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cornerofmadnessFor those who like to wait until a WIP is finished before starting, this is now completed!!
Petals Fall like Tears
A![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
color_i_fic story - Color - Cherry Blossom
D M Evans
Disclaimer - not mine, all characters belong to Hiromu Arakawa et al, Square Enix and funimition
Rating - R
Pairings - Roy/Riza, Maes/Gracia (and ANY combination of the four of them you can think of), Ed/Winry, Izumi/Sig, Heck even Al, Havoc and Armstrong get a girl
Time Line – hybrid manga/anime verses Post Anime, ignoring the movie with a few key anime points changed like, Ed’s not in Europe, Al’s not a kid, all of Rush Valley is Manga centered and oh, a few people didn’t actually die.
Summary - With friends and family all around and a Cherry Blossom Festival to go to with new loves, what could possibly go wrong?
Author’s Note - Thanks to![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
evil_little_dog for the beta. This was written for mjules for her birthday.
This is the sequel to If Happiness Forgets You Part One If Happiness Forgets You Part Two , If Happiness Forgets You Part Three and a prequel to Curosity Killed the Teenager and was written as part of the color_i_fic Garden of Eden challenge
Previous chapters
Chapter Seven
Gracia and Pinako had a large breakfast cooking, the smells of pancake, eggs and bacon luring guests down from the upstairs. Riza and Izumi had the table set by the time their men folk drifted into the dinning room. The teens were slower to make their appearance. Paninya, at Al’s insistence, hadn’t gone home alone and had spent the night with Winry.
“Is it all over?” Winry asked, setting down to the feast.
“No,” Roy said, toying with a strip of bacon. “Well, this round is but Kimbley got away. Frankly, he never even entered the fight. Something tells me they either didn’t expect this many alchemists or they were woefully overconfident.”
“I’m betting on that last one. Coda surely got close to Havoc in order to size up what forces we could muster. He said she asked questions on the basis of being afraid because of the unrest but he hadn’t answered much,” Maes said. “Given how poorly prepared they were for that attack, I doubt that Havoc gave them anything useful. He had all the standard misinformation we’re supposed to feed.”
“They nearly killed our daughter. I think we have different ideas as to what poorly prepared means,” Gracia said more harshly than most of them were used to hearing. She set down the bacon pan before her shakes made her drop it and Maes went over to hug her.
“You know what this means,” Riza said, sitting down next to Roy. “We can’t chance that Pendergrass didn’t alert the rest of the Loyalists to you and the brothers being here, Roy.”
“I know. And Kimbley is on the loose.”
“No, you can’t mean we have to move again,” Ed groaned.
Al took Paninya’s hand. “But I don’t want to go.”
“And I don’t want to have to make you, Alphonse but you know what this means. It’s too dangerous here,” Roy replied, giving the boy a sympathetic look.
“I’m not going.” Al’s tone as firm as stone.
Roy stared at Al in shock. “Alphonse, this isn’t negotiable.”
“I’m not a soldier, Roy. I don’t have to listen to you.” Al shoved away from the table.
“Al, go with him,” Paninya said softly and he leaned against her chair in surprise.
“But I don’t want to leave you behind, Paninya, and it’s not fair to make you leave your home,” Al said, cupping her cheek. He liked the velvet feel of it under his hand and he didn’t want to lose that.
“You’ve told me before, Al, that these people are after you and Ed. I don’t want you to die.” Paninya took his hand in her dark tan one. “You won’t be on the run forever. If Winry can survive years of you and Ed always being gone, I can handle some time apart. Maybe I will join you. I could be tired of living in the desert. You don’t know.”
Al’s eyes welled up. “This isn’t fair, Paninya!”
“You’re talking to a girl who lost both her legs in an accident. Unfair is a part of life, like it or not. Look what happened to you and your brother. I’m tough enough to let you go for a little while,” she said earnestly.
“So can I,” Winry put in quietly.
Ed’s head snapped around. “What? No, Winry!”
“Ed, my job is here. I need to train and I can’t do that with you on the run. I can take care of myself and I’ll be safe enough. I’ll be surrounded by living weapons.” She gestured at Paninya. “Do you think any of my soldier patients would let me get hurt?”
