Freak Like Me

I'm Not Letting Go

**2 years later**

Ed's P.O.V.

"Are you coming, Brother?" Al called from the bottom of the ladder. "Den and I will eat all of the apple pie before you even get inside," he teased as I struggled to climb down. Damn leg. I kept forgetting to oil it. Winry would kill me. I was greeted by Al's smiling face when I made it to the ground. "Let's go," he grinned, running inside. I followed slowly, leisurely. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw something move around the corner of the house. "Hey!" I shouted, pursuing the unknown peeper. I rounded the side of the house and froze in shock. "Lillith?" I whispered. She whirled around to face me, looking scared and defenseless. "What happened? We looked everywhere for you! Why did you leave?" I asked, approaching her slowly. I didn't want to scare her away. "I-I came to check on Alphonse, to see how he was doing. I-I'm sorry I came here. It was a mistake. I'll go," she murmured, turning to leave. "Where have you been?" I asked. She faced me again and frowned. "Here and there. Wherever it was warm enough to sleep," she replied vaguely.

"Why didn't you go home? Why didn't you wait for us? You had somewhere to go, Lillith. You know that, right?" I said, moving even closer. "I couldn't go home like this. I would have been miserable. My mother may love me like this, but no one else will," she replied, her eyes watering. If only she knew. Al loved her. She was all he ever thought about. He was still looking for her, unaware that she was standing right here on the back porch. "You don't know what you're saying, Lillith. You could have stayed here with us. Al needed you. You could have helped him," I sighed, trying to get her to listen. "Help?" she scoffed. "He's normal now. We were only close because what we had in common was our abnormalities, the fact that we didn't fit in with anyone else. Now that he's back in his body, he is normal. And he doesn't need a freak ruining his life." There was so much self-loathing in her voice. "That's not true," I replied. She shook her head and began to walk away. "Where are you going?" I called. She shrugged and continued down the long dirt road.

Al P.O.V.

"What's wrong?" Winry asked as Brother stormed into the house. He walked straight past her and leaned over the table, glaring at me. "Wh-what is it, Brother?" I stammered, staring warily. "You. Outside, now," he ordered, his voice barely above a whisper. "Why?" I asked. He pointed over his shoulder toward the door. "Go get her, you idiot," he sighed. "H-her?" I whispered. He couldn't be talking about Lillith. Lillith was gone. There was no way she was all the way out here in Resembool. "Yes, her. You love her, don't you? Go," he said, throwing himself into the chair across from me. "O-okay!" I exclaimed, jumping from my seat at the kitchen table. I stumbled to the door and took off across the yard. A dark-haired figure could be seen in the distance, shuffling down the old gravel road. "Lillith! Lillith, wait!" I shouted, running after her. She stopped in the middle of the road, still facing away from me.

It wasn't until I was close enough to touch her that she turned around. Tears were falling from those eyes that swirled scarlet, rose, and crimson. Those beautiful eyes that held so much pain. She twirled her hair nervously around her fingers, avoiding my gaze. "Why did you run away from me?" I asked softly. She sniffled, wiping her tears on the sleeve of her pale green dress. She always looked so beautiful in green. "I shouldn't be here. I must go," she whispered, turning away from me. I reached out and grabbed her wrist, spinning her around and pulling her close to me. I locked my arms around her waist, refusing to let her go. "Why?" I repeated. "You don't need me. I'm not normal. You need someone who's not a freak," she sobbed, burying her face in her hands. "You're not a freak," I sighed, pulling her hands away. She hesitantly looked into my eyes. Every time I looked at her, she took my breath away. "You're my everything," I murmured as I brushed her hair from her face, surprised that I had voiced my thoughts. She looked just as shocked as me.

"I made the mistake of letting you go before, and I'm not going to do it again," I vowed. "But why?" she whimpered. I laughed, chuckling even harder when I saw her glaring at me. "Why are you laughing at me?" she wailed. "Silly girl. Don't you realize by now? I love you, Lillith," I whispered, my face a few inches from hers. She wriggled out of my arms, staring at me with pure rage. She shoved me hard. "You couldn't have told me this two years ago!?" she shouted. I laughed again, pulling her into a tight hug. "I'm telling you now, and that's what matters," I sighed happily, pulling her closer. "I love you too, Alphonse. I always have," she whispered, burying her head in my shoulder. "I'm never going to let you go," I promised.

Lillith P.O.V.

"So you guys are going to rebuild their old house?" Winry asked, watching Ed and Al gather the building materials that had just been dropped off. Alphonse had brought me over there a few weeks ago. I still remembered it like it was yesterday. He looked at me and said, "Remember two years ago when I brought you here and you asked me why?" I had nodded, curious and slightly wary. "Well, I was going to tell you that when I got my body back, I wanted to rebuild it, and live here. Ed and I grew up here, and I wanted to spend the rest of my life here. I had never told anyone that," he murmured. "Why are you telling me now?" I asked, peeking up at him shyly. "Because, now I don't just want to live here; I want us to live here, to build a life together," he answered, a light pink blush rising to his cheeks. I was so happy that I had jumped into his arms. I smiled at the memory as I turned to Winry.

"Yup," I replied, staring out the window with her. "That's nice. It will really be good for Al," she murmured, sipping the ice cold lemonade I had just made. "He's happy?" I whispered to myself. I was caught off guard by Winry's high-pitched giggle. "Of course. When are you going to believe that he really does love you?" she asked, her bright blue eyes sparkling with joy. "I know he does. I just can't believe it. It's like a fairy tale," I replied, fidgeting with my tail as it lazily swayed back and forth. "Well, here's to your happily ever after," she cheered, raising her glass. I tapped my glass against hers and smiled. Al waved at us as we watched out the window. I blew him a kiss and his face broke out into a wide grin. Happily ever after. Yeah, I liked the sound of that.