It is a gorgeous day in Risembool. The air is not very hot, and it's not very cold, but just comfortable. Springtime is here, and the flowers are beginning to pop out of the ground and blossom. Birds are constantly chirping, and young children are riding their bikes in the fresh green grass.

Edward Elric takes one whiff of the air, and a goofy smile crosses his face. "Al, can you smell that?"

Alphonse sniffs the air and smiles with joy. Being able to smell the air again makes him content. Sometimes it seems like it was just yesterday he was still in the cold, steel armor. After another long adventure in Germany, somehow the Elric brothers found a way to get back through the Gate, but it wasn't an easy task. They don't plan on talking about it to anyone who asks.

Al responds, "Yeah. The smell of Spring at home." Alphonse is happy to return home. Sure, he had fun being on the other side of the Gate. He was reunited with his brother, finally, and he couldn't have asked for anything else in the world. But he was homesick. He missed Winry, Rose, and the others. He missed Risembool.

Al stumbles a little from carrying Ed. When they passed through the Gate, Ed's prosthetic limbs from Germany didn't function anymore. That's why they are on their way to visit Winry, so Ed can get automail again.

Ed just turned twenty this year, and surprisingly, he grew a couple of inches again. Ed actually can't wait to get his automail back. Sure, human flesh feels much better than cold metal, but Winry's automail is better than what he had in Germany, in his opinion. She designs it special just for him, and he enjoys sparring with Al after he gets new automail; however, Winry screams at him because he will most likely break it again.

Al stumbles again. He sighs, "Good thing we are almost at Winry's house. If we had to travel much farther I just might drop you."

Ed says, "Hey, I wish I can walk! I'm sorry." Edward frowns. He thinks back to those couple of times when he was helpless because he damaged his automail. He's going to make sure he doesn't damage them again. "Once we get to Winry's house I'll get new automail, and you'll never have to carry me again!"

Al laughs, "Yeah, right! Until you go out and break it again like usual."

Ed became stern with his words. "No, Al. I have no reason to break it anymore. There's no more fighting to do, so no reason for me to go out and be careless."

Al chuckles. His brother actually admits that he is careless. "Still, I wish there is some way we wouldn't have to worry about automail again. Maybe we could…".

"No. No more Philosopher Stones, or anything of the type," Ed interrupts. He looks up and says, "There are just some sins that you can't get rid of….".

Alphonse frowns and continues walking.

One Hour Later

"Hey, Brother?" Al says.

"Yeah, what's up?" Ed responds.

"Do you think Winry will… you know… let us live with her until we gather enough money to build our own house?"

Ed gives him an odd look. "Who says we are building a house? Did you plan this out already or something?"

"Well, not really, but wouldn't it be nice to live back here again in the country where it's peaceful? We could build a house right next to Winry!"

Ed thinks to himself for a couple of seconds. He thought of every other place him and his brother could live at. 'Being close to Winry would be nice… since she never really got to see us much after we left many years ago. I guess we owe it to her.'

Ed smiles, "Yeah, that would be nice. I mean, where else can we go? I sure as hell am not living in Central or East City! I need to stay as far away from Mustang and his toadies. If we go to Rush Valley, Winry will move and live with us and make us go broke! I'm never going back to Xenotime. Russell will just call me a shrimp, even though I swear I'm probably as tall as him now! Aquroya has probably sunk, and Liore is in the middle of the desert. Yep, we are staying in Risembool!" Ed laughs, almost cackles, and then takes in deep breaths after that long speech.

Alphonse breathes in heavily, and then breathes out. "Brother, was all that really necessary? All you really had to say was yes or no. But oh… I guess I forgot… you're Edward Elric the Full Metal Alchemist, and you wouldn't be you without explaining everything."

Edward hits his brother on the top of his head.

"Owww," Alphonse cries, "That really hurt, Edward!"

Ed growls, "Well it's nice to know that you think of me in that way! But Al…". Ed talks more quietly, "I'm not the Full Metal Alchemist anymore. I haven't been a part of the military for over four years. Now I'm just Edward Elric."

"Don't put it in that way, Brother. People will always remember you by that name when they think back on all the great things you've done for Amestris," Al smiles softly.

"Heh," Ed blurts. That is all he says. For some reason he can't think of a response to that. Maybe because he doesn't think everything he did was actually beneficial to the people, but just caused even more pain…

A couple of hours later, around 7 P.M.

"Al, remind me again. How many days has it been since we passed through the Gate and are trying to make it to Winry's house?" Edward moaned.

Al pants, "Today… is… the fourth… day…". 'And I'm about to pass out from carrying you!' Al thinks to himself.

"And how many times did we attempt to hitchhike?"

Sighing, Al says, "I… ran out of… fingers to… count."

"Ergh… Al, are we there yet?" Ed whines. He starts squirming in Al's arms, so Al gets a tighter grip on him.

Al looks into the distance ahead of them, and squints his eyes. He sees a large wooden sign with words painted with white paint. The sign reads "Rockbell Automail". Al's mouth curves into a wide grin as he says, "As a matter of fact, we are!"

Ed whips his head around, and he sees Winry's house. Ed taps his brother's shoulder, "Hurry Al! We're here! Run!"

Al starts to walk at a faster pace. "Are you kidding! I can barely walk this fast! Why don't you get up and start hopping? You'd probably beat me!" Al yells.

Inside Winry's house, she is upstairs cleaning up her work area. She was about to walk down the stairs to finish her dinner until she heard loud noises.

"Is that… yelling?" She says to herself.

Ed cocks one eyebrow, "What does that mean? ………… You just wanna laugh at me! Run!"

Al rolls his eyes and begins to run. He doesn't understand how he has this much energy to run, but he just keeps running. About two minutes later, he reaches the steps to the front porch. He stands for a second to catch his breath. Slowly, he puts one leg in front of the other and walks up the steps. "I never knew… walking up steps would be… this hard!" Al manages to say.

Al walks to the door and says, "You knock. My hands are full."

Winry walks into another room and walks out onto the deck off of the room. She leans over the railing. She was about to yell something until she heard knocking on the door.

Ed reaches over and bangs the door three times. Al couldn't stand anymore. They haven't had much to eat or drink, so he was about to pass out. He takes one step backwards and starts stumbling.

"Al…," Edward says with concern.

"Ed, I'm going to fall!" Al forgot the steps were behind him, and he feels himself falling backwards.

BOOM!

Al crashed down the stairs and onto the ground taking Edward with him. Ed smashed into the ground face first, and Al is on top of his back.

"My… back…," Ed squeaks painfully.

Winry rushed downstairs to open the door. She walks out and looks down the stairs. Her eyes light up. "Alphonse? Is that you!" She says. She looks under Al, noticing he was on top of something. Winry jumps. Tears almost form in her eyes.

"Edward!"