They All Lived Story 1: Not Even Worlds

by LadyWordsmith

Seven years after the events of Conqueror of Shamballa, Edward and Alphonse Elric are still in Europe, still on their missions. When Ed has a run in with 'this world's Winry, he has to deal with suppressed emotions, and an unexpected visitor.

Location: England

Date: October 13, 1930 (1924 Amestris)

(Edward Elric age 25...Alphonse Elric age 20): 7 years after Conqueror of Shamballa

The English pub on the river was a quaint little establishment, quiet in the mid-afternoon between tea and supper. The walls were all wood paneled; the ceilings low and wooden beamed, the fireplace stone; an older building, but well kept. The man behind the bar had assured them proudly that his family had owned the pub for five generations.

Alphonse Elric found it all fascinating. Their travels had taken them all over the Continent before bringing them to England. As always, he found himself following his brother on what amounted to a critical and complicated quest, with enough necessary side diversions to fill a dozen novels. On top of trying to track down Hauskisson and his Uranium bomb, and still trying to permanently close the Gate, they were trying to figure out what Adolph Hitler wanted with so many 'mystical' artifacts that most people in this world insisted were nothing more than hoaxes or superstition - they weren't alchemical anyway, Al had no trouble determining that . Well, that should have been enough for the both of them really. They had never been a pair for taking on projects that promised success! They just had a way of making things happen and actually succeeding.

Seven years. It had been seven years since Al had snuck aboard and followed his brother back through the portal, rejoining him permanently. It was a choice Al did not regret, as much as he missed their world and old friends. He sometimes wondered if Ed really missed them or not. Oh, he was sure his brother did on some level; it would be unlike Ed to be otherwise. He was too loyal even if he was distracted by the quests that drove him to distraction so often. Ed seemed driven to succeed; to do the impossible, if always with the best intentions.

Lately, it seemed he was even more distracted. Al had been able to watch Ed with new eyes after coming through the gate; regaining his memories of their travels together had been a blessing, but the two years of training on his own that he'd had - without the mistakes they had made, and the experiences that had jaded him in other ways - had given him perspective, as much as they had been occasionally difficult. His own drive had helped him get his brother back, but he now knew that he knew Ed better, despite being even further apart in age. He'd had time to grow and mature without being 'the younger brother' 'the protected one.' It had helped.

And now, now he was starting to worry about Ed. He wasn't entirely sure what was causing his worry. Outwardly, Ed seemed totally normal - for Ed anyway! He was his usual self, if a little less touchy than he used to be. Having actually grown a little had helped with that. Being focused on the task at hand had helped as well; just as it had when they were younger. When there was a goal to be met, Ed tended to focus on that, or on helping someone who needed it, rather than on himself. It was good for him. Lately...perhaps that was the problem. Ed seemed focused on anything 'but' himself. Not that Al could have placed a why or how he was noticing to it exactly. Edward just seemed to be going out of his way to find other things to be doing.

Like now, for instance. Alphonse had suggested they get a bite to eat after getting off the boat before they went to find the contact they were supposed to meet. Their current hunt had them looking for a gentleman who was -for this world anyway- supposed to be somewhat of an expert on the occult and 'ancient sciences.' A professor at one of the Universities by profession, but a known mystic and student of what passed in this world for alchemy. He taught modern science, interestingly enough, but it was said - so they had heard on their travels and through conversations with a lot of such people - that he could explain how the two 'sciences' were not exclusive. Having 'seen' alchemy work – however unreliably - on this side, Alphonse and Edward had no doubt that he might be able to do just that, if he wasn't some hack. They'd run into an awful lot of those too! Still, someone who might be able to tie the two together -or find a way to use one to stop the other - couldn't be passed up. A couple of acquaintances they had made in Austria had assured the Elrics that this gentleman was genuine.

Al shook his head. He was doing it too; trying to think about one thing, and getting distracted by others. Their mission was important, of course, but his concern at the moment was directed in trying to figure out what was wrong with his brother. Ed was being typically odd again. Ed, of all people, had willingly given up the option of food in order to sniff out some information. Food!

"Another ale, cutie?"

Alphonse looked up at the serving woman who was smiling at him. She was pretty; dark hair, dark eyes, slim waist, and looked to be somewhere between his age and Ed's. She was smiling at him too.

"Yes please, Miss." Al managed not to blush beyond the tips of his ears. He had decided he enjoyed adulthood. It seemed almost as if, somehow, women magically - for lack of a better word - realized he was of an available age. Of course, he looked the part now. He wasn't a kid anymore; even if his reaction to the attention of women still made him feel fourteen sometimes. Their travels had made it impossible to really get to know any of the girls that showed interest, but he was flattered anyway, and always the gentleman.

They noticed Ed a lot too. Odd, Al thought, that Ed never really seemed to notice them back. Not that way anyway.

Maybe that was what bugged Al. Ed had never really shown much romantic interest in girls. At least, no more than Al, and he'd never been distracted or bothered by them. Now though, Al had to admit he found that strange. When they were fifteen and hunting for the Philosophers Stone, he could understand it. They were young, and their entire lives were defined by that mission, by the drive to find the Stone and set things right.

They had a new mission now, though one that focused on helping others, not themselves. Alphonse had agreed entirely with Ed that their focus should be on protecting the world, and the people in it who couldn't protect themselves. It was a much worthier goal. Yet a lot was different now besides that. They weren't kids anymore. He was twenty - though he had the memories of almost twenty-five years - and Ed was well into twenty-five! It seemed an eternity had passed since their childhood, such as it was. Selfless as their goals might have been, that didn't mean that life was all about one thing. It should be diverse, it should be lived!

And Ed did little or none of that. Oh well, he seemed to enjoy himself enough. They had a good laugh now and then, took in a show somewhere, or hit a traveling carnival. A lot of their friends were still among the Roma - the gypsies. Traveling folk that reminded them a lot of home and especially, without the violence, the Ishballans at times. Al felt comfortable with them, despite how different they were from the rest of society. He loved the diversity of this world, the history, the cultures, the food and the music and the art. Ed enjoyed them, he thought, but he didn't seem enraptured by much anymore.

Al smiled at the pretty girl when she brought him another drink, and he ate at his chowder. He was rewarded with another playful smile for his efforts. He would have to see if he could do something to help his brother. After all, that was what brothers were for!

Edward Elric came out of the office of the Department of Sciences at the University frustrated. Professor Paul Bellos, he had been informed, was not currently on the premises, being out doing field research. However, he was expected back in town within the week and would be informed of his inquiry.

Out of town doing field research! That was exactly why Ed and Alphonse had trekked all the way to England; to discuss some of that 'research' with him. Frustrated, Ed hurried off the campus and headed down one of the narrow London streets. He hoped Al didn't mind the wait; it looked like they were going to be in London for a while. He'd have to find them accommodations somewhere fairly cheap. Fortunately they had the names of a few folks who might be able to put them up for a few days. He'd track them down later. Old friends from Berlin mostly - or of 'this world's' Alphonse. It was so much like their old world at times.

As seemed to happen often, especially of late, even thinking of Amestris -which seemed so distant with the intervening years and the hammering violent reality of this world - Ed found his mind wandering to old friends. Had Riza and Roy ever finally given up playing 'coworkers' and gotten together? Had Mustang succeeded in his rise to the top? Seven years was a long time. How old was little Elicia? She should be thirteen now, he thought with a start. Around the age Winry had been when Ed had become a State Alchemist.

Winry. The one he tried not to think about. Thoughts of Winry confused him. They hurt more than the others. He couldn't imagine why they should; at least, not the way they did. She had been like a sister - a sometimes annoying, but endearing sister - for his and Al's whole young lives. They'd been close, of course, but he couldn't imagine her growing up like the others, moving on, having a life, at least, not in a personal sense. Of course, by now, he was sure Rockbell Auto Mail had to be famous all over. Winry had learned from the best, and had exceeded even her grandmother. He couldn't imagine her doing any less.

So why the sharp pain in his gut? Why did it hit him deep down to think of her continuing to live; being happy and healthy and productive and fulfilling her dream of being the best Auto Mail designer and mechanic ever? She'd succeed too, he always thought with pride.

Maybe it was the image in his head. In it, she was still eighteen, as she had been when last he saw her. Not the younger woman he had known and spent time with from childhood through their pre-teen years. He hadn't had the chance to really know Winry as an adult; as a grown woman and not a girl, as much as she'd never really acted as 'childish' as some. The Winry he had seen so briefly was a woman; one more patient than the girl, but ever ready still with a clever quip and a fix for his automail.

It was silly he knew but –

Oof! Damn!

Ed's hand went out automatically to assist the woman in front of him to keep her from falling to the cobbled streets. He'd run into someone. Damn it! He hadn't meant to get distracted. Not now! "I'm so sorry, ma'am. I didn't see..." he stopped dead as he looked up into her face. "Winry." The word came out in only the softest whisper.

The lovely face that was only a couple of feet from his was clean of complexion, framed in gold, with deep blue eyes of a color he knew far, far too well. The expression however, was one of confusion. "Wynne," she replied as she glanced down and removed her hand from his to adjust her dress and put her hat primly in place from where it had gone awry. "Wynne Rocke. It's all right. I didn't see you either." She sighed, and smiled politely. There was no look of recognition in those eyes. She was a complete stranger. "Have we met?"

Ed had thought he had gotten used to running into familiar faces that did not belong to people he knew. He was wrong; oh so very wrong. He couldn't explain the pain that hit him at the polite but slightly annoyed feeling he got from her. "No, sorry. Edward Elric," he returned the introduction in kind. "Again, my apologies. Here, let me," he said as she bent to pick up the parcels she had been carrying. He helped her pick them up, noticing the names of the stores on the items; nice places, or so he had heard. He wasn't one to follow retail and merchandising, but it seemed to be much more important here than where he had grown up. It was hard to miss really. "A busy day I see," he smiled politely, trying to make conversation, even as he wondered why he was bothering. It had to be the face. That was all. "Pleasant I hope."