Ed’s eyes narrowed, his lips tightening. Next to him, Al didn’t try to rein in his emotions, shielding his eyes with a hand. “Winry, Kimbley got away. He knows what you look like, that I care about you. The same goes for Paninya. You’re targets, too. We can’t just leave you.”
“We’re nothing,” Winry countered. “It’s you and Al with the power. You’re the ones they want to settle with.”
Al turned away from Paninya and stomped out the door. Ed scraped his chair backwards and stalked after his brother, sparing a hurt look for Winry.
Winry covered her eyes and Paninya put her arm around the mechanic.
“You girls should not underestimate the danger,” Roy said, his voice heavy and sad. Riza put a hand on his shoulder. “I’ll see what I can do to arrange real protection for you.”
“If you convince them to go,” Winry replied, looking at her grandmother for support. Pinako patted Winry’s back, unable to do anything to help. “Al’s right. He doesn’t have to listen to you.”
“But Edward does and once they stop hurting, they’ll know we’re right,” Roy said, wishing he wasn’t.
“We need to come up with a more proactive plan to root out the Loyalists,” Maes said, keeping his arms locked around Gracia’s waist. “This constant running, it does no one any good.”
Roy nodded, wearily, passing a hand over his eyes.
“Damn those boys for getting involved with all of this in the first place,” Izumi growled and no one said anything to that.
X X X
The sun felt too hot already. Al wiped his face, trying to ignore his brother stomping around behind him. Al wondered if it would feel better to get his rage out like Ed was since trying to not cry and failing was making his head hurt. “Roy’s right you know,” Al ventured quietly. Maybe fighting with Ed would at least distract him from the ache inside his chest.
To his surprise, Ed stopped pacing. “I know. If we stay with the girls, we just put them in even worse danger. Kimbley wouldn’t hesitate to use them to hurt us.”
Al shook his head, not even wanting to think of it. “No, and you know Roy knows that.”
“We can’t just keep running away. I’ve already made Winry cry too many times. I promised her the next time I made her cry, it would be tears of joy but I keep breaking that promise.” Ed kicked the porch furniture.
“I know it doesn’t help, Ed, but she understands.” Al tensed, wondering if his brother would turn his temper on him and almost welcomed a fight just to bleed off his own tension.
“She shouldn’t have to.” His fists clenched, servos protesting.
“No, but…well, now you know her choice, brother and so do I. She wants to be with you and Paninya wants me. If they’re willing to wait, if they know the danger and still want us anyhow, doesn’t that mean something?” Al asked, giving Ed a look that said ‘please tell me I’m right.’
“It says everything.” Ed’s jaw set. “We should get back in there and help Hughes and the Bastard figure out what we’re going to do to take the fight to the Loyalists. I’m tired of running.”
The boys nearly crashed into Izumi as they went back into the kitchen. They knew she had to have been coming to look for them. Ed suspected she thought they would need her and a part of him did but it was time to be a man, even if he wanted a little mothering.
“We want to help track down the Loyalists and Kimbley,” Al said, leaning his hands on the table. “We’re tired of running.”
“Exactly,” Ed put in, surprised and pleased at how forceful his brother seemed.
Roy nodded. “We’ll be heading north.”
“We can plan from here,” Ed replied, trying to find a way to stay. He knew that’s what he and Al wanted most.
“We need help. We can find it in the north, General Armstrong,” Maes said, giving the boys a mournful look. He hated having to uproot the brothers.
“Is he any relation to our Armstrong?” Ed made a face.
“She’s his big sister, scary as hell. I mean that in all sincerity,” Roy said with a smirk. “I’d tell you how scary but there are ladies present.”
“Does the general still want you dead, Roy?” Riza asked, her jaw setting, worry in her eyes.
Roy nodded, rubbing his face. He took off his eye patch and rubbed around the empty socket. “Oh, yes.”
“Then why would she help?” Ed asked.
“She wishes me ill because she wants me out of the way so she can be Fuhrer. However, neither of us can fight for that position until we handle these Loyalists. It’s in her best interests to help us achieve that,” Roy said, wincing as his fingers found a tender spot.
“Just watch your back afterwards,” Maes put in grimly.
“Can’t you get Major Armstrong to put in a good word for you with his sister? That might make things easier,” Winry said, “That way maybe you could stay.”
