Never Too Late

Disclaimer: I Don't Own FMA or the Song Never Too Late. FMA Belongs to Hiromu Arakawa and the Song Belongs to Three Days Grace.

Rating: PG—PG-13 Due To Violence, Blood, Bad Language, Angst, and Suggestive Themes.

A/N: Last chapter :) hope you enjoy!

F—M—A

Ed smiled at his beloved blonde friend fondly and, before he knew it, his hand had gripped hers in return and a blush crept onto his face, but he could care less.

"As long as I'm still welcome there, going home would make me happy," he mumbled to her, his golden orbs sparkling with an undefined happiness. Winry smiled at him sweetly, making his heart skip a few beats.

"Of course you're still welcome!" she told him but, suddenly, her smile faded and she became serious. "But I would like you to explain to me what's going on." Ed's eyes widened at her words and he even noticed that her hand had now slipped out of his. He sighed to himself and looked into her ocean-blue eyes, nodding once but unsurely. The girl forced another smile on her lovely features before wrapping an arm around his waist. The Elric smiled in return and did the same before the two blondes began walking towards the train station.

F—M—A

Once they had boarded the train, they sat together in an empty booth, facing each other. For a few minutes, as the train was departing, all they could do was sit there and stare out the window while glancing at each other through the corners of their eyes every so often. It was silent; awkwardly silent. All that could be heard was the sounds of the train's rails against the tracks below. Where could the two blondes begin, after all? It had been two years…one of them thought the other was dead and, suddenly…it was like he was back from the dead.

Both miscalculating, they glanced at each other at the same time and widened their eyes before blushing and smiling anxiously. Ed noted that Winry's smile didn't last very long and, soon after, his faded as well.

"W…Winry, what's wrong?" he asked her sadly, wanting to bring a real smile to her face once more; they just made her look so beautiful and he didn't want her to be depressed over him anymore. The Rockbell looked up to him before sighing.

"It's just…I don't know what to ask you, where to start…or even if we can bring this back again..." she replied softly. Her words certainly perked Ed's interest.

Bring this back? He questioned himself curiously. "What's that supposed to mean?" he voiced his next thoughts quietly. Winry looked up to him, a sullen expression across her features. Edward could tell that she didn't want to answer his accidental question. However, he wanted to know what she meant.

"I mean…what we had, our friendship…people change with time, Edward…" she looked out the window, watching the whole world pass by as tears threatened to prick at her blue orbs. "What if…we've just changed too much to be friends again?" she asked finally, causing Ed's golden eyes to widen nervously and sadly. He couldn't believe what he was hearing; it had only been two years, for God's sake! They couldn't possibly have changed so much that they couldn't hold up their friendship…could they? Now she had Edward wondering.

Yes, it had been only two years…but people did, indeed change over time. He, himself, recalled his own personality changes over the years. When he was twelve years old, he was just a scrawny little kid who thought he could handle anything but, when the situation called, his life almost ended. Only a few years later, he had become stronger, more determined and less fearful of his enemies. The Greed incident suddenly played in his head; it wasn't the most orthodox way of handling the situation but at least he had stayed alive and was a little braver.

Maybe Winry's right, he thought, his eyes drooping sadly. What if we have changed too much? What if we just can't stand each other anymore? Those questions scared him in many more ways than one; he didn't want to believe nor accept that he couldn't be with Winry anymore; if he had changed over the past two years, he would just have to change again…for her sake and his. Opening his golden eyes, he smiled at Winry brightly, causing the young woman to raise a brow at him curiously.

"That's impossible, Win!" he told her playfully. "We know each other better than anyone else! We couldn't possibly have changed so much that we can't be friends!" Winry managed to crack a tiny smile at his happy and playful optimism. She then chose to go along with it; she couldn't possibly bring herself to tear down his spirit when it was so high.

"I guess you're right…" she mumbled, the smile still on her face. Her voice, however, expressed her concern and how unsure she was. Edward tried to brush it off. After a few more moments of silence, Winry managed to ask Edward what had happened to him and why a tombstone had stood with his name upon it. The Elric looked up to her and shrugged silently before telling her his story.

F—M—A

When the two blondes finally made it to Resembol, the Sun was about ready to set. They boarded off the train in silence. Once Ed stepped foot on the stations floor, however, he looked around at all the familiar surroundings. The smell of the trains, the ticket booths, and the slightly aged floor beneath his feet; it brought back so many memories.

He continued following Winry until they were standing on the dirt trail that led to town. He took a deep breath and smiled at the crisp air around him. To say he was feeling nostalgic would be an understatement. Of course he had missed his hometown; those two years had been far too long. He then looked over to Winry; it had also been too long since he had seen her. He suddenly wanted her to hold him that way she had done when she saw him earlier today. He sighed as he figured it was nothing but a distant, hopeless dream; something that would probably never happen again.

