The Butterfly and Flame Alchemists (COMPLETED)

Part Three

            “You guys will probably be  staying for a little bit won’t you?” Aileana was still talking to everyone in the living room, “I’m sorry that we didn’t get to talk about the stone today, Ed,”

            “No problem Aileana!” he smiled widely as he handed her the vase, “we can always talk these next couple of days. It’s not like Al and I have any missions at the moment,”

            “True, and thank you for fixing my vase, it means a lot to me,” she smiled, then placed the vase on the mantle to prevent it from breaking again, “gentlemen, you’ll be staying down here in the study. I’ll bring in some cots for you. Edward and Alphonse will stay in the guest room, and Winry can stay in my room if she doesn’t mind sharing a bed,”

            “But what about-” Winry looked over at Roy, who smiled sadly and shook his head.

            “Don’t worry,” he said, picking up his bag and taking it to the study, “I understand,”

            “How come you don’t want to share a room with the Colonel, Aileana? I mean you are his wife,” Alphonse asked.

            “Estranged wife,” she corrected as she made her way to the stairs.

            “Does that mean you’re crazy or  something?” Ed asked, making his way down the hall.

Aileana took Ed’s arm and flipped him over her shoulder and onto his back, stepping on his chest.

            “No you shrimp! It means we’re separated! Weren’t you listening earlier?”

            “Who are you calling ‘so tiny you need a magnifying glass to see him’?!” Ed yelled, flailing his arms and legs as Al held him back.

            “I didn’t say anything like that Edward,” she held the bridge of her nose in frustration, “now if you don’t mind I’d like to go to bed; I’ve had a very emotionally draining day,”

Winry followed her up the stair and to the left, where she walked into a lovely master bedroom. It wasn’t gigantic, but it was rather large. On the right wall was a large bed with yellow sheets covered with a vine pattern and on the left wall was a large dresser. On the wall in front of her was a giant built in bookshelf with three large windows between the shelves and three window seats under the windows.

            “Roy made these for me,” Aileana placed her hand on one of the shelves, “it’s one of the few things that he gave me that I kept,”

            “But why would you get rid of anything your husband gave you?” Winry asked, taking a step forward, “I mean, don’t you still love him?”

            “Of course I still love him Winry,” she said softly, “and that’s the problem. After he left I should have been furious, but I wasn’t. I sat here and waited for him to come back, thinking I was going to wake up and see him smiling at me. Every time I visited our daughter’s grave or  put on my ring,” she moved the hand from the bookshelf to her left hand, “I would think of him and how I wished he had been here to help me,”

            “Not to change the subject,” Winry said slowly, “but I noticed that you move more carefully than you did the last time I saw you. What’s wrong?”

            “Nothing gets passed you,” she chuckled lightly as she sat on a window seat.

            “Of course not, I’m your friend Aileana,” she frowned and sat on the bed, “Does anyone know what’s wrong?”

            “Only a few people in town,” she closed her eyes and smiled sadly, “I’m sick Winry, have been for a while. They don’t know how long I’ve had it or if it’s even curable. It’s similar to Izumi’s illness, in a way, but I’m not missing any organs. I think that’s what scares Rosie more than alchemy, when I have an attack,”

            “Does the Colonel know?” she asked quietly.

            “Of course not. Before today we hadn’t  spoken in years. The only person I told outside of town was Hughes and that was because he was going to take care of Rosie if I got worse,”

            “We need to take you to a doctor in Central then. They can find out what’s wrong with you. I mean, for all we know you could die from this,”

Outside they heard the sound of shattering china. Aileana walked to the door slowly and opened it, exposing a shocked Roy and a shattered tea cup at his feet.

            “I knew you liked to have tea before bed,” he said softly, “so I thought I’d bring you some,”

Aileana sighed heavily and opened the door a bit, looking at Roy closely.

            “I didn’t want you to worry, especially after what happened with Hughes. I was going to get it checked out sooner but I needed to get the money,”

            “We would’ve helped with that,” Winry said sadly.

            “I would’ve helped too,” Roy said as he grabbed her arms gently, “I’ll help now. How much do you need?”

            “That’s very sweet of both of you, but it’s ok now. I made some alchemic art and sold them. I just have to get a train ticket,”

            “I’ll buy it for you,” he moved his hands down to hold her hands, “I owe you so much, just let me do this,”

            “We’ll talk about it later,” she pulled away, “I’m really tired,”

He looked at her for a moment, then walked out of the room, closing the door behind him.

I'm glad a few of you have taken a liking to my story (I mean you are reading it so I guess you like it). There's probably only going to be 7 parts and right now I have five written. What are your thoughts on everything? I know it's a bit of an odd story but I think it's pretty interesting.