Epilogue Part 2: Reconciliation

The next day, Edward entered Roy's office. "You wished to see me, sir?"

Roy nodded and slid a paper towards Edward.

Edward instantly recognised it as one of the reports he had filled out upon his return. "Is something wrong with it?" He asked worriedly. He had been filling them out for five years now; there shouldn't have been any mistakes.

"Take a look at this." Roy said as he slid another paper beside it. It was a report he had mailed to headquarters two years ago.

Edward frowned in confusion. "What is it?"

"Your writing: it's gotten messier. I know you write with your right hand. Something's wrong with your automail."

Edward paled as he realized what Roy was hinting at. "But I…"

"No excuses. I'm sending you on a two month leave of absence, effective immediately, to get your automail repaired. That is an order, Colonel." Roy snapped.

Edward was cornered now. All he could do was nod and turn to leave.

"Give my regards to the Rockbells." Roy said. His tone was a lot gentler than it had been a moment ago.

"Yes sir…" Edward said quietly before leaving to go pack.

"Brother…?" Alphonse asked tentatively as he stood outside. He had come to see what Edward did for the military when Roy's summons came.

"I'm being sent on a two month leave of absence. Apparently my handwriting's gotten bad so Director Mustang is sending me to get my automail repaired."

Alphonse's wince was noticed by Edward.

"So… they still hate me?"

"Nobody talks about you, but I'm pretty sure they're still mad. They never really hated you, they just were really angry. And Winry is as stubborn as you are."

Edward sighed as his head dropped, his chin hitting his chest. "Damnit."

"I'll come with you and try to soften them up." Alphonse said, although he was just as nervous as Edward was about returning to the Rockbells. "Although I think you will get some points if you haven't had anyone else touch the automail since Winry made you the new leg before you told us your intentions."

"I haven't. I doubt anyone could replicate her work anyways."

Alphonse nodded. "Let's go back, brother."

Edward smiled nervously before nodding. "Sure… I just hope I can come back alive."

Alphonse couldn't help but laugh as they left headquarters.

As they descended the stairs, a wobbly tower of papers caught their attention.

"Sciezka?" Edward asked as he tried to fight back amusement. He and Alphonse quickly took parts of the stack so the person behind it was visible.

"Oh! Colonel Elric! I was just taking these to the new first branch!"

"It's about time they finished it." He said, no longer able to hide his amusement.

"Oh, the exterior isn't fully completed, but it is secure enough that the books and records can be brought over without worrying about being damaged." She squeaked.

Like all other female personnel, she was wearing a shorter skirt than she used to.

"So even the desk workers got suckered into that bill?" Edward asked with a shake of his head.

Sciezka could only nod. "Yes, we did." She blinked in surprise as she noticed Alphonse. "Al! So you two did make up! I'm so glad!"

Alphonse nodded. Like his brother, he was unable to hide his amusement at seeing Sciezka again.

"Can you lead the way, Sciezka? Neither of us have been in Central long enough to know where the new first branch is." Edward asked.

"Yes sir!" Sciezka said obediently.

"Please, he's not on duty for two months." Alphonse said with a nervous chuckle. He was embarrassed to see one of his closest friends obeying his brother so easily. He had a feeling it was something he'd never get used to either.

As they walked to the first branch, they got caught up on everything that had been happening with Sciezka.

The head librarian of the first branch noticed them as they walked in, still distracted by conversation. "Sciezka! Is that the last of them?" He called.

"Oh!" Sciezka snapped out of the conversation as she was addressed. "Yes sir!" She said as she placed them on a cart with Edward and Alphonse following her lead.

"Thanks for your help, Colonel Elric." The librarian said.

"It was nothing. Sciezka's a good friend of mine. I was glad to help." He said, putting a hand on Sciezka's shoulder.

Sciezka blushed at the admission that he considered her a friend.

Alphonse nodded as he put a hand on her other shoulder. "We're both your friends. Come on Ed, or else we'll miss the train."

Edward nodded as he gave a reassuring pat on Sciezka's shoulder before following Alphonse quickly out of the library.

Sciezka happily waved goodbye to them before getting back to her duties under the watchful eye of the librarian.

They had returned to Risembool two days later, but decided to wait until the next morning before venturing over to the Rockbell's home.