“No, she seems to hold him in disdain,” Roy replied, cupping his hand over his missing eye. “I think she sees him as weak for the things that happened in Ishbal. But it doesn’t change that the Loyalists know where we are. We do have to go.”
“Oh.” Winry tracked the circular path of Roy’s fingers over his eye. “Is it bothering you?”
“A little.” He grimaced as if hating to admit to a weakness.
“Let me have a look. If it’s irritated, maybe Granny and I can help,” Winry said and Roy let his hand fall. Winry gently probed around the ruined socket and the scars on his face.
Roy noticed Ed and Al watching him closely. “Problem?”
“I've just never seen you without it. I was wondering why you didn’t get a glass eye. Didn’t realize you couldn’t.” Ed shrugged. “I just figured you thought the patch looked cooler.”
Al elbowed his brother. Roy just flashed Ed an obscene gesture.
“They’re like brothers,” Maes said and watched both men sputter.
Winry gazed at Hughes sourly. “Don’t start them up.” She glanced back at Roy. “It looks okay, a little swollen. You couldn’t get a glass eye until they rebuilt part of your cheek.”
“I know. I’ve been too busy keeping the boys safe and hunting down the Loyalists to have time for the surgery,” Roy replied, ignoring the mirroring expressions of guilt Al and Ed wore.
“Well, all the more reason to get these Loyalists taken care of. You need that surgery,” Winry said in her ‘professional’ tone. “You go north and do what you have to. Paninya and I will survive.”
“We’ll go with you but don’t expect us to be too happy about it,” Al said, his petulant look betraying his age.
“And I don’t like leaving the girls here like targets,” Ed said, wanting to go put an arm around Winry but wasn’t comfortable enough yet with public displays.
“We won’t,” Riza said.
“I’ll leave Falman and Havoc here, at least for a while,” Roy said. “They can look after the girls. Winry, we’ll keep this house. Paninya, if you’d like to move in here, too, that would all right.”
“Just don’t trust any of Havoc’s girlfriends,” Al added wisely.
“I don’t like you still being entangled with the military but there’s not much to be done about it,” Izumi said, unfolding from the wall she had been leaning on. “You boys are making mature decisions, none the less. Winry, Paninya, Dublith is not all that far from here. If you need to get away from here, you are welcome to come to my home.”
“Thanks, Teacher,” Ed said before the girls could. “When we’ll be leaving?”
“Not for several days,” Roy replied. “We want to track Kimbley’s trail if we can. And it will take time to move north. Something tells me Armstrong will only want us so close to her base but not on it, which is just as well. Briggs is frigid.”
“Then Ed needs new automail. That’ll take me a few days…and some research. I’ve never made automail designed for long-term cold exposure,” Winry said, her eyes gleaming with the heady rush working on automail gave her.
“Another reason not to just run north,” Maes said. “Ed, this might not be the most comfortable thing in the world for you.”
“Neither’s Rush Valley. I keep branding myself with my own automail,” Ed said, making a face.
“Tell me about it,” Paninya said wryly.
“Or branding people on purpose,” Roy said, rubbing a spot on his arm. Ed smirked. “All right, we have to contact General Armstrong, put a detail on tracking Kimbley and rooting out Loyalists who might still be in the area, find a new place to live and Winry, you need to service Ed.” Roy froze then winced. “Sorry, that sounded less perverted in my head.”
“Next to everything else in there, I’m sure it did,” Ed said sardonically.
Winry shot Roy a dirty look and picked up a spoon as a weapon, not having her work clothes on with a handy wrench in the pocket. He looked appropriately cowed.
“Is there anything we can do right now, sir?” Al asked.
Roy shook his head then put his patch back on. “Not really. You boys can make the most of your remaining time here,” Roy said, giving them a look that made both boys turn red. Roy snorted. “And they say I have the dirty mind.”
“Haven’t met a male yet who didn’t,” Pinako said then gazed at Roy gravely. “I have to go back to Resembol but I’m trusting you to keep these kids safe.”
“To the best of my abilities,” Roy replied, seeing no one was particularly happy. He knew how they felt. They had come here for a party. This wasn’t how it should have turned out.
“We’d better find Armstrong and get this in motion,” Maes said, letting Gracia go so he could get down to business.
