Rowan and Sakura present the first multi-chaptered FMA fic Rowan has written! We hope you all enjoy it- that is, if you don't mind Elricest and OCs cluttering up the storyline. If you don't like these things, get the hell away from my story! Otherwise, you may proceed.

Disclaimer: Rowan looks to the sky. Nope, she's too close to be Edward. She looks down, around her, only searching within a ten foot radius. She clenches her fist. Nope, no Edward to be found (because you can be sure that if Rowan owned Edward, she'd keep him on a strict leash, so he couldn't run away…)

Warning: One-sided Elricest, OCs. Nothing else (at the moment.)

Note: Okay, I've only seen up to about Episode 41, so naturally, I have no clue how the show ends- so DON'T spoil the show, okay? Thank you in advance, it is much appreciated. So, for my story's timeline, when Ed was 16 and Al 15, they managed to get Al's body back and by (unexplainable) events managed to get Ed;s arm and leg back too. Shit happened between then and now…but what, I'm not sure. Anyway, that's about all you need to know…

The Definition of Sin

Chapter One- Lie

Four years later

Two weeks before their wedding found Winry and Ed curled up on the Rockbell's couch, heads leaning on shoulders and arms wrapped loosely around each others' waists. A fire simmered in the fire place, throwing golden flames over their youthful faces. Pinako Rockbell had gone to bed hours before and they had the house to themselves, but on this cold winter's night, there was not much either wanted to do but cuddle with each other. But a troubled look had entered Edward's deep amber eyes as the time passed and, after a while, he pulled away from Winry's embrace. She looked up in surprise and sent him a questioning glance at his sudden retreat. "Edward? Everything all right?"

Ed nodded absently, eyes turning to the flames dancing before them. His face was blank of emotion, save for the slight downward pull of his fair eyebrows and the corners of his thin mouth turned down in a frown. "Yeah, I'm fine."

Winry pulled a blanket off the couch arm and spread it over her legs, tucked under her body. "I've known you far too long to believe that Ed." She gently placed her hand on his. "Tell me what's on your mind."

Ed lifted his head and gazed into Winry's clear blue eyes, searching for the love in their watery depths. But he missed the regret hiding beneath the surface and when he turned his glance back to the fireplace, he lost the opportunity. Winry pulled her hand back and hid it under the blanket, pulling the wool up to her neck. Calmly, she watched the young man in front of her, still so young in so many ways yet wiser than most of his elders as well. He had carried the weight of the world on those slim shoulders for too many years and just the sight of those often troubled eyes made Winry's heart throb with love. But lately that look was absent from his face, ever since their engagement months before.

Now it had returned, though this night was not the first that Winry had spied it crossing Edward's face. It was a different look from before, though- tortured, shameful, and so much sadder than before. Every time it flashed across Ed's eyes, Winry longed to claw out her heart to dull the pain. If only she knew what troubled him, she could help him and though Ed always used to tease her that she only cared for his automail parts and forget his human side, she knew that a part of him longed to share his pain with her. Even now, as he retained his silence, Winry sensed Ed's longing to let her take care of his problems for him. But Edward, she knew, was too stubborn to do that.

"Winry," Ed broke the quiet unexpectedly, a turn of his head breaking Winry from her thoughts. "I…I can't marry you," he whispered.

"W-what?" she jumped off the couch, the blanket falling to the floor. "What do you mean, Edward?" Her blue eyes were wide, accusing, disbelieving.

Ed looked down at his hands resting in his lap. "I'm sorry Winry, but I can't hurt you like that."

"Edward, what do you mean by that?"

"Well, Winry, I…I don't love you." He looked up at her harsh gasp. "I mean, you are too much like a sister to me that I cannot love you like that. I'm sorry, but everything rebels against it." His hands clenched. "Not that it's much different…" he muttered under his breath.

Winry sank back down on the couch, hands limp in her lap, face slack, emotionless, too stunned to express her sorrow. "Then why-?"

