"Alex!" Winry Rockbell called up, "Come down here! There's someone I want you to meet!" She turned and looked down at her childhood friend who was busy stuffing his face with food. "Don't worry Ed; I'm sure you'll love her!"

Edward Elric swallowed a mouthful of food and looked up at the blonde. He sighed and took a deep breath, "Listen Winry, I don't need you to set me up!"

"Oh, Ed, when will you ever understand? You'll never get a girl to like you with that short temper of yours!" Winry smirked at him already expecting his outburst.

Ed spewed out his drink and stood up and stomped over to Winry, squaring up to her, "Who are you calling so short that Ponyo could eat him for breakfast?" he shouted. Winry did nothing but look past his shoulder and brush past him into the living room, completely ignoring him. "Winry! Get back here!" He marched after her freezing in his tracks when he saw Winry standing next to a pale blonde haired girl.

She turned around, when she heard Edward coming in. Edward gawked at her, she looked like she was around Ed and Winry's age, and had a petite but curvy frame. What really struck Edward were her eyes. They were piercing green and looking at him with curiosity. "Ed, this is Alexandra Char," Winry snapped him out of his small trance and brought him back to reality, when he said nothing, the taller blonde sighed deeply and in frustration but continued, Alex, this is Edward Elric, we've known each other since we were little kids."

"It's nice to meet you Edward, you can just call me Alex," Alex said, she refused to follow the boy's childish display. She held out her hand in a friendly manner, but he just stuffed his hands in his pockets. It wasn't until Winry loudly cleared her throat that Edward managed a small 'Hey'.

The three teenagers stood like that in an awkward silence, until Edward noticed something outside the window. "I'm going to go see what Al's up to," with that, Edward brushed past the two girls and out the door in a matter of seconds. The girls flinched as the door slammed shut behind the boy.

"Umm..."Winry mumbled, "Sorry, about that, he's not too happy about all this"

"I can tell," Alex replied with a frown on her face.

"Damn Winry," Edward muttered to himself, leaving the two girls behind him. He was snapped out of his thoughts when he heard his brother calling him.

"Brother, there you are!" Alphonse exclaimed. He was sitting on the grass in the backyard playing with Den, "How was your meeting with Alexandra?"

"You knew about that?" Edward accused his younger brother, "What the hell?"

"Oh calm down Brother," Alphonse chuckled lightly, waving his armor bodied hand around, "Winry and I both thought that since you never had much luck with girls, we should take matters into our own hands and besides the Colonel let us have a break for a while."

This sent said golden haired boy into a childish fit. "What do you mean I never had luck with girls?" he shouted.

"Well," Al began, his thoughts wandering to their childhood, "remember when we were both little and we had that fight over who would be the one to marry Winry?" he let out a light laugh when he saw Edward's reddening face as the memory came to his mind.

"You can't use that against me!" Ed cried in exasperation waving his arms around for emphasis, "She turned you down too!"

"So? I got over it."

"Well so did I!" Ed yelled, throwing a tantrum.

"Listen Brother," Alphonse began, in a more serious tone, "I think that you should let her into your life, after all, Alexandra is smart, pretty, funny…" as the boy started to list things, a smirk appeared on Edward's face.

"Oh Al," he said in a singsong voice, "Don't tell me you have a crush on her, do you?"

"W-what?" the younger boy stuttered. He certainly hadn't expected that. "No!"

"Admit it Al, you have a crush on the same girl you're trying to set me up with!" Edward said with a mocking tone in his voice.

"Umm…Al?" a voice behind them, made the two brothers stop their bickering at once. Edward merely froze in place while Alphonse greeted the girl in a cheery voice not at all worried if she had overheard their bickering.

"Hi Alexandra!" he said, "Do you need something?"

"Well, actually," the young girl began nervously, "Winry told me to ask the two of you if you would give me a tour of Resembool."

