The final chapter in the epic tale is upon us (que dramatic spoof Lord of the Rings music)! This last chapter will be 'lighter' then all of the others, I mean I doubt anything REALLY bad could happen (unless I want to be evil and drag out Edwards' suffering…but I won't) from this point. But anywhozles,
Ed- What did that mutt call me! Reading chapter
Me- Oh, Edu-kun! You've returned! Blomp XD
Ed- Can't breathe! O.o ;;
Chapter Twenty: Home Bound
The group made their way back to Kaedes' village, it would take at least a day and a half but they trudged forward. Edward was riding on Kiraras' back with Sango while everyone else walked. Alphonse would occasionally glance up at the two-tail cat demon to see how his brother was doing.
Edward came to about half way to the village, he looked around dazedly,
"Wh…what happened?" he muttered. Sango looked at him and said,
"Hey, you're awake. That's good, we're on our way back to Kaedes' so you just sit tight."
"Who? Huh?" Ed looked around him, nothing but trees as far as he could tell. The cool breeze though was nice, still being slightly light headed the breeze felt good. Slouching over a bit he gazed straight ahead, not really looking at anything, Edward tried to talk to his 'darker' half…nothing…all he got was a sudden twinge of pain in the side of his face where Inuyasha had slashed him.
"You ok?" Sango asked.
"Fine…" he muttered, he then reached out and scratched Kirara behind the left ear "I remember you, you where the one who wouldn't leave me alone. I guess I should have been a little nicer huh?" Edward added, Kirara purred, though it sounded more like a low growl because she was so big.
It was about early evening of the second day that they arrived back at Kaedes' hut. Kirara landed and let Sango and Edward get off before transforming into her smaller form. Kaede hobbled out of her hut when she heard them, she smiled and said,
"Ye came back I see. It would seem that young man could use more of that tea."
"Thank you Kaede." Kagome said smiling, they all went inside the hut and sat down around the fire. Ed though sat in his corner and watched the others; Al sat down next to him.
"Brother? What's the matter?" he asked.
"With my memories back…I'm starting to wonder, how exactly are we going to get back?" Edward said not looking at Al.
"I'm not really sure brother…I've thought about it but I wasn't able to come up with anything." Al replied.
"Hmm…"
"Is there…something else on your mind?" Al asked.
"What about Winry? How's she doing?"
"Fine, last time I checked." Al smiled.
"Al…I don't want you to tell her what happened ok?"
"Why not? You know she's going to ask right?"
"Yes I know…" Ed muttered. Alphonse looked at him worriedly,
"Then…why not?"
"Because…I already have you worried about me, I don't want everybody to be that way when and if we get back."
Alphonse looked around, he was searching for something to make a sling out of, and when he found some old rags he got up and grabbed the largest one he could find. Sitting back down next to Edward he said,
"Here…let me put your arm in a sling, at least until we can get it fixed," Al looked up at his brother, Ed was giving him a rather stern look "I know, you don't want people fussing over you, especially after what happened. But you know, it's going to happen anyway so you may as well get use to it."
Edwards expression changed, he had only just realized how much Alphonse had…changed. He was acting more mature now, Ed just smiled and let Al put his right arm in a sling.
It wasn't long before the tea was ready, Kaede hobbled over and handed the cup to Edward who frowned deeply, Al had scooted away slightly with a grimace on his face.
"Now don't ye fuss about the smell, it'll make ye feel better." Kaede scolded.
"If I where to lose my memories again…this tea would be the only thing that he'd remember." Edward grumbled, he really wished now that he had use of his right arm so he could hold his nose, but sadly he didn't have such a luxury and he had to force himself to drink it just the way it was.
"And here's a cup for ye dear." Kaede had another cup in her hands now and was holding it out for Alphonse. Al gave her a look of surprise and asked,
"You want me to drink it too?"
"She'll force you to drink it Al, you better do…hic…it…" Ed was already feeling the all too familiar affects of the tea, he yawned and went straight to sleep. Al had a very dismal look on his face.
"Ok…then…" Al though felt he was better off, considering he was able to hold his nose and drink it unlike his brother. But unlike his brother he felt the affects instantly, he was out before he was even able to set the cup down.
