B/N (Beginning Note, instead of A/N for Author's Note) MOVIE SPOILERS!! This takes place 3 years after the movie ends in Amestris, but the timing in the 2 worlds are different, so it's been more on Earth. Even though it's a bit of a spoiler, I had to say it so people don't get confused. Right now I'm working on the fifth chapter, so, even though it's title is the first song in it, it's not a oneshot songfic. There are some songfics in it, but they're part of it. You can't read chapter 3 without having read chapters 1 and 2. It's totally different from The Ghost of You, but it'll still have some history in it (see? Anime helps you with school!!). The title/song Like You is an extended metaphor for the entire story. I just didn't feel like I got that across in the first chapter. And so you know, while Ed isn't literally "lying cold in the ground", he's on the other side of The Gate, so it's kind of like he's dead. That should make connections easier. I'll have more things to add here and there, but I think that's sufficient for now. I want to say something about Berlin, but I'll talk about that when we get there. I was originally going to make Winry learn Alchemy, but that'd take too long, but when you make the Like You connection, you'll see why I wanted to do it. There's also name significance, like with TGOM, which I'll explain better this time around. I should've let you all know that Carina meant "beloved friend". Finally, I've intentionally switched some lyrics around here and there. So just bear with me, kay? Well, with that said, are you Ready? Steady…Go!
Like You
Stay low-Soft, dark- and dreamless
Far beneath my nightmares and loneliness
I hate me for breathing without you
I don't want to feel
Anymore for you.
"Alchemy?" the old woman repeated after her granddaughter, "What would you want to learn that for? I always thought you'd be happy with automail and mechanics."
"I am happy! Really, I am. But…" the woman sighed, pressing her face up against the glass in a childish manner.
"Right," Pinako said, removing the pipe from her mouth and letting a puff of smoke leave her lips, followed by, "You miss him. Edward."
"And Al, too!" Winry defended herself.
"Bust mostly Ed."
Winry sighed. Why did she always have to be the one that was left behind? It just wasn't fair! "Could I, grandma?"
"You're twenty-one; I can't stop you. But where would you go? To learn it, I mean."
Winry shrugged and removed her face from the window to face the older woman. "Roy, maybe? Scieszka could help me find somebody, if not."
Pinako nodded. "If you're sure that you can find a teacher, then I won't even think about stopping you."
"Really?" Winry nearly jumped from her seat with excitement, but was sufficed with just clasping her hands together. "Oh…but what about you? Without Den, you'll be all alone…" Den had gone to "that big doghouse in the sky" half a year ago. It was both quiet and lonely with him gone.
Pinako waved her off. "No need to worry about me. I'm on the way out myself, and if you just stayed here that long just to see my dying hour, it'd just take you longer to get going. And by that time, Ed could have a wife and your trip would've been in vain."
While she blushed at the last part, the younger woman said, "Grandma, don't talk about yourself like that." But they both knew that it was true. She was nearing her 91st birthday, after all, in eight months.
"I only ask you to do a few things."
"Of course! Anything!" Winry enthusiastically agreed.
"First, when you see the boys, give them my regards. Second, never give up on your dreams, including automail, even if they don't have it in that other world. Finally, wait for it to stop raining before you go, okay, sweetie?"
Winry looked outside to see the rain pouring down. Had it not been for that, it would have been harder for her to resist running down to the train station right then and there. "Deal," she said, and smiled.
Grieving for youI'm not grieving for you
Nothing real love can't undo
And though I may have lost my way,
All paths lead straight to you!
Several days later, when all was dry once more, and after a final trip to the graveyard, Winry went to the train station, with Pinako accompanying her. Because this was what she wanted. Even if this was the last time they would ever see each other; even if the last image they had of each other was a face pressed up against glass and another in a crowd of people, with only photographs and other memories scattered around in their minds.
Winry didn't think that she'd ever be able to fall asleep on those hard, uncomfortable train seats, but she finally did, so she had no clue as to how long her trip to Central lasted. She had only a suitcase filled with clothes and tools, and a purse filled with all the money and photos she could fit in it.
"Teach you Alchemy?" the Colonel…General…Guy with the eye patch said after Winry had entered his office a day later. A few days after Ed had come back for that too short "visit", he had re-enlisted in the military. "There are a hundred- no, a thousand books that could teach you better than I ever could." While his mouth said, "No," his face said, "Yea! Please! Anything to save me from this dull and boring paperwork!"
"But will they know what I want to know?" Winry asked, "How to get through The Gate?"
Roy dropped the paper in his hand, and as it fluttered to his cluttered desk, he ran to the doorway to check if there was anyone around to have heard her. Seeing as there wasn't, he sighed and turned back to the young, confused woman standing before him. "Listen, kiddo…Miss Rockbell, in Alchemy, that's a big no-no. So is bringing someone back from the dead, so don't even think about that one. Everything's based on The Principal of Equivalent Exchange, which means-"
"I know what that is," Winry interrupted him.
Roy nodded. "Well, I'm not much of a teacher, and my specialty is Flames, anyway. I have doubts that they'll take you to where you want to go."
