Categories > Anime/Manga > Full Metal Alchemist > Separation and Reunion
Separation and Reunion
Chapter 6: Escape
----
Listening to: "In the Arms of the Angel" - Sarah McLaughlin
----
"Winry?" Pinako's voice said, cutting through the cloud of unconsciousness that were masking Winry's mind. All she could think of was...
"My baby..." Winry muttered, sitting up. The many cuts that marred her skin stung, but she didn't care. "Aunty, where..." She could feel the stitches in her stomach. What had they done with her baby? "Where's my baby! Aunty?"
She couldn't see or hear anything. The world was spinning out of control. Winry had always been somewhat in control...but now everything was going wrong...how could she have been so stupid?
"Winry, calm down!" said the doctor's clear voice. Rose was cooing softly in Daniel's ear, trying to get the crying baby to be quiet.
She didn't even notice the tears streaming down her cheeks. "I WAS SUPPOSED TO DIE!" she screamed in Pinako's face.
The old woman shook her granddaughter, frowning, "Winry, CALM DOWN!"
That's when Winry felt a slight stab in her arm. She turned to see the doctor injecting her with something as she fell back into darkness.
----
"Al, it's OK," Rose said, stroking the boy's hair while holding Daniel in the crook of her other arm. The baby had calmed down, but Al was still worked up about Winry's fit in the house. Things had gotten so bad...
Rose could still vividly remember going to the house and giving the details about Ed to Winry and Pinako. Everyone had thought she should go and live in Rizemboul...it was a nice, clean environment, a good place to raise a baby. And Pinako and Winry could definitely use the help.
She remembered going in and sitting down at the table. Winry had a sad look on her face, and Rose found it bizarre. She'd never met these people before...but both the old woman and the girl seemed so strong. They were both independent and outgoing...they both had a career. And here they were, looking so depressed over one person.
Edward.
"Roy called and said you wanted to stay with us..." Winry said, leading Rose up the stairs and towards one of the many rooms in the big old house. "This will be your room...Pinako's is at the end of the hall, and mine is the room next to the one with the porch."
"Winry...I want to tell you why I'm really here."
"Yes?" Winry asked, looking back at her and smiling politely. That's all it was. There was no happiness in this house.
"I was there when Edward died."
The polite smile quickly left Winry's face. "Rose...he's not dead..."
"Um..." Now she was regretting this. "Maybe I should tell you another time..."
"No," Winry immediately said, "Please...I just..." She laughed bitterly, "It's kind of an automatic response, you know? 'He's not dead.' That's just what I've been telling everyone...it's fine. Please, continue."
Rose didn't know what to say, and she stuttered a bit before starting. "Well, he died by the hand of one of the homunculi."
"I know."
"And then Al did a human transmutation to bring him back."
"I know that too...trust me, I've heard the whole story already."
What was the point in bringing me here? Rose thought angrily. This was only making her uncomfortable...
"Uh...did he..." Winry stopped in the middle of her sentence, biting her lip. "Did he say anything about me?"
He hadn't said anything about her. Rose didn't even know why Winry was asking. "He told me to leave before he did this...but he sacrificed himself to bring Al back as a real person...and it seems like it worked." Rose frowned questioningly. "Why do you ask?"
"Because I'm going to have Ed's baby."
It all seemed so long ago now.
----
Although there was plenty of valuable information about the connections between alchemy and sorcery in Caspar's journal, Ed's agitation with the man was quickly growing. He was an enigma, never telling who he truly was, always keeping the methods of getting back to Amestris in the dark. What had happened to him anyway?
Ed thought it was time for a trip back to the bookstore.
He'd been avoiding that girl, though...what was her name...Annaliese...she looked so much like Winry that it was unnerving. He wanted to just start talking to her like he would with Winry, do what he would with Winry...but he couldn't. Because technically, it would be betraying Winry to do any of that...even if they seemed like exactly the same person.
"You're back!" Annaliese said, smiling, when he walked into the bookstore.
"Yeah," he said, holding out the journal, "Could you tell me anything about the history of this guy?"
"Hugo Caspar?" Annaliese said, "Oh, yes. He was a member of the Thule society about thirty years ago. My father probably knows something about him...he knew him as a young man. Would you like for me to arrange a meeting with him, for you?"
Ed's eyes widened, a grin appearing on his face. "That would be great, thanks!" he said.
Maybe now he could figure things out.