Against Alphonse's advice, Edward had opted to wear his military uniform. The badge indicating his rank as a Colonel gleamed in the sun as he sighed, kneeling before a grave stone. The inscription had faded with time and was now completely illegible.

"Sorry I haven't been by…" He said quietly as he brought his hands together and touched the stone.

Suddenly 'Trisha Elric' and the rest of the inscription returned as though it had just been engraved yesterday.

"Al went ahead to try and soften Winry and Pinako up. I doubt he can…" He glanced at his pocket watch. "I've gotta go now, mom…" He put a flower on the grave before standing and walking away.

A small makeshift grave beside where Winry's parents were buried caught his attention. Seeing the name on the small sign laid in front of the stone forced tears to well up in his eyes.

"You were always a good boy…" He said as he transmuted a toy from some nearby grass and placed it on the grave. "Sorry, but it's the best I can do with such little material, Den." He said as he patted the stone.

He stared at the graves of Winry's parents before leaving flowers on each of them. He realized he couldn't think of anything to say to them as he stood and sighed.

"See ya…" He said as he waved to all three graves before walking out of the cemetery.

He paused warily on the porch.

Alphonse was supposed to have met him outside, but there was no sign of him. Without Den to alert them to visitors, he was forced to knock.

Winry opened the door with a smile. "Wel-" The smile faded as soon as she saw who it was. "Oh… what do you want?" She asked flatly. Her tone threatened to aggravate his stubborn anger, but he forced it back into check.

"I need my automail checked." He said calmly.

She glared at him for a few moments before quickly grabbing at his hand and pulling it up to her face. Her eyes narrowed in concentration as she moved the fingers carefully before moving onto the wrist.

She sighed in irritation. "You can't even keep up with your maintenance? I should just throw you out." She snapped. "But… I did work hard on it, so it would be a waste just to let it rot." She said with a softer tone. She frowned at him. "The bearings and joints are almost completely gone. I'm amazed the fingers haven't fallen off! Haven't you ever had it serviced?"

"I didn't trust anyone else with it." He said truthfully.

Winry stared at him in surprise before looking away. Her eyes flickered to the badge on his uniform. A mixture of surprise and sadness passed through them before she walked inside. "Well, come on in. I really don't want to see what shape your leg is in if your hand is that bad. But we might as well get you fixed up and out of here as soon as possible." She grumbled.

Edward fought to hide his amusement as he entered, shutting the door behind him.

Alphonse glanced at Edward apologetically from the dinner table, as he sat with a cup of coffee in hand.

"Granny! A customer!" Winry called upstairs.

Pinako came down, using a cane to support her in her old age, and frowned at Edward. "Winry, you're too nice for your own good. I'd have tossed him on his ass." She grumbled.

"It's almost falling apart! The idiot never had it serviced!" Winry snapped.

Edward frowned at being called an idiot, but otherwise kept silent.

Pinako looked at him in surprise. "Well I'll be damned. You didn't disgrace our work by having somebody else tinker with it?"

Edward sighed, shaking his head. "No, I didn't. Now can you please stop attacking me? The sooner I'm repaired, the sooner I'll leave."

Winry and Pinako looked at each other before nodding.

Winry immediately began going over everything she'd need to do while Pinako motioned for Edward to sit so his leg and arm could be removed.

"We'll assess the damage first but you can be sure we'll have it done as fast as possible. You'll be sticking around on this spare for a while, though." Pinako said as she attached the spare leg to the base where his leg connected.

"Thank you." He said quietly.

She remained silent as Winry carried the limbs upstairs to her work room.

Edward looked at the empty base where his arm used to be attached. Memories of the last time he stared at that empty socket flashed in his mind. He was grateful to Scar for saving Alphonse's life at the cost of his own, and nothing he did before then would change that. He sighed as he stood unsteadily. He hated the spare legs with a passion simply because they weren't his.

"Winry takes care of all the work now. It's better experience for her." Pinako explained to Alphonse.

"Pinako…?" Edward asked nervously after a few moments of tense silence.

Pinako looked at him. "Hm?"

"I'm sorry for everything that happened back then. I knew settling down wasn't an option for me anymore, but I should have discussed it with you before deciding to join the military."