He continued following the blonde ahead of him, passing through town and greeting the familiar faces he hadn't seen for so long. He smiled as they all noted how much taller he had gotten, and even told him so. Winry simply rolled her eyes at all of this; some things would never change, she realized. Eventually, getting out of town and waking on the dirt path that led home, the two blondes had reached a comfortable silence; a silence they both treasured greatly.

They soon stood before the two story, yellow house of the Rockbell's. Ed's eyes suddenly tensed sadly at his other memories; the ones that had caused him to leave Resembol in the first place. Lowering his gaze and staring at the ground, his fists clenched and he sighed silently. However, it wasn't silent enough because Winry's eyes widened curiously and she looked to him. She became worried as she immediately read the aura about him.

"Ed?" she said in her softest voice. The Elric looked up to her and forced a small smile.

"You…You go on…There's something I have to do." He turned on a heel after saying this and began walking, a frown taking the place of his smile.

"Edward…" The Alchemist looked over his shoulder a he heard his childhood friend mumble his name. Looking into her ocean-blue eyes, he saw worry and sadness, and a longing that he couldn't quite put his finger on. To reassure her that he would b back, he forced another false smile on his lips. He watched as the blonde Rockbell did the same, but the emotions in her eyes would not cease to exist.

Trying his best to ignore said feelings, he turned around and continued walking. Winry simply stood there and watched as he walked off towards wherever he may be headed, just as she had done more so many times before.

F—M—A

Night had finally taken over. The many stars above shone brightly while the crescent moon out-shone them all. The dark night sky contrasted greatly against Mother Nature's lights as small birds flew overhead to find their way home, while others were just starting their day. Crickets sang their song, which could be heard from all over, and fireflies were coming out to play.

Even as all this was occurring, however, Edward couldn't enjoy any of it at the moment. He was currently standing before his mother's gravesite, staring down at it with somber and saddened eyes. His arms were loose at his sides and his fingers refused to be clenched into fists. He stared down at the thing that had caused so much grief in his life and, the reason he had left his home behind so long ago, and even made him try and leave it all behind. It was so ironic that, the same thing that was the center of his pain was the same thing he still loved very deeply.

The Elric sighed in remembering his dear mother. His golden orbs would not tear away their undying gaze from the gray tombstone before him. His whole life had been ruined just because of what he had done to try and bring her back and, yet, he could only blame himself.

"Mom…" his voice was a raspy little whisper that was carried away with the passing breezes. Sighing once again, he lowered his gaze, finally, and shadowed his eyes with his golden bangs. He still missed her deeply, of course wishing she had never left him. But what was done was done; he tried bringing her back and failed; there was no bringing her back. Everything had a beginning and an end; nothing lasted forever. Even the world's oldest rocks must someday crumble.

"Edward?" The Elric jumped slightly at the voice he heard behind him and quickly looked over his shoulder, his golden orbs meeting with deep blue ones.

"Winry," he said, obviously surprised slightly. "What…what's wrong? Why are you here?" he questioned, turning around fully to face and trying to hide his previous depression. Looking into her eyes, he could read her emotions as clearly as the Alchemy books he had read over the years. He once again saw the feelings he had seen before he had left the house. The young, blonde woman said nothing but held her hands together and stared at him, her azure eyes answering his questions.

Edward shrugged and let out a breath before looking away.

"You don't have to worry about me all the time, you know," he stated, trying to sound matter-of-factly but failing as his own emotions wanted to show.

"How can you expect me to not worry about you?" Winry replied, her voice low. The Alchemist's fists finally clenched and his brows tensed. Hissing out a silent breath, he forced himself to relax. He knew very well she couldn't help but worry about him but he just wished she wouldn't…it would ease his mind a whole lot more and…just because he didn't deserve to have someone as kind as Winry worrying over his sorry self. It hurt so much to know he was a sinner who shouldn't even be alive.

Edward looked back to Winry but widened his eyes for a moment when he saw that the girl was now standing right in front of him, hugging herself. He sighed and finally answered her question.

"I don't," he told her plainly. "I just don't think it's healthy to worry over one person for so long…" he added, huffing out a breath and looking away, his eyes tensing, trying to look annoyed as he walked past her, standing behind her and awaiting her comeback. He didn't have to wait very long.

"Yeah, well, it's not exactly 'healthy' to keep your feelings all bottled up inside of you either," she told him in a quiet yet irate tone of voice as she turned around to face him. Ed shrugged and glared at her over his shoulder.

"I refuse to argue with you in front of my mother's grave." It took all the willpower in his body for him to say that and then begin to walk away. The blonde Rockbell glared at him and silently followed behind him. The silence was tense as the two walked out of the cemetery but refused to go home. Edward made his way to a small hill with a tree at the top. Once there, he closed his eyes, crossed his arms, and rested on his shoulder on the trunk of the tree. Winry huffed out a breath and did the same.

