Disclaimer: Same as before, I don't own FMA, never will.

Beyond and Back

by: Epyon Zero

Part 2: What Came After

To say it had been a long night was the height of understatement. After the disturbing dream involving Ed, Winry hadn't been able to sleep. Now she was paying for it. It felt like there were weights hanging on her eyelids they were so heavy, and her limbs felt like they had been cast in cement. Still, the girl persevered, thinking that if she worked she would not only stay awake but take her mind from the dream.

"Don't forget me" she murmured, eyes gazing off towards where the remains of the Elric house still stood. "Like I'd ever forget that short idiot."

The rest of the day flew by in a blur. Fortunately for Winry she was so tired that sleep came easily, and it was as deep as it was dreamless.

Early the next morning, both to get her out of the house and because she needed groceries, Pinako sent Winry down into the village. The girl wasn't particularly keen to go but her grandmother had been insistent. So taking Den with her, Winry headed into town.

"Well that's everything on granny's list." Winry thought to herself "Let's see if I can find out what's going on in the rest of the world." She decided to head to the train station because she knew it had a radio. Getting to the door she could hear snatches of conversation.

"No way"

"That can't be possible"

"Is he really missing?"

Hearing the last comment Winry remembered the dream and all her fears about Ed and Al threatened to bubble over again. Shoving it aside and mentally chiding herself for jumping to conclusions the blond made her way into the station. There was a great crowd of people in one corner shoving to get closer to the radio that lay there. Pushing her way through the crowd Winry got close enough to hear the commentator.

"I repeat, the military government in Central has collapsed following the disappearance of the Fuhrer. The projected invasion of the north has been canceled and civilian authorities are now assuming power in the time of crisis. There have been scattered reports of fighting throughout Central City and both the Fuhrer's mansion and parts of military headquarters are in shambles. Authorities are asking all citizens to remain calm and have faith in their government. Besides the Fuhrer the list of those military personnel missing includes several prominent State Alchemists as well as countless civilians. We will bring more information to you as it becomes available."

Winry didn't remember how she got out of the train station, just collapsing on a bench outside. Inside she was feeling a strange mix of elation and dread. Both were understandable since the broadcast meant her friends had succeeded but she had felt a vice clamp around her heart with the line "…the list of those military personnel missing includes several prominent State Alchemists" Somehow, someway she knew that Ed and Al were on that list.

Pinako wheeled as she heard her granddaughter come into the house. "Did you get everything?"

Winry looked up at the old woman and smiled "Yes."

The elder Rockbell's eyes narrowed. She knew that false happiness. It was one that her granddaughter had developed over long years of associating with the Elric brothers, only used when they weren't telling her things or she was worried. It was her attempt to paper over her worry with false cheeriness. "What happened?"

Cerulean eyes locked on the small woman. "What do you mean what happened?"

Pinako glared at Winry. "Don't take that false innocent tone with me, I know you're worried, more than likely about Ed and Al, so what happened?"

Winry sank into a chair, arms wrapped around her knees, eyes seeming to be lost in another place. "I stopped at the train station… to see if there was any news. I…I heard a radio announcement from Central. It said that the military government has collapsed, and that the Fuhrer has disappeared."

The old woman lit her pipe and blew a smoke ring "But."

Winry's hands tightened their hold, as if to keep a chill at bay. "It also said that there were a lot of missing people, including State Alchemists and…."

"And you're worried that Ed and Al are on that list."

The blond nodded.

Another smoke ring rose to the ceiling and hung there. "Winry, both of those boys have been throwing themselves into insane situations since they were 10 and 11 years old. In all that time have you ever known them not to have come back?"
The blond head moved again. "No… but this time it's different. I have this feeling that I can't explain, and there was that dream…."

Pinako blinked. Winry had been having bad dreams? "Tell me about the dream."

Over the next five minutes Winry gave her grandmother a very stilted account of her dream involving Ed, nearly breaking into tears when she reached Ed's final words.

When the girl was finished Pinako lifted her chin and looked her granddaughter in the eyes. "Winry, people's minds are strange things, and some times they play tricks on them. What your dream probably was was your mind taking all your worry and fear about Ed and Al and condensing it into a form where it could get worked out. That's all."