“I’ll gather up Fuery, Falman, Breda and Havoc,” Riza said.
“And I’ll update the presidential council in Central,” Roy said, knowing this would be a long, ugly day.
X X X
“We could come visit, you know,” Winry told Ed as he and Alphonse dallied, not wanting to get into the truck that would take them north and away from the girls. “I’m sure Mr. Mustang and Mr. Hughes are smart enough to figure out a way to make sure no one follows us. After all, you’ll probably let your automail gunk up and I’ll have to come fix you.” She managed a smile.
“I will not,” Ed protested hotly then read the look on Winry’s face. He smiled “But I could pretend to.”
“I think your brother is finally getting it,” Paninya laughed, leaning against Al, and Ed blushed.
“Sometimes it takes him awhile,” Al said and Ed shoved him.
“I think I’ll become Winry’s assistant, just to make things look good…so long as she doesn’t think I’ll be seeing any actual blood.” Paninya wrinkled her nose.
Winry grinned. “I know how well you do with that. Now, Ed, behave for Mr. Mustang.” She tapped Ed’s chest.
Al broke out laughing and couldn’t stop in spite of Ed’s death glare. “Winry…if that happens…” he rasped out between laughs, “I’ll shave myself bald.”
“I doubt your beautiful hair is in any danger,” Paninya said, tugging on Al’s ponytail.
“You two are not funny,” Ed said as Winry tried to hide a giggle behind her hand. He pouted at her. “They’re not.”
“Of course not.” Winry hugged him tight. “I actually get to say goodbye to you for once.”
Ed winced at that soft admonishment. “I don’t want to go.”
“I know but this time we know it won’t be forever,” Winry said then she kissed him.
Ed didn’t even care if Paninya and Al saw but from the sounds of it, he doubted they were paying any attention to him.
“Edward, Alphonse!” Riza’s voice called. Ed looked up and saw her coming around the truck. “It’s time to go.”
“Kiss the girls and get in the damn truck!” Mustang added from somewhere, probably inside the vehicle.
“Shut the hell up, bastard!” Edward stalked towards the truck.
Winry sighed, going to give Al a hug. “Your hair is definitely safe.”
“Oh, I know,” he replied sardonically, rolling his eyes.
“Keep him out of trouble,” Winry said.
“Hmmm, maybe an alchemized muzzle might help,” Al said with a grin.
“Take pictures of it.” Winry laughed.
Al gave her another hug and Paninya one last kiss before heading for the truck.
“Don’t worry girls,” Havoc said, startling them. They hadn’t seen him come around the side of the truck. “Falman and I will keep a good eye on you and Fuery will make sure you can call the boys safely.”
“We know,” Winry said, trying to be cheerful.
“Just sad to see them go,” Havoc said, fishing out his cigarettes as the truck started.
Winry couldn’t speak past the lump in her throat so she nodded. Paninya rubbed the backs of her hands against her eyes. They tried to watch and not watch at the same time as the truck rolled away, kicking up yellow desert dust.
Havoc put a hand on both girls’ shoulders. “Later, when you feel up to it, I’ll take you girls out for ice cream, my treat.”
“Thanks,” Paninya mumbled.
Havoc left them there and the girls stared up the street for a long time. Finally the sun drove them to go find Havoc and claim their consolation prize. Ed had said goodbye this time but Winry couldn’t help wondering why that hurt even more than the times when he hadn’t.
Petals Fall like Tears
A
color_i_fic story - Color - Cherry BlossomD M Evans
Disclaimer - not mine, all characters belong to Hiromu Arakawa et al, Square Enix and funimition
Rating - R
Pairings - Roy/Riza, Maes/Gracia (and ANY combination of the four of them you can think of), Ed/Winry, Izumi/Sig, Heck even Al, Havoc and Armstrong get a girl
Time Line – hybrid manga/anime verses Post Anime, ignoring the movie with a few key anime points changed like, Ed’s not in Europe, Al’s not a kid, all of Rush Valley is Manga centered and oh, a few people didn’t actually die.
Summary - With friends and family all around and a Cherry Blossom Festival to go to with new loves, what could possibly go wrong?