Wynne huffed just slightly, but nodded, becoming a little more distant. "Yes, indeed. Gifts, for my husband and my eldest son; they share a birthday tomorrow."

"How nice," Ed smiled as he stood, the bag successfully re-packed. "How old is your son?" He tried only to sound politely interested. Strangers talking in the street were not often welcome in these times.

"He's turning seven," Wynne replied, taking the bag from him. "Thank you, Mister...Elric. Have a good day." With that, she turned and headed down the street and around the corner, leaving Ed feeling more than a little brushed-off, and ego bruised. Well really, what had he expected anyway? That wasn't Winry. Not really, despite the fact that the face had been oh so perfectly hers, if brought to maturity. Married...a mother, and apparently living a life of reasonable wealth. Her husband was a minor noble perhaps, or a merchant; someone of substance either way. She didn't look like she worked. Certainly 'this' Winry - he couldn't wrap his mind around 'Wynne' - was no mechanic, no working woman. She'd had soft, elegant hands, and gentle curves that were pleasant - not that he had realized he had even noticed her curves until that moment! - But not, when he thought about it, the more athletic body of an active girl. But then, this one was a mother. That could change a woman. Her shape was, he thought, a little more like what his mother's had been; or any of the other fairly trim mothers he had known.

What was he doing? Standing in the street thinking about the curves of a married woman... and at the same time a girl who was literally worlds away! Ed forced himself to start walking; deliberately turning in a direction that wasn't the one 'Mrs. Rocke' - he accented the name to himself to make the point - had gone in.

He hurried back to the pub by the shortest route possible, making haste without running or looking suspicious. For some reason, Winry's face followed him all the way back, looking first amused, then irritated with him - a familiar expression - then he was nearly stopped dead by a deep look from the phantom image... a glimpse of her eyes as he'd turned away from her for the last time, focused on what he knew he had to do; Really goodbye that time. Yes, it had been. They'd both known it, and there had been no typically 'feminine' response on her part; no crying, no begging him to; just understanding...and that expression.

Ed had never thought about it; never stopped to process what it might mean. Winry had followed him and Alphonse all over Amestris, hunting him down at times, and bringing him home when needed; being his home. She had said more than once that he and Al 'did' have family. Armstrong had even said the same thing when they had visited Resembool with him that first time home. Winry and her grandmother 'were' family. She was like a sister... right?

Or did she think of herself that way? Was that how Winry had felt? She'd never said more than that. She'd never implied more...had she? He tried to think about how girls he had seen behaved around men. It seemed so obvious when men were interested in women. Maybe that was just because he was a guy. Girls... heck, he'd always been able to tell when he wasn't the interested party -male or otherwise. It was clear when people were interested in each other. Wasn't it?

He had taken Winry for granted more than once, he knew that. It had been brought violently to his attention by her several times in fact! Alphonse too, had mentioned it; all a long time ago - all so much water under the bridge. But he'd never really 'thought' of her as a girl - the one time that had come out she'd nearly skinned him - at least, she'd just always been Winry. Sure, she'd expected them to get her nice things - though she preferred wrenches to jewelry - but she'd treated them like...well...

Them. He kept thinking in terms of how Winry treated 'them'...Ed and Al, together. But her anger, her frustration, her weird ways of caring and taking care of... him. She'd dragged around insisting he needed an auto-mail mechanic...sure he'd fall apart otherwise; scolding and nagging worse than even his own mother would ever have - his mother hadn't nagged much of course but still - and always there when she could manage it...caring, even when she hadn't understood.

Maybe that was the difference with her later. She'd understood. That lack of open tears after her tight hug of welcome, or any whining, or anything aside from accepting goodbye... Maybe, Ed had just gotten things mixed up. Winry wasn't just a girl. Winry was Winry. That fact, much as he'd mulled it over before, suddenly took on whole new meaning. He'd always thought of her as strange, unusual; different from other girls.

That was because she was and, being her own individual quirky self...didn't that mean she didn't necessarily follow all the typical girl patterns of behavior? Or at least, not completely? She 'did' gush over things 'she' thought were pretty. She did scold and nag like...well... and her reaction to him beneath Central, during that one brief reunion; her tone, her embrace, the complete set of auto-mail…

Damn it! How had he been so stupid?

He seemed to be thinking that a lot lately. Frustration, it seemed, bore insight.

All the women he knew who treated their men like that treated 'their' men like that, when occasion called for it. Sure it was all signs that they cared; but mothering, as he'd seen over and over again, was as common with all women as with mothers. When it was a girl their own age...

Could she have? No...That was impossible and yet, yet it explained 'far' too much. Ed had the urge to ask Alphonse about it but, would Winry have ever said anything to Al? He couldn't imagine she would have. But then maybe he just didn't want to know.

Maybe the digging pain he felt - his inability (or was it unwillingness?) to visualize Winry herself as a grown woman, falling in love like his other friends, getting married, having children - was the insistent push of his own feelings; the ones he'd put aside years and years ago, he thought, as a silly childhood crush; the one he and Al had shared really in their childish jests - to admit that there had been more there.

What was the point?

Ed shoved those thoughts away as hard as he could with thoughts of what they needed to do next. Now was not the time for wallowing in likely imagined emotions for a girl he'd never see again that were likely brought on by stress or something.

Edward shoved the door of the pub open with equal force, wincing slightly as it hit the wall harder than he intended, but glad that it didn't seem to have been heard. It was very late now, and the supper crowd filled the place. Alphonse was, Ed noted, still waiting at the table where Ed had left him a couple of hours before.

Good old Al, still as patient as ever.

As he got closer Ed noticed Al wasn't alone. There was a pretty girl in a serving apron sitting across from him at the table, and they were absorbed in conversation. Ed paused, allowing himself the opportunity to indulge his recent thoughts about observing interest in a more objective sense - watching the scene in front of him.

The girl sat, leaning slightly forward, one elbow on the table with her delicate chin resting on her hand as she talked to Al, her smile definitely friendly, her head cocked a little in a manner that was open and, even Ed had to admit, a little alluring as it showed a smooth expanse of neck. Very pretty girl; no wonder Al hadn't had a problem waiting for him.

"Hey Al," Ed walked up and interrupted without preamble. "Sorry to keep you waiting."

"...and that's when I told them 'hey, what do you think this is, a ... oh, hey Ed," Al looked up, only now noticing his arrival. Given how alert his brother usually was, Ed was only momentarily surprised. But then, why should he be? Al seemed distracted more easily lately; especially by pretty girls. Well, who could blame him? "Sorry, Aline. I've got to take care of a little business. See you later?"

"Of course," Aline - that was her name apparently - stood up and winked. "Eight o'clock." With that, she headed into the back room behind the bar, toward the kitchens.

"So I guess that means you've got a date tonight, huh?" Ed asked, smirking a little as he dropped down into the chair the girl had just vacated. The words sounded a little hollow in his own ears, but he hoped Al wouldn't notice.

"If you don't have some other work for me to be doing," Alphonse replied, grinning and good natured as usual.

"No, not really," Ed admitted with a shrug. "The Professor's not in town at the moment. We could be here a few days. Enjoy yourself. Just," his teased, "not too much."

"Brother!" Alphonse's ears went completely red and even his cheeks flushed a little.

"Heh. I'm just kidding, Al. She's cute. Have a good time." Ed toyed with a fork on the table with one hand.

"She's really interesting," Al smiled. "We were having a nice conversation."

"Which is, I'm sure, the primary reason you're interested." Ed chuckled half-heartedly.

Al's expression shifted from happy to slightly confused. "Did something happen, Brother?"

"No, not really," Ed really didn't want to discuss the thoughts plaguing him today. "The folks at the University were just less than helpful. Sorry if I'm a little testy."

"That's all right," Al teased back. "I'm used to it. Maybe if you had something to eat you'd feel better. You missed lunch."

"Nah," Ed shook his head. "I'm not really hungry. Maybe I'll go for a walk; clear my head. You have a good time tonight." He stood up again. This was awkward. He really needed to get her out of his head!

"Oh." Ed could tell Al wasn't entirely convinced, but that was one thing he liked about Alphonse - he never pried too much. Al shrugged. "All right then. See you later, Ed." He shrugged, and Ed could feel him watching as he walked back out into the rapidly darkening street.

Date: October 14, 1930 (Amestris 1924)

"Ed! Get up!"

Alphonse's urgent tone woke Edward with a start. He blinked his eyes, and opened them. They'd ended up paying for a cheap room in one of the nearby inns for the night, and the beds were small and hard; at least they'd been clean! The place was run by the friend of a friend of a friend. "What is it?" he asked, rolling over and sticking his head out from under his pillow. His dreams had not improved his mood any. They had involved, well, a particular unavailable female in far less than he'd ever come 'close' to seeing her in! Or any other girl for that matter.

Al was wide awake, dressed, looking fresh and alert as ever. "A message came for us this morning. Professor Bellos is back and wants to meet with us!"

"When?" Ed was more alert at once, scrambling out of bed and reaching for his clothes even as he flexed his auto-mail arm. He'd taken very good care of it. After all, if it ever went beyond his or Al's abilities to repair, he'd have to go back to 'this' world's second-rate prosthetics, and that was something Ed never wanted to do. He was glad he'd managed to create realistic covers for them years ago; it helped keep people from noticing. He got dressed. "When are we supposed to meet him?"

"In an hour," Al replied. "At the University, in his office."

An hour. It was a good half hour walk over there as it was. Ed hurried, noticing that Al had brought up breakfast too. It was fairly late in the morning he realized as he wolfed down the reasonably edible porridge, toast, and jam, though he barely tasted a bite. "Let's get going then!" Finally, they were making progress!

Professor Paul Bellos' office was as eclectic and archaic as Ed would have expected a man of his reputation's office to be, despite the fact that the man taught modern physics and chemistry, such as they were. The University did not fund research into the arcane, occult, or ancient fields that were Bellos' other major area of expertise; an area much less well known outside of particular circles.

