This story was an accident, I swear! I was thinking about NaNoWriMo (which I just can't find it in me to write 50K words my first year, so maybe next year) and how the entry I was going to use was a perfect idea for a story on FFnet! Thus this was born. It's my first Post-Manga story, so please be nice! I tried my best to capture the personalities of Manga!Ed, Manga!Winry, and Manga!Al, plus Ling and LanFan. Hopefully, Mei will make an appearance after Ch10.

Oh dear Lord, I'm ranting.

Disclaimer: If I owned Fullmetal Alchemist, I'd have too much fan-mail... Therefore, I'm not Arakawa-sensei.

Final Author's Note: I really tried to self-edit, so if you catch anything I didn't, please let me know! :)

Chapter One:

Arrival in Rush Valley

Blonde hair pulled back in a scarlet bandanna fell over sensitive blue eyes. These eyes were grazing over the work in front of them: an auto-mail leg made with the highest quality steel and the newest style of plating. A tongue sticks out in concentration; a bead of sweat falls from her brow.

Winry Rockbell has lived in Rush Valley for 4 years now, making her 19 years old. The seasons were always intense in Rush Valley ; springs were wet, summers were hot, and winters were below freezing. The only season she could live with was autumn, with comfortable temperatures and the leaves falling so gracefully onto the dry sandy streets.

Sadly, however, it was late November, which meant wintry weather.

She hadn't seen her usual customer in a long time, just less than 4 months. She'd become accustomed to not seeing him around, having more time to focus on her work instead of more time to focus on just how much his rippling muscles stuck out at her when he worked. Or sat there shirtless while she checked his leg. But this time, she needed to see him now more than ever.

A scarlet leaf blew in her view and she looked up, hoping to see the all too familiar red coat running by. He stopped wearing it, she recalled, and hummed sadly as she tightened a bolt. But something brown caught her eye, and she looked over to see a tallish man standing outside her shop. She put the screwdriver down and secretly pulled a wrench into her back apron pocket, and checked the time.

4:20pm .

They were early?

A knock echoed through the empty shop, and Winry stared at her screwdriver; in as long as she'd known those silly brothers, not once had they ever been early. It was either right on schedule or late, but never early. Especially never past 4PM. She got up upon hearing another knock, and heard quiet chatter outside between two young men. She smiled and walked into the bright opening of the 'mail shop. Her theory was correct when she saw two men standing outside her shop.

The first, the smallest of the trio by a few inches only, was Alphonse Elric. His hair was bushy and a pale gold, as it always had been, and his eyes were just as vibrant and alert as his elder brother, Edward's. Al looked at the girl with a large smile and without the cane he'd held more than two years before this, and walked up to cheer happily of their early arrival.

The second man, one Winry was a little more excited about seeing no matter how bad it made her sound, stood leaning against the shop entrance with his long, crisp, golden hair on his right shoulder in a ponytail and long bangs on either side of his cheeks. His golden eyes were scanning the shop, finally falling on Winry's eyes in a matter of seconds, a gentle smile reaching his face.

"We're home," Edward said softly into the silence of the shop. Winry smiled and walked forward.

"So I've noticed."

Ed brought a hand up to her head and pulled her into a loving embrace as he had 4 months before. She didn't hesitate to wrap her arms around his body, even though her cheeks were as pink as her bandanna.

From behind, Al made cat calls and then escaped into the kitchen, missing the wrench Winry had thrown with excellent precision.

The tea pot sang in the kitchen of the upstairs living quarters at Garfiel's shop. Ed and Al sat at the table, Al munching on a sweet roll and Ed staring at Winry as she moved toward the stove to grab the tea.

"So," Winry said, bringing the tea pot over and pouring the water into the three cups on the table. "What have you boys been up to?"

It was a battle of wits as they both spoke in unison, Al's voice a pinch lower than Ed's and speaking calmly. Ed, on the other hand, was spitting out nonsense he was sure made sense, until both Al and Winry gave him a look that read "Um, what?"

Al stopped talking and looked to his elder brother. "Go ahead, Brother, I can wait." Ed took up the opportunity, grinning at his victory.

Ed explained in thorough, close-to-scientific detail his journey to the West. He explained how he'd met a man who owned his own ranch and how he'd learned to ride a horse, and then how the West was trying to build a trading relationship with Xing, because there was a discrepancy of cotton due to drought that happened almost two years ago. The land had been fallow, turned up, dried out, and never touched again.

"It's odd; really, that after so long Ling is going to have to build yet another relationship with us." Ed shook his head in mock-exhaustion, and Winry smiled fondly. "He and the Bean are going to be visiting for Winter though. He sent me a letter just last month asking permission to stay here…" Ed's eyes moved to Winry, pleading for a "No" answer.

He frowned when she smiled brightly and said "Sure. I haven't seen Ling in a long time. Mei either. It'll be nice to see the two of them again."

Ed's day was morbidly ruined by the mention of the current Xingese Emperor.

Winry set her hands on her hips, sighing as she finished the new leg model she'd been working so carefully on for the past week. She was glad she'd finished it before tomorrow, when she'd be installing it into Ed's port. She walked over to the garage-like door, which normally let customers in, and reached up to grab the handle. She was having trouble getting a good grip on it with her gloves on, and Ed reached up and pulled the door down slightly so she could reach it.

Winry huffed at the irony.

"So, you're done with other people's maintenance, right?"

Winry nodded, pulling off her gloves.

"You've got no other orders to fill?"

A shake of the head, and then a wide smile from Ed.

"Good then. I have a surprise for you."

Winry cocked her head to the side. When did Ed ever have a surprise for her?

So, I think I mastered the art of "cliff-hangers", have I not? *anime-style sweatdrop*

Please leave a comment, more specifically CC (Constructive Criticism). I worked really hard on this chapter and had my sister (^_^) take a look at it before I uploaded. So, hopefully it's in excellent condition!

Next Update: 23 Nov 2010

See you next week!

~Cookie