant memories of the past flashing through his mind. "We have more important things to worry about right now. That bastard Kimblee ended up being a traitor–which isn't surprising–but he has the trident. We have to stop him before he hurts anyone else."

"I knew it," Al hissed. "Did you see what he did?"

He glanced over at Hohenheim, but Al didn't follow his line of sight. This was something else. Something worse. "You're gonna have to be more specific, Al. There's a lot of things he could've done."

"He… he made something terrible. A monster. I think he's sending it to shore."

"To shore?!"

Ed froze, thinking back to what Kimblee had previously said.

Give them a taste of what they dealt to us.

His heart skipped a beat and clawed its way to his throat. There was no time to think, let alone act. Kimblee was starting a war, and he wasn't going to waste time planning.

The sick bastard wanted bloodshed, and he craved an immediate payoff.

Ed needed to act, injuries be damned. Without another thought, he pushed himself off the sand in another attempt to swim, ignoring Al's cry of protest. He grit his teeth as his tail spasmed again, sending shockwaves of pain down his left side.

Al quickly swam over to steady him, wrapping an arm around his shoulders in the same way Ed had done for him on the surface. It hurt like hell, but at least he could stay afloat this way. He'd make it work.

"What's the plan?" Ed asked. Al wasn't the type to jump headfirst into dangerous situations like he was. If he'd come all this way, he'd thought of something worthwhile.

"Can you at least warn me before you get up like that?!" Al grumbled, gripping him tighter. "Before anything, I'm taking you to Winry. You need to get that wound looked at, and I'm not taking on Kimblee alone."

"Winry?! We don't have that kind of time! And besides, I-" he stopped himself sharply, a tang of guilt taking hold of his tongue. Al couldn't know yet. It was… selfish, yeah, but Ed couldn't bring himself to verbalize what'd been done to him yet. "I don't want to involve her in this," he opted for instead.

"It's a little too late for that. C'mon, you'll see."

Al pulled him up with a start, leaving no room for further clarification. Ed wasn't exactly well enough to swim yet, as much as he hated to admit it, so he didn't have much of a choice. Wherever Al went, he went, and he could only hope that didn't mean the shore.

He did what he could to help their momentum, the thought of being a dead weight too humiliating to bear. They moved silently, keeping behind cover for as long as they could to avoid being spotted. Their teacher had previously taught them how to move undetected, back when she'd put them face to face with a hungry great white shark. Just the thought of her lessons sent a shiver down his spine, but he couldn't deny their effectiveness.

They couldn't risk being found, especially knowing Kimblee's tact for manipulation. Ed wouldn't be surprised if he was telling the citizens some fictional story about humans at that very moment, painting the princes as "victims to brainwashing" or "traitors to merkind." Either way, being caught would mean losing any chance at saving those on the surface.

Ed had already screwed up enough. He had to fix this–there was no other option.

As they left the bounds of Xerxes, Al began to swim upwards instead of forwards, pulling them directly into the path of the crashing waves of the storm above. They couldn't have been anywhere near Resembool, yet they were surfacing just the same.

Ed braced himself as his head was pulled out of the water. The air was ruthless in its frigidity, biting at his skin in harsh contrast to the moisture of the sea. He blinked to clear his vision, and the sight he saw was beyond what he could've ever imagined.

The creature towered out of the waves as it marched towards the shore on a series of legs, wading through the current as if it were a wake pool. It was far enough away to not be an immediate threat, but its sickly green scales were still clearly visible against the sunset. Its body and head made it look more serpentine than nautical, with jagged spikes and teeth that distinctly conveyed the reason for the monster's existence.

It was designed for slow, terrifying destruction. Kimblee didn't just want to attack humans, he wanted them to fear the ocean itself. To witness the horrors of the sea in a way only storybooks could tell. He wanted the merfolk to be painted as monsters. To be hunted, feared, and othered even more than before.

He wanted them to be known, and in the worst way possible.

"We're going to stop it, brother," Al spoke from beside him, forcing him to tear his eyes away from the beast.

"Damn right we will." He nodded, and as his eyes wandered up, he realized the true reason why Al had brought him to the surface.

A sizable fishing ship was anchored right next to them, sending a jolt of panic through him at first glance. He had to remember that Al took him there on purpose. This wasn't like last time.