--
The next morning Edward woke to Kirara scratching at his face, he shook it off and sat up giving the two-tailed cat a pat on the head,
"G…good morning Kirara." He yawned; Ed then glanced over at Alphonse who was still fast asleep. Kirara mewed and jumped in his lap, Ed just shrugged and sat there scratching behind her ears.
Kagome and Sango entered the hut moments later; Sango laughed slightly when she saw the two of them,
"It would seem she's taken a liking to you Edward."
"Yeah, looks that way…" he replied. Kagome walked over to him and knelt down asking,
"How are you feeling?"
"I've been better…" Edward gave Al a side glance then said, "Just thinking that's all."
"About going home?" Kagome asked.
"Well yeah, we can't stay here." Ed said giving her a questioning look.
"Kagome said you both came out of the well, can't you just use the well again to get back home?" Sango asked. That was a good point, Edward pondered that thought for a moment. How does it work exactly? That part he needed to figure out.
Edward stood up; Kirara had jumped out of his lap and sat down next to his foot. He then placed a hand on his right shoulder and said,
"Don't get me wrong or anything…this place is nice. I just think it's better if we didn't stay, plus I need to get my arm fixed."
Ed then walked past them and exited the hut, walking down the dirt path towards the forest to investigate the well. He walked past Inuyasha and Miroku; Inuyasha turned and snapped,
"Where the hell are you going?"
"The well mutt, why the hell don't you use your brain?" Edward had added the last comment to get back at Inuyasha for calling him small.
"What was that?" Inuyasha shouted, Ed ignored him and kept walking "Yeah you better run coward!"
That irked him slightly but Ed had bigger things to worry about, like that well. He made his way deep into the forest until he came to the clearing where the well was. Making his way over to it, Edward examined it closely. It seemed like a normal well, there wasn't anything special about it. He walked around it a few times but no matter how he looked at it, it was just a regular old well.
"What is it about you?" he grumbled, sitting down on the edge of the well Edward looked around at the trees. He was thinking, this well was so simple it baffled him and Ed didn't like that, he couldn't see any way around the fact that it was just a well. But if he and Al came out of it then it must have some sort of power or something.
Getting both board and irritated, Edward picked up a small rock and tossed it into the well. He wasn't really expecting anything to happen…nothing did…Ed glanced down the well, he could even see the bottom!
"What the hell kind of well is this?" then it hit him "Wait…maybe it has to be activated like a transmutation circle!" the more he thought about it the more it seemed to make sense. All he'd have to do was draw the Gate activating circle on the well and activate it!
The only thing though that bothered him was the fact that it was so obvious. It couldn't be that easy, not after everything that happened, there had to be some sort of trick behind it. Edward sat down on the grass and glared at the well trying to see some sort of catch to this plan…he'd make sure it was safe before actually using.
--
Edward started back towards the village around noon; he had lots to think about. When he got back, Alphonse was awake and talking with Kaede. Al looked up and saw his brother walking up the dirt path, he smiled and said,
"Good morning brother!"
"Hey…Al," He replied, Ed walked up to them and said, "What've you been up too?"
"Nothing much brother," Al smiled "I was just talking with Kaede, what about you? You where gone when I woke up."
"I went to the well…" Ed shrugged.
"Ah, so ye went to the Bone Eaters Well did ye?" Kaede said.
"Yeah, I figured if we got here through it we could get home the same way." He shrugged. Alphonse nodded,
"That makes sense, did you find what you where looking for?"
"I think so…but we can talk about it later." Edward said, he walked past them and made his way back towards the hut. Al watched him go, he looked at Kaede then back in the direction his brother went.
"Wait for me brother!" he ran after Ed. When he caught up Al put his hand on his brothers' shoulder.
"Hey Al…"
"Yeah?"
"Could you not touch my shoulder…it's been bothering me."
"Oh, sorry brother," Al pulled his hand away "What did you find out?"
"I think we can get back home if we use the well…" Ed said still walking.
"Yeah…"
"All we have to do is make the transmutation circle that activates the Gate on it and…that's it…" Ed stopped walking and thought for a moment. Alphonse glanced around then looked at his brother, that was a good idea but would it work?
"Do you really think it'll work brother?" he asked.
"There's really only one way to be sure and that's to actually try it. One thing though is bothering me, what if it doesn't take us home but to a different place?" Ed muttered, he had a very puzzled look on his face, it was frustrating to a point.
