Hey so here's the first chapter! now like I said I would not be updating this story until I am done with This Can't be Happening and I've Decided and Where's Luffy! just thought I'd put it up for you to read to get a feel on what's to come. Now if you don't like waiting a long time to read a fic then don't read this! just wait until I get to this fic and start updating it. If your okay with waiting then read away! lol I hope you enjoy it and I hope I managed to keep everyone in character. This is my first Fullmetal fic so please go easy on me =]. Well as you know negative and positive criticism is welcome!

Trials and Tribulations

Chapter 1: Regret

"THEN GO!" bellowed Winry as a steel wrench slammed against the wall.

"Winry please listen" Ed pleaded.

"No! I've had enough Ed just go!" Winry screamed.

"Winry..." Ed said.

"I said Go Ed! And do me a favor and don't bother to come back!" Winry screamed

Ed eyes widened as he felt his heart slowly crumble inside him. After a few seconds of silence Ed finally got over the shock of her words and stared at Winry with pained eyes before slowly turning around and exiting the Rockbell house. Sparing one more pleading glance at Winry Ed slowly closed the door behind him leaving Winry alone.

Winry stared at the closed door Edward had just walked through before she slowly slumped to the ground and cradled her face and began to cry "That idiot!" Winry constantly repeated between sobs.

Few minutes earlier:

Ed got out of bed early in hopes of being awake before a certain someone. Ed walked down each step as slowly as he could so he wouldn't make a noise. Ed looked around the living room and sighed in relief that no one was there leaving him to assume that he was the only one awake. As Ed casually walked into the kitchen the sight of the beautiful blonde nearly startled him to death "W-Winry!" Ed screamed startling the blonde mechanic a bit "w-what are you doing up this early?" Ed asked.

Smiling warmly at him Winry placed a plate of food on the table "I got up early to make breakfast for you" Winry said.

Feeling a sting in his chest Ed glanced at the food then back at Winry "oh...uh thanks Win" Ed said as he walked to the table and sat down in front of the plate of food Winry had made for him. Ed now feeling the guilt overwhelm him slowly looked up at Winry "Win..." Ed said.

"Hmm yes Ed?" Winry said as she sat down across from Ed.

Ed opened his mouth to say the words that's been haunting him for weeks but as he was about to her bright blue eyes captured him and his heart slammed against his chest "...have I ever told you how beautiful you are" Ed said cursing at himself for not having the courage to say what he really wanted to say.

Winry smiled "yes but I never get tired of hearing it" Winry said as the phone began to ring "oh who could be calling at this time of the day?" Winry said as she got up to answer the phone

'Damn it Ed you have to tell her! There is no backing out of this you must tell her! So man up and do it!' Ed mentally berated himself "Winry!" Ed shouted causing Winry to stop and turn around.

"...Yes Ed?" Winry asked.

"I've...got something to tell you" Ed said.

"W-what is it?" Winry asked as she began to feel nervous.

"Well...I'm going to have to break a promise to you" Ed said as he averted his eyes to the bacon on his plate.

Feeling her heart begin to race Winry took a deep breath "...w-what promise? Winry asked

"I'm...I'm going to be leaving for a couple months" Ed said as he kept his eyes glued to the table so he wouldn't have to look at her face.

After a couple minutes of silence as the ringing of the phone died out Winry began walking back into the kitchen and with a clenched fist and fierce eyes stared at the Elric before her "NO!" Winry finally screamed causing Ed to flinch.

"But Winry..." Ed said.

"NO! You are not going anywhere!" Winry screamed.

"Win please listen to me" Ed pleaded.

"No! You're not going anywhere and that's final!" Winry shouted.

"Win! I'm going!" Ed raised his voice as he finally gained the courage to look at her face and immediately regretted doing so. The painful expression she wore was now edged into his mind and Edward knew that until the day he died he would never forget that face.

Biting her lip and fighting as hard as she could to hold back the tears Winry glared at Ed "Fine go! See if I care!" Winry said as she turned around and headed for her workshop.

"Win please don't be like this" said Ed as he followed her into her workshop.

