a/n: alternate title - how these to dorks went from hugging to full loss of virginity in just a few days. this fic was inspired by rckbell's fic on tumblr, letters.
a/n2: this chapter is rated t, but it's going to be a very firm m in the next chapter. enjoy!

He got her first letter when he was in Aerugo. To say that he was surprised was a touch of an understatement, as he was holed up in a little two room apartment being rented out by an old housewife and, well, how would Winry know the address? Either way, he tore into it excitedly and read through in record time.

"Edward," -the holler came from downstairs- "There is food!"

The woman housing him spoke fairly good Amestrian, though her accent was very thick. Soft "uhs" at the end of most words were the dead ringer for her national language. She also happened to be a fantastic cook.

Talia Pirello was a rather motherly sort, nosiness and all, so when Ed clomped down the stairs and into the small kitchen still clutching his letter the first words out of her mouth were "Who is it from, Edward?"

"My girlfriend," he responded like a knee jerk reaction. How true was that? Would 'fiancée' be more appropriate, or did his hackney job of a proposal not really count?

"Ah," she hummed, smugness and clear understanding lighting her face up. "What is she like?"

He paused for a moment, thinking of how he could possibly explain Winry Rockbell to someone who'd never met her. She was genuinely indescribable in some ways. He pulled some pasta onto his plate and poked at it.

"She's... she's pretty."

Wow, lame.

"Yes, yes. Is she smart?"

"Very."

Mrs. Pirello scoffed for a moment and pressed further, trying to get some information out of her houseguest -despite the fact that Ed had only been in her home for two months, she took to him fast. Reminded her of her oldest son, apparently.

"And?"

"She's great."

Ed remembered the letter, stuffed hastily into his pocket, and fished out the lone picture that had been included. It was Winry, holding the certificate that indicated the completion of her apprenticeship. She was smiling hugely. 'I'm fully flegded!' it read on the back, and somewhere in her letter she'd explained that now she could open up her own branch of Rockbell Automail in Rush Valley and she had already started planning for it.

He passed the picture over, and Mrs. Pirello hummed again in her knowing sort of way.

"Bella, bella. She is very beautiful. Is she the one who made your leg?"

"Mhm. She's the best damned automail mechanic in the world," he explained.

"You are very fortunate, then."

-0-

He scrawled a letter back to her almost immediately.

Winry,

How did you know where I was? Almost creepy, your sense for location.

Anyway, congrats on the certificate! When are you gonna open up shop and where? Or is it too early to ask that? And how does Garfiel feel about it? Y'know everyone's will follow you to the new shop and the poor guy's gonna lose all his business. Ha.

So yeah, Aerugo. I like it here, despite the fact that this room I'm renting is cramped to death. My host is a great lady though, and her food is amazing. Actually, all the food here is amazing. Aerugo's thing seems to be fish and pasta. There's at least thirty different shapes of noodle and they're all named after the weirdest shit. Oricchiette is the best one: it means 'little ears'. Nasty sounding but actually very good. Also: I managed to hop a boat with some of the fishermen on the western coast and they caught a fuckin' shark! Got a picture of it too.

They also caught a crapload of squid and some weird looking flounder and yes, they cooked and ate it and it was boss.

Yep, not a whole lot else that I can think of that would be of any interest to you but I'll probably think of at least ten things after I send this letter. Gives you something to look forward to, hmm?

I miss you.

-Ed

-0-

She got it only a week after he'd written it, and of course she ended up reading it in bits and pieces throughout the day. She didn't technically have time to, but that didn't really matter.

The thing that did catch more of her attention was the picture he'd sent: a whole big group of people, a huge shark in the middle and Ed leaning his hand up against it, grinning like a big dope. She clamped down on a laugh at first, but the longer she stared at it the more her heart clenched.

Six months, a little voice piped in her head, it's only been six months.

But that did little to quell the ache in her chest. She was busy enough and she didn't like to imagine herself pining, because that would be a waste of time. But still.

Maybe it was self indulgence that caused her to lie awake at night and imagine that he was with her, arms tight around her waist and snoring into her hair. That was the extent of her fantasies, just that.

They'd only hugged, anyway. She couldn't genuinely imagine kissing him, because what point of reference did she have? And she certainly couldn't imagine any further than that -although sometimes she wished she could- because she'd only end up blushing to herself and then she'd have to hunt down a distraction. It wasn't that she was prudish or anything like that, but what good would do to imagine something that wasn't going to happen any time soon.

Well.

She was fairly surprised when the phone rang one afternoon and his voice was crooning at the other end. Actually, she almost dropped it.

"Ed?!"

"Hey," he said, and she could hear him smiling through the line. "How are you?"

"I'm... I'm fine, I just can't believe that you called."

"Oh come on, give me a little credit!"

"Wait... is something... wrong?"

"No, no, nothing like that. Geez, Win, can't I call my girl without something being wrong? I just missed you," he added to the end, softer and sheepishly.

Winry was still a little stuck on the 'my girl' part. She liked that.

"Uhg," she groaned in mock exasperation, "It's just that you have a terrible track record."

"Well I aim to fix that. What's up?"

They talked for a while, a good half hour (thank goodness for his timing; she was on break and didn't have any pressing appointments or at least any that Mr. Garfiel couldn't handle) before he finally explained that long-distance calls were a bit tricky and that he should probably go.

"I'll see you soon," he told her, "I actually... well um... my leg-"

She cut him off with a "what did you do to it this time?!" but he laughed at her, raucous and loud.

"I didn't, actually. I've grown a bit since I left!" He sounded very proud of himself. She made a mental note to prepare for the increase in height... assuming that it was actually noticeable.

"Well then, I'll be waiting for you," she told him. She immediately wished that she hadn't phrased it that way, but there were no takebacks. "When do you think you'll be back?"

"Hm, maybe about two weeks? I'll give you more details when I know for sure. Winry," he said, pausing over her name. She hoped she wasn't just imagining the longing in his voice. "I can't wait to see you again."

Her heart fluttered but her head stayed cool.

"Yep! Me too!"

The line went dead, and she groaned. It was gonna be a long two weeks.