"You don't have to follow me around," Edward told her coldly, as he obviously felt her presence.

"It's been two years since I last saw you," Winry retorted. "Just this afternoon, I thought you were dead." Ed's eyes widened at her words suddenly. "I really don't want to leave you alone…" the Rockbell finished, her voice fading into sadness. Edward looked over at her through the corner of his eyes before he sighed. He suddenly asked himself what he was so afraid of. Why wouldn't his hostility end? Even if he didn't deserve to have Winry being so kind, he should just be grateful that she did care about him so much. Why couldn't he just…let her stay with him?

"Winry?" he mumbled suddenly as he stood upright and looked up into the sky. Winry saw him and then did the same.

"What?" she replied quietly. She was met with silence for a few moments.

"Do…do you hate me?" Winry's eyes widened at this question but, before she could answer, Edward continued, lowering his gaze and hiding his eyes behind his bangs once more. "Do you hate me…for always pushing you away when I should've let you stay around? And…for never showing any gratitude…? Do you…Do you hate me…for thinking that you wouldn't care of I had died!?" he asked, his shoulders tensing and his fists and teeth clenching tightly.

Hearing him hold back and restrain his voice from cracking just made Winry want to cry. But hearing him ask these ludicrous questions also made a fire burn in her stomach; a flame of anger.

"Edward, you idiot!" she yelled angrily, the Elric tensing further at her voice. Noticing this, she let out a small breath and forced herself to calm down. "How could you possibly think that I wouldn't care?" she asked him with a soft tone of voice. Edward simply responded by turning his head away from her and continuing to hide his eyes behind his bangs. When he didn't respond vocally, Winry decided to continue speaking as her prediction was unfolding and becoming a reality.

"You were right to stay away," she said to him sternly. Edward looked over his shoulder to her curiously. "And I was right to say we shouldn't be friends…" she said while tightening her hands into fists and looking away. Edward faced her finally.

"No, Winry…" he managed to chock out as he stepped forward. "Listen to me,"—"No!" the Rockbell denied him immediately and turned around. "You didn't come back two years ago…instead; you faked your own death and thought that I'd be grateful…"

"Winry," Edward tried to speak once more but the blonde interrupted him again.

"You stayed away two years ago…what's keeping you here all of a sudden?" her bitter voice demanded before she began to walk away from him. She barely took two steps, however, before having the Elric wrap his arms around her waist from behind while his face once again found its way into her hair. The Rockbell's blue eyes widened at this and her muscles stiffened.

Maybe we'll turn it around

'Cause it's not too late

It's never too late (It's never too late)

It's not too late

It's never too late

"What's keeping me here now…is you," Edward replied finally as his grip tightened and he brought her closer to him. "I want to fix everything I've done to you, Winry…if you give me the chance, I'll show you that we haven't changed so much…I promise, I can fix this…I can bring this back." The mechanic's eyes remained wide at the sincerity in his words. She allowed herself to bring her arms up to his and hold them tightly. "If anything," Edward continued quietly. "We've changed for the better."

A smile tugged at Winry's lips as she relaxed into his muscular and mechanical arms. What an amazing feeling; it felt almost perfect being in his arms like this…no…it was perfect. Her eyes fell closed and, unknowingly, her voice mumbled into confession.

"I missed, Ed…" she said to him in a voice of contentment…and that longing that Edward couldn't quite put his finger on. "And I love you." The color in Ed's eyes grew small at this but he managed to allow a smile onto his lips. He pulled away from her finally, causing Winry to turn around and face him with a curious look across her face.

"Winry," he mumbled her name happily as his flesh hand went up to her face to cup her cheek gently. His smile faded. "Even after all I've done to you…you…you love me?" he asked as he came closer and put his forehead against hers. The Rockbell blushed as she realized she had just confessed her love to him. She pushed her embarrassment aside before quickly wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling his lips into her own.

Although surprised, Edward easily melted into the kiss and returned the favor. His arms found their way around her waist again and his cheeks tinted with red. He figured he would take her kiss as a yes. After a few minutes of their lips and tongues interacting, they pulled away. Edward smiled at his beloved while, once again, rubbing his forehead against hers.

"I love you Winry…that's why, I know…" Edward whispered to her sweetly as his lips found hers again for a moment.

"It's never too late to fix this."

F—M—A

A/N: OMG, I FINISHED! O.O It's a flippin' miracle!XDI'm very sorry to everyone for the HUGE delay but…I suffered writing block about halfway through writing this T.T anyway, I do hope you enjoyed, nevertheless. Please, R&R, constructive criticism, no flames, and thanks! Also, a big thanks to Blueyedblonde, right here on FF! ;D She's the creator of the vid that inspired this story and allowed me permission to write it! :D

Hope you all enjoyed! This story is complete!