Chapter 1: A Welcome Return

It was another quiet evening in the town of Resembool as Winry was working on automail repairs for one of her customers. It was a metal arm that Winry had designed to handle heavy loads which was necessary since her customer, Vic, worked in construction back in South City. It didn't really need to be repaired per say but Vic was lousy at keeping up on the maintenance himself and preferred coming to Winry every few months to have her do it. She didn't mind though, in fact she was flattered when her customers would travel halfway across the country for her to work on their automail. Finally after several hours of work Winry walked down the stairs with the metallic arm in her hand as she approached Vic who was being kept company by her Grandmother Pinako and Den.

"Finished with your arm Vic," Winry said with a cheery smile. Vic looked over to Winry and smiled appreciatively.

"Thanks Winry, I don't know what I'd do without you," Vic said as Winry pulled up a seat beside him.

"You'd have to learn how to maintain your arm yourself," she teased as Vic laughed and she aligned the arm into the entrance port. "I'm getting ready to connect the nerves are you ready?" Winry asked. Vic's expression turned grave, already anticipating the pain to come, as he nodded and closed his eyes. With a flip of the switch Vic's nerves were connected to the automail arm as he shouted out in pain and ground his teeth to try to keep from screaming too much like a little girl. Winry had to do her best not to laugh at Vic's display.

I guess not everyone can handle it like Ed, she thought to herself. Her smile shrunk slightly at the thought of her child hood friend. It had been almost eight months since Ed had left for the west to study Alchemy and Winry couldn't help but miss him every day he was gone. It was definitely quiet in the small town without Ed and Al running around the place, but with Ed in the West and Al off learning about Alkahestry in Xing with May; leaving her alone in Resembool with her Grandmother. Realizing she had been daydreaming Winry shook her head to clear it and smiled down to Vic who was now breathing heavily trying to steady himself from the pain.

"Well that ought to do it Vic," Winry said with a smile as she put her tools away in her tool belt. "It should be ready for heavy lifting again when you get back to South City."

"Thanks Winry," Vic said as he tested his arm gently by rotating it in the air. Once Vic had paid for the work he thanked Winry and Pinako again for their work and went off towards the train station to catch his train back to South City. Just as Winry had plopped herself onto the couch, tired from the day's work, she noticed her Grandmother was putting on a light jacket with Den bounding by her.

"Going somewhere Granny?" Winry asked curiously.

"I'm going over to Audrey's house for a card game," Pinako responded as she looked over to Winry. "I'll take Den with me so you'll be in the house alone, will you be alright?" she asked.

"Yeah I'll be fine," Winry stated as she lay back down on the couch. "I'm probably going to go to bed in a little bit anyways."

"Alright, well there's a pot of stew in the refrigerator if you're hungry. I'll probably be back late so don't wait up for me." With a final good bye Pinako and Den left the house as Winry shut her eyes in exhaustion as her mind wandered back to Ed. She could never get used to Ed and Al not being around, even if they did spend years at a time without so much as a call unless Ed's arm or leg was damaged. However now that Edward had his human arm back and now unable to use his alchemy she figured he'd be less likely to break her leg and wouldn't need to come home for repairs. Winry sighed, even if that was the case Winry greatly wished that Ed would return sooner rather than later, especially after his 'proposal' minutes before he boarded the train to the west. Winry couldn't help but smile as she thought back to the day Ed had left for the west.

Ed was about to board the train when he stopped suddenly and muttered almost too softly for Winry to hear, "An appointment." He turned around and stared at Winry for a few seconds confusing his lifelong friend as she smiled slightly and asked, "What's wrong?" As soon as she had asked Winry noticed that Ed had begun to sweat.

"Listen Winry," Ed asked sounding nervous. Why is he so nervous? Winry thought to herself.

"Well what? Just come out and say it," Winry insisted. Ed continued to stare at her sweating more profusely as he shook in nervousness only to soon be completely covered in a deep red blush. Suddenly in a nervous frenzy Edward pointed his hand out at Winry and shouted-

"EQUIVALENT EXCHANGE!"

"Huh?" Winry asked cluelessly as to what the Alchemy freak had meant.