"We'll have to see won't we?" Al smiled "Don't worry brother, if you think it'll work then so do I! So, when are we going to try it?"
"I was thinking we'd try…hm…how long do you think it would take to make the circle?" Ed asked turning to look at Al.
"It shouldn't take that long, we've both seen it so if we just go by what we both know then we should have it done pretty fast." Al said. Edward nodded, that was true; he looked up the path at Kaedes' hut.
"Hmm…"
"I think we should tell them." Al said seeing Edwards' face, it was saying he was debating that thought.
"You think so Al? Ok, we can tell them…" Ed shrugged, he started walking again, Al following close behind.
When the got to the hut Kagome, Sango, Inuyasha, and Miroku where all sitting inside talking, Shippo was sitting in a corner munching on some strange snack the brothers had never seen before. The group noticed the brothers walk in and they all looked up,
"Don't bother with a long good bye kid, I heard everything." Inuyasha grumbled.
"How did…you?" Al asked shocked.
"Duh!" Inuyasha irritably pointed to his ears.
"Oh yeah…" Al said sheepishly.
"Do you guys really want to go so soon?" Sango asked. Miroku nodded and said,
"Yes, it has only been a day and I doubt you both have recovered fully from the days past."
Edward frowned; this was one of the reasons he didn't want to say goodbye because everyone would ask why. He didn't want to explain it because then he'd start second-guessing everything, he had to stick to what he had and not change it unless it was absolutely necessary.
"Brother has this really great idea on how to get us back home and we wanted to try it out as soon as possible." Al said with a smile. Kagome looked up and asked,
"What is it?"
"I doubt any of you could understand it, besides, we never said we'd stay here." Ed said, he turned and gave Alphonse a 'we're leaving now' glance and left the hut. Al though stayed there for a moment and said,
"I'm really sorry about that, I guess you're all getting a glimpse of the real Edward Elric. He can be like that sometimes, but don't take it personally." Al nodded and left, leaving the others rather confused.
"Why did they even stop by if they where leaving no matter what we'd say?" Inuyasha growled.
"They where trying to tell us thank you in their own way if I'm not mistaken," Miroku said with a slight smile "If I'm also not mistaken Inuyasha, you do the same thing."
"Shut up!" Inuyasha snapped shooting Miroku a look of death, Miroku just chuckled.
--
The two brothers made their way towards the well, when they got there Ed suddenly stopped and said,
"We don't have anything to draw the transmutation circle with."
"Don't worry brother, I've got this!" Al took out a small piece of chalk out of his pocket and held it up "I sort of carry these around with me out of habit."
"Great job Al, now lets get to work." Ed smiled. The brothers got to work drawing the transmutation circle; it took them a good portion of the day before they got it down right at about four in the afternoon. Sitting down in the grass the two brothers looked at the well with its' nice new transmutation circle. At that moment only one thing was on the brothers minds and that was, they where so close to getting home nothing would get in the way, and nothing did…for the time being.
"Brother, you can have the honors of activating it." Al said.
"You sure?" Ed asked, as much as he'd like too Ed felt Al was more then capable and it would be good experience for him "You could use the practice."
"Wow, I'd nearly forgotten you'd been away for three months," Al suddenly said, Ed gave him a questioning look "Teacher took me up as her apprentice again and taught me more alchemy! You remember teacher right?"
Ed thought for a moment, then a sudden paleness washed over him, not to mention the chills that ran down his spine as he replied,
"Yeah…I remember…"
"Let's both do it brother." Al suggested.
"Why not…" Ed agreed.
They both got up and walked over to the well, giving the forest around them one last glance the two brothers clapped their hands together, Ed having to clap his left to his right because his right wasn't working, and activated the circle. Unnoticed by the Elrics, Inuyasha, Kagome and the gang had followed them and watched them from afar. They weren't really sure what to expect but where shocked when something happened.
The circle started to glow a faint yellow color until it flashed brightly; the Bone Eaters Well started glowing now. Only this time it was glowing the same purple color it did when Ed first came through it. Al looked at his brother with shock and asked,
"Is it working?"
"I don't know Al, but…I think so." Ed replied, he was about to walk towards it when Al rushed past him saying,
"Brother do you really think this is the way home?"