Bellos himself was a tall, gentlemanly fellow in all aspects, with thick, well groomed steel gray hair, a thin frame, and he wore a very nice suit. His features were long and lean, though proportional, and he looked all together pleasant and dignified.

The smile with which he met them as the door closed was more genuine and warm, however, than Ed had expected.

"Edward and Alphonse Elric," Bellos offered his hand to each in turn for a friendly shake. "I am glad to meet you both at last. Von Ault spoke highly of you both. I am sorry to have kept you waiting. I was...necessarily detained by some of my work. Please, have a seat," he motioned them over to chairs, taking one that was not behind his desk. "You're fortunate to have caught me. I'm leaving town again within the week I'm afraid. More research to see to."

"Funded or unofficial?" Alphonse asked curiously.

"Perceptive of you," Bellos chuckled. "Unofficial this time; in Northern Wales. There's been some discovery of what looks like the remains of carvings in an old mote-and-baly that promises to be interesting."

"How so," Ed asked?

Bellos grinned. "In that the carvings resemble your 'transmutation circles,' as I believe you call them."

"Oh really?" That had Ed's full attention. Transmutation circles carved into stone? Certainly, if they had worked, sacrifices had been made. It could, of course, be a coincidence and an uncannily similar type of design that was merely decorative. Yet Ed didn't think so. Such things were believed to be, and often were, simply myth as far as this world was concerned; but that didn't mean that some of it wasn't more real than they imagined. He 'knew' a lot of those things existed beyond the gate, in a world that was similar in history and development save the last few hundred years. "What do you plan to do if they are transmutation circles?"

"Transport those stones to a very safe place for further research, record the images, and make sure that no one gets a hold of them until it is certain that the pieces are harmless and," he admitted. "That I have learned everything about them that I possibly can. I would, of course, very much appreciate your insights - both of yours - into the issue. Von Ault said you were something of an expert on the subject, as far as it is possible to be."

"Oh," Ed shared a glance with Al. "I'd say that's an accurate statement, Professor Bellos."

"Please, call me Paul," Bellos smiled. "We are colleagues. You are not my students, despite the fact that Alphonse is of an age with them if I do not miss my guess."

"No, that's correct sir..err.. Paul," Al replied politely. "I've done a lot of study on my own though."

"As I would suspect, from what I've heard," Bellos replied. "I'm sure you will both be a great help. Though I only hope that I can offer what you seek in return."

"Well," Ed began; glad to be getting to the point of their entire trip. "We're looking for a researcher who claims to have discovered the element called Uranium..."

Even Al was beginning to feel as though his mind was rather rung-out by the time they finished talking with Paul Bellos several hours later. They had talked right through lunch. Fortunately it was a Saturday, and classes were not in session. It was very late in the afternoon when things finally wrapped up.

"I'd like to invite you both to dinner this evening," Bellos smiled. "I'm dining with my nephew's family. It's a bit of a family celebration, but he won't mind if I bring you along. He is aware of the more unusual aspects of some of my research. For a businessman, he's got a pretty open mind," he added with a chuckle.

"Thank you. We'd love to," Al replied.

"Sure," Ed nodded in agreement. "That would be great."

"Oh good," Bellos smiled. "Edmund is of our sort, despite having the sense to go into business and make a good deal more money," he chuckled. "I'm sure we'll have a wonderful evening."

That 'wonderful' evening went downhill for Edward very fast. He'd had no idea, upon accepting Paul Bellos' offer, that his nephew was Edmund 'Rocke'... Wynne's husband! His first clue was when they knocked at the door, and Wynne answered, with a smile and a "Welcome, Uncle!" before she noticed Alphonse, and then Edward, and blinked, a little startled. "Oh, so these are your guests. Hello, Mister Elric," she looked at Ed.

Bellos blinked. "You've met?" he asked.

Ed felt more than a little awkward, looking Winry's double in the face again. He could feel Al watching them to.

"We happened to meet yesterday," Wynne commented without hesitation. "A chance meeting in the street. He was kind enough to help me with a couple of things I had dropped. Please, don't stand out here on the porch. Come in. Edmund and the boys are waiting for you." She smiled graciously and let them in.

Ed looked around as Al introduced himself to Wynne with his usual polite grace. It was a very nice place; a townhouse style like most of what he had seen in London, but tastefully luxurious. Clearly a family of wealth, but not shoving it down anyone's throat. Nice.

They adjourned to the dining room, where Ed was at least mildly relieved to see that Edmund looked nothing like him; tall, lean, and with hair and eyes of dark chocolate brown. He greeted them as warmly and the boys, Allan and Rory, seemed to be just as thrilled to meet them, babbling dozens of questions right off about their travels and how did they know Great-Uncle Paul, until Wynne shushed them and they all sat down at the table.

The meal was nearly as agonizing. Pleasant as the conversation was, and their hosts, Ed couldn't get past comparing 'Wynne' to Winry, while trying not to stare or be obvious. He didn't want to insult or annoy her husband after all! Her boys looked like their father mostly, Allan being seven years old, and Rory a rambunctious four. The celebration today was the birthday she had mentioned the day before.

"So what's this good news?" Bellos' voice finally brought Ed out of his reverie.

"Do you want to tell him, dear?" Edmund was smiling. "After all, it's not really my news."

Wynne blushed prettily, and smiled at Bellos. "We're having another baby."

Bellos' face broke out in a smile. "That's wonderful!"

Al was smiling too. "Congratulations."

Ed echoes their words with appropriate enthusiasm, though he couldn't really feel it. Despite knowing, logically, that this wasn't Winry, somehow it still felt like he was watching events unfold without him, and he couldn't help but wonder if the same was happening back home.

"I have to admit," Bellos replied when the excitement and talk of babies died down. "I have a little news myself."

"Oh really, Uncle?" Edmund asked, curious. "Please, don't keep us in suspense. It's good news I hope."

"Relatively," Bellos replied. "I've decided to accept the offer of a position at Berkeley."

"In California?" Wynne asked, sounding shocked, though she quickly took check of herself. "That's so far away, Uncle."

"It is," Bellos nodded tone regretful. "But if I want to continue my research unmolested, than that's the best option. It's that, or I'll be pushed into taking a position at Munich eventually, and I just can't do that."

He had Ed's full attention now. Bellos was leaving England! "What about your research here?" he asked.

"Oh, I'll have it completed before I go," Bellos assured him, smiling at both him and Al. "There's a few things I definitely need to see to first. But it's safer, for all of us in the long term, if I am not here."

"That's probably true," Edmund agreed, though he clearly didn't like it. "Well, the best to you Uncle. Hopefully you won't be gone before we have a chance to celebrate."

"Oh I wouldn't miss that for the world," Bellos smiled at his nephew and Wynne.

Ed had to wonder; was there anything for which he'd be willing to actually give up the

'world?' The answer, to his surprise, was yes. Two things really; though one of them was already lost to him, likely forever. As he watched Wynne and her family, he became all too keenly aware of just what he had given up, for the good of two worlds.

Date: October 15, 1930 (Amestris: 1924)

Funny how the bottom of the bottle looked little different from the top; Even funnier how they always said this stuff was supposed to help you forget. Edward was pretty sure he couldn't stomp out the thoughts that most haunted him now if he wanted to. Well, at least he'd sleep tonight. He couldn't imagine dreams getting through, his brain as fuzzy as it was.

Ed giggled to himself, though he wasn't entirely sure why it was funny. Alphonse was out with that pretty little serving girl again this evening, probably walking along the Thames talking philosophy or poetry or some other such nonsense, and Ed - the great 'Fullmetal Alchemist' - much good that title would ever do him again - was sprawled up on his bed in a cheap inn, drunk off his ass for the first time in his life.

He wasn't a kid anymore, and no one in this world really seemed to care beyond that, despite the ones of a religious bent who preached the 'evils' of indulgence and drink. Not that Ed was much of a drinker. Drinking to excess had never held much appeal for him; not when he'd always preferred to have his wits about him; to think clearly.

But right now, he didn't want to think clearly. He wanted to drown out the deep blue eyes that seemed to haunt his every waking moment for the past few days; had peaked out at him - he had come to realize- more often in the recent months than he cared to admit.

What an idiot he was, pining away for long-lost love that likely never really existed, and only now was he dumb enough to realize that he'd been in stubborn denial for so long! Even had he realized his foolishness then, what good would it have done? It wouldn't have changed how things turned out; or what he'd had to do in the end. He'd wondered briefly at one point if maybe he had loved... or at least, he'd been attracted to Rose; he'd cared about her of course, and her baby. And yet...somehow that paled in comparison, he couldn't help but think bitterly, to this stupid, pathetic heartache.

It was very late; he didn't know the hour, when Ed heard footsteps on the stairs that came down the hall. They stopped outside the room. The door unlocked and opened, and Al entered, grinning as he turned and closed the door. "Good evening, Brother. I'm surprised you're still up. Are you working on something? I thought maybe-"he cut off, as if realizing that Ed wasn't actually 'doing' anything. He turned from the locked door and glanced over at Ed.

Oh great; just what he needed; for his brother to see him like this. He'd hoped to be well asleep before Al got back. "You were out late," he commented, smirking a little. "Good evening?"

"Oh...yeah," but Al wasn't distracted. He was looking more than a little concerned at what, even Ed had to admit, was entirely uncharacteristic behavior. "We had a nice time. Brother... are you drunk?"

"Well I'm not doing alchemy here," Ed's response was bitterer than he'd intended. He had less control over his tongue than he'd realized. The stuff was effective...it just wasn't fast enough.

Al winced. "But...why?"

Ed snorted. "Because nothing else seems to be working."

He was confusing and worrying his brother; but he couldn't seem to make himself care. "What's wrong?" Al crossed the room and looked down at him, hands in his pockets. "Did something happen?"

"Something..." Ed almost laughed. He did smile, though there was no joy in it; just wry amusement. "Maybe something could've... if I hadn't been a blind brat. No, Al. Nothing's happened."