"But…" she stammered "It seemed so real, and he acted just like Ed does..."

Now Pinako's hand shot up silencing the girl. "Dreams are like that, they can seem so real, and that's why dreams are frightening. Now, listen, I'm sure that Ed and Al are both fine and that we'll hear from them in a few days, most likely when they show up so Ed can get his auto mail fixed again." The old woman cracked a smile. "Now when that happens are you going to be a wreck or are you going to be the auto mail mechanic I trained you to be."

Winry smiled back, buoyed by her grandmother's reassuring words. "I'll be good Nana."

Pinako smiled again and blew another smoke ring "Good, because if you foul up fixing Ed's auto mail again I'll have you polish every single piece of auto mail in this house, with a toothbrush."

Several hours later Winry sat, head propped on her arms staring out her window. What her grandmother said had indeed made her feel better, but she still had a nagging sense that something wasn't right.

"Nana better be right," she said to the starlit sky. "If I lose any more family I don't know what I'll do."

To say that Izumi Curtis was frustrated was an understatement. She was downright angry. In the two days since the fighting in Central had ended, first by herself, then when Sig had arrived the previous day, the alchemist had scoured Central. She had started at the Cathedral Ed had headed for, and found that it had collapsed in on itself. Then nothing. The fact that two of the remaining Homunculi were dead, and none of the rest nor a woman matching Dante's description had been see was a balm on the mountain of her worry, not much of a balm, but it was all she had. Aside from that there wasn't a trace of either Elric brother; it was as if the Earth had swallowed them up.

The chaos in Central wasn't helping much. Military personnel were running around trying to find the Fuhrer, whom Izumi sincerely hoped was dead. They were also trying to restore order in the streets. Even had she been inclined to ask Ed and Al's friends within the military for help, at this point they were so busy that it wouldn't matter.

So she had taken it upon herself to go over the city with a fine toothed comb and find her boys. Though she rarely admitted it, even to herself, Edward and Alphonse were the closest thing she had to children. There was one other who could claim that title but Izumi tried not to dwell on that. The thing she had given life to may have once been her son, but had long since ceased to be so.

Leaning against a wall Izumi cursed again. By now it was nearly 2am and she knew that staying up all night wandering around Central with no idea of where to go was useless. The fact that there were still troops deployed in parts of the city didn't help matters. They were very jumpy and very confused, not that she blamed them, for matters were very confusing. Still if she kept wandering the streets Izumi was fairly certain that she would end up in a military jail, and she doubted that those in charge would take her destroying military property so she could go look for two people very seriously. Shoulders slumped she began to retrace her steps to the small flat she and Sig had managed to get. Perhaps a full nights rest would give her new insight.

A city is a very daunting place to look for a single person. Especially when the person you're looking for not only has no idea who you are, and is busy looking for someone. Rose was finding this out to her great regret. For the first time since she had staggered out of the underground city with Al, what was left of Wrath and her infant son, three days previous, Rose was on a search. According to Al his teacher was somewhere in Central. Seeing as Al himself had no knowledge of the last 5 years of his life, Rose was more than a little dubious of how he could tell. Still the boy had been insistent. So, trusting that Wrath wouldn't try something Rose had coaxed Al into sketching what Izumi and her husband looked like, and armed with that she had ventured out.

Unlike Liore, Central had few outstanding features that could be used as visual references. So Rose had decided to take the city one section at a time. Today she would try the eastern half.

She knew that she made an odd sight, baby slung across her back, paper in hand scanning the crowd of people that made their way around the city. Still, Rose would go on even if her feet bled and she had to crawl on hands and knees. She owed both of the Elric brothers that much. If not for them she would have been possessed by Dante and she shuddered to think of what would have happened to her son. Also, Rose knew that now with Dante and most of the Homunculi gone things like what occurred in her own Liore and long ago in Ishbal would never happen again.