----
"Riza?" Roy's voice rang through the hall of her apartment and towards her apartment, the sound of the door slamming shut following quickly. Where could she be? Seeing with only one eye was getting easier, and he quickly searched the room for her, walking down the short hallway to her bedroom and glancing into the kitchen for a sign of her.
"Roy, is that you?"
He let out a sigh of relief. With the instability of the government at the time, things had gotten a little out of hand in the cities lately, and Roy had been worried about the woman he loved...
Yes, he did love her.
"Who else would it be?" he asked, finding her sitting on the bed in her room. She was still wearing a pair of green pajamas and a white tanktop, her face stained with tears. Roy immediately frowned, sitting next to her and taking her hand.
"What's wrong?"
Riza attempted to smile, sniffing and wiping her face. "Why am I crying...I don't even know these people that well...?"
"What?"
She turned towards him, her eyes wide. "You haven't heard?"
"I haven't heard what?"
"I guess that's a no..." She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Winry attempted suicide last night."
"Oh no...but...the baby..."
"The baby's dead."
Roy closed his one eye and grimaced. "Damn it...you know, this would never have happened if he hadn't given up his life for Al...I hate to say it..."
"This would never have happened if they hadn't tried to transmute their mother," Riza said, cutting him off, "This would never have happened if their mother hadn't died...there's nobody to blame, Roy. Don't blame it on Al, he's just a child."
They were both silent for a moment, letting everything sink in. "So we're going to Rizemboul?" Roy asked.
"I guess we are."
----
Pinako watched as Winry hugged the blankets around herself; the girl's mind was clearing again, and Pinako dreaded the questions she knew her granddaughter was going to ask.
"The baby..." Winry muttered finally. Pinako tried to stop the tears from coming to her eyes. She'd done too much crying in the past year. "Please tell me..."
"The baby was a girl," Pinako said quietly.
Winry smiled, "My little Trisha..." she said quietly.
"Winry, you need to eat," Pinako said, changing the subject and pushing a plate towards her, "You've had nothing to eat for the past three days."
"I'm not hungry," she answered, "Please, no food..."
"Alright," Pinako pulled the plate away, "But you're eating sometime."
Winry just stared at her hands for a minute. "I was supposed to die," she whispered, finally.
Choked sobs started to come out of her throat, and soon there were tears falling all over the fresh, white blanket. Pinako wrapped her arms around her only living relative and cried with her. "It's OK Winry, it's OK..."
But it wasn't.
----
That night, Ed dressed himself in the classiest clothing he had and headed out to go and find the Hilliard house. Annaliese's father had agreed to meet Ed as soon as he could, saying that he would love to discuss Hugo Caspar and his journal with someone.
"Welcome," Annaliese said when she opened the door, smiling. Again, Ed was struck by her beauty...Winry's beauty. "Come in and have a seat, my father will see you in a moment. We'd be obliged to have you for dinner as well."
"OK," Ed said, smiling, "That would be nice."
However, Ed could barely enjoy dinner. He was too excited about learning more about Caspar. Annaliese's father was kind and good-natured, a doctor as well as a member of the Thule Society...exactly like Winry's father would have been, Ed thought.
After dinner, Annaliese politely left the room and Ed and Mr Hilliard sat down in the study. "So you want to know about Hugo Caspar?" Hilliard asked.
"Yeah," Ed answered, "See, I found his journal in your bookstore, and it seemed pretty strange to me...do you know what happened to him? The journal just seems to cut off...who was-"
"One question at a time please," Hilliard said, laughing. "Why are you so curious to know?"
"Well, I'm very interested in his studies..." Ed blurted out. What else was his excuse? 'I'm from another world and I want to know how to get back there?'
"That's what I expected," Hilliard said, "Most everyone that picks up that journal gets to be quite interested in the history of the man. He was quite fascinating. Rumor has it that he was carted off to an asylum and that's why his journal cuts off..." He laughed again before his expression abruptly got more serious. "I don't think that's what happened at all."
"So what do you think happened, sir?"
"Well, Caspar was a fascinating man, if not terrifying. He just popped up out of nowhere...the first time he appeared in the Thule Society he was looking for a man named Hohenheim of Light..."
"My father..."
"Yes, your father...don't know how he knew his name," Hilliard answered, "It was bizarre..."
Ed nodded in agreement. Who could this guy be, if he knew Hohenheim? Some alchemist that had known his father?
"Well, anyway, Caspar claimed that he came from 'beyond the gate'...a land called Amestris. Many didn't believe him, wanted to burn his journal after he disappeared...I did though.
