Painful as it was, Edward Elric hadn't been back to Resembool in a long while, or so it seemed to Winry Rockbell. The train that came nearly twice a month only brought passengers that would stick to the seat and wait for the next stop while the livestock cargo on board was unloaded, dropped off, paid for. After such was done, the machine would wheeze out its raspy scream, strain forward against its metal bearings, and creak away, gaining speed as it ran away from the small town that the Elric brothers had been brought to the world in. Despite the absence of their most treasured customers, the Rockbell house wasn't too quiet. Winry herself was always working on something. Whether it was Den's auto-mail leg (it would start rusting if she didn't pay attention to how much water the metal took in) or a new experimental arm for Edward's use, she was always busy and kept herself so. Grandma Pinako over there was still using soy beans to keep her hair erect, but she was also still preparing dinner that the two would share each night with one another. Dinners were especially comforting. They allowed for silence if that's what it was to be, though they also tempted idle chit-chat between the house's two residents. Things such as what the day had brought, who'd seen who and what the income for the year might be were often discussed. But as the seasons passed, Winry and her grandmother only saw Ed and Al about once a year, and that was at its best. Spring would soon throw water in Winter's face and wake the ending season up. With the awakening of Winter brought all sorts of colors out of the blanket of snow that had encased the extremely rural town, breeding out flowers of all kinds. Leaves would start to be reborn, and out of the buds that were struggling to bloom all throughout the delightful season would appear blossoms that sparked joy in the small town's young children. But it also brought something else… With those flowers that particular year…were the boys. This year is very special indeed.
As the massive iron horse pulled up to the station that it would normally just stop at for livestock drop-off's, two boys, brothers though it may not look it, made their way off by weaving through the other passengers, which were packed in like sardines in the small cramped seats. Of course, they got looks and stares, sometimes even glares from the souls they passed by, but with the half-ton walking armor clanking behind the blonde-headed boy, it was just another normal day at its best. Edward and Alphonse Elric had managed to sneak out of Central without the use of a bodyguard as they travelled the night-long ride back to their hometown, but that didn't mean that they couldn't easily be spotted. With his red coat and obsidian pants, Edward was sort of a beacon of light compared to other State Alchemists. But it wasn't normally him who attracted all the attention (he is a pipsqueak afterall). It was Al. How can you miss someone that glints light off his torso each time he moves? That's right, you can't.
Ed hopped off the train that had safely brought them here, in this empty region, and onto the wooden plank that led down to the stations little deck. He turned his amber eyes towards the direction of which they would soon be going and he balked. Al gave him a little tap on the center of his spine to get him moving. Of course his younger brother would be eager to get back to their home… well, they didn't have a house anymore, but this place did bring a sort of comforting relaxation. The boy had been bothering Ed since last summer to get back to this dumb place. He definitely wouldn't admit it a loud, but Edward had also wanted to come back to visit the lives they had decided to burn and leave here behind them. But with everything going on in Central, it wasn't like they could just run away… A soft sigh escaped the teenager's lips as he realized that had been exactly what they had done. There was no familiar sound of military officials organizing plans for a court victim, or an alchemist gone crazy here; the only sound was the occasional bark of a dog, or the bleating of a baby lamb as it called out for its mother. That being said, the stress that had been lingering around on the duo's shoulders was subtly and suddenly lifted by unseen hands without the two even realizing it.
"Well… we're here." Ed commented, in order to release the awkwardness that was surrounding the area as the train disappeared over the curvature of the Earth. They were two miles away from the Rockbell's household now.
"It would seem so…" the suit of armor that held his younger brother's soul inside answered, picking up a walk that would soon leave Edward behind if he didn't catch up soon. Alphonse seemed to have acquired a light in his step as they got ever closer to the Rockbell's. They passed farmers and other such country folk as they took the much too familiar dirt road towards the two women that would be more than happy to see them. Edward suddenly seemed disoriented as he thought about what Winry would fuss about when she saw them. He could almost hear her now- and to tell the truth, it was giving him a headache (and she wasn't even there!). "What's wrong with you?" Alphonse had caught onto his brother's gloomy aura. Not that it was hard to dismiss anyway. Whenever Ed got discouraged, he seemed to send out a radio signal to his brother's armor, and it would echo around in the hollow space until Alphonse got tired of it and announced his all-too familiar question.
"Winry's gonna' be pissed that we didn't 'call before we came.'" He tossed his leather messenger bag over his auto-mail shoulder after swinging it a few times and looked up to the clouds that were ever swirling their wispy vaporized ribbons above his sun-stained head. What did those things feel like anyway? Edward was suddenly caught up in his thinking and didn't catch Al's reply, which consisted of a nervous laugh. But this moment seemed to be brimming with the possibility of enlightenment, and Al, who had taken on the job to look at whatever his elder brother was directing his attention to, was suddenly struck with a very strange line of thought that would later burn through his brain while his older brother slept. There must be some way to be able to propel a body off of the ground. If birds could do it, why couldn't he? Of course, the right amount of weight and the alteration of wind patterns would take place, but it wasn't quite impossible. Birds had hollow bones in their small wings… is that what allowed them to fly? If so, how? Al knew that whenever the small creatures took off, their wings beat the atmosphere with whip-like speed, propelling them off of the earth's surface and into the lithosphere… He shook his head in order to dismiss the silly thoughts, causing the armor to clink and clang, waking up Edward from his own "la-la land" as well. Whatever Ed had been thinking about, it must've been more important than Al's silly theory loss. For there were frown marks beginning to appear on the boys face. But then again, it might have just been the house that was appearing over the hill.