"Be careful Al!" Ed shouted, but it was too late. Tiny black arms shot out of the well and grabbed hold of Alphonse, Al wasn't sure what to do so he tried to fight them off. It was no use; the arms wouldn't let go, he looked up at Ed pleadingly.
"Brother!"
Edward though was frozen to the spot; he had a look of pure terror on his face. It was happening again, those memories…
"No…not again…" he muttered.
"Brother!" Al was now being pulled into the well, Ed snapped out of his daze and rushed forward. He was able to grab hold of Al's arm and tried to pull him away from the arms and the well but it was no use. As small as they where, the arms were terribly strong also they where apart of the Gate and there was no way to escape them.
"I…I'm sorry Al…" Ed muttered, more arms came out of the well now. They grabbed hold of Edward and started to pull him in too. Kagome rushed out of her hiding spot and was about to go help but Inuyasha grabbed her arm and said,
"Are you crazy! If you go near that thing it'll grab you too."
"But they need help." Kagome said.
"This is what they wanted remember! They wanted to go home and that's the way ain't it! The well looked just like that when that Ed kid came through it and now it looks the same way. So unless you want to get sucked into their world go right ahead." Inuyasha let go and glared at Kagome. She returned the glare with one of her own, though not nearly as effective. She then looked at the well, Alphonse had disappeared and Edward was starting to look slightly transparent. From the looks of things there was really little she could do to help them now, Kagome took a step back and frowned, she wasn't happy but she was glade that the brothers where returning home…at least she hoped that's were they where going.
As soon as Edward vanished and the well stopped glowing, the transmutation circle vanished with the light. Inuyasha walked over to the well and looked inside…nothing.
"I guess they're really gone…about time if you ask me." He grumbled, Kagome glared again only this time her glare had all the effect it needed because she also added a rather harsh 'sit' command a second later.
"That's not nice Inuyasha!" she snapped "I'm going home too!"
"Wait Kagome I didn't mean it!"
--
It was dark again, like a blanket it covered everything. Edward remembered this, though it wasn't one of his favorite memories, the only thing different was the fact that Alphonse was right next to him. He tried talking but that all too familiar sensation of having some unfamiliar substance flood into his lungs made him shut up real quick.
What seemed like forever of just floating around in the dark, not talking, not moving, something finally happened. Something was forcing them forward, it kept getting harder and harder until it felt like they where being squished between a wall and some invisible force. Ed wasn't sure how much more of this he could take, if it hadn't been so dark he could have sworn he blacked out.
When Edward came too he was lying on the ground, it wasn't dark anymore. Perplexed, he sat up, that was mistake number one, the minute he moved it felt like the everything was spinning. With all this he flopped back down on the ground, that was mistake number two, when his head hit the ground it not only hit the ground rather hard but also a large plank of wood.
"Ow! Damn who put that there?" he grumbled, when his head cleared he tried standing up. Being slightly successful Ed looked around; he had been lying in the middle of some ruins of an old house. Alphonse was lying a few feet away, he was just coming too and doing the same things Ed had done…getting the same results as Ed also. When Al finally got up he hobbled over to his brother and said,
"R…remember this?"
"Yeah, our house…we burnt it down saying we'd never look back on the past…" Ed replied, he glanced around. From the looks of things it was at least seven or eight o'clock at night, the sky was a pale navy color and stars where just starting to pop out.
"We shouldn't stay here, we can go up to Winrys'." Al said.
"Yeah…ok good idea…" Ed muttered, he was starting to get this squirming feeling in his stomach, sort of like that feeling you get when you know something's going to happen and you're not sure if it's good or bad.
The brothers made their way onto the dirt road and started walking, they'd walked a good ten to fifteen minutes before a house with a sign that said 'Automail' on the front came into view, Al smiled broadly and started to walk a little faster,
"We're almost there brother!" he said. Ed just nodded and had a rather fake enthusiastic smile on his face, he shoulder was starting to bother him again, before…in that other world…it had started to get sore and bothersome, now it was just down right aggravating. They'd made it to the house moments later and Al dashed up the porch steps and knocked on the door shouting,
"Granny! Winry! I'm back!"
Just as Edward was walking up the steps two people came rushing to the door, Ed looked up and saw them, they where looking at him with looks of shock, happiness, surprise, and countless others but they where too small to notice. The girl with long blonde hair, Winry, dashed forward and hugged him. He was slightly knocked off his feet but he caught himself before he fell.