Edward continued to gaze into Winry's face, but then turned away, ashamed. "I thought I could learn to love you in that way. But I can't. I've tried, but it's impossible."

Winry stood and began to pace the room, her body restless with words she could not express. Her movements were jerky, unsure. Edward sat still in the middle of the couch, head bent over his lap. The fire painted the entire room red.

Suddenly, Winry snapped around, a light understanding in her eyes. "Is there someone else?" she asked. Ed nodded his head slowly. "Someone I know?" He nodded again. "Who?"

Edward's shoulder's tightened. "I…someone I can never have."

Winry returned to the couch and sat beside Ed, grabbing his hands and sandwiching them between her own. "Who." she repeated.

"Please don't make me say," Ed pleaded.

Winry frowned at the hands within her own. "But…I just want to help you," she said. Releasing the tension clenching her face, she glanced up with curiosity. "Say, it isn't anyone in the military, is it?"

"No."

Winry let out a sigh of relief. "Good, because if it was that arrogant colonel, I'd have to kill you Ed."

"That bastard! Are you out of your mind?" Edward exclaimed, indignation strong in his eyes. Winry cracked a smile at that, typical Edward. "But no, it's no one in the military."

Winry smiled softly at Edward, her mood brightened by the new guessing game Ed had provided her. "Is it Sheska?"

"Who?" Ed frowned, then laughed lightly. "The bookworm? No, it's not her either. Heck, I wish it was her; we would both be so easily satisfied." He pulled his hands away from Winry. "Please stop guessing Winry, I'm never going to tell you." His face was grave, but like him, Winry too was stubborn (and always had a wrench handy anytime Edward dared defy her.)

"No, Edward, I won't stop guessing until you tell me. I'll ask you about every person we know, even if it comes to Alphonse or Elycia, and I'm sure you don't want me to go there."

Edward paled at the mechanic's words, not only because Elicia was eight years old, but because, without realizing what she had done, she had guessed the very person Edward refused to name. "I…but Winry, I'm…I…" Ed turned his face away, his voice catching in his throat and his eyes defiantly filling with frightened tears. "I just can't," he whispered.

Winry picked the blanket up off the floor and wrapped it around Ed's shoulders. "Why can't you tell me? What is it you're afraid of?"

"I'm afraid that…that you'll hate me, despise me," Ed said. Winry hugged him tightly. She knew how much it hurt his pride to admit he was afraid at all.

"Oh Ed, I could never hate you," she said into his ear. "I have always loved you; nothing could change that."

Ed shut his eyes and curled into himself, towards the heat of Winry's body. Her words filled him with a soothing warmth the fire could never kindle and with new-found confidence and the deep need for comfort from this girl he called sister, Ed took a deep breath and murmured, "It's Al, Winry. I…I'm in love with my own brother."

With a gasp of horrified surprise, Winry released Edward's shoulders and moved slowly away. Silently, a tear escaped Edward's closed eyes, crawling slowly down his shamed cheeks.

tbc

Here, it almost read "'Please don't make me say,' Ed pleaded. 'I'm too ashamed to say.'" but when I tried to type the second part, I accidentally typed 'I'm not ashamed' instead.. Talk about Freudian slip (because, later on, if Ed does get Al, then naturally, that will be an argument for pursuing a relationship beyond brotherhood.) But I don't think, at this point, Edward would say anything about being ashamed (because either it's someone in the military or someone he shouldn't love- a.k.a. his brother.)

I did not want to end the chapter there, except for the cliffhanger factor. This scene will continue in the next chapter, but I almost wanted to continue this chapter until we see Alphonse. Obviously that did not happen, but if you want it to, then you must review. Thank you in advance (and hey! if it's an extra nice review, I'll reply and thank you personally!) Any questions or constructive criticisms are perfectly welcome. Flames shall feed the fire in the Rockbell living room. That fire ain't gonna feed itself, after all! Until next time- Rowan