A gift for all my readers. Sorry I haven't updated anything in a while. But here is something that will calm you for now.

Disclaimer: I do NOT OWN FullMetal Alchemist!!

A Christmas Gift to Remember

In the winter months, right before Christmas, a small family was awaiting their guests, or rather their other members. A short, older woman was in the kitchen cooking some stew for the two that would be arriving shortly. Every year, she would cook a fantastic meal and every year, the two members of their family never showed. The young woman living with her grandmother would always be upset about this, but she would grin and bear it. In a way, the blonde girl had become used to this let down, but there was something about this year that made her think that her beloved friends would arrive home. She smiled at her grandmother as she walked past the kitchen and into the living room. Her blue eyes looked at the small tree and all of the gifts under it. Just then, her eyes grew huge. 'Oh, no...I didn't get him a gift...'

She whipped around and looked franticly for something that he might like. He left nothing here that would even remotely be a clue. Frankly, Winry didn't know what to give him. She had tried many times before to give him her love, but all he did was push her away. Her thoughts got her thinking about all the times that he had just left her there hanging, waiting for a reply. Her brow scrunched up as she pouted. The blonde thought it was unfair to just leave her without a response like this. A huff came from her as she stared at the evergreen tree in her home. Her eyes wondered to the presents where she looked at all the ribbons and bows. However, a particular one caught her eye. She tilted her head some and walked over. It was one that hadn't been there before. She looked back to see where her granny was, who was still cooking in the kitchen. A devilish smile came to her face as she looked back to the present.

Oh, how it was tempting her to pick it up. She knew that she wasn't supposed to mess with any of the gifts until Christmas, but this small present was beginning to get the best of her. The green paper wrapped so neatly around it made it looked so perfect, like a gift that shouldn't be tampered with. She looked at the red ribbon that complimented the green paper. This one gift was getting the best of her, she hated it. Her finger tips were just about to touch the silver bow on top of the finely wrapped gift when Grandmother Pinako scolded her. "Winry, you know better then to touch the gifts."

Winry lowered her head and looked back at her granny who was looking quite upset. "I know, but I couldn't help it, Granny. This one is new. I haven't seen it before."

The small elder woman looked to the perfect gift and gave a small smile. "Oh yes, that one arrived this morning." she said, giving a nod.

"Well, was there a card, a note, something?" she asked, wondering, hoping that it could be from a very special someone to her.

Pinako only smiled some, and then shook her head. In reality, yes, she knew exactly who it was from. That small package was from someone who was small as well. The older woman walked back to the kitchen once again after telling Winry to keep her hands off the presents. However, Pinako looked at the stew that was cooking and smiled. Her granddaughter wanted to know if there was a card. No, there wasn't a card. Just a scraggly piece of paper that said "Do not open until X-mas." on it. So, Pinako had decided to keep it a surprise for her. Although, it made that old lady wonder why he was even sending her a present. She picked up her pipe and lit it. As she puffed on it, she began to ponder of what was running through that boy's head. 'Maybe some sense has been knocked into his head.'

Now, as Pinako puffed on that pipe of hers, Winry paced back and forth, trying to find something to do. Nothing seemed to be working. She let out a groan of frustration as she looked back at the small gift. The blonde shot it a mean glare and then went back to pacing. "It's not fair." she said, as she walked to the window and looked out. A few moments later she was back to looking at that package. "Maybe, if I leave the room." she said, in triumph.

Winry walked out of the room into her own bedroom and looked at the table where her tools were. She thought that maybe, just maybe, that cleaning up her work bench would help keep her mind away from that package. So, as she began to work she looked up at one of her toolboxes which was to her dismay, green. 'I just can't win!' She tried to avoid it, but she had to put her tools somewhere. By now, she was getting frustrated. So, she moved to another room. No matter how hard she tried, she never got that small green package out of her mind.