"Then why do you smell like malt whisky?" Al asked, frowning now, clearly not convinced.

"Because here we are, in the middle of gathering critical information...probably on the urge of a major break-through... and I can't focus," Ed watched the bottle, where it dangled in his good hand above his head. He stumbled through the explanation, his mind and mouth not quite meeting up even when it sounded fine in his head. "I can't think half the time. I keep getting distracted by a girl who might as well be dead! We're in the middle of critical work... and I'm falling apart!" He did chuckle then, meanly, more of a half-laugh at the irony. "Four years hunting the Philosopher's Stone, Al. Four years of nearly futile searching for something that seemed impossible to grasp...only to uncover horrible truths and realities we never knew about. It barely fazed me most of the time... and now... "

Al sat down on the edge of the bed, watching him with a look that had shifted from angered confusion to an accepting 'knowing' that infuriated Ed for reasons he couldn't explain. How could his brother understand? There was no way he... but Al just looked him in the eye, and spoke a single word; "Winry."

Ed flinched, his head exploding with a thousand pictures and moments and the sound of her voice, the scent of her – shampoo and machine oil. He had no protections from these things; they were all in his head, and he didn't have the self-control to contain them. That was the problem though. "So, Little Brother's smart enough to figure me out."

"Well that's uncalled for," Al frowned again. "So this is about Winry? But why, Ed? Why now? Is it because of Wynne?"

Perceptive; yes indeed. Ed shrugged and nodded, irritated. "Some. It's worse since we ran into her. I can't get Winry out of my head, Al. She keeps popping up in my thoughts, my dreams, anytime I'm not thinking about something else and now...ever since I ran into 'Mrs. Rocke' the other day... I can't even focus on anything else!" His rant broke off sharply. Did he sound as pathetic as he thought he did? Probably.

Al seemed to get the point; he certainly seemed to agree that Ed sounded pretty pathetic. "It's been seven years since we came here for good," he commented slowly, choosing his words carefully. Ed was sure Al was about to try to find some way to cheer him up. "As you said, we're not kids anymore, Ed. It's natural to want to well, you know, find someone. Is it possible you thought, maybe, you could find Winry here? Not our Winry, but..."

It made far too much sense. "Sure sounds right," Ed sighed. "Not like I ever even really consciously thought about this, Al. I mean, am I stupid to think maybe I was - I 'am' damn it. Might as well say it - in love with Winry, and I never noticed? I mean, there's no way she was in love with me right?" He asked the question, half hoping that Al would agree, denying the possibility. That would make this so much easier to push aside. "She'd have said something wouldn't she? Tried to stop me from coming back here; something?"

Al looked decidedly uncomfortable, and Ed groaned. "You know something, Al? If you do, please tell me." He ignored the sound of begging in his own voice and finished the bottle, setting it down on the bedside.

"She...never said anything to me directly," Al said, shifting his weight, clearly uneasy.

"Alphonse."

Al winced and sighed, then tried a weak smile. "Well I can tell you she wasn't in love with me! Especially not after I got my body back, and it was still ten, just like when I left it." He shrugged. "Do I know for sure? I'd have to say no, but do I think she did? Yeah, I'm pretty sure of it. She was like a big sister in so many ways but her concern for you was different than her concern for me. And you know she would never have begged you to stop doing anything you felt you had to," he added pointedly.

"She always seemed to me like she was waiting. Waiting for us to be done maybe, to find the Philosopher's Stone or give up, and come home to her. Maybe she'd have said something then; but I know that, despite how much we hurt her - especially 'you' - on all our travels and with the secrets, she still cared, and she stuck it out. That's more than friendship, Ed, no matter how you look at it. Winry's too loyal and too smart to ever get in the way of something that has to be done. She'd have done it for us both, I'm sure, but I think she was completely in love with you."

It was almost worse having his own thoughts mirrored so closely by his brother. Ed had more than half hoped he was hallucinating, that this was just some delayed need to deal with an old crush, something brought on by stress, or loneliness, though he hadn't really felt lonely. Ed didn't know 'how' to interact with girls; not romantically. He'd never been actively interested in pursuing them either; not really. Cared about them sure, sometimes deeply, but there was always something more important to focus on. "Thanks, Al," he said finally in response. "I feel like a complete idiot."

Al picked up the empty bottle, and sniffed it, grimacing. "That smells awful. Does it work like they say?"

Ed shook his head, and actually smiled wryly. "Not a bit; makes it worse really. I'm not just imagining Winry all over the place, my own fantasies are even worse. I tell ya Al, we must've been saints or something as kids. How did we get this old and stay this innocent?"

"We're 'gentlemen'" Al emphasized the word with a grin. "You know you're going to be sick in the morning."

"Yeah." Ed said. "I've kind of figured that out. Ah well, call this a failed experiment."

"But at least you've had a chance to share what's been bothering you," Al pointed out. "Doesn't that help at least a little?"

Ed rolled his eyes, but the smile stayed. "Yeah, I guess. At least if you're not telling me I'm crazy I can just deal with being stupid."

"It's not stupid," Al insisted. "In fact, I kind of expected this sooner."

"Oh really?" Ed propped himself up on one elbow. "So you think you understand my pain? Or have you just always thought I was a nutcase?"

"You know I didn't mean it like that," Al sighed. "You can be exasperating sometimes, Edward, you know that?"

"I figured." If nothing else, the banter was improving his mood.

Al shrugged, and continued. "You've been well, kind of 'off' for a while," he explained. "You even forget to eat sometimes. And if that's not a sign of serious trouble," he smirked. "I don't know what is. But besides that, you 'don't' show interest in anyone else really beyond you and me. I mean, you help people, and you're kind and agreeable more often than not, but you haven't tried to get any closer than passing friendship really with anyone in a while. Years really, I think. You're hyper-focusing again, and that's not healthy. Mentally I mean."

"Been studying psychology again haven't you," Ed replied, though he had to admit, Al was hitting right on the mark. Perhaps that was why he felt defensive in response.

"I'm right," Al replied, and it wasn't a question. "Or you'd be protesting. Maybe this is the reason though; maybe your doubts and questions about Winry have just finally come to the surface; reaching 'conscious' thought. You wouldn't be wrong to have loved her," he smiled wistfully. "It's just sad that it can't work out."

"In either world." Ed leaned back again and looked up at the ceiling, crossing his arms behind his head. "I guess, maybe I had hoped that here, if we ever ran into her, this Winry would be like ours, and maybe that would be enough. But she's nothing like Winry. She might have been once, but I'm at least eight years too late to find out." Though, in truth, he couldn't see Wynne as ever having been enough like Winry to have gotten this reaction out of him. Knowing her a little better, he knew that the attraction was about a lot more than the face. "Do you think she's moved on?"

"Found someone you mean?" Al shrugged as he stood and walked across the room, looking out the window and glancing out at the street. "I don't know. She certainly didn't show any interest in finding someone in the two years after you brought me back." He looked back at Ed. "In seven more, well I guess it's possible anyway, though she was awfully focused on her work."

This was way too much to think about; especially, Ed decided, drunk. It was just as bad as trying to muddle through his thoughts sober, only worse; his defenses seemed to be down. "You don't suppose this is all some twisted part of equivalent exchange do you?"

"Now there's a question," Al leaned back against the wall, his expression going thoughtful. He always had been a deep thinker on philosophical issues, more willing to explore the complex thoughts now than even before, willing to look at the multiple sides and consider that the answer they liked might still not be the right one; and he was good at it. "I don't think so. I mean; you traded your arm and leg again, and all those memories, to get me back; like you were willing to do in the first place. That was the equivalent exchange that saved me. Now, what I don't know is, what is owed for both of us coming back here. I mean, I know the right things were offered on both sides of that portal, and slamming it shut doesn't require anything. What isn't clear is, how far does equivalent exchange reach beyond alchemy?"

It was a philosophical discussion Ed and Al had taken part in several times over the past few years, so he didn't delve further into that at the moment, for which Ed was grateful. They agreed on a lot of it, but there was too much to work out to be entirely sure. "If we assume, for the sake of this argument that it does extend to this kind of case I guess you could say that reuniting us but you and Winry not getting together could be a form of equivalent exchange. But," Al added. "Only if we assume that if you and I had not been reunited, that you and Winry would definitely have both admitted you were in love and gotten together. That also assumes that you hadn't come back through the gate once, or possibly with both times going through, and we hadn't been on this side to stop those Nazis from taking over Amestris."

"And there's no way to quantify that many variables," Ed agreed with a sigh. "No way to know what balances out to what, only knowing that the balance preserves itself, not necessarily what causes each event and which balances out each other in equivalency."

"Exactly," Al nodded. "Hey, Brother..." he said after a few moments of silence.

"What Al?" Ed wasn't sure where his brother was going, but his brain wasn't going to take much more of this deep thought. He was only half sure he was following the entire conversation.

"I was just thinking," Alphonse looked at him. "If maybe part of the reason you aren't interested in girls around here... or at least, why you're fixated on Winry now, when this should have happened years ago" he grinned at that, "is because you, subconsciously maybe anyway, are afraid of where it goes?"

"I'm hardly one who has issues with commitment," Ed pointed out with a snort.

"That's not what I meant," Al replied, frowning momentarily. "I meant family. How many people did we know who actually had a complete family and a normal home life?"

Now that...was a good question. Ed knew his and Al's childhoods certainly didn't count; happy as they had been before their mother's death. Winry's parents had been killed. Hughes had died, leaving Elicia fatherless at the age of four; the Ishballans, Rose, Izumi; no, not many really. He didn't know about Riza's home life as a child, or Roy's, or several of the other folks he'd known. Armstrong had had a reasonably happy home life growing up, or so it seemed, but then he was so odd that Ed wasn't sure if that really counted as 'normal!' But that made him a rarity, especially among alchemists. "Not many," Ed admitted. "Especially not alchemists; you're getting too damned perceptive, Al. When did you get smarter than me anyway?"