Still the cost had been too high. Ed was gone, having sacrificed himself to restore his brother, who had done the exact same for him. That both brothers had such devotion to each other touched Rose to the core, but what made her weep still was that while Ed had succeeded in restoring his brother it had been at the cost of his own life and of Al's memories. The only thing that had kept her from screaming her rage at the heavens, no, that had kept her sane, was that both of them would agree that it was equivalent trade, and while she didn't have as much faith in it as they did, what she did have faith in was that whatever else had happened Ed would be happy knowing that his brother was human once more.

Turning a corner Rose walked into someone. Losing her balance she started to fall back, but a hand caught her. Well, perhaps paw would be the better word to use, as the hand, like the arm attached to it, was several times larger than the norm. Her eyes traveled up the length of that arm and the thanks on her lips died as her eyes went wide. "Is…is your name Sig Curtis?"

From what sounded like the far corner of the earth a rumbling reply came back. "Yes. Do I know you?"

The girls head shook. "No… but we have a mutual acquaintance. Alphonse told me to look for you." With that she handed over the sketch.

Fifteen minutes later Izumi and Sig were following Rose through the sewer towards where she was staying. Izumi was hopeful, very hopeful. The drawing clearly had been done by Al; the boy had shown a good talent for artistry, nearly as good as his skill with alchemy. The paper was in and of itself proof that he was alive. Also, much as she didn't want too, she had some trust in the girl leading them. It was probably the mother in her, but she couldn't see a girl with a child deceiving them. What worried her was the fact that the girl, Rose, had said nothing about Edward, merely that Al had told the girl to find her or Sig. Images of Ed in serious injury tugged at the edges of Izumi's mind, and she had to will her hands to unclench.

When they reached what remained of the camp Rose made her way to a shack that had clearly been assembled through the use of alchemy. Moving to the blanket that made up the door, Rose called inside. "Al, I found her."

When the blanket moved aside, two pairs of eyes widened. Al's, at seeing the face of a person that he knew, and Izumi's at seeing a face she never thought she would see again. But for a moment the woman's eyes softened and she pulled the boy into a fierce hug. Needless to say Al was surprised.

"Sensei…"

The moment passed and Izumi held Al at arms length, eyes sharpened. "Al, what's the last thing you remember?"

The boy's brow furrowed. "Getting off the train in Resembool, going home, going into Father's study…" He looked down at the ground before continuing. "We…we scribed the circle to bring Mother back, there was a light… and the next thing I remember was Rose pulling me out of a building." Al's voice darkened 'Sensei…did we do it, did Niisan and me bring back Mama?"

Izumi's mouth was slack. Al remembered nothing past when he and Ed tried to transmute their mother! Looking at the sunken head of blond hair she decided it best not to inform Al of what the transmutation had created. "No Al, it didn't work." Izumi's eyes narrowed again. "Alphonse, where is your brother?"

Al looked up at his teacher, eyes full of tears, "He's gone!"

Much, much later, once Al's tears had subsided and he finally fell asleep Izumi turned angry eyes on Rose. "You led me here and neglected to tell me that one of my bo…students was dead!" By her tone, Rose had best give a good explanation.

Rose stood abruptly to look the older woman in the eye. "I have spent the last three days trying to console a boy who doesn't remember the last five years of his life." There was anger and indignation in her voice. "Not only that, but the only person he wanted to see is gone. What was I to do when he asked me to find you? Lead you here and as conversation say 'Ed is dead!'?"

The baby on Rose's back responded to his mother's emotion by starting to cry. Rose quickly moved her son into her arms and began to rock him. After a few soothing words she looked up at Izumi with a sad smile. "I'm sorry; I shouldn't have been that short-tempered. It had been a long few days."

Perhaps it was the lost mother in her, but Izumi felt her anger draining away. "No, I should apologize as well. Worry made me say things that I had no right to say, and it has been a long few days. Thank you for taking care of Al."

Rose smiled. "I owe him and his brother so much that anything I can do to repay them is too little." Casting her head back towards the shack the girl smiled again. "You treat him very much like your own son, both of them, from what Ed told me once."