"Al? Is that you?" a familiar voice called from above.

Ed sucked in a breath. There was no way Al was stupid enough to let Winry sail into a goddamn magical storm.

"I've got him here, Winry!"

Yeah, he absolutely was.

Winry leaned over the side of the ship, her blue eyes searching until they met his own.

Relief flooded her features, softening the crease in her brows and the tight line of her lips. She was completely drenched, with matted hair and torn clothes that spoke of the tribulations her journey must've dealt her.

She looked more beautiful than ever.

His chest ached.

"Here, I'll pull you up." She held her arm out so her palm was just within reach, and despite every warning sign in his brain telling him this was not supposed to be happening, he took her hand.

He hit the deck harder than he'd expected to, unable to stop an involuntary yelp from escaping his throat as pain shot through his tail.

"What the hell"–he grunted–"are you doing here?!"

"You said the same thing to me, brother." Al pulled himself up beside him, letting his tail dangle off the side of the ship.

"You I can at least understand." Ed shook his head, feeling a confusing mixture of admiration and anger boil up inside of him.

Winry knelt beside him, pulling out a wrap of white cloth that he wasn't quite sure was meant for scales. "This involves me, which means I have as much a right to be here as you do. We were scared to death after seeing that thing appear, and… I wanted to help. That's all."

She started applying pressure without another word, eyes hardening with focus in the same way they did when she worked on automail.

It was at that moment he realized just where he was.

"Wait-" he started, wincing as Winry pushed harder on the wound. "You sailed here. Like- in the ocean."

"I did." She smiled widely, her eyes manic yet beaming with pride. "You know, it wasn't as scary as it'd imagined it to be. Something some weirdo swimming instructor said really stuck with me."

"Oh yeah? What's that?"

"'Move with the water.' Sounds silly, huh? Guess that idiot knew what he was talking about after all."

Ed barked out a laugh, feeling lighter than he had since the festival. "Damn right!"

He couldn't ignore how confident Winry looked as she treated him, comfortable on the ship as if she'd been sailing all her life. He'd… helped with that, hadn't he? He'd actually done something good, even if it'd led her to recklessly endanger her life.

He'd be a hypocrite if he called her out on it. Going on land, confronting humans, it was no different than Winry facing her fears towards the sea. As much as he hated the idea of her risking her life for someone she'd only known for a week, he'd already done the same, and he'd do it a million times more.

Even if he was confined to the sea, cursed to never see her again.

His throat tightened as he became increasingly aware of how… exposed he felt, lying there on the deck next to her. Vulnerable in a way he hadn't been before, even on the first night they'd met.

Different.

He turned away from her and stared at the deck, hoping she wouldn't notice anything amiss.

This sucked.

If Winry had noticed, she didn't say anything. She continued her work without hesitation, replacing the cloth when the first had soaked through.

"You're bleeding too much," she said after a few minutes had passed. "This won't be enough."

Ed turned his head back to his tail, sucking in a breath at the sight of dozens of clumps of cloth dyed red lying next to him.

"What do we do, then? I'm not sitting this one out, Winry. I have to get back in there."

"I know," she sighed. "I'm doing as much as I can but… I think this needs stitches."

"Stitches?"

Ed had never heard the word before, but based on Winry's face, whatever it was wasn't pretty. In Xerxes, merfolk would wrap seaweed and kelp around most superficial wounds. For bad ones, like what'd happened to his arm, they used the palace's healers. They had nowhere near as much power as the trident, but could use magic to close wounds enough to not bleed out. It hurt like hell and left nasty scars, but it was better than nothing.

"What do you need, Winry? I can help," Al spoke up, dragging himself closer to the equipment.

She rustled through her medical bag before pulling out something he recognized from his cavern. Sheska had told him they were called needles, and humans used them to pierce their skin for jewelry. He'd shocked everyone when he'd shown up to a banquet with a metal ring embedded in his ear, but after seeing Winry's own earrings, he'd at least known Sheska had been right about something. After coming to the surface, Winry had shown him that they were used for sewing clothes. Neither of them had said anything about sewing skin. It was a combination of both practices that sounded ten times more painful than what he'd done to his earlobe.