Pinako sucked on her pipe thoughtfully, causing Edward to worry that his apology wouldn't be accepted. She chuckled as she saw his face. "I should have expected it. You're very much like your father was before he met your mother. I guess it was just wishful thinking that, with how much we suffered at the hands of the military, neither of you boys would become leashed to it on a permanent basis."

She sighed as she hit her pipe against a tray filled with ash. "You always were the headstrong one. Arguing with Alphonse as long and as hard as we argued with you would have forced him to back down."

"Hey!" Alphonse's hurt tone caused Pinako to cackle.

"You know it's true." She glanced at Edward. "I always had fun arguing with you…" Her tone grew sadder. "…except that last argument. That was uncalled for. We were just worried about you, and it made us mad that you made that decision behind all of our backs! Plus, those harsh words we exchanged weren't exactly meant with the best intentions."

Edward nodded. "I know, Pinako. I just hope Winry is as understanding as you are."

Pinako sighed. She didn't want to tell Edward that Winry cried herself to sleep for weeks after the fight. "Don't worry about it. Just don't disturb her until the automail is done. The skin plates can still be used, but the inside feels like it will be a few all-nighters for her." She glanced at the stairs. "Well, I had better get lunch started. You boys will stay here until the automail is completed. That's an order."

"Yes sir!" Edward automatically said before blushing.

Pinako cackled with Alphonse joining in with his own laughter. "I'm going to have fun with you…" Pinako grinned wickedly.

Edward felt like he should be running from the house in fear, but he knew that the unfamiliar spare leg made running impossible.

Winry decided to scrap his old limbs and make them from scratch. She claimed that's what she would have had to do anyways thanks to how badly damaged they were. It took her only a week to finish both Edward's arm and leg.

"We'll do the docking tomorrow…" Pinako said as she came downstairs after Winry called her to come collect the new limbs. "I told her to get some rest. She's been working non-stop all week. Her endurance has gotten better since the last time she's had to pull an all-nighter for you, but it's still nothing compared to mine when I was her age."

"I'll thank her when she wakes up." Edward said as he looked at the gleaming new limbs. He couldn't wait to be able to walk properly again.

Pinako nodded in understanding as she went to put the limbs into the procedure room. "We should probably check your bases too. They may need to be changed."

Edward groaned at the thought.

Pinako could only grin at his reaction as she went into the procedure room.

"Are you going to be all right?" Alphonse asked worriedly.

Edward sighed. "I'll be fine. I just hate the thought of these pieces being screwed with." He said as he touched his right shoulder, and then moved to what remained of his left leg.

Pinako chuckled as she returned. "Just think of it as our way of getting back at you."

Edward threw up his arm in defeat. "I deserve it… just go easy, all right?"

Pinako burst out laughing. "Is this coming from the boy who used to take both automail limbs getting connected to his nerves at the same time? I thought the military was supposed to make people stronger? It sounds like it's turned you into a big baby!" She taunted.

"Hell no!" He growled. "I just know that you two know how to make it as painful as possible so that even somebody with my tolerance level would be in pain."

Pinako shook her head. "Don't worry, we'll play nice. We'll just gouge you more than usual when it's bill time."

"Bring it on…" Edward said with a challenging grin at Pinako.

"You bet we will…" Pinako said, matching his grin.

Alphonse could only sigh and shake his head. "You two haven't changed…" He muttered.

Alphonse sat waiting patiently for Edward to be finished.

He was worried that Winry wouldn't be nice during the operation. She had never surfaced from her room, always having Pinako bringing her meals to her, so Edward never had a chance to apologise to her. He could only hold onto hope that Winry would remain professional about it and not let personal feelings get in the way.

Finally, Edward emerged from the procedure room while working his automail arm to get a feel for it. Quickly grabbing his uniform jacket, he walked outside without looking at Alphonse.

At first, Alphonse was hurt by being ignored, but then he suddenly remembered why Edward went outside. A grin appeared on his face as he rushed outside after his older brother.

"I was afraid you'd forgotten." Edward said as he stood on the porch.

"I almost did." He said apologetically as Edward threw his jacket over the railing as he walked down the stairs with Alphonse right behind him.

"So, do you think you can still take me? I've added military combat training to Izumi's."

Alphonse smiled. "I may be training to be a doctor, but I know I can still keep up with you in a fight."

"Then bring it on…" Edward said, making a motion for Alphonse to make the first move.