"What do you mean 'get' smarter?" Al quipped, though he was teasing again, and Ed could tell. "You're as much of a bookworm as I am brother. You're a genius. We just have different interests now. Before, we were both reading up on the same thing."

That was true. They did both still study science, but Al seemed to read almost anything he could get his hands on. This world fascinated him, and it was good that he seemed to understand it so well. Ed understood it on a different level. He needed to, if they were going to protect it and help the people in it; stop the violence that he knew was coming, and seal the gate forever between their worlds. He didn't know what that would do to alchemy on the other side of the gate; he suspected that it would render alchemy nearly obsolete, but if that meant a cessation of violence on both sides, he hoped that it would be worth it. "So, Doctor Elric," he commented finally. "What do you recommend?"

Al laughed, lying back on his own bed, clearly still thinking. "Well, trying to actually get to know people again might help. Whether you're just now actually realizing you're in love with Winry or not; there's no way to know if she feels the same and, really, it's an academic question at this point; a hypothetical; a what-if. We'll probably never know one way or the other, and 'this' Winry clearly isn't available. So you might as well treasure what memories you have, and move on, knowing that our Winry is probably happy and successful in whatever she's doing; safe and with friends. It's not like she's dead, or we're dead."

"We can hope anyway."

"That was morbid," Al shook his head. "I'm sure Winry's fine. We defeated the homunculi, and no one is going through that gate right now; it's useless. There's no reason to think otherwise when there's no one left out of the ones who've been stirring up trouble for so many years. Anyway, as I was saying; move on. If you'd bothered to take notice, we've had as many girls in as many towns looking at you as at me."

Really? No, Ed had to admit he really hadn't noticed. "Were they good looking?"

"Most of them," Al laughed. "Oh good, you're not dead yet. I was beginning to wonder. I know we travel a lot, but that doesn't mean we can't have friends where we travel, just like we used to back home. This is our world now, and while we're helping it, we should also be a part of it."

No. Until now, Ed hadn't really realized that, at least recently, he had withdrawn that much. His first two years here, with no one familiar to rely on or be with, he had been reasonably involved; with the other Alphonse's work especially. Those other men were his friends too; despite not seeing them recently, though he'd actually heard from one or two and they'd been glad to see him the one time he had visited their current research facility. Were they close? Not really, but they had been colleagues. His thoughts only seemed to make Al's point.

His mind was wandering badly tonight. Ed looked over and noticed Al was still lying there, patiently, waiting for him to reply. "You're right, Al."

Al smiled over at him. "Well it's not like I'm not repeating things back to you that you've said before," he pointed out. "At least on that. Sometimes people just need reminding is all."

Ed smiled at that. "Thanks."

"What for?" Al asked curiously.

"For letting me talk, and not laughing in my face or nagging me for being ridiculously drunk."

"Oh I wouldn't do that," Al replied. "I'm sure the hangover will take care of the last part better than me doing an imitation of Mom the time you cleaned out her entire strawberry bed."

"You helped!" Ed snorted indignantly. They'd been six and seven at the time.

"But she only 'caught' you," Al said smugly. "Though that reminds me, you'll probably want to get something on your stomach before you pass out if you don't want to suffer too badly tomorrow."

"That would be the sensible thing," Ed agreed. He was starting to drift off now. Or at least, he wasn't sure how long he could remain conscious and functional at this point.

Al stood up. "I'll get it." And he left the room.

Sometimes, Ed wondered if he deserved a brother like Al. In the long run of course, a question like that didn't matter much. They were brothers, and he'd been willing to sacrifice everything to make his brother whole and happy again; which he certainly seemed to be; happy that is. He was definitely whole and human again; a vast improvement over the walking suit of armor, though to Ed, that armor had been as real a brother as his original body, if only because it was Alphonse. He'd gotten used to having his brother back in human form though and no regrets on what it had cost him. In truth really, it was less than he had been willing to offer. Ed had figured he'd die bringing Al back again. Perhaps that willingness had been why he had simply re-exchanged his limbs and memories for what he had tried to gain in the first place.

Al was back quickly, though Ed really wasn't sure how long he'd been gone. Time seemed as fuzzy as his head. Yeah. Drunk really wasn't all it was cracked up to be. "You'll want this," Al offered him up part of a loaf of bread and a large glass of water. There was a pitcher Ed guessed probably contained more; for hydration and something on the stomach.

"Thanks, Al," Ed smiled as he propped himself up again and wolfed down the bread, followed by a couple of glasses of water.

"You're welcome, Brother." Al set the tray aside and started changing for bed. "It's only fair that I look out after you too you know. Brothers take care of each other." He put out the lamp and Ed could hear him settling in to sleep. It was true, they did take care of each other, and Al was no longer the 'little brother' who needed protection or help. Ed depended on him as much now, in more ways, than he had years ago.

He ignored the niggling feeling in his mind, and forced himself to remember that it was all right to be invested in things other than his brother, and the worlds they were working to protect. It was not a betrayal to himself or Al to no longer feel that the only thing that mattered was fixing 'their' mistakes, and protecting his brother. That particular mode of thought was more than a little outdated.

Al watched Ed pass out almost as soon as he let himself close his eyes and stop thinking. They would talk about 'work' tomorrow. Right now, Al knew what Ed needed was a good night's sleep, and time to absorb everything they had talked about. It had been a very twisted and heavy conversation.

As he curled up under the covers, Al wondered if he 'should' go ahead and introduce Ed to Aline's friend Rachel who, he had found out this evening, apparently found his brother attractive and mysterious. While Al had assured her Ed was hardly 'mysterious' she was interested; and she looked different enough from Winry that she shouldn't scare Ed away on sight; light brown hair, hazel eyes, and a good deal more in the way of curves, but in a good way. No, Al would definitely not steer any blondes in his brother's direction for a while; at least, not any with any passing resemblance to Winry.

Somehow, life always seemed to want to be complicated. Al allowed himself to drift off to sleep as well, his own mind lingering over more pleasant feelings; memories of that evening, and warm kisses shared beneath the starlit sky.

Date: January 16, 1931 (Amestris: 1925)

Location: The Lorraine region, near Metz, France

Ed tried to moan softly; another day, another fight, and another injury landing him in bed. At least this time it had been something they'd sent him 'home' with. Hospital stays were expensive; especially without a government job to pay for it all. They'd almost 'had' the man damn it! So close, and yet here they were, without anything to show for months of hunting. Hauskisson was probably safe in Munich by now; protected by more armed men than Ed would have wanted to take on 'with' his former full alchemical abilities.

"At least we know where we need to go next," Al commented, as if reading his thoughts, from where he sat at the desk nearby, looking over maps and notes he had been meticulously taking over the course of their travels. Every encounter, every new piece of information, was carefully documented.

"Yeah, though he's got far more of a head start on us than I prefer," Ed groused. It wasn't terrible this time; a blow to the head that had left him with a mild concussion and a really swell bump, and a few other bruises from one heck of a fight. He'd come upon them on his own, while Alphonse was checking out another part of the building, looking for information, or he'd probably have fared better. Still, being dizzy was better than being dead.

"It won't do him any good," Al assured him optimistically, still writing. "Now that we've found him once, we know we're on the right track. A lot less guessing and everything we learn will help us figure out what we need to know, even if we don't ever actually catch him."

"I don't like leaving someone to run free who is brilliant enough, and willing, to create such destructive elements."

"Me either," Al replied. "But we'll take what we can get, and keep trying. If nothing else, we may be able to close off their ability to create gates completely."

"Wouldn't that be nice?" Ed closed his eyes. The room swam less that way. There was a knock at the door.

"Just a minute," Al put down his pen, stood, and crossed the room. Ed could tell by the sounds. It was probably Monsieur Guillaume Lannet, or one of the family. Lannet was a friend of Doctor Bellos, a compatriot as it were, and sympathetic to their 'cause.' If nothing else, he understood their goals, and appreciated their efforts. That was more than they had received in a long time. Guillaume, his wife Emalie, and their two youngest children - their son Emile, age twelve, and daughter Amy, a lovely girl of sixteen - all lived in the house in the Lorraine region of France. Their oldest son was married and living in Paris. They had been good enough to put up Ed and Al for a few weeks when they had tracked their quarry to the area.

Ed heard Al turn the door knob, and only opened his eyes when his brother gasped.

Hallucinating. The concussion was messing with his vision. It had to be!

Al's eyes went wide, and then he grinned and threw his arms around the woman standing in the doorway. "Winry? It's you! It's really you!"

The blonde laughed and hugged him back. "Yes, Al. It's me." She stood back and smiled up at him. "You've grown."

Al laughed, flushed slightly as he ran his hand through the back of his hair. "Yeah, some. How did you 'get' here?"

Ed felt forgotten as he watched the scene playing out in front of him. There was no way this was really happening. But Al closed the door, and Winry - it sure looked and sounded like Winry - stepped further into the room; more sharply into focus. She looked a little embarrassed, and worried too.

"It's a long story," was all she said with a shrug and a smile. "I'll tell you later. It's been a long trip though and I..." she looked over at him then, and her rambling words died off. A familiarly disappointed and angry expression crept into her features. "Edward! Why is it every time I show up you've been doing something stupid to get yourself hurt?"

No doubts left! As she stormed over, Ed flinched - her voice hurting his head, but the reality of it stunned him beyond that. He stared, too slack jawed to counter with some snide remark. "Winry... "

"We've covered that part," she snorted, even as she sat down at his bedside, her rage draining away almost as quickly as it had risen. "What happened anyway?" One hand reached out and touched the bandage around his temple with surprising gentleness.

"Ran into the wrong fist," Ed replied, mouth quirking into a wry smile, forcing himself to fight the pain. "Several actually, while tracking down that scientist who came here with the uranium." Despite the fact it was likely far and away already too late to do anything about it. At this point, they could only hope to find a way to counter or disable it. Perhaps destroy the research and stall things.

