Before you start reading, I need to say something about this story.

This was a fic that was originally pitched to me by my friend, Renee. This has been years in the making, and her and I don't even talk anymore, but I still want to direct everyone to her profile here on FFN because she's an amazing writer and I still like to think of her as a good friend, even though we don't talk anymore.

Her author name is SamanthaMeloes, so check her out!

Love without War

Chapter One

"How do I do this?" Ed asked himself as he walked through the emptiness of his apartment. Well, what he thought was empty, anyway.

"What are you doing, brother?" Alphonse asked, popping out from who knows where.

Edward had been planning to do this ever since Alphonse was first released from the hospital after they returned his body to normal. Even Ed managed to get his harm back. Sadly, his leg was still automail, but Winry loved it. Ed couldn't blame the gear head; her love for automail made her look really cute whenever she was working over him.

Edward was planning on confessing his feelings for Winry. It only made sense that now was the perfect time to do it. He was no longer a dog of the military after losing his ability to perform alchemy, and his goal had been completed. He returned Al to his body. Winry was even apprenticing in Rush Valley and working to make a name for herself. Hell, she already did with being the famed Fullmetal Alchemist's mechanic.

He, unfortunately, had no clue of how to do this. He already asked Winry down from Rush Valley and she would be arriving that night, but Ed didn't know what to do after she came.

"Al…" Ed trailed off. He rarely kept secrets from his brother. "I invited Winry over to make due on the claim I've had on her since I was four." It was a terrible way to put it, but Ed didn't want to come out and say, I'm in love and I'm going to confess it tonight, like some girl.

"Wow, brother, way to make me think you really care for Winry," Al said. Ed was about to respond and defend himself but Alphonse only held up a hand. "I get it; I know what you're trying to say. So, what's the problem?"

"I don't know what to do," Ed said. "I'm not good at this stuff. I didn't spend all my teens seeking dating advice, so now I have no clue what I'm doing."

"Well, brother, it's not like I went crazy with dating advice in my teens either, so I guess I'm not the best person to go to for this kind of stuff," Al said. "I know; maybe you should talk to General Mustang?"

"Not on your life," Ed said.

"Oh, come on; I thought you two were getting along better now," Alphonse said.

This was true. After everything they had been through with the promised day and Mustang becoming blind before regaining his sight, they were definitely more of comrades than commanding officer and subordinate these days. Well, technically Ed wasn't anyone's subordinate anymore, but the point is, Ed and Mustang weren't at each other's throats anymore. It could have something to do with Edward becoming an adult, though.

"That doesn't mean I'm gonna go to him for dating advice," Ed said. "Besides, all he knows how to do is womanize. I'm trying to actually have a relationship here."

"All right, fine," Al said. After a moment of pause, he brightened. "I've got it."

"What?" Ed asked. He was desperate.

"We've known Winry for our entire lives, brother," Alphonse began. "Take her out to Central tonight. Stop by some place to get something to eat, check out the local mechanic shops, and show her a good time. I'm sure she'd love spending one-on-one time with you way more than doing something like eating at a fancy restaurant."

Ed couldn't believe he didn't think of something like that.

"You know what, Al? You're a genius," Ed said.

"So I've been told," Al responded with a laugh. Ed playfully punched him in the shoulder, but not hard. Alphonse still bruised like a peach. "So, you're taking my advice even though I'm not a dating expert?"

"Please, we've known Winry our entire lives. You and I gotta know her better than anyone besides granny at this point," Ed said. "You're not a dating expert, but you're a Winry expert."

"Thanks, brother," Al said. "Now go get ready for that love confession, my brother."

"Yeah, yeah."

"Edward!" Winry called when she saw her friend at the train station. She felt like it had been forever since she had seen him when in reality, they had seen each other not too long ago when Winry had to do maintenance on Ed's leg.

"Hey, Winry," Ed greeted with a smile. The two of them had grown up a lot. Ed remembered meeting Winry in that very same train station when she was taller than him. He was just a kid back then, living and breathing in an adult world. Now they had time to do what they wanted. He wanted to spend that time with Winry.

"How have you been?" Ed asked as they walked back toward Ed's apartment. He took her bag and slung it over his shoulder.

"Same old; you know how working with mechanics is," Winry said with a smile. "I've actually had a lot of customers. I swear, everyone who comes to Dominic's sop now doesn't even want him; they just want me to work on their automail. Crazy, right?"

"It's not crazy at all," Ed said. "You're an amazing mechanic with great skills. You built my automail from scratch more than once, and I know you could do it again."

"Is this you trying to tell me that you only called me over to work on your leg?" Winry asked.

"Nope," Ed said. "I just wanted to see you."

"That's a change from your usual demeanor," Winry commented.

"Hey, I'm older now," Edward defended himself. "Maybe I just want to see you once in a while, huh?"

"That's why you only ever visited me when something was wrong over the years, huh?" Winry asked.

"I was busy back then," Ed said. "I was working to get Al his body back, and I didn't want to do anything but do that. You know I wasn't ignoring you, Winry, I was just doing what I thought I had to do."

Winry sighed.

"I know, Edward," Winry said. "I didn't mean to accuse you of anything; I was just making an observation."

"Well, now that I got Al's body back, we can spend more time together," Ed said. "I mean…if you aren't busy with your apprenticeship."

"You know I'm never too busy for you and Alphonse," Winry responded.

"Right."