Fullmetal Alchemist Fan Fiction ❯ Eye of the Beholder ❯ Chapter Nine ( Chapter 9 )

Eye of the Beholder

 

LadyMad

 

Nine

 

Winry stood in the clothes she was used to wearing while tinkering with her metallic toys. The man in front of her had deep brown eyes and an ashy red hair that was pulled securely back in a braid at his nape. He wore his military uniform and a large grin. Winry's hair was shorter. She had cut it to her shoulders shortly after Edward had left. She had missed him, and still did, but decided it would be better off if she just moved on. The man in front of her, in fact, was her husband and father of her three, soon to be four, children.

 

“What did you have planned for later?” She asked, leaning into him for a soft kiss.

 

“You'll just have to find out, won't you?” He said returning her kiss. Movement in the corner of his eye made him pull away. He suddenly went stiff and rigid with a full salute. Winry turned and saw why. Mustang walked into the building with a few people, including Riza, following him. One man looked like a criminal with his unshaven face and long blond hair. His golden eyes swept the room and...Winry suddenly stopped. His eyes locked with hers for a moment. He knew exactly who she was without a second thought. His eyes burned into her soul with something like passion but she knew better. It was regret...for leaving her. Tears choked her up and she ran to him. Edward held his arms open for her and lifted her up, spinning her around, before setting her back down and taking a step back.

 

“Look at this!” He said, his hands framing her belly. She smiled. Her overalls didn't fit like they used to because of the belly but they would after the baby was born. She always shrank back down to her usual size after giving birth. “Look at this! I'm gone for a few years and you swell to the size of a balloon!” Her smile grew.

 

“We're hoping it's not another set of twins but life is funny that way.” Ed caught the twinge of sadness in her voice and the smile dropped from his face. “You're taller than I remember. And you...you're hair is longer.” She walked a circle around him, running her hands through his long locks.

 

“I have grown.”

 

“Now Al can't pick on your height.” She suddenly regretted what she said immediately after it had left her lips but Edward shrugged it off.

 

“I take it than you've been good?” He asked. Winry nodded. “That's good.”

 

“How have you been?”

 

“I've definitely had a better time than the past eight years but we all go through a down time.” She nodded again and finally spotted the young girl standing not far from Ed.

 

 

“Who's that?” She asked. Ed turned around and gestured to her. She walked up and Winry took her gloved hand.

 

“I'm Xandyr, Edward's friend.”

 

“Winry. Childhood friend of Ed.”

 

“I know.” Winry looked surprised. “Ed has told me a lot about you. You're really special to him.” Winry held back her ancient tears and looked past Xandyr to Ed for a split second. He just looked away.

 

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“You know, I was never really clear on why you left.” Winry said. The two walked the streets of the city. They had been for a bit now just talking about everything that came into mind.

 

“Neither was I. All I knew was that I had nothing left. I had to find something to hang on to...and I suppose I never did.” His head was bowed but he looked up through his hair for a moment at her. She hadn't changed a whole lot in eight years save for the shorter hair and the belly.

 

“You still have no idea how much I missed you, do you?” She asked, her own head bowed now.

 

“I knew you missed me. I never knew how much. I tried to push my past from me, to move forward but it only ended up haunting me in the end. I almost killed myself because of it.” Winry's head shot up and she looked at him, shocked that he would go to such lengths for `peace.' “That's how I met Xandyr.”

 

“What, was she a nurse giving you and sponge bath?” Winry joked. “How long did it take her to become your friend?” A huge smile played on her lips despite the grim information.

 

“No. She saved my life.” Winry's smile dropped.

 

“I took half a bottle of sleeping pills and jumped into a river. She pulled me out and tried to resuscitate me but when it didn't work, she took me to the hospital and they pumped my stomach. I was out for a day or two. I actually had found that light and I was pulled back by huge white wings and an angelic face and just a few days ago, I learned it was Xandyr.”

 

“Who saved your life?”

 

“Yeah, but the wings were hers.” Winry's eyes widened and she stopped walking for a moment. Ed stopped and turned to look at her. “She's my guardian angel.”

 

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Her green eyes were magnified by the water in the small tank. An angel fish swam around the bowl and stopped a second to stare at the seemingly large green gems with sunflowers in the middle. Xandyr stood to her full height and turned around to look at Riza. She was beautiful, almost looking like an angel herself. The Colonel had her head down toward her desk pushing a pile of paper together and then straightening it out.

 

“How long have you and Roy Mustang been together?” Xandyr asked. Riza finally looked up, the rigid exterior passing away for a moment.

 

“About six years. The first year was more a secret.” As soon as Roy walked in, the mask was pulled right back up and Riza Hawkeye went right back to organizing her desk. Roy smiled at her and then faced his attention to Xandyr.

 

“How did you meet Edward again?” He asked. Xandyr looked him in the eyes making him look slightly away.

 

“I saved his life...numerous times. He's only known me a few days, though.” Roy nodded and turned toward Riza. Her mask stayed up the entire time but broke for a second when he lightly kissed her lips and left the room. Xandyr smiled a hollow smile and went back to staring at the angel fish. Riza noticed but didn't say anything. Her eyes widened when light filtered through the room and a huge shadow was cast on the floor. It was Xandyr but with what looked like wings behind her. The sunset lit her hair on fire and made her skin glow like the moon but the light also bounced gently off feathers that weren't there. Looking down, Riza quickly left the room and ran after Roy.