"You would," Winry sighed. "I don't suppose you've destroyed your auto-mail with all this action?"

"Nope." Ed had to grin at that, raising his arm out from under the covers. "You do good work. It's still functional." Even after more than seven years.

Winry took a hold of his arm and looked at it, tsking as she did so. "Well I'm glad to see you haven't shown complete disregard for my work, and your life." She shook her head. "I'm almost embarrassed. This is so out of date it's not funny. I've got some stuff with me that's a major improvement. That is..." she added, looking uncertain. "If you're interested."

"Sure," Ed replied, beginning to feel awkward. He wanted to know so many things. How had she gotten there? She'd already brushed the question off once. Would she answer it? "If I'm not hallucinating. Concussions'll do that I'm told." The line came across as playful, though even he could hear the doubt in it.

Winry's familiar glare returned. "Well if you're going to be that way about it, maybe I won't offer my expert services."

Ed glared back. Yeah, this was Winry; sharp tongued as ever.

"How's business?" Al asked, interrupting the tense moment.

Winry was distracted enough to smile, at least at Al. Whenever she looked back at Ed, she was glaring. "Fantastic really. You should see some of the newer designs they have out now in auto-mail. Granny and I have some completely new designs and, of course," she grinned, "an exclusive contract with the military."

Al smiled. "That's great!"

Ed tuned out the conversation about the auto-mail industry. This was too unreal. Even though he was sure it was happening; to have Winry walk into his room like this, almost as if they were back home and she'd just tracked them down again, was almost more than he could take right now. The intervening months had done little to help him get beyond seeing her in his dreams, in his waking moments. He still wasn't sure how to feel about what he felt; but months trying to convince himself that he should get over it and get used to not knowing had just flown right out of his head. "How'd you get in here?" he asked finally, interrupting the conversation.

Winry frowned. "Well that's a nice 'how do you do.' Your friend, Mister Lannet, let me in as soon as I told him I was a friend from home. Do you know how hard it was to track you two down at all?"

"No," Ed replied, scowling. "Not really. You haven't said a word about it so far. It's not like there's a train from Resembool to France though. What'd you do, hijack the gate?" A sarcastic comment - one purely bitter and more than a little badly thought out - but it definitely had an effect.

"You are such an insensitive jerk, Edward Elric!" Winry stood bolt upright, and smacked him, full on in the face, with an open palmed smack that hit with enough force he felt like his head had been split open - more from the explosion of pain from the concussion than the slap itself. "I risk my life to make sure you boys are all right and all I get met with is suspicion and lousy manners? Gee, thanks for the vote of confidence and joy at the reunion of long-separated friends." She grabbed her bag and headed for the door. "See you later, Al," she said her tone much more normal in volume, though only to his brother. Ed received only one more ferociously angry, hurt look before the door shut behind her.

Ed didn't even have time to berate himself before he got a scathing look from Alphonse. "Good going, Brother. What's wrong with you anyway?"

"What? You don't find it at all suspicious that 'Winry' just showed up in Lorraine?" Ed looked at him.

"No more than that I managed to follow you through the gate, or that we even got here in the first place," Al replied flatly. "Nothing's unreasonable these days. I can't believe you'd hurt Winry's feelings like that." He stood up and headed for the door as well. "I'm going to go talk to her. There's a lot we need to talk about. Get some rest."

Ed watched his brother's back as he left as well. Now wasn't that just fine? He glared, then sighed as any fight drained away, overcome by the pounding in his head. He closed his eyes again. He 'was' an insensitive jerk, and an idiot. He'd grown up. Or so he'd thought. He just hadn't been ready to deal with the 'real' Winry again. She was here. He should have been excited, ecstatic... overcome with joy... right?

Al caught Winry at the bottom of the stairs. "Winry, please wait! You're not going to leave already are you?"

Winry stopped, sighed, and turned a small smile to Al. "No. I'm not leaving. Not after as much trouble as I've been through getting here! And it's not like I have anywhere else to go. Besides, I still have to deliver this," she tapped the auto-mail case. "Whether Ed wants it or not."

"Oh I'm sure he does," Al replied, perhaps a little more fervently than necessary. He sighed. "He's just out of it right now. They only let him out of the hospital this morning, and he's got a pretty bad concussion."

"Oh." Winry's expression paled a little, and she leaned against the wall, looking more than a little upset. "I didn't realize he was serious. I should apologize for smacking him in the head then."

"Later," Al replied, giving her an encouraging smile. "He 'did' deserve it."

"I've missed you, Al," Winry's next smile was a little bigger. "I just... I didn't expect that kind of a reaction. He was so glad to see us when he came back the last time."

"You just surprised him," Al replied, trying to assure her. That was really it, he suspected. After all the mixed up emotions running through Ed's head regarding Winry lately, perhaps he should have expected his brother to have a less than spectacular reaction. "Both of us really," he smiled. "I've missed you too." In the two years he'd spent without Ed, Winry had become even more of a big sister to him; especially with the added age difference. They had talked about so many things then. "I'm sure Monsieur Lannet will let you stay here if I ask."

"I'd like that," Winry replied. "You don't think Ed will mind?"

"No," Al shook his head. "He's not normally like this, you know. He's still Ed."

"So I noticed." Winry seemed to be trying to make up her mind about something. "Not that I guess I can really blame him for wanting to know how I got here. I would have sent word ahead if such a thing were 'possible.' He knows that right?"

"I'm sure he does. Or will when he can think straight. Come on," Al put an arm around her shoulder. It was weird to realize that he was actually several inches taller than Winry now! "Let's get you a room and something to drink and talk. I want to hear all about everything going on back home!"

"All right," Winry followed without further protest. "But you may have to do some translating for me. I was lucky they understood me at all!"

"You pick up the language pretty fast," Al replied reassuringly. "It's not difficult. I'm sure you'll get it in no time. You're smart like that."

Winry smiled. "Thanks, Al."

Before long, her things were stowed in another of the guest rooms, one just down the hall from the rooms Ed and Al were using, and Al found himself seated across the kitchen table from Winry, both of them with hot cups of tea in front of them. "Winry," Al spoke up. There was something he had wanted to know for years, but had no way to know for sure. "I've been wondering something."

"What is it, Al?" she asked, looking up at him curiously. "Is it about home?"

"Sort of," Al smiled across at her. She certainly didn't seem like he should be worried, but he was none the less. "I've wanted to know, for a long time… if you were mad at me for running off without saying goodbye; just leaving a message with Mustang and following Brother."

"Well that's silly," Winry smiled without even a moment's hesitation. "I can't even really say I was surprised when he told me. After all, your whole purpose to that point was to reunite with Edward." Her voice softened, and Al could almost sense her thoughts turning to his brother upstairs.

"Is that why you're here, Winry?" he asked quietly.

This time, she didn't reply at once, taking her time to sip her drink and consider her next words. It was really all the answer Al felt he needed. Finally she shrugged a. "Yes, in a way. I wanted to know, for sure, that you were both all right; that the fact that I felt you were alive and together was more than just wishful thinking." She stirred a little more cream into her tea, the spoon tapping a quiet rhythm as she spoke. "I've missed you both a lot, but if I had been in your position, Al, I'm sure I would have taken the same chance."

"So you took a chance when it presented itself." It wasn't a question. Al didn't know how Winry had gotten across the gate, not with it supposedly closed on the Amestris side, but she had gotten across.

Winry nodded, still looking down at the cup on the table. "I did, didn't I? None of us are so different are we?"

"No, we're not," Al agreed. After an uncomfortable silence he smiled. "So, tell me about home."

There was something else he should tell her. Or well, not that he should. It was obvious to Al that, despite the argument upstairs, very little had changed in how his brother felt about Winry, or how she felt about him. If anything, those feelings were stronger, more volatile. But it should be Ed who told her how he felt, not Al.

Still, as Winry talked about what was going on in her life, and with Pinako who was, Al was glad to hear, still alive and feisty as ever despite advancing age, the thought kept niggling at Al. Winry and he talked about Sciezka, Roy, Riza, Gracia and Elicia, and every other mutual acquaintance they had. There was a critical detail she never touched though, and finally Al couldn't keep quiet. "And what about you, Winry?" he asked after they finished a particularly amusing run of stories about Jean Havoc's dating history for the past several years. "Have you dated anyone?"

The room got so quiet; Al could hear the clock ticking in the next room. Winry shrugged, and tried to smile like it was nothing, but it was painfully clear that the question had struck a nerve. "Haven't really had time," she chuckled half-heartedly.

"Ed hasn't either."

Winry went quiet again, drinking to take up time. Finally, she sighed, and looked up. "I have to admit, I don't know whether to feel relieved, or guilty for feeling relieved. How did you know?"

Al shrugged, and smiled. "How could I not. We've all been like family since we were little kids. We all know each other. I would have had to have been blind to miss your feelings."

"I guess so," Winry agreed. "I just… upstairs he seemed so…."

He couldn't just sit by and let this play out. Somehow, Al was sure Ed would stuff his foot in his mouth countless times before he could get past his own foolish pride and nerves and get it right. "I know it should be Ed telling you this," he said. "But we all know he's lousy at expressing his feelings." He looked Winry in the eyes. "He loves you too, Winry."

"I know, Al," Winry smiled. "Like you just said. We've been like –"

"No," Al cut her off. "I don't mean like that; Or rather, not just that. He hasn't been able to stop thinking about you lately… even now, years later."

"How do you know?" Winry seemed taken aback by the news. Al hoped he hadn't made a mistake.

"Because," Al replied. "He told me." The story came out, bit by bit, of their run-in with Wynne Rocke, and Ed's subsequent visit to the bottom of a bottle. Al wanted to color it well, for both their sakes, but he didn't. The truth was the truth; and half-truths only led to problems later; and more pain. He covered their conversation, and explained how Ed had never show real interest in any girl, not romantically, in the entire time they had been here. They had female friends, but they were few and no more 'friends' than those who were male. Still, Ed had never been one to get close to people easily, not even those he considered friends. This wasn't a new pattern of behavior; just one exceedingly odd the older he got. Even Al found it difficult at times to see how his brother could not have some physical or emotional reaction to some of the women they had met!