"I'LL GIVE HALF OF MY LIFE TO YOU IF YOU GIVE HALF OF YOUR LIFE TO ME!" Ed shouted. The moment the words left his mouth he inhaled a huge, nervous breathe as he stared at Winry with a look of horror on his face. It only took Winry a couple seconds to understand what Edward had meant as her mouth had dropped slightly at Edwards question. Did he just propose? She thought excitedly and nervously, instead she said in an exacerbated tone,

"Ugh come on, do you have to treat everything like alchemy? The whole equivalent exchange thing is just nonsense!"

"WHAT'D YOU SAY?" Ed shouted in shock at what Winry had just said, still pointing at her expectantly.

"It's nonsense!" Winry repeated. "How about I just give you my whole life?" The way Edward was staring at her in relieved shock Winry had to double back and think about what she had just said, when she finally realized what she had said she broke into a blush just as deep as Edward's was.

"Uh, maybe not all of it!" Winry called back in a panic as she stuck her hands out in front of her. She then started counting on her fingers absently. "90- Maybe 80%? 70! That's not enough; but 85, yeah! 85 is a good number!" Out of nowhere Ed had buckled over and began laughing hysterically at what Winry was doing.

"You-WHAT?!" Winry barked at Ed only causing him to break out into an even deeper fit of laughter.

"Shut up!" Winry demanded as Ed tried his best to get ahold of himself.

"I'm sorry really," Ed said, still unable to completely stop laughing as he was bent over clutching his stomach.

"Edward!" Winry said in embarrassment as Ed continued to laugh.

"You are so incredible!" he said looking up at a still blushing Winry as he continued to laugh. "You managed to knock equivalent exchange flat on its butt in a few words!"

"An-and what's that mean? Are you making fun of me?" Winry asked self-consciously.

"Not at all," Ed said seriously while no longer laughing. With a smile he approached a still blushing Winry as he embraced her shocked form in a final farewell hug. "Thanks for cheering me up, I'll miss you," Edward said longingly. "Goodbye, for now." Winry finally wrapped her own arms around Ed's back as she was finally able to smile as she pulled him tighter to her.

"Come back soon," she said still in his embrace.

Winry sighed at the memory as she continued to ponder that moment. That was a proposal wasn't it? Winry thought to herself. Or did I just imagine the whole thing? Moaning Winry finally opened her eyes to realize that the sun was no longer hovering over the horizon but was now set with the many stars now in the sky.

"Guess I fell asleep without noticing," Winry said to herself as she stood from the couch and pushed on her back until she heard a crack and let off a satisfied sigh. Deciding to go to bed Winry walked up the stairs to the second floor and immediately headed towards her room. As she opened the door she didn't bother turning the lights on, knowing very well where everything was, as she headed over to her bed. With a yawn she got into the bed, without changing out of her work clothes, and proceeded to make herself comfortable. As she rolled over her heart stopped when her head gently bumped something on the other side of her bed. Opening her eyes just a crack she became terrified when she realized someone else was lying in her bed. Screaming at the top of her lungs Winry whipped out her trusty wrench and smacked the intruder over the head as he fell out of the bed with a pained shout.

"OW! Damn it Winry! Do you really sleep with that damn thing?" a very familiar voice complained from the floor. Immediately recognizing the voice Winry ran around the bed and stared as she saw none other than a shirtless Edward Elric rubbing his head in pain as a considerable bump had grown in size where she had hit him.

"Edward!" Winry said happily. Before Ed could respond with happiness of his own Winry hit him over the head again dropping him back to the floor.

"WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU DOING SLEEPING IN MY BED?!" Winry shouted angrily.

"HOW WAS I SUPPOSED TO KNOW YOU WERE HOME?! I THOUGHT YOU'D HAVE BEEN IN RUSH VALLEY!" Ed responded in an equally angry tone.

"I WAS SLEEPING ON THE COUCH, ARE YOU SO BLIND THAT YOU CAN'T NOTICE A SLEEPING PERSON?!"

"WELL FORGIVE ME FOR YOU BLENDING IN SO WELL WITH THE DAMN FURNITURE!" With a final huff Winry turned around and crossed her arms beneath her breasts, the wrench still visible in Edward's sight, as she said in a gentler, more placid tone.

"I thought you'd have called first." Ed finally managed to get up off of the ground as he looked at the woman standing with her back to him. It had been almost a year since Edward had seen Winry and he didn't want to start things off with her being mad at him for something stupid.

"It's like I said I thought you'd be in Rush Valley, I was going to surprise you," Ed explained in a calmer tone. He took a few steps forward and then stopped, unsure what he should do, when Winry dropped the wrench and surprised Edward by wrapping her arms around him in a tight embrace.

