Ed tossed and turned in his sleep, unaware that he was also grunting and whimpering. He was having a familiar nightmare- Nina and Alexander, circling him. He was standing in Tucker's library, with the pair of them running around him.

"Play with us, Edward! Come play, Big Brother Ed!" Nina squealed, as Alexander barked happily.

It was always then that his dream turned more sour- "Play with me, Big Brother!" Nina's voice was no longer her own, but the voice of the kamara that her father had fused using her and her dog.

"Nina…" Ed whimpered in his sleep. "Alexander…I'm so sorry…So sorry…"

"Big Brother Ed…Big Brother Edward…Ed…Edward…"

"Ed! Edward!" Winry shook his human arm, waking him up. "Edward, are you okay?"

Edward shot up from his slumber, gasping. "Win…Winry?" He moved his hands up to rub his eyes, and realized that there were tears on his cheeks. "Huh? Uh…" He quickly wiped the tearstains away, blushing a bright pink.

"Ed…" Winry was sitting next to him on his bed at the Rockbell residence. She inched closer to him, wiping his hair out of his face. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, Winry, I was having a nightmare. I was…sweating." Ed stammered.

"Ed, please let me in." Winry's eyes were filled with genuine concern, her soft hand was resting on Ed's bare shoulder.

"I'm fine." Ed grumbled. "I don't need your pity."

Winry's eyes grew wet and she moved her hand away from him. "Fine, Ed. Sorry for thinking you might actually want to talk about it for once. All you do is shut me out." She moved to get off of the bed, but Ed stopped her, grabbing her arm with his hand.

"Winry, wait."

She looked at him with hurt in her eyes.

"I don't do this to exclude you." He explained. "I do it so that you don't have to feel the pain of what I have seen, what I have done."

Winry's face grew soft. "I want to help. Please talk to me."

Ed shook his head. "I don't want to talk about it. If…If you want to help, could you just sit with me a while?"

"Yeah, of course…" Winry inched closer to Edward again, reaching out for his human hand.

He accepted her hand, which was warm and soft. "Thank you. For always being here for me, Winry."

Winry smiled at him. "I'm just glad to have you home, Ed…Even if it's only for a short time." Winry's smile looked pained. "I miss you and Al when you're gone."

"The only reason I come home at all is because I have you to come home to…"

Winry laughed. "Yeah sure, to fix your automail!" She playfully knocked her shoulder into his.

Ed grinned at her. "You're more than just my automail mechanic. You know that."

Winry nodded. "I know." She looked at Ed, smiling sheepishly at her. He was kind of a jerk, but he was a charming jerk. Winry knew that he really cared about her, even if he had trouble showing it.

Slowly, Winry brought her face closer to Ed's. Ed maintained eye contact with her, frozen still. His heart began to beat faster. Winry closed her eyes and pressed her lips to his, gently kissing him.

It only lasted a second, but when Winry pulled away, they both had flushed cheeks. "Winry, why'd you do that?" Ed asked, blushing furiously.

"I…I just wanted to. I didn't think you'd mind…I'm sorry." Winry pulled farther away, blushing also.

"I didn't say I minded it." Ed whispered. He gripped Winry's hand tighter. He didn't want to push Winry away, no matter how embarrassed he was by her actions- he definitely enjoyed kissing her.

"Edward?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you love me?"

Edward's face turned even pinker. "Well, you know! You've always been around, Winry…You're…You're like…" He wanted to say she was like family, but he knew she was more than that. They fought like brother and sister, but they had a much deeper connection. "I…" Winry was looking at him expectantly. "Of course I love you, Winry." He finally said.

Winry gaped at him, taking in his admission. "I love you, Edward." She paused for a moment. "I know that was difficult for you to tell me, Ed…Thank you for that."

Ed nodded. She was right, it was hard for him to express his love for people. "I'm glad you're a part of my life, Winry."

Winry let go of his hand to push his hair back again. "Are you ready to get back to sleep?"

Ed nodded slowly, leaning back onto his pillows. "Yeah, I probably should." He cleared his throat. "Thanks for coming in here, you know, and waking me up."

"I just wanted to make sure you were okay." Winry moved off the bed, and walked around to the other edge, where Ed was lying down. "Ed?"

"Hmm?"

"Can I kiss you again?" She asked, blushing.

Ed's cheeks grew pink, also. He nodded slowly, prompting Winry to lean down and kiss his lips once more. This time, he was prepared and kissed her back.

"Goodnight, Ed."

"Goodnight, Winry."