Again Izumi was speechless, shocked that of all people Edward had seen through the façade of biting remarks she had shown both brothers, to notice the fact that under it all she did indeed love both Elric brothers as her own. Then again perhaps she shouldn't have been surprised. "He always was perceptive." There was more than a little sadness accompanying that thought. Looking back at the girl in front of her, Izumi's eyes fell to the babe in her arms. "What is his name?"

Once again Rose had a sad smile on her face. "I decided to call him Edward Cain, after the two people I owe so much too."

Izumi looked at the child. He couldn't possibly be… "Who…who is the father?"

"I… was captured by the military, they…." Rose suppressed a shudder.

"Stop." The word fell from the alchemist's mouth with the weight of granite. "I should not have asked."

Rose shook her head. "It's fine. Your probably won't be the last one to ask me. Even though it happened because of something like that, I do not regret the life of my son." There was fire in here eye now "In fact I take great pleasure in knowing that my son can grow to manhood with a perfect example of what it means to be a good person ensconced in his own name."

Izumi smiled, marveling at the strength of this girl. Her child was a reminder of something utterly horrid, and yet she had no resentment for him. "But that I could say the same about my own son." Trying to steer herself away from old wounds Izumi decided to try and answer the question that had been burning in her mind for hours.

"Rose, what exactly happened to Edward?"

The girl stopped rocking her son and looked up. "Are you sure…" She shook herself as she saw the look in the older woman's eyes. "I will tell you what I know."

Moving her son to a better position Rose began her tale. "In all honesty I know very little of what happened. Dante did something to me; it was like I was in a trance. I have flashes of things, I was…dancing with Ed, and then… I was afraid for my baby."

Izumi nodded. "Go on"

"The first thing I clearly remember was seeing Ed, lying on the floor, blood pouring from a hole in his chest, so, so much blood, and one of those things, Envy, saying that Ed was dead."

Stillness. "Your certain he was dead?"

A nod. "He had to be, he wasn't breathing. Then Dante had…Gluttony she called it, begin to eat Al."

More silence. "Was Al human or still armour?"

"He was still Al as I first knew him. He clapped his hands, and knocked Gluttony away. He walked over to where Ed's body was. Dante was yelling at him. He yelled back and whatever he said startled her. He clapped his hands, like Ed did, and there was some kind of alchemists array, it sprung up all around Al. They…disappeared. There was a flash of light then….Ed was there, and he was alive, with all his limbs."
Izumi's eyes widened slightly. "Al gave himself for Ed."

Rose nodded mutely. "Ed asked me where Al was. I told him what little I knew, and he told me to grab the armless one…Wrath and go."

Izumi sat straighter now. "Wrath…" she shook her head. "What happened then?"

"I ran. I grabbed Wrath and ran. The last thing I heard was Ed clapping his hands, then nothing. The building… it started to collapse, I thought Ed would be right behind so I waited, but he didn't come. Al did."

To say that Izumi was stunned was an understatement. While she had known that both of her students had stubbornly wanted to repair the damage done all those years ago, she had never thought that either would go as far as to sacrifice himself for sake of his sibling. "What did you do then?"

"Al was screaming, trying to find Ed. I grabbed him, told him I was a friend and dragged him with me. Everything was collapsing in on itself. We just barely got out of the Cathedral when it caved in."

"So, that was why it happened." was the muttered response, then "What happened to Dante, and the other Homunculi?"

"Dante ran off when Al started, whatever it was he did. Envy disappeared with Al and Ed. Gluttony I didn't see, and Wrath… Wrath is with me still."

The other woman shot up from where she was sitting. "Where is he?"

Rose pointed towards the shack.

All of Izumi's anger came back with a vengeance. "You left Al alone with him; do you know what that thing is capable of? When were you planning on telling me this?"

Rose's tone was icy. "He can't do much of anything, seeing as he's been comatose since I pulled him out with me." Looking Izumi in the eye her tone got even colder. "Even if he wanted to hurt me or Al, he can't do it with only one arm and one leg."

The color drained away from Izumi's face. "What arm and what leg…."

Puzzlement showed clear on Rose's face. " Are missing? The right arm and left leg, why?"

Prying her eyes from gazing at the shack, Izumi made to move towards it. "They're both coming with me, and so are you."