"I missed you," she said barely above a whisper. Surprised Edward gently wrapped his own arms around Winry's back, silently relishing in the fact that it was now her head under his chin when they hugged, as he said in a surprisingly gentle tone,

"I missed you to." It wasn't long until the two were downstairs in the kitchen; Edward with a bowl of stew in front of him and an ice pack over his wrench bumps.

"I'm surprised you came back so soon, it hasn't even been a year since you left." Winry said as she checked the bumps atop of Edward's head.

"Yeah well it felt longer than a year; I'm not used to traveling on my own- OW watch it!" Ed snapped suddenly when Winry had pressed too hard on one of the bumps. Ignoring his outburst Winry continued looking through his hair, more to just have the feeling of him in her hands then to check his bumps.

"Speaking of traveling alone have you spoken to Al at all?" Winry asked.

"No I haven't, why have you?" Ed asked. Winry nodded, but then realizing Edward couldn't see her from behind she answered. "Yeah he tries to call at least once a week, which is more than I can say for an alchemy freak I know." She said the last part with a small bit of ice that Ed was able to read immediately. As Winry was running her hands through his hair she was surprised when Ed had caught one of her hands in his and looked up to her with an unreadable look on his face.

"I really am sorry Winry," Ed replied as he continued to hold Winry's hand. Winry started to blush from the contact but turned her head away seeming to pout in order to hide her blush from him.

"You say that but how do I know you mean it?" Winry protested. As Winry was about to pull away from Ed and head towards the couch she was surprised when he didn't let go of her hand, causing her to nearly fall. Thankfully Ed managed to catch her as she fell into his lap from the seat; she looked up at Ed for a moment unable to resist getting lost in his gold eyes, and he in return staring into her beautiful blue orbs. As their heads slowly inched closer together they heard a familiar barking sound coming from outside as the front door was being opened; the two immediately separated from one another blushing heavily as Pinako came walking into the house with Den right beside her. Before she could say anything she seemed only slightly surprised to see Ed sitting in her kitchen.

"Well look whose back," she said with her loving sarcasm. "And here Winry and I were worried you'd gotten yourself shot or run over. Being such a small target does that you know." At the word small a vein popped out of the side of Ed's head as he looked down at Pinako.

"I'M NOT EVEN SHORT ANYMORE YOU MINI HAG!"

"PLEASE DON'T GET ME STARTED YOU MICRO MORON!" As the two went on their rant it was abruptly interrupted by Den who excitedly leapt onto Ed's lap and began licking his face. Ed immediately stopped yelling at Pinako and started laughing at Den while Pinako and Winry all stared at the sight with a smile. A few moments later the three of them were sitting at the table with Den curled at the foot of Pinako's chair.

"So Ed are you just passing through or is there more to your trip?" Pinako asked rather bluntly.

"Well I think I learned everything in the West that I could get my hands on, but I didn't have any plans to leave except for visiting Winry in Rush Valley, but she's already here," Ed admitted.

"So you're staying?" Winry asked hopefully. Edward looked towards her and smiled brightly.

"Well that's the plan now," Ed replied earning him a grin from Winry.

"Well that's good then," Pinako said with a smug smile as she jumped off her seat onto the floor. "I have a list of chores that I need you to do. You better get some rest short stuff; you start work bright and early tomorrow morning."

"I'M NOT HERE FOR A DAY AND YOU'RE ALREADY PILING THE CHORES ON YOU OLD HAG?" Ed shouted angrily as Pinako reached the stairs.

"WELL I'M NOT GOING TO LET YOU LIVE HERE FOR FREE YOU MIDGET ALCHEMIST!" Ed slumped into his chair with a groan as Winry laughed at the sight. Ed had only been home for a few hours and already things were already feeling like they used to.

The next morning

"OW! DAMN IT!" Edward shouted from the roof of the Rockbell home as the hammer missed the nail and hit him square on the thumb. "DIDN'T I RESHINGLE THIS ROOF A YEAR AGO?" Ed yelled into the house.

"STOP COMPLAINING AND KEEP AT IT ED! OR ELSE I'M NOT FEEDING YOUR ASS," Pinako yelled from her room. With an exhausted groan Ed looked at the small part of the roof he had already fixed and then at the rest of the roof he'd still have to work on. Ed moaned as he said to himself, "Why does that old hag have to hate me?"