Grumbling as she went from room to room, the site was quite amusing. The blonde would see something green in each place that she went to. Finally, she had enough and stormed back to the living room where the Christmas tree was standing as tall as it could for a small tree. She glared at the package and pointed her finger at it. "I will open you soon enough. Just you wait. I will know what you are." she said, ranting at it like a maniac. No matter how much she pointed and preached, the small wrapped box stayed the same. She put both of her hands on her hips and huffed, still glaring at it.

Little did show know that her guests had arrived and were standing in that very room looking quite confused. Winry's back was turned to them, and they couldn't see the small green package that taunted her so. The smaller one looked up at the suit of armor and just shrugged after a while. Clearly neither of them knew what was causing their childhood friend to act like this, but then again they knew that she had always acted kind of strange. So, the braided boy shook his head slightly as he watched her.

The silence was broken by Pinako after she had come in and had been looking at her granddaughter with confusion as well, until it hit her that she was frustrated with the newest present. A small sigh came from her before looking at the boys. "Winry.." Pinako paused to let suspense take it's toll on the girl. "We have guests." she said, before puffing once again on her pipe.

The blonde girl stood as she heard her name called. She whipped around and smiled at her grandmother innocently, knowing that she had been busted once again. However, when she heard she had guests, she opened her eyes to see the two people that she hadn't expected to see. Her blue eyes widened as she saw them looking astonished at her earlier behavior. She was about to ask them what was wrong, when she remember not to long ago, she had been scolding a small package that neither of them could see. Winry laughed nervously and placed a hand behind her head, rubbing slightly. "Glad you two could finally show up for a change." she said, gaining her composure after that little incident.

"We thought it would be nice to see you and Granny again, Winry." the suit of metal armor spoke. Naturally, it didn't even phase her anymore. She was so used to seeing these two in their altered state that it didn't bother her any longer.

"Yeah, besides I need you to check on my automail. I think something might be wrong with it." The smaller boy said, looking a tad nervous by speaking those words.

"Wrong?! Edward! You know that there is nothing wrong with my automail. It's the best in the world." Winry said, glaring at him for a second, before sighing.

"Of course, but a tune up would be nice." he said, walking over to her and smiling some.

Clanking could be heard as suit of armor known as Alphonse would go to the kitchen to see if Pinako needed any help. Of course, that was only an excuse as Al wanted to leave his older brother and his friend alone. Edward hadn't stopped talking about her the whole train ride there. If Al had his real body, he would have been smiling the whole time. It was good that his brother was looking happy for a change. So many horrible events had happened in the past few months, that Al was beginning to think that Ed would never smile again. But, the mere mention of going home had put a smile on his brother's face. So, Al clanked into the kitchen and began to set the table.

Meanwhile, the two blondes looked away from each other in an awkward silence. Winry thought about why he had come back like this. She figured it was just another excuse to get his arm and leg looked at before heading out on another dangerous mission again. Finally, she looked at him and sighed. "Well, lets get you looked at before dinner." she said, beginning to walk to her room where a smaller work bench was.

As she was walking away, Ed walked over to the tree and picked up that small green package. He smiled as his flesh fingers traced over the silver bow that he had picked out for this small box. His heart seemed to race just a bit as he held it in his hand. His golden eyes momentarily looked at the gift that he had picked out for his friend. A warm smile came to his face as he looked back up and followed her into her room. His left hand behind him as he moved to the chair by her work place. He smiled once more as he set the gift down on the table and just waited for her to see it.

Winry was muttering something inaudible as she opened her toolbox. The gift had been pushed back in her mind as she now had to focus on her greatest work yet. She grumbled as she closed the box when it didn't have the right screwdriver in it. As she put the toolbox back in its place, she saw something green out of the corner of her eye. She stopped and turned her head to see that small green box sitting there. Her blue eyes widened as she looked at the red ribbon and silver bow. She knew it was the box from before. Winry snapped her head up and looked at Edward, who only shrugged. "You put that there." she said, pointing at it.

"And what if I did?" he asked, that mischievous smirk appearing on his face.