"Sure! Brother and I would love to show you around!" Al replied in his usual cheery voice, "Wouldn't we?" He knew he wouldn't receive an answer, but he still tried to coax him into the conversation.

"Sure, whatever," as Edward lifted himself off of the lawn, he pretended not to notice Alexandra's hand outstretched, ready to help him up, and coldly brushed it away. Without bothering to make sure the other two were following him, the boy stuffed him hands in his pockets, and turned on his heel, already making his way down the dirt road.

Al and Alex quickly caught up to him, seeing as he kept stalling everyone in a while. With Edward in the lead, the trio walked quietly with only occasional chit chat between the two in the back. The three teenagers then fell into an awkward silence. No one was quite comfortable talking with Edward in such a mood. After no one had spoken for a good 5 minutes, a hand reached out and grabbed Edward's arm, catching him off guard. It wasn't the metal armored one of his brother. No, this hand was small and warm. The grip it had on his arm, though, was iron, when he tried to yank his arm away, her grip never faltered.

"Al, you go on ahead, alright?" the girl said from behind him.

"Uh…ok." Alex and Edward watched as Alphonse hurried away, obviously worried about what was going to happen.

"Edward," Alexandra said slowly, when he didn't turn, she tried again. "Edward!" she said with a little more force.

Edward took a deep breath, readying himself for the scolding he was about to get. "What?" he practically shouted, shoving the petite girl away from him. She stumbled a bit, but otherwise regained her balance. "Sorry," me muttered, barely loud enough for her to hear. When he looked up, his eyes were met by a pair of piercing green ones. It was obvious that she was hurt, even though she refused to show it, and Edward knew that wasn't because of his shoving her.

"Edward," she began, "Listen to me," you could tell that she was trying to keep her voice calm and not yell. "I know that you don't like me, but do you really have to be such a cold jerk," the girl's voice had risen a considerable amount. "I mean really! Here I am trying to be nice to you but you just brush me off."

Edward stood there, absorbing all this. Is this what she really thinks? He thought to himself. "Alex," he said interrupting the young girl's lecture. She looked at him expectedly. "I'm sorry for how I've been acting. I shouldn't have been such a jerk to you." He tried to say it nicely, or as nicely as Edward can possibly be.

"I forgive you," Alexandra said gently, guessing that this was as good a sorry as she's going to get.

"Good." Ed sighed, he turned his head to have a look behind him, "C'mon, Al's probably been waiting for a while." He began to walk ahead but paused for a moment giving Alexandra a chance to catch up. The girl walked towards the young boy, his golden blonde hair in a braid, and his matching eyes. It was true what Winry had said about his being good looking. The girl looked down, hoping that her hair would hide her reddening face as they walked side by side.

"So," Edward began, hoping to strike up a conversation, "What are you doing here in Resembool?" He truly was curious as to how the girl had found such a small place.

"Well," Alex though through her answer, trying not to reveal too much, "I just stopped by here. I'm actually headed to Central."

This seemed to catch Edward attention, "Central huh? What, do you have business there or something?" he asked, obviously intrigued.

"I'm going to see family actually. So, I have to get there as soon as possible."

"Hmm…" Edward pondered; he would be heading back to Central soon as well. He was about to open his mouth when someone interrupted him.

"Alex, Big Brother!" Alphonse cried from a few yards away. He was waving his arms to get their attention. "You two sure took a while."

"What? Didn't want to leave her alone with me, Al?" Edward teased his younger brother lightly. He doubted his brother even heard him due to the fact that he was already showing Alexandra a few little shops. The boy ran to catch up with them and met them at a little store that sold children's toys. Alphonse had walked off to an alley, probably seeing some stray cat. Edward decided to use this time to talk to Alexandra.

The girl had walked inside and was now admiring a few handmade dolls that sat on a shelf. "I'm guessing that you've never been in a small town before have you?" He asked, leaning against a counter.

"Just a few times, but I've never actually been able to see the little shops and stores by myself. I've lived in big cities for all my life actually." She answered truthfully before she could stop herself.