"His world was like a fantasy. Alchemy was used as a form of magic, and apparently he hadn't been able to use it. He said that if he couldn't find Hohenheim, he'd have to go back to Amestris and find someone else to take his revenge on. He was angry all of the time, and while he was here he used magic to do terrible things. Experimentation on animals...experimentation on people...he was inhuman, that's what he was. Unfeeling and ruthless...but his studies were phenomenal.
"I believe that he found a way back to Amestris."
Ed stared at him. Who could Hugo Caspar be? "So you believe in this other world?"
"Yes..." Hilliard answered firmly, "But I'm perfectly fine here."
"So...what if I told you that I'm from Amestris?"
Hilliard's eyes widened. "No...are you...are you mocking me?"
"No, sir, no!" Ed said quickly, "I'm serious. And it's true. I'm trying to find a way back home...that's why I picked up the journal."
Hilliard leaned back in his chair and ran a hand through his gray hair, narrowing his eyes in thought. "You want to get back home?"
"Yes," Ed answered, "I can't live here much longer without going insane...I miss my friends..."
For another hour, Ed told Hilliard everything. By the end of the story, the older man was shocked...and he was also ready to help Ed find out everything he could about getting back through the gate.
"Well, I think I need to go now," Hilliard said, standing and shaking Ed's hand, "It's been a pleasure, Mr Elric."
"Oh no, the pleasure is mine," Ed answered, smiling, "Thank you so much...this has been a big help, really."
But one thing was nagging at his mind as he walked down the street and back towards his apartment. Sure, Hugo Caspar had been a big help to him in getting back home...but Ed thought that this very person might have been a lot of trouble to him back in Amestris...this person...if he could be called a person...might have even killed him.
Envy.
----
Author's Note: WHOOOOOOOOOOOO! Long chapter, woot yeah! I'm very proud, and you should be too, so please PLEASE review! I mean, 65 people on alert list and 18 reviews for chapter 5 really doesn't make me happy...PLEASE REVIEW! PLEEEEEASE! I'll be offended if you don't!
Anyway, I love you all. And summer is coming soon so I'll be updating like a madwoman. Things are getting interesting now...I'll also be updating Breaking Ties, After the Waltz, and Home as well, hopefully. So pleeeeease REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW!
Sorry about the wait!...but I've got so many reviews that I can't respond to them... :( Please send me a private message if you have a question!
--Brynn
Chapter 6: Escape
----
Listening to: "In the Arms of the Angel" - Sarah McLaughlin
----
"Winry?" Pinako's voice said, cutting through the cloud of unconsciousness that were masking Winry's mind. All she could think of was...
"My baby..." Winry muttered, sitting up. The many cuts that marred her skin stung, but she didn't care. "Aunty, where..." She could feel the stitches in her stomach. What had they done with her baby? "Where's my baby! Aunty?"
She couldn't see or hear anything. The world was spinning out of control. Winry had always been somewhat in control...but now everything was going wrong...how could she have been so stupid?
"Winry, calm down!" said the doctor's clear voice. Rose was cooing softly in Daniel's ear, trying to get the crying baby to be quiet.
She didn't even notice the tears streaming down her cheeks. "I WAS SUPPOSED TO DIE!" she screamed in Pinako's face.
The old woman shook her granddaughter, frowning, "Winry, CALM DOWN!"
That's when Winry felt a slight stab in her arm. She turned to see the doctor injecting her with something as she fell back into darkness.
----
"Al, it's OK," Rose said, stroking the boy's hair while holding Daniel in the crook of her other arm. The baby had calmed down, but Al was still worked up about Winry's fit in the house. Things had gotten so bad...
Rose could still vividly remember going to the house and giving the details about Ed to Winry and Pinako. Everyone had thought she should go and live in Rizemboul...it was a nice, clean environment, a good place to raise a baby. And Pinako and Winry could definitely use the help.
She remembered going in and sitting down at the table. Winry had a sad look on her face, and Rose found it bizarre. She'd never met these people before...but both the old woman and the girl seemed so strong. They were both independent and outgoing...they both had a career. And here they were, looking so depressed over one person.
Edward.
"Roy called and said you wanted to stay with us..." Winry said, leading Rose up the stairs and towards one of the many rooms in the big old house. "This will be your room...Pinako's is at the end of the hall, and mine is the room next to the one with the porch."
"Winry...I want to tell you why I'm really here."
"Yes?" Winry asked, looking back at her and smiling politely. That's all it was. There was no happiness in this house.
"I was there when Edward died."
The polite smile quickly left Winry's face. "Rose...he's not dead..."