"But-but...I can't open that."

"Why not?" he asked, leaning back some in the chair.

"Because I don't know who it's for and you can't open presents before Christmas." she said, looking upset that he had brought it in here to toy with her.

"Who says?"

"Granny did earlier today." she said, with a nod. Her eyes were still a bit wide as she couldn't believe he would do such a thing as this.

"Didn't she say who it was from?"

"No. I didn't ask her."

"Isn't there a tag?"

"I didn't see one."

"Well, there should be one. Every gift has one." he said, looking at the gift.

Winry looked at the green wrapping paper. Her eyes went over the sliver bow and red ribbon once more. Still, she couldn't find anything that told who it was for. She looked back at Ed. "This is silly, Ed. There isn't anything on this present that says that it's for me." she said, with a hand on her hip.

"Well, I think that it is. Come on, open it." he said, leaning back in the chair once again.

After a few minutes of Winry looking from the package to Ed, she finally sighed. It seemed that the girl had given up on trying to fight the temptation of opening it. Her hands went for it, and she bit her lower lip. It felt like any second that someone would walk in and scold her for this. As she looked at the small box, she wondered what could be in it. Her blue eyes looked at the bow and then to her childhood friend, who nodded to tell her to go on. So, she pulled the bow slightly, and it came off with ease. Although, she thought that the wrapping was done well, she couldn't take it anymore and ripped the red ribbon off. Tearing the green paper that had been taunting her all day, she saw a small, black box. A slight gasp came from her as she looked at Ed. "No, this can't be..." she said, unable to believe that Edward of all people could pull something like this off. Her heart began to pound as she stared at the velvet box.

"You will never know till you open it." Edward said, sitting up some to see her reaction.

Slowly, Winry opened it to see a shiny, new washer in place of where a ring would be. For a second, she looked confused and then pulled it out. The blonde girl looked it over. Seeing something that was etched into it, she stopped and looked at the writing on there. 'I can't forget you.' She could feel the sting of tears hit her eyes as she read it over and over again. How could something so sweet come from someone who never showed his emotions? Her heart refused to stop pounding as she looked at it. Her eyes looked up from the washer to the one who had given it to her. A smile grew on her face as she looked at him. "I-I..."

"You don't have to say anything, Winry. It's for when I am gone. Look at that and always know that you have a place in here." he said, placing his flesh hand over his heart.

As much as Winry hated crying in front of him, she couldn't stop the few tears that had already fallen. Here she was, thinking that she would never understand how he could just leave her all alone, not knowing if she was special to him or not. Well, this definitely told her what he thought. She wiped the tears away with her free hand. By the time she finished, he was walking to the door.

"I smell stew." he said, looking back at her and giving her a smile before heading out the door.

He left Winry there in complete shock. Her eyes traveled down to the washer again. It didn't take her long to slip it on her finger. It wasn't a conventional ring like all the other girls thought about getting, but to Winry, it was perfect. A bright smile came to her face as she looked at the bow and ribbon still on her work bench. She grabbed them, walked over to her nightstand where she opened the first drawer, and placed even two more keepsakes in there. She looked to the door when she heard her grandmother calling. After closing the drawer, she stood up, and walked out of the room with a smile on her face.

Winry walked in to the kitchen to see her whole family together for the holidays. It was a happy sight to see. A warm smile came to her face as she sat down in her usual place, across from Ed. As everything was being passed around and old times were being reminisced, she looked at him and smiled. She handed him the pot of stew with shining eyes, her new present could be seen on her hand.

Edward saw that she had placed it on her finger and returned the smile. "Merry Christmas, Winry." he said to her with a warm tone, one that came rarely.

"You too, Ed." she replied, her eyes holding happiness. Finally, things were right. It may only last for a few days, but it was a few days that neither of them would forget for a long time. And the words inscribed on her washer, she would never forget. But knowing that she would forever have a place in his heart, that was the best Christmas present ever.

The End.