This confused Edward. "What do mean, you couldn't see the places by yourself?"

This seemed to snap the girl back to reality. "Nothing, just, never mind." She mumbled quickly. Her eye caught sight of a small toy train and she walked over to look at it.

Edward watched her from a distance, still not having leaved the counter. The shopkeeper came up to him and looked him for a moment before saying anything. "How 'bout a drink, kid?" Edward looked at him confused for a moment, but then saw he was holding a glass of water.

He gladly accepted the glass, noticing for the first time, how dry his throat was. As he was gulping down the glass, the shopkeeper said something more. "So, is that your girlfriend over there?"

Edward nearly choked on his water, spewing it out and all over the floor. The shopkeeper merely looked at him, waiting for his answer. He looked like he was in his thirties with ash colored hair. "You should keep an eye on her," he advised when he guessed that the boy wasn't going to answer.

"But, she's not my girlfriend!" Edward hissed, his face turning red. He hoped that Alexandra hadn't noticed anything.

"Hmm…It's a shame," with that, the man walked away, to fix up a shelf where some children were playing earlier.

"Damn bastard," Edward muttered angrily. When he turned around to see the girl, he came face to face with those green eyes. "Are you done?" he asked impatiently.

"Don't worry, I'm done here," Alexandra replied with a smile.

Ed eyed the toy train that she was still holding and held out his hand. "Here, hand it over. I'll pay since you just visiting."

Alexandra only grinned at him, "That's really sweet of you Ed, but don't worry, I have money."

This only made Edward moan, frustrated, "You do know that if you end up paying for this, Winry's gonna kill me for not being a 'gentleman'. I really don't wanna die with a wrench to the head."

"Fine, you pay." Alexandra handed off train to Ed, who set it on the counter.

"Hey, pops!" Edward called out to the shop owner who looked at them with a grin.

"Is this all?" the man addressed the teenagers.

"Yeah," Edward replied quickly, ready to get away from him.

"That'll be 200 cenz."

"Listen, Ed. It's ok, I can pay for it myself," Alex stated. It was ignored though as Ed had already dug into his pocket and pulled out the money.

"Keep the change!" Edward turned and grabbed Alexandra's hand, pulling her behind him.

"Well someone was eager to get out of there," Alex chuckled lightly.

"Oh shut up," Edward said, "Besides, why did you want that train anyways?" he said turning the toy around in his free hand.

"I'll tell you when you let go of me," Alexandra pulled the arm that the boy had been holding on to away and back to her side, making a slight blush appear on Ed's cheeks. Luckily, the young girl didn't notice. "It's for my little brother," she stated matter of factly.

"Oh."

ED'S POV

Alexandra and I were still standing outside of the toy store when she looked over my shoulder at something. I turned around, wondering what caught her attention. The next thing I know, she grabbed my hand and was dragging me behind her.

"I just remembered something," she said quickly and quietly, "Edward, where is the cemetery?" she stopped for a moment to look at me.

"Umm...come with me, I'll show you." I started walking ahead of her, but stopped when I noticed she wasn't following me. "What's wrong?" I asked her.

She looked at me uncertainly and then looked back at the little shops behind us, "What about Alphonse?"

"Don't worry," I tried to reassure her, "Al will be fine, he'll probably know and then head back to Winry's." This seemed to cheer her up a bit. She looked back at me and followed behind me as we made our way to the cemetery. This would also be a good time to catch up with mom, so why not take the opportunity?

Once we made it to the cemetery, Alexandra and I both paused at the entrance. Alexandra took the first step in. I followed in after her. The first thing I did when I entered the cemetery was head over to mom's grave to pay my respects. After a moment, I realized that Alexandra had wandered off to another part of the cemetery and was now kneeling over a headstone.

