Family Forever Chapter 3 - The Townies

Ed's POV:

I couldn't help but smile as Al ate the last slice of the apple pie, I had made the right decision two years ago. He had reached his goal, to be able to eat apple pie and I had reached mine, to reunite his soul with his body he longed for without using anyone else. Who needs alchemy when they have such great family and friends like I do?  Alchemy played a purpose in my life; to please mum, to make her happy for the last few years of her life. And even though we went out of our boundaries with it, we learnt from our sins and kept walking forward. And I know that mum is out there, with dad watching over us crying tears of joy together.

"Brother… I've been thinking…" Al told me, his voice shaking. "What if instead of just sitting here in the country, we move around… like before… helping others?" I let out a faint smile.

"Oh Al," I laughed, ruffling his neatly combed hair, "We should, repaying everyone who helped us on our way… but with that bit more. Like our equivalent exchange, ten from them and then eleven from us." Al nodded, the serious expression both me and him had carried along all our life on his face.

"You know where we should go before we do anything else." Al explained to me, giving me a wink. I let out a smile and stood up; I knew exactly what he was talking about, where it all started

Winry's POV:

"Ed… Al… Where are you going?" I asked as I watched the boys stand up from the dining table.

"We're just going to stop by some places, Winry. We'll be back in a few days to visit." Al cheered, putting his long brown coat on. I simply smiled back at him, those boys never wanted to explain what they were doing fully even if it was dangerous, and when they did, it was through their actions.

I remember that day, like it was yesterday, the day those weights were lifted off my back.

***

I had stayed up all that night fixing automail, I felt like I was going to drop down dead. For a small break, I had decided to make myself a cup of coffee to wake me up. Strangely, Den was barking like mad outside, I heard two familiar voices. I froze. It wasn't them, was it? One of the voices sounded deeper, and different.

Slowly, I stumbled out of my chair, it had been a few months, maybe even a year since I last saw them or they had even bothered to phone in. But was it really them? I walked towards the front door, my hand resting on the door knob, hearing the different sounding voice laughing saying: "Den, stop that tickles!" with the laugh following on. I held tight onto the door knob, letting go of it briefly before giving it the full turn. Was it really them?

I passed through the hall, which had an entire board of pictures from my childhood, held closely in the Elric brother's arms, smiles spread on our faces with the odd photo framed and with Grandma in it, smiling with us. But along with those memorable photos were more recent memories ones, like a photo of Den as a fully grown dog or Al as armour. A voice in my head was telling me to go closer, I crept closer to the front door like a mindless zombie, and it was as if a magnet was pulling me outside. The closer I got to the door, the louder the voices were, the more visible the peeling paint patches were, and the more I could see the sunlight peeking through the window in the door. It was as if the door opened automatically for me, I wasn't able to see for a few seconds with the sun's brightness in my eyes.

And I was right. On the floor lay Al as a human with Den pouncing on him and licking him.  He looked up from Den and gave me a smile, still holding Den in his hands.
But as I looked up, I saw Ed standing beside Al, holding a suitcase, wearing a white hoody, his blond hair tightly in a ponytail, much like his father's was. He sure had gotten taller; he was taller than me for once! He gave me a cheeky grin, his hand on his hip, with all three of them looking at me. Al carefully got to his feet, grapping his walking stick as he stood up; his body craned forward, his weak muscles not able to support him properly.

Straight away, tears burst out of my eyes, Ed told me the last time we met that next time they saw me cry would be of happiness. I ran towards them, they were alive, Al was human again and Ed had his right arm! Without thinking dived onto them, pushing them onto the floor with me, Ed throwing his suitcase into the air with it landing onto the grass right in front of us.

I lifted my head up from the floor and whimpered, "Townies, welcome" I wasn't able to speak too clearly, I was just too happy; it had been eight long years.

"Thanks." Ed simply said with a smile.

"Good to be back." Al added, closing his eyes and grinning, his cheek bones were slightly poking out.

***

Al's POV:

"See you later Winry." Ed called, waving his hand in the air and unlocking the front door with both of us walking out.

"Come home soon." Winry laughed, waving us goodbye from the doorway until we were out of
her sight.  

We walked slowly along the path, the fresh scent of spring surrounding us. I had missed having all my senses a lot, for almost half of my life I had been feeling less but having them back was a great relief, being able to taste, able to touch brother. It felt strange getting used to them again at first though; the feeling was much like I had felt when I had first been put in the armour but reverse, it felt like I had just come in from a cold day, all numb, my heat rising to normal, feeling everything again, being able to move freely.

"Brother, you can go on ahead, I'll be a while." I insisted as I carefully stumbled along the path.

"Don't worry Al; I'll walk with you however long it takes." Ed chuckled, stopping me from almost stumbling over a stone. I smiled at him.

***

Winry's POV:

"What do you think they're up to now?" I asked Grandma, looking down at my knees.

"Knowing those boys, they could be doing anything," Grandma chuckled, cutting the last batch of the apples, "They've probably gone to see the Military dogs in central, or their teacher." I looked out the window and smiled.

Maybe.