The atmosphere in the Rockbell household began taking on a strange mixture of emotions as noon crept closer and closer. From his bedroom, Edward could hear the now familiar sounds of the everyone's normal routine. He stood and stretched, taking a deep breath and smiling when the smell of breakfast made its way to him. He eyed the clothes he left unpacked for today and shrugged off the idea of getting dressed before he ate. He quickly headed out of his bedroom and he and Winry ran right into each other.

"Sheesh, watch where you're going gearhead."

"Shut up, Edward. You're lucky I left my wrench downstairs. I was coming to tell you breakfast is ready, you ass."

"Well let's hurry and get down there, then. You know how Al's been eating since he got his body back. We'll be lucky to have any food left if we take any longer." Since she couldn't argue with that she nodded in understanding. On the way to the kitchen, Winry remembered what else she was going up there to tell him.

"Hey, after we eat come down to the workshop so I can give your leg some precursory maintenance so maybe you can go more than a month without screwing it up to hell and back."

"Yeah, yeah. Fine. Now let's go eat before I starve!" he exclaimed before sprinting the rest of the way down the stairs. Edward heard her mutter something along the lines of 'drama queen,' but was too hungry to care.

Talk at the table was centered around the brothers' upcoming trips, but soon died down into comfortable silence, which, of course Alphonse used as a way to pick on Edward.

"Yeah, although the trips are for research, they'll definitely offer some immense stress relieve for us. Not traveling for so long clutters up my mind." he has in a casual tone. His eyes betrayed his innocent act, leaving Pinako and Winry to wonder what he was playing at. Edward glared at his brother, but refused to let his mind wander to the talk he and Al had the night before. He swiftly kicked his brother's shin, being sure to use his automail leg so it would hurt more. Al glared back for a second before bursting into laughter, and Edward hurried to change the subject before anyone could ask questions.

Once breakfast was done, everyone headed their respective ways: Pinako made her way to her garden; Alphonse to his bedroom; and Edward and Winry down to her workshop in the basement.

"You know the deal. Strip and get up on the table." She said she she gathered her tools and gloves. He hopped up on the table, eager to get this over and done with, mainly because the "precursory maintenance" she always does on his leg involved detaching, cleaning, and re-attaching the nerve endings to the automail. Ed pouted slightly, still finding it awkward to have her practically between his legs while he was stripped down to his boxers. He did as he was told, though. He would much prefer feeling awkward and embarrassed over taking one of her wrenches to his head, and she had a whole arsenal down here.

She made her way over and sat on the stool in front of him. The two sat in silence, with her beginning to unscrew his leg. "I'm about to detach the nerves." she warned. He held his breath and winced at the sharp pain that shot up his thigh. She went about cleaning all of the crevices on the automail, checking for any stripped screws or signs of rust while he sat still. He watched her in silence, mesmerized by her skilled and sure movements. The way she handled automail came as easily to her as alchemy had come to him. Edward suddenly got the urge to run his fingers through her hair, but instead he gripped the edge of the table and turned his attention to the clock on the wall. He would need to be leaving within the next hour if he wanted to catch his train.

She disinfected the nerve sight, and he prepared himself for the re-attachment (and it made everything else seem only mildly uncomfortable). She put her hand on his upper thigh and warned him, but his attention was now focused on how close her hand was to his..-

"AH shit!" he practically screamed.

"Well, I did warn you. Now walk on it a little and let me know if a joint it too tight or too loose. He walked around for a minute or so before telling her it was just right.

The clock chimed, and Edward sighed. "I guess I better go double check my room and get dressed. The train will be here in an hour."

"Granny and Al are going to run errands today, so I'll head on into town with you." He nodded and was shooed out so she could clean up the workshop and then herself in peace.

After giving his room a final inspection, Edward was satisfied that he had packed everything he would need on his journey. He grabbed his bags, eager to get on the road, but before making it through his bedroom door, he paused and sat his bags down again and made his way to the nightstand near his bed. With a quick look over his shoulder to make sure he was alone, he pulled out the photo album Winry had made him for the first Christmas with their bodies being -mostly- intact in five years. It had already been two years since the Promised day, and it seemed like time had flown by lately.

He turned his attention back to the book and skimmed through the pages quickly, pausing only at the family photo of his parents, brother, and himself. He continued flipping through the pages, and smiled down when he found the page he was searching for. He gently slid the three pictures out of the book, lightly tracing his thumb over them.

Walking over to his large bookshelf, he silently cursed at himself for letting it get so cluttered and unorganized. After a few seconds of glancing over the books, he spotted his volume on Xerxes and quickly grabbed it, sliding the photographs between the pages just as Winry appeared at his door.

"Hey, I'm ready whenever… are you still packing?! Geez, I should have figured. Whenever you get done we can head out." she said, leaving before he could reply. He rolled his eyes once she was a safe distance away and struggled to get his bags down the stairs.

Alphonse was leaving for Xing in a week, and Edward knew he would have a hard time adjusting to being without Al for the first time in his life. He was suddenly pulled from his thoughts by Winry standing up and stretching.

"Alright, all done." she said before tossing her mechanic gloves aside. "We should probably be heading out soon."

"Yeah, well my mechanic procrastinated with doing my maintenance. And she had the nerve to call me out for grabbing a book." He said with a smug smirk. The screwdriver that was suddenly flung at his head nearly hit him, and he put his hands up in a show of surrender.

He jumped off the table, testing the joins in his leg before bounding up the stairs.

"Come on, gear head. Don't wanna miss my train." he called, grabbing his bags and running out of the house.

"See ya later, guys!" He called as he passed his brother and Pinako.

The younger Elric brother was about to chase after his brother, but was stopped by a light hand on his shoulder. "What is it Granny?"

"Let him go alone, Winry is about to chase after the boy. Lets give them a chance to say goodbye." she said with a mischievous smile.

Alphonse nodded, understanding why they would need alone time. Winry suddenly raced past the kitchen, spewing threats at Edward the whole way. "You know, I'm beginning to think brother and Winry will never get out of this whole 'aggressive denial of feelings' stage." The old woman smiled at him.

"You're right Alphonse. They will never quit their bickering, but I believe they'll come to terms with their feelings sooner than we expect."

"Why do you say that?"

"Call it a woman's intuition." Al accepted her answer. She always had a way of knowing when things were about to go down.