Rose's arm caught her shoulder. "No we're not. Even if the city wasn't a madhouse, where would we go? Everyone Ed knows in the military would be of no help; they would have no choice but to take Al and Wrath and then the military would experiment on them. Aside from that, Human transmutation is forbidden! Al could be killed or worse."

Izumi twisted around "That boy is not your sole responsibility! If anything he should come with someone he remembers, not a girl that, to his mind, he just met!"

"If he is not my sole responsibility, nor is he yours. Think of what he has been through. Al doesn't remember anything, and you want to take him out into the city, and then where would you go, where could you take him?"

Before more words could pass between the women a different hand came down on Izumi's shoulder. "Izumi." came Sig's rumbling voice. "I've heard enough. You both are worried." He gestured to Rose. "Perhaps the girl is right. If we rush Alphonse who knows what will happen."

A sigh escaped from the alchemist. Strong as she was, her husband could always sway her, no matter her mood. "What do you suggest?"

After a moments silence Sig spoke again. "Take the boy back to Resembool, he needs to see familiar faces and there are more there than anywhere."

Izumi nodded. "Someone should tell the Rockbell girl what happened. She's probably worried sick." Still Izumi didn't relish having to tell Winry that of her two oldest friends one was gone, most likely dead, and the other was much different.

Rose pondered the suggestion. "That...seems to be the best thing for Al. May I come, I heard so much about Resembool from them I would like to see it with my own eyes."

A warm smile broke across Izumi's face. "Of course." She turned to her husband. "Sig and I will return to our flat for the night, and be back tomorrow. Then we can find a way out of the city and find a way to Resembool that won't attract too much attention."

Rose pulled the blanket aside. "Till tomorrow then."

It was another beautiful day in Resembool, the sun was shining, birds were singing, the breeze carried the scent of hundreds of wildflowers, yet there was one person that all this beauty failed to reach. Winry had developed a new habit; every day once she was finished whatever tasks her grandmother had set for her the girl would retreat to her room and spend hours staring out the window towards the road, waiting, hoping for any sign, a glance that would tell her that her friends were coming home, that Ed had kept his promise. So it went for a week, Winry watched, fretted, and prayed. Downstairs, Pinako muttered choice curses, most directed towards beings she had no comprehension of, and a few towards the Elrics, though in truth she was just as worried as her granddaughter was.

This day however, the girl's prayers would get an answer. From her window perch Winry made out two figures moving up the road, both of whom she knew. One was unmistakably Sig, broad as a mountain and a gait to match. Moving along beside him, white coat billowing with every step, was his wife. Behind one of Sig's massive shoulders Winry caught sight of a flash of golden blond hair. That was all she needed.

Pinako spun as something that sounded like a train tore down the stairs. "Winry, what…"

The blur yelled at the small woman as it pulled the door open. "They're BACK!"

Now the old mechanic's eyes widened as she moved into the doorway, her granddaughter speeding down the road.

Winry meantime was tearing up the distance, strides eating up the ground. Yet she didn't notice as everything flew past her. "They're back, they're back, they're safe, and they're home!" was all that ran in her mind.

The girl skidded to a halt in front of the group. For one brief second a look of consternation and not a little guilt flashed on Izumi's face.

"Winry what are you…"

The blond interrupted, eyes brimming with hope. "Where are Ed and Al? I saw them, I'm sure I did!"

Wordlessly Izumi moved aside, to reveal Al helping Rose carry Wrath.

Winry felt as if she had been punched. The light in her eyes died, and she could only whisper "Al..." before everything spun down into black.

To be continued…

Notes: um…. Would you believe that this was originally a 2500 word chapter? My computer decided to play tricks on me and eat the vast majority of it, so I got stuck re-writing, and things got longer…a lot longer. Heh. There's something a little disturbing when you get a chapter that's longer than all of the one-shots you've ever written.

Anywhoo, this is the second chapter, such as it is. Third should be along in something like a timely fashion... I hope.

Addendum: QuickEdit and its builder are both the direct tools of Satan and should be purged from the Earth with fire and sword.