Author’s Note - Thanks to
evil_little_dog for the beta. This was written for mjules for her birthday. This is the sequel to If Happiness Forgets You Part One If Happiness Forgets You Part Two , If Happiness Forgets You Part Three and a prequel to Curosity Killed the Teenager and was written as part of the color_i_fic Garden of Eden challenge
Previous chapters
Chapter Seven
Gracia and Pinako had a large breakfast cooking, the smells of pancake, eggs and bacon luring guests down from the upstairs. Riza and Izumi had the table set by the time their men folk drifted into the dinning room. The teens were slower to make their appearance. Paninya, at Al’s insistence, hadn’t gone home alone and had spent the night with Winry.
“Is it all over?” Winry asked, setting down to the feast.
“No,” Roy said, toying with a strip of bacon. “Well, this round is but Kimbley got away. Frankly, he never even entered the fight. Something tells me they either didn’t expect this many alchemists or they were woefully overconfident.”
“I’m betting on that last one. Coda surely got close to Havoc in order to size up what forces we could muster. He said she asked questions on the basis of being afraid because of the unrest but he hadn’t answered much,” Maes said. “Given how poorly prepared they were for that attack, I doubt that Havoc gave them anything useful. He had all the standard misinformation we’re supposed to feed.”
“They nearly killed our daughter. I think we have different ideas as to what poorly prepared means,” Gracia said more harshly than most of them were used to hearing. She set down the bacon pan before her shakes made her drop it and Maes went over to hug her.
“You know what this means,” Riza said, sitting down next to Roy. “We can’t chance that Pendergrass didn’t alert the rest of the Loyalists to you and the brothers being here, Roy.”
“I know. And Kimbley is on the loose.”
“No, you can’t mean we have to move again,” Ed groaned.
Al took Paninya’s hand. “But I don’t want to go.”
“And I don’t want to have to make you, Alphonse but you know what this means. It’s too dangerous here,” Roy replied, giving the boy a sympathetic look.
“I’m not going.” Al’s tone as firm as stone.
Roy stared at Al in shock. “Alphonse, this isn’t negotiable.”
“I’m not a soldier, Roy. I don’t have to listen to you.” Al shoved away from the table.
“Al, go with him,” Paninya said softly and he leaned against her chair in surprise.
“But I don’t want to leave you behind, Paninya, and it’s not fair to make you leave your home,” Al said, cupping her cheek. He liked the velvet feel of it under his hand and he didn’t want to lose that.
“You’ve told me before, Al, that these people are after you and Ed. I don’t want you to die.” Paninya took his hand in her dark tan one. “You won’t be on the run forever. If Winry can survive years of you and Ed always being gone, I can handle some time apart. Maybe I will join you. I could be tired of living in the desert. You don’t know.”
Al’s eyes welled up. “This isn’t fair, Paninya!”
“You’re talking to a girl who lost both her legs in an accident. Unfair is a part of life, like it or not. Look what happened to you and your brother. I’m tough enough to let you go for a little while,” she said earnestly.
“So can I,” Winry put in quietly.
Ed’s head snapped around. “What? No, Winry!”
“Ed, my job is here. I need to train and I can’t do that with you on the run. I can take care of myself and I’ll be safe enough. I’ll be surrounded by living weapons.” She gestured at Paninya. “Do you think any of my soldier patients would let me get hurt?”
Ed’s eyes narrowed, his lips tightening. Next to him, Al didn’t try to rein in his emotions, shielding his eyes with a hand. “Winry, Kimbley got away. He knows what you look like, that I care about you. The same goes for Paninya. You’re targets, too. We can’t just leave you.”
“We’re nothing,” Winry countered. “It’s you and Al with the power. You’re the ones they want to settle with.”
Al turned away from Paninya and stomped out the door. Ed scraped his chair backwards and stalked after his brother, sparing a hurt look for Winry.
Winry covered her eyes and Paninya put her arm around the mechanic.
“You girls should not underestimate the danger,” Roy said, his voice heavy and sad. Riza put a hand on his shoulder. “I’ll see what I can do to arrange real protection for you.”
“If you convince them to go,” Winry replied, looking at her grandmother for support. Pinako patted Winry’s back, unable to do anything to help. “Al’s right. He doesn’t have to listen to you.”
“But Edward does and once they stop hurting, they’ll know we’re right,” Roy said, wishing he wasn’t.