"Um..." Now she was regretting this. "Maybe I should tell you another time..."
"No," Winry immediately said, "Please...I just..." She laughed bitterly, "It's kind of an automatic response, you know? 'He's not dead.' That's just what I've been telling everyone...it's fine. Please, continue."
Rose didn't know what to say, and she stuttered a bit before starting. "Well, he died by the hand of one of the homunculi."
"I know."
"And then Al did a human transmutation to bring him back."
"I know that too...trust me, I've heard the whole story already."
What was the point in bringing me here? Rose thought angrily. This was only making her uncomfortable...
"Uh...did he..." Winry stopped in the middle of her sentence, biting her lip. "Did he say anything about me?"
He hadn't said anything about her. Rose didn't even know why Winry was asking. "He told me to leave before he did this...but he sacrificed himself to bring Al back as a real person...and it seems like it worked." Rose frowned questioningly. "Why do you ask?"
"Because I'm going to have Ed's baby."
It all seemed so long ago now.
----
Although there was plenty of valuable information about the connections between alchemy and sorcery in Caspar's journal, Ed's agitation with the man was quickly growing. He was an enigma, never telling who he truly was, always keeping the methods of getting back to Amestris in the dark. What had happened to him anyway?
Ed thought it was time for a trip back to the bookstore.
He'd been avoiding that girl, though...what was her name...Annaliese...she looked so much like Winry that it was unnerving. He wanted to just start talking to her like he would with Winry, do what he would with Winry...but he couldn't. Because technically, it would be betraying Winry to do any of that...even if they seemed like exactly the same person.
"You're back!" Annaliese said, smiling, when he walked into the bookstore.
"Yeah," he said, holding out the journal, "Could you tell me anything about the history of this guy?"
"Hugo Caspar?" Annaliese said, "Oh, yes. He was a member of the Thule society about thirty years ago. My father probably knows something about him...he knew him as a young man. Would you like for me to arrange a meeting with him, for you?"
Ed's eyes widened, a grin appearing on his face. "That would be great, thanks!" he said.
Maybe now he could figure things out.
----
"Riza?" Roy's voice rang through the hall of her apartment and towards her apartment, the sound of the door slamming shut following quickly. Where could she be? Seeing with only one eye was getting easier, and he quickly searched the room for her, walking down the short hallway to her bedroom and glancing into the kitchen for a sign of her.
"Roy, is that you?"
He let out a sigh of relief. With the instability of the government at the time, things had gotten a little out of hand in the cities lately, and Roy had been worried about the woman he loved...
Yes, he did love her.
"Who else would it be?" he asked, finding her sitting on the bed in her room. She was still wearing a pair of green pajamas and a white tanktop, her face stained with tears. Roy immediately frowned, sitting next to her and taking her hand.
"What's wrong?"
Riza attempted to smile, sniffing and wiping her face. "Why am I crying...I don't even know these people that well...?"
"What?"
She turned towards him, her eyes wide. "You haven't heard?"
"I haven't heard what?"
"I guess that's a no..." She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Winry attempted suicide last night."
"Oh no...but...the baby..."
"The baby's dead."
Roy closed his one eye and grimaced. "Damn it...you know, this would never have happened if he hadn't given up his life for Al...I hate to say it..."
"This would never have happened if they hadn't tried to transmute their mother," Riza said, cutting him off, "This would never have happened if their mother hadn't died...there's nobody to blame, Roy. Don't blame it on Al, he's just a child."
They were both silent for a moment, letting everything sink in. "So we're going to Rizemboul?" Roy asked.
"I guess we are."
----
Pinako watched as Winry hugged the blankets around herself; the girl's mind was clearing again, and Pinako dreaded the questions she knew her granddaughter was going to ask.
"The baby..." Winry muttered finally. Pinako tried to stop the tears from coming to her eyes. She'd done too much crying in the past year. "Please tell me..."
"The baby was a girl," Pinako said quietly.
Winry smiled, "My little Trisha..." she said quietly.
"Winry, you need to eat," Pinako said, changing the subject and pushing a plate towards her, "You've had nothing to eat for the past three days."
"I'm not hungry," she answered, "Please, no food..."
"Alright," Pinako pulled the plate away, "But you're eating sometime."
Winry just stared at her hands for a minute. "I was supposed to die," she whispered, finally.
Choked sobs started to come out of her throat, and soon there were tears falling all over the fresh, white blanket. Pinako wrapped her arms around her only living relative and cried with her. "It's OK Winry, it's OK..."
But it wasn't.