"Oh. Well, thank you anyway," Winry tried to sound cheerful, but he saw her shoulders sag.
"Well…the least I could do is get Scieszka to find a teacher for you."
"Really? Oh, thank you! Thanks so much!"
At times like this, it was hard to believe that this man had the potential of doing terrible things. Such as killing her parents.
You're not alone…No matter what they told you,
You're not alone!
I'll be right beside you forevermore!
It wasn't a day later that Scieszka went to Gracia's house (where Winry was, of course, staying). With her, she brought information on the Tringham brothers.
"Tringham brother?" Winry echoed. She'd never heard of them before, but then again, Risembool was a very small town.
"Yes! Let's see now," Scieszka said, flipping through some files, "The older brother, Russell, he's now twenty, and his younger brother, Fletcher, is nineteen. They're known for- well, for impersonating Ed and Al!"
"They never told me about that…" Winry told her, feeling left out again.
"We wouldn't have known about them, either, except Russell used Ed's name right at the time when the military was trying to capture him- right before he went through The Gate," Scieszka explained.
"So then…they're Alchemists? Where are they now?" Winry implored.
"Let's see…They've been doing some studies in a nearby town, last we heard, only a few hours away if you go by train."
"Right then," Winry said, the determination in her voice something that only Ed could rival, "I'll leave tonight!"
Scieszka nodded in response, "I'll copy these for you by then. Just in case you need them. But Winry…Just promise me that you'll be careful there…on the other side…"
"Scieszka…" Winry said, and the two girls embraced for a moment, "I think that we have time for lunch together with Gracia, don't you?"
Yes. She knew that it would be dangerous. But to be reunited with Ed again…she would risk it."
HaloBlinding wall between us
Melt away and leave us alone again!
Humming, haunted, somewhere out there
I believe our love can see us through
In death.
The brothers stood in the doorway. They and Winry took turns blinking at each other for a minute, until Fletcher spoke up.
"You want us to teach you Alchemy?" he asked.
"Y-yes…if that's okay."
"Why do you want to learn it?" Russell asked her.
He was so tall!! Winry had to look up to see his eyes. How could anyone mistake him for Ed, she wondered, and said, "I-I want to go to the other side of The Gate!"
They pulled her inside (literally) and talked with her a bit. Upon finding out her motives, they agreed to help her.
"But you don't really need to learn Alchemy," Russell told her, "We could probably open it right now."
"Brother!" Fletcher reprimanded, "We can't promise her that! We don't even know if that method works!"
Russell just smiled at his little brother. "Guess it's time to test it out. Oh- it won't hurt you, Miss. Rockbell, if it doesn't work, so don't worry. I only ask that you close your eyes while we perform the transmutation."
Once they moved downstairs to the basement, Winry did as she was told. She heard a lot of things being moved, some scratching, some mumbling, some clapping, until they told her to open her eyes. When she did, she almost had to shut them again against the intensity of The Gate's light.
"This…this is it? And…you're sure that it'll take me through?"
"Not entirely," Russell admitted, "But it should. Our method for opening it was different and less harmful from what Ed and Al must've done, so I'm not really sure what'll happen."
"That's a risk I'm going to have to take," Winry said, determined. It had taken such a short time to get this far, so it couldn't take a very long time to find him…them once she got there, right? Then again, what was that Equivalent Exchange thingy?
She thanked the two brothers, took a deep breath, picked up her bags, and went through.
I long to be like you, sis
Lie cold in the ground like you did
There's room inside for two,
And I'm not grieving for you,
And as we lay in silent bliss,
I know you remember me!
I long to be like you,
Lie cold in the ground like you!
There's room inside for two,
And I'm not grieving for you;
I'm coming for you…Winry slowly felt herself coming to, but she didn't open her eyes right away. She felt something soft beneath her. She faintly remembered seeing her parents and Pinako…and Den and Trisha…what a crazy dream! She opened her eyes and found herself in a bed, in a room consisting mainly of the colors blue and white. As she took in her surroundings, a woman who looked to be only a few years older than Winry came into the room, holding a tray of food.
"Riza…?" Winry asked, still lying down. It must have failed. She passed out, and Russell and Fletcher took her back, and now she was in Riza's house…But why was she wearing her hair down? And shouldn't it be longer?
"Have we met?" the woman asked, "I've never heard anyone use that nickname before; usually it's Liz or Beth or something of the sorts."
"So…You're not Riza Hawkeye?" Winry asked.
"No…You must have me mistaken for someone else. My name is Elizabeth Larkwing. You must be an immigrant, huh? I found you passed out on the street and brought you to my home. Well, then, welcome to America!"
Dun dun dun!!! Well, if you're a reader of the manga, you know where I got Elizabeth, and Lark is a bird and wing is a body part. Like Hawk and eye. I'm a genius, huh? I just did some research and found out what this song is really about, and it made me cry, so I'm going to try to make this a truly excellent fanfic! How am I doing so far? Review to let me know!
Next chapter: Far Away: The Other Side of the Gate. Winry meets the other woman living with Elizabeth, and her letter to her sister may or may not be the key to finding the Elrics. Who, by the way, make a short guest appearance.