“We need to come up with a more proactive plan to root out the Loyalists,” Maes said, keeping his arms locked around Gracia’s waist. “This constant running, it does no one any good.”
Roy nodded, wearily, passing a hand over his eyes.
“Damn those boys for getting involved with all of this in the first place,” Izumi growled and no one said anything to that.
X X X
The sun felt too hot already. Al wiped his face, trying to ignore his brother stomping around behind him. Al wondered if it would feel better to get his rage out like Ed was since trying to not cry and failing was making his head hurt. “Roy’s right you know,” Al ventured quietly. Maybe fighting with Ed would at least distract him from the ache inside his chest.
To his surprise, Ed stopped pacing. “I know. If we stay with the girls, we just put them in even worse danger. Kimbley wouldn’t hesitate to use them to hurt us.”
Al shook his head, not even wanting to think of it. “No, and you know Roy knows that.”
“We can’t just keep running away. I’ve already made Winry cry too many times. I promised her the next time I made her cry, it would be tears of joy but I keep breaking that promise.” Ed kicked the porch furniture.
“I know it doesn’t help, Ed, but she understands.” Al tensed, wondering if his brother would turn his temper on him and almost welcomed a fight just to bleed off his own tension.
“She shouldn’t have to.” His fists clenched, servos protesting.
“No, but…well, now you know her choice, brother and so do I. She wants to be with you and Paninya wants me. If they’re willing to wait, if they know the danger and still want us anyhow, doesn’t that mean something?” Al asked, giving Ed a look that said ‘please tell me I’m right.’
“It says everything.” Ed’s jaw set. “We should get back in there and help Hughes and the Bastard figure out what we’re going to do to take the fight to the Loyalists. I’m tired of running.”
The boys nearly crashed into Izumi as they went back into the kitchen. They knew she had to have been coming to look for them. Ed suspected she thought they would need her and a part of him did but it was time to be a man, even if he wanted a little mothering.
“We want to help track down the Loyalists and Kimbley,” Al said, leaning his hands on the table. “We’re tired of running.”
“Exactly,” Ed put in, surprised and pleased at how forceful his brother seemed.
Roy nodded. “We’ll be heading north.”
“We can plan from here,” Ed replied, trying to find a way to stay. He knew that’s what he and Al wanted most.
“We need help. We can find it in the north, General Armstrong,” Maes said, giving the boys a mournful look. He hated having to uproot the brothers.
“Is he any relation to our Armstrong?” Ed made a face.
“She’s his big sister, scary as hell. I mean that in all sincerity,” Roy said with a smirk. “I’d tell you how scary but there are ladies present.”
“Does the general still want you dead, Roy?” Riza asked, her jaw setting, worry in her eyes.
Roy nodded, rubbing his face. He took off his eye patch and rubbed around the empty socket. “Oh, yes.”
“Then why would she help?” Ed asked.
“She wishes me ill because she wants me out of the way so she can be Fuhrer. However, neither of us can fight for that position until we handle these Loyalists. It’s in her best interests to help us achieve that,” Roy said, wincing as his fingers found a tender spot.
“Just watch your back afterwards,” Maes put in grimly.
“Can’t you get Major Armstrong to put in a good word for you with his sister? That might make things easier,” Winry said, “That way maybe you could stay.”
“No, she seems to hold him in disdain,” Roy replied, cupping his hand over his missing eye. “I think she sees him as weak for the things that happened in Ishbal. But it doesn’t change that the Loyalists know where we are. We do have to go.”
“Oh.” Winry tracked the circular path of Roy’s fingers over his eye. “Is it bothering you?”
“A little.” He grimaced as if hating to admit to a weakness.
“Let me have a look. If it’s irritated, maybe Granny and I can help,” Winry said and Roy let his hand fall. Winry gently probed around the ruined socket and the scars on his face.
Roy noticed Ed and Al watching him closely. “Problem?”
“I've just never seen you without it. I was wondering why you didn’t get a glass eye. Didn’t realize you couldn’t.” Ed shrugged. “I just figured you thought the patch looked cooler.”
Al elbowed his brother. Roy just flashed Ed an obscene gesture.
“They’re like brothers,” Maes said and watched both men sputter.
Winry gazed at Hughes sourly. “Don’t start them up.” She glanced back at Roy. “It looks okay, a little swollen. You couldn’t get a glass eye until they rebuilt part of your cheek.”