At least, not until he had learned that his brother had finally come to terms, far too late it seemed, with his feelings for Winry. All this, Al covered as best he could, with their conversation that night, and the occasional one since, and Ed's behavior, which really hadn't changed yet. "I almost feel bad now,' Al ended with. "Telling him he should try and move on."

"Don't," Winry reached across the table and placed a hand on his. "You were trying to help him. It's not good for any of us to be stuck in the past."

"Though now maybe we can look more to the future," Al smiled. Thank goodness she seemed to have taken it all well, though he had seen the hurt look in her eyes when he had gotten to Ed's lowest moments. "You're not going to be leaving again, right?"

"Where would I go," Winry shrugged. "Please don't tell Ed this; it'll upset him I'm sure. But I wasn't really supposed to be the one to come. There's been a lot of pressure on Mustang from the Assembly to figure out really how the gates work, and how to make certain that nothing like that happens again; but also how to control them. Even I don't know entirely how they managed it, but I heard they were going to do a test to see if they could open it."

Al's eyes widened a little as he got the details she did have. He could piece together options just from hearing what she knew, and he couldn't say he cared for it. No, right now, Ed definitely didn't need to know.

"So, when it opened for that brief period…"

"You cut in before they could get someone else through." At least they knew it had closed behind her and, likely, wouldn't be opening again anytime soon. "No, I won't tell Ed. That's your prerogative."

"Thanks, Al," Winry smiled. "And I won't tell him you told me about the last few months either. He should have the chance to tell me himself, if he wants to. He's not big on revealing his vulnerabilities."

Al chuckled. "It's amazing how many things don't change about people, no matter the span of time or distance."

Winry's smile broadened. "I find that very reassuring."

Al relaxed and poured them each another cup. It was good to have his 'sister' back.

By the time Winry braved Edward's room again, Ed had managed to spend over three hours berating himself for treating her the way he had. Al was right. He should be thanking God, or the gods, or whatever, that Winry was here at all. That, however she had managed it, the girl that had been driving him to distraction without even being present for months, nearly a year now if he was honest with himself, and on and off for a long time before that, was here; flesh and blood, alive and safe.

As always, when he really needed her, Winry managed to show up.

Ed had managed to get into a sitting position, thanks to a lot of very comfortable pillows, and once the sun had gotten low enough that it didn't come in directly through the north facing window, Ed was much more comfortable. He was a little tired of chicken soup and tea, but that was all he'd been offered all day, and the nausea that accompanied any really bad head movements or – he thought with a little bitterness, full on smacks to the face – had kept most of his appetite at bay until late in the afternoon.

Something on his stomach, however little, and a little time to absorb the new situation and gain some perspective had improved Ed's mood considerably when he heard familiar footsteps outside, and a knock at the door. "Come in, Winry."

The door opened, and she peeked into the room with a surprisingly timid motion before entering. She didn't have a bag with her, or her tools. Now that he was thinking, Ed got a good look at the woman in front of him. 'This' was how he'd pictured Winry. She hadn't changed much in the last seven years; not since she had reached adulthood during his first long absence. Winry the girl had been pretty; as a woman she was stunning. Not, he noted, because of her mode of dress (as out of place as the fashions of this world seemed to be on her), but because of the vibrant soul within and the expressiveness of her face, her looks, her attitudes. She didn't look like some nobleman's wife, or a movie star. Winry was genuine. "Hi," she said, smiling. "I wanted to...well... can we start over?" she asked. Ed was surprised at the hesitation. Not that he felt any more comfortable with the situation.

"Please," he smiled, abashed. "It's less painful."

To his amazement, Winry blushed. Embarrassment, he surmised. His guess was almost immediately rewarded with a, "I'm sure. Sorry about earlier. I mean, if I'd known it really was a concussion..."

"You'd have slapped me twice as hard?" Ed made sure his tone was clearly joking. It seemed to help put them both on familiar ground.

Winry smirked and seemed to relax a little. "Probably. You can be so infuriating, Ed."

"Glad to see some things haven't changed."

Winry sat down beside the bed. "Me too. You boys have been busy haven't you?"

Ed smiled. "To put it mildly. I take it Al filled you in?"

"He gave me a two hour summary," Winry smiled back. "I'm sure it hardly scratches the surface, but it explains a lot. About what's going on back home too."

"Oh?" Ed looked at her warily. "Will I get slapped again if I ask you to elaborate on that statement?"

"Yes," Winry replied firmly, though the smile hadn't faded. "I'm under strict orders from Al not to talk 'work' with you."

Of course. Ed would discuss that with his brother later. "All right then. What 'can' we talk about?" Ed asked. "Is it okay to ask about old friends; to get some news?"

"That's fine. I've even got pictures," Winry pulled a book out of her pocket. "So much has happened since you left. It seems unreal now that I've had a chance to talk with Al, and actually see you guys."

Slowly, they went through pictures, and Ed found that his heart ached to see them and, for the first time in a long time, he felt truly homesick. Elicia was, indeed, thirteen now; a beautiful young woman in the making; smart and clever. Hughes would have been so proud he'd have exploded; not that he hadn't always been absolutely adoring of his little girl.

Mustang and Hawkeye had 'finally' managed to come to a more satisfactory arrangement than 'superior and officer' and had gotten married a few years before. No kids, but perhaps that was a good thing. Ed couldn't really see them giving up duty long enough to start a family. He was a little surprised by the news that Mustang had finally reached his goal of becoming President of Amestris' Military. He was working with the Assembly, as part of it, to repair the damage done by Bradley and the Homunculi and to instigate positive growth and change. At least he'd kept his promises.

Rose and her little boy, along with the Armstrong family, had done a lot to restore Liore, and the resettlement of the Ishballans was going much better without homunculi and other hotheads running things to screw it up.

Winry willingly went into as much detail as Ed could ask for, filling in years of stories as the evening wore on. So much had happened. He had missed a lot of things.

"And what about you?" Ed asked finally, his voice quiet, as they reached the end of the photos and tales. "What's been going on in your life, Winry?"

"Me? Oh, not much to tell really," Winry smiled, but Ed could tell there was more too it than that. It was funny how well he could read her now; certainly better than he could at sixteen. She was nervous, but trying badly to hide it. "Made it big in auto-mail; put our name back 'on the map.' Doing a lot of custom design work."

"Still living with Pinako?"

"When I'm home," Winry nodded. "I spend a lot of time in Central now. That's where most of my work is. I ah... have a contract with the military for all of their auto-mail needs now."

That's right. She had mentioned that earlier. "Funny how no one ever seems to have much gossip about themselves," Ed chuckled. He wasn't quite brave enough to right out 'ask' what was on his mind. It would be playing too much of his hand.

Winry looked at him contemplatively. "I could say the same of you. Everything I've gotten today came from Al after all."

"Yeah, you got me on that one." Ed shrugged casually. "I plead head injury."

"A likely excuse," Winry replied, the tone teasing, though slightly forced. "That's really about all there is to tell, Ed. Like you, I've been too busy with the work I need to do to do much else besides keep up with friends and get things done. I'm happy with that though."

Was she? Somehow, Ed didn't think so. Had he caught a hint of it in her expression, or was he seeing what he wanted to see. "I'm glad," he replied lamely. "You wanted to succeed, and you've done it. I just can't believe you'd throw it away just to come find us. I mean, you know your chances of getting back can't be great right?"

He must have said something wrong; her expression darkened again. "Thanks for pointing that out. I knew the risks in coming I just... I had to know if Al and you were all right; if you'd made it. It was important to find out what was going on too. If I ever do get back, I'm sure Mustang's going to have my hide over this; if Granny doesn't get to me first." There was a hint of steel in her voice, much more the Winry Ed knew.

He couldn't help smiling. "Then I assume you're here without any more permission than usual."

"So what of it?" Winry asked, leaning forward a little, getting right in his face.

Ed had another response in mind. The words were on the tip of his tongue, but suddenly he was all too aware of her face, inches from his; eyes flashing, the scent of soap and even a little mechanic oil on her; Right there. Suddenly, instead of responding verbally, he had reached out with his real arm and pulled her just close enough to kiss her. What was he doing? He wasn't sure. All he knew was it was something he wanted, with all of his being.

Startled, Winry resisted only seconds, and at some point, Ed couldn't be sure when, she became a willing participant.

When they finally pulled apart a minute later, Winry was looking at him with a bemused expression; confused, but not angry. "Wh...what was that?"

Ed kept his hand on her face. "My apology."

Winry's next reaction was just as surprising, if maybe understandable. Tears welled up in her eyes, and she fell into his arms, sobbing into his chest.

"Hey, hey," Ed said, patting her back awkwardly with his automail arm. "It's all right," he spoke softly, trying to be comforting. "I'm not that bad am I?"

There was a sharp sniffle, and those deep blue eyes looked up at him. "Do you have any idea how long I've been waiting, you idiot?"

"Too long," Ed replied, hand stroking her hair. "Winry I... I have to know." If he didn't ask now, he knew he'd never have the courage. "All those years; You were always there; even when we kept you in the dark; didn't tell you what was going on. Always anticipating what I'd need... hell, you had auto-mail 'on you' for me when I showed up without any warning whatsoever! All that... and all this time and you're still, I mean... damn this is killing me, but I have to know one way or the other..."

"Quit babbling, Ed," Winry cut him off, and he noticed that she was smiling through the tears now. "You take way too long to get around to being honest, you know that?" she rubbed her eyes with one hand. "I fell for you a long time ago. I'm not even sure when."

"And you waited..."

"Somehow, I couldn't believe we'd never meet again," Winry laughed. "Silly isn't it? Such sentimentalism."