"I'll be glad to." He said as he charged at his older brother, who easily dodged it before grabbing Alphonse's arm and tossing him with ease.

Alphonse immediately recovered and came at him again.

Winry sighed as she came out onto the porch with Pinako. "He really enjoys trying to break my hard work doesn't he?" Winry grumbled.

Pinako smiled as she blew out some smoke from her pipe. "Don't be so hard on him. It's not like the military turned him into a monster."

"We can probably thank Roy for that."

Pinako nodded. "Of course we can. You'll have to thank him next time you see him."

Winry nodded absently as she watched them train.

Pinako chuckled quietly as they stood and watched the rest of the training session in silence.

Eventually the brothers approached the porch, panting in exhaustion.

"Go get cleaned up." Pinako ordered.

Edward mockingly saluted her with his left hand as he and Alphonse went inside.

Winry glanced at Pinako quizzically.

She chuckled in amusement. "I told him that he'd be staying here until the automail was done. I wanted to test how well trained Director Mustang had him, so I said that it was an order. He snapped right into my test without thinking until after it had happened."

Winry laughed. "So that's why he saluted you like that?"

Pinako nodded with a grin. "More than likely…"

Winry looked at the abandoned blue jacket slung over the railing. "I'm torn between letting him go back and tying him up in the house and refusing to let him go."

Pinako nodded. "I know how you feel. It's actually nice having him back here…"

Winry sighed. "I'm surprised he's gotten so far though. Did he forsake a social life or something?" Winry asked worriedly.

"Who knows? We did treat him pretty badly… you especially."

Winry blushed in shame. "I know. He just knew how to push the wrong buttons and I snapped…"

Pinako patted her arm comfortingly. "Don't let it bother you…"

Winry remained silent until Edward and Alphonse returned after getting cleaned up.

"It's so quiet here. I'd forgotten how quiet…" Edward said as he put on his jacket.

Pinako glanced at Alphonse and frowned worriedly. "You're bleeding."

Alphonse stared down at her in surprise before glancing at his arm. He blinked in surprise at the long cut that made its way across his arm. "When did that happen?" He sighed. "Well, we should look after it before it gets infected."

"We'll be inside if you need us." Pinako said as she followed Alphonse inside, leaving Edward and Winry alone on the porch.

Edward sighed as he leaned on the railing, staring out at the empty fields before them. "Winry I'm sorry for everything that happened back then. I would have told you sooner, but you were so busy working on my automail that I decided not to disturb you."

Winry smiled as she joined him on the railing. "It's fine. As soon as I saw how bad your automail was, I realized you still cared for us. If your automail was still in good shape, I would have known you had gone elsewhere."

Edward looked at her in confusion.

"I know you're bad at maintenance. That's never been a strong point of yours. The condition of your automail told me everything I needed to know. And I'm glad…"

Edward sighed, shaking his head. "You're still an automail junkie…"

"And you're still an alchemy freak." Her response had the usual amount of bite in it that those exchanges always had. Edward was grateful for that.

"It's good to have you back. Things around here haven't been the same without you. Even if you only come back for the occasional visits, it's better than you not returning at all." Winry said quietly. "Heh… I guess it isn't fair that you apologise and I don't. I'm sorry for everything I said, and did. Once I calmed down I realized that it was stupid of me to have attacked you like that. I'm very sorry…" She said as she buried her face in her arms.

Edward wrapped his arm around her shoulders. "You had every right. I was way out of line with everything that happened. Hell, you still probably have a few free blows left if ever you want to use them."

Winry looked at him in surprise and shock.

All this time, Edward had been trying to build up the nerve to do something he never would have done in the past. Before she could say anything more, he tilted her head upward with his left hand and kissed her.

Winry's eyes widened in surprise. She had never expected him to ever show any sign of affection for her. She figured a younger version of herself would probably have slapped him for it, but instead she wrapped her arms around his neck and gratefully deepened the kiss.

Alphonse sighed as he looked over the wrappings that covered the cut. "I must admit: I thought I had evaded him better than that." He said with an impressed tone.

Pinako chuckled as she cooked dinner. "I thought so too. I'm surprised; you're still in pretty good shape considering you haven't had a sparring partner in such a long time."