"Don't you dare tell me don't be like this! You leave me for almost your whole life! Your back for six months, you...you tell me you love me and now you leaving me again!" Winry screamed "I've had it Ed! I'm so tired of it! If you really want to go THEN GO!" Winry yelled as she reached for the closest thing to her to throw at Ed and coincidentally threw a wrench which barely missed his head.

xxxxx

Ed laid down on a patch of grass as he recalled the event that happened the day before. His eyes were blood shot as he couldn't for the life of him find a way to fall asleep without the memory of Winry's torn pained face flashing through his mind. Inwardly cursing at himself he turned to his side only to see a blonde headed boy walking towards him. Immediately he knew it was Al. It's been nearly a year since Al regained his body and still to this day it's hard to believe that it actually happened. Ed stretched his arms and sat up to greet his brother, he knew he was about to either get an earful or sent on a long grueling guilt trip which Al had perfected over the years. "Hey Al, what's up?" Ed casually said.

Alphonse wore a sad concerned look as he got closer to Edward "Brother….." Al said

Sighing Edward couldn't help but think "and here it comes".

"Why didn't you just tell Winry the real reason why you're leaving?" Al asked "If you let her know then I'm sure she won't be angry at you" Al said.

Knowing this as well Ed stood up and looked into the golden eyes of his brother "Al you have to understand that what I'm doing is for the best, it may hurt right now but it will be for the best long term" Ed said.

Al looked at his brother "Are you trying to convince me that or yourself brother?" Al said sensing that he had hit the nail on the head once her saw Ed's eyes slightly widen.

Growing angry at what Al just said he found his voice rose a few levels as he began shouting at all instead of talking "and what do you think would have happened if I told her Al? Hmm? If went up to Winry looked into her deep blue eyes and told her I needed money? What do you expect she'd do?" Ed asked.

"Umm..." Al said but Ed quickly interrupted before Al could respond.

"I'll tell you Al she'd either one give me the money or two work even harder than she already does to obtain the money for me! Two of which I don't want happening!" Ed said.

Al stared at his brother with a frown "well isn't that better than having the both of you in pain?" Al asked.

Again Al's words had hit home and he cursed to himself at how easily his brother's words could affect him "….look Al I know this may not seem the best option and I know how much Winry must hate me right now but….I have to do this" Ed said.

Taking a deep sigh al decided to take a chance and although he already knew the answer he was going to try anyways "Well here's an idea" Al said "how about you just use the money that we received from Central? I'm sure we have enough to help…" All said but was again cut off by Ed

"Al I've already told you….I'm no longer a dog of the military so I refuse to use anything from them. Those days are done if I need money I'll earn it myself" Ed calmly said as he whipped out his pocket watch .

"So you're really leaving huh?" Al asked.

Pausing for a moment to decide if he really should he turned to his brother "y-yeah" Ed said "its nine o'clock and my train's almost here" Ed said as he picked up his suitcase.

"I'll walk you to the station" Al said.

Smiling at Al Ed began to walk ahead "Thanks" Ed said.

Both boys walked in a comfortable silence as they reached the station "we made it with five minutes to spare" Al said with a smile and then noticed the solemn look on Ed's face "I'm sure she'll come" Al said.

Blushing slightly Ed looked at his brother "w-what? Who?" Ed asked.

"Winry brother" Al said "she may be angry but she always see you off no matter how angry you get her" Al said.

Ed smiled "yeah your right" Ed said "Well I guess I should be boarding now Ed said as he hugged Al "you take care of things while I'm gone ok" Ed said.

Al hugged his brother back "you got it brother and try not to work to hard" Al said as Ed broke the hug.

"I'll try Al" Ed said as he boarded the train. Looking for his seat he could hear murmurs as he walked down the aisles. 'Oh great they recognized the "Hero of the People"' Ed said to himself as he got to his seat. He immediately looked out the window in hopes of seeing a beautiful Blonde standing at the platform besides Al, but to his dismay only saw Al frantically looking all around for the same blonde woman. Edward waved catching Al's attention and shook his head as a way of telling him to forget it. Ed knew deep inside she wouldn't show and still held some hope until the train whistle blew shattering all hopes to pieces. Ed waved to his brother as he again headed off from his home.

