The Phoenix and His Demons

Wow, only a single day and already reviews, I\'m quite impressed and very grateful. So, since you\'ve asked you shall receive.

Disclaimer is as before, see the prologue for specific warnings and all that jazz.

Also, I would like to encourage people to take a look at my other story, Oblivion\'s Beginning in the FF7 section. I\'m quite proud of it but seems no one feels the need to review it. Ah well.

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Reunion...sorta


\"Um, Winry? You okay?\" Ed had managed to catch his friend as she fainted but damn it was hard to do much with just one arm. He couldn\'t pick her up and carry her inside and he was getting no answer from her. Now a slightly nervous blonde called out into the house for help. \"Hello? Aunt Pinako? Anyone...um...could use some help here. Anyone?!\" Silence greeted him for a few minutes causing him to fret even more as he tried to drag the unconscious girl into the room. A sigh of relief passed his lips as he heard footsteps coming down the stairs but that relief quickly turned to surprise and a bit of annoyance, as it was a man\'s voice that greeted him.

\"Winry? Who is it? What\'s going on?\" The young man appeared to be about their age with green eyes and mussed brown hair that just barely reached his shoulders. Shock was splayed across his face as he took in the sight before him. \"W-who are you? And what have you done to my Winry?\" Panic seized him and he rushed to grab the girl from the stranger. The blonde girl was picked up and cradled in his arms lovingly as he carried her to a couch just inside the living room.

Edward blinked. Then he did it again. \"Your Winry? What the hell do you mean \'your Winry\'? I don\'t even know who the hell you are?\" Okay, so his manners hadn\'t improved much either but damn, this was not the homecoming he was expecting and the guy fussing over Winry was most definitely Not Al, so confusion and shock shut off the bits of his brain that stored and recognized the need for civility. \"I\'m Edward and I didn\'t do anything to her, she just fainted.\"

The darker haired man was shaking Winry lightly trying desperately to wake her up when he heard the other had followed him in. Did he just say his name was Edward? A gulp escaped his throat as he paled and turned to face the late night visitor. \"E-Ed-Edward ...Elric? You\'re...oh shit! I\'m so sorry, I didn\'t know, I thought...you\'re supposed to be dead. I mean I think they think you\'re dead. That explains.\" Edward just stared and stared and watched as the man rambled more than Hughes with pictures of his daughter. \"Oh dear me, Mr. Elric, I\'m so sorry I\'ve forgotten my manners. Come in and please have a seat. I\'m Marcus Wallace, um...Winry\'s betrothed.\" He was blushing and wincing a bit. From all that he\'s heard talk of Edward Elric he wasn\'t sure if he was just about to be killed or not.

\"Okay, Marcus, nice to meet you now shut up for a minute cause you\'re rambling and giving me a headache.\" He huffed and looked around. Nothing much had changed, which brought a small smile to his face. \"I don\'t suppose you know where my brother is and where\'s the old bag?\" Ed had retrieved his bag and closed his door before flopping down on the couch opposite Marcus.

Marcus blushed furiously at the admonishment, \"Oh, Pinako is upstairs asleep. Do you think Winry will be all right? Wow, Edward Elric. I\'m honored, really I just never thought I\'d get to meet you and I\'ve heard so much about you from everyone.\"

Winry moaned as she started to stir, her eyes finally fluttering open. Oh, Marcus...I thought...I thought I saw Edward.\" She started to sit up and caught sight of the one armed blonde sitting across the room. \"Edward! Oh my..you\'re alive!\" She squealed and apparently forgot that she\'d just fainted a bit before as she half flew off the couch and across the room to pounce and smother the blonde alchemist. \"You\'re alive. Al will be so happy, he\'s been going nuts trying to find you and get you back but he\'s not been here in over a year. I missed you so much.\"

\"Win...ry...you\'re...choking me. Can\'t...breathe!\" While he loved the fact that she was happy to see him, she was currently squishing the life out of him and thus he was trying to squirm out of her grasp.

\"Oh! I\'m so sorry!\" She sat back and smiled before doing the unexpected. Her hand drew back and she slapped him much to his and Marcus\' horror and confusion. \"Now where the hell have you been?! Answer me damn it! How Dare you disappear on us for over six years and just show up out of nowhere. I\'ll bet you came here thinking I was going to fix your automail, didn\'t you? Well you got another thing coming, Edward Elric. You\'re going to have to give me a damn good reason why I should even think about doing you a favor.\"

\"Um, Winry? I\'m sorry?\" He could be innocent looking when he wanted and he was trying with all sincerity to look apologetic.

\"That\'s not...did you just say you\'re sorry?\" While feeling awkward and rather left out, Marcus couldn\'t help but snicker before he disappeared into the kitchen to get them refreshments. \"Ugh...I hate you, Edward! It\'s not fair that you can do that.\"

He chuckled softly at her frustration. \"I missed you guys too Winry, I really did. So will you do it? Will you fix up my arm so I can go find my brother and probably get my ass kicked for taking so long to get back home?\"

\"Of course, Ed. You know you\'re always welcome here, but you didn\'t answer my question. Where were you?\"

\"That\'s...a little hard to explain. Can I get something to eat and a bath and some rest first? It wasn\'t exactly all pretty over there.\"

\"All right. You know your way around. She\'s gonna be happy to see you, she\'s been worried too though she\'ll never admit it.\"

He chuckled a bit and nodded. \"Yeah I still remember. Thanks Winry, it means more than you\'ll ever know.\" He kissed her cheek, picked up his suitcase and headed for the stairs, though he paused and looked back with a smirk. \"I like him Winry, he suits you.\" She blushed to his laughter and listened as footsteps echoed up the stairs and into one of the rooms.

\"Oh, he\'s gone already?\" Marcus returned with drinks in time to see Ed disappearing up the stairs. The tray was set on the table and he joined her on the couch, an arm wrapped around her shoulders. \"Are you okay?\" He sounded a bit worried, not quite jealous but nervous. It was hard not to worry when your love\'s first crush has just come back from the dead.

\"I\'m fine. I\'m happy he\'s back but, it\'s going to be just like old times. He\'s not going to change one bit.\" She smiled and curled in against him, a rather cute and cozy couple. \"I love you, Marcus. Nothing and no one will ever change that.\" Her head turned to the side, lips brushing against his cheek before meeting his in a sensual kiss.

\"I love you too\"

Upstairs, he slipped into one of the spare rooms, dropping his bag on a bed and slowly stripping down to his boxers before grabbing a towel and heading to the bathroom. Golden eyes watched the water cascade into the tub as time slipped away. In his mind he could hear the voices of children laughing and splashing each other and a smile touched his lips. It was so good to be home again. When the tub was half full he stopped the water and pulled off his underwear, slipping into the tub with a low moan as the heat started to wipe away the grime and massage away the soreness in his muscles. Looking down at his legs, both flesh he wondered how he was going to explain away why he\'d gotten one limb back and not the other; especially when he didn\'t know the answer to that himself. He supposed it could be the price of coming home, or something else but he just wasn\'t sure what it was. \"Ah well, such mysteries can wait for tomorrow. Tonight i\'m really going to relax.\" He kept telling himself that; had been for years but it never really happened. His mind just refused to quit. It needed an off button. He lingered in the tub until the water grew cool then grumbled as he pulled himself out, drained it and dried off. After dressing, he collapsed into bed and partook of the best night of sleep he\'d had in ten years or more.