Fullmetal Alchemist Fan Fiction ❯ Veritas Hominum ❯ Home ( Chapter 13 )

Home

 

A mildly chilly breeze rustled through the trees and caused several leaves to float down to the ground around him. It was beginning to be autumn now… he'd forgotten what fall was like in Risembool. In Germany it had been dull and gray, and New Mexico didn't really have a fall.

 

Even after six months, he still could not figure out how he had gotten back. One moment, he'd been in New Mexico, staring at the timer that counted down the last seconds of his life, and the next he'd woken up in the woods outside his childhood home.

 

It must have been the bomb, he thought. I drew on the energy of this world to make the bomb work, so it must have opened this side of the gate, and it drew me through again.

 

His last thoughts had been of this place, and of himself, Winry and Al playing together as children, so it made sense that this was where he had ended up.

 

He hadn't meant to come here, he had just been walking and found himself outside his old home. There weren't any remnants of the actual house left, just a large area where the house had been that was beginning to be overgrown by various grasses and weeds. His home was gone, forgotten.

 

It was only now that he was older that he regretted burning the house down. He had thought, at the time, that not having a place to return to would make them continue searching for a way to bring themselves back to normal. It took him many, many years to understand that you never really lose anything. Everything is an exchange… he may have lost his arm and leg, but he never would have had the experiences he had because of it.

 

“Ed,” she called. “What are you doing out here?”

 

“Reminiscing,” he replied as she plopped down beside him. “There are a lot of memories here.”

 

Winry nodded and shifted positions so she could lay her head on his shoulder. Ed blushed slightly in embarrassment, but gently put his arm around her anyway. She was warm against him in the cool evening.

 

“You do realize that as long as you have me, you'll always have a home, right?” she murmured, shyly.

 

Ed hugged her tightly. The one constant thing in his life had always been her. She was his family; had always been his family. Even after he'd left her, even after Al had given up on him ever coming home, she was still here.

 

He leaned back and cupped her cheek with his hand. Her skin was so soft. He tucked a piece of her hair behind her ear and smiled at her. “Home,” he whispered. “You're my home.”

 

Later, he wouldn't remember who kissed who first, but simply that it was simple and sweet.