"Here we go…" growled Ed, shaking his head and slowing down a bit. He didn't want to face that girl… Sure, he and Al had always fought when they were younger about which one of them was going to marry her, but now, that seemed like the least of his matters. They still had yet to find the Philosophers Stone, though with everyone after it (and even having the nerve to impersonate them…), it seemed like it was a futile idea. No wonder Central didn't want the two to leave. With Scar on the loose, and the Homunculi taking over the entire region, or so it seemed, and causing chaos in the hearts of possible allies, the State really had no time to let one of their best Alchemists leave on vacation- especially to Resembool. In such a secluded place, the military wouldn't be able to send out back up quick enough if Ed was in real trouble. Colonel Mustang would be sure to hammer out on Ed's ass once he got back to Central, but for now… why not pretend that everything was going to be just fine? It was, wasn't it? Well…it was… for the moment anyway.
The silence of the moment didn't last as long as Fullmetal would have liked it to. The Rockbell's door burst open when they were merely four inches away from opening it and it slammed Ed in the face, pushing him back and knocking him onto his rump. The bells above the doorway chimed carelessly, but the older brother found them to sound mocking… as if they were laughing at him. A screech erupted from his open mouth, and anger flared in his sunset colored eyes. Al was unaffected, however he was able to watch the whole scene play out right in front of his face within a mere short five seconds.
"What the hell was that for?" Ed growled, flying to his feet yet again and then widening his eyes when Winry wrapped her feminine arms around him and encased him in a strong hug. He could have broken out of it quite easily, but since he was still so startled from the swiftness of it (maybe it was how hard the door had hit him… w), that he stayed still and seemingly embraced it. Then, he placed his palm that still held flesh and blood in it on the back of her shoulder. Only Ed and Al knew that she had them. Grandma Pinako might have known, but she never made mention to it… it was a weird sort of knowledge anyway, but it came to the two boys one day when all three of the children decided to go and have a leisurely swim at a lake that was located near to the old farm out east. Winry had four dimples that were indented into her body. Two beneath her shoulder blades and two right above her seat, to the left and right of where the spinal cord began away from the area of which the tail bone was connected to.
When he pressed two of his fingers there on her shoulder dimple, the pointer and the middle, she left him with one more tightened embrace, and then passed on to lay a kiss on Al's metal cheek. Of course, he had to lean down for her to do so, but Winry has unbelievable strength, and with a simple tug on one of his arms, she had him within her grasp. If Alphonse had been able to blush, he definitely would have done so now. "Welcome back you guys… Al, have you been cleaning your armor?" Al nodded and the blonde-headed, blue-eyed girl grinned. "Great! Oh and Ed, lemme have a look at your auto-mail later after dinner alright?" Without waiting for an answer, Winry took Ed's bag that he'd dropped on the wooden patio and started inside, the boys following her into the delightfully cool household that smelled of the beginning of stew. Ed's anger and confused expression dissipated quickly as his stomach started growling and protesting against his will for something that would indeed fill him up. But Grandma Pinako wasn't in the kitchen, despite the fact that the bowl she was heating the dinner in was boiling. Winry didn't seem at all worried about it, so Ed put his arms behind his head and followed the girl he'd grown up with into the room the two always stayed in. She placed the brown leather bag Edward had been carrying with him the entire way away from Central on a chair and walked out of the room before Ed or Al could express their thanks.
As soon as the door quietly shut, Ed was quick to ask his brother the question that had been bugging him since Winry had dropped his bag. "Was that weird?" He sat himself on the bed that he would be using and took off his shoes, his mouth still blabbing out words while he unlaced them. "For one, she never comes out to just hug us… two, she didn't fuss about anything, and three, what the hell? My auto-mail is fine!" Al shrugged away his brother's questionings.
"Maybe she's having a bad day," he suggested, finding that it might indeed be the truth. Before he could say anything else, old Pinako poked her head in through the window and let out a loud and very obnoxious way to express her joy.
"Well, well, if it ain't mah two favorite boys!" Her sudden appearance and her screechy laugh left Ed scrambling for his balance on the floorboards, and Al helped to steady him before laughing along with the old woman. "Come to have dinner with an old lady have you?" She looked over at Edward, adjusted her glasses and barked out a comment that caused Ed's temper to flare at a high rate. "Looks like you haven't gotten any taller mah boy… and what is Central doing to you! Have you been eating right?"
"I'm gonna kill you old hag!" yelled Ed, running forward, and getting four feet away from the window before Al had him up in the air, legs flailing and arms swinging wildly. Grandma Pinako cackled in her usual way, and then motioned for Al to come outside. "I need to feed the chickens, but Den keeps chasing them off, and I've got to get that stew ready for dinner! Will you be a good boy and help me out with this?" Al seemed more than happy to get over and help, and he set Edward down, and rushed outside.
Stretching, Edward walked over to the window old Pinako had popped her head through earlier, and found it to his liking that there was a pile of firewood just underneath it. Leaving his crimson coat and white gloves on the bed sheets, the boy scaled the window and carefully made his way down that silly pile of firewood. It was only about three feet in height, but if it was there for a reason, Ed had a very good idea as to why. Many times he'd heard stories of his father (damn that man to whatever Hell he believes in) being a good friend of Pinako's for her drinking, but he didn't think the old lady was still drinking… So why was it there? Ed didn't want to get into the Rockbell's business, since he usually wasn't here, so he started running away from where Al was feeding the family's chickens and waved as he did so. "I'll be back when dinner is served! Going swimming!" Al waved back, startling a few chickens as he did so, but when his brother disappeared over the hill, he let out a sigh and started telling his troubles to the fowl that cooed and clucked around his armored feet.