"You were right though," Ed admitted, his arms wrapping more tightly around her as he pulled her into a hug. "And I was so wrapped up in everything else that I never realized it until way too late."

"You were trying to help your brother," Winry pointed out, surprisingly reasonable. Apparently they had all grown up some. "And right some serious problems; not just yours. I couldn't get in the way of that, much as I wanted to sometimes."

Ed nodded. "And I can never thank you enough for everything you've done."

Winry smirked. "You can make a good start of it."

"Oh?" Ed grew nervous. She 'could' make things difficult for him if she wanted to. "What did you have in mind?"

"Kiss me again." Winry stretched upward, still smirking, and kissed him. He didn't have the resolve - or the inclination- to resist.

This was right. This was why she had risked everything to cross between the two worlds, possibly forever. Winry could barely believe the intense reality, the immense satisfaction and relief that came with her longest dreams being realized. Her nightmares of Ed and Al never making it across, or dying in this world without her, were now definitely just nothing more than that. They were alive and, finally, there was nothing left to stop her from openly admitting the feelings she had harbored - and hidden so fiercely - since she was a girl.

They had kissed, and laughed, and she'd cried a little more, until eventually they had fallen asleep curled up on Ed's bed. Nothing more than that, yet his arms around her felt as she'd somehow always known they would, auto-mail included.

"Winry..."

"Yes, Ed?" she turned her head and shifted to look back at him, only to realize he was still asleep. Smiling to herself, Winry relaxed again. So she'd been right all this time. Ed had been hiding the same feelings. She hadn't imagined them.

It was several seconds delay before she became aware that there was someone else in the room. Startled, she sat up, glancing quickly at the door, and sighed in relief when she saw it was only Alphonse grinning at them, a tray with plates of food in hand. He looked amused.

Winry sniffed, though she smiled. "How long 'have' you known, Alphonse Elric?"

Al shrugged and set the tray down on a table. "That you and Ed were completely in love with each other? Years."

"It was that obvious?" Winry chuckled softly, though she felt her cheeks go a little pink.

"To me," Al nodded. "I'm sure Aunt Pinako probably knew. I think half the military probably knew," he added, "at least anyone who had ever seen you two together for five minutes." The grin never faded. "I told Monsieur Lannet that we would take dinner upstairs this evening, to keep Ed from trying something stupid, like going downstairs."

Winry chuckled as she stood up and stretched. "Good idea." She looked at the still-sleeping form in the bed. She'd been as aware of the changes in Ed during their brief exchange seven years ago as he apparently had of the ones in her. He 'was' taller, despite still being a good bit shorter than Al. Muscular as ever (something she had always noticed), but leaner now in some ways. "Hard to imagine someone with 'his' appetite being so lean," she voiced the last thought out loud.

"All the energy goes into personality I think," Al quipped as he offered her a plate, then leaned over and very gently shook Ed's automail shoulder. "Hey, Ed. I've got food here that isn't soup."

Winry stifled a chuckle as Ed awoke almost immediately, though his movements were still slowly deliberate, especially with his head. "Great, I'm starved," he commented as he turned, and spotted Winry again. She tensed, but only a moment, relaxing as his face broke into a relieved smile.

He was afraid it was a dream. She had worried about the same thing sometimes, and had so many dreams. She couldn't really blame him. This was a much improved reaction over his first though! Winry smiled back warmly. "Good," she replied. "You're looking a little underfed."

Ed blinked, and then stuck his tongue out at her, but all in good fun as he took his own plate from Al and dug in. "Finally," he commented between bites. "Something solid!"

"Manners haven't improved much," Winry chuckled. "Though I guess I can't really blame you...this time."

"Tactful as ever I see," Ed swallowed and smiled.

"Should I leave you two alone again?" Al asked, smirking at them both.

Winry laughed as 'Ed' turned pink. So she wasn't the only one. Good! "Don't worry, Al," she replied. "At least one of us has enough self-control to keep things clean."

Al doubled over laughing and, after a moment and a shared glance, Ed and Winry joined in. It felt good to be a family again.

Date: January 29, 1931. (Amestris 1925)

Winry watched as Edward packed the last of his things. He was well again, which she was grateful for, but that meant he and Alphonse were on the move again. They had work to do, and nothing would keep them from accomplishing their tasks. She understood that, and she understood the importance of what they were doing. But that meant there was something she needed to do first; and something that had to be done now!

"Ed?" she crossed the room from where she had watched him and took his hand as he turned and looked her in the eyes. They were of a height now. It still startled her, but she liked it. "Where will you go now?"

"Back to Munich," Ed replied. "That's our best lead right now. Dangerous, heading back there, but it's our shot at getting a hold of him 'and' his work."

"Then...then I want you to promise me something."

"That I won't do something to get my auto-mail busted up?" Ed asked, smirking a little. He looked more amused, Winry thought, than anything else.

"That too," Winry couldn't help but smile a little herself. She was nervous; she was worried. "There are two things I want you to promise me," she started again, not about to let him distract her or keep her from saying her piece. "I know you and Al will be going into dangerous places. I know what you're doing is necessary. It usually is. I've gotten used to you two running off to face death head on and smiling." It was normal for most of the people she spent time with at this point. "What I want you to promise is... that you won't go without me. I mean, that you'll let 'me' decide if I'm going with you or not. No more running off and leaving me behind, Edward. I won't put up with it anymore."

Ed looked bemused, then concerned, and at one point he looked like he was going to start shouting, but she pressed through, and met his gaze evenly. She wasn't going to let him argue with her on this. She was capable, she could be useful, and now that he'd stopped denying he was as crazy about her as she had been about him for so long, she wasn't going to chance him vanishing 'forever' on her again trying to save the world. Finally, he just sighed, chuckled, and smiled at her. "There's nothing I can say to dissuade you, is there? No," he answered his own question. "And I don't want to. You have my promise, Winry. You go where we go from now on."

"Oh, Edward," Winry chuckled, arms going around his neck as she hugged him tightly.

Ed wuffed, and hugged her back. "Yeah, I know. I'm a pretty good guy."

Winry rolled her eyes as she stood back. "And so humble." She looked at him, and smirked. "You're taller than me."

"Well when did that happen?" Ed chuckled, a little surprised that he hadn't noticed that himself. It was a very small difference, but he was looking into her eyes from slightly higher than level. He covered his momentary embarrassment. "So, what's the other promise?"

Date: February 1st, 1931. (Amestris: 1925)

Edward groaned softly as he shifted ever so slightly on the bed. He lay on his back, and decided he really didn't mind the light aching sensation he felt all over; his senses as afire and aware as they had been when he had performed alchemy. "Surely," he commented softly. "That's some kind of magic."

Beside him, curled in the crook of his left arm, Winry chuckled. "Funny, I thought it was science. Biology to be exact." Her hand played lightly across his chest.

Goosebumps rose over most of Ed's body. "That doesn't even begin to cover it," Ed chuckled and reached out with his right arm, tilting her face up so he could kiss her properly. "'This' didn't bother you did it?" he asked, moving that arm a little in gesture, clearly referencing its auto-mail make-up. "I mean..."

Winry smiled, tousled hair shifting on her bare shoulders as she tilted her head and brought her hand up to grasp his auto-mail one. "I fitted you with your first auto mail almost fourteen years ago, Ed. Why would it bother me?"

Ed shrugged. "Well, these aren't exactly the same circumstances," he pointed out. No, not at all! "And you didn't really touch those limbs much while we were-"

"You're being silly," Winry cut him off, her fingers intertwining with his right ones as best it was possible to do so. "Would you rather I touch those or the ones where you can feel what I'm doing?" She nuzzled his neck slightly with her nose to make the point.

That felt... Ed closed his eyes briefly as a shudder of enjoyment coursed through him. "You win! You've made your point just, please... I don't think I have enough in me to say no...or survive." It was interesting… flirting. It, or sexual innuendo, wasn't something he had much experience with, or had ever seriously considered as a possibility with Winry for most of his life. Though despite awkward moments, the natural feel to it now, innocent as much of it was, was reassuringly wonderful. Sex with Winry was… better than alchemy, or food… or both; easily.

The grin he got in response to his comment was both wicked, and pleased. "So finally I have a way to make you do everything I want then, right?"

"I don't know," Ed laughed. "Just asking seems to work pretty well lately, and this might be really inconvenient during a fire fight... or in public."

"Okay, so maybe I'll just have to keep relying on good looks and being more stubborn than you are," Winry said.

Ed couldn't resist the jibe, even if it got him in trouble. "At least you got the second half right."

Yep, it got him in trouble! Winry's aim with a pillow was flawless. It was several breathless minutes later before pillows and tickling fingers stopped being weapons...

"I'm glad Al didn't mind our being delayed a couple of days," Winry gasped finally, once more cuddled up next to him.

"Are you kidding? He's probably laughing about this," Ed smiled. "Though he may never let me live it down."

Winry chuckled. "That you were willing to go through with it or that I had to ask you first?"

Ed shrugged, still smiling. He wondered if he'd ever be in a bad mood again. Twenty-five years, but it had definitely been worth the wait. "So I'm progressive enough not to treat you like most of the men in this world treat their women."

"So you like women who take control," Winry pushed herself up with her arms, looming over him a little, her hair falling down around her face and partially brushing his chest. Damn...was he always going to find her so distracting now?

Ed wasn't going to show just how badly he was affected, though he suspected she'd be able to tell easily enough. He smirked. "Always have."

Winry leaned forward until their noses were touching. "Good. I'm not really the shy and helpless type," her voice lowered as she kissed him again, lying down across him.

She wasn't going to get away with...oh, no...yes...yes she was going to get away with that! Ed jerked her off balance and down into his arms with his right arm. Two could play at that game. Yes, standing through the half an hour of monotone French preaching the priest in that little country church had given had been more than worth this. "You," he managed between kisses as he got leverage with his left leg and flipped them both, pinning her to the pillows. "My dear Mrs. Elric, don't play fair."

"So," Winry grinned impishly up at him. "Teach me the rules."