"And just where have you been?" she asked. Ed wasn't really sure what to say, he looked up at Alphonse who saw smiling and at Granny who was also smiling but seemed to still have that half shocked half worried look about her.
"I…um…"
"That's ok, it doesn't matter," Winry said, she stepped back and seemed to be trying to regain her posture when she noticed Eds' arm "Um…what's that?" she asked.
Ed tried not to make eye contact as he muttered,
"My right arm is busted…I was kinda in a really big fight and it broke…yeah…"
Winry didn't say anything, she just had a very big smile on her face…but it wasn't a happy smile, it was a very disturbing smile. She turned and walked into the house, she then came back a few minutes later, it didn't look like anything had changed. Edward gave her a quick worried glance then went back to trying to look interested in a black spot on the back of the 'Automail' sign. The next thing he knew something very hard and very cold collided with the back of his head. This made him keel over and crash down the steps.
"Brother!" Al gasped, he turned to ask Winry what happened when he saw…and dearly wished he'd just kept his mouth shut, cause now Winry was glaring at him and was holding a rather large wrench "Now…W…Winry don't do you think you're…o…over reacting?" Al stuttered. Winry let fly her wrench and nailed Al with it, Al was sent down the steps also right on top of the semi-recovered Edward.
"You two have some nerve disappearing like that then coming back and expecting a happy and warm welcome home!" she snapped, the two brothers cringed slightly.
"B…but Winry…" Al tried, she held up the wrench and he went dead silent.
"I was really worried about you two…the next time either of you decides to leave somewhere at least tell me first." Winry then turned and went back into the house, Pinako just chuckled and said,
"You boys have really made a mess of things haven't you?"
"Granny?"
"Don't worry boys, she's happy to see you both, just give her till morning and she'll be fine. Now you two should come inside, it's supposed to be chilly tonight." Pinako said holding the door open for the Elrics to walk in.
--
It was on the next morning that the brothers told Winry and Pinako about what had happened. Edward had decided it would be ok to let Winry know all of what went on, even though the sudden urge to be really nice, as in not having to pay for repairs and not having anymore wrenches thrown at him kind of nice, made it seem like he should have maybe left it out. He didn't want this to happen; in fact this was exactly what he was trying to avoid.
The story had taken a good portion of the day, which was also spent on repairing Edwards' automail, so it was about dinnertime when everything was finished. They all sat around the table and ate dinner, having a rather lively conversation. When it was all done and all the dishes cleaned they all went up to bed. Ed and Al where sharing a room, Edward sat on the edge of his bed and looked out the window at the fading sunset. Al was looking out the window also, he then asked,
"Brother…do you think that there are other places out there?"
"What do you mean Al?" Ed replied.
"I mean, you know how we went through the Gate and ended up in that strange world and met all those nice people. Well, what if there where other places other then that one?"
"I don't know Al, I really don't. But lets not worry about that, it's not important anymore. We've got what we've been searching for right?" Ed said.
"Yeah…"
"Let's just leave it at that ok? Besides…we're home…when we thought we didn't have one, one that was always there became clear. And it was that one that stayed a home even after everything that's happened." Edward lied down on his bed and smiled "I'd like to keep it that way for a while if that's ok with you Al?"
"Sure!" there was one last thing though that weighed on Al's mind "Brother?"
"Hmm?"
"What about your…"
"Al…let's just leave that one be for the time being…" Edward said before drifting off to sleep.
"Ok brother…" Al too went to sleep, he was happy to be home and he knew Edward felt the same way.
The End
Me: Whoa yeah! Longest chapter! Booyaka! (Confetti)
Ed: Finally! The last chapter!
Al: Nii-san that's not nice.
Me: Yeah I worked hard on this one! Even though it's the last chapter…now I'm depressed…
Al: What about that sequel idea you had?
Ed: No Al! Don't remind her!
Me: Whahahahaha! Thank you Aru-kun! Yes! Well, that's up to the readers. I personally had an idea for another story but it would also make a interesting sequel to this one considering it's sorta based on the same idea…thingy…(me lobves you Aru-kun!)
Al: Yey!
Ed: What about me?
Me: …blomps! MINE!
Ed: O.o;;; Help!