“I know. I’ve been too busy keeping the boys safe and hunting down the Loyalists to have time for the surgery,” Roy replied, ignoring the mirroring expressions of guilt Al and Ed wore.
“Well, all the more reason to get these Loyalists taken care of. You need that surgery,” Winry said in her ‘professional’ tone. “You go north and do what you have to. Paninya and I will survive.”
“We’ll go with you but don’t expect us to be too happy about it,” Al said, his petulant look betraying his age.
“And I don’t like leaving the girls here like targets,” Ed said, wanting to go put an arm around Winry but wasn’t comfortable enough yet with public displays.
“We won’t,” Riza said.
“I’ll leave Falman and Havoc here, at least for a while,” Roy said. “They can look after the girls. Winry, we’ll keep this house. Paninya, if you’d like to move in here, too, that would all right.”
“Just don’t trust any of Havoc’s girlfriends,” Al added wisely.
“I don’t like you still being entangled with the military but there’s not much to be done about it,” Izumi said, unfolding from the wall she had been leaning on. “You boys are making mature decisions, none the less. Winry, Paninya, Dublith is not all that far from here. If you need to get away from here, you are welcome to come to my home.”
“Thanks, Teacher,” Ed said before the girls could. “When we’ll be leaving?”
“Not for several days,” Roy replied. “We want to track Kimbley’s trail if we can. And it will take time to move north. Something tells me Armstrong will only want us so close to her base but not on it, which is just as well. Briggs is frigid.”
“Then Ed needs new automail. That’ll take me a few days…and some research. I’ve never made automail designed for long-term cold exposure,” Winry said, her eyes gleaming with the heady rush working on automail gave her.
“Another reason not to just run north,” Maes said. “Ed, this might not be the most comfortable thing in the world for you.”
“Neither’s Rush Valley. I keep branding myself with my own automail,” Ed said, making a face.
“Tell me about it,” Paninya said wryly.
“Or branding people on purpose,” Roy said, rubbing a spot on his arm. Ed smirked. “All right, we have to contact General Armstrong, put a detail on tracking Kimbley and rooting out Loyalists who might still be in the area, find a new place to live and Winry, you need to service Ed.” Roy froze then winced. “Sorry, that sounded less perverted in my head.”
“Next to everything else in there, I’m sure it did,” Ed said sardonically.
Winry shot Roy a dirty look and picked up a spoon as a weapon, not having her work clothes on with a handy wrench in the pocket. He looked appropriately cowed.
“Is there anything we can do right now, sir?” Al asked.
Roy shook his head then put his patch back on. “Not really. You boys can make the most of your remaining time here,” Roy said, giving them a look that made both boys turn red. Roy snorted. “And they say I have the dirty mind.”
“Haven’t met a male yet who didn’t,” Pinako said then gazed at Roy gravely. “I have to go back to Resembol but I’m trusting you to keep these kids safe.”
“To the best of my abilities,” Roy replied, seeing no one was particularly happy. He knew how they felt. They had come here for a party. This wasn’t how it should have turned out.
“We’d better find Armstrong and get this in motion,” Maes said, letting Gracia go so he could get down to business.
“I’ll gather up Fuery, Falman, Breda and Havoc,” Riza said.
“And I’ll update the presidential council in Central,” Roy said, knowing this would be a long, ugly day.
X X X
“We could come visit, you know,” Winry told Ed as he and Alphonse dallied, not wanting to get into the truck that would take them north and away from the girls. “I’m sure Mr. Mustang and Mr. Hughes are smart enough to figure out a way to make sure no one follows us. After all, you’ll probably let your automail gunk up and I’ll have to come fix you.” She managed a smile.
“I will not,” Ed protested hotly then read the look on Winry’s face. He smiled “But I could pretend to.”
“I think your brother is finally getting it,” Paninya laughed, leaning against Al, and Ed blushed.
“Sometimes it takes him awhile,” Al said and Ed shoved him.
“I think I’ll become Winry’s assistant, just to make things look good…so long as she doesn’t think I’ll be seeing any actual blood.” Paninya wrinkled her nose.
Winry grinned. “I know how well you do with that. Now, Ed, behave for Mr. Mustang.” She tapped Ed’s chest.