----
That night, Ed dressed himself in the classiest clothing he had and headed out to go and find the Hilliard house. Annaliese's father had agreed to meet Ed as soon as he could, saying that he would love to discuss Hugo Caspar and his journal with someone.
"Welcome," Annaliese said when she opened the door, smiling. Again, Ed was struck by her beauty...Winry's beauty. "Come in and have a seat, my father will see you in a moment. We'd be obliged to have you for dinner as well."
"OK," Ed said, smiling, "That would be nice."
However, Ed could barely enjoy dinner. He was too excited about learning more about Caspar. Annaliese's father was kind and good-natured, a doctor as well as a member of the Thule Society...exactly like Winry's father would have been, Ed thought.
After dinner, Annaliese politely left the room and Ed and Mr Hilliard sat down in the study. "So you want to know about Hugo Caspar?" Hilliard asked.
"Yeah," Ed answered, "See, I found his journal in your bookstore, and it seemed pretty strange to me...do you know what happened to him? The journal just seems to cut off...who was-"
"One question at a time please," Hilliard said, laughing. "Why are you so curious to know?"
"Well, I'm very interested in his studies..." Ed blurted out. What else was his excuse? 'I'm from another world and I want to know how to get back there?'
"That's what I expected," Hilliard said, "Most everyone that picks up that journal gets to be quite interested in the history of the man. He was quite fascinating. Rumor has it that he was carted off to an asylum and that's why his journal cuts off..." He laughed again before his expression abruptly got more serious. "I don't think that's what happened at all."
"So what do you think happened, sir?"
"Well, Caspar was a fascinating man, if not terrifying. He just popped up out of nowhere...the first time he appeared in the Thule Society he was looking for a man named Hohenheim of Light..."
"My father..."
"Yes, your father...don't know how he knew his name," Hilliard answered, "It was bizarre..."
Ed nodded in agreement. Who could this guy be, if he knew Hohenheim? Some alchemist that had known his father?
"Well, anyway, Caspar claimed that he came from 'beyond the gate'...a land called Amestris. Many didn't believe him, wanted to burn his journal after he disappeared...I did though.
"His world was like a fantasy. Alchemy was used as a form of magic, and apparently he hadn't been able to use it. He said that if he couldn't find Hohenheim, he'd have to go back to Amestris and find someone else to take his revenge on. He was angry all of the time, and while he was here he used magic to do terrible things. Experimentation on animals...experimentation on people...he was inhuman, that's what he was. Unfeeling and ruthless...but his studies were phenomenal.
"I believe that he found a way back to Amestris."
Ed stared at him. Who could Hugo Caspar be? "So you believe in this other world?"
"Yes..." Hilliard answered firmly, "But I'm perfectly fine here."
"So...what if I told you that I'm from Amestris?"
Hilliard's eyes widened. "No...are you...are you mocking me?"
"No, sir, no!" Ed said quickly, "I'm serious. And it's true. I'm trying to find a way back home...that's why I picked up the journal."
Hilliard leaned back in his chair and ran a hand through his gray hair, narrowing his eyes in thought. "You want to get back home?"
"Yes," Ed answered, "I can't live here much longer without going insane...I miss my friends..."
For another hour, Ed told Hilliard everything. By the end of the story, the older man was shocked...and he was also ready to help Ed find out everything he could about getting back through the gate.
"Well, I think I need to go now," Hilliard said, standing and shaking Ed's hand, "It's been a pleasure, Mr Elric."
"Oh no, the pleasure is mine," Ed answered, smiling, "Thank you so much...this has been a big help, really."
But one thing was nagging at his mind as he walked down the street and back towards his apartment. Sure, Hugo Caspar had been a big help to him in getting back home...but Ed thought that this very person might have been a lot of trouble to him back in Amestris...this person...if he could be called a person...might have even killed him.
Envy.
----
Author's Note: WHOOOOOOOOOOOO! Long chapter, woot yeah! I'm very proud, and you should be too, so please PLEASE review! I mean, 65 people on alert list and 18 reviews for chapter 5 really doesn't make me happy...PLEASE REVIEW! PLEEEEEASE! I'll be offended if you don't!
Anyway, I love you all. And summer is coming soon so I'll be updating like a madwoman. Things are getting interesting now...I'll also be updating Breaking Ties, After the Waltz, and Home as well, hopefully. So pleeeeease REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW!
Sorry about the wait!...but I've got so many reviews that I can't respond to them... :( Please send me a private message if you have a question!
--Brynn
Sign up to rate and review this story