Alphonse nodded in agreement before looking at the door leading to the porch. "I hope those two can get along again. They can be so stubborn."

Pinako nodded. "I'm sure things will work out better than we expect, Alphonse." She said reassuringly.

Alphonse chuckled as he began helping her.

With dinner almost done, Pinako grinned as Alphonse set the table. "I may just keep you around; you're better help than Winry!"

"I'm offended by that!" Winry said as she and Edward came in.

Alphonse thought he saw them holding each other's hands, but when he looked again, they weren't.

Pinako cackled. "Well it's true! You two are just in time for dinner." She said as Winry helped her serve.

"It's nice to have all four of us eating together again." Edward said as they sat.

The others nodded in agreement as they began to eat and talk happily.

Once the dishes were cleaned and put away, Pinako brought out a familiar booklet that had Edward shaking his head. "Don't bother…" He said, causing Pinako and Winry to look at him in surprise. "I've made up my own price." He explained.

Alphonse looked at him curiously. "This is a first, what do you mean, brother?"

Edward produced a sizeable pile of money and placed it into Pinako's hands. "Call it five years' worth of back payments. And I'm not taking a single cent back." He said casually before he went outside.

Alphonse and Winry hovered around Pinako as she counted. Her face began to lose colour as she continued to count before finally, she had to sit in shock.

Winry and Alphonse stared at each other with similar expressions of shock. The amount of money Edward had given Pinako was equal to ten payments for his set of automail, a great deal more than any of them had expected.

"We have to-" Winry began, but Alphonse raised his hand to cut her off.

"Don't bother. You heard him. You know as well as I do that he'll leave it here when he returns to Central in two months."

"Two months?" Winry and Pinako said in surprise.

"Yeah, General Mustang sent him on a two month leave."

"He sends his regards too." Everyone jumped as Edward stood leaning against the wall. "Sorry about that. Come on, it looks as though it's going to be a nice sunset tonight." He said before going back outside.

"You heard him." Alphonse said in amusement as he headed for the door.

Winry and Pinako looked at each other before rolling their eyes and going out to join the brothers.

Two months passed as Edward entered Roy's office. "I'm reporting in from my two month leave, sir."

Roy nodded with a smile. "I heard Winry came back with you."

"Yeah… she's visiting Sciezka."

"It's good to see that you managed to reconcile with everyone."

Edward nodded. "It's a huge burden that's been lifted, that's for certain."

"Then I expect your productivity to double." Roy smirked at Edward's expression. "I'm only kidding. Learn to lighten up, Fullmetal."

"Tsk. If we weren't on duty, I'd have quite a few choice words for you."

Roy laughed. "You have the rest of the day off to do what you want. I want you here tomorrow though."

"You're too lenient on me; people may start whispering about favouritism." Edward said, frowning.

Roy shrugged. "Don't worry. It was only this once. Just consider your two month leave as a favour repaid."

Edward sighed and nodded. "I guess I'd better get going. I wanted to go visit Brigadier General Hughes."

Roy nodded. "Oh yeah, Riza and Gracia are starting up a new little club and they believe Winry would make a perfect candidate to join."

Edward paused as his hand was on the doorknob before looking back at him in confusion. "What kind of club?"

Roy shrugged casually. "They don't have a name for it yet, so they've just been calling it the MOWC."

"What does that stand for?" Edward asked warily.

"Nothing special." Roy said before a sly smirk appeared. "Just the Military Officers' Wives Club. As they said, they're still working on the name."

Edward's colour changed rapidly as he paled, which quickly turned to blushing before he looked back at the door to hide his face. "Tell them I said that won't be happening in their lifetime."

Roy burst out laughing. "I won't tell them anything. You never can tell with people these days…" He said slyly before Edward regained his composure and left the office.

He could hear Edward's grumblings outside his door, which faded away as Edward walked away. "You really never can tell anymore…" Roy muttered before sighing down at a stack of papers that demanded his attention.

Author's Note: That's it! It's done! Now there will be a month's hiatus from me until I begin uploading the pride of my story fleet: Winged Destiny. I hope you all enjoyed Return to Chaos. It was a love/hate relationship between me and it during it's rebirth, but I still enjoy the final results. I'm not 100 percent satisfied with it, but I doubt I'll go back and modify it. So enjoy the conclusion of Return to Chaos!