Price of Happiness

Within us all lies something so precious
Something so unique that no one can
Copy it, immitate it, or ever fully understand it
That something is our hearts, our souls, who we are inside . . .

Cristina McBeth

Chapter 6

Al sighed thoughtfully as he followed Hues, and Gracia carrying Elysia asleep in her arms. He was carrying Jason, who was also asleep in his arms. Noa walked right beside him with Trinity asleep in her arms, it was approaching dusk and they had been walking since shortly before noon. They had all agreed that moving forward was the best course of action. While Hues scanned the area looking for somewhere to camp for the night Al was lost in his thoughts.

He thought of how much Ed had confided in Ry, how much she knew about him, about their past. It made him fearful, her knowing so much about their past. He also knew that Ed felt so much guilt for everything, knew as if by instinct that she would use his guilt against him. He also thought about how much she would have to hurt Ed in order to get him to stop fighting back, to stop being defiant. Ed was always so stubborn, Al knew that if she did get Ed to that point that when he did find him, he wouldn't be the same. She could change him because she knew so much about him. Al silently cursed himself for not stopping Ed from trusting her, not telling Ed that just because she looks like Winry doesn't mean it's her.

Noa noticed the troubled look on his face and said softly to him so as not to wake the sleeping children they carried; ''He will be okay Al, he's strong.''

Al smiled at her as they looked at one another, ''I know that he's strong, I am just worried about him is all.''

Noa could tell that his smile wasn't genuine. She knew that he was worried about how much Ry knew about them. It made her fearful as well. She had come to know them so well in the past five years, and she cared for them deeply. She saw the strength in Ed that he never really saw in himself, and the strength in Alphonse that he didn't see either. But it was the root of their unyeilding strength and determination, the guilt they both had that made her worry about them. She had worried about Ed before he met Ry, but now that she had betrayed them, mislead them, she was even more worried. She prayed that Ry woudln't be able to break Ed, but she also knew that she could, feared that Ed would loose that inner strength and what made him Ed is she did.


Ed hissed in anger as he felt the hot metal brand his left forearm. Ry only gave him a smile and said, "That is so if you manage to escape, you will only suffer even more punishment, but in the camps created by the Nazi's. I don't want you thinking that you have gotten free of your punishment just because you got away from me."

Ed glared at her, "Punishment, from what, I never did anything to you."

She laughed, "Never did anything to me? You were the reason that my childhood friend, someone I was begining to love died. Don't make go over everything you have done to the people you proclaim to care about. The dearest person to you suffered the most, and you don't think you deserve to be punished for that?"

Ed looked away from her, "That wasn't what I, I never meant for any of that to happen. I didn't mean to kill him, I never meant for Al to loose his body, to sacrifice his life for my own . . . "

She smiled, "Of course you didn't, but it still happened, and the fault still goes to you. The if's could have been different if you hadn't of been so selfish."

Ed looked at the ground across from him, "But even so, there isn't anything I can do to make up for any of it. There isn't anything that would set it right or change it now."

She sighed and moved to kneel next to him, "No, but I think that you should pay for it all. You can't change any of it, so you should pay for all the pain you have caused. I will change your attitude for you, make you realize how insignificant you truly are so that you are never capable of making such mistakes again, so that you can't cause anyone else anymore pain."

With that she stood and walked out of the cell saying to Pride outside where he waited for her; "Send them in, I think it is time we began the physical torture."

End of Part 1