I said goodbye to my mother and tore myself away from her headstone, making my way to the blonde haired girl. As I neared her, I looked over her shoulder to read the marble headstone. It obviously hasn't been here long, so I could read the words clearly. Michelle Char. I stood there; trying to figure out what the woman buried underground's relationship was with Alexandra. Could Michelle be, her sister? Cousin? Mother? I lay a hand on Alexandra's shoulder and give it a reassuring squeeze. I sit down beside her as her body starts shaking. I watch her sob silently, her shoulders shaking under my hand. I eventually wrap my arms around her shoulders, trying to soothe her. At first she flinches away, then after a moment or two, she leans into my chest, her small hands gripping my shirt as if it were some lifeline, while she finally broke the silence with her sobs.

It felt horrible to see her in such a condition. What could I do? I search my mind, in which during that time, Alex struggles to get her composure back. Her sobs finally die down and her breathing evens out. I look down expecting to see her with a rock hard expression on her face, trying to hide her pain and the fact that I had seen her in such a weak state. But, instead, what I find is a pretty, young girl, fast asleep in my arms. The sight of her there, sleeping, she seems so much different than when she's awake. In sleep, she looks so defenseless, yet, not in peace.

I take my finger tip and lightly trace the outline of her mouth, which is turned in a frown. You can see the worry lines on her forehead, and I wonder still, who the woman she was mourning was. I look back to headstone, but all I see is the name. No date or anything. It's completely blank except for those two words. Michelle Char. I take a deep breath, thinking hard, she never mentioned much about her family that day, except that she had family living in Central and a younger brother.

"Damnit," he muttered, clenching his fist. He was so preoccupied that he forgot that he had been holding Alexandra's shoulder with his automail arm. The young girl winced in pain and quickly shot up. When she realized it was just me, I quickly apologized, looking off into the sunset.

Sunset, it's getting late. If they don't head back soon, Winry would be boiling mad. What with my sending Alphonse home alone and the late hour that we would return at. But before they left, I had to know one thing. "Alexandra," I spoke up looking the girl in the eye, "Who is Michelle Char?" It wasn't until a second later that I realized what I said, "If you don't mind me asking," I added quickly.

When Alex didn't answer, I swore silently to myself. Why had I said that? Why couldn't I have just kept my big mouth shut? Why-

"Just someone I knew," the girl answered vaguely, bringing me back to reality. "I didn't really know her all that well, but…" she trailed off quietly. I knew better than to bring this back up again.

Trying to bring a little light to solemn mood surrounding us, I stood up and held my hand out to her, "Come on," I said nodding back towards the small house, "Winry's probably wondering where we are." I smiled to myself when she took my hand without hesitation.

I couldn't help the thing that happened next, one minute we're just standing there and the next; we're embracing each other tightly, as if clinging on to a last bit of life. Alexandra is short, but I still have to lean down a reasonable distance for my lips to meet hers. I can tell she didn't expect it. Not the least bit. But, then again, neither did I.

She didn't fight back, but, instead placed her hands lightly on my chest and leaned into me some more. I placed my automail hand on the small of her back, my flesh one caressing her small face.

Maybe Winry and Al were right, I thought, maybe I should let her into my life. My eyes snapped open then, finally realizing what I had just done. No, I had to get Al's body back. That's my first priority. I quickly pulled back from Alexandra. Apparently I had used too much force, since I caused her to stumble a bit. She quickly regained her balance though. I made the mistake of meeting her eyes, because when I did, all I saw was confusion, which quickly morphed to anger and hurt. "Sorry, I shouldn't have done that. I saw her start to open her mouth, but before she could say anything, I quickly tuned on my heel and out of the cemetery, but I was stopped short when I heard her call from behind me.

"So that's it?" she yelled, the hurt in her voice was obvious, "You're just gonna kiss me and leave?"

"Listen, I'm sorry! I shouldn't have done that!" She started saying something else but I interrupted her, "What else do you want from me?" I shouted harshly at her. I turned back and stormed out of the cemetery, leaving the girl behind me.