And here's the last chapter! Thank you to everyone who left feedback and followed and waited for the end!

Chapter 7: Journey

It had been months. Drachma had been gearing for war for some time, and when Amestris came charging through the mountains armed to the teeth, they dug in and held their ground. It had been nasty- Parliament had elected to mobilize the state alchemists, and the Drachmans had invested heavily in upgrading their tanks. Add in the fact that both sides were waging guerrilla warfare, and the military's medical bays were constantly full.

It had been non-stop chaos, but it had been an excellent distraction. Soldiers lost limbs, and those with automail needed northern replacements or constant repairs. Winry hadn't had a moment to actually stop in weeks.

And even now it hadn't sunk in. Ed had always gone months without contacting her when he'd been a State Alchemist. And as foolish as it was, part of her still clung to that same train of thought. Maybe it was all a lie. Maybe Ed was still alive. Maybe the picture had been staged. Maybe they could all go home to Rush Valley when this was all over.

She hadn't been thinking about her kids, or Alphonse, or even Edward. They'd all been split up- Alexander was roaming the mountains on strike missions, Sara was following the main company to work their tanks and the younger kids were running the automail shop and handling what orders and maintenance they could. She didn't even know where Alphonse was. He'd been working to get the bottom of the Pavel conspiracy and was moving around constantly between Amestris and Drachma, mostly under the radar.

And the conspiracy was something else Winry hadn't been able to believe when she'd heard. People had it out for Edward, sure. Even after retiring from the military, Ed still managed to get his hands into everything. He'd rooted out corruption, even managed to ruin a small handful of old, prestigious military families. She'd seen the retaliation herself; once, on a train to Central, the son of a disgraced general had tried to shoot them.

But Pavel's connections had gone deep, crossing into Drachma. And from there, they had gone through the Drachman military and government, and then sunk into the black market. It had been building for years, with thousands of cens trading hands and crossing borders. Drachma had supplied the fuel, Pavel had set it up, and then they'd lit the fire and watched it burn.

Enough time and distraction had passed that thinking of Edward was a dull ache. It had been an ugly ride to get to this level of control, and she had no doubt that once it was all over, once they had gone home- all of them, in whatever shape- that it'd be just as torturous as the first week had been. And that first week had been horrible.

For a while, she'd stuck with the main host. She knew the people there, and it was secure enough that she didn't have to worry about someone coming after her. It had been safe and "normal" enough to anchor her for a while. Until the Drachmans had called. She'd been in the communications room when Amestris had attempted to negotiate the return of the bodies. "Well…" The Drachman's voice had become almost teasing. "The taxes for sending goods across your border are a bit steep. It might be better for you to come and collect them yourself."

It had been a challenge, plain and simple. And Amestris had taken the bait.

That had been months ago, and Amestris had finally reached the Drachman capitol. It was an old city, still surrounded by old, stone curtain walls. Against siege equipment, they put up a fight. But against a small platoon of alchemists, they had gone from wall to rubble in minutes. Then the army had charged in, and the the beginning of the end was finally upon them.

More than half the city was under their control. They'd secured the Drachman's government and military buildings, and the remnants of their army had retreated to the far side of the city.

Here in the main plaza was safe enough. Winry even recognized it from the photographs. Winry made her way out of the medical tent that had been set up. A unit of soldiers was sweeping the buildings. They were checking for any Drachmans hiding out for an ambush, but there was an ulterior motive. The military compound had holding cells for prisoners underneath, and that, they all knew, was probably where the Amestrian delegation was being kept.

Winry almost didn't want them to find anyone. Without a body, there was no proof, and she could continue to cling to the hope that Edward was still alive. It was a horrible and twisted dream, but the denial had kept her going to this point.

Another group of soldiers exited the building. Winry didn't pay any attention to them until one of them came up and touched her on the arm.

She started in surprise, then immediately reached out to him. "Alexander!" He looked horrible, Winry realized, as she pulled her oldest into a hug. He'd lost weight and looked like he hadn't slept in a week. That was to be expected, given all the heavy alchemy he'd been performing. He was probably exhausted.

"I'm glad you're okay, Mom," he said when they pulled apart. "I didn't get any letters out in the wilderness." News of his unit had been scarce, too. Mustang had kept it under wraps, even keeping himself out of the loop if it was necessary. Winry had hated not being able to know if her son was even alive, but he had survived, so the secrecy had been worth it. "What about the others?"

"They're all fine," Winry replied, running her fingers through his hair to reassure herself that he was here. "Sara's further south, and the rest are still taking care of things at home." She'd gotten a letter just the other day, in fact.

He hummed in satisfaction, then reached up to grab her hand. Winry immediately frowned and Alexander dropped his eyes.

"I found him," he whispered, biting down on his lip. "I found Dad in one of the cells and they just left him-!"

Winry pulled him back into a hug, cutting him off. She wasn't ready to hear this, and her son didn't seem ready to talk about it. Instead they held each other, Alexander silently crying into her shoulder as she fisted her hands in his coat.

After several minutes, Alexander took a deep breath. "But we can go home now, right?" he asked, sounding for all the world like he had when he was six and had gotten scared on a camping trip.

She held him tighter. "Right."