He gulped, watching as Winry scanned the ship for anything suitable to use as thread. Finally, her gaze stopped on a bundle of fishing line, and Ed felt his insides turn at the sight.

"You've gotta be kidding me," he groaned.

"Sorry, Ed. It's all we have." Winry held her hand out. "Pass it here, Al."

Al's face turned green as he seemed to understand the intent, but he passed the fishing line regardless. "He'll be okay, right?"

"Don't worry, I've done this countless times before." She paused. "Well, I can't say I've done it on a merperson before, but it shouldn't be too different."

"I'll be better in no time, Al," Ed reassured. "Won't let this stupid hole in my tail keep me from kicking Kimblee's ass."

Al's posture relaxed, and though the worry was still evident in his eyes, he'd finally eased up enough to chuckle. "You haven't changed a bit since we were kids. Once this is over you'll have to tell Winry the story about the shark."

"Which one?" Ed smirked, earning a light slap on the shoulder.

"The one where you tried to ride it and it nearly bit your head off. Seriously brother, you're lucky it only grazed you."

Winry looked up after she'd threaded the needle, looking both amused and concerned. "I know you're no stranger to pain, Ed, but this is going to hurt. You ready?"

He nodded firmly, hoping his smile didn't look too fake. "I trust you."

Winry's eyes sparkled at the statement, hardening with determination. Ed had been prepared to let her give him surgery after they'd only spoken once. Some basic medical care was nothing compared to that.

He stared above as she pierced the layer beneath the scales that Kimblee had so conveniently already scraped away. Winry hadn't been lying, it hurt like hell, but it was nothing compared to the knife that'd caused the wound to begin with.

Then she pierced it again, and again, pulling the fishing line through him with firm tugs. He'd grabbed Al's hand somewhere along the way, thankful that he'd taken it without a word. With every wince and gasp he gave, Al gently squeezed his hand. He'd always done that, whether it was through physical pain or a nasty nightmare that'd left Ed waking up in a panic.

He squeezed back, closing his eyes as he let the rain fall on his face.

Al never needed to say a word to provide comfort. He just knew, and something told him Al knew a lot more right now than he was letting on.

His little brother had always been perceptive like that.

"All done!" Winry said, wiping the wound one last time.

He smiled again, pushing his earlier thoughts deep down to deal with… later. "What, already?"

"Yeah yeah tough guy, just don't be too hard on it, okay? It should hold while you swim, but it's still a wound. I'll need to properly tend to it later and check for infection, so don't think this is over. We'll need to see how it translates over to your leg, too."

Ed's stomach twisted into his throat. "Right. Thanks, Win."

She glanced out to the horizon and the monster that grew ever closer to the shore, then back to him again. Her eyes were hazy with something he didn't recognize.

"I'm glad you're here."

"Huh?"

She swallowed and wiped her eyes. "I was so scared. I thought… I thought we'd come back and you'd be…"

"I'm not going anywhere, okay?" he said, as if to convince himself, too. "We're gonna stop him, and I sure as hell am not gonna let anything else happen to us or to you."

"And then you'll come back, right?"

Ed faltered–the feeling in his chest making it hard to breathe. That, or the air itself was rejecting him, now that he no longer needed it.

"Winry, I-"

Before he could continue, the ship was knocked to its side with a startling bang.

Winry doubled over with a yelp, and Ed pushed himself up as well as he could to look for the source.

"Al, do you see anything?!"

Al shook his head. "It's not the monster, which means it's something beneath us. It could be-"

If Ed had blinked, he would've missed it. In a moment, Al was yanked beneath the waves mid-sentence, pulled by his tail off the side of the ship.

"AL!"

He dragged himself closer to the water, ignoring the sting in his tail as he looked for what, or who had dared to touch his brother.

"I'm going after him."

He didn't wait for Winry to reply. He couldn't force himself to look back, even if he wanted to. Al needed him, and he wasn't going to let him down again.

Without hesitation, he jumped back into the water, unsaid words left burning on his tongue.

WE'RE SO BACK!
(yes the monster is 100% true form envy, just like, a sea monster version LOL)

i had an insanely busy year, which meant i had no time to write at all ;-; luckily now i have a lot more free time, so i'm going to try and finally finish this! thank you so much for the support in the meantime, it really boosted my motivation!

thanks for reading :) i'll try and keep the momentum going!