 

“Roy...Mustang, I think there's something about Xandyr you should know.” She said, quickly catching her breath. “I think she's an angel.” Roy's eyebrows came together in confusion.

 

“Excuse me?”

 

“The sunlight through the blinds left a shadow of Xandyr on the floor but with wings behind her. Angelic wings. They're transparent or something but the sunlight doesn't pass through that area.” Roy turned and walked back to the office. When he looked in, sure enough Xandyr stood in front of the window with her shadow behind her, wings and all. His eyes nearly popped from his skull at the sight. He pulled out from the room and looked at Riza.

 

“Don't tell anyone about this.” She just nodded. About that moment, Ed and Winry walked back in. Roy anxiously walked to him and whispered something to him but Riza couldn't hear. Ed only nodded, his face calm. Roy nearly had a heart attack.

 

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“You're telling me that this woman is an angel!?” Roy nearly yelled. Lucky for them, his office door was shut. Xandyr stood in front of the door only looking between Roy and Edward both Riza and Winry staring at her. Her trench coat was now on because Edward had said that without it she looked...distracting. Xandyr hadn't fully understood but, at his request, she put the trench coat on and hadn't taken it off.

 

“Look, it's not really that big a deal. She looks like any other person.” Ed said.

 

 

“But who casts a shadow of wings? That's not normal.”

 

“Roy, there are tons of other guardian angels out there but you jus...”

 

“Guardian angels?” Roy asked. His attention was now on Xandyr. “Who are you guarding?”

 

“Edward.” Roy raised a brow at Ed, who only shrugged.

 

“I didn't ask for her. She just appeared.” He nodded and looked down at his desk.

 

“You just can't see the others because they don't appear out of the ordinary to you.” Xandyr finished. “The person they're guarding can't usually see them but other people can. Only a few people, like Riza, look closely enough to notice the differences.”

 

“What differences?” Winry asked. Xandyr closed her eyes and opened them. Her eyes flickered silver for a moment then went back to green. Her wings suddenly became visible and she spread them out over the room.

 

“At night, my eyes appear a metallic color, sunlight doesn't pass through my wings, and my skin is marble white. There are different colored angels but usually only a creamy-black skinned or marble white.” She folded her wings and they became transparent again. “There aren't a whole lot of differences but some people can actually pick up on them. That's why angels haven't become public. Truthfully, I'm not supposed to be standing here talking to any of you especially Edward.” She took a step forward and looked at him for a moment before meeting eyes with Roy.

 

“So, are you telling me that you agree with Ed? This isn't a big deal?”

 

“It's not...until the Council of Angels comes knocking on the door looking for me. Hopefully, though, Zaine will cover for me. I'm going to owe him big for all this.” A smile crossed her lips.

 

“Zaine?” Edward asked.

 

“He was the man at the ticket booth at the train station about a week ago.”

 

“Oh! What does he have to do with anything? Is he an angel?”

 

“No, he's Death.”

 

“I suddenly feel so great about everything.” Edward said, lowering his head. Xandyr smiled.

 

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Xandyr walked outside on the balcony of the hotel they were staying in. She had two mugs of steaming cocoa in her hands. The warmth spread through her palms and then down her arms. Ed sat in a chair on the balcony looking up at the cloudless, star-filled sky. It filled them both with a longing yet sense of home that couldn't be escaped.

 

 

“I don't really look at the stars much anymore. I used to, when Al was still alive.” He took the mug and sipped gingerly from it while Xandyr sat on the chair next to his. “I miss him so much.”

 

“I know you do.” Xandyr's heart was suddenly filled with guilt and sorrow. It had been touch by guilt but now it consumed her. She took a deep breath and looked at him. “E-Edward, there's something I think you should know.” He didn't take his eyes from the sky but didn't say anything more. To her, it seemed as if he were waiting for her to continue. “You remember when I told you that I had been watching you since the time that Al died?” Ed only nodded, still not taking his eyes from the sky. “I, uh...I convinced zaine to take Alphonse-instead of you.” Edward blinked and finally took his eyes from the sky to look Xandyr straight in her eyes.

 

“You what?” Her eyes filled quickly with tears but she held his eyes.

 

“I was the one who kept you alive. I hadn't thought you'd get your limbs back but you did. Al was too far gone anyway. His body never would have come back like it was when he was a child. He missed years of growing...”

 

“You sacrificed my brother's life for me!” He screamed, jumping to his feet. He threw the mug down and stared intensely at her. “How could you even look at me knowing what you took from me!? How!?” Tears streaked his face as he stared at her. Her own tears blurred her vision beyond sight.

 

“I'm sorry.” She stood up and walked to him, lifting her arm to touch his shoulder but he pushed her hand away and backed up from her.

 

“You were the one who took the only family I had left and you expect to be my friend.” He said more calmly than before. “Fuck you. Go back to your paradise. You should have let me die. Then I'd never have to look at your face again.” He turned and stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind him. Xandyr fell to her knees, tears falling like a waterfall down her cheeks. She cried into the night, pulling her arms and knees up to her chest. Roy suddenly lifted her up and pulled her into his arms. She cried loudly into his shirt not even noticing Winry and Riza standing behind him. She screamed into his chest, balling her fists with his shirt in her hands. She finally cried herself to sleep.

 

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A/N: Whew. Drama, drama. What do you guys think so far? I know, I had to put Xandyr through her moment of hell. I'm mean. Anyway, please review and tell me what you guys think.