Al broke out laughing and couldn’t stop in spite of Ed’s death glare. “Winry…if that happens…” he rasped out between laughs, “I’ll shave myself bald.”
“I doubt your beautiful hair is in any danger,” Paninya said, tugging on Al’s ponytail.
“You two are not funny,” Ed said as Winry tried to hide a giggle behind her hand. He pouted at her. “They’re not.”
“Of course not.” Winry hugged him tight. “I actually get to say goodbye to you for once.”
Ed winced at that soft admonishment. “I don’t want to go.”
“I know but this time we know it won’t be forever,” Winry said then she kissed him.
Ed didn’t even care if Paninya and Al saw but from the sounds of it, he doubted they were paying any attention to him.
“Edward, Alphonse!” Riza’s voice called. Ed looked up and saw her coming around the truck. “It’s time to go.”
“Kiss the girls and get in the damn truck!” Mustang added from somewhere, probably inside the vehicle.
“Shut the hell up, bastard!” Edward stalked towards the truck.
Winry sighed, going to give Al a hug. “Your hair is definitely safe.”
“Oh, I know,” he replied sardonically, rolling his eyes.
“Keep him out of trouble,” Winry said.
“Hmmm, maybe an alchemized muzzle might help,” Al said with a grin.
“Take pictures of it.” Winry laughed.
Al gave her another hug and Paninya one last kiss before heading for the truck.
“Don’t worry girls,” Havoc said, startling them. They hadn’t seen him come around the side of the truck. “Falman and I will keep a good eye on you and Fuery will make sure you can call the boys safely.”
“We know,” Winry said, trying to be cheerful.
“Just sad to see them go,” Havoc said, fishing out his cigarettes as the truck started.
Winry couldn’t speak past the lump in her throat so she nodded. Paninya rubbed the backs of her hands against her eyes. They tried to watch and not watch at the same time as the truck rolled away, kicking up yellow desert dust.
Havoc put a hand on both girls’ shoulders. “Later, when you feel up to it, I’ll take you girls out for ice cream, my treat.”
“Thanks,” Paninya mumbled.
Havoc left them there and the girls stared up the street for a long time. Finally the sun drove them to go find Havoc and claim their consolation prize. Ed had said goodbye this time but Winry couldn’t help wondering why that hurt even more than the times when he hadn’t.
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Date: 2007-06-12 12:38 pm (UTC)Just wanted to say that I really loved that fic and the Roy/Riza one before. Hope you write some more soon! ;-)
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Date: 2007-06-12 01:35 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-06-13 02:31 am (UTC)“Kiss the girls and get in the damn truck!” Mustang added from somewhere, probably inside the vehicle." ----that particular line sent me into a fit of giggles for reasons unknown to me. *grins* Roy's so suave isn't he?
And was the General Armstrong you're referring to Olivier? I haven't gotten to that part of the manga but I've been reading a friend's oneshot collection of her and got really excited when I saw that. She sounds like a very interesting character.
You're going to continue this in a sequel, right? Of course I don't know how you're turning out fics like at this pace as it is, but it's really open-ended. Unless maybe that's were it moves into the manga story?
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Date: 2007-06-13 02:56 am (UTC)Roy's a brat. I love him and yes I'm refering to Olivia
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Date: 2007-06-13 05:15 am (UTC)[...]Winry, you need to service Ed.” Roy froze then winced. “Sorry, that sounded less perverted in my head.”
“Next to everything else in there, I’m sure it did,” Ed said sardonically.
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Date: 2007-06-13 02:01 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-06-22 06:58 am (UTC)I hope Arakawa lets us know more about Olivia, because she's a fascinating contrast to her brother.
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Date: 2007-06-22 03:26 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-01-24 01:28 am (UTC)...and laughed.
And couldn't remember if you'd done any more in this series.
Hmm.
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Date: 2010-01-24 02:54 am (UTC)There are other side stories to this. I had planned one longer one but newer plot developments caught my attention
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Date: 2010-01-24 02:59 am (UTC)Riza, just SHOOT HIM.
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Date: 2010-01-24 03:22 am (UTC)Olivia was very disappointing while in Briggs up until she offed Raven
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Date: 2010-01-24 03:42 am (UTC)