"Hey Ed?" a familiar voice called from below. Ed moved to look over the roof to se Winry, wearing her black tank top that left her midriff completely exposed and a pair of workpants along with a pitcher of Lemonade in her hands and a smile on her face.

"You want to take a break?" she asked.

"Desperately," Ed replied. Within seconds he was on the porch sitting beside Winry on the bench swing enjoying the cool feeling of the lemonade going down his throat.

"Ohh that's good," Ed sighed as he put the half empty glass down on the porch beneath him. Winry couldn't help but laugh as she put her glass down beside his.

"The way you're complaining it sounds like you haven't had anything to drink in months," Winry teased.

"I may as well have, your devil of a granny has been keeping me busy since four in the morning."

"You've been on the roof for seven hours?" Winry asked surprised.

"Nah, first she made me chop enough fire wood for all of Resembool, than she had me fix the table in her work studio and now I have to finish fixing the damned roof and cut the grass." Ed sighed as he looked back over at Winry. "How about you? Any customers today?"

"No not today, I try to keep my weekends clear if I can help it," Winry said with a smile. Ed couldn't help but become mesmerized by the sight of her smile. He was abruptly snapped out of his trance when he realized Winry had said something.

"I'm sorry, what was that?" Ed asked.

"I said, what are you staring at Ed?" Winry asked.

"Oh – I uhh," Ed began to blush slightly and unfortunately for him Winry caught it. Deciding now was as good a time as any Winry decided to speak her mind to him.

"Ed we need to talk," Winry said seriously, causing Ed to look uneasy.

"Uh, sure Winry, what's up?"

"Do you remember when you left Resembool eight months ago?" Winry asked. "Right before you got on the train?" Immediately knowing what she was talking about Ed nodded uneasily.

"Uh y-yeah I remember," Ed stuttered.

"Well did you mean it?" Winry asked. The question took Edward by surprise.

"Did I mean it? What do you mean did I mean it?" Ed asked confused.

"Well it's just," Winry began to blush at having to explain her feelings to him in this situation but she couldn't back out now having come this far in. "It's just, I've been thinking about it and… I wasn't really sure if what I think happened happened or if I was imagining things.

"Well what do you think happened?" Ed asked still confused. Winry fidgeted as she blushed deeply as she said barely over a whisper,

"You proposed to me?" Winry closed her eyes ready for Ed to say that she had imagined it but that wasn't what she heard.

"Your right Winry," Ed admitted seriously, a blush hinting on his face as he looked at her. "That was my way of proposing to you.

"So you were serious than?" Winry asked.

"Of course I was serious!" Ed said now blushing a darker shade of red. "You really think I'd do something like that and not mean it?" Ed asked sounding almost angry.

"Well I never got a call from you so I assumed-"

"When have I ever called?" Ed asked in confusion as to how a phone call had worked into the conversation.

"That's why I thought you'd call. I had assumed that if we were to be engaged that you would call to check up on me or- just something else to prove that you were serious and that you loved me!" Winry snapped angrily. As she stood up angrily to storm off Ed shot up to follow her, grabbing her hand before she got too far away.

"Winry-wait!" Edward called out hurriedly. Before Winry had a chance to protest Edward had pulled her back into his grasp and, without thinking and a large blush on his face, planted an awkward and unexpected kiss on Winry's lips. At first she didn't respond, still hazy from the anger she had displayed earlier, when suddenly she relaxed and wrapped her arms around his back pulling him in tighter to the kiss. He pulled away momentarily as he said in a raspy apologetic tone,

"I'm sorry. I didn't know that's how you felt Win, but I do care; and I promise from now on if I ever go away again I'll call ok? No matter what."

"Oh Ed," Winry said with a single tear forming in her eye. Not caring about it she pulled Edward's lips back to hers where they had a far less awkward kiss as they stood on the front porch. As the two continued to kiss, oblivious to the world around them, neither of them had noticed a smiling Pinako from the doorway observing the two finally kiss after all their years of knowing one another.

"Well it's about time," Pinako said before taking a puff on her pipe and going back into the house.

AN: Hey guys this is my first time doing a FMA Brotherhood story, how do you think I did? If you want me to continue the story you're all going to have to review and tell me how I did, and I'll then put the next chapter up in a week or so. So until then,