Al waved until he couldn't see the train anymore before dropping his hand and head like they both weighed fifty pounds. "Winry how could you do that to him?" Al asked himself as he continued to stare at the direction the train went.

xxxxx

"Winry?" Pinako said as she stood outside Winry's door "breakfast is ready" Pinako said but received no response "….you do know pipsqueak was leaving today right?" Pinako asked still receiving no response "are you sure it's ok to just let him go without saying good bye?" Pinako asked, but this time heard footstep coming towards the door. As the door slightly opened and there stood a puffy eyed blonde who seemed to have gotten little to no sleep last night.

"Granny….I-I'm tired" Winry managed to whisper before slumping to the ground "I'm tired of always waiting for him to return….I'm tired of always wondering where he is or what's he doing or if he's taking care of himself" Winry said as she fought back her tears "I thought…I thought that once he got Al's body back everything would change you know but….but he still always manages to leave my side" Winry said and by not her tears seemed to win the battle as they began to streak down her cheeks "I just don't know how much longer I can keep doing this" Winry said as she cupped her face and began crying into them.

Pinako stared at her granddaughter with a solemn look and then enveloped her in a war embrace "Listen Winry I know you're in pain and right now it may seem difficult but you and I both know that whatever that boy does he always has a good reason behind it so try not to give up on the pipsqueak just yet alright" Pinako said with a smile.

Looking up from her hands Winry couldn't help but smile at her grandma's comforting words "t-thank you" Winry said.

"No need for thanks" Pinako said with a smile.

"Do you think I'd still be able to make it to the station on time?" Winry asked.

"Well I'm not sure I wasn't told the time his train was departing" Pinako said as the two women heard the front door open.

Hope lit up Winry's face as she stood up and ran to the stairs "or maybe that's him!" Winry said as she dashed down the stairs nearly falling down a couple times. As she made it to the front door there stood not Edward but his little brother Alphonse "A-Al…" Winry said as her hopes that Ed would be standing at the door came crashing down

Understanding what might have just happened Al scratched the back of his head and smiled sheepishly "umm sorry if I wasn't who you were expecting" Al said.

Winry smiled at the boy "you know that's not it" Winry said "….so did Ed leave already?" Winry asked.

Al' smile slightly faded which wasn't missed by Winry "y-yeah he left like a couple of minutes ago" Al said.

Feeling her heart sink she reverted her eyes to the ground "did….did he say when he'll be coming back?" Winry asked.

"Well he didn't really say but he gave off the impression that he wanted to return as soon as possible, so don't worry I'm sure he'll be back soon" Al said with a reassuring smile.

Smiling back at the boy she realized something she never asked what he was leaving for "hey Al what exactly did Ed leave to do?" Winry asked.

Immediately feeling fear creep inside him Al looked the opposite direction "umm I don't know he didn't tell me" Al said.

Smelling something fishy she walked closer to Al until they was just mere inches apart "really Al? cause I seem to find that hard to believe and why won't you look me in the eye hmmm?" Winry asked causing the younger Elric to squirm.

"Umm I don't know what you're talking about…oh I think Pinako's calling me sorry Winry gotta go!" Al said as he dashed towards the back door.

"Granny is upstairs you liar!" Winry screamed after him 'hmph just wait till you come back home I'll squeeze everything out of you!" Winry shouted with a confident smile. Winry then walked towards the kitchen table and sat down. She then brought her hands together "please be ok Ed" Winry said as she silently prayed for Ed's safety.

xxxxx

Edward stared out the window of his train and gazed at the bright moon above him. With a deep sigh he allowed his thoughts to wander back to Winry "All I need a is a month or two Win and I'll be back home as soon as possible I promise!" Ed said to himself as the train conductor's voice echoed throughout the quiet train.

"Ladies and gentlemen we are now approaching The Youswell Coal Mine" announced the conductor.

Taking a deep breath Edward prepared himself "well no turning back now" Ed said "let's just hope everything goes smooth" Ed said to himself as he prepared to arrive at Youswell not